A/N – hi guys I know these are super annoying but please can you give me reviews ? – I don't need them for ratings or anything, I'd just like the feedback. Even if they're negative – well critical, obviously noy nasty. Obviously nice reviews are very welcome too :) please + thank you ! Plus thanks to justiceintheworldofhp-yearight for reviewing ^_^

Four days passed and Zuko was missing Mora, well not her specifically, after all, he'd only know her for a few short hours, but he was missing someone his own age, that didn't sneer at him.

" The general is coming over again tomorrow" announced his father, as if reading his son's mind.

" Oh ?" questioned his mother " do you still have more to discuss ?"
" a great deal more, he has some good ideas, that man" he said stoking his beard thoughtfully " I think we'll be seeing a lot more of him.

" Will he be bringing his daughter with him ? I don't want to be made to play with her gain, she was boring" said Azula. This made something in zuko's stomach tighten aggressively against his sister, she had ditched Mora, they hadn't been made to play together, and furthermore Mora was odd but not boring.

" Young Lady !" said Ursa, scoldingly, about to begin telling her daughter off, when Zuko's father talked over her.

" Azula, a general's daughter will be a valuable friend and a good contact, if she's anything like her father" her reached over and stoked her hair lightly " like you're like me" he withdrew his hand and took another swig of his tea, while he was drinking Azula shot a nasty smirk at Zuko, he pretended he didn't care.

" and besides, he has no where else to keep the girl, something happened to their mother, she's no longer around" continued their father, with only mild interest.

" what a pity on the poor child" said Ursa, frowning

" Not necessarily, word has it their mother was a traitor, and she got what she deserved, it probably for the best that she can no longer influence the girl, I don't think she was even told of her mothers' actions."

Azula rolled her eyes "can we stop talking about them now ? It's getting boring" she was not accustomed to going this long without being able to best her brother in front of their father, so she began to brag about her progress in fire bending. Zuko sat quietly, having not made as much progress as Azula, he had nothing to expect praise for. One little sentence rang through his head, as clear as if Mora was still siting beside him, hugging her knees and looking into the pond.

" I mean when I saw Azula fire bend I dunno, It made me worried , like she'd hurt people with it, with you, I dunno, it's just different, you're different I guess"

Zuko smiled lightly to himself. He was different, good different.

Zuko woke early the next morning and got washed and dressed. He kept checking himself in the mirror to make sure he looked all-right, fighting with his hair and shirt, they seemed to just not fall right today. When Mora and her father arrived, pleasantries were exchanged between all the grown ups until Mora was pushed off to go play with Azula. Zuko retuned to his room and waited by his window, it took a good fifteen minutes before Mora trotted up to his window again.

"Hey" she chirped through Zuko's open window. Zuko smiled.

"Hi" he said, surprising himself with the lightness of his own voice and took the small girls hand reaching for his. They spend another day lost in an imaginary world where the fire nation had won the war and the whole land lived in harmony under the rule of the fire nation.

"Zuko ?" said Mora, a little shyly

" yeah ?"

" have you ever ?. . . . " She trailed off blushing hard and looking away

" What ?" he asked looking at her curiously. There was a long pause where Mora stared at the grass by her feet nibbling her lip as if working up her nerve.

"What ?" Zuko said. She jolted up, flustered, looking him in the eye, her cheeks reddening still further.

"t-taught someone fire-bending ?" she said said quickly.

Zuko blinked, 'that wasn't an embarrassing question' he thought to himself, 'Why would she be embarrassed to ask that' but he shrugged it off, still young enough to think of these sort of events as 'girls being weird'.

Zuko shook his head in response to her question.

" Can you teach me ?" Mora said "My mama used to teach me . ." she trailed off again, a look of pure sadness coming over her young featured. Zuko couldn't help but think of what his life would be if his mother ever went away. A tight ball of dread tightened in his stomach imagining a life with Azula.

" I'll teach you" he said, forcing a sad little smile which she returned.
" but don't tell my daddy ok ? Mama said I shouldn't show him or even tell him about fire bending, or that she or I had been doing it, as part of the surprise, you know ?"

Zuko nodded smiling, but then a thought crossed his mind.

"Azula is more advanced then me, wouldn't you rather have her as a teacher ?"

The young girl shook her head violently.

" I told you I don't like the way Azula fire-bends, it kinda scares me, it's too aggressive."

Zuko grinned " sure ok, well what do you know ?"

" not much, I mean I know the basic-basics like breathing and stuff, but I can't conjure that much fire"

" Ok" he said "well after breathing, its all about finding your core" he said circling his hands by his stomach and creating a small flame "you need to find your centre, that's where your fire-bending comes from"

The two practised until quite late, she had mastered conjuring a small flame in both hands and being able to move freely without having ether of them go out before the voice of Mora's father called again, pulling her away from him. She pushed her arms around him again, for their goodbye hug and he hugged her back, finding it a lot easier then he had the last time.

As he watched the girl disappear again he thought of how red she'd gotten when she's asked him to teach her fire bending, was she really that embarrassed at it ? It never crossed his mind that it might not have been her original question, a cold voice pulled him back to reality.

" Zuzu's got a giiiirrlfriiennd" Azula teased, dragging out the would 'girlfriend' so it was long and annoying.
" SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND !" Zuko yelled his cheeks flushing.

" yeah, ok Zuzu, whaever you say" Azula skipped away singing "Zuzu and Mora sitting in a tree"

" she's not my girlfriend" The young boy mumbled to himself following his sister back home.