He hadn't come back for a few hours; I was actually starting to worry about the royal jerk. What if he found Aang and his friends? What if they got in a fight and Zuko was bleeding in an alley somewhere, slowly dying? No! Zuko wouldn't let that happen, I'd never seen him fight before, but he just wasn't the type to lie down and die. No, he was much like a mosquito that wouldn't go down without thoroughly annoying his opponent first.

Oh, where was that idiot?

"I need food." I mumbled as my stomach growled loudly; I sent Iroh an embarrassed look.

"You can go down to get dinner; I'll sit here and wait for my nephew. I'll be sure to guilt him by saying you were worried."

"G-good! Wait, no! Not good! I don't care what he does." Iroh wouldn't hear of it, though, and instead pushed me from the room. Well, I suppose I'd be dining alone tonight, too. I sighed as I walked down the hall alone, passing by a few other contestants who were heading back to their rooms. It looks like this place was hosting a lot of them…

I'm glad the table by the turtle-duck pond outside wasn't taken; it was the perfect place to eat and clear my mind. I took small sips of my orange spice tea, which I quickly decided was my favorite, while I waited for the white rice and chicken on my plate to simmer down. I loved the smell of fresh flowers; the world out here was a lot less tense. It was so very relaxing…

"May I sit here?" The deep voice of Zazu broke me from my thoughts; I didn't spare him a second glance.

"Sure." I mixed around the rice on the plate, blowing on it before eating it. Any kind of chicken was my favorite, but this one just wasn't spicy enough. I need to go have a talk with this cook about what flavor is.

"How did you do?" I raised an eyebrow at the Waterbender sitting across from me; it took me a second to understand what he meant.

"I won, of course." I smiled smugly; it's not like the fight had even been that hard. I only had one tiny battle wound, and I'd made my opponent cry when I hardly touched him. That's what I call skill. I may sound really full of myself, but I'm not really a modest person. I knew my abilities well; I wasn't going to beat around the bush and think 'Oh, the fight could go either way' or somethin' like that. I was a proud person. "And yours?" I wasn't really interested, but it was the polite thing to do.

"Won." He replied simply. The rest of the dinner continued on with silence, the occasional turtle-duckling waddling over and begging for a piece of rice.

"I'd feed you some chicken, little guy, but I think of that as cannibalism, and that's wrong!" The turtle-duck simply made a noise and waddled off back to its mother. I watched it with a small smile; how nice it must've been to have a mother to go back to. Zazu was watching me, a small smile on his face.

"You remind me of my daughter." I turned to him with a semi-surprised look; he didn't look like he was that old! "She had a love for animals as well."

"How old are you anyway?"

"Forty three."

"Woah! You're old!" Compared to my seventeen years of age he seemed old, anyway. "Anyway, how old is your daughter?"

"She was ten." Was? Oh damn it Kaya, use your mind for once!

"O-Oh." I blushed, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. How d-did she…?"

"Fire Nation raid." I winced. Why was I not surprised? Stupid Ozai and his need for power; his desire had innocent children killed. Even though she wasn't my daughter directly I could still feel his pain. I knew what it was like to feel the pain of loss. I gave him a sad smile, he returned with a kind one.

"She has been dead for many years now. I traveled down to join this tournament for money, I had lost my job in my tribe."

"Oh? Are you here with your wife?" I looked around curiously to see if a pretty water tribe woman was around anywhere, walking over to greet her husband. I hadn't seen her with him since we came.

"She died in the raid, as well." My heart dropped again; I was the stupidest person in the world. I looked at him guiltily, to know my Nation was the one that caused him so much pain made me ashamed. What have we come to? I'm glad that I had left, I didn't want to live in a Nation that acts as if it's okay to murder innocent people.

"I'm so sorry." I finally muttered out, beginning to play with my food now. I wasn't feeling very hungry, but Zazu continued eating.

"Do not apologize; it was not your fault." That was a bit shocking to hear, though I was glad he wasn't like Jet, pushing all Firebenders into the same group.

"Most people wouldn't say that, you know." I took a sip of tea. "I'm surprised to find a tolerant person around for once. Everyone blames every person of the Fire Nation for these things." Zazu shook his head.

"You are too young to have caused anything. You remind me a lot of my daughter. You speak your opinion proudly, although it may not be seen as the right one. I was proud of her for it, and I am proud that she was not the only one who had nerve to do so." I smiled a bit, feeling sort of pleased that at least one person in the world had realized honesty wasn't a bad thing.

"Thanks. But… Do you ever feel lonely?" I placed my elbow on the table and rested my chin on the palm of my hand. "I hate being alone. I know your pain may be worse than mine, but being alone is something I know a lot about."

"Pain is pain." Zazu stated simply. "Everyone has known pain at one point in their lifetime. It is how you cope with it that matters." I couldn't say he was wrong, because he wasn't. I coped with my pain by helping others, so that they didn't have to feel that pain as strongly as I had. In a way, they were helpful to me, too, because when I was on the street with that bunch of vigilante children, I felt needed. They needed me or they would've died quickly; they knew it and I knew it. It was as simple as that.

"I wish the world didn't have to be this way." My eyes were trained on my meal; I didn't want to look at Zazu as my eyes were beginning to water. I hadn't ever talked to anyone about this pain I had before, I have never know someone who was old enough to truly understand what I felt.

"You are strong. Inside and outside. You can make a difference. You and your partner." I blushed a bit; he was referring to Zuko. "He has kind eyes, and a tough outer exterior. The two of you remind me of my wife and I, when I first started courting her."

"Oh trust me; there are no feelings there, unless you count anger and loathing." He simply gave me another kind smile and returned to his meal. I tried to do the same, however the depression that had fallen onto me during the course of the conversation had stopped me. I should've known that more than one person in the world had suffered from loss, it wasn't fair. It was fair of the Fire Nation to take away Zazu's family. He was such a kind man…

This was all frustrating me to death; it always had but at this point I was beginning to feel sorry for other people, too. Not just myself. I hadn't realized how selfish I had been before I talked to Zazu about this; I had thought that by speaking my mind I made myself more noticed, I made more people realize that they should change. But I didn't, all I was doing was making them hate themselves. I wasn't making any difference at all.

I hadn't noticed my fist was clenched until Zazu had gently touched it; he forced me to look him in the eyes. I hadn't noticed how much pain and sadness he had hidden behind them. I hadn't realized how badly I had misjudged him from the beginning.

"Do not be sad for me. I have long ago given up on crying for my wife and daughter; I now live my life to the fullest, for them." My lip trembled as I looked at him, stupid emotions! I hated how when I was so frustrated I would tear and break down; this usually induced flames and minor destruction around me. I was normally alone though, now I had to keep myself together. Just breathe; I pushed back the flames that were ready to spring into the air.

"It's not fair."

"Life is not fair, but we learn to live with what you are given…" He stood up, placing his dirty silverware on his now empty plate before he started walking away. "You know, my daughter… her favorite color was red." He left with a smile; the gentle eyes that had brought me some comfort met mine for a mere second before he left.

That little girl was lucky to have a father like that; I wish he had been mine… I couldn't eat anymore, which I was surely going to regret in the morning, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I began a slow walk up to the room; I wasn't sure how I'd react if Zuko was there. As I approached the door it flung open, and I was now staring at the back of Zuko's head.

"I'm going to find her-" I held my hands out so that they pressed against his chest and he turned to me with wide eyes.

"Me? You were the one who was missing for such a long time, buddy." I pushed him back into the room, closing the door with my foot before maneuvering around him and walking over to the window. It had a nice view of the moon at night. Zuko stood beside me, intent on questioning where I had been, but I wasn't quite in the mood to tell him at the moment.

"Kaya-"

"Zuko." I turned to him sharply, my mouth forming a small frown. "Can you promise me something?"

"W-What?"

"When you become Fire Lord, don't become anything like your father. Or I will personally hunt you down and destroy you myself." He sent me a bewildered expression, but nodded slowly, turning to face the moon with me. My frustration had begun to die down as I thought less about what I had just heard. Zazu's family hadn't died in vain, he hadn't wanted to exact revenge for his family, he wanted it for everyone. Just like I did.

My mission to change Zuko was no longer just so I could live in peace, it was for him. It was for the hope of a better world. And I wouldn't let any revenge or honor blind him.

It suddenly felt like the weight of the world was on my back. I hope this got easier, or I'd have a mental break down.

"I think you'll make a good Fire Lord." I whispered as I walked past Zuko to the bathroom; I was actually going to change into pajamas for the first night since we've been here. I looked back at him and smiled warmly; the first step was to let him know that I did believe in him.

It felt good that I didn't have to lie to him about this. Oh Prince Zuko, you're going to be stuck with me for a long time. But the more I thought about it, being with him and Iroh and traveling with them, I realized I didn't mind.

For once, I was truly, and completely, happy with how things were going.