I realize that the prologue was not much to interest you, so here is chapter 1. Same thing applies, review, I post.

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Eight Years Earlier…

Ami stood in the large marble hall and stared at the wall of fire that hid the face of the Fire Lord. A sage stood in front of his throne, and was speaking in a low monotone voice that she had begun ignoring ages ago.

She felt weighed down by the amount of cloth present in the dress she had been sewn into that morning. At eight years old, she could dress herself, or so she thought, until two women came in and roughly tied her into a red, silk dress that, to her, was the size of a tent. Her hair had been yanked into three buns in a triangle pattern at the back of her head, and she couldn't wait to take them out.

Around her sat many people, some she knew, like her father who was sitting behind her and some were complete strangers, like the teenager sitting next to her. He was amazingly tall to her, and though they had not said a word to each other yet, she felt like he might be kind, and he had winked at her as they had entered the room.

Behind him was another man, much older, who she assumed was the teenager's father. It only made sense, since her father was behind her. She didn't see any women in the room, but that didn't bother her too much. She had never been around women for long periods of time, and when she was they usually had something mean to say about her hair or her clothes, so she avoided them most of the time.

Suddenly a large gong was rung across the room, and the young man next to her stood up. She stood too, and he smiled at her in approval. She had done something right, for once. The Sage bowed to them, and she and the young man bowed in return. Then everyone filed out of the room, much to slow for Ami's taste.

Her father took her aside once they had left the room, and the teenager joined them. "This is Lu Ten." He said to her, bowing low to the young man. "You are to be his bride someday."

Lu Ten bowed to them, and then reached out and put his hand under her chin. She wasn't sure if she liked it, but she didn't want to offend someone so tall. He smiled at her, "I stopped paying attention during the ceremony too." He laughed, and she decided it was a nice laugh.

"How did you know I wasn't paying attention?" She asked, not remembering that she wasn't supposed to speak in front of men. He just laughed again.

"Because I looked over about halfway through and you're deep blue eyes were completely lost. I don't think you could ever hide anything, those eyes will give you away." The man who had been sitting behind him walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I must be going," Lu Ten began "I'm sure we will see each other around." He winked, and then walked off towards a group of generals.

"Zhao?" A woman's voice called from not to far off. Ami knew her dad's name, and was surprised to hear it called. Normally women were looking for her, and usually to dress her.

"Ursa, what a pleasant surprise." Zhao said to the woman who was approaching them. She was sweet looking, and she didn't look like she had a comb hidden in her sleeves, though her sleeves were big and billowy, they could have had anything in them.

"I want you to meet my son, Zuko. He is about Ami's age." A boy with a ponytail was standing next to her; he seemed disinterested in the whole introduction. Ami smiled politely, but she didn't think to bow. Her father placed his hand on her back and pressed, hard. She bent over from the pressure, and then realized that this boy must be a prince.

The adults began to talk, and she stared awkwardly at Zuko. She couldn't say anything until he addressed her, and so she waited for him to speak. He looked around the room with an odd disinterest. To him, she seemed like just another palace girl, like his sister and her friends. He looked down at his feet, hoping that the adults would stop talking soon, but knowing that they wouldn't.

Finally, he looked directly into her eyes. She gave him a tiny smile, but he didn't see it. She didn't see the frown that he gave her either. All they could see were each other's eyes. Deep blue and bright gold, they seemed to swim in each other's eyes. They didn't say a word from that moment on, but they both knew that they were bound to be friends.

Yeah yeah, I know, cheesy eight year old fluff. But I have to give backstory before I get to the REAL stuff.

Preview of Chapter 2:

..."Ami, what are you doing out in the middle of the night with my cousin?" Lu Ten said as he rubbed her head and smiled. Zuko walked forward and followed protocol in bowing slowly.

Lu Ten was tall and muscular, though he still carried an air of youth about him. His hair was in a knot at the top of his head, and he wore full fire nation armor.

"We were just playing." Ami said in the sweetest voice she could conjure.

"Isn't there enough time to do that during the day? Or is my bride hiding something from me?" He bent over and stared into her eyes with a reproachful look. She blushed lightly and looked away from him. She had a hard time lying to him, seeing as he was her hero. "But that's not what I came to tell you."...

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