To Lose or to Gain: Iroh's Child
Of the Sword
His muscles ached.
Every morning Zuko woke with the sun, an innate instinct for any Firebender, so he'd been told. After waking up, he proceeded into reviewing his basic Firebending skills until the time for breakfast came. He found himself eating breakfast with Piandao and his butler, taking his time like Piandao and his butler did, never feeling pushed to finish the meal quickly. The morning and afternoon were filled with reviewing the lessons, both in swordsmanship and the task which Piandao made him participate in until his teacher allowed swords to enter his hands.
Of course, Piandao also insisted on not overdoing the lessons, claiming this one of the biggest life lessons he could possibly teach Zuko.
Still, but the end of the day his muscles ached from all the physical activity. He found himself taking a hot bath to make the ache fade, or Piandao suggested letting the sun soak into his skin during the day time hours; he felt alive in the moments his body absorbed the heat. "Why can't I decide what my limit is?"
"You're still young and it is something learned with time, but my job as your teacher and the adult in whom your uncle has entrusted your care is to gauge such things." He then said, "Not to mention, if you overdo it, you'll have more than just aching muscles to deal with. You may injure yourself and need to take a break to heal, or you might find yourself vomiting from overexerting yourself. You're young, so let me watch for your limits for you."
For some reason, Zuko found himself enjoying the daily lessons greatly, and although he felt the lessons were a distraction from learning new Firebending techniques, the distraction honestly worked; the young Firebender anguished over this fact far less than he had before, although wondering what his uncle was doing let alone how much time passed since he was left in Piandao's care did in fact plague his mind a bit, particularly when Piandao made him take a break.
He also missed…
"Price Zuko!"
Zuko definitely recognized the voice, but he sat up straight greeting his two companions, a smile actually spreading across his face. He recognized in the back of his mind the feeling of ease when he was around the two, although in the back of his mind he felt Hideki wasn't so at ease; in fact, Hideki might be more nervous than he was, something he'd not realized. That, or breaking from what was considered proper etiquette was difficult.
He honestly didn't know what to expect upon seeing Akira and Hideki, but sparing with the older boy was honestly not something that crossed his thoughts in the least.
Also, the fact Piandao wanted him to go beyond the basics despite his uncle barring him from doing so bothered him. He didn't plan on going against this teacher and took a deep breath, remembering his uncle reminding him about breath control before the and Akira should start sparing.
He moved first despite the fact Piandao let him and Akira knew when they started, yet Zuko expected this given the fact – honestly, he couldn't explain why he knew Akira would hold back, waiting for him to move first, but then he realized Akira was gauging his Firebending and deciding how he should best react. In fact, knowing Akira was older and more experienced did worry him slightly.
As he brought his fist forward, Akira brought up a hand and blocked the move with quite a bit of agility, or at least Zuko felt Akira moved with such agility, not realizing the same thought was going through Akira's mind. He didn't even notice the ease with which he dodged Akira's flames when the older boy started making his own move; after all, in the back of his mind, he simply thought the ease in which he sparred with Akira came from Akira adjusting for him.
After all, he wasn't in any way talented at Firebending.
Then…
The move came almost like instinct in the fight, but the move felt natural. In fact, not once in the back of Zuko's mind did he stop and think about never having seen the move before as the flame formed from underneath his hand instead of above, wielded in a similar manner to how he might wield a sword. He didn't even realize what he was doing until he saw the look on Akira's face.
Zuko hesitated.
Then, he pulled back just as Piandao started moving in indicating he felt the need to stop the sparring match. The look on Akira's face was one Zuko recognized having seen on his own face after interacting with Azula, which in turn made his stomach feel queasy. He pulled back, stepping away from the sparring match, not wanting to spar anymore.
"Wow." A clapping sound made him almost look up at Hideki, who said, "That was amazing!"
"It…" Zuko's eyes remained glued towards the ground, the words coming out of Hideki's mouth being ones he always heard reserved for Azula in regards to her Firebending. "It's not true. There was nothing amazing about my Firebending." Glancing up, he saw the look on Akira's face, watching the older boy look at him – a look which bothered him greatly. His small hands reached up and clutched his arms tightly, wishing he might take back what just happened. "You can't though. You can't take back things like that."
"Interesting." Pianadao walked over, completely ignoring the look on Akira's face as Zuko attempted contemplating how Akira felt, along with the fact he may have completely lost the chance of ever making friends with the companions his uncle selected him. He gently took Zuko's wrist and pulled it away from Zuko's arm while he bit lightly into his upper lip.
His eyes took in Hideki walking over to Akira, seemingly puzzled by the look on Akira's face. He said something which Zuko couldn't hear while the hand Piandao pulled away formed a fist… a fist the man turned so he could examine. Akira responded, suddenly realizing slightly, although Zuko suspected this was to put Hideki at ease. He decided then to focus on his fist.
"Do you think you can do that again?"
"Again?" Zuko choked out the words, unsure of whether he wanted to do that particular word again.
Piandao gently pried the fingers of Zuko's hand apart, making Zuko look at the palm of his hand. "I think you've come to realize that fire and the sword is meant to kill, haven't you? It's not a pleasant thought, is it?"
"No."
"Neither are just about taking life though." Piandao's voice remained soft, Zuko's eyes drifting over to Akira, who seemed slightly nervous. The man took his other hand and took Zuko's chin, making him look in the eye. "Pay attention."
"Yes… sir." He still felt sick to his stomach.
"Fire isn't just destructive, just like the sword isn't destructive. The sword is used to protect while Fire is life."
"Fire is life?"
"It's something which has become forgotten, but yes. Fire is life." The man let go of Zuko's chin and hand then looked over at Akira. "Are you worried about your friend?"
"He's not my friend." Zuko worried his lip some more, his eyes drifting to the ground now that Piandao didn't make him look him in the eye.
"He's not?"
"I'm not that lucky, and…" Zuko didn't finish saying the fact he'd likely ruined the chances.
The man touched the back of his head lightly. "The solution to this problem, my dear student, is to go and talk to him, not avoid the situation.