Sorry for the long wait, everyone. I'm also sorry for this long author's note, but I promise it's mostly all the spaces that make it look longer than it is.

Anyway, I considered leaving some responses here to a bit of negative feedback, but then I realized that most of the people I'd be answering probably wouldn't have read this far anyway, due to their criticisms. But I'll abridge it anyway because it's possible that a few of those people have made it this far. So, short version:

-This story is always told from the perspective of a character, therefore, the narration will always be unreliable and dependent upon the character we are following. Most often, that character is Xisheng, a career soldier who was born and raised under a very powerful propaganda machine. Keep in mind that occasionally, characters will say or do questionable, even hypocritical things. They're supposed to. They're people with limited, sometimes heavily influenced perspectives that affect their thoughts and actions.

-It's true that we haven't diverged from canon that much thus far, but that doesn't mean we won't. I'd like to think that, while we've been following mostly canon events so far, there's been enough original content to tide people over to the greater divergence. If not, seriously, we're almost there.

-Finally, if a character comes across as annoying, naive, arrogant, etc., keep in mind that it might be on purpose, and not because I'm not aware that they are being those things. Good characters can still exhibit negative traits at some point, like all humans.

Well, there it is. I'm not against criticism (I very much welcome it), but do carefully consider if a criticism is valid, dependent on whether or not the thing being criticized was likely intentional or part of the story being told. There's a difference between disliking a rotten banana and disliking a banana because it's a banana, if you catch my drift.

As for this chapter itself, I'm offering a little forewarning regarding some, er, technical bullshit. There will be some statements made about chi and how it works in the Avatar universe in this chapter. My source is that I made it the fuck up. Unfortunately, canon never really gets into the actual mechanics of chi and bending that much, which is all fine and dandy, but something that leaves me without canon material when I have to do some explaining of my own. I will admit, I have made some things up. However, I feel that I've made things up within reason, to the extent that it feels like it belongs in the world. If you disagree with that assessment, please let me know. It's too late to change it now, but it could influence how I talk about the subject later.


Initially, Xisheng thought that riding on a boat would be pretty much the same as riding on a larger vessel, but after a full day out at sea aboard the relatively small ship Azula and company had commandeered from the outpost, he had determined that this was not really the case. When you were aboard a warship large enough to house a small village of people, it took significantly powerful and testy waves to really rock it and bother the crew and passengers.

On a smaller ship, the scope of rough waters required to shake the boat was significantly less. While it had only been a day, Xisheng couldn't think of a time since they had embarked that there hadn't been a fair amount of swaying. Needless to say, this hadn't been very favorable for Ty Lee, who was oddly the only one among them that seemed unusually prone to seasickness. Thankfully, the captain had plenty of medicine aboard to combat this exact ailment, likely due to the common nature of it. For now, that seemed to keep the acrobat relatively comfortable, though Xisheng was certain she would prefer to be on dry land again as soon as possible.

Having spent nearly all of their time in the prior weeks traveling with the Overlord, Azula had seen fit to let everyone just rest and get their bearings on their new mode of transportation thus far. Xisheng was actually a little proud of her for that; it wasn't long ago that she likely would have been irritated by the idea of them not doing something valuable with their time. Well, maybe she was still irritated, but her better judgment seemed to win out.

Then again, there weren't too many options available when it came to practical things to do anyway. This ship, primarily designed for light transport and towing, was not large enough to do much training on the deck. Mai dared not throw her knives around up here, out of fear that she might lose one in the ocean. Xisheng doubted that would happen, since it would first require Mai to miss whatever she was aiming it, but while he considered that impossible, he supposed the girl in question knew better than he as to how valid of a concern it was.

There also wasn't really enough deck space to do any serious Firebending training. Sparring was completely out of the question, as there wasn't much room to move around in the first place, and the deck was usually occupied by actual crew members doing something of import. Any training on that front would have to be limited to shooting flames out into the ocean from the side of the boat, but Xisheng wasn't sure what that option could really offer them. He supposed if Azula thought of something, that would change.

So for now, he was mostly limited to one type of training, which didn't need much space; Ty Lee's chi-blocking. Both she and Xisheng were currently sitting on the same bench that they had occupied to watch the rain yesterday, with the brunette tracing spots on her arm with her finger as she held it up against Xisheng's own.

"See, because I'm smaller than you, you're going to have to compensate for that when trying to strike a pressure point. They're still in the same spot. I mean, everyone has them in the same spots, but there's going to be a slight difference between you trying to hit yours and hit mine. I have less mass than you, so my pressure points are actually smaller too. You have to be even more precise to land a clean hit that's going to completely paralyze someone. A glancing hit will still make them kind of numb, but it's not going to completely immobilize them."

Watching as she pointed out various pressure points on her arm, Xisheng made an observation. "It seems like women have a defensive advantage against this art, no?"

"Well, I guess so. Guys do tend to be bigger, so there's a bit more leeway in hitting them where you need to. It's really just a difference in hitting a small target and a really small target, you know? I didn't have the best view, but when you were fighting Azula that time, it did look like you got pretty close. Which is pretty impressive, since it was your first time really using it, and it was in the heat of a fight."

"Thanks. I'm glad to hear it almost worked, at least. Azula is a pretty small target..."

With a smile, Ty Lee commented further. "Yeah, but y'know, being small isn't the only thing that can help. Just look at Mai."

The girl in question was leaning against the railing of the ship a few feet away, having been 'occupying' herself (it was more likely that she was bored out of her mind) by staring out at the horizon, but she turned her attention to the conversing duo with a clearly maligned expression. "Excuse me, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

With a smirk, Ty Lee took a lighthearted jab at her friend. "What are you upset about, Mai? I thought you didn't like being small?"

Considering the lack of subtlety, it wasn't hard to miss Ty Lee's implication. A normal girl might have blushed at the insinuation, but Mai just scowled further, though that did still prove that she wasn't happy about what was being said about her. For a moment, Xisheng wondered if she actually had a complex about that. So far, he had only heard Azula really reveal a sort of complex about her growth, that one time she had miscalculated his distance from the group.

He didn't get to dwell on that for very long though, since Ty Lee cleared the air. "I'm joking, just joking! I was really talking about your clothes. They're loose fitting and don't accentuate your body much at all, so if I was trying to chi-block you, it would be a lot harder to aim properly and hit you in a specific spot. Especially if you were moving, because that added motion with loose clothes makes it even harder to tell where any part of your body really is. Actually, it's kind of funny..."

Mai cocked an eyebrow at her. "And how is it funny?"

"Well, it occurred to me just now that you've worn clothes like that ever since we started this journey, so Gohan has no idea what you look like at all under there, you know?"

Naturally, Ty Lee knew quite well that Xisheng had seen under Mai's clothes before. But for obvious reasons, she couldn't quite divulge that information. Still, that mind it kind of rude that she was bringing this up, because it made things awkward for him. Mai probably thought that Ty Lee was right, while he knew for certain that it wasn't. It may have been a sin of omission more than anything else, but it did make him feel a little guilty that he was allowing Mai to be deceived in this regard.

"W-well, I'm pretty sure I have some sort of idea..."

Either not catching onto his plight or finding it too amusing to stop, Ty Lee continued pressing her point. "Which is just another way of saying you have no clue, right? She could be super muscular under all that for all you know! Or maybe she has a hideous birthmark? Or, maybe, there's something completely unexpected that would change exactly how you view 'her.' You know, there are some boys that really like to dress in girls'-"

At this point, Mai cut her off, and quite forcefully at that. "Hey, stop giving him weird ideas about me! Gohan, you've never thought anything like that about me, right?!"

Admittedly, Xisheng was incredibly surprised to see Mai actually get so riled up about this jesting on Ty Lee's part. Usually the extent of her ire was just a scowl and some irritability. He wouldn't have thought that teasing like this would be the kind to elicit a reaction such as this from her. Still, she was a girl. Xisheng couldn't imagine that any woman would be happy to be spoken of in such a manner.

Taking all of this into consideration, Xisheng sought to placate her. "Don't worry, Mai, you're much too pretty for me to mistake you for a man..."

This answer did seem to calm Mai's irritation a bit, but Ty Lee stirred it back up almost immediately. Xisheng couldn't tell if she was doing this on purpose or if she was oblivious to the fact that Mai was genuinely agitated with this line of conversation. But Ty Lee was usually so good at reading people, it seemed impossible that she could actually miss that...

"I don't know, I've seen some incredibly pretty boys out there, Gohan. If they were hiding their body under a bunch of clothes you'd never be able to tell the difference."

Instead of snapping at that remark, Mai glanced down at her current wardrobe with obvious insecurity, which was frankly not something Xisheng had ever expected to see on her face. That kind of expression almost seemed alien on her. Xisheng didn't quite like this look on her either: something about how foreign a lack of confidence in herself was made it even more unpleasant.

That said, he wasn't sure what exactly he could do about it. He couldn't very well offer assurance in the form of 'don't worry, I know you're hot because I saw you naked one time when you didn't know I was there.' No, that certainly wasn't an option at all...

And yet, it turned out he didn't need to say anything. Mai's troubled expression only lasted for a moment before it was replaced with an annoyed, yet weirdly determined look. She huffed before turning her back on Xisheng and Ty Lee and faced the ocean again.

Xisheng would have thought that was a sign that she was going to ignore them, but her change in direction was not followed by silence. He didn't know that she had turned around to hide a rare, shy blush.

"I'm... slender."

Not at all expecting something like that to come out of her mouth. Xisheng wasn't sure what to say to that, or if he was supposed to say anything at all. Apparently, his single second of silence prompted Mai to amend her description.

"B-but, not in the sense of being a twig, or anything! Ty Lee's not the only one who, uh... I mean, not in the same way, but..."

Frankly, Xisheng was astounded by what was happening right now. He wasn't sure if he had ever even heard Mai stutter, never mind be truly flustered about something. She was embarrassed enough to require a pause to even figure out what she wanted to say. Or maybe, she was just trying to pluck up the courage to say it. Either way, say it she did, and with a surprising lack of bashfulness considering her trouble before.

"Let's just say that I'd have a hard time getting Ty Lee's leggings on."

Xisheng did a double-take, almost physically recoiling backwards at this statement. His mind was reeling.

Did she just... inform me that she has a nice ass? No, more than that, she's going so far as to brag about it in comparison to another girl!

Admittedly, Xisheng was not a girl, nor had he a great deal of experience with girls prior to the start of this particular adventure. But he was fairly certain that girls didn't care to compete in this regard unless they actually cared to win said competition in the eyes of the third party. He hated to make an assumption, but what other explanation was there...?

Apparently, Ty Lee was stunned by this claim as well. Her eyebrows had shot up into her hairline, perhaps because she, of all people, had not expected Mai to ever be so straightforward about something of this nature. And yet, after a moment of utter shock, her expression grew smug.

"Of all the things to finally be competitive about... that statement seems kind of dubious, Mai. I mean, how can you expect Gohan to believe that without any evidence? I mean, if anything, he should be the one to make that judgment, right? We just have to let him compare-"

While she had regained some composure before, Mai shot a shocked glare over her shoulder now at this suggestion. "What?! No! Why do you have to make everything weird? I just don't like you running around telling people that I'm ugly, alright?!"

This time, it seemed like Mai was truly irritated, as evidenced by the heavy scowl that Xisheng was able to see before she turned back to face the ocean. Damn, now he was just more confused than before. Was she really just annoyed that Ty Lee was spreading misinformation about her? Heck, even if he didn't particularly want someone to think he was attractive, he could see himself asserting that he looked good to other people if someone was implying otherwise. Still, the way she had gone about asserting that was still a little suspicious.

The worst part was, he didn't know if wishful thinking was clouding his own perception of things. That made him a lot less confident in making any sort of assertion on the matter. He knew how easy it was to see things you wanted in situations where there was a coincidental connection at best.

Unsure of what to do now since the conversation had grown awkward, Xisheng didn't say anything. Ty Lee probably sensed the tension too, but her means of tackling it involved trying to diffuse said tension, at least between herself and Gohan.

"Oh, well. I guess we won't have a competition then. But you can still check me out if you want, Gohan..."

Naturally, Xisheng was too stunned by this blatant offer to stay focused on his previous thoughts. He was immediately preoccupied with finding some way to answer that.

"H-hey, it's not like a competition was needed in the first place..."

To be fair, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that this response backfired immediately. After all, there was an insinuation to be made there, and Ty Lee didn't miss it. After all, she, unlike Mai, had different context to consider, because she knew what kind of knowledge Xisheng was privy to. But even though she was irked by the implication she had in mind, at least she still had the awareness to lean in and whisper to him so Mai wouldn't hear anything potentially incriminating.

"Hey, what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

While he had not meant it as such, Xisheng knew what insinuation she had perceived from his statement. She was obviously assuming that he saw a competition as unnecessary because he, who had already seen the two assets aiming to compete, had a clear winner in mind. Well, he hated to acknowledge that this was the case, but she wasn't exactly wrong about that. Ty Lee had no competition among her friends in the upstairs department, for certain. But the exact same thing could be said about Mai for the other end of the spectrum.

Not that Ty Lee didn't have a nice ass, but there was still a tier list of sorts. Sort of like the difference between an expert and a master...

Maybe this sentiment was written on his face, because Ty Lee seemed immediately peeved even though he hadn't answered her question. So now, she was annoyed with him, and Mai was clearly agitated as a whole. Suddenly, he found himself in hot water, even though he hadn't done anything remotely worth condemning or criticizing during this entire discussion. It wasn't often that he actually experienced that whole 'woman is mad at you for something you didn't do or say' thing that some of the other soldiers had talked about over the years. This didn't really seem fair.

Thankfully, he was rescued from this lamentable situation by a most unexpected savior; none other than Azula, rounding the corner of the ship's main cabin, presumably to locate her companions, considering the fact that she was speaking to them immediately upon getting close.

"I take it the back of the ship is where we'll be-"

Once she was actually around the corner and able to see everyone, Azula swiftly noted the seemingly problematic situation Xisheng was currently in. Mai's stiff posture was a certain sign of agitation, to say nothing about the way she was pointedly staring out at the horizon, away from everyone else. Ty Lee's arms were folded, and while her annoyed look was still remarkably pouty compared to most people, it was obviously a look of some actual irritation, and not just one of those jokingly irate things she sometimes did. Xisheng looked ill at ease with the entire situation, prompting Azula to believe that he was somehow responsible for it.

"...what did you do, Lieutenant?"

With a deadpan tone of voice, Xisheng figured he should just be honest. "Exist, I think."

Ty Lee huffed and looked away from him, proving that he was specifically the source of her irritation at this moment. Mai continued staring at the ocean, so while she was clearly agitated, Azula couldn't say for certain if Xisheng was responsible for it. Honestly, the young princess was amazed that her trusted vassal was actually capable of getting himself into this situation. To the best of her knowledge, she was the only one who had actually gotten mad at Xisheng thus far.

Even she felt a little bad for thinking it, but Azula was actually kind of glad. Having the distinction of being the only person who had gotten angry with Xisheng didn't do her any favors. In fact, this was a good opportunity to earn some 'benevolent leader' points, among other things. Here were Mai and Ty Lee, clearly putting him in an unpleasant situation, and Azula was the only the only one who could rescue him from it and provide good company. She'd been irritated with the undeniable disparity in time that Xisheng had spent with her friends compared to her these past few days, so this was a golden opportunity indeed.

Realizing that she was thinking about this from a perspective that had nothing to do with practicality at all, Azula beat down the internal notion of this having any personal meaning to her. She was just annoyed that she and Xisheng hadn't done any worthwhile training in awhile, that was all. Why else would she even care, otherwise?

"Well, since 'existing' seems to be all that you're doing right now, it seems to me that you should have enough freedom to train with me. It's been some time since we've focused solely on Firebending."

While Xisheng might not have specifically known that Azula was throwing him a lifeline, he nevertheless perceived her offer as one. "You're right about that. I'd be happy to train with you, Princess."

Azula subdued a minor spurt of satisfaction at his sentiment, instead focusing on getting rid of her friends, for now. "Excellent. That said, the back of the boat is the best place to do it. It's the only area that is free of the crew most of the time. Deepest apologies, Mai, Ty lee, but I'd appreciate it if you gave us some space back here."

Mai offered no resistance to this notion, immediately pushing herself off the railing that she had been leaning on. "Whatever."

That was all she said before walking away, likely returning to the interior of the ship. Xisheng watched her go, clearly worried by her irate behavior. Azula wasn't sure why he cared that much; maybe he just hadn't realized that she was often like this. Mai had been in relatively good spirits for most of the trip since leaving Omashu, at least compared to the old days. Xisheng probably didn't understand that she was really just like this, normally.

Ty Lee, on the other hand, seemed a little less eager to go, even if she was a little annoyed with the previous situation. "Why do you need space? You're just going to be shooting fire out into the sea, right? It's not like there's enough room to spar even if no one else was back here."

Certain that a brow was twitching, Azula couldn't help but wonder if Ty Lee had always been this perceptive of her ulterior motives, or if she just hadn't made it so obvious when they were kids. Either way, she found it somewhat annoying. However, she didn't have to actually say anything. Oddly enough, Xisheng reinforced her sentiment.

"Even if we'll be aiming our bending away from the ship, it's still dangerous, Ty Lee. Accidents happen. Plus, a strong gust of wind could blow any flames back towards us. Rather than relying on myself or Azula to nullify any possible risks, it would be safer if you just weren't in the vicinity, since it's impossible for you to get hurt that way."

Initially, Ty Lee frowned at this, seemingly upset that Xisheng would go along with the idea of her leaving. But ultimately, the brunette just sighed, perhaps finding it hard to be irritated by Xisheng's explanation. After all, he was being completely logical, so she couldn't see his agreement with Azula on this front as being anything other than practicality on his part. Still, she was a little worried that she had upset him with this last conversation of theirs...

Unfortunately, it wasn't like there was anything she could do about it right now. So Ty Lee simply got up from her place on the bench, putting up a mostly insincere smile so she didn't leave on a bad note. She didn't want Xisheng worrying about whether or not he had upset her while he was out here practicing.

"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. But if it's really all that dangerous, be careful, alright?"

"Always. See you later, Ty Lee."

That was all Xisheng got to say before the acrobat made her exit, leaving he and Azula alone on the rear of the ship. The silence between them didn't last long, courtesy of the younger.

"Well done, Gohan. You're almost as good as I am at getting your way with her. That's quite impressive."

Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the girl beside him, somewhat amused that she had reached such a conclusion about his motives. He'd only said what he actually thought: persuading Ty Lee to leave for any other reason had been the furthest thing from his mind. Frankly, it was kind of sad that Azula could sometimes see only manipulation in a normal exchange.

He wasn't going to say that out loud though. He didn't think that Azula even did it intentionally; the notion of using words to bend others to your will had likely been ingrained so deeply in her that she couldn't help but see it as the default way of communicating sometimes. She had been raised in an entirely political atmosphere, after all. Maybe one day she'd be able to grow beyond the many harsh lessons of her childhood, but today was too soon to hope for something that grand.

"I only said what I really believed, Princess. It is dangerous for non-benders to be in close vicinity to training Firebenders. I've seen my fair share of mishaps over the years."

There was a dissatisfied expression on Azula's face for some reason that Xisheng couldn't quite discern. But whatever she was thinking, she didn't vocalize it, instead choosing to comment on something else he had said.

"Over the years, is it? You always speak as though you've been in the Army for a long time, Xisheng. But you claimed to be only seventeen back in Gaoling. How much experience can you really have? Not to say that you're making up any of the stories you tell, but you have to admit, it's somewhat suspicious."

When she put it that way, Xisheng couldn't help but agree a little bit. He supposed it did sound a little off for someone as relatively young as him to speak as though he were a grizzled old veteran. But when you started early...

"I was only about your age when I enlisted. Fourteen or so. If you want to include the several weeks of training, I've been serving in front line combat for about three years and a few months. Well, I guess it wasn't all fighting, what with downtime and any time spent recovering from injuries, but since I spent nearly all of my service in the most contested area between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom... well, let's just say that a lot can happen in three years of heated fighting. I'm sure if I were a soldier in a more peaceful time, I wouldn't have enough stories to sound like a two decade veteran."

Azula seemed taken aback, which seemed odd to Xisheng. Then again, maybe being a royal didn't automatically mean that you knew every policy in your country.

"Fourteen? I wasn't aware that we even allowed people to serve at so young an age."

"Well, forced conscription is only for those that are at least sixteen, but voluntary service is allowed earlier. Considering the size of our nation, manpower is one of our scarcest resources. That would be true even if we hadn't been at war for a century, consistently suffering casualties. Needless to say, the Fire Nation is reaching further into the population to produce more soldiers, and that includes both younger and older people. That's why even kids like myself at the time can enlist. Even a scrawny teenager can contribute to the war effort somehow, and our country isn't in a position to refuse."

Xisheng didn't say what else he was thinking regarding all of this; honestly, the Fire Nation didn't have long to finish the war at this point. They could only reach so far back for young men and women in the population before they reached a critical point of no return that would cripple their society for several generations. Admittedly, there was still some manpower to call on from the colonies, but mostly only from the longer-established ones that considered themselves Fire Nation citizens. Newly acquired territories would sooner revolt than allow themselves to be conscripted into the armies of their conquerors, and that would just open up new areas of conflict that would cost more of the soldiers the FN was gradually running out of.

Frankly, Xisheng predicted that his nation only had another two decades of fighting left in it before they simply ran out of the manpower needed to continue. Thankfully, the last several large battles, including the North Pole and Omashu, had resulted in few (or zero) casualties. But even though they had gotten very fortunate in those large-scale offensives, deadlocked fighting was still very heavy in the areas around Ba Sing Se. Back when Xisheng had been stationed in the region, only a few months ago at this point, most skirmishes had resulted in at least a few dozen casualties. It didn't sound like much, but when said skirmishes occurred every other day, the numbers started to add up.

That was why they really needed to secure the final victory needed at Ba Sing Se, and soon. If they failed to take down the city even with Sozin's Comet to assist them, the FN could be looking at a forced stalemate or worse. They just didn't have the steam to keep going for much longer after how long they had been fighting to begin with.

A part of Xisheng wondered if Azula ever thought about these things, or at least, if this current conversation had brought such things to mind, but as she opened her mouth to respond to his explanation about his young age of enlistment, she said nothing about any of it. In fact, she focused on the seemingly most unimportant thing that Xisheng had uttered.

"What exactly do you mean by 'kids like myself', Xisheng?"

Not entirely sure what she was getting at, the soldier could only answer honestly. "Just that I was at an age where I'd consider someone a kid, I suppose...?"

Perhaps due to his lack of understanding, Azula's expression grew more irate. "Yes, fourteen, as I recall. Are you aware that I am fourteen?"

Xisheng internally winced, now that Azula had spelled out her grievance. But admittedly, he had forgotten. Not that Azula had ever explicitly stated his age to him directly, but just based on relatively basic knowledge of the royal family that most citizens should have possessed, he had known somewhere in the back of his mind that Azula was around that age. Considering that she was a very proud and competent person who held a position of authority over him, it wasn't surprising that she'd be aggravated by the designation of "kid" from Xisheng, even if it hadn't been directly applied to her.

"Ah, well... I meant no disrespect, Princess. If I'm being honest, it's easy to forget that you're so young. You have the demeanor and intelligence of a mature adult, after all."

Thankfully, these words dispelled Azula's visible irritation almost immediately. Heck, she seemed a little flattered, actually. It was a little ironic; just earlier, he had been thinking about how sad it was to see manipulation in every interaction, but just now, he had intended to manipulate Azula a little bit. Not that he had lied to her, but he would be lying if he said that wording his answer in a defusing way that would please her was not his intent.

Regardless, Azula seemed unusually pleased with his assessment. "Yes, well... one's mental and emotional maturity really matters more than physical age, does it not? I'm essentially eighteen, considering my many traits. Or perhaps even older?"

Xisheng subdued a smile before Azula could notice and question it. It was kind of funny; being concerned with people perceiving you as older than you were was typically something reserved for the childish. It was ironic that Azula perceived herself as so mature while being bothered by the notion of someone perceiving her as young. Naturally, he wasn't going to say any of this out loud to her. Besides, it was nice, being able to see this rare, admittedly cute side of her. Xisheng supposed that even prodigious Firebenders of the Royal Family had to have insecurities about something.

"You are certainly beyond your years in many ways, Princess. I couldn't have said the same about myself at fourteen."

Maybe Xisheng had put Azula in a particularly good mood, because she was very quick to oppose his notion. "I find that hard to believe, Xisheng. I have no doubt that war would force even the most immature person to grow up quite quickly, but you possess many qualities that I'm certain are not a result of simply being a soldier. I doubt they all appeared out of thin air in the past three or four years."

Even though this wasn't the first time Azula had said something along the lines of genuinely praising him, Xisheng was still a little stunned. It was still always a little unexpected, to get the feeling that the Crown Princess of all people genuinely respected him, a commoner and a grunt. Moreover, was it just him, or was Azula starting to call him by name, nickname or otherwise, far more often than she once had? He was certain she was; prior to recently, he couldn't recall her ever calling him by anything other than his rank with the exception of special occasions. She had certainly never called him by name in the presence of others.

Granted, they were alone right now, but now that he thought about it, he distinctly recalled her calling him 'Gohan' yesterday when he had invited everyone to watch the rain with him. Well, maybe it wasn't all that surprising; people that spent a lot of time together were likely to start acting more familiar, weren't they? But then again, Azula hadn't invited him to directly call her by name yet. Was he making more of a big deal out of this than was warranted?

Between the exchange with Mai earlier and now this, Xisheng had to wonder if he had missed a major dynamic shift, or if he was just drawing conclusions based on what he wanted rather than reality. He was definitely going to have to pay explicit attention to these things from now on, if he was going to figure out just what was really happening. The last thing he needed was to get any funny ideas because he misconstrued something that was well and truly nothing special.

For now, he figured it was best not to leave Azula hanging. "I appreciate that, Princess. You're too kind."

"Yes, well, my benevolence is also one my charms, I'd say. Try not to forget it."

Usually, Azula simply reacted to praise as a matter of fact, like she was entitled to it and had no reason to take it positively due to that. So admittedly, it was curious that she was being so adamant about the notion of Xisheng acknowledging her good points. Ordinarily, he'd be well aware of what that typically meant when coming from a girl, but there were plenty of other possibilities besides that.

For one, it could just be a matter of narcissism. People who thought highly of themselves often wanted others to acknowledge their perceived greatness as well. Though it was a little cruel to say, Xisheng was well aware that Azula had some narcissistic traits, so this was a distinct possibility. On the other hand, it could just be the exact thing he had considered earlier: even though Azula was a prodigy far beyond her years, she was still young in many ways. She may have just been insecure about some aspects of herself, and was eager to receive acknowledgement from others, even if it meant fishing for praise.

Either way, there were many options besides 'girl wants a guy to notice her good points for obvious reasons'. Considering the girl in question, there was no way Xisheng was going to make an assumption like that one unless he had absolutely irrefutable evidence, and it wasn't an assumption at all. It was just too risky to jump to a conclusion like that when the person in question was the Crown Princess of your country. Just the political ramifications alone were colossal, and that was to say nothing about the other areas of concern.

Xisheng didn't get to dwell on his thoughts much longer, as Azula continued speaking without much pause from before. "Well, back to the point at hand... it's been far too long since we've done any training on Firebending. I know I've admitted to Mai and Ty Lee's skills being useful, but at the end of the day, bending is your greatest weapon, and you'll certainly need it in even greater spades in the days to come, I'm sure. Even if we somehow never encounter the Avatar again, I don't doubt that there will be severe fighting at Ba Sing Se."

Putting his earlier thoughts to rest for now at least, Xisheng focused on the topic they were discussing now. He agreed with Azula completely. He truly believed that Ba Sing Se would mark the most intense fighting of the war: or at least, of the final thirty years of it. It was the most formidable city on the planet, with nigh impenetrable defenses, a self-sustaining economy, massive territory, and likely the largest concentration of Earthbenders in the world. Naturally, Earthbenders were the best suited to defensive warfare as well. The siege and subsequent invasion, assuming things got that far, would probably be hell.

"That's true. It's hard to feel that there's any level of preparation that would actually make me comfortable with the battles to come... even against the Avatar and his friends in our last battle, I barely felt capable of really hurting the enemy. Not for the first time, I've acknowledged that fire is a very disadvantageous element compared to the others: any of the other three can deny all but the most powerful attacks with relative ease. I just don't really know what to do about it, right now..."

Azula was silent for a moment as she observed Xisheng's expression. But after that moment, she turned her gaze back out to the ocean. "Indeed. Fire has to work quite hard to overcome the other elements in direct confrontation. That's why we've had to supplement our abilities through other means in this war, don't you think? Machines, superior tactics, logistical superiority... it's a shame, but your average Firebender is rarely a match for an average combatant of the other elements. As someone who pursues the pinnacle of Firebending as a combat art, that truly irks me."

Admittedly, Xisheng was surprised to hear Azula speak of such things. Had she always felt this way, or had he rubbed off on her a bit? Either way, she didn't pause for long before continuing. Maybe she just needed to take a breath.

"But I believe we Firebenders have a much higher ultimate potential than our counterparts. All of the other benders are limited to manipulating their element in a physical regard. Only we are capable of using our chi to create our own element, wherever we may need it. There's much more that we can do with our flames, if we just master that facet of our art."

Azula generally wasn't the type to wax philosophical, but though it had been awhile, Xisheng did recall that she tended to get like this when discussing Firebending. After all, she wasn't wrong about being an avid devotee of the art. Many people saw bending as a mere means to an end. A way to fight, or to make life easier. Azula was not such a person. To her, bending was untapped potential to be seized by human hands. A goal to be pursued, attained, molded into its ultimate form; it was an admirable devotion that she possessed. Whereas others sought to grow in bending prowess just so they could be stronger, Azula pursued perfection in Firebending solely because she knew such perfection had not been attained yet, by anyone.

It was the drive to pursue a superior version of yourself for no other reason than because there was a superior level to achieve. Even if she reached a point where no other Firebender in history could possibly hold a candle to her, Azula was the type of person to continue striving for the next degree of mastery so long as it existed. The drive to achieve things just because there was something to achieve; that kind of determination was likely what made Azula such an incredible bender and warrior. It was probably also why she would continue to surpass all expectations and ascend to even more absurd heights.

Xisheng just hoped that her pursuit of unparalleled mastery wouldn't hinder her growth in other areas of life. One day, she'd have more responsibilities than the mere pursuit of skill. But he didn't say any of this to her right now: he knew that it wasn't the time for these concerns.

"This undiscovered potential sounds great, but... how does one reach it?"

"Why, experimentation, of course. Testing the waters with new ideas and theories about what you can do is how all bending techniques came into existence. Firebending has an objectively most powerful technique right now, but that is only true until a new one is developed that can surpass it. And speaking of which..."

Oddly, Azula fell silent again as her expression shifted to one of consternation. Whatever she was thinking of saying, she was clearly giving it a lot of thought. That alone made Xisheng somewhat nervous. After all, Azula wasn't the type of person to hesitate when it came to speaking her mind, which meant she was unsure of what she was going to say. Being unsure was also unlike her.

But ultimately, the young Firebender did settle on the words she wanted to say. "I believe you are capable of reaching great heights in Firebending, Xisheng. That is why I am considering teaching you a very special technique. But loathe as I am to say it, my perception is not flawless. What I believe might just be wishful thinking on my part. So, I want you to prove it to me."

At this, Xisheng raised his voice in confusion. "Prove... my potential?"

Azula turned to face him this time, looking him in the eyes. She looked quite determined in this decision now that she had made it. "Exactly. All techniques are simply the result of different fundamentals being combined into something greater. I will not be teaching you the special technique I am considering today. However, I will be teaching you something that is an absolutely vital component to said technique. Obviously, if you can master this vital component, I will know that you have the required ability to take on the more advanced technique that builds upon it."

"Well, that certainly makes sense... for someone with very limited experience as a teacher, you're very good at it, Princess. Most people don't have such a good grasp on the fundamental concept of teaching."

Clearly not expecting an earnest compliment after they had gotten so serious, Azula's expression grew slightly sheepish for a moment. But it wasn't long before she was trying to dispel any flustered feelings.

"Yes, well, it seems that I'm even more amazing than most people realize, doesn't it? Don't think flattery will cause me to lower my expectations of your performance!"

"I'd be disappointed if it did."

Having regained some sense of composure, Azula folded her arms as she prepared to get academic on her pupil. "How much do you really know about chi, Xisheng?"

This was not a question that was often asked of anyone, so it took Xisheng a few moments of pondering to sort out his knowledge on the topic. "Well, I know that it's a natural energy possessed by humans. A sort of generalized concept like 'vitality' or 'stamina'. We use it for bending, but it's tied to our physical state overall as well. Being physically exhausted makes it harder to bend, and there's a limit to how long and how vigorously one can bend before their performance starts to suffer. I suppose there's no way to specifically quantify how much chi someone has, but it's obviously finite, albeit regenerative. It's like running a marathon; there's no specific way to quantify stamina, but it is finite and it is being consumed by what you're doing, and it can be restored by resting."

Azula seemed satisfied enough by this answer. "Good enough, I suppose. That's all you'll really need to know about it for our purposes. Chi is indeed required for bending, but it's not as simple as being used or not being used. There are specific ways to use your chi that affect how your bending works. Certain methods of using your chi can allow you to accomplish more with a limited amount, or manipulate an element to a different degree. Earthbenders that wish to bend very small amounts of Earth require great precision in how they use their chi. Without precise control over their chi, someone who would have a simple time of lifting a boulder may struggle to restrain themselves effectively enough to lift only a pebble. Of course, precision and control is generally not a problem for disciplined Firebenders."

Naturally, Azula was right about that. Firebending, unlike the other elements, was directly proportional to the chi of the user. This meant a lack of precision in how much chi you were using could result in a wildly oversized blast of flame that could potentially hurt allies, your surroundings, or even yourself. Precision and control were incredibly important in Firebending because their element was created by their chi alone. For the other elements, if someone didn't have precise control over their chi, it wasn't likely to be a big problem. It just meant an Earthbender would have trouble limiting their control to a tiny bit of their element, or a Waterbender might struggle to control the thinnest of icy needles compared to a large torrent of water.

An inability to restrain yourself to the actually desired level of power in Firebending could be catastrophic. Granted, most Firebenders never mastered precision to the level that someone like Azula had: being able to conjure up tiny darts of flame, but still be able to propel them with lethal speed and force was a difficult feat when it came to precision and control of one's chi. But regardless, Firebenders tended to have a fairly good grasp on this aspect of chi, mostly out of necessity.

Of course, since that was true, the point she was trying to make must have been something different. That became obvious soon enough, when Azula continued her explanation of their upcoming training.

"There is, however, an aspect of chi manipulation mostly unique to Firebending; compression."

At first, Xisheng didn't really understand what she was getting at. "Compression?"

"Indeed. More power in a smaller package does wonders for Firebending. It's the difference between a dozen weak punches all over an enemy compared to a single strike with the strength of those dozen punches. Concentrating your power into a narrower point of impact allows you to produce more devastating Firebending attacks. You understand what I'm saying, don't you?"

Admittedly, Xisheng was fairly certain he understood what Azula was saying, but he felt the need to make sure."Sort of like... black powder, I suppose?"

Azula didn't seem to catch on to his own meaning right away. "You'll have to be more specific before I can answer that."

Well, perhaps it made sense that someone like Azula lacked knowledge on explosives. Even Xisheng wasn't an expert, but there was enough black powder and blasting jelly being used in military applications that most soldiers knew the general mechanics of how it worked: to avoid getting themselves killed, if nothing else.

"If you spread black powder along the ground and ignite it, it will burn, but fizzle out quickly without really doing much. But if you pack it into a tight space and then ignite it, you get a powerful explosion instead. In this case, our chi is the black powder, right?"

With his own example explained to her, Azula nodded without delay. "Precisely. Even if you use the same amount of 'black powder' in both cases, its power it exponentially increased when compressed. The same applies to Firebending. Perhaps a practical demonstration would be to your liking?"

"I certainly won't say no to it."

Stepping up to the railing of the ship, Azula took a Firebending stance. "Very well. Observe."

With that, she punched an arm forward, shooting a fairly generic fire blast, blue shade notwithstanding, out into the ocean. It was your typical fireball with a trailing plume, a technique that nearly every Firebender was capable of. When the flames impacted the water, there was a fair deal of sizzling and steam, but nothing really impressive. Of course, Azula no doubt intended for that to be the case.

"As you can likely discern, that was an ordinary fire blast. I did nothing other than the most basic of Firebending, pushing my chi outwards from my hand with no attempt to manipulate it in any way. The only thing I did was restrict myself to a relatively low-intensity effort. Now, observe this next strike: I will use the exact same amount of chi in this attack."

Having said all of this, Azula reset to the stance she had been in before, though this time, there were some slight differences. For one, her expression was slightly more strained. Though it was slight, Xisheng had come to recognize the tiny downturn of her lips as a sign of effort. Secondly, she seemed to take an extra few moments to actually gear up for the attack. However, when she was apparently ready, the young prodigy thrust her fist out again, launching another azure flame towards the ocean.

But this one was quite different from the first. Instead of a fairly large sphere of flame with fluttering tail, it was thin and narrow, a streaking lance of sapphire that cut through the air more swiftly than the previous attack. Whereas Azula's first strike was akin to a boulder soaring through the air after being launched by a catapult, this current attack was more like an arrow, swift and precise.

This wasn't the only difference in the two strikes, however. When this blazing spear impacted the water, it did so with an explosive kick. The water shot up into the air and away from the point of impact, some of it turning into steam while the rest fell back down to Earth in a shower of droplets. It was as though someone had thrown an actual explosive into the water, as opposed to flames merely licking the surface.

Xisheng couldn't resist a cry of admiration. "Whoa, that was a huge difference! Was that really the same amount of chi you used for the first strike?"

With a satisfied smirk, Azula turned to face him again. "Indeed. Because this-"

She raised a hand and conjured a fairly tame ember of blue flame. Its tips only flickered a few inches above the palm that it originated from.

"-is much more powerful like this."

Upon this utterance, Azula's open palm curled inwards a bit, almost like she was squeezing something. The ordinary flickering flame in her hand shrunk down into a smaller sphere shape that was only a third as large as it had been before. Not only did this result in an even brighter, more brilliant blue with a tinge of stunning indigo in the center, but Xisheng could almost see the fire itself straining against its invisible cage, trying to flicker out into the open air as it usually would, only for the tongues of flame to be forced back into the sphere before they could do so.

Of course, aside from these rather obvious visual cues, Xisheng had a unique ability to perceive the difference in power Azula was showing him. He was a Firebender too, after all. He could sense the difference in firepower a few inches before him. That feeling of heat and energy had escalated from what it was before, growing in scope even though the area it occupied had shrunk.

Clearly determining that Xisheng understood and appreciated what she was showing him, Azula offered more explanation of what she was doing. "You see, think of your chi like a cage that you can completely envelop your flames in. All of that energy wants to go somewhere, but you force it into a tighter and tighter grip... naturally, that becomes increasingly more difficult as you force all of that power into a smaller and smaller abode. Overestimate your abilities, and you could end up with a nasty accident going off in the palm of your hand, but if you know your limits, it simply becomes a matter of knowing when to release your hold: preferably in the direction you intend, of course. If you can do that, you can turn even a weak torchlight into something more formidable."

She punctuated her sentence by aiming the compressed flame towards the ocean again, before said flame flashed out into the open air. The jet of fire only shot out a few feet, but considering that the ember she had initially conjured had been quite small, that was a significant increase in power.

Frankly, it was not that Xisheng had never done something like that. Obviously, when you were going for a powerful blast and wanted to funnel that blast into a tighter area, that required some degree of compression. But he had never used this technique to a level like the one Azula was displaying. Speaking of which, he did have a question about all of this...

"It's formidable indeed. But, if you don't mind my asking... if you know how to do this, and it's such a powerful technique, why didn't you use it against the Avatar in our encounters with him?"

Azula gave him a look that said she was a little offended to have this assumption made about her. "I have, Xisheng. Just not to the extent I've shown you just now. This technique is powerful, as it allows you to do more damage for the same amount of chi that you would use for any other attack. But it's not completely without drawback. Primarily, it takes extra time and concentration. That extra time may only be in the form of a few seconds, but against the foes we've faced thus far, a few seconds has often been too much to spare. The Avatar's agility and evasiveness calls for speed and precision over power, and Toph is, well... suffice to say that there were few openings to allow for compressed Firebending. And besides, the more power you try to condense for an attack, the more taxing these factors are. It has a time and a place, but it's not a technique that renders all other forms of Firebending useless."

"I see. That's fair. I'm eager to master this technique based on its own merits alone, but I am curious; what about this is the fundamental aspect of the 'secret' technique' you are considering teaching me?"

"Why, control over extreme degrees of volatile power, of course. The most powerful explosive in the world does more harm than good if it explodes without your intent. Mastering compressed Firebending is not as easy as it seems on the surface. But if you can, I will know that you are capable of taming an even more fickle beast."

If he were being honest with himself, Xisheng was fairly certain he knew what Azula was hinting at. But he didn't dare even hope for it. After all, no matter how much she trusted him, would she really divulge that secret? Was it even her right to do so? Would she get in trouble with her father?

Azula didn't seem to share any misgivings on that front. In fact, she seemed eager to begin now that she had explained everything that mattered. "Well, I suppose we should start by seeing what you can do now."

Having said that, the young warrior raised her hand, palm facing upwards like she had before. Soon after, she had conjured an azure flame above it. It was about the same size as the one before.

"Match my flame."

Following this instruction, Xisheng placed his good arm and hand in the same position as Azula's, then did his best to muster a flame of similar size to her own. Naturally, it wasn't anywhere near as gorgeous; just a typical red and orange fire, the likes of which any Firebender could produce. Even though he told himself, rationally, that it was silly to feel bummed out about being inferior to a literal prodigy from the Royal Family, Xisheng couldn't help it. Being able to manipulate flames was cool already, but somehow, you felt lame next to someone who could manipulate 'cool' flames. It was just double the awesome. He'd kill to have something unique like that.

But alas, he did not. He could only work with what he had, and at any rate, Azula didn't seem particularly disappointed with the flame he had created. "Excellent. Your goal, for now, is to take a flame of that size and compress it down to this."

To punctuate her statement, Azula started clenching her hand, and her blue flame was forcibly squeezed down into a sphere about the size of a dumpling, or maybe a good fist-sized rock. Like before, the flame seemed to actively resist this transformation, with little tendrils trying to reach back out in the air. Also like before, Xisheng noted the slightest of indigo hues, a shade that was similar, but still distinctly different from Azula's usual blue. Curious.

But for now, Xisheng had to focus on himself. It had been awhile, but despite that, he was a pupil who had been very graciously taken under the wing of a prodigy like Azula. Rationally, he knew that it would be foolish to be able to match said teacher on the first try. Irrationally, he didn't want to disappoint her. So he took a deep breath, and focused on the sensation of his chi fueling the flame in his hand. It was odd; technically, this sensation was incredibly familiar to him. He felt it whenever he was Firebending, after all. And yet, said sensation was so common, so innate, that it actually felt a little foreign to focus on it. It was kind of like remembering that you were breathing; it was usually an automatic process that didn't even register in your mind. But when you stopped and thought about it, you could actually focus on something that you normally didn't even notice, despite it being such an integral part of you.

Focusing on that feeling, Xisheng wondered how exactly to go about this. His chi was controlling every aspect of this flame right now; how hot it burned, how far it reached, and even the fact that it existed at all. Was compressing it as simple as willing the flame to do so? He supposed the only thing he could do was try.

Exerting his will on the element he himself had created, Xisheng actually found it rather easy. At least, for a moment. At first, the flicking pillar of fire did shrink a bit, and not because he was smothering it or giving it less fuel, but because he was successfully forcing it down into a smaller space. The initial sensation was akin to squeezing something soft and malleable. But that only lasted until he he got about a third of the way to the size of Azula's compressed sphere. At that point, it suddenly felt a lot more like trying to crush a rock with his bare hands. The shift in resistance was so abrupt and intense that Xisheng couldn't help but unwittingly express his shock.

"H-holy shit! What's with this resistance?!"

Azula seemed to find his sentiment amusing. "Come now, Xisheng. Did you honestly think this was something easy to do? If this were a simple, effortless technique, everyone would do it."

Still grunting with exertion, Xisheng tried to clarify his experience. "W-well, I didn't expect it to be easy, but this is really something else! I feel like I'm trying to crush a rock into dust with my bare hands and I'm not even halfway there! How did you do this so easily?!"

"The same way I do everything with ease; I train endlessly until something that was once difficult becomes a matter of simplicity. This technique is no different from anything else you've ever mastered in regards to Firebending. I'm sure there was a point in your life where creating a bigger fire blast than you 'maximum' seemed impossible. And yet, you no doubt surpassed that maximum eventually. Now, what was once a grueling hurdle is considered easy. I once found this technique as difficult as you do now. No one is truly 'good' at anything until they've put some effort into it."

Certain that a bead of sweat was rolling down his temple at this point, Xisheng ceased his efforts for the time being. As soon as he stopped trying to condense the flame, it sprung back into it's usual size and shape, though Xisheng allowed it to fade entirely soon after.

"You, having to put effort into things? I never thought you'd admit to once being incapable of anything."

While he meant this in a joking manner, Azula actually seemed a little offended by the notion. "Make no mistake, I am naturally gifted and possess more innate talent than most. But I'm as good as I am because I worked for it. I grasp the intricacies of Firebending at a level few do, but all of my skill has been honed through my own effort. Just look at Zuko; he's of the same bloodline as me and he was always a shoddy example of a Firebender. Well, at least he was back then. Always so busy mucking about, being coddled by that woman to make him feel better about his lack of drive and ambition... ugh, he was pathetic."

Xisheng was caught off-guard by this sudden shift in topic, though he got the feeling that Azula hadn't exactly intended to let it slip in the first place. In fact, she seemed a little flustered when she realized that she had swerved into this tangent. At any rate, she was quick to divert the conversation back to its original topic, clearly not looking to dive any deeper into her childhood or that woman. Xisheng had no idea who said woman may have been, but Azula's disdain and animosity towards her was obvious enough from the emphasis the princess had identified her with.

Clearing her throat as a means of breaking away from that tangent, Azula allowed her own condensed flame to expand back to its usual size before dispersing it, just as Xisheng had. "Regardless, my point is that you'll have to work hard to master this technique, just like I did. Granted, it will no doubt take you even greater effort, considering the disparity in our innate talent, but be that as it may, I believe you are capable of it."

As always, Azula's ability to subtly disparage someone was incredible. Though Xisheng supposed he could hardly call it an insult when she pointed out the difference in their innate talent. That was a factual observation, after all. Besides, she had also stated that she believed in his ability, so he couldn't help but focus on that more than anything else. Azula had always made it relatively clear that she believed him to have potential; after all, she wouldn't have brought him on this journey or agreed to teach him if she hadn't. But rarely was she this straightforward or vocal about it. It was motivating, to say the least. Now more than ever, Xisheng was determined to meet her expectations.

"I appreciate your faith, Princess. That said, I would certainly be grateful for any advice you can offer regarding this technique, seeing as how you went through the struggle of mastering it yourself."

Now smirking, clearly in a better mood than just a moment previously, Azula shrugged her shoulders. "Frankly, I think you should have to suffer through the same grief that I did. But I suppose it would be beneficial for you to master this as swiftly as possible, so I'll oblige your request. Just be sure to express your eternal gratitude for my charity."

"I'd never dream of denying you the credit you deserve, Princess. I'm hardly in a position to worry about pride."

"Good. I'm glad that you've separated yourself from the common chaff that is most males in that regard as well. Fools who let misplaced pride blind them to their incompetence are... well, suffice to say I'd have never even considered bringing you on this journey if you were the type to use bluster and arrogance to soothe your ego. Far too many men can scarcely conceive the notion of a young woman like myself being superior to them. Their incessant attempts to find some footing to defend their masculinity was oh so tedious."

He knew they were supposed to be training, but Xisheng was honestly curious about this. "Who in their right mind would make it obvious that they're trying to assert some sort of dominance over a member of the Royal Family?"

Azula scoffed, finding the question silly. "Oh, you'd be surprised. It's not that they intended for it to be obvious; their idea of subtle was just so pathetic that it was clear as day regardless. Members of the war council trying to poke holes in my strategic input, thinly veiled comments about my 'untested' abilities, and things of that nature. So many worthless fools grasping at some phantom straws for a leg to stand on, all because they were emasculated by the fact that they couldn't hold a candle to me. They disgust me."

Xisheng tried to imagine behaving in the way Azula had just described around her at any point. "I'm surprised any of these people are still alive."

"Well, of course I could simply dispose of them or maim them for their audacity, but where is the true satisfaction in that? Any simpleton with power can crush the weak, and it's not about that. It's about sending a message. I always made sure they had their comeuppance, but generally, by dismantling their flimsy premises and humiliating them in front of everyone. That's true superiority."

Xisheng hid his thoughts behind a smile. Incredible, how someone so terrifying can be worried about whether or not other people think she's mature...

Naturally, the young royal was not privy to Xisheng's thoughts. So she instead returned to the earlier point. "Anyway, I do have a few methods that may make your time mastering this technique a little easier. Be sure to listen carefully, because I'm only going to tell you these things once..."

With that, Azula went all-in on her 'teacher' mode. With her focus now completely on very technical aspects of Firebending, Xisheng had no choice but to give his complete attention to that alone.


Hours later, in the dusk of approaching night, Xisheng sat on the same bench that he had occupied earlier that day, though he was alone on it this time. He had spent some time training with Azula, but after she had coached him with all of the knowledge she possessed on compression Firebending, there hadn't been a whole lot for her to actually do. At some point, she had simply told him to continue practicing. She had gone to tend to other matters after that.

Xisheng couldn't blame her for that; after all, this training wasn't really something that required a teacher's constant vigilance. Azula couldn't 'see' flaws in his technique, since it was all internal. It wasn't like sparring. She could give him advice and question his difficulties, but at a certain point, the obstacle was just a lack of experience, not knowledge. At that point, there wasn't much Azula could do besides give him time to develop his fledgling skill.

So for the past few hours, Xisheng had been alone, struggling to meet the goal Azula had set for him. He had only been allowed one break, when one of the crew came to the rear of the boat to take a lunch break. He and Xisheng had shared some stories, though it was mostly Xisheng with the interesting ones; the poor soldier turned sailor had spent most of his deployment at the outpost they had departed from, seeing nothing even remotely close to action. Still, it was nice. While Xisheng most certainly loved the dynamic between the girls and himself, he had missed the universal camaraderie of soldiering. Even if other people were sympathetic and understanding, they'd never really get it, unless they had shared the experience to some extent.

But that respite had come to an end soon enough, and Xisheng had committed even more time to mastering his new lesson. Unfortunately, his progress hadn't been stellar. Glancing down at his right hand, Xisheng lit a flame in his palm once again, then tried to get it down to where he desired. Unfortunately, despite the strain of his muscles and the gritting of teeth, Xisheng was only capable of getting it down a bit more than he had initially. It was a bit more of a third of the way down to the size of the benchmark Azula had set for him, but not quite half either. With a sigh of frustration, the weary soldier released the flame into nothing once again.

He supposed that, even with special tutelage from a Firebending prodigy, it would be foolish to expect massive advances in capability in less than a day. Still, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed in the lack of progress. This leg of their journey wasn't going to take that long, and he would have preferred to have the technique mastered before they left this ship behind. Maybe that was unreasonable, but it was what he was aiming for nevertheless.

For now, Xisheng turned his attention back to what was in his lap; a scroll that he had procured from a member of the crew earlier when he decided he was done training for the day, along with a writing utensil. This scroll was blank, readily available for the scribbling of any particular individual. Ordinarily, Xisheng was not much for writing. He had pretty good memory, and there weren't many scenarios where he had to write something down for future reference. But with this new technique, he felt like he was struggling to really make any headway on it. He didn't know if it would help, but maybe writing down some elements of the process would help him make a breakthrough? Sometimes, you didn't realize an obvious solution until you spelled it out.

With that in mind, Xisheng started writing out whatever he felt was important about the compression technique and his experience with it; how it felt to try it, methods that had seemingly made it a little easier, the various pieces of advice Azula had given him, and the way the training was affecting his body. He didn't know what he was hoping to glean from writing any of this, but it wasn't like there was any harm in it either.

Unfortunately, he was in the middle of writing down an idea about trying to compress the flame with both hands when the boat rocked a little more severely than usual, causing the stroke of his implement to swerve off to the right. Granted, considering the fact that he was in a fairly uncomfortable writing position, with the scroll only pressed against his legs, it wasn't like his symbols were the epitome of elegant penmanship to begin with, but such sudden jerking definitely didn't help matters.

With a grunt of frustration, Xisheng decided he would be better off pausing for now. He was only writing with a thin piece of charcoal, so it wasn't like he had to worry about drying ink or anything. But as the boat rocked a little again, he figured now might be a bad time to continue writing for other reasons.

Placing the scroll and the charcoal to the side for a moment, Xisheng rose to his feet so he could approach the edge of the ship and peer into the ocean. Naturally, with the sun almost fully behind the horizon, he couldn't see that far, but the lights of the ship itself still made it plainly obvious that the waters were getting a little choppier than they had been throughout the day. He certainly wouldn't call it a brewing storm, but he couldn't imagine Ty Lee was having a good time, considering her earlier seasickness in much calmer waters.

As though his thoughts possessed some greater power, Xisheng heard the groan of a certain someone from a ways behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted Ty Lee, momentarily leaning against the side of the main cabin, other hand on her knee.

"Maybe you should be lying down, Ty Lee."

Surprised by his voice, the acrobat glanced back up from the deck of the ship. Maybe she'd been forced to take a breather before identifying that he could see her. Either way, she attempted to hide her discomfort with a smile.

"I think I'll be fine. I took some more of those herbs the captain gave me, it's just, ugh, these waves came up really suddenly, huh?"

Xisheng smiled back at her, hoping to offer her some comfort. "The sea is a fickle mistress. At least, that seemed to be a universal saying known by all the sailors I've ever talked to."

Recovering her stability somewhat, Ty Lee stepped closer to the rear of the ship. "Sounds kinda unfair, if you ask me. Why does the misbehaving ocean have to be a woman, huh?"

The soldier she asked this question of really didn't have an answer for her. Now that she mentioned it, he acknowledged that people often attributed a gender to inanimate objects or ideas, but for some reason, that gender was often female. From vehicles to weapons and of course, Mother Nature, it seemed like most people preferred to attribute the female gender to such things. Sometimes, it was disparaging, but just as often, it was actually good. At the very least, most soldiers he had met who referred to a beloved weapon as 'my lady, my woman' or something to that effect, had always done so in reverence.

He didn't get a chance to say any of this to Ty Lee, who was distracted by something else before he had a chance to express any of these thoughts.

"Hey, what's this? Are you writing something?"

Turning his attention back to her, Xisheng saw Ty Lee leaning over to peek at the open scroll he had left on the bench. Well, it wasn't like he had any reason to be troubled by this: it wasn't like anything embarrassing was written there.

"It's just a few things I wanted to write down about my training with Azula today. I thought it might help down the road."

Surprisingly, Ty Lee made a mocking pouty face at this. "Aw, that's not very exciting! What a letdown."

Xisheng cocked a bemused eyebrow at her. "What exactly did you think I'd be writing about?"

"I don't know, like... a journal, or something? You know, dreams for the future, daydreams and wishful thinking, secret, naughty thoughts you don't want anyone to know about..."

Naturally, Xisheng wasn't very surprised by this answer. All he could do was shake his head in amusement. "If I had secret thoughts I didn't want anyone to know about, wouldn't the best thing to do be to leave it all in my head where no one could ever learn about it unless I wanted them to?"

Ty Lee was caught flat-flooted by this statement. He kind of had a point, after all. "Ah, well... I guess I can't really say no to that..."

Glancing up at the stars, or at least those that could be seen with the light of nearby lanterns blocking some of them, Xisheng pondered the notion Ty Lee had put forward. "Still, even though I wouldn't write anything like that in it, maybe a journal isn't such a bad idea."

Surprised that he would say such a thing after seemingly considering the notion silly, Ty Lee raised a questioning eyebrow. "Really? But what would you put in it, then?"

"Just... everything that's happened, I guess. I mean, if you think about it, this whole journey has been pretty incredible; a common soldier ascends to the retinue of the future Fire Lord, then joins her and her quirky companions on a quest to destroy an archaic spirit of a bygone era to create a better world for the human race... it'd be a shame if a tale that grand and unbelievable weren't written down somewhere."

"Hey, what do you mean, 'quirky' companions?"

"Is that really what you're going to focus on, out of everything I just said? You can't honestly think you and Mai don't fit that description."

Clearly a little miffed with the notion, Ty Lee folded her arms as the faked pout from before became a little more real. Oh, well. Xisheng wasn't going to rescind what he had said. It was true, after all. Besides, quirky was a neutral descriptor. It wasn't good or bad on its own. Instead, he continued talking himself into the idea of a journal now that he had acknowledged its value.

"You know, this could become a future memoir or something. Like, if I become famous one day, people can read all about this mission. Or if I get a little forgetful in old age, I'll be able to reminisce about the good old days. Hm, this isn't actually a bad idea at all..."

Ty Lee directed her still mildly annoyed expression at him. "What all would you write about if you planned on other people reading it one day?"

"Well, naturally I'd have to leave out the racy parts that often arise due to a certain someone."

"Hey! If you keep saying that like it's a bad thing, I'll just stop letting those racy moments happen!"

Admittedly, Xisheng didn't want that to happen. Sure, those moments often created some trouble of their own, and they still confused him greatly, but in the most rudimentary sense, he surely didn't want an end to the promiscuity. He was still a red-blooded man, and he certainly wasn't going to wish away situations like the ones he'd found himself in thus far.

"Well, of course I'll leave all of the really detailed stuff in a separate version that I keep to myself. Besides, it's not like I can go and reveal all of the personal things any of you have confided in me to the world just for posterity. Aside from that being a huge breach of trust, well... I guess it's kind of selfish, but I like having those experiences all to myself. They're special."

In a heartbeat, Ty Lee's expression had gone from mildly sour to clearly joyous. Damn... maybe Azula had a point about him and Ty Lee.

"Aw, you! Have I ever told you how sexy sentimental guys are?"

Then again, maybe Ty Lee knew how to manipulate him just as effectively, even if there was no malicious intent. She had easily just put him on the back foot, since he hadn't expected such direct flirting completely out of the blue like that.

"Uh, you think so...?"

Whatever the brunette may have had to say about that, she didn't get a chance to. That was because the conversation suddenly had a third participant. "Hey! What are you doing out here?"

Surprisingly, this voice belonged to Mai, who was standing in about the same spot Ty Lee had been earlier. Clearly, she had been heading this way before encountering the two of them. Naturally, Xisheng had no idea what she was upset about. Ty Lee, on the other hand, sported a dawning look of realization.

"Oh, crap!"

She turned to face Xisheng again, smiling sheepishly. "I actually came back here to tell you that dinner was ready, but I forgot. Whoops!"

Mai didn't seem as amused by this as Ty Lee did. "Yeah, 'whoops'. If you're going to let food I bothered making get cold, you can eat whatever crap the rest of the crew has to put up with from now on! You think I enjoy cooking?"

Ty Lee didn't seem as invested as her friend did. "Calm down, Mai, it's just food! A lot of it literally grows on trees. It's not like cooking is really that big of a deal..."

Seeing the irritation in her eyes, Xisheng sought to intervene with a comment about how they really should appreciate anyone's effort to cook for them, even if it was begrudging. He didn't know what the deal was today; was Ty Lee just oddly oblivious lately, or was she actively trying to annoy Mai? Both options seemed unlikely.

However, the would be mediator didn't get to say his piece that would hopefully defuse the situation, because the choppy waves that had been pushing the boat around for the past half an hour were apparently unhappy to be forgotten. In this moment, a particularly tall one crested the edge of the boat: it wasn't a dangerously large wave, but this also wasn't a very tall ship, so a wave that was just a few feet taller than a person had no real difficulty making it over the edge.

Unfortunately, the edge it decided to crest over happened to be where Mai was standing. The whole world seemed to slow down for a moment; Mai's expression going from irate to blank-faced surprise in a flash, the frothy water of the ocean slowly falling towards her, the already cringing expressions of her friends... Xisheng had just enough time to consider shooting a blast of fire and maybe intercepting the wave, but by the time he even processed that thought, it was already too late. He was only human, after all.

With a loud splash of water on steel, the wave broke against the ship and faded away into nothing, leaving droplets of water falling from the walls of the main cabin, as well as a certain someone that had been in the area of impact. The wave hadn't been strong enough to actually knock Mai around, or even force her to stumble, but what it had done was soak her entire left side, from the strands of her hair to the bottom of her leggings. The immediate look on her face was murderous.

But oddly enough, it shifted to a deadpan nonchalance very quickly. That said, what followed proved that she was still very much furious, just in her own, special way.

"Excuse me while I go kill myself."

Xisheng tried to placate her with a raised hand. "Even if it's a joke, please don't say things like that, Mai. Just the thought of it is horrible..."

He half expected her to tell him off, but surprisingly, her expression did soften a bit. "Yeah, well, I hate being wet and cold, and I'm both right now. I think I have a right to complain."

"Yes, you do. But don't be too upset; I'll help you get dry, and even if our food gets cold, I can use my bending to heat that back up too."

Surprisingly, this offer did seem to appease Mai. She actually looked a little flustered by it. "Oh, uh... yeah, alright..."

While Xisheng was content to usher everyone back inside at this point, Ty Lee apparently decided that this conclusion to the situation wasn't to her liking. "Wouldn't it be much quicker to just take off your wet clothes, dry off, then put on some dry clothes?"

Mai glared daggers at the girl, her appeased expression shifting to barely contained malice once again. "Considering that this only happened to me in the first place because of you, don't you think you should go and eat your fucking food?"

With a near palpable threat in the air, even Ty Lee apparently concluded that it wasn't a good idea to push her luck. Maybe she realized that she had gotten on Mai's nerves a lot today. Either way, the brunette threw her hands up in surrender, before passing Mai and heading back for the main cabin. That left Mai and Xisheng alone, though the latter was quick to direct them inside as well. Honestly, he was eager to eat and go to bed. There had been a lot more tension floating around than usual today for some reason, and it was taxing. Hopefully, he could at least help Mai relax a little, which would probably be good for everyone considering how peeved she had been today, though not for unjustified reasons.

Naturally, the duo had to go into the main cabin as well, since that's was the only entrance to the handful of rooms on the ship. The trek included a few sopping, soggy steps from his companion, which only served to remind them both that she had been soaked through and through on one side. Soon enough, they made it back to tiny room that Mai was currently claiming as her own, though it wasn't like it had any markings that would have made it uncomfortable to be in. Other than a handful of her things, nothing in this tiny space belonged to her, and she'd only been occupying it for a day. Still, if they were going to tag-team the drying off process, it would probably be best to do that alone, just to avoid confused stares if nothing else.

Although, now that they were in here, Xisheng had to admit that Ty Lee had a point. Drying the clothes Mai had on right now would take a fair deal of time. It would be quicker and easier if she just changed clothes and let him dry what she was wearing now a little later.

With that in mind, he raised this point. "If you'd like, I could just take your wet clothes and dry them for you after we eat. It'll be faster than trying to get dry while wearing them."

Mai paused for a moment as she considered this, but that only lasted for a moment. "My other clothes are... dirty. I don't have anything to switch into."

She notably avoided looking at him while she offered this dubious explanation, something that Xisheng did not miss.

"Really? Even the outfit you wore in Gaoling?"

"Where have we stopped to wash clothes since leaving Gaoling, huh?"

Admittedly, she had a point about that. Traveling on the open road meant there was very little time or opportunity to do things like that. But then, the clothes she was wearing now probably weren't in any better shape. What was the difference in switching to non-pristine clothes that were dry if the ones you were wearing now were no better?

Well, far be it from him to determine why it mattered to her. It wasn't like she'd subject herself to this if she didn't have to, right?

"If you say so. You can sit on the bed if you want, but I guess that would just get the bed wet too. Although I suppose it's alright. I could just dry that afterward as well."

Taking his recommendation, Mai sat near the head of the bed, which left enough space for Xisheng to sit as well. "You may as well sit too. This is going to take more than a minute, right?"

"Yeah, probably."

Since she had invited him to do so, Xisheng sat next to her, before holding up his good hand just an inch or two away from her. Not long after, Mai felt a wave of heat wash over her shoulder.

"It's so weird that Firebenders can just... make heat."

Truth be told, this was a pretty rare thing for Firebenders to do. Generating heat with one's chi was just a big step down from creating actual flames, so there wasn't much reason to do it, most of the time. Xisheng imagined that all of the elements had niche techniques like that; weird things they could do that just weren't that useful most of the time.

"Well, it would be strange to be able to make flames without being able to make heat, don't you think?"

"Y-yeah..."

The duo fell into silence for a time after that, with Xisheng focusing on evenly applying heat to Mai's upper body as best he could. Whatever was going on in her head, he could only guess.

Maybe she found the silence uncomfortable, because after a few minutes, she spoke up again. "How's your arm?"

While he hated to admit it, Xisheng felt that she was searching for something to talk about just to fill the silence, though he couldn't imagine why she would feel the need to do that. Usually, they were comfortable being quiet around each other. He couldn't see how this situation was any different from their usual dynamic.

"It's alright. It still throbs a little, but nothing serious."

Xisheng didn't say anything more to that, not because he was trying to be curt, but just because his mind was full of other things. Ordinarily, he may have been flustered to be in this situation -alone with a girl whose damp clothes were sticking to her body, taking care of her as they sat together on a bed- but he had too much on his mind to really feel that way. On top of that, he was kind of tired, as he had been pushing himself all day to develop his proficiency with the compression technique.

Using his bending right now for a much more innocuous purpose, he couldn't help but dwell on his progress, or lack thereof. He'd been thinking quite deeply about chi and Firebending all day, after all. It didn't occur to him that Mai might have misunderstood the root of his silence.

"Gohan."

Drawn out of his thoughts, Xisheng glanced up at the girl he was tending to, who looked away from him sheepishly after she knew he was paying attention.

"Sorry. For, uh... making things so awkward."

From his perspective, Xisheng felt that this had come out of nowhere. Needless to say, he didn't know what she was getting at. "Awkward?"

His lack of understanding placed a more flustered look on Mai's face, probably because it required her to explain herself. "You know, earlier... I, uh... said something really weird..."

Thinking back to 'earlier', it didn't take long for Xisheng to realize what she was hinting at. "Oh. Oh. Right, that..."

Mai had her gaze affixed to the wall opposite of Xisheng. "Yeah... sorry. I know you probably didn't want to hear something like that about me... I didn't mean to make things weird, Ty Lee was just... getting on my nerves, was all."

She fell silent at that, leaving Xisheng to ponder what he should say in turn. He had to admit, with them directly talking about it, it was a little awkward, but he didn't want Mai to think she had somehow sullied their entire relationship. It wasn't like he was suddenly uncomfortable talking to her, which she seemed to think may have been the case. At the least, it would probably do to dispel that misconception.

"You worry too much, Mai. I don't really think it was that weird, and I don't feel uncomfortable because of it."

Unfortunately, his soaked companion didn't seem to believe him right away. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I mean, I think almost anyone would get annoyed if someone else was implying that they weren't attractive. Even if you aren't vain, it seems pretty normal to me to try and defend yourself. That goes double for someone who actually is attractive, because then it's just insulting, right?"

There was a certain implication there that Mai didn't miss, but before she could give it much thought, Xisheng offered the second half of his argument. "As for making things awkward between us, well... that knowledge is a little, er, specific, but in order for it to suddenly make me uncomfortable around you, I'd have to have not thought of you in that light at all in the first place, you know? I mean, I've always thought of you as a girl, so it's not like I'm suddenly being faced with some aspect of you I've never considered before."

Frankly, Mai had to wonder if this man actually knew what he was saying sometimes. He always made it sound so innocuous, it was hard to tell if it was intentional or not. But he had just implied that she had every right to be annoyed with Ty Lee's affronts to her appearance because she was attractive. And he'd also just admitted to thinking of her in a particular way that people often considered when it came to the opposite sex. He had just laid out those notions pretty clearly, hadn't he?

She couldn't see his explanation as meaning anything else, and suddenly, Mai found herself feeling very warm in the face, which was interesting, since Xisheng was currently aiming his heat wave at her lower arm.

"Oh, w-well, good! I guess when you put it like that, it uh... it doesn't seem like such a big deal, h-huh?"

"Yeah. Uh, are you feeling alright? Is it too hot?"

Since he had obviously noticed the redness of her face, Mai suddenly found herself feeling much more frazzled than she was used to. Scrambling to find some way to save herself from further scrutiny, she got to her feet, a bit more stiffly than intended. Damn, she must have looked like an idiot right now.

"Yes, uh, actually, it is! I'm getting a little lightheaded, so, uh... I think I'll just change clothes after all. Get out. Uh, please!"

Knowing full well that her only hope to save any dignity at all was to just get rid of Xisheng as quickly as possible, Mai practically shoved him towards the door, before opening it and pushing the confused soldier out into the hallway. After that, she slammed the metal door on him, though only because she didn't have the wits about her to close it gently.

Unfortunately, while Mai had successfully extricated herself from the situation that had frazzled her beyond anything she'd ever experienced before, she was now embarrassed for another reason: namely, the assurance that she had just made a complete and total fool of herself. Mortified by her performance on top of the flustered feeling from Gohan's words, she was honestly surprised that the water on her clothes and her body weren't evaporating into steam right this moment.

As for Xisheng, he stood blankly on the other side of the door, completely stunned by the rapid change of situation that had just been forced upon him. Right this moment, he was doing mental gymnastics to try and figure out what had just happened and why. Had he said something he shouldn't have? Or, had he actually said something he should have, and she just wasn't ready to hear it?

Maybe it would be a good idea to write some other things down from now on too. Maybe that would help him make sense of the tumultuous waters that were these constantly evolving relationships.

For now though, he figured there was no reason he had to stand right here and think about it. He could just as well wonder what the hell just happened while he was eating.


Behold! A chapter that is 95% talking! Wait, that's pretty much every chapter, isn't it? I don't know, this one just felt incredibly dialogue heavy, even compared to some of the others. I know most of you have said that you don't mind that, and I myself know that character dynamics carry all stories, but... well, this talking set us up for a lot of important stuff, so it'll all pay off in the end.

The switch in story perspective to the Gaang last chapter was very well-received. That being the case, I am considering adding more such segments into the story down the line. However, not to the extent where the Gaang's perspective is going to take up half of every chapter like a deuteragonist plotline. We'll check in on them from time to time, when it's narratively important to do so, but otherwise, this is still a story primarily following one cast of characters.

Anyway, I'd like to remind everyone that there is a Discord now, which you can find a link to on my profile page. We talk about all sorts of things there, from the future of this story and neat ideas for it, to the show canon, to thinly related tangents that sort of have to do with AtLA but end up being an essay on the human condition. You know, fun stuff. Everyone is welcome, if you just want to hang out. I also offer direct advice on writing one's own stories, if you're a fellow writer yourself.

That Discord (and Twitter, also available on my profile) channel is also where you can get a link to a certain website where charitable souls can donate to the arts, if you catch my drift. If I'm being totally honest with you guys, finances are the number one reason updates for all of my stories take so long. I have to spend so much time writing to make ends meet that I don't have a lot of time to write for fun. So, any money that I don't have to work for frees up more time to write this story, as well as all of my others.

Please note, that's not an ultimatum. No matter what happens, I am going to keep writing. I just might be able to get these updates out a little more quickly if I can cut back on work a bit thanks to making ends meet other ways. Still, that's just an invitation, not an obligation. I do write this story because I enjoy it and I enjoy sharing it, first and foremost. That's never going to change, all other factors notwithstanding.