𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳

The Root

I find Aang practicing... or I guess Zuko is doing the practicing on some building. Thing is, he's not creating much fire when he's bending. They are like lil toots.

I'm walking with Sokka and he sits down and comments first, "Hey jerks. Mind If I watch you two jerks do your jerk bending?" he says ever so proudly with a bite into an apple. I snicker at his comment, as creatively i creative it is.

"Get out of here!" he yells at Sokka.

Sokka walks away laughing about his joke.

"Mmm... It's not even enough to light a candle." I snicker.

"Why don't you try?!" he shouts at me.

I glare and stand, cracking my knuckles then firing a large burst of flames into the clouds surrounding the temple.

Zuko growls, then just slumps. "Oh..."

"Yeah." I roll my eyes. "Anyways, Aang. Since you have two firebending teachers, isn't it time to come train with me for a while?" I eye Zuko from the corner of my vision. "I'm a little hotter than certain sifus."

"Yeah, of course!" Aang jumps up, respectfully bowing to Zuko. "Bye Zuko, me and Xiao are going to train for a bit!"

"Yeah... bye," Zuko groans.

"I made targets we can use now!" I say as I walk Aang over to my chosen area. "They're burnt cause I was making sure they worked and wouldn't destruct in one go."

I grab a paint brush and go to mark points on the humanoid figures. "We're not killers, right? Aim for here and it will take someone out easily, without even harming their life. And also-- my style is great for knock back. But today we're just focusing on fire."

I turn and hold out my hand, fire igniting in red, to white, changing to blue, then to purple. "Looks cool, right? You're not allowed to do that, until you can control a flame. It's like a little life, nothing to be afraid of. You'll learn to call on it like your airbending, because it's a part of your own breath. Air and fire are similar. They're two sides of the same coin–not opposites like earth is to you. Your emotions are a great influence on your performance. Fire has become viewed as inherently violent and angry, but it doesn't have to be. Before anger there is passion, bright, and sunny. It rises every day to shine light in the darkest of places. It is forgiving, it heals. When it all comes together—when the bending becomes a part of you it feels like life is breathed into you, like harmony."

"Woah. I guess firebending is not as simple as I thought," Aang stares at me wide-eyed.

"Of course not, silly. There's a spiritual side to it too, Iroh made sure to drill that into me since he couldn't get it to stick to Zuko." A look of pride washes over my face. "And he was a good instructor, so I'm passing it on to you with a bit of my own twists. You don't have to agree with my idea of bending though, I know it contrasts with a lot of peoples but it's just because I have to consider everything else you've learned up until now."

"This is the first thing I've heard you talk seriously about! I'm ready to try!" Aang smiles, holding out his hand. "If I imagine a tiny sun, it should be alright, right?"

"Well, a very tiny one, yes."

"And can we spar after this?"

I pause, looking to my side and seeing a shadow of a familiar person standing by. "After you tell your other sifu to stop spying on us."

"Hey, Zuko!" It was sort of regular for Aang to speak for me when Zuko was nearby. He was light-hearted about it, which I am grateful for. "I heard Daewon wants to hang with someone his age. You should go introduce yourself!"