I'M BACK! With two more chapters, both very long to excuse my long absence. I really hope you enjoy them, and there is more to come very, very soon, I promise you! Thank you for reading. And to Sharpe, thank you for your comments in your reviews. Much appreciated!

A soft knock wakes up Korra as the morning sun rises, filtering through the curtains of the royal chamber. She stirrs from her sleep, the memory of the previous night swirling in her mind like a vivid dream. She sits up slowly, taking in her surroundings. The bed she had slept in, with its crimson silk sheets and plush pillows, the spacious room adorned with elegant décor. She rubs her eyes and swings her legs over the side of the bed and stands up, her bare feet sinking into the thick carpet.

The young servant enters, bowing respectfully, "Good morning, Avatar Korra. Master Zenzo awaits your presence."

Korra blinks at the servant, the realization dawning on her that this was no dream, "…I thought we were gonna meet during lunch."

The servant smiles, "Master Zenzo requested an earlier start."

Korra refuses the servant's help to get ready; being pampered like that isn't something she's used to. She quickly washes up, dresses up, ties her hair, and follows the servant through the hallways, feeling anxious about what is to come. They soon arrive into the serene courtyard, bathed in the soft glow of the early morning sun. The space is open and expansive with smooth stone floor and water fountain that gives it a sweet hymn. In the center of the courtyard stood an older man, his posture straight and commanding. His long, silver hair is tied back neatly and his robes are simple. The servant bows and leaves.

Korra approaches, and the man faces her, a gentle smile on his face. He bows slightly, "Greetings, Avatar."

She bows in return, though with a deeper arch, "Hello, Master…" She suddenly forgets his name.

"Zenzo," he quickly chimes in and starts pacing around with small steps, "For you to learn proper firebending you will need to master one crucial technique."

Korra stands firmly and faces him in every step he takes, listening intently. He stops and looks at her, "But first, show me all the bending you can do."

She takes a few steps back, "Alright. Since we're starting with this," starting with her native element, water, she moves her arms, slowly extending them in a push and pull motion, summoning a stream of water from a nearby fountain. The water flows around the two of them in a perfect ring formation following her fluid movements. She freezes all the water into small icicles and pins them to the ground before liquifying them again, redirecting all the water back into the fountain. For earth, she simply jumps and hits the ground with her feet, causing all the tiles to shake and rumble around them. She didn't show much of earthbending other than that.

Zenzo watches attentively, "Any fire.. or air?"

"I'm afraid not, no fire and no air."

Zenzo nods, "Understandable. You're still at the beginning of your training, of course." He paces around again, "Korra, you have good command over water. However, firebending is unique among the elements. It is the only one that requires its practitioner to create the element within themselves." He then assumes a straight stance. Taking a deep breath, Zenzo demonstrates a series of movements, each one seamless and direct into the next. With every motion, he channels fire and releases streams of flames into the air.

He turns to her, "As I said, fire comes from within. The source is you, your energy and drive channels in the form of fire." He points to his stomach in a circling motion, "Your stomach is the center of energy and gravity in your body. It is the physical center and the seat of your internal energy. It is a sea of chi, the dan tien. Keep in mind, when I say chi, I mean energy, and vice versa."

"Chi, I know that. I know it exists in all lifeforms and is the source of bending as well."

"Exactly. Then you must know that chi courses through your whole body in a complex network of paths."

"Yes."

Zenzo nods, "That's very good. So Korra, all of these paths, as you may already know, connect to a single source: your stomach. That is why we refer to the stomach as the sea of chi."

Korra whispers "But…" and trails off shy.

Zenzo encourages her to speak up, "Yes, go on."

She clears her throat and continues, louder now, "Shouldn't I be able to bend fire already then? I mean, I can bend water and earth which means my energy is fully ready and equipped…"

He crosses his arms, "Sure, go ahead. Try it for me, please."

She assumes the same straight stance as his when he demonstrated firebending to her, cuffing her fists, throwing several strong punches in the air, yet nothing happens, "Well, this is embarrassing," she mutters.

"This is our first session, I don't want you to lose hope this early. Look, your body is used to the two elements you can bend, water and earth. The flow of chi within your body is accustomed to what those two elements require to be bent and manipulated. For water and earth, the flow of energy need only be spread out throughout your body, flowing through every part seamlessly. You don't necessarily need to control your breath to control those elements. For you, your chi paths are naturally open and flowing, which might explain your natural affinity to the two elements. When you bend water, chi will flow freely and openly through your body, and when you bend earth, chi will flow powerfully and concentrate in the part of your body that you use to bend, like when you stomped your foot on the ground to shake it, when you did that, your chi was heavily concentrated in your right foot. For fire, you will need to practice your breathing. That is the crucial technique you will need to master. Because when you inhale and exhale, you feed your belly with natural energy, and with that comes fire."

"What about food?" She asks, to which he laughs, "That's true as well, food can be a source of energy for fire too. But you won't be eating food in dire situations, and I won't have you eating in my class. You will muster energy, or chi, through breathing alone."

Korra's stomach growls, "Too bad air can't end hunger."

"No, it can't. We will start with breathing exercises."

Korra doesn't seem fully convinced, "But…"

"Go on, ask. I want you to ask anything without hesitation, else you won't learn."

She nods with a determined look in her eyes, "You mean to tell me that all of the firebenders that exist in the world know this about breathing?"

Zenzo starts to pace again, "No, there are many firebenders who do their bending without controlling their breath, but that style of firebending is dangerous. You can start firebending without understanding what I just explained to you, but you will only produce it using your muscle power, and that kind of bending can be wild and uncontrollable. You already use too much muscle to bend water and earth. If you do the same with firebending, you'll likely lose control of your fire, big or small. Furthermore, learning to control your breath will help you better control the other elements. Depending on muscle alone will quickly drain a bender's energy and leave you exhausted very fast."

Hearing Zenzo's talk about her using too much muscle reminds Korra of her mother's comments, who critiqued Korra about this same issue, "I hadn't realized how vastly different firebending is when you compare it to the other elements."

"Every element is different than the others. However, firebending is, in my opinion, far more complex. It can be easily influenced by your emotions, and it can be locked if a sudden shift in your personality occurs, your inner fire, if you will. There are a lot of factors that can influence your firebending, stemming from your physical health and your mental state."

Korra sighs, "Now I feel like I'm never gonna master it. I'm full of emotions, and like you said, I use too much muscle."

Zenzo sits down on the ground where he stood, right in the middle of the quiet courtyard. He crosses his legs in a meditative state, "It is good that you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Fret not, you are not my first student who thought they couldn't do it. Come, sit, let us practice breathing. Meditation is the best tool for that."

She sits cross-legged next to him, and they meditate for the next two hours, longer than she's ever spent meditating with Huu. He instructs her to follow his breathing motions, inhaling when he does, and exhaling too. Two long hours of inhaling and exhaling began to make her brain buzz and feel foggy. She was hungry and began to feel like her energy was being drained with every breath. Nevertheless, she continued on and heeded his instructions. If this is the proper way of learning firebending, then she'll do as she's told.

She enters the palace once the training is over and she's dismissed, returning to her chamber, she walks the corridors not knowing where to go. The same young servant rushes to her, "Excuse me, I'm late. I didn't know you would take an hour longer." He says, breathing heavily.

"You and me, bud."

She follows him through the winding corridors of the palace. The palace is huge and is divided into two sections that are interconnected, a section where the personal living space of the Fire Lord and her family live, and a section where the throne room and the court are located where the Fire Lord hosts her government and guests. Korra doesn't even pay attention to memorize the path to her room, which is in the living quarters, she is gawking at the many tapestries that adorn the walls along the corridors. Where there is a window, there is a tapestry with the sunlight shining upon it. A lot of the tapestries depict Fire Nation scenery and historical events, and few depict past Fire Lords and important members of the royal family, as well as revered heroes of this great and old nation.

The walk to her room wasn't long, as the courtyard where she trained with Master Zenzo is overlooked by the living quarters, away from guests and government officials. They cross paths with two girls who are also walking along in the living quarters. One girl looks about the same height as Korra, and the other one is slightly taller. They both take notice of Korra, and the servant stops to bow and let them move on ahead. Finally, Korra arrives at her door and enters with the servant.

One of the two girls, the shorter one, stops and looks behind to Korra's room, "Who was that girl?!"

The taller girl scoffs, "How should I know."

"Why would mother let her live with us… this is really odd…"

A moment later, another servant walks into Korra's bedroom, presenting her with different outfits to choose from to wear for the upcoming lunch with the Fire Lord. There were three outfits themed after the Fire Nation, and three outfits themed after the Water Tribes. Korra feels hesitant about the Water Tribe options, and neither do the Fire Nation garments and robes represent her. The young servant quickly mashes up her Earth Kingdom attire with one of the Fire Nation robes, mixing them together into an elegant uniform which she likes. The uniform now has greens and crimson reds in it, donning her same green tunic, overlayed with a crimson red sash wrapped around her left shoulder to her waist, with maroon-colored pants and high elegant boots.

Before she wears the new outfit, the two servants offer to help her get ready, to which she obliges. They give her a royal hairbrushing that actually relaxes her after the arduous new training regimen, they also help her bathe and massage her feet. To ease her hunger, they offer her a large selection of fresh fruits ranging from pomegranate to clementines, oranges and grapes of different colors.

They fix up her hair in the same style as she always does it, albeit this time there is a little shine to it. She refuses makeup but opts in for a little blush. She puts on her outfit for lunch and departs with the young servant to the dining hall once the hour had come.

The dining hall is grand and filled with an inviting glow. A long polished table is situated in the middle. Everyone in attendance is lined up at the entrance to welcome the young Avatar. Once Korra enters the hall, the Fire Lord initiates her welcoming, "Korra, welcome! We are truly honored to have you join us for lunch," Izumi says, her voice carrying a tone of genuine pleasure. She embraces Korra in a soft hug and places her right arm on Korra's back, "I want you to meet my family, come."

Izumi proceeds to introduce Korra to each member of her family who are in attendance, as well as her closest advisor, the Chancellor Zhang Wei.

"This is my dear husband Zoren, the Prince Consort," Zoren greets Korra warmly. He has gentle eyes, Korra thinks. Next she introduces her to her uncle Tom, affectionately referred to by Tom-Tom in his youth. Uncle Tom was raised mostly by his older sister Mai and her husband, the late Lord Zuko, after Mai's father retaliated and raised a small army, called the New Ozai Society, to oppose Zuko. Tom-Tom was kidnapped by his father hoping to raise him to be their future leader when he grows up should the opposition succeeds. It did not succeed however, and Tom-Tom was rescued by Zuko at the behest of Mai and brought to court for his safety. Although he is technically a great-uncle to Izumi's children, they all simply call him Uncle Tom, like their Lord mother.

"I hope the journey wasn't troublesome, Avatar," Uncle Tom says to Korra, his voice having a hint of rasp that adds a rugged texture to his words, reflecting his age of 60.

Korra responds to him, "Not at all, I enjoyed it very much."

Korra's gaze turns to the two girls she had seen earlier. Izumi begins to introduce them, "This is my young cousin Natsui." Natsui is Uncle Tom's daughter, whom he had after his thirties. Seventeen years of age, she grew tall and slender with pale skin that almost seemed translucent. Members of court often said that she's the spitting image of her aunt. Natsui looked very much unbothered by the occasion and only bowed to Korra, to which Korra bowed in return.

"And here is my Azumi, my youngest, and only daughter." Azumi's excitement was very evident. She didn't bow, but reached out her hand to shake Korra's, "We met earlier when Natsui and I came back from the Academy. Sorry I didn't get the chance to say hi then."

"N-no, it's okay. I should've probably bowed when the servant stopped." Korra says nervously.

Izumi chuckles, "Korra please, you don't have to bow if you don't want to."

Zoren laughs, "Dear wife, this is all new to her."

Uncle Tom chimes in, "You don't have to bow to friends, it is our custom to bow to our guests and colleagues out of respect, but you're one of us now, Korra."

Korra's gaze turns back to Azumi, who gives Korra a gentle and welcoming smile. Azumi looked like a Fire Nation princess proper. She has her mother's almond shaped, amber-colored eyes, and her jet black hair too, tied back in a topknot adorned with a gold ornament. Her demeanor was very approachable and she looked and sounded excited to meet Korra.

Izumi tries wrap up and start the lunch, "You've already met Chancellor Zhang Wei, of course. I wish my sons were here to see you too… alright, shall we begin our feast? Bring in the food!"

They all sit around the table as the servants bring in the appetizers first. Izumi has Korra sit in the seat to her left arm, and her husband to her right. Uncle Tom sat next to Korra and would frequently ask her about her new training with Master Zenzo.

"We started this morning, he has me do breathing exercises."

Azumi tries to enter the conversation, sitting next to Natsui across from Uncle Tom and Korra, "Classic Master Zenzo. He did the same with my two brothers."

Izumi says, "He made them into fine firebenders. Pay attention to everything he says Korra, you're in very good hands believe me."

Spring rolls are served for appetizers, light and crunchy, filled with fresh veggies and shrimp, accompanied by hot dipping sauce. After a couple of minutes, they bring in the main courses, fire-grilled komodo chicken marinated in herbs and grilled to perfection, served with a side of white rice.

The second main course is then served, seared Caldera fish from the Caldera Lakes, served with a zesty lemon-chili sauce and a side of sautéed greens. Though Korra isn't used to so much spicy food, she eats all of it like a champ, and thinks to herself that spicy food is probably a good source to hone one's firebending, though this isn't a proven fact, but some would say it is.

The table was filled with plenty of side dishes, and Uncle Tom would grab a few and bring them closer to Korra. Stir-fried noodles with tofu, slices of eggplant with garlic, and once the main courses were fully served and finished, Korra couldn't take anymore, but they still had to serve desserts.

Izumi signals to the servants politely, "Let's have desserts in the common room. Korra, come with me, I want you to meet a certain someone."

Korra wipes her hands and walks with Izumi deeper into the living quarters, reaching a room with a big door. Inside, Korra sees a frail figure lay in bed with helpers tending to her. "I wanted you to meet my mother, Dowager Princess Mai. Her health has been declining and her memory isn't what it used to be, but she deserves to see you."

Together they walk closer to the bed, "Mother, it's me, Izumi."

Mai's once sharp eyes are now clouded with age, her once jet-black hair now silver and her sharp features softened by time. Hearing her daughter's voice, her eyes flicker open and a faint smile tugged at her lips, she greets Izumi in a voice that is little more than a whisper, "Izumi…"

Izumi gently takes her mother's hand, "I've brought someone special to meet you. Mother, this is Avatar Korra."

Korra steps closer, not knowing what to do or say. Mai's eyes drift to Korra, "Avatar… yes, the… Avatar. He- He helped us," her voice tinged with nostalgia.

"Yes mother, this the new Avatar, she has come to the Fire Nation."

Grandma Mai seemed to drift between the past and the present, her gaze unfocused. She reaches her hand out to Korra, and Korra gently strokes her palms. A faint smile appears on Mai's lips and her gaze starts to focus on Korra, and she says, "Thank you for helping him."

After the Fire Lord and the young Avatar finish their promised desserts in the common room with the other family members, Fire Lord Izumi excuses herself and leaves to attend her court. The Chancellor had already left by then. Uncle Tom and the Prince Consort follow her. Korra is left in the common room with Natsui and Azumi. The three girls sit around the spacious room in the comfortable seating arrangements, plush sofas and armchairs upholstered in rich fabrics.

"Well, Korra, what do you think of the Fire Nation?" Azumi asks.

"Honestly, it's amazing! I've never seen such architecture and technology like I've seen here in my life."

Natsui chuckles, "Have you been living under a rock? The Earth Kingdom is pretty advanced too if I'm not mistaken, Water Tribes too…"

Azumi frowns at Natsui, "Natsui be nice! The Avatar is our guest!"

"Where are you from, Korra?" Natsui asks.

Korra is weirded out by the question, but it made her realize that none of them know of her background save for Tadashi and the Fire Lord, maybe the Chancellor as well, "Your mother hasn't already told you about me?"

"Mother doesn't really tell us anything, well, anything that concerns government or politics." Azumi answers.

Korra sneers, "I didn't know I was a matter of government affairs."

Natsui sighs, one of her many sighs, "You are the Avatar are you not? You're the utmost political figure in the world."

Should I tell them I'm from the swamp, what would they think of me? "Well… I haven't exactly been living under a rock, but something similar to that."

Both girls listen intently and curiously. Azumi wants to know more, but she also does not want to intrude. Natsui, on the other hand, presses her, "What place is that, the Foggy Swamp?" She says sarcastically, not knowing that her guess is correct.

Azumi quickly tries to clear the air, "Alright, come on, let's go," grabbing Korra by the hand and exiting the room, leaving Natsui.

"Sorry about my cousin. I promise you she's a lot nicer than she lets out."

"It's alright, I can handle sly remarks. I probably would've said something had you not grabbed me."

Azumi laughs, "Oh, you wanna go back?"

"Nah."

"Good, come on, let me show you around since you'll be staying with us probably for a while."

The two girls walk along the corridors of the royal apartments, passing by many tapestries hung on the walls. Korra stops at one tapestry which saw earlier in the day. She takes a long stare at the man depicted in it, to which Azumi smiles dearly, "Do you know who that is, Korra?"

"Please tell me, I've been wondering about him since morning."

"This is my grandfather, the late Fire Lord Zuko. Y'know, he was close friends with your predecessor."

Korra's eyes widen, "Your mother took me to meet your grandmother before dessert."

"I thought so! Did she tell you anything?" Azumi asks.

"She… she thanked me, she said 'Thank you for helping him' which I didn't really understand."

Azumi stands besides Korra, both looking at the tapestry depicting Zuko, the tapestry showed him in his adult years, with a flame in one hand and a scroll in the other, dual swords in the background crossed like an X behind him, "She probably thought you were Aang. Avatar Aang helped my grandfather end the war and reform many of the laws established by our ancestors during the hundred-year war. They also worked really hard to free the colonies in the Earth Kingdom. My grandfather once told me when I was little that without the Avatar's help, he wouldn't have been able to rebuild the Fire Nation back to what it was. He said that the Fire Nation owes a great deal to the Avatar."

"What happened to your grandfather?"

"It's a very, very long story. Needless to say, he was lost for many years and struggled to find his identity. It's complicated, at one time he was actually trying to hunt down the Avatar to capture him. We are not proud of our past, but my grandfather used to say that we must never forget, 'lest we repeat our same mistakes. We must learn from the past to shape a better future for our nation and the world."