((Prologue))

There's a color scheme with him. Red, gold, red, gold. It tears me up inside. I can see him laying there, in that bed. It's this crystal ball. It's mocking me. It's showing me him...him being happy. Happy that his Uncle rots in prison. Happy to be his father's filthy pawn. Happy to be in that other girl's arms. Happy that he's lost his mother. This crystal paints a lie I believe.

The visions started when I was very young. I could see a boy. He was clearly Fire Nation, so I kept them to myself. They scared me, because I looked forward to seeing him every night. He could see me too, I suppose, because in my dreams, he talked to me. I had no idea if he was even real, though...if he thought about me when he wasn't sleeping. We'd play, we'd wrestle. He showed me his room...I called him Li. He liked that name, he'd said, but it wasn't his real name. He didn't like his real name...

"Just call me Li." The boy said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't wanna use my real name! Or you won't wanna play with me anymore!"

I nodded, sitting down on his bedroom floor. "Okay, Li! We should play house!" I smiled, and he looked at me, confused.

"No! House is a girls game!" he said. "My sister made me play house! I didn't have any fun!"

I scoffed. "You've never played house with me, though! I'll make it fun. You can be the dad, and I'll be the mom!"

They continued like that for a while. We'd always play house. Even when we got to be older, around 13 summers. That's when Li kissed me for the first time. He said he thought about me all the time, even when he was awake. I had blushed, and he kissed me again. 'You're my girlfriend,' he would say, 'And when we're older, we'll be married!'

That was beautiful, but short lived. A few night's later, I didn't dream at all. There was nothingness, a black hole, and then suddenly fire. I woke up crying, clutching my left eye...it was horrible. The very next night was when it all changed. When I awoke to my dreamland, in his room, he was laying on his bed, crying. I sat down next to him...

"What happened, Li? Why are you crying?" I brushed back his hair, but he was covering his face. I grabbed his wrists, and tugged. He resisted.

"You can't see it. I'm ugly now. My father taught me a lesson, and soon, I'm to leave. I've been banished from home. I have to find the Avatar. No more silly dreams now, LiLing. I have to do this." he sounded angry. Angry at me?

"But...I'm your girlfriend!" I sounded like I was drowning. "You said you where going to marry me!"

He shook his head. "That can never happen. You're just a dream, LiLing. You're not even real."

I gripped his arm, hard. "No! I AM real, Zuko! I wake up, just like you! I live in Omashu!"

But he wasn't listening. He shoved me away, without showing me his face, and ran from the room. Just like always, I couldn't follow him.

I cried myself awake.