I'm so happy to see so many people putting this story on their favorites : ) Leave a comment though now and then to let me know what you think of the story! I love hearing what you as reader's think : ) Woah! A comment just now! Are you guys like…reading my mind? And I haven't even posted this yet? I'm impressed, readers, I am impressed. Oh, and for the record, the rating I gave this story is because of the stuff that goes on with "Felice"- now I can tell you all that :D

And now, to write on!

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When Kaori had regained some of her strength, she had ordered everyone out of the room. Once they were out, she refused to let them back in, keeping them out with a strong force of air pressed up against the door. The doctor sent worried looks towards Zuko, expressing his concern about Kaori's health- both emotionally and physically.

Zuko was worried for his own health, but, experiences from the past had taught him how to keep a straight face. It showed though, his pain, in his eyes and through the tightness in his jaw as he clenched it. He could hear Kaori from inside the room crying- no, sobbing was more like it. The servants around the room all had their heads down, tears in their own eyes. There was no sadder sound than that of a grieving mother. Especially one who hadn't gotten the chance to be a mother yet.

Suddenly there was no sound from the room and every eye turned towards Zuko. "Prince…" the doctor whispered, his eyes darting back and forth from Zuko to the door.

Zuko nodded slowly and, feeling as if his body was made of sludge, went towards the door. With a deep breath, he opened it slowly, not knowing what to expect. Had Kaori merely let her guard down? Would she hit him as soon as he came into the room? He had no idea, but he had to get in and be with her.

Kaori stood at the window, one fist against it and her head bent low. Her hair was a mess. It was normally wild, and yet, then it had always seemed tame and beautiful. Now she looked crazy, literally crazy with grief.

Zuko quietly shut the door behind him, much to the protests of the servants outside, but he shut them up with a glance.

"I…I can't open it…" Kaori whispered from where she stood, her voice so quiet that Zuko could barely make out what she had said. "I can't open it…to go get her…I need to go…go get her…"

Zuko watched as she turned around to face him slowly. Her face was flushed and tears ran freely down her cheeks. She stared at him, her shoulders slumped and her skin pale. "Zuko," she whispered, her voice cracking on his name. "He…he…"

Zuko stepped forward, catching her as she fell forward, or stepped towards him, he couldn't tell, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. "I know," he whispered into her hair as she cried into his shirt. "I know,"

"She's gone," Kaori wept, her hands grabbing onto the back of Zuko's shirt, holding him tightly. "He took her,"

Zuko closed his eyes for a moment. His pain was her pain. They had seen their beautiful baby girl for minutes before she had been taken. He remembered those golden eyes, her black hair. It had taken him months to accept the fact that he could be a father, that he wouldn't' be like his own. After he had accepted that he had been rather…excited to be a father. He had known that he would do it correctly. He had envisioned writing to Uncle Iroh and inviting him to meet Otaki and letting the old man hold her and coo over her.

"I couldn't stop him, Zuko, I couldn't, I wanted to, but it all happened so fast-" Kaori rambled, and Zuko shook his head, shushing her.

"It wasn't your fault," he said softly.

"But I…I should have…I'm an air bender.."

"Who had just given birth," Zuko responded, pulling her away from him a little so that he could look into her tear filled eyes. "No one blames you, Kaori…" He paused, putting a hand on her cheek. Just looking into the pain that swam in her eyes brought tears to his own- tears, he was shocked, and yet he wasn't surprised. The pain he felt was something he had never experienced.

"I don't blame you," he whispered, knowing that she needed to hear that. And it was the truth, no one had expected Kaori to be able to fight off a kidnapper directly after having a baby. She was strong, but not that strong. Perhaps no one was.

Kaori reached up a hand, her lip trembling, and touched one of the tears that had managed to escape from Zuko's eyes. She burst into tears again, sobbing against him and Zuko held onto her tightly, this time letting himself shed tears for his daughter silently.

It took two days to get Kaori to eat again. After a week, she left her bed. Most of the time, she just wanted to lay down and stare out the window or sit in a chair at the balcony, staring out at the village. Sometimes, Zuko encouraged her to get out and get some fresh air. Other times, he simply would lay next to her, holding her and saying nothing. It was a healing process, they both knew, that would take time.

But the wound had been made, a wound that had left no visible scar, but a scar none the less.

Two weeks after Otaki was taken, Kaori stood in front of the people with Zuko by her side. It was rare that the entire village was at the same place at the same time, but they were for this. Their princess had an announcement to make. With tears in her eyes, she held her head up high, announcing that no one was to ever speak of her daughter. The very name Otaki was banned. She did not want to think about her daughter, hear about her. Nothing. Zuko had tried to convince her that this wasn't the best way to go, but she would have none of it. Her daughter had been taken. They didn't know who had her or where she was.

The pain was making Kaori go insane and she needed to be sane or else she would destroy herself in grief.

Zuko kept quiet while she spoke. He had lost his daughter, and he wouldn't lose his wife too.

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"Come here, wittle mousey, I just want to play,"

The girl bit her lip, crawling on her hands and knees on the floor towards the mouse she had cornered. She blew a bit of her hair out of her face, but the sound was enough to frighten the mouse, which shot right at her, aiming to run between her hands and knees.

The girl shrieked, startled, and stood up, flame bursting from her fingertips in her fright. She stood there, her heart racing, until her lower lip begin to tremble.

"M-Mousey…?" She whimpered, bending down to where the mouse had been. He had been running right at her and it had surprised her and then the flame…

There was merely a black mark and a pile of ash on the floor where the mouse had been.

The girl let out a quiet cry, putting her hands over her eyes. She hadn't meant to hurt the mouse, he had just surprised her and she had reacted. Slowly, she got to her feet, taking a deep breath and wiping her tears away. For a six year old, she had amazing control over her emotions. She knew that tears weren't supposed to happen, and yet sometimes…well she couldn't help it.

She turned on her heel, heading down the long hallway. This was her home, she knew that, this building. It was a very proper looking place, fire nation symbols everywhere. Even once she had met the Fire Lord- well, she hadn't quite met him…but she had seen him from a distance. It had been a great honor, she had been told, for her eyes to have glimpsed the Fire Lord for even just a moment.

She just didn't see what the big deal had been about it. He was just a man, and to her, he had looked pretty ordinary.

The girl ran a hand through her hair. It went down to her shoulders now and for the first time in a while, she was content with it. When she was younger, she had to wear her hair short and it was always itching, but now, now she could grow it out. Which was good, she knew, because she had chopped off a chunk of her hair to cover up her left eye.

Instinctively, at the thought, she winced. It had been just last year when it had happened- why, she had no idea. She had done nothing wrong; she made sure she did nothing wrong these days, and yet it had still happened. He had put his hand against her face and burned her, forcing her to try and stay still while inwardly she screamed. The burn went all the way from her forehead to her chin, covering one of her eyes. It was ugly to look at, and every time she did, she wanted to be sick. Worse, he had just laughed once he was done, saying something about the irony.

The girl turned a corner and knocked on a set of golden doors. "Enter," she heard, and swiftly opened one of the doors, stepping inside the large, wide room.

Zhao and another man glanced up from a map that was on the desk. "Ah, Felice," Zhao said, smirking as the girl approached and then bowed slightly at the waist.

"Good morning, master," The girl, Felice, said obediently. She glanced up at Zhao, who gave her a nod- a sign of permission for her to stand straight again, which she did immediately.

Zhao took something that was leaning against the desk and walked over to Felice, holding it out to her. "Here. I want you to use this, train with it, and in a week, I want to see what your progress is,"

Felice opened the box slightly, then frowned a little, looking up at Zhao with confusion. "But…master…why do I need a sword? If I can fire bend then why do I need-"

She was cut off by Zhao, who sharply smacked her across the face, hard enough for her to stumble backwards.

"Do not ask questions," Zhao stammered, and the man who still stood at the desk chuckled. Felice nodded, forcing the tears inside again and Zhao's face softened. He lifted her head up with a meaty hand, smiling gently at the girl. "I want you to be the best," he explained. "I want you to be strong in all areas, do you understand?"

Felice smiled a little and nodded. "I understand, master, I won't let you down,"

She turned around quickly as he waved her off, exiting the room. The man glanced at Zhao and chuckled.

"Growing a fighter, I see?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Zhao let out a snort of a laugh. "Fighter?" he scoffed, grinning sadistically. "Oh no. Felice…" he looked towards the door she had exited. "is going to be an assassin."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Five years on the island seemed like nothing. People came and went and came again over and over. The village grew in size slightly and yet it seemed like it had always been that way. Nothing ever seemed to change, and Zuko found that he liked it that way. The darkness that had fallen over the island when Otaki had been taken was fading slowly. Even Kaori, after years of grief, was more like her normal self.

People had grieved. They had suffered. But then they had begun to move forward.

Zuko ran a hand through his hair, noting to himself that he should probably cut it a little soon. He kept it shaggy, not long, just shaggy, curling at his ears. Five years had kept him strong and strangely, the relaxing atmosphere of the island was finally rubbing off on him. Uncle Iroh had even noted that, since he had come to visit three times in the five years, enough times for him to visit without drawing suspicion to the island.

Although when they had asked him how he had found the island, he had shrugged his shoulders, saying he wanted to see his nephew, and then the next thing he knew, he was here. Zuko had called him crazy, but Kaori had accepted the answer immediately.

Zuko walked down the hallways of the palace and towards the bedroom, which he had seen Kaori wander off towards. He needed to talk to her about something, something important.

He stepped into the room, seeing Kaori sitting on the end of the bed, her head resting in her hand as she slouched over. At twenty five, Kaori didn't look a day over eighteen. Even the greatest of grief's couldn't wear on her appearance- she still looked as beautiful as she did the day he had first seen her, although Zuko knew his opinion may have been a little…biased.

"Kaori," Zuko said with a smile. "I'm glad I found you, I needed to talk to you-"

"Zuko," Kaori simply said. The tone of her voice made him stop in his tracks. He hadn't heard her sound like that in…in…well, in five years.

Immediately, he was walking over and sitting next to her, a hand on her shoulder. "Kaori? What is it?" he asked, concerned.

She looked up at him, biting her lip. "I…I…"

Zuko brushed a lone tear off her cheek and shook his head a little. "What is it, Kaori?"

Kaori leaned her head into his shoulder, avoiding his eyes. "I…I'm pregnant, Zuko,"

Zuko felt himself freeze and took a deep breath, putting a hand against her cheek, moving her so that she looked at him. "Kaori, that's good news, really-"

Kaori looked away from him. "I don't want to be. I can't be. What if…what if…"

"Nothing," Zuko said, his voice hard with reassurance. "Will happen. I promise, no, I swear to you, that I will make sure of that,"

He watched a tear run down the side of her face. "Kaori," Zuko started again. "What happened to Ota-"

"Don't say her name," Kaori whispered, cutting him off. She looked over at him. "I just don't want anything to happen, Zuko… I'm so scared that…that I'll have to feel that way all over again…that I'll never be a mother…"

Zuko wrapped his arms around her, running a hand up and down her back. "You will," he whispered. "With this baby. You'll see."

Kaori pulled away from him slightly, wiping her eyes and nodded, giving him a little smile, which was how he knew that she would be okay. This was the chance to start over, to make sure things happened the way they were supposed to.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kaori asked and Zuko looked at her, confusion in his eyes. "The thing. You said you had something you wanted to talk to me about,"

"Oh!" Zuko picked up one of Kaori's hands and kissed her fingertips. "I wanted to ask you about something," He slid off the bed, getting down and looking at her. "It's kinda overdue," he added, shrugging his shoulders as she smiled at him. "But…I want to marry you, Kaori, will you let me?"

Kaori smiled and laughed softly, nodding her head. She put her hands on his cheeks and leaned forward, kissing him gently on the lips. Pulling away only slightly, so that her lips still brushed against his, she whispered, "I'm yours,"

Zuko smiled and stood up, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply on the mouth as the two of them let their guards down for just a moment, living in pure joy and nothing else.