A/N: Hello! I'm going on vacation soon so I don't know how fast updates will come out but I'll do my best. Shout out to beachchick3 and Carrie Hilton for keeping me going! Thanks you guys! Please review!

There had been hours of dancing, and hundreds of guests, and yet not a single moment between just the two of them. Ozai sat patiently on the dais at her right hand, the table laid low before them. Waves and waves of guests had came to pay their respects to their prince and future princess, and Ursa was exhausted. She had never had to behave so perfectly for so long. When one was a princess there was to be no flaws, her mother reminded her. She sat perfectly still, she looked perfectly beautiful, and she kept perfectly silent. Truly, she wouldn't have minded it so much if the party hadn't lasted so long. It started not long after dinner, but now the moon was high in the sky. In the palace reception room the walls were incredibly high. It was the largest room Ursa had ever seen. The ceiling was decorated with real gold, artfully sculpted and accented all around the room. The walls were dark wooden, covered mostly by red silken embroideries. It was beautiful. And in the late of night, when only Iroh was left to mingle with Ozai and a few of the last guests, it seemed fine to let herself look and look.

"Ursa?" She heard Ozai call for her, and she turned to see his arm outstretched. She took it and stood up, bowing her head slightly. Then she looked up to see Iroh escorting the last of the nobles out. A few servants were putting away the silverware, but otherwise they were alone.

"It's over. Come to my rooms," Ozai insisted, "I'll call for some tea." Ursa looked up at her fiance, her mind too tired to think. She nodded.

"Of course. I'd be delighted." Her parents had left hours ago, and Firelord Azulon had retired to his rooms.

"You can drop the act now, Ursa," Ozai commented calmly. He hadn't said it angrily, but Ursa still tightened, and pulled her hand away from him.

"The act?" She asked, brows knit together. Ozai scoffed a bit and turned his head.

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean... you can relax. Everyone has left." He seemed sincere, but his comment had still wounded her.

"Do think I'm fake?" She asked fervently, her voice barely above a whisper. Ozai scowled.

"No," he protested, "I meant that you don't have to worry about propriety with me. I don't care." Ursa sighed a bit and looked up at him. She nodded, too tired to really respond.

"I know," she said, thinking of his kisses. They hadn't kissed at the party. They hadn't even really spoken. Once they were inside his rooms he called for a servant and ordered some tea. Ursa looked around the vast interior of his entryway and connected rooms. They were wide, spacious, and beautifully dark. The floor and the casings were the same dark mahogany, and the glossy wood felt cold under her feet. There were two long windows, almost the length of the wall, that were covered in red, sheer curtains that blowed in the late summer wind.

His foyer had a sitting area with low cushions and various tables around them. Their surfaces were mostly empty, but one table held her interest. There upon the glass surface, was a tiny glass-blown dragon. The one she had given him. Ursa looked back to Ozai and smiled softly, seeing that he had been staring at her the whole time.

"You kept it," was all she said and Ozai stepped closer.

"Of course I did, it's beautiful..." he said, "And it reminds me of you." Ursa smirked.

"It's supposed to remind you of yourself," she said lightly. He huffed.

"But I enjoy thinking about you so much more." He came closer, and in the privacy of his rooms she finally felt safe and calm. He was so handsome in the dim light of the room, and standing so close to her, that Ursa let herself reach out and touch him. She hadn't touched him in months. She cupped his cheek and slid her thumb across it's surface, feeling the smoothness there. She had never caught him with facial hair, never. And it felt good, and perhaps her tired mind was to blame but she stepped even closer and let her fingers run through his silken hair. When she locked eyes with him his gaze was passionate even in its tiredness and he leaned in to kiss her but turned his head quickly. Ursa scowled, and then looked to see a servant standing at the entrance to the room, head bowed in supplication.

"Thank you," Ozai said, perhaps to clear the awkwardness in the room. The young woman recovered from her bowing and set the tray of tea down on the low table.

"You're welcome, your Highness. Please forgive my intrusion." Once the girl had left Ursa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"Why I am so stupid? Always..." Ursa sighed in a whisper and sat down on one of the cushions. Ozai rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about such things," he insisted. "The servants won't tell anyone. Nothing happened." Ursa looked up at him.

"You can laugh about such things. You're a man," her tone was stiff and she drew her arms to her chest. Ozai sat himself down beside her.

"I would get in trouble.." She thought, and then she feverishly spoke "I should leave. My parents will want me home." Ozai reached out for her as she went to stand.

"Stop. It's okay." Ursa wasn't sure if she really wanted to stay, but Ozai was the prince, and so she stayed.

"You worry too much about what people think. It'll be fine, Ursa. We will be married in just over a month. No one will be able to say anything to you then." Ursa was taken back and looked at him, her eyes wide as the moon.

"A month?!" She asked, wishing she would have said it quieter. She couldn't mask her surprise. She had heard nothing of this. Ozai blinked.

"Yes-That was the plan. In six weeks." Ozai explained, hesitant. Ursa blinked several times.

"I didn't know that it was coming up so soon." Ursa's eyes had drifted off and something in Ozai ached at her expression. He was silent and his face fell completely.

"I didn't know that it was such a depressing thought." Ozai said quietly, cold as the night breeze. Ursa's eyes shot out to look at him and for a moment she was frozen again, looking at him.

"Ozai," she breathed. She didn't know what to say. Ursa turned around and mumbled a swear under her breath. Why couldn't she do anything right? All she wanted was to be a perfect daughter. And a perfect wife. But she couldn't seem to be either. She looked at her fiance. Her handsome, kind, loving, fiance, and she wanted to cry. All she ever did was upset him.

"It just shocked me, is all. I'm not upset. I- This is all happening so quickly."

There was a silence. Finally, Ozai spoke.

"I love you."