The Tale of Amara

Chapter 12: Revelations

"Perfect stance. Now fire," Zuko ordered.

Zuko and I were sparring up on deck. It had been two days since we left the Fire Nation. We were close to the Earth Kingdom coast again, and there was thankfully no sign of Zhao. However, to Zuko's disappointment there was no sign of the Avatar either. Iroh was playing Pai Sho this morning up at the helm, so Zuko was giving me lessons instead. He said he didn't mind because he needed to distract himself from his frustrations... I assumed most of his anger was from not capturing Aang.

My heart pounded hard. I breathed in and out. Then I moved forward and extended my hand again. A small spout of fire shot from my palm and flew at my teacher. Zuko hit it away like it was a bug. I sighed and dropped my hand in dismay. I was getting the movements down, but the flames were not getting stronger.

"Again," he said. He held his hands up ready to block. "This time release the flame with your breath."

I nodded. With a breath, I shot my hand forward and exhaled letting the flame shoot from my palm. It soared towards Zuko again who quickly caught it with his hands and extinguished it. The flame was only a little larger than the last one.

He sighed this time. Stepping over to me, he grabbed my arms. "You're still too stiff. You need to relax. The tighter you strain your muscles the more restricted your energy will be. Your flames are weak because you're hesitating."

My heart jumped as he moved my arms down slightly. His hands sent a strange sensation through me. I tried to keep on the lesson. "I know... I've just always been told not to use my firebending, so it's hard to not be insecure about it."

"Well stop thinking about what you were told, and listen to what I'm telling you now," he said. His hands moved to my shoulders. "Relax."

My body loosened. I didn't realize I was so tense. As I let my muscles loosen, I breathed in and out to try and calm myself more. Zuko released me and stepped back again to the spot he was originally.

"Okay. Try again. This time, no hesitation." He held his hands up. "You can do this, Amara."

I felt my determination grow. Nodding, I got into my stance again. This time, I felt my body move without restraint. Moving forward, I shot a blast from my palm and this time the flame was strong. The fire shot at Zuko, who quickly used both of his hands to block the blast and part it around him.

He nodded with a smile. "Perfect."

We practiced for another half hour. After throwing a few more flames at my teacher, Zuko wanted to teach me some more defensive moves. As he was showing me a gesture commonly used to block flames, everything suddenly tilted.

I gasped as the ship turned sharply and lurched. Zuko reacted and reached quickly for me, grabbing my arm before I fell flat on my face. As he pulled me back, he lost his footing too and pulled me down with him. He landed back on the steel of the ship while I landed on him. I was frozen in shock, my heart pounding intensely as his warmth consumed me. My head was resting on his bare chest, and I could hear his pounding heart. His skin was soft against my own.

After a moment, I heard him mutter under his breath, "Uncle... changing our course again..."

My face was burning as I was still resting against him. I wasn't sure why I was reacting in such a way. The ship was leveling out finally. I tried to move, but realized Zuko was still holding my arm. I wasn't sure what to do.

"Um... Zuko... Are... Are you okay?"

He must've realized I couldn't move. He gasped and finally released my arm. I moved finally off of him and clumsily got to my feet. When I looked down at him, his face was a tint of red also. He moved to his feet quickly and turned away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh... Yeah... Let's end training for the day. I'm going to go see what is going on." He paced away without another word. I watched him go with shock. I had never seen him so... flustered...