Chapter 1: Prologue

It was a cold, very early morning in the fire nation capitol. The darkness and the distant sound of birds waking up and starting their day before dawn arose did nothing to arouse the other fire nation folk who were still soundly asleep. Everyone except one person.

A young girl stumbled through a dark alleyway and through some buildings pitifully, slowly, dragging her feet against the gravel. She staggered more pathetically with each step, her eyes in the dark frantically searching around, though what is uncertain except to her. Her eyes brimmed with tears, fresh as though whatever the cause of them was recent and still affected.

She lost her balance with a whimper and collapsed to her knees. She lowered her head until her forehead kissed the concrete path below her. Her body seemed to give in on itself, wanting to lie down instead of attempting to stand up straight. She was utterly exhausted. Her breaths came out in slow, shaky wheezes; breathed as if her life was on the line. A small amount of time passed before she decided to hall herself up to her feet and staggering out the alleyway onto the paved road between some houses and the vacant merchant stands. No longer clouded by fear, now there was little life to be seen behind her eyes. Barely even dawn and alone...she took a shaky breath and looked both ways to see if anyone was around, shrinking back against the alley's wall just in case.

Moments passed. Nothing but the sound of the chirping birds awakening in the trees were her only proof that life existed in this empty environment at the moment. Sniffling, she clutched her hands to her chest and trembled, almost ready to collapse again, whether it be out of exhaustion or fear. She started crossing the street. However, amidst her staggering she did not feel nor listen to the ground rumbling towards her left over her whimpers of despair.

The sound of hooves was all she was able to notice (though too late) before something nearly trampled over her. Once realizing the situation, she made a dive for the side. All that came from her mouth was a yelp as her breath was ejected out of her body from landing roughly on the pavement. She bothered to notice or care when the carriage responsible slowed to an abrupt halt by the sound of a woman's yell.

The event barely even registered with her, nor did the sound of footsteps that approached her from behind. Ears ringing from adrenaline, all she could feel was numbness. Glassy eyes listless only followed the sound of the footsteps once they were practically next to her. As she tried tucking her arms against her stomach, she winched at the apparent bruising that would appear on her elbows later. A bright light shone against her eyes, her eyes squinting in response to the sudden onslaught of light after wandering in the dark for some time.

"Are you alright?" The figure asked, and only then the girl was able to identify the voice belonging to an older woman. Once her eyes adjusted, she managed to get a good look at their appearance.

She was beautiful, the girl thought, as though a spirit had taken mercy on her and come down to greet her. Her pale skin illuminated by the lamp she held up, the faint rays of dawn filtered over the horizon and graced her soft features. Her black, back-length black had its own beautiful shine, her appearance complemented by her radiant golden eyes that held concern towards the child. The girl knew that her own eyes could not compare and suddenly felt shy looking at her.

"Have you been hurt?" The woman pleaded with deep concern, her voice wavering with worry for the poor girl, who didn't say anything in response except to fidget her messy, semi-wavy black hair that shielded half her face and the tear stains that were fresh.

The woman slowly brought a hand up, which made the young girl flinch. The woman's eyebrows furrowed with sympathy. "I'm sorry. I will not hurt you, and I can see that you are afraid. I just want to see your face." The girl would've been frightened in any other situation and with someone else, but the soothing, motherly concern that was foreign to her comforted her.

She continued to stare at the gentlewoman as best as she could through her eyelashes while her face remained fixed towards the ground. Again, the woman brought a hand up towards her face, this time much slower to ensure that she does not be frightened by the suddenness. The girl felt a rush of calm for the first time that night once the hand cupped her cheek, slowly soothing it.

The older of the two examined the younger's face as she leaned into the palm of her hand. Then, she took out a small handkerchief from inside her robe, dabbed her tongue on the tip of it, and placed it against a small cut still bleeding on the girl's cheek right below her eye. The young girl squirmed in protest at the feeling of her cheek stinging by the sudden contact, but continued to say nothing.

The woman immediately took notice of the grime, tear tracks and…soot…that covered the girl's face, as well as her clothes as well, and the woman only seemed to grow more concerned the more she continued to clear the young girl's face of the dirt.

Her maternal instincts kicked in. She gently wiped away the blood stains on the olive-eyed girl's cheek gently. "You shouldn't be wandering the streets like this at this time...what are you doing out here when you should be home with your family?" She asked kindly.

Suddenly, the little one froze, which the woman raised her eyebrows upon immediately noticing and awaited an answer. The only response she got, however, was the young girl looking down at her knees, and already she feared for the worst. This prompted her to look around as if expecting any danger to show up and knew she would be ready to take the child and bolt if necessary. Her lamp only did so much to illuminate the area around her, but she was still able to see the small body starting to shake.

A hiccup came from the girl's mouth…which was immediately followed with more tears. She can feel the girl trembling as she cupped the girl's cheek with her free hand once more, soothing it as she felt the girl choke on a few breaths. The sobbings only increased; the woman could feel the tears roll from the girls eyes and trail over her own knuckles, and she immediately could infer what had went on not that long ago with her.

Golden, softened eyes filled with empathy were watering with her own tears. Without giving it much thought and only relying on her own motherly instincts, she gently reached for the girl and tugged her towards herself. The girl, once realizing what was happening, felt her impulse control waver to act out and felt no shame launching herself into the arms of a woman she had just met. The woman lamented the pain she must be feeling, but also how, even though she sobbed into her chest, the child's tears soaking into her robe, the feeling of her being in her arms was natural. As though she was meant to find her. The woman slowly started to rock the girl back and forth, whispering sweet nothingness to them as a means of comfort, gently stroking the girl's hair. Despite only just meeting this child, her heart already aches for her.

She continued to sit on the side of the road with the girl and the muffled sounds of crying were all that could be faintly heard echoing down the road, and yet nobody managed to hear any of the commotion. The fire nation capitol continued to slumber on. The woman did not know how long she sat there and let the girl cry in her arms, but eventually the sobbing died down until the faint sound of sniffles replaced them. The woman felt the small body sinking more into her arms and knew that the child was completely exhausted.

Footsteps approached towards her, the carriage driver apparently, who asked with concern, "Is everything all right, Lady Ursa?"

Olive eyes widened with shock upon hearing those words, a small gasp escaping her body. Ursa, the woman apparently who had found her, quietly shushed the man and gently shooed him away. The girl tried to wiggle out of her arms, fully aware of this woman's status to the fire nation, and felt too dirty in comparison. But Ursa's arms held firm; gentle, not entrapping her, but as a means to reassure her that she was not bothered by any of this.

"I'm sorry to hear of your family," Ursa spoke softly, lifting the girls chin up so she could see her face. Brushing a strand of hair and tucking it behind the girl's ear, she said softly, "You're far too young to be in tears like this." Ursa then immediately wondered the danger the girl went through, and decided to act fast. "You're coming with me. You will not be without shelter to stay tonight."

The girl felt her mind do a double-take, staring at her and entranced by the warmth of her smile, her eyes crinkled with sympathy. It was then she noticed the massive tear stain that stained the aristocratic robes and felt shame and inadequacy once again. Still, she could not find any words to say; she could feel in her body that if she tried talking she would not be able to get any words out, but would only start crying once more.

Suddenly the girl felt herself being swooped up in the comfort of Ursa's arms. She was so warm, and it was so cold out…she immediately felt the exhaustion hit her once Ursa carried her to the carriage, stepped inside, and closed the door to it. She barely registered what she said next, but she only assumed she was speaking to the coachman, because not soon after she felt the wagon rumble and move. Her being swept away by the Lady of the fire nation meant nothing to the girl at the moment; she felt as though she had been graced by the presence of a spirit of mercy.

During the ride, the coachman was racking his brain wondering why the queen would allow such a small peasant child in her carriage and take her to the palace. He sighed and leaned back and cracked the whip to urge the ostrich horses on. He commented, "Firelord Azulon is not going to take too kindly to having a random child in the palace, your majesty."

Ursa, who had heard, unbeknownst to the coachman, furrowed her brows. She sighed softly to herself. 'I don't care what he will say…she will not be alone. Not at such a young age.' She looked down at the girl snuggled in her arms who looked ready to drift off. She immediately noticed upon further inspection that this girl was no older than her son; she smiled a little.

Perhaps she would be friends with him, she thought softly and stroked the girl's hair.

"May I ask what is your name, my dear?"

The girl smiled and felt her heart flutter, her eyes still closed, no longer able to keep them open from exhaustion that was pulling her under. Before she drifted off to slumber, she managed to respond to Ursa's question,

"…Akemi." She muttered before falling asleep.

Ursa stared down at her, still smiling. "A beautiful name." She commented, even though she knew the girl was unconscious. She then looked out the window once noticing the sun started to come up over the horizon. She wondered what would happen next, especially if she was going to convince her husband to allow her to keep the child given that she felt enormous pity for them.

The carriage carted away towards the palace. Meanwhile, unknown to her, she had missed seeing a trail smoke rising in the far distance near the edge of the walls of the fire nation capitol.