It was only yesterday that the fire princess Ursa was forced to flee her home. The volcano that had taken her grandfather had awoken from its slumber. It was only by luck, her family's tenacity, the kindness of an enemy, and the intervention of the Avatar that she made it safely to Ishigaki. With the rest of the refugees, she was funneled through an odd, dual immigration system and brought to temporary housing.
Of course, her status afforded luxuries not spared on her fellow refugees. She was given her own home in the fortress, instead of a temporary camp. The house was further inland than the refugee camps. The Fire Princess doubted that any other refugee received a queen sized bed, their own bathroom, a den, and a kitchen. There is no way such amenities could ever fit in their tents.
Ursa had spent her first night in her new home feeling guilty. How poorly were her former neighbors being treated? The tents looked quickly made and poorly supplied. The Fire Princess had decided to go to the camp tomorrow and do what she could for her neighbors.
However, she would never be allowed the chance to do so.
As she went to exit her abode, she was greeted by a guard at the gate. The older gentleman spoke softly but sternly to the princess.
"I'm sorry, your majesty, but you're not to leave this house until further notice."
"I'm not to leave?", it was spoken like a question but she already knew the answer. She turned back to her quarters. "Your job is to keep me indoors and 'safe', right?"
The guard was taken aback. He shook his head in agreement.
"I could hurt myself carrying some supplies then. You'll help me."
"But, you're not to leave." The guard's voice betrayed his befuddlement.
"I'm not the one leaving." She gave a warm smile as she began to direct the guard to gather her supplies for her.
"But, princess, I'm supposed to keep an eye on you and make sure you can stay inside." The man was struggling to carry all the goods the woman had given him. Food, blankets, medicine, etc. The princess of flames had the man strip her apartment clean.
"And I promise to stay right here." She gave a warm smile. "You just need to hand those out to my former townsfolk for me."
"B-but…", the man tried to protest.
"If you leave now, you'll be back hours before relief arrives."
"That's not how it works on Ishigaki!" The man was pleading.
"The door is designed to lock from the outside, I assume. Lock me in then." Ursa held up her hands. "I inherited none of my grandfather's bending ability and my children get their gifts from their father. I have no means of escaping this building if that door is locked."
The man paused. Finally, the guard smiled. "As you wish." He relented and left for his duties.
Before he was through the door, Ursa took his attention one last time. "What is your name, guard" Ursa smiled. "I'm probably going to be here a while. I should get to know my capto...protectors."
"Ikem." The man looked back for a moment before heading out. The words echoed in Ursa's ear. A memory tugged at her mind.
Ursa looked around her empty home as the man locked her in. It was fitting, she thought. If she was to be a prisoner, she should live like one. The princess was used to being a prisoner. She preferred when her captor was honest rather than hiding behind false niceties.
Ursa had time to think about her life. She didn't have much else to do, regardless. Her children were gone. Her husband was thankfully nowhere to be seen. And that man's name had stirred something in her. What else was she to do but think?
Ursa was not born royalty. Her origin was more humble. She used to be an actress. It was her dream.
"Oh, Great Water Spirit, why has thou cursed me so? Was my arrogance worthy of such punishment? While I acted with rage and anger, I was simply indulging my nature. It is the nature of fire to consume. It is the nature of water to adapt. Perhaps my transgressions in your domain were impudent, but they were to be expected. For how can one blame a spirit for acting as it is? For how can one curse a spirit to this prison…" A man paused on stage. "Pirson of…" He paused again. "
"What was that line?", the man mumbled. "Prison of flesh? Prison of meat? No, not meat. That's too weird. Prison of…" The man stumbled in his words.
"Boo!", a masked woman came from nowhere. The shock scared the man from the empty stage, causing him to jump into the empty stands.
As the masked woman began laughing, the man regained his senses. Recognizing the playful nature of the prank, he countered the woman's energy. "Is that any way to treat the Dragon Emperor?"
The woman removed her mask. Underneath, she was a fair skinned woman, denoting high status. Her amber eyes were matched by orante arranged black hair. Her ponytail was kept in place by a jeweled band, intended to respectfully mimic the crown princess headdress.
"I thought the Dragon Emperor was supposed to be powerful? Not someone scared by a simple 'boo.'", she joked.
Rising back to the sage, the man gave a warm smile. "The Dragon Emperor doesn't defeat the water spirit, Ursa. It's the Dragon Empress who convinces the Great Water Spirit to give mercy to the emperor."
Ursa warmly placed her hand under the man's face. "And that's why my cowardly little Ikki needs his Dragon Empress to protect him." She giggled.
Ikem melodramatically sighed. "You know I hate that nickname." His overdone sigh turned into chuckle.
Ikem rose back to the stage and placed his hand over her's. "I take it you got the part."
"Did you expect anything different?", she leaned in to her boyfriend. The pair quickly kissed.
"You know, that confident streak of yours will run out one day.", Ikem beamed.
"Well, you better hope it never does.", she playfully punched his arm, "Or else who will save you when you get into trouble again?"
"You got me there.", he spun her around. Taking a quick sigh of relief, he looked to the sky. Ursa was a little lost at the gesture. Eyeing him closely, the girl felt that Ikem was nervous.
"Maybe we can practice some lines." Ikem started. "Maybe another kiss?"
Ursa pushed him back with a laugh, "Oh stop it, Ikki."
Putting their masks on, the pair rehearsed their lines. The story was simple enough. The Great Water Spirit cursed the Dragon Emperor, symbol of the Fire Nation, into mortal form. As a mortal, the Dragon Emperor fell in love with a mortal. Through the kindness and humility of the mortal, the Dragon Empress convinced the Great Water Spirit to take mercy on the Dragon Emperor and return his godly status. The mortal women then ascended with the Dragon Emperor, as his empress.
The pair, however, found the masks got in the way of the final kiss of the show.
Ursa gagged. The failed kiss had made the masks clanged against each other. An uncomfortable surge was sent into her nose. "Mask kissing is the worst," she whined.
The man seemed slightly distracted. "At least your lines are still mostly the same. I remember how this play was before the Water Confederation helped us to rebuild. Their 'suggestions' to the story really butchered my character." Ikem shrugged. "I went from a bold hero to a groveling loser." The man sighed. "What does that say as the symbol of the Fire Nation?"
"The Fire Nation hasn't been around for some time, Ikem", Ursa removed her mask. "The Alliance is all we have now. Frankly, I'm fine with any government as long as the war stays far from Hira'a. My family had to flee our homes once already, I'd rather not do it again." Ursa looked long and hard at her mask.
Ikem paused. He turned to his girlfriend with a soft look. "Will you marry me?"
"That's not a line.", Ursa quizzed.
Ikem grabbed her hand. "You remember when we were six, how you kicked me in the stomach and pushed my face in the dirt?"
Ursa fumed. "How many times do I have to apologize about that!? Yeesh!"
Ikem spooked Ursa by scooping her up. "I began loving you that day. And I haven't stopped since." Ikem looked deep into Ursa's golden eyes. "I'll ask you one more time, will you marry me?"
"Yes," the young girl shot back in an instant.
Without another word, the pair kissed on the empty stage. To the young lovers, it seemed like time had stopped. The outside world was an illusion. Only their embrace was real.
Ursa's mind came back to the moment. There was a knock at her door. Reminiscing is only so enthralling. As a prisoner, it wouldn't do her good to leave her captors waiting either.
At the door was Ikem, her guard. He seemed out of breath.
"I delivered all your supplies as requested, your highness.", Ikem reported.
Ursa was a bit surprised at the guard's eagerness to please. Perhaps they had told him he really was to serve her? Ursa, however, needed to squash some doubts.
"How did they respond?", Ursa commanded.
"Grateful." Ursa eyed him. "Well, not all of them. Not really. When they thought it was from us, they were jubilant. They took it as proof their current housing was just temporary."
Ursa raised her brow.
"When I corrected one of them, told them these were to be your belongings and you were sacrificing them, they grew angry." Ikem looked away. "They wanted to know why we didn't do this from the start. Why we were treating you so special. They dragged your name in the mud."
"I figured as much.", Ursa sighed. "Our titles mean little in the Alliance."
Ikem laughed. "Not to me, your highness. I even got into an argument with a…'gentlemen' over your honor." Ikem gestured at his soiled leggings. "Got thrown in the mud for my trouble."
Ursa didn't seem amused. "I'm not some maiden who needs saving. My name and honor has faced far, far worse than whatever that man could offer." Ursa looked at a small bruise through the torn pants of the guard. Her features softened. "You should have let it be."
Ikem smiled. "It wouldn't be the first time this has happened to me. Like you said, I have faced far worse."
"You should have another hour before your relief." Ursa drew on her knowledge of standard guard protocols. "Let's get you inside. I should clean that before it gets infected."
Ikem looked offended. "I'm a guard. I can handle a simple bruise. Like you said, I am not-"
"I know what I said and I know what guards are meant to do, Ikem." Ursa felt like she had spoken like this before to the man. "But, I have raised two children and I haven't yet figured out how to stop myself from helping every wounded puppy I see." Ursa gestured inside. "As your highness, I order you to let me treat your wounds." Ursa knew those last words would hit home.
Ikem looked around, nervous. Finally, he relented. With a bow, he said only "as you wish" before proceeding inside.
Ursa danced on her way to her home. Ikem and her were to be wed. Her days had been harsh for such a young life. The land of her ancestors was taken from her in battle. She had been thrown about the Alliance as a political tool. For once, she was to enjoy something normal. A happy home in a quiet village, far from the war.
Her mother would want to know first. Her father would probably demand to see the man, to size him up. Dad would make a show of Ikem asking for permission to marry her. She didn't mind. Dad would say yes. She knew.
Ursa's good nature drained when she saw the worried look of her mother. "What's wrong?", Ursa tried to console her mother.
"Y-you should go back. Speak with your father. H-he wants to see you.", Rina was the daughter of Avatar Roku. She had watched her home burn more than once. Ursa had neve seen her more distraught.
Ursa was surprised by two more men when she went in the back. The pair were roughly the same age. One was short and portly whereas the other was tall and fit.
Her father, Jinzuk, was there. He looked sullen and withdrawn. "Ursa, my dearest, we have been honored by the princes of the Fire Nation."
Ursa caught herself immediately. The actress bowed to the two men. She did not know their reasoning, but the young woman knew it wasn't good from her mother. Perhaps her and her family were to be shepherded to another nation-state in the Alliance. It would not be the first time nor the last, she mused. She wasn't looking forward to it, but Ikem was an only child and his parents were merchants. It wouldn't be hard to bring them with him. A minor setback, nothing more.
She would later curse herself for these thoughts. She had gotten her hopes up that this encounter was brief and unimportant. It only made what came next hurt more.
"Please, " the older one started, "I am merely a diplomat in these troubled times. I do not wish to trouble such a beautiful girl with such formalities."
"You honor me, your highness.", Ursa recited with all the proper respects.
Please, please," he pleaded, "I am simply Iroh to the family of our last, great Avatar." He gestured to his right. "However, I believe my brother prefers his full title: Fire Prince Ozai." Iroh gave a playful smile, eliciting a scowl from his unamused brother.
"My brother's assumptions are correct.", the prince harrumphed. "Of course, he should know as much as we have discussed such things in the past. It is little a matter of belief when such things are directly requested. One would argue these are things that need not be said in mixed company." Ozai used overly flowery speech to soften the severity of his words.
"My brother is mad when I remember and mad when I don't, it seems.", Iroh laughed.
Ozai carefully shot him a look, trying to hide it. Ursa noticed, however. His eyes were like a tigercat. No, an eelshark. They were a predator's eyes. Iroh responded in kind, Ursa noticed. Fire Lord Iroh's gaze was just as severe as his younger brother. A reminder to play along. The elder was trying to lighten the mood. Ursa had dealt with nobles before. They wanted her to be in a relaxed mood. They wanted something of her and knew that honey attracted more elephant bees than vinegar.
"If you truly wish for me to be so casual, then allow me to be forward with my statements." Ursa broke the silence. "I believe royalty would not enter our humble abode unless they had something important to request of my family. My presence was directly requested by my mother. I assume I am the subject of this meeting. I prefer that my honored guests be forward with their requests rather than hide behind rehearsed niceties."
There was an awkward silence. Ursa's father looked like a ghost. Ursa knew the look. She had embarrassed him, as she often did. What did the man expect? Ursa was a grown woman. It was practically the job of those in the springtime of their youth to embarrass their parents. Besides, today was too good of a day to be played for a fool. Ursa wanted these men out of her house so she could break the news of her and Ikem.
Ozai was the first to break the silence. His haughty laugh was deafening. It was like the prince had heard the best joke of his life. When he finished, he capped his little outburst with a simple "you certainly know how to pick them, 'fire lord.'"
Ursa didn't like those words he used: 'pick them.' What did that musclebound dullard mean?
"I apologise for my daughter.", her father started. Iroh stopped him with a gesture of his hand.
"No need. She is right. I suppose I should have known an actress would see through such things." Iroh grew serious. "Ursa, our nation suffers. Our kingdom is divided into multiple little states. While some believe the decentralized leadership helps our nation in the war, it is a short-term solution. Without a strong, centralized government, our people will eventually lose the war with the Water Confederation."
"I hardly see how any of this matters to me." Jinzuk looked like he wanted to die as his daughter spoke. "Unless you are here to tell me the Water Confederation is at our doors, I don't see how a discussion of national politics affects a simple actress."
Ozai scoffed, "a simple actress? Please. We both know you are more important than that."
"My lineage has afforded me a few visits from nobility before." Ursa parried. "Mostly unworthy suitors looking to add legitimacy to their station. I fear that I may add another to that list." She stared Ozai in the eye.
Ozai stared back. Ursa felt a shiver down her spine, but she stood firm.
"I wish it were any different, Ursa." Iroh started. He felt he was losing control of the situation rapidly.
"I know you gave me such permissions, Fire Lord, but did I ever give you permission to use my name so casually. You have done so twice."
"You are just a simple actress." Ozai growled in his brother's stead. The prince's look terrified the young woman.
"Ozai!", Iroh's command resounded like a bullet. Ozai gave one look back at his brother. Seeing the contempt in his elder's face, Ozai returned to a neutral pose.
"How lovely," Ursa thought, "and they wanted me to marry into this family?" She was smart enough not to voice such opinions. Instead, she turned to a different thought.
"Then, it is as you said, and I have already said: I am a simple actress." Ursa lifted her hand to show a simple band of iron on her ring finger. "One who has already accepted the proposal of another 'simple actor.'"
Jinzuk jumped to his feet. "When were you going to tell me this?" His lips moved a mile a minute. "Who's marrying my daughter? I want a meeting with that man right now!" The man flailed. "He asked you without speaking with me for permission first? He gave you a ring? I will ring that boy's neck! It was Ikem, wasn't it?"
"And what if it was?", Ursa disregarded her father's concerns. "It's not as if I am a prize to be traded to would be buyers." Ursa shot a glance at royals.
While Ozai looked like a powder keg ready to explode, Iroh seemed disturbingly calm to the granddaughter of Roku.
"Let us drop the formal speech."The Fire Lord started softly. "If you truly love that boy, then you will listen to me." Iroh rose to his feet. "You asked me if the Water Confederation was at the gates? Our intelligence suggests that they plan to attack this region in the next month. Our forces will hold them off, regardless of what you say here. However, they will come again and again until this land is their's. We cannot continue fighting as divided as we are.
"The Water Confederation doesn't raze the villages it claims.", Ursa held her hand.
"True, but they don't treat all their charges equally. You will be a second class citizen in your own land." Iroh countered.
"It will be rough, but as long as Ikem and I are together…", Ursa looked at her ring.
"Yes, that would be true. I felt the same about my wife.", Iroh stroked his beard. "Do you think you would hold such values if you lost Ikem?" Ursa twisted the ring. "Even if he did survive, what about your parents? Or the fishmonger on the street? The old lady who makes you mochi? And, if not here, what about another village?" Iroh began to gesture his arms outward, as if he was holding up the entire world. "Even if they all live, do they deserve to suffer under foreign rule? If you really love your parents, love Ikem, would you want them to live like that?"
Ursa stared at her ring. Minutes passed before she could find the strength to speak. "You are asking me to give up everything I ever wanted."
Iroh looked shocked for a moment. He then looked down, a sour expression. He swallowed whatever he was feeling deep down. "I am sorry, but, if it will help bring back the strength of our name, then it is necessary." Iroh paused. "It won't remake the nation, know what you are agreeing to. But the council may allow me to speak on the Alliance's behalf if my family had the added legitimacy of the Avatar's bloodline."
Iroh swallowed hard. "We could do a lot of good with that alone. Please forgive me." Iroh bowed to the young girl.
Ozai rolled his eyes at his brother's words and actions. "She is below our station," he thought, "stop embarrassing yourself."
Ursa just stared at her ring.
Ursa was brought back to the moment by the guard's wincing. She had just begun cleaning the wound with some alcohol. For a guard, this man was a bit of a baby, she reasoned.
"I thought you were a big, strong guard who faced worse." Ursa played.
"It took me by surprise," the guard tried to dodge her words.
"By surprise?", disbelief dripped from her words. "I worry to think that my personal guard would so easily be taken by surprise. Perhaps a different guard would be necessary…?"
Ikem waved away her words. "That won't be necessary. It just stung a little. Even guards have the right to wince once and a while."
Ursa hid a devilish grin. "At least you're learning to be honest with me."
Ikem laughed as he looked away.
Ursa finished bandaging the small cut. Standing to her full height, she looked down at the sitting man. She couldn't help but see something familiar in him.
"Have you always lived in Ishigaki?", Ursa questioned.
"No one my age has always lived here. It's too young.", Ikem joked. Getting back to his feet, he looked into her eyes. "I was from a small village in the Alliance. The Water Confederation kept trying to take it. The Earth Kingdom agreed to evacuate everyone one day. Apparently, the line wouldn't hold." Ikem shrugged. "Then, I ended up here."
Ursa began to grow suspicious. "What were you before you were a guard? I can tell from your soft hands that you had a different job. You didn't become a guard until recently. Very recently."
"I mostly just fished. Occasionally, I would do shows when the regent felt morale was low.", Ikem didn't look Ursa in the eye.
It finally clicked. Ursa felt something shoot up from her stomach that she hadn't felt in years. "Ikki! You're the same Ikem, aren't you?"
The guard laughed. "I was wondering how long it would take you to remember."
Ursa playfully punched his arm. "That's an awful game to play. Making me guess."
"I thought the name would be enough, honestly. My looks haven't faded that much over the years." Ikem looked proud before he shifted to an overly exaggerated look of exasperation. "I guess our love wasn't that strong."
Ursa pulled inward, looking down. "You know that isn't why I did what I did.
"No, Ursa, I didn't mean it like that. I was just making a joke. I know you had your reasons. They forced you to marry that boar. I never doubted you for an instance. Not one day passed where I didn't lament what the royals did to you."
"Ikem," tears began to well in the fire princess' eyes, "it was a bit more complicated than that."
Ursa was in a carriage. Across from her sat the two royals. No one was talking. No one wanted to talk.
There was a sudden stop. Ursa lurched forward. Her traveling companions did not.
"What is the issue?", Ozai barked. "We are on a tight time schedule!"
"There is a man in the road, your majesties.", the driver called back.
"Then run him over!", Ozai did not mince his words.
Iroh shook his head. "Tell the man we are busy on official Fire Alliance business. Most should depart upon hearing such things."
"He has a sword, my lords.", the driver didn't sound too concerned, however. "He doesn't look like he knows how to use it, though."
Ozai grumbled. "Let me handle it, brother. I tire of all these would-be bandits coming up from the boondocks these days. Someone ought to teach them respect and I know your hand is too light for such matters."
"Shouldn't one of our guards handle it?", Ursa spoke up.
Ozai scoffed. "Guards? What good would those do? There is nowhere safer in the Fire Nation than this carriage, when my brother and I travel."
Ozai jumped out of that carriage with a loud thud, leaving Iroh and Ursa alone.
"He isn't always this bad." Iroh filled the dead air.
"Yes, he is. I can tell. Don't lie to me!" is what Ursa wanted to say. Instead, she just looked at the door he left open.
From afar, she could hear her fiance accosting this "would-be bandit."
"Do you know what you are doing fool? Do you not recognize our sigil!? This is the carriage of Fire Nation Royalty!" Ursa sighed. Is this what her life was going to be like from now on? "Do you wish to travel to the spirit world so easily? I assure you that I can send you to meet the spirits if that is really what you desire."
"He won't end him.", Iroh spoke to Ursa. "A simple bandit isn't worth the governor questioning us for harming his citizens."
Ursa focused less on the Fire Lord's words and the implications of what they really meant: her fiance was willing to take such actions, just not when it was inconvenient to him.
"I-I know that Ursa i-is in there. L-let me see h-her." That voice was familiar. And he knew her. Wait, is that Ikem "I-I-I won't let you steal her."
"Is that sword even real?", Ozai moved to mocking the boy, but Ursa was too worried to sit idly anymore. To Iroh's surprise, she burst from the carriage.
"Ikem, please!", she yelled out. "Don't get involved."
Ikem's terrified look lightened. "Ursa! You're unharmed!"
"Of course she's unharmed! What kind of fool are you? What do you take us for? Thieves? Kidnappers?", Ozai mocked.
"It wouldn't be too unfitting." Ursa bit at Ozai.
"You really do have the spirit of fire in you. I wonder how long that will last.", Ozai's grin terrified Ikem and Ursa.
The reality of the moment returned. "Ursa, come with me. We can escape from them and live in peace. They'll never find us."
"You can't possibly be serious.", Ozai rolled his eyes. "You really think you could hide from me? You're just some idiot who tried to hold up a carriage with a wooden sword."
"Quiet!", Ursa shot at Ozai, "you can't speak to him that way!"
"I can speak to him any way I want and you'd do well to remember that!", Ozai shot fire from his nostrils. Ikem jumped. Ursa stared Ozai down. Seeing his lover's strength, Ikem adjusted himself moving closer to her to put himself between Ozai and Ursa.
"Ozai.", Iroh spoke softly from his carriage. "Can you please resolve this matter peacefully? I would rather not get up from my seat to remind you that we are guests here."
Ozai huffed. He pointed at Ursa. "Get this boy to leave. I'll be waiting in my carriage." As Ozai turned to leave, he added one last comment. "And don't even think of running off or this will all be pointless."
With Ozai back in his seat, the two lovers turned to each other.
"Ursa, we have a chance if we just go n-", Ikem was cut off by Ursa's shaking head.
"Ikem, I'm sorry, but we just can't. I have to do this.", Ursa was welling up. Tears were streaming from her eyes.
"Whatever they promised you. However they threatened you. We can get away. Like I said, I know a place. They'll never find us.", Ikem grabbed her shoulder lightly.
"Ikem, please." She looked up at him with her tear stained face. "This isn't a play. Some big speech and wide-eyed ideals won't save us. I have to do this. J-just make it easier on me and let us pass. I can't bear to watch you get harmed."
"But," Ikem tried to start.
"Ikem, please!", Ursa bawled.
Ikem sighed. "Will they ever let you go?"
"No.", Ursa hugged Ikem. The man could tell this embrace was a 'goodbye.' Without another word, she turned back to her carriage. Right before she got in, she could hear him say one last thing.
"I'll find you one day. I promise.", he yelled.
Ursa pretended she didn't hear those words. It was just easier that way.
Ikem moved off the road, letting the carriage continue onwards.
After a short while, it was Iroh who broke the silence.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He tried to comfort the girl. "You did what was right, though. Your actions will save him and numerous people like him."
"Stuff it.", she blurted out. "I don't want to hear it right now."
Ozai smashed his fist on the arm rest. "The first thing we'll have to work out is that attitude. If you're to be my wife, you'll find that I am not a man who likes to be questioned. Not in private and especially not in front of some peasants."
Ursa wanted to lash out again. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to mock him. She wanted to tell him that there was no royalty, that they both were just peasants. But, she could already start to feel the fire in her die. That was her last chance to run and it was gone. Ikem would never be able to rescue her. Any chance of happiness in her life was over as of this moment. She let the words of contempt die in her throat.
"As you wish.", she muttered.
"You thought you were protecting me?", Ikem had trouble grasping the concept.
"Iroh wasn't wrong." Ursa didn't look Ikem in the eye. "My marriage to...Ozai did give the Fire Lord the prestige he needed to be made the speaker for the entire Alliance. He was able to negotiate on their behalf, even if Ozai's outbursts inevitably soured our reputation with our hosts. Iroh has done a lot for the Alliance. I don't know if we'd still be in the war without him."
"Ursa," Ikem started. He paused. He found the words. "None of that matters. At least not to me."
"You're saying that now." Ursa sighed. "But who knows what would have happened if I didn't make that decision. You would be barely scraping by in menial labor, like in the colonies."
"I know we haven't been together for years, but my life didn't turn out all that different." Ikem pointed at himself. "I'm an actor. I accepted that I'd be barely scraping by my entire life. It's our lot in life." Ikem put his hand under Ursa's chin. "What I could never accept was being apart from you."
Ursa pushed back. "I'm still married to him, despite everything he's done."
"And should that matter? Would you ever want to see him again? After everything he's done? Don't think I don't know where those scars on your arms came from." Ursa pulled down her sleeves. "I saw them earlier when you dressed my bruise." Ikem answered a question no one asked.
"Ikem, please." Ursa wasn't sure what to say.
"No, this time, I'm not going to accept that answer." Ikem started. "You're hurt. You're scared. You feel like you're trapped and there is nothing you can do." Ikem sighed. "That isn't true. You're stronger than that. You let them beat you down and keep you with that man for far too long. You have the right to seek your own happiness. You don't have to live in their box for you."
"And you're just a dashing hero come to rescue me? Because I can't do it myself?", Ursa shot back. "How do I know this isn't some other box? How do I know I can fix this mess? My life? I reclined to suffer, you know! It was just easier like that. I probably deserve it!" Ursa was bawling as she barked out her words.
Ikem let her yell. "She's been holding this in for so long. She needs to let this out. Ozai probably never let her speak her mind.", he mused.
When she seemed done, Ikemi started again. "What they did was wrong. I don't care about Iroh's intentions in the matter. Ozai, less so. You aren't defined by what you can do for others. You have the right to live your own life."
Ursa didn't respond at first. "You can't fix this with a speech. This isn't Love Amongst The Dragons. There is no Great Water Spirit to convince. You can't undo years of...THAT with a conversation."
"I know." Ikem was solemn. "But, I'll still be on guard duty tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. Dignitary duty is grunt work around here. It's prisoner duty, basically. No one wants it so I have it reserved for months."
Ursa gave the guard a weak smile. "What would you do if I don't say 'yes'?"
"It's your life. I am not going to force your hand. You don't even have to answer me now. I can't make you happy. I learned that over my years of searching. All I can do is be there for you when you need me."
Ursa was quiet for a moment. "I'd like that." She turned to the door. "Your relief will be here any moment." She turned back to the guard. "Same time tomorrow?"
Ikem gave a warm smile. "As you wish."
