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Chapter 4

"I know your nervous, but remember firebending is not something to fear" Zuko said

"Ok." Aang sighed. "Not something to fear."

"But if you don't respect it, IT'LL CHEW YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT LIKE AN ANGRY KOMODO RHINO!" Zuko exclaimed as Aang gasped. "Now show me what you've got, any amount of fire you can make." Aang breathed in and out twice and pumped his right fist to the left in an attempt at firebending. He only managed to make a little smoke.

"ZuZu, maybe he needs a demonstration." Azula said. She was only there if he needed her because for now Zuko was Aang's firebending teacher.

"Good idea, Aang take take a couple of steps back." Zuko said as Aang backed up. Zuko breathed in once and shot out a little bit of fire, customary to a beginner firebender. Aang clapped. "What was that? That was the worst firebending I've ever seen." Zuko said to himself.

"Maybr if you calm down." Azula said

Zuko groaned and said, "Why is this happening?"

"Maybe it's the altitude." Aang said.

"Yeah could be." Zuko said although he didn't believe it himself.

Zuko and Azuka worked on their firebending for a while. After a couple more weak strikes Aang yawned and lay back on the broken pillar that he had been sitting on.

"I don't get it. Our fire shouldn't be this weak." Sokka walked over while eating an apple and sat down.

"Hey jerks. Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerkbending?" Sokka said sarcastically.

"Get out of here!" Zuko hollered as Sokka got up and walked away laughing at his joke.

"Leave him alone ZuZu, I think he's kind of funny." Azula giggled

Later that night

Everyone was sitting around a fire except Zuko and Azula, who had been talking about their loss of firebending. After Sokka had left Zuko and Aang, Zuko went to see if Azula was experiencing it too. She was and they had no explanation for it. Zuko walked to the fire and said, "Listen everybody, I've got some pretty bad news. We can't firebend anymore." He said as he put his head down. Katara bust out laughing. Everyone turned to look at Katara.

"I'm sorry; I'm just laughing at the irony. You know how it would have been nice for us if you two had been lost your firebending." Katara stated in a non-apologetic way

"We didn't lose it. It's just weaker for some reason and it's not the altitude." Zuko said.

"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are" Katara said

"What was that!" Azula exclaimed

"What are you going to do, firebend?" Katara teased

"Maybe it's because we changed sides." Zuko reasoned.

"That's ridiculous." Katara said

"I don't know. Maybe your firebending comes from rage. And you just don't have enough anger to fuel it like you used to." Aang stated.

"Yeah maybe your right. Like i told Azula i've been angry at myself for a long time. I was so confused about what was right and wrong that all my hatred just boiled up inside of me." Zuko said

"What about you Azula?" Aang asked. Azula looked away to think. She didn't want to look Aang in the face now. This was a serius moment.

"All my life, i've been jealous of Zuko." Azula said after a moment of thought.

"Why were you jealous of me?" Zuko asked

"Our mother loved you more than me Zuko. I know father favored me over you, but that's not what i wanted. I wanted love from my mother and i didn't get that because mother thought that i was a monster." Azula said through tears. Aang, never one to let someone cry, jumped up and went to comfort Azula.

"Don't worry Azula, that's all over with now. Here no one likes Zuko more than you." Aang said as he started to rub her back. She knew what her reaction would be with him so close, so she laid her face into his chest. She wanted to hide the blush she was getting from his closeness. This caused a very jealous eye to glare daggers into Azula's back. Sokka, who didn't let that go unnoticed, decided to change the conversation.

"Sooo all we have to do is make Zuko angry, easy enough." Sokka said as he started poking Zuko with his sword.

"OK CUT IT OUT!" He yelled at Sokka. "Look, even if you're right I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."

"You're going to need to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source." Toph stated

"How is he supposed to do that, by jumping into a volcano" Sokka joked

"No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is." Toph said

"So is it jumping into a volcano" Sokka added confusedly.

"I don't know. For earthbending the original benders were badger moles. One day when I was little I ran away and hid in a cave, that's where I met them. They were blind, just like me so we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders. It wasn't about fighting; it was their way of interacting with the world." Toph finished

"That's amazing Toph. I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison." Aang said as he looked over to Appa. "Maybe you could give me a lesson sometime buddy?" Aang asked as Appa growled.

"Well this doesn't help us. The original firebenders were the dragons and they're extinct." Zuko said

"What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid." Aang said

"Well they aren't anymore okay." Zuko yelled as Aang apologized. "But maybe there's another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."

"Sun Warriors? Well I know they weren't around when I was a kid." Aang said as he released Azula and walked over to Zuko.

"No, they died off thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins." Zuko said

"It's like the monks used to tell me, sometimes the shadows of the past can be felt by the present." Aang said

"So what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" Sokka asked

"More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend or the avatar has to find a new teacher." Zuko said as he and everyone else looked at Aang.

The next day Aang, Zuko, and Azula rode on Appa to the Sun Warrior civilization. It took them hours longer than Zuko expected because he thought that Appa was faster. As they reached the civilization, they hopped off Appa and began walking. As they walked Aang set off a couple traps which they all got around easily. They walked into a temple with nothing in t but a circle of statues. They investigated the statues until, "Hey Zuko dance with me." Aang said. Zuko was confused as to why the boy wanted to dance right now of all times and why him, couldn't it have been Azula. Azula was a little crushed because she had recently started growing feelings for the boy and was shocked at his recent statement. Aang had only grabbed Zuko because he was scared of what Azula would do if he asked her. "It's not like that Zuko. I just think we're supposed to do what the statues are doing." Zuko reluctantly agreed and danced the dancing dragon with Aang. Azula, who felt relieved, wanted to watch Aang but thought that if he watched Zuko she could mimic his movements so she could one day do the dance with Aang. After they finished an orb appeared in the center of the room. Aang rushed to grab it, "Aang don't!" Zuko exclaimed but he was too late. The pedestal that the orb was standing on fell to the ground and a green muk started shooting out. The door slammed shut. The room filled up and Zuko, Azula and Aang were stuck at the top with no way of escape. They waited for hours until they saw shadows around the ground on the outside that they could see. They were rescued and put in Handcuffs. The chief of the group spoke

"State your names and purposes."

"We're the fire nation prince and princess and we've come to learn the true meaning of firebending." Zuko said

"I'm the avatar."

"You think that will help you. Your family started this ridiculous war and the avatar allowed the war. Where have you been for 100 years?" the chief asked

"I…"

"It doesn't matter you all will be tested." He said as he released them. Fire was placed in their hands and they were told that they should hold the fire to appease the masters.

They climbed the top of the mountain and they all managed to keep their fire. "Zuko I'm a little nervous. How bout we just head home?" Aang whispered.

"No we should go through with this. And besides if we fail do you really think these people can handle the avatar, fire prince and princess?" Zuko reassures Aang. They continued walking until they got to their destination. They walked up the steps and Azula stood by Zuko. Aang stood facing the other way and his fire extinguished. He asked Zuko for some but they argued and Zuko lost his too. Out of the tunnels came two dragons.

Zuko was so scared that he didn't have time to register that he was told that all dragons were extinct. "Zuko I think they want us to dance."

"What makes you think that?" Zuko asked

"Just do it ZuZu. It's better than nothing." Azula said. They performed it with Zuko and Azula mirroring each other. When the three connected with fists, the dragons shot fire which showed many different colors and gave the three the knowledge of the true meaning of firebending. They walked downstairs to the chief.

"Good job you passed." The chief said

"I thought my uncle killed the last dragon." Zuko said

"No, General Iroh took the test too and passed. He lied so that no one else would hunt dragons." The chief said

"Wow, uncle really is a great man." Azula said

"But now that you know our secret you can never leave." The chief said as the other three gasped. "I'm just kidding. But don't tell anyone about us."

"Ok let's go you guys." Zuko said as he pushed the two back towards Appa.

That night Azula and Aang did the dance together to show the others. "So you know this dance too Zuko?" Katara teased

"It's not a dance. It's an ancient technique created by the Sun Warriors." Zuko said

"Oh yeah then what's your technique called?" She asked

"The Dancing Dragon." Zuko mumbled. Everyone laughed at this.