A large crash sounded from the corner of the room, and Lyle jerked awake, sweating profusely. Her eyes darted towards the place where the noise had occurred, and saw an ashamed looking owl-kitten. Since she had just snapped out of a particularly violent nightmare, she was overjoyed to see that her pet had caused the disturbance. "I could kiss you right now," she smirked at the creature. His name was Yuki, and he was a lovely specimen, with snowy white fur, matching downy feathers, and soot-like black markings everywhere but his fluffy belly.

Lyle swung herself out of bed and drowsily stumbled over to Yuki. He cowered a bit in fear, expecting the worst. But instead of harsh words or a swat, she picked him up and nuzzled his fuzzy neck. He gave a surprised purr and nuzzled right back, sounding like a tiny motorboat as the girl carried him over to her bed. "I had the dream again, Ki-ki. You know the one." Yuki didn't understand a word she was saying, but he purred harder when he noticed the distressed look on his favorite human's face. Lyle sighed and fell back against her sweaty pillow.

"I don't get it. After nine years, you'd think I'd be over what happened." She closed her sharp grey eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples with the heels of her hands. "And, there was that dragon again; breathing skin-scorching flames, and snarling at me in lizard tongues. He wants something from me… I just don't know what." Yuki looked up at her, his icicle eyes shining with affection. He curled up happily on her belly. Lyle suddenly sat up. "Are you trying to tell me something? You know I can't use my firebending. Not since mother and father…" Truthfully, the owl-kitten had picked her tummy because it was the warmest part of her body. But Lyle didn't know that. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? The dragon… the burning… the houses… it all makes sense now. But my firebending- how is that supposed to help anything? I haven't even attempted a spark since I was four."

Yuki just blinked and let out another gentle purr. Lyle stroked his ears, deep in thought. Sitting up straight, she steeled her eyes and came to a conclusion. "Alright. I have to leave. I know this is quite sudden, but the pull is just too strong. Ki-ki, let's go." With that, Lyle slipped on her boots, pulled her cape over her shoulders, and slid out the window, Yuki clumsily fluttering after her.

That was how Lyle came to be sitting at a fancy desk mulling over some papers. It was five years ago that she had run away to find a firebending teacher. After her rapid success with the ways of the flame, she'd decided that she didn't want to use her firebending to harm others, much to the disappointment of her war loving master. Instead, she'd started up a sort of vigilante business. "Helping the helpless" was her unofficial motto, and her job was exactly what it said on the tin. Currently, she was scanning the reports of her last mission, a mission that had gone swimmingly, for once. A nobleman's raccoon-dog had been stuck up in a tree, with swarms of buzzard-wasps surrounding it. Lyle had done a bit of fancy bending to impress the man, and simultaneously rescued the pup. Of course, her showmanship and effectiveness had gotten her a lovely bag of gold pieces dripping with praise and thanks. Noblemen were her favorites when it came to payment.

But, as Lyle liked to say, every silver lining has a big grey cloud attached to it. To her dismay, the paperwork that came with this rescue was cumbersome and time consuming. Though nobles might be easy to impress, they liked to know exactly where their money went to. Even though the noble had seen it with his own eyes, Lyle practically had to write minutes on what occurred. She sighed, leafing through the sheets again and shaking her cramped hand. As she was about to start a new page, her double doors crashed wide open.

A frazzled looking girl rushed in through said doors, her amber eyes wide with panic. She spotted a surprised Lyle and ran towards her, bits of hair falling out of her once-perfect royal topknot. "Help!" The girl squeaked, clasping her hands together and looking at Lyle expectantly.

"If you want help," Lyle started, "you should probably tell me who you are first."

"Oh, yes. Of course," the girl crisply said, brushing her fallen hair out of her face. "My name is Izumi, crown princess of the Fire Nation, daughter of Fire Lord Hayazo and Fire Lady Yumi, granddaughter of the late Fire Lord Zuko, and Fire Lady Mai, great granddaughter of-" Lyle cut her off with a tired gesture. The princess gave a huff. "One does not interrupt royalty, peasant girl."

"Excuse me?" Lyle said, her normally subdued voice bubbling with anger. "I am far from a peasant. My parents were nobles, quite high ranking, until some of you bloody royal bastards took it upon yourselves to quietly exterminate them."

Izumi's eyes flashed. "'Bloody royal bastards', you say? I could easily have you join your parents with a flick of my wrist. Insulting members of Sozin's line is a crime punishable by things worse than death." A grin twitched on Lyle's mouth as she calmed the fire within her and leaned back in her chair.

"Spirits, you're just like your great-aunt. A spitting image of her, I might add."

"Lady Azula… how?" Izumi deflated a bit as Lyle silenced her again.

"We can save that for another time. Besides, you said you needed my help, and that's what I'm here for, no matter what hard feelings might be harbored between us. What seems to be the problem, princess?"

Smoothing the front of her robes, Izumi straightened and began to speak. "My younger brother, Prince Kazu, has gone missing. My parents have deployed the Fire Nation's best in a search for him, but I fear that won't be enough. Since I've heard plenty of good things about you, I thought I'd ask for your help in finding him."

"I see," Lyle murmured. "And how old is Prince Kazu, exactly?"

"Just shy of five."

Lyle coughed in disbelief. "A five year old? How on earth did you manage to lose a child so young?"

"Well, you see, he is next in line for the throne, so it's rumored that he's been kidnapped. I wouldn't put it past our enemies to try and take out the next Fire Lord before he's even learned to read."

Shaking her head, Lyle pulled out a piece of paper. "Fine," she grumbled, scribbling some characters on the sheet. "If this mission didn't have a child's life on the line, believe me, I wouldn't have anything to do with it. But even I can't let an innocent die." She finished writing and handed her quill to Izumi. "Sign."