Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender

Chapter 3

"You can't catch me, Zuko!"

"Yes I can, just watch!"

Akemi dodged Zuko and ran around the gardens. They were playing an intense game of tag, and Akemi proved to be very nimble and was able to escape her friend trying to tap her, and he grew frustrated. She laughed more and dodged Zuko again, and he let out a small exclaim along the lines of, 'come on, just stand still,' before pursuing her once more. Some distance away, Azula sat with crossed arms, watching them run around in mild disgust. She would've played tag if not for the fact Akemi was involved; she honestly despised her very presence as it is, and didn't want to associate with her in any way unless it was for picking on her.

Ursa sat in front of the pond. She didn't look like she was listening to the children's laughter or watching them run around. She was staring at the pond silently, deep in thought about something.

Suddenly, a messenger came into the gardens and hurried up to the queen. "Lady Ursa," he greeted, knelt down in respect, and presented a scroll in both his hands. "A message from Ba Sing Se." Ursa thanked the servant and waved him off. After they left, Ursa opened the scroll.

As her eyes scanned the page, Ursa's smile faltered as she started reading the writing. Her facial expression only seemed to get worse as she went on. She slowly stood up while still continuing to read the parchment, never breaking contact eye contact with it, before she looked up. Her face was twisted in a deep melancholic way, and then tears started to roll down her cheeks. Akemi and Zuko stopped playing tag when Zuko stopped running, who had noticed Ursa's tears. Akemi was confused until he pointed to his mother, and her eyes widened.

They walked over. "What's wrong?" Akemi asked as Azula walked over and stood next to Zuko in curiosity.

Ursa looked down at them. "A message from the lieutenant of the siege...your uncle Iroh has lost his son, Lu Ten…"

Akemi and Zuko's expression's dropped. Azula looked as impassive as ever, despite the fact it was a message about her cousin's death.

"Lu Ten didn't survive the battle."

Zuko hung his head low sadly and Akemi wasn't sure how to react. Her head lowered towards the ground, barely even noticing Zuko trying to not react badly to the news. He, however, assumed Akemi was trying hard not to cry and went with placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Akemi shrugged off the hand on her shoulder before running back to the palace, not lifting her face the entire time. Ursa let out a depressed sigh and slowly trailed in Akemi's direction. Zuko only stared in the direction they left in, before he too hung his head in mourning.

As he stared at his feet in deep thought, Azula raised an eyebrow and hummed nonchalantly. "So-Lu Ten died." She stated, and twirled her finger in the air. "Big deal." She muttered in a bored tone, almost sounding like Mai at that moment in time. Zuko glared at Azula and shouted, "What is wrong with you?" He ran off to the palace, shaking his head, leaving Azula there who didn't seem fazed by his retort.

A long pause, before Azula rolled her eyes to the sky for maybe the 10th time that day and let out a casual sigh. She shrugged her shoulders. "It's war." Azula pointed out to no one in particular, despite the fact Zuko already was long gone and she had no audience to boast to. "What does one expect? There are winners and losers out there." She sat back down in front of the pond and watched the koi fish that swimmed in it.

Akemi stared at a painting on a tapestry hung in her room. It had the profile of Lu Ten in the painting in his soldier uniform, a gentle smile on his face. That painting was made a few years before Lu Ten had left for the siege of Ba Sing Se. She doesn't remember much about him, considering he only visited a few times during the war, but she knew was very sweet and kind...she just couldn't believe he was gone, now. But he was. And she wondered if that same thing would happen tomorrow to Iroh, since he's still out there. She worried about him.

A soft knock came from her door. "Come in." Akemi said quietly without taking her eyes off the painting. Ursa slipped in silently. "Are you alright...?" Ursa asked, walking over and standing next to her. She stared at the girl's unresponsive features and followed her eyes to the painting. Oh, how Ursa was already missing Lu Ten. He didn't deserve to die at such a young age, she remorsefully thought to herself but remained in silence with Akemi.

Ursa placed an arm around her shoulders, unsure of what to say to Akemi at this point.

"I feel bad about this." Ursa blinked. "Why so, my child?" She asked, puzzled by Akemi's words as she kneeled down to the girl's height. "It's bad to hold in whatever's troubling you. It's not healthy."

Akemi mumbled something that Ursa couldn't pick up. "Come again, my dear?"

"I..." Akemi's voice died down. She pressed her lips in a thin line, and Ursa's brows furrowed. "Akemi. Please tell me what troubles you."

Akemi finally lifted her face and looked at Ursa in the eyes. "I feel like I should be more sad about this...he was Zuko's cousin. And I've met him before..." She twiddled her fingers anxiously. She wasn't sure how Ursa was going to react. "Does this make me a bad person if I don't cry or feel that sad about it because I didn't know him that well?"

Ursa let out a sigh. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. You can't be sad about losing someone you didn't know." She placed her hands on Akemi's cheeks. "This does not make you a bad person. But, make sure you are just there for Zuko through this...as his friend. He'll be sad for a long time."

Akemi blinked and nodded. Ursa smiled gently.

Someone knocked on the door. The two turned their head as opened slowly, revealing Zuko. He stepped in quietly. Lu Ten's death seemed to have affected him, as he looked quite depressed about the whole ordeal. Ursa motioned him to join her and Akemi. His friend looked at him in concern, wondering how he was faring. She was a small child, and didn't understand the extent to how Zuko was feeling at the moment, but she knew he won't be happy.

'That's okay,' She reminded herself. 'He needs a friend, now. And I'll be there for him however long it takes for him to be better!' She thought determinedly. She walked from Ursa over to Zuko, who was looking at his feet. He was surprised when Akemi suddenly embraced him tightly, unsure of how to react. They sat like that for a long time, along with Ursa observing with a satisfied smile at their hugging session. Nothing was said in those moments, but the atmosphere started to dwindle in its silenced, negative aura.

"I'm sorry, Zuko..." Akemi murmured, hoping what she was saying was the correct thing to do. She didn't know Lu Ten well, and could not bring herself to feel sad, but she knew the pain of losing family close to her. Zuko's eyes drooped, his half-lidded eyes staring at his friend's shoulder. He then knew that she wasn't as affected as he was about all of this, but he felt comforted by her sympathy anyway. At least his friend understands what he's going through, so he wasn't alone on that. "Thanks, Akemi."

Akemi let out a half-hearted smile. Ursa strolled over and knelt down between them, embracing them both into a hug. "Everything will be okay."

Later that evening, Zuko was out in the main room practicing with his dagger. He was feeling better, but still needed to get his mind of things. He leaped around and swung it a few times. As he tried sticking a landing when jumping, he ended up falling instead. He laid on the ground, letting out a frustrated groan.

Azula watched from a nearby chair she sat in, blowing a strand of hair out from in front of her eyes. "Why waste your time playing with that knife? You're no good at it anyway." she scoffed, noting Zuko's amateur combat forms in distaste. Zuko shot up from his spot at her comment and glared at Azula. His face adorned an embarrassed blush. "Why don't you put an apple on your head and find out how good I am?" he retorted, most certainly not in the mood to deal with Azula's criticism and games at the moment.

Azula sneered and jumped off her seat. She started to stroll around the room. "By the way, Uncle is coming back home if you didn't know."

Zuko blinked."Really? Does that mean the fire nation won the war?" Azula grunted at Zuko's response, striding towards the closest pillar. "No, that means Uncle is just a loser. A failure."she stated as if it was a matter of fact. He raised an eyebrow, his upper lip twitching. "What are you talking about? Uncle's not a loser!" He defended.

The mischievous sister paced around the pillar, her hand pressed against it as she circled. "Yes, he is! It's so obvious! I mean, his son died and he just fell apart!" She pointed out and leaned against the pillar, arms crossed. "A real general would stay and burn Ba Sing Se to the ground! Not lose the battle and come home, crying…" She added, and smirked when she elicited a disgusted look from Zuko. He clenched the dagger in his fist.

He shouted, "How do you know what he should do?" His voice trailed off at the last word, his expression twisting from anger to grief. "He's probably just sad his only kid is gone…forever." There was no worse pain than losing a person's own child.

Without warning, Ursa suddenly stood at the exit of the room leading to the gardens, holding grim-looking Akemi's hand next to her. The girl stared in the direction of er friend, who didn't even acknowledge them even being there at first until he looked up. Akemi knew he was still hurting, and still wasn't sure how to be there for him still. "Your father has requested an audience with Firelord Azulon. Let's go." She said to Zuko. He ran and joined up with them, Azula following behind.

Azula rolled her eyes. "'Firelord Azulon...' Can't we just call him 'grandfather' instead? I mean, he's not exactly the powerful firelord he used to be. Someone will probably be taking his place soon."

Akemi frowned at Azula. "Azula. Not another word out of you." Ursa scolded. Azula ran past her mother and Ursa sighed, releasing Akemi's hand as she ran to catch up with Zuko. "What is wrong with that child?" She sighed to herself.

Ouch.

"….and how was it that great-grandfather Sozin managed to win the battle of Han-tui?" Ozai asked as he and his family sat a few feet away from the firelord's throne surrounded by fire (with Akemi, too) with an elderly man sitting on it. Akemi knew she wasn't supposed to be here, but...Zuko needed her. Right? This was the first time she was seeing firelord Azulon, and she was rather intimidated by him. Then again, most of the nation probably was.

Zuko spoke up at his father's question. "Great-grandfather Sozin won because…." His voice drifted, not knowing the answer. But, Azula cut in,"Because even though his army was outnumbered, he cleverly calculated his advantages. The enemy was downwind and there was a drought. Their defenses burned to a crisp in just minutes." She finished with a victory smirk.

"Correct." Ozai praised his daughter with a hint of pride. "Would you show your grandfather the new moves you demonstrated to me?"

Azula nodded and stood, walking to the area that was between where they sat and where the throne was. Readying into a horse stance, she spread her arms out. She suddenly moved, and then fire blasted from her hands, she leapt gracefully around and blasted fire around the area with perfect techniques. Akemi sat there, mouth agape at Azula's performance. She knew that she was a prodigy, but this was the first time she was seeing her firebending. She realized how much she overestimated herself in being able to beat Azula, and shrank in her spot slightly.

The way she acts so cruel to her so far, she may turn out to be her enemy, someday...she dreaded the thought of it.

Azula jumped high in the air, and with a kick, blasted an enormous streak of fire, before landing flawlessly onto the floor. She stood up proudly, chest out, with a smug look. "She's a true prodigy." Ozai praised, and Zuko's expression lowered. "Named just like her grandfather; a true warrior."Azula sat back down in her spot near them as she whispered to both of them, "You'll never catch up!"

Akemi narrowed her eyes. How badly she wanted to wipe that smug look on her face. Suddenly, Zuko got up and declared, "I'd like to demonstrate a few moves!" Akemi snapped her head in Zuko's direction at his sudden announcement. She was surprised, but she was worried. What was he planning to do? She didn't want him to hurt himself. She would speak up and say something, but the presence of Ozai and Azulon already made her quiet as it was.

She watched as Zuko tried performing a few firebending techniques, but to no avail. He wasn't as gifted in fighting as Azula was. He was at a bigger disadvantage if he was trying to show off how skilled he was. But she continued rooting for him, whether or not he was better than Azula was at this point. She was happy that he was getting more confident, more willing to face up against Azula's jabs and remarks.

Zuko stumbled. Akemi's worry grew, and she wanted to say something encouraging but seeing Azulon watch Zuko made her nervous. She felt like a bad friend. Suddenly, Zuko fell to the ground defeated after one last attempt to prove himself. Ursa stood and hurried to Zuko, and Akemi took this chance to follow suit and dropped to her knees next to Zuko.

"I failed." Zuko muttered. Ursa shook her head, hand resting on Zuko's shoulder reassuringly.

"No! I loved watching you, and so did Akemi." Ursa affirmed. Zuko glanced over to his friend with doubt, but it ebbed away into bewilderment as she nodded aggressively. "We really did, Zuko." Akemi reassured.

"But...I failed."

"It doesn't matter, Zuko." Ursa responded, lifting Zuko's face to meet hers. She locked her eyes with Zuko's, making sure he listened to her so he wouldn't try to think about stumbling in front of everyone. "You didn't give up. That's who you are, Zuko...someone who keeps fighting even though it's hard!." Ursa encouraged, not wanting her son to lose his fighting spirit just because he hasn't had more practice than Azula in such a minor matter.

Azulon's voice suddenly boomed, dispersing the moment,"Prince Ozai, Why are you wasting my time with this? Just tell me what you want! Everyone else, go!" Akemi couldn't help but cower where she was. There was something about him that scared her, but that was probably because he was older and probably didn't care for her existence. Everyone excluding Ozai started for the exit, but as soon as they were near, Azula dragged Zuko and Akemi into the nearby curtains; they weren't sure if Ursa noticed.

"SHH!" Azula hushed them before they could protested. She pointed to the curtains, and opened them slightly enough to just observe what was going on, much to Akemi's 'delight'.

Ozai spoke, "After Lu Ten died, Iroh's last bloodline was gone. He abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he'll return home? But...I am here, father."

Akemi shivered in her spot. 'Azula definitely learns from him.'

"Say what it is that you want," Azulon hissed.

"Please revoke Iroh's birthright and pass it down to me." Ozai suddenly implored. Akemi's eyes widened, her hands gripping the curtains. Was he that desperate for power, she thought to herself in horror.

Azulon shot up from his seat, an enraged look twisting his features. "You DARE to suggest I betray Iroh, my firstborn son? Especially after the demise of his only son?" The flames surrounding the throne rose intensely and all the kids swore they felt the room get warmer. Akemi started trembling and couldn't help but cower away from the curtains, repressing a small whimper that would get them exposed.

"Iroh has suffered ENOUGH! YOUR PUNISHMENT HAS ONLY BEGUN!" The flames rose and suddenly lit the entire room. Zuko suddenly ran off in fear of that suddenly burst of fire emitting the room, leaving only Akemi and Azula watching. Akemi would've followed too, but she was too scared to move even in the slightest way. She shakily turned her head in the direction ran out in and wished to join in his example, before her attention was suddenly diverted to Azulon's voice again.

"Your punishment for even insisting on such an inexcusable act…to help you truly understand the pain your brother is going through, you will kill your only son. Then you will truly have your dignity restored."

Akemi gasped in horror, but then clamped her hands over her mouth in realization of her making a sound. She once again froze in place and waited for them to turn in their direction and do something. But, they didn't; they must've not heard. She let out a quiet sigh of relief, her shoulders sinking along with her expression. During this moment of relief, Azula smirked at her plight.

"You are dismissed!" Azulon growled and Ozai got up and left the room. Azulon himself then followed suit and left, the fires around the throne dispersing. Akemi was in a state of shock, for she did not even realize they had left the room until Azula nudged her. She jumped up and glared at the younger girl, but then her accusatory glare turned into a look of disgress. Azula was smirking mischievously, and by noticing the wicked gleam in her eyes, Akemi immediately knew what she was going to do. Akemi gritted her teeth at her intentions.

"Don't..you dare..."

"I'm daring!" Azula sassed and pushed past her full speed, Akemi chasing after her in attempt to halt her in her tracks. Azula was faster than Akemi, so she struggled to keep up with the young princess as they ran down the corridors of the large palace. Akemi's panted violently as her voice echoed faintly down the hall,

"AZULA, STOP!"

Azula paid no heed to her warnings.

Zuko laid in bed. He was tired but was also too caught up with today's events to go to sleep, and continued tossing and turning. He was anxious about what had happened after he ran away, wondering what punishment was being inflicted on his father. Sure, he didn't have the best relationship with his father, but he wondered what was going to happen to him. Or what was probably happening right now in the throne room as he thought...

Still fixed in his own thoughts, he nearly jumped out of bed when suddenly Azula burst into his room. To his displeasure, she looked as devious as ever. "Dad's go—" However, he was surprised when she was cut off by his friend jumping on her back and pinning her to the ground, a hand over her mouth. Akemi tended not to be so bold and daring when it comes to Azula, even though she's fought with her before; Akemi was more of in a frenzied state as if she was trying to hide something. 'What happened?'

Azula shoved Akemi off after struggling with her. Akemi felt defeated as Azula avoided her since she tried to silence her, but started to sing, "Dad's gonna kill you! Dad's gonna kill you~" Zuko failed to notice Akemi's upset expression as he watched Azula stride around his room.

He rolled his eyes. "Haha. Very funny, Azula." He half-heartedly responded with fake amusement. Azula walked over to his bed. "Fine, don't believe me...but I heard it all. Grandfather said that Dad's punishment to be: 'you must learn the pain of losing a firstborn son, by sacrificing your own!'" She paraphrased, putting on her best imitation of Azulon. Akemi didn't know how to retaliate Azula's jeers at Zuko, for once. She would always step up to defend Zuko, but what could she say? Was she to lie about it?

Zuko shot up in his bed, suddenly frightened. "YOU'RE LYING!" What kind of sick joke was Azula at THIS time? Zuko convinced himself that she was lying again. Trying to get him riled up. Even as Azula shook her head, he tried convincing himself otherwise.

"I'm only telling you for your own good." Azula shrugged. Akemi and Zuko knew she didn't care about what happened to them in anyway and was only ever was interested in them suffering. But she would never tell them that she was interested in whether or not her father's punishment would be carried out.

Zuko clutched his blanket tightly. "Dad would never do that to me."

"Never do what to you?" A new voice chimed in. Oh no, Akemi thought as they all turned their heads to see Ursa standing at the doorway curious about their interaction going on. Zuko and Akemi glanced at each other, and Ursa noticed the silent exchange. Now she was even more inquisitive about what was going on.

Azula, however, shrugged and looked at her mother innocently. "I don't know." Ursa frowned and marched over to Azula. "You and I are having a talk." She sternly said before dragged her by the arm out of the room. She saw right through her daughter's innocent act easily; Ursa looked really mad...something that Akemi's never seen her be, and it scared her. As the door shut on their way out, she glanced over at Zuko with great concern. Her heart panged in her chest as she watched Zuko shut his eyes tightly, curling up against himself.

"Azula always lies….Azula always lies…" Zuko was muttering to himself, trying to self-reassure that Azula was lying...again. As he slowly looked at Akemi, her heart leapt in her throat at his anxious expression. "She's lying, isn't she? She always lies. Right?" he quietly asked her, hoping that he was right and Azula was just lying as she usually does. But, Akemi didn't know what to say. She glanced away while being unresponsive.

She wordlessly got up and left his room, leaving him there.

It was the middle of the night when Akemi woke up. Footsteps quietly echoed down the hall outside of her room as she sat up hesitantly. When the footsteps faded, she turned her feet towards the edge of the bed. No one was supposed to be walking the halls at this time of the night in the palace...unless it was an intruder of some sort. Akemi gulped and slowly got up out of bed. Being daring, she opened the door to her room and spotted shadow of the figure up ahead and quietly followed, not wanting to get caught.

The person suddenly turned and opened a large door and went inside. Akemi hurriedly caught up and stood near the door left open ajar, allowing to hear the voices mumbling from the inside. She edged as close as she can to the opening and leaned in to get a better gauge of who was talking inside.

"Is this true?"

"Yes."

"I beg you, don't do this! I...I can fix this!"

There was a silence. Suddenly, the shuffling of footsteps were heard inside and Akemi honestly wished she could watch, but then she would never know what was going on if she got spotted in the end. The people inside were murmuring very quietly. However, she was able to catch a few words from what they were saying, and her eyes widened when she recognized one of the person's voice. She nearly choked up a sound at what the person said afterwards.

The second voice responded quietly. "So we are in agreement. Now, go." That voice she recognized to be Ozai, and she backed up in fear and slumped against a pillar. She felt herself become dizzy from the whole ordeal. She was now full-blown worried about what's going to happen next, and she felt as if her entire perfect world was starting to fall apart. She didn't even notice the door opening when stuck in her train of thought and concerns.

"You were listening, weren't you…" Ursa's voice broke her thoughts. Caught in the act, Akemi froze and looked up. Seeing the expression Ursa wore, she couldn't afford to try and excuse herself and instead numbly nodded. Yes...she had heard their discussion, but now she wished she hadn't. Everything was not going to be fine.

Ursa shut her eyes and knelt to her level. Akemi's eyes started welling up with tears, and Ursa immediately placed a finger to her quivering lips to hush her from making any noises. Sniffing, Akemi bit her bottom lip and Ursa then placed both her hands on the girl's cheeks. "Do you understand why I must do this?"

Akemi slowly, shakily nodded. She understood, but that didn't mean she wanted it to happen.

"Then please...do not tell Zuko about this. He won't understand the reasons this is going to happen."

"B-B-But-"

"Akemi." Akemi shrunk at the sound of Ursa's voice cracking, as if she was holding back the urge to cry herself. The tears that had been building up in Akemi's eyes burst and flowed freely down her cheeks as she stared at Ursa's melancholic look. Unable to contain herself anymore, she clung to Ursa. She refused to relent her grip, as she feared to let go as if her very life depended on it or she would disappear at this very instant.

Ursa embraced her tightly as they sat there in silence, hurting for what was to transpire. Things were going to change. Nothing would ever be the same, again.