Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Water, earth, fire, air... Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.
A hundred years passed and the new Avatar, an air bender named Aang, was discovered. Now travelling by his side are Katara and Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, and Ashlynn... An ex-member of the Fire nation, and Prince Zuko's lifelong companion...
[I'd like to make it known that this will be a chapter devoted entirely to Ashlynn and Zuko's past, seeing as how the episode 'The Storm' is more or less an episode about Aang and Zuko's pasts- I will be doing the same in here. It will be told as if it is in the present, and it will give you readers a little more insight on their past and their past relationships. Please, enjoy.]
"Morning Zuko," Ashlynn said cheerfully. Zuko looked up at her from the stone bench he was sitting on, and gave her a quick smile. "How did you sleep?" he questioned as she sat down next to him. "Fairly well, no one bothered me this time," Ashlynn said with a grin.
"Good," Zuko replied, and looked away.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Ashlynn inquired and tucked a lock of hair behind one ear. "There's a war meeting today, and I want to attend it," Zuko said while staring at the wall ahead of him. "But… your father would never…" Ashlynn said and stopped before she upset him.
"It's alright. I think I'm old enough now to at least be allowed into the war room," Zuko said and stood up. "Until then, would you join me for breakfast?" he asked hopefully.
She smiled, and nodded. Together, the two of them stood off and walked to the royal palace dining hall.
"So Zuko," Ashlynn began as she sat down with her plate of food. "What's made you want to start going to the war meetings?"
"It's just… Someday I'm going to be the fire lord, not my father, and I think I need to start learning some things," he responded and nibbled on the bread roll he had. Ashlynn nodded in response. "What do you think your Uncle would say?"
"Well… I have this feeling he'd agree with me if he heard my opinions," Zuko responded. "Hmm… When is the war meeting?" Ashlynn inquired, taking a sip of her hot tea after. "Shortly after breakfast is when it starts," he responded.
"Shall we head over there?" Ashlynn said with enthusiasm. Zuko smiled and nodded, and then they stood up and returned their plates with half-eaten food to the palace cooks.
Zuko stood at the end of the long hallway that opened up to the war room where the fire lord and war generals and lieutenants discussed war strategies and preparations. He watched as the generals entered the war room, hesitant on walking down the hallway.
"What's a matter?" Ashlynn asked worriedly. "I'm just… anxious. I really want my father to be proud of me, and I think attending war meetings is a way to start that," Zuko said, and looked down at the floor with confusion. "Zuko, I think you're fretting too much. Just go down there and see what happens," she suggested.
Zuko inhaled, nodded, and began to walk through the lengthy hallway to the entrance of the war room. At the front of the doorway, two guards stepped in front of the door, disallowing him entrance.
"I demand you let me through!" Zuko shouted up at them. Ashlynn lingered behind, and watched as the guards remained motionless. Then, Iroh entered the hallway and asked Zuko what was wrong. "These guards won't let me through!" Zuko cried out in frustration. "You're not missing anything. These meetings are rather lackluster," his uncle assured him. Zuko then proceeded to explain his views on the point.
Iroh thought for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. Iroh permitted him entrance into the war room, where Zuko vanished from sight, leaving Ashlynn behind. Ashlynn stood there, lifting her silken dress from the floor so its rim wouldn't get dirty, and waited for Iroh to return. Iroh exited the war room after a minute, and walked to Ashlynn's side.
"Did you really agree with him?" Ashlynn asked as her and Iroh walked side by side back out to the main palace walls. "No, I think Zuko is reckless and far too eager, I'm worried he will speak out of turn," Iroh said while stroking his beard. "I don't think Zuko would be that foolish. He knows his place, and he knows respect," Ashlynn countered. Iroh made a sound with his throat that explained he was neutral on the idea.
"They'll be there a few hours Lady Ashlynn. I suggest you return to your quarters and pass the time in a more valuable way than sitting and waiting," Iroh said with a chuckle. "I intend to," she responded. Then, they parted ways and Ashlynn walked off to her quarters.
Being that she wasn't actual royal blood, she wasn't given quarters within the actual palace. Instead, the fire lord had had a separate building made for her within the palace walls, but just outside the palace. It was a simple building, having no more than a bedroom, a restroom, and a guest lounge, but it suited her well. Ashlynn stepped inside and moved to her bedroom.
She removed her fancy dress and replaced it with a simple skirt that went down to her ankles, and a suitable sleeveless top that hung just over her belly-button. She then pinned her short red hair behind her ears, and removed the gold hoops from her lobes. She slipped on some moccasins that matched the color of her shirt, and then went to her bathroom.
In the bathroom she washed off the blush and eyeliner from her face, giving her a more natural appearance. Then, despite Iroh's request, she sat on her bed and peered out the bedroom window, waiting for the sun to move across the sky until the war meeting ended.
Ashlynn jumped awake when she heard the main door to her abode open and close quickly. She looked outside the window and saw that the sun was beginning to go down, obscuring the blue color of the sky. She stretched and sat up, pondered for a moment, then decided to move to the guest lounge to investigate the disturbance.
She was surprised for a moment to see Zuko sitting on the settee in guest room. "Zuko! How did the war meeting go?" she asked as she walked around the settee to face him. She frowned when she saw that he was shaking. "Zuko, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned. She sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I… I… I spoke out of turn, Ash…" Zuko said and wiped some tears from his face. Ashlynn sighed with stress for a moment, wondering how it was that Iroh had known exactly what would happen. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ashlynn said quietly, soothingly. Zuko shook his head and shook more as he tried to fight back more tears.
Ashlynn said no more, and wrapped her arms around the neck of her friend and pulled him close to her. He then turned to her, wrapped his arms around her, still shaking uncontrollably, and began to cry into her shoulder. She stroked his hair and neck and whispered words to calm him down.
"Zuko, was it really that bad?" Ashlynn asked after a few minutes. He stopped shaking for a moment, and then sat up and looked at her. "I… I have to fight the war general I disrespected in an Agni-Kai…" he said, and looked away. "What? Zuko, you're crying over an Agni-Kai?" Ashlynn asked and gave him a look of utter disbelief. "No, Ashlynn… I… I disappointed my father… he ordered I fight in the Agni-Kai. I made him so angry. Ash, how will I ever redeem myself?!" Zuko said and sobbed a little more and let out a sigh as he finished his rain of tears.
"Just fight in the Agni-Kai, and prove you're strong enough!" Ashlynn encouraged. "But… what if I'm not? What if I lose? Then my father will be even more ashamed…" Zuko said. Ashlynn half-frowned and put her hands on Zuko's cheeks and made him look her in the eyes.
"Zuko, you are strong. You ARE strong enough. Just fight the general, and move on with life. It'll be like it never happened," Ashlynn declared, not breaking the eye contact between her and Zuko. Zuko blushed for a moment at his foolishness and embarrassment for crying over such a silly thing, and then nodded. "Thanks, Ash," he grinned. "No problem, kiddo," Ashlynn smiled back.
Then, they hugged goodnight and Zuko walked back to his quarters. Ashlynn shut and locked the door of her 'home', and went to her bedroom. There, she changed into a nightgown and went to sleep.
On the day of the Agni-Kai, Ashlynn wore an appropriate red gown that was tight against her body and showed off her physical features. It complemented her red hair, and even made her green eyes look like they had a red tint to them.
She, along with the rest of the invited spectators, piled into the courtyard where the Agni-Kai between Zuko and the General would take place. Ashlynn chose a spot on Iroh's right-hand side. Being that Ashlynn was considered a member of the royal family she was allowed to be in the front row with members of the actual blood line.
"So, I'll bet Zuko will give that General something to cry about," Ashlynn said to Iroh optimistically. Iroh gave her a dismal look, and said "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ashlynn ignored his pessimistic comment and surveyed the scene.
Zuko and his opponent stepped onto the floor, and the crowd stopped its relentless murmuring. At the start of an Agni-Kai, the members were to stand on either side of the rink, and have their backs to one another. When they began the fight, they were to stand up from a kneeling position, and turn around to face one another. Ashlynn tried to get a good look at Zuko's opponent before they stood up.
"Iroh… No, that can't be…" Ashlynn whispered, and gasped as though the wind had been knocked out of her. "It is… The Fire Lord," Iroh responded miserably. "Iroh, they can't do this, he'll kill Zuko!" Ashlynn cried out while choking on tears.
"It is too late, Lady Ashlynn. What's done is done," Iroh replied. Ashlynn began to stand up to shout at Zuko, but Iroh grabbed her arm and yanked her back into her seat. "As a lady, you wouldn't even be granted the honor of fighting in an Agni-Kai for speaking out of turn, you'd just be slaughtered here in front of this crowd and in front of Zuko," he explained.
Ashlynn choked on more tears, and sat back down and began to crack her knuckles like she did when she was nervous.
Zuko stood up, and turned around. Ashlynn began to cry as she watched Zuko's determined and confident face turn to that of a weakened and insecure expression.
"Iroh I can't watch this. Look how terrified he is," Ashlynn whispered, and saw that Iroh had a few stray tears as well. "Iroh do something!" Ashlynn pleaded through gritted teeth, and she let out one hysterical sob before mentally forcing herself to stop acting weak. "There is nothing I can do, for this is Oazi's decision and order," Iroh replied.
Ashlynn watched Zuko fall to his knees and bow down to his own father. Ashlynn's heart raced as Fire Lord Oazi approached his son and looked down upon him, ashamed and angered. Zuko looked up at his father.
"Father, please, I only had our nation's best interest at heart, I swear it! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!"
"You will learn respect, Prince Zuko. Rise and fight!" his father demanded. "Father please- I meant no disrespect at all, I am your loyal son! And I won't fight you!" Zuko begged. "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher," Oazi said maliciously.
Ashlynn dug her nails into her palms as she clenched her fists tighter. She began to cry again when tears began to fall down Zuko's face; when he began to shake.
"Look away, Lady Ashlynn," Iroh recommended, fear covering every part of his voice. He turned around to look away from the scene, but Ashlynn couldn't make herself turn. Body frozen, Ashlynn was forced to watch as Fire Lord Oazi cast a flame at Zuko. Ashlynn screamed, along with a few other surveyors, as Zuko cried out in pain and grief.
Ashlynn began to shake as she watched Oazi walk away, leaving his son to writhe and twitch upon the floor, his face on fire. She stood up, despite Iroh's pleads for her to remain seated. She hopped over the railing that separated the crowd from the arena, and fell upon her knees by the burning Zuko's side.
"Somebody please put these flames out!" she screamed at the doctor's who were posted on the outskirts of the rink. After a moment, a doctor ran by Zuko's side and put the flames out with a kind of medicinal water. Even though the flames were out, Zuko still screamed in pain and Ashlynn had to look away from him.
Ashlynn vomited just a little as the image of half of Zuko's burnt and scarred face pierced her mind. When she looked back, the doctor's had knocked him out with a mind-numbing herb and were wrapping a bandage around his head so that it covered the half of his face that was ruined.
Ashlynn stood up and watched as Zuko's sleeping body was carried away on a stretcher. Iroh walked up next to her.
"The Fire Lord will banish him for refusing to fight. It was dishonorable of him to act so cowardly, in the Fire Lord's mind," Iroh spoke. "Will he ever be able to return?" Ashlynn said, her mouth still quivering from shock.
"Yes, but only if he can prove his honor," Iroh responded. "Then… then I shall go with him," Ashlynn vowed. Iroh nodded. "I am glad. You and I will be good influences on his difficult journey to come. Be warned, though, Zuko will never be the same after this," Iroh forewarned her.
"I'll stick with him through all his hardships, no matter what," Ashlynn swore.
"I'm going to find the Avatar," Zuko told Ashlynn a few days later as they departed from the fire nation.
Ashlynn wasn't very faithful in the idea of finding the long-lost Avatar, but she nodded anyways.
"If that's what you wish, then I am your loyal friend, and I'll stick by your side through thick and thin. We can get through this together, Zuko. After all, that's what friends are for."