Zuko deeply inhaled the salty breeze as it traveled through the beach house. Standing from the stone courtyard he could see the restless waves crashing against the sand down below. The midday sun shown down brightly on the young Fire Lord, and he could hear the calls of seagulls in the distance. Everything was calm; the young Fire Lord might have even called it peaceful.

It felt good- to just breathe.

The last time he had visited the beach house, he was with Aang and the rest of his friends. Zuko could recall the fun that they had had when the whole group was there, and he could also recall the underlying tension of the battle for which he had been training Aang. The house still bore the scars of the battle between Aang and himself, when Zuko had tried to provoke him to learn to fight to kill.

Now Zuko was just here with Mai.

He missed his friends. It had been so long since he'd seen them, what with Aang having to travel around the world to keep the peace, and Katara having gone with him obviously. Sokka and Suki had gone back to the Southern water tribe to rebuild the young man's former home. Toph had stayed in Ba Sing Se to teach earth bending, and occasionally have a cup of tea and trade a joke or two with Iroh. Zuko missed his beloved uncle terribly. It would take a long time to travel to see him, and as the Fire Lord he simply could just not leave his country on a visit to a tea shop. No, Zuko was confined to trading letters with the old man. But reading the letters out loud and imitating his uncle's voice always got a chuckle out of Mai, and made Zuko feel like Iroh was really there.

The thought of the old man and his wisdom had awakened a long hidden curiosity.

Zuko untied the golden sash around his waist and removed his vest and tunic. It had been a while since he had trained, although he was by this point a fire bending master. Strolling down to the beach Zuko thought about his old life, and how far he had come. He thought about the new life he had created for himself by struggling, and eventually coming to make the right decisions. He thought about how wonderful a life he had now, aside from not seeing his friends as often as he'd like. The soft sand gave way underfoot as Zuko walked towards the water.

How long had it been since he had attempted this technique?

Zuko scratched the stubble on his face, idly wondering how many years ago it had been. The Fire Lord took in another deep breath of the salt air through his nostrils, letting it expand his lungs and then let it out slowly through pursed lips. He sank into a meditative stance and as expected, the rush of conflicting thoughts and emotions of his past and present came rushing at him.

Zuko inhaled.

The past is gone; I have forgiven myself and have been forgiven by others for what I have done. I am not who I once was.

Zuko felt the energies starting to separate as he twisted his stance. He could see the blue light emitting from his fingertips as he moved his arms in the circular motions and felt the power of the yin and yang urging themselves to come back together. The power coursed through him and he could vaguely feel a sense of excitement at the prospect of being able to master the technique which had evaded him before, due to his conflicted nature.

Now, Zuko was completely at peace. He could summon lightning.

All at once the energies collided together and Zuko posed in his stance waiting for the opportunity to guide the lightning towards the vast blue ocean. The blue chord of twisting power struck out towards the water, but turned violently in the direction of the sand- the explosion sent Zuko flying backwards. The Fire Lord felt his body tumble through the soft sand, but it seemed surreal. He had been at peace. He was calm. Why hadn't it worked?

Mai had heard the explosion and Zuko heard her come running- most likely ready for battle.

From a distance he heard everything from her leap off of the cliff overloooking the beach, to her soft landing, to the padding of her bare feet accross the sand as she rushed to his tired, defeated form.

"Zuko! Zuko, are you alright?" she asked in a panicked tone, much unlike her usual melancholy, "What was that explosion?"

"Nothing," Zuko muttered, letting Mai help him up off of the sand, "I just miss my mother."