Chapter Nine

– Age 113

    "Your highness!" I heard a guard shout and I looked up from my spot on the grass, I was meditating with my granddaughter in the gardens. "Fire Lady Ren!" They were frantic. Something was wrong.

    "I'm over here." I called out, standing up so that they could see me over the bushes. Azula stood as well, the ten-year-old looked annoyed at the interruption.

It was early morning still, the sun was barely out yet so I'd taken Azula to my normal morning meditation. The little girl had snuck into my room the night prior to spend time with me because, according to her, "Zuko is a crybaby and makes everything boring." But, I could tell something was bothering her deeply, and had been since the night her mother left. She'd seen something or heard something and her young mind wanted to be close to me as she processed it. It was late when she came in last night, and she'd quickly fallen asleep with her head on my lap.

Ursa had disappeared in the night three weeks ago. Left without a trace, Zuko was distraught, but Ozai was absurdly calm. I had a feeling he had something to do with her disappearance. Azula on the other hand was clinging to me more than ever, she didn't want to leave my side. It was like she thought I would leave as well. Zuko instead clung to Iroh, Lu Ten had only passed seven months ago and I thought it would be good for him to connect more with the young boy. It would never take away his pain of losing his son, but it may bring him joy again.

Azula had never been close to her mother or brother, and her father was another story entirely. Ozai was so excited when she showed signs of fire bending early, around the time Zuko had begun as well, he had finally found his prodigy. I'd become her teacher only a few years ago, after Azulon suggested it, probably to take more of my time away from disagreeing with him at war meetings. But I liked it. Azula, though an odd child, was truly gifted and when she wasn't trying to compete with her brother she was quite nice.

    "Fire Lady Ren, please come quick, it is the Fire Lord!" The guard who was running over called out. More were waiting at the door to escort me.

    "What does he want?" I asked, irritated with my husband's continuous demands. I pretty much refused to interact with him since my return and so he'd become petty, sending me on short little political visits or to our vacationing home with our grandchildren and sometimes our children. Not that I minded all that much, but it was still annoying to be ordered around.

    "It's..." He trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to tell me as he stopped in front of us. "He has pass..." His eyes found Azula and he trailed off again. "Your highness I beg of you, please come with us."

    I stood there for a moment before I realized what he was trying to say. "No, spirits, no." I whispered, my voice shaking. The guard looked at me apologetically as tears gathered in my eyes.

    "What's going on, Nan?" Azula questioned, she didn't like to be out of the loop.

    "This guard is going to take you to your room, Darling. And I want you to stay there okay?" I held her cheeks, kissing her forehead. I was almost crying, but I held it together while she was watching me.

    "What happened?"

    "I'll tell you later, okay?" I said, before turning to the guard. "Take her to her room." And then I ran.

– Iroh's Point of view

    "She won't let go of him." The servant told Ozai and I as we stood outside our father's bedroom door. It had been almost 14 hours since he had passed in his sleep, seemingly out of the blue.

    "She's grieving, we should give her time." I said, peeking in through the door. My mother was on her knees, leaning against the bed. Her hands held one of my father's hands, the rest of his body covered by a red sheet. I couldn't see her face but I'd heard her wails all morning, there were no doubt tears.

    Ozai scoffed, "She's overreacting. She didn't even love him."

    "She used to." I countered his statement and he glared.

    "Is that how you will speak to your new Fire Lord?" He questioned and I sighed, walking away from him and into the room.

    Somehow, a couple weeks ago, Ozai had convinced our father to name him the heir to the throne, above me. A deal between them not even yet made public, with stipulations which were unknown to everyone but the two men, I wondered briefly what they were. But, as I'd found out, it was written in law and so whether my brother followed our father's secret criteria or not was now up to him.

    "Mom, it's time to go now." I said, bending down beside her and placing my hand on her shoulder. She didn't respond. Her eyes stayed glued to her husband's covered face. "Come on, Mom." I pulled at her a but and she shook me off. Ozai came to stand behind me.

    "He's dead." He said matter of factly. "You can't do anything about it." I shot him a look. We both knew how delicate our mother could be, and also how strong. This was a woman who had lived longer than anyone else in history. She had become likely the most powerful firebender ever and had trained us to be nearly as powerful. She was kind and young but knowledgeable far beyond her looks. But, she was also hurting. She was carrying years of pain and suffering on her back and at times it showed.

    "Why does everyone leave?" She asked, finally speaking, but her eyes stayed glued to her husband. Ozai nor I could answer her question. "I don't want to keep living like this." She cried, "everyone around me dies. I can't keep watching this." She began to get mad, angry tears left her eyes and her body heated up under my touch, causing me to pull away in order to avoid getting burned. "It's all his fault! If Aang had just died I wouldn't be here! If he had died I wouldn't be like this!"

    Ozai and I looked at each other. Who was Aang? Why was he to blame?

:)