"Keep your hands high! Back upright! Sit lower!"

Naina rolled her eyes at him, but settled into her stance, alert for any sign of attack. As she moved her hand to sweep her hair out of her face, she spotted the twitch of a finger in the periphery of her vision.

Thinking quickly, she dropped to her hands, bringing her feet around in a fiery kick, hoping to make him lose balance. Unfortunately, it was easily blocked, and the returning blast singed her arm. "Ah!" Falling from her hands, she slipped into a sitting position, trying to nurse her arm from burning.

Rokon sighed, signaling a servant and crouching down to help her. "In firebending, the best tactic is to stay on your feet. Bending is much faster than sword fighting, mind you. Do you think in a fight that you can just stop in this way? That your opponent wouldn't take advantage of you? If I wasn't so att- If I were a better teacher, I wouldn't have stopped fighting, you know." When she didn't answer, he looked up at her preoccupied face, and back at the burn.

In a gentler tone, he said, "Hey, listen, this doesn't look too bad; it'll be gone in no time. Ah, here -"

The servant had come with a balm, which Naina rubbed gingerly onto her arm. "Unlike you, I'm not that burn resistant unfortunately, Rokon. I'm not used to these wounds either, so it affects me more so than a sword wound." This was one of the times she wished her mother were there. Mamá was a domestic mage, instead of a warrior mage like Naina. Among her specialties was healing, and she could remedy a burn within seconds.

"I've noticed. You haven't done much by way of combat bending, have you?" His questioning face studied hers.

She blushed in her obviousness and embarrassment, finally looking up to meet his eyes, but realizing their close proximity. Looking away, she answered, "No. Just rudimentary stuff."

She stood, sliding back into her stance, concentration enough for her to ignore the pain in her arm. "I want to try again," she told him, voice strong. He nodded, standing behind her.

Moving slowly in a circle, he tested her reflexes with feints. When she didn't allow a single flinch, he suddenly sprang, hurling a fistful of fire at her. Prepared, she successfully blocked it, turning to shoot a steady stream of flames back at him.

The lesson continued in this manner for several hours, with more care on Naina's part to not be hit. At the lesson's close, both teens flopped down onto the ground, exhausted. Rokon, after a few moments of panting, said "You've improved, but there is still much for you to learn. We'll have another session in two days' time. Get some rest and let that burn heal: things are going to become increasingly difficult."

And so they did. He taught her complex maneuvers, some of which he had even made up himself. They involved twists and turns, power and concentration; she realized how graceful and almost dancer-like a bender had to be. Firebending was no exception to that rule, either: When he showed her something he called the Phoenix Eye, she felt as if he were dancing, whirling around her, the flames flowing from his fingertips like ribbons.

It took her a while to master that move – she had never been among the most graceful even in her own world. But the sense of accomplishment that accompanied her jubilant laughter when she finally managed radiated from her, reaching Rokon, lifting the corners of his mouth in a smile. He often seemed pleased by her happiness, and how easily it came. She smiled at everything from mastering a new and difficult move to the way they were always watched by Azula's spies. She found hilarity in the fact that Azula trusted not even her top officers, one of them being a cousin.

Of course, he noticed those times when she seemed despondent, too. The day he had shown her lightning and how to produce it, she looked as if she was about to burst into tears, but he knew not to ask her: she missed those she had left behind, and some memories were too powerful to be overcome even in the Kaji Toride (Fortress of Fire).

She sometimes had a sad gleam in her eye, and she constantly hummed lullabies from her past. When it rained, Naina had taken to standing with the sentries at the mouth of the fortress, watching the drops fall past her face.

When those times came, he used to try to comfort her, trying to find out what was wrong. But her answer was always the same: "Solan is a place of memories for me. Sometimes, I feel as if I come from an entirely different world all together." And he never understood it past a feeling of homesickness.

In any case, she brightened up at the prospect of a spar, in which their rules were always: no bending, swords and minds only. Most often, she would win, after a long match. In the times he won, she'd stick out a tongue at him, but laughed and gave him a high-five.

During one of these spars, Rokon thought he had heard footsteps and mumbling in the corridor behind the training grounds, but did not dare avert his eyes from the sharp and agile tip of Naina's sword.

She, however, saw Azula walking past with a man dressed in servant or low officer's garb. Knowing they were being watched, she did not change the course of her rapid fencing movements or let the curiosity and anxiousness slip past her mask of concentration. Soon enough, she was thrown back into the adrenaline of their swords clashing, and she nearly forgot about the princess' arrival.

"Tell me, Teikerai, what have you learned about the girl? And what have you noted about their practices?" Azula asked the spy for a report.

Almost anxiously, he bowed, as she continued watching Zaira and Rokon fence. "The girl does not speak much of her past, but she seems a little homesick sometimes. When she does speak, it is always of a land she calls Solan, and about her old fencing master. She answers none of the rest of his questions about where she came from. Zaira had a short absence from here just before your arrival, Your Highness, though she has yet to speak of what happened during it. She was with her master Ri when he died; she must have escaped somehow."

Azula did not remove her keen eyes from the pair, and Teikerai looked nervously at her. "I did learn one important thing that may come of use: she seems almost to fear lightning. She shrinks away from it, and when he first taught her how to control it, she had taken a very long time to be able to bend it. She still has trouble, even now that they've moved on."

He was about to say more, but he caught sight of Zaira's innocent and smiling face as she sheathed her sword with a customary bow to Rokon. He did not want to provide any more information that may get the child killed.

Azula finally turned to him, thoughtful. "Lightning. I see. And Rokon? How has he taken to being her teacher? He seems only too pleased, despite just having lost a duel to the girl."

Teikerai had no guilt stopping him from talking this time. "He seems to have developed affection for the girl, though she seems blissfully unaware. They fight like this often, and he tends to lose most of the time, but they are almost equally matched in swordsmanship. He is still her superior in firebending, though; she has yet to find the inner grace bending requires." Then, looking at Azula's raised eyebrow, and back towards Zaira and Rokon, he added, "He sometimes grumbles about the pointlessness of the rebellion, when she is not listening. He desires peace more than the restoration of glory to our wronged nation."

"Is the girl ready for an Agni-kai?" A single question; it held more danger than a starved wildcat.

"No, not by any means! It was only a couple weeks earlier that she even began learning combat bending; it was only the basics until then!" Sputtered Teikerai, looking horrified.

"Very well. You may go."

Teikerai hurried off, trying not to imagine what atrocities Her Highness had on her dangerous mind.

Azula, however, stayed a moment, hidden by the shadows, watching the two of them banter. Once or twice, she thought she saw Rokon staring, especially when Zaira laughed. Her plans were ahead of the couple. Far, far ahead…

"Zaira," Rokon called on her as she was returning to her rooms after another firebending lesson.

She turned, blinking as the sun burst forth from behind a cloud. "Mhm?" She raised an eyebrow as he looked warily around.

"Come with me," he said finally, extending a hand out to her.

"What's this about?" she asked, taking it. He looked over his shoulder, and, seeing no one, continued into the forest before he spoke.

"I need to talk to you away from prying ears, that's all. There are things I've to tell you, which Azula really needn't a report for. She knows, anyway."

Confused, she shrugged, following him as he ducked past a tree and into a well-hidden cave. She was surprised when he didn't stop, however, despite the complete darkness past the yawning mouth. "Where are you taking me?" she ventured, curiosity getting the better of her.

Instead of answering, he just took her hand again, telling her to crouch. Almost as suddenly as they had happened on the cave, its height was reduced, and they had to crawl. After a minute or two, Naina saw a bright patch of light ahead, and she smiled. Another Kaji Toride secret passage.

The cavern spit them out into a small clearing, in a corner of which was a moss-covered log. Rokon made his way toward it, patting the moss next to him as he sat. "I really don't like to be the bringer of bad news, as calm as you are…" he began, almost hesitantly. Instead of pressing, she just looked at him expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "I've been assigned to the Earth Kingdom. My ferry departs tomorrow; the world leaders are planning diplomatic talks in Katai Shi early next month, and I'm to scout." Looking away from her shocked face, he continued; as if afraid he wouldn't be able to go on if he stopped talking.

"As much as I enjoy this peace between nations, and as much as I deny Azula's idea of a Fire-dominated world, I must go, if I even want a chance at life. Her orders were clear that I mustn't tell you this, but…" he returned his amber-gold gaze to her face.

"Well, I think that you deserve to know. We're close friends now, and it isn't right for you to not be aware of the fact that I'm being sent to Katai Shi."

A silence filled the clearing, and not even a breeze disturbed them.

Quietly, as if afraid the trees would hear her and make her words ring true for him, she said, "Katai Shi? The Steadfast City; the one that the Fire Nation attempted to lay siege to at the beginning of the war…their failure was so great the feat was hushed up, and now many think the attack to be a myth? The third city of the Earth Kingdom, even more impenetrable than Ba Sing Se; you're being stationed there?! What did you do to deserve that?"

Naina looked at him as if afraid he'd blow away before her eyes.

"The attack was no myth." His voice was barely a whisper, and he looked at the ground, eyes distant.

She looked at him, horrified. "But then, the chances of you being caught are –"

"Far higher than I'm comfortable with, I know."

Distress shone through her eyes like a beacon, and he dragged his face up to look at hers as she spoke. "If you're captured, the chances of you coming back, even staying alive –"

Frustrated, he stood, sparks dancing at his fingertips as he nearly lost control. "I know, I know! There is absolutely no possibility of my return, although I guess we can rest easy with the fact that many of them are far too noble to kill me. I'll just be their prisoner until I do actually die!" She flinched visibly at that word, and he calmed down.

Sitting back down next to her, he said gently, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose control like that."

"No, it's not your fault. What could you possibly have done to warrant her sending you there? I've been by your side more often than not; you've never said or done anything that might displease her enough to do this to you!" Her concern touched him.

"I don't know," he said softly. "But I must follow her orders if I want to continue my life at least until I reach Katai Shi. I brought you here because I wanted you to know and because I wanted to see you one last time before…" He trailed off, unable to continue.

Eyes wet with unshed tears, she threw her arms around him. "This can't be the last time I see you. It won't be; I know you'll be able to go there and come back alive – you have to!" Her words were fierce, strong, but she herself didn't believe them. "You'll stay alive for me, won't you?" she said into his shoulder.

Hugging her closer, he told her, "I'll try my very hardest, Zaira. I'm selfish; I want to come back to see you, because I've realized something in these past months: I love you."

She froze and stiffened slightly, eyes wide with surprise. "I…" she stopped, remembering she may never see him again. Though she did love him, it wasn't in the way he meant. Rokon was her closest friend, the brother she'd always wanted. But she didn't want to hurt him, ever.

She pulled away from the hug, and gave him a soft smile. "We're universes apart, you and I. But this is a language I understand." She would let him think she returned his love, but would utter no promise that could hurt him later.

He gave a smile, but she could readily see the sadness and fear reflected in his eyes when he looked at her. He was afraid of losing himself, and by extension, losing her.

"Would you mind spending the rest of the day with me?" He sounded as if he were making a dying man's final wish.

"Of course."

Please Review! Especially if something is confusing - I'll be more than glad to explain things in detail.

In the next (and maybe the one after that) chapter, things are going to get really exciting, and we get to see the seed of a plan Azula has planted grow. Guesses as to what's happening next?

Visit my Deviantart - illustrations! Sepulchral-roses(dot)deviantart(dot)com

~iamthebindbandit