The Other Half

Part Four - The Inscription

"Zuko," Zuko began to awake from his sleep and regain consciousness as he saw his mother sitting in front of him from behind blurry eyes. "Zuko, my love, everything I have done has been to protect you. No matter how things may seem to change, never forget who you are." She hugged him tight before standing up and making her way to the doorway. Ursa looked at her son with emence sadness as she lifted the hood of her cloak onto her head. Her sad eyes lowered to the floor as she turned and began to walk out of the prince's room. Zuko's sight became hazier as his body sagged in fatigue. He blinked a few more times before his body gave into sleep.

As the morning light peered into his bedroom window, Zuko roused from his sleep. His eyes flickered open as he stretched in his bed. As his mind began to function he remembered the strange dream he had. From what he recalled the dream made it appear as if his mother was leaving. 'Wow, that was weird.' Zuko thought to himself. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed and proceeded to rub his tired eyes. He placed his feet on the ground and continued to stand.'Maybe I'll go to tell mom about the dream before breakfast.' Zuko decided to change from his pajamas into his day clothes then visit his mother.

"Where is she?!" Zuko yelled with a shaky voice. "Tell me!" He stared at his father's back with so much anger. Ozai did not move from his position in the garden. Zuko's cheeks were burning from tears that fell from his eyes. He covered his sore eyes with his hands as he fell to the ground. 'Why did she leave?' He began to cry even harder. 'Why did she leave me?'

Huddled in his bed Zuko sat up wide awake with his eyes fixed on his bedroom door. Slivers of moon light came into his bedroom and lay gently on the silk bed sheets. Zuko sat in the eerie silence hugging his feathered pillow tight in his arms. The whole day had consisted of conflicting thoughts which consumed him. He had no attention to do school work, practice his bending or even play in the palace gardens.

After the mysterious disappearance of Princess Ursa, the fire nation also awoke to learn that Fire Lord Azulon had died in the night. The palace servants were all busy preparing arrangements for the Fire Lord's death rite ceremony that was to take place in two short days. For the whole day the servants had been acting very strange towards Zuko. They weren't as friendly as they usually were but Zuko assumed that they were just too busy. He failed to notice all of the whispering and rumors going on around the palace.

Zuko sat in the quiet darkness of his room as his thoughts continued. 'She's coming back right? Of course she has to come back. Mom would never leave me.' Zuko had come to the conclusion that his mom would be back any minute and he wanted to make sure he was awake.

Seconds became minutes and minutes became hours and although his resolve was strong, Zuko's body was approaching collapse. He used all his might to try to keep his eyes open but in the early hours of the morning, his body finally gave in to sleep.

Zuko's eyes fluttered open as he regained consciousness. He propped up his upper body with his arms while allowing his eyes to adjust to the bring light. After a few moments had past, Zuko realized that he was surrounded by what seemed to be emptiness. Every direction he looked, the ground just continued further and further until it appeared to merge with the sky. All that was around him was white and his eyes already began to ache from the strain. Suddenly an area no more than three feet away began to darken. From the pure white, to grey, and all the way to almost black. The area darkened quickly and then began to gather. As it grew closer the area began to form a shape of what appeared to be a woman.

Right before his eyes, a beautiful young woman appeared with long dark hair and a long dark dress. Once the remainder of the darkness dissipated, the woman opened her eyes to reveal a calm lavender colour.

For a few moments the two stood in silence until the woman began to move. She warily took a step towards Zuko. Not reacting to the stranger before him, the woman stepped forward once more and proceeded to lower herself to the ground.

She gazed into the young prince's eyes and slowly reached out and offered her hand to him. Confused, Zuko just sat looking at the woman's outstretched palm.

The woman once more gestured her hand to him. Zuko warily stretched out his arm and slowly placed his hand on the strangers. The instant his palm touched hers, warmth and bright light began to grow. Zuko withdrew his hand quickly and watched in amazement as a familiar item appeared in her hand. "My pendent..." he whispered. The woman nodded in acknowledgement of his evaluation. She brought her second hand towards the pendant and gently laid her fingers over the inset ruby. She closed her eyes and the pendant began to glow. Zuko watched with wide eyes and tried to take in everything that was happening before him. The glow died down as the stranger opened her eyes and gentle turned the pendant around and offered it to Zuko. He was amazed to find that engraved writing had appeared on the back of the pendant. He gently accepted it as he raised his gaze to the woman. She was now standing and began to walk away from him but she paused briefly. Her enchanted voice began to speak. "You may not discover what has happened to your mother, but you will discover your destiny."

Zuko sat up in his bed with a cold sweat on his brow. He looked around himself to find he was in his bedroom. He lay back down and steadied his quick beating heart. 'What was that?' he asked himself as he recalled what had happened as best he could. 'Who was that person and what did my pendent have to do with it?' He sighed as he rolled over onto his side. In his line of vision sat the white box on the top of his bedside table. After a few moments he stretched his arm to grab it and brought it back close to him. Zuko gently opened the lid to find his pendent sitting, unmoved from its resting place among the red satin. 'See? Nothing actually happened. It was just a dream.' He gentle picked up the item and flipped it over. 'Agni!' his eyes opened wider as he revealed the beautifully engraved back of the pendent. 'It was real...' Zuko turned his focus to reading the words. He quickly determined he would not be able to successfully read the engraved writing in the dark so he lit a fire and carefully held it in his left palm.

Keep your eyes open. Look past what you have been taught to see.

Zuko extinguished the flame and lay down and stared blankly at the ceiling. 'What is that supposed to mean?'