Disclaimer: I own neither Avatar: The Last Airbender or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Azula cursed herself as she paced around the stone room, the low sound joining her footsteps as they echoed from wall to wall. The whitish glow from the strip of paint on the floor illuminated the scowl on her face.

"How could I be so pathetic!"

She kicked the wall. A small cloud of dust erupted from the base of the wall, dimming the light of the paint. Azula cursed again, ignoring the throbbing pain in her foot as she continued her trek. Her performance two nights beforehand had given the blonde man cause to ignore her. She had reacted as would be expected when told that the man before her had tried to kill her as a child, first with horror and then with morbid curiosity.

However, the old man refused to budge. He obviously enjoyed this new-found power he had over the imprisoned daughter of his enemy. He mocked her with his silence, as he had mocked her with his laughter. No doubt he would soon invent a new means of torturing her.

The latch on the door to the stone room clicked open, bringing Azula and her train of thought to a halt. The door groaned as it swung open. The orange glow of torches flooded the room. The guards had arrived. These faceless men shackled her once again. The iron weights hung heavily from her wrists, swinging slightly as she was brought from the exercise room, past the glow of the stored paint, to her cell.

As one of the guards stopped to remove a bunch of keys from his belt, Azula took the opportunity to peer into the cell opposite hers. The light of the guard's torches pierced the darkness inside, outlining the figure of a man slumped against the back wall. The old man was asleep. She sighed as the door of her cell slammed shut behind her. It looked like there would be no answers forthcoming tonight.

Azula put her back to a wall of her cell, letting the cold flow from the stone into her body. She didn't shudder. Though she had become used to the chill the pervaded these dungeons. It was still strange to feel frost where there had once been fire. She shook her head and glanced at the blonde man's cell.

She muttered, "I suppose that you're certainly used to the cold."

A response came from the darkness. "Does the princess want a blanket?"

For a few moments, Azula fumed in silence. She decided to ignore the jab. The man obviously had little else to over, but she wanted want he did have. "I thought you were asleep."

She heard chains creak and clink as the man moved in the darkness.

"Never assume anything. You should have learned at least that by now."

Azula's thoughts flashed back to the Boiling Rock. A knot began to grow in her stomach. She breathed in deeply. He was talking, and that she needed if she was to find out what she wanted.

His voice came drifting through the bars once more. "I suppose you want to hear more about me and your father."

Despite the darkness, Azula's eyes narrowed. "What has you so talkative?"

Chains rattled once more as the man made his way to the front of his cell, his figure becoming more concrete with each step. He wore a frown on his creased face. "After the time I've spent in here, princess, I thought I'd lost the ability to feel boredom. It seems I was wrong."

There was a curious tone to his voice. One Azula couldn't help but feel was forced, but the frown, that was real. Something was clearly bothering the decrepit prisoner. But, she didn't couldn't allow herself to be distracted. Not while he was willing to talk. "They say a strong mind is never bored. They, in my experience, being the easily amused."

A smile crossed the man's face. "Likewise, princess. Now, were did I stop last time."

Azula crossed her arms. "You said you're thrown in here because you tried to kill me."

The man raised a hand. "That was the official story. But, I doubt even Azulon knew the truth."

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Ozai had abandoned the typical royal entourage in favour of a smaller group of elite guards. He knew he didn't have the kind of rapport his father and brother were able to have with the common grunt, so he had adopted a different method to ensure their loyalty. By the prince's generosity, each of his guards were worth as much as a minor nobleman. As such, they had little incentive to turn against him.

The crowd parted as the prince and his guard passed the fountain. However, they did not pay him the attention that they would his father or brother. He doubted they even knew his face. He had not been honoured at the mint like his bother. To these peasants he was just another nobleman. Ozai rubbed his hands together. This prophecy will change all that.

The prince whispered under his breath, "I will finally get the acknowledgement that I deserve."

"Your Highness."

Ozai stopped and looked up. One of his guard gestured towards an arched entrance into an old brick building.

The guard spoke. "This is the establishment, sire."

Ozai nodded and passed under the arch. A short wooden staircase stood on the other side. The prince quickly made his way up the creaking steps, emerging into a large room. Sunlight glared in through the glass portion of the ceiling, their rays landing on a sizeable array of plants that lay against a wooden bench. Shelves brimming with glass vials and containers of all shapes and sizes lined two of the rooms walls, along with tables full of odd glass and metalware.

The prince's eyes fell on a door opposite the top of the stairs. The handle of the door turned and the door opened, revealing a tall, blonde man.

The prince's eyes widened. Blonde hair was incredibly rare in the Fire Nation non-existent within the Water tribes. The colour was more visible in the Earth Kingdom, but still rare enough to turn heads.

The man smiled and strode towards prince, bowing as he stopped. "Your highness, it is my honour to have you as a patron of my business."

"You know who I am?"

The man smiled again. "What good Fire Nation citizen doesn't know the face of their prince?"

He had a point. But, although Ozai resented his anonymity among the peasantry, he had been banking on it this time. If it came out he had been seeing a physician about this kind of problem, he would be the laughing stock of the upper classes.

The physician noticed the expression on Ozai's face and hastily added, "Of course, your highness, discretion is part of my practice. Now, could you tell me what you wish of me?"

"My wife and I are trying to have a child."

The blonde doctor finished the thought, "And you need help?"

A frown crossed the prince's face. He didn't like the word 'help'. Only the weak needed help and he couldn't stand the thought of his wife being weak. "Not exactly."

Realisation dawned in the physician's eyes. "You want to speed up the process, correct?"

The prince nodded.

"I've got just the elixir for you." The blonde man strolled over to one of the shelves and drew a vial of blue liquid from a wooden rack. He turned and presented the glass to Ozai. "This, my prince, will do exactly what you want. It has never failed me."

Ozai took the vial from the man's outstretched arm placed it in the front pocket of his robes.

"Will that be all, sire?"

Ozai nodded. "A servant will be sent with your payment later." With that the prince turned his back on the physician and mad his way towards the stairs.

As Ozai left the room, a smile crept across the blonde man's face. "It looks like I'm moving up in this world."

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