Iroh had been having a pretty long, bad day. The battle for control of Ba Sing Se was still happening, demanding all of the strength and resilience he and his men had. The siege had already lasted 70 days, and there was no sign that the city would fall or surrender any time soon. He had known this would likely be the most difficult challenge he ever faced and that no place could protect itself against a nation as powerful and advanced like his for so long without having really good defenses, but he was truly impressed by the people of Ba Sing Se. The Dai Li in particular were even intimidating at times, and the strange way some of the warriors acted was a bit unnerving, and it would certainly benefit the Fire Nation greatly if these men changed sides, be it before or after the city fell.

This would be much easier if I still had my dragon, Iroh thought to himself. It had been years since his loyal companion had been killed, and Iroh had managed to keep winning battles without it's help, but he still missed it dearly, and he knew that his son did too - after all, Lu Ten looked after the dragon just as much as the general did.

He was brought back to reality as one of his men let him know that two letters had arrived from the palace. One by his sister-in-law, Ursa, and the other by his nephew. He read Zuko's letter first, since the boy's optimism would be a welcome break from the stress and urgency that plagued his life at the moment. The general smiled as he read that their family finally had gotten its new dragons, and he was pleasantly surprised by the name Zuko chose for his. He felt proud as he imagined what the boy's lessons with Piandao were like, and the boy's description of what his sister could do continued to amaze him, even though the boy didn't go into as much detail as he had in his previous letter. Still, Iroh could tell he was proud of her, and there was no doubt in his mind that the princess was well aware of how special her abilities were... and he also knew he'd likely never hear it from the princess herself.

Azula never sent a letter to Iroh whenever he was away, not even to ask about his progress in battles and taking over territories, which he knew was something she was very interested in. Her priority was pleasing her father, and considering the relationship Iroh had with Ozai, that meant his niece avoided interacting with him as much as possible, and when it couldn't be helped, there were always snarky, sarcastic comments that were just polite enough for her to get away with even in public (though she did not dare go against him in any way in front of Azulon). He was her uncle, and one day he'd be her Fire Lord, but his brother had made sure the girl would never warm up to him.

However, that didn't mean she didn't have the perfect way of finding out everything she wanted to know without having to actually to talk to him and thus going against her father. The questions could have been written by Zuko, but he had no doubt that Azula was the one who had thought of them. That understanding, and almost expertise, on a subject that no kid, not even a princess, should have at that age, and the tone that quickly shifted from curious to critical, made sure that sure that her name was practically written all over the letter. His niece was just impossible not to recognize.

"Are these form the palace?" his son asked. Iroh looked up and nodded "Can I read it?"

"Sure" Iroh said, handing him Zuko's letter, seeing Lu Ten's face lighting up. He had always had a good relationship with his cousins. His brother had not been able to ruin that.

Not at that point at least.

They were not allowed to go outside the palace that day. There had been some people causing trouble on the streets of the capital, and even though it didn't seem to have been that serious, both of their parents agreed it was best not to risk giving any traitor the chance to get their hands on the prince and princess. Zuko was disappointed, but his sister and their friends didn't seem to mind it much, despite Azula being in a terrible mood the past few days, much like Zuko himself. The royal garden was more than big enough for them to play with the dragons.

It had been two weeks since the eggs hatched. The cubs were still just learning to fly and couldn't yet go very high and weren't all that coordinated. Their parents on the other hand, while no longer strong enough to do it for too long, were still awe-inspiring and even intimidating. Zuko would never understand how his father could say that they could barely even still be considered dragons... though he did suspect that it had something to do with the fact that the dragons allowed Azulon, Iroh, and even a few generals to ride them, but didn't like having Ozai around them for too long. He would even look at them like he wanted to attack them, which was beyond stupid.

You say that like you wouldn't do the same, dum-dum, he could almost hear his sister saying, and he hated that she wasn't completely wrong. He did take after their father on regards to their patience, or lack thereof.

The four of them spent an hour just playing together, creating little targets for Sozin and Roku to burn, and making sure they wouldn't destroy anything that would get them in trouble with Ursa - namely, her flowers. Despite being so small, their flames were still incredibly powerful.

Dragons are fire made flesh; he had been told that his entire life, and not once did he ever doubt it, but it was still impressive seeing such intense, destructive flames coming from such tiny animals. He could only imagine how powerful they'd be in a few years.

Ruk and Kyin, who had been flying above them and the entire place the whole time, came back down to eat as the servants brought them their 'lunch.' Seeing just how much these beasts could eat never failed to remind Zuko that, even though these two dragons we're comfortable around him and his family and even liked them, they were still predators. He could understand why his great-grandfather never spared an out-of-control dragon, or even those that belonged to their enemies.

But would never accept that he also never spared any dragons that didn't bow to his will. His sister should not have named one in his homage, he simply did not deserve that honor, not after being directly responsible for the animals that symbolized their nation's power and history to become such a rarity. He treated them the same way every foreign savage would.

The two little creatures hissed at him and rubbed up against his legs, as if demanding him to stop being lost in his thoughts and to start paying attention to them. The prince, his sister and their friends kept training them for a little while long, before letting them go back to the pit with their parents.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"Let's play hide and seek!" Ty Lee suggested and they all agreed to it, despite being far less excited than she was.

"Okay, we'll play at the dragon pit. No leaving to hide in the gardens or in the palace! I'll look for you guys first" Azula said, taking charge as she'd do at pretty much any situation, and they immediately started the game. Zuko tried his best to find a decent spot, but it was hard since the tunnels all looked the same and he struggled to identify which ones led to the best hiding areas. Despite his efforts, he was the first to be found, and his sister made sure to sneak up behind him before jumping on his back, scaring him and nearly making him fall to the ground.

But it didn't matter. He would be the one looking for them later and already knew where Azula would hide anyway.

"Why do you bother coming up with rules when you won't follow them yourself?" her brother asked, startling her. She dragged him away from the entrance to the pit, not wanting to risk having her friends overhear them.

"I'm a princess, and this is my home. I can do whatever I want"

"Well, I'm the prince and I followed the rules" he said in that righteous, dramatic tone he used so often, that made him both endearing and silly.

"Yeah, because you're a dum-dum"

Zuko narrowed his eyes "So, as a prince I can always do whatever I want, right?"

"Ah, you're finally catching up"

He smirked "Guess I'll go tell Mai and Ty Lee that you tried to cheat and I caught you"

"Oh, come on, let me enjoy my fun a little" she whined, tugging at his sleeve.

"I already found you. You lost"

"They don't know that. Now go back and try to find them"

"No, we're gonna play by the rules" he tried taking her with him, but she created a small flame, making him instantly let go of his hand. Azula immediately took the chance to run to the on the opposite direction, laughing as her brother chased her. She made sure not to get too close to the palace, just in case father wasn't working - he always looked a bit disappointed when he saw spending more time playing than practicing her bending. She managed to stay ahead of her brother for a pretty long time, since she had always been faster than him, but eventually he caught up with her, hugging her, kissing her hair, then running.

Azula groaned and started chasing him, and as soon as she was close enough to do so, she pounced on her brother like a predator attacking its prey, tackling him to the ground. When she hissed at him like a cat would, he laughed then broke free of her grasp and got up, circling her, preparing an 'attack'... but as usual, he was too slow and she went first.

She wasn't sure if was feeling playful or if she just was trying to relieve some anger - and if that was the case, she didn't know what she was angry about. But that wasn't important. The princess had to admit that, even though she loved her brother, he was an excellent punching bag when she just needed to let out some frustration, a great opponent when she genuinely wanted to practice, and he enjoyed just playing with her and pretending they were animals fighting.

The pair completely forgot about their friends. As it often happened, they were now in their own little world, playing their strange little games. The twins rolled around on the grass as they wrestled, and at one point, when her brother to restrain her, Azula scratched one of his cheeks, three red stripes marking his skin.

Mother will be furious, the princess thought to herself, but still didn't stop the 'fight'. In retaliation, her brother pinned her to the ground, undoing her top-knot and messing up her hair, rubbing some dirt on her clothes, absolutely infuriating her.

Azula's appearance was very important to her, both due to her own vanity, and because she always had to look her best since she was a princess. Luckly, mother turned a blind eye to it if she was having fun, and father did the same as long as she only allowed herself to be look so disheveled while sparring without using her bending. Both still expected her to go back to her usual perfect look as soon as she could, so Azula never went too far with it if she could help it.

Her twin however, didn't care much about looking presentable, and he very much liked ruining her perfect appearance. If he were literally anybody else, she'd kill him for it. Instead, she'd just tease him and make him a little uncomfortable. Struggling to break free of his grasp and pinning him to the ground as soon she managed to do it, Azula sat on his lap and leaned in, biting his cheek and licking it, like she had seen cats do to each other, causing him to groan in disgust, which made her laugh.

Zuzu liked it when they imitated animals, be it cats, dogs, tigerdillos, dragons or literally any other living creature, but he much preferred it when they copied how they fought. But his exaggerated reactions to everything were always funny, and his discomfort at imitating how animals showed affection was the main reason why Azula preferred it to the other option.

"Stop whining, it's not that bad"

"Yes, it is. It's gross" he complained, but still let her do it again, earning himself a kiss on his other cheek; the one where she had scratched him. It didn't look like it hurt him much, but she was still very gentle. She pressed her forehead to his "I win, dum-dum"

"What are you guys doing?" they heard Ty Lee ask, and looked around to see her and Mai standing near a tree. They seemed as confused as Ursa had been the first time she caught them doing that, but far less scandalized and less worried that they'd accidentally hurt each other.

"What are you two doing out here?" Azula asked, pulling away from her brother, who was blushing furiously.

"I figured you weren't going to follow the rules, and since we were hiding together, I told Ty Lee we should leave the pit"

Are they getting smarter or am I getting too predictable? the princess thought to herself.

"Well, you were right, congratulations" she didn't even try to hide her annoyance "I need to clean up now. Mai, you come with me" she said, walking up to her friend, taking her hand, and dragging her to the palace with her.

She had something very important to ask.

Mai had been waiting for Azula to want to talk to her - or rather, to interrogate her. She had been very careful when interacting with Zuko to not make it obvious that she had developed a bit of a crush on him, but, of course, he had told his sister that she had been asking him questions about their engagement. These two always told each other everything. And it looked like she had gotten a little paranoid.

And she just had to essentially treat her as a servant while demanding an explanation, making her pick up clean clothes for her, tend to the little wounds on her skin, washing her hair and sccrubing her back. If she were a firebender, she would have probably ended up accidentally boiling the water with Azula in it. Mai immediately chastised herself for that thought, not just because they were friends, but also because her friend was royalty.

"I just don't get why you're so interested on my engagement to Zuzu all of a sudden. You never cared about that kind of thing" Azula said as Mai continued to comb her hair.

"It isn't that big a deal, I was just curious"

"Why?"

She sighed "There's this boy I like, okay? I don't really know how these things work, so I wanted to ask someone who does and that wouldn't say I'm too young to understand it or ask me who is it I have a crush on"

"And who is it?"

"Doesn't matter. And you don't know him anyway" she lied, earning herself an angry glare.

Azula had always been the possessive type, and she never dealt well with people, even her friends, wanting anything that was hers. Toys, clothes, books... sometimes Azula even made a point to refer to her and Ty Lee as her friends instead of their friends while talking to Zuko. Mai was pretty sure that the princess only 'agreed' to share their parents with her brother because she didn't have a choice. And Zuko being the only one she'd sometimes allow to touch her things meant she was definitively not willing to share him.

But she'd never try to compete with Azula for him. Not only would that be betraying her friend, it'd also be pointless. It wasn't like Mai actually wanted him, she just liked him. She thought he was cute and she liked his company. It wasn't the weird, over the top need to be together that he had with Azula, and plan an entire future together, even though they were just kids. They liked pretending they were adults, but she wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that they didn't really understand half the things that came out of their mouths and had just convinced themselves that they did. If nobility was already way too dramatic and self-important, royalty was a billion times worse.

"What is it like being with him?" the girl asked against her better judgment.

"It's like any engagement" Azula said, clearly wanting to end the subject.

"Most people don't get engaged as soon as they're born. And most couples are not together because they love each other. I never saw my mother smile like a happy idiot whenever she sees my father, he doesn't keep trying to find excuses to bring her up in any conversation, and they don't say they're the same person" she teased, making her friend blush.

"Fine, so we're a little clingy"

"A little?"

"Don't interrupt me" she reprimanded "If we're the norm, then there's nothing for you to be curious about. If we're weird, then you shouldn't care since you'll never go through anything similar. Now enough of this. Let's go back" Mai nodded, handed Azula a towel, and then helped her dress up "You're a pretty good at this. If your family ever loses all the money and status, you should come work here as a servant"

"Don't push it"

Zuko and Azula were at the dinner table with their mother, trying their best to look like good little kids she wouldn't want to be mad at. She was staring at all the little bruises they had not been able to hide, and at the scratch marks on his cheeks.

"Which one of you started it this time?" Ursa asked, getting no reply "Which one of you started it?" she repeated, slightly irritated.

For a split second, Zuko considered telling on his sister, almost immediately feeling ashamed of himself for it. He was still a little hurt that she did not support him when their dad got mad at him, but there was a big difference between Azula not doing anything to help him out and him actively throwing her into the fire.

Though she had started it and she was the one who got overly aggressive, which she usually didn't do unless she was angry. He knew that she had been a bit more irritable the past few days like he had, but what reason did she have to be angry anyway? If one of them should be on a good mood, it should be her. Either way, he kept quiet. They were a team even when he was mad at her.

They let their mother berate them for being reckless, for disobeying her, for not behaving properly and for having hurt each other, even if just a little bit. For once they were both grateful that their dad wasn't there. He wouldn't be mad at them for sparring, but he would not approve that they did it in the garden, where anyone, including their grandfather, could see them, instead of in the Agni Kai room. And he wasn't the type to fall for sad, regretful, cute faces. Luckly, once she was done yelling at them, their mother was more than happy to talk to them about their plans to their birthday, which was only a month away.

Once they finished their meal, their mother hugged them both, and they all went back to their rooms. Zuko was already drifting in and out of sleep when he finally felt his sister's presence. As he relaxed further, he started dreaming - dreaming that he was the one training with their father. It was just the two of them, and he could not see Azula around, but he could still sense that she was near-by somewhere. He knew it was a dream, but for once he managed to stay asleep despite being aware of that fact.

He did the warm up exercises, trying to keep himself calm so he wouldn't make any mistakes. It would be humiliating to fail at the easiest part of the training. It wasn't until he begun bending that he saw the color of his flames that he realized he was not himself in that dream - he was his sister. The second he understood it, the flames became red again, and he found himself alone in the Agni Kai room.

This will bring you two closer together in every way, he heard Li and Lo's voices saying from nowhere in particular.

"Where are you two?" he asked, being completely ignored. He went to the hall, but it was also empty, and fire on the braziers suddenly died, forcing the prince to create his own flame to be able to see where he was going. Every object surrounding him felt a bit off, despite looking perfectly normal.

Zuzu? What are you doing here? he heard his sister ask.

"I don't know"

He kept wandering through the place, trying to find her - trying to find anyone, really. Li and Lo's voices kept coming back every now and again, making him feel even more lost. As he passed by a mirror, he saw that he looked like himself again, but while the flame he was generating was red, the one his reflection had was blue.

Your spirit already knows everything your sister knows.

"What are you doing here?" the prince in the mirror asked, and despite his voice sounding like his own, Zuko knew it was still his sister was asking that question. She sounded angrier this time, and everything went black as his flame died. The floor seemed to fall through underneath his feet, and he fell into the darkness, trying to scream but no sound came out.

What are you doing here, Zuzu? This isn't your dream.

When he woke up, Zuko practically jumped out of bed, heart beating impossibly fast. The sun had not even begun to rise and that Azula was not by his side, even though he had been sure he had felt her so near him. He was a little dizzy and very confused. He had dreamt that he was his sister before and she had told him she sometimes had similar dreams, but that nightmare, if it could even be called that, was different from those times and far too strange. Judging by the confused and somewhat worried expression on Azula's face as she barged into his room, she agreed with him.

He could still hear the twins' words echoing in his head, practically taunting him.

This will bring you two closer together in every way.

He had already been annoyed at how vague that statement had been when he first heard it. Now he was ready to demand answers.