Author's Note: I know, I haven't published a new story in ages, but my head and hands feel ready to take the pen up again, so here we go. My basic idea was that nobles in absolute monarchies, what I guess the Fire Nation in the world of avatar is or resembles the most, especially the royal children are quite often married rather sooner than later, sometimes by proxy if they couldn't make the travel or illness or just because they were that young. So, my basic idea of this story was to implement the idea of Zuko being already married at a very young age and how his wife would influence the story. First, I'm going to give a little introduction, a little backstory leading up to the start of the series. I'll then follow the series more or less, maybe altering some things, but the overall flow shouldn't be too much changed, at least that's what I planned.
Of course, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I hope I didn't forget anything just yet, it's been a while since I wrote something.
The Fire Nation Palace, 11 years before Aang is freed from the ice.
A messenger knocked on the door to Zuko's bedchamber. The five years old prince got up from his little desk quickly and opened it. "Lady Ursa wishes for your company in the royal gardens, your highness.", Zuko smiled happily though he thought that sending a messenger for such a thing was probably a bit too formal.
"I will join her right away.", the little prince told the messenger, "You are dismissed.", the man bowed and swiftly left the royal chambers.
Full of joy the prince ran out to the gardens where he found his mother sitting already in their favorite spot at the pond. When she saw him, Ursa smiled at her son and waved her hand for him to come over. It was then that he saw that she was not alone.
A small figure sat at her side, almost not moving at all. At first, he thought it was his sister and frowned a little, but when the wind waved through her hair, he saw that it was wavy, almost curly. So, it couldn't be his sister, since Azula's hair was straight. Curious he slowed his pace to look at her more carefully. He didn't know the girl at all. Her curly hair was black as if it was lacquered and the sun reflected on each curl, giving the appearance of hair jewelry, even if there was none. Her skin was almost as pale as his own and her eyes were as black as her hair. He felt himself drowning in these chocolate lakes, when he noticed her blushing and wondered how long he had stared at her. The feeling of behaving totally inappropriate washed over him, making himself blush and look to the floor.
His mother's laughter shook him from his state as she again motioned for him to come next to her. He sat down and looked at her curiously, "Why did you want me to come here, mother?".
Ursa smiled at her son, but scolded him though in a friendly tone, "Zuko, where are your manners? Didn't I told you to greet guests and introduce yourself?"
Zuko flinched, he could feel his ears reddening, "I'm sorry mother.", he turned to the girl and said, "Greetings, my name is Zuko, I'm the son of Prince Ozai. What is your name?"
Shyly, still blushing the girl rose to her feet. She was probably a little younger than him, but not too much. She wore a red dress with a broad ribbon around her waist. Shuffling a little she said, "I'm h-honored to meet you, your highness. My name is Ming, I am the daughter of Captain Zhao." The name was not familiar to him at the time.
His mother took it from there, "Zuko, I wanted you to meet Ming, she will play with you and your sister from now on. Be nice to her."
Zuko looked at his mother questioningly. This girl was not even noble, yet she should be allowed to play with them. His mother went on, "Your father and grandfather have discussed your marriage recently.", and seeing his eyes grow wide in shock she added, "of course you know that it is important to clear out these things as early as possible. If anything were to happen to us and nothing was arranged, how could our spirits find peace? Since you're currently the fourth in the line of succession your grandfather wanted to strengthen our bond to the navy with your marriage and thus, our decision fell for Ming here." , the little girl hastily looked to the ground again, he felt she had known before, but did have as much a say in this as he did, his mother continued, "Her father is a rising star in the armed forces and a great fire bending master. She will from now on live here in the palace in the chamber next to yours.", Ursa then rose, took a few steps and looked back at the two children, "I'll leave you with that for now. Why don't you get to know each other a little bit, or play something together?", none of the children moved as Ursa sighed and left the royal gardens. She hoped that this girl was the right choice for her son. Then again, who could tell as early in their lives as this was.
Ming and Zuko sat there in awkward silence for a while until the turtle-duck family that inhabited the pond appeared. Zuko watched curiously as Ming got closer to the edge of the pond and held a hand just above the water, holding her long sleeve back with the other. The turtle-ducks swam closer, especially the mother. Zuko prepared internally that the animal would snap at the girl, now his wife as he remembered, and readied himself to save her from it. To his surprise it did not happen at all. The animal smelled on her fingers and then moved towards her hand allowing the girl to stroke her head and throat gently and even allowed her ducklings to be petted as well. Zuko sat there in pure amazement, what kind of witchcraft was this? Then he heard her giggle. It was not as high pitched as that of Ty Lee, nor was it as dark as his sister's. It sounded rather like tiny bells ringing and he couldn't help but smile himself.
He stood up and sat closer to her, stopping her giggles for a moment as she looked at him. He did not want the silence back, so he asked, "How did you do that? When I come near them, they only bite me."
The girl raised an eyebrow, "Well, I try to be gentle and let them make their decision for themselves."
From this time on Ming stayed at Zuko's side whenever she could, though this often meant mainly joining him in the afternoon after he finished his lessons and training. She herself was taught on manners, making and serving tea and how to move with as much grace as possible. Lady Ursa, who saw that this was not enough to keep the girl entertained, also taught her everything she knew about herbs and plants. Who knows, it could be useful someday.
Zuko had expected her to show at least some form of homesickness, but she did not. Apparently, she was glad to be away from home. In fact, she became more and more joyful, the longer she remained at the palace. Over time her bond to Zuko grew thick, but also her relationships with Lady Ursa and Prince Iroh bloomed. To the other members of his family, she had a more distant relationship at best though. Azula and Ozai frightened the little girl to the core, and she almost never saw the Fire Lord himself or Prince Lu Ten for that matter, though he seemed to be nice.
She did not remember when it started, but at some stormy night she heard a knock on her door. It was not loud, almost hesitantly, as if the person on her door wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. Ming herself laid awake the whole night anyway, since the storm frightened her, but what could she do about it? She got up and opened the door. In front of her stood her young husband, seemingly as afraid as her. Both stared at each other for a moment, before she spoke, "Uhm, hi Zuko. What is it?", she yawned, rubbing her eyes.
Zuko rubbed the back of his head, "Well, uhm, sorry to wake you up, Ming. I-I couldn't sleep because of the storm, and I thought maybe you are awake as well, and so…", he trailed off.
Ming giggled a little, took his hand and pulled him into the room. They both climbed on her bed and sat next to each other. Zuko lit a little flame on his palm. The children talked then until first Ming, then Zuko drifted off to sleep.
When Zuko woke up, at sunrise, the sky was clear, and he and Ming laid on her bed curled around one another the blanket beneath them. Carefully not to wake her up he untangled himself and hurried back to his room. If someone, Agni forbid his sister, would see him sneaking out of her room in the early morning, he would be teased forever about it.
Incidents like this became a custom to them. When one of them couldn't sleep for whatever reason, they would visit one another to seek solstice.
Everything changed when a messenger hawk came from the Earth Kingdom. Lu Ten, Iroh's son, had fallen at the siege of Ba Sing Se, and grief stricken, Iroh had abandoned the 600-day siege.
A few nights later Ursa visited her son to say goodbye. The nine-years-old didn't understand what his mother meant at all though. Ursa also paid Ming a quick visit. The little girl sat up in her bed rubbing her eyes, "What is it, Lady Ursa?"
Quickly looking over her shoulder, the woman hastily whispered to her, "I don't have much time, Ming. I must go, but before I go, promise me that you will take good care of my son, will you?".
The girl nodded tired, "Of course, Lady Ursa.", Ursa quickly hugged her and swiftly left the royal chambers.
These words still rang through Ming's head when she heard the news, four years later. Zuko was challenged to an Agni Kai. She shivered. An Agni Kai could mean death. She had to see him at once, thus she stormed into his room, and when she saw him standing there, shuffling through his closet to find combat trousers, she ran up to him and threw herself in his arms. Surprised he hugged her, smiling down at her. The smile quickly faded when he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
He broke away from the hug and looked at her, sorrow in his features, "Ming! Ming! Why are you crying?"
The twelve-years-old looked him in the eyes, the first tears rolling down her cheeks, "Why did you do it? Don't you know that this could mean your death? What did you even think, accepting an Agni Kai challenge?"
His gaze hardened, "You don't understand, Ming. I have to, this is about my honor, about the people in our nation, I cannot let either of that down."
She hugged him again, tears still streaming down her face, "But what will become if you'd lose? What will become of us, of me?"
He tried to calm her down, "Shh, don't worry. My opponent is just an old, fragile general, who did not fight in ages. I'll beat him easily, you'll see. I'll make you a necklace from his headpiece."
She looked up at him, "You sure about that?"
Zuko just shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah. Now would you help me find my combat trousers."
"Sure.", she giggled.
She always shivered at the following memory. His crying, pleading for mercy when he saw his father. The merciless voice, telling him to stand up and fight. His screams, her father's face lit up by the fire, smirking, Azula in front of him, smirking as well. Iroh had closed his eyes, he tried to shield her eyes, but she shoved the hand away, she stared at the scene, frightened and shocked. Once they were allowed to, she and Iroh had hurried him to the healers. Ming had stayed at his side until he awoke again. She hadn't slept nor eaten for a few days and looked like her own ghost. Tears streamed down her face occasionally. She feared what would happen next. What would the Fire Lord decide for his son's fate? The tension killed her.
Finally, Zuko opened his eyes again, one of course still covered. The first thing he saw were two sorrow and tears filled black eyes. Without saying something he reached up and cupped her cheek, stroking the tears away. She gripped his hand and threw herself at him, crying into his chest and shaking violently. Before he could ask or say anything a messenger came in. "Prince Zuko, your father, the Fire Lord, has proclaimed you a disgrace to the royal family, which normally earn you a death penalty, but since you are his flesh and blood you are hereby banished from Fire Nation territory instead. Should you ever attempt to land on these shores again, the death penalty will be reinstated. The only way to come back here and have your honor intact again is to capture the avatar and bring him with you. For this you will be granted a small war ship and crew. Your uncle nobly decided to accompany you in your banishment. As for Lady Ming,", he stopped shortly to pull out some paper. Both teenagers looked at him in pure shock. "Here are the annulment papers, you just need to write your name here and you will be free to marry again if you want. A ship is waiting to bring you to your father."
The messenger handed Ming the papers and a brush. She looked at them, her face showing anger and rage for the first time in a few years. With as much anger as she could manage to put in her voice, she looked at the messenger and said, "I will not sign these. Never. Tell my father I'd rather become a nun. I will stay with my husband wherever this may be."
The messenger looked at her, surprise clearly visible in his features, "But my Lady, think of the shame this marriage now brings upon your family."
Ming on her part threw the papers into a nearby chimney and yelled at the messenger, "Get out!". The messenger quickly bowed and hastily left the room. Who knew that the quiet, happy Lady Ming could unfold such rage?
Ming stood next to Zuko's bed breathing heavily. "You don't have to do this, you know? I'd understand if you don't want to be my wife anymore.", it came almost whispering from the bed. "We don't even know what my face is going to look like once these bandages come off."
She turned to him with a weak smile, sat on the side of his bed and took his hand in hers, "I do not care how your face looks like, I thought I made that clear. If you allow it, I'll join you on your ship."
He pulled her down in a tight hug, stroking her hair gently, "As much as I'd like that, I think it would be better if you'd stay here.", he saw that she was not happy about it, but continued, "I don't really know where I'm going, but no matter what, out at sea, possibly for years to come is no place for you, it is not safe. It will be better for you, if you're with your father."
This time she hugged him tighter, so much that he was wondering if she would suffocate him, "You don't know what you're saying."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. A servant stood there, a tablet with clothes in hand, "Prince Zuko,", he said, bowing respectfully, "here are some clothes for you. Your ship will set sail in 30 minutes, so please hurry to put them on. As for the young lady, there are two guards outside that will take you to your ship.", he bowed again and put the clothes down on the foot end of the bed and left the chamber.
Ming had opened her mouth to protest, but Zuko grabbed her arm, stopping her. With a defeated expression on his face, he stood up and pulled her close, "If I was to choose, I wouldn't part from you either,", he began stroking her hair to calm her down, "but none of us are to choose, if we don't want even more trouble."
He cupped her face, trying to stroke away the tears while she wept, "So, this is goodbye?".
Zuko's gaze went stern, "Not forever, I promise. I'll do everything to come back,", he kissed her forehead and whispered, "I'll be back soon.".
Ming couldn't stop sobbing, but pulled back from his embrace, "Before I forget it, here,", she held a pendant on a thin chain in front of him, "I made this while you were unconscious. I made it for you, you should have it.", with that she quickly put it over his head. It hung down to his chest, so he could easily hide it under his clothing, and it wouldn't impact his breathing. He looked down on the pendant. On the front side was an elaborate carving of a dragon. It flew across the night sky, his head in front of the moon, looking back at the viewer with one eye, the other not visible. He turned the pendant and saw on the backside a set of calligraphy carved into it, but as elegant as if it was drawn with a brush. It was an ancient blessing for protection framed with both of their names.
He hugged her again, whispering "Thank you" into her ear. She turned her head around to face him and whispered, "Nothing to thank about, just stay safe, will you?", he smirked, "I'll give it a try once in a while.", earning him a small chuckle.
They finally broke their embrace, remembering what little time they had, and Ming helped him dress. Just before she turned to leave, he grabbed her hand again, turned her around and placed a quick kiss on her lips. She looked at him surprised, but smiling, before she finally headed out of the door and towards the two impatiently waiting guards. Zuko waited a little, before he too left for his boat. He didn't need to make it more difficult for either of them.
The travel to the Earth Kingdom was longer than Ming thought. She sat in her cabin, the captain banned her to it, because she had tried to throw herself into the ocean on more than one occasion. It was a standard cabin, nothing too fancy, and standardized for a man. She sighed. Meeting her father again was not a pleasant outlook. She had not forgotten what he did to her before she entered the palace. Ming missed her husband terribly. A thought shot through her head. At least one act of defying her father. She went to the cabin's restroom. On the sink laid shaving utensils, nothing for attempting suicide, but that wasn't what she wanted anyway. Not like this at least. She went through her long black curls one more time before she started to shave her head clean. This would be her way to remember Zuko's banishment. Every year from now until he returned to her she would shave her head clean on this day.
3 years later (At the beginning of the events in the series), in the southern sea near the pole
A bright light column shot up into the sky. A teenager in Fire Nation armor pointed at it, "Uncle, did you see that? I knew it, it must be him. The avatar is finally in our reach.", he took out a pendant from under his armor, looked at it and whispered, "I'll be back soon."