Author's Note: I'm baaack...XD After a rather long vacation. And, oh, my, what a vacation it has been, my friends (in other words, not much of a vacation at all).
I would like to make a short announcement: I am going to attempt to upload quite a few more chapters of this story before August, which is when I begin a very serious part of my studies. If I do not accomplish this goal, I would like to warn everyone that updates will be very few and very far-between. I estimate that this story will take a minimum of twenty chapters to wrap up.
This chapter might seem a little unsatisfactory; I debated making it longer, but I opted for the short-and-sweet approach. I will leave you all to your own conclusions about the ending.
Song: "Endless Melody" by Clarensau .com/watch?v=6lbdz4oc_QY (such a beautiful, meaningful song...it's perfect for Urzai)
Enjoy!
13.
"Look, Aunt Ursa, I found a lightning flower!"
At Ozai's fifth loud, irritated sigh, Ursa smiled and took Lu Ten by the hand. "Come on, Lu Ten; let's go look for flowers over here."
"But, we're finding lots in this flowerbed," said Lu Ten, with a frown.
"I know, but your uncle has to work on the reports to the generals, now, and we don't want to distract him."
"Oh," Lu Ten said, as if the heavens had suddenly parted and given him a divine revelation. "Well, here's the lightning flower," the little prince continued, in a loud whisper. His small hand uncurled to reveal a fragile, slightly crushed bloom. Ursa took it and made sure to exclaim over how lightning flowers were her very favorite, and that Lu Ten was a very thoughtful little boy.
Soon her young charge was absorbed in the search for summer blossoms, and Ursa took a moment to look back at her fiance as he sat, straight-backed and cross-legged, at a low table set out on the grass. Ozai had the tip of his calligraphy brush between his teeth, as he often did when he was deep in thought. The mannerism was one of the few uncourtly habits that Ursa found charming; it seemed terribly humorous to her that the prince of her nation would adopt it.
Ozai must have sensed her gaze upon him, for in a second he looked up and met her eyes. The smile that flashed across his face made her heart swell against her chest. Ursa smiled back and, in a fit of mischief, blew the prince a kiss. Ozai raised an eyebrow, then dipped his brush and wrote a short phrase on the palm of his hand. When he held up the decorated skin, Ursa laughed aloud as she read the message.
"But, you didn't catch it, Prince Ozai!" Ursa called, waving her own hand to illustrate.
"Allow me some poetic license," Ozai replied.
Lu Ten distracted Ursa with a bright purple flower. "I think this is a weeping lady, Aunt Ursa! Is that it?"
"Oh, I don't know," Ursa said. "I'm no flower expert. If we really want to know, I suppose we'll have to ask the gardeners."
Lu Ten, in typical boy fashion, did not seem interested enough in flower taxonomy to seek out the palace gardener. Instead, he tucked the purple flower behind Ursa's ear and ran off to pick more. Ursa busied herself with weaving a crown of grass blades and short-stemmed flower buds, singing a lullaby from her father's home island. Whenever she glanced Ozai's way, all she saw was the older prince's hair as it covered her view of his face.
In the two and a half weeks that Ursa had stayed at the palace, she had hardly left her fiance's side. Most of the time, she sat in Ozai's office, reading for pleasure and only disturbing the prince at mealtimes. However, she soon realized that she would have to take a more proactive approach to helping her fiance manage his position as Regent Crown Prince. Ozai had grown frustrated at her several times for her insistence that he stop working and rest for a while. But, because she did not relent, he had obeyed her, agreeing to take a two-hour break in the palace gardens once a day.
Today, little Lu Ten had accompanied the couple as they sat out in the sunlight. Ursa had taken it upon herself to entertain Lu Ten as much as possible, keeping in mind his loneliness and anxiety over his father's condition. Lu Ten was altogether a pleasant child, easy to please and eager to please his older relatives. Ozai had left the younger prince to his own devices for several days, being mired down by the duties of the crown prince. Ursa had seen the hurt look Lu Ten wore when his uncle shooed him out of his office, and she had declared quite firmly that Lu Ten would join them in the garden for their breaks from now on.
Ozai had not objected to Ursa taking a more authoritative position in their relationship; if anything, he seemed amused by her attempts to manipulate him. Of course, that was partly because Ursa knew when she had pushed enough. She still respected Ozai as her prince and would not dream of encroaching upon the parts of his life that she knew little about. For instance: she knew nothing of the divisions of the army and navy. She knew even less about proper bending technique. These were the things about which she asked endless questions, so she could gain knowledge on how to help her prince rule his country.
At the moment, Ozai was busy with the weekly reports for the generals of the home guard. Earlier that day, he had received the reports from the commanders on the Earth Kingdom front lines and had forwarded the most pressing accounts to his father. A messenger had arrived around midday with a hawk from Commander Jeong Jeong, the officer that had replaced Prince Iroh in his Earth Kingdom campaign. Ursa had watched Ozai's eyebrows raise and a smile cross his face.
When she had asked, he had simply told her that Jeong Jeong had managed to do in two weeks what no other commander had done in four years. Jeong Jeong had struck a path through the heart of the Earth Kingdom, occupying several frontier villages and securing a crucial town in the middle of the massive country. Ozai himself had delievered that particular piece of news to the Firelord.
The sun shone down on the Fire Prince's night-black hair, distracting Ursa as she took a seat on the grass. Lu Ten ran up to her and stuck another purple flower in her hair. "Thank you," Ursa said, with a giggle. "That looks lovely, I'm sure." Lu Ten smiled happily in response.
"Prince Ozai!"
Ozai stood as the watch guard ran up, planting himself at the prince's feet with a low bow. "What is it?"
The guard presented Ozai with a scroll. "Sir, I have just received this from the elite guard at Shengbing."
"Shengbing?" Ursa asked, feeling a spike of uneasiness. "Isn't that where Prince Iroh is recovering?" Beside her, Lu Ten lifted his face, his wary eyes intent on his uncle's posture. Ozai nodded to answer Ursa's question, his face turning a more faint shade of pale. Ursa swallowed; she knew that elite guards would not waste parchment and a messenger hawk on a frivolous letter.
Ozai took the scroll and ripped off the ribbon with one pull. As the older prince rolled out the parchment, Lu Ten gave out a strangled noise and ran toward the garden's exit.
"Lu Ten, wait!" Ursa called. She stood still, caught between the two princes. Her heart was with Lu Ten and the terror she knew he must feel, but her rational mind told her to stay and wait for the contents of the message. After a moment, she joined Ozai as he read the brief letter.
The dreadful silence only lasted a minute or two, and then Ozai let out a loud sigh. "Iroh is strong enough to be transported to the capital," he said, folding the parchment. "He will be escorted onto the closest navy ship later this week."
"Oh, what good news!" said Ursa, her relief breaking through. She put a hand to her heart as her breath returned.
Ozai folded the parchment further, creasing its edges and lining up the corners exactly. He said nothing. Ursa strode over and laid her hand on his arm. The prince did not acknowledge her gesture; he continued to crease and fold the message until it was the size of a teabag. "This is good news," Ozai finally said, once the paper had been reduced to its smallest possible size. Then, with a flick of his fingers, he set the parchment ablaze.
Ursa watched the message burn steadily on the same palm with the calligraphy that bore this phrase: "This hand has caught Lady Ursa's kiss." As she ran to find Lu Ten, she did not let herself wonder why that image, of the flames dancing atop her own name, lingered in her mind.