Living in a Legacy [ON INDEFINITE HIATUS]

Chapter Two: A Princess's Arrival

Izumi studied a picture on her desk. It was one of three: the first, of her and her mother, the second, of her and her father, and the third, of her and both her parents, as well as her "relatives". 

In that photo, Aang wore a goofy grin and spun marbles in his hand, while next to him Katara smiled with the corners of her eyes crinkled and bubbles in the air. Toph had her usual expression showcasing her boredom, but, as she couldn't even see the end result, she probably didn't care. Sokka and Suki held hands, the latter in her Kyoshi warrior outfit and her boyfriend holding his boomerang with his free hand. And her parents, Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai, were smiling, but only slightly, and her mother's amber eyes were nearly covered by the straight-cut bangs; her father's right eye marred by the scar he had had since childhood. 

Perhaps that was where she got her serious and shy demeanor from. No, scratch that, Izumi knew that she had such a surely bland personality because of the way her parents were. It was evident that she hated being looked at because of the way her head was ducked and her dark hair fell close to her shoulders, and obvious that she was Mai and Zuko's daughter because of her lips curved into a small smile. Every time she looked at the photo, she winced, because in contrast, everyone else was happy. 

Bumi was throwing his head back and laughing while grabbing Tenzin and Kya around the shoulders. The normally down-to-earth Airbender wore a grin and his good-natured sister had an even bigger one. Su, as expected, was a host to the biggest smile of all, showing all her teeth, but even Lin, normally stoic and serious, managed to smile more than the Fire Nation princess had. 

It was a photo taken at the last time they had all seen each other, last year, when Izumi was eighteen and it was the annual celebration of the day Team Avatar defeated Fire Lord Ozai and ended the Hundred Year War. It celebrated a day when they had their legacy carved in stone and when her father was pronounced Fire Lord not too soon after. When Aang and Katara fell in love for real and Toph started a metalbending academy and Suki became Zuko's bodyguard and Sokka a councilman. 

And then, some twenty years later, Bumi was born, and year later Izumi, and then Kya, and so on and so forth, and as she grew older, the Princess often wondered what it would be like to be... normal. 

An odd question to ask, she was sure, because, after all, didn't everyone want to be a Princess? And a daughter of someone who helped save the world, none the less, not to mention heir to the throne. She should have been grateful, she should have been glad that one day she would be ruling the Fire Nation alongside legions of prior rulers. She would be one of the only female ones as well. 

Yet Izumi wasn't ready and she wasn't prepared and she wasn't sure she even wanted to be Fire Lord someday. No one would listen to someone like her, so shy and quiet and serious. No one would listen to a girl in glasses too small for her own body. 

No one would listen to a Fire Lord who couldn't even Firebend. 

Izumi turned away from the photo and dropped onto her bed. She was alone in the palace at the moment, as both her mother and father had been called away to discuss something private. This also meant she was free to do as she wished, but had nothing to do in the first place, so stayed in her room instead. 

She found herself wishing to talk to someone, anyone at all, or just to smile or have something to smile at. It would be nice if she lived closer to Air Temple Island instead of an entire nation away. It would be nice if she could see Bumi and Kya, who were close to her age, instead of spending her time talking to Ty Lee or attempting to muster even a spark of fire in her fingertips.

The door to her room opened abruptly and she turned, standing up and preparing for the worst. She always found it hard to optimize about things when so many things could go wrong the next second. Why get your hopes up, she figured, if they could just come crashing down at any moment?