Chapter 1 - First Meetings

I           
 
The first time I ever encountered the royal family I was six, and the meeting was entirely a mistake.  The plan for that day had been for me to spend the day with my Father, just the two of us, while Mother was treated to a spa day with some of her friends.  That all changed when father was summoned to Lord Ozai’s manor on a matter of some urgency. Though he was only the younger son of the Fire Lord, he was the son of the Fire Lord none the less, and Ozai had the unfortunate habit of valuing my father’s advice.  Father was forced to cancel his day with me.  Upon further enquiry it was discovered that Ozai had two young children of his own, approximately my age, and that I might spend the day with them in hopes that some time with father might be salvaged. I was taken to their country manor and kept firmly by father’s side at all times. 
 
The building was vast and designed with the utmost taste and elegance, the grounds seemed endless to my young eyes, full of trees and greenery.  I longed to run off and explore pretending to have some adventure.  Father must have sensed it, because his hand rested lightly on my shoulder.  Not restraining, but just heavy enough to let me know he was there.  The steward of the house showed us into a lavish sitting room. Every thing was either carved or gilded, and the cushions on the chairs were red velvet.  But the wood paneling on the walls was dark and the entire affect was almost entirely oppressive.  Father didn’t seem to mind, but I clung to him.  I no longer had any wish to run off and explore.
 
We sat and waited not more than a few moments before the far door opened and a figure entered the room.  The man was tall, like my own father, and he was surprisingly handsome.  He was youthful as well.  The gray that winged its way through my father’s hair barely touched this man’s temples, and his eyes were yet unlined. He seemed exactly the sort of man I had always imagined to be the handsome prince from the fairy tails my mother read me before bed.  But there was something slightly odd.  The man never smiled, and there was a coldness to his eyes that made me shrink back behind my father.
 
Father had stood and bowed hands folded at the waist, when this man had entered the room but he received only a nod in return. The man sat in a chair opposite where we stood and motioned for father to sit as well.  I remained standing.  No longer hidden by father’s height I now became the object of some scrutiny.  And my six year old mind could not quite comprehend why I should be so important that this man desired to meet me rather than just motioning for some servant or other to take me some where out of the way.
“Prince Ozai,” my father began a respectful tone.  Only to my ears did it seem somewhat exasperated, “I present to you my youngest child, my daughter Lien.”
I was motioned to step forward, and with a fearful glance at father I obeyed. “You are a good girl?” he asked me. 
“I try to be.” I was afraid to lie and make myself seem better; this man’s eyes seemed to see right into my soul.
“And you do as you’re told.”
“Sometimes, sir.”
“I am told you have the talent for fire bending?”
“Yes sir, Tao’s teaching me.”
“A brilliant soldier.” Ozai muttered and my father looked pleased. “Tell me Lien, do you study your lessons?”
“Yes sir, when there’s some one to help me.  I can’t practice alone. It’s not allowed.”  I looked back at father to see if adding the last part in had been alright and he nodded.
“Natsu is she making any progress?” I suddenly seemed no longer to exist as far as the man was concerned.  It made me mad. I hated it when people talked over my head.  But father only nodded politely.
“Yes Prince, at the rate she learns she will be able to attend the academy on time, if not ahead.  At this moment she knows the proper stances and breathing techniques and Tao has informed me that she can now control a small flame.  She struggles with some things but once she learns a thing she has it perfectly.”
“That is good. Both my children have the talent.  My son runs around playing with knives all day. He will not apply himself, but Azula, Azula is my protégée. Learns things in an instant bending is like breathing to her!”
 
It would seem odd to most people I think to hear of mere children learning to bend fire at the age of six or so, but it must be remembered that our nation was at war.  Every fire bender was trained to be an elite weapon against those who would destroy us, and the younger you learned the more time there was to perfect the art.  Perhaps as a female it was not so important for me to learn, but my brother was a soldier, and he insisted.
 
My share in the audience was now over.  Ozai called back the steward and requested the locations of his children.  Upon learning that both were in the gardens with their cozen it was ordered that I should accompany the steward out.
 
I followed the elderly man through several winding halls and down a stairway to a set of glass doors leading to a terrace.  I was now so thoroughly lost that there was no possibility of finding my way back to my father.  Perhaps this had been done purposely; I never learned one way or the other.  Out on the terrace there were several people sitting round a fountain.  I was immediately taken out and introduced to them with out ceremony.  At this point in time we were still equals, no matter who their father was. 
 
Azula was my age and her brother Zuko a year older.  After that morning I had some fear that they might be like the man they called their father, and in Azula I was not disappointed.

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