disclaimer: I don't own ATLA but I do own the OCs

Sanosuke tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. For a big fluffy bison, Appa wasn't exactly comfortable to sleep on. He heard a murmer and looked to his right where Jin slept next to him. He knew it was a weird thing to do, but the Avatar couldn't help but watch her sleep since he couldn't. Not only because he wasn't comfortable, but because he was worried about Haruki. Sure, they weren't exactly close and there were times when they got into some arguments but it didn't mean Sanosuke didn't care about what would happen to his, what did Aura call them? Oh yeah, frienemy. When he saw the smile on her face he could only imagine what kind of dream she was having.

"Happy Birthday Izuru!" Twelve year old Jin cried out to her brother.

Today he was two years old. The family were spending the week at Ember Island at their beach house. Zuko didn't want to use the one his family went to because it was filled things that were too painful to remember so he had bought another one that was almost as large as his family's old one. Not that anything bad happened in their old beach house, it was the good times he spent with his family when they were actually happy was too painful for Zuko. He missed his mother too much and hadn't been able to find her yet because his father refused to tell him where she was.
Izuru and their mother were in the courtyard and Mai was dipping Izuru's bare feet into the water of the fountain, much to the delight of the toddler when Jin approached them and sat down at the fountain's edge. She took off her shoes and placed her feet in the water.

Izuru cheered and reached his arms out to Jin.

"Jin Jin!"

Jin smiled when she heard her nickname and accepted the hug with a wide smile and placed the toddler on her lap.

"You're up early." said Mai.

"Well, what can I say?" asked Jin. "I rise with the sun."

It wasn't just Jin that said this. She looked behind her and saw her father, Fire Lord Zuko, walking towards his wife and children. He sat down next to Mai and they kissed good morning. He patted Izuru on the head.

"Happy Birthday, son." said Zuko.

Izuru reached out for his father. Zuko chuckled and picked up his son for a hug. Jin smiled more when she watched her father give her brother one of his rare hugs. What with the war going on, Zuko was too busy to be with his family as much as he wanted. He always found a way to make his days free for special ocassions such as birthdays or anniversaries.

"We're going out tonight." Zuko informed his wife and eldest daughter. Jin groaned.

"We're not going to see the Ember Island Players, are we?" she asked.

Zuko and Mai laughed.

"No, don't worry," said Zuko, "We're going to have some fun tonight."

"What are we doing?" asked Jin, suddenly excited.

"It's surprise." said Zuko with a sly smile. Jin crossed her arms and pouted and her parents laughed.

"Go wake your sisters," said Mai, "We'll be going out to breakfast this morning."

That night, Zuko lead his family into the town while holding Jin's hand.

"Father, you don't need to hold my hand." groaned an embarrased Jin.

"I just don't want you to get lost." said Zuko.

"We're not even going through a big crowd or anything!"

Zuko said nothing, he just squeezed Jin's hand and she gave up. She kept her head down so nobody would see the look of embarrasment on her face. With her looking at her feet while she walked she hardly paid any attention to her surroundings. She didn't even notice her dad stopping until she was a few steps ahead and felt her arm tug backwards.

"We're here." said Zuko, letting go of her hand.

Jin looked up and saw the tents.

"The circus!" exclaimed Jin. She gasped when she thought of something. She looked at her father for confirmation. When he nodded she cheered and ran towards the tents.

"Jin wait!" But Jin didn't stop, she kept running to the tent, looking around for a specific one until she saw a large pink one. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she ran toward the pink one and entered it.

"Aunt Ty Lee!" she shouted.

"Jin!" The acrobat bounced to the princess and gave her a platypus bear hug. "I was hoping your family would make it before the show started! Where are they?"

"They're coming." answered Jin. She looked around for other people but the tent was empty. Ty Lee giggled.

"The girls are in Xiu's tent. They're helping her get ready for her first performance."

Jin thanked the acrobat and ran out of the tent. She ran to the little red one that was next to the pink one and entered it. She almost giggled at the sight.

Sitting at her dressing table was Xiu looking very displeased and wearing heavy make up. She wore an outfit similar to her sisters and her mother's. It even showed her stomache, making her burn scar noticable. Xiu had gotten the scar a long time ago. She had said that she was attacked but never said who attacked her. Aura was working on Xiu's long hair which was out of its ponytail and little braid and was instead pulled back into different braids. Xiu had a braid on either side of her face that was pulled back, almost resembling Katara and Kya's hair loopies and the rest of her hair was pulled back in a braid resembling Ty Lee's. Xiu looked up at her reflection and was the first one to see Jin.

"Jin!" she exclaimed. She tried getting up but Aura pushed her back down.

"Not yet, Xiu." said Aura, "I'm still doing your braid." She turned her head to give Jin her famous large smile. "Hi Jin!"

Jin waved and was soon pounced on Jun and Zuri. They hugged her and started talking at once.

"I can't believe you're here!"

"When did you get here?"

"Are you going to watch the show?"

Morana and Ursa ran into the tent and Zuri and Jun squealed with happiness. They released Jin and hugged her younger sisters. Xiu fidgeted impatiently.

"Almost done." said Aura, "Just one more thing..."

She walked to Xiu's desk where a box sat. She opened the box and pulled out a gold head piece. She brought it to Xiu and placed it delicately on her youngest sister's head.

"You're ready."

As soon as Aura said those words Xiu jumped to her feet and rushed over to Jin to give her a hug.

"I heard you're performing tonight!" said Jin, "You must be really excited!"

"Oh yes," answered Xiu, "I'm really looking forward to performing with my family."

Jin noticed that there was something forced about Xiu's smile but didn't say anything for Aura hugged her also. Their parents entered the tent, smiling at the children's reunion. Izuru laughed when he saw Xiu's outfit and make up.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up kid." said Xiu.

"Remember, dear, he's only two years old." said Ty Lee. She fluffed her youngest daughter's head and hugged her tightly.

"I know you will be great tonight!" she whispered.

"We better get to our seats." said Zuko. "Come on, girls."

"Oh yes! The show is going to start soon!" said Ty Lee, releasing her youngest daughter and rushing out of the tent. Her older daughters were at her heel.

The royal family left the tent too. Jin was about to follow her family when she felt something tug on her sleeve. She looked back and saw Xiu holding onto her sleeve.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked. She was looking sad.

"Can it wait until after the show?" asked Jin.

"It's about the show." said Xiu.

"Oh, what is it?"

Xiu took a deep breathe.

"I don't want to be an acrobat."

"Really?" This surprised Jin; all of Xiu's sisters had dreamed of becoming acrobats since they could first walk. "Well, what do you want to do?"

"I want to work with animals." Xiu sat down at her dressing table and laid her head over her arms. She looked at her reflection with dislike. "It's always been my passion. I wanted to tell my mom but she's so excited about my performance. I don't want to let her down."

Jin placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm sure your mother will understand. Just tell her after the show-"

"It'll be too late. If I perform one thing tonight and do something else the next night it'll just confuse the audience or something. I wish I could work with the animals tonight. I've been practicing with them every chance I got."

An idea sprung in Jin's head.

"Looks like there's going to be a little change in the program tonight, Xiu."

"Where's Xiu?" asked Ty Lee. She and her older daughters were outside the performance tent waiting for their cue to start and looking around for the youngest acrobat at the same time.

"We're on after the animals!" said Zuri.

Jin sat down next to her father in the audience.

"Where were you?" he asked her in an undertone, "You missed the first two performances."

"There was something I had to do." answered Jin.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," called out the Ring Master, "I now present the Ostritch horse Rider!"

The audience cheered. Jin leaned forward and beckoned the Ring Master to come to her. He approached her looking confused. She whispered something to him and he looked even more confused.

"Are you certain you want to do this, Princess Jin?" he asked nervously.

Jin smiled and nodded.

"Very well." He went back to the center of the ring and called everyone's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems there's been a slight change in the performance."

The audience murmered to each other. The family of acrobats poked their heads through the tent flap to hear what the Ring Master had to say.

"Tonight, for her very first performance, we have young Xiu who will be the ostritch horse rider!"

The royal family except Jin gasped, the same with Ty Lee and her daughters.

"That can't be right." said Ty Lee.

"Jin, what did you do?" asked Zuko.

"Just smile and enjoy the show, Father." answered Jin.

An ostritch horse wearing a gold get up burst into the tent. On the back of the animal in a handstand was Xiu.

Her hair was out of the braids and back in its usual ponytail and small braid. She wore her regular red outfit and her face was clean of the heavy make up. She had taken off the gold headpiece. She brought down her other hand onto the animal's back and quickly stood on her feet in a blink of an eye.

She performed more impressive stunts on the ostritch horse until the performance was over. She flipped backwards off the ostritch horse before it stopped and landed on her feet with her arms out in a "Ta da!" gesture.

The audience was silent for a moment before cheering wildly. Xiu bowed to the audience Fire Nation style and lead the animal out.

The rest of the performance went on like normal. The circus trainer had the animals do their tricks and Ty Lee and her older daughters did their usual performances on the tight ropes.

Just when it seemed like it was over and the audience members started standing up to leave, the Ring Master once again called their attention.

"The night's not over yet everyone!" he informed them. "We have one more performance for tonight only!"

Jin felt her father's hand on her shoulder.

"Come on." he whispered to her.

"But it's not over yet." objected Jin.

"I know," said Zuko. He took her hand again and lead her out of their private box. The others stayed behind.

The younger princesses gave their sister and father quizzical looks while Mai smiled and mouthed "Good luck."

"What's going on, Father?" Jin found herself being lead to the center of the ring by her father.

"We have Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Jin to perform a firebending form that had been long forgotten in honor of young Prince Izuru's birthday."

Jin clung shyly to her father. She had stage fright.

"What are we doing, Father?" she asked him.

"We're going to dance, Jin." said Zuko with a smile.

At first Jin was confused until she realized what her father meant. They stood back to back, Jin's right side facing the audience while Zuko's left faced it. Together, they performed the Dancing Dragon with firebending.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" said Xiu while she hugged Jin. "That was so much fun!"

"Your mom's not mad is she?" asked Jin nervously.

"No! In fact, she was really happy and told me that she's really glad that I'm doing something I love. She's going to talk to the Ring Master to see if I can perform with the animals from now on!"

"I'm so happy for you!" Jin hugged Xiu.

"Come on, Jin!" called Mai, "It's time to go home."

Jin said her goodbyes and left with her family.

"So what do you guys think?" asked Zuko when they made it back to their beach house, "Do you think this had to be the best birthday Izuru's ever had?"

"For a second birthday, yes." said Mai, rolling her eyes with a smile.

"I had so much fun doing the Dancing Dragon with you, Father." said Jin.

Zuko hugged his eldest daughter.

"I knew you would." he said.

"Can you teach me the dragon dance, Father?" asked Ursa.

"I wish I could firebend." said Morana with a pout.

"I'll teach it to you anyway, Morana." said Zuko with a smile.

"Time for bed." said Mai.

Morana and Ursa hugged their parents goodnight and went to their rooms. Jin hugged her parents.

"That was a good thing you did, darling." said Mai.

"I just wanted my friend to be happy." Jin yawned.

"Come on, my little firebender." said Zuko. "The sun's gone to bed, which means you need to too."

Jin smiled and hugged her father again. She kissed a sleeping Izuru on the forehead.

"Happy Birthday, Izuru." she whispered.

"Happy Birthday, Izuri." Fourteen year old Jin whispered in her sleep.

Someone started shaking her awake. She groaned and turned over.

"Jin, come on, wake up!"

Jin reluctantly opened her eyes and sat up.

"What's going on?" she asked Xiu while she rubbed her eyes.

"Haruki's back!" said Kya, excitedly. She and Xiu began waking the others and telling them the news.

Jin yawned and looked down to her side and saw Sanosuke asleep. She reached out and gently brushed his hair out of his face.

"I won't fail you like I failed Izuri, Sanosuke." Jin quietly promised.

She woke him up and told him the news. He smiled widely and jumped out of his sleeping bag. When the others were awake they ran to the woods. Sanosuke looked back when he noticed Jin wasn't with them, instead she was rummaging in her bag.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"You go. I'll catch up." she said.

Sanosuke ran after the others again. Jin reached into her bag and pulled out a picture of her and Izuru. A tear fell down her face.

"Happy Birthday, Izuru." she said softly. "If only I could have helped you." She took a deep breathe and sang softly, keeping her voice from cracking with great difficulty.

Leaves from the vine, falling so slow.

Like fragile, tiny shells,

Drifting in the foam.

Little soldier boy, come marching home.

Brave soldier boy, comes marching home.

I made this chapter in honor of my little sister :) she turned five during the time I wrote this