The soft, warm glow of morning sun broke through the rich red curtains and cast a reddish-tint into the prince's room. The boy was breathing evenly, hands tucked under the sheets that he had pulled up to himself during the night. He moaned quietly, brows furrowed, and coughed gently. A shiver passed through him and Zuko curled up into a little ball, trying to keep warm. The reason he was cold had nothing to do with the room being cold. Truly, anyone who walked into the room would say that it was boiling. No, the reason he was shivering was because he was dreaming. Dreaming dreams that he wished he could escape.

"Mother?" he asked, coming up to his mother's bedside. The pale woman did not look at him, but rather stared vacantly up at the golden ceiling. Zuko tried putting his small hand in his mother's palm, but when he did she gasped and recoiled. Kata started to nervously twirl her hair around her finger and she ran her hands through it, her lifeless gaze never leaving the ceiling. Zuko sighed and turned away. It was always the same. She couldn't see him anymore. Ever since that day…she hadn't been the same. Some said it was the food she ate. Still some others said it was coming. Too much pressure on a girl of 23 to raise a son and be an empress at the same time. Some people said it was his father's doing. Zuko didn't know what to believe; all he knew was that there was something definitely wrong. Zuko coughed gently. Kata turned her lifeless gaze to him, trying to detect where the noise came from. Zuko smiled and tried to make contact again.

"Mother?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the bed sheets. Kata's gaze flickered down to the sheets and frowned.

"No…" she whispered inaudibly, her piercing orange gaze dulled by whatever was plaguing her. Zuko glanced down at the sheets, confused. Kata's lifeless gaze never left the sheets. Zuko smoothed them over with his hands. Once, twice, three times. Anything to convince his mother that the wrinkles had disappeared. Zuko's mother wailed into her hands, covering her sudden shriek. She rolled away from him, sobbing uncontrollably, and shoulders shaking as if in a fit of giggles. Zuko back away from his bawling mother, frightened by her sudden outburst. He collided into a beautiful mahogany dresser, the golden knobs clanging against the wood upon collision.

"I never wanted to!" Kata cried, still turned away from her son. He black hair fanned out across the white pillow case, the sweat from her fever causing it to look stringy and weak. "You know I never wanted to! But what could I say? 'No, I don't love you, Ozai, supreme ruler of the Fire Nation'? We bother would have been executed!" Kata babbled to some invisible figure from her past. Her sobbing caused her to gasp for breath, plus her coughing was getting in the way, too. "Oh, Agni!" she blurted out, curling into a tight ball, "Oh, Agni! Please, please let me pass on! I don't want this guilt and misery any more! I'm sorry for everything I've done! I am! I may never have loved the Fire Lord, but I truly am sorry. For the infidelities! For the deceit! For everything! Take pity on me, dear God! Take pity on me!" Kata pleaded, her last words turning into a hacking noise as she tried to regain breath. Her son looked at her pitiful form and dared to take a few cautious steps forward

"Mother…?"he sounded, gazing steadily at the woman's blubbering form. He hand shovered over her shoulder, hesitating. Should he touch her? Would she remember his soft touch? Would she be frightened like she had been before? Abruptly, though, Kata let out another wail and Zuko drew back, gasping, terrified.

"And Zuko! Oh, heavens, Zuko! The poor child doesn't know! He'll be deceived, alone all his life. Oh, Cheng, what'll we do? How can I even think of dying yet? Leaving our flesh and blood with that monster! Never!" she continued to yell into her clammy hands. Zuko was becoming more and more confused. And afraid.

What didn't he know?

What monster?

And who on earth was Cheng?

Zuko decided that this madness had gone on long enough. It needed to stop. Marched up to her bedside, he climbed onto the soft mattress and crawled over to his mother. He laid his hand on her shoulder, but before he even could shake her, she let out another horrifying, bloodcurdling scream. It was like she'd seen the Devil himself. Or her heart was being ripped out from her body. The black hared boy stumbled back, petrified, and fell off the mattress. Scrambling all over himself, he made a beeline for the large, ocher doors. Faster than he'd ever ran before. His hand was millimeters away from the doorknob, when suddenly his mother's voice called out to him.

"Zuko…Zuko, darling!" she called, like when she would call him to come inside after a long day of play. Zuko turned to look at her, mystification and unspeakable terror welling up in his eyes.

"Mother…?" he answered back meekly, dropping his hand to his side.

"Zuko…dinner is ready. You mustn't complain about what you don't like to eat, Zuko, or that boy over there…he'll laugh at you…" she whispered, stroking a velvet throw pillow like it was her son's hair. Finally, her fevered delirium had gotten the better of her. Her skin looked even paler and sickly, but her piercing orange gaze never left the pillow. A small smile played on her lips as she hugged the make-shift child to her closely.

Zuko shook his head in disbelief, mouthing a silent "No". He turned the knob and flew out the door, running like all Hell had broken loose behind him. He ran blindly, not really knowing where he was headed. All the walls of the hallway looked the same, with the same portraits and tapestries adorning them. He continued running, all the whole his mother's haunting whispers echoing loudly like he were running in a huge limestone cave. Zuko tripped over a nameless something and fell forwards. He plunged into a the darkness of the empty void.

A sharp gasp of breath was what awakened Zuko. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was sitting up straight, grasping the sheets tightly under his chin. Zuko took a few calming breaths, taking stock of his surroundings and situation. It was nothing but a dream, he reasoned. Lying back down on his back, he closed his eyes and continued to breathe steadily. Fragments of the dream began to reassert themselves in his brain and he paid rapt attention to his mother's devastating words. Although he wished he could block them out, the sentences and fragments raced through his brain.

"What'll we do…?"

"I'm sorry for everything!"

"He doesn't know…"

"Monster…"

"That boy over there…he'll laugh at you…"

"NO MORE! I don't want to hear it anymore! I don't want those memories, I don't' need them! Make them go away…someone…make them…" he chanted over and over again, his eyes widened in paranoia and fear. He lay hidden under the silken sheets, shivering. The stinging rose up again and the boy wondered vaguely what it was, which caused his irrational fears to subside. Well, it really didn't matter what this odd sensation was. It was like Aunt Auska's obscure and bizarre touches. It didn't make sense, but it caused emotions to swell up within him. Still, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he had a crazed, dead mother.

And she was haunting him.

Thanks to everyone whose actually been reading this. I was afraid people weren't going to like it. Anywho, now my entire plot has been ruined thanks to the new episode coming up this Friday (June 3rd). Actually, I don't think that it'll disrupt the plotTOO much, but now I'll have to rearange all my ideas for how Zuko really got the infamous scar. Curse you, Nickalodeon! ahem So...here'ssome questions for all you lovely readers: Should I add another OC? I have a bunch of ideas in my head, but I don't want to lose any of yo lovely folks by having a crap OC come in. Well, actually, the OC I have in mind is really just what I like to call, a "booster" character for Zuko's lovable and fiery ego to emerg in him. Another one is: Do you think there should be any, and I mean any, Zuko romance? At first, I avoided the idea like the plauge, hoping to put into another fic I have in my mind, but I dunno. If you think there should, please review and tell me. PLEASE no 1 sentence answers. I need intelligent answers here, people! So...again thanks for reading and tell me what you think. Oh, also, the plot will continue with Zuko being 7 in Chapter 5, but in Chapter 6, it will fast forward to him being about 12. I believe that is when Iroh will make his debut! Whoo-hoo! So...yeah, review and have a wonderful life!