Burning Souls - Book 2 // Zuko

Chapter 11

"Say Uncle," Zuko asked as he scanned the tea shop. "Have you seen Shira?"

Iroh had to pause a moment to think. He had gotten so used to calling the girl Raven that calling her Shira or Shirayuki was almost foreign but a delight to the old man's ears.

"Out back," he replied. "She was trying to work on her bending."
Zuko nodded and headed out the back door to the small space between the back of the shop and the other buildings. It was where Zuko chopped wood for the fireplace and occasionally practiced fire bending moves (Without bending of course) out of the prying eyes of the other people.

When Zuko stepped out onto the back porch, he stopped for a moment to enjoy the view. Shira was seated on the chopping block which she had expanded by adding ice to the top, so her legs were dangling far from the ground. There was a small ray of light that she had concentrated to land right into her lap so she could practice reflecting it.

Zuko watched as she girl cupped her hands and placed them underneath the light. She closed her eyes and the light reflected off her hands. She continued to take deep breaths and kept her eyes closed. The light reflected off her hands and then bent in all kinds of directions and patterns till it lit up a small partial of earth. Just as it hit the ground, a small sapling grew from the earth till it was about a foot high.

"It worked," the girl sighed, a smile lighting up her face.

Zuko crossed his arms and leant against the doorframe. The girl looked so alight... so full of energy once again. Not that she was not energetic as Raven, but it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. He still hadn't gotten used to her hair being short and golden now and would often times not recognize her... until he saw her smile that would light up her blue eyes.

"You look busy," he observed.

Shira jumped at the sound of his voice but then her face lit up with a smile. She dissolved the ice she was seated on and walked over to him, "Oh, I was just practicing."
Zuko smiled and held out his hand to her, "I was going out for a walk. Want to come?"
The girl smirked before grabbing her sword where she had leant it against the wall and nodded.

The two began to walk down the road together, side by side. Shira had a deep urge to grab Zuko's hand but the boy hadn't initiated it first so she wondered if she should just wait. However, what she didn't know was that Zuko was thinking the same thing.... But also, partially because he was thinking of something.

Shira however was able to tell that something was on Zuko's mind especially by the way his fingers kept clenching and then unclenching in a pattern like he did when he was thinking.

"Say," the girl remarked, pausing in her stride. "How long has it been since you've practiced with swords?"
Zuko paused, snapping out of his thoughts to look at the girl, "I don't know. The last time I used them was to fight Jet when he accused Uncle and I of being fire nation."
Shira pursed her lips together in thought before her eyes traveled up toward the sky, "I have an idea. Come on!"
Without a word of warning, the girl grabbed Zuko's wrist and rushed to a nearby alley. Once they were inside and out of sight of anyone, Raven created a circle of ice beneath them.

"Wha...." Zuko started but cut himself off when the ice began to rise, taking them with it.

The ice stopped elevating once they got to the roof of a large building which looked like a barn. Zuko and Shira stepped off the ice and Shira dissolved it. She then drew out her sword and held it out, hilt first to Zuko. The boy took it and swung it around a few times, not surprised that it was perfect balance and rather light.

He looked over at Shira to see she had crafted a sword out of ice that was identical to the one she had given Zuko. "So, no bending," the girl explained. "Obviously because you're fire nation and people would find it strange if an ice/plant/light bender was here too."