The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 1

"Hey, wait up!" I yelled as I sprinted through the garden, trying to keep up with Zuko. Fire Nation clothes were always uncomfortable for me, but I didn't exactly get a choice-though, if I did, I would continue wearing my clothes from the Water Tribe I came from. Zuko continued running, laughing at me.

"Keep up, Saki! Don't be so slow!" He yelled behind him. The royal gardeners looked at us with both amusement and frustration. We were a twelve-year-old and an eleven-year-old running around chasing after each other like a couple of six-year-olds, occasionally bursting through bushes and climbing on trees and trampling flowers. This was common in the palace: the prince of the Fire Nation and the orphan from the Northern Water Tribe. Zuko's mother, Ursa, was close friends with my parents, who'd raised me until my father's death three years ago. When she heard of his death, she'd asked me if I wanted to stay with her here in the palace. I found it strange, at first, that woman I'd never even heard of - who happened to be royalty - wanted to take me in. But then I thought about it: Dad was born in the Fire Nation, and this could give me a chance to know what his life was like before he left to be with my mom.

I stopped and looked around, seeing that fallen far behind. I couldn't see Zuko, or anyone else for that matter. This was a part of the garden that I wasn't familiar with. "Zuko?" I called out, only to be answered by nothingness. I walked slowly through to foreign garden, searching for something - anything - that looked familiar. This section was beautiful. I was surrounded by Panda Lilies and Snapdragons. In the pond were baby turtleducks, all swimming after their mother. The sight of the happy family made me smile-and hurt, just a little. I sat on my knees by the pond, smiling faintly.

In my head, I tried to picture my own mother, but I couldn't. I never knew my mother; she died only a few hours after my birth. Every time I tried to imagine what she looked like, I always pictured the women from my tribe that assisted my father, or Queen Ursa. She was the closest thing to a mother I've ever had. People looked down on me because of it, too. Almost everyone I met-most of them being royals, or just of high importance-said to me, "The Queen was silly to adopt a waterbender; you don't belong in the Fire Nation or the royal palace," or sometimes, "Queen Ursa is so generous to have taken you in. Without her, you'd be nothing." It got extremely irritating, extremely fast.

I knelt down by the pond, slowly dipping my hand into the water. The turtleducks swam towards me, quacking at me. I giggled lightly, watching as the water moved with them. A voice echoed through the garden, catching my attention. Curious, I followed the sound to listen in.

I know, I'm not supposed to listen in on private conversations, but I couldn't help myself. I hid behind a bush, peeking through the leaves and twigs.

"....nothing but trouble. She needs to go, Your Majesty," a man groaned in frustration. I couldn't see his face, but I recognized that tone anywhere. It was Lee, the gardener that always found a reason to yell at me. "You won't even believe that damage she's done to my beautiful Panda Lilies!"

Ursa only chuckled. "She's a child, Lee. She can't help it."

"She doesn't belong here!" He shouted, then recoiled, lowering his voice. "My apologies, Your Highness. But, you must understand, she isn't your child-she isn't a part of the royal family."

"So long as I and my children live in this palace, so shall she," she spoke sternly to him. "I have taken her in, therefore she is mine just as much as Zuko and Azula." She picked a flower from the bush that hid me, and I felt her looking directly at me. "This will no longer be a concern of yours. Do you understand?" Lee nodded, muttering something under his breath as he left.

I turned my back to the bush, only to find myself staring at a robe of red. "Do you have business here?" A voice asked me. I looked up to discover that the voice belonged to Fire Lord Azulon, the father of Ozai.

"N-no," I shook my head and stood up, brushing myself off. "No, Firelord Azulon, I don't." He stared down at me condescendingly, his eyes peering into me.

"Then it would be best that you leave," he said it more as a command than a suggestion, "lest Ursa find out you spied on her." I nodded, bowing my head respectively before running off. I've never been one to run away from people, but the most of the royal family terrified me. No matter how fast I ran through the garden, I still felt like Azulon was staring at me; and, to make matters worse, I couldn't stop Lee's words from replaying in my head.

Seemingly out of nowhere, I'd collided with somebody. Before I could fall, the person's hands grabbed me tightly by my forearms. "Saki!" Zuko was breathing heavily. "Open your eyes, Saki! Where did you go? I was looking for you!" I didn't even realize that my eyes were closed-had they been like that the whole time I was running? I opened my eyes and looked at the boy in front of me, who was laughing between deep breaths.

"Where was I?" I pushed him away, trying my best to make my happy atmosphere seem convincing with a breathy laugh. "Where were on Earth were you, Zuko?"

"I hid in a bush and watched you run around looking for me," he grinned, "but then you didn't come back and I got worried." He grabbed my wrist and ran towards the pond that I'd gone to not too long before. "C'mon, I asked Mang to get us a snack." I didn't answer. I only followed him, replaying what I'd heard. Before I knew it, Zuko sat me down under a tree by the pond. He was saying something, but I couldn't focus. Everything sounded as if I was underwater, and everything happened in a blur. They're going to get rid of me, I kept thinking. They'll force Ursa to banish me.

"Saki. Saki!" Zuko raised his voice to get my attention. "Why aren't you eating?" I looked down at my hands to find a small orange. When did this get there? To smooth over the uneasiness, I began to peel the orange. Zuko, however, struggled to peel the orange.

"Do you need help?" I giggled. Zuko shook his head, determined to do it on his own. I laughed as his irritation grew, his face turning a light shade of red. "Here, let me help."

"No, I've got it," he grunted, still struggling to peel his snack. Spirits, he was so stubborn.

"No you don't," I laughed, having already eaten half of mine. "Give it here." I placed my own orange on my lap before taking his, and peeling it with no trouble at all. His face was a new shade of red. He quickly took the orange from my hands as I continued to giggle.

"Young Saki," Mang, a personal servant to the Fire Lady, interrupted in her monotone voice. "Fire Lady Ursa has requested to see you." As soon as I stood up, Zuko did as well. "My apologies, Prince Zuko," she said with a bow of her head, "but this is solely for Saki." Zuko looked offended, as if he was supposed to go everywhere I went.

"I'll be back soon," I said to him, nodding my head to reassure him. "I'll tell you everything later." He nodded, silently holding to my promise.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep that promise.