The Fire Within - an atla fanfic (Zuko x OC)

(Let Him Go) Bismillah!

I woke up at sunrise, as firebenders do, and glanced at Zuko, who was clearly in a deep sleep. I raised an eyebrow in confusion and shrugged it away. He was tired.

I stepped outside into the sun and smiled. Ever since I had become a firebender, I had grown a large appreciation for the sun. Its what gives firebenders their abilities, after all. And it helped the Earth; y'know, orbit, along with some other things.

"Hey Ashley, good morning." Aang said, walking behind me.

I turned and waved. "Hey Aang."

"I'm not used to seeing anyone up this early." Aang commented.

"You always wake up this early?" I asked. "I guess it makes sense, you are a firebender."

He itched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, I guess I am. So why isn't Zuko up?" He asked.

I walked over to a spot with more sunlight and sat on the ground. "Not sure. It is unlike him to wake up late." I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, breathing deeply.

Aang sat next to me. "What are you doing exactly?"

I opened my eyes and glanced over at him. "Breathing exercises." I responded. "It's a very important part of firebending. If you don't have a stable foundation with it, you will be more prone to destruction. At least that is what Zuko's uncle said."

"I tried to firebend once before, but I became impatient and accidently burnt Katara. Now, I'm kinda scared to try again."

I stopped doing the exercises and turned to Aang. To be honest, I only did them to act like I was wise; I never practiced them usually. "I was scared when I first started firebending too." I commented. "But if you think of it less as fire and more as energy, it becomes a lot more fun." I explained.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked in curiousity.

I shrugged. "Well, I know firebenders call the sun Agni, like it's a god or something, but it's really just a ball of gas in space."

"Gas?" Aang asked in confusion.

"Well yeah. Think of it like a big ball of energy. There are different types of energy, thermal energy, electrical, mechanical..." I caught myself going on a tangent. "The sun produces thermal energy. Heat. So that means my firebending is just energy too. All heat is energy."

Aang listened in confusion. "Where'd you learn that?"

"School." I responded. "I know a lot of things like that. But I find that most of that knowledge means nothing here." I added. "I'm trying to teach myself to alter the amounts of thermal energy. Y'know make things really hot or cold, without using fire. I know it sounds weird, but I can do it. I just imagine the energy, like I said earlier."

"That's actually really cool. I've never heard of anyone trying that before." Aang said with a tiny smile.

I smiled in gratitude. "I haven't really tried to explain 'thermal bending' to Zuko. I don't think he'd understand, to be honest."

"Perhaps not. It was hard for me to." Aang admitted. "So how do I do breathing exercises?" He asked.

I focused back on what I was doing earlier. "Oh, uh. Well, I just focus on the sun, and feel it's presence within me, if that makes sense. Just... feel your inner fire? Oh yeah, and breathe."

I watched Aang take a few deep breaths, but I could tell it wasn't doing anything. "I felt a little hot." He tried to convince himself.

"Baby steps." I said, trying to make him feel better.