Iroh's Gourmet Teas and Teapots

The Proposal

"Feel the energy of the sun flowing through you. Imagine the fire burning though your veins, then out through your hands and into material existence"

Zuko took a deep breath as he said this, following his own advice and watching his multicolored flame flow out of his fingertips. He looked over at Aang, who was sadly looking at his hands, like they had wronged him but he was too nice to be angry.

"I don't think this is helping you guys." Toph loudly interjected, "Because you still suck just as much now as you did two weeks ago."

"Just because you were born perfect at bending doesn't mean everyone was," Aang grumped. "I can't focus with you insulting me every few minutes."

Toph just shrugged and continued picking her nose.

Zuko's lips curved into a frown before he could stop them. "Let's meditate and see if maybe that helps you."

As soon as Zuko was able to relax into a meditative state, Katara's voice jolted him out of it.

"You guys have been working pretty hard. How about a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?"

"Yeah!" Aang cheered, leaping up from his meditation and running over to Katara. He accepted a glass from her hand and took an audible gulp. "Thanks Katara. You of all people definitely know how to master an element."

"Aw, thanks, Aang."

Zuko silently accepted that his meditation was not working. He stood and walked over to the others. Saying nothing, he smacked the glass out of Aang's hand. Pink juice spilled out of its vessel and soaked into the sand, then evaporated into the heat of the day.

Aang made a sound of protest that Zuko found very childish. "I was drinking that."

"We don't have time for watermelon juice! You all are leaving here tomorrow and you need to have all the elements mastered in almost no time at all!"

Toph rolled over on the rock she was laying on so she was facing them, which Zuko thought was quite polite considering she didn't need to look toward them to begin with. "What happened to the chill guy from two weeks ago?"

Zuko frowned. "He died along with my patience. Aang, do the move again. No watermelon juice until you've figured out how to make a flame."

"Well how do you do it, Mr. Spoil-spark?" Toph asked.

Zuko opened his mouth to answer, then closed it. He repeated this action several times before deciding to change the subject, lest he look like a fish. He was just glad Toph couldn't see his facial expression. "How could you have been training this long and not even have been able to make smoke? Smoke! It's basically air that's dark!"

"Hey!" Katara interjected, "Don't talk to Aang like that!"

Zuko made the conscious decision not to have an aneurysm, not because he cared about whether or not he lived, but because if he did Katara would yell at him more. He could practically hear her voice scolding him for being so selfish as to have a medical emergency while her precious Aang was there.

Okay, so maybe he was being harsh and exaggerating a little. But it had been two weeks of near constant training. That included breathing exercises, meditation, martial arts practice, and pitiful attempts at fire bending. If Aang had been in Zuko's dad's court, Ozai would have killed him. Partly because he was the avatar, partly because he was so bad at this. Seriously, and Ozai called Zuko pathetic.

In truth, after his banishment, Zuko had been mad. Beneath that anger was shame, and beneath that shame was utter devastation that his father didn't love him.