Hey everyone. Sorry for the long delay in an update. Sometimes life requires us to do some introspection and think about things. In any case, I have it up now. Don't forget to review. Enjoy. ^_^


The day started normally I suppose; a warm southerly breeze casting up from the rocky face of the cliffs and stiffing sun peaking over the horizon to illuminate the day. The crimson banners hanging from the palace balconies shined as the royal guard assembled for role-call in the square below.

The captain, a stout man, barked out an order and the soldiers smartly snapped their weapons to their places on their shoulders; their bayonets shimmering. Another order and they turned left and began to march off.

In the distance, the sound of the everyday world could be heard: the pounding of iron, the clatter of feet on cobblestones, the faint echoes of children laughing in the streets. The capital was as it always was.

"Morning love." the same familiar voice I had heard for the last three years.

I turn slowly and give a small smile. For once, in my life, I was at a loss to speak. The sounds choked up in the top of my throat and came out as a shaky, nervous "Morning."

He stepped over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, tentatively kissing my neck while I search my mind for hours trying to think of what to say. I nearly had the thing out before he cut me short. "Sleep well?"

"Yes..." my voice trails off. I didn't want to lie to him. It was easy to do with anyone else. With any other person, all you had to do was nod and smile and throw some charisma behind it, and they'd accept it without question. There's a trusting nature in humans that I find repulsive sometimes, how easy people believe in the integrity of others. This was not so with Aang. He had a way of uncovering the truth from me. In all honesty, I had a hard time telling him even the simplest fibs because his innocence made it all but impossible to do without feeling guilty.

"What's wrong?" he asked. There he goes, always with the questions.

"Nothing, tired is all." Which was not a lie.

He cocks his eyebrow to one side, his beady eyes looking straight through me. "Really" he says, more earnest in his voice "What's wrong?"

"I had...a bad dream." Yes, a bad dream that turned into a horrible reality.

"Oh?" he said flopping on the bed, patting for me to join him. "What about?"

I tug into his embrace cautiously. "I was running...running through darkness. There were screams and cries and just kept running. It was black everywhere. I couldn't see where I was going. Everything was covered in a fog. But no matter how far I ran; I could never escape. I felt helpless..."

Throughout that entire explanation, I felt like crying. It was a terrifying experience, having what one trusted and depended on suddenly taken away from you and left alone. It leaves you feeling naked, exposed – weak. It's as if your total world; your entire reality collapsed upon itself. I didn't like the thought, not even mentioning it to Aang.

He casually wraps his arms around my waist. "At least it's over now right?" he said trying to reassure me. "After all, it was only a dream..."

"Only a dream..." I reflected on those words "But it seemed so real..." There was an underlying truth in this, something darker and more sinister. You cringe a little on the inside, like a cold-wind brushing the nape of your neck on a winter's day. The words roll off like an ominous bell-toll.

"Dreams often do seem real, but they are merely the manifestation of our waking reality into our thoughts. Dreams help us achieve a better knowledge of ourselves and our purpose by allowing us to examine our inner conscience where our normal minds will suppress them. Thus, we gain a different perspective of what is around us, but what is inside of us too. That is the path to enlightenment."

I gaze at him in bewilderment at the learned and cosmic wisdom of what he just said. He gives back an expression as equally puzzled, blushing a bit as if he was asking himself "Did those words just come out of my mouth?"

"That's really thoughtful Aang." I said at a loss to actually put a summation of my thoughts on it.

"Is there something that's bothering you Azula?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep inhalation. I was really going to do this. "Aang" I whisper to him softly, "I have something to tell you."

"What about?"

"About us."

A sudden serious nervousness comes to his voice. "What do you mean?"

"Aang, I..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. I get up and rush to window, my hands covered over my eyes pouring tears.

"Azula!" he rushes to my side, faithful and loyal as always. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm – I'm..." my voice is cracking and my entire body trembling.

"Yes? You're what?"

When the phrase finally came out, it came in the form a tiny whisper, barely audible above my own sobbing. "I'm pregnant."

The words sound out like the roll of a cannon; a large explosion then a sudden quiet to bask in the aftermath. He shakes his head a few times and presses it against my collar bone, closing his eyes in contemplation. After a long time he rises again, his eyes a little more lustrous than before. "How do you know?" he asks.

"I stopped haven't had a period in two months." I said exactly "And this morning I woke in a cold-sweat and threw up several times..."

His voice now is just as low now, and he enunciates deliberately, trying to take it all in. "Is it mine?"

"Yes...it's yours."

A sort of grand euphoria overcame the two of us as we watched the sun rise of the spires and rooftops of the city below that morning. We held each other fondly on the balcony, content with each other's presence. We did not know where this would take us, or what the consequences would be; but somehow, as we held each other, we knew, deep down, that everything would work out. For it was a bond between us that transcended merely love or hate, it was a bond that held us with unbreakable chains of spiritual oneness.

The sun rose on a new day.