Chapter 18

Another night, another night shift. Izara was pacing out the front of the Fire Lord's bedroom door, as she had been posted to the previous 3 nights. She had trained with him early this morning before she had left to go and rest after working. Smiling at the memory, she recalled that she had completely lost her footing as they went through an advanced set and fallen flat on her back. He had raced over to her to make sure she was okay, only to find her laughing madly at herself. After a moment, he had joined in her laughter, and they had ended up lying down on the ground and staring up at the clouds together. They had spent some time pointing out some of the shapes of the clouds and what they looked like, and it was the most fun she had had in a long time. She felt that he felt the same, and he had patted her shoulder with a smile before she left to return to the guards' rooms.

During her time here, it was almost like they had become friends, rather than a Fire Lord and one of his many guards or staff members. There were times when they had discussions about the world, their lives, and their pasts and got to know one another. Although she wouldn't say it outright, she hoped their bond was a friendship.

She heard sounds from his room, signalling that he was having a nightmare. He hadn't told her what they were about, but he had said that if she was on guard, he wanted her to come and wake him up if he was having one. Calmly, she opened the door to his room, closed it behind her, and then approached his bedside.

Reaching out, she nudged his shoulder gently as he flinched and moved in his sleep. Her touch woke him, and his eyes found hers immediately. Giving him a smile to make sure he knew he was safe, he exhaled and relaxed. Not sure if she was going too far, she sat down on the edge of the bed and let him catch his breath, allowing her presence to remind him where he was and that he was okay.

After a minute, he sat up, and he took in her appearance for a minute. He shuffled towards her, and she stayed put, not quite sure what he was doing. Once he was close enough, he leaned forward, his forehead resting on her shoulder. She didn't allow herself to physically react but freaked out internally, not expecting him to do that.

"Just for a minute." He mumbled, breathing slowly to calm himself down.

Empathy surged within her, and she felt bad that he struggled to sleep some nights because of his horrible dreams. She knew all too well how hard it was to stay awake for days at a time, all because she was too afraid to go to sleep and see the terrifying images her mind summoned. Cautiously, she brought a hand to his back, moving it against his bare skin to further comfort him. She had to pointedly ignore the firm muscle under her fingers, which threatened to distract her from her original purpose.

True to his word, he straightened up after a moment, and she pulled her hand back to her lap. Not quite ready to make eye contact with him, she spaced out, looking at the sheets.

"Thank you."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She replied evenly.

"I'll be fine." Although he spoke confidently, she raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "It was just a bad dream."

"For you to react like that, it must have been more than just a bad dream." Her tone was soft, letting him know that she was worried, but she regretted it when he grimaced. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me."

Instead of replying, he just gave her a half-smile. She nodded, understanding what he meant, and didn't push any further. Since she thought she might have been going too far sitting on his bed, this was much more than she expected.

"Are you sure there isn't anything I can do?"

Adjusting his position once again, he turned to face her squarely. His gaze told her he was thinking about what to say and how to say it, so she simply waited patiently until he sorted it out.

"Your presence… you calm me down. You help more than you know." He didn't hide the emotion in his voice, and his gratitude was evident on his face.

"Happy to help." She replied with a smile and a reassuring nod.

For a moment, he held her gaze but was chewing on his bottom lip. It seemed that he was hesitant about something. Still, she knew that he was always thinking over everything he said and did beforehand, wanting to ensure that he did the right thing as often as possible. Tentatively, he reached out a hand toward her, gently placing it on her cheek to keep her still. Although they had plenty of physical contact during their training sessions, this was entirely different and approached unfamiliar territory. Izara thanked her acting ability which kept her from moving, as he leaned towards her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

It only lasted a second, but the meaning of the gesture was unmistakable. As Zuko pulled back, he took his hand away. She was too nervous to make eye contact with him but felt herself smile. The gesture had made her heart race, and she was sure that he could hear it, so she wanted to make sure she put some distance between them to save herself from the embarrassment. It had made her happy, and she found that she didn't feel uncomfortable, just unsure of what to do next. Since she was working, it allowed her to escape and calm herself down.

Standing up, she bowed slowly before she turned away and left him to go back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Zuko was left sitting in bed, wondering why the hell he had just done that. He had grown closer to Izara over the last few weeks, but that didn't seem like a platonic gesture between friends. He did consider her a friend, and he found her easy to talk to, and he really enjoyed spending time with her. Although it wasn't strictly done between lovers, kissing her cheek still made him feel like he wanted more. Her skin had been so soft, and when he had rested his head on her shoulder, she had smelled like vanilla and a flower that he couldn't identify.

They had spent a lot of time together lately, and it had been getting more difficult to deny that he had feelings for her. He wasn't sure if she felt the same or just thought of him as her superior, but many of their interactions suggested that they were at least friends. Maybe he would start there and establish that he was friends with her first. Being the Fire Lord made it hard to have an everyday life, like any other man in his 20s would, and Izara allowed him to do that. He could forget his title and just be himself, which he couldn't do often. He could be himself with only a few people, and Izara had become one of them quickly and with minimal effort. He felt they shared a lot of common ground, even if Izara played things close to the chest and didn't really talk about herself and her past. Despite that, he thought he might have gotten a little further than most people. It was entirely possible that having a tumultuous history of his own made her feel more comfortable sharing a bit of her own. He had the scars to prove it.

He laid down with a thump against the mattress and briefly wondered whether Izara would come back to check on him, but she didn't. This wasn't a situation he was used to. Although he was okay with talking about his thoughts, this was still unfamiliar territory. Katara and Aang were just the perfect couple. They met when they were young and got along great. Sokka and Suki were similar, although Sokka had opened up previously about his first love interest, Yue. He recalled the memory of them sitting together in the war balloon with a smile. And Toph… well, Zuko had no idea if she had any relationship experience. His Uncle was usually all the way in Ba Sing Se, and he wasn't exactly able to get messages back and forth quickly.

Groaning at the ceiling, he vowed to talk to someone about it soon. For now, though, he needed to get some sleep. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as he pulled the covers back over himself.

As he tried to drift off, all he could remember was Izara's soft skin against his lips...

"Alright, everyone. Take your places." Luan called out loudly, ensuring his voice carried across the training grounds.

Today was weapons training, and Izara had dragged herself up to make sure she attended. She had the day off tomorrow, so she could catch up on sleep, but for now, she knew she needed to train. Weapons training was going to be difficult since she was still trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. Suki and some of the Kyoshi warriors were teaching fans, and Luan was working on the spear as it was his primary weapon. Sokka was teaching swords, and another high-ranking guard Izara hadn't met teaching bow and arrow.

They would learn one weapon for an hour and then rotate through each one. Ming was here too, and she and Izara stuck together as they were assigned to work on the spear first. Ming was exceptionally talented with the spear, but Izara found that she felt awkward working at a distance from her opponent. She learned a lot, though, and tried to take it all in as best she could.

Next, they moved on to the bow and arrow group. Izara had never used one before, and neither had Ming, so they were amused at how terrible they were at it. Their instructor, Zhuo, was good at helping them improve. Again, she felt awkward being so far away from her target, and Ming seemed to feel the same. They giggled together when Ming dropped the quiver of arrows, making them spill out everywhere. Zhuo yelled at them, but they kept laughing after he had walked away.

Suki taught them fan next, and Izara felt much more comfortable working at this distance. Suki used Izara for a few demonstrations and was even more impressed with her ability after seeing how effortlessly she utilised the fan in combat. Ming and Izara worked together on a disarming move, using the fan against a dagger or knife. Izara picked it up quickly, and Suki commended her on her technique. She felt much more natural being in close quarters with her opponent, so muscle memory helped her out. She really liked the fans, finding they were surprisingly deadly weapons. They were much heavier than she expected, about a kilo, and made of steel. Making a mental note for later, she wondered about using it in combination with firebending to give the flames more oxygen and help them spread. Maybe the Fire Lord had already tried.

Izara was concerned about standing out too much when they moved onto swords. Thankfully, several people in the group were talented swordsmen, and they began by working on simple strikes. She was just dying to get a second sword in her hand. She hadn't picked up or even touched her own set in a very long time, but the familiar weight made her feel like no time had passed. Next up, Sokka brought out some bamboo tied together, and they worked on precision striking. He demonstrated a clean cut through 5 large pieces, easily a metre wide. Although he made it look simple, the group soon discovered it wasn't. Izara had done this sort of thing before, helping her work on her own swordsmanship in the past.

Ming began working first, and Izara gave her a few pointers. She was watching so intently that she didn't realise Sokka was standing next to her and listening to her advice.

"Izara." Sokka didn't speak loudly, but she flinched a little in surprise. "Show me what you got." He eyed her carefully, and she nodded once in answer.

She stepped up to the bamboo and efficiently cleaved it in half. Ming's eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped as the top half of the bamboo thudded against the concrete after it fell. The sound drew a few more eyes, and instead of being shy about it, she turned back to Sokka and gave him a brief smile. Maybe it wouldn't be wrong to show off a bit since she was terribly paranoid about people thinking she wasn't good enough to be a palace guard. The Fire Lord, in particular. Plenty of others showed their capabilities and cut their own bamboo in half, so she wasn't alone.

"Sword is your specialty?" Sokka asked with a still stunned expression.

"Swords. I normally use two." Izara corrected softly, and Sokka nodded slowly.

He took hers from her hand and felt it for a moment, feeling the weight and size of it. He glanced back at her a few times, looking at her hands and then at her face. This made her nervous, and she guessed that she hadn't been as subtle as she'd hoped. That, and Sokka was far too intelligent and perceptive to miss what she was trying to keep under wraps.

"The weight of these isn't right for you, is it?" She wasn't surprised at his discerning eye, and she shrugged in answer. "Do you have your own set?"

"They're inside with my things."

Sokka gestured towards the palace, and she ran inside to grab them. Even Izara hadn't consciously realised that the weight of their standard-issue sword wasn't comfortable for her. She had inherited these swords from her father, as they were his weapon of choice. When she had lost her mother, she had spent a lot of time trying to perfect them as a way to honour his memory. It also doubled as her way of being able to protect herself since she was alone.

When she reached her quarters, she popped the lid on her trunk and tossed her things on her bed before she removed the false bottom and lifted out her swords. It had been a long time since she had held them, longer since she had trained with them and longer still since they had seen combat. She hadn't needed to clean the blood off them for many years now, and although she intended to keep it that way, her skills were important.

She dashed back out to the training ground, and Sokka immediately noticed her. He had given some instructions, and everyone followed them, but he walked toward her purposefully.

"Well, you look more comfortable now. They look old, but finely made." He was referring to the slightly battered appearance of the swords, and she shrugged.

They were ninjato swords, shorter than katana, with a straight blade and slightly curved tip. The black wrapping over the hilt was ratty and falling apart. The handguards were a simple square shape with rounded corners. The swords themselves were nothing fancy to look at, but their craftsmanship was extraordinary. The steel had held up incredibly well over the years, with only minimal nicks and chips. Since she'd not used them in so long, she hadn't worried about getting them repaired. It might be nice to do, though, as they were sentimental to her. She might enquire about a good blacksmith who would do a good job.

"They certainly are, but I'm used to them," she commented as she rubbed her thumb over a nick in the handguard.

Sokka gestured to ask her if he could try them out, and she nodded once and handed them to him. He inspected them closely, looking at the steel and the finer details of the metal that showed what remained of the folding technique they were made with. Sokka's face was a blank mask, but he eventually raised his eyebrows to show he was impressed. He handed the swords back to her.

"Show me something." Sokka crossed his arms and stepped back to give her space.

"I'll admit that I'm a bit rusty." She drew the blades and took a breath as she rolled her shoulders several times.

Slowly, she moved through some patterns and combinations, feeling more natural as she went. The world around her disappeared as she sliced through the air with well-practised movements. She found that they didn't feel as heavy as they used to and attributed that to being able to train more since she had come to the Capital. It seemed that she was more robust and faster than she remembered. The increase in her skill, physical strength, agility and general prowess made her feel incredible since she hadn't let loose while she'd been here. Working on her firebending had been her focus, but she felt fitter than ever.

Her mind was on her blades, and she didn't notice that Sokka was staring open-mouthed at her. It didn't take long for all the other guards and instructors in the training session to nudge those next to them and draw their attention to Izara. They watched in awe as she displayed her true lethality without holding back. She finished with a spinning combination and performed a kick that brought her body horizontal, her blade swinging underneath and one over her back to protect it.

Once she stopped and caught her breath, she returned to reality and realised she had done too much. Sokka was still staring with his jaw dropped, and she began noticing the other eyes on her as well. She sheathed the swords out of embarrassment as people slowly went back to what they were doing before. Trying to blend in may have made her stand out more since only a few people had worked closely with her and knew that she was stronger than she let on.

Izara smiled at Sokka, who finally closed his mouth. She returned to Ming, who was uncharacteristically expressive and talkative, asking her how she had learnt to do that. Even though Ming had become one of her closest friends, she still didn't know much about her. Only Kazan knew her background.

"Izara, that was incredible!" Suki thumped her on the shoulder affectionately but almost knocked her off balance. "I always knew you were holding back."

She couldn't think of anything to say and smiled awkwardly in response. Ming still chatted away as she practised, and Izara gave her a few tips here and there.

Once the session ended, Sokka pointedly made eye contact with her and gave her a nod of respect. She returned it and fell into step with Ming, who was still chatting away happily. Izara responded as best she could, despite withdrawing after realising she had gotten caught up in the moment and gone too far. Ming was rarely so animated, but her demonstration had gotten her riled up.

They returned to their room, and she put her swords away but didn't bother using the false bottom of her trunk. That had only been to avoid them being seen, but it was too late. Instead, she stood them up next to her bedside table in plain sight. It wouldn't be all bad since she could practice with them now since the secret was out.

With a resigned sigh, she continued on with her day…