Chapter 3

Lu Ten looked up to see his father's face above his own, looking down at him disapprovingly.

"Lu Ten, do you want to be a general or not?"

"Of course I do!"

"If you want to become a general, you're gonna have to take your training seriously, because I'm not letting you on the battle field without being absolutely sure that you can take care of yourself, and neither is your grandfather!" Iroh looked at his son, furious. Lu Ten stood to face his father. He put both his hands on his father's shoulders.

"Dad, you know I take your training seriously! I just got… distracted… is all." Lu Ten looked down nervously for a second. Then he brought his eyes back to his father's and smiled. He saw the concern and the "understanding" in his father's eyes.

"Lu Ten, you can't jeopardise everything else you've worked for, for a girl – especially for a girl who doesn't have mutual feelings for you!" Lu Ten looked down, knowing his father was right. He looked up at his father, his eyes beseeching his father's.

"Didn't you do the same thing when you fell in love with Mother?" Lu Ten desperately asked his father. He saw a flash of pain in his father's eyes before his father grinned mischievously at him.

"Yes, actually, I believe you are correct!" A look of understanding passed over his father's face, to be replaced with sorrow. "I am sorry, my son. I do believe that I had quite forgotten what it was like to be in love…." Lu Ten smiled at his father.

"Don't be sorry, because, even though you understand why my focus is diverted these days, it is still unacceptable, and I promise that I will try my very best to not let her affect me." Lu Ten bowed to his father respectfully. Iroh smiled and returned the bow.

"All this training has made me hungry! Why don't we go and get a nice hot cup of tea, eh Lu Ten?" Lu Ten just laughed.

They began walking towards Iroh's favourite tea shop, when Lu Ten spotted Rui. He stopped where he was and debated for a second. He then made his decision. Iroh saw his son had stopped walking and looked to where his son was staring. He smiled and walked up to his son. He put his hand on his son's shoulder, making his son turn around to face him in surprise. Iroh jerked his head in Rui's direction, indicating that Lu Ten should go and try to talk to her again. Lu Ten grinned like he was a toddler that had just gotten some Fire Flakes and ran to her. When Rui saw him, she fell into a deep bow right away. Her heart was hammering, for she knew exactly why he was following her this time, and she didn't like his reason one bit. Lu Ten reached her and told her to stand up. Rui obeyed obediently.

"Your Majesty," she said in mock surprise. "It is an honour." She bowed again. Lu Ten held back his grimace. He hated being treated different. Because he was a prince, he could never make proper friends because they all had to worship and respect him, and he hated it. "What of my many services are required by his Highness today?" Rui asked him, pretty sure she already knew the answer to that question.

"I require only one of your services today, general, and that is your company. Rui's eyes widened in shock. Lu Ten smiled. "That is, if you are willing to lend me that service."

He was giving her a choice. Rui's eyes widened even more. Why in the world would he give her a choice? He was a prince, if he really wanted to go out with her, he could just command it and she would have no choice but to obey. But, he wasn't doing that. Instead, he was giving her and option. If she didn't want to go out with him, or hang out with him, she could just say no and he would accept it. She looked at him, suspicious. There had to be a catch to this; I mean, a choice? He was a prince for crying out loud! And besides, there must be a million girls that were dying to go out with him, so why choose her of all people?

Rui looked into his eyes and saw that they were filled with hope, and she also realized that he was trying to hide it. She nearly smirked. He was so bad at hiding his emotions it was pathetic.

"The Firelord has called me to meet with him at sunset, so, if it is before that, I would be honoured, Your Highness." Lu Ten was thrilled, even though he tried not to show it. However, Rui could see right through him.

"Where would you like to go, Rui?" Rui's eyes widened in shock. Fear and hurt filled her heart. She could feel the tears beginning to escape the safe enclosure of her eyes, so she thought up a quick excuse that would enable her to get home before anything escaped.

"I – I just remembered; my meeting with the Firelord was pulled back to noon, so I must be going now, for I am late. I am sorry." At this point she wasn't even looking at Lu Ten; she was just focused on getting home before she lost control, because she could feel her snap coming. She bowed to him again, quickly, before running off in the direction of her house, which was, in fact, in the opposite direction of her house.

She left Lu Ten staring remorsefully after her. Lu Ten felt a hand on his back and realized it was his father. He turned around and looked at his father in defeat.

"I nearly got her, but then…. Ugh! I'm an idiot!" Lu Ten exclaimed, beyond furious with himself.

"It is not your fault, Lu Ten. She is just not used to this, that is all. And, maybe, she just felt shocked at having been called something that she hadn't been called for so long… since her father died…." Lu Ten was still looking dejected and defeated. Iroh smiled at him. "Why don't we go and get a nice hot cup of tea!" Lu Ten just stared at his father. How could he even suggest something like this? Lu Ten was nearly dying of failure, and his father wanted to have tea…? Iroh's smile left his face. "Come, I will tell you some things you might find useful in trying to woo your girl over some tea." Lu Ten's face brightened and he nodded in agreement enthusiastically. Then they began walking towards Iroh's favourite tea shop.

***

Rui was running, and she wasn't going to stop until she got home. Oh no, oh no, I'm not gonna make it… she thought to herself, panicking. She was running as fast as she could so that she could make it home before she snapped. How could he have known…? Rui was as confused as a person could get. Unless… General Iroh knew my father… so he must know the whole story…. Rui wanted to kick herself. How could she have not realized that Lu Ten would have wanted to know about her and so he must have asked his father and General Iroh must have said everything he knew about her…. Ugh!!! She was so stupid!!! She wanted to kick herself.

She finally reached her house and she flung open her door, slammed it behind her, and ran to her room. There, she collapsed on her bed and began to cry. No one had called her Rui for months now… not since her father had died. Oh how she missed him so…. She stayed there, sobbing on her bed, for hours. She ended up falling asleep there and she didn't wake up until morning. When she got up she was starved.

She went to the bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth, and fix her hair. While she was doing all this, she tried recalling the dream she had had last night. All she remembered was that it had had her father in it. What had it been about? Rui wondered, frustrated. Yet, even after she was done freshening up, she couldn't remember. She finally gave up and came to the conclusion that it hadn't been important because she couldn't remember it. If it had been important, I would have been able to remember it. Rui thought to herself, satisfied with her explanation.

Rui ate her breakfast and got herself ready to go to the palace, for today there was a very important meeting for all the generals. As she was walking to the palace, she passed a shop that had a painting of a man and a woman holding hands with clouds circling them in the window. Rui stopped and stood there, unmoving. She wasn't staring at the painting; she was just in shock, for she had just remembered what her dream had been about. It replayed in her head.

"Father?" Rui asked hopefully, staring at the back of a standing man. The man that turned around to look at her was definitely her father, but he wasn't the same person she remembered. The father he remembered had always had a smile on his face, whereas this father had no smile, and was, in fact, furious. She stared down at her.

"How dare you…" he started, furious with her. She looked at him timidly. What had she done to make her father angry?

"What did I do...?" she asked him, afraid.

"You're asking me what you have done? What do you think you have done to disturb me in the afterlife?" he asked her, getting angrier every moment.

"I don't know… I always remember you and Mom… I haven't forgotten you both –"

"That's exactly the point! You haven't gotten over my death, and it has already almost been a year. Do you think I can rest peacefully watching you struggle with the basics of life? Anyone your age dies to be alone so they can do whatever they want. You, on the other hand, are completely the opposite." Her father's filled with sadness. "I love you, Rui, and so does your Mother, therefore we don't want to see you hurting." By this point Rui's eyes were brimming over with tears.

"Dad, you were – are – my entire world, and you expect me to forget that my entire world was destroyed? I don't think so. I'll never forget you and Mom! And, as for not being like other kids my age, they only want their parents to go out for a few hours or days, not to be killed! Anyone my age would react the way I am if they were in my situation," Rui ended, satisfied with her retort.

"If anyone your age was in your situation, they would have reacted like you at first, but then they would have gotten over it like normal people!" Rui looked down at the ground. "It's been almost a year, Crystal, and you still act like you just found out that we died!" Rui jerked her head up to look at her father fiercely, her eyes boring into his.

"Do you know what it's like? Waking up every morning, making plans to go out with your father, only to remember right after that he's dead? And has been dead for quite some time now? Do you know how it feels?" Rui was nearly shrieking at this point. "I didn't think so." Rui looked away, smugly.

"Yeah I do. I think you're forgetting that I went through the same thing with your mother, Rui." Rui looked up at him in surprise. How could she have forgotten?

"It – it wasn't the same…. You still had me…. I have no one, Dad…" Rui said, her eyes filling with tears at the loneliness she felt. Her father walked forward and put his hands around her.

"I agree to a certain extent that what you are saying is correct, but when you have another chance at having a family again, why are you shunning it away?" Rui looked up at her father in surprise again. He smiled knowingly at her.

"Lu Ten likes you a lot. Just give him a chance. I'm sure he'll keep you happy, Rui."

"But… if I fall in love with him… and then lose him… I don't think I'll be able to survive that shock. I can't handle any more loss, Dad!" Rui finally exclaimed, frustrated with her weakness.

"Who says anything is going to happen? Maybe you're just paranoid."

"No, that's not it! I can feel it in my bones… it's not going to end nicely. I have a really bad feeling… please, I can't lose anymore than I already have."

"But, if you don't try, you'll never know what could have been! What if something doesn't happen, and you were just making a mountain out of a molehill and you lose this excellent opportunity? You'll always wonder what could have been, had you taken the chance. Trust me Rui; he'll make you happy…." Suddenly, her father's figure began fading away. Rui started panicking. She couldn't lose him now, not when she had just gotten him back! She began yelling for her father. As her surroundings began fading away, she heard a voice whisper the words, "I love you, Rui… my daughter…."

Rui shook her head to get out of her reverie. She scrutinized the painting for a few more moments, trying to decipher the reason behind it triggering her dream. However, she couldn't come up with an answer and decided that it was just because the painting had to do with romance, and in her dream her father had mentioned romance.

Rui continued staring at the painting, examining its blasts of colour and how the colours blended together at certain parts of the painting, thing like that. She was so immersed in what she was doing that she broke the very first rule that her father had taught her: be aware of your surroundings. She was so immersed in the painting that she didn't hear the quiet, yet distinct, sounds of twigs snapping and leaves shaking, nor did she hear the quiet slinging of a bow. However, she did hear a yell. She looked up at the sound of someone yelling her name. She wondered why they sounded so excited. Had they won the war?

She looked around for the person that had yelled her name, and once she spotted them, she realized that her name had been called out, not in excitement, but in fear.

"Rui, watch out!" Prince Lu Ten yelled at her. She just looked at him. Watch out for what? The only thing that was in Rui's vision that she should watch out for to avoid was the Prince himself. But why would he warn her that he was coming? Rui finally heard a noise that warned her of the actual danger, but by then it was too late. The arrow was speeding towards her heart, and she was frozen solid.

Suddenly, there was a rather large shape in her vision, blocking her from the arrow. By the time she realized what was happening, the arrow was already deep in the Prince's chest.