A. N. : Nice. So anyway, if you were expecting a cool training montage - I have news for you, namely that martial arts are a pain when you get bored easily and/or lack motivation. Yes I speak from experience. Yes I practised a lot of these (plural) back when I actually did sports. I know firebending is based on kung-fu, but I noticed that the punches are very much like karate, so I used that as a base to write the actual training part of this chapter.

Why won't the Avatar focus ?

Zuko knows he can, he's seen him meditate, for fuck's sake. Then why, by Agni, does the Avatar get distracted by literally everything whenever it's time for the firebending lesson ?

Yes the water is disgustingly dirty, yes these villagers are unlucky, yes the army is doing the exact opposite of protecting the people and that's fucking terrible, now can they please go back to breathing and punching ? Hell, it's almost as if he's doing it on purpose to avoid – is he doing this on purpose ?

Is this kid so fucking irresponsible that he thinks he can beat fa- the Fire Lord with some half-assed bending ?

Sorry what ? The eclipse means he won't need fire anyway ? He can learn later, and focus on water and earth right now ?

Zuko is this close to strangling the Avatar. This close. But he remembers Jet's reaction at angry bending, and the cold when Katara got angry earlier, and Sokka is swearing at the campfire now – so instead he closes his eyes. Exhales.

Reminds the Avatar that the eclipse will only last a little over eight minutes, that the royal family always reinforces security whenever there's one, and that with Sokka and Chief Hakoda they determined that the chances of Azula knowing about the invasion are nearly absolute. So she and the Fire Lord will be prepared, and failure will be a very real possibility.

And the Avatar grows so pale at that, Zuko almost thinks he didn't know, even though they've gone over the details of the plan times and times again – but then he realizes they haven't, not with the Avatar, not in detail.

Spirits damn it. Spirits fucking damn it. Koh fuck him and the fish jelly that serves as his brain. A sea-cucumber wouldn't have been so dumb !

He fucking forgot to explain the plan to the key person – wait, Sokka forgot too, they both have anemone-slugs for brains. Plus, Sokka is the plan guy, he should be responsible for these things !

Zuko doesn't know if he should just give up on today's lesson and get over all the plan's details with the Avatar, or focus on getting the Avatar ready for the worst-case scenario – which, considering Zuko's luck, the Avatar's tendency to wreck everything, and Azula being there –

Agni save them all, they're never going to survive this. Better start getting the Avatar ready for that now.

So Zuko breathes, hopes that the looming threat of failure and a very painful death will motivate the Avatar, and goes back to what he was saying before getting derailed.

So. Fire punches. First, get into the base stance – lower, that's not stable enough – then throw the punch while exhaling – watch the feet, no tiptoeing here – now go back to the base – don't forget to inhale, firebending is rooted in the breath – and again – slower, until the sequence is ingrained in your body – and again – focus – and again – breathe – and again – better – and again – and again – and again – and again – and –

And the Avatar is distracted again. This is barely the tenth repetition. That's not – not possible. Zuko is really, really trying not to let his anger get the best of him, but at the rate things are going, this is probably going to happen.

In – Sokka shouts at him to please stop doing that – and out.

In – getting angry means risking to burn the people around the campfire and he can't do that – and out.

He needs to find something to force the Avatar to focus. Force him to not give up when it's boring. Something the Avatar will have to keep in sight at all times, like a candle, without running from it.

Something dependant on him.

Zuko doesn't like where this thought is going, but he can't seem to find a better idea. Even though he hates it.

Maybe with supervision – a lot of supervision – and just a few hours a day at most – more and Zuko would probably go mad – and it would teach the Avatar how to stop fires from spreading – but spirits, Zuko hates this so much –

Still, he goes back to the others with the Avatar following him, takes Lin back from Katara's arms – she smiles at him and he is not cooing, shut up – and then looks at the Avatar again.

He really doesn't want to do this. Maybe he should just call it quits – yeah right, and let the world burn and Lin with it, like that's going to happen.

So he tells the Avatar what's going to happen from now on. He won't be alone, Zuko will always be near him to watch and explain what he needs to know and help in case something happens. This will not be part of the actual bending lessons, those still stand.

Lastly – Katara is smiling sympathetically while Sokka looks positively horrified – lastly – Jet looks like he's praying and Toph is giggling maniacally –

Lastly –

If anything happens to Lin while she is in the Avatar's care, Zuko will kill him.