Her father had introduced Zhu to his wife, the Lady Chiaki, and it had not gone well.
Lady Chiaki had been glaring at her with cold, cold eyes, with her hands clasped together in the front. Zhu's spine tingled when their gazes met. She had bowed respectfully and what Lady Chiaki said next had made her want to break down crying.
"Ah yes," The terrifyingly beautiful woman had said in a honeyed voice, "the base-born child. We've been waiting for some time now."
Fire Lord Izumi had called her out sharply at these words and Prince Kasai sent her a hurt look. Lord Zuko put his hand on Zhu's shoulder to offer what little comfort he could give in this situation.
Lady Chiaki didn't seem affected by the scolding. Instead, she let out a laugh that made Zhu's ears itch and said, "I'm afraid I am exhausted. I shall be retiring to my quarters." Without waiting for a response, she spun and walked away with her long kimono trailing behind her.
Prince Kasai acted as if nothing had happened and moved onto stand near a boy who had a scowl etched onto his handsome features. Lord Zuko had told her that the prince looked a lot like his mother but Zhu could see the faint remblence she shared with him.
"Zhu, may I introduce your brother, Kazuki." With a slight nudge, her father nodded at the boy, "Go on, say hello to your sister, Kazu."
Kazuki approached her stiffly, "Hi." From Fire Lord Izumi's side, Iroh let out a snort and got elbowed in the ribs by his sister, Ursa.
Zhu bowed to him as well, albeit a little awkwardly, "Er...Prince Kazuki."
At this the boy looked immensely annoyed, "What's with that? Didn't dad just say that I'm your brother? Why are you using my title?"
"Then…" she tilted her head in confusion, not really expecting his reaction, "What do I call you?"
"A pig-chicken!" Iroh snickered as Ursa scolded him again despite the smile on her face. They both walked towards the pair.
Kazuki had rolled his eyes at his cousins as the elders gathered in a corner to talk. He gave Zhu a onceover and clicked his tongue, "Either use just my name or call me 'big brother'. I expected you to be tinier with a weird nose. But I suppose you'll do."
Zhu frowned, "What does that mean?"
"Don't think too much about it." Ursa patted Zhu's shoulder, "Kazu's just trying to scare you but he's harmless, really. I'm Ursa. This is my older brother, Iroh. Don't bother with formalities with us."
Ursa, at ten, was the tallest even though Iroh was two years older. She wore a long, red tunic with loose trousers. Her long hair was in two braids and twisted into two buns, something Zhu found herself being envious of. Her hair had always been unruly and bushy, and she hated tearing at her scalp every day to try and tame it.
Iroh, on the other hand, had kept his hair short. It was unusual for members of the royal family to cut their hair. The boy looked a lot like his grandfather despite having dimpled cheeks. He, like Kazuki and her father, wore red armour.
"Grammai couldn't join us," Iroh said, looking back the the giant walls of the palace, "She was feeling a little sick." He looked back at Zhu, "But we're thrilled to meet you."
"...Gram...Mai?" Zhu blinked.
"Our grandmother." Kazuki said, nonchalantly, "If the adults are done talking, maybe we can show you around the palace?"
A few moments later found Zhu being led by her brother and father through the lavish (and extremely large) halls of the palace. The father-son duo kept pointing at rooms and windows and paintings and photographs, giving her an information overload. Though Kazuki looked quiet and uninterested, he did most of the talking. Kasai noticed that Zhu was struggling to keep up with them and slowed down.
"So…" he began, "How's Lin? How-how's your mother?"
Kazuki listened carefully to their conversation.
"She's as usual." Remembering that her father might not know what 'the usual' meant, Zhu elaborated, "She works a lot. Stays at her office a lot. One really can't tell what's going on in her mind."
"I heard she became Chief of the Metalbending Police Force." She must've been imagining it, but Zhu could've sworn that she heard a hint of pride in Kasai's voice, "It was always her dream to succeed her mother."
"Well…" She bit the inside of her cheek, "The only reason I don't like it is because I don't get to see her often. But when she has time, we train together! My mother's really strong!"
Kasai unknowingly rubbed his back, "Don't I know it." He mumbled.
The kids gave him a confused look which he brushed off. They walked further down the hall, up the grand staircase and took a few more turns.
"This will be your room, Zhu." Kasai gestured at one of the large doors, "It's just across Kazuki's. I hope the room is to your liking."
"Just because my room's nearby does not mean you can annoy me whenever you want." Kazuki hmmphed and turned away, moving towards another door, "I'll come to get you in thirty minutes for dinner. You better not be late."
With that the boy left. Kasai let out a heavy sigh.
"He'll warm up to you soon."
Zhu nodded and hesitantly met his eyes, "Thank you, High Prince Kasai."
The man looked taken aback, and he smiled a sad smile, "You are allowed to call me 'dad', kid."
"I know." She returned his smile and something pricked Kasai's heart, "In a few days time, I might. I've never had a father before so I need some time."
"Alright." Kasai softened his eyes, "Well, then. I shall leave you to it. If you need me, my wife and I are in the next hallway."
He left her to her own devices and disappeared around the corner.
Zhu uneasily opened the door and entered the room. It was bigger than her mother's room with carpeted floor and a four poster against the wall. There was a tapestry bearing the Fire Nation symbol on the wall opposite to her bed. Spirits forbid she forget where she was. A fine dressing table with the shiniest mirror Zhu had ever seen. Large windows with deep red curtains. Another door, which she assumed led to the bathroom.
Suddenly, the little girl felt very, very lonely in the very large room, and for a moment feeling of loathing towards her mother bubbled in her chest. Zhu quickly pushed it away, mentally apologizing to whichever spirit was listening in on her thoughts. She placed her bag on the table and fell on the bed as exhaustion took over. The covers were very soft. Nothing like she'd ever seen. How had it come to this? Just a few hours ago, she had been sitting on the swings with Chen, who was telling her about not liking his birth name, Sakura. And now Zhu was here, across the ocean, as the daughter of the High Prince of the Fire Nation.
But they weren't her family. They were strangers. Zhu hadn't even seen her grandfather until today. Mother had barely ever mentioned the Royal Family of the Fire Nation. The five-year old didn't even know what kind of people they were! And Lady Chiaki hated her when she hadn't even said a word. Zhu was terrified. What if the woman hurt her? Even after screwing her eyes shut, she could see the way the High Prince's wife stared at her. No one had ever looked at her like that. Not even her own mother, who often looked strict and cold and harsh.
Zhu felt sick with fear. She didn't want to go for dinner. If she did, she might puke what little she had eaten for lunch and then the Fire Lord would kick her out of the palace and she wouldn't know how to go home and will be lost in the strange country forever and her mother wouldn't know and-
Clutching the soft pillow close to her chest, Zhu burst into tears for the second time that day. Outside her door, Kazuki froze, hearing the muffled sobs. He had waited until Zhu had stopped crying and entered the room, making her let out a scream.
"For such a short person, you sure can yell loudly." He barked, watching her dive under the covers.
Zhu peered through the sheets, "I could've been changing! You didn't even knock!"
"Well, you weren't changing, were you?" He tugged at the covers, "Get up, or we'll be late for dinner."
"You said thirty minutes. It hasn't even been fifteen."
"I'm older than you. Don't question me."
"That's not fair!"
They played tug of war with the covers until Zhu, out of fear that they may tear, let go. She huffed and sat up straight, rubbing her eyes.
"Why were you crying?" Kazuki demanded, crossing his arms.
Zhu pointedly ignored him and shuffled towards the door. He followed her, irritated that she hadn't answered him. Zhu's pace only quickened once she realized that Kazuki was trailing after her.
"Don't ignore me! I asked you a question." He snapped at her, tone filled with arrogance. The boy went to grab her forearm but she had spun around, slapping his arm away. What shocked him was that her hand produced blue fire instead of the usual orange he was used to.
Zhu herself was horrified that she had almost burnt her brother. She snatched her hand back and tears pricked the corner of her eyes again. "I'm sorry," she blubbered, trying to wipe her nose with her sleeve, "I didn't - I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." The girl staggered backwards, creating some distance between them.
Kazuki stood frozen, staring at her hand and then at his. The flames had narrowly avoided him but he couldn't shake off the intense heat that it had produced. He clenched his palm into a fist and glared at her.
"Stop crying." He ordered her, "Stop crying at once. Look, I'm not hurt." Kazuki held up his hand, "You're a terrible shot even from this distance. I won't be angry if you tell me why you were crying before." Kazuki grabbed both of Zhu's wrists and pulled them away from her eyes, forcing her to look at him.
Her lips quivered and no matter how hard she tried to pull away, he wouldn't falter. "I want to see my mother." She finally cried, " I wan-want to see her. I want to go back home. Chen will wonder where I am. The stupid teacher pick-picks on him because he doesn't answer to 'Sa-Sakura'. The other kids will make fun of him if I'm not there. Mother forgets to switch off the stove sometimes. She'll burn the house down. I want to go hooome!"
He didn't know what to do. Kazuki never had a younger sister to take care of. He had always been the youngest in the family and the most spoilt. So when he heard that he had a sister, he hated the idea of it. Just like his mother, every bone in Kazuki's body wanted nothing to do with the girl. But a part of him did not want to upset his father. Nor did he want to be lonely any longer. For days, Kazuki spent observing Iroh and how he was with Ursa.
It hadn't helped.
The thought of asking Iroh directly had crossed his mind. But Kazuki immediately shot down the idea. He didn't need another reason for his elder brother to make fun of him. And maybe Ursa and this girl - Zhu - had different personalities. Maybe what was normal for Ursa, might be seen as something wrong by Zhu. The seven year old decided to deal with the problem in his own way.
So Kazuki just stared at Zhu until she stopped sobbing and had reduced to sniffling. He raised him hand, ignoring her flinch and patted her head, harshly, "My grandparents are your grandparents too. My father is your father. My aunt is your aunt. My cousins are your cousins. We are brother and sister, a family. If you give it a chance, the palace - my home will become your home too."
"You...you can stop patting my head now." Zhu tilted her head and Kazuki clicked his tongue. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.
"Shut up and wipe your face. You look filthy."
"You're really mean."
"I was being nice to you a minute ago."
"But you've mostly been mean."
"I'll keep in mind to not be nice to you since you have no sense of grati - How dare you stick your tongue out at me! I'm older than you."
"You keep saying that but you don't act like it."
"You're one to talk, you crybaby!"
Honestly, Kazuki is my favorite character so far. I love writing conversations between siblings! It's fun in a weird way. I'm waiting for Kasai getting the screentime he deserves. :3
Please leave a review! I'd love to know what you think of the characters I've introduced so far and about the dynamics between Zhu and Kazuki.