A/N this story mostly takes place after Sozen's Comet. The prologue is the only exception and begins 15 years before Aang is freed from the iceberg. It follows the life of a Fire Nation child orphaned after an Earth Kingdom attack on her family's village (remember wars go both ways, as seen with the village Jet flooded, I'm sure many Fire Nation colonies fell victim to the war as well). She was taken in by an Earth Kingdom family whose suns had gone off to fight in the war. She will eventually meet up with the Gaang but for now she is on her own. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nickelodeon owns all recognizable plot and characters.

Prologue Part I: Finding Saisei

It was growing dark in the village as the sun set. Mothers ushered their little ones in-doors. Husbands and fathers came back from work in town or in the fields to sit for dinner with their family. A young woman wrapped one such man in a tight embrace as he came back covered in soot from the smithy where he had been taken up as an apprentice by the elderly blacksmith in town. The baby in her arms cooed and gurgled up at her parents, little golden eyes lit with the curious fire of the young.

"It is good to be home," the young father said wearily, burying his face in his young wife's curls.

"It is good to have you home. Onika and I have missed you," she replied with a smile. "Come, dinner will be ready in just a moment," she began, taking his hand and beckoning him towards the door, but before they could reach the threshold the ground began trembling beneath their feet and screaming erupted from the village. The young father looked at his wife with fear in his eyes and pushed her towards the woods behind their small house; the house he had built for them, the house they were about to lose. Their home.

"Run! You must take Onika and run. I will do what I can here," and with a quick kiss to each of their foreheads he ran into the town, flame erupting from his fists as he fought to buy time for his family to escape. The young woman's eyes filled with tears and her heart broke as she fled into the woods. Branches and thorns tore at her arms and dress even as sharp rocks made quick work of her bare feet; she barely noticed. Her whole body was numb with grief and determination. She had to save her little girl.

For hours she pressed on through the forest. Her breathing was ragged and her heart pounded a fevered and erratic beat against her chest. Her sides burned and her tears dried as they fell from the harsh wind tearing at her face but she pushed on. She could hear the hounds baying in the distance as she was pursued through the trees. She kept tripping and stumbling in her haste and her body was giving out as it tired beyond the numb void in which she had been surrounded when finally there was a break in the trees. She had reached a road and up ahead was an open wagon filled with hay. Sighing in relief she placed little Onika in the straw, soothing her with little murmurs so as not to wake the farmer asleep in the driver's seat.

"Hush now darling; you're safe now. I love you. Goodbye," she whispered with tears in her eyes before running back into the forest the way she came. The hounds were almost upon her, but her baby was safe. With her heart now filled with the knowledge that her baby would be safe she sank to the forest floor and let the darkness and whoever was out there take her. She had won.

xXx

The next day at sunrise an elderly farmer, his sons long gone to join the army, packed away his blankets, fed his ostrich-horse her breakfast, and swung himself up into the driver's seat of his small cart when he heard a baby cry. The sound was coming from the back of his wagon and, curious, he swung back down to investigate; there in the hay was a small baby girl with golden eyes and a head full of jet-black hair. "Well would you look at that. Where did you come from little one? You've got the look of the fire-nation about you, you know. Be that as it may I'm sure you mean no harm wailing in my hay. Where is your mother? You don't know? Oh well. I suppose Kara will be pleased. She's always complaining about how quiet our house is now the boys are gone," when the baby gurgled curiously up at him he smiled. "Aren't you just a little treasure. I always wanted a daughter. It's too bad I don't know you're name, but treasure suits you. From now on you will be Takara. My little Takara," he said with a smile, wrapping her up against the cold and holding her close as he urged his ostrich-horse forward. What a wonderful surprise…

xXx

"Takara! Get back here you little thief!" an elderly woman called out to the little blur of black curls speeding away, sweet-cake in hand, from her kitchen.

"Oh let her be Kara, you remember how they are at that age," her husband laughed in response, kissing her on the cheek on his way to snag his own sweet-cake. She slapped his belly and mock-glared at him in disapproval.

"So what's your excuse?" she teased and wiped her hands on her apron. "That girl has no discipline! You spoil her rotten!" she continued admonishingly, shaking her head ruefully and looking out into the yard where the young girl, now four years old, was chasing the turtle-ducks around the pond to the side of their cottage. Her black curls were erratically escaping from the braid Kara had fixed it in that morning and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"What are we going to do Bao? She looks more and more fire nation every day. I fear for how the other children will treat her," Kara whispered, her eyes filled with worry as she looked upon the little girl they had grown to love and contemplated the child's future.

"We can't think that way. We will take each day as it comes and figure it out as we go. That is all we can do…"

xXx

"I don't want to go to school!" Takara cried, folding her little arms across her chest and pouting, little crocodile tears streaming from her amber eyes.

"You have to sweetie, don't you want to learn to read and write?" Kara reasoned, holding out the small book bag she had made for the child.

"No!" the six year old screamed, sitting on the floor in defiance. The fire in the hearth flared but went ignored by the elderly couple as they strove to make the child see reason.

"Well you don't have a choice. You will get off that floor before I get to three or you can forget playing with Yuan for the rest of the week! One… two…"

"Fine!" she screamed, flinging her fists in anger and much to everyone's horror and surprise flame erupted from her fingertips. Takara's eyes widened in surprise and fear even as Kara rushed forward and pulled her close.

"You can't do that Takara. You can't do that ever again you hear me? It's dangerous and if others found out they wouldn't understand."

"I didn't mean it! I'm sorry mommy!" the little girl cried into the elderly woman's shoulders. Bao placed his hand comfortingly on his wife's shoulder. Takara didn't go to school that day or ever; there was too big of a chance she would be discovered. Kara taught her at home instead…

xXx

"Takara wait up!" Yuan called, laughing as he ran after his best friend who happened to be chasing a badger-frog through her father's fields, her dress hiked up to her knees and twigs and leaves tangled hopelessly throughout her wild curls.

"No, you can hurry up! It's getting away!" she replied defiantly, her spindly legs making quick work of the shrinking distance between her and the badger-frog.

Neither of them saw the platypus-bear until it was too late. Furious, the wild beast broke through the brush just in front of Takara. "Look out!" Yuan yelled helplessly, too far away to even attempt to help her. This wasn't supposed to happen; he was supposed to protect her. As the oldest he had always been expected to look out for her and now he could do nothing. "Kara!"

"Yuan!" she called back, terrified. The beast was going to get Yuan! She had to do something! She would die if he got hurt. "Get back!" she yelled and did what she had only practiced in secret for the past four years. Fire leapt from her feet and fists as she worked to scare the creature away. Tears were running hot and free down her cheeks. Yuan would hate her now that he knew. He would think her a monster, but she had to do something. Moments later the beast was gone having fled back from whence it came and panting, hands trembling on her knees, she looked fearfully back at her best friend.

"Thank the heavens you're all right," he stated and wrapped her into a relieved hug. She couldn't believe it. He should be running or screaming or throwing punches or something, anything but this.

"But I'm a monster," she murmured in disbelief, clinging him as if he would disappear into the mountain mist at any moment.

"I've suspected you were Fire Nation for a long time now Kara, there's no mistaking those eyes," he joked in an attempt to make light of the situation. "And besides, that was AWESOME!" he continued. She laughed and he wiped away her tears. "Besides, you're only twelve. How can an innocent child be a monster?"

"Like this!" she proclaimed, pouncing on him and mercilessly tickling his sides…

xXx

"Takara dear, there's someone here to see you!" Kara called from the door. Smiling Takara jumped to her feet and ran through the house to the open door where she jumped into the waiting arms of Yuan. He had grown a lot in the past three years and at 17 he stood a good foot taller than her mother and at least half that over Takara herself who had always been very tall for her age.

"Have you heard? The Avatar has returned! And he defeated a whole Fire Navy fleet!" Yuan exclaimed joyously," picking her up in swinging her in a quick circle before placing her back on her feet with a soft kiss to each of her cheeks. "After over a hundred years the war is finally coming to an end. There is hope at last!"

"Oh Yuan, I never thought this day would come! Come on!" she replied excitedly, taking him by the arm and leading him over to the shade of a nearby oak. "It's so good to see you. Ever since you joined the local guard I've barely seen you."

"I know. I wish things were different but with the Fire Nation becoming even more aggressive as the comet nears they need me more and more. Actually, that is part of why I came here today. I have to go, Kara. They need me in the army. They need every man who can wield a sword to defend what's left of the Earth Kingdom. I set out for Ba Sing Se in a week," he muttered in dismay. The sadness in her eyes as he admitted this was enough to break his heart.

"I'm going to miss you," she replied dismally, a tear escaping from her left eye as she lifted her face to his and softly kissed him on the lips. "Promise me you'll be safe. Promise me you'll come back to me," she whispered after pulling away.

"I will do everything in my power to make it so. Will you promise me something too?"

"Anything," she agreed, burying her face in his neck to keep herself from falling apart.

"Marry me? When all this is over and we've won and I come back, please marry me," he begged, gently turning her face so that she was looking him in the eyes.

"Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way," she replied, kissing him solidly on the lips. All too soon he had to leave and she was forced to resign herself for another long wait. He promised he would return to say goodbye sometime before he left that week but even that seemed an eternity away…

xXx

The sun was well past its zenith when Takara's meditation was interrupted by the pounding of an ostrich-horse speeding up the path to her family's farm. Looking up in concern she was at first pleased when she recognized the rider as Yuan but soon became concerned as she saw the look of desperation on his face. As soon as he reached her he swung out of the saddle and Kara and Bao opened the door with a bang to discern the cause of so much commotion.

"Kara you have to leave! They're coming for you!" he cried, fear lacing his voice and shining through his eyes.

"Why? What is it?" she asked in bewilderment, her hands reaching out to steady him.

"A boy claimed he saw you fire bending in the forest three days past and that you were a Fire Nation spy out to bring down the village. They're going to kill you," he choked out in despair and desperation, his eyes pleading with her to understand and flee. "I heard them making plans and preparing to leave and raced here as fast as I could but they're coming. They'll be here any minute!" as if to prove his point the pounding of at least thirty ostrich-horses began to echo up the path. "I'll do what I can to stall them but you have to run!"

"No! I'm not leaving you! What about Bao and Kara? I can fight! This is my fault!" she begged, refusing to leave them to their fate. Yuan kissed her urgently on the lips before looking apologetically into her eyes.

"I'm sorry Kara, but this is for your own good," and with that the world went black as a sharp pain rang through her skull. She just had time to register a rock falling to the floor and Yuan throwing her on the back of his ostrich-horse before she lost her hold on consciousness completely…

When she regained consciousness she didn't quite remember what had happened for the span of about two seconds before it all came rushing back. "YUAN!" she screamed desperately, searching out Kota, his ostrich-horse, before spurring her to a run and weaving through the trees in the direction of her house. She didn't need to worry about being lost; the smoke was a clear enough beacon. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she tried to deny what she knew she would inevitably find when she got back to her family's small cottage. She couldn't believe it or she would die right then and there.

"Yuan! Mom! Dad!" she called desperately the whole way back. When Kota finally broke through the trees she threw herself off of him in despair and cried out in utter despair and agony. The cottage had been burned to the ground, the animals had been released from their pens, and hanging from the branches of the tree under which Yuan had proposed just two short days ago Kara, Bao, and Yuan were hanging, thick rope eating into their necks as their bodies became the stake with which her heart was impaled. This couldn't be happening! How could she have been so stupid? She had grown careless and gotten herself caught and now those she loved had been force to pay the price for her foolishness.

"NO!" she cried, terrible, gut-wrenching sobs tearing her throat as she pulled futilely at the ground. She wanted nothing more in that moment than for the guard to come back and take her life to in order to end her misery but when they never came she forced herself to her feet and dragged herself back into the forest, moving directionlessly long into the night before she collapsed from exhaustion some time before dawn…

xXx

Many days had passed since she had lost everything she had ever held dear and she had done nothing more than succeeding in losing herself more fully in the mountains. She barely slept and hadn't even bothered with trying to eat. She had lost all will to live. There was nothing left; nothing worth living for. She hated herself for what she had done. If she had listened to her parents they would still be here right now. She didn't cry though; she had shed all the tears her eyes could produce long ago. All she could do now was trudge through the forest, an empty shell devoid of reason.

She didn't know what exactly it was about that particular cliff-side that caught her eye. It was much the same as the others she had passed in previous days spent roaming the mountains, and yet something urged her to examine it more closely. It was then that the sun hit something shiny that glittered briefly off to her right before disappearing once more into the shadows. Curious, she stumbled over to it, hands grazing the rough edifice as she searched with both eyes and fingers. It wasn't long before she reached what she sought; instead of rough rock her fingers grazed against what felt like smooth stone and she busied herself with freeing it from the cliff. What she held in her hands afterwards was truly a marvel.

The stone she held was flawlessly smooth and shaped like an egg. The surface was of the deepest black and marbled throughout was the purest gold. It was magnificent and as she gazed upon it in wonder it moved. She shrieked in surprise and dropped the stone, jumping almost a foot in the air. The stone continued to tremble and shake until a large crack appeared along the side and was followed by a series of others crisscrossing the surface. Small mewling noises erupted from the center of what she now realized had to be an egg and she knelt slowly to help it along, pulling bits of shell away from the tiny creature inside and gasping when she realized what it was. There before her was a tiny red dragon with gold tipped scales and bright eyes.

"Hello little one," she murmured in awe, stroking its smooth scales.

Hello to you too, and my name is Saisei she heard the smooth baritone within her head and gasped once more in surprise.

"Well then hello Saisei, my name is Kara," she replied, deciding then and there that she would call herself that for eternity in memory of the one who had bestowed the nickname upon her. It was the least she could do to help preserve Yuon's memory…

A/N: well there you have it! I felt this part of the prologue was necessary in order for you to better understand why Kara is the way she is and why she acts the way she does. I feel like I kind of made the Earth Kingdom out to be the bad guy in this chapter but that was not at all my intent. This was just meant to show that prejudices run deep and go both ways. The circumstances surrounding Saisei will be better explained in chapters to come and that was meant to be a bit of a cliffhanger. Please R&R!

P.S. In Japanese "takara" means "treasure" and "Saisei" is "rebirth" (or so google translate tells me, hopefully it's a decent enough translation)