Prince of the Fire Nation and Shadows

Here is the third chapter everyone has been waiting for! I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Chapter 3: Clouds

Shikamaru watched his new family inattentively with a bored and lazy expression that looked funny on a baby. His new mother, Ursa, was smiling as she carried a laughing Zuko and Ozai looked slightly annoyed as he carried Shikamaru. He still had trouble believing he had been reborn and had desperately hoped it had all been an elaborate genjutsu. Kami sure could be cruel when he wanted to be. Shikamaru's real family was left behind in Konoha and already Shikamaru could sense the depression closing in on him. 'Why couldn't I have been reborn a cloud?'

It had already been a few months and today was the first day the twins had been allowed outside. Shikamaru could care less, but Zuko seemed to be having a ball. 'I never imagined having an identical twin, much less one with so much damn energy. I already know this is going to be a drag…' thought a bored and slightly depressed Shikamaru. He could not help feeling slightly relieved that Ozai had not gone through with his threat to kill his new brother. Zuko began showing signs of being a fire bender after all and all the tension that had been surrounding the new family disappeared. Now only one problem remained: Shikamaru was stuck as a helpless infant with all his memories.

It was bad enough having to get used to being a baby in a different world , having a new name, a new family, but he also had to get used to being royalty. He was now Prince Osamu and was always being watched by a thousand eyes: his mother and brother, servants and nannies, and guards that were never far behind. Sure, being a baby for the first few days was great. He got to sleep all day, only had to whimper and people came running to immediately grant his every whim, and he got to do nothing. For the first time in forever no one was depending on him for anything.

Then he began to notice the drawbacks of being a baby again. Wearing a dirty diaper was a disgusting feeling and the smell was even worse. It sadly got even more troublesome. Getting diaper changes was a nightmare for a mentally adult baby, drinking milk every single day made him hate the stuff, and being forced to share his space with a drooling Zuko was not his idea of sibling bonding. His new mother decided to pop Zuko in his crib so they could get to know each other. His crib was very spacious so Shikamaru was able to roll away from the never ending waterfall of drool, but Zuko did not seem to know when he was not wanted. Zuko would simply roll after Shikamaru and latch himself to him like a kola clinging to a tree.

Ursa found this simply adorable. "My little turtle ducks already love each other! " And like that, Shikamaru and Osamu now shared a crib instead of each having their own. 'I hate this life.'

Months later, Shikamaru was now being forced to bond with his whole new family. 'Troublesome…'

Ozai was simply puzzled by the enigma that was his son, Osamu. Why? Osamu was both an extraordinary and irritating child. As an infant he never cried, but allowed Zuko to do the honors and whimpered when he needed to be fed or changed. Osamu never whined to be held and never bothered to seek affection like Zuko did. Ozai approved of such a strong independence at a young age, but hated the laziness Osamu also displayed at such a young age. Osamu preferred to sleep through out the day and refused to crawl for the longest time. He preferred to roll lazily about until Ursa put a stop to this in fear he would hurt himself. He still remembered when Osamu and Zuko went outside for the very first time.

Ursa had held Zuko and Ursa had Ozai carry Osamu. Zuko eyes had been full of wonder as he looked around in the palace garden and had babbled nonsense to Ursa the entire time. Osamu had been completely silent and merely looked bored. Then the small child had moved his head to look up at the sky and a content smile appeared on his face. Ozai had been shocked! This was the first time Osamu had ever smiled.

"Is my little Osamu smiling?!", Ursa said with an equally shocked look on her face.

"Clouds", chirped the small infant with his gaze fixed on the sky.

No one noticed the shadows on the ground dancing like candle flames.