Lessons
And he bent and danced and twisted and punched and kicked, but he still had trouble.
"NO!" Siku yelled at his student. Iroh stopped in his tracks. Siku approached him and marched around the prince. "Stop relying on those muscles of yours! You think that your strength will be there when you are old? Power from fire bending is in the breath, not the muscles! Now try it again!"
Iroh inhaled and preformed the same movements, but still did not get it right.
"No, no, no! You're not generating enough energy from your stomach. That is the Sea of Chi, for the millionth time. Draw your strength from there and you will be stronger. Again!"
"Master, how about a break? We've been at this for over an hour." Iroh begged.
"You think that an enemy will stop attacking just because you are tired?"
"But…" An idea struck Iroh like a lightning bolt. "…I am having trouble concentrating. If I had some Jasmine in my 'Sea of Chi' as you call it…I'm sure I'll have much more focus."
Siku paused, knowing that his student only wanted to rest.
"Fine…five minutes, then back to work." Siku glared at his student, who bowed respectfully back and then bounded away to the royal kitchen. "What am I going to do with that boy?" Siku asked himself, shaking his head.
Twenty minutes later, Iroh was back to his lesson. He focused and inhaled deeply. He bent and danced and twisted and punched…POW!…and kicked…BANG! And finally, after so much sweat and mental anguish, he accomplished his first high level technique.
"Very good student. I'm proud of you." Siku bowed to him and Iroh bowed back.
"It was easy." Iroh boasted. Siku grunted.
"Well, I think that's enough for today. I guess you can go."
"Thank you master." Iroh ran away.
"But stay inside the castle!" Siku reminded him.
Iroh was convinced that he could have performed the technique the any time, but chose not to. He just wanted to give his master another headache. And to grab some Jasmine Tea before leaving.