26th of August

Fire Lord Taishi (25)

Year of the Sun

Three hours after noon

It has been over a month since I last wrote in this diary. In truth I nearly forgot about it until I came down with this dreadful illness and now I am confined to a room and what should I find in one of the draws but this diary?

After the long carriage ride back to the Bei Fong estate I settled in fairly well. The servants are polite and eager to please and luckily Lord Bei Fong has been absent leaving me and Mielia in charge.

It is a lovely house. The rooms are decorated in pale greens or creames. They have many windows and give the impression of being airy and spacy. Shinji's mood swings stopped about a week after we arrived. He took a keen interest in the animals kept on the estate and now is a regular with helping out the stable master.

Mielia and I talk for most but we go on huge outings or riding...it's so blissfully free here I can forget about home easily. In fact Mielia and I once disguised ourselves as commoners and we went out into the villiage...although the things they said about the Fire Nation where not to my liking!

They described us as greedy sparklers! I wanted to shoot blue flames at the ignorant pigs! How dare they say that!

Anyway the biggest adjustment I have had to make as definately been the change in climate. In the Fire Nation summers are lovely and hot. We do not get rain unless it's a thunder storm and the very air you breath is a hot perfume...whereas here you get freezing cold winds, rain and other unholy weather which I've never had to feel. When I last visited it was lovely and warm but this summer the winds have a bad habit of being cold...and thus I caught this stupid illness which is called a cold!

Really who ever heard of a Fire-bender catching a cold? It's ridiculous but I feel like my whole system is blocked up...my throat aches and I can no longer breath through my nose...I am also getting hot and cold shivers which the doctors say could be my fire chi reacting with the weather.

Thus they have said I must get bed rest. I protested but then realised this was the sensible thing to do...Mielia has kept me company but her health has been not much better than my own...it's strange for she was never a sickly child...my old suspicions are haunting me but my mind tells me not to be over imaginative.

Anyway Lee has been a very good pen pal.

Here is his latest letter...

Dear Maeko,

You have a cold? I'm sorry but it is funny...I've never heard of anyone from the Fire Nation getting a cold before! Still I hope you recover soon...and do what the doctors say! Don't get any mad ideas which I know your prone to.

My life is fairly boring. The lecturers drone on and on for hours! It's not fun at all! Still some of the studies are interesting...just think in two years time I'll be a doctor! I want to go to the Air temples after I graduate...I want to visit home a little and hopefully finish mastering airbending if the monks will let me! They probably won't...when I visit they say I lack maturity!

Anyway best wishes,

Lee x

Prone to mad Ideas? Since when have I done anything without thinking it through...I think all the air is getting to his head. Still it pleases me to know that he is happy and well.

I must go now for the Doctor is here again...

I wish Lee was my Doctor...the old man seeing me now is a pain!

Eight hours after Noon

A letter arrived from Prince Sozin!

Honestly why is he writing to me now? It's been a month! Or does he think I will have calmed down?

To Lady Maeko Azu,

I suppose you are wondering why I am writing this letter...I must confess I'm wondering myself, probably sevre lack of boredom for Earth Kingdom policies hold little interest for me...still I have to do my duty and pay attention and I must admit I do not like the way they are making our Nation look like a bunch of hot-headed fools. Why must my Father insist on this amount of friendship and peace with a Nation that has ideas that come from mud? It's maddness to waste money that could be put to better use on our own Nation? There are people still living on the street and starving to death for Agni sake! We must put the need of our people first before a bunch of strangers!

That is my own view on the matter anyway. I suppose this is of little concern to you...but if you do have anything to say on the matter I would be interested to hear your opinion.

Your Prince,

Crown Prince Sozin of the house of Agni

The worst thing is I actually agree with the arrogant idoit! What he has just said is what I am thinking but...how will I reply in a letter? He seems to be confinding in me almost which I find alarming! He's got a reputation for being cold and quiet...why ask for my opinion when he had a whole table of advisiors? Or is he wanting an outside opinion?

I suppose I must give him one...it would be plan rude to ignore a letter from my nations Prince.

Have just spent half an hour writing this letter.

To Prince Sozin,

I feel that our Nations interests must of course come first. There is no point trying to fix the state of the world if we cannot first fix ourselves, while I do not hold all the Nations interacting as useless- after all peace is of benefit to our Nation as well and it's important to have a knowledge of what surrounds you - I do feel that perhaps we'd be better improving our Nation first.

Also I too have encountered some tension between our Nations...just two weeks ago I over heard us being described as Greedy Sparklers, however I feel it is important we do not rise to the bait but keep our head on the matter at hand- maintaing a healthy relationship is important but we must look out for our interests first.

I say this all because you have asked for my honest opinion. I hope it pleases you and I hope you are in good health,

You're loyal subject,

Lady Maeko Azu

It's formal but honest.

Mielia nearly fainted when I showed her the Princes letter! She says it's obvious he likes me...I suppose it is and I am flattered as well as curious but obviously I cannot...I have Lee to think about and my fathers words are still in my mind as well as his scar on my cheek. I am not ready to become a bride.

To anyone.