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I don't own ATLA, but I do own my OCs.

(Revised 4.22.21)

Clara crashed into the floor, containing the massive amounts of painful cries that threatened to spill out from her throat. With all of the numerous times she'd been thrown down, her right shoulder would have been terribly bruised if not for her extra ability. The masked Fire Nation soldier went into a relaxed pose as it was obvious to him and everyone else, she had lost this round...again.

In the last week, which now marked nearly a month of being on this ship, Clara had been struggling. Azula had ordered Lo and Li to speed up her training, which led Clara to think that they would be arriving in the Fire Nation real soon.

"You're not focusing enough on your breathing techniques! Get up," Lo/Li stated harshly as the two women looked at her in displeasure. Grunting in annoyance at the criticism she was getting, Clara rose to her feet and resumed her fighting stance. The soldier mirrored her pose and they both waited.

They were working on close hand-to-hand combat, an area which Clara sorely lacked.

"Again!"

Clara charged forward closing the distance between her and the soldier, then threw quick jabs at his gut. However, he easily managed to block her attacks, much to her frustration.

The man was fast, he managed to get behind her before landing a sharp kick in her side. Clara gritted her teeth in pain but quickly latched both her hands onto his ankle. Using some of her telekinesis to enhance her physical strength, she effortlessly threw him over her head before slamming his body onto the floor. He didn't stay down long much to her disappointment. Twisting his legs, Clara lost her grip on his ankle and he sprang to his feet before coming at her again.

Over her weeks of training, Clara knew without a doubt now that she didn't like fighting. Actually, it was her hurting others that she didn't like.

Unsurprisingly, with her anxiety, she had never been one to be confrontational. The exception being that one time with Malcolm. With how that had ended, she understood that she preferred to peacefully talk things out than attack with force.

Aang would understand this feeling of conflict.

Still using her enhanced strength, Clara kicked the back of the soldier's right knee, pushing him to kneel before standing on it to keep his leg immobile. He buckled forward and not giving him a chance to counter, Clara swiftly struck him in the neck with her elbow. His hands flew up to cover where she'd hit. He made a couple of loud choking sounds before collapsing face first to the floor. It was silent as everyone waited for him to get up again. Clara stepped off his knee and walked to stand in front of him. Immediately, her eyes caught the sight of blood dripping from his mask onto the floor.

Clara stilled as she watched the fallen soldier, waiting for him to move. Her face, she knew looked panicked as the seconds crawled by. Everyone in the room seemed frozen in place too. A single question seemed to collectively hang in the air.

Lo or Li finally asked the question.

"Is he dead?"

Clara felt as if her breathing and heart rate had accelerated. Another soldier walked up and turned the man over so he was face up. As he took the mask off, Clara looked away, fearing the worst but also not able to fully admit to herself that this was really happening.

No no no no no no no!

"He's breathing!"

Clara exhaled a huge gasp of relief at this announcement. Turning back to him, she could feel tears prick the corners of her eyes. She hugged her sides tightly as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Listen child," Lo or Li said, getting her attention. "Killing is a part of the job when you serve in the Fire Nation army," they said with their eyes narrowed. "You... have unique circumstances but are no different in that regard. When an enemy is in front of you," they said together, "Do not EVER hesitate!"

Clara turned to look away from the elderly women. Her hair was tied up high, she wished it was down so that she could use it to curtain her face from everything.

"In life," a familiar voice spoke up, "There is no room for mercy."

Clara whirled around to see Azula standing near the main door. She looked pleased with what she had seen.

"Your fighting instincts are improving. Very good," Azula gave Clara a smug smile.

The Princess gave a nod of approval to Lo and Li before exiting the training room. Bile churned in Clara's stomach as she thought of having to actually kill someone.

"We'll move on to your bending now. Stand at the ready!"

"You boy," they pointed to another waiting soldier. "You'll assist!"

Clara heard Lo and Li, but couldn't get what Azula had said to her out of her head. Once the unconscious soldier was taken away for treatment for his injuries, she proceeded with her training. Clara followed her instructions as if on autopilot. Thoughts of snuffing out a person's life would not leave her. She made a point in her mind, to learn to CONTROL her abilities, ALL of them, so that she may never accidentally kill anyone.

In her free time, when she wasn't absolutely exhausted from training, Clara found herself singing not only to entertain herself but to also comfort herself. On bad days, which was most days on this ship, she used her singing as a way to calm herself since she didn't have her anxiety supplements any longer. They were still in her backpack and THAT was still with the GAang, at least she hoped it was. However, Clara found that the breathing exercises Lo and Li had taught her do also aided her just as well.

Firebending power comes from the breath after all.

Meanwhile, Masaru had finally managed to find an instrument onboard the ship, whose owner didn't mind loaning it out. At first, Clara thought it was an ordinary mini harp, (it was small but wide-looking instrument) but Masaru explained that it was called a 'fairpian' and it sounded like a piano but also a harp.

Clara had learned how to play the piano when she was little, but it was an adjustment learning how to play the strings. On one side, the right, it had black and white strings that sounded like a piano, and on the left, it had tan-colored strings that played like a normal harp. It was… weird having the two sounds coming from a single instrument.

A week had past and Clara was slowly getting better, she could tell. She preferred playing her songs in front of Masaru, but since she was watched all hours of the day... Masaru would rotate with Mal Ten so he had the pleasure of hearing her sing as well as play. Mal Ten had a similar response to her voice as Masaru, claiming she could easily perform before the Fire Lord. Clara thanked him but tried to ignore his praises.

She didn't mind the man terribly but his attitude towards the things he spoke of annoyed her. He reminded her of Gaston from Disney's old movie 'Beauty and the Beast,' the cartoon version her mom would watch with her as a young child. Malcolm would watch too but always complain about rewatching it all the time. He preferred the new movies that were always coming out, not the old ones Clara and their mom liked. It was one of the few things Clara and her mom did before their mom had to work all the time. Beauty and the Beast and The Greatest Showman were Clara's two favorite movies growing up, she had fond memories of watching them with her mom.

"Why do you reject my invitations to show you around the Fire Nation Clara?"

Clara was brought out of her thoughts and took a moment to realize what Mal Ten had asked her. She was glad her back was to him, her face automatically turned into a grimace because he spoke her name. That was another thing that annoyed Clara about Mal Ten... he talked to her in a familiar manner... as if they were close. Masaru during one of their talks had begun to explain some of the Fire Nation's ways and customs. He explained that most upperclassmen and nobility around the world had similar ways too.

It was a general rule to address others in a polite way, using titles if the person held any or for common folks like, 'Ma'am' or 'Sir,' 'Mr' and 'Mrs' with a married couple. For young single ladies, it was unusual for anyone except close friends to address them by only their first name. It explained why that servant back in Ba Sing Se addressed her so formally too. Masaru had apologized shortly after explaining all this, saying he had been ordered to address her in such a familiar way when they had met to help ease her situation. When Clara asked who had given that order, he apologized again, stating that he was not at liberty to reveal that to her.

Clara paused her attempt at playing to answer but didn't turn to look at him, "I've already explained how I hold no interest-"

Mal Ten let out a harsh laugh, "I don't believe that! How could you not when you come from nowhere? You said you never left your hometown until recently! It baffles the mind! Are you not even a little curious? I'll make sure you have a marvelous time!"

His voice was condescending but maybe he wasn't aware of it, however, it had Clara grinding her teeth a bit. Not caring for politeness anymore she, for once, was straightforward and gave a definite answer to him.

"No." She tried to hide the anger in her voice but it slipped a bit.

A moment of silence passed before she went back to trying to play her fairpian. Mal Ten was silent for the rest of his watch, but Clara could feel the tension in the air. It was hard to ignore. Clara never turned to look at him but could feel his stare the entire time. She was determined to disregard the stiff atmosphere in her prison room. Once Mal Ten's shift ended, Clara turned around to see Masaru. Her bright smile was returned by the kind soldier. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw as the door began to close Mal Ten staring at her from over his shoulder. A flash of fury crossed his eyes before the door completely shut.