Ozai stared down the young woman knelt in front of him, the candles in the room growing taller as his anger heightened. "You're what?"

Tears streamed down her face, as she held back her sobs, "I'm sorry Prince Ozai," she kept her head down, afraid of what she'd see when she looked up, "I'm with child." Her fists were clenched. The room became deathly silent, only the soft sounds of her weeping echoing around the room.

Ozai's anger resembled an uncontrollable hurricane, tearing apart everything in its path and leaving behind only pain and destruction. Now, it seemed Xin was in the eye of the storm.

His hand came and gripped her face harshly, forcing her to look into his eyes. Even in this state, he observed, her beauty is outstanding. "Get rid of it."

Releasing his grip, he watched as her face contorted with grief and horror, a sudden sob leaving her mouth before she could stifle it. "No no no, please," She put her head to the ground in the deepest bow possible as she pleaded to him. "I-I'll stay by your side forever, I won't raise the child, I will do whatever you want, just please don't make me get rid of this child." She begged, more sobs leaving her.

Ozai wasn't a very caring man. He was rough, aggressive, unfaithful; nearly every bad thing a person could think of. His wife had only recently given birth to their first child, a boy, and instead of being with her, he was here, with a lowly courtesan. He stared down at Xin wordlessly, consumed by thoughts. Getting rid of it would be the easiest thing — illegitimate children always caused so many issues — but staring down at Xin as she begged and pleaded, he felt a tug on his heart. "Get up." He ordered, "Get up!" He said more sternly, making her rush to move. He waited until she was looking him in the eye, "Fine. Give birth to the thing," He raised a hand to her face and wiped some of her tears away. "As soon as possible, leave it with someone else, and you can remain living here. You can write it letters and maybe visit, but that is it. Illegitimate children are… complicated."

Xin nodded swiftly, a hesitant smile on her face, "Yes, of course, thank you Prince Ozai."

He lowered his hand and stared at her in thought, "After you give birth, you'll have to be sterilized. We can't have things like this happening again." Ozai watched as her smile dropped for a split second before she recovered.

Xin's smile was fake but still so beautiful, "Yes, I understand Prince Ozai. I'll do whatever you like."

He nodded, satisfied, and dismissed her to her chambers.

She kept her fake smile on until she reached her bed. Laying down on the soft sheets, Xin cried, crying for the fate of her child, crying for the children she would never get to have, crying for the life she was living. It was as if a dam had broken; she cried until she felt empty inside, then let a dreamless sleep take her.

The nine months of her pregnancy were rough. Ozai was more irritable, unable to find pleasure in Xin due to her current condition, and often took this frustration out on his poor wife. Poor Ursa, taking care of her son Zuko, now a year old, with another on the way; if there was one person Xin pitied in the world, it was the poor woman who had married Ozai.

Yet still, as much as she pitied her, she envied her. Seeing Ursa smile at her son, seeing her glow radiantly in her pregnancy, it broke Xin's heart. It reminded her of all the things she would never be able to have.

As the date grew nearer, Xin's fears about giving birth grew stronger, but she refused to let it show, she couldn't; she had begged Ozai to let her keep this child, and she would be damned if she showed one second of doubt to him.

In the heat of summer, Xin went into labor. It was painful and brutal, but after twelve long hours, a baby girl was born into the world with a loud cry. She was a small pink little thing, with dark hair atop her tiny head, and oh the lungs this baby had. She was just a bit smaller than the average baby, but her voice projected loudly, a good sign, a sign she was healthy. Xin laughed weakly as she held the loud child, "It's okay, I'm here, Mommy's here." She caressed the child softly, calming her. Xin was elated looking at her child; she had golden eyes, the same vibrant shade of Xin's, and her little head was full of hair the same way Xin's was as a baby. "You will be kind, and strong, and brave," Xin held back her tears as she rocked the child she would soon have to part with, "You're my little lightning bolt. Rai."

The baby, Rai, looked up at her mother curiously, letting out a soft gurgling noise. Xin laughed, "Yes, I hope you like the name." She paused, looking at her child thoughtfully. "I'm sorry you've been born to such an ugly world. I wish I could spend my whole life with you, away somewhere peaceful, where nothing bad could ever happen," Xin blinked away the tears forming in her eyes, "I might not be able to do that, but I promise, I will love you until the day I die. I'll do whatever I have to do to protect you. So please, grow up strong. Be strong in the ways I couldn't be." Xin reluctantly let go of the child to let the midwives look over her and clean her up. "Be strong Rai… you'll need to be."

AUTHORS NOTE

I'm posting this mainly to see if people will like it, I've roughly planned out Rai's whole story, and I've written a few chapters in advance but I want to see if it's actually worth continuing. I'll try my best to post weekly, or at the very least every other week, but I don't want to make any promises. If you like it please leave a review, because it really motivates me to write more. Thanks for reading :)