Sorry for the long hiatus guys! I just had spring break and was stuck at home away from the school's computers so I couldn't post any new chapters. I am proud to announce that I have a new story in the works for Gravity Falls that I am really excited about. I hope you guys check it out when I post it. Keep your eyes open for it. I would also like to ask you guys to check out the other story I'm working on called "Revenge of the Red Lotus". It's a Legend of Korra story so a lot of you guys should be familiar. Also, a friend of mine, known on here as The Solo Gamer, has some great stories you should check out sometime. He is a great writer and I think you guys would like his works. But that's enough promotion. Enjoy the chapter!

-Darthlane

Chapter 7

Exhausted and beaten, Iroh and Nile limped their way through the halls of the metal Fire Nation ship. "So are you really happy to be doing this again tomorrow, or were you just trying to look tough back there?" Iroh asked.

"I was definitely bluffing." Nile said with a grimace. "I don't ever want to go back. I feel like hell after only half a day of this. Imagine how it's gonna be when we have to do this tomorrow."

Iroh groaned. He silently cursed himself for not thinking ahead. He hadn't been doing a lot of that lately. If they had just stayed and stuck it out for the rest of the day they would have been free tomorrow, but now they had to return and they would also probably be punished.

"Look at the bright side." Iroh said. "Lee is working those engines all alone until the other two wake up."

Nile laughed. "Now I kind of wish we had stayed to watch. I know it sounds bad to say it, but I do admit I want to watch that creep struggle."

"Yeah, he was a dick." Iroh added. "Hopefully they'll leave us alone now."

Nile chuckled ruefully. "It's not that easy, Iroh. See, guys like them, they aren't going to let it go. You saw what happened after you ticked off Zarai the first time. They surrounded you, and tried to beat the living hell out of you. But we escaped. And now that you've embarrassed him for real he is going to go at you with everything he's got. Which, unfortunately, is more than you have. If he fights you I think he might win. He's really powerful. Also, I won't be able to help. If he tries to bring in a bunch of other guys I'm not gonna be able to stop them."

"So what you're saying is that I am screwed?" Iroh asked as they turned a corner.

"No." Nile answered. "What I'm saying is that you need to be smart. You need to be careful. Keep a sharp eye on all of them, and be scared."

"Scared?" Iroh scoffed. "When has being scared helped anybody?"

Nile shrugged. "A lot of people think fear is bad, but it really isn't. It's a warning that something bad is coming, and its usually right. I don't know about you, but when something bad is coming I like having a warning first. It gives you a little bit of time to think, to prepare yourself. You're gonna want it going up against them. Being scared might give you the edge that being confident wouldn't."

Iroh was surprised to hear that. He didn't see Nile as the philosophical type. Especially about something like fear, and how it could actually help. Iroh would have to make sure not to underestimate him again.

They ended up going separate directions back to their rooms. Iroh waved goodbye before Nile was out of sight. Nile just nodded and dissapeared. Now alone, Iroh gave into his weakness and leaned against a wall. That work had really taken it out of him. He limped a bit more slowly back to his room. Once inside, he plopped down on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

He woke up groggily. Someone was shaking him violently, and it really hurt his sore shoulder. "Finally you're up. I've been doing this for over a minute. How have you not woken up yet? You were out like a log." Iroh realized that it was Mylo.

"G'morning." Iroh muttered. He slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes.

"Morning? It's not morning Iroh!" Mylo informed him. "It's almost night." He looked out their small window. "Yeah, it's practically night. You missed dinner."

"No!" Iroh whimpered. His stomach hurt even worse than his muscles right now.

"We were wondering why you never showed up. Nile was there and he told us everything. We heard about what you had to do, and the fight and everything. That's rough, buddy."

"Almost as rough as missing out on dinner." Iroh added sourly. "Here I was hoping I'd be fat when I get older, but I keep missing all my meals. Hey! Can we sneak some food out of the kitchen like we did before?"

"If I remember it correctly, you promised me you would try to teach me Firebending in. We're going to practice a little before you get your food."

Iroh groaned. "But I'm starving, Mylo. Can't it wait until after I have some dinner?"

"You promised you would start teaching me yesterday, but you didn't." Mylo argued. "But I let it slide because you had a lot to worry about. But I'm not going to let this wait too long, before you conveniently forget about it. You are going to teach me."

"Of course I will." Iroh promised. "I was always intending to keep my side of the deal. But do I have to do while I'm hungry?"

Mylo smiled, amused. "Yes you do. Now teach me."

Iroh sighed. How was he even going to do this? Would Mylo only accept results? Or would he accept trying as enough? Odds are, Mylo would not be able to Firebend, no matter how hard they tried. What then?

"Okay. I want you to close your eyes." Iroh ordered. "Take deep breaths. Look within yourself. Find your heartbeat. Find your breath. Find your blood flow. Have you found them?"

"Yes." Mylo answered, eyes closed and breathing deeply. "I found them."

"Now I want you to really feel them. Feel your heartbeat. Feel your breath. Feel your blood. Feel them all together, beating and pulsing in rhythm. Really experience them. Are you doing that?"

"Yeah, I feel them. But not any fire yet."

"This is just the first part. Meditation. It gets you ready. Okay, I want you to keep breathing deeply. Now I want you to look deeper than you did before. This time I want you to find your energy. Find your inner energy. Your Chi. That is where the fire will come from. Have you found it?"

"I-i think so. How do I know for sure?"

"You'll know. Just keep trying."

After a moment Mylo said, "I think I've found it."

"Good, good. Now I also want you to find your will, your desires, your ambitions, your passion. They will help you guide your energy so that it can become flame. Try to guide your energy. Guide it to your hands, your fingertips, and then," Iroh demonstrated by producing a small flame, "out."

Mylo spent nearly a minute just standing there willing something to happen. Finally he gave up. "What did I do wrong? Why didn't I do any Firebending?"

"It's okay, Mylo. So what if it didn't work? It will eventually if you keep trying." Iroh felt it was better not to crush Mylo's feelings by telling him the realistic reason it wasn't working.

"Yeah. I guess so." After trying for about another half hour Mylo finally gave up. "Too bad it didn't work. Well I guess we had better get you some food."

They snuck down to the kitchen and stole a frozen steak and some fruit. Iroh was able to snack on the fruit while he waited for the steak to defrost. "I'm sorry it didn't work, Mylo." He said as he ate.

Mylo shrugged. "It wasn't supposed to work anyway. Thanks for trying."

They didn't talk as they returned to their room. They silently put out the candle and went to bed. Before he went to sleep again, Iroh mused that it had been a pretty dissapointing day for everyone involved. Mylo hadn't been able to Firebend, Nile and himself had almost been brutally beaten by Zarai and his goons, and even Zarai had failed and had been embarrassed. There weren't really any winners. Iroh just hoped tomorrow might be better.

The next morning they made their way to breakfast. Iroh made sure keep a close eye on Zarai and the rest as he ate, wary that they would try something in revenge. Thankfully they did nothing besides glare at Iroh's table and talk in hushed voices. Nile and Iroh were able to go to their horrible task freely, but it still didn't feel like much of a win.

When they arrived there was a group of six engineers waiting for their job to start. The one that they had met yesterday was nowhere to be seen. Iroh asked one of the engineers about it.

"The boss is getting his break now. He put me in charge today, and we get you as part of our happy little family." Like the engineer from the other day, he was incredibly fit and large, but he was also surprisingly cheerful. "Just do as you're told and there shouldn't be any problems. Let's get movin', boys!" He called out, and the group got to work fueling the ship.

It was still just as hard as the day before, but it was somehow more bearable. Without Zarai and his friends around it didn't seem quite as bad.

When they eventually finished Iroh felt more tired than he had ever felt in his life. He felt a lot of sympathy for the engineers. He couldn't even begin to imagine doing this every day forThe rest of his life. It seemed insane.

Dinner passed, and still Zarai and his friends did not act. Iroh didn't know if he should feel suspicious or relieved by this. He wasn't quite ready to relax, however. After dinner Iroh tried to help Mylo with Firebending again, but they had the same results as the night before. They went to bed distraught.

The next day Iroh and Nile were able to return to normal duties. Iroh was ecstatic to be cleaning again instead of working the engines again like he had been doing the previous two days. It was definitely a pleasant change of pace.

Everything was going fine until Iroh had finished cleaning a crewman's room and emerged to find Zarai mopping the hallway. Iroh tried to go back into the room before Zarai saw him but it was too late. The other Fire Nation Army recruit looked at his rival, surprise and amusement evident on his face.

Iroh realized that the two of them were alone. If Zarai chose to take his revenge now, there was no one to stop him and Iroh wasn't sure he would win if it came down to it. Zarai was a lot more rested, having a day of relative rest since he had worked in the engines, not to mention that he wanted to win much more than Iroh did. Iroh prepared for the worst. He didn't want it to turn into a fight, but he had to be ready if he did.

But to his surprise Zarai just shrugged and kept mopping. Iroh held his breath as Zarai mopped right by him and down the rest of the hallway, before dissapearing around a corner. Iroh let out his breath. Had Zarai really just walked right by? But he had wanted revenge, right? Had what Nile told Iroh just been paranoid chatter? His gut told him no, that Zarai was still after him. But he couldn't deny what had just happened. Zarai had the chance, but didn't take it. There had to be a reason, but Iroh had no ideas what it was.

At dinner Iroh watched Zarai like a hawk, but he and the others didn't even look his way. They just kept on talking and laughing, as normal as they could be. Nile noticed him watching them. "Did they mess with you?" He asked.

"No." Iroh answered. "They haven't tried anything yet. That's what worries me."

As they were leaving Iroh noticed that the captain was watching him closely. Iroh pretended to ignore it. The captain might just be keeping an eye on him because he was the Prince. Yeah, that must be it.

Later, Iroh was trying to get Mylo to Firebend for the third straight night. Like the past two nights it wasn't going very well.

"Just find your inner heat, your fire." Iroh coached. "Find it and grab it."

"I'm not finding anything!" Mylo said heatedly. "I'm starting to think I don't even have a fire!"

"It's your energy." Iroh said patiently. "You definitely have some energy in you. Everyone does. It's just a matter of whether you can get a hold of it and then guide it out."

"I'm starting to think that I'm not ever going to get a hold of it." Mylo said darkly.

"Just keep trying. It's always hard to get it the first time."

Mylo sighed and tried to concentrate once again. He gave up after another minute. "Arrgh! Why can't I get this?"

"Okay. Let's try it a different way." Iroh said. He got up from his seat on Mylo's bed. He got set into a stance and started moving his arms around in a slow circle that brought both his hands directly in front of him. It was a basic attack move he had been drilling since he was young. "See what I'm doing? This is an actual Firebending technique. Try doing what I'm doing." He repeated the move over again so Mylo could get the hang of it. Soon they were both doing the move again and again, mirroring the technique. "Now try to push your energy into your hand as you move, and out of your hand when you finish. That's good, keep trying."

After a moment, Mylo said, "I think I feel something. Yeah I definitely feel something." Mylo suddenly sounded much more excited. "I feel it! I think I'm finally gonna Firebend!"

Iroh was almost as surprised as his friend. It would be a miracle if Mylo actually awakened the ability to Firebend so late, and it looked like that miracle might just be realized.

"Now take that energy you feel and push it into your hand." Iroh ordered. He stopped to watch, keeping a close eye on Mylo's hand. Mylo kept trying, looking as determined as he ever had. After several tries a small bright spark came out, quickly followed by a trail of smoke.

Mylo jumped up and down excitedly. "Did you see that?" He shouted. "I did it! I finally did it! I'm a Firebender!"

A voice down the hall shouted. "Shut the hell up! Go to bed already!"

Iroh and Mylo glanced at each other. "I guess we should go ahead and go to bed." Iroh said quietly. "We can try practicing some more tomorrow. The important thing is we know you can do it now. Congradulations."

Iroh fell asleep feeling happy for the first time in days. Today had gone well and he felt that he was getting the hang of life on this Fire Navy ship. That combined with Mylo's success at Firebending had made today a rather good day. Maybe that's what made it so shocking when he was woken up by a hand over his mouth and several others dragging him out of his bed. He tried to scream as he was pulled over the railing but it was muffled by the hand over his mouth. He landed with a crash onto the floor where the hands dragged him into a kneeling position.

He quickly realized that the people that had grabbed him were teenagers. The other recruits, obviously. Mylo was similarly constrained next to Iroh. Standing in front of them, illuminated by the moonlight in the window, was none other than Zarai.

"I told you before didn't I? I don't like it when people use Firebending against me. But that's not what I'm mad about. I'm mad that when I tried to punish you for it, you got away. I had you beat. I know it, you know it, everybody here knows it. But Nile stepped in the way and saved your sorry ass. I'll get to him soon enough, though. Now it's time to deal with you, and he won't be able to save you this time."

He started pacing the room. "So I started thinking to myself, 'Is beating him up really the best way to hurt him? I think there might be some better way.' I started thinking, trying to remember something from when we were kids. Did I forget to mention that, boys? Iroh and I used to know each other as kids! Small world, huh? See, my dad is an important weapons trader, one of the most important in the entire Fire Nation. And who else would buy from him than the guy that actually has the armies that use them: Iroh's dad, the Fire Lord. Yep, Iroh is none other than our freaking Prince."

The other boys laughed. Mylo let out a squeak of astonishment. He looked at Iroh as though he had become something untouchable. Iroh actually thought that that was worse than everything else that was happening.

"Do you know what I remembered the most, out of everything in our childhood? I remembered how much you always cared about Ozai. You paid so much attention to that boy, always making sure he was happy and safe. You are the kind of guy who cares about people. That means that to hurt you the most I don't need to hurt you." He made a point of looking right at Mylo. "I need to hurt who you care about the most. I'm going to enjoy this, Iroh."

He turned to whoever was holding Iroh. "Make sure he doesn't break free. He is going to struggle like mad." Without waiting for an answer he turned back to Mylo. He motioned for the guys holding Mylo to bring their captive to his feet. As soon as Mylo was standing Zarai punched him on the stomach. Mylo doubled over, coughing. The blow had winded him, and he tried to drop back to his knees to get his breath. The guys holding him wouldn't let him drop back down. Iroh struggled against the guys holding him, but he couldn't break free to help his friend. Zarai punched Mylo again, this time in the face. Then again. And again and again and again.

The attacks didn't stop, and soon Mylo looked like a mess. Zarai just continued to brutally beat on Mylo. He didn't care about the damage he was causing, just that it got a reaction out of his chosen audience. After what seemed like forever Zarai finally held up a hand. The goons dropped Mylo.

"Iroh, I hope you've paid attention to what happened here." The group began making their way to the door and emptying into the halls. "That's what happens when you mess with me. I don't care if you are a little two-bit shit from a backwater village, or even the Fire Nation Prince himself. I don't mess around, and I won't be beaten even by likes of you. Never forget that. Now I consider our little problem solved. I hope you choose to keep it that way. Have a good night, Iroh." With that said he left.

Iroh got off the floor and sat Mylo up against the bedpost. His friend moaned weakly. Mylo looked terrible, like a piece of fruit that had been ruined in a game of catch.

Iroh grabbed a bucket and left for the bathroom, where he filled it with water. He knew the first step to managing injuries was to clean any wounds. He returned and used a rag to wipe away the blood. As he did this Mylo muttered, "So you were the Prince the whole time. I should have guessed. All the clues were pointing to it, I just didn't put it together."

"Don't worry about that now." Iroh said as he cleared away enough blood to reveal a very nasty bruise. "I'm still the same person I was before you found out."

"Are you?" Mylo asked. "The Iroh I thought I knew wouldn't have kept secrets from me. Can I still trust you? You lied to me when I thought you never would."

"I was going to tell you, I just wanted to be sure I could trust you." Iroh explained. "I'm sorry. It's just not something I wanted to throw around."

"Don't worry about it, Iroh. I can't stay mad at you. I mean, you're only the reason I got the crap beat out of me. Nothing big." He let out a chuckle that quickly turned to labored coughing

Iroh laughed lightly. If Mylo was capable of sarcasm he was probably going to be alright in no time. At least, he hoped so.

"I guess it's lucky for you that I have secrets of my own." Mylo let the statement hang in the air, daring Iroh to ask about it. Iroh decided that Mylo would tell him when he was ready to, so he just ignored it.

"Okay Mylo, I need you to take your shirt off. I need to clean off the blood."

"Uh no, I'm not going to take it off." Mylo answered quietly. He tried to shift away from Iroh.

Iroh was surprised. "Quit messing around. Take it off so I can finish cleaning you up. I know you have some bruises, maybe more on your chest. He hit you there a few times, I saw."

"I can't!" Mylo barked back. He looked flustered.

"Then humor me." Iroh replied. "Why not?"

"I just can't. You wouldn't understand."

"Dude, if this is about you being shy or something, don't worry about it. I'm not going to judge. I've seen plenty of shirtless guys at the Ember Island Beach. Its not that big a deal to me."

"Well, that's kind of the problem." Mylo said shyly. "I'm not a guy. I'm a girl."

And that's a wrap! Let me know what you guys thought in the reviews and be sure to favorite and follow! Until next time!

-Darthlane