The Little Dragon

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Friday July, 10th

Kaida

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I slept for a whole day after the meet up with Azula. It turned out the reason that I didn't see Hyo until after the function was due to the fact that he was busy saving Zuko's backside. It seems that Zuko fell out of a two-story building, and Hyo broke his fall. The poor buddy.

I was outside playing fetch off the side of the cliff with Hyo when all of a sudden I heard Zuko shout from inside the hut, "Uncle!" I instantly turned and ran into the house.

"Is he awake?!" He had been asleep for a whole three days. We were all worried he would never wake up. When I entered I saw Zuko hovering over a half lidden Iroh. I slid next to him. "You scared the daylights out of me, Old Man!" I cursed.

"You were unconscious. Azula did this to you." Zuko, who was much more mature at the moment started to speak and explain the situation. Lately, Zuko hasn't let me get time to myself. If he wasn't watching Iroh, he was watching me. I don't think he knows that I had noticed.

Iroh attempts to get up but winces in pain. A bandage covers the left side of his chest and shoulder. "It was a surprise attack." Zuko continues. I nodded my head with his statements.

"Somehow, that's not so surprising," Iroh said with a deep sigh, leaning back onto the wall with a grunt. Zuko starts to move and I glance over to see what he was doing. I notice a cup of tea in his hands, and he hands it over to Iroh.

Did Zuko learn how to make tea when I was away? I couldn't hide my surprise. How much did I missed over the time I had been away? "I hope I made it the way you like it." My heart bloomed, he was so sweet.

Iroh takes a sip from the cup and his eyes widen. He lets out a cry of disgust, but manages to mask it. I raised a hand to my lips, covering up a laugh. Just kidding, he didn't learn anything. I didn't miss a single thing. "Mmm, good." Iroh takes another drink and grunts. "That was very, uhh... bracing!"

Zuko hands him another cup and he tosses it out the window when his nephew isn't looking. This time I laugh aloud and Zuko gives me a concerned look. I shrugged my shoulders, "I missed him." Zuko nodded, letting me get away with it.

"So uncle, Kaida, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced Fire Bending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

"No, she's crazy and she needs to go down. It's time to resume your training." I couldn't kid myself. I always knew that Iroh was stronger than me. He knows things that I couldn't dream of knowing. I took that all to my advantage when I was on board Zuko's ship with him.

"Let me get some sleep first!" He joked as he laid down the bed, closing his eyes. Zuko and I look at each other with shocked expressions before I started laughing again.

"Old man! You slept for a whole three days!" I said nughing his good shoulder.

"Let an old man sleep," Iroh grunted and I laughed, standing up. I wasn't going to push further.

"Come on Zuko." I put a hand on his shoulder. "I think Hyo needs someone to play catch with."

We walked out to the side of the cliff again, I resumed throwing the stick to Hyo as Zuko sat down next to my leg, looking bored, to say the least. "How did you make him?" Zuko asked, referring to Hyo.

"This sounds stupid," I threw the stick into the ravine below, and we watched Hyo dive to get it. "But it kind of just happened." I thought back to the tunnel of two lovers. "I was lost," I looked at Hyo fly up to me. "And in a dark place. I always knew I could create life, but I didn't know if I could preserve it." Hyo handed me the stick and I wound up to throw it again.

"It takes a lot of energy." I threw it far, this time giving it a boost with my flames. "At it hurts, but he's worth it." I looked at the burning dragon. How he dances beautifully in the sun.

"He saved me," Zuko said again, watching the dragon returned. "I didn't think that fire could have a mind of its own." He was referring to Hyo's emotions and thought process.

"I didn't think so either until I spent every day feeding him my fire and watching him grow." Then all of a sudden there was movement behind us. Zuko and I both noticed it and turned to see Uncle Iroh wobbling out to greet us.

"I thought you were sleeping, old man." I laughed, Hyo landing at my feet next to me.

"I struck me that I haven't taught you one of the most important skills of fire bending." He looked at me, "something not even some dragons can do." My blood froze, does that mean there is a chance that I couldn't do it either?

"Lightning is a pure expression of fire bending, without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other fire bending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire." I noticed that there was a kettle in his hands as he set a fire and puts it on the burner. "It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique requires peace of mind." He takes the tea off and pours us a glass.

"Wait Azula can do this?" My eyes widen and fear flood into me. She could do this? Something that some dragons can't even do? She was a force to be reconded with. It's a shame that she is evil.

Iroh hands a cup to me then to Zuko, "I see. That's why we're drinking tea: To calm the mind." That's when I burst out laughing, spewing my tea everywhere.
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(Sorry it took so long to post this, I'm on a road trip and there is zero reception)