The family vacations to Ember Island were always fun. Zuko liked pretty much everything about the place, and so did Azula. The house was almost as comfortable as the palace, the beach was great, and even the ridiculous plays mother liked to kindly drag them to could be enjoyable. The best part was, of course, being allowed to have as much ice-cream and sweets as they wanted. His sister liked that even more than Zuko himself did.

Unfortunately, she wasn't enjoying this trip as much as he was. Uncle Iroh and Lu Ten had come with them this summer - which meant dad had not. Zuko didn't really understand why his father didn't like his brother, but it didn't matter. Or at least not as much as seeing Azula all sad and moopy. She was so upset that she had not even gone to the beach with them, staying at the house with the servants taking care of her.

Usually Zuko would have appreciated getting a break from his clingy, annoying little sister. He had more than earned it since whenever Azula wasn't following him around like a shadow and trying to copy everything he did, she was using all the words her 5-year-old mind could come up with to taunt him.

But knowing that, while he and their family were having fun, she was all sad in her bedroom, took away a lot of the fun of making sandcastles with Lu Ten and Uncle, or swimming with mom. It just wasn't the same without his brat of a sister.

So, when he returned, he made sure to bring along something for her. It wasn't difficult to find all kinds of gifts, souvenirs and trinkets in a vacation spot.

When he opened the bedroom's door - his bedroom's door - and showed her the two dragon miniatures, she immediately perked up. She got up from the floor, where she had been painting something, again, with his paint-kit, and immediatelly grabbed the two toys.

"The red one is mine" he said, despite knowing it was only a matter of time before it became one of their 'shared' toys "What did you paint?"

Azula placed the dragons carefully on the nightstand, and showed him her little masterpiece, looking all proud of herself.

"What even is that?"

"A platypus-bear!"

"With horns and wings?"

"Yes? Why are you surprised? There are weirder animals. I heard the Earth Kingdom has bears are just... bears."

"Don't be stupid, that doesn't exist"

She punched him in the gut "Don't call me stupid, you dum-dum"

He smacked her in the back of the head "Don't hit me!"

He wasn't sure how it escalated so fast, but after a few punches and pushing each other around, somehow, they ended up rolling on the floor, yelling, biting, and scractching each other. Accidentally, Zuko hit one of the paint cans, spilling it, the shiny silver color ending up right in Azula's hair.

She did not let take it well, used all of her strength to over-power him, and decided that he needed a bit more color too. He only had time to close his eyes and mouth before Azula covered his entire face with a deep, dark shade of purple.

Their mom walked in right as they were fighting for the third can, the bright pink paint already all over their hands. She looked like she was about to faint when she saw them.

"Can't you two behave for five minutes?" she asked, dragging the two of them out of the room so the servants could clean it.

Zuko had not managed to get all that purple paint off his face until it was time for dinner, and Azula still had a bit of silver in her hair, though it was hard to notice from afar.

Mother had warned them right away that they wouldn't get any dessert after their meal, as punishment for the afternoon's incident. The young prince didn't need more than to lock eyes with his sister for a second to reach a silent agreement with her: they'd steal some from the kitchen when everyone else was asleep.

But their plan had one fatal flaw: uncle Iroh.

"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter, spring, summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves. Four seasons, four loves"

Zuko tried not to give into sleep as the old man sang. Azula, who had been sitting next to him on the couch, was already defeated, resting her head on Zuko's shoulder.

When mom picked Azula up to carry he to bed, Zuko surrendered, using all the energy he had left to go to his bedroom.

He was woken up in the middle of the night, seeing a triumphant Azula standing next to his bed, a smug smile on her face, and a plate of mochis in her hand.

"Can't believe you actually fell asleep, Zuzu"

"So did you! You just woke up after a while!"

"No, I was just pretending to be asleep"

"No, you weren't"

"Yes, I was"

"No, you weren't"

"Yes. I. Was."

"No, you w-" he could not finish that sentence, as his sister angrily shoved some mochi right in his mouth to shut him up.

"Just be glad I got some for you" she said, climbing into the bed to sit next to him while they devoured the stolen treats. And for once, Azula wasn't so annoying, so Zuko didn't feel like kicking her out once they were done.

Perhaps the two creepy old ladies that lived in the palace were right, and Ember Island truly was a magical place.

...Or maybe Zuko kind of liked having his younger sister around. Even if she was a pain.

I am never admitting that to her. Or to anyone, he vowed to himself, and meant every word.

He was too young to know life was full of surprises.