Lightning Can Be Warm
Chapter 2
AN: What a surprise, this story for the moment seems more interesting than Potter Story! Has anyone seen the amazing dress-up and wardrobes that AlisaChristopher's done for the ATLA characters? If you haven't, you simply have to look it up on Google or DeviantArt. And who thinks that Toph and Teo are very compatible? Both of them have disabilities and neither of them let it handicap them. They're quite alike. Strange, isn't it? Also, later in the chapter I say stuff about Lightning that Iroh contradicts in the series. I don't think lightning is really fire-bending, especially since they introduced Energy-bending at the end of the series. I know energy-bending only seems to be taking other people's energy, the lion turtle does say that they used to bend their chi instead of an element and I think lightning is one of the chi-bending techniques that wasn't forgotten as it doesn't rest in one element, it's all of them in a way.
Zuko looked down as he heard the words of Grandfather Azulon's cremation. He didn't want to watch. It reminded him of what Mother had done that night. He respected it and he had stayed strong but after Azula had stiffly departed to her room, he had cried himself to sleep. He sighed as he heard the whoosh of the fire and the weird Fire Sage announce Ozai as the Fire Lord. He bowed down because he had to, but he hated giving in, especially to Ozai who was the worst type of man in the world. Because he was evil but not the egocentric, megalomaniac kind of evil you found in stories. No, Ozai was the third type of evil person. He was the ruthless clever one, the type of bad guy that always won. And Zuko felt hopeless for the first time in his life, as the new Fire Lord made his speech to the eagerly waiting audience.
(X)
"So Zu-zu, how were you feeling when—" Azula was interrupted by a large cannonball of pink rushed towards her. Zuko laughed as he saw Ty Lee almost strangling Azula in the frenzied swirl-around hug. A girl dressed in black and maroon slouched against a curved pillar, her face plunged in shadow.
"She's been like this all day." She drawled and Zuko recognized the voice, if only faintly from what seemed like a lifetime ago. It made sense though. If one of Azula's friends was here, the other one would be too.
"Mai. How lovely to see you. How have you been?" Zuko remarked in as casual a voice he could muster.
"Fine, thank you, Prince Zuko. How have you been?" she drawled and Zuko could feel she was laughing at him.
"Small talk doesn't suit you Mai. What do you want?" She smirked.
"I don't want anything. I attended the Fire Lord's funeral and was dragged over here to see an old friend and attempted to make polite conversation." Zuko almost smiled. Almost.
"Oh Azula! Mwaaa!" Zuko whipped around at the loud exclamation and watched in disbelief and Ty Lee hugged and kissed Azula, holding a very expensive emblem of the Fire Nation reserved only for people that were high nobility and were usually given to the people held dear to the royal family.
Now he was smiling and soon outright laughing at the frozen Azula and the expression on her face. And Mai was sniggering at his side. But there were people looking at them disapprovingly so Zuko, stifling hiccupy laughs, dragged the frozen Azula and hyperactive Ty Lee outside to the garden. It was dark now and the moon was showing on a sliver of its light. Ty Lee had stopped assaulting Azula and gazed at the emblem with pride. She rubbed it against her tunic and pinned it in her braid, instantly making her look happier.
Azula had recovered her composure and handed Mai another emblem. "This is for you. You don't really like bright colours so I got it made in maroon." Mai smiled sadly and pinned it to her belt.
"Thank you Azula." As soon as Azula turned away to talk to Ty Lee about how long it had been, Mai turned to Zuko.
"All right, spill. What did you do to Azula? Brainwash her?" Mai threatened. "And if you dare hold information, you mustn't forget my skills, I don't rise and set with the sun, remember?" Zuko looked to her sleeve where an evil looking dagger stuck out and shone faintly against the moonlight.
He gulped. "Alright. I'll tell you, look..."
But he stopped at the smirk on her face. "You didn't mean that at all, did you?"
She shook her head unapologetically and the glimpse of the knife disappeared. He looked her thin lips and the eyes shining with hidden mirth.
"Right, that's it Mai. You are going down!" And he ran after her and she started running very fast through the gardens. They passed Ty Lee who was teaching Azula how to completely ignore her spine. Zuko stopped and panted in the middle of the garden. He stared at the fountain with a fish on the top. He remembered fighting Azula before and sat down to recover and remember.
"What's wrong Zuko? Are you tired?" Mai came and sat down next to him. She hadn't even broken a sweat and looked composed.
"This was where I first started slowly changing Azula. She was Ozai's before, his and his only. Then, I fought her and called her a monster. She was hurt by this and after overhearing a conversation of Mother's saying the same things, she came to me. We had, and still have a deal. I teach her to be nice and she teaches me fire-bending. We teach other things too, but in the end it comes down to that."
Mai put an arm around Zuko's shoulder and looked sympathetic but replied with a smirk on her face, "I asked if you were tired, not for your life story!" She looked at him and suddenly drew him into a deep hug. She then kissed him on the cheek and walked away, leaving Zuko behind, part shocked and part thoughtful...
(X)
"General Iroh, news has come in of a breakthrough in Chameleon Bay! We have overtaken the all of the villages around that area with great ease, if we move at this rate northwards; we shall overthrow Ba Sing Se!"
Zuko sighed as a messenger burst into the chamber where he and his Uncle Iroh were having some meditation lessons to make him stronger. It was against his nature to stay still and quiet for this long but he would do anything to be more on the side of the good and influence Azula more. He was 13 now and he was more scared for Azula than ever.
Ozai had started taking interest in their lessons and whenever they had a fire-bending lesson, they always went to the Royal Meeting Place and practiced under his watchful eyes. Zuko could remember the first lesson clearly. It had been a week after Ozai's coronation and Azulon's burial on a grey morning, bleak and dull.
:: Azula and Zuko strode down the corridors, purposefully towards the door. They nodded to the newly appointed guards of the Royal Meeting Place though Zuko scowled at them darkly once they were out of sight, obviously Ozai hadn't wanted to die the same way as Azulon had. The flames around Ozai surged high as the two children walked in. Zuko bowed in the traditional Fire Nation way, with the left hand in a fist and the right hand straight before standing up straight.
"Aah, my surprising son, and my dazzling daughter. You are here as I asked, right on time. Some may call it early. I have watched from the sidelines in your lessons and you have both surprised and surpassed expectations. You have both proved your skills at the Royal Academy and passed all the classes with flying colours. Most children finish their schooling at the age of sixteen. But I believe that you could finish it now! You Zuko at the age 12 and you Azula at the tender age of 10! The youngest complete fire-benders since the time of Agni himself! All you have to do is participate in a small sequence of duels against some of my best fire-benders—together."
Azula smirked at Zuko. An unseen thumbs up was flashed and they nodded simultaneously. Ozai smirked and two shots of fire blasted down from the ceiling which were about to hit them until he sent a streak of fire in an arch, absorbing them. An unspoken agreement had settled between the two of them and they sprung into the air. Ozai looked puzzled until he looked up and saw his two best agents fall to the ground, covered in soot and scorch marks. Azula and Zuko gently landed on the ground, not looking at all ruffled, in fact, looking rather innocent. The fire-benders quickly recovered and shot short quick blasts of fire at the two of them. Zuko quickly waved an armful of fire to absorb the shots. He quickly dissipated it and Azula sent long thin strands of blue fire straight at the places where the armour didn't cover them that weren't going to be fatal. Zuko, with two whips of fire-locked the fire-bender down and watched Azula deal with the other one. He sent many short blasts at her face and upper body which disappeared into thin air. She started walking towards him, unruffled and when she was close enough, sent one shot that knocked the wind out of him and tied him down with the same move Zuko was using.
"Surrender?" they had asked at the same time to the opponents they were facing. There were slow claps from Ozai who was watching in the corner.
"Well done. All of the moves apart from the whips of fire were beginner moves. Attempting to show me how easy it was to fight them? Well, next time, I'll get better fire-benders. Dismissed."
He walked back to his seat and the fire shot higher than ever. Azula walked out gracefully and Zuko followed her, taking one last glance at the ashamed generals. ::
"Zuko!" Zuko was startled out of his daze by a shout from Iroh. He looked his uncle in the eye, but he merely smiled and gestured to the teapot. Zuko nodded. Iroh poured it in the two cups at the side and handed Zuko one.
"It is Ginseng tea. My favourite. How are you nephew? What were you thinking in your meditative stance that kept you quite that occupied?"
Zuko frowned; normally his uncle wasn't this blunt. He was obviously very curious.
"I was just thinking about Oza—father. He started taking an interest in our lessons. Neither Azula nor I go to the Royal Academy any more. We both finished and we take private lessons with instructors now. He watches always, and if not him, an agent of his. It has become a game to see who can get rid of their tail the fastest. The only place I am not followed is here. Because they know of your reputation, Uncle." He felt awkward, he hated telling people what he was truly feeling but with Mai and Uncle, it was just so easy to say because they were quiet, listening souls that took away fear.
Iroh laughed while sipping the tea, "Of course they are frightened. I wasn't called Dragon of the West for nothing!" A gentle petering of fire blossomed out of his mouth and Zuko drew back, instinctively. Iroh looked horrified and attempted to console Zuko but Zuko nodded grimly.
"It's okay, Uncle. Thank you for the tea and the quiet room." He walked out of the room, leaving the cup of untouched tea on the table. Suddenly, another messenger ran into the room.
"General, Iroh, sir! Fire Lord Ozai has called a war meeting. He wants all the generals in the Royal Meeting Place at noon." Zuko paused in his step. He'd always wanted to go to a meeting but Ozai had never let him. Iroh had seen the pause and pounced.
"Nephew, would you like to accompany an old man to the War Meeting?"
Zuko sighed and answered without turning around. "If Azula can come too."
Iroh nodded. "So be it. Bring your sister and meet me at the Door at noon. Wear your armour and your insignia; you want them to recognize you as Crown Prince and her as Princess.
(X)
"I can't believe you got us into a War Meeting by making Uncle feel guilty! You are more skilled in manipulation than I thought!" Zuko grimaced at Azula's whispered words. He didn't feel like he'd manipulated Uncle...but had he?
"You know Azula, Lesson number 55, manipulating people isn't good, especially if they're on your side." Azula sighed by his side and Zuko grinned. Once she'd managed to get a decent act of looking like she was 'nice', she tried to stop having morality lessons but Zuko didn't give up.
They stopped outside the gate and the guard frowned at them.
"Children aren't allowed in the war meetings." Zuko gulped as the large bulky guard cracked his knuckles.
"Gabli! They're with me." He visibly sagged with relief at Uncle's arrival. Uncle looked at the two of them and nodded in approval at the armour and stance.
"Now, you stay with me and you listen and talk only when you are spoken to. Remember these people in here don't have to worry about killing you and they get angry...fast." Zuko nodded. He knew this message was aimed at him, Azula wouldn't even think of speaking out of turn.
Uncle led them in and sat them down close towards the flames, in front of Ozai. Zuko sat down and listened as General Qin explained about using the 41st Division of new recruits as a cannon fodder while the advanced troops ambushed the Earth kingdom army from the rear. Zuko's fists clenched, it was just wrong to use people with lives, hopes and dreams in such a wasteful manner like that. They were citizen of the Fire Nation and didn't deserve to be treated like that. He was about to defy Uncle and yell at General Qin when Azula laid a hand on his arm.
"Stay down, he'll murder you. And if not him, Father will." she whispered. "It's a rubbish idea, the ambush force is larger than the cannon fodder and will attract more attention but we cannot tell him it's wrong." Zuko marvelled how she didn't seem to be moving her lips while she was telling him all this. She wasn't even looking at him, instead gazing attentively at the general as he spoke.
He stayed quiet for the rest of that session, listening to the Generals' plans and seething silently at the wastefulness of the armies. He found it was a wonder that people wanted to be soldiers if they were treated like this. Azula seemed to agree with him as her fists were tightly clenched, but Zuko knew he hadn't completely got rid of her uncaring ways and her outrage was probably about the atrocity of the plans. He sat and he waited, it being the most difficult thing he had done in a long time.
"Aah. The next generation are with us today. Let us hear what they have to say about these plans. That is, if they aren't too advanced for you?" Commander Zhao taunted, seeing Zuko. Many of the Generals seemed to agree. Ozai nodded. The two of them argued quickly about who was going to speak before Zuko poked Azula and she stood up gracefully. Putting on her best little girl voice she started speak and as she spoke the faces of the generals slowly turned from scorn to awe and humiliation.
"Well, General Qin's plan for the back-stabbing of the 41st division is not only a betrayal of our troops who willingly came to fight us but a rubbish plan tactically. The ambush force is always smaller, more elite. You have got big burly men who fight head-on as the ambushing force. You want light, stealthy people like the Yu Yan Archers or the Azuli assassins. And the cover they would need is not there. It's at the edge of the Si Wong Mountain range, backing onto the desert. There is no cover! A better tactic would be to push them into the desert by pretending to be a spirit and haunting them and watch them starve by taking their water supplies. Or you could wait till they are drunk at night and slit their throats.
And Admiral Makur-Lee's tactics in the Mo Ce Sea were appalling! We only won because of the sheer number of ships and this was wasting soldiers who could have been used more effectively elsewhere! Half of a ship is underwater, isn't it? You could use nets underwater to catch the propeller and most of the ships; then fire the trebuchets and destroy them! Instead you waste troops on blockading the sea unnecessarily.
Then Commander Yun-Sun's problem's with a group called the Freedom Fighters is pathetic! These people live in the forest? Burn the forest to the ground! We're fire-benders, it isn't difficult! And if that doesn't work, use a shirshu and track them down then burn them or slit their throats! It's not worth sending soldiers out!
The problem at Jang Hui Factory is simply solved. Use the abundant supply of medicine and food that the people in the village have got. And if they complain? They are doing their service to the Fire Nation by helping the troops. And in the mean time, we send in an Azuli assassin. I know one that works for free at Fire Fountain City and she can stop the ambushers.
And the big issue; Chameleon Bay. The way towards Ba Sing Se. Except it's still a long way towards Ba Sing Se. You want to take the shortcut across the desert-like area and attack at the strongest point. Would it not be better to travel along the Fangu River that snakes off through the forest land? Food would be easier, not many people live in that area and the walls to Ba Sing Se are the weakest as it is furthest away from the actual city of Ba Sing Se.
Now Commander Zhao, any problems you see with any of those tactics? Didn't think so." Azula sat down and gratefully drank the cup of water Zuko handed to her, looking impressed and if she said so herself, jealous.
Ozai clapped slowly. "Maybe we should invite you two to more meetings. We might get more productive plans and tactics. War Meeting Dismissed. Commander Zhao, Admiral Makur-Lee, General Qin, Commander Yun-Sun and Major Akum, stay here."
Azula, Zuko and Iroh walked out of there quickly. As soon as they were away from any of the Geeral's in Iroh's chambers, Zuko and Azula burst out laughing. And laugh they did.
"Did you see their faces the more you kept talking Az? It was absolutely hilarious. Zhao's especially. He looked so stupid! Even Ozai was shocked! I told you to do it, just for the shock factor of an eleven year old girl knowing more about tactics then they do. And gods, you were amazing!"
Azula smirked. "I try. And I have to agree with you about Zhao, he just looked so stupid the more I kept talking." Iroh shook his head in amusement. "You two are lucky my brother was in a good mood today. Or I tell you, there would have been consequences. I admire you for keeping your tongue for so long, both of you looked outraged."
Azula sighed and the two of them exchanged a look. There would be consequences to this, there always was. But for now, they would laugh and smile and wait.
(X)
"Zuko?" Zuko turned around, feeling rather annoyed. He had been attempting to try archery so he could have some skill like the Yu Yan archers.
"What is it, Ty Lee?" he asked the little girl in bright pink clothes. She looked rather worried
"I can't find Azula or Mai anywhere. Do you know where they are?" Zuko frowned, had they not told her?
"Azula and Mai are at extra classes at the Royal Academy. Azula thinks Mai has potential to be a weak fire-bender. They won't be back until tomorrow evening. Why?" Ty Lee face fell and she looked hurt.
"Why didn't they tell me?" she whispered.
"I don't know. But my question still stands. Did you need them for some reason? You were meant to be acrobatics training. I think..." She smiled sadly.
"Yes I was, but it got cancelled. Apparently the instructor was ill. But I need to go into town and you can't go alone anymore so I wanted to ask them." Zuko frowned.
"Why can't you go alone?"
"Haven't you heard? There've been these attacks over the past week or so. Young nobles, mostly girls have been assassinated. So far, three are dead. Nobody's allowed to go anywhere alone. I asked the guards to escort me to here but they won't go shopping, they have more important duties."
Zuko sighed. He had a feeling he was going to regret it but he wasn't going to be responsible for Ty Lee dying.
"I'll go with you." Ty Lee brightened.
"Really? Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" He sighed as he pulled him into a bone squeezing hug. It wasn't like he had been making any progress with the bow.
(X)
"Is this one or this one better?" Ty Lee asked holding two identical cabbages up to him. He breathed in and breathed out. He was dealing with someone as fragile as a candle's flame; he couldn't blow up like he could with Azula or Mai.
"They're both the same; just pick the one in your left hand." She smiled and dropped the one in her right hand.
"These two?" she asked and he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. She gasped and dropped the two radishes she had been holding.
"Are you alright, do you feel a headache coming on, I'll get some ragwort—"
Zuko put both his hands up, eyes widening in alarm. "I'm fine Ty Lee, I was just a little annoyed because the radishes were exactly the same." She relaxed but looked confused.
"Why were pinching there then? My healing teacher says you pinch there to prevent a headache or a nose-bleed. You weren't bleeding so I presumed it was a headache and they are painful!"
Zuko laughed. He was beginning to understand Ty Lee, just a little. She cared for people, in her exuberant bouncy way.
"None of your sisters are like that," he said as he paid for the food they had picked, "So how come you stay so bouncy and, well, different?" She drooped slightly. You wouldn't have been able to tell, but Zuko was watching closely. He understood Mai and Azula; he didn't understand Ty Lee and he didn't like not understanding.
"I guess it all comes down to being different. There are seven of us who look exactly the same and they enjoy it, but I hate it. I want to be recognised as someone who isn't one of the Ontslaan sisters."
Zuko looked at her with surprise. She had sounded so hateful, so angry, an anger he hadn't ever seen demonstrated by Ty Lee. And he realised, like indifference was Mai's technique ways for hiding anger and smugness was Azula's; happiness and chirpiness was Ty Lee's. So many new insights! New discoveries! Zuko felt very happy. He sighed and waited with Ty Lee in the queue for herbs and medicines. He waited. And waited. And waited. And got very annoyed. At his side, so did Ty Lee.
"What's going on?" asked Ty Lee impatiently and dragged Zuko to the front of the queue. They stopped. There were two trembling girls cowering on the floor as a big hulky man smirked and taunted them and everybody else watching looked very frightened and eager to get away from the area.
"What in Agni's name is going on?" she asked.
"Anovver li'l gal? Why don' you stay out of busyness that ain't yours and I won't have to 'urt ya?"
Zuko frowned; he had an itchy feeling he was going to have to fight. He breathed in and out, building up his chi flow towards his hands.
"No, it's my business because you are holding up the queue and I want to go home!" Zuko swore under his breath as she shouted in his face, this would not end up well. He almost slumped in relief when he didn't attack her.
"Okay li'l girly gal, these customers owe me a lot o' money and they ain't payin' it back. I given 'em plenty o' chances but they won't pay up. Makes sense I should get some kinda payment. They don't like the terms to my shop, they shouldn't shop from 'ere. Eeh?"
Zuko sidled up to Ty Lee. "Don't get him really angry Ty Lee, he's..."
"LET THEM GO!" she screamed, "THEY ONLY WANT MEDICINE!" Zuko hit his forehead as she paralysed him and the other five bulky soldiers rushed out from behind the shop. He sighed, it made sense that Ty Lee would piss off the most feared thug in the Fire Nation Islands. It wasn't for his fire-bending or his weaponry prowess. No, it was for his manipulations of scared or weak people. And there were a lot of scared or weak people in fire Nation. Just because they were winning the war against the rest of the world, didn't mean that they were winning against nature. People were frightened of war. But there was no time for thinking now. Ty Lee was being attacked by five, very angry people and she couldn't dodge forever.
Zuko breathed and sent a huge blast of flame at the five bad guys. He smiled in satisfaction as their skin burned and flaked. They were screaming and with an urgent shake of his head, he beckoned Ty Lee over to where he was. She quickly jumped over the dying people and stood by him. But these people had a reputation for a reason and they got up again, staring at him and just then, his fire-bending failed and it petered out. They smirked but so did Zuko. He wasn't without his tricks. He grabbed Ty Lee's arm and ran through the streets. He knocked over some fruit and vegetable carts after checking to see they were following. He twisted and dodged and pulled them out towards the coast, where it was emptier and he had more area to do the larger katas.
They blasted through but with a sense of glee, Zuko noticed there were only three men. With a deep breath in, he threw the fire across and threw them backwards onto a stone wall. He punched short blasts of fire at them, moving with relative ease. But he stopped as weak bursts of flame came out. He groaned, it had been cloudy for a long time and his powers were weak. Luckily he had other ways of dealing with people. He draw his Dao swords and slashed all of their throats in one go. He didn't even think about it once. He then turned around and looked at Ty Lee.
"Are you okay Ty Lee?" She looked rather green but nodded. Zuko accepted it and turned round and looked at the dead fire-benders. There was blood everywhere. And there were three heads on the floor, eyes wide open as they saw their death... He'd killed them. He'd killed them. He shook and threw up noisily on the floor. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You did it to help them. Don't be ashamed." She said. But how would she know? How would she know, she hadn't killed anybody and the people might have had families or people that would miss them.
"I know how it feels Zuko. I...might have accidently killed someone at the circus! But they were being mean and they were going to hurt poor Zin Wara. I-i-i killed them with dim mak. And I cried for three days straight afterwards. It's painful. But now, they're gone forever. They won't be hurting innocent poor girls who can't pay bills or can't tame platypus-bears. And you did it honourably. I think." Zuko snorted.
"Well, it's your fault Ty Lee. Why didn't you listen two more seconds? I was going to tell you that the guy was Gaaj Muhl. The Gaaj Muhl." Ty Lee's eyes widened so wide, Zuko could have sworn, they were the same size as a lion turtle.
"It is so like you to challenge the one guy who could kill us and get away with it." Ty Lee said.
'Wait, what? Me? It was all you Ty Lee!"
(X)
Toph groaned as Master Yu kept repeating the same patterns over and over for one of the easiest moves she had heard of. Ever since she had run away two years ago, everything seemed so much easier. She could see perfectly using what the badger-moles had unknowingly taught her. She sensed things as if she could still see and her parents didn't suspect a thing. Though Toph wished sometimes, that they would see how amazing she was and wouldn't hide her and pretend she didn't exist. But she had found one thing she was good at listening to-Bargaining.
Hiding in the rafters, little corners where they would never see her, Toph listened to her father negotiate prices between everybody and anybody that wanted to trade with them including Fire Nation. Among all this, her father was a politician and often discussed tactics and issue with important guests who never saw her. She listened to everything and absorbed it. Without a doubt she knew this would be useful. And a whisper echoed through her head that haunted her dreams where she could see things and colours. Where she was somebody else entirely. A friend of somebody who had disappeared a century ago. And he was friends with others, people dressed in red, people dressed in blue, people dressed in a very gaudy orange and yellow. And they all whispered things, things that she didn't understand, not yet.
Do you believe friendships can transcend lifetimes?
(X)
Zuko walked out of Iroh's room after having a firm telling off and a bit of a cry. He couldn't get the image of the heads on the ground, just looking terrified of him. Was he scary? In politics and life in the Fire Nation, scary was good. It meant enemies would think twice before attacking you. But a part of Zuko flinched from it. He didn't want to be scary, he wanted to be normal. He couldn't tell anyone, not Azula, nor Mai, nor Uncle. They would see him weak and though he knew family wasn't supposed to care, he didn't exactly have a normal family and he had no idea how to react. They wouldn't know how to react.
He stopped still as he saw a crying Azula on his bed. Immediately he was at her side holding her as she cried.
"What's wrong?" he asked her gently after she stopped sounding like she was going to die from crying.
"I can't do it." She whispered so quiet he had to strain to hear.
"Can't do what?" he whispered too, this was dangerous talk, and Ozai's spies were watching and listening always. In fact, him even consoling her like this could be dangerous but Azula needed him and she came first.
"Can't...bend...lightning..." she whispered and a few tears trickled down her cheeks. "Father's going to murder me. I lost a talent so valuable completely...I'm an idiot."
"No you are not Azula. No you are not! You were born lucky, remember? I was lucky to be born!" She looked at with an expression akin to 'Why are you reminding me you fool?' and laughed. He worked better when he was angry, because he was angry too often to count. At least he had been.
"Anyway, not being able to bend lightning isn't your fault! It's—let me try this, another way. To be able to cast lightning, you have to feel nothing right? It's not fuelled by emotion like other firebending, its cold fire and it's precise and deadly. To cast lightning you mustn't have any doubts, perfect peace of mind. You separate the yin and yang which creates imbalance. The energies seek to rebalance themselves and when they do, you harness the energy to shoot lightning. The problem you're having is your state of mind. I don't think you'd have any problem actually separating the energies. So what you need is ummm...whats the word? Peace, calm, relax...Azula?"
"Impassiveness?" she said, after a moment's pause.
"That's right! Impassiveness! Just know yourself. Be calm. Be you!"
Azula looked at him shrewdly. "You know, when you put your mind to it, you are a really creepily good teacher. Until you start asking the student for words. Then it all falls apart. But I'd like to see you explaining that to Father. He's still going to murder me. I'm so confused Zuko. I want what's best for the Fire Nation and I know that Father is evil but sometimes...he just acts like he used to. Before the siege of Ba Sing Se. When we were young. Sometimes he acts like can actually love us and I don't know. I was firmly on the side of taking over the world, then I was uprooted from all of my beliefs but I was shown that balance is the best way to go and I was fine on that path. Now I just don't know what to think! All I know is I want for you, Ty Lee and Mai to be okay."
Zuko smiled sadly. "That's one thing we're united on. But Uncle says when you don't know what to think, feel. At least, he says that in some really annoying proverby way. I mean what kind of advice is 'You must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.' He's so frustrating! But, going off topic, let your heart out, because the heart never lies."
Azula looked at Zuko and calmly hugged him.
"You are right, the heart never lies."
(X)
Sokka sighed as he watched Katara mother the little children of the tribe he had been trying to teach to protect the village for a long time. He was failing miserably of course but there was nothing wrong with trying. He glanced out to sea. Push and Pull. The tides swayed across the icy land. Katara was struggling to stay normal, stay dry. Since their mother had been murdered in front of her, she hadn't been the same. But since Dad had left, it had gone downhill. She wanted to be perfect and in control. So she was sugary nice and helped out and became a mother. But she listened to Gran-Gran. And Gran-Gran talked of Fire Nation being the worst people on Earth, people who didn't deserve to live.
Sokka prided himself on being rational. He hadn't met any Fire Nation people so couldn't form an opinion. Common sense and Gran-Gran tried to persuade him they were evil but he hadn't observed the majority of them so he couldn't know. And Sokka knew Gran-Gran's opinion was tearing Katara in half. One half wanted to be nice and like Mother. And the other half that wanted to rage and anger at the world and kill all Fire Nation people for what they were doing. Sokka knew the hate would fester when left untouched but he was trying and nothing was happening. And he had no proof to back him up, only a rationalist's point of view. And Katara wouldn't listen.
So he waited and he hoped. Hoped something would come along soon and make Katara pick one side so she wouldn't collapse and break. Hope wasn't rational but it was there and Sokka needed it. For life was still bleak. And Hope made it better.