As the sun light peeks into the bedroom window a young woman wakes up by its rays of light. She opens her blue eyes looking around the bedroom noticing her lover was gone. She slowly got out of bed and slipped on into her formal water tribe gown that was handmade by the Northern Water Tribe a couple of months ago.
She sits down in front of the dresser mirror and starts to comb her hair. One year has passed since the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai. So much had changed after that. Avatar Aang went off in search for more air nomads still hoping to rebuild his culture, he didn't stay long at the Fire Nation palace.
Next to leave was her brother Sokka and Suki; heading back to the Southern Water Tribe wanting to stand by his father's side and help rebuild the tribe to become stronger and to reconnect with their sister tribe of the North. Katara was sad for a while once her brother left but she was happy once she started receiving letters from them.
Ty Lee went to Kyoshi Island to help the Kyoshi Warriors protect part of their Earth Kingdom. She said she wanted to help in the war effort and try to make things easier for her friends. Mai and Azula were a bit worried and sad that she was leaving. But Ty Lee promised that she would try to stop by and visit.
Around the same time Toph and Uncle Iroh left but for different reasons. Toph left because King Bumi asked to seek an audience with her. He said he was really interesting in her skills to metalbend and wished to teach her more earthbending techniques.
She agreed to go with him and talked about wanting to travel all of the Earth Kingdom territories. Katara worried for her but Toph just said that she will be fine and that no one could beat her. Azula asked to keep contact with the blind bandit, reason being over the short amount of time they became good friends. So it was somewhat hard to watch their friend leave.
Uncle Iroh left with her wanting to go back to Ba Sing Se just to settle down and drink tea while playing Pai Sho with his customers who dared challenged him. Zuko and Azula had a hard time watching him leave. He was like a father to them, but he promised he would message them as much as possible and even visit every now and then just to spend some time.
And as for Mai and herself they decided to stay at the Fire Nation palace to be with their lovers. Over the months Zuko got enough courage to ask for Mai's hand in marriage so she could become his Fire Lady which she happily agreed to. Katara stayed for two different reasons one was to be with Azula and the second was to help the Fire Nation and Water Tribe make peace between each other.
Over the course of time all Water Tribes wanted her to become their Ambassador, she agreed to take the position but she wanted two more people to help her, which was her father and beloved. With great results she became a great leader of peace between both nations. She smiled and slowly stood up and left their bedroom.
The young woman walked around the palace for a moment looking for her lover. There were usually four places where her lover would be at. One was the outside training area, the second was the throne room, the third was the garden, and the fourth was the war room. But it was rare when she was in the war room.
Katara looked into the three places, she was not there. Then she started walking over to the throne room. As she approached the door two guards stood by blocking the way.
"Excuse me but is Princess Azula in there?" the young woman asked
The first guard speaks "Yes she is along with the Fire Lord"
"Can i pass through?" she asked
"I'm sorry Ambassador but not right now. No one is allowed to go in there. He made it very clear about it" the second guard said
She raises a brow "Is something wrong?"
"Not at all Ambassador it only involves the Fire Lord and Princess" The first guard insured
"Do you know how long they have been in there?" she asked
"Since early this morning ma'am" the second guard informed
She looks at them seeing which one will answer "How long will they stay in there?"
The first guard speaks up "We don't really know, but they wished not to be disturbed during this time"
"I understand. Do you know where the Fire Lord's fiancé is at?" looking at them
"She should be in family room having a cup of tea" one of them said
"I see, very well then. Thank you" She said with a smile
The second guard smiles "Anytime Ambassador" and both slightly bow their heads
As the waterbender walked through the palace she smiled remembering how sometimes she would get lost through these exact same halls. It took a while to getting used too but with her lovers help she was able to make her way around the large palace easily.
Once she walked into the family room she smiled seeing Mai sip on some tea reading a recent letter from their friend Ty Lee. The soon to be Fire Lady looks up and lightly smiles.
"Awake I see" she said slowly pulling the letter down
"Yea, I can't seem to sleep well without the warmth next to me" the blued eyed woman said sitting down in a chair not too far from Mai
"I know what you mean" she slowly sits herself up "So what brings you here?"
"I was actually looking for Azula but I found out that she was talking to Zuko" she informed her friend
"They're still talking?" Mai asked a bit surprised
"Yes, I'm somewhat worried. Do you know if there is anything wrong?" Katara asked
"I think I might know" the future Fire Lady sits up straight "Zuko found out that there are more rebellion groups coming out around Earth Kingdom territories. They speak out for Ozai." She said
"I see. Is there anything else besides that though?" the young woman asked
"Yes there is; the rebels have recently been taking our men and using Fire Nation solider disguises that way the can sneak in and out through our barricades. Zuko is extremely worried that some soldiers here are the rebellion in disguise." Mai said with a hint of concern in her voice as well
Katara looks over at Mai "Is there any way I can help in this?"
"I'm not sure; the only people that can really help is our generals and Azula since they are the only ones that know the ground and sea territories that we took over for the last hundred years." The young woman informed pouring an extra cup of tea for Katara
"So I'm guessing Zuko and Azula are talking about the rebellion" she said taking the cup of tea and giving a slight nod in thanks
"My thoughts exactly" Mai said pouring herself more tea then she looks over at the Ambassador seeing a worried look in her eyes "Katara he just wants a bright future for us, and Azula is our best resource to help us make it bright"
The waterbender carefully takes a sip of her tea "I know, she told me awhile back that she was meant for war. Since her father turned her into that." She sighs looking at her cup of tea "She's very skilled, I never seen such intelligences for battle plans besides my brother and father. If she was the general or something she could probably put a major hole into the rebellion."
"Yes she could, she doesn't just think about her steps she also thinks about the enemies steps" her friend informed
"I have noticed that when I first encountered the three of y'all" Katara said lightly smiling
Mai smiles as well and nods "Yes, very determined" she said making her and the Ambassador lightly laugh.
As they carried on about their conversation back in the throne room Azula sits down on her knees in front of her brother who hides behind the fames looking down on her with worried eyes.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this Azula?" he asked still concerned
"Yes brother I am sure. This is also my fault as much as his." She stated
"What about Katara? She won't like it" the Fire Lord pointed out
"I know she won't but this is the best way to get things on the right path and into a brighter future brother." She looks up at him "Please let me help, let me be the guardian of our flame"
Zuko looks at his little sister and quietly speaks "Azula"
"Please brother, I want to make things right between us. I want to prove myself to you that I can be of help in this war." She pleaded bowing her head till it barely touched the floor
He looks at her and lightly sighs "Very well Azula, you have my permission two and a half years by land and sea. It'll be the total of five years. But if we work fast enough on these tactics you will be home sooner" he informed
"Thank you brother" she said looking back up at her brother with a light smile
He smiles back then slightly leans back "Now there's just one more thing to take care of"
The prodigy looks at her brother raising a brow "And that is?"
"How are we going to tell the Ambassador or as I like to call her my future sister in law about this little plan of yours?" he said smiling as he watches his sister blush
"I'm not sure, maybe its best that I talk to her first, and if she wants to come to you. I'll go with her so she won't harm you." She simply stated knowing how her lover can get at times
He nods in agreement "That would be best"
"So have you thought of a way to get the rebels out of those disguises?" the Princess asked
"Not a clue, our soldiers can't tell if it's the enemy or not" he said a bit frustrated by this "Do you have any thoughts on what we should do sister?"
She crosses her arms over her chest "Somewhat but I haven't fully came to the decision yet" she informed
"Will you tell me as soon as you make the decision?" the Fire Lord asked
She nods "Of course brother"
"Thank you" smiling and slowly stood up walking off the throne "Now shall we take our leave and join our ladies?" he asked walking over to his sister
"Yes I would like that very much" she said smiling
Mai and Katara sat at the Pai Sho table looking very closely at their opponents, watching and waiting to see what the next move would be. As Katara was about to make her move she looks up hearing laughter coming from the hall way. Then Azula and Zuko appear with his arm around his sister's shoulders.
"Then right when he was about to do it I stood up and shouted "Eito you're a young man, don't do it!" she laughs trying to finish her story "Hina hears this and screams getting up, she tries to leaves but forgets about the shirt over her head and runs right into the wall and knocks herself out"
Everyone smiles watching her laugh "so now Eito is just so mad, he grabs a stick and starts chasing after me so I look back at him and yell "what are you trying hit me for, I just did ya a favor" she said making her brother and herself laugh
"and that makes Eito more angry he loses his grip on the stick and its hits a lantern which causes our teachers house to set on fire because of this thing" she laughed for a moment and started to calm down "That was it. I think that was the last time I saw him; next day he went off to go into training so he could fight in the war"
Zuko looks at her "Do you think he's still alive after these pass couple of years?" he asked
"You know to be honest I'm not really sure. During those two years of training I didn't really stay in one place. Every two or three months I would end up with a new teacher." She said sitting next to her lover.
"You probably learned a lot after my banishment huh?" he said sitting next to his fiancé
"Yea" she slightly nods "Yea I did, it's kind of crazy when I look back at it now. I never realized I was making small friends along the way. But when I came back here I lost myself." She said looking at the game
Katara leans over resting her head on her firebenders shoulder "Well you're not lost anymore"
"Yes I know and I should thank you for that." The prodigy said looking at her lover happily
Mai lightly coughs "Sorry to break up the moment but don't you have something to show her Azula" she said casting her soon to be sister in law a smirk
"Hm? Oh yea right I almost forgot" she stood up and looked at her lover "Be right back" she said and quickly walked out
The Fire Lord looks at his lover in question "Where is she going?"
"She has a surprise for Katara" she simply stated
"And how do you know?" he asked skeptically
She grinned "I caught her sneaking around with it"
Katara lightly blushes "I wonder what it is?"
"I'm sure you'll love it" she said
Moments later Azula comes back with a small wooden box in her hands. Then she slowly sits down next to her lover smiling to see a curious look on her lovers face.
"Katara, ever since you have been Ambassador for your Water Tribes you have been doing a great job keeping peace between our nation" she gestures to her brother and Mai "and yours" she said looking back at her lover "I wanted to give you something that will represent you statues and your tribe."
"What is it?" her lover asked getting excited
The prodigy smiles and doesn't say a word. Instead she opens the box and carefully pulls out a tiara band with a baby blue crescent moon pendant dangling in the front. She couldn't help but smile seeing her lover awe struck by gift. She moves a bit closer and carefully places the tiara on her lovers head.
Katara finally realizes she was wearing the tiara when the crescent moon lightly touches her forehead. She was about to say something but Azula stopped her then she watched her lover pull out one more thing from the box. It was a silver bracelet with another crescent moon imprinted into the bracelet.
The prodigy sits back and smiles "So what do you think?"
Katara stays silent for a moment taking it all in. She carefully looks over at the bracelet then lightly touches the dangling crescent moon on her head. Then she smiles and tackles her lover to the floor kissing her deeply.
Zuko blushes red and looks away while Mai sits there grinning "The girl works fast" she simply said drinking her cup of tea.
As time went on everyone did what they normally did which was discuses about the war and political issues with the councils, making right choses to see if there was any solution to any problem that came their way. But the most people who would talk were either Azula or Zuko.
Katara barely spoke during the meetings because it didn't involve the water tribe. Once in a while she would put her two cents in if asked. Mai was the same way but she spoke out only to her fiancé if something didn't sound right.
After the meetings sometimes they would relax by the pond or spar with each other. Azula and Zuko usually went head to head against each other sparring and teaching moves to one another. Now even Zuko learned how to strike lighting without it blowing up in his face.
Katara would often spar with her lover as well. But it rarely would end up like that. Most of the time they would just synchronize together with her waterbender, to them it was an intimate moment. And they enjoyed it very much.
Then after the sparring they would go into the dining room to eat and chat to one another. Sometimes it would be Azula doing all the talking, telling her interesting adventures when she was younger and how she learned certain things from countless teachers she meet over the past years.
While they were eating Azula sat quietly for a moment looking at the candle light that was across the table still thinking of a way to outsmart the enemy, she became very concerned when she heard about the rebellion in the name of her father. It would usually mean that the dream she had might come true.
"I GOT IT!" she said shooting out of her seat and scaring everyone else at the table
Katara lightly hits her lovers stomach "Damn it Azula you nearly gave me a heart attack"
"No kidding" Mai said with her hand over her heart
Azula chuckled nervously "oops"
"Azula what is it you wanted to say?" Zuko said trying to keep his cool
"One moment, I got a solution to our problem" and quickly ran out of the dining room
Katara raised a brow looking at the Fire Lord "Problem?"
"I wonder which one" he asked himself
Then the prodigy comes back with two papers a couple of brushes and some paint. Once she came to the table she moved all her stuff to the side quickly. Everyone watched as she got her things prepared.
"Sis what are you doing?" Zuko asked watching his sister
"Shh Zuzu, Zula has an idea" she said with a grin
Then she grabs the red paint and starts to carefully draw out the fire nation symbol then grabs another brush and starts to add blue to the symbol, once she was done she picks up the paper examining it. Then she places it behind her. Zuko and Katara were about to look over to see what it looked like but a hand shot out.
"Not yet; wait." The grabbed another brush drawing out the Fire Nation emblem
They watched carefully as she added two more colors into the black emblem, once she was done she grabbed the paper behind her and placed down next to the other one. Everyone leaned over looking at the interesting drawings.
The Fire Nation symbol had red lines at the top but in the center they were blue lines slowly going up and forming into red. Then they looked at the Fire Nation emblem at the center of the large flame there was another red orange like flame but there was a slight hint of blue inside that red orange flame.
The Fire Lord looks up at his sister "I like it but please explain"
"Ok remember how you said that our troops were usually taken by the rebels and they would steal their clothes so they could easily sneak past our blockades" she asked
"How could I not forget? Bastards" scoffing
"Well brother behold the new symbol of our future. Our troops will be wearing these symbols to represent the future and our new Fire Lord." The princess said smiling
"But what does the blue involve?" Mai asked
"It represents my flame, the red represents the new Fire Lord and the blue flame represents myself" she looks at her brother smiling "Together we can make a better future for all of us with this symbol, it would show that he is not alone in fixing this war but with me by his side"
Zuko smiles with pride and places his hand on her shoulder "Flames burn as one."
"Together for a brighter future" she said placing a hand on his shoulder as well
The Ambassador smiles "Azula this is amazing, now we don't have to worry about the rebels passing through Earth Kingdom territories without this special symbol" she said looking at the new symbols
"But what if they do get their hands on it" The future Fire Lady asked a bit worried
Azula grins crossing her arms over her chest "They won't, I thought this through carefully. The rebellion is fighting for Ozai they wouldn't dare represent the new Fire Lord because like all Fire Nation they are too prideful and stubborn to even touch our symbol"
"Yes that is true" Katara said smiling poking fun of her lover
The prodigy looks at him "So what do you think brother?"
"Azula this will be the greatest solution and hope for us" he said happily "I'll ask one of our servants to take it to the armor makers"
As night falls everyone settles in and heads off to bed. Azula and Zuko talked alone for a small amount of time. The princess requested that she would like fifty soldiers who would go with her along with them wearing the new symbols.
Zuko agreed to Azula's demands and gave her the date of when she would be leaving. They both agreed and wished each other a goodnight. Azula walked quietly through the halls thinking of a way of how to tell her lover she was leaving soon.
When she reached their bedroom she lightly sighed looked at the door for a moment. Then she quietly walked in closing the door behind her. She looks up and sees her lover sitting in front of the dresser mirror combing her long wavy brown hair.
Katara lightly smiles "You're staring again."
The prodigy smiles and walks over to her lover and wraps her arms around her "That is because I love how you look"
"You always say that" her lover smiled
The firebender kisses her lovers shoulder "I say it because it is true my princess" she looks into the mirror looking at her lovers smile then slowly lets go and turns away walking over to the window
The Ambassador notices her lovers warmth was gone then looks into the reflection of the mirror seeing Azula stand by the window "Is something wrong?" she asked as she slowly continued to brush her hair
"Katara" she pauses for a moment then speaks in the gentlest voice "please don't be upset with me. But I'm going back to war to fight against the rebellion."
Katara's eyes open in shock dropping her brush on the ground then turns around looking at her lover in disbelief.
"What?"