ATLA: Zuko f.f Book 4

Chapter 1: Peasent, but Royal

I loved him. But, as time went on, he began to change. The once calm and hard working Raza, turned into an angry jealous and spiteful monster. We have been married for about 3 months now, and my husband has turned into the complete opposite of what I originally got myself into. His mother, Suma, told Raza about his royal blood line about a month after our wedding and ever since, he's become obsessed with getting revenge on his father and his family. He believes he is the rightful heir to the throne.

"Raza, my love, please. Forget about it. You've lived without them for 17 years. We'll be fine without the wealth. We just need each other.", I said to my husband.

"Shei (sh-ay), you don't understand. You've never been lied to about your entire life. My father made my mother believe he'd take care of her. He laid with her and left me and her completely alone. He had the wealth to take care of another child! He just decided I was filth. Didn't even give my mom some money for food!", he yelled.

"It's not healthy. It's not good for you or for me or for our relationship in general. You don't know how badly this can go Raza. You have these crazy ideas about wanting to get your revenge. When you should be focusing on working to provide for us and our family.", I answered.

     He ignored my comment and breathed heavily through his nose. I felt as if I've annoyed him enough  and looked down with my eyes closed. The Fire Nation has been peaceful and happy since Lord Zuko had taken over. He's only 18 years old and is doing a better job than his great grandfather, grandfather, and father ever have. He's come from a troubled life, yet turned out amazing.

     I admire Lord Zuko. He's helped the Avatar and sided with his "Traitor" of an uncle. The day Zuko got his scar, was one of the saddest moments that the Fire Nation had witnessed. So many people were against it, yet nobody had the courage to say anything. I was 12, and I remember standing in the crowd, watching the evil Ozai permanently scar his son's face. It was heartbreaking. The man has been through so much. Raza's selfishness is going to drive him to lose his mind about this, but I'm not so sure he'd ever go through with something so big.

     He speaks about overthrowing Lord Zuko and claiming his rightful position as Fire lord. He claims to be doing it for me and his mother, but I feel as if he's doing it for himself. I know he is.

     Today, there was a fire festival out in the upper side of the town. Lord Zuko would be there with his wife Mei. They're newly weds as well. It would be the first time they'd be out in public as a royal couple, which a lot of people wanted to see. The Fire Festival was great to take kids to. There was magic and fire shows and plays. There was amazing food and dancing! It was a great thing to be around, the people of the Fire Nation looked forward to this festival all year. It was the only time you could really be yourself. Now that Lord Zuko was in charge, things would be a lot freer; a lot more peaceful.

The Fire Festival

     Fireworks lit up the sky. It was beautiful. Raza was to my left. I smiled and pointed up at the sky with excitement. When I looked to my left, Raza's face expression was lifeless. No excitement whatsoever to be there. My smile, turned into a frown.

"Hey, what's on your mind. Let's enjoy this.", I suggested.

     He closed his eyes and shook his head. I turned and grabbed his face gently turning it toward my direction. He looked down at me.

"Please. Let's just enjoy this night."

     He grabbed my wrists gently and put my hands down and began to walk off. He disappeared into the crowd and I lost him. A while later I began to look for him, I wanted to get back in order to see the Fire Lord and his queen. I headed back home and the house was completely empty and dark.