The chamber was empty save for two figures separated by a wall of flame. The young woman bowed deeply before her father. It was rare for anyone to have a private audience with the Fire Lord. Truthfully, it was only the second time she had ever been summoned in such a manner.

"I have a mission for you, Princess Azula. Your brother is a failure and your uncle is a traitor. This is a simple mission."

Princess Azula looked up for the first time. Fire Lord Ozai had finished speaking and only now was she permitted to look upon him. The acknowledgement of her order rolled on her tongue, but before it could escape the unthinkable happened.

"I believe the child's mission is more complicated than you know, Ozai." Azula sprang to her feet and placed herself between the voice and her Father. A man in black robes and a mask bearing the insignia of the Fire Nation oozed from the shadows.

"How dare you speak to the Fire Lord like that!" Azula screamed as she drew upon her bending abilities.

"Silence Azula." The Fire Lord's voice was even as his attention shifted to the new arrival. "I had not expected you to return so soon. Your presence means that the bridges have been born."

The Masked intruder leaned casually against one of the pillars. "Indeed. Our aspirations are drawing closer to fruition. We have secured the Five Tailed Dolphin-horse. What of your objectives?"

"Zhao forced a new Spirit into the Moon as ordered. The girl is strong willed, but far more pliable than Tui would be."

Azula remained in control of her emotions but was in total shock. How could she have never known about this?

"And it?"

"Our agents have confirmed its existence. We will find it and build the World of Truth."

Azula could no longer remain quiet. "Father, I need to know what you are discussing. It could affect my mission."

"Your mission is to bring your brother home to answer for his incompetence. He has no idea how close he came to destroying the World of Truth before it was even born!" The Fire Lord's mysterious confidant barked an order at Azula! The princess took a step forward when she gazed at the man's eye. It was suddenly red with three tomoe orbiting the pupil.

"Azula! Don't look into his eye!" There was awe in her father's voice. At least, that was what Azula told herself the emotion was. The Fire Lord couldn't experience fear. Could he?

The masked man pushed himself away from the pillar and began to circle Azula. "Much potential in this one Ozai. Hm… I believe I shall train her."

"You training her in Ninjutsu was only part of our agreement." Ozai said with a bite of anger.

A thunderous laugh escaped the mask. "Do not worry. I remember your desires Ozai. I would dare say, such an infatuation would be somewhat abnormal, but it is only natural to desire the power of the Uchiha clan."

If there was one thing Azula craved above all else, it was power. "What is this power?"

"The Sharingan." The masked slipped away and Azula flinched at the memory of her father's reaction. "Do not fear, Ozai and Azula-hime. I have not activated the Mangekyo Sharingan."

The man held out a vial with a pair of perfectly preserved eyes. "Come Ozai, this solution will not preserve the Sharingan outside a living body. Your transplant must be now."

The mystery turned to Azula. "Prepare for your mission, girl. This power is not meant for you."

It was only a few moments before Azula was confident that her Father and the unknown man had left. The Princess of the Fire Nation then let her own mask of perfect emotional control slip. She screamed in frustration and rage at her father's betrayal.

"Why? Why has father pushed me aside like he did Zuko? I am not a failure!"

A seed of hate and doubt had been planted in the back of Azula's mind. Hidden amongst the flames, Ozai's puppet master smiled.

"All will be as it should."

Author's Notes/rants/etc: Hi, my name is Solvdrage and I have Plot ADHD. I finally got a weekend and started working on my stuff. And then I started re-watching Avatar the Last Airbender while working on Brotherhood of an Altered Destiny and Bend in the River of Fate. And damn it, the idea wouldn't leave me alone. At the time of posting the prologue above and the first chapter, I'm nearly done with the second 5k ish word 2nd chapter. I haven't this much fun or an easy time writing a story since I started Chains of the Kindred. I'm planning on burning myself out on this story before getting back to Harry Potter and the Embrace of Chaos and to Chains of the Kindred. I'm not really sure when that will happen considering writing this story has been an absolute blast.

And now for a shameless and completely unsubtle attempt to get more reviews and place some 'blame' for this story (:P)

The planned Pairings that I'm going to reveal here are...
Naruto/Hinata (and here comes the 'blame' part. Go read Shawny Wong's NaruHina fics. God. Damn. Adorable.)
Aang/Katara
Mai/Zuko
Neji/Tenten

Pretty much the standards so far. More will be revealed as the story advances and the fate of more characters are revealed.