Chapter 8

Izara was in the cafeteria on her dinner break. Luan was currently talking to one of the other high-ranked guards about something, so she was sitting alone.

A few minutes after she started eating, someone came over, eating the last of their bread and asked to join her. It was an average-sized man with short, dark hair and a scar on his left cheek. Someone she would recognise anywhere.

"Kazan?! What are you doing here?" She stood up to greet him, and he pulled her into a hug which she didn't quite expect but returned all the same.

"I think I should be asking you that, newbie." He replied and let her go, and they sat down again. "You finally broke away from Uzan, hey? Glad to see it."

"Yeah, it only took the Fire Lord to visit for it to happen. I think I sort of just got lost in the monotony of it all." She shrugged and continued eating, not wanting to forget her food.

"The Fire Lord went to the Supremacist siege. Was that where you were? I heard Uzan was leading it." Kazan asked and continued when Izara nodded. "Ah, did you stow away on his ship or something?"

"Not really." She swallowed her mouthful and explained. "Uzan got injured during the siege, and his second in command was nowhere to be found. I took over, and the Fire Lord saw it all happen. He offered me a job, but I thought I was just to be a plain guard in the city, not the Palace. This all happened in a flash. I might be dreaming. Who knows?" She shrugged and kept eating while Kazan laughed. They had always gotten along quite well when he was under Uzan's command, being similar in age.

"Well, I'm glad to see you all the same. Let me know if you need a hand with anything, and I'll help you." He replied, smiling proudly at her.

"Honestly, I really need to learn the sets for the training sessions with Suki. I don't know any of them, and I want to get them down pat as soon as possible. Also, we both know my firebending isn't exactly great, so if you can spare some time to help me get up to speed, I would greatly appreciate it." Izara asked with a dramatic expression, making Kazan laugh. She had always enjoyed their conversations, and it was good to know that he had ended up in the same place she had.

"Yeah, are you free tomorrow after the day shift finishes? I'm on days, so I can train with you after if you want." He offered with the friendly voice and smile that she remembered.

"That would be amazing. Thank you, Sifu." She put down her chopsticks to give him a bow; even though she was cheeky, she really appreciated it.

"Whatever." Kazan smacked her arm playfully in retaliation.

"So, where did you go after my Uncle? I know you got transferred, but you somehow ended up here." Izara continued eating, and Kazan took a breath before he spoke.

"Well, I was under Captain Chen, and he transferred to the city guard. He was getting a bit older and wanted to be closer to his family. He offered to recommend me to the city guard as well, but I ended up moving up to the palace guard last year."

"Good to know that you're here. I've felt out of sorts since I got here."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Everyone's been talking about you. 'The new guard led part of the siege on the Supremacists'." Kazan put on a voice as he quoted 'everyone'.

"How does anyone know about it?" Izara was not pleased to hear that people already knew things about her.

"Word travels fast here." Kazan shrugged.

"It's really not as impressive as it sounds. In fact, it was pretty damn disgraceful that I had to step up. The second in command was nowhere to be seen, and my Uncle entered the fray, probably in some sort of idiotic move to impress the Fire Lord, but only ended up getting injured." Izara rolled her eyes as she spoke of her Uncle.

"You'd already made a name for yourself before you started working. That's pretty cool."

"Kazan, you know very well that I don't like making myself known or popular. The best thing for me to do is appear as normal as humanly possible. My time being famous, or infamous, is done." Izara spoke in hushed tones, and Kazan nodded in understanding. He was one of the few people that knew the truth about her, and she intended to keep it that way.

"Alright. I'm going to wash up and head off to bed. I'll see you at 3 tomorrow, then?" Kazan stood up and gave her a wave after she nodded in agreement.

It was well-timed, and she finished eating moments after and returned her tray. Ling was there and gave her a motherly smile and told her to enjoy her night. Luan came over to her just at the right time. They headed back out of the cafeteria together and continued their work. They returned to their usual post, and Luan discussed the evacuation procedure. This was when all else failed, and the Fire Lord and the rest of the royal family needed to go into the underground bunker. Izara listened with care, knowing that this could save the Fire Lord's life if the Supremacists got their way and attacked the Capital directly.

After another few hours, 11pm arrived, and her shift ended. They reported in and went their separate ways. Izara bathed quickly, not spending too much time relaxing since she needed a good sleep. She would be doing two training sessions tomorrow and planned to go and get a few nicer toiletries for herself since everyone got paid tomorrow. Even though she hadn't done an entire week's worth of work yet, Luan told her she would still get paid but wouldn't receive a total amount. She was grateful regardless, as she wouldn't have been able to eat if all the meals weren't free to all guards. There were a lot of basic things that she needed, clothing and toiletries being high on the priority list.

She returned to her quarters, where the other two girls were asleep. Ming must have reported in earlier as her trunk was open, so Izara got her things and headed to the bath. As expected, Ming was there and shared a pleasant conversation until they returned to the room. They bid each other goodnight silently and hopped into bed.

Izara fell asleep as she practised the breathing patterns for the beginner forms she would rehearse tomorrow…

The following day, Izara allowed herself to sleep in a little. Nami and Lia got up for their shift which caused her to stir, but she fell back asleep within a few minutes. Since she didn't technically have to be up for a while, she wasn't worried about getting up early. It was the first time she had been able to sleep in for many years, and she was more than happy to accept the opportunity.

Around 9.30am, she woke up naturally and dragged herself out of bed. After relieving herself and changing into slightly tidier clothing, she headed to the kitchens. Ling gave her a beaming smile.

"Good morning, dear! Finally, get a chance to sleep in, hey?" The older woman was so sweet, and Izara really liked her.

"Yes, I haven't had the chance in many years." Izara offered in reply, but a yawn stopped her from speaking. Ling chuckled heartily and poured her a cup of coffee which Izara accepted with a grateful smile.

"Seems like you still need to catch up on sleep, my dear." Ling offered, still smiling as she started preparing a plate of food.

"I've been in military camps the last few years, so a good night's sleep didn't really exist." Although she was careful, Izara had figured out how much she could say to answer questions about herself.

"Ah, that makes sense. Here you go. Eat up!" Ling placed the plate onto Izara's tray.

It was loaded with healthy and yummy food. There were eggs, toast, fresh fruit and a small bowl of rice. Izara felt spoiled, but she wasn't surprised that so many people wanted to work in the Palace when they got fed so well. After thanking Ling, she sat down and thought she might start bringing her book with her when she came for breakfast. Only a few others were around, and most were sitting in small groups or alone as they ate breakfast. As there was staff on different shift times, it would be infrequent for the cafeteria to be packed.

Izara mentally went through her day as she ate, ensuring she allocated enough time for everything. She would train with the Fire Lord from 12pm, and then Kazan would finish at around 2pm, but he would probably want to eat afterwards, which was why he said 3pm to her yesterday. Maybe she could wait until Nami and Lia were free after their shift finished and go into the city with them since they had offered.

No one approached her as she ate and stared off into space silently, organising her day in her head. Once she had finished eating, she returned her tray with a polite thank you and returned to her room. She had around two hours before meeting with the Fire Lord, so she decided to take her book, head outside, and enjoy the nice weather as she read to pass the time.

Meanwhile, the Fire Lord was head down in a planning meeting with some builders and a designer. They were working on a new park that would go in on the eastern side of the city, near the orphanage that had just been built. Over the last hundred years, the Capital had slowly become a large military camp. Still, he was trying to introduce more culture, and the feeling had changed. Tourism was booming, with people coming from all over to holiday or those coming here for commerce. When he visited each of the other nations, he offered several trading opportunities for merchants. Some of them had made a permanent fixture in the city, selling goods from their part of the world. It was wonderful to have people from the Water Tribes selling desserts made with ice, Earth Kingdom cafes, and fruit tarts made by some of Aang's acolytes.

The middle of the day was approaching, and Zuko had training with Izara in the back of his mind to ensure he wasn't late. Unfortunately, his plan didn't work as the planning meeting ran twenty minutes overtime, but they got a lot done. He felt bad as he changed clothes quickly and left his office, leaving Wen with a quick reminder about where he would be for the next few hours. He didn't need to remind her since Wen knew his schedule better than he did. She handed him a small bag which he took without question and zipped outside to where he found Izara already practising. He watched quietly for a moment, taking in her technique. After she finished one set, he finally snapped out of it and walked over to her.

She noticed him quickly and bowed as he closed the distance between them. Her eyes fell to the small bag he was carrying in curiosity.

"Good afternoon, my Lord," Izara spoke in a soft voice, her attention on him now instead of the bag.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm late. Meeting went overtime. How are you?" He asked politely as he opened the top of the bag and peeked inside.

"I am well, thank you. And yourself?" She replied in a business-like tone.

"Much better now." He smiled as he saw that Wen had packed some sandwiches in the bag for him since he didn't have time to eat lunch. "Do you mind if I eat first? Keep doing what you're doing."

"Of course not. Please take your time. I was just warming up."

Zuko knew she couldn't still be warming up since he was roughly half an hour late. More than likely, she was simply saying that to make him feel better. He sat down and began eating as quickly as possible without making himself sick, not wanting to keep Izara waiting any longer. As she went through the basic forms, he made a few comments and reminded her of a few pointers, but he was incredibly impressed. It was clear that she had been working hard to absorb everything he had taught her. They hadn't even started adding firebending to the forms yet, but that's what he wanted to do with her today.

Once he had finished eating, he asked Izara to sit with him, just like they did at the start of their first session.

"Okay. I want to start using fire today. Your breathing is perfect through those forms, so let's ramp it up." Zuko went into teaching mode, and Izara nodded in reply. "You've been practising, haven't you?"

"Every chance I get," Izara answered with a blank expression, and he appreciated her dedication.

"Alright. Let's start simple. Make some fire for me."

Izara made a fire in her hand, and he watched her control it without any issue. Her breathing had significantly improved after their first session, and he knew she wasn't exaggerating when she said she had practised at every opportunity.

"Power in fire comes from the breath. Some people fuel their firebending with rage and anger like I used to. It took me quite a revelation to realise that fire is not purely destruction. After there is a fire in a forest, new life blooms. It cleanses and clears the way for new plants to grow. Animals return to the forest afterwards because of this new life. It's a cycle that happens without the help of humanity. It happened before we were here and will continue to happen after we are gone. People survive using fire to keep themselves warm at night. They use it for cooking. Fire is energy, and energy creates life." As he spoke, he summoned his own fire, moving it between his hands and fingers.

"What drives you? What thoughts are in your head as you fight?" He asked her, and the question seemed to blindside her as her blank face disappeared for a moment.

They sat silently, her gaze inward as she thought about her answer. After Zuko had seen the dragons with Aang, he had understood so much more about the world, not just firebending. Izara didn't have such an experience, so he needed to help her understand as best he could through his own experiences, translated into a way she would comprehend.

"Survival." Izara offered cryptically. "It's mostly been to survive." She repeated and nodded her head as if confirming it with herself.

"Okay. Was that when you were first learning? Is it different now?"

Izara was quiet for a long time before she finally arrived at her answer.

"I guess I haven't thought about it."

"That's okay. You can find that in time, but I want you to keep it in your mind. Don't forget why you fight, who you fight for, and what you believe in. It helps." He stood up after he finished speaking, and she followed suit.

"Let's work through the first 3 sets with fire." He suggested, and Izara nodded once.

Izara began working through the first set, and he could tell she knew these beginner forms back to front and inside out. Her stance was great, and she perfectly transitioned her weight from one move to the next. Her breathing was spot-on, showing how she could precisely summon and control her fire.

Once she finished the first, he told her to move on to the next. He didn't need to give her feedback on the first 3, so he decided they needed to work on the following few sets. There was no need to hold back with her, and he appreciated how seriously she was taking her learning. She was easy to teach, and it was nice to not have someone trying to kill them by exploding things with their mind as they worked.

They moved on to the next set, which Izara was quite familiar with, but she needed some fine-tuning. As expected, it didn't take long for her to pick up the changes and work on his advice as she moved through the set. Zuko rather enjoyed watching her. She had a certain lethal grace that he didn't have in his own movements. Although she probably would disagree, she was much more talented than she realised.

After a quick water break, they got back into it, and before they knew it, Zuko needed to return to the office.

"Sorry, Izara. I have to get back to work." He interrupted her as she practised a strong punch, fire shooting from her fist.

"Thank you for your time and instruction," Izara said as she turned toward him and gave him a formal bow.

"I'll keep in touch about when our next session will be." He said with a smile and gave her a nod before heading back to his office.

The staff greeted him politely, and he responded in kind, even going so far as to help one of the women from the laundry balance a load of linen in her arms, so she didn't drop it. She thanked him with an appreciative laugh and smile before continuing. Although everyone was always respectful toward him, they had begun to relax in his presence during his time as Fire Lord, which was precisely what he wanted. He didn't want anyone to feel like they had to stop, drop whatever they were doing and throw themselves at his feet as he walked by. It was much nicer to feel like they could keep going with their tasks, only stopping to say hello, tell him to have a good day, and give him a bow briefly.

Wen was in the same spot he had left her, and he thanked her for packing him some lunch before he headed back into his office. He quickly changed back into his formal robes and relieved himself before his 3.30pm appointment arrived.

As he sat at his desk, he organised his paperwork and was ready and waiting for a few minutes until Wen showed the person he was meeting with…