Disclaimer: I do not have any property rights what so ever over Avatar The Last Airbender and I never will... unless….no that won't do. Wait I got it! The Ultimate Plan of ATLA Domination! But I'm not planning on sharing it unless you leave your reviews at the door. Thank you and on with the story.

Ch 9: Just for You

Zuko followed his uncle all the way to the clearing in the woods.

"Zuko, our training will consist of making you expand the amount of energy your Sea of Chi can control. This exercise was especially made for Firebenders that had accidents with depleting their Sea. When your Sea of Chi runs nearly dry, it contracts and you are unable to wield the same amount of energy that you used to, weakening you considerably. But this exercise will prompt your Sea to grow, enabling you to have a larger store of Chi for the Spirit."

"Oh, and the best part is that your belly won't grow out like mine did, so you'll still be appealing to Miss Katara!" he added, clapping his hands against his stomach.

Zuko felt a little relieved by the joke: it meant that his uncle was also calming down about the situation at hand.

Iroh walked up to Zuko and placed himself in the basic horse stance for Firebending.

"Now, the exercise is very simple really, all you have to do is light a flame out of your hand and keep it at that same height, like so…" He began his demonstration sticking his right arm out and a ten-inch flame exploded out of his palm, then after he saw that Zuko understood he closed his hand, swallowing the flame.

"At first, you will feel extremely tired and possibly have pain in your stomach because your store of Chi is already low, but as time goes on with this exercise, you will notice that you can do it for longer amounts of time, meaning that your the Sea of Chi inside you has grown. Now, go ahead and give it try."

Zuko nodded and placed himself in his horse stance. Iroh shuffled out of the way, sitting on a short stump to better observe his nephew's technique. Zuko began by sticking out his right arm. He closed his eyes, meditating on his technique, as well as drawing air into his lungs. As soon as he felt ready, he mimicked his uncle and lit an identically tall tower of fire.

"Excellent," his uncle encouraged him while running his fingers down through his white beard. "Now try to keep it up for the next six hours. I reckon we have about nine till the sun comes up, so you'll be able to get plenty of rest before the others wake up!"

During the first two hours, Zuko didn't feel a thing. "This must be the lamest training exercise Uncle's ever come up with!" Zuko thought. But a little after the third hour had begun, Zuko started to feel a burning sensation in his abdomen, and he began to lose feeling in his arm, from his hand to his elbow.

The flame began to flare brighter, growing higher and higher, only to take a dramatic drop to almost an inch in height. Zuko was losing his control over the flame. He simply couldn't keep it steady anymore. The fire was beginning to take a life of its own, and, despite his struggling, he was failing to regain his mastery of the flame.

Frowning, his uncle took notice of his predicament. "Zuko, try to keep the flame steady, about ten inches at least."

Zuko was getting very tired and his head was sweating. He tried to win back control by taking in a reviving, deep breath and focusing on the fire that was flaring out of his hand. The fire slowly grew back to the desired height and Zuko exhaled a deep sigh of relief at being able to command his own element once again.

"Well done, Zuko. If you continue this training for the next two months then you'll be more than capable to use the Spirit's power."

"Two months?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course, along with one more exercise I'm going to teach you right after this one!"

There was another one! Zuko was already faint and he was barely surviving the fourth hour. How was he going to make it alive to the sixth and still have energy to deal with another exercise? The goals that he had put in himself to achieve for the past Avatar and his cousin seemed to be traveling further from his reach…but he couldn't allow himself to be brought down so easily. The entire world, whether it knew it or not, was counting on his success in mastering his new training and then accessing the Blue Spirit's powers.

But the pain that was pulsing through his nerves was unbearable. The burning in his stomach made him want to drop and coil up into a ball to ease the pain and his whole arm was getting numb from the excessive bending. Even the palm of his hand was even getting carbon scorch marks all over it, a particularly odd injury for a Firebender, especially considering that the fire came from his own body. Zuko had to concentrate on something to push the pain out of his mind, but what?

"I know!" he thought. He began to concentrate on his breathing: that always helped him before, so why not now? He breathed deeply through his nostrils and exhaled slowly through his mouth. It was working out pretty well, until his concentration was broken by an obscene question that only his uncle could think to ask.

"So nephew, how are things coming along with Miss Katara, anyway?"

"It's coming along great, thanks" the beleaguered prince ground out, trying not to lose his concentration or the pace in his breathing.

"If that's so, then why didn't you sleep with her tonight?"

Zuko almost exploded right there when he heard the question, but he didn't lose his temper. He knew what his dear uncle was up to, and he was going to prove to him that he would emerge victorious.

"You know that we've been together for only one day and you already start pushing me towards those things? I never knew you were one of those perverted types!"

"Touché, Prince Zuko, but that's not what I meant. What I meant was, why didn't you pass the night close to her? I mean you do care for he, so what harm will being near her when she sleeps cause, it's practically the same thing during the day, just that in the night you don't get to appreciate it much."

Zuko felt that the burning pressure inside his stomach was receding as he talked to his uncle. It made him switch his concentration to other things.

Zuko frowned. "You know that no one knows about it except you and that Earthbending master that you've become so fond of. Aang would probably not take it very hard since he's an open-minded person, but it's the other one that I worry most about."

"I never thought that the mighty Prince Zuko would be so afraid from the opinions of one Water Tribe peasant, and one that isn't all too bright, if I might add!"

"I don't fear his opinion about me…what I do not want to do is to put Katara in a difficult situation where she would have to pick between me and her only brother."

Zuko panted to catch his breath after that answer, as he was really tired and the burning in his stomach had returned full force. He felt as if he were going to burst into flames any minute. His uncle looked at the sky and raised his hand to his nephew, signaling that the exercise was over.

"Well done Zuko, the six hours have passed. Now lie down and take a five-minute break. Then we'll get on with the next exercise."

Zuko dropped dead from exhaustion and rolled himself onto his back, staring at the sky. It was still dark, and the stars had never looked as close to him as they did now. He tried to reach up, as if to grasp one of them, but his arm was tired.

He looked to the right to examine his arm. He started to pull his fingers into his palm, attempting to make a fist, but it was useless: his hand was wide open with that flame for so long that his muscles now resisted his commands. He kept on opening and closing his hand, to regain feeling in it before his uncle would start the next exercise.

Iroh continued watching him from the stump where he rested. He couldn't help but feel heavyhearted since his beloved nephew, the one he came to love as his own, had to carry such a heavy burden on his shoulders. But he likewise felt a sense of pride overpowering him, for his nephew already was, despite what the spirits said, a very strong person.

He watched as his nephew's heavy breathing slowed to recover its normal rhythm. He got off the stump and went toward his nephew, giving him a slight nudge on his shoulder with his foot until he regained consciousness.

"Prince Zuko, this is no time for taking naps. Now get up, I still have to teach you that last exercise remember?"

Zuko rolled over and noticed that his uncle had already started to move on without him. Worried that he would be left behind, he used all that was left of his strength to push himself off the ground. He immediately pulled his arm up from the rush of pain that shot to his brain and ended up collapsing on his side, cradling it.

Lying on the ground, he gazed at the stars for revitalizing inspiration. Soon enough, he rolled himself backward and used the impulse like a pendulum to get up to his feet. His steps were wobbly at first, but he soon got his balance, making his way to the next clearing where his uncle was waiting for him.

His uncle saw him wobbling his way up to him like an injured duck walking on dry land. He wanted so badly to help him, but unfortunately, if they needed the training to be successful, then Zuko would have to learn how to do this by himself.

"Prince Zuko, now the second exercise will begin. This one is a little more advanced than the others because it involves the absorption of other chi to strengthen your own therefore, thereby expanding your Sea of Chi by the same amount."

"Fire, as you know, is the only element that has a life of its own. Most elements have their benders use their Chi to manipulate their element. But Firebenders must create and manipulate their own power."

Zuko consciously nodded to confirm that he understood so far. The burning from his stomach had stopped, and he could now stand up straight. It was his right arm that worried him, but he made sure to not pay attention to it so that his uncle wouldn't go easy on him.

"Fire is produced from the direct combination of your chi and heat energy from the Sun. Therefore, I am going to show you how to decompose fire back into heat and Chi and how that once broken apart, you can absorb the Chi in order to expand even more your Sea and how much it can take in! The longer you can keep the Chi in, the stronger you will become, and more power will you be able to wield!"

"Now Zuko, since that has been explained, I want you to strike me with your best shot!"

Zuko couldn't believe the request uncle was making him, but then he remembered that he was the great Dragon of the West, and for Firebending at least, he knew what he was doing.

Zuko waited for his uncle to prepare himself in his usual fighting stance.

"Zuko, I want you to pay close attention to the movement that I'm about to make, alright?"

"Yes, Uncle," he answered hesitantly He still couldn't believe what he was going to do, but he trusted in his uncle's skills as a Master Firebender. Zuko prepared himself in his stance as best he could, his arm still hanging loosely from his shoulder. Zuko took careful aim and unleashed a fiery projectile straight at his uncle.

He meticulously observed his uncle, waiting for the retired Dragon's move. His uncle placed both his hands out, like he was going to receive a pass from a toy ball, but instead caught the flaming comet that Zuko made. The miniature comet was fighting against Iroh, impatient to make impact against his chest, but then Iroh clenched on to the fireball and split his hands away from each other, the fireball mysteriously disappearing.

Zuko stared at his uncle in awe, unsure of what just happened, still waiting to see how he would unleash the chi from his body again, and soon enough, a fiery blaze was shot to the sky. Iroh kept watChing as the flare slowly faded away into the darkness. After the quickly dissipating fire could no longer be seen he set his sights on his nephew.

"Did you see what I did? All you have to do is concentrate your Chi to your arms and feel the power in the flame. Allow your energy to guide the Chi to your Sea and then contain it there for as long as you can. Simple, isn't it!" he added with a chuckle.

Zuko only nodded and put himself in his stance to receive a fireball. "Uncle, I'm ready!"

"You think that I'm actually going to attack you? You're out of your mind!" He signaled out the old stump he was sitting on. He raised himself off from it and lit it on fire. "Here, start with this."

"Try to hold in as much Chi from this fire as you can. I think that by the time you can absorb and hold it for an hour you'll be good and set by the end of the two months! So start practicing, you only have three hours before the Avatar wakes up, and he'll start searching for you to train him more!" his uncle said with a smirk all over his face. You wouldn't know it from the 'kind and harmless old man' demeanor he usually employed, but sometimes, he could be a sadist beyond belief!

Zuko moved forward to the stump. He placed his arms out, feeling the heat radiating from the glowing sparks that jumped as the stump burned. He closed his eyes and visualized his Chi being sent to the palms of his hand, bending the fire from the stump into his hands. The fire from the stump began to go down as a fireball in Zuko's hand began to grow, eventually trapping all the fire between Zuko's hands.

He began to feel for the Chi in the fire and started to split his hands like his uncle did, pulling the flame in. He felt the rush of the Chi burning through the veins in his arms until it reached the pit of his stomach. When it was all encased inside him, he concentrated in keeping the Chi in. This exercise wasn't as bad as the first one. He didn't have to use his own Chi as much anyways, offering a chance for him to recharge. His uncle examined him, counting each second that passed by to see how long his nephew could last.

"Five minutes, and still going! He certainly does improve quickly!" his uncle thought. How could he be so eager to help the world, when most of it had only hated him and rejected him for who and what he was!

"I'm glad you met that young lady, she really has changed you for the better!" he said, while combing the fine silver hairs on his beard with his fingers.

"Before, you used to try only for yourself, which used to bear little or no fruits at all, but now that she's around you, you seem more motivated. The world practically has been placed on your shoulders and you don't give a second thought about it, you just rise up to the challenge!"

"I've been entrusted with the world's fate by one of the greatest Avatars ever known, an earlier Firebending master, and by your son, who I love like a brother! And besides, if the world did come to an end, then that would mean that Katara would die too, and a world without her is one not worth living in. I won't go back to that life, not if I have a say in the matter!"

Zuko felt a disturbance in his body signaling for him to release the foreign energy out of him. He pointed his hands to the stump and released the extra energy as a fireball, lighting again the carbonized stump.

"Well, with results like these you may get your wish. At this rate you could finish the training within this month alone and be more than plenty of a master for the Avatar. You actually lasted for about half an hour on your first try!" His uncle turned around to make his way to camp to snooze for the remaining hours until sunlight came out, but he was stopped when hearing Zuko's question.

"Uncle, this training…I know that it helps me, but what if Aang asks for more advanced moves? What if he asks me to teach him something like lightning?"

He sounded worried, and had good reason too. Sure the exercises were great especially since the last one could be used as a defense against the Fire Lord for Aang, but later he would also need to learn offensive moves.

"Zuko, I have sensed in you that your inner turmoil has been swept away, perhaps never to trouble you again. If Aang does have to learn lightning, you will be more than ready to teach him. You were chosen by the past Avatar to be his teacher, were you not?"

"Yes, but…"

His uncle walked up to him and clapped his hands on both shoulders. He looked confidently into Zuko's worried gaze.

"Then you have to have a little bit of faith in yourself. You already have seven people believing in you, two of whom are all-knowing spirits now. So don't worry about if you are going to disappoint them or not. When you start doubting yourself, then will you have already been defeated without making a single step into the battlefield. Do you understand?"

"Yes Uncle, thank you." They both walked on back to the camp, luckily to catch an hour of rest of rest until dawn broke.

Finally close to the camp grounds, the two Firebenders tiptoed their way back inside their sleeping bags. Before closing his eyes Zuko wiggled his arm, which was still in bad shape. "Maybe some sleep would do it good," he thought as his mind plunged itself into pitch black.

It only felt as if three seconds had passed as he felt the warm rays of the sun on his face, telling him that it was time to wake up. He really wanted to just ignore the annoying biological alarm clock he had within him and sleep in, but unfortunately Agni just didn't want to give him his way.

"Rise and shine people, another beautiful day for training!" cried out Aang already dressed and excited to start his training.

The energetic boy hopped all the way to his exhausted Sifu and started nudging him to see that he was already awake. Zuko, of course, just wanted to die. Zuko tried to lie there and pretend to be dead, hoping that maybe Aang would go bother someone else, but the young Avatar wouldn't desist, so he rose up and turned his tired face to him, making a harsh shush sound.

"Aang, I'll go teach you now if you do me two favors: one, please stop making so much noise, or do you want to make sure to tell everyone where we are so my father can personally track you down and kill you?" Zuko asked the young monk acidly.

Zuko observed how hurt Aang was when he scolded him and knew that he was being harsh on the boy; all he did was try to wake him up because he was desperate to learn, and had really done nothing to him. So Zuko calmed his tone and said sympathetically, "two, go warm up: today we're going to complete the basic sets, and maybe I'll show you a trick at the end of the day!"

With that the now-grinning young Avatar's enthusiasm grew tenfold as he turned to silently make his way to their usual training ground. Zuko watched how happy the boy was just to know that he was actually going to learn something. It reminded him a lot of him when he was learning the broad sword in secret with Lu Ten.

He got up, putting away his sleeping bag away on Appa's back. As he turned around to go meet up with Aang he stopped to see Katara sleeping. He was glad that he got the message across to Aang quickly enough to not wake up anymore people: if not, he wouldn't have had the chance to enjoy the peace in seeing her sleep. He tiptoed his way to her sleeping bag and sat on the log that was closest to her.

Her breathing was truly very soothing to him. He could just barely hear it, but it was the most soothing sound he had ever heard. She rolled over to his right, and Zuko was startled, afraid of being caught so close to her. When he calmed down, reassuring himself that no one was waking up, he noticed that three of her hairs were out of place. He tried to stretch out his right arm to put them back in their place, but the pain was still there and he couldn't move it much.

He used his left hand instead, as gently as he could, making sure not to disturb her divine slumber. She took a deep sigh and gently let it go as he made the slightest contact with her forehead. He looked at his useless arm and was inspired again to why he was putting himself through all of this.

This small moment was probably one of the most rewarding he had ever experienced, and though he couldn't share it freely like he wanted to, but it was rewarding to him nonetheless. He gently caressed her forehead, placing all the loose hairs back to their place and brought his face close to hers, whispering softly in her ear, "everything I do, is just for you."

Her body shivered from the tingling sensation in her ear, but she brushed it off as she slowly faded back to her sleep. With that, Zuko got off the log and ran all the way to the training ground, totally recharged with new energy and hope swirling inside him.

Well that's it for now, still can't make it through to the good stuff. gets unbelieving stares there really is good stuff coming. I just can't tell you because well because then the surprise will be spoiled so bear with me until I get to the good stuff!

Also I have to sadly inform that after the next chapter I have to go back to school and study till September damn living in a country below the equator sucks! so I probably will be updating once per week. But I was thinking of doing something as a goodbye present so I can go out with a bang!

If this chapter gets up to ten reviews between now and Saturday then instead of updating one chapter for Sunday I'll do two of the original length that I always do! And this is good because the upcoming chapters are planned to reveal all and maybe another psycho duel involved as well. But this can only happen if ten reviews go to this chapter. And at least five have to be constructive. Also I believe that the formatting of chapters 2-6 should be done by the end of today, so if anyone would like to comment on how well the changes made were then you can go check that out too.

So please leave reviews at the door if you want to have two chapters to look forward to instead of one. Also leave them because they're all truly appreciated for the improvement of the story past, present or upcoming chapters!