As the matter was one of great urgency and importance, message was sent out to Aang and his friends as well as Iroh, who still advised his beloved nephew time and again. Asahi was advised to one of the rooms and had taken the dragon's egg with her, after gently taking it back from Zuko. The Firelord himself was not sleeping well that night, tossing around in his giant bed, feeling ominous and wondering what the morning would bring.
Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph had announced to arrive in the morning, and so they did. Zuko had ordered breakfast for all of them in the counseling room and they were already helping themselves after a long night of traveling when Asahi entered the room.
Zuko stood up from his chair and the others followed, being intensely interested in the woman that he and Suki had described. Asahi was draped in the traditional Fire Nation tunics that they had offered her the night before and nodded shortly to greet the group.
"Hello." She said. "My name is Asahi."
She sat down at the empty spot and introductions were made. She looked at them with a friendly, yet intense gaze.
"I know who you are." She said simply after they had inroduced themselves. "Everyone does."
They looked at her in bewilderement. She was used to it. Usually people tended to disliked her for her direct manner, but the Gaang seemed to cope with it slightly better than the rest.
"Well, all the better!" Iroh announced "Then there's no need to explain our situation, is there." He held up a teapot, offering to fill her cup and she nodded thankfully.
"More time for you to tell us your story." Aang added.
Being in front of the group that almost singlehandedly shaped a fallen country anew was indeed a little intimidating. But Asahi, spending most of her time with two humungous dragons, was used to intimidating.
"Tell me, Asahi, what exactly is a Dragonlord?" Katara asked.
"Well..." She started. "We used to be a clan of Firebenders with some special abilities."
"Like shooting lightning?" Sokka interrupted "Because we've had our fair share of that."
Asahi looked at him, stunned, then she chuckled slightly.
"No." She said and shook her head. "No lightning bolts from me. A Dragonlord is someone who can communicate with a dragon on an entirely different level. You could almost say, we can talk to them."
"Talk to a dragon?!" Everybody except Zuko and his uncle stared at her in wonder.
"Yes." She answered "Usually, the person who bonds with the dragon is the only one who can properly coomunicate with them, but a Dragonlord is born with the ability to talk with any dragon they see. Also" She said and set a small fire to the table "We're able to produce flames that neither spread nor burn."
"Wha-?" Aang reluctantly put his hand over the flame. "Wow, it's cold." He said.
"Really?" Katara stretched out her hand and Suki, Toph and Sokka followed. They shared a look of surprise.
Asahi flicked her hand and the flame died out.
"These are the basic assets of one born as a Firelord." She finished her explanation.
"You said you're... the last one?" Aang, who had suffered the loneliness of being the last one of his tribe as well, looked at her, his kind eyes full of compassion.
"Yes." She nodded.
"What... happened?" Now it was Suki's turn to speak. Asahi glanced towards Zuko and Iroh and hesitated.
"Erm..."
"He had them killed." Zuko answered in her stead.
"What?" Everyone's heads turned to Zuko.
"My grandfather felt threatened by the excistance of a whole tribe of powerful Firebenders that could also command the dragons and so he had them slaughtered in their sleep one night. The remaining ones that had escaped the attack were hunted down by my fathers orders."
Everybody felll silent and Iroh looked as if he'd been slapped across the face.
"It is one of the darkest chapters of Fire Nation history." He said.
"How come you survived?" Toph asked after a while.
"My father, who was eventually killed, hid me and my powers from the moment of my birth. We used to live with the Sun Warriors, then, when I was old enough, started travelling so as not to endanger the tribe and when I was left to survive on my own, I continued this lifestyle. Too afraid to die I took no active part in the revolution, which I regret to this day."
She stopped and looked at Aang and Zuko.
"Word travels fast and after I heard that you had visited the Sun Warriors I returned to them. I stayed there until Ran and Shaw assigned me to see the Firelord."
"And now I'm supposed to raise a dragon." Zuko concluded "Why me? And how?"
Asahi pierced him with her eyes.
"As to why: the dragons were impressed by your development, but look in worry at you daily routine. They think you might need some life and responsibilities outside from being a Firelord."
"The Masters know of my daily routine?" Zuko asked, befuddled.
"Yes." Asahi smiled, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "And now we get to the how: Until the dragon has hatched and you have made a proper connection to him,m I will stay here, by your side."
She said it naturally, but nevertheless, Zuko and his companions blushed.
"Oh... is that so..." He mumbled.
Iroh took a sideway glance to his nephew and a small smile slipped over his mouth. It had been quite a while since he'd last seen him so fussed.
"Well, since that's settled, I'll go now." Toph exclaimed "My minion- I mean, my students are waiting for me!"
She got up and turned towards Asahi.
"Inform me when there's a due date for that." She said and pointed towards the egg that the woman had held carefully in her arms all the time.
"Due date...?" Asahi was smiling awkwardly.
"Everybody." Toph waved in leaving "See you soon."
