Hey guys! More ashayna fanfic here. hope you are enjoying it. This is a very important chapter, and although it may run a little slow at times, i hope you find it informative and interesting.

There may be some who are interested in what Ashayna looks like. I attempted to draw her. note the attempted. im not the best artist in the world but this gives you a rough idea.

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8269/cce00000tc6.jpg

Disclaimer: If i owned avatar, i would have started the season already gah.

Zuko sat at the edge of the turtle duck pond where he and his mother had been sitting not too long ago. He was still in his nice white clothes from his grandfather's funeral, and although the tears were coursing down his cheeks, it was not in mourning.

Ashayna watched said prince from afar. She sighed and looked down at herself. She was wearing a new white dress to mark the funeral. The young girl sigh, noting how she used to be given special treatment for being the sister of the would be fire lady, but ever since Lu Ten had died, her status in the palace dropped. Shay and her sister were still welcome in the palace, for it was not their fault Lu Ten had died in battle, but they were not as highly regarded before. Whereas Ashayna should have been next to Zuko in the funeral – where she could have comforted him – she now had to be in the back watching the horror and confusion on his face.

The ten year old walked up quietly behind her friend. Zuko tried to hide his crying but he was not very good at it. The turtle ducks seemed sad too, as they watched the prince with understanding eyes.

She reached her hand over to pat Zuko's shoulder, but somehow he sensed her and shrugged it away before she even had a chance to touch him. Shay stood in shock, not sure how to talk to her best friend. He had never been in moods like this before. He was normally vibrant and talkative. Never this quiet and thoughtful.

"I have no family left…" she thought she heard him mutter.

"Wha-"

"I HAVE NO FAMILY LEFT" the young boy turned around, his eyes flaming and streaming with tears. She had never seen his face so pained before. He stood up to her level, his chest heaving. "Everyone I ever loved is gone or taken away! Who do I have left anymore?"

"Zuko…"

"NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME ANYMORE I'M ALL BY MYSELF. WHY DID MOTHER LEAVE…"

"Zuko…"

"I have no family left. No family left. No –"

"ZUKO YOU STILL HAVE ME!!" Ashayna yelled, getting him out of his rant. Zuko's bright golden eyes stared at her wide, his face confused, but calm at least. He took a step back where they were only a forearms length away.

"Zuko, you still have me. I still care for you. I'm still here," she explained calmly, staring down at her hands clasped in front of her.

"But you aren't my family…"

"You feel like my brother," the little Ashayna muttered. She looked up at Zuko. At eleven, a year older than her, he stood a little taller. She watched as his face changed from sorrow, to defiance, and then to acceptance. The little girl looked away and wadded ankle deep into the pond.

"Ashayna…" she heard his voice from behind.

"Ashayna…" Zuko said weakly, watching his best friend stand in the pond. Her white dress blew in the soft wind. Her shoulders were sagged in what she felt was defeat and Zuko couldn't stand it; seeing her upset because of him. The thunder rumbled in the sky as gray clouds tumbled in from the west.

Ashayna had pointed out how she viewed him as a brother. They had grown up together, played together, cried together, fought with one another, and watched out for each other. And somewhere along the way, they had become related. They loved each other like family. Like brother and sister. She was the sister he wished he had, instead of the one he was actually given.

Sucking in his pride, he wadded into the shallow water as well. He stood in front of her, his shoulders squared. "I love you, my sister," he said seriously. His gold eyes stared into hers; the two kids stood in silence as the words soaked in. They both seemed shocked at the revelation but knew it as true. As if the gods had put them together to watch for each other. She made Zuko carefree and he made Ashayna stronger.

Zuko took out his knife, the inscribed one Uncle Iroh had given him during the siege of Ba Sing Se. "Give me your thumb. I have an idea," the young prince said.

"What are you going to do?" Shay asked, eyebrow raised. Zuko could tell she was a little skeptical and queasy at the sight of the knife, so Zuko set it down.

"I want us to really be brother and sister so we're never alone. I saw two guards do this one night. They prick their fingers and put their blood together and then they called themselves brothers," the boy explained. Shay's eyes opened in surprise, looking down at the knife and back up at Zuko. He could tell that she accepted the idea.

Picking up his knife, Zuko reached for Shay's hand. She placed her right hand palm up into his outreached hand. Another clap of thunder was accompanied by a downpour of rain. The two youths looked up momentarily as the rain started to soak their clothes and skins before they looked at each other. Shay nodded and Zuko made a clean, deep cut on her thumb. The girl bit her lip as the bright blood reached the surface of her skin. Zuko did the same, the droplets surfacing on his hand as well. The two looked at each other, brown eyes on gold, knowing that what they were doing would change their relationship forever.

The red drops of blood drizzled onto their white clothes, altering red on white, the two children altered their own life, staining their own bloodline with one another; becoming blood brother and sister.

The sky was turning brighter as Zuko and Ashayna walked out from the forest and into the clearing. The prince could hear the water warrior's snores from here. He sighed, overwhelmed, and sat down against the tree.

Ashayna turned around and smiled sympathetically at him. "Don't worry, I'll make this all good. I promise" she took his hand and squeezed it once before walking into the cave.

Zuko watched her leave, knowing that his sister would make everything alright.

Hope you enjoyed this installment of "Blood Sister." Please review