Team: Ember Island Eel Hounds

Position: Airbender

Task: Someone returning home after being away for many years

Prompts used:

1 point - (word) favourite

1 point - (smell) jasmine

3 points - (restriction) No characters' names used (nicknames included).

Word count (excluding author notes): 970

-Plot-

"What do you mean, you're kicking me out? I'm only 13!" I screamed to my dad with fury. How could he? I am his daughter, the crown princess of the Fire Nation. How could he do that?

Dad just sat on his grand throne, not caring at all. He said to me, "When I was your age, dad burnt my eye and kicked me out. He forced me to chase the Avatar in the vain hope of regaining my honour. I regained my honour without catching the Avatar but that journey taught me so much about compassion and humility. The Fire Nation is doing what it can to rebuild those poor villages, but I need you to see it first hand. You can come back after three years."

I was confused, dad always told me great things about his father. He only ever gave me tea and kindness, I couldn't picture him burning my face. Although, when I asked about it, dad shocked me even more.

"Your grandfather is not my father," he stood up and extinguished his flames, "he is my uncle - my father's brother."

"So what about your father?" I asked, not wanting to know.

"He was an evil man. He tried to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom and kill everyone. Now, go to your mother, she'll pack your stuff. I'll first send you to Air Temple Island, in Republic City. There, you will meet up with the Avatar's children and the daughter of the police chief. They will be your company for the next three years."

In my years travelling, I visited the water tribes, air temples and the Earth Kingdom. In Ba Sing Se, I found the old tea shop where my mother and father met. It is a bit of a slum, to say the least. I can't imagine the relief she felt when dad invited her to live in the palace. Then again, it would have also been a huge shock. Three years finally passed and I was allowed to come home. Father threw a large party in my honour.

I entered the large room, guests seated at ornate tables filled the hallway to the brim. A familiar scent wafted through the air, my favourite scent too, I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I sat at my table. My grandfather, sorry, my great uncle poured an aromatic nectar into my cup. He spoke in a soft yet raspy voice, "Here is your tea. I hear it is your favourite." I took a sip of the delicious nectar and instantly recognised it. For it was jasmine tea. Is there a better tea? I don't believe so! Father and great uncle used to work in a tea shop in Ba Sing Se called the Jasmine Dragon.

Father sat on a large table, flanked by his wife in her traditional emerald robes and by the Avatar, who was, in turn, flanked by his wife and the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Father stood and held up his cup of tea, "I propose a toast to my daughter, the Crown Princess of this land. Many years ago, when I was thirteen, my father banished me and forced me to wander the world for three years. That journey changed me from a young, arrogant boy, to a vengeful idiot - then it changed me to an honourable young man. Or so my wife would tell me. That journey was hard, but seeing so much of the world had done me a lot of good and I hoped it would do the same to my daughter. Uncle is very proud of my precious daughter, and I am proud of her too."

Father made it clear that I was not to use my status as a princess to receive special treatment. Father, the Avatar and the Southern Chief made that perfectly clear to all the leaders. I wasn't even allowed to wear fancy clothes. I wore mother's old clothes from Ba Sing Se; water tribe clothes generously leant to me by the Avatar's wife; and air acolyte clothing from the Avatar.

After the speeches, father found me and my friends in a hallway. "May I talk with you in private?" He asked me.

I would not have it, "No, if you want to talk to me, you can do it in front of my friends."

"Oh, all right. I suppose defying your father is a family tradition," he said, "now tell me, what have you learnt from your trip?"

I knew what he was getting at, "There are many of our soldiers throughout the world. Are we on the verge of war?"

"Ho, no, no, no," father laughed it off, "never again."

Okay, I guess I didn't know. "Then, why are they there?"

Dad grew a solemn expression and sat down. "Not long before you were born, there was a war that lasted a hundred years. We were the aggressors. We destroyed the air nomads and the earth kingdom. The war ended thankfully but it our men have stayed behind as aid workers. We are still there, trying to pay off our debt to the world. The new Air Nation gets all of its money from us and we paid off all the war debt for the Earth Kingdom."

I was perplexed, "Why are you telling us, me this?"

He placed his hand on my shoulder and spoke reassuringly, "One day soon, you will become the Fire Lord. I just want you to know that although we are the Fire Nation, we must put the world before our desires. And remember – never start another war, okay?"

I nodded and the reality hit me. I was celebrating coming home, while those poor boys in the Earth Kingdom did not have a home to come back to.