Tu Zin's city-state is one of the most pacific and prolific. The security in the city it's second to none. The place it's one of the strictest countries, but you can still see kids playing around. And even when the city has opened its borders to commerce, they still have an immense nationalism feeling, and they are reluctant to buy any outside product.

The Metal-bending academy, now known as The Academy, is a place to learn not only bending but also language, history, math, geography, and other subjects. The Academy became one of the few schools that offered education to all the citizens born inside its borders.

The Twin Fire manor it's where the most influential family of Tu Zin lives. People said they are direct descendants of the original Fire Twins, who died long ago. The manor is situated at the skirts of the city.

Inside the manor were the husband and wife, Goku and Azula, supervising the training of their kid, Ozai.

The father, a charismatic man with hair that seems to be in a perpetual state, it's the one helping his son to learn how to fight. The mother, a beautiful woman with a stern face, it's watching everything with a smirk. A mother who is proud of her kid but also concerned about his behaviour.

Ozai is 11 years old and has long hair that falls below his shoulders. His hair it's as revel as his father's hair. Wearing a crimson red robe with a belt in a wine colour. Although the kid was born a non-bender, he was expected to learn the fire-benders fighting style. The kid could mimic the steps to perfection, but to her mother and father, it was not enough.

It was expected of him to always be perfect in studies and combat. It was expected of him to defeat his opponents with a clear difference. He was expected to take every fight seriously. And that's what made his mother concerned.

Ozai has been set up to participate in a combat tournament in the Academy. Ozai participated as he was asked and defeated many other kids that were older and taller than him but lacked the strength and discipline that Ozai has. Unfortunately, in the final battle, he did not behave as expected.

The fight was easy for Ozai, but the opponent started to scream and cry at the pain of just one punch. Ozai was concerned for his opponent's well-being and got close to help. The moment Ozai looked concerned, Azula frowned, and Goku facepalmed. The other kid used the moment, grabbed Ozai by the shirt, and threw him in the hopes of taking him out of the ring and winning. Ozai recovered quickly from the trow, and when he was at the edge of the ring, he used his hands to remain inside. He ran to kick his opponent in the chest, making the other kid fall from the ring.

The place erupted in joy as they saw Ozai winning. A prodigy, some would say. The skills presented by Ozai to react quickly were something celebrated by everyone. Only the loser and his parents will be disappointed, or that is what was expected. But there was a woman that was frowning, looking at the winner.

"Weak", it's what her mother called him. He was close to losing for showing weakness in the fight, and her mother let her son know that she expects he won't be like that again. She will not support having a weak son like her traitorous brother.

"Weakness brings insecurity; insecurity opens the doors for you to be deceived. I have seen how people have been deceived into betraying their family." Said Azula to her son with a calm voice, but Ozai could tell that she was furious.

After that, Ozai spent a lot of time training after school with his father. Goku thought that he was lacking in learning about reading the opponent's energy, so he won't be deceived easily.

Unfortunately for Ozai, his father's approach to things was more conceptual, which made it difficult for him to understand.

Sitting next to the pond in their backyard, where some turtle ducks live, and meditating to feel the energy within and outside him was something he still didn't understand. Although he understands the theory his father was preaching, he lacks an understanding of the real world.

"All living thing has energy inside. Benders use it to control the elements. But a non-bender can also use it to expel the energy into an attack", said Goku to his son while showing him a ball of energy in his hands.

"Your aunt Toph it's an expert about it, as she uses this energy to enhance her bending and see with her earth bending."

Ozai nodded at the explanations and tried multiple times to replicate his father's attacks, but he could not do it. Since he was very little, he wished to learn so he could fly like his parents do when they spar with each other.

Due to this, Ozai started to perform worse at training. Overthinking about trying to feel his and the enemy's energy.

In one of his training, Azula could not stand it and decided to manage the training herself. Thinking that Goku was giving their son too much credit, she decided that he would only learn about energy with a direct approach.

"Ozai. You know what's the problem?" asked her mother standing in front of him. Ozai was standing straight, looking firm, but he was nervous.

"That I cannot feel the energy?" answered Ozai, but Azula shook her head.

"Not exactly. It's that you haven't trained with someone stronger than you. When was the last time you spar with your father or me?"

"A year, maybe", answered Ozai. Azula nodded and continued, "Do you think we were serious in our combat? Surely you have seen the training that your father and I have".

Ozai nodded nervously. Azula turned to him, "even when young, we always trained with stronger people than us. That is what you need".

Azula smirked and turned into a fighting stance, "you will spar with full force with your mom".

Azula ran and punched her son in the stomach and spin-kicked him. Ozai flew back and landed back first into a tree.

At the property, an old female entered. The old lady looked younger than her actual age. She was walking full of energy for a woman around her late seventies. One of the aides received her and took her to Goku, who was watching the training.

Goku was watching everything with crossed arms but with concern about his son. He knew that her wife was doing this training to help their kid, and he trusted his son that he would learn eventually. But he did not think this was the right way to do it. Suddenly, the old lady went close to him and spoke, "Hey Goku! What are you doing?".

"Oh, Ty Lee. Good to see you!" Goku got close and hugged her. "Wanna sit?" asked Goku, and Ty Lee shook her head. "I am not that old. My legs can still support me," said the old lady with a smile.

"So, where is little Ozai? I bring him some presents," asked Ty Lee.

"Oh! He is currently sparring with Azula," answered Goku while pointing at where the sparring was.

Ty Lee turned her head quickly, worried about the little kid. She found him on the ground. She saw how Ozai was trying to avoid his mother's attacks, but without too much luck. Watching Ozai beaten up by his mother, who was fighting at full speed, scared Ty Lee. She saw a loud punch in Ozai's cheek that made Ty Lee flinch, but Goku only facepalmed when Ozai did not protect himself from the attack.

"You should stop it!" said Ty Lee, but she saw Goku not wanting to do anything. She ran and stood in the middle of Azula and Ozai. "It's enough!" screamed Ty Lee. Azula seemed calm, not angered or anything, which confused Ty Lee. 'Wasn't this some sort of punishment?'

Azula looked at her son, that was having difficulties standing up. "Very well. Ozai! Go and take a shower. Ask one of the aides to watch for your injuries".

Ozai nodded with some tears in his eyes. There was no bleeding, but some parts of his face began to swell.

When Ozai was finally with an aide, Azula turned to see Ty Lee with a smile. "No time, no seeing you".

A few hours later, the family ate dinner with their guest. Ozai had a patch on his left cheek due to swelling from a blow. But outside that, he was all right. He was even eating like his father, fast and in enormous amounts.

"So, what brings you here, Ty Lee?" asked Azula.

"Well…" Ty Lee was still worried by little Ozai, but he looked all right, outside the injuries. "I got a call from some cities that there are some sort of delinquents using chi blocking and asked for my help. And once in the town, I decided to give you a visit".

"Are they in Tu Zin?"

"No, but they have a presence in all the republic city and some earth kingdom towns".

Azula nodded at the information. But Goku got an idea. "Ty Lee, I was wondering if you could help Ozai to learn Chi Blocking."

Ty Lee's eyes widen, "you want me to train your kid?" Azula also frowned at her husband, but he answered.

"Well, he is having problems in our training, and we want him to learn how to feel the energy. I thought you could help in that regard".

Azula thought about the idea of her husband, and she liked it. The old lady did not know how to answer, "I… ah… I would love to".

Ozai only looked from person to person while they were talking. When they said he would train with Ty Lee, he smiled. The old lady's heart got warm. Unfortunately, she had to tell them, "but I will not stay too long. I will be leaving tomorrow for the Kiyoshi island."

"You can take him; that is not a problem", said Azula sternly. "He got stale and unable to improve because he lacks experience."

"Oh… well… in that case…." Ty Lee turned to see Ozai, whose eyes were full of light. To him, meeting the world was something he had never thought of but still fascinated him. Growing up with the stories of his parents, the prospect of him also watching Omashu, Ba Sing Se, and, more importantly, The Fire Nation.

Ty Lee smiled at Ozai, "all right. You better be ready for tomorrow."

Ozai smiled and nodded at the confirmation. And Ty Lee was touched by Ozai's smile.

The next day Ozai was waiting for Ty Lee in the main room. He was dressed in his training robes and a backpack on his shoulder.

Ty Lee got closer and patted his shoulder. "Traveling light, good thinking".

"Where are we heading?" asked Ozai.

"First, I need to talk with somebody on the Kiyoshi island. From there, well, we will see where we need to head", said the old woman and Ozai nodded.

Azula arrived a few seconds later and got closer to her son. "Do not fail us. Train, and learn everything that helps you". Ozai nodded seriously. Azula grabbed him from the shoulders and hugged him awkwardly. Ozai returned the hug in a similar awkward way.

Goku walked close, "enjoy the trip, and hope you can get stronger". Ozai nodded and said, "yes".

After that, Ozai left alongside Ty Lee.