The birth of Fire lord Zuko and lady Mai's child was a celebratory one. The entire Fire Nation was abuzz with joy at the new addition to the royal family. In every home, incense was lit to pray to the gods to let the baby be healthy and strong. The Fire Nation needed a strapping young heir to the throne; one in which would help mitigate the damage done during Fire lord Ozai's reign. On the eve of the baby's birth, the entire capitol city was at the front gates of the palace and the Firelord himself was helplessly pacing to and fro in front of the delivery room. Crying could be heard through the door along with bloodcurdling screams. The doctor had assured him this was normal. And that Lady Mai would experience insurmountable pain, although it would be worth it when their son was born.
"I need to be in there," Zuko demanded. "My wife is in pain and she needs me."
"I'm sorry your excellency, but this is a woman's burden. She must face it alone."
Zuko was about to go off on one of his legendary tantrums, when suddenly his uncle intervened.
"She'll be fine, nephew. Mai is a strong and independent woman. If anyone can make it through this, she will."
Zuko sighed and sat in one of the chairs that his servants had brought for him. "You know patience isn't my strong suit, Uncle."
He laughed in his throaty way and clapped Zuko on the shoulder. "No one knows that more than I do."
Suddenly small cries could be heard and Zuko could wait no longer. He burst through the door to see the nurse cleaning a tiny infant and swaddling it in a small cloth. Mai opens her arms to receive their child and for the first time in his life, Zuko sees her cry.
The council burst in awaiting the news of the gender to tell to the awaiting crowd at their doorsteps.
"It's a girl," the nurse announces.
With those three words, the energy in the room deflates and looks of condolence instead of congratulations begin to creep onto the staff's faces.
"She's beautiful." Mai states. And there had never been a truer statement uttered. Zuko could only stare in awe as he took in his daughter's fragile features. She had her mother's nose and chin, but she had his nose and eyes. They were Fire Nation gold and they looked up at him fiercely ready to challenge the world head on.
"She has fire in her eyes. She'll be a fighter I can tell." Iroh was sniffling, although he was trying really hard not to show it.
"What a most auspicious day to be born on. She is a true dragon all right." Iroh was referring to her zodiac sign matching to that of the Fire Nation symbol and Zuko had to agree; that was "most auspicious."
"What shall we name her?" Mai mused. "I kind of like the name Ta min."
"No, name her Ilah. That's prettier."
"Dao Ming is stronger!"
"Her name will be Ursa," Zuko announced. "To honor my mother, who I will always look up to."
Iroh beamed with pride. "I don't think any of us could have thought of a more fitting name, my nephew."
The baby, now full on squalling, was taken outside for all the world to see. The people clap and cheer with pride when Zuko steps out holding his newborn baby daughter.
He holds up a hand for silence.
"I would like you to meet the newest member of the Fire Nation, heir to the throne, and my pride and joy: Princess Ursa."
A murmur of shock goes through the crowd. The gods had not been as benevolent as they had hoped. A son was needed to sit the chair; not a woman. A place of power was no place with those who had a gentle heart.
"Let us honor Princess Ursa, second of her name and heir to the Fire Nation throne."
A special perfume is sprinkled onto the babe, which makes her call out even harder. Then a red ribbon is tied around her finger to signify the continuing line of royalty.
Zuko, has never in his life, felt more proud than in this moment. It didn't even compare to when he was coronated or when he finally gained Avatar Aang's trust. Somehow this pride-and love-felt stronger than anything else. Ursa looked up at him then and stretched out a tiny hand towards his face. He kisses her forehead and her porcelain skin feels so soft against his chin.
"I'll never hurt you like my father did me," he promised. "I'll protect you from what I had to face. You will feel loved and wanted."
He lights a little flame on his thumb. "With this, I'll never hurt you."
Zuko finds Mai lounging in their bedroom with wet towels covering her arms and chest. "I'm never doing that again. Ever."
She was smiling, though as Zuko handed her the baby. Difficult births ran in her family and it was a miracle that she had delivered Ursa without any trouble.
"You did wonderful. I was about to have a breakdown in the hallway." He climbs onto the bed beside her and pets the black tuft of hair on his daughter's head.
"I know. You were louder than I was."
Ursa begins to squirm slightly, never missing an opportunity to make her presence known.
"Which one of us do you think, she'll take after?"
"Please for the love of all that's good, don't let her get your temper." Mai cries.
"I hope she has a strong sense of herself, though. I want her to always know who she is and not who she is going to be. Not defined by a title."
"Of course she will. She'll have Iroh. And we will team up to protect her from all your meltdowns and insecurities."
Zuko pretends to look hurt.
"I hope she gets your patience."
"It's going to be tough on her."
Zuko gives his wife a strange look with the statement. "Why would she have a tough time?"
Mai shoots him an exasperated eye-roll. "You wouldn't understand. You're male. Women have a tougher time finding their role in society, especially since no one wants to hear what they have to say."
"This won't be like your child-hood, Mai. She won't be told to sit still or to behave if she wants rewarded with a toy."
"But she will be told to sit still and to behave. A whole palace-not to forget nation-is just waiting to pick her apart and analyze every mistake she makes."
Zuko kisses his wife. "Well, we'll have to make sure she is strong enough to endure it."
As the princess grows up, she is way more interested in fighting with knives and slinging mud with Kya, Bumi, and Lin than she is with sitting still. Ursa is not the ideal princess. She runs around the capital in pants and her hair flowing freely playing hide-and-explode after school. The women look at her with displeasure and whisper that she won't ever find a husband to sire an heir with. Zuko and Mai couldn't be more proud of their daughter. She is herself and doesn't sacrifice her principles for anyone. Mai trains her in the art of knife throwing and she is a regular prodigy when it comes to fire-bending. Ursa wants to fight. But in a society where honor is everything and men are worshiped like gods on earth, she is not allowed to. She must sit still and behave like a young lady, even though it kills her to do so. When she reaches her teen years, everything seems to get worse. Now she is expected to act like a princess, look like a princess, and marry into high society. But society is trying to make her into something she is not. And she can no longer stand for it.
Princess Ursa walked patiently beside her grandfather Iroh in their lovely capital city. It was a typical spring day in the Fire Nation; the breeze was blowing her hair lightly and Cherry Blossom petals littered the stone passageways.
"You look lovely today, my dear. Are you ready for your Coming of Age ceremony?"
Ursa shrugged. She was wearing a traditional furisode that was typical for all seventeen year olds to wear when they reached maturity. Her hair was tied up in a topknot with two tresses of hair hanging loosely in her face. This signified that she was no longer a child and was ready to be looked upon for marriage. Her father was much chagrined over this fact.
"Maybe I am a little nervous to meet the woman who will decide if I'm truly an adult or not."
Iroh chuckled and patted her hand. "There is nothing to worry over. You radiate beauty and maturity. Anyone would be a fool not to see that."
Iroh places a few gold pieces into her palm. "Go have fun until the ceremony."
Ursa kisses her Grandpa in thanks, and then runs off into the capital.
She finds the camp easily enough. It was located on the outskirts of the docks where dozens of new recruits would be leaving on an official United Forces naval ship in a few days. She spots Bumi training with a few of his fellow trainees. Ursa watches as he easily disarms his opponent of his sword and pushes him to the ground. The crowd erupts into raucous cheers.
She steps into the fray and unhooks a small dagger from underneath her sleeve.
"I have winner!" she shouts. The crowd sniggers and Bumi looks at her as if she has done lost her mind.
"Princess, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here for a fight. Are you man enough to give me one?"
The men roar with laughter and she knew that she had gained their acceptance.
"Alright, princess. But don't complain if I get your dress dirty."
Ursa laughs and crooks her finger. Bumi charges forward, his sword arching straight through the air. Ursa easily dodges it and with a swift upward flick of her wrist, the sword bounces off the pavement several yards to the right.
Out of the corner of her eye, she can tell that the soldiers are shocked. She smiles and lets loose several daggers at the base of Bumi's feet. He stumbles, falls, but quickly catches himself in a rolling tumble picking up his sword in the process. Ursa flies forward, letting out more knives from beneath her furisode. He deflects them easily and cling! She barely manages to block his blow. Metal clashes on metal and both of them are sweating like crazy. Ursa spots an opening and with her wooden heel, kicks him in the gut; hard. Bumi falls backward, clutching his side in earnest.
"Uncle!" he shouts their old signature word for whenever the other has had enough.
"Yeah!" she shouts. The soldiers rush forward to check on their fallen comrade.
"I can't believe I was done in by wooden shoes," Bumi cries.
"Man, you were just whooped by a girl." She heard one of the troops say.
"Hey, that's princess to you!"
Bumi climbs slowly to his feet, taking her hand when she offers it.
"Why did you come here? You know, other than to completely humiliate me." He scowls at her playfully but she just swats at him.
"I had some free time before my coming of age ceremony." Ursa pulls at her hair, which had now come completely out of its topknot.
"Hey, the princess of the Fire Nation is officially a woman now." A man to her right says. "Are you taking suitors now?"
"Well if I were, it wouldn't be from the likes of any of you."
They all laugh and soon the crowd disperses off to continue their previous activities.
"Came because you can't get enough of me. Is that it?" Bumi waggles his eyebrows at her.
"Well you are leaving in a few days. I don't know what I'm going to do with a bunch of stuffy nobles and uptight servants."
"You'll pine after me for days. Just go ahead and admit it."
"Oh, you're absolutely correct. I won't be able to leave the bed for days." Ursa rolls her eyes and follows him up onto the stern of the ship. The UF naval force was enormous. They were entirely devoted to protecting the shores of the Fire Nation and any other part of the world that was in distress. To be completely honest, Ursa was jealous of Bumi. He got to go fight for something he believed in, where she was celebrating because she was now available for marriage.
"I wish I could come."
"Don't be silly, princess. You know girls aren't allowed to fight in the army. Besides, you have your…um…princess duties to attend to."
The last part sounded lame, even to her ears. What did she really do for this country besides sit and look pretty?
"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." Bumi said.
A bell in the distance rings.
"Crap! I'm late for my ceremony!" Ursa slips off her shoes, hitches up her robe, and races towards the capital. Bumi just laughs behind her.
"Ursa! You're late." She bursts into the ceremonial room where her parents , grandfather, and teacher sat waiting for her.
"So sorry!" she bows in apology, causing her hair to fall out of the topknot completely. Her mother slaps her tender fingers to her forehead.
Her teacher gestures for her to sit. She does, then realizing she still has her shoes in hand, stands up and slips them back on.
"Elegance and poise: zero points."
Ursa's face burns red. She steals a look at her family. Iroh is smiling and sipping his tea. Zuko and Mai look like the've just swallowed something unpleasant.
A teapot is slid forward. "Please pour us all some, tea. I'm sure we can all use some."
"One can never not need tea." Iroh says.
Ursa takes the teapot from the table and carefully pours four cups worth. She notices Iroh and Zuko grimace as they take a sip.
"Why, nephew, she takes after you in tea making."
Finally her teacher takes a sip. "It's cold."
"Is it?"
"You forgot to heat it."
"Right." She places her hand on top of the glass and begins to boil the liquid. Ursa can't help but think about her fight with Bumi. It felt so good to actually fight. Why was she here pouring tea? What would this teach her about running a country? She needed to be out there and actually experience what was going on.
"Ursa!" Her father shouts. Her thoughts shatter and the cup in her teacher's hand bursts into flames. She howls with pain and Ursa takes the teapot and pours its contents onto the flames.
"You little dunce!" The teacher shouts, makeup running and dress all see through.
"How can I claim that you have reached maturity when you clearly haven't! Thank the gods with all your might that you were born into royalty, because without that you are nothing."
Zuko flies into a rage while Ursa is ushered outside by Mai and Iroh.
"It's okay, my child. Tea is a slippery business." Iroh says rubbing her back. Her mother stands tall and elegant while her father is still inside screaming.
"That went well, I think."
Ursa is curled up under her satin covers when her father comes in. He sits down on the bed and gingerly places a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry." She whispers from underneath the blankets.
"Why are you sorry, Ursa? That woman was completely out of line."
"I'm sorry I wasn't the prince this nation wanted."
Zuko's heart can't help but break when he hears his daughter say this.
"Look at me, Ursa. Look at me."
She rises up from her hiding place and nestles herself into her father's arms.
"Never be ashamed of who you are. Your mother and I love you no matter what."
"But it doesn't matter! The entire Fire Nation looks at me and sees a frail little girl who can't handle sitting the throne. How am I supposed to prove myself to them?"
"You don't need to prove anything to anyone. Look at how well that worked out for me."
Ursa sighed and flopped back onto the bed. Her father would never understand. Why couldn't proving herself be as easy as Bumi going into the United Forces? The idea hit her like a giant brick.
A/N: This story is inspired by how girls were treated in China. The women in this story have no value and honor is heavily valued in the Fire Nation. Which is why I think Zuko strived so hard to get his back. Ursa is inspired heavily from Mulan in this fanfic. She is a fighter and not a sit still look pretty type of princess. Please comment because I worked really hard on this!