"Tell me about everything. Tell me about your family." Ayehsi was lying next to him on a grassy hill outside the city, under a leafy green tree.

"Buckle up." Lu Ten muttered. "It's not a pretty story. My family's issues start with my dear old great-grandfather, Sozin. He got this brilliant idea that if he conquered everyone else he could make the Fire Nation great. Once Avatar Roku died there was nothing stopping him. The first thing he did was wipe out the Air Nomad army to try to find the next avatar."

"There wasn't an air army." said Ayeshi.

"What?"

"The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. They were pacifists."

"They what? Oh my god he killed a bunch of pacifists. With tanks and fire bombs . . . pacifists. Pacifists." Lu Ten flopped back onto the ground. "Well, file that under crap they didn't teach us in school."

"Sounds like you're taught a sanitized version of your own history."

"Yeah. Ooh, I don't like that at all. Well, anyway, Sozin's son was Azulon, my grandfather. He wanted all his descendants to be little fire bending masters, so I started training pretty young. My dad taught me. He's one of the most powerful fire benders out there and he's traveled the world. He even knows the dancing dragon form."

"The what?"

"It's just an old fire bending form, but I think it was one of the original bending forms. I was also taught in sword fighting by master Piandao. He was really cool, and both benders and non benders wanted to learn from him. My dad wanted me to be well-rounded."

"Your dad also saw no problem with conquering Ba Sing Se."

"He's really nice other than the siege bit. He had a vision of him conquering Ba Sing Se and that's what inspired him to begin the siege, but obviously that didn't work out. I wonder what he's doing now or if he'll ever come back to Ba Sing Se. He once told me that destiny is a funny thing."

"What about your mother?" Ayeshi asked.

"She died when I was born. Most of the time I don't miss her, since I never knew her. But sometimes, I see Ursa with Zuko and wonder if I could've had that too."

"And Ursa and Zuko are . . .?"

"Right. This where the family tree is extra screwy. Ozai is my father's brother, and he's nuts. Completely off the rails. A mini Azulon. He had trouble finding a wife, so he went and found Ursa and forced her to marry him because she's a descendant of Avatar Roku."

"Crazy stuff."

"Exactly. Well, they've got two kids, Zuko and Azula. Zuko . . . Zuko's eleven now, which means Azula is nine. Ozai hates Zuko because he's not as powerful as Azula, and he wants Azula to be his little fire bending prodigy. It's kinda messed up. My dad noticed and kind of took Zuko under his wing. He's like a little brother to me."

"And Azula?"

"Azula's different. She's been taught to dislike my branch of the family, so she doesn't like me. I'd be lying if I said some of her personality traits didn't concern me."

"What on earth about a child's personality could concern you?"

"I think she has some sociopathic traits. She's very manipulative and kind of violent. She enjoys seeing other people in pain, especially when she gets some gain from it." Lu Ten frowned. "I haven't seen her in like two years. I don't know if she's changed at all."

"Is that when you went to war?"

"Yup. There's no military draft in the Fire Nation but I didn't have a choice anyway. I was part of the royal family and war is what we do. I was sixteen. That was around the time my father began the siege of Ba Sing Se."

"Do you miss home at all?"

"Sometimes. I miss . . . I miss the way the sun rose through my old bedroom window. I miss the turtle ducks at the royal palace. I miss training with my dad and with Piandao. I miss showing Zuko how to build sandcastles at Ember Island." He paused to wipe his eyes. "There's plenty I don't miss. I don't miss Ozai calling me weak. I don't miss Azulon at all. I don't miss the constant talk of war."

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se." Ayeshi muttered. "The Fire Nation sounds pretty terrible. But the Earth Kingdom has its problems too. The whole kingdom is embroiled in war but everyone in the city pretends everything's fine. Our king is only a ceremonial figurehead. The Dai Li actually runs things around here. There's a far amount of corruption and a lot of poor people."

"Hrrm. Nowhere's perfect. The Fire Nation can't shut up about war and the Earth Kingdom won't even talk about it. Maybe balance is what we need."

"I know." Ayeshi rolled over so that she could use Lu Ten's chest as a pillow. "I know you've heard bits and pieces of my story, but I guess I should tell you in full. We lived in a little village when I was a kid. We were farmers, and we didn't have much but we were happy. Everything changed when the Fire Nation came. They burned down our far. We had nothing. My dad went to war, and my mom took us children to Ba Sing Se and started selling noodles to get by. My dad died a year later. I was eleven. I still have his teapot, but that's about it."

"That's right. Your dad made tea."

Ayeshi smiled. "I think he would've liked you. I can hear him now: 'Ayeshi, you've found me a great son-in-law.'" She turned scarlet. "I'm not saying we're totally gonna get married in the future or anything."

"Of course. We don't know what destiny holds. But that would be nice." Lu Ten wrapped his arms around Ayeshi and held her close.

"I can still remember his face." She continued. "I hear him in my mind, and sometimes I dream about him. I don't know if Wei or Han remember him, though, since they were younger. Han was only seven."

There was silence for a moment. "I should show you my favorite places in the Fire Nation someday." Said Lu Ten. "That's, of course, if the war ever ends."

"I think we'd all like the war to end someday."

"Mmm. Everything would be so much better. Everything would be so much better if we had an avatar."

"Where do you think he is?" Ayeshi asked.

"I think whoever it was, was killed along with the other air benders. So now it could be someone in the Water Tribe, but doesn't know they're the avatar."

"Han likes to think both the air and water avatars died, and that it's someone in the Earth Kingdom. He just wants someone from the Earth Kingdom to be the one to end the war.

"I don't care where the avatar's from, as long as he ends the war." Lu Ten flopped over on the grass. "I swear, if I can find him I'll help him do it."