Chapter 7 – Lost Spark

Beta read by Levi Ackermanlet

"And here's the storeroom." Iroh listened intently as the head chef guided him around the kitchen. The man had already been giving him a tour for half an hour, but the sheer number of strange inventions had meant Iroh had needed many explanations. The coolers that were used to imprison fire benders in the Boiling Rock prison were apparently commonplace for keeping food fresh, so much so that when Iroh looked impressed at seeing one, the chef had been practically gawking at Iroh's reaction.

The chef reached inside the storeroom and retrieved a clear bag of potatoes. 'Plastic' if Iroh had heard correctly. Clear bags, what wonders would this world hold next…?

"Now since you're still injured, I'll just put you on light duty. Peel and chop those potatoes for the students' lunch and then…uh, just come see me I guess. I'll find something for you."

"Will do!" The man walked off as Iroh set to work. It took him a little while, but he remembered where the pots and knives were after a while. He washed the potatoes first using the 'tap'. Amazing, only the fire nation had been able to build practical indoor plumbing, and even that hadn't measured up to what he had before him. Twist a handle one way, cold water, twist it another, instantly hot. It was enough to make him feel like a child again. All things considered, there were most certainly worse places that he could have ended up…

"Uncle!"

As his nephew barged into the kitchen, Iroh sighed to himself. Well, at least one of them could adjust to their new home…

"Hello, Zuko, how are you?"

"Uncle, we have a problem!"

"Oh? What might that be?"

"This world, it's stolen from me again! I don't-…Will you stop chopping potatoes! I can't fire bend!"

Iroh paused, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before he dropped another potato into the pot. He held an open hand and formed a small flame in his palm.

"Mine seems to be working."

"Grrr, well mine isn't! Every time I try to make a flame, all I get is smoke!"

"Hmmm…I was worried this would happen."

"What? What would happen?"

"You have lost your drive, Zuko." He put the knife down and turned to face him. "For years, you have been determined to capture the avatar. It kept you motivated, but now that you can't do that…"

"But that's why I'm here isn't it? To become a Hunter- or whatever it was called. I'm doing something until we can get back."

"But you do not truly believe in it. You do not believe that it is your purpose, and so it does not drive you. You are torn between this world and our own, and you must choose a side."

Zuko opened his mouth to argue, before his shoulders slumped and he gave up. Iroh laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, bringing a smile to his own face even if Zuko wouldn't look at him.

"I know it is hard, Prince Zuko, but with time…you will adjust, and you will find your purpose again."

Zuko was silent for several moments, but Iroh never took his hand away. Finally, Zuko turned and began to leave, his head not quite as low as it had been.

"I've done my time, uncle. I had three years of it…"

~RWBYZ~

Ruby was sat sulking in her next class, thinking over what Ozpin had said to her. He was right, it had only been one day. But it didn't make her feel any better about what had happened with Weiss and Zuko. Both of them had just stormed off without speaking to her! And she didn't know why…

"Welcome Mr Lee, you're late." Zuko said nothing as he walked into the room, Glynda Goodwitch looking him over. "Do try to be on time in future."

He took a seat next to Ruby in silence, not even bothering to apologise to her. Glynda took the not-so-subtle hint that he gave her and moved back to her lesson. Ruby's eyes flickered back and forth between the teacher and Zuko. Maybe this could be her time to fix things! Only…

'Oh…I wish Yang was here. Or even Blake…'

Sadly, not every class she had was with her team. Still, if she was going to be a leader, she had to learn to do things herself.

"Hey Zuko."

He jumped slightly, turning around to see her fully. "Oh, Ruby. I didn't see you…"

"How did you…" She stopped herself. She was sat right next to him, but it was on his left side. His burned side. She obviously hadn't missed it, it was impossible to miss. But she just hadn't thought… He wasn't blind, but obviously he couldn't see too well out of it. That was sad.

"How are you?"

"…fine."

"Really? You seemed kinda…"

"Kind of what?"

"…moody. I mean, you just left without saying anything. Was it because of the fight? No one thought less of you 'cause you got hit, I mean, everyone does."

Zuko groaned. He hadn't even thought of that. Great, he'd just embarrassed himself in front of a classroom of people.

"Sooo… what happened?"

He was about to tell her to drop it and leave her alone, but just as he opened his mouth, he felt the anger leave his body. After losing so much, and seeing so many weird and alien things in just a few days…he was just tired. He supposed it didn't even matter really if she knew he was a fire bender. He'd been going to when that Grimm attacked him…and none of these people even knew what the Fire Nation was.

"My fire didn't work."

"Your…fire?" She had prepared herself to be told to go away, just like Weiss would have…had told her to before. But instead, she found herself very interested in learning more about the scarred man next to her.

"I'm a fire bender, that's why I didn't pull my swords out."

"Wow...so, does that mean you can bend fire?"

"Kind of. I can control it."

"But there wasn't even any there."

"I can make my own…or at least, I could." He looked depressingly at his hands, fingertips twitching as they tried to conjure up even a spark. "Fire bending requires drive, passion. I've…lost mine."

Ruby said nothing for a while, not exactly sure what she could say. When she finally spoke, she still wasn't sure if it would help him. "Well…why did you become a Huntsman?"

He gave her a frank look and decided that he may as well be honest about it. "It was either come to Beacon, or live on the streets. My uncle's still hurt, I couldn't do that to him."

"So…you did it to help him?"

"I guess."

"Well…maybe you should focus on that?" He looked at her like he was considering what she had said, so she decided to press on. "Well, when I was a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves. Maybe, yours is like that too?"

"…it was once..."

"Well, why not now?"

"Because I lost everything I'd ever worked for."

"Oh…" Ruby took the hint that he didn't want to talk about it and let it drop, focusing instead on the lesson.

~RWBYZ~

When lunchtime rolled around, Zuko found himself sat with only most of his team. For whatever reason there was no sign of Weiss at their table. Still, between Yang, Ruby, and Blake, even if she was mostly reading a book, sat around him, there was no shortage of people trying to force him into conversation.

"Soooo, Zuko. We still don't know much about you, you kinda just went straight to bed last night, where are you from?

'The Fire Nation.' "Far away."

"Oh…um, any family?"

"A father and a sister.' "Just my uncle."

"Uh...so...do you have any hobbies?"

Zuko was quiet as he thought about it. The easiest answer, and the one he had been about to give, was no. But, he clearly wasn't going to be left alone any time soon, so he may as well give them something.

"I meditate."

"Really? That sounds boring. I mean- uh, that's…cool I guess, how come?"

"As a fire bender, you need to be in control of yourselves at all times, otherwise you start burning things down."

"Wait, fire bender?" Yang cut her sister off and leaned over to Zuko in interest. "What's that?"

"Oh! He says he can make fire!"

"Really? Cool! Can you do it right now?"

"I can't. I've...lost it. For now."

"Oh… Hey Ruby, didn't you see someone who could do that before?"

Zuko looked up from his meal in interest. Another fire bender? Maybe…were there others like him? Had some of his people been taken away and dumped here with him?

"Oh yeah!"

"Who was he?"

"She, and I don't know. She was working with this Roman guy to rob this Dust shop, and Miss Goodwitch and I were all like hwaaa! Whoa, bang bang bang!" She began making fighting motions as she eagerly recounted her fight alongside the Huntress.

'Female fire bender? Robbing someone? Please don't be…' "This woman, did she…did she have blue fire?"

Ruby froze mid-pose in confusion. "Huh? No, hers was red. Why?"

'Oh thank Agni.' "No reason."

Zuko went silent again as he returned to his meal. Ruby sent a pleading look over to her teammates as he shut down again. Fearless as she was, Yang decided to give it a shot.

"So where'd you get that scar?"

The table went deadly quiet. Ruby stared daggers at her sister, who shrugged apologetically, it hadn't sounded so bad in her head…

"I made a mistake."

With that, Zuko considered his meal finished and left.

"Yang!"

"Sorry! It didn't sound so bad in my head."

"How could that not sound bad?"

"At least I was trying to help Blake, I didn't see you doing anything."

"He clearly likes his quiet. Something I can relate to…" The girl in black returned to her book. Ruby groaned and slumped in her seat.

"Oh…and he was just starting to open up too…" Maybe she could still make things up to Weiss at least.

~RWBYZ~

Later that night, Zuko lay silently on his bed while the rest of his team slept. Blake was under her covers, Ruby was in her tent, and Yang was snoring away on hers. He'd been studying for hours, desperately trying to learn more of the world so that he could at least understand what his teachers were talking about. He'd stopped fairly recently, however he stayed awake thinking to himself.

He raised his hand to his face and stared intently at it.

'I want to protect people.' He willed the fire inside of him to come to his fingertips, but nothing happened. Not even a wisp of smoke. He balled his hand into a fist, feeling a rush of anger flow through him. It wouldn't help him however, as it was instantly followed by a wave of sadness…

He was about to go to sleep when the door creaked open, and he could just make out a form sneaking over to Ruby's tent.

"Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry..."

Weiss put her hand over Ruby's mouth, silencing her. She spoke quietly as she pulled her hand away, raising an empty 'Beacon Academy' mug in her other.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"I... I don't..."

"Answer the question!"

"Uhh, cream and five sugars!"

"Don't move." She left the tent for a moment before returning with a full mug. "Here."

"Um... Thanks, Weiss."

"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have! Good luck studying!" She left the tent as Ruby smiled widely, before poking her head back inside and pointing at one of the papers. "That's wrong, by the way. Hey, Ruby?"

"Uh-huh?"

"…I always wanted bunk beds as a kid." She left again, climbing inside her own bed to try and sleep.

Zuko watched them curiously. He hadn't had much faith in Ruby, not because she was young, he'd been younger than her, but because she was inexperienced. Yet, to his surprise, she had already managed to fix the relationship between herself and Weiss. Barely started her training to become a Huntress, and she was already helping people.

He'd wanted to be like that when he was a child. When he was young and naïve. Not everyone could be helped, or should be. You couldn't save a fish from being eaten by a bird, the bird had to eat. He couldn't help the air nomads, they were all dead. But maybe…maybe he could still help someone… He raised up his hand again.

'I want to-… I am Zuko, and I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.'

A spark flew from his fingertips, and Zuko smiled. His bending wasn't back…but it would be, he just needed to work on it.