"Widen your stance, Zhu!"

"No, no. Bend forward a little."

"Higher! Punch higher."

"No, you need to be flexible, Zhu. You move like an earthbender!"

They had been at it since before the sun had risen and frankly, Zhu was already done for the day. And it wasn't even afternoon. Iroh and Kazuki had reprimanded her again and again on the way she held herself in a fight. They had started off with a spar to assess her existing skills. Zhu wasn't that bad but she wasn't really good either.

The two boys made her stand in the centre of the courtyard and copy their movements.

The girl was getting more and more frustrated the more she tripped or slipped or got her forms wrong. Soon she was moving with a lot of anger. Gritting her teeth, she kicked her left leg forward and immediately brought it down only to lift her right leg in an arc. Both her limbs sent forth fire but this time, they were electric blue.

Lord Zuko, who had been observing the children for a while now, could barely conceal his shock. He hadn't known many who could produce fire of that intensity. In fact, he had known only one and that had been his sister. The back of Zuko's mind nagged him that maybe, just maybe, Zhu would turn out like Azula. But the wiser part of him countered that with the right tutelage and upbringing, there was no way that his granddaughter would become another version of Azula. No matter how much she resembled his sister.

"Zhu," Zuko approached the girl who was examining her new black training slippers, "come here, little one."

She hurried to him, expecting him to scold her for being incompetent. Zhu pushed the stray strands of hair out of her face. Ursa had put her hair in a single long braid after trying to comb the knots out. Zhu's scalp was still pulsating with pain.

Zhu stood in front of the tall man, with her hands behind her back. She stared down the front of her red tunic, afraid to meet her grandfather's eye.

"How long have you been able to bend blue fire, Zhu?" Zuko asked gently.

"A year. The first time, I set fire to a boy's shirt in my class because he was mean. Accidentally, of course," She fumbled, "I'm just...Every time I feel angry, this happens."

Very observant of her, Zuko thought, with his fist against his chin.

"...I'm sorry…"

"Whatever for?" He looked at her in surprise, "You haven't done anything wrong, my dear." Lord Zuko chuckled, patting her head, "Many mistake firebending to be aggressive. However, the key to being a good bender is to be calm and focussed. That way, you know the exact amount of fire you need to bring forth. It's a lot like making tea."

Zhu frowned in confusion, "...What?"

"When you are at peace with yourself, you know exactly the amount of water and tea leaves you need to make the most wonderful tea." Lord Zuko looked incredibly proud of himself when he said that.

"You are soooo weird, old man." Kazuki chimed from behind, as Iroh shook his head. "That doesn't even mean anything."

The man sighed in defeat but smiled and placed a hand on Zhu's shoulder, "Everyone makes mistakes while learning. I know I did. Don't let it stop you from working harder."

"Gramps, you're not letting us teach Zhu!" Iroh whined, dragging the girl back to the arena, "Your tea analogies don't make sense, anyway."

Lord Zuko and Kazuki both watched as Iroh showed his cousin a form and made her copy it. They both moved in sync until Zhu made a mistake. She clenched her fists in irritation but Iroh held up his hands to comfort her.

"Your sister…" Kazuki looked up at his grandfather, "She was a prodigy. She could bend blue flames."

"Indeed."

"But she tried to kill the Avatar. And you and your uncle."

Zuko hummed, "Your sister isn't evil, Kazuki."

For a second it felt like it was a young Azula in the middle of the training ground, stomping her foot in annoyance. Zhu looked so similar to his sister that they could've passed off as twins.

"I'm not saying that she is...but...what if…" He trailed off, turning his gaze to Zhu who melodramatically inhaled, arching herself backwards and exhaled, but then ended up coughing smoke.

"Look at it like this, Kazu," Zuko glanced at the trees, further down at the edge of the courtyard, "When you plant a seed, it won't grow on its own. Since you have planted it, it is your duty to care for it, to nurture it in the right way. When done correctly, the seed may grow to be a magnificent tree. Otherwise," He met his gaze with Kazuki's, "the seed may either wither away and die or it'll never have the opportunity to grow that way it should have."

"Since you are High Prince Kasai's daughter," The gruff man in front of her grunted, "you absolutely must learn about the Fire Nation's history, geography, politics, culture, and the like. Starting today, you shall be joining your brother for your studies. I have much to work with, it seems. Tell me," He barked at Zhu, who shuddered at the loudness of his voice, "which tribe did the Fire Sages descend from?"

Baki was a tan, broadly built man in his thirties, with a shaven head and a thick moustache. His arm muscles, Zhu had observed, were larger than melons and she was very intimidated by him. He was a bit shorter than her father, but scary nonetheless, with his rough looking features.

"I...I don't..I don't know." She stammered, from behind the desk where she sat next to her brother.

"Who was the leader of the Fire Sages?"

She shook her head, embarrassed for not knowing.

"Why was the practise of Agni Kai abolished, then?"

Zhu whimpered out another 'I don't know'.

Kazuki, realizing his sister's misery, interrupted their tutor before he could ask her something else, "Really now, Baki. My sister is from Republic City. They don't teach all this there. You're being unreasonable with her."

The big man harrumphed, "Is that so. The quality of education certainly has gone down ever since I completed my studies. However -" He swatted the back of Kazuki's head with a rolled up notebook, "YOU BRAT, YOU CALL ME PROFESSOR. YOU DO NOT CALL ME BY MY NAME."

The boy clutched his head as Zhu reeled back from surprise in the sudden change in the situation, " CROTCHETY OLD MAN. YOU GRADUATED EVEN BEFORE AVATAR ROKU WAS BORN!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY -!"

By the end of the lessons, Baki had given her a list of books to read, completely disregarding the fact that she was five years old. They had gone through the basic structure of the Fire Nation's economy and the Fire Lord's council. The only thing that Zhu knew throughout the lessons was mathematics. She never thought she'd say it but she was glad that maths was the only thing that remained constant, no matter which nation one was in.

Both the siblings had their lunch together in one of the smaller dining areas, with Kazuki constantly breathing down her back about table etiquette.

"But I'm tired." Zhu whined.

"That's no excuse to put your elbows on the table. You were fine during dinner yesterday!" He hissed back.

"There's nobody watching me eat today."

"Don't slouch!"

"But my back hurts when I sit too straight."

"Eat everything on your p- don't pick out your food like that! It's rude. Finish the beans."

"I don't like beans."

"Don't act like a baby."

"Shut up."

"You shut up and eat. I'm older than you."

The honeyed voice that came next made Zhu shoot up straight in her seat and lower her head.

"Teaching her dining manners, are you, my darling?" Lady Chiaki glided with the utmost grace and placed her hand on her son's head lovingly, "Well, don't expect too much." Her cold glare turned to Zhu, who was adamant not to meet her gaze, "Vermin are known to spread filth and disease wherever they go."

Kazuki hesitated to look at his sister, not replying to his mother who narrowed her eyes.

"Taeha, bring me my lunch. I shall sit with my son today."

Her handmaiden, who trailed behind her, nodded and spared a passing glance at Zhu. The girl wanted to slide off the cushioned chair and hide under the table until Lady Chiaki left. Don't take any crap, her mother had said. But she could never imagine herself talking back to the woman before her. Zhu was sure that she would be publicly whipped, seeing as Lady Chiaki ran the Royal Household.

Though Lady Chiaki barely spoke a word to her, her mere presence had made Zhu shiver and sweat at the same time. Her forehead was dripping with perspiration by the time the three of them had finished eating. It was then that the older woman addressed her.

"Oh my, how unsightly." She gasped the most ingenuine gasp Zhu had ever heard, "Are you alright, girl? You look quite sickly."

Zhu lifted her eyes to meet the woman's narrowed gaze, "I am alright, Lady Chiaki. Thank you for asking." She replied as politely as she could.

"You really haven't been taught anything by that uncouth mother of yours, have you," her voice was dripping with venom, as Kazuki sucked in his breath at the words, "It is the most basic manners to not look at your superiors directly."

'Superiors' she said, not 'elders'.

Zhu immediately dropped her head, bowing, "Forgive me, Lady Chiaki." What kind of a rule was this? She tried to push aside the anger that sparked in her when Chiaki insulted her mother.

"Mother-" Kazuki started but one look from his mother silenced him.

"Taeha," She called her handmaiden, who cupped her hands in front of her and bowed in acknowledgment, "Clear away the dirty dishes and make this girl wash them as punishment. I shall be going back to my chambers now. Come, Kazuki, darling." She moved to get up as both the children digested what had just happened.

"But, mother! Zhu hasn't-"

"Now, my darling."

The boy threw a very apologetic look to Zhu, something that Lady Chiaki did not miss. Zhu, who still couldn't understand why she was being punished, stood up as well and watched Kazuki hurry out of the hall.

Once her son was out of earshot, Lady Chiaki dropped the act and hissed, "Stay within your limits, you little whore. Know your place." Without wasting another breath, the woman turned around and left, gathering the folds of her extravagant kimono.

Zhu let out a shaky breath and tried, with all her might, to not cry. She didn't understand why Lady Chiaki was like this with her. She hadn't done anything wrong. But Zhu couldn't voice her opinion either. She was a helpless child in a palace of strangers. The servant let out a low hiss to catch her attention and nodded at all the utensils on the table.

"Pick them up and bring them to the kitchens. Don't you dare break any of them or you'll get the lashing of a lifetime."

"E-excuse me," The girl's bottom lip quivered, "But where-where is the kitchen?"

The servant clicked her tongue in annoyance and called her a 'bastard child' under her breath and scowled at Zhu, "Follow me. Hurry up or I'll leave you behind."

Zhu clumsily gathered Lady Chiaki's lunch set first and hurried after Taeha.

The kitchens weren't as crowded as Zhu had expected them to be. A handful of staff ran around, since most of the palace inhabitants had finished their lunch. Taeha led Zhu to the backyard of the kitchens, where a small area around the corner stone of the building was being used to wash the dirty dishes.

But I just saw a sink inside the kitchens, Zhu hastily placed the dirty dishes in the washing area.

"You'll find everything you need here. Dry off all the dishes after you wash them. I pray to the Spirits that you've been taught how to. Now go back and get the rest of them, you rat." The servant threatened and Zhu scurried back to the hall, making two more trips.

Zhu crouched, with the sleeves of her tunic and her black training pants rolled up, and got to work.

I shouldn't have come here. I shouldn't have come here. I should've stayed at home. I did nothing wrong! This is so unfair. Why does she hate me so much. It's okay, it's just washing dishes. I've done it plenty of times before. But I shouldn't have come. They hate me. I hate this. I want to go home.

Some of the staff thought they were being discrete but Zhu could hear them whispering while peeping out of the door to look at her.

"Who's that?"

"You idiot! Don't you know? That's High Prince Kasai's base born."

"Eh!? He has a bastard?"

"Is her mother some serving girl?"

"Could be. Look at her. So scrawny."

"Poor thing faced Lady Chiaki's wrath. You should've heard the names she called the kid yesterday."

"Yeah, well, her husband did invite home his bastard when he already had a wife and a son."

"Should've just let her be. The brat's going to invite trouble for herself and everyone around her.

Zhu let loose her tears and then there was no stopping her cries. She quietly sniffled to herself, hating everything and everyone. Soap suds flew into her eyes and she yelped in pain. Tilting her neck sideways, she tried to use her tunic to wipe it away by pressing her eye against her shoulder. And then she started to hiccup. Her hair was plastered on her forehead and she accidentally wiped soap on her eyebrows while trying to push them to a side.

This is not fair this is not fair this is not fair -

"Here, I'll wash and you dry."

There was a hand in front of her, holding a clean rice bowl. Zhu's blurry gaze followed the arm and -

"Fire Lo-" hiccup "- Aunty Izumi!" She gasped as the bespectacled lady smiled at her, "Please-," hiccup, "-I can finish this off by myself. You'll-," hiccup, "- you'll dirty your robes. Ah-and-," hiccup, "-this-this is my punishment."

Forcing the rice bowl into the girl's hand, the woman pulled up the sleeves of her own robes, "Well, as Fire Lord, I do what I want." She started scrubbing a side plate, "Now, who gave my niece such a punishment?" Izumi wouldn't say but Kazuki had been the one to tell her about Zhu being punished. He had panicked and approached the first person he ran into.

Hurried footsteps came to a halt behind them and Zhu whirled around, knees resting on the ground, shoulders still twitching now and then. Everyone from the kitchens had gathered outside with horrified expressions.

"Fire Lord Izumi, what on earth are you doing?"

"Your Highness, please!"

"This is something that you should be doing, Your Grace!"

"Taeha, you imbecile, say something!"

The said maidservant stumbled through the crowd, shock imminent in her eyes. Her eyes steeled once they fell from the Fire Lord to the little girl who all but cowered behind the authoritative figure. Strangely, her hiccups had stopped.

"Your Highness, this job is beneath you," Taeha begged, "The child was punished for being disrespectful by the Lady Chiaki -"

"Oh?" Izumi's voice was quiet yet deadly, "So it was my brother's wife." She stood up straight and offered a hand to Zhu, who quickly wiped her own on her pants before taking it, "Then, Nifa, please get these -" Fire Lord Izumi nodded at the remaining dishes, "cleaned by the one who the job is assigned to. My niece and I are off to play Pai-Sho."

"Yes, Your Highness." Everyone bowed in unison.

"Come, Zhu."

Zhu followed her aunt timidly, keeping her eyes trailed on the drenched sleeves of the woman's robe. Guilt pricked her as they walked through unfamiliar hallways.

Fire Lord Izumi led her niece to one of her private parlours that overlooked the gardens Zhu had visited the previous night with her father. A Pai-Sho table had been set up on the balcony. The older woman gestured Zhu to sit. The latter, however, bowed really low.

"I am so sorry, Fire Lord Izumi. You wasted your time because of my mistakes. I have been causing a lot of trouble since I came here." And I only came here yesterday, she refrained from saying.

"Then," The lady settled in front of the Pai-Sho table, "count and tell me how many mistakes you made, Zhu."

Startled, Zhu bit the inside of her cheek and obediently started listing, "Mother yelled at grandfather because of me. Lady Chiaki and papa had a fight because of me. I almost burnt Kazuki. I couldn't get any of my forms right and annoyed big brother Iroh. I didn't know the answers to anything Tutor Baki had asked me. And I looked Lady Chiaki in the eye when she spoke to me. So...that's six."

Her aunt had crossed her arms in front of her, each hand resting in the sleeve of the other, "Hmm...wrong. Seven."

"Seven?" Zhu blinked.

"You forgot that you called me by my title when I had specifically told you to call me 'aunty'." Izumi pulled out a small stoppered jar from her sleeve and and removed its cork, "Wait, make that eight. You called me Fire Lord twice. Come, sit. Hold out your hand."

Zhu did as she was told and closed her eyes, expecting a beating. Instead, when she snuck an eye open, she saw eight tiny candies instead.

"Konpeito." Izumi answered the girl's curious gaze, "It happens to be my favorite so I carry a small jar of it everywhere. Managing a country is no easy task."

"But…" Zhu trailed off.

Her aunt put away the bottle and started placing tiles on the board before them, "Punishing a child for making a few harmless mistakes is not something your father and I were taught. It does more damage than good. Instead, those responsible should guide the child to find their right path. And Zhu, I suggest you eat the candy fast." Izumi tossed the white lotus tile in the air before catching it and keeping it on the board, "They'll end up melting."

"Thank you, aunty."

The candy was the sweetest, nicest thing Zhu had ever tasted after tea. She told her aunt that she didn't know how to play Pai-Sho, and the lady responded by saying that she'll teach her.

"And while we're at it, why don't you tell me how my father reacted when Lin yelled at him."

I loved writing the scene between Izumi and Zhu! And honestly, I find Chiaki's character very interesting. I guess because I just dislike her so much that I enjoy writing her dialogues.

The reason behind Zhu being able to produce blue fire is quite different from Azula's. While Azula's was majorly because of her mastery of lightning bending at an early age, Zhu's bending is mostly fueled by her aggression, which ya'll be seeing in further chapters.

Thank you so much for your reviews and favorites and follows! Let me know what you think of this chapter and if you have any questions.