"Zuzu." The teenage boy scowled at the nickname and didn't bother holding in a sigh. The servant attending to getting his clothes would already know of their rivalry, just as the whole palace knew. Azula had come to play mind games again, and now he had to resist getting tangled up in her web of lies. He rose from the bed as he combed through his hair with his fingers to put it in a ponytail.

"I'm getting dressed Azula. What do you want?" He said, setting his clothes that the servant handed to him down on the red silk covers of his bed. He glared at her with eyes framed by the hint of dark circles despite firebenders normally being morning risers. Sleep always seemed to evade him, the redness of the whole room agitated him. Or maybe he just needed to eat better, for his father always said he was too skinny.

Either way, he couldn't help but be grumpy in the morning, especially when it came to his little sister. If she wasn't proof of the saying 'small but mighty' he didn't know what was. His sister pouted from the door in response to his abruptness, and then haughtily circled around him, beginning to talk in the high voice she would always use to taunt him.

"I hear that you still haven't been allowed into a war meeting." She began to smile venomously, pleased with herself as Zuko stiffened under the gaze of her gold eyes, waiting for him to react. It was all he could do to look away, keep his hands from clenching and steam from rising off his skin. Her huff was barely audible, but he noticed it all the same. Azula was still immature, no matter how smart she was. But Zuko was still immature too.

"I just haven't asked to 's a war meeting tomorrow. You'll see then." He faced her as she smirked. "Is there anything else?" Zuko knew he was lying. He had just been short of begging his father, and before he had left, his Uncle as well, to go to a war meeting. It was a shame, Uncle Iroh had been so close to cracking. He could've sworn that if he had gotten the chance to ask one more time, he would've found himself in his father's war room, surrounded by blazing, red flames so tall they almost licked the ceiling. Whenever he asked his father however, his reasons for not letting Zuko go were different. When it came to his Uncle, Zuko could tell that he didn't think Zuko was prepared. When it came to Prince Ozai, he didn't think that Zuko had earned it.

This time would be different though. If he didn't get inside the war room, his sister would be waiting right beside him to rub it in his face, and he had experienced that too many times to let it happen again. He had to prove a point sometime, right?

"Whatever you say, Zuzu. I guess I'll just have to see." With that she pranced out of the room with a self satisfied smile blemishing her face. Zuko released another large sigh and noticed the servant had left the room and his breakfast had been placed on the gold gilded table by the door. His stomach grumbled in a particularly obnoxious manner and he grimaced at the door she had left through. Fortunately, she was long gone, probably off to torture some poor animal or maid that happened to have caught her in one of her violent moods.

Not wanting to be cooped up inside his room any longer, Zuko slipped off the silk night pants he wore and put on some black and gold hakama pants, a loose and cool feeling to manage the summer heat. He drew on a similar top- and stopped for a moment to look at himself in the mirror; his father was right, he was too skinny- and then tied the bottoms of his pants against his ankles, sliding on his boots over black tabi socks.

With his breakfast in hand, consisting of a bowl of sweet congee, spiced mango, and spicy pig-chicken, Zuko snuck through the royal hall to the palace gardens. He hoped that Azula wouldn't be lingering around with Mai and Ty Lee by the fountain instead of pestering the palace workers like he hoped, though he realized that wasn't the best thing to wish upon someone. He knew firsthand how much of a pest she could be. Her harmless, fun loving temperament had vanished far before her chubby cheeks had. She was on her way to becoming a demon, if she wasn't already.

He was relieved when the courtyard was empty of Azula's shrill voice and he meandered through the gardens, snacking on mango slices until he found the turtle duck pond. He sat down feeling anxious, and albeit the food helped, still grumpy. He absentmindedly fed the turtle ducks some pig-chicken bits, deciding it was far enough from cannibalism, and let his thoughts wander. That was until they halted to something more important. Would his father ever let him go to a war meeting? Sometimes it seemed he was barely part of the Fire Nation court, let alone a crown prince.

He flopped onto the cool, shaded grass beneath him, playing with the blades and ignoring the turtle ducks quacking for more food. If only Lu Ten were here, he would challenge Zuko to some sparring or a new game he had learned. Lu Ten was his cousin, somewhat of an older brother to him. Even Azula had a hard time disliking him, for he was rather like Zuko's mom in his demeanor. He and Uncle Iroh had taken troops to the walls of Ba Sing Se and had been at battle for nearly 600 days. Zuko hadn't seen either of them since he was eleven years old. Sure, he missed them, but they were off taking Ba Sing Se, and that would practically mark the end of the war.

If only the Earth Kingdom could see what was good for them, the violence wouldn't be necessary. It was foolish really, but they would pay for their blunder. The Water Tribes had admitted defeat, the Air Nomads had made the mistake of fighting back, and now the fate of the Earthbenders and the Earth Kingdom's citizens would be determined. Every day he wished for the world that was promised by Fire Lord Azulon and his father. A harmonious, rich empire in which the Fire Nation was glorious, and shared its riches and prospered. But the more days that carried on, the further away that age seemed. At least he was sure the time would come eventually.

The pattering of a wet turtle duck and a loud -Quack!- distracted him from his thoughts. He raised his arm from his side to give the duck some more pig-chicken. "I guess you don't have to worry about these types of things."

He snickered as two other turtle ducks began quacking for food and swarmed around him. "One at a time." He said, laughing and sitting up. The warm voice of his mother sounded behind him.

"They sure do like you, don't they?" She commented smiling. Zuko pouted.

"Only when I have food for them." He shot a mock glare at the ducks. "They ate my breakfast." Ursa smiled and came to sit next to him, gathering her heavy robes and sighing. For a split second her smile cracked and he saw the weariness in her face, but she recovered it quickly. The facade was beginning to become more and more frequent. Or perhaps he had just never noticed it before.

'So is the life of a Fire Princess.' she had told him once. He had been six years old, and surprisingly attentive for his age. He had asked why she looked so sad even when she said she was happy. He didn't understand what he was really asking and now he knew that it wasn't a question she wanted to answer. Another question found a way into his thoughts, and it was another one she wouldn't like, but he was too curious not to ask.

"Why don't you ever attend the war meetings?" Her forehead crinkled in surprise, as if wondering 'where did that come from?' She looked at their rippled reflections in the pond and then answered.

"It's not a requirement for me as a wife." That wasn't exactly an answer, but he could read between the lines. His mother wasn't one for fighting or getting involved in the war. It just wasn't her nature.

He took the hint and didn't say any more. Ursa then began to speak excitedly, changing the subject. "I have some good news. We've received a letter from your Uncle Iroh." Zuko's eyes lit up. "We can find Azula and go pick it up from the messenger hawk room. A servant should have it ready for us." The boy tamed a little at the mention of his sister but was excited all the same. They hadn't heard any news in months! He hurriedly stood up and tugged at his mom's robes to do the same, leaving his tray of food for a servant on hand to clean up and take to the kitchens.

They found Azula playing with Mai and Ty Lee in one of the palace's grassy, shaded areas. Azula was showing off her firebending by the fountain. As he and his mother approached, Azula made the telltale taunting face, and whatever it was, Azula started snickering, Ty Lee giggled, and Mai turned pink as she glared at the both of her friends. Zuko tried to ignore them. Usually his sister liked to cause trouble whenever they were in a group.

"Azula." His mother called calmly. "We've received news from Uncle Iroh, would you like us to wait for you?" Azula looked to her friends who simply shrugged.

Azula frowned. "I'll come with you!" She proclaimed and ran to the other side of mom and they began walking through the halls. Across their mother between them they both side eyed each other.

"I hear both of your studies have been going well. Are you two enjoying the new professors?" Zuko looked down. His studies weren't going very well, actually. But he knew she would never say that. He was the student of the nation-renowned Professor Yu who insisted on long lectures every couple days, but all they really did was bore Zuko out of his mind. Then he would ask questions related to those long lectures and expect him to answer them right, but that was rarely the case. He would usually get the answers wrong and in turn be rapped in the knuckles and on the neck. Azula spoke before Zuko could.

"My studies are going very well. Father said my fire bending skills are progressing at a very quick rate. And Mai, Ty Lee, and I are taking Advanced Studies of the Fire Nation." Zuko sighed. Of course she was. His sister was a prodigy as everyone around him seemed to need to point out. They continued their one sided conversation until picking up the letter.

"I hope Uncle burned all those mud people to a crisp!" Azula cackled as her mother took the letter from a messenger hawk, sending a flame bursting from her foot. Ursa cringed.

"Now, Azula, no fire in the halls." Azula pouted but stopped.

They walked to a bench that sat quietly beside an atrium of fresh cut grass, bamboo, and vines adorned with rare flowers. The arcs that framed the courtyard on all sides made it look like an untouched piece of nature, as if were one to try to enter they would find themselves walking straight into a painting. Ursa sat elegantly while Zuko and his sister both craned over her shoulders on either side to take a peek at the letter. Ursa swatted them both with the scroll with exasperation. "Sit down and I will read the letter to you," She gently chided.

When Zuko and Azula sat she unraveled the scroll. It was shorter than the other times his uncle had sent letters, Zuko noted. When Ursa began to speak he sat a little straighter and inched a little bit closer to his mother, but she didn't comment on it.

"My dear family,

I hope this letter finds you all in good health and I relay to you this information with joy. Soon our troops will conquer Ba Sing Se and the walls will fall. The soldiers are famished and weary, but soon we will come home to our nation as glorious heroes. You have no idea how I miss the palace and my family, and I must say, the tea here is not nearly so fine!..."

All three of them laughed; Uncle did love his tea. As Ursa continued reading aloud, Zuko couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. He looked over at his mother, eyes alight, for now, with laughter. His sister was snickering, in her evil, mischievous way that he had grown to find just a little endearing. He feared what would come next. It seemed that nothing ever lasted. Good things never lasted.