2 The Last Five Years (1/2)

When Iroh and his palanquin arrived in the Fire Nation Capital, they were greeted by a large procession. They proceeded to the Royal Palace, where Iroh was greeted by his brother, the newly appointed Fire Lord Ozai, along with his niece, nephew, and sister-in-law. (At this point Fire Lord Azulan is dead)

When Iroh emerged from the palanquin with Xiao hiding behind him, there was a collective gasp from all those present. The head guard responsible for escorting Iroh home grimaced underneath his mask.

"Brother! What is the meaning of this! You bring a street rat onto royal grounds, and in front of many of the court and military officials no less!" Ozai shouted in rage, coming forward quickly and reaching for Xiao, who was behind Iroh.

Iroh caught Ozai's hand. "General Iroh. Though you may be my brother, that does not give you the right to defy me. What you are doing right now could be considered treason." Ozai spat through his teeth, trying his best to remain calm.

Iroh nodded. "Yes, I realized this before I got here. However, this boy is specail, I sensed great potential within him and therefore have decided to take him as my apprentice."

Iroh responded calmly, causing another round of gasps to ensue. Murmuring emanated from around the group.

"The Dragon of The West is taking this commoner filth as an apprentice!"

"How far the Royal family has fallen to do such a thing!"

"If it is this easy to become his apprentice than he should take my son as well! He has great talent for bending!"

Tick marks appeared on Ozai's head. "Silence!" He yelled. All the voices stopped, and the palace courtyard was filled with silence.

"Brother, if what you say is true, I hope you don't mind me testing him?" Ozai said, gesturing towards Xiao with a 'kind' smile.

"Actually-" Iroh was about to make an excuse when he felt a tug. Looking down, he saw Xiao staring up at him, a fierceness he did not expect was in the boy's eyes.

"Yes. Test him." Iroh said, putting faith into the little boy. They had talked for the last day after the boy had woken up. Iroh learned the boy's name was Xiao because apparently he was born to be very small. And Iroh had to admit, the boy was quite short for his age. 'Although this may just be due to malnourishment' Iroh thought, glancing at the skeletal body of Xiao as he stepped forward.

Ozai smiled. "Splendid! Azula, come here!" Ozai said, to which a young girl with black hair and royal attire stepped forward with a smirk full of arrogance plastered on her face. She bowed, her hands clasped in front of her. "Yes father."

She said respectfully.

"Ozai, Xiao is untrained as of now! Azula has been trained for three years by the best experts the kingdom can offer! This is by no means fair!" Iroh said, a hint of anger gracing his normally kind and calm face.

Ozai chuckled. "If he is of such great talent that you picked up a street orphan from the side of the road to be your apprentice, surely someone of as lowly talent as Azula, your own neice, who you refused to take as your apprentice, will be a fine opponent?"

Ozai said smugly, sneaking in a few jabs at his brother. Iroh once again looked down at Xiao as he tugged his robe. The boy looked furious. Iroh knelt down.

"Xiao, I know that you are angry, but please don't let anger cloud your judgement! Azula is a very powerful fighter and has been trained by the best ever since she could start bending! You are not ready!"

Iroh said, trying to calm the boy down before he did something stupid. "It is fine, General Iroh. I have no family or friends that will miss me. You saved me when I needed help and for that I owe you my life. Even if I must lose it, I will defend your honor." The young boy said, determined.

Iroh sighed. "Young people these days…" he muttered under his breath. He nodded and stood up. Xiao walked forward to stand across from Azula.

"This will be an informal match between two apprentice benders. Whoever makes the other give up first is the winner. Bow and begin." Ozai said.

Azula immediately bowed, while Xiao clumsily copied her.

Laughs could be heard from the crowd around them, even Ozai was snickering behind his hand. Iroh sighed while the boy and woman behind Ozai looked on with pity.

Azula leapt forward, punching out a ball of blue flame as she did so. Xiao jumped to the side to avoid it. Azula continued to shoot blue flames at Xiao as he clumsily dodged. Then, Azulu swept her foot across the ground, making a wave of blue flame that went towards Xiao.

Xiao's feet touched the ground, and at the same time Azula's scorching flames hit his legs. He had nothing to protect himself from them, and so they heavily burned his shins and knees. He let out a grunt of pain.

Iroh was gnawing on his finger nails, worried for this child. He had grown slightly attached to little Xiao. He reminded him of his own son, who died a year ago in the war.

Suddenly, Iroh stopped biting his nails, and took on a serious expression. "Xiao. You said you could Fire bend. Please, you must Fire bend if you want any chance of winning!" He said in a harsh tone, one of a teacher addressing a student.

Xiao grimaced, fighting the pain in his legs while also forcing bad memories that were resurfacing.

Screams, Crying, and Fire all around. Flames clawing at the sky as he sat in the middle of it all, looking on with rear-stained cheeks as everyone he knew, including his family, burned.

He shook his head and his face turned stupid, his eyebrows furrowing and his violet eyes glinting with resolve. He took on a slightly awkward stance, looking like he was about to punch Azula, even though she was at least five meters away. The crowd looked on with interest as the boy shot his fist forward.

Violet flames shot out of his fist, going towards Azula. The people looked on in shock as Azula attempted to cut the flames in half with some of her own, only for her flames to be swallowed up.

The flames hit her and she collapsed to the ground, shivering.

Xiao looked as though he had just run a marathon. His eyes rolled up inside his head and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.