Previously...

Azula is discovered to be the avatar by her uncle. Suspecting that he will ruin her plans, she goes to her father with the news. Ozai betrays her, and plans to kill her. Iroh seeks out Piandao, and together the two go back to the palace and take Azula and Zuko. The four go to the harbor where Captain Orko is waiting to help them escape from the Fire Nation. They board the ship, and sail off towards the Southern Air Temple. Zuko learns the truth about his sister, and decides to attempt to take her back to their father in hopes of finally earning his respect.

Prelude of Fire

Book 1: Destiny

Chapter 4: Unexpectancies

Zuko ran out his door, only to bump into the large stomach of his uncle, Iroh.

"Where are you headed to this late?" Iroh asked.

"None of your business, Uncle. Get out of my way." Zuko commanded angrily.

"Of course it is my business. I'm your Uncle."

"Fine, I'm going to take Azula back to our father."

"Taking her back would get her killed, Prince Zuko. Is that what you want?"

"It's what Father would want me to do."

"That's not what I asked you, Prince Zuko. I asked what you want."

"Azula's would do the same to me!"

"Maybe. Do you want to be like she is?"

"I'm not like she is!"

"Than why do you wish to do what she would? Do you really want your father to kill her?"

Zuko thought about the question. Azula had never once made his life more enjoyable. All she ever did was annoy or embarrass him, but she was still his sister. Maybe she didn't remember it, but Zuko still remembered there was a time, however short, where they didn't hate each other. That was before their father pushed them apart, and before Father was crowned the Fire Lord. Azula had been mean before that, but once she realized the title of Fire Lord would befall only one of them, she became downright cold to him. She saw him as competition, not as family.

Zuko leaned on the wall and slid to the ground, hugging his knees.

"I don't know what I want." He said honestly to himself, and his uncle. "I just want to be happy, and she won't let me."

Iroh sat down next to him.

"I've lived a long while, Zuko. For a long time I was happy. I was a renowned general: the Dragon of the West, and I was the Crown Prince, on his way to becoming the Fire Lord. I had a wonderful wife, and a son that filled me with pride. I had everything I ever dreamed of and more. Nearly every day I thought to myself how I was the most fortunate person in the world. Then one day my wife was gone. I was sad, and wondered what I had did to deserve losing her. I became bitter for a while, then I realized I was still a general, and I was also on my way to being crowned the Fire Lord. After losing my wife, I wondered if I deserved these things. To prove to myself I was still worthy of all that I had, I began the Siege of Ba Sing Se, a story I'm sure you know all about, and one I'm sure you know the ending to. Losing my son was the hardest thing I've ever faced. When I read that letter, nothing else in the world mattered anymore. My battle was irrelevant, and the crown held no source of comfort. That is why I never contested your father for the throne. I didn't want it... I don't want it. Power is a poison that I am not strong enough to survive."

Zuko knew about what had happened to Iroh, but he had never heard Iroh talk about it.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked his uncle.

"Because I thought I was happy because of my position and power. It took losing everything that truly mattered before I learned that happiness isn't something you can earn or win. True happiness has to be created, and can only be appreciated by sharing it with others. I don't want you to make the mistakes I did. If you seek happiness for selfish reasons, you'll only push it away."

Azula woke as someone knocked on her door. She heard a voice that she recognized as Orko.

"Azula! We're having breakfast up on the deck, if you want to join your welcome to. The whole crew is already eating!"

Azula shook herself awake and answered. "I'll join in a few minutes!"

She heard no reply. Azula got up and put on some fresh clothes.

When she arrived at the dining room, she saw that the entire crew was smaller than she expected, only twenty men including the captain. There were three large round tables. She joined the one where her Uncle, Zuko, and Orko, and a few crew members were sitting at. Azula sat on the left of Zuko, who seemed to be looking rather upbeat, to her disappointment. To her left sat Iroh. The crew members were quietly chatting and sat between the captain and her group. She realized someone was missing from that group and turned to Iroh.

"Where's Piandao?"

Orko overheard. "He chose to go back to the Fire Nation Capital. He said it would be better if he stayed behind to message us about the situation at the Capital. I offered him the lifeboat and he left."

"When did that happen?" Zuko asked.

"It was around half an hour after we set sail."

"Good," said Azula. "it will help to hear what's happening there."

Azula looked down at her meal and realized how hungry she was. The ship obviously had a good supply of ingredients, and a competent chef; their breakfast was an ostrich horse omelette with fried bacon and rice. The omelette had what tasted like traditional fire nation seasoning with a bit of a sweet twist to it. The food came as a pleasant surprise. She had expected to be eating food that would be home in a prison. Azula looked to Orko.

"I'm impressed by your chef, Captain: this is a better omelette than the royal chefs cook. I was expecting worse."

Orko chuckled and said, "You can thank him yourself: he's sitting right next to you. He got up early and asked me if he could cook; said it was one of his favorite hobbies."

Azula looked at her uncle shocked and asked, "You? Just where did you learn how to cook? I was under the impression that you couldn't cook a decent meal to save your life."

Iroh laughed out loud. "You would be right, Azula; I am a horrible cook. I could never master the arts of food. I am afraid the chef you're looking for is your brother."

Azula turned, now even more shocked, to Zuko. "Wha- how di- you made this?"

"What? I had to do something with all the free time we had in the palace, you know." Zuko explained.

Azula collected herself. "Well you under cooked my omelette on one side."

"You just said it was amazing!"

"No," Azula explained. "I said it was better than the royal chefs, but as you know they aren't the best cooks."

"Whatever. You're welcome for the food." Zuko looked back down and continued eating, though he began stabbing his food a bit too forcefully.

Of course Azula did love the meal, but she couldn't stand the fact that her brother was a better cook the herself. She hated that he was better than her at anything. Azula wondered if maybe her past lives were good cooks, but was it a good idea to try and contact them just for cooking advice? What would she say? She imagined it in her mind."Hey past me's, I need to stop my tyrannical father, but first can you teach me how to make an omelette?" As much as she hated it she would have to deal with it. It's not like she wanted to cook. Her role was to be served, not to serve. If he was better at her at anything, at least it was at being a servant.

"I was wondering Orko, when will we reach the temple?"

"Well, since this ship relies on the wind, it depends on the weather, but it shouldn't be more than ten days."

"That fast? That's better than military vessels. Your ship is impressive."

"Thank you, Iroh, but I can't say I built her. The designer of this vessel deserves the true praise. The Harmony is a one of a kind."

"I see… Did you come up with the name for this ship?" Iroh asked the Captain.

"Yes, I felt it was a fitting name. Everything on this ship works together perfectly to create one of the toughest and fastest ships the world has seen. She's my pride and joy." Orko said proudly.

"It's no surprise why. This is a magnificent ship, how much did she cost to put together?"

"Well, the exact price escapes me, but I remember that it cost me nearly five times as much as my house, and I have a decent sized one."

"What exactly do you do to make money?" Azula asked.

"Boring business things; you wouldn't be interested." Orko explained.

Azula took offense to that. She had established very early at the palace that no one under her was to deny her. She would have to teach that same lesson again, it seemed.

"I didn't ask you if I would be interested."

Orko raised an eyebrow at her hostility. Before he could respond, Iroh giving an exaggerated yawn and pat his stomach.

"Thank you for making this meal for us, Zuko. To think, such a talented cook was always so close to me. I'm even more glad that you decided to come with us now." Iroh said with laughter. "If you will excuse us, Azula and I need to begin her training."

Orko smiled. "Of course, Iroh. I hope the Avatar pays attention and learns much from a master such as yourself. Enjoy the rest of your day. The crew and I will have dinner tonight at the usual time, if you wish to join us again."

"Of course, I'm already looking forward to it." Iroh said. He left the table and told Azula to follow.

Azula looked back at Orko, then left the table in order to begin her training.

Zuko continued his meal, though it was a bit more awkward after Azula's behavior. It was quite, and soon the crew members left one by one.

"How long have you known about your sister being the Avatar?" Orko asked once it was just Zuko and him.

"Last night, when you said it."

"Ahhh, still in shock then, are you? You know, you remind me of myself."

Curious, Zuko asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I can tell your sister enjoys making you miserable. I had a sister a lot like that."

"How did you deal with her?"

"I didn't have to. I did for a while. She was three years older than me, and it seemed her goal was to make my life as miserable as possible. Every day she found some way to humiliate me. Until one day I tried to get back at her. I scared a herd of komodo rhinos that we were taking care of. I just wanted them to run off so she would have to herd them back. I think she was planning on meeting with a friend, and I wanted to make her miss out on it. I guess I did too. The komodo rhinos went the wrong way, and before she could do anything they ran right into her. She died that day, because I let my temper get the best of me. Looking back I realize she was just an dumb eleven year old girl who wasn't thinking about how she was making me feel."

"I'm sorry that happened, but Azula knows what she's doing."

"You'd be surprised, Prince Zuko. Sometime's the people can lie to themselves as well. When I got my sister killed, I thought then that it was her fault. She was the one who pushed me. If she was a better sister it never would have happened. How foolish the mind can be at sixteen. It wasn't her fault. It was mine. Responding to cruelty with cruelty only drags you further into the muck you were pushed in. Perhaps your sister only thinks she knows what she's doing."

On the opposite side of the ship, Iroh was giving Azula tips on airbending.

"Airbending can be very subtle or very direct. It can be used well in both offense and defense. In order to bend an element so malleable, your mind must also be as such."

"A fool's mind is malleable."

"No. A fool can be convinced of anything and acts recklessly. You must be open to change, not susceptible to it. You must understand the change. Stubbornness creates a knot in your chi that airbending can not pass. As well as this, you must know the importance of change, and accept it as a necessity to wisdom, and be at peace of mind."

"I have peace of mind." Azula said.

"Then you should have no trouble spinning this counter-clockwise."

Iroh pulled out a pinwheel from his coat and held it out to her. The wings caught onto the ocean's wind and began spinning in a clockwise direction.

Azula concentrated and lifted her hands. She felt dumb, as she had no clue how to use them for airbending.

"How am I supposed to airbend without learning any form?"

"Airbending is the element of freedom. It is not confined to a single form. Whatever form is right for you is the one you should use."

Azula went back to trying to trying to reverse the pinwheel. She concentrated and closed her eyes, focusing on the rocking of the boat and the wind. She took a few deep breaths then opened her eyes. She lifted her hands and swirled them in a counterclockwise direction.

The pinwheel began to slow down, but after a second seemed to break free of Azula's grasp and continued to spin at full speed.

"This is pointless. If I wanted to stop the pinwheel I could slice it to pieces with water, crush it with earth, or burn it with fire."

"Sometimes in battle you will need to take more subtle approach, rather than forcing your power onto your opponent."

"Maybe we should wait until we get to the air temple before trying airbending."

"If that is your wish. What do you want to learn in the meantime?"

"I want you to teach me how to bend lightning."

Iroh paused. "I will teach you how to bend lightning." He declared.

Azula brightened up in excitement.

"But," He continued. "you must never attempt it outside of practice until you have fully mastered it. Lightning is unlike any other art of bending. You can not control it, you cannot tame it, and you are no friend to it. If wielded improperly lightning can and will kill you in the blink of an eye."

Azula rolled her eyes. "Yes, fine, I'll only use it here. Now how does it work."

Iroh walked up next to her.

"Get in your firebending stance."

Azula spread her feet and raised her arms into her stance.

"Which hand is your dominant?"

"I can use either of them fine."

"We'll see. Shoot as much fire out of your left hand as you can for three seconds."

Azula nodded and stepped forward and unleashed a flood of deep orange flames. She focused and commanded as much fire as she could manage. The torrent of flame grew larger. She would have flown backward if it wasn't for the grips on her boots designed to prevent just that. As it was, she felt the boat itself turn slightly with her.

After a few seconds the flames died and Azula looked at Iroh, who looked surprised. He had never seen her bend seriously. She figured he realized why she was considered a prodigy by her father and teachers.

"That was good. Do the same with your right hand."

Azula turned to the side, to make up for the effect the bending had on the ship. Even if it was just a bit, she knew even half a degree of change on a ship's course could lead to missing their destination by miles. Azula summoned the fire, and a massive amount of fire erupted from her fist. There was about the same amount as there was with her other hand.

"That was impressive Azula. You really do have great proficiency in the output of both hands. Now we need to see how much accuracy you have with each. I'll throw balls of fire in the air. You strike them down using only your left hand. After that we'll do the same for your right and see which your more skilled with."

Azula nodded and got in her left handed stance. Iroh jetted out a large ball of flame and Azula shot it down with a needle-like spear of fire. Iroh shot out another large ball slightly faster. Again, Azula shot it down with no effort.

"Can you speed this up Iroh, I want to finish before we reach the temple."

Iroh began shooting large balls of flame in rapid succession. Azula shot each one and they dissipated in a ball of smoke. Soon he began creating smaller targets, but Azula shot them down with no change of effort. Soon he began shooting out fireballs from both hands at once even faster and sent them flying in different directions and curves.

Azula was almost thrown off by the change of pace, but she focused herself and changed her stance to a faster one. She was soon back to a steady but (ironically not literally) lightning fast pace. To her surprise, Iroh began spitting balls of fire from his mouth. Azula was taken by surprise at Iroh's dirty trick, and after a few seconds the massive amount of targets overwhelmed her single hand, and she began to miss some.

Iroh stopped his onslaught and bent over breathing heavy. Azula looked over to him when the rain of fire ended.

"If you would rather not kill yourself, I could spoil the surprise and tell you how good my right hand is. I'll give you a hint: it's the same. Oops, that was the answer not a hint. Sorry."

Iroh got up. "Very well. If you are as good with both hands equally than I guess it does not matter which hand you will learn first."

"First? Do you need both hands to bend lightning?"

"Yes, but I thought you would learn better if you led with your dominant hand."

"Just start the lesson already. I'll use my left."

Iroh nodded, then began his teaching of wielding lightning.

"Lightning is a very pure form of firebending, it requires absolute certainty and mastery over your chi and mind. Unlike normal firebending, which uses both types of chi: the positive and negative chi, lightning requires you to filter out negative chi. This is very difficult to master, and you must be able to control your chi completely, or you could be hurt in a backfir-"

Iroh's lesson speech was cut off by the voice of Zuko.

"Uncle, what are you two doing?"

Iroh smiled. "I was just about to begin teaching your sister about lightning. Why don't you join in?"

"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" Asked Azula. "It is my training after all."

"Having Zuko here won't hurt your training Azula. He has as much right as you to learn."

"As much right as me?" Azula scoffed. "That's stupid. I'm the Avatar! He's not even ready to learn it anyway. He's still a novice with fire."

"Lightning does not require mastery over fire." Iroh explained. "It is a different form of bending altogether. One could master the arts of lightning even if they have never trained once in firebending."

"Maybe Zuzu could learn after all..." Thought Azula aloud.

"Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean the world revolves around you." Zuko said.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it does."

"Enough arguing." Iroh said sternly. "Azula there is no reason to exclude Zuko. He will be traveling with us and therefore he deserves to be able to train with us. Right now he is one of the few people in the world who are on your side. It would be unwise to push him away."

"Fine, but stay out of my way." Azula told her brother.

Iroh cleared his throat and began his lesson again. "As I was saying before, lightning is a pure form of firebending that requires absolute certainty and mastery over your chi and mind. With normal firebending, one uses the positive and negative energy to create fire. Lightning requires you to channel those two energies and separate them. Once you do that, you must guide them out, where they will rejoin into their pure form. This rejoining of energy is extremely powerful, and unlike any other element, the lightning that is created by that rejoining of energy can not be controlled. You must not attempt to influence the energies once they connect. This is very difficult to master, and requires complete control of your chi. If you fail to separate the energy correctly, or should you attempt to control the lightning once it forms, you will fail. Failing to separate the energy is fairly harmless: you will only fail to generate lightning. Attempting to control the lightning is much more dangerous, and is very easy to do on accident. If you make that mistake, you will be overwhelmed by the energy, and it could backfire onto you. That mistake can kill you if you don't release it fast enough. At the least, it will hurt. To avoid such a mistake, you must learn that you do not control lightning like you do fire. You simply generate it, then guide it in the direction you wish for it to go."

Iroh breathed deeply, then after a few seconds slowly exhaled. He then began moving his arms in a slow but fluid motion. Azula's eyes widened as a shriek cut the air and a spark appeared around Iroh. The spark followed his fingertips and left a trail of lightning. The lightning began moving sporadically, and when it was beginning to become too bright to look at, Iroh stepped forward and shot his right hand upwards. A bolt of lightning flashed all the way to the clouds above them, and from the sky a thunderous clap roared down at them.

Azula was completely awed at the display of power.

"I'm ready to try it!" She said, hearing her brother say it at the same time.

She looked angrily at him, and he returned the look.

Iroh turned to them. "You can both try it. Remember that you do not command the lightning. You are simply guiding it out of your body in the direction you choose, which for now will be towards the sky. Once it leaves your body, you can not control it. Do not even try. Lightning is much too powerful for even a master to control."

Zuko nodded and Azula also gave a weak nod before they both got in position.

"Woah woah, not at once!" Iroh said loudly.

"But you said we could try." Zuko said.

"I meant in turns. Are you two crazy? The lightning could connect and blow up the whole ship! Azula step back closer to me. Zuko can go first."

"Why Zuko? I'm the reason we're getting this lesson!"

"Becau-"

"What makes you so special?" Zuko interrupted.

"Hello? Avatar here, do you really keep forgetting that?" Azula replied.

"Enough!" Iroh said sternly. "You two bicker at each other as if you're about to gut one another. We are wanted fugitives of the Fire Nation now! There is no one else in the world but each other and the White Lotus that we can trust. If you two refuse to see that you're on the same side then I will refuse to teach you!"

"Fine, keep your secrets to your fat old self! I can probably learn this myself. If the failure of Ba Sing Se can do it it should be easy." Azula said as she stormed off.

Zuko balled his fists. He was sick of Azula ruining things for him.

"Azula!" Zuko shouted. "Get back here! I'm not going to miss out on this because of you! AZULA!"

"Leave her be, Zuko." Iroh said, resting a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"But you said-"

"I said what she needed to hear. She will be angry, but I trust that she will find it in her to comply, even if it is only to learn."

"How are you so sure about her?"

"I'm not, but Piandao took the only lifeboat; she's stuck with us." Iroh said.

"Will you still teach me how to bend lightning, then?" Zuko asked.

"I'll teach you. You did do better holding your tongue today. However I do want to see you put even more effort in doing so. Azula needs to understand the situation that we are in, and you acting hostile towards her doesn't help."

"I'll try. You said that we can only trust ourselves and the White Lotus, what is that?"

"A secret society that strives for peace. They found me as I was traveling the world after my defeat at Ba Sing Se. Piandao found sympathy for my situation, and showed me into the organization. Originally, the Lotus helped the Avatar, but since the war, we search for them, and help the world when we can."

"So you've been working against father all this time?" Zuko asked shocked.

"Ever since your father showed that he was willing to kill his own son and father for the crown. That was when I knew he had to be stopped."

"Then why not challenge him for the throne? You were the strongest soldier in the fire nation, people called you a one man army! If you were that strong, you might have been able to beat him."

"I thought about it, I will admit it. I told you already I don't crave the power of the throne, and don't want it, but I thought it was my duty to stop Ozai. Luckily, after some deep thought, I decided against it."

"But why?"

"Zuko, this war has waged a long time, since my own father was born. For the last hundred years the world has seen the fire nation as its enemy. If I became Fire Lord by killing my brother, the world would only see me as a murderous tyrant. The world needs to be sure that the war is over and that it will never happen again. The only way to give them that peace of mind is for the Avatar to return, and restore the balance."

Zuko thought about his uncle's words then said slowly, "So you didn't take the throne, because the world would hate you?"

"I didn't take the throne because the world could never trust the Fire Nation if it was ruled by a kin slayer. The world has to have trust for the balance to be restored."

"So you threw away all that power, just because it would disturb the balance? It really means that much to you?"

Iroh nodded,. "The loss of every life we've seen in this war is because one man, my grandfather, decided he wouldn't respect the balance. I decided that the balance was for fools as well, and I fought against it under the lie of spreading the glory of the Fire Nation. That was the greatest mistake of my life. But now I have a chance to set things right. The world placed the Avatar right next to me. I believe it is my destiny to lead her down the path to peace. Just as I believe it is your destiny to lead the Fire Nation after we stop your father."

"What will you do if she decides doesn't choose peace?"

"I'm not sure if there is anything anyone could do if that happens."

Azula slammed the door and locked it. She on her bed and clawed at her head, trying to reach the frustration that was trapped inside her mind. She couldn't believe her Uncle. He completely ignored her wishes, and even with her being the avatar he placed Zuko higher than him.

She was the Avatar! Why the hell does Iroh still care about Zuko more than he does about her? Zuko isn't special at all, he fails at everything he does. So why is it that he gets all the attention! The only one that ever treated her fairly was her father, but now he wanted her dead for something beyond her control. After everything she had ever worked for to earn his admiration, it was ripped away from her because she was the avatar. Azula wished Zuko would have been the Avatar instead. Father might have even let her have the chance to kill him if he was. The thought of it helped lower the pounding in her chest. If that happened everyone, even Iroh, would have been forced to acknowledge her.

There was a knock on her door.

"Go away!" She said, then got up to prepare a hot bath for herself.

She heard the knock again and ignored it.

"Azula. I have something to ask you. It's about getting to the Southern Air Temple." Orko said from behind the door.

"As much as I'd love to discuss that with you, I have other things I'd rather do. You're a Captain, if there's any problems do your job and figure it out."

There was a pause.

"As you wish. Another time perhaps." Orko said.

He sounded like he was speaking through his teeth. She didn't care. She walked into her bathroom, and her hand went to grab her brush, but grabbed nothing.

She looked and saw that the brush was a few feet away from where she thought it would be. She scoffed at herself for being forgetful, then stepped in the bath. The hot water in the slowly began to engulf her. The feeling of the water mixed with the rocking of the boat relaxed Azula. Her hairbrush completely forgotten, Azula suddenly felt tired. All of her anger dissipated, and before she realized it she was asleep.

Up on deck, Iroh watched as Zuko tried again to produce lightning. The first time he managed to generate it, Zuko was sent flying by a small explosion at his fingertip. The second time he was knocked off balance by a much smaller bang. Fairly good progress. Iroh told Zuko he was trying to command the lightning, when he should let it go instead. Now on Zuko's third attempt, Iroh saw the lightning being to dance around him once more. It was much brighter and flowed more than the other two times. Zuko stepped forward and shot out his hand. A spark appeared but it stayed at the top of his fingers. Immediately the spark began to screech and grow.

Iroh saw what was happening and knew what Zuko had tried to force the lighting to move. Hoping it wasn't to late, he ran forward amd took his stance. He took over the lightning then kicked Zuko out of the way. There was another clap of thunder and the bolt flashed into Iroh's arm. Iroh concentrated on the energy shooting into him and guided it down into his stomach, then sent it flying out of his other arm. The lightning flashed skyward with a more distant boom.

"Uncle! Are you ok?" Zuko said, rushing toward him.

Iroh hunched over but said calmly. "I'm fine, that was actually a good way to demonstrate my own technique; lightning redirection."

"How did you do that? It was amazing!"

Iroh stood up straight and said, "I learned it from studying waterbenders. They use their opponent's force against them, so I used their movements to do the same with lightning."

"How do you do it?"

"I think we can focus on that tomorrow. I'm quite the firebender, but even I'm just an old man. If you need anything, come find me. Don't try anymore lightining today. It's too dangerous to do alone. If I wasn't here, that bolt would have killed you."

Zuko nodded, then began his firebending practice. Iroh left him to it.

Iroh was walking below deck to his cabin when he heard a very quiet hissing sound. He tried to figure where the strange sound was coming from. After searching, Iroh thought it must be coming from below, so he began to walk back towards the staircase. Iroh descended the stairs until he reached the deck below. Iroh opened the door leading to the hall. Iroh saw nothing out of ordinary, only the crew members cabins. Iroh listened, but only heard the sound of water rushing along the side of the ship. Iroh decided whatever made the noise must have stopped, so he turned around to leave. For some reason, he felt tired. He knew redirecting lightning was fatiguing, but he it wasn't this bad. Iroh began to fall as he fought to keep his eyes open. Iroh then thought that maybe sleep wouldn't hurt him. He could make out a figure walking toward him, but his mind was too tired to tell who it was. He closed his eyes and, quite literary, fell asleep.