This is a short one-more of a teaser.

In his grief, Ursa's father took removing-painful-reminders to a new level, risking the Fire Lord's irritation by daring to ask a favor. The avatar's son begged the monarch to pardon Lady Ursa from her position as Royal Playmate that she might attend the Royal Fire Academy. In his old age, he couldn't look after or educate her the way her mother could. She would become a young woman soon and needed guidance he couldn't provide, etc. etc. None of those arguments were what convinced Azulon. It was a final, barely-mentioned suggestion he made towards the end of his request that had my 吐athercall for me for the first time in months.

For the first time in months, my 吐athercalled me into his presence. As usual, he only deigned to notice my existence when he thought I displayed weakness.

While I knelt before him, the Fire Lord barely jerked his head in a nod that allowed me to sit up. We were alone謡ell, alone as we could be. There wasn't a moment in my life where I, truly, was alone with my father. His guards were always there. I knew them better than I knew him. I knew strangers better than I knew him.

But no one knew his wrath like I did.

"Ozai,he acknowledged before a long pause he spent scanning me, evaluating, calculating.

As though I was another war tactic that might fail or succeed, as though he'd yet to determine whether I was worth the risk.

I'd lost track long ago of how many times Iroh had tried to comfort me throughout my childhood, to reassure me that our 杜isguidedfather loved me. However well the Crown Prince might argue contrary, I saw how the Fire Lord looked at me. I felt like a blight upon my family葉he bane of his existence. I was certain that Azulon blamed me for my mother's death and that he feared I might destroy Iroh as well.

"I have shared my condolences with your friend's father," he continued, still staring at me for any reaction. "At his request, I am permitting young..." He struggled to recall her name, eyes flashing darkly once he he did. "Ursa to attend the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. You will not be seeing her again."

I knew better than to show emotion. He was still watching me, still calculating. Somehow, someway, the avatar's son suggested that Ursa was too close to me, that our bond would strengthen if allowed to continue. And for the Fire Lord, someone with any pull, any bond, any influence on me had too much power. If I showed how much control she did have on me, she might never be seen by anyone again.

So while my world turned to ash, I put on the mask I loathed to hide the face of a man being burned alive.

"Yes, sir."

"That will be all, Ozai," he dismissed with a wave of his hand, and the guards opened the doors.

But the pain was too much. I had to ask. Whatever the cost, I had to dare ask...

"What about her summers? Might...?"

And because I asked, I was denied.

"No." He was calculating again. "Exactly what hold does this girl have on you?"

"Nothing," I lied without expression, without sending off a tell. "It's just rare for someone to play hide-and-explode so well. Rather, it's rare for someone to not let me win."

The Fire Lord glared.

"Will that be all, Father?" I asked with all the innocence a soulless face could muster.

"Yes..." he trailed, rapping his fingers before completing his deliberation and dismissing me. "Yes, that will be all."

I never thought of Azulon as "Father" again.

I didn't blame my father for what he did. I still don't, wrong as it was. He loved me. He just didn't know how to without my mother. He loved me, but he could no longer see me. He could only see her. I was a ghost to him. She haunted him through me, and he knew he couldn't be a father to his own wife.

Of course, that didn't mean it didn't hurt. I'd lost two parents that day, and I would never get either back.

I saw Ursa for what would be the last time in two years as she was being led out of the palace by her aunt and cousin. I meant to wave farewell from afar, but she saw the sorrow in my eyes and ran, tears filling her own.

"Ozaai!she cried as I bolted to her, glowering daggers to anyone trying to intervene.

Within two seconds, I was wrapped in his arms, refusing to let go.

"I'm so sorry, Ozai. I'm so, so..."

"You're sorry? Ursa, I'm-"

"Lady Ursa!" my cousin protested. "This is not."

I silenced her in one glance.

"I have something for you," he whispered, slipping a scroll of parchment in my hand.

"Oh, Ozai, I'm so-"

"Stop apologizing. I'll be fine."

"Promise?" I asked as the guards tried to separate us.

"Promise," he swore, trying to firebend at the man who touched my shoulder.

"Don't," she warned with that scowl too adorable to intimidate a lamb, that scowl I would miss so terribly. "It's all right,Ursa sighed, breaking from the embrace and walking away. It's all right."

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails drew blood. Once Ursa was out of sight, they let out streams of fire that reached the sky.