A Match of Ice and Fire

Chapter 1: Zuko

It's been three years since I was last here, admittely I'd been obsessed with capturing Aang by any means nessecary, so sight-seeing wasn't really top of my agenda. There's also the small fact, I'd nearly been assinated by pirates at the time  and frozen to death on the icey tundra. I can't help but grimance at those years. So much has changed.

Shards of diamoud-ice rise from a sea of sapphire. I still can't quite comprend the North Poles beauty. Closing my eyes in  the sparkling morning light, I Inhale the pure crisp scent of The North...

Stretching on the deck of the royal vessel, i remove my overobe and start my train routine. Beginning with some basic fire-breathing exercises, I try to clear my mind.

Sleep elluded me last night and the thoughts that kept me up seemed to have followed me into the morning.
I have no reason for my reservations. The fire sages ordained the match. They called it 'an alliance to mark the mending of the 100 year war, celebrating a new era of peace'. Katara approved the decision. She thinks it will mean a lot to waterbenders from both tribes. Even Aang believes the arrangement could restore balance to the nations and He's never been wrong about the spirity stuff before. They all support it, 'so long as I'm ready to get married,' which is what Aang always seems to prefix his opion with. And I am. I'm the firelord, it's to be expected.

Now, me and Mai are over I have to choose a bride. There was a time where I would have done anything to make her my Fire Lady, but we were on different paths. Mai made it clear this summer she didn't want to be defined by me, which, being the Firelords wife she inevitably would be. As much as Mai might have loved me, she couldn't bare to be locked into another relationship like that; like she'd been with her father as the Omarsu guvnor and with my sister, trapped under her tryanny. And then under all the scrutiny of being the Firelord's girlfriend... it was too much.

Mai wanted freedom to do what she wanted for a change. So we broke up, and she went travelling... The last I heard, she was visiting Ty-lee on koyishi Island. She seems... Happy, for once, which is never a word I thought I'd use to describe Mai. But she is. And i'm happy for her. I tell myself that as I blast a five foot wide fire ball over the prow, melting off the railing.

"You seem distracted, newphew..."

I can't help but smile. "How could you tell..." I fire another this time with a kick.

Uncle iroh doesn't look up from his game of Pishow with the deckhand.
"Marriage is no small thing, Zuko. You are entitled to feel anxious. After all, you haven't even seen this Princess yet."

"Chieftan Arnook sent me multiple paintings, I know what she looks like." Dark brown rolling hair, crystal clear sapphire eyes... If princess Yue looked half as beautiful as her cousin, it's no wonder sokka fell so hard for her. The portrait of Princess Kaya Arnook of the Northern Watertribe is...serene.

"Paintings can be deceiving..." iroh comments, cryptic as ever.

Turning my back on my uncle, I give way to the racing rhyme of my fire bending. "You know, i don't care what she looks like, uncle."

"And you don't care about what she's like as a person?" Iroh finishes destroying the deckhand at pishow and ends the game, collecting a siezable amout of coin for his winnings.

I roll eyes, knowing full well he can't see.

"How do you know you will even love this girl?" Iroh asks.

I fire round after round of molten flames. "How many times do I have
to tell you uncle, I don't have to!" I keep up the assault, letting the heat pour over my face. "It's an arrange marriage, I don't expect too."

"And her? What if she wants love?"

Suddenly, my old wound from Azula's lightning strike twinges. I'm forced to stop. Hugging my Abodmen and trying to surpress the pain. Iroh is at my side in secounds.

"-I'm fine!" I blurt before he can ask.

"Perhaps you should sit a while..." Iroh suggests, gently handing me a robe and guiding me to one of the upturned crates  around his pishow table.

I ease myself onto the stool as lroh watches.

"I am sorry." He apologises out of nowhere. "But, Marriage is for life. Please understand, nephew. I just want to make sure you're making the right choices for the right reasons, and not rushing into anything because of other... emotions."

'Mai.' Is the unspoken name between us.

I shake my head, taking my hand in his. "I know, uncle, and I am. Making the right decision that is." I add hastily. "This is what is expected of me as Firelord. After all my father was engaged to be married to my mother at fourteen." At that, Iroh grimances. On reflection, it's probably not the best example to use. My uncle opens his mouth to say somthing but I interceed him confidently. "I'm ready to do the right thing for my nation. I want to restore honnor to our family." I add determined, "and I want to marry princess Kaya Arnook of the Northern Watertribe."