Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender


Family Dearest

Year of the Komodo Rhino-Year of the Bison


Agni above, my family was right before me; bound in chains, raggedly dressed and on their knees.

They all looked so different; they'd all, like myself, aged.

Whispers reached my ears and I could see that a few people recognized it was me.

I looked sideways; pointing to my heavily-ornamented head and overly-rich robes.

"I told them formal wear, but Li and Lo like to twist around my words." He said, before turning to the masses.

"Welcome to the Fire Nation." His tone was so clear and cordial that one might never have guessed that he was the man who had forced them all to come here and 'dehumanized' them in a sense.

"Kana." Naiya's voice rang out to my surprise and I almost looked at her.

I turned to her; selfishly theorizing how she had fallen. She, who was said to be a perfect woman, and I--the second child--who would always be in her shadow; it was as if we had suddenly switched places, and the said balance of the world the two of us inhabited was suddenly thrown off of its course. I thought that this would have been what I'd wanted, to see her be in my place, but it once again wasn't there; it seemed to be long forgotten when I...grew.

I glanced to Athimos and saw that he was holding in anger. No doubt he would rather see me starved and ravaged so he could have had some leverage over myself, and my mother, as always, was emotionless.

There were about thirty prisoners in all, most of which were women and elderly men who had lost their strength, and I continued to look for familiar faces.

Yugoda. I wasn't sure if it was her with all of the soot upon her face, but I could see her hair; the same short length it always was. She wouldn't look at me.

"Kana." Naiya tried again.

"Father!" Tai exclaimed and ran to him.

Iroh embraced him and lightly tossed him in the air.

"You've grown so much; I cannot believe how much I missed." He commented as if no one but us 3 were in the room.

"Mother says that one's duty and honor to the Fire Nation is more important." Tai said and I wondered if someone else had actually taught him that.

Iroh smiled nonetheless and sat down with Tai in his lap.

Everyone could see that Tai had inherited my blue eyes and brown hair and, despite the knowledge of his situation, my father still had a faint gleam of ambition in his eyes. Leave it to my father to always think about gaining wealth and power while carelessly shoving everyone else around.

He saw me roll my eyes. "Do you know any of these people, Yukihiya? They seem to keep staring at you." Iroh asked.

"Wouldn't you, as well, if you were among them?" I replied.

"So what do you propose we do with these savages?" a soldier asked stiffly.

Iroh opened his mouth, but I pressed my fingers against his lips.

"Let me address the proposition." I told him and he nodded.

I turned to the guard.

"Throw them into the prisons a kilometer south from here." I ordered.

"Kana!" Naiya shouted. I turned to her.

"My name is Princess Yukihiya; who is 'Kana'?" I probably should not have addressed her at all

She sprang up; caught up in a moment, and tried to attack me.

It was a good enough excuse to be rid of the Kimono; I wore casual attire under it anyway because Lo and Li had laid it out too, and grabbed my sister by her wrist; quickly twisting it into a hammerlock.

"Déjà vu much, Naiya?" I hissed; my free hand with a small ball of flames and inching towards her hair.

She screamed when she felt it burning and smelled the terrible odor. She ran like a madwoman, and then stopped and tripped herself and then rolled around, but a good length of her hair had already been burned. She aggressively pushed the burnt hair from her head and then glared at me.

"You selfish bitch! All you think about is yourself and now, in the moment which your family needs you the most you turn your back on them? On all of us?" she shouted.

I was about to fire back but Iroh was quicker than I was.

"How dare you call my wife such names and accuse her? The death penalty is exerted on any who dare to speak against the Royal Family!" He snapped fiercely at her. I probably should have told him that Naiya never knew what a 'death penalty' was; she actually didn't even know how regular women in the Water Tribes were dealt with when they committed adultery.

"I believe this meeting has concluded." I said.

The soldiers began to brandish concentrated fire whips and swords; forcing the citizens of my old home to walk away from the palace.

As the last man was being forced out, he looked at me. "Good day, father." It was what a good girl said to her father.

Without another glance, I turned back to Iroh.

"What else did you bring back?" I asked; pulling at the ornaments in my hair.

"The rest are for the Fire Nation." He said and I nodded; rising up and walking away.


Yes, I followed the guards to the prisons.

I saw the citizens being put into groups to share the small one-room cells and those in the group were chained together.

Fortunately, Naiya, Athimos and Hanako were to be put in the same cell, I wondered if it was the small and mildewed one that they would be forced into, and were led down.

Naiya was screaming the entire way. At first, her conceited and haughty side—"Do you know who I am?"—took over, but her ego was knocked down some pegs after the guards began sneer at her and call her names.

"A soiled barbaric whore like you? Not even our lowest-ranking prisoner slaves would want to look at you. You're old, fat, and ugly." The younger guard sneered.

She looked around wildly for a second and I saw the flash in her eyes. The sudden blow to her vanity and the reality check that she was no longer as desirable, I should probably say, she was no longer as beautiful, and she probably also thought that I had taken her place as the beauty; ironically, just like she had predicted. Despite it all, I found an admiring quality about her; her concrete determination and endurance. Maybe if we hadn't been so busy hating each other because of the classic sibling rivalry, we would have seen that either of us were too different and we could have been family.

After I was sure the last person was locked away, I went down there myself.

My eyesight had grown keen to the darkness after years of training at night for surprise attacks so I was able to peer into the dark cells until I found the one my 'family' was in and motioned for a guard to come and unlock the door.

I saw their eyes shoot up at the click of the lock. I went in; creating a ring of fire overhead as I entered.

"Good day, family." I said sweetly; regarding the looks of horror, envy, still-nursed fury, and knowing on their faces.

"Have you no manners? It is courteous to say 'good day' back to your addressor when they say 'good day' you know." I said pointedly.

"Good day." Athimos mumbled.

"Do you like your first impression of the Fire Nation?" When I had no reply, I turned to Naiya; who was more interested in the moss on the stone beneath her leg than me.

"Shame. I always thought you'd be able to preserve your looks better than that, sister." I gloated.

Naiya had chosen silence over one of her famous retorts, and the gloating spirit became disheartened; it takes two people to boost any mood.

I turned to my mother, who was still silent. She hadn't done anything much to hurt me, but she had always been passive; just as she was taught to be.

I guess that was what had hurt the most, to me. I kneeled to face her; she tried to avoid my eyes.

"Mother. I am sorry you had to go through this." The only human and sincere words I would speak to anyone of my old home except for Yugoda and my goodbye to her.

Without a second thought, I exited the cell and went on to look for Yugoda's cell, if she was taken as a prisoner.

I tried to ask, but most of the guards didn't, I thought that they couldn't, distinguish one Water Tribe woman from another.

After many trips down the labyrinth-like underground prison and peeking through the doors to find Yugoda, I finally found her. It was a shame that she was given the excessively small and mildewed cell and she had to stand up almost all of the time.

It took a while, the keys felt almost exactly the same to me, but I managed to salvage the correct one and opened the door to her cell.

The look on her face was still disbelief and we began to size each other up.

This wasn't the Yugoda I knew; this Yugoda was a bit more ample, and had wrinkles and creases on her face; as if caused by pain, stress, and unhappiness, and had a dreadfully hollow look in her eyes; as if she had given up on something. There was also the flash of envy, but not because I was like I was back then; the reason was another thing altogether.

"Good morrow, Yugoda." I whispered; afraid to say anything louder in fear that my voice would crack.

She refused to make eye contact with me. "Good morrow." She forced through her lips.

I kneeled, not to the point which my kimono touched the mildewed ground, and tried to smile.

"I am sorry to have lost contact with you for the last years." I continued. She was glowering at me for some reason. What had I done to her that made her act so coldly towards me? Maybe she'd seen me. I hadn't been as precautious as I should have been and she might have seen my eye through my broken helmet, or my exposed hand when Pakku yanked off the glove.

"How have you been?" I asked; pushing my tumultuous thoughts away.

"Fine. How is your…marriage with Prince Iroh?" she asked back.

"It is…fair." I decided to say in lieu of something that made me seem like I was bragging.

"The first few years of marriage are always the best, aren't they?" she mumbled.

I looked at her for a moment in confusion, but then realized what she was saying.

"Actually, I've been married to him for ten years." I told Yugoda.

She looked up at me.

"And what about your marriage?" she asked. I wanted to ask 'what about it' but then took notice of what she really meant by my marriage.

"The sex is still very…active." I answered her unsaid question.

She flushed at the realization that I had answered the question she dare not ask and looked away from me.

"How…what do you to do in…?" she asked, getting bolder.

"Is your marriage with Pakku struggling?" I asked curiously.

Her eyes suddenly darted to me and she began to stutter. I smiled at my old friend.

"What gives you the right to ask?" she asked me; her tone defensive, if not stinging.

"If I do not ask, I know not of what happens in your life, mainly your marriage, and if I do not know of what happens in your marriage, how can you expect me to give you a few sex tips?" I asked; knowing this was the exact like to make Yugoda cringe and curious at the same time.

She looked at the stone ground for a few moments, unable to reply.

I got up, the squatting positions I could attain in the silk Kimono I wore made my thighs ache anyway, and pulled her up.

"Come with me." I told her.

She looked a bit paranoid at first, but reluctantly followed. I opened the door to the prison and waved the guards to train behind Yugoda while we walked through a few turns of the hallways and up a flight of stairs. I heard her breath of relief that she was seeing daylight again, but I knew she'd dreaded that instantly when she saw where we were stepping out.

I had to walk much more slowly, Yugoda apparently hadn't learned to stride proudly, we went back into the palace and arrived at the library and I went to the way back, the near abandoned section, and pulled out a book. In the back of the library, there were collections of books and reference material all referring to sex in one way or another.

I checked the title and handed it to Yugoda.

She seemed confused to me, then I remembered that she'd never been taught to read or write the common world language much, other than the basics, so she would undoubtedly not know Huowen, which was the linguistic the book was written in.

'Maybe it is better if I taught her Huowen and some of the Common Language first.' I thought.

"Let us go outside first. Maybe I can teach you a bit of the common world language and then some Huowen to help you." I suggested kindly.

She stared at me in surprise while I waved for a servant to come over and told her to take a few lesson books and some empty scrolls along with a calligraphy kit from my room and she went to do my bidding.

"Come." I said to my old friend; taking her hand and leading her away.

She looked down self-consciously at her tattered blue clothing. I led her to my chambers.

She seemed amazed at my wardrobe, and did not object when I gave her some things to try on.

She had grown a bit ample around the waist—how many babies did Pakku get on her, I wondered—and no matter how hard we tried, we could not get her into one of my Kimono or dresses. She even said that some of the pants I had were too tight. I saw her try hard to suck in her stomach or pull them up, and it was usually I who suggested we tried on something else.

In the end, we found an old yukata and I ordered a few servants to put it on her, which they did without so much of a look of disdain.

Finding shoes for her was another problem. My feet were still smaller than hers and one of my slippers nearly ripped when she tried to squeeze it onto her foot. I gave her house slippers, made of flexible and stretchable cloth, and helped brush out her hair.

I changed clothes myself and, after taking the things from the servant boy, led my old friend outside. As I went outside, the people bowed to me and I would nod my head to a few of the people.

When we reached the playground's pagoda, Tai was there to greet me.

"Mother!" he beamed at the sight of me and I set down the things in my hand and embraced him.

Yugoda seemed to be sad; there was a look of longing and desperateness in her eyes. What about her own children? Iroh would have never been as cruel as killing children to secure a victory; he was a man of honor and chose to fight fairly.

"Why don't we begin our lesson?" I suggested to Yugoda and beckoned her to sit on one of the many stone stools surrounding the polished marble table.

Tai regarded her strangely. "You cannot read or write?" he asked when he saw that I was teaching her the common language.

Yugoda, who had been working diligently to write the character 'Ren' (person), dropped her brush and placed her hands hastily in her lap; looking down at them.

I shot Tai a certain look and tapped my lips with two fingers; an indication for him to keep silent.

"Please forgive my son's outburst—." I began, but she only gripped her hands harder.

After nearly half an hour of trying to unclench her hands, I finally got her to start writing again. It was nearly sunset before we decided to take a break. Northern winds were blowing and most of the Sakura blossoms were beginning to shed their petals; blowing them across us as we walked.

An uneasy silence settled between us and I wanted to say something, but I as afraid that Yugoda would take it the wrong way and our bond would be hurt even more.

The galloping sounds of a tiger-horse caused us both to turn around and I saw Iroh on top of his own tiger-horse (ironically, that horse was female and we tried to get her and Turato to breed on many occasions) coming towards us. He bound off of his tiger-horse just as he reached me, a feat that always amazed onlookers, and pressed his lips urgently to mine. I usually laughed, and of course did so that time.

Yugoda cleared her throat and Iroh groaned, but pulled away nonetheless. I smiled as innocently as I could while pulling my shift back up to cover my breasts, and noted that Yugoda was staring at Iroh.

"You must be Yugoda, correct?" Iroh said; pulling me closer to him.

Yugoda looked a bit shocked, but nodded.

"I am Prince Iroh. Enchanted to meet you." He added when she put her shaking hand on his and he kissed it politely.

He also sensed the tension, newly added by him, between us and suggested that we go and eat in my suite.

As we were walking back, Iroh always had his hand on my hip and was loosely escorting Yugoda, who kept glancing at him while he seemed totally aloof to her attentions.

Sometime throughout the meal, some spirits had appeared at our table and Yugoda seemed to down nearly half of the entire bottle. When she was singing some old song, slurring the words, Iroh put down his silverware and smiled; and it wasn't the kind or silly smile that would have reflected innocent or flirtatious motives.

"Iroh, I have a guest." I hissed through my lips.

"Give her a bed in your ladies' chamber to sleep in; I'm sure that would be enough." He said with a small pout. I rose up, laughing, and kissed him once before I put the jewels away and turned to Yugoda.

I hadn't noticed it, but she had been staring at us for quite some time.

"Would you like to stay in my Ladies' chamber?" I asked her.

She seemed confused, and it took me again quite a while to comprehend why. She probably didn't know that a 'Ladies' Chamber' was a large dormitory for my female servants; not a lavatory.

I must have appeared very spoiled indeed, in her eyes.

"It is like a large dormitory made for a Princess's ladies in waiting." I explained; flaunting yet again the fact that I was a princess.

Yugoda again put her hands into her lap and nodded; rising up.

I guided her to a set of sliding double doors a few doors down from my chamber and opened it; revealing Ane, Lo and Li playing a card game and Mira away.

"Ladies, this is my old friend Yugoda. She will be staying with you temporarily; please try and make pleasant company with her. She speaks only the common language." I introduced in Huowen, just in case Yugoda would be offended.

The three ladies nodded and Li stood up politely; introducing herself to Yugoda and guiding her over to a vacant bed. I left and went back to my inner chamber.

He was still dressed and didn't seem to notice as I slipped through the large door; smirking mischievously. Tiptoeing, I began to silently run and jumped as I neared him. He barely turned around before I tackled him to the ground and straddled him; nearly ripping off his shirt.

He'd gained a few new scars and some bruises were still fading, but nothing that covered his still godlike physique.

"One day, you'll kill me with that." He joked as I began to eagerly kiss his face.

"If you're worried about showing up the next day covered in scratch marks and hickeys and bruises and even with a limp, just tell them that your wife was...amorous." I said smoothly and lightly gyrated into his crotch; making him groan in pleasure.

A second later, he pushed me away slightly.

"How amorous, exactly, are you?" he asked with that smug little grin on his face; his hair falling to perfectly frame his face. I didn't reply; only tore off a length of the already short lace skirt. Stretching it out and pinning his wrists together above his head with the length of eyelet fabric.

"You talk too much."


"Do you have to go again so soon?" I asked; observing him.

He turned to me, confused, and shook his head.

"After I came back, I earned two years worth of rest. Unless, of course, they need me again out on the battlefield." He replied and I smiled; leaning in closer to his warm body and idly traced Huowen characters across his taut abdomen.

"Do you think that old friend of yours is still staying in the Ladies' Chamber?" he asked and I shrugged; Yugoda, despite her sweet exterior personality, was mercurial at times.

"Let us see; I still need to give her a few more lessons." I replied.

A bit earlier, I told him about myself teaching Yugoda to read and Iroh had asked that since she was older, shouldn't she have learned to read by now? I replied that in the water tribes, a woman's work was to provide a child, clean the house, cook, generally, the jobs that did not require reading and writing. Mathematics and bartering skills was needed, but that was also what was called a common skill that all people needed to learn. Of course, they were taught how to write their names and a few basic characters of the common language, but even the daughter of a chief would rarely get any more formal education than that.

Iroh leaned up and kissed me fondly on the forehead. "Then I will leave you to your teaching; the second I am back, people are already breathing down my neck again." He groaned.

I went behind him and began to lightly roll my thumbs into the tense spots around his upper back.

"Just do not let them unhinge you." I said; repeating the advice he'd given me years earlier.


"Tien, nien, dien, yue (pronounced yueh, not you-ay)." Yugoda recited each word as she tried to write the character at the same time. I had learned the words and characters of 'Day, Year, Time and Month' years ago, but I still could not help but laugh when I saw Yugoda struggling with such a basic set of words and characters.

She saw me trying to hold in my laughs and I waved my hand about frantically.

"It's nothing; really. Continue." I encouraged her.

She said nothing and then began to trace new characters; though she still glared at me from time to time.

"How am I doing?" she asked politely after she had finished her practice sheet.

"You're doing fine." I said; forcing a smile and not wanting to tell her that it had taken her nearly a month to learn what I learned in practically four days.

She didn't seem to be content with that response.

"Am I learning as fast as your son? Or even as you did?" she persisted.

"No. It took you four weeks to learn what I learned in four days, and what my son learned in one week." It was never one of my talents to sugar-coat everything and be able to keep up that 'lie'. But then again, both Tai and I had tutors who taught them to us nearly every hour of the daylight.

"Oh." It was all Yugoda said before she became quiet.

My pride halted my progression to apologize to her and I simply gave her a new scroll and a fresh set of characters on it for her to copy and memorize.


"Wh—what about those…you know." Yugoda asked me a time after she had stayed in my custody.

"Oh. You still want those sex tips?" I asked; seeing her cringe yet again. I wondered if she would actually use them if I gave them to her; she seemed so utterly pious anyways.

"Y—yes." She stuttered.

I shrugged; opening the same book I had presented to her over a month ago, but then shut it. Those things in the book probably wouldn't be too suited for the cold climate and lack of resources in the Northern Water Tribes.

"Well, you can always let him watch you." I stated the obvious first.

"Watch me?" she asked.

"Let him watch you while you touch yourself. Men are always aroused by that. Just sit on the edge of your bed with nothing on, let the coldness harden your nipples and give off a shiver of delight. Or something similar to that; sigh as if you are immensely enjoying yourself. It also should arouse you." I added; regarding with amusement the look of shock crossed my old friend's face.

"Do you—do that?" she asked me with a tone of incredulity.

"Yes. Haven't you heard the rumors that true Fire Nation princes are legendarily endowed?" I asked her. Her eyes flew wide open and her hands went in front of her face; as if she had just heard something very dirty.

"If that is out of your character to perform such an act, then you can just…strip for him." I suggested; not considering that stripping might also have seemed as lewd to her as touching herself.

"Strip?" she asked tentatively. "Ka—Yukihiya."

"Um…stand in front of him while he's sitting down on the bed and slowly take off your clothes. When you get to the last part of your clothes that hides your intimate area, slide your hand up your inner thigh, spread apart your inner labia, and show it to him." I suggested and again, Yugoda shot her a look of disbelief.

"But those are whore's tricks!" she spat out.

I tried not to roll her eyes, but found it difficult not to.

"Not whore's tricks; those are tips to keep your sex life alive! For god's sake, Yugoda; do you honestly think that men want to do everything? Sometimes, it is boring to them when they make all of the decisions, when they are the ones who must initiate desire, when they are the sole provider for himself and another family, all of those things! I know for a fact that they secretly love it when a woman takes charge. Be bold." I snapped back.

Yugoda was silent for a moment, then began twisting the fabric of my yukata that she was wearing.

I laughed. "Of course." I replied to my old friend.

"And you can always use ice or even your water healing powers." I began; remembering how I had used my Firebending powers, though not in a sadistic or violent way.

Yugoda seemed to start paying attention now.

"Take a small chunk of ice and drag it along his body; practically anywhere between his thighs and his shoulders would do. Just don't apply it to his groin immediately, or at least not until he is partially or fully aroused. Or, you can—." I stopped when I saw Yugoda trying to write it down on a sheet of paper.

I took a very small scroll out and began to write them down myself to give to Yugoda.

"With your healing powers, you can drag a small stream of water across his body and wrap it around his member. Increase the pressure on it slowly, but not so much that it'll cause him to become flaccid, while you move it up and down." I suggested.

"Or you can just take him in your mouth." I added; out of past experience, my hands went quickly to my throat.

"Um…" Yugoda began to get a little bolder and loosened up.

"What should you do so he would feel the most…?" she still wouldn't say it.

"I don't know; Iroh has said that it is different for every man, but what I generally do is kneel before him and take him into my mouth. For some reason, many men like that." I replied. She looked at me with an aghast expression, as if I were some whore who was giving her false and degrading tricks. As if I would for one minute stray away from my marriage bed.

"Iroh and I share many things. We tell each other many various pieces of information and sometimes dare each other to answer the question asked in the most thorough way we know how." I simply explained to her.

"You've actually done that to him?" she practically demanded. I had to roll my eyes there.

"I wouldn't be telling you about it if I didn't. Listen; when he would lay on his back, I would get on top of him and kiss him down from his lips to his parts and then lick at it; sometimes long and languorously and other times short and playful strokes, but make sure that you alternate between and do not set up a pattern or else he will get bored, and use my hands to heighten and intensify the sensation there. Then, I would take him in my mouth and suck on it. It's as easy as that, Yugoda. And if you do it correctly, you'll probably have him begging for more." Yugoda looked embarrassed at my descriptions of what she should do, but nodded nonetheless.

"And then, you can straddle him and ride him to your heart's content. Or until he climaxes." I said with a giggle; wondering if Pakku would honestly want that kind of encounter or if he would actually hold out half as long as Iroh usually did.

"If you remember…what was the best…encounter you had with Prince Iroh?" Yugoda asked; her face as red as Fire Nation armor.

That was a really difficult question for me.

"There's a lot, but the one that stuck out to me the most was—well, this isn't exactly a good idea for you and Pakku to try once you're back in the Northern Water Tribes—a bit before daybreak when he beckoned me to follow him with only a large purple blanket for us to share and we snuck down to the beach and…I'm sorry; I just can't seem to remember too much of that encounter." I really couldn't seem to remember it very clearly; probably because I was too sleepy.

"Oh." Yugoda breathed; color rushing to her face.

"Well, there are dozens more, but let us continue with our lesson right now." I told her; noting her discomfort at such the topic of our discussion.

The tension between us had lightened considerably after time and conversations had done their part.


"It is a welcome-back banquet Kuzon insists on having." I explained to Yugoda.

The entire celebration had been planned and everything took 4 days to set up.

"But I have nothing to wear." She protested.

"I can lend you some clothes." I offered and saw her look down and the barest of cringes reached her face; she still didn't believe that she could fit into my wardrobe.

"Or we can go shopping." I quickly offered.

"We—we can?" Yugoda asked hesitantly.

"Let us go to the Fire Nation market." I replied with a simple smile.


The marketplace closest to the palace was bustling with vendors selling various food and treats.

Yugoda looked around tentatively, her posture slouched, and her eye constantly darting about; an expression of curiosity and fear (she still would not let go of those myths she had heard about the Fire Nation, which were invented to purposely degrade the country's moral standards, when she was younger).

The rickshaw slowed down at a very eminent garment shop that I had purchased many of my clothes prior to marrying Iroh and I paid the runner and had to practically drag Yugoda into the store.

The store employees and customers bowed deeply to me when I entered and I gave a slight bow of acknowledgement in return. I could tell that Yugoda was looking for some reason to believe the fake myths about the Fire Nation that she had been told, but there was none; no one disrespected her (though her being with me might have had something to do with that), no one ever gave a hint that she did not belong there, and the store itself was very organized and clean.

"How about this?" I asked; indicating to a monochromatic lavender frock with a blue stained sash.

"It l-l-looks very nice." She stuttered.

"Let us at least try it on you first; we can tailor it after that." I said and motioned for a clerk to come over.

It looked very lovely; the color itself accentuated her eyes and short hair and the flowing fabric and the sash highlighted her chest while offering an empire waist to cover over her stomach.

"What do you think?" I asked; already noting the pleasure and amazement in her eyes when she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

"It looks very nice, but I'm not sure if I can afford it." The clerks were already removing the robe from her and beginning to fold and wrap it.

"I'll pay for it." I told Yugoda as the store manager handed the red box holding the frock and sash to me. I passed it to Yugoda and beckoned her back out.

We took another rickshaw back and began to go through my jewelry cases for something to match the purple yukata. At first, Yugoda was hesitant to touch the jewels for some reason but then began to try and help me search.

In the end, we chose a amethyst diadem with a matching gold-and-amethyst bangle for her left wrist. The servants had come in by then and were told that I was to be dressed in a specific kind of clothing for some reason.

I left Yugoda to get ready with another set of servants, I hoped that she would not faint, and went into my chambers to change.

It was something like a costumed dancer's dress; with a bodice, full skirt that parted at the center with an under-skirt underneath, off-the-shoulder sleeves, and a long sleeveless robe to go over it along with a new pair of customarily-fashioned heeled shoes.

The bodice, skirt, and under-skirt were all made of a light gold-colored silk, the underskirt much lighter than the rest of the outfit, and then many tiny beads were sewn into the designs of suns and phoenixes, dragons and flowers, and neverending knots.

The bodice had little mirrors sewn into it as well; supposed to give the effect that the wearer was like the sun or like a phoenix, as did the skirt. The robe was the same as the bodice and skirt; except that there were no little mirrors.

Yes; it was gaudy, it was ostentatious, it was obviously just for show and I would probably be killed if something 'happened' to it.

Without a word of objection, I put everything on and came back out to see Yugoda sitting on a chair while someone else tried to twist a strand of her hair into a curl with their iron.

The only other thing I had to wear were large, and quite heavy, pear-shaped earrings which dangled from my ears, nearly touching my neck, and would probably stretch my earlobe if I shook my head too vigorously or quickly.

A beautician reapplied red henna ink to my hair, applied a bit of makeup, painted my nails, and pulled my hair into an array of knots and braids while folding in the occasional 'headpiece' here and there.

I let her put gold leaf into my hair to hold it in place, but all-out refused on wearing the crown that went with the costume; I thought it would snap my neck sooner than make me look beautiful.

"You look very…fair." Yugoda said when she caught sight of me.

She did as well. The beauticians had done a good job with her makeup and hair, even though not much could be done with the short length, and she even seemed to walk with more grace and confidence.

"You do as well. Let us go." I said casually; going out into the hallway and finding my usual guards there.


A lavish afternoon lunch was served first and a bit after the cakes were served, Iroh came over to the women's side and told me to come with him when he received his medals and awards.

He himself was decked in a costume of gold; a traditional shirt with a high collar and big cuffs which used the loop-and-knot buttons and black pants that were tucked into his dark thigh-high boots. The collar and cuffs of the shirt were made of actual beaten gold, the arms were gilded to give the illusion of dragon scales, while the stitching on his top depicted two dragons, mirror images of one another, intertwining and curling all around the wearer's chest and arms.

"I feel as if it will cut my face if I turn my head too soon." he murmured to me as we walked down the petal-strewn carpet laid down for us.

I only smiled sympathetically; the costume I wore was now becoming heavy and I shouldn't sweat in it, but with the bright sun and the high temperature, I knew the gown would probably be ruined by the end of the day.

Turning to the side, I saw that Ozai was not given anything special to wear; even Ilsa, though I doubt Azulon gave her anything that would bring her 'joy' willingly, wore a bright Kimono and had her hair done. She, after I had refused it, took the crown and put it on her own head; but it only made her look more like a ballon with a stick attatched to it.

'No surprise there; no one wants a bastard child to have grand clothing.' I thought contemptuously. Many times in the last years, I found him trying to sabotage many things; most of which involved Iroh, me, or our happiness together.

When he caught me staring at him, he only eyed me. I sent a glare of scorn at him and, taking Iroh's arm, focused on walking down the row with him.


After the ceremony was over, he was nearly swathed in gold weights and silk ribbons and also with many presents.

He asked for a servant to take them back to his rooms and then beckoned everyone to go and watch or participate in the games.

Yugoda looked out of place; not only because of her short hair (long hair for women was normally a sign of beauty in the Fire Nation) but also the fact that she was walking all alone. Many of the other people walked in groups or with their 'partners' to the arena; often whispering in undertones and flirting with one another.

Royalty and their guests were seated in a box on what qualified as the front row of the large coliseum that was used for games and after watching a few rounds, Iroh disappeared to participate in the jousting games.

The goal for the specific game was to hit an effigy which had a weight tied to its left 'arm' that would swing around and painfully thwack the attacker if he was not careful and try and snatch a flag off of the effigy's body, the reward being a kiss from the name written on the flag.

"Is that not dangerous?" Yugoda asked as she watched Iroh strap on his armor and mount the horse.

"It is not as dangerous as it looks; I've jousted with a male opponent many times." I reassured her; turning my eyes back to my husband as he spurred his tiger-horse onward and stuck out his lance. A cheer erupted from the crowd as he easily swept off a flag and opened it; reading the name.

He put the flag on the tip of his lance and rode around the ring once before stopping.

"My lady." He said; holding his flag-covered lance up to me.

That was strange, though; I had not written my name on a flag. As a jest, I entered one with Yugoda's name on it or, at least; in the best I could spell out her name in Huowen.

I only smiled, just like a polite and etiquette princess would, and reached out to take the flag.

He always loved to show off, so I decided to play along with him for once and poised myself to jump into his outstretched arms.

"You're finally beginning to understand me." he said teasingly as he lowered his head for his kiss.

I only rolled my eyes at that comment; even after all of those years, I still didn't understand at all.


Sometime throughout the celebration at night, when the raucousness began, I had drunk too much liquor and became increasingly giggly during conversations.

"I think it is time we go to bed." Iroh advised. I nodded; getting up and, half-tripping over him, let him carry me bridal-style to my chamber.

Something must have come over him, either his morals of taking advantage of a drunk woman was kicking in or maybe he was too drunk himself, but he said he probably needed to sleep in his own chambers that night.

It left me with wonder and a feeling of lonliness but I consented and rolled over to try and go to sleep.


Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard a loud cry of pleasure from the halls.

'Just another bawdy couple.' I pulled the pillow over my ears to drown out the annoying rhythm of loud moans the woman made.


"Wake up, sweetheart." And something else was poking at my ribs, too. My head was throbbing and the sudden intake of light was too much for my eyes as I opened them too quickly.

"Is it sun so high already?" I murmured; noting the sour taste in my mouth.

"It is time for the final spectacle; at high noon. Would you like some water?" Iroh asked.

"Some mint water; my breath is disgusting." I told him.

After gargling and my senses seemed to be returning, I noted that Iroh was running his hand through his hair and rubbing his neck constantly; a sign that he was clearly agitated with something.

I got dressed without a word and he seemed to be back to normal after his gaze raked my body while I undressed and dressed. As we descended the stairs, I saw Yugoda staring at Iroh.

When he turned his head, Yugoda quickly darted her head downwards and was trying to walk away quickly.

"Yugoda." I called out.

Instead of turning to me, she seemed to be trying to avoid me more.

"We are going to see the final spectacle; come with us." I insisted.

"Oh—um…I am…busy today with my lessons!" she gasped out quickly.

"I gave you no work." I said; wondering why in Agni's name was she acting that way.

She seemed to think that she had lost; only nodding and walking with a more-than-definite slouch in her posture. I wanted to scream at her; it wasn't as if I was dragging her to the ring against her will! I invited her, for spirit's sake!

All the way, Yugoda did not speak a word. We went to an arena near the docks; this one specially chosen for the occasion.

I walked calmly to the balcony, Yugoda timidly following me, and sat down next to Iroh.

I had made the decision of wearing a few parts of my old uniform that day, I'd given up the helmet when I heard the news of my early retirement and having lost the will to keep it to stare at all day and wonder what could have been.

Iroh smiled when he saw me and beckoned me to another seat.

The final event was a battle royale between the prisoners, it wasn't just the Water Tribe prisoners; there were also hundreds of other Earth Kingdom prisoners of war that were in the upper part of the southern jail, and some of the trainees from nearby military training camps. The guards had told the prisoners; if they'd won, they would earn their freedom and would be sent back to the Northern Water Tribe. We were going to let the rest go anyways; there was no point in keeping them rotting away in a darkened cell.

I told the runner to fetch a chair for Yugoda, she honestly looked as if she would faint any second then, and smiled as the first batch of victims were shoved out onto the smooth and polished stone fighting area.

By sunset the arena was a little less than a large puddle of blood; the red liquid was spilling off of the edges of the white marble platform.

"Bring the final ones." I ordered; more shouts came from the audience. It was one of the interesting things I found about the Fire Nation; some people attend a peaceful meditation and slow-dancing ceremony, in a sense, in the morning and yet they go to watch others being slaughtered at noon and then go drink and laugh and have a 'nice time' by night. The smell was getting to me, and I felt my stomach turn.

Yugoda noticed him to and looked at me; horror clear in her eyes.

"You cannot do this! He is your father!" she squeaked.

"Could have fooled me" I replied calmly to her shocked profile.

After it had finished, we exited and took a walk. As we tried to find some topic to build a good conversation on, I noted Yugoda's puzzling expression; she would look down when Iroh looked at her, seem to be troubled by her thoughts whenever she thought we weren't paying attention to her, and stared at me with a mix of envy and hopelessness. One time, I looked to my left and met her eyes; they spoke worlds of what she'd kept hidden.

As I lay in bed later that night, I still could not have gotten Yugoda's expression out of my mind. When I tried to ask Iroh about it, he rolled over and murmured that it was probably something that carried on in the Water Tribes; probably because I had left a legacy of some sort.


My bed, the next morning, was empty.

Maybe Iroh had some affair to attend to, so he had to leave early.

As I got up and went to leave, no sooner than when I was out in the hall I heard Yugoda wailing.

As I was about to turn the corner, Iroh suddenly leapt in my way and almost tackled me.

"Sorry." He said, as if I were just another member of the court, and then darted down the hall.

Yugoda was on her knees; fat teardrops falling from the corners of her eyes.

"Are you—?" I began, but Yugoda took one look at me and, without a second though, turned and ran down the hall.


The rest of the prisoners, the survivors who were chosen to be spared but had to bare witness to the slaughtering of some of their citizens death match, were sent back in a Fire Nation ship a few nights later; Yugoda among them.
As the months passed, I observed my twenty-ninth birthday come and go, people began to forget about the encounter with the citizens of the Northern Water Tribe.

Iroh finally decided to take the leave that the army had promised, and the time he had accumulated was the equivalent of many years.

With more chances to make a son, we took all the time we wanted to.

My life seemed perfect then; just like it was when I was in my earlier twenties.

But it all changed with a woman bearing the name of another man I knew long ago; when he and I were in the army together.


It was the tenth day of the eighth month.

I was going about court, Kuzon had sent Iroh and I again to listen to a few complaints for him; the lazy little Za Zhong, when screaming was heard from the entranceway.

Iroh came through the crowd, worry etched on his face, as he encircled his arm around my waist.

"Let us go; there is—." Before he had a chance to finish, a ragged-looking woman burst forth.

There was no such way to tell her age; her face was scarred and battered, and not to mention etched with quite the amount of wrinkles, while her hair, though parts of it looked torn out, was still pure ebony. Her bloodshot eyes, the coloring was a dark amber, were filled with contempt and her mouth looked twisted; almost deformed.

Upon sighting me, she raised a bruised, cut and old-looking hand.

At first, nobody noticed her and she kept her hand up in the air. Noticing that she was pointing at me, I asked a servant to ask her for her reason. When the servant came back, she was white-faced and shaking.

"She came for you two; she says that she has evidence...that you murdered a man from the Fire Nation." Iroh and I turned to each other; impossible, we both thought.


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