I realize the prologue was very confusing. This is intentional, as this chapter is meant to pick up the past. There's a ten-year gap between then and now, with a lot of things happening between that time, and here's the first year and most of the second one. Four other flashback chapters, two years apiece, will show up at different intervals.

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TEN YEARS AGO

I was sleeping in my Fire Nation military bunker as highly esteemed warhead, commander, and self-proclaimed admiral of the Northern Raiders. The only reason I wasn't Admiral yet was because of Admiral Xifu, who, quite frankly, was as worthless as bison dung.

Whenever we all agreed to go left, he would go right. Whenever we had a victory, he would be downcast. It seemed as if he was the polar contrast of the rest of us. Whenever I was requested for promotion by the wisest of men, he would always find a way to selfishly get me out of it. Hm, I guess he didn't want a highly superior person to be in a juxtaposed rank as him. He was a downright hypocritical fool. And maybe the worst part of all, he had a tiring tendency to mock my brother and his unfortunate death. More on him later.

You see, my name is Ziyeng, approaching my mid-50's a decade ago. For some reason, I always looked ten to twenty years older then I actually was, a physical trait I was usually mocked for. And that decade ago it seemed like life would trudge endlessly with the War. Of course, that was until I saw Sozin's magnificent Comet shining in the night sky. Apparently, no one had decided to tell me. The next day, we all awaited news of the fall of the Earth Kingdom once and for all. At last, this hundred-year war would come to an end. Unfortunately, the word we received was the absolute opposite. In a shocking turn of events, the mysterious Avatar, who was previously assumed dead, conquered Phoenix King Ozai, and the banished traitor Prince Zuko had defeated the to-be Fire Lord Azula with the help of one of the Avatar's friend. Zuko had been crowned Fire Lord, and Ozai and Azula were imprisoned, and all military forces were ordered to retreat straight back to the capital for further instructions.

Damn. Now for most it would seem like the end of the world, but really, I was hit with an epiphany. I could care less about government, politics, and society. I just wanted to have bread on the table. At last, I was promoted to Admiral (which came with its benefits, like a much higher pay raise). Things were looking up, with, what Fire Lord Zuko called an era of "peace and kindness". My family, with my beautiful wife Jia (who ironically had the same aging trait as I did) and our son and daughter, Longwei and Liu, respectively were profiting well.

Then, a year later, my life was changed forever.

NINE YEARS AGO

I was reporting to Fire Lord Zuko about the growth in prosperity and rebuilding of the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. Things were going quite swimmingly, as I was head of the North Legion, built for repairing the damages brought upon by us to the other three nations, and the personal advisor of Zhen, head of the Eastern Legion who quite comically always came to me for advice with rebellious commoners. Anyway, things were going as normal until Fire Lady Mai interrupted us with an urgent report. The Fire Lord apologized and left with her. She then came back, without Lord Zuko.

"What is it, m'Lady?" I asked formally.

"There has been an assassination attempt on Avatar Aang. The Fire Lord is confronting with the Avatar now and has to see the assassin directly following." Mai told me with her annoyingly emotionless tone.

"So I assume that's my ticket out?" I said casually.

She started walking away. "I guess it is."

Two days later, I met with Zuko and finished our delayed discussion, and completed my next weekly report. On my way home, there was Firebending duel going on in the main hall so I had to take a detour through the second-most despicable place in the entire Royal Palace: the prisoner's quarter. And as if that wasn't enough, there was a riot in the main hall taking place during a transportation to the Boiling Rock, so I had to go through the infamous hall that I liked to call the Asylum for the Insane.

I walked through it, and was thoroughly insulted, mocked, and laughed at by the prisoners. I stepped by the always-quiet Ozai who never spoke. I took some enjoyment out of mocking him. I only got a reply once, the first time, with vulgar words I'd rather not repeat for the sake of your sanity. Then there was the violent Ozai who had to be especially restrained with chains around her arms and legs. That left her mouth, which still produced her trademark blue fire at will. A year hadn't been enough for her to get the picture that no one's letting her out. The guards were all dealing with the riot and/or cheering for one of the members of the battle, which left us alone, making it especially creepier. And, to make matters worse, for the first time in a year, I saw her open her mouth without producing fire from it.

From lack of use, her voice wasn't cold and manipulative as we were all painfully used to, but all cracked. To my dismay she still had the same tone. "Admiral… Zhen, is it?"

"Ziyeng, actually. Zhen is head of the Eastern Legion." I responded. "What can I do for you, Azula?"

"That's Fire Lord to you!" Azula roared, sparks flaring from her nostrils, which caused me to flinch and start to leave.

"No, wait!" I heard a voice. It didn't sound like Azula's, but when I whipped around it was clearly her speaking. It was a voice I hadn't quite heard before. A voice with despair. "I need your help."

"And what could I possibly help you for, Fire Lord Azula?" I couldn't resist mocking her, as some form of payback for all those years of menace she brought on everyone… but with that sentence, even without the witty retort, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

"Do you like the way you've been treated?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Oh great, a mind game.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"Well, it just seems like a man with your military prowess should have a higher ranking. Sergeant, perhaps?"

"I assume you're mistaken. There are far more honorable soldiers than me."

"Honor!" she complimented it by spitting on the stone floor. "Forget it… but I still need your help."

"For what?" I asked, aware now that there was destined to be trouble.

"I have loyal agents who still serve me," Azula went on, flicking her head to the other side in an attempt to seem the least bit not purely evil. "But none of them have the courage to bust me out of here… even though they have the courage to try to assassinate the Avatar…" she said that last bit almost to herself.

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh, nothing that would interest you," she scoffed. "Now, tell me, Mr. Ziyeng. I'm deeming you worthy of role I'm about to assign you, but I still don't entirely trust you."

"What role?" I laughed. "You have no power at all."

"No, not now at least, but I know your family. And I'll be more than happy to have my servants do them away to force you to follow my commands."

This couldn't be happening. The War was over. Why me? I regained my composure. "What if you're bluffing?"

Azula closed her eyes and smiled maliciously. "And what if I'm not? Jia, age fifty-two, married you at twenty-six. You gave birth to Longwei, now sixteen, and Liu, now eight. Your beloved brother could fit in account, but…" a coldhearted stare straight into my eyes that felt like icy daggers. "I believe the oh-so brilliant Avatar already did away with him long ago."

"Don't talk about Admiral Zhao like that!" I yelled. "He's better than you'll ever be!" I instantly wanted to take it back. In fact, I wish I had gone out of character and gone to watch the battle rather than be in this Asylum talking to the Devil in human form. "This… this is blackmail!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Azula tried to act innocent, but this resulted in an adamant face that looked almost like a faceless mask. "Now, I have a hit list of sorts for you. Kill the following people, in order, and don't get caught."

"Err… y-y-y-yes, Azula," I nodded, my whole body trembling.

"Now, I want you to kill the next person. I believe you know her. Who doesn't? You have a week to kill her, and no more. Her name is…" Azula began, but suddenly we heard a guard walking around the corner. I quickly slammed the door shut. Azula went back to her sham of breathing fire relentlessly.

"Meal time," a Firebending soldier came up to Azula and carefully restrained her. He blocked her chi making her unable to bend (a technique now taught to every soldier, ironically by Azula's old friend).

Azula was carried away. I watched helplessly as Azula turned her head to me, and it was clear she wasn't done with me and couldn't resist finishing her sentence. She mouthed a single word out which I'm afraid to say I understood. A three-letter word with such power, that it rattled me to the core. Why? Why her? Why not a lowly citizen or even a soldier's wife for crying out loud?

Mai. Fire Lady, wife of crowned Fire Lord Zuko.

I dropped to my knees. This had to be a dream. But it wasn't. Unmercifully, it just wasn't.

"She's a scary one, alright," a soldier walked up behind me. "Never seen anyone drop on their knees before, though. Did you see that battle?"

I didn't answer or even justify him with a glance at him. I just stood up and began walking away.

"Commander Hong beat Lok! It was close, though."

I grunted and went up to the Royal Palace's nearest exit.

One week later…

As you may have guessed, I waited until seven days after that fateful meeting to do as she said. Now, I could have very well gone down to talk to Lord Zuko or even Avatar Aang, who was staying with the Fire Lord for a week. But Azula was so convincing, so terrifying, it was almost surreal; if I told him, I was almost certain she would slaughter my wife and children. If I tried to hide them, she would find them. She was convincing. It was at the end of that Thursday that I had made my decision. I waited until nightfall.

It was pitch black when I stepped into the Royal Palace. From the looks of it, everyone was sound asleep. I walked in. Knowing the Palace very well from my memory, I could see the Palace in my mind and step through its halls in total black emptiness.

Occasionally, I Firebended a torch or two. It would help for a speedy escape. I walked up to the door, and opened it.

"Who is it?" I heard a dreary voice I had hoped I wouldn't hear. Great.

I didn't answer. I only opened the door.

"Who is it?" she asked again, annoyed.

I kicked the door open. No light in or outside the room. The perfect conditions… except her being awake, of course.

"I'm sorry, m'Lady," I said, tears in my eyes. I lit up the room and did what I never would've thought I would've done. I killed her. In cold blood... but I had to! There was no other way.

The blast of fire hit at the perfect angle sealed the deal. But that one scream had sealed my fate. I had to get out of there—now. Going as fast as my legs could carry me, I rocketed out of the building.

But I was too late. Cornered on all sides, I gave in. Zuko saw what I had done. After several minutes, I saw the Fire Lord wiping his tears and walking up to me. I expected him to kill me—the Fire Lord was known for his troubled past of recklessness.

To my surprise, he only said a word to me, albeit filled with rage and sadness, tears dripping down his face.

"Why?"

"I had to."

"Why did you have to?" Anger was clearly apparent now. I prepared for the inevitable.

"I had to save my family."

"What?! Mai was doing nothing to your family! Why?!"

I then told him the truth. Azula, the act, the blackmail, everything.

Zuko was speechless.

"Where are you going, my Lord?" an advisor asked as Zuko angrily walked into a hall, his fists pulsing and fire bursting from his fingers and nostrils.

"I'm going to kill my sister." Zuko roared darkly.

"And what about the murderer?" another advisor asked, surprised.

"Let him go. I know how my sister is with people," Zuko said, still angry.

"Let him go?"

Zuko pondered a moment, his eyes still aflame. "No, one year's imprisonment, of course. It was blackmail. No death or banishment."

"But this is the Fire Lady we're talking about! A murder in the Royal Family

"Are you questioning my orders?"

"N-n-n-no sir, not at all."

"Good. Now I'm going to make my sister wish she was… never… born!"

Fire Lord Zuko walked away, to my relief. The prince was surprisingly, unrealistically, and ridiculously merciful. His own wife… did he not love her as much as we all thought he did? Meh, with the Fire Lord, anything is possible.

I was sentenced to my year. My whole family wouldn't even talk to me. But the punishment could've been worse. Much, much worse.

I never found out what happened to Azula. Not yet, at least.

And so was the beginning of an eventless year in prison, feared by other soldiers and stripped of my military status.

It really got me thinking… should I have killed Fire Lady Mai? Or should I have stood up for myself and done something else. I feel incredibly guilty regardless. I've never taken a life outside for room.

From what I heard from other prisoners, Fire Lord Zuko refused to get a new Fire Lady… for now at least.

Good or bad? Constructive criticism or praise greatly appreciated.