Chapter Text
“Ameera! Dinner, child!”
Ameera heard the call good and well - but she wasn’t exactly listening. No, she was far too busy concentrating on the quietly flickering fire that sat firmly in her palms, noticing that something was slightly…off. She’d firebended many a time before - in fact, she usually did it quite well, but this flame just wasn’t right.
And she couldn’t place why.
In fact, now she was desperately racking her brain, trying to figure out just how long this had been going on for, and whether it really had been going unnoticed. Tonight, her flame was dull - and now, thinking back on it, even at her strongest, her flames were always relatively smaller than both Zuko’s and Azula’s in comparison. At the time she'd put it down to the Fire Nation royal blood that coursed through the siblings’ veins - but now she wasn’t so sure.
As she sat there, cross legged on her soft bedroom rug, Ameera tried to comprehend why she’d be so grossly different. Why couldn’t she just…be the same as everyone else? Why couldn’t she be as powerful, as great? Why was her flame so dim?
Growing up, Ameera was always a little different. She tended to keep quiet, and to keep herself to herself, but at the same time, wasn’t unwelcome. She was softly spoken, witty, gentle - but my goodness, did she have a temper. And as she hit puberty, the more sure in herself she became, the more unsure her mother was about the type of woman her daughter would grow into. So she was very protective over her daughter before she died, and coached her to be weary of everyone around her.
But Ameera was naive, and saw no real reason to uphold that level of cautiousness.
Well, until now.
“Ameera!” came her Grandmother Lo’s impatient snap as she poked her head around the bedroom door. Ameera rolled her eyes and finally looked up with a soft sigh. “Did you not hear us calling you?”
“Course I heard you - you and Grandmother Li say everything in tandem, it’s impossible to miss,” Ameera hummed quietly as she slowly stood to her feet.
“Yes yes, very smart, Ameera. Come quickly - they are waiting on you to begin dinner in the dining hall,” her frail Grandmother Lo told her briskly. Ameera sucked in her cheeks and nodded, checking her reflection in the mirror one more time before following her grandmother out of her bedroom quarters and down the polished dark floors of the palace hallways. “You know better than to keep the Firelord’s family waiting, Ameera. You’ve been here long enough,” Grandmother Lo murmured under her breath as they briskly made their way towards the dining hall.
“I know, Grandmother,” Ameera sighed ashamedly, her pale cheeks tinging red as her long, tousled wavy black hair fell over her face. “I’m sorry.”
“What were you doing all that time?” Grandmother Lo hissed.
“Well…you know…just practicing my bending,” Ameera lied, biting down on both her lips.
Then she gulped slightly.
“I noticed something with my bending power, Grandmother.”
Grandmother Lo stopped walking and turned to face her expectantly, the slight tremble in her daughter’s voice sending warning signals in her head. “My fire power is low. Lower than anyone I have ever met both inside this Nation and out. I thought it would change with age, but it never has. Now…well, I’m worried. It’s like whenever I try and use it, something within me just restricts me from doing any more, you know?” To Ameera’s surprise, Grandmother Lo simply fell silent and nodded, just as they approached the grand hall’s double doors.
So Ameera tried to further expand on her concerns.
“I think something is wrong-”
“You are not to tell anyone what you just told me, Ameera,” Grandmother Lo suddenly spoke out, both her frail hands gripping onto Ameera’s slim shoulders desperately whilst her tired eyes looked dead into Ameera’s bottle green ones. She blinked a few times in surprise but nodded, not even wanting to ask, as Grandmother Lo sighed and fixed her hair for her. “Such a pretty girl you are. Just like your mother,” she murmured under her breath a little sadly. Ameera smiled weakly and shrugged. “Now, you go inside. Sit there and behave.”
About ten minutes later, Ameera chewed the inside of her cheek as she poked at her bowl of spicy noodles unenthusiastically with her chopsticks, whilst simultaneously trying to decipher what Zuko wanted from the way he was looking her up and down from across the table. His steely eyes were trained on hers and she was feeling a little uncomfortable by his never-ending stern gaze.
She shot him a swift glare to stop, but he didn’t, he just looked even more concerned than before.
So Ameera ‘accidentally’ dropped her chopstick.
“Oops, my apologies,” she hummed out to the room in a rush, before slipping beneath the table and tugging on the hem of Zuko’s pants. His own eyes widened as he poked his head beneath the table too. “Z! Quit staring at me!” Ameera hissed once they were face to face.
“Hey! I can’t help you being beautiful,” Zuko smirked back cheekily, leading Ameera to roll her feline-like eyes again. “I’m kidding.”
“Ouch?” Ameera frowned.
“No, I mean that’s not entirely why I’m staring at you,” Zuko corrected himself with an obvious hiss. His face softened slightly as his gaze flickered across her face, half hidden in the shadows of the table. “You look kinda sad today. Are you…okay?”
“I’m…fine,” Ameera lied quietly through gritted teeth. “Now would you stop drawing attention to me!”
“You’re the one that slipped underneath the table about three minutes ago to get a damn chopstick,” Zuko scoffed back.
“Um…are you lovebirds quite finished down there?” came Azula’s smooth drawl from above the table. Ameera’s eyes widened and she crawled back to her seat with the chopsticks twirled in her slender fingers.
“Ta daaa! Found it!” she coughed lightly, narrowly avoiding everyone’s eye contact.
“So, how is the relationship going with you both?” Uncle Iroh asked heartily as he poured himself another cup of jasmine tea. “The Fire Nation’s hottest couple - if you do excuse the pun.” Ameera’s cheeks flushed red whilst Zuko slammed his hand over his face in embarrassment.
“Uncle…that’s so embarrassing,” he grumbled behind his palm.
“Necessary question, though. Have you both set a date for the wedding?” Firelord Ozai asked calmly, raising a dark brow as he watched their faces contort in discomfort. Ameera’s shoulders fell and her hands started to quiver from where she was gripping her spoon.
“Um…with all due respect sir, I still feel too young for that,” she reminded him uncomfortably. “Is this really the age I’m required to marry?”
“No, but it doesn’t mean a date cannot be set as we wait for you to turn of age,” Ozai spoke slowly and deliberately, his menacing stare locking deep into hers, almost as if he was silently daring her to argue back. “We wouldn’t have arranged for you both to be married if we didn’t expect a wedding.”
“Oh! And then babies. Lots of babies - forget believing in love, I plan to be a cool Aunt who teach them how to fight,” Azula spoke with a cocky little laugh added at the end, taking a sip of her tea.
But whilst everyone seemed keen on the idea, Ameera’s mouth went suddenly dry.
“E-excuse me. I am no longer hungry,” she smiled falsely - before scurrying out of the room as fast as her slippered feet would take her. Her hair fell over her face as she ran blindly onto the closest balcony, attempting to regulate her breathing as the coolness of the air enveloped her. Whilst she adored Zuko, the idea of marrying anyone at this age was far too random, far too sudden and, in some ways, far too forced for her liking. She’d never ever agreed to this, she never agreed to any of this - and now her body was in fight or flight mode.
And she chose flight-
“‘Meera! Wait!” came the raspy voice of somebody that she knew and somewhat loved. Ameera sniffed and dabbed beneath her eyes before turning round to face him - to then be met with nothing but Zuko’s soft lips without warning. It wasn’t unwelcome - Ameera’s eyes widened in mild surprise at first, but her hands quickly slipped up to his cheeks as her eyes fluttered shut, feeling herself melt into it.
And then he broke apart from her again, panting slightly.
“Listen, I know arranged marriages suck, but as far as they go…you’re a pretty awesome person to be engaged to,” Zuko murmured softly, his forehead pressed against hers.
“Thanks,” Ameera sniffed back with a little smile. “And I’m not upset at the fact that it’s you I’m engaged to. It’s just that…well, your father can be pretty intense sometimes.”
“Don’t I know it,” Zuko sighed lowly, joining her at the balcony. Ameera smiled slightly and leant over it too. “But guess what?! Today, he let me in on an incredible opportunity. Tomorrow, he wants me to join him at his war meeting for the first time. He wants to show me what life could be like as a Firelord to…’prepare me for my future’.”
“Oh! That’s pretty exciting,” Ameera nudged him with a coy smile of understanding. “Make sure you take lots of notes. Our children will need to know what to do too, one day.” Zuko shook his head playfully and pinched the bridge of his nose in thought.
“Are we really gonna allow my sister to be anywhere near our kids?” he grumbled into his palms as he smothered them over his face.
“No!” Ameera scoffed before he could even finish the question properly. “Hate to break it to you Z, but your sister is insane.” Zuko threw his head back and burst out laughing, as Ameera giggled back and leant her own head on his shoulder comfortably.
And there they stood, looking onto the distance of the Fire Nation, the little streets and homes twinkling under the moonlight.
Little did they know it would be the last time for a good few years.
…
The next day, Ameera ran her tongue over her teeth as she attempted to fire bend again, still confused as to why her flames were so mediocre in comparison to everyone. Her legs were crossed and her breathing was focussed, her eyes were barely blinking. She was this close to giving up - and then she heard a knock at her door.
She didn't even need to turn around before the voice swept through the silence.
“You’re not coming?” came Azula’s trilling voice from outside, in the hallway. Ameera rolled her eyes and threw her head back.
“Azula! Please,” she grumbled, running her fingers through her hair as Azula stepped through into her quarters. “I don’t want to deal with the cryptic codes today. I’m stressed enough. So whatever you’re trying to sneakily say, just say it-”
“I just wanted to know if you were planning to go and see your beloved future husband fight his father?” Azula trilled confidently, leaning up against Ameera’s bedroom pillar.
The wind was knocked out of Ameera’s sails, and her face hardened.
“What? What do you mean?”
“I mean your beloved boyfriend is about to get his butt whooped by our father. He decided to speak out of turn in the big war meeting this afternoon, and Dad definitely wasn’t happy about it. So naturally, he challenged him to an Agni Kai and that’s about to take place right now,” Azula trilled pleasantly, as if this was nothing but entertainment to her. “I mean if you ask me, he should’ve just minded his business.”
And with that, she skipped off with a hum.
Ameera’s heart dropped into the pits of her stomach. Everything she had urged Zuko to do, everything she had ever wanted for him, had completely fallen flat just because he decided to challenge his father. Of course she had to go watch the stupid match - she had to make sure he was okay by the end of it, despite how much her body was trembling with fear.
But she never got that far.
Grandmother Lo and Grandmother Li were at her door within the next minute with a bag of belongings in their arms, and a dire, silently pleading look on their faces. “Grandmothers?” Ameera gulped worriedly, watching them get closer and closer to her as she backed up further and further into the room, feeling like a cornered animal.
“Ameera, you must flee the Fire Nation immediately,” Grandmother Lo instructed, thrusting a heavy bag into her arms before she could ask any questions. The weight nearly knocked her back, but she dug her heels in, staring at them in disbelief.
Leaving the palace? Why?
“W-what? Wait, I don’t…I don’t understand,” Ameera spluttered, her hands trembling under the weight. “Am I being banished? Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Grandmother Li whispered sharply, pulling a thick cloak over her shoulders and yanking the hood into place. “But given what has just happened, you are no longer safe here.”
Ameera felt sick.
“What do you mean? What does Zuko-”
“This is bigger than Zuko!” Grandmother Li snapped. Then, in a quieter but more urgent tone, she added, “Child, you must understand the truth before you go. The reason your firebending has always felt unstable, why it never came as naturally to you as it does to others… it is because you are not meant to be just a firebender.” Ameera's breath caught in her throat. That made little to no sense, and she knew it.
“What?” she croaked.
Grandmother Lo placed a firm but shaking hand on Ameera’s shoulder. “Before you were born, Firelord Azulon approved secret experiments to create a bender more powerful than any before. Your mother, spirits rest her soul, was part of that experiment, though she never knew the full extent of it. They attempted to fuse bloodlines, to awaken the ability to bend multiple elements within one person. You are the result of those experiments, Ameera.”
Her entire world tilted. The room felt too small, too hot, far too cramped, and she was sure that she was about to be sick. “I don’t understand,” she whispered, her throat closing up. “You mean… I can bend more than fire?”
“Not yet. But the conflict within you, the reason your bending has always felt restrained… it is because your body is struggling to balance two opposing forces,” Li murmured shakily, tugging on her cloak. “Water and fire cannot coexist easily within one person, so your elements are always at odds, and if the wrong people find out about you, they will not see you as a granddaughter of the Fire Nation advisors…only as an experiment to control.”
“But w-wait, what about Zuko?!” Ameera choked out, her heart racing. “Is he… is he alright?”
Grandmother Li exhaled sharply. “He is the reason you must leave. He is about to be banished, and now that you are no longer useful to the Firelord, you are expendable. If the love between you both is true, you will find your way back to each other. But for now, you must GO!” Tears of genuine pain burned in Ameera's eyes as she clutched the bag to her chest and nodded, whilst Grandmother Lo took her hand, squeezing it tightly. “Go to the Northern Water Tribe. Your mother’s sister is there - she will help you. Do not speak of the Fire Nation, and above all, do not bend. If anyone learns what you are, your life will be in danger.”
Ameera swallowed down her sobs as she hurried to the waiting boat at the edge of the palace grounds. She turned back one last time to the palace, her voice thick and choked up with emotion.
“If you see Zuko before I do… please tell him I love him. Tell him I will find him again.”
Then, with one last glance at the only home she had ever known, she stepped into the boat, watching the rippling water carry her toward an unknown future as she attempted to comprehend who she was, and what this all meant.