I promised a sequel, and it is a sequel you shall receive. Unfortunately, since I didn't have this story written out beforehand, the updates are going to be slower. I'm also juggling several fanfiction projects (Inuyasha, Naruto, Fairy Tail, etc...), as well as finishing up midterms. English and Geography finished, only Anthropology is left. Then I get a whole week off to do whatever I want...and homework.

I finally got the motivation and the inspiration to write, funny how that seems to happen right around exam time when I'm supposed to be studying.

I'm going to warn you all right now, I am planning to writ smut. *faints* I have been studying hard (teehee) to try and get a feel for good smut writing. So this gets an M rating. Though frankly it should be a given since anyone who's seen the Legend of Korra knows that most of the Gaang ends up with kids.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy. I'll try to update again soon, and I've already got the next chapter in progress. But sometimes I just get writer's block, and there's nothing I can do about it. This sequel will switch P.O.V.s, since I've finally gotten better at doing that (thank you Fairy Tail for your effective lessons). So first up, a look at Zuko.

Cheers!

Zuko's P.O.V.

They all drive me mad.

That is the only way to describe the people around me. The first thing I did after the coronation was to replace most of the officials. Loyalty to my father has no place here now that I'm trying to clean up his mess. And turning the Fire Nation over to Azula, even for only a couple of days didn't help the situation either. Not only did she traumatize and fire the palace staff, but she completely upended half of the furniture in the palace during her crazed rants.

Azula is now safely locked away in a place where I hope she'll get the help she needs. I felt guilty about the idea of locking her in a cell, so I decided on a form of pseudo house-arrest, where she can get some of that therapy that she needs.

My father, on the other hand, gets no such sympathy from me. He's locked up in prison, where he can't threaten anyone ever again. Though Aang made sure of that when he stripped him of his firebending. Until Aang explained to us what he'd done, I had no idea that there was a way to take someone's bending away. And the thought actually scares me a little.

Aang left a week and a half ago, after helping me to remove most of the officials from their stations. They put up more than a little fuss over it. But it was better to involve him than Ciara. She has the other half of the country to take care of and rebuild. She won't have much time to spare helping me to displace all the greedy nobles who care more about status and tradition, than actually doing something to help rebuild the world and this country.

I'd like to be helping Aang to clean up the rest of the world, but I have to clean up at home first. I can't do much good for the world if I'm fighting a battle here as well.

While I've tried to stay optimistic, it's hard to follow through with Aang's advice to keep smiling. It seems like every day, I unearth another threat, another traitor, or another of my father's spies. He may be imprisoned, but it's clear that he still has some influence within reach of me.

After working a very long day, I retire to my room and slump onto my bed. This is so hard… I knew that being Fire Lord wouldn't be easy, but I feel so drained. And it's only going to get worse…

There's a soft knock on my door, so I sit up quickly. "Come in."

The door opens slowly, and I stay on guard until I see one of the new messengers standing there. Lee, I think. I swear… there's a million Lee's…

He bows quickly and hands me a scroll. "My Lord, this letter came for you earlier. We could not identify the seal, but we dared not open it, as it is addressed directly to you."

That worries me a little, though I can't say that I would be pleased if they were to start reading letters for me. "Why?" I look over the scroll and find the seal. And he's right, it's a seal that I've never seen before either. "Who could it be from…?" My name is written on the back in handwriting that I've never seen before.

He coughs quietly. "However, though we could not identify the seal, we believe it to be from Ember Island. There are small traces of volcanic soot mixed with sand on the paper. And due to the intricacy of the seal, I would guess that it is from Her Highness."

Ciara… I peel open the scroll, being careful not to damage the seal. If it is her seal, then I want to memorize it for future reference.

The scroll rolls open in my hands, and the handwriting on the paper flows like water, instead of looking rigid and precise. And the first few words confirm my suspicion.

I turn to my messenger and nod. "Thank you, you may go."

He bows and retreats from the room, leaving me alone with the letter in my hands.

Dear Zuko,

I hope that you're doing well. I'm sure that kicking out all of the unwanted officials is taking a lot of your energy right now. I'm sorry that I'm not there to help you, dealing with them sounds a lot more fun than what I'm dealing with. I would rather be yelling at someone than trying to come up with plans to turn around an economy in such dire straits. And cleaning house sounds much more entertaining than actually cleaning up my house.

The thought of her sitting still long enough to come up with an economic plan almost makes me laugh. I don't doubt that she could do it, I just think that it would be funny to see her trying to sit still. She's even more restless than I am. And she used to a lot more adventure than I am.

I also hope you know that I worry about you. I know very well how governments work. And because of that silly flaming headpiece of yours, people are going to try and kill you, so watch your back. And if something looks suspicious, don't ignore it. I'm not saying not to trust people, that leads straight into paranoia. Just be careful who you do trust. If you don't, it's going to come back to bite you in the butt, and we both know it. Then again, you're probably used to your life being in danger, so try not to stress out any more than usual.

And before you ask, yes, I'm doing fine, and I'm perfectly safe in my volcano palace. Piandao has been visiting for a week, and he helped me to brush up on my calligraphy skills. As you can probably imagine, they'd gotten a little rusty since I haven't had much need for them since I was about five. Luckily, I pick up skills quickly, especially ones that just need a little help recovering. On that note, I hope that my handwriting is legible. Piandao says that it's fine, but I think that he just wants to put a smile on my face instead of telling me straight out if my handwriting sucks or not.

Aang and the others have been by to visit, and they helped me go through all of the sections in the library. It took forever to find the catalogs. But once we did, we managed to find all sorts of rare books. And some of them are history books, very detailed ones. I'm sure that some of your scholars will want to take a look at them once I can get them organized. They detail a lot of things that Sozan's historians might have left out of the official history texts.

The gang left a few days ago, heading to the Earth Kingdom to help King Kuei get settled back in. After the White Lotus took back Ba Sing Se, the army went into the wilderness to track him and his bear down. According to Piandao, Bumi found him down by Omashu, hanging out with these singing nomads that we met while traveling to Omashu to find Bumi again. Because we all know that went well.

I can almost see her rolling her eyes as the sarcasm drips off the page. I'd gotten to hear more than a few stories about the traveling they did after the North Pole. It was just one of the ways that Sokka decided to pass the time. And while half of the stories might have been exaggerated, judging by the looks that everyone else gave him, that was still one of the funnier stories. Something about pranking the guards with a pentapox plague to get the citizens out of the city. Creative, but a little gross to hear about.

I'm going to be holding some meetings with the tradesmen, artisans, and fishermen of the islands. We need to come up with some plans that will be customized for each area in order to maximize economic production, without destroying the environment. I've already seen too many places that became uninhabitable because of poor management, and I'd rather not let that happen again on my watch. The people need a place to live, and I'm going to make sure they have it.

In other news, I'm planning on hiring some workers to rebuild the front porch. It's not in the greatest of states, though I've managed to clear away most of the vines and debris. I know that it's a bit silly to be thinking about restoring a palace, but it's not as though I'm lacking in money. There's so much gold and treasure in here, that hiring people to fix the palace will be more beneficial to them than to me. And I'm going to ask them to do some restoration work on the inside as well, since parts of the palace are a little run down.

Now for the good news. Since I've lived in the Earth Kingdom most of my life, I've managed to strike a few deals with some of the friends I made over there. If all goes well, then I should be able to convince some of them to take an extended vacation here on Ember Island so that they can train a few tradesmen and artisans. Something else I want them to look at is the glass roof panels of the archives. I think that if I can get someone to take up glass-work using the volcanic sand, then it can become one of our major exports. We've got more than enough of it lying around, so I'm sure that no one will miss some of it.

She's definitely got a point there. Ember Island has beaches that go on forever. I unroll the scroll some more, since her letter seems to be going on forever. It's like she's trying to give me every possible update just so that I don't worry about her.

Well, since I know that if you've managed to read this far without throwing the scroll across the room in frustration, then it means that you're either very bored, or determined to finish reading. If it's the former, I'm sorry that I'm not there to make things less boring. And if it's the latter, then I'm flattered that you find my little report of a letter to be that interesting. If you have thrown it across the room, but picked it back up anyway, then I applaud your tenacity.

Anyway, stay safe and always remember to smile. You're less scary when you smile. Don't frown, otherwise your face will get stuck that way. And it would be such a shame if you lost that adorable smile of yours. Make some friends, and don't forget to unwind once in a while. If you're surrounded by people who only address you formally, then you'll go mad, and eventually forget that you actually have a name of your own. I swear, if I hadn't threatened to order Piandao to call me by name, I would probably start believing that 'Your Highness' was my name.

We've got a lot of work ahead of us, so do what you can on your end, and I'll do what I can on mine. Remember that you're not in this alone. And if you ever feel like tearing your hair out, come to Ember Island for a vacation. I know where there's some secret hot springs, and they're incredible. Five minutes, and the stress just disappears. No one is going to benefit if you work yourself so hard that you get sick. What I'm saying is to take care of yourself.

And to think, it's only been a few weeks since we were all flying around on Appa, heading who knows where. Maybe when we've finally got things worked out, we can all go on another trip together. And maybe then Aang would actually leave us alone for once.

I nearly choke reading that. I mean, it's true that Aang always started interrupting us whenever we were alone, but for her to be so forward about it… Good thing they didn't open up the letter. Who knows what they would have said. Thankfully, the last part of the letter is short and sweet.

Things are busy, and I don't have much of a chance to leave home right now. But if you need me, just send me a letter and I'll be there soon.

All the best and missing you dearly,

Ciara

The letter ends there, and I feel a smile tugging at my mouth. Sounds like things are going well for her. She's keeping busy at least. And with Piandao there, I guess I don't have to worry about her safety.

I read over the letter again, memorizing every word. It's a welcome reprieve from all of the stiff and formal reports that I've been looking over. Her words are warm and familiar, and they soothe some of my agitation.

After carefully rolling the letter back up, I glance over at my desk and smile. Might as well… I move from my bed to my desk and smooth out a roll of paper, before wetting an inkbrush.

Dear Ciara…