Chapter 9

Ursa had refused to leave her room for two days. She had ignored Ozai's messenger hawks and her parent's persistent attempts to get her to come out of her room. She knew that they were supposed to go to the palace tonight to meet with Fire Lord Azulon and Ozai but she didn't want to go. Going to the dinner tonight would make it official. Tomorrow they would announce to the world that Ursa was to marry Prince Ozai and there would be no turning back. She was sure that their wedding would take place within the month, and her life as she knew it would be over. She would no longer be able to go to Elua's house as she pleased. She had no idea what a Princess had to do or what they would expect out of her. She was sure that she would have to smile a lot and she supposed that Ozai would want children.

She had always dreamed of being a mother. As the oldest daughter, she had plenty of experience with babies and she had quickly realized that she wanted to have several children. But she didn't know if Ozai would want more than one, it seemed like the Royal family only had one or two children. Perhaps they would be different and she would be able to convince him to have several. It hurt, though, thinking about her future, about becoming a mother. She had always thought that their father would be Ikem, but she couldn't think about that anymore. She needed to learn to put Ikem behind her it was only going to hurt her to think about him and his future life without her in it. But she had made her choice. She needed to accept it.

But it was hard to think of this life that she was going to have with Ozai. It was so different from the life that she had expected to have. For years she had dreamed of inheriting Ikem's father's shop and the two of them would run it together. They had dreams of what their family would be like, and the things that they would do together. They had always talked about taking their kids to Ember Island and seeing the Ember Island Players. They had spent so many nights sitting on the beach watching the ships sail in as they planned for their future and came up with ideas to make his father's shop better than it was.

But now all of their plans had been burned and were turned into nothing more than ashes.

Ursa had to remind herself that it was worth it. Marrying Ozai meant that Ikem would be safe and alive. That was all that she had wanted. As long as she knew that Ikem was alive out there, and well then she could manage her new life. She would have to. Backing out of this arrangement would mean her death and possibly her family as well. She couldn't stand the thought of that, and so she knew what she had to do.

But that didn't make it any easier. Ursa couldn't shake the lingering grief and heartache. It didn't help that Ikem kept coming in and out of her dreams. He was always screaming for Ursa to help him and no matter how fast Ursa ran she couldn't get to him in time. He was always kneeling with his hands bound behind his back and someone was standing behind him but she could never see his face until the moment that she jerked awake. It was always Ozai's face. It was a hard pill to swallow, realizing that her life was in Ozai's hands now and she could only hope that their marriage would be pleasant. And that Ikem would forgive her one day for the choices that she had to make.

She knew better, and she knew that Ikem was never going to forgive her for what she had done. He wasn't going to understand that she had done it to protect him. He was just going to see it as a betrayal, she was sure.

There was a knock at the door and Ursa just turned away to face the wall. She didn't want to talk to her mother or her sister. She just wanted to be left alone to grieve.

"Ursa? Open the door," Elua said from the other side of the door. She knocked again. "Your mom is worried about you. Please, can we talk?"

She turned over on her bed and looked at the door for a moment. She wasn't surprised that her mother had gone to Elua. She was the one person that could usually get her out of this state. But Ursa didn't want to get out of it. Didn't her mother understand that her entire world had crumbled before her? Everything that she had thought that she had was gone, and now she was left to deal with the aftermath.

"Ursa, please open this door now," Elua said firmly but gently. "You know that I can climb in through your window," she teased.

Rolling her eyes, she finally pulled herself out of bed and walked over to the door. She unlocked it and pulled it open without saying a word. She turned and walked back to her bed and sat down, pulling her knees to her chest. Elua quietly shut the door behind her and came to join her in silence. Together the two girls sat there, not saying a word. Ursa had to admit to herself that it was nice, having company, even if they weren't talking.

"Is—is he okay?" She finally whispered. Something crossed Elua's face and Ursa looked at her with confusion. "What? Have you seen him?"

"Ursa…" Elua trailed off. Ursa felt her heart start to pound. Had Ozai betrayed her? Did he not let Ikem go as he had promised? "Ikem's been sent to fight in the war."

"No," Ursa said, tears welling up in her eyes. Soldiers were as good as dead, especially someone like Ikem. He wasn't a soldier or even a fighter. "No, you're wrong. He said he would let him go. He let him go. He promised," Ursa said stubbornly even as the tears started to fall.

"I'm so sorry, Ursa. Nobody wanted to tell you but I didn't want to lie to you."

"He said he would let him go," she whispered.

Ozai had lied to her. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Ikem had been shipped off to be a soldier. If he died in the war then she was never going to forgive herself. Or Ozai. How was she supposed to go to the palace tonight and face him knowing that he had sentenced Ikem to his death? How was she going to go through with their wedding knowing that he had lied to her to get her to marry him? But she knew that she couldn't walk away from him or their marriage.

"I'm so sorry Ursa," Elua said softly, reaching out to grab her hand, she squeezed it gently.

"How can I go through with this?" She whispered, looking up to meet Elua's gaze.

"I don't know…maybe—maybe you can walk away."

"I can't, Elua," she whispered. "If I walk away from him I'm afraid of what he will do."

The concern was obvious on Elua's face. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Ursa lied.

She didn't want to bring Elua down. It was clear that her proximity to Ozai was hurting the people that she loved. Ikem had been sent to the war, his dad was without his son, and she was afraid that if she didn't do what Ozai wanted than her family would suffer. She didn't want to add Elua to the list of people that were getting hurt because they were her friend.

"Ursa, if something happen—"

"No! Don't worry about it," she begged.

"Okay, okay, I won't," Elua replied, still looking concerned.

Ursa regretted opening the door. If they had never had this conversation then she could face Ozai tonight without the knowledge of what he had done. She knew that she would have found out about it eventually, she supposed, but it would have been easier. But now she needed to go there tonight and try not to self-destruct and do something that she was going to regret. She wished that she could bring Elua with her to dinner but she knew that her mother would never approve of that, and she was sure that Fire Lord Azulon wouldn't respond well to an extra person. The dinner was supposed to just be her and her parents and Ozai and Fire Lord Azulon. Her siblings were all staying home.

"I need you by my side at my wedding."

"Are—are you sure?"

If Ursa was sure about anything, she was sure that Elua needed to be by her side when she was married. Elua was supposed to be by her side when she married Ikem and now she wanted her to be by her side when she married Ozai.

"Of course!" Ursa said, forcing herself to smile. "There's nobody else that I would want by my side." Especially if she was marrying Ozai.

"Then there's nowhere else that I would rather be," Elua replied.

"Thank you," Ursa said, leaning over to hug her friend.

After that, Ursa tried to act normal again. She didn't want to think about Ozai anymore and their upcoming marriage. She wanted to pretend that her life wasn't about to change irrevocably and just be herself.


"Come on, don't be like that," Ozai said, rolling his eyes at Meiko's turned back. It was frustrating. He felt that he shouldn't have to explain himself to Meiko. He was a Prince of the Fire Nation and he had to have a wife to a certain standard and Meiko wasn't that. And even if she was, he wasn't interested in marrying her. She was good enough to be his mistress but not his wife.

"You're marrying her," Meiko exclaimed, turning to face him, glaring daggers at him. He didn't care about the hurt in her voice, he had always been clear that he wasn't going to marry her.

"To get my father off my back," Ozai replied, frustration on his face.

He was starting to see that Meiko was never going to see reason about this. His father would never approve of Meiko. Fire Lord Azulon had made it clear to him that Meiko was not fit to be a Princess of the Fire Nation and that she would cause problems for them. His father approved of Ursa, she was a descendent of Avatar Roku and she was demure and Ozai was sure that he could control her. She had proved to be pliant thus far, despite the issue with that boy. But on the other hand, Ozai had no interest in marrying Meiko. Meiko was too familiar with him and she was much too outspoken. She thought that her opinions mattered and he knew that she would try to rule him. But he would not be ruled by any woman.

Meiko said nothing and started to gather her things. Ozai rolled his eyes and walked over to her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her close to him.

"Let go of me!" Meiko exclaimed, trying to pull away from him.

"Listen to me," Ozai said gripping her chin, he forced her to look at him. She stopped fighting him. "Things won't change. I may be married to her in public but I want you in my bed in private. You will still be my mistress and Ursa is there to provide me an heir. That's it. Things aren't going to change between us."

"Promise?" Meiko asked.

"Yes," he replied. He wouldn't say he promised because he would never promise to something like that. "And to show you that I mean it…I've been holding onto this for a while. I've been waiting for the right moment."

Ozai released her and went over to his desk and pulled open one of the drawers. He pulled out the box that he had been keeping there for a few weeks, and placed it on his desk. He closed the drawer and brought the box over to Meiko. He presented it to her and opened the box revealing the necklace that he had created for her. It was a simple necklace on a gold chain with a silver dragon on the end, the eyes made from two small rubies.

"It's beautiful," Meiko whispered, looking up at him.

"Like you," he replied, leaning down and kissing her. "Come on, let's not fight, please. Let's enjoy our time together."


By the time that Elua left, Ursa was feeling marginally better. Her best friend was replaced with her mother, who was moving around her room picking out a dress for her to wear to the dinner. Her better mood immediately turned as she watched her mother.

It was hard for her to sit there and look at her mother, knowing that she had kept her in the dark about Ikem. Ursa felt betrayed by her mother. Her mother had had to know that Ikem had been sent to fight in the army and she hadn't said anything to her. Of course, she had stayed in her bedroom since then, she hadn't wanted to see her family but her mother should have tried harder. Her mother should have tried to see her. But her mother hated Ikem and she knew that she hated Ikem. Was her mother happy that he was gone?

Ursa felt like she was simply going through the motions as her mother did her makeup and her hair. Ursa was silent as she sat there and let her mother pull some of her hair back and tied it into a ribbon.

"You look beautiful," Rina told her.

"Thank you," she said.

"I am so proud of you, my darling daughter. You are going to be amazing."

Ursa was quiet as she stared into the mirror. She felt like she looked nothing like her, she felt like she was a different person and she didn't like it. She wanted to be herself if she was going to marry Ozai, but she wondered if she was going to have to change herself to be with him. It had been a long time since they had had a Princess of the Fire Nation. Prince Iroh's wife had been gone for several years now, and Ursa didn't remember much about her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ursa asked, her voice sad.

"Tell you what?" Rina paused, putting her hand on her hip. "What are you talking about?"

"Ikem. Elua told me about Ikem. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Ursa…" she trailed off.

"He had promised, mom. He said that he would let him go."

Rina sighed and looked at her. "Ursa you don't get to question Royalty. They do things that we don't always understand."

"I don't—I don't—Mom!" Ursa burst out, turning to face the woman. "Ikem was sent to fight in the war after Ozai told me that he would let him go. How am I supposed to go to dinner tonight and pretend that he didn't lie to me? How am I supposed to marry this man and pretend that the basis of our marriage, that I would marry him if he let Ikem go, wasn't a lie! I can't go through with this mom, I can't. I can't marry him knowing that he lied to me and betrayed me!"

It was a sudden realization, bolstered by Elua's suggestion that she didn't marry him. For a moment, she imagined leaving the Capital and going to try and find Ikem. They could run away together, abandon the Fire Nation, and go have a quiet life in the Earth Kingdom, perhaps. They could buy their own store and run it together and forget about Prince Ozai, their families, and the Fire Nation.

"You stupid girl!" Rina exclaimed, rushing to her daughter and grasping her face. Ursa was frightened and couldn't move. "You think that you have a choice? He's the Fire Lord's son, Ursa. He won't take no for an answer. Do you think that you can take back your agreement? Do you have any clue what he would do to you? To our family? Do you want to see our family fall further than we already have? Do you want to see our things auctioned off and your siblings having to live on the street so you can live in this fairy tale bubble that you have? I realize that I made a mistake in raising you. I let you think that you could be independent but you are a nobleman's daughter, Ursa. It means that you don't get to make choices sometimes. Prince Ozai wants to marry you and I don't know how you could refuse him. Do you know what happens to people that cross him? Bad things, Ursa."

She stared at her mother in horror. She had never seen her mother like this nor had her mother ever spoken to her in such a way. Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked at her mother.

"If he's such a bad man than why do you think that I would want to marry him?" Ursa demanded angrily. "Why would you subject me to him? Why have you let me be with Ikem if you were just going to order me to marry someone?"

"You agreed to marry him, Ursa!" Rina shot back. "You said that you would marry him. You encouraged this."

"Only because you made me!" Ursa screamed at her mother. "You were the one who pushed me towards him! You are the one who wanted me to marry him instead of Ikem! You were the one who always hated Ikem and thought that he wasn't good enough for him! And now he's going to die because of me."

"We don't have time for this." Rina shook her head and handed Ursa her dress. "Go change. We need to leave," she told her before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her with a bang.

Ursa stood there, shocked, tears falling down her cheeks. For the first time in her life, she hated her mother. How could she just leave her like this? How could they not finish this conversation? Why was her mother so selfish? It was all about what she wanted and it had always been like this. She flung herself onto the bed and screamed into the pillow, not caring about ruining her makeup. She should just refuse to go. She shouldn't go and let her parents figure out a way to explain that to Ozai and his father. It was a tempting thought.

"I have half a mind to send you to the tower with him!"

Remembering Ozai's threat, Ursa closed her eyes. If that was what he had said to her before she had agreed to marry him, she could only imagine what he would do if she backed out. She had agreed to marry Ozai to protect Ikem, and she realized that she needed to go through with it to protect her family now.

Ursa looked down at the dress and ran her hand over it. It was a beautiful purple dress, similar to the one that she had worn to his birthday party but it wasn't the same rich purple that that dress had been. She thought that it was a beautiful dress, but she wasn't even sure where her mother had gotten it from. She had never seen it before, but she didn't question it. She took a few moments to collect herself and to fix her makeup. She thought that it didn't look as perfect as when her mother had done it, but it looked good enough. Taking a deep breath, she pushed all of her feelings away. Things were going to be okay. She had to keep telling herself that things were going to turn out okay.


Ozai, Lu Ten, and Fire Lord Azulon were waiting in the palace dining room. Ozai looked down at his nephew, who kept fidgeting and he held back the desire to roll his eyes. He didn't see what his father saw in this boy. At almost eight, he should be able to stand there and not fidget. He was a subpar bender and he was supposed to be the future Fire Lord? Ozai hoped for all of their sake that he would become a stronger bender or his father would see reason and see that Iroh was not the future of the Fire Nation.

"Presenting Jinzuk, Rina, and Ursa of the Fire Nation," one of the heralds announced. They walked into the room, bowing to them as they stood there.

Ozai felt a smile form on his lips as he watched his soon to be wife walk into the dining room. He was taken with her beauty like he always was, and he knew that the other men would be jealous. He couldn't wait to possess her, for her to be his wife officially.

"Welcome to the palace," Fire Lord Azulon greeted them.

Ozai walked up to her and kissed her cheek.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Ursa replied quietly. Ozai saw sadness in her eyes, and he didn't like it. Ursa was supposed to be happy about marrying him and instead, she looked like she was coming to her execution.

"Is everything alright?" Ozai questioned.

"Yes. Of course," she replied, looking up at him and smiling, whatever he saw was gone.

"Good."

Lu Ten stepped forward and looked up at Ursa. Ozai held back the urge to roll his eyes as Lu Ten and Ursa both looked at one another.

"Do you like turtleducks?" Lu Ten questioned. What a stupid question, he wanted to say, but he knew that his father would be furious with him and things had been better between him and his father lately.

"I love turtleducks," Ursa replied, kneeling down to be on Lu Ten's level. "You must be Prince Lu Ten. I'm so happy to finally get to meet you."

"Uncle Ozai said that you are going to be my aunt. Will you watch the turtleducks with me?" He asked.

"I would be honored, Prince Lu Ten," Ursa said, looking into the boy's eyes. Ozai could see his father's approval as he watched the two interact. Well, it showed that Ursa would be a decent mother to his children, he supposed. Better than Meiko would be as a mother.

"Let us eat," Fire Lord Azulon said.

Author's note: I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. I hope this longer chapter makes up for it! I would like to thank everyone for reading and as always, I welcome any feedback. I hope that you are having a wonderful day or night, wherever you are and I will hopefully get the next chapter up soon!