Before I'd known it, I had fallen back into a peaceful, dreamless sleep. I didn't arise until the sun was about a quarter of the way through the sky. I rolled out of bed groggily. I combed my fingers through my knotted, unruly hair a few times, then made my way into our kitchen. I passed through the family room, where my mother and father sat on the couch, talking quietly.

"Morning, Daddy; morning, Mom." I greeted. I saw a smile cross my father's face. He had to be at least frustrated slightly with me that I refused to go to the peace dinner… right? Unless my mother hadn't told him, but I was sure she had.

"Good morning Jade," he acknowledged, with a cheerful expression that left me guilt ridden. My mom, on the other hand, hadn't looked all that ecstatic.

"Hello, Jade," she accepted, but I could tell she wasn't very thrilled with my previous refusal. I smiled sheepishly, then made my way into the kitchen to find some of the leechee nuts left over from my dad's last trip to the earth kingdom. I began to make my way back to my room. On the way, though, I got distracted by the conversation I'd overheard…

"Katara, she's fifteen; of course she doesn't want to sit through a peace dinner…" I heard my dad console. I was glad he understood.

"She needs to be there, Aang. We're not going to be around forever, and she needs to learn the new traditions. She'll be a great leader, but she's got to learn… She's just a child."

"That may be so… but she's our child. She's going to be great no matter what. … You're right; she needs to come along… If we want to arrive in the fire nation on time, we're going to have to leave before sunrise the day after tomorrow. Tell her to pack her bags. I'm going to go feed Appa." I heard him give her a peck on the lips, and I knew that this was my cue to flee. I ran on my toes to the end of the hallway, and ran through my doorway surreptitiously.

Soon after, my mother came in and repeated my father's instructions. I simply nodded and began to pack my bags; there was no way out.

The next day went slowly. Most of my family's time was spent packing, the rest obsessing over minor travel details I didn't really care about. Where are we going to stop? How much food do we need? Where can we get supplies? How much should we pack? How long are we staying? Blah blah blah…

We left before the sun rose the next morning on Appa. He was getting old and a little slow, but he was part of the family, as was Momo, who came along as well. I wasn't sure how long I could last on the back of a manatee bison with my parents, honestly. Sure, I love them and stuff but can any teenager really spend more than three consecutive hours with their parents without going completely mad?

Apparently a few days into our trip we had to swing by the earth kingdom and pick up my Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph. My aunt hated flying, but that was really the only way to get to the fire nation, other than by water. Flying was most convenient. My aunt and uncle had no real reason to attend the peace dinners, which were mainly intended for the firelord, avatar, and their families, but they were all very close in spirit and very distant in location, therefore these old friends took all the opportunities that arose to reunite. It didn't hurt that if my Aunt Toph took the place of the earth king in the peace dinners. The earth king had better things to attend to, and he gladly appointed my aunt to go in his place.

Our trip took us about a week. Half of the time was spent laughing at my uncle's dismay and giving him odd looks for his corny jokes. My aunt kept elbowing him, and I wondered to myself if he was internally bruised from life with her. Don't get me wrong, I love my aunt; she's just very… abusive. Not that she means anything by it, of course.

When we arrived outside the firelord's palace, I was mesmerized. I'd never seen a building so magnificent. All of the buildings I was accustomed to seeing were made of ice. I realized I was gawking, and felt very much like a tourist more so than an honored guest. We walked past the solemn guards who didn't seem to care, and stopped in a foyer type of room. A man came out of a doorway to our left. He was tall and skinny, and dressed in formal-looking fire nation attire.

"Oh, joy! Avatar Aang, Lady Katara, you've arrived!" the overly excited man cried. "And Master Sokka, Master Toph, it's been too long. Oh, and who's this?" the man asked. If he were help, as I suspected he was, he seemed quite out of line.

"My name is Jade, of the Southern Water Tribe," I introduced myself, "daughter of the avatar." I bowed slightly with respect.

"She has your eyes," the man smiled to my mother. "I shall go alert the Firelord of your presence," he dismissed himself, scuffling away gleefully.

"That guy's just a few plums short of a fruit tart," I mumbled under my breath. I heard my uncle laugh a little louder than I was sure he'd meant to. I saw my aunt smirk. My mother frowned slightly. My father hadn't seemed to notice. I sighed.

Firelord Zuko entered with Firelady Mai by his side. A smile spread across the Firelord's slightly aged face.

"Zuko, I missed you, buddy!" My uncle was- of course- the first to speak. Quite informally, might I add. His arms shot above his head like he was going to run up and hug the Firelord, which I felt like would've been a terrible idea.

Now everyone bowed out of respect, including my uncle, who'd seemed to realize his blunder.

Out from the palace rushed a boy about my age- maybe a little older. He was wearing ornate clothing, therefore this must've been the Firelord's son, Shang. From where I stood, I noticed the well-defined contour of his face… which looked oddly familiar. I shrugged it off- somewhere in my lifetime I had to have seen a picture of the Firelord's son, right?

Everyone bowed again, then Firelord Zuko properly introduced everyone and invited us inside. The multitude of servants brought our bags inside: something else I wasn't used to.

"Shang, show Jade to her room," Firelord Zuko instructed. Shang nodded and obeyed, silently beginning down a corridor to his left. I followed.

I walked silently behind Shang, unsure of what I should say or do other then walk there and be, well, proper. The walk was fairly short and pretty awkward.

"Here we are," Shang finally said after approaching one of many doors I'd seen in the palace. He opened the door for me, allowing me to see inside. Oddly enough, my things had already been placed in my room, I noticed, next to a comfy-looking bed. The room was large and very nice, though the red color scheme was surely going to drive me mad after a while. But walls made out of something other then ice might be a nice change.

I thanked him and stood there, still unsure of the subsequent events. He told me that he was going to let me get settled in, then asked me if I wanted a tour around later. I accepted. I wondered if he was prompted to offer me a tour or if he chose to do so out of his own free will. I supposed I'd figure out his true intentions soon enough. For now, though, I had some unpacking to get done…