End of the Beginning

Chapter 16

"What are you-" He then suddenly pulled me away from the group. I was confused as to why he wanted us to be alone, so after a couple of minutes of walking in the forest I stopped him,"Zuko what's going on?" I asked.

He pulled out a letter from his robe and held it out,"I got this from Azula last night,"

I took the letter in my hands, hesitant to open it. I looked up to Zuko who just nodded.

My dearest Ikem, it's taken me a long time to admit it, but you were right. I belong with you, and nothing is worth this pain. My one consolations is our son Zuko. When I look into his eyes, it's as if I'm looking into yours. My thoughts are with you always. Love, Ursa.

"Our son,"

I closed the letter quickly, snapping my neck to face Zuko. The shock I felt on my face was incomparable to anything I had experienced in while.

"Zuko," I said looking back down at the folded letter,"Does this mean,,,?"

Zuko nodded once more, sighing and leaning against the tree.

"I think this is why Ozai hated me so much," I tilted my head, observing him. It was like a shimmer of light had shined upon Zuko. He seemed happy about this. All it took was one letter for Zuko to even stop calling Ozai his father.

"I don't know Zuko," I said unsure,"What is this supposed to mean?"

"What else? That I can be free from the pain and hatred I've faced my entire life in the palace," Zuko said, taking my hand,"Maybe then you can finally feel at home with me,"

"Zuko, can you even hear yourself right now?" I asked him who just looked at me with wishful eyes.

"I don't want you to live a trapped life in the palace just because you love me. Maybe with this, things can change and I don't have to be bound to my responsibilities to uphold the world on behalf of the Fire Nation," It felt like he didn't want me to live like his mother. Considering she probably lived a horrible life in the palace because of Ozai. But I wasn't his mother,"We can live like we we're in Ba Sing Se,"

"Zuko," I said, putting my hand on his cheek,"I am free. I chose to stay by your side because I love you. That's my choice,"

"What if this wasn't the life I was meant to live?" Zuko asked, placing his hand over mine.

"If you think this isn't the life you were destined to live then I'll support you," I replied.

Zuko gave a small smile, kissing me deeply. It made me realize just how serious he was about this. Which made needing to find his mother all the more important, we needed answers. However, I was still unsure about the letter. Something just seemed wrong. Maybe, Zuko had been wishing for this kind of excuse to escape the responsibilities of the royal family for a while now.

"But even then, if your not meant to be Fire Lord then who is?" I asked, staring into his eyes.

He looked down, not knowing an answer,"I really think we should talk to Aang about this," I said.

"Alright," Zuko said tightly holding my hand. He really wants this, and that worried me. It worried me because if it meant he could heal the scars of his past then I wanted to help him. But what did that mean for the world?

We went back to camp, practically pulling Aang away while he was still half asleep. The three of us made our way over to a cliff and sat down looking onto the horizon.

"What's all this about?" Aang said to me, noticing I held a bit of a worried look on my face.

"You need to read this Aang," I said as Zuko handed over the letter to him.