disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Lineage

A blast of fire zipped past his left ear.

He swerved narrowly to the right, catching the coy smirk on his opponent's lips and grunted, right leg kicking out at her to send a countering blast of orange flames at her.

She deflected the blast with a flick of her left wrist, breaking into a sprint as she charged, nimble body twisting in a flurry of movement and the dark red color of her training garb, sending a large cartwheel of fire screaming at him.

The prince leaped out of the way, extending the seconds he spent in the air by swinging out his left foot, right arm swinging sharply in an arc, sending a large fireball down at her.

The admiral's daughter quickly formed a ball of flames to shield herself from his attack, perking up as he crashed down onto her shield on purpose, managing a yelped expletive.

Dust rose up into the air as both teenagers landed on the ground, the boy having dropped onto the girl, both panting heavily from the spar.

"Tui and La, that hurt." Mariko groaned, closing her eyes against the bright daylight of the clear sky above them.

Zuko groaned slightly and shuffled to hover over her, fighting a grimace at the tiny twinges of exertion that radiated from his muscles, holding her half-opened amber gaze; he grinned wryly. "Don't be a sore loser."

She puffed her cheeks out childishly, making him laugh quietly, huffing; the air left his lungs momentarily as her right knee connected with his gut, punting him off so he landed unceremoniously on his back.

He growled an oath, perking up when she towered over him on her hands and knees, casting him in her shadow with a cocky grin on her lips. "That was uncalled for." He snapped.

She giggled, her amber eyes playful. "That was justified." She sang teasingly.

Zuko grumbled sorely under his breath, noting the happy light that shone in her pretty face despite the triumph of cowing him glinting in her gaze, her mane of hair pulled back into a messy ponytail… He found himself leaning up to crush her lips with his own, taking her by surprise.

Mariko blushed prettily, deeming he was trying to get back at her and furrowing her brow as she closed her eyes and reciprocated defiantly, tugging on his lower lip, distinctly feeling his hands lift to dig his fingers into the locks of her hair, biting back a groan for fear of showing weakness, shivering against him.

He grinned at her sudden ferocity, sitting up and bringing her with him, his arms wrapping around her waist, feeling hers hug on the back of his neck.

She ran her fingers up the back of his neck to gingerly feel that he'd kept his hair in that damned topknot, recalling that they were making out in broad daylight, and in the middle of her father's personal training ground, no less.

Zuko groaned in remorse when she pushed on his chest, scowling at her hazy amber stare, keeping his arms around her possessively. "That was definitely uncalled for." He groused sorely.

"Like I want my mother to badger me about making out with you in the middle of my dad's training ground." Mariko pointed out, her eyes apologetic and as remorseful as he felt, keeping one hand holding onto his neck as her freed hand cupped his scarred cheek gently.

He closed his eyes at the feeling and exhaled through his nostrils, opening his eyes to hold her softened stare. "Sorry." He wasn't sorry about the kissing, though, not when it was getting interesting.

She blushed slightly, smiling a little, sharing his sentiment regarding the kisses. "Don't be. The kissing has been put off long enough." Three years' worth.

Zuko smirked wryly at her comment, pressing his forehead to hers, seeing her blush deepen. "Three years made you stronger, and dangerous." He added with a wry grin to replace the smirk.

Mariko grinned cheekily, kissing him chastely, retracting with a giggle. "Good, I'm glad to see I can still inspire fear into the turtle-duck with two left feet." She teased, keeping the grin in place as he rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"Like that'll ever happen."

"If you say so, princeling."

"… Bite me."

"Cute."

A knock sounded on her bedroom window.

She grumbled, turning in her sleep; she was hearing things…

The knock was a bit louder.

Amber eyes snapping open, she turned slightly to look at her window, seeing a figure crouched there on the outside; she scowled and rolled out of bed, tucking her dagger she'd kept for safe-keeping that was under her pillow at her back as she neared the window.

She blinked once before recognizing the familiar scarred face outside her window; her shoulders sagged and she put the knife down, undoing the latch to open it for him. "Do you have any idea of what time it is? And where the hell've you been?" She hissed as she let him slip past her into the room, closing it behind his entrance, turning to face the prince.

"I didn't come because I wanted you to scold me like a child; I wanted to tell you something." He returned with slight annoyance in his quieted voice, hands lightly curling into fists.

Mariko bit her lip before exhaling softly, moving past him to take a seat on her bed. "Shoot."

"I think I just might've figured out why I feel the way I do, why I've been feeling the way I have for a while, now. But it's still confusing… and kind of scary when I think on it." Zuko started, taking a seat on a nearby black pouf, lifting a hand to rub his left eye.

She sighed, "Zuko, it's three in the morning, and we'll both be sitting turtle-ducks if you're still around when the servant girls come wake me up in four hours." She pointed out patiently.

"Just look at this." He declared, pulling out a small item wrapped in grayed cloth from his robes, handing it to her.

She regarded his tightened gold eyes briefly before lowering her eyes to examine the item, pulling the cloth away to reveal an old hairpiece that would've been worn by the crown prince of the Fire Nation; her eyes widened. "Zuko…"

"Uncle gave that to me… and he told me about my great-grandfathers." He informed, his voice saddened when he mentioned his uncle, seeing her widened eyes lift to slowly register on his somber face.

"What all did he tell you?" She asked softly.

He inhaled and then exhaled steadily, retelling her of what his uncle had said regarding his ancestors, how Fire Lord Sozin was his great-grandfather from his father's side and that Avatar Roku was his great-grandfather from his mother's side, that their shared history gave the answer to why he had struggled with what was right and wrong for so long… It was the answer to his confused heart.

"That explains so much…" She rubbed her eyes gingerly, cradling the artifact in her hands, looking down at the old gold that had been melded into the image of a flame, smiling a little before thinking of something, looking up at him. "But wait, that means that you're related to the Avatar… Oh spirits, this explains a lot…" She lowered her widened eyes again and closed them, rubbing her eyes with the bottoms of her hands. "Oh, Zuko." She whispered.

Bitter pain lashed out when mentioning Aang, but she suppressed the urge to wince, keeping her mind focused on the now, on the shocking revelation regarding the prince that was her best friend, the prince that was the only one she would ever swear allegiance to...

"Uncle said I would need help, figuring things out… He said I would need your help." He saw her look up again from beneath her brow, her messy wild hair framing her face with a thick black curtain. "Well, he actually said I would need help from a clever mind like that of his future niece…" He trailed off as blush started to creep onto his pale face and rest on his cheekbones.

She smiled softly, looking at the way the soft moonlight bounced off the fabric of the carpeted floor of her room. "Well with a recommendation like that, how can I refuse?" She half-joked, exhaling and rubbing her neck. "I'd imagine you're trying to wrap your mind around this, so I won't say anything. You need sleep, Zu…"

"He's right, though. I can try, but I know I can't figure this out on my own, not something this drastic… I do need help, at least to keep myself sane around here. I… I need you, Mariko." He cut her off quietly, feeling his cheeks burn like if the fire in his belly had shifted to crawl up his body and rest in his now-red cheekbones, looking down out of something he could only assume was cowardice.

Mariko blushed as scarlet as he did, coughing awkwardly after a few moments of tense silence. "I… I need you, too. I guess I always have, to keep from living in this mundane life I've been dealt. And I'll stand with you. You're the only person I can trust, really, the only person I recognize as the true heir to the throne. I'm glad you decided to share this with me, Zuko. It's humbling, in a way, to know something so drastic and amazing at the same time." She smiled humbly up at him.

Zuko didn't entirely know how to respond to what she said, only that he knew time was shortening and it would become a riot if someone found out the crown prince had snuck into the bedroom of his fiancé in the middle of the night.

They'd both be royally screwed if he stayed.

So he did the modest thing and stood from his seat to head to her window again. "I should go, before someone sees." He mused, hearing shuffling behind, knowing she followed to wish him goodnight.

She nodded and pulled gently on his sleeve, smiling into his eyes, stroking his cheek. "Good night." She murmured.

He smiled back, holding her hand with his and kissing her, pulling back reluctantly, for one fleeting moment wanting to prolong that kiss, turning to open the window. "Thank you, again, Mari, for everything."

The prince slipped out her window and into the night to retreat to his own warm bed.

The admiral's daughter smiled thoughtfully at his leave, locking the window and turning to shuffle back into her blankets, closing her eyes with a sigh and drifting back to sleep shortly after.

A/N: another stepping stone in the MariZu relationship~ and yea, the Day of Black Sun is coming. just a heads up (: