Spring had come in the Fire Nation - and today was the first hot day of the year. Everyone seemed happy with the prospect of the long summer ahead of them.

'Izumi, be careful,' Kazuki said.

Zuko smiled at his nephew as he helped Zuko's daughter.

'I have to admit, this was a good idea,' Mai said, her hand slipping into Zuko's. 'We've been too busy lately.'

'We have,' Zuko admitted, squeezing her fingers. 'But today's our free day. We're not allowed to talk about work.'

Mai smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. They watched Izumi run around the beach, sometimes stopping to grab a pretty shell. Kazuki followed her around, making sure his two-year-old niece wouldn't hurt herself.

They adored each other.

'Kazuki, if you want to swim, we can pay attention as well,' Zuko said.

'I might,' Kazuki answered.

'Can I come?' Izumi asked. 'I want to go with Kazuki!' She grabbed his hand.

Zuko smiled. Izumi always wanted to do everything Kazuki did. She thought of him as her older brother - and her best friend. The thought was one that made Zuko happy, nostalgic and sad at the same time.

'Do you want to swim as well?' Zuko asked his wife.

Mai nodded and smiled. 'Let's not let today go to waste.'

The sea wasn't too warm, but it was a nice contrast with the heat of the sun. Zuko was happy that they were alone on their private beach - another perk of being a royal. Otherwise, people would only stare at them - or, worse, ask them about the rumours. It was all everyone could talk about, but for now, Kazuki hadn't heard them yet.

Izumi held Kazuki's hand as they walked into the water. Kazuki was at least three times bigger than Izumi, tall for his thirteen years. Zuko didn't know anything about his natural father, so he either assumed he had been a tall man or that Kazuki had inherited his grandfather's height.

'A shell!' Izumi exclaimed, prying it out of the sand.

'It's beautiful,' Kazuki said.

Mai walked closer and knelt down next to her child. 'If you collect them, I bet grandma would make you a pretty necklace out of them.'

Izumi beamed.

'Daddy,' she said before handing him the shell. 'You have to keep them safe.'

Kazuki dove deeper into the sea. 'Don't go too far,' Mai warned him. 'The currents are strong, this time of year.'

'Where's Kazuki going?' Izumi asked.

'He's going to swim for a while,' Zuko said, holding out his hands so she could place another shell into them. 'It won't be long.'

Kazuki was building a sand castle, while Izumi walked around it, trying to help by placing her shells on top of it. Kazuki concentrated himself on his task.

'Sometimes, he looks so much like her,' Zuko suddenly said.

Mai frowned. 'You mean... '

'Yes.'

There was a short silence.

'It might be time to contact her,' Mai said. 'Kazuki keeps asking about her.'

Zuko nodded. 'I'm… afraid she doesn't want us to contact her,' he admitted. 'She knows we're here… if she wanted to see us, she would've sent a message.'

'He's her child, Zuko.'

Zuko sighed. 'I know.' He scratched his head. 'It's just… she was so fragile when she left here.'

'Things have changed now.'

'I know.'

'It won't be long before the rumours reach Kazuki. We can't guard him forever.'

'I know.'

Zuko looked at the two children. Kazuki had the same age he had when he was banished. 'Just… not yet. We'll tell him eventually - but let him have one more summer.'

Mai placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Zuko, I trust your decision. Just… it'll be better when he hears it from us.'

Kazuki felt the fire course through his veins. He stretched his arms and two streams of fire were shot forward.

'Good job,' his tutor Lee said.

Kazuki smiled and relaxed his stance.

'You're a good bender, but that's only logical, because of your…' The tutor stopped mid-sentence.

Kazuki turned around quickly. 'You were going to say something about my mother, weren't you?' he asked.

No one ever told him about his mother - or his father, for that matter. He only knew that his mother was Princess Azula, the sister of Fire Lord Zuko.

The tutor shook his head. 'No… I never taught her.'

'But she was good, right? That's what you wanted to say!'

Kazuki hadn't even known his mother was a firebender.

His tutor hesitated.

It wasn't the first time Kazuki wondered if it was forbidden to tell him anything about his mother. People pretended as if she had never even existed - and sometimes they fell silent when he entered a room.

He looked at his tutor, but he just knew he wasn't going to give him any information.

'I think we're done for today,' he said, before running off.

'But, prince Kazuki! We need to…'

Kazuki ignored him and sprinted around the palace. In his own private bathroom, he ducked a bucket of water over himself to cool of. Kazuki dried himself with his bending before he jumped into his clothes.

He wasn't sure why he was so hopeful this plan would work, but maybe, just maybe, grandpa Iroh would tell him something about his mother. First… he had to sneak out of the palace.

The tea shop was in the centre of the capital. It was always busy. Kazuki had left the palace without anyone knowing it before, but never to go to the city. The tricky part was to get back inside - the security mainly focused on the people entering. Kazuki noticed people watching him and he cursed himself for forgetting to take off his headpiece. The moment he stepped into the tea shop, there was a silence. Kazuki thought it was because of him, but he didn't want to stop the check. He walked straight to the counter. 'Hello,' he said. One of the other teabrewers bowed.

'Prince Kazuki, how may I serve you?'

'I'm here to see my grandfather. Is he here?' Kazuki asked.

'He is,' the teabrewer said. 'Do you want me to fetch him, Prince Kazuki?'

Kazuki nodded. He watched her leave through a large, dark red curtain and wondered what was behind it. It took less than a minute for his grandpa to appear.

'Kazuki,' he said, smiling warmly. 'It's always good to see you.'

Kazuki bowed his head to acknowledge the older man. 'It is, grandpa. I was wondering if I could ask you something?'

Iroh smiled and nodded, but when the question didn't come, he realised it was a personal one. 'Let's go somewhere a little bit more private,' he said.

Kazuki followed his grandpa through the curtain. The room behind it was a storage room, filled with hundreds of items needed to brew the best tea in the world. The room behind that was a smaller room, with a table and a few chairs. No one was there.

'Do you want some tea? On the house, of course.'

Kazuki nodded. 'Thank you, grandpa.' He had been so eager to come here, but right now, he was wondering if he had acted too rashly. Iroh was like a father to his uncle Zuko - was was like a father to him. Why would he agree to tell him anything Fire Lord Zuko didn't him to know?

But he had to try. Grandpa Iroh must've known his mother as well.

Iroh sat down with him, two cups of steaming tea between them.

'You wanted to talk about something?' he asked.

Kazuki nodded again and took a deep breath. 'I was training today… and it was going really well.'

'That's nice,' Iroh said, sipping his tea. He liked his beverages boiling - Kazuki preferred them a little cooler.

'It was. But my tutor… he said it was only logical because of something. He didn't want to finish his sentence - but I think he was talking about my mother.'

Kazuki eyed his grandfather, but his face was unreadable.

'I know nothing about her, grandpa,' he said, allowing a little bit of his desperation slipping into his voice. 'I didn't even know she was a firebender. No one will talk about her… at least not to me. But I just have to know more about her. I don't even know what she looked like.'

Iroh sighed. 'It's only natural to be curious about her… but I'm not sure if I'm the person to do this.'

'You don't have to tell me everything,' Kazuki said quickly. His heart was pounding in his throat. 'I only want to know… was she a good firebender?'

A small but sad smile appeared on Iroh's face. 'The best firebender I've ever seen.'

'Wow,' Kazuki said, his eyes growing as he thought about that. 'Better than you?'

Iroh nodded. 'Her fire was blue - because it was hotter than normal fire.'

Kazuki's mouth fell open. 'I didn't know that was possible.'

'It is, but it's extremely rare. Only a few benders in history could produce it.'

Grandpa Iroh sipped at his tea again.

'Why doesn't anyone want to talk about her?' Kazuki asked.

Grandpa Iroh hesitated again. 'I'm not sure if I should tell you, Kazuki. The people who are keeping this from you… they're only doing it to protect you.'

'I'm old enough,' Kazuki said. 'And I only want to know - not knowing is worse than whatever the truth could be.'

Grandpa Iroh nodded. 'I agree. It must be hard for you.'

'It is,' Kazuki said. 'I have the right to know my mother. What she was like.'

Iroh sighed. 'All right then… I can't tell you everything right now, but you're right, you should know more about your mother.' He sighed again. 'The Firelord before Firelord Zuko was his father, Ozai.'

Kazuki nodded - he knew that. 'Your brother,' he said.

'Yes,' grandpa Iroh agreed. 'Firelord Ozai was a cruel man. 'He didn't love his children - he only saw them as extensions of himself. And as I said - your mother was an extraordinary firebender, but she was also smart and ambitious. Ozai liked her better than your uncle Zuko. Fire Lord Ozai didn't know the difference between kindness and weakness. So he thought Zuko was weak.'

Iroh took another sip of his tea. 'Ge decided Azula should be his heir. He started to focus all his attention on her. She was his favourite - and she was influenced by him.'

Kazuki wanted for his grandpa to go on with the story, but he stayed silent, not daring to speak.

'Are you saying she was a bad person?' Kazuki said.

Grandpa shook his head. 'No. I'm only saying she was influenced and formed by a bad person. She made up for her mistakes later in her life.'

'So… she's still alive?' Kazuki asked.

'I didn't know you didn't know that.'

'No one ever ever talks about her.'

That simple statement confirmed he hadn't heard anything about what his mother was up to. How was that possible? Iroh had the impression the entire Fire Nation was talking about it.

'It might be for the best, Kazuki,' grandpa Iroh said

'I don't understand… if she's still alive, why hasn't she come to visit me?'

Iroh swallowed and downed the rest of his tea.

'Grandpa?'

'I don't know, Kazuki. Your mother has always been a very complicated person. I can't presume to understand her or her reasons.'

Kazuki stood up. 'Thanks for the tea, grandpa,' he said. He tried to keep his voice steady, but it sounded as if he was on the verge of tears.

Iroh stood up as well. 'You haven't touched your tea, Kazuki. Please stay and drink it. If you want, I can leave you alone to think for a while.'

Kazuki shook his head. 'I… I need to talk to someone. Excuse me.'

He had hoped that his talk with his grandpa would answer a few of his questions, but instead, he only seemed to have gotten more.

Zuko's eyes started to tear from looking at documents. He had never known that being Fire Lord involved so much paperwork. One day off hadn't bee enough - they needed a holiday. Right now, that was impossible. He did deserve a small pause, Zuko decided before closing the scroll in front of him. He yawned and stretched before standing up and leaving his office. He yearned to feel the sun again, to not be locked up in his room. He could look for Mai and Izumi and take a stroll. Something to take his mind off of his work.

'Zuko.'

Mai stood in front of him, Izumi on her hip, an stirn expression on her face. Zuko had smiled when he saw her, but his expression changed when he saw the worry in her eyes. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

'Kazuki. No one can find him.'

She placed Izumi on her other hip. 'I've looked everywhere.'

'Where… where could he be?' Zuko asked.

'I don't know.'

Zuko's mind started spinning. 'We… we need to check again. It's impossible for an outsider to enter the palace… and why would he want to leave?'

'According to his tutor, he left the training,' Mai said. 'He said… Kazuki had asked about Azula.'

Zuko's eyes widened. 'Does he know?' he asked.

'The tutor says he didn't mention it.'

Zuko hesitated. 'He wasn't with Ursa either?'

'No. She's still looking in the garden.'

Zuko pondered the possibilities. 'He might be with Iroh?'

Mai nodded. 'That's what I was thinking. Are you going to visit?'

Zuko shook his head. 'No. Iroh isn't stupid - he'll know what to do. We'll wait for him to come back.'

They walked towards the garden. Zuko took Izumi from Mai and carried her as she was placing with his hair.

'Zuko! Mai!'

Ursa came closer. She was followed by Kazuki.

'Thank Agni,' Mai said. 'Kazuki - please don't do that again. We were worried about you.'

Kazuki didn't meet her eyes.

'Aren't you going to apologize?' Ursa asked, frowning at her grandson.

'No.'

Kazuki did look up now.

'I have the right to know.' He had never looked more like his mother. His golden eyes ware blazing.

'Not now, Kazuki,' Zuko said. 'You can't just ran of like this and…'

'UNCLE!'

Zuko looked at Azula's son. He had never looked more like her than in that exact moment.

'You have to tell me,' he said. 'Where. Is. My. Mother?'

There was a short silence. 'It's a long story,' Zuko eventually said.

'I don't care. I want to know. I need to know.'

Zuko sighed and looked at both his wife and his mother. 'I'm not sure…'

'It's time, Zuko,' Mai said.

'It's only logical he wants to know,' Ursa said.

Zuko nodded and sighed. Kazuki was looking at him expectantly. Zuko closed his eyes. 'I can't tell it by myself.'

'We'll help,' Ursa said.

Mai nodded.

'So we're doing this?' Zuko scratched his head. 'In that case: let's sit down. I'll tell you Azula's story - but I warn you, there's a reason we haven't told you before.'