The Fire Prodigy {ATLA}

{1}: The Boy in the Ship

For someone who had spent the better part of her life on a ship, I always got seasick. If that weren't enough, it was also boring most of the time. Even though the crew was usually nice to hang around, they all had enough duties to worry about other than to entertain me. Thankfully, I still had General Iroh. He was, hands down, the most fun person on the ship.

I wasn't surprised to see him bringing me a cup of tea once he saw me on deck. "You must drink some, Hana. The cold breeze might make you sick."

"Thank you, General," I said, noticing both our cups were cold by now, before raising a hand politely. "Oh, please, allow me."

I then used my firebending to heat up our tea just enough to drink. I took a sip, enjoying its wonderful taste. Iroh truly had a gift.

"Oh, it's fantastic," I said with a smile, before turning to the crazy prince on the front of the ship. "HEY, ZUKO! YOU SHOULD DRINK SOME TEA!"

"I don't have time for tea! I have to find--"

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard that song a million times already," I said, rolling my eyes, before walking toward him and offering him some of my tea. "Come on, Zuko. You've been staring at the horizon blankly for two hours now. Just have some to drink."

"I will have tea when I'm done with my mission, Hana."

"Come on... I'll heat it up for you!" I offered, lighting a small red flame on my finger.

He looked at it and shook his head before sighing. "All that potential wasted on heating tea."

I knew he was referring to my peculiar fire's color. Most firebenders could only produce orange or yellow flames, with Princess Azula's blue flames being the rare exception. However, I had always been able to change my flames' colors at will, which was regarded as an exceptional skill. It was quite literally the only reason I was taken in by the Royal Family. General Iroh had found me as a baby abandoned, and he took me in because he saw potential in my bending. He took me under his wing and mentored me, even when the rest of the family objected. Well, everyone except for Lady Ursa and Zuko.

"I could make it purple if that would help," I suggested, snapping my fingers and changing the color to a purple flame.

"You are incredible," I knew he didn't mean it as a compliment, but I pretended not to know.

"Well, thank you!" I said with a smile. Teasing him was one of the few things I really enjoyed.

Suddenly, we were engulfed in a bright light, which seemed to come from the horizon. I had never seen anything like it before. My eyes were widened, and I dropped my cup of tea.

"What the... What was that?!"

"Finally," Zuko muttered, as if he knew what that was. "Do you realize what this means?"

"Uh... I won't get to drink more tea?"

"It means my search is about to come to an end."

"Ah..." General Iroh sighed tiredly after hearing that.

"That light came from  an incredibly powerful source," Zuko noted. "It has to be him."

"Or it's just the celestial lights," Iroh suggested, offering me a new cup of tea. "We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing."

"Iroh's right, Zuko. It could be another false alarm," I told him with a sigh. "Why don't we all just sit down and enjoy your uncle's tea?"

"I DON'T NEED ANY TEA! I need to capture the Avatar. Helmsmen, head a course for the light," Zuko ordered, and I knew better than to try to change his mind by now.