She kept her voice cold, ignoring the lump in her throat, or the feeling of despair that someone she thought she could be friends with distrusted and hated her so much. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She said, "So why don't you just assume I'm some horrible criminal and then leave me to my loneliness, banished from my home?"

Setto looked hurt, which softened Yuri's heart a fraction. "I never said that you were a criminal."

"But you thought it." She said, still angry. "Don't deny it was the first thing you thought when you saw my things and knew I'd lied."

The boy looked at the ground, uncomfortable. "I mean, you're from the Northern tribe and lied about it, I've never seen you on the island before so how can I believe you've been here since you were a baby? Why are you even here in the first place? It doesn't make sense."

He has a point, if I hadn't been raised with this situation, it would have made no sense to me either. Aunt Hanna did commit a crime to save my life, the life of a princess. And now I was a part of that crime, evidence of a forbidden act. But I am not a criminal! Yuri's heart told her she was not evil, and she would not allow anyone to see her as such. She must preserve her pride as a Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. She made her way down the stairs until she was sanding on the last one, still looking down slightly on the boy. This time she held his gaze with all the grace and strength she could muster.

"I'll tell you my story on one condition." She said, her voice no longer cold or angry, but full of power she never knew she had until that moment.

Yuri aw the boy's eyes go wide at the change in her appearance and voice. He gulped once, and then asked in a small voice, "what condition?"

"You don't have to believe my story, if you do you don't even have to agree with the decisions that were made. You do however, have to do me a favour." She kept looking the boy in the eyes to make sure he absorbed every single word.

"Which is?"

"I'll tell you after you hear my story, which will have to wait till after breakfast." She said, letting the power fall from her voice and becoming the young unsure girl she'd always been. "I'm starving."

***

"Hanna had done it to save my life, but six months ago she died in an attack by the Fire Nation looking for the Avatar, who left shortly afterwards. No one else in the village died, so the attack was swept under the rug."

"They didn't particularly care about her since she lived outside the village and was an outsider to begin with." Setto nodded. Then shook his head violently. "I still don't understand it though, she used bloodbending to save your life? I'd heard legends about the practice but I didn't think anyone could actually do it."

"It takes a powerful bender and the full moon, sometimes it only takes one of the two if it's powerful enough." Yuri said, sitting back down at the table. "In most cases, anyways." She hadn't told him about her curse. "I'm more surprised you're not saying I'm outright crazy for claiming to be the twin sister of Princess Yue."

Suddenly Setto stiffened. His whole body seemed rigid and his eyes had a twinge of sadness in them. "I guess I saw it in your face, you look just like her, only with dark hair instead of white. She was also very beautiful."

Yuri was confused. "What do you mean was beautiful? You talk as if she were—"

"—Dead." The boy finished for her, taking a deep breath. "During the attack on the North Pole, one of the Generals tried to kill the mortal form of the Moon spirit."

Nodding impatiently, Yuri said. "I heard about that, I felt it, too." She didn't want to add that she'd had a horrible nightmare that night about chaos and death and a giant water demon that she thought had been a direct result of the danger the moon spirit had been in. "But why would that kill my sister?"

"She gave her life to the moon spirit to save it, just as the spirit had saved her life sixteen years ago." Setto's eyes held the sadness any subject would have when thinking of the death of their heir.

He looked up at Yuri and smiled. "And I guess part of me is hoping that you're telling the truth, and that the royal lineage will continue on after our Chief, once you get married of course."

Yuri took a moment to absorb what she'd just heard. Her sister was dead. There were no heirs to the throne, except a girl who no one knew existed. Even her own parent's didn't know of her existence. "Are my mother and father—I mean, the chief and his wife, are they still alive?" She asked, her throat feeling oddly dry.

Setto nodded. "Though it's common knowledge they won't have any more children. My family are supposed to be going back in a week to attend the announcement of the next heir." His eyes suddenly went wide. "If you were there, the chief wouldn't have to choose an heir outside the royal family!"

"What?" The girl was shocked. "There are about three things wrong with what you've just said, one of them being the fact that no one knows I exist. How am I going to convince them I'm their Princess?"

Setto thought about it for a while. "Well, you convinced me pretty well, but I don't think I'm the best Sponsor for your story, so suddenly announcing to the populace would be a bad idea. Maybe we could find a way to talk to the Chief in person, and convince him. I'm sure he holds the same wish to have his own blood as heir."

"Which brings me to point two; why is it so important to have the same family hold leadership?" Yuri asked.

"Tradition, of course." The boy said simply. "The only way to keep order is to protect and preserve our way of life. Our traditions keep us together."

"Which means that even if I were acknowledged as a Princess, I'd have to get married and my husband would become the actual leader, and my children would be the ones carrying on the lineage? That of course, makes point three; Hanna brought me here to escape that kind of life, where my husband would be chosen for me and I would never have the chance to find real love." The girl shook her head violently. "No, I won't do it that way."

Setto looked confused. "But isn't that what you were going to ask me? To bring you back so you could speak to your father and become our Princess?"

Again Yuri shook her head. "Not to have my identity revealed. I'm not ready for that yet, I made a promise that I'd stay here until the war was over. I just wanted to go and send my respects to my mother and father, then come back. I never planned on staying, or letting anyone know who I really was."

The boy looked angry again. "Didn't you hear me? The chief is going to name a new heir next week. Don't you care about the traditions of your people?"

"Of course I care about my people!" Yuri snapped. "But I've never known my family or my homeland, and I don't even know enough about our traditions to fit in as a mere peasant, let alone make a good Princess! I'm not ready to represent the royal family, and I'm certainly not ready to get married to some stranger chosen by the father I never knew!"

The boy thought about what she'd said, then nodded slowly. "I understand what you mean. My parents want me to marry a girl from the water tribe, but I'm only at the North Pole for a few weeks in the winter, not long enough to get to know any of them, and we never go to the South Pole because there's nothing to trade that we don't already have."

Yuri sighed in relief, then her face became all business. "So I need to get into the city without anyone knowing who I am or even that I'm actually from the North Pole. I also need a reason for being there that isn't suspect either, and you can help me do all of that." This plan had formed halfway during the time she had to herself last night, and now that she might actually have Setto's cooperation, it was quickly falling into place in her mind. Hopefully it wasn't too crazy to work.

The boy looked thoughtful again, and nodded. "All right, since I've already decided your story is true, as insane as it is, I would be honoured to help my princess." He stood up and bowed deeply. "Just tell me what I need to do."

Blushing at the bow, the girl cleared her throat. "First we need to go to you parents and tell them our official story, that I'm a girl who traveled here with my aunt from the South Pole to escape the raids by the Fire Navy. Then you will talk to them privately and tell them of our engagement and your plans to bring me back to acquaint me with the traditions and laws of your people."

A look of shock swam across Setto's face briefly, but was quickly replaced by the knowledge of his duty. He bowed again and said, "If it will help you understand how much your people need you, I will be honoured."

"Have you ever served the Royal family before?" Yuri asked, a bit flustered. "You seem a bit more formal than I would expect of someone who'd never met them personally."

"I was there when the Fire Nation attacked six months ago, as part of an important mission to infiltrate the invading ships. That plan failed, but while we trained and prepared for it, we worked closely with the chief and sometimes Princess Yue."

"That must have been a very dangerous mission, and to survive even though you failed, you must be a very skilled warrior." Yuri said calmly, trying to disguise her uncertainty.

The boy nodded, suddenly looking much older than he was. "We failed from lack of experience with Fire Navy protocol, not for lack of strength and skill."

"Then I will also ask you to be my protection if at any time my identity becomes known or suspected. To be very clear, my life is in your hands."

Setto bowed one more time, "It would be an honour."

"You'll need not to treat me as a princess while we're there, but it will be good for appearances if you seem very protective of me. Obviously the engagement is only a mask, so that we can move about together without turning too many heads. I need to get as close to the royal family as possible before the ceremony, and the sooner we leave, the more time I'll have."