The first time he saw her was in court, when he accepted the draft that would land him right in the middle of an Earth Kingdom military zone. The Fire Lord knelt on his throne, with the cushion his elder son would have sat on had he not been fighting empty on his right. To his left sat his younger son, and to his left his wife, the Princess Ursa, both of them barely twenty – three years older than he. Li had a moment to stare before Azulon accepted the next scroll from the enlister of the Fire Nation boy's camp and opened it. As his monotone voice started reading, he pressed his forehead against the cool tile floor of the throne room and listened carefully, mouthing the words he already knew by heart.

"Li, from the province of Shi Jung, you have been listed as available for draft in the Fire Nation army, with exceptional skills with the sword. Should you accept this draft, you will follow orders without question, you will show honorable behavior on and off the battlefield, and you will give your life without fear for the glory and power of your nation. Do you accept these terms, on the basis that doing so, there is no withdrawing the binding contract that they provide?"

Li lifted his head and looked the Fire Lord in the eye, cold gray against fiery gold, and nodded. More rituals, more words we all already know. "I accept the terms gladly, My Lord."

Azulon nodded and rolled the scroll up again, holding it over the flickering flames for Li to collect. The boy stood and walked carefully to the throne, making sure he kept his body bent forward deferentially. He gritted his teeth as he extended his hand to the flames, knowing that any normal boy going into the army would be able to bend them around the skin harmlessly. To his surprise, the flames flickered down slightly, and Li resisted the urge to look around to see who had bent them, instead taking the scroll and bowing low to the Fire Lord, his hand unscathed.

As he walked to the side of the throne room, towards the door blanketed in shadows that led out into the barracks, he finally let himself peer around the room. The other boys from the camp showed no sign of helping him, nor did he expect them to – they were all amazingly practiced at ignoring him and his prodigious talents. Azulon wouldn't have – he had been the one to hold them over the flames in the first place. One look at Ozai's cool, hard expression fixed stonily on the back wall told Li that it wasn't the Prince who had helped him. Finally, Li's eyes rested on the Princess.

Her warm gold eyes were fixed on the back wall like her husband, her face carefully calm and expressionless. But as if sensing his eyes on her, a small smile flicked at the corner of her lips, a tiny acknowledgement, though her eyes didn't so much as twitch in his direction.

A moment later, Li pushed his way through the door, feeling the rush of cold air and what could only be described as a masculine scent, a smile tempting his own mouth. He may be orphaned, one of hundreds to enlist in the army as a source of food and occupation when they were kicked out of the orphanage when they became too old, but the Princess had made sure he didn't get burned doing it. It was a small, insignificant thing, but when she smiled, she was beautiful. If nothing else in the capital, she was worth fighting to protect.