Chapter 6

"Ursa! Prince Ozai is going to be here at any moment, why aren't you ready?" Rina questioned Ursa, her voice was shriller than Rina had ever heard it.

"I'm sorry," Ursa lied. She had been hoping that Ozai just might not show up after all and that this had all been a bad dream. "I'm getting ready now."

Rina had already gone to her daughter's closet and pulled out a red dress. She appraised it for a moment before she put it back and grabbed a different one. "This is it," she told Ursa, turning towards her. The dress was a beautiful red color with some gold detailing around the shoulders. "This is perfect."

Ursa personally thought that it was a little bit too much, but she did as her mother asked and changed into it. They could hear voices downstairs and Rina frowned. "Hurry, hurry," she instructed, brushing Ursa's hair as quickly as she could while Ursa stared in the mirror.

She could feel the anxiety growing in her stomach. The last time that she had been alone with Prince Ozai, it had gone terribly, she had run away. But this time she realized that she couldn't do that, that she had to make it through the entire…what did she even call this? A date? That felt disrespectful to Ikem. The entire situation was disrespectful to Ikem. She wanted to open her mouth and tell her mother no, to send Prince Ozai back to the palace but she couldn't find the words to say it.

"Look at me," Rina instructed, and Ursa looked away from the mirror. Her mother applied some light makeup onto her face, something to make her lips a little bit redder, and some kohl under her eyes. When Ursa looked in the mirror she barely recognized herself. She didn't like it, but she didn't say anything. "Beautiful."

Rina had a strained smile on her lips as she looked Ursa over one more time and then nodded her head once before turning, expecting Ursa to follow her. She took a deep breath and sighed. She could hear voices downstairs and knew that it was Prince Ozai. Ursa followed her mother down the steps and saw him standing in her living room. It was a shock to see him in her house and she faltered for a moment. She could see servants standing outside through the window, and she supposed that they weren't going to be allowed to be alone. She supposed that a Prince was always followed by people; the Fire Lord wouldn't want anybody trying to go after his son.

"Ursa. You look beautiful," Ozai complimented her, handing her the fire lilies he had brought.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Holding out his arm for her to take, Ursa handed the flowers to her mother and took his arm, knowing that it was what she was expected to do. Ozai said goodbye to her parents and they walked out the front door and into the sunlight. She felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach as they walked, knowing that Ikem could be anywhere. She hoped that he was just in his father's shop, away from the town today.

"Where are we going?" She asked him lightly.

"I figured that we could take a walk in the market and see what they have," Ozai responded, looking down at her, his face unreadable. "You really do look beautiful. More beautiful than you had looked at my party."

Ursa felt her cheeks turn pink and she looked down at the ground. "Thank you," she replied.

"You don't say much, do you?"

"I'm just awed by being with you," Ursa replied, surprised by herself. Was she...flirting? She felt a knot of guilt in her stomach.

Ozai laughed. "I am a man just as any other man, Ursa. You can speak to me plainly, I promise. I would like to get to know you."

Ursa looked at him. "I would like that too," she said, although she could feel the guilt rising. She would figure out a way to get out of this, to make sure that Ozai decided that he didn't want to marry her. She looked back at the servants trailing behind them and bit down on her lip slightly. "Do you ever get used to well…that?" She questioned, gesturing to the servants.

Ozai laughed. "I guess it must feel strange for you. I don't even notice them," he said with a casual shrug.

Ursa didn't think that she could ever get used to it, to the servants or the parties or the royal duties. "I guess you don't know a life without them."

"No. I guess I don't. But I have been known to sneak out of the palace with some friends when my father is asleep. I don't bring the servants then," he said with a smirk.

Ursa laughed, surprised. "And what do you and your friends get up to on these secret outings?"

Ozai shrugged. "We mostly drink; enjoy some time away from the palace and from the watching eyes of my father." She noticed the ways that his eyes seemed to darken, the way that the word father sounded surprisingly bitter on his tongue.

The way that he spoke of his father surprised her. He sounded so disdainful of him. It was a surprise to her to hear the Fire Lord's son speak of him in that way. It had been ingrained in her that they loved the Fire Lord, that he protected them from the other Nations, and that he was a caring man who wanted to see their Nation thrive. They had learned that the war was their way to share their greatness with the rest of the world. She had never questioned it.

They exchanged pleasantries and small talk for the rest of the walk to the market, and Ursa was glad when they arrived. She felt like the market could be a good distraction that they could talk about the different wares at the market rather than talk about themselves. She was still feeling uneasy around him and she wasn't sure about what would be too personal to share with him.

She enjoyed going to the different booths, and Ozai indulged her and let her spend as much time as she wanted at each shop. It was another surprise, how easy conversation became the longer that they spent together. Despite being a Prince, he seemed…well, normal. The servants that followed them even stayed away for the most part, Ozai had told them to stand down because it made her feel uncomfortable.

"I'll buy you whatever you'd like," Ozai announced when they came up to a booth that sold jewelry.

"Are you sure?" She questioned, but she saw something that looked like annoyance cross over his face and she forced a smile on her lips. "Thank you. You're so kind to me."

She was taking her time trying to decide which of the necklaces that she liked the best. They were all so beautiful and she had a suspicion that whatever she picked would be something that she wore frequently so she wanted to be sure of it.

"Ursa?"A familiar voice cut into her thoughts.

Her stomach dropped and her heart started to pound. This wasn't happening. No, no, no. Ikem couldn't be here right now, he couldn't see her. She didn't know what Ozai would do to her or to Ikem if he realized the truth if he knew that her heart belonged to another. And she knew that Ikem would never understand that he would be furious with her, that he might cause a scene. That he might get hurt.

"Ikem," she greeted, her voice sounded calmer than she felt. "It's such a surprise to see you here. Are you running errands for your father?"

"Yeah…" He trailed off. Ikem looked at Ursa and then at Prince Ozai. Confusion passed over his face but then recognition flashed in his eyes and he bowed to the prince. When he straightened up, his face was emotionless.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Ozai interjected, looking at the two.

"Yes," Ursa said quickly, widening her eyes slightly at Ikem to warn him not to say anything. Her heart was pounding in her chest. If Ikem said something contrary than they were through, she was sure of it. "We were neighbors growing up. His father runs a shop in the shopping district."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Ozai finally said, although Ursa thought that he didn't sound very interested. "Ursa, say goodbye to your friend and pick something out. We're taking too long and I want to go and look at some swords before the market closes."

"Okay," she said numbly, hoping that Ikem would understand. "I'll see you later. Say hello to your father for me."

"Yeah, okay, see you around, Ursa," Ikem said, his voice flat as he disappeared into the crowd.


Ursa was awoken by the sound of pebbles hitting her window. She sat up, rubbing at her eyes as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her bedroom. Was she dreaming? She heard the little pings again on her window and swung her legs out of bed and walked over to the window. She pulled it open and saw Ikem standing there, below her window.

"What are you doing?" She whisper shouted to him. "It's the middle of the night!"

"What were you doing with him, Ursa?" Ikem questioned. "What were you doing?"

She could see the bottle of alcohol in his hand and knew that if she didn't go down there, he was going to wake up the entire neighborhood.

"Stay there, I'll be right down," She told him. She quickly pulled on some shoes and quietly snuck through the hallway not wanting to wake up her parents or her siblings. That was the last thing that she wanted.

When she made it outside, she looked around to make sure that nobody was watching her and walked over to Ikem. "You've been drinking," She said with a frown.

"Why were you with him?" He asked again, this time his voice a little bit louder. "Why was he buying you a necklace?"

Ursa didn't know what to say. She had thought that she would have more time to figure out how to deal with this. She hadn't thought that Ikem would find out about this so quickly. She had naively thought that Ikem would never have to find out because she wasn't going to marry Ozai.

"Ikem…" she trailed off, biting down on her lip. "It's not what I want…"

"What's not what you want? Ursa what is going on?"

"Prince Ozai wants to marry me," she finally blurted out.

Ikem stared at her in shock. "What?" He demanded. "He wants to do what? You told him no, right? You told him that you were already someone else's girl." When she didn't say anything, his eyes widened. "You're thinking about it, aren't you? You're actually thinking about marrying that—that asshole."

"It's not that simple!" She exclaimed, wishing that she had the words to make him understand.

"Not that simple? All you have to say is that you're not interested. That you're dating someone else, Ursa. I don't know what's hard about that!"

"I was going to! I just have to find the right time!"

"The right time?" Ikem let out a loud laugh and brought the bottle to his lips and took a swig from the bottle. "If you were really going to stop this than you would have before it even started, Ursa. What, did your mom put you up to this? That woman hates me, I'm sure she's been pushing you towards this all along. I've never been good enough for your mom. I'm sure that she's thrilled that you're going to marry a prince. I thought that I knew you Ursa, but I think that I'm seeing you for the first time now and I don't like what I'm seeing."

"Ikem, please, I can explain. I have a—a plan, I'm not going to go through with it."

"Save it, Ursa," Ikem said, hurt in his voice. "I don't want to hear it. I knew that you have been weird lately but I never expected this. I'm done. I'm not going to be someone's second choice. Especially not yours," he said a look of disgust on his face. "It's like I'm seeing you for the first time and I don't like what I'm seeing. You just do whatever anybody tells you to do, are you even your own person? Or are you just your mother's doll to dress up however she likes? I barely recognized you this afternoon with that dress and that makeup. Is that who you are going to be? Some-some pawn? If that's who you really are then I'm sorry that I knew you."

Tears started to stream down her cheeks. "Ikem, no, please. I'm sorry. I don't want to marry him. I only want to be with you. I don't want to be a princess; I don't care about marrying Ozai."

Ikem paused and looked at her. "Then tell me that you'll go and see him tomorrow and put a stop to it." Ursa faltered and he shook his head. "That's what I thought," he said before he took another swig of the bottle and disappeared.

Ursa collapsed onto the ground and sobbed. She buried her face in her hands and cried. She didn't want things to end with Ikem. She loved him and didn't want to lose him. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and for a moment she thought that Ikem had come back. But when she looked up it was her mother. She pulled Ursa into her arms and smoothed her hair down and kissed the top of her head.

"It's going to be okay Ursa."

Ursa didn't believe her.


She knelt in front of the turtle duck pond, smiling as one of the mother ducks swam up to get the bread that she had brought. She had insisted on stopping in one of the market shops on the way back to the palace so she could feed them.

It had been a few days since her fight with Ikem. She mostly felt numb and wanted to believe that it hadn't happened and that things could go back to normal. She didn't think that Ikem was ever going to forgive her and she was having a hard time coming to terms with the horrible things that he had said. Her mother had been pushing her to accept Ozai's proposal but she was still holding back. Losing Ikem didn't change that she wasn't sure that she wanted to marry Ikem.

"This was my mother's favorite part of the palace," Ozai said, coming to join Ursa. He didn't kneel like she was, but he stood beside her, his back straight and his hands clasped behind his back. "Nobody was allowed to come here for years before my brother campaigned to restore the gardens to their original state."

Ozai had never spoken of his mother to her or gotten so personal in their meetings up until now. She was surprised to hear him speak so candidly about his mother. Of course Ursa knew that she had died giving birth to him, everyone knew that, but it had never been appropriate to bring up to him.

"That must have been so hard," she said sympathetically, moving to a standing position. "My father died when I was little."

"I know," Ozai replied, his voice thoughtful. "I never knew my mother. But you knew your father, yes? That must have been harder. To grow up with them and then to lose them so soon. I don't remember anything about my mother. My father never talks about her. Not to me, anyway."

She noticed the bitter way he spoke of his father, and she felt her lips turn down into a slight frown. "I don't know. I feel grateful that I got to have a few years with my father. I can't imagine what it was like not knowing her at all. Have you ever tried to talk about her with your father?"

"No," Ozai said, his voice cold. Ursa knew better than to push.

It was getting harder for her to come up with reasons for why she shouldn't marry him beside the fact that she didn't love him. Ozai had been nothing but kind and proper with her, he seemed to want to really get to know her, and he had never brought the topic of marriage up with her. But she still couldn't help but feel uneasy. Her heart belonged to Ikem and it felt dishonest to Ozai to not tell him that she loved another man, even if they had broken up. But every time she thought about bringing it up to him, something told her to stop.

"Thank you for opening up to me," Ursa spoke quietly. "About your mother. And the gardens. They're beautiful."

"They'll be all yours when we're married," Ozai told her. "You'll be able to come here whenever you'd like."

"Yes…" Ursa said, looking down at the ground, her stomach dropping at the mention of marriage.

"What's the matter?" He questioned, turning to face her.

"What?" She said, distracted, her cheeks pink.

She had known that it would come up eventually, marriage, but she had hoped to have more time. She had hoped that she would have a plan for how to extract herself from this situation, from allowing it to go any further. But she was here, and Ikem had broken up with her and she knew that her mother would be horrified if she turned him down.

"I thought that you would have been happy that these would be yours when we marry. But you looked upset."

"I'm sorry Prince Ozai. My mind is in another place today."

Ozai looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face. "I understand that all of this might be overwhelming for you, Ursa. But I want you to know that I will care for you when we're married. For you and your family. All I ask is for your heart in return."

"I'll give you what I can," she responded quietly, looking up at him. "I'm just not ready to commit to marriage, Prince Ozai. Please understand."

"I do," Ozai said automatically. It made her wonder if he really did. "How is your friend? The neighbor?"

Ursa panicked. Did he know about Ikem and her? Did he know that they had been dating and that she had been lying to him this entire time? She looked up at him. "Wh-what?"

"The friend from the market. How is he?"

"I…I don't know. I haven't seen him in a while."

"That's too bad."


Rina had left the house before the children had woken up. She was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her, especially not her husband. The streets were empty for the most part and when she saw someone she recognized, she simply waved in greeting and didn't stop. She was glad when she could see the shop materializing before her as she got closer and closer. She could see Ikem working in the front through the window and a frown appeared on her face. She didn't relish doing this, but she was protecting her daughter and her best interests. This boy needed to realize that he needed to stay away from Ursa if he knew what was good for her.

Pushing open the door, Ikem looked up, a greeting on his lips when he saw her standing there. His gaze hardened. There was no love between the two of them. Rina knew that he was aware of how much she disliked him, especially after he showed up to her house, drunk and breaking her daughter's heart the way he had. She had been hoping that they could find a better solution to the affair than Ikem breaking Ursa's heart.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly.

"Is that any way to speak to a customer?" She asked lightly as she pretended to browse. She was glad that his father wasn't there to get in the way.

"Your money's no good here."

"A pity," Rina said, shaking her head. She looked up at him and met his gaze. "You will stay away from Ursa now, you hear me? She's moved on from you and this pathetic little shop. She's going to be a Princess and you will just hold her down. If you love her you will let her go and let her be happy with Prince Ozai. You were never good enough for her anyway."

"That's where you're wrong. I am good enough for her. And you need to get out of my shop right now," he said, his voice dangerously low.

Rina laughed. "Goodbye Ikem. I don't think that we will be seeing each other again."

Author's Note: As always any feedback would be welcome! I hope that you enjoyed it and I'm really excited about where things are going. You don't want to miss the next chapter.