Hello! I'm here with another Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic. What can I say? It's an awesome show. Anyway, I decided to do a somewhat more serious, longer fic. Enjoy!
Prologue
"Well, here they are." The proud mother sat up, holding the two newest additions to the royal family.
"Azula." Ozai said bluntly. He and his wife had already agreed that the elder child (senior by five minutes) would be named after the current Firelord. Then, there was the second child. Her eyes were squeezed shut, yet her dark hair was already down to her shoulders. "Sasha." It was the first thing that had popped into the Prince's head, and he decided to follow his instincts for once. The name seemed to somehow fit the baby princess.
Years passed. Zuko, the eldest son, was six. The girls were both four and a half.
Azula whispered something into her twin's ear. Giggling softly., the child slowly wrapped her fingers around her brother's ponytail, and tugged.
"Ow! Sasha!"
Sasha ran off, giggling and shrieking until Zuko grabbed her, dragging her to the ground, pulling the long locks of her black hair. "Never, again!" he laughed.
Princess Ursa watched from a respectable distance. Royal life was comfortable despite her husband's aloof nature. She had three beautiful, happy children. What could go wrong?
These short years were the best years of Sasha's life. No threats. No worries. No drama. She was surrounded by people she could trust. Her mom loved her. Uncle Iroh sent her presents from far lands, and she didn't have to worry about her father. The kids hadn't began to use their bending abilities, and Azula hadn't been manipulated by Ozai yet. Life was good. Life was normal.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end at some point, and Sasha's happy, carefree innocence was one of them. It was normal day like any other. Sasha was chasing Zuko and Azula around in the royal garden when she ran out of breath, and set herself down by the turtleduck pond.
"Come on, slow poke. You won't catch me if you're sitting down in one place!" Zuko said.
"I'm too tired, and my neck feels funny." Sasha explained. "Come. Play with the baby turtleducks."
"No, I want to keep running. See you at lunch." With that, Zuko ran off, looking for Azula.
Ursa looked up from the scroll she was reading and thought. It wasn't like Sasha to run out of energy so quickly. Had she not gotten eight hours of solid sleep? Neck feels funny? Did Sasha mean throat? Ursa got up, and sat down by her youngest near the small pond. "Sweetie, is something bothering you?"
Sasha shook her head. "I'm okay, Mommy."
Ursa moved closer towards her child, and soon felt a little hand grab her wrist when she reached out to touch Sasha's forehead. The child's face had looked tired and flushed that morning, and Ursa had been trying to choke down her growing suspicions all morning. Sasha was sick, and not willing to admit it.
Sighing, Ursa scooped the small child up in her arms, and carried her inside to her room. "You can't hide things from Mommy forever you know."
"But I hate being sick!" Sasha whined, struggling pathetically within her mother's firm grasp.
"Hiding doesn't help the sickness go away. It only makes it worse." Ursa said, laying Sasha down in bed, tucking the girl in under a layer of bright red comforters. "I'm going to find the nurse. She'll tend to you, and you'll be better in no time."
The nurse soon arrived, and examined Sasha. It seemed like a simple cold at first. A pack of ice was laid upon Sasha's forehead, and she was fed a dosage of medicine to soothe the cold in her chest. Sasha had the best possible care any child in the country could receive for illness; However, the illness didn't improve. It gradually got worse. Sasha's fever got higher, and muscles got weaker. Her head throbbed, and her limbs ached. You could see her wasting away, getting thinner and becoming more and more frail. Within three weeks she had gone from a happy-go-lucky diva to an interesting medical mystery, irritable, frustrated. The doctors and nurse were doing all they could to help Sasha heal, yet the disease only got worse.
"I'm not hungry." Sasha said, turning over in bed.
"But you love opening fortune cookies!" Zuko said. He was seated in a chair at Sasha's bedside, exerting a futile effort to cheer his little sister up.
"That was before I got sick and when doctors started poking me with needles to find out what's wrong with me." Sasha said, still not facing her elder brother.
"Hey, I'm two years older than you. You should show some respect! At least, I'm giving you something other than water and mashed potatoes."
Sasha turned. Zuko had a point there. The doctors insisted that Sasha stayed away from sweets of any form while the illness was running it's course. She couldn't even eat a peppermint! "What does your fortune say?"
Zuko cracked his cookie open, and read the little white strip of paper found within the hard shell of the cookie. "Whatever you do, do not attend any war meetings."
"Huh?"
Zuko ripped his paper in half. "It's not like the fortunes are supposed to make sense."
"Read mine." Sasha said.
Zuko broke the second cookie open. "You are destined to travel far and wide. Brace yourself."
Sasha smiled. "That sounds nice. I should like to travel...or at least get out of this room. Can I eat your cookie?"
"Sure." Zuko was willing to do anything to keep his sister happy in this irritable state.
Azula walked in just then. She saw the tray of cookies, and wasted no time in taking one.
"Read it." She instructed, handing the slip of paper to Zuko. Sasha and Azula were still studying the alphabet, unable to read unlike Zuko who had just started.
"You will completely lose your s-sanity not saying you were sane before." Zuko read.
Sasha crossed her arms. "The weird things fortune cookies say these days!"
"Tell me about it!"
Another long week passed when Sasha's ongoing fever finally broke. The disease got better as gradually as it had gotten worse. The symptoms vanished one by one until Sasha was once again the sweet, healthy child the family had always known, yet not all her troubles were over. The mystery sickness had badly stunted Sasha's growth, leaving the girl trapped in the body of a four year old. Both Ursa and Ozai were disappointed. They had had many hopes and expectations for their daughter. Ursa, as a mother, never stopped hoping that Sasha would grow. Sasha finally saw Ozai's true colors when she found her bedroom door locked one morning.
"Open the door!" she said, thinking it was a blind mistake of the guards. The doors were always locked at night as a security precaution. Maybe the guards forgot to open them. She banged her fists against the door when no one responded.
She was answered by her father's voice. "Sasha, I have made a decision for you, concerning your health. Your growth bothers me Sasha, so I've decided to keep you here. You might as well get used to those four corners because that's where you'll be most of the time. I can't stand the thought of having a sickly invalid for a daughter. People asking and staring. It will all reflect badly on me. You're a disgrace, Sasha. A failure. Stay here, and keep quiet. I don't want anyone to know your even alive..."
Sasha, now five, couldn't believe her ears. True, she had never been fond of her father, but she hadn't expected him to shut her in a room because of something she couldn't control. Slowly, Sasha slumped down the floor, leaning against the door, trying to hold back tears. She didn't want her new foe to hear or feel her distress. She got up on her king-sized bed and played with her doll, doing her best to shut out what Ozai had told her. At noon, a servant came in with a tray of food. Bacon, fried squid, and peach dumplings. Sasha lightened up a little. At least she would have a comfortable existence away from everyone else instead of a miserable one. She decided to make the most of it, stuck in a room with nothing but her dolls, books, and craft supplies wasn't as bad as it sounded. If ever she wanted anything, she would tell a servant and a parcel would be brought in within an hour. However, she longed to go out and have someone to talk to face to face rather than face to door and she loved to go out. Occasionally, Zuko was allowed to come in to see her, but that only happened a few times during Sasha's life in the palace before her brother got banished.
"I have to leave by tomorrow. My stuff has been packed. I will return as soon as I capture the avatar. I just came here to say goodbye." Zuko, now thirteen, had said.
Sasha looked up from her drawing. "Would Daddy mind if I went with you? I've been shut up this room for a long time."
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to tag along." Zuko replied.
The next morning Sasha was boarding a small warship, finally free from her family of nutcases, meaning her twin sister and her egoistic father. First, Mommy had disappeared. Then, Daddy usurped the throne from Uncle. After that, Azula became a firebending prodigy, leaving Zuko many levels below. At least Zuko reached five feet, Sasha thought. She was starting to look like a mouse compared to her siblings.
"Are you ready?" Zuko asked, picking his little sister up.
"If you mean Happy to get away from Daddy and Azula for a while, then, yeah!" She replied.
End of Prologue
Hey, guys! I will be writing more Sasha chapters later on if you guys liked this one. Let me know if you see any Mary Sue characteristics that I could avoid. The purpose of this story is to entertain, and not annoy. Peace!
