Alright onto chapter 7; Issues/ Kyoshi Warriors

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I apologize if this is all over the place or feels half-assed. I also apologize for how long it took to write!

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Since Zuko had taken over training her on how to firebend, she really did seem to improve. At least a little anyway. She had been skeptical at first of his idea for her. But after a few days of sitting, breathing, and staring at a flame she began to show some progress.

Sure it was a small display of progress. Though it could also have been a coincidence that there flame grew quite large as she sneezed. Iroh saw it as progress and urged Zuko to continue helping her. The prince agreed to and used times Iroh didn't check on them to try and get information about Aang out of her.

"For the last time Zuko, I'm not telling you where my baby brother and the Avatar is. I'm not entirely certain of that." She told him one day. She then sighed and accidentally blew out the candle in front of her.

"And if you were certain, would you tell me?"

"Of course not! I'm no fink."

"Right. Yes, of course you're not. What is the point of you being here if your loyalty is to the Avatar?" He demanded childishly.

"My loyalty is split between you and my brother. His loyalty, however, lies with whichever boy he thinks is cutest. Can we please get back to the lesson at hand?"

"Very well. Are you done holding yourself back?"

"What do you mean?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I mean that since I've taken over teaching you, you have shown subtle signs of bending. Which means that the only thing between you and firebending is you." He told her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm what now?" She asked, surprised.

"You are holding yourself back from becoming a capable bender."

"That's what I thought you said. Can you actually help me though? Or are we wasting each other's time?"

"Uncle'd be angry if I didn't at least try. Stand up and give me your hands."

"Okay." She agreed and got up, holding up her hands.

He stepped toward her and took hold of her hands , awkwardly lacing his fingers through hers. As he did she felt her cheeks heat up. She was positive she was blushing so she bit her lower lip and stared at their hands.

"What now?"

"Close your eyes."

She nodded and closed her eyes. There was a weird sensation in her abdomen. It was like bubbles filling her and popping one at a time. She then felt warm tingles all throughout her hands and fingers.

"How do you feel?" He asked and she resisted the urge to open her eyes.

"Warm… And kind of like I'm about to throw up." She answered.

"Take some deep breaths to get past the sick feeling."

She nodded and breathed deeply. After a couple breathes the bubble sensation was replaced with the feeling that a warm blanket was being wrapped round her. She felt safe in a weird way, really safe.

"Better?"

"Yeah… Much better."

"Open your eyes."

Slowly, she opened her eyes and was once again looking at their hands. They were engulfed in flames. Hey eyes went wide and she chewed on her lower lip. She tried to keep her breathing level but it felt as if her heart was about to burst out of her chest.

All at once the bubbles came back with a fury and she could only picture herself losing control and setting someone that she cared about on fire.

Pulling her hands away from Zuko's, she stepped back. Flames clung to her hands that she simply shook off before wrapping her arms around her midsection.

"I take it back. I don't want help anymore."

"What's going on?" Zuko eyed her, confused, and he extinguished his hands.

"I can't do this. I can't bend."

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't. I mean that I won't. I don't want to Zuko."

"Why?" He demanded.

"I'm afraid… Okay? I'm afraid. Actually I'm terrified. Being a firebender terrifies me." Her eyes stung and she looked at the floor.

"Is that so? Well, Melanie, do you know what happens when a firebender that can't control their bending gets overly emotional?" He asked her seriously.

"Yes… Exactly what I'm afraid of happening is most likely to happen."

"If what you're afraid of is having an emotional outburst and hurting yourself and the people around you. So you're going to have to get over your shit. Meditate or go talk to someone. We can resume when you get ahold of yourself."

"Yessir." She nodded slowly. Tears that had caused her eyes to sting rolled down her cheeks as she left his room quickly.

She went to her room, walking past Iroh who was standing outside of Zuko's room. She froze at her doorway and turned to look at him, wiping her face.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked softly.

"A little while."

"So since we started for today?" She guessed questioningly.

Iroh smiled shyly.

"Do you do this often?"

"Sometimes."

"I see… Any ideas on how I can get over my issues?"

Iroh opened his mouth to respond. However, she interrupted with, "You know what? Nevermind! I think I can handle it." She smiled and went into her room. Once inside she sat ontop of her desk and crossed her legs.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Sitting with her back straight, she cleared her mind and ignored her surroundings the best she could.

Some things she couldn't ignored. Like the sounds of Iroh and Zuko talking about how they had no clue where Aang was. Of course, from where she sat, they sounded a little like squirrels.

She couldn't help but giggled as she pictured them as such. She saw Iroh as an aged, plump, red squirrel with nuts in his little paws and a big fluffy tail. Zuko, on the other hand, was one of those small gray squirrels that steal bird seed during the summer time, those oddly angry ones.

Only squirrel Zuko's tail was on fire.

Shaking the imagery from her mind, she took another deep breath and placed her hands on top of her knees.

"As nice as that was to picture, I really need to get back on task…" She mumbled to herself.

She took several slow, deep breaths and raised her left hand to her throat, wrapping her fingers and the charm of her brothers necklace.

The metal points of the sun charm dug into her hand as she once again thought about setting people on fire. Only this time she did it on purpose. She pictured herself losing her temper and setting someone on fire. Getting upset and overwhelmed then, again, setting someone on fire.

She wasn't exactly sure why she was thinking about that. But, oddly enough, it helped. A little at least.

For hours she did that.

Then, late that night, she shook off those thoughts.

Instead of the pain she could cause with it, she decided to look at the elements symbolism.

Fire was a versatile element. It symbolized so many things; light, warmth, protections, power, creation, rejuvenation, destruction. She was sure it symbolized passion and several more things as well but she couldn't really be sure.

And she was aware, from a logical standpoint, that fire wasn't all bad. The world needed forest fires to put nutrients back into the soil. An internal spark allows a person to recognize if they were in love… Or in lust with another.

And all of that was well and good but it was all information that was spoon fed to her but teachers, parents, the internet.

She took a deep breath and shook her head

"I need to figure out what it means to me…" She mumbled. As she got off her desk she heard indistinct shouting down the hall. She blinked and looked out her doorway.

First one of Zuko's men ran past. Then Zuko came by holding a plate that held his dinner.

"Zuko!" She called to him.

He backtracked until he was outside of her room and snapped at her, "What?"

"I'll have my issues sorted out soon… Everything okay?"

"Good. My men have located the Avatar, no thanks to you."

She bit her lower lip at his sharp tone and shyly looked at the floor. He was looking at her in a cold way that she didn't need to see to know it was happening.

"I don't want to endanger my brother. He's not built to fight. He'd built to sit on his ass… Or swim."

"My, aren't you over protective."

"I'd walk naked through a pool of lava for him."

"Maybe that's why you're a firebender."

"I like it's because I have someone like you around to influence me."

"Is that supposed to be flattery?"

"No. It's supposed to be a joke. As you were Princey. I've got something else to do."

He grit his teeth as she called him 'Princey.' She simply smiled and left her room and wandered the halls of the ship.

She was looking for someone specific. Only one man could help her, truly help her, with what she needed to do. Well, what she felt that she needed to do.

Slowly she wandered out onto the deck.

Though she was nearly ran into by a man heading inside.

"Excuse me Miss." He said politely.

"Oh… Sorry." She said looking up at him. This man was not who she was looking for. This man had a round face with harsh features, thick black hair and almost black looking eyes. She gulped, intimidated by his appearance, and asked, "Have you seen Ren?"

He raised a hand and stroked stubble that line his jaw before nodding and answering, "He's at the bow."

She tilted her head.

"The front of the ship." He answered her unasked question, chuckling.

"Oh! Thank you Sir!" She cheered as she let him pass her.

He nodded and went inside.

She crossed to the front of the ship. Standing there was Ren, leaning against the railings and looking out at the water.

"Hello." She said after a few moments. He jumped slightly and looked at her.

"Hey kid."

"We've changed course."

"I noticed. So we have a solid lead on the Avatar?"

"Yea…"

"You worry about him and your brother, don't you."

"I do… So, can you help me with something?"

"Sure, what with?"

"I want you to set me on fire." She told him calmly. As soon as she said it his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

"You… What now?"

"It's for my training, please Ren. Set me on fire."

"Isn't Prince Zuko in charge of your training? Surely he'd -"

"Zuko has put his teachings on hold. I, apparently, have some issues. He wants me to work them out before we proceed. And I think it'll help you too."

"Oh? And how will setting you on fire help me?"

"I just think it'll help. You looked pretty disturbed over my trying to bend. Which I get. So please help me. Pretty please!"

He exhaled slowly, "What issues could lead to a desire to be set on fire?"

"I'm… afraid… of losing control once I get a handle on bending. But it's also because fire means a multitude of things and I don't know how I feel about it. I really think this will help me." She answered honestly, looking at him hopefully.

His eyes scanned her face and then he sighed and nods. "Fine, fine. I'll help you."

"Yes! Thank you so much!" She cheered as she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He froze and awkwardly pat her back.

"Uh, yeah... So what do I…?" He asked while she ended her hug.

"Ah, right, I want a controlled fire around me. Close enough that I can feel it, but not touching me. So the heat is there, like right there, on my skin. Only without actually hurting me."

"Got it. Come over this way."

"What? Don't want me to panic and jump overboard?"

It was meant as a joke but, the look he gave her as he lead her to the center of the deck, told her that was exactly something he feared.

They each took a deep breath and she closed her eyes. The last thing she saw it was various members of the crew, excluding Zuko and Iroh, coming to watch them.

"Ready?" Ren asked.

"Yep!" She nodded.

Thankfully her eyes were closed or she may have panicked at the sight of the fire around her and the sounds of the men gasping. But, as her eyes were closed, she felt the heat all around her. It was sorta like when Zuko had lit just their hands on fire, but without the sick feeling.

After a few moments of the heat she opened her eyes slowly. Oranges, reds and yellows of the flame was all she saw immediately.

Just past the blaze the men gawked at her and she ignored them, her eyes scanning the dancing flame all around her. It was beautiful from where she stood. Yellow blood and orange that blood into red and it all spiraled and flickered around her.

Absent-mindedly if she raised her right hands to actually touch the fire. Which was something Ren had not been expecting.

In his shock, Ren's control waned and the flames flickered and looked at her skin, clothing and hair.

She cried out and immediately Ren put out the fire. She squeaked as she was suddenly subjected to the cold ocean air.

"Are you okay?"

"That was probably not what she had in mind."

"Someone get the first aid kit!"

The men started talking all at once as they swarmed around her.

She breathed deeply and looked at the hand she'd raised. From what she could feel it took most of the damage. All she could smell was her burnt hair but, honestly, she didn't care. It would recover, just like the rest of her.

Looking away from her hand, she looked at the rest of her. Red splotches dotted her exposed skin, her clothing was singed in several places with a few holes burnt into it. Red dots could be seen through the burnt holes.

"I look like a fucked up dalmatian!" she laughed loudly, interrupting the men's chattering.

They, in return, gave her worried looks and most likely wondered what a dalmatian was. She assumed that ponder anyway as not once had she seen one in this show.

"This didn't add to your issues, did it?"

She looked up and saw Ren eyeing her in a paternal way. She smiled and shook her head before answering, "No. It helped me a lot! It was amazing. I only got hurt because I did something stupid. Thank you so much!"

As she spoke, Ren gingerly took hold of her hand and tended to the burns, applying a thin layer of a cooling ointment to her burns before wrapping the hand loosely with some gauzy bandages. He'd then apply the ointment to some of her minor burns. As he did he said, "I see."

The men of the crew hung around as Ren patched her up, each asking if she was really okay and what she was thinking for that to happen. She was all smiled though and simply shrugged.

"There, all patched up." Ren commented when he was finished.

She was about to thank him when a rather grumpy sounding young man came to demand an answer to why his crew wasn't working.

At the sound of the question the men, with the exception of Ren, scattered and went back to work. She looked from Ren to Zuko, who looked more agitated than usual.

"Sorry, my fault." She told him, taking the blame as it was her fault. He nodded to acknowledge her response before catching a glimpse of her injuries.

"What happened to you?" He asked while gingerly lifting her hand to investigate.

"Oh, um, well. Ren was helping me with my issues and I may have hurt myself. But on the upside, we can resume my learning when my hand is better."

"When I told you to deal with it I wasn't giving you permission to maim yourself." Zuko scolded.

"You didn't tell me anything apart from deal with it and get back to you! You didn't say anything about maiming myself!"

"It was implied you idiot!"

"No, it wasn't Prince Asshat!"

"Um… I'm going back to work now. Don't argue all day." Ren said awkwardly as he left them to fight.

"Don't call me that!"

"Don't be one and I won't have to!"

"I don't even know what it is!"

"I'm not going to tell you either." She said, storming off.

She went up to her room and sat on her bed. Her right hand tingled a little from going up the ladders so she blew on it lightly. The sensations reminding her of a time Simon had accidentally closed a door on her fingers.

When the ship came to the beach of Kyoshi Island, she left her room and made her way beneath the deck. Ren was there with a few of the men. They were readying a strange looking giant lizard thing.

"Ren!"

"Melanie? What are you doing here?"

"Can you sneak me out with you?

"She's a straightforward one, isn't she?" One of the men laughed.

"The prince wouldn't be to pleased if I did that."

"Please Ren! My little brother is there. I need to speak to him. If he's developed bending as I have, he'll need me to explain. So please!" She begged him, feeling moisture accumulate at her eyes.

"She may cry if you refuse her now."

"Poor girl, set on fire then refused access to her only family. Ren you're such a mean surrogate father."

Some men harassed Ren, who sighed and reluctantly agreed. She grinned and hugged him and the men that had helped her get her way.

"Thank you! Now, let's blow this popsicle stand!" She giggled eagerly before pulling him toward the exit.

"Now?"

"Yes Ren, now! I don't want Prince Sourpuss to stop me from seeing my brother."

"Prince Sourpuss?" A low growl sounded and she bit her lower lip, stopping in her tracks as she turned to see Zuko, fully armored and ready to invade.

"Sorry Zuko…" She mumbled, dropping her hands to her side.

"Sure… How is your hand?" Zuko asked, approaching her and lifting her hand to inspect it. His sudden shift in demeanor surprised her.

Just before coming down, she had taken the bandage from her hand. To air it out. Her hand simply looked red and raw.

"It's alright. See, no blisters. It'll be sore for a couple days. But that's manageable."

"We'll pick up your lessons then. Now, why are you down here?" He asked dropping her hand.

"I'm going with you gents to the Village, of course. Even if I have to sneak there."

"I see. So, you're that desperate to see him?" He said 'him' in such an odd way that she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Him? You mean Simon? Damn right I'm desperate to see him. He could be a bender now too. I have to explain to him what's going on. Don't be so fucking dramatic about it." She argued with the Prince, who rolled his eyes while he and his men climbed onto their mounts.

"Fine. Come along then." He said and offered a hand to her. She figured he'd decided it'd just be easier to let her have her way than argue when the Avatar was so close.

"Really?! Thank you!" She grinned as she took hold of his hand and allowed him to pull her up to sit in front of him on the animal.

She blushed as his arms looped around her waist to hold his mounts reins.

"Well, good luck to you all." The sagely voice of Zuko's uncle called to them as he opened the latch so they could leave.

With the way out open the animals lurched forward as they scurried out. She squeaked from the suddenness of it and grabbed onto Zuko's arms. He didn't let that affect his steering though and followed the rest of the men up to the Village.

"When we get to the Village, I want you to go and find your brother right away." He told her as they made their way there.

"Alright. Thank you again."

"Don't thank me. Just tell him what you need to tell him so I don't have to hear about it anymore."

"Your good people Zuko, you know that right?" She smiled, ignoring most of what he said.

He simply 'hmphed' and urged his mount to speed up.

Once in the Village, she slid to the ground and ran out of the way.

"Simon!" She called out as she began her search. Three woman in green, the Kyoshi Warriors, looked at her.

She bit her lower lip and approached them. The women looked suspicious of her. Which, she guess, was because they saw her ride in with Zuko.

"Do you know where I can find Simon? He's my little brother and I need to speak with him." She told them shyly.

"Haven't seen him since this morning. When he sent my little sister flying across a room without lifting a finger." One of the girls answered bitterly.

She and another girl gasped. The other girl that had gasped turned to look at the bitter girl before saying, "Kaori! It was an accident and you know it! He didn't even know he could airbend!"

"He can airbend? In that case-"

"Melanie?!"

At the sound of her name, her head jerked up and she was looking at her brother as he and Sokka ran into the fighting that had started while she was talking, both dressed as Kyoshi Warriors.

"Simon!" She called and ran to him, flinging her arms around him, the force of which combined with her running start knocked him off his feet.

"Hey sis… you remember Sokka?" He said hugging her back.

"Yeah, hello again. So you airbend now?"

"Hey… Simon, I'm going to go help Suki." Sokka said awkwardly.

As Sokka left, she heard an odd noise in Simon's throat. It was like a cross between a growl and a whimper. They separated from their hug.

"You sound jealous." She teased.

"Can you bend to?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Mhm. Fire."

"Is that what happened to your hand?"

"Yeah and I've got red spots all over the place." She answered before telling him about her visit with Roku and how she'd jumped between Zhao and Zuko.

By the time she finished speaking, he was staring at her in awe. Then his awe contorted into an angry pout.

"Hey! How come you get something cool like that and I get a cool breeze?!"

"Different environments and spirits? I don't fucking know. I thought I would tell you to keep you from serious confusion."

"Thanks for the consideration. Would have helped ages ago when Aang, Katara and Sokka started staring at me after your run-in with Roku. But better late than never."

"Your salty. Blowing that girl across that room must have done a number on you."

"No, doing it in front of Sokka did a number on me! Gah! He's going to think I'm some kind of freak now!" His tone was panicked.

She smiled softly and placed a hand gingerly on his cheek. Then she spoke, "Don't think like that. If you're going to get him to fall for you, he should learn your a freak early on."

"Says my romantically stunted sister… So will you pick Zuko over me again?"

"I have no choice but to… He's teaching me to bend. Without his help I'm fucked. And before you decide to get cute, yes I know what I said."

"Me? Say something? Why, I'd never!"

They were grinning at one another now and Simon flung his arms around her, pulling her into a farewell hug.

"I hold your gubbies and findgers get better soon." He whispered using their mother's mom's cutesy words for baby hands and fingers.

She groaned internally at the words. They were just too cutesy for her. But she nodded and kissed his forehead.

"Wish Aang luck on his travels for me."

"Will do. Hurry back to the ship and be a good girl."

"You be a good girl! I wanna be an angry bubble head." She giggled as he released her from his hug.

They'd been talking out of the way of the fighting. Zuko's men actively avoiding her while Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka actively avoided Simon.

"Zuko~ I'm going back to the ship now!" She called into the fighting as Simon nudged her away.

Without waiting for an answer, she ran around the fighting and out of the Village. When she was at the ship she boarded and had tea with Iroh while he looked at her injured hand.


So here is the full chapter!

I'm so sorry I half-assed it so bad!

I wanted to get the chapter up but I was lacking in motivation and my Grandma had died so my mind was all over the place and I'm sorry.

But please enjoy and I promise not to do what I'd done with this chapter to the next one.