Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire [Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfic]

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was a lovely afternoon, and Izara strolled through the palace hallways for a while before heading outside with a book in hand. Iroh was still here, so he and Zuko had been spending a lot of time together, and they were currently training outside. When she got closer, she could hear the sounds of feet moving and fire sailing through the air. They were going through some advanced sets. She sat on one of the ledges just next to the training area, swung her feet over the edge, and began analysing the patterns as they ran through them. Her firebending ability had increased exponentially since Zuko started teaching her, and she was so grateful.

Though it was to be expected, she could see a difference in the proficiency between Zuko and Iroh. Iroh's moves were technically flawless, but Zuko had his youthful strength behind them, almost making them even. Iroh would win due to battle experience, but Zuko would put up a damn good fight.

When they finished their set, he looked over to her, and she nodded respectfully. He couldn't help but smile and nodded back. Iroh refocused him by suggesting they work on lightning bending. Zuko had developed the skill about a year ago, and he believed it was because his hot-headedness had faded with maturity over the years. It wasn't gone, but just not as quickly ignited, so to speak.

He took a breath, adjusted his stance, and felt his muscles relax into it, and Iroh did the same next to him. His right hand moved in a low arc, with his left moving up high, and he felt the energies within his body. He steadied his breath and separated them before allowing them to crash back together and releasing the powerful technique into the sky. Iroh released his a moment later, and they breathed deeply and re-centred for a brief second before they relaxed.

"I can see you have been practising, my nephew. Your lightning looks very good." Iroh's warm voice sounded out with a soft chuckle. Izara could tell that he was incredibly proud.

Zuko thanked his Uncle and looked back to Izara, who just sat quietly and stared back at him. The young Fire Lord's face changed, and he put a hand on his hip and one on his chin, idly making a note of the stubble there. Izara glanced at Iroh, who just shrugged, not knowing what Zuko was doing. Zuko crossed his arms and tilted his head to gesture for Izara to come over to them.

She pushed herself off the ledge, landed silently and linked her hands behind her back as she strolled over to the middle of the training area. Iroh greeted her kindly, and she smiled at him and returned his greeting before she stood in front of Zuko and gave him a formal bow. He walked right up to her so that he was only inches from her, and he could see her tense in confusion and purse her lips.

"How would you like to try bending lightning?" Zuko offered plainly, and her golden's eyes went wide for a moment before they became unfocused as she thought it over.

"I doubt I'll be able to do it, but I'll try it." She figured it was worth a try since she wouldn't know if she could.

Zuko showed her the correct stance, and she copied him. He came over to move her slightly, and she stopped him before he could touch her.

"Wait. Don't laugh at me when I fail." She said in almost a whisper, and he made a slight sound of amusement before adjusting her slightly.

"You should have seen the first time I tried to teach Zuko. Blew up right in his face." Iroh laughed heartily until he noticed Zuko's blank stare. Izara pursed her lips to prevent herself from laughing.

Once Zuko was happy with her stance and movements, he explained the process.

"Lightning isn't created by aggression; it won't work if you try to fuel it with anger. You have to be calm and not use emotion. You must separate positive and negative energies to use the technique. When the energy tries to restore the balance and comes back together, it is released as lightning. The trick is that you have to guide the energy out as lightning, as it isn't possible to control it." Zuko explained as simply as he could, and Iroh nodded in agreement off to the side.