"Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

Princess Azula stopped right on her tracks as she heard her mother's voice. The little girl knew she was supposed to be in bed already, and that she should let her brother rest as well, but Zuko had asked her to be with him that night. They had spent almost every night of the past month by themselves, so she had been missing him when she went to bed and was looking forward to having a little more time with him. But they were always a little too loud, both when they're getting along and when they got on each other's nerves, and that always made their father furious, and since he had been in an absolutely terrible mood recently, they were all being extra careful not to give him any reason to be mad at them. It was a miracle that their mother had convinced him to go on their yearly family vacation at all, so allowing them to disobey his orders of going to bed immediately after dinner, even if just for a little while, was out of question.

For her mother at least.

"I'm going to see my brother. He asked me to" Azula replied as confidently as she could without sounding insolent.

"You both know very well you don't have permission to do that tonight"

Why do you think I tried sneaking around? she thought, but knew better than to say out loud.

"Come on, mom, please. Dad won't find out, we'll be quiet. Just tonight"

"No. If I let you spend the night in his room, neither of you are going to sleep, and I'll need you two to wake up early tomorrow"

"Zuzu is going to be sad if I don't show up" she said in the sweetest, most innocent, sheepish little tone she could use, looking at her with sad eyes and a pout. Her mother always seemed to fall for that, and she also had never liked denying Zuko anything unless she absolutely had to.

Ursa sighed "I'll let you play with him for a little while, okay? But then I'm taking you back to your room"

Azula nodded and ran to meet her brother before her mother changed her mind, but still being careful not to make a sound. Usually she would have tried arguing at least a little more to see if she could get her way, and she knew that most nights that would have actually been really easy. But she knew better than to push it that night. There was just no way Ursa was going to risk having them spend the entire night up, wake up late, and make Ozai have to wait even a single extra second to leave, and even though she wasn't happy about it, Azula could understand it.

As soon as she walked through the door, her brother's face lit up and he pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. He always did that, being as loving as possible every time she was near him, as if he had not seen her in a long time. Azula loved it, mainly because, despite Zuko's kind nature, she was the only one he treated this way. He had always put her up on pedestal, as if she was the most especial thing in the world.

"What took so long?"

"Mom caught me. I won't get to spend the night, Zuzu" her twin seemed frustrated and angry, but before he could start whining, the princess dragged him to their bed and hugged him "No complaining, dum-dum. It won't change her mind and it will just be a waste of our time" he tried to argue, but she interrupted him again "Did you pack everything? The games, the costumes, the books and scrolls?" He nodded with that unnecessarily serious look in his eyes. Still, Azula decided it was better not to risk it, and got up from the bed.

"Come on, I told you I got everything" he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him again "I even double-checked"

"You always forget something" she argued, but didn't try to get up again. She liked getting on his nerves, but she also liked pleasing him "If you forget your firebending scrolls, I'm not letting you borrow mine"

"You do know this is supposed to be a vacation, right?"

"You do know that we should practice every day to be as strong as we can since we're the heirs to the throne?"

"Lu Ten is the heir" he reminded her. He had to that a lot. Azula loved their cousin, but just their dad was much more fit to be firelord than uncle Iroh, Lu Ten didn't really seem to have been made to deal with the responsibilities of being the heir. Both him and his father were excellent warriors, and it was obvious that the blood of Agni ran through their veins, but they were much better suited for helping a ruler than to actually ruling. They were too soft and not cunning enough to be proper Fire Lords. Azula was the opposite. As for Zuko, well... he was her other half. She was made to be Queen, so he was made to King.

"I just meant that any member of the royal family should be ready to be the heir, just in case something happened" she lied, and her twin could clearly tell. Still, he changed the subject, either for her sake or his own... maybe both.

"It's a shame we can't bring the dragon eggs. It will be really unfair they hatch while we're away"

"Yeah, but it's better than risking something happening to eggs and killing our dragons before they're born. Besides, the sages say we have at least two more months, so we won't miss anything."

"How are you always so patient?"

"Because at least one of us needs to have some self-control" she teased.

In response to her provocation, Zuko stuck his hand underneath her shirt, pinching the soft skin of her stomach and generating just enough heat to make her yelp and jump up. She then pinched his cheek and created a little spark. Retaliating again, Zuko got on top of her and started tickling her, making her laugh uncontrollably and bringing tears to her eyes. Azula tried keeping it down, but it was impossible, and her brother did not stop until she grabbed his pony-tail and pulled at it. She tried getting away, but he grabbed her leg and pulled her to him again. Instead of continuing the fight, Zuko pressed a quick kiss to her lips, making her smile, and then let her go. They heard a few knocks on the door, followed by their mother telling them to keep it down. If she wasn't still out of breath, the princess would have told her brother it was his fault.

Once she had managed to control her breathing again, she got up from the bed and opened her brother's bag "Do you wanna play a game?"

"You just want an excuse to go through my stuff"

"Like I need it. Everything that is yours, is mine. Do you wanna play or not?"

"Sure" when Azula picked up everything they needed to play Pai Sho, Zuko smirked at her "You're so much like uncle."

"You want to pick up another fight?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Zula" his insincere tone and the bratty smile on his stupid face almost made her proud.

The two of them got to play for about twenty minutes before their mother walked into the room.

"Please let me stay a little longer" Azula asked sweetly, trying to persuade her, but Zuko, ever impatient, decided to go straight to the point.

"Please let her stay the night"

Ursa almost caved, bit still managed to control herself "Honey, you will get to spend two weeks without leaving your sister's side, which is already how you spend every single day here at the palace. There's no need for Azula to spend the night the night with you, and it isn't proper for you two to share a bed so often"

"We're engaged, what's the big deal?"

"Being engaged isn't the same as being married" their mother said, ending the argument before it started "Now come on, Azula"

The princess sighed and got up, standing next to Ursa, and noticed the woman had something in hands "What's this?"

"A firebending scroll your brother forgot in the garden" she offered it to Zuko, who grabbed it and put it on his bag as quickly as possible, as if hoping Azula wouldn't notice.

"Told you always forget something"

"Shut up!"

"Zuko, don't talk to your sister like that" Ursa reprimanded, irritating him. Azula smirked then stuck out her tongue "Don't provoke him"

Don't meddle.

"Sorry, mom" the princess turned back to her twin "Sorry for being right, dum-dum" before he could say anything, Azula kissed him, making him blush furiously. He always got shy whenever she showed him affection in front of other people, even their own mother "Goodnight, Zuzu"

"Goodnight, Lala"

Ursa chuckled and shook her negatively "Sleep well, Zuko. Now come on, Azula. Quietly."

Azula nodded and left with her mother.

Despite having barely slept the previous night, both due to excitement and to being frustrated at not having him sister sharing his bed, Zuko was wide awake. He couldn't wait to get to Ember Island, spending two weeks having fun, relaxing, playing with his sister at the beach, and even seeing all the awful, but somehow still entertaining plays their mother was crazy about.

As they waited for the servants to be done preparing their departure, he and Azula went to the dragon pit, one of the biggest structures of the palace - and that was solely counting the part of it that was visible. The place was huge, and the tunnels underneath it were even bigger. They were once filled with dragons, but now there were only two, Kyin and Ruk; Azulon and Ilah's dragons. All of the other dragons their family had were killed by their enemies, both inside their nation and outside of it, some when Zuko and Azula had not even been born yet.

But there was new hope - the two dragons that hatch any day now.

The two eggs were fairly large and impossibly beautiful, with scales that shined like the rarest, most precious metals in the world. His looked like it was made of gold, while Azula's was of a very dark blue, almost black. Whenever someone held them, the natural warmth the scales radiated seemed to become more intense, and it was possible to almost feel the dragons moving inside. And the little creatures seemed to react more when the twins were the ones 'interacting' with them.

At first, when the only thing differentiating them from the eggs of any large animal, Zuko had felt absolutely ridiculous doing things like meditating with the egg close to him and essentially turning both his bed into a nest some nights, but now he felt like he had a bond with his dragon before it even hatched, and since he was always with his sister, the dragons treated them both the same. Sometimes Zuko wondered if the dragons knew they were their 'family' in a way, since their 'parents' belonged to Azulon and to his deceased wife.

"Already figured out what you're gonna name yours?" his sister asked.

"Not yet. You're still going with the one you chose before?"

His sister nodded and Zuko kept his mouth shut. He was usually honest with his sister, but he knew that if he said what he thought of the name she chose, she could take it the wrong way.

"Maybe you could try helping me find a good name for mine"

"No" she answered almost immediately.

He frowned "Why not?"

"Because seeing you all frustrated at not being able to do something so simple is fun"

Before the young prince could retort, their mother walked in with a few servants, and Zuko assumed it was just to tell them they were ready to go, and his sister had likely thought the same. Instead, they were told their uncle had sent news. He had finally arrived in Ba Sing Se - and had sent them gifts, which was obviously the most important part.

"If the city is as magnificent as its wall, Ba Sing Se must be something to behold" I hope you all may see it someday, if we don't burn it to the ground first" listening to those words made the young prince excited. None of them had any idea that this wasn't going to be another one of Iroh's easy victories, and that he wouldn't come home for a long, long time "Until then, enjoy these gifts. For Zuko, a pearl dagger from the general who surrendered when we broke through the Outer Wall. Note the inscription and the superior craftsmanship"

"Never give up without a fight" he read, a smile spreading across his face.

"And for Azula" their mother went on "A new friend. She wears the latest fashion for Earth Kingdom girls"

His sister's reaction couldn't have been more different than the one he had to his gift, but honestly, he could not blame her. He couldn't even imagine what had gone through his uncle's head that made him think Azula of all people would be happy. She picked it up as if touching something utterly disgusting, and Zuko could see just how badly she wanted to say something - likely something mean about uncle that make both their mother and Zuko himself mad at her. She could be very difficult sometimes. But she always acted a little nicer whenever they were going to Ember Island.

Either way, Zuko liked being in her company, even when she was being insufferable. In a weird way, that made him like her more. He'd have so much fun when they bickered and argued, and then be rewarded later when her softer side would come up. She was just delicate enough not to genuinely hurt or upset him, while also having that same stubborn pride he had that prevented her from being boring like all the other polite, proper, stupid, spineless noble girls. Even her friends were fun... though the three of them could be confusing and downright insane sometimes, especially when they were together.

The young prince was pulled from his thoughts as his mother told them it was time for them to leave. He took Azula's hand and started following his mom. Despite their excitement, they both made sure to be quiet the entire carriage ride to the beath. Their father was less angry than he had been the previous day, but he is still seemed far from happy, and they didn't want to annoy him. Zuko had to admit he was a bit disappointed - he had always known that Ozai had never enjoyed the family vacations as much as they did, but he had always seemed at least a little glad that they were having a good time, even when he was a bit irritated... or very irritated. If his mother and Azula shared his disappointment, they didn't let it show.

As soon as they got into the boat, the two siblings ran to their room.

"Give me your knife" she said, taking it from his hand before he could answer. To his shock, his twin started to 'mutilate' the doll, cutting limb from limb, starting with the legs, then the arms, and finally the head, before setting all the pieces alight. She was spending too much time with Mai... or Mai was spending too much time with Azula. Zuko still wasn't sure.

"You could have just said you didn't like gift"

"But I did like it. Even played with it just now, didn't I? Too bad everything that comes from the earth kingdom always has such low quality" she said giving him back the knife as if it was as unimportant to her as the doll, even though Zuko was sure Azula had liked it.

"If you change your mind, you can take my knife whenever you want" he said, noticing her false disdain falter for a minute. She often said that he was easy to read, but she wasn't all that hard to understand herself. At least not to him.

And already knew what to do to make her lighten up again.

Their first day on the island had been a lot of fun, Zuko had made sure of that. Instead of going straight to the things he actually been looking forward to do, the first thing the young prince did when their mother allowed them to go play together was taking his little sister to a more secluded part of the beach, so they could practice their firebending together. He knew that being not just the best, but also being absolutely perfect at everything she did was really important to her. They worked on the stances they (mostly him) had been struggling with and spared with each other. Azula, of course, won, and she seemed to be more into it than normal. There was just no doubt in his mind that she was going to be greatest firebender in history by the time she was fully grown.

After the intense training, they rewarded themselves with some well-deserved, delicious ice-cream, then went for a swim. As usual, they managed to turn that into a competition, seeing who could stay more time underwater, who could swim faster, who could swim further - that last one did not amuse their mother, who went after them and practically dragged them back, lecturing them the entire time. Their father didn't seem mad at all, and their strive to become resilient seemed to appease the terrible mood he had been in... at least until some kids that were nearby started making too much noise. Luckly their parents recognized him, and immediately put them in line, preventing any issue.

Leaving the beach, the two twins walked through the town, seeing some of the artists - or clowns as Azula referred to them all, regardless of what kind of what they did - performing. She was holding onto his arm, practically glued to his side, constantly snuggling him and kissing his cheek. Despite how awkward and embarrassed he felt with any public display of affection beyond holding hands, Zuko couldn't complain since he loved getting his sister's attention, and he knew she felt the same. The pair then went to the flower field close to their beach house, playing tag, then having a picknick. Azula blushed adorably when he gave her a red rose. She put it in her hair, which was lose, something she didn't do often much to Zuko's disappointment; she looked even prettier like that.

Finally, the two of them went back to the beach, making a huge sandcastle that Azula, as usual, worked incredibly hard on, as if it was the most important thing in the world. The intensity with which she did everything scared him sometimes, but it also fascinated him. She seemed to want to make the whole world around her become as great and important as she was, just like their nation was doing with each territory they conquered. They didn't stop until nightfall, when their mother called them in for dinner.

Usually, they would have spent an hour or two playing some game on the porch, but they had had to wake up so early and had already done so much that they were just too tired. They went to 'his' bedroom, undressed, put on their sleeping robes and climbed onto their bed. Zuko immediately embraced his sister, despite the intense summer heat. They just couldn't help but to want some kind of physical contact with each other whenever they slept on the same bed, be it having their finger entwined, the backs pressed against each other, being safe in each other's arms. Even in the nights that were so hot that even the slightest touch was uncomfortable, they'd reach out for one another, be it while they were awake or in their sleep.

"I love you so much, dum-dum"

"I love you too, Zula"

Ursa knew it was normal for twins to have a stronger bond with each other than with anybody else, and to focus a little too much on the fact that they were twins, and that their engagement could only make it more intense. But sometimes, her children's behavior concerned her. She had not minded the fact that they had spent the previous day together since the very purpose of this vacation was so they all could relax and enjoy time with each other.

Her problem was with the... peculiar way they chose to spend the day. From the moment they left one of 'their' rooms as they so often referred to it, they were imitating each other. They had done that since they could speak, but as a game and a way to tease each other. Recently they seemed to do it for no reason at all, and would spend hours and hours speaking like each other, one doing things the other would want to do, and copying every habit, every mannerism and every little quirk their sibling had. And the strangest thing about it, was how easily it all seem to come to them. Zuko had always struggled to control his temper - he was Ozai's son after all - and to act a bit more confident, while Azula never seemed to be able to demonstrate the same kindness and interest towards anyone outside her family and friends, yet they didn't seem to have any of these issues while copying each other.

In truth, it just seemed to oddly natural to them that 'copying' didn't feel like the right word. It was almost as if they had somehow swapped places, and either weren't aware of it or didn't care. It was an absurd idea, but it had crossed Ursa's mind nonetheless.

But while she had gotten used to it, or at the very least accepted that it something that couldn't be helped, her husband had not. Since he now spent pretty much every single day trying to help his father with everything and anything he could, he was no longer spending as much time with the kids as he used to, especially not with Zuko, and had noticed just how out of control this little game of theirs gotten.

And he was not happy about it.

"What kind of a mother are you that you let your children act this way?" he said in an unusually cruel tone "You allow them to behave like they're out of their minds and embarrass our family?"

Embarrass me in front of my father, was what he truly wanted to say, and they both knew it.

"I don't 'let' them act like this. They just do, and solely when they're alone or with me. They don't act like that in front of other people"

Anymore.

"This is unbelievable"

"Ozai, they're seven, they don't know any better. I don't like this either, but as long as they know this isn't the proper way to behave in public, this is basically harmless. I assure you I will handle this" she said in the sweetest tone she could use, hand reaching out to touch his arm, but her husband simply scoffed and walked away, ignoring her as she called for him.

I'd like to see him trying to control these two, Ursa thought to herself, before going back to where her children were. She didn't reprimand him then, nor would she do that while they were on Ember Island. This was still meant to be a family vacation, and since Ozai's foul mood clearly was not going to change any time soon, she thought it was fair at least part of the family still enjoyed this.

Azula woke up before her family did. The sun had not even begun to rise when she got up from the best, unable to go back to sleep. She often had that problem, and while her mother would usually try (and fail) to get her to relax again by making her some tea or telling her a bedtime story like she used to do every night when she and her twin were even younger, her father saw no issue with it, saying that it was a good thing that she was always so full of energy and needed so little rest, that it was a blessing from Agni, the God of fire itself.

She had considering waking Zuko up and making him play with her so she would have something to do, but decided against it. She read a few of the stories she liked, then did what her father would have told her to do with that extra time, meditating for a little while before quietly practicing a bit of her bending.

To her shock, her golden flames seemed to have a strange touch of blue. At first, she had thought that maybe it had something to with some kind of optical illusion, but the more she tried it, the more that shade of blue seemed to take over.

"Zuzu, wake up" she said as she grabbed his shoulders to shake him, too excited to be gentle or to keep her voice down, startling him and causing him to groan in annoyance "Wake up!"

"What?" he asked, sitting up, obviously annoyed her. Azula took a deep breath and concentrated on trying to create a powerful flame. This time, the blue was all there was to see. Zuko practically jumped off the bed, eyes wide "How did you do that?!"

"I don't know, I just did!"

"Do it again!" she tried, but despite still being there, the blue wasn't as visible as before, much to her chagrin. Zuko on the other hand, seemed just as fascinated and proud as he had been a few seconds before "Azula, you're amazing!"

She smiled "I know"

"You need to show that to dad. He's gonna lose his mind seeing this" he said, offering her his hand. The pair then went straight to their parent's room, excited to share the good news with them.

Had they known what would come of it, they would have stayed where they were and enjoyed their last moments of peace a little more.