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Chapter Three: Burning Out
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Iroh sipped his tea as he always did, calmly. He had never seen fire bending, an art he considered more noble and traditional than anything else in his life, done so amicably and naturally by his nephew. Simply from how powerfully he commanded the element from his raw emotional state was astounding to behold. He had already removed any flammable objects from Zuko's room as they had a nasty tendency of combusting randomly from being near his bed.
His kind old eyes narrowed on his nephews sweating face. His body temperature was reaching dangerous heights, even for a firebender, and Iroh even had to remove his bedsheets so they wouldn't burn. The amount of sweat he created was alarming to Iroh, and he was seriously lacking in sleep as he had to pour water into his mouth continuously.
Zuko's eyes were occasionally moving beneath his eyelids, and he sometimes grunted in pain with his face contorted in concentration.
Iroh could only imagine what went on his poor nephews head.
~000~
Feet pattered along the rooftops of Ba Sing Se in Zuko's mind.
"Hey! I just want to talk to you!" shouted Zuko the Blue Spirit as he chased him.
He was faster than Zuko was, which was very strange to him. Zuko summoned a small boost of flames from his fists to propel him forward and next to the Spirit.
"What's your problem!?" said Zuko angrily again as he ran side by side with it.
The Spirit did not respond and instead dropped into an alleyway much faster than Zuko could react. With a quick grunt, Zuko hit the ground and continued the chase. He followed him into the courtyard where he kissed Jin for the first time.
Zuko's running stopped. The chase seemed to be paused for a moment, and he looked around the courtyard tensely, trying to spot his adversary.
Out of the shadows flew the Blue Spirit, attacking Zuko without warning with its swords. The blade passed clean over Zuko's eyes, as he had the split second reaction to dodge the slash. Zuko fought the Spirit for what seemed like hours, the blades of Spirit proved to be faster than his own strikes.
"Hey! Calm down!" warned Zuko as his fists glowed red with fire.
Zuko dodged another quick set of slashes and yelled in fury. Fire met steel as Zuko defended himself flying about with rapid and furious flaming attacks. The Blue Spirit was indeed the legend Zuko read about as a child, dashing around to avoid Zuko's firebending and blocking it with its swords, Zuko's attacks proved little more than nuisances.
The Blue Spirit outmatched Zuko in every step of the battle, Zuko slowly tiring himself as the Blue Spirit either evaded or parried every blazing strike sent to incinerate it. The Blue Spirit did a backflip onto the fountain behind it and Zuko sent a gout of flames out from his fist. The fire missed as the Spirit did another flip to avoid it.
When the Spirit landed on its feet, Zuko panted and thought. 'How is he faster than me? Aren't I supposed to be him? We're supposed to be the same level at fighting, but he's beating me!' He stared at the Spirit's blue mask. 'He's fighting like he was in the story I read as a child...he never gets tired, every attack is sharp, every parry precise...I can never beat him...' His eyes widened. 'Wait a minute...that's just it!'
Zuko felt fire wisp off his body as he yelled at the Spirit in a powerful rage, "I'm not afraid of myself anymore! I'm not afraid of you anymore either because...you're not me!"
The Spirit stood up straight from his slightly crouched fighting stance. He refrained from his bouncing. After a quiet pause, the Spirit sheathed its swords and stared at him. The banished prince felt a twinge of anger, "Well!? Say something!"
It kept staring at him.
"Graaaaahhh!"
Zuko jumped up into the air with his fists glowing brightly and when he struck the ground a torrent of flames grew to the size of a tidal wave and consumed everything in front of him.
The flames died and the Spirit was still standing.
"I don't get it! Why can't I understand anything about this!? I can't kill you, I can't fight you or chase you! Why?"
The Spirit's silence only added to Zuko's anger. He sighed and rubbed his temple with both of his hands. 'Okay...what would Uncle do...he'd use what he already knew about his situation...and think about it...over a pot of tea but I can still do this without that...The Spirit reacted to me chasing it by running...It reacted to me looking for it by attacking...and to me recognizing it wasn't me...by looking at me...This doesn't make any damned sense!'
After some more thinking, Zuko caught onto it.
'The only thing I can gather is that he stopped being violent and energetic when I realized something about myself. Which means that I...have to recognize something about myself before...I learn something?... This is the strangest dream I've ever had.'
Zuko started walking toward the walls and oddly, the Spirit followed him. He took a few steps and the Spirit was closer. Zuko turned back around only to see that the Spirit was still following him. He sighed again and made for the gigantic walls protecting the Ba Sing Se in his dreams.
~000~
The firebender sat on the wall with his legs dangling off the edge next to the Blue Spirit overlooking the setting sun on the horizon. The plains surrounding the city stretched for miles, and Zuko's sharp mind returned to work.
'His blades felt too real, same thing with his attacks. The walls feel real too...this all feels too real...'
Zuko turned to the Spirit, "I don't really get what I have to know...but all I feel is...that I don't really know what to do. I can't chase you, or fight you, or kill you...so I guess...I can't really do anything to you so I won't do anything. I guess I'll admit that...you can't change me at all...and I can't change you either."
The Spirit's blue Mask was turned towards Zuko the whole time as if it was listening. Then it stood up and walked towards the edge of the wall. Zuko watched as the Spirit took off its mask and dropped it on the wall. Zuko had no time to get any of the Spirit's actual features down before it jumped. Zuko ran to the edge of the wall as fast as he could but the Spirit disappeared. There was no trace of it on the ground below or even free falling towards the city's streets.
It all felt...a little too strange to be a dream to Zuko. Whatever it was, unsettling was a good way to describe it to him.
Zuko picked up the blue mask he knew all too well and read the small engraving on its inside: A man is his choices.
Then, Zuko woke up.
~000~
The boy gasped as he rose from his bed, his uncle quick to rush to his side.
"How are you feeling?" quickly asked Iroh.
"W-Water." gasped Zuko.
After refreshing his nephew, the man looked at him. "What did you see?"
"I was here in the city...the Spirit..." Zuko looked to the closet where he kept his Spirit's gear, "I chased him. He ran, and we fought. But I couldn't kill him. It was just...nothing."
"The Spirit, what did it say?" murmured Iroh.
"Nothing. Then he left."
Iroh stroked his beard. "You must've encountered your imagination's manifestation of the Spirit. Then...how do you feel emotionally?"
"Uh...I don't know."
Iroh reached out and pressed the back of his hand to Zuko's forehead. "You're not burning up like before. You must've stabilized internally."
"C...Can I help you out at the tea shop tomorrow?"
He nodded. "After you get a good night's sleep, yes you may."
"Thank you, uncle." Zuko turned on his bed and Iroh brought the bed sheets back in to cover his nephew. Afterward, Iroh brought Zuko a bowl of soup with dumplings in them which he devoured instantly.
As Zuko ate, Iroh mumbled, "So then have you decided if you will resume your quest to capture the Avatar again?"
The chewing slowed. Zuko put his bowl down in his lap, "I have. I'm going to stay away from the inner ring as much as I can, and help you run the tea shop."
"And will there be any more...nighttime wanderings?" Iroh's eyes wavered to the closet that held Zuko's Blue Spirit costume.
"Perhaps." Zuko picked up his bowl again and kept chewing. Iroh didn't seem satisfied with this answer so he left hiding his frown. Zuko finished the bowl soon afterwards and fell back asleep, still tired from the extreme lack of nutrients in his body.
~000~
After a hearty breakfast, Zuko set out with his uncle to the tea shop and which was open for business again. None of the customers were of any interest to Zuko except his girlfriend Jin who strolled through the front door in her regular brown ponytail and green robe.
"Hey Jin. I'm so sorry I was-"
Jin finished his sentence by pulling him from behind the counter and kissing him, grabbing the attention of many customers from their tables. She pulled out from it and smiled. "I'm just glad you're here and the tea shop's open again." muttered the girl before his lips.
"Y-Yeah. Thanks." quietly said Zuko.
Iroh cleared his throat after taking some coins from a customer.
"Er...uh yeah I gotta get back to helping uncle."
"Li I was wondering if we could...set up those kissy dates up again?" Jin fluttered her eyelashes at Zuko.
"Uh..."
"There's a festival tonight. Maybe we could go together?" Jin placed her hands together on the counter and accidentally pressed her breasts together between her arms.
Zuko bit his lip and tried his best not to raise the size of a few candle flames nearby when he saw this, "Yeah, I'll check with uncle, see if I'm not working today. But if not I'll see you then."
"Great! Let's meet at the fountain all right? Bye, Li!" Jin pecked him on the cheek and walked off, her hips swaying about as she walked off.
Zuko's breathing techniques for controlling fire proved helpful to stop any flames nearby from growing as he tried his best not to check out his own girlfriend.
"Zuko. The order." Iroh reminded him.
"Right." Zuko returned to his job.
It was all rather tedious really. He had to constantly check which tea kettles were ready, make four different kinds of dumplings, and do the tea just how his uncle taught him. Of course, matching Iroh's legendary prowess at tea making was next to impossible, but the prince's uncle always reminded him he was improving.
Eventually, nighttime rolled around and Zuko hung up his smock when Iroh gave him the go-ahead to go on his date with Jin.
When he looked around the many people enjoying the festival around the fountain, his eyes couldn't find Jin. A pair of hands covered his eyes and a soft voice spoke out, "Guess who?"
"Er...Jin?"
"That's right! It's me!" Jin turned him around and pecked him on the lips. She held his hands and looked up into his eyes. "How was work?"
"Boring?" He imitated his uncle. "Li...you must add more ginseng...Li...you must keep it boiling less...he treats it like an art it's ridiculous."
"Well he does have his own tea shop." Jin took him by the hand into the festival, "Come on, let's enjoy ourselves shall we?"
A trio of girls from the Fire Nation were on a street corner nearby as Jin and Zuko enjoyed their date. Mai was spinning her kunai around her finger as she leaned on a vendor's wooden beam in their stand. Ty Lee was walking around on her hands as usual and Azula was admiring the jewelry the vendor was selling. None of them were wearing their usual clothes and instead were dressed like commoners of the Earth Nation.
Azula eventually pulled away from the stand after convincing herself that the jewelry was too 'peasant like' to buy.
Mai groaned in her dry tone as she saw Azula move away from the jewelry stand, "This infiltration thing is such a drag. If we want to overthrow the Earth Nation why don't we just sabotage all their defenses and invade?"
"Because dearest." said Azula in her sly voice, "The drill has been stopped already. This is the only plan we have available to us. Those Kiyoshi warrior costumes will come in handy when we approach the Earth King."
"Besides, there are so many cute boys here in Ba Sing Se!" Ty Lee flipped over from walking on her hands, "Especially Zuko, I'm really hoping he's here in the capital."
"Oh please Ty Lee." Azula tossed a hand, "Zuzu will do nothing but get in the way of our plans if he's here."
"Wouldn't he turn us into the Earth Nation authority?" wondered Mai.
"Oh nonsense dear." Azula shrugged, "He might object to us being here but I doubt he'll go that far. And he has no evidence we're threatening to the Earth Nation at all...The only real threat to us is the Dai Li. Who are run by a mouse."
Ty Lee stretched as she saw Zuko and Jin play a game together at another stand the festival hosted, "Hey Mai? What would you do if you saw another girl with Zuko?"
"I'd slice her." Mai gripped her kunai at the mere thought of it, "Why?"
"Because he's right there with one now." casually mentioned Ty Lee, "She's actually very pretty."
"What!?" Mai's eyes widened when she saw where her friend pointed to.
Zuko covered his face in shame and Jin burst out laughing when they saw the result of the game they were playing at the stand.
"Oh I'm sure they're just friends." Ty Lee assured Mai.
Jin and Zuko turned towards each other smiling and embraced each other in a passionate kiss.
"Well...that could just be a friendly kiss..." Ty Lee trailed with a hint of jealousy.
Mai, however, was a little less subtle. She jabbed her knife right through a fruit on a nearby stand, making the vendor's eyes bulge out of their head when he saw the juice fly about.
She started walking towards Zuko and his girlfriend, "I'm gonna cut her."
Azula's hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, "Uh uh uh! Not yet Mai! As much as I admire you wanting to do that, we can't draw attention to ourselves. Otherwise, the plan is ruined, and we wouldn't want that wouldn't we?"
Mai sighed and her shoulder untensed, "No."
"Good." snickered Azula. "So...Zuzu is here in Ba Sing Se with us...I guess that means we'll have to act faster...lest he and uncle meddle. I'm going to head back, you two feel free to come join me whenever you feel up to it."
Azula left and Ty Lee looked at Mai's calmly angry face, "Hey...don't get so upset. I'm sure he doesn't hate you or anything."
"Ugh, this is so wrong!" Mai pocketed her knife and started walking off in a huff towards an arching bridge.
Ty Lee sighed, "I get where you're coming from though..." She pressed one side of her mouth inwards, seeing Zuko and Jin laugh and hold hands together, "It definitely is unfair..."
Mai ignored the blind girl standing next to her as she carved wood out of the bridge's handrail. Toph raised an eyebrow, "What did that bridge ever do to you?"
She kept ignoring her, shaving off more wood angrily.
The earthbender raised both eyebrows now, "I'm blind, not deaf you know."
She calmed down, pocketing her knife again, "Yeah...it's just...there's this person I felt like I lost."
"My friend's dealing with loss too. He had a really close friend of his he's looking for." Toph said, "I feel really bad for him. I can't really say I've been attached to anyone like he is to him."
"And how's he coping?" asked Mai.
"Pretty badly I'd say." admitted Toph in her typical upfront manner of speaking, "He's mopey all day, which is really weird because he's usually a very happy person."
"So what do you do to make him feel better?"
"Well I'm always there for him, that's what friends do."
Mai looked down at her feet, shifting her eyes from Toph's blank ones, "That's...actually very sweet of you."
"Thanks, I try my best. I guess I've never really had friends before so I try to be as nice as I can when I'm needed. But I can feel like you're caring too if you're feeling that angry over losing a friend."
A rare smile rose on Mai's face, "You're very perceptive for a blind girl. Did anyone ever tell you that?"
"Yeah...thanks." Toph frowned blankly and Mai's smile fell.
"Thank you...I'll try to be there for my friend to get him back."
"Yeah, I'll try to do the same." Toph nodded as Mai stepped off the bridge.
Toph heard Katara's sharp voice clear as day, "Toph! Where have you been? We've been looking for you for ages."
"Sorry!" Toph was helped off the bridge by Katara as she knew she couldn't 'see' on wood, "I got the sweets I wanted, I was just waiting for you guys to pass by here. How you holding up Aang?"
"Better." The Avatar said with a yawn, "This festival was just what I needed to get my mind off things."
"Look at this awesome map of the Earth Nation I just bought!" Sokka showed it off as his sister rolled her eyes.
Katara crossed her arms, "Some vendor swindled him for twenty pieces."
"He did not!" Sokka folded it again.
"Well I think it looks lovely," Toph smirked.
"Thank you, I thought-" Sokka crumpled up the map as he covered his eyes with his fists, "Agh! You're doing it again!"
Team Avatar laughed together as they walked back to the Inner Ring.
~000~
Jin and Zuko had their hands swaying together as they reached her apartment, "Well...that was very fun."
"Yeah...it was." Zuko nodded, enjoying this lax new lifestyle of tea and festivals and dates. The transition was much more gradual after being bedridden for two days.
Zuko brushed some of Jin's brown hair aside and kissed her, but he opened his eyes to check up and down the street as he wanted to try something. He traced kisses all the way from Jin's lips, the girl gasping the whole way until he reached his girlfriend's neck. There, he moved her brown hair and kissed it.
Jin failed to stifle her moan and gasped louder, feeling Zuko bite down lightly.
"Oh!" Jin winced from the feeling, "That's a little painful."
"Sorry!" Zuko chuckled awkwardly as he met her kind brown eyes, "I thought you'd like it."
"No, it's fine but I should maybe head upstairs, my parents could start worrying. See you tomorrow Li."
"You'll come to the tea shop?" Zuko asked.
She nodded and smiled, "Of course I will. Good night." She blew a kiss which Zuko smiled and patted on his cheek.
Jin opened the door to her apartment complex and Zuko started walking home, messing with the [System] along the way.
|Romantic Game|
|Updates:
+New relationship level with |Jin|, |Neck Kissing|
+5 Affection Points with Jin
+3 Affection Points with Jin
This bothered Zuko a little, he didn't remember disabling |Notifications| from any setting or something to that effect but he didn't really care enough to search further. As with the |Affection Points| if he didn't understand it, he didn't question it. Weird magic was just that to him, weird. He did however come across something peculiar in his exploration of the |System|'s interface.
[Skill Attained: Level 1 Tea-Making]
Zuko face palmed. Tea making? Really? That was a skill in the system?
'Stupid things will always have stupid places...' Zuko shrugged as he walked back home.
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