Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender", but I do own the storyline for this story and all elements that are not within the official realm of the funded story done by Nickelodean. I also don't own the first article about the statements by Thomas Carlyle

Pre - - A/N 1: Thank you SO MUCH again Elenea for your motivating review! Also I deeply thank you for mentioning my story in your chapter of Prophesied. It was beyond my comprehension, the amount of courage I gained to continue to write this story! It just bolstered my morale, so thanks!

Pre - - A/N 2:If anything, this was one of my most favorite chapters to write. I tried to see if Azula could have ever been a good person. So I modeled her after my 4 year old cousin, the greatest kid in the world! I've added a new section called Side Notes. They are just miscellaneous information concerning my takes of different topics throughout the chapters.

Pre - - A/N 3: The story for this chapter was actually something that came out of an expansion of an idea. In other words, one small idea spawned its own chapter. I was going to mention a part of how close Azula and Zuko were, and it turned out that the only plausible time frame for this was in their past.

Pre - - A/N 4: I'm still developing the rest of the story, which has just become a lot more complicated to work through than I thought. Don't be surprised if there's a sudden stop in the release of each chapter for a while. Its only because I'm framing the rest of the story.

Pre - - A/N 5: Again, of primary importance, I sincerely hope you enjoy the next installment of Powerful Benders!

"Powerful Benders"

--IV--

"Nothing that was worthy in the past departs; no truth or
goodness realized by man ever dies, or can die."

- Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

--Chapter 4: A Lost Past--

She was tired. She was nervous. And she was anxious. Ursa sighed, 'Why did she have to die though? Just when she came to visit us...her time had ended...I miss her...' Ursa sighed again. It seemed the pain of loss had hurt her more especially with someone she hadn't seen for so long, than with one she was with, most likely because that person was taken away before any reunion could form.

She remembered what happened after Zuko was remitted from the infirmary.

His injury was sever, so severe that his arm had to be held in place by beams of metal tied with binding cloth to hold it down. He was not allowed to move that arm at all, especially with the muscle wounds, now tender due to the extreme strain placed on it.

Though Iroh was happy that his nephew was fine, it was his eyes that tore the image of peace away from him. Zuko and Azula noticed this. Affliction radiated from his pupils and they opened a door to a spirit filled with loss. It was Ursa that had informed her children that their aunt had died, and though Zuko was saddened, especially for his uncle, Azula didn't care so much.

In pain Ursa saw her daughter shrug away the loss, an involuntary action that showed the growing darkness from her child's heart. Even though Azula would not openly say anything depreciative about their mutual loss, that action of hers, that only her mother caught, was a very dark sign. Ursa remembered turning her head quickly to see if Iroh had noticed. Fortunately he hadn't. It seemed the burden was on his shoulders, and his head was low, staring at the ground, because of it.

When they returned to the field, Ozai took notice and dismissed his gathering. He knew that Ursa had a deep connection with his aunt, so in realization of her death, he embraced his wife in a gripping hug, knowing that that was the best cure he could offer. Ursa had hugged him back knowing that, though his face was strong, his heart was faltering too.

Before Iroh had left to see his nephew, the first thing Ozai did was look towards his brother. Iroh had mentioned that Ozai had placed a strong hold of his shoulders, and had given him words of encouragement. Iroh was gratified by the utterance of promised hope.

Ozai canceled the training and had declared the day, with the sun now close to middle of the sky, as a day of mourning. The flag was lowered and an official announcement was made that a member of the royal family had passed away. After the inevitable discussion of funeral arrangements, the day drew to a close.

Ursa was now in bed. Her husband was asleep beside her while she herself contemplated the day's events. Throughout the entire ordeal, Ursa had never once forgot about her aunt, nor about the discussion she had with her. Though a bit unnerved by the visitation of her ghost, she had found comfort in knowing that Brita had seemed very ambient, maybe because, with the yoke now off of her brittle shoulders, she could find a passageway of peace, with no obstructions from traveling the many lands.

Now that it was up to Ursa to decipher the mystery, and with the knowledge in her capable hands, Brita may have actually felt very confident in what she did, and so her soul was peaceful, with an air of ambiance around her as a result. 'It's now up to me...,she sighed again. Her lips then tugged upwards, 'I'm truly happy for you...may your compassionate soul rest in peace.'

Ursa looked at the balcony doors. This would be the fourth time that night.

The glass was brilliantly transparent, and the stars were beautiful as they hung in skies, their ever glorious glimmer, though so small in nature, were still beautiful. The moon, however, was what caught her attention. It was massive, almost as if it was closer, its overbearingly cold stare looking down upon the bruised body of the earth, having no emotions for the pain of its suffering partner in the ever eternal cosmos around them.

The door itself was a gift to the mother of Fire Lord Solzen, all those decades ago. The act of giving was an act of peace in itself between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation and was something of great magnitude. To Ursa, that door was a sign of that peace, a peace lost in the lurid and vile avenue that history had favored.

It was well kept, so it never looked out of place. Oddly enough, neither was this night. 'Dark as always, just like everything else...' Despite the situations that arose today, that were very particular to this day, the night seemed to be the same, except for one thing.

Her children were asleep, and the servants were sent to their quarters as usual. But it was the fact that her husband was finally asleep beside her at night that was different. For the past very many nights, he attended war council meetings that dug right through till sunlight had alerted them to the presence of the next day.

Ozai would always sleep during the day, or at odd times when his schedule as a Fire Lord permitted him to do so. Those nights, Ursa was left by herself, thinking of life in general. Because of it, they both did not have the time to be with each other. But this night, he was with her. If anything was out of place, it was this very moment.

Ozai rustled in bed, unconsciously trying to find the most comfortable position to gain sleep. After the thirty war council meetings in the past five days, his mind and body were strained and stressed, so it was to be expected by his wife. Ursa was sitting against the soft matted backboard of her master bed staring at the dairy of her great grandmother.

Smirking, she put the book down to watch her husband throw his body from side to side and wrestle with the pillow, trying to find his most comfortable sleeping position. Ozai was mumbling something almost inaudible to her, but at one point she could make out a few of the words.

"Stupid bed...stupid pillow...," more grumbling, mumbling and shuffling around, "...stupid...stupid..."

'Stupid stupid?' She thought amusedly, staring at him.

Ozai then spun his body to the side, his form facing her, but his eyes were closed and his mouth agape as terrifying noises resounded from within, 'Ugh! How can I go to sleep with all that snoring?'.

Ozai then stretched out his hands and it made contact with her soft skin. '5, 4, 3, 2, 1,' she counted, '0'. At that very moment the Fire Lord struggled to find more of that pleasant 'material,' or so he thought, and, finally, had achieved in finding the most comfortable sleeping position, 'as always...'.

Ursa couldn't help but giggle, with her hand covering her mouth in an effort to try and not wake up the fatigued man.

In the end, Ozai's snoring had disappeared completely and was replaced by his rhythmical and gentle breathing, a slow, steady, and methodically paced rising and falling of the lungs. He was resting his head on her bare legs, and his arms were spread wide apart in happiness, with his legs hanging off the wing of the bed. His body was parallel to the backboard.

Ursa usually never saw this side of Ozai till when he was asleep or in deep and tranquil thought. Smiling affectionately, she placed a light hand on his powerfully built chest. Content with the upward and downward motion of her arm as his upper body rose into the air, only to drop back down as air was both taken in and exhaled, she returned back to examining the book, trying to decipher what her great grandmother had written.

-

'It's dark tonight...more dark than usual...'

Zuko was lying down on his bed. He left the windows closed, and the rice-paper that was covering it wasn't helping with the inky atmosphere in his room. However, his candle was. It was posted to the wall that was right in front of him when he was on his bed.

The fire upon the burning stem was always flickering in aimless directions, throwing out small plums of black smoke every so often. In essence, it was dancing for him, trying to liven his spirit. It was always there to give him light, warmth and, to Zuko, support. Never once did the flame die out, and even if the wind tried to push against it, it would still try hard to withstand. Such was the spirit of the unsinkable child watching its flame.

With its blue hued footing and the golden crown upon its feet, the flame danced for the child.

Zuko kept on staring. The loss of his aunt had seemed to bring out negative feelings from within him. 'Why do I feel like everything is getting so dark?' He looked down at his hands in confusion, 'Where's my candle when I'm in the dark?' His thoughts wandered to a time long into his past.

When Zuko was a child, the war efforts had not put too much strain on his father. His mother was always smiling and his sister was always happy. 'My sister was always happy,' he grinned.

Azula, when but a child with chubby cheeks, knew no evil, and knew not about the existence of war, was always cranky, was always whining, but had always loved the company of her family. At that time Zuko was not formally taught about the war, and since Azula never knew about it, the raven veil that was the truth of the world had never blinded them to the light that the world had offered.

Azula and Zuko, whenever they played together, they're spirits were merry, their hearts were weightless. But in time that light was taken away, 'Why? What happened...' His thoughts flowed to the better times of the past.

A time in the past...

The Fire Lord was slowly walking along the dash track, waiting for his children to arrive. His hands were held together behind his back, and his mind was occupied with the war. Looking above, he could see a v-formation of birds fly past him in the skies above.

With the rising sun, only their silhouettes could be made out, and they were wondrous. He stopped for a moment and watched them pass by. The lead bird had moved out of its position and retreated to the rear, while another bird took its place. It was funny how, no matter what, everything reminded him about the war. Or was it that the war was like everything else?

'I never want my children to see this...the true nature of this world...' He thought to himself. The war had raged for a decade yet Ozai remained a dearly loving father. His wife was there to offer him support, and he had his two beautiful and innocent children, both of which had reinforced his tender nature.

Ozai winced as he remembered something. Just as he was about to start seriously thinking of the siege in the which his dear brother and nephew would be involved, though, somebody had interrupted his thoughts.

He heard the sound of a person trying to clear her throat. Turning around, he saw his wife with his two children holding each of her hands. They were so innocent, so young and so small.

Ursa looked to her husband with a beautiful smile. "I introduce to you your first true students," she addressed her husband, and then looked to each of her children, "Students, this is your teacher." Ursa had prepared her children for this, busily dressing up her six-year old son, and five-year old daughter, before she brought them down to the track where Ozai was waiting for them.

Both Ozai's children looked at him with gleaming smiles adorning their chubby and young faces. Zuko was up to his mother's hand when she placed it by her side, and Azula was a bit shorter. Both of them were outfitted with light infantry body armor, resized just for them.

Azula was swinging her mother's arm back and forth, interested in what was happening now. Zuko, however, lost his playful feeling. He remembered watching the soldiers as they trained under his uncle, and their time of enjoyment had seemed like it was lost much to far into the past. He snapped his hand to his forehead in a salute. "Reporting for training, sir!"

Azula, still holding onto her mother, looked past her and at her brother's stance. She then tugged at her mother's arm, "Mommy, do...I do that?" she asked pointing at Zuko.

Ursa's eyes softened as she looked down at the young girl. 'Azula, you are so beautiful and so innocent.' She was about to answer her sweet child when Ozai suddenly erupted, "Atten-hut!"

Zuko's body tensed up, and he stood perfectly straight in a moment. 'Don't think, just concentrate on dad.'

Azula on the other hand was suddenly terrified. She quickly turned her head to her father at the instant he shouted, and staring just for an instant at his taut and stern face, she became frightened and hid behind her mother's leg.

Ursa was a bit startled by Ozai's command and Azula's sudden reaction. She looked at her child as Azula poked her head around Ursa's leg. Clutching onto her mother's flowing dress, she desperately tried to reason why he had screamed at them, 'Daddy...?'

Ozai looked towards Zuko and Azula. As usual, Zuko was driven, and his quick actions in trying to impress his father was proof enough. Ozai was happy.

Though built with an iron jaw on the outside, his heart melted having seen the fear in his daughter. 'This is just for fun...why are they so scared of me...?' Fully aware that his daughter was afraid, especially with the dismay in her eyes, he decided to cut the act.

He relaxed his posture and knelt down on one knee so that he was almost at eye level with his two children. He looked at them calculatingly, with his eyes narrowed, and with one of his arms on his knees. Slowly, like rain of a window, the tension slipped away from his face. His expression softened as he grinned, "Come here, you rascals!"

Zuko was taken aback, but smiled happily. Azula saw the warmth from her father and instantly beamed, running towards him.

As she tried to close the distance, she tripped over a rock. Flying forward she hit her face on the dirt, with a thud. Ursa's heart skipped a beat and her body instantly tensed. She drew in air, scared for her daughter and, in panic, tried to run forward.

Ozai's eyes widened in surprise, his face stricken and tried to get up quickly enough to get to her side.

However, at the end, it was Zuko who dashed ahead and knelt down beside her, holding her up by her shoulders.

Azula held onto her forehead and through closed eyes, had started to cry. "Its okay Azula. You're strong remember? You're a strong girl!" Zuko said trying to comfort her, while rubbing her back.

Ursa ran to her daughter, and kneeling beside her, had held her tightly, "Honey, are you okay?" Azula shook her head in the negative and fell into her mother's embrace, still crying. "Its alright honey. Its all right, you'll be fine," she said with a motherly hug, and a soothing hand running over her daughter's hair.

Ozai walked towards Azula. When he got to her side, she was still hugging her mother. It was as if Ursa was her shield, a shield from all her pain. If ever she needed help, her mother was there to protect her.

Zuko looked at his sister in sadness. He was scared for her and never wanted to see her in such pain.

Ozai ruffled his son's hair in encouragement, and then looked at his daughter, "Azula?"

She stopped crying and, still within her mother's protective embrace, she turned her head, and looked towards her father. Ozai had his arms outstretched and was on his knees, "How about a BIG hug for your dad?"

She wiped away her tears and looked at her mother with a smile. "Get him!" She said, poking her daughter's nose.

Azula then ran towards her father and jumped onto him in happiness. Ozai stood up, and twirled her around in the air, holding her out, and enjoying the giggling coming from his daughter. "Wee!" She exclaimed, hands outstretched.

Zuko noticed their playful demeanor and jumped onto his father's back, laughing, "What is this, a counter attack?" Ozai managed to let out through his laughter. Ursa giggled, her life seemed so blissful.

-

Time had passed, and once everyone was settled, Ursa had left them. She had managed to notice that her friend had appeared from inside of the palace walls and was watching the display of cheerfulness. Ursa looked towards her family, and realized that Asana, though happy, may have been pained by the remembrance of her better days, when both her husband and son were so much more closer to her.

She went to the bench and sat down there, conversing with Iroh's wife. Iroh and Lu Ten, Iroh's only son, were by the border of the island, preparing for the siege of the largest Earth Kingdom stronghold. Asana was left behind, residing away from her home, and in the safety of the palace to avoid loneliness and fear.

-

His students sat patiently, cross legged. They watched him in complete devotion, ready to carry out every one of his words.

"Okay, children, listen up!" He smirked, "We're not going to perform anything scary or hard right now. Really, we're going to have a game. You're job is to try and catch me and the time that you do that is when you're ready for the next step. But try and catch me first. There's only one rule though...just have fun, got it?" Ozai looked to the center of the dash track.

The dash track was a large strip of even ground that joined at the ends to form a giant circle. It was essentially a pathway made for running. In the middle of the track was a large patch of green, where various other activities could be engaged in. "Now chase me!" He screamed and jetted off.

"Huh? Not fair! Daddy, that's not fair! Come back!" Azula screamed, trying to get to her feet. Zuko hopped to her, and helped her up.

He looked at her and with strength behind his words, he spoke, "Okay, dad's really fast, right? So this is the plan. One of us is going to keep him busy and the other will sneak up on him. That way, we both win! Got it?"

Azula then tilted her head. "Who keeps him busy?"

"HEY KIDS! Are you just going to stand there or what?" Hollered the Fire Lord. His hands were by his side, impatience written in his posture, but his face sparkled with laughter.

Zuko and Azula both looked up in amazement. Their dad had just cleared the field, in the instant he stood up. In determination, Azula ran towards her father, screaming. Her eyes were barely open as she madly dashed forward trying to get to him. Zuko smirked, and took off in another direction. 'Heh, I guess you'll keep him busy. With that I can head around and jump him!'

Ozai looked at his daughter as she desperately tried to run forward. In sadness he remembered all the times when he had to move to different islands to constitute plans for the different battalions. Because of it, he barely saw his children. He knew they would always love him, but as a father, he was not doing the right thing by leaving them in the hands of Ursa and without his support, all the time. 'I never see them anymore...I've missed them so much and yet time still takes them away from me.' He just couldn't resist the urge to stop running. Slowly the speed with which he crossed the tracks were slowing down to a simple jog.

Azula ran straight at her father and leaped onto one of his legs. Her tiny body clinged onto it as she giggled in happiness of finally passing the test. "I passed!"

Zuko ran at his father from the side, sprinting towards him, with the intention of closing the distance before his father was alerted. Rounding the corner before Ozai had the chance to get an eye on him, he leaped into the air and tackled his father...or so he tried. Zuko ended up hanging off of his shoulders, as Ozai merely took a few steps forward.

Their happiness had then turned to pain as their father suddenly grabbed onto his own chest, just over his heart. "Oh, you got me..."

Falling to his knees, Azula and Zuko quickly disengaged and stepped away from their father, frightened. Ozai hit the ground hard, 'Ooof, that wasn't supposed to happen.' In the eyes of his children, there laid their father, dead. His still and powerful body was embedded in the soft grass, his eyes were unmoving, and his chest never rose.

"D-Dad?" Zuko inquired, walking towards him. He poked his father in the side to see what his condition was. 'If I poke him, then maybe I'll know what's wrong with him,' he thought.

Ozai opened one of his eyes just a bit and, after getting a lock on both his children, had instantly jumped up, grabbed them both and started to tickle them.

-

Ursa was watching her children from the distance, with a warm smile plastered to her face. Since Ozai's return, they had so much fun with him. He was always trying to make them gush with mirth, just like a father always tried to do.

Asana stared at her for a moment and looked towards the playing children. "There are things in this world worth fighting for...," she said. "I wish I returned back to that time."

She looked to Ursa, "When Lu Ten was barely three years old, he would always try and hide from me. He would sneak into the kitchen...," in remembrance she started to laugh, "...and climb the cupboards to try and get the honey milk. Whenever I found him, I just couldn't help but tickle the cheeky, little guy... But now he's grown and become a man, a proud symbol of our heritage as warriors...," she ended with a sigh.

"Asana, those days aren't gone. They've just changed. When Lu Ten returns we'll have a great festival for his very first big victory. He may be a man, and a warrior, but to us, he is still your little child. To every mother, their child will forever be their baby." Ursa then had another idea as well, "I'll ask Ozai to hold out on placing anymore missions for him. He can be placed in conquest temporary relief and with that, you can return to those days passed," she said trying to encourage the depressed mother.

"Ursa...thank you." She smiled sadly. "Ursa, I want you to know something. Always be with them. Try to get as many memories as you can. I did, and even now, Lu Ten's absence pains me. If I never did take him to picnics, or showed him the attention that he always got from me, thinking that he would always be there, never leaving my side, I don't know what I'd do now."

"I'll tell you, Asana, you're son will be fine. He will return, and when the war is over, Iroh and Lu Ten will be yours forever, with no more of these sadistic battles to take them away from you. Everything will work out for the best." 'I hope...,' she thought to herself dismally .

Trying to shun away the bitterness in the air, she quickly changed the theme of the conversation, without changing the topic, "Since Ozai doesn't seem to be in the training mood that I thought he was in, we can talk to him now. It'd be best to get the ideas out as soon as possible, so that he can take the appropriate measures to assure you of these objectives."

Ursa stood up and called over to her husband. All Asana could do was watch the children play under the brightness of the sun. To her, her three year old son was playing with them too.

-

Ozai heard his wife call to him. His children were now 'on top of the world,' trying to scan the ever expanding horizon from their view on top their father's shoulders. Placing them down, he told them that their training would resume when he returned.

'Alright, a break! From a game! I love training!' Zuko had then remembered something. The last time he played a game with his father was on his birthday, the same day he received his first telescope. "Hey dad? Could I show Azula something?" Asked Zuko eagerly.

As Azula looked at her brother in confusion, Ozai nodded. Zuko yelped in happiness, took hold of his sister's hand and dashed into the palace. He couldn't help but smile as he watched them run into the distance. As soon as they disappeared into the palace walls, Ozai turned towards his wife.

-

Clearing past the guards, Zuko and Azula ran into the main corridor. He stopped for a moment to look at its magnificence, as he always did, since the day he could walk.

"Why'd we stop?" She asked him. Azula then took notice of the room and sighed. 'Oh, he likes this room.' "Zuko? We better go and come back before daddy gets angry at us."

Zuko snapped out of his reverie as he remembered the training. "Oh right! Lets go!"

He ran towards the doorway of the South Wall and into the sleeping chambers. The guards, at the door, didn't mind the running six and five-year old, bolting through the palace walls. They were, of course, the Fire Prince and the Fire Princess. If anything, they were more worried about their safety, than they were about keeping the peace.

When Zuko reached the connected hallway, he took notice of his room and darted towards the door. He pulled it open and ran in. 'Where are you?'

"What are you looking for?" Asked Azula, still curious as to what her brother wanted to show her.

"Hold on," he answered, with his tongue pasted to his lip as he searched, "I'm just looking for the telescope," he answered. Zuko was rummaging through the cabinets in his room, 'Where are you!'

The telescope was a device that allowed him to capture views from extremely distant, almost unreachable locations, and with it he caught some of the most beautiful views a person, pure of heart, could ask for. He had scanned the details of the terrifying volcanoes north of the palace, the intricate water ways of the islands further away, and even the grasslands of the border islands to the east.

"Huh? You have that...te...le...scope..? How?" She said rushing to his side.

"One new captain gave it to me for my birthday. I think it was captain Jee." He said in delight. The minute he informed her of the source of the device, Zuko found the scope. It was far in the back of his homework drawer. Pulling out the magnificent, gold-lined, steel pipe, with the three telescopic lenses within its frame, Zuko held it in the air in happiness. "Behold...the telescope!"

"Woah..." Azula gaped.

Pulling on his sister's hand once again, he darted back out of his room, and headed for the main corridor again.

"When the captain gave this to me," he panted out, "I wanted to see what I could really see. I wanted to see past the islands, and into the world!"

Exiting out the South Entrance, he ambled towards the West Wall. "On the highest floor, I saw something really beautiful."

The guards there greeted the royal children, and after a quick "Hi!" from the both of them, Zuko and Azula had finally reached the elevator chute.

"You've never been on one, right?" Zuko asked his sister. She shook her head in the negative, and he grinned. Turning to the operator, he requested, "I want to go to the highest floor. The roof of Zoen's tower...please."

The women smiled and nodded at Zuko. She walked to the chute panel and opened the cage door to let him and his sister onto it. Looking towards the secondary operator who actually worked from within elevator, she smirked. This person, an actual soldier, was charged with the duty of taking care of the elevator occupants and assuring that they got to the right floor all the time, as well as being a guide in emergency situations.

"Remember, its your head if anything happens to them," she chuckled to the warrior.

"Ha...ha...very funny." He yawned, "You just can't stop saying that can you?" Turning to the kids, "Your highness', you requested the top floor, correct?" He asked just for verification.

"Yup!" Zuko and Azula exclaimed.

Closing the door behind them, the operator turned to the control deck, and through the hollow communication tube, had yelled out the floor number. A confirmation answer was heard a few seconds later.

Azula looked at it in wonderment. The elevator was made of stone, with the inside cast in marble, and a candle off to the right.

-

Inside the elevator, Azula stared through the scope, looking at all details of the inside, of which she couldn't make out since the magnification was so high. She looked up at the man with the scope but couldn't see him either. Flipping it around, she looked again, and she jumped back, 'WOAH! He grew so tall! And why did everything run away from me?'

Zuko had counted the number of times the floor indication candles passed by, which by the end came to twenty-three.

The doors opened, and there stood the tower guards. They were dressed in different uniforms than the rest of the soldiers. Garbed in gold and black, with hues of red shading, the tower guards were much different. Aside from their demeanor, their spears were another giveaway, being much longer than the usual. As royal guards, they guarded the tomb of Zoen, a famous Sage during the Great War.

The guards welcomed the children with warm smiles, and a nod. They had saluted the secondary operator, who returned the action. Guiding the children off of the elevator he closed the door, heading for another floor.

Zuko and Azula stepped off the safety platform. Standing before them was the top floor of the tower which, in itself, was not really a tower, but instead a very high, very long building. It to was adorned with the same beauties that decorated the lower floors of the palace, and as such, was just as mesmerizing to Zuko.

The hallway had ultimately lead to the sage's tomb, but off in another direction was a staircase to the rooftop. Azula had never seen the place before, and knowing she was so high up, she couldn't help but want to see what the world was like from her view. "Zuko, can we go up? Please?"

He could only grin, "That's exactly where we're heading. This is where I saw what I saw!"

Azula beamed at him, her wide grin only making Zuko that much more determined to show her. 'You're the greatest sister ever! You deserve everything.'

Running up, they noticed two watchmen and the skies above them. They were armed with bows and arrows at hand with one having a giant crossbow loaded to his rear vest tethers. With red oil on their index and middle fingers, and a dark crimson face paint cast over their faces to form the searing image of the eyes of an angry beast, the Yuu Yan relaxed for a moment. Waving to the children, both soldiers eyed them carefully, making sure nothing would happen to them. They were royal children, six and five-years olds, and they were playing in the highest levels of the palace, so one needed to be careful.

"Wow..." Azula slowly let out. The sun had removed itself from the support of the horizon, hanging strongly in the sky and the birds could be seen migrating to the Chiyas Jungle, east of the main islands. With the height they were at, she could actually see the underbellies of the clouds more closely than ever before. 'If I could go higher, I could see if they were made of marshmallows.' She then turned to Zuko, "Zuko, are clouds made of marshmallows?"

Zuko stared at her in disbelief. "Oh come on, Azula. Marshmallows? No way. They're made of cotton," he said, adamant in his words, and nodding his head up and down.

Azula stared at him awkwardly. "Huh? Really?"

"Yeah. See when the birds fly over them, you never see them eat the clouds. That's because their not marshmallows. They must be cotton." Zuko tried to justify.

"Lightening bolts come out of cotton?" Azula then started to panic. "But, we're wearing cotton. We'll get electro...uh...shooted!"

Becoming thoughtful, Zuko reflected, "Oh, never thought about that..." He looked back towards his sister, and seeing her in the state she was in was starting to worry him. 'Lightening can't come out of cotton. I've never been struck...Oh, I've never been struck in a thunder storm either...,' he thought, starting to get nervous himself. He looked at the amused archers and inquired. "What are clouds made of?"

The archer without the crossbow quirked his eyebrow and then tried to explain, "Clouds...heheh, well their definitely not marshmallows or cotton." He got down to one of his knees and looked up, "In actuality, water and air are the main constituents of the massive bodies above us. Their composition is based primarily off of water, but at that altitude, the condensation temperature or pressure can't be reached, so water tends to stay in a state of a gas, and-" Saying anymore would confuse the kids, so he was cut off, by his partner, with a slap to the head.

"Idiot! They're not going to understand that! I don't even understand that! Look at them, they're kids!" He tried to reason.

The archer turned to the children.

Zuko was dumbfounded. His eyebrows were high, and his arms were limp. 'What?'

Azula looked like she was going to cry. 'Not marshmallows...?'

He suddenly started laughing hysterically waving his hands in defense, "Well, actually clouds ARE made of cotton...," he was about to conclude, but he quickly took notice of the sad eyes of the little girl, "...and marshmallows, of course!" He quickly added and finally concluded, laughing.

Azula smiled in gratification of the fact that, indeed, clouds were made of marshmallows.

The archer's eyes became serious again as he remembered why they questioned the composition of clouds in the first place. "How they create lightening, well, you see, if you heat the air to a high enough temperature a phenomenon occurs, whereby ionization-" Another slap to the head. "Okay, I don't know...anything. I'm sorry. But, you don't have to worry about lightening, because...," he trailed off, as he watched his friends hand rise into the air again. "Heheh...yeah, just don't worry about that," he addressed the kids.

Zuko looked up at them. 'They look so tired,' he noticed, 'maybe that's why they don't know what their talking about.' "Well, thanks anyways!"

The archers nodded, and let the kids off to do what they came up here to do. They then continued to look past the mountains, waiting for anything lurid to appear, like a rogue battalion, or a surprise attack. Their thoughts never differed from these two options, and their encounter with the children was the only event that broke their diamond hard stares.

Zuko walked along the roof pathway, with Azula right behind him. The view was beautiful, with the sun rising high above their heads. The beams of light penetrated the sea of clouds, and to the children, it was very captivating.

Zuko looked down in concern for a second, "Hey Azula, its kinda crazy, what I'm going to say, but I really think that there's...well, ice, on one of the islands. Ice that doesn't melt. Or...ice that won't melt." Zuko said, unsure in his words.

Azula was skeptical as well, "Ice? I thought ice was where it was cold. Its hot here."

"It is, but if there's too much ice, then...maybe it takes a long time to go away?" Both of them thought of it for a moment and then shrugged off the details.

Zuko and Azula reached the end of the path. She pulled herself to the railing and tried to see below the edge.

Beyond the wooden frame rails, and the beautiful stone statues of two Fire Nation warriors greeting the sun, there, in front of their views was the forward edge of the Fire Nation capital island. In front of the wings of the island stood more surfaces above the water, gathered together in the 'arms' of the mainland of the Fire Nation.

Many of the islands were populated, with troops stationed at every beach head. Within the confines of the shores, there were many trees, plants and grass, and this was all because of the rich nutrients in the soil, bringing the land to life with lush greenery everywhere. Azula could not stop gawking at its awesomeness.

Zuko's attention was diverted from the front though. His eyes stared at the horizon to the left of where Azula was viewing. In his sight, beyond the Volcanoes of Amre, were more islands, of which he knew nothing about, not even of its populace or its general existence as a land of inhabitance.

'Wow...,' Azula turned to smile at her brother, wanting to thank him for bringing her up here, but as she turned to him, she was surprised to find out that he was actually looking in a completely different direction.

"Hey Azula, pass the scope," he requested his younger sister, without turning.

She held it out for him, curiosity in her eyes.

After taking hold of the instrument he placed it over his eyes. He squinted and constantly spun the inner tube to try to bring the island into focus. Desperately he scanned the immediate surroundings of the area he was looking at, trying to find his target.

Gliding from right to left, surveying every island, Zuko was concentrating, intent on finding that specific island. "There!" he said, pointing straight out into nothingness, or so it seemed to the young girl.

Azula shielded the sun from her eyes, and tried to see where Zuko was pointing. She squinted her eyes as well, but finally gave up. Huffing she looked at her joyous brother, "Zuko, I don't see anything."

"Oh," he laughed, "you need the scope," he said, handing it to her. Zuko got down on one knee and offered Azula a chance to stand on it.

Azula placed a hand on his head, and climbed onto his knee. Once she stood up, she tried to get a balance standing with one foot on his knee, and the other on the guard rail edge. She was far from danger though, since the guard rail wasn't at the lip of the roof, but instead several feet from it. It was a safety precaution, especially with kids like them toying with these dangerous settings.

Azula then stood fully on the edge, with her brother acting as support. Zuko tried to show her what he was pointing to. "You see that island over there? Its the small one that's in front of the two big ones."

"Which one? You mean the island over there?" asked the curious girl. She grasped the scope with both hands, and with one eye closed, she struggled to find an island that would seem interesting. "Zuko? I can't see anything special."

"Are you looking past the volcanoes?" He asked.

"Yeah. There are islands way out there. But..." She trailed off as she continued to search.

"Yeah, over there! See, past the shoreline, there should be this HUGE valley!" He said, throwing out his arms to display the apparent size of it.

That bit of detail caught her attention, when her scope then dipped just a bit lower. "WOAH! I see it! I see it!" She screamed. In awe she could only gawk at the presence being captured by the scope. "Its so big..." She trailed off, "...like a whale or something."

Zuko then inquired, "I think it must be bigger. Okay, now you see that wall that's blocking it?"

"Its huge! Its all white, Zuko. Is that the ice? But, there's something behin-" Azula instantly froze. It had seemed that her senses, unable to comprehend the beauty of lands before her, had started to run into overdrive, trying to find out what feelings to match with the gravity of the land's brilliance.

"It is...beautiful." He said, nodding, with eyes closed. 'I am impressive. Heheh!' Azula agreed with him, nodding her head too.

-

What both the children saw was something even bigger than what words could explain. Its raw beauty was unimaginable and the only description that could even do justice to it were held by the spirits above. On the first island, just before the major islands that composed the Islands of the Northern Air Temple, was a purely gorgeous spectacle, even more appreciable in nature when close to it.

The islands they stared at were the Lands of the Northern Air Temple. Beyond the golden shoreline, and the necklace of seashells that sparkled with the flowing tides, were two massive mountain lines that ran beside each other for miles on end. Their breath was unbelievably long, spanning the entirety of the island. The slopes of the mountains were split asunder by a lush and abundant valley, separating the mountains by a few miles.

But not was the pleasant greenery that beautified the lands surface the interest of the children. Beyond that, almost in the middle of the running mountains was a glacier of titanic proportions. It had completely run right through the valley, cutting across its long neck, only to connect both mountains in a bridge of ice that was as high as the summits of the mountains themselves. The thickness with which this behemoth of a glacier had dared to hold down to was that of almost a few miles in itself.

The glacier acted as a monstrous plug. The two islands after the forward welcoming island had a channel of water that ran between them that ultimately split into two parts when all three islands had met. Some of that water was directed into the valley from the rear of the forward island, between the monumental mountain tops. The surface of the water had almost reached the mountains peaks, and was held back from flooding the island by the herculean glacier before it.

Such was the spectacle that both the children had mesmerized over. A mammoth block of ice was holding back a sea of water, held in by gargantuan hilltops that spanned for miles. It was a sight for sore eyes. Unbelievable!

-

Azula had finally put down the scope. Her chubby fingers grasped onto it tightly since it was the only thing that could show her the beauty of the world.

Well, there were two things that could show her all this. The second of which was standing right behind her, making sure she would never fall.

Turning around she jumped onto her brother, and placed him into a huge hug, her arms barely able to enclose her brother's shoulders.

Zuko was taken aback for an instant, but had hugged her back. 'What's with the hug...?'

"Thank you so much, Zuko." She beamed at him.

He laughed as he released her, his joyousness pouring out of his grinning face. Zuko's head then perked up as an idea occurred to him. "Hey Azula, since we're probably the first ones who's ever seen this thing, lets name it!" He said excitedly.


"Yeah!" Azula jumped, but then she started to ponder, "What do we call it?" she asked holding up a finger.

"Well..." Zuko looked down in wonder. 'What's a good name...? Okay, since we both found it, and it looks like that...lets call it...," his eyes widened, "The Bridge of Our Peace!"

"Woah, I like it!" She cheered, but as she recalled the name in her head she wondered what the title meant. She then voiced her concern, "But, what's that mean?"

"The ice is the bridge between the two mountains, right? So, no matter what, even if we're always far away from each other, like on those mountains, we'll always be together because of that bridge. It'll connect us, and keep us together. Fighting and mean people can't get us, so we'll always be safe. Its the bridge of our peace," he smiled at her.

"I'll never say this anyone else, I pinky swear, so here goes! You're the greatest big brother in the entire world!" She smiled back at him.

Zuko, startled by the statement, could be no happier in his life.

Zuko continued to stare at the dancing flame, wondered by its form, seemingly so light and agile. He sat up, his back against the frame of his bed, and his head down in sadness. Those memories had hurt him a lot, since those days were now taken away from him. The strain on his father grew as the years passed, and his mother's happiness only diminished.

But the reason his heart hurt the most when dreaming of those years past, was because that little girl that once loved him so much, was lost to the war. She was the one person that, at one point in time, had always run around the palace with a grin plastered to her face that reached both her ears.

It was genuine. It was real. It was fed with happiness. It was beautiful. It was what made her beautiful.

Her young and adorable face had melted everyone's heart. Her innocence was beyond dazzling, and above all, she had loved her brother just as much as he loved her. Zuko would have gone to the ends of the earth and back, and would have sacrificed his own life at the same time, just to know that she would always be safe.

But, now...'Its not the same as it was in the past. She's changed. I've changed. Everyone's...changed. Its all become darker...'

"War..." he sneered in disgust. "You make everything darker. You take away our candles. You took away my sister..."

'Why did it all change? War! Why it did all disappear? War! Why is it so dark? Why is everyone so sad? What happened? War! War! WAR! Since we've learned about you, everything has been getting darker.' Zuko had balled his hands into fists, and trembled in anger.

He had created a 'thing' that personified war. It was a dark, ruthless and vile, unidentifiable being, whose face was fully cloaked by a dark hood with his body hidden by ravenous dark garments with shredded ends that dragged across the grounds with which he wandered. The being had a sword in each arm, and he hummed constantly, a low, deep monotonous tone, with heavy breathing as his accents.

This was his tormentor. Zuko had named it War.

His dear and beloved sister, the one person he had cared for more than the world itself, Azula, was taken away from him, all because of it. As soon as she gained knowledge of its existence, her heart slowly started to turn black, a murky mist shrouding it in obscurity. His sister's heart started to forever lose the innocence it was once guided with.

'And I hate it!' In anger, he threw his body back into a position to sleep. Flicking his fingers, the candle flame was doused. He turned to his side, and blanketed himself with the cover, trying desperately to find refuge in sleep. With so much on his mind, this night wouldn't be a good one to study, 'restudy...,' history.

It was ironic that the tree outside Zuko's room was a weeping willow. Its branches were swayed by the wind and the harmonious hymn founded by the rustling leaves and the ghostly whistle of the breezy night air drove the young prince to sleep...fate did have sympathy at times.

Side Notes: Elevator System

The elevator system was fairly new. It was introduced a few years before Zuko and Azula were born. The system's internal workings were simple and functional. At the top of the tower, at the highest level, was a steel wheel, that acted as a pulley. A massive, multi-layered, intertwined steel cable ran over the wheel and at both its ends, held two separate weights. The first weight was the elevator, which weighed a few pounds more than a Komodo Rhino. The other weight, was a giant steel ball, that weighed a lot more than the elevator itself.

The cable was extremely long, such that when both the elevator and the counter weight were at the same level, they would be located half way to the top of the tower, despite the support being at the top. The elevator and counter weight ran on two separate guide rails that were heavily lined with very thick grease. The guide rails for the counter weight were fully enclosed, acting as a pipe, and along with the greasing, a thick liquid was filled in there.

When the lock on the counter weight was released, the counter weight would glide down the rail, slowed by both the greasing and the liquid. Because it was heavier than the elevator and the occupants, it would be the one to slide down raising the elevator up. To select the level to stop off at, the operator at the bottom floor would pull on the appropriate lever, and a steel wall would eject within the guide rails of the counter weight to stop it from dropping any further. With the weight stopped, the elevator stops and the occupants get off.

When the occupants got off and when the elevator needed to come down, a weight would be added to the elevator by the operator on that floor. Since the weight was heavier, the elevator would lower, raising the counter weight. When the right floor was reached, such as the main floor, the lock would be engaged, keeping the steel ball from dropping.

The added weights on the elevators would then be taken off the elevator so that the elevator could rise again. The problem was that it was necessary to give the weights back to the appropriate floor. The floors only had a limited number of them. To do so, they used a steam chute, where the weight would be placed in a pipe-way, with a controlled hatch. When the hatch opened, steam would send the weight to the appropriate floors. To stop it from going any higher, a steel wall was used to limit its altitude. When reaching the wall, a second one was ejected to hold the weight and cut the steam.

The chute system wasn't used for the elevator because sending the elevator down would mean either dropping it from its floor, or controlling the steam output using advanced mechanical controllers to control the speed of the elevator drop.

The occupant would know which floor they were on because at every floor was a lit candle. The elevator had a tiny peep hole in it that allowed the candle light to come in every time the elevator passed it. Keeping count told you what floor you were on.

It was extremely smooth, and extremely clean. Since the highest floor was the 23rd floor, the elevator was necessary, so that building the stairwell would not be. In addition, doing this helped the engineers of the Fire Nation to better learn the properties mechanical systems.

The elevator system was a present to the Fire Lord.

Side Notes: Air Nomadic Northern Temple

It was located on the islands of the past-established Northern Air Nomads. Before Saze had enigmatically, and homicidally murdered their empire, the Air Nomads were divided into two interrelated, and beneficially mutual sects. The first were the citizens of the Air Nomads. They were regular villagers that farmed, and lived happy peaceful lives, living on the border of the Earth Kingdom closest to the Northern Water Tribe. The second were the monks of the Air Nomads, residing on the vast islands on the world. The villagers had always provided food to the monks, and their children could choose which sect was appropriate for them. In all cases, every air bender was sent to become a monk. In return, the monks were sent to the villages to provide excessive help and protection from danger.

Post - - A/N 1: This story is becoming so much more that I thought it would be. Because of the extra detail here and there, VERY important story elements have started to come into being. Though it was just an expansion of a VERY small idea, this chapter was written with a deep connection to emotions and, as such, now has EXTREMELY important and symbolic details, which you'll see in the later chapters.

Post - - A/N 2: Throughout writing this chapter, the only songs I listened to were "11 – Corynorhinus," "02- Eptesicus" and "04 – Barbastella" by Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard for the Batman Begins Soundtrack.

Post - - A/N 3: I REALLY HOPE that this depiction of Azula is realistic and possible. Tell me if you don't think so. I know that no one is evil from the beginning of their life, and so I recognized that Azula must have been a great person in the past, but that something dark tainted her heart later on. By the way the island they were looking at through the scope was part of the white islands north of the Fire Nation islands. Specifically, it was the white island that was the closest to the Fire Nation islands. You can see it on the official map of the "Avatar: The Last Airbender" world. Also, few might wonder how Zuko could have recalled a past that detailed. Well, its true that there were perspectives that Zuko could not have possibly known about at that time, like his father waiting for them in the beginning, and each of their feelings, and countless other stuff. Though Zuko was thinking about the same past, the depiction of the past was not a recollection of the past, but my retelling of it. That section of the past, was actually a story from the past, and thus contains all the details that a regular telling of the story would have, like the feelings of many characters, and their actions and words.

Post - - A/N 4: A review to me is like a drop of rain in the harsh deserts. When I see it, I jump for joy, and rush towards it before its value evaporates on the hot dry surface. I'm not desperate, I just like reviews!