Chapter Text
“You are not loosening yourself enough, princess. Constrict yourself and you constrict your chi. Again. “
There is no shame in failure, there is only failure in failing to admit it. How many times had Master Kyla told her this? How many times had restless afternoons of the same techniques and repetitious practice sessions ended with those words. She was nearly certain, Izumi was, that at this point in time they were likely inked somewhere over her body. She huffs in exhaustion but gives a nod, shaking her hands in attempt to feel some form of release that she is preached before drawing back her hands, exhaling harshly before drawing her fists until they were aligned with her waist. She takes a solitary step forward and falls off balance at the sliding of one of the palace doors, whipping her head around to the sight of her father - Master Kyla mirroring this with a differing expression, less tolerant.
At once, the Fire Lord raises his hands in surrender (or fear) and gives a lopsided sort of smile, waving towards where they stood, “Please. Continue. I just wanted to watch.”
At once, Izumi gives a sharp turn to her trainer, the predicted hesitation of an audience so early swirling in her eyes like a storm, unsure. She finally complies with a nod to him, turning to her. Master Kyla has never been one to desire approval but it would seem on this rather chilly afternoon, she was in a mood to example her worth as Izumi’s private trainer. Reasons her father had not done this himself were lost to Izumi and nearly everyone aware of Kyla’s employment but there was an irrational idea that it had something to do with his late wife, and thus, was not questioned. Better days had seemed so far after the death of the Fire Lord’s other half amidst the birth of Izumi. How many days had he locked himself within his quarters - child unseen. How could he? The eventual draw of his happiness but momentary curse crying in the other room, surely a youthful repetition of Mai.
Days turned into the weeks and he had not looked upon Izumi even once. He busied himself with the loathsome work of expanding the Fire Nation newly established methods for peace - an honest cause with far more politics involved than he had cared to take on. The caretakers hired on a whim had asked him so often within the first week if he wished to see his daughter but easily saw his consistent denial and ceased this. It was a relative four weeks before he looked over Izumi and realized his purpose.
He did not regret his mourning, but the method in which he did so.
Izumi had actually chosen Kyla personally in a trip to the Eastern Region of the Fire Nation in Hóngshān. She had been dispatched by a private organization to teach defensive methods to villagers within the mountains for the sudden aggression foreign threats unwilling to come together with the single Nation that had killed, pillaged, and occupied their homes began to bring to the Fire Nation. It wasn’t uncommon and the Nation’s jails and prisons were filled with more Earthbenders and Water Benders than actual homeland citizens. He had been heavily urged by his Council to assure these people of their safety at the time when Izumi had tagged along against his directive. She found Kyla in her search for what his Uncle had imbedded into her mind as “the perfect tea” - Mengding Mountain Gan Lu. She was lucky enough to come across the village as nearly everyone could make it. In turn of money, this along with other recipes and methods of illness curing were offered to Kyla. After dispatching his guards brought along, he found the two sitting along the edge of a cliff, legs crossed and laughing as the young, ten at the time, Izumi, insisted that Kyla come back with them.
“Kyla studied with Master Ghenka’s son, father! Can’t she come back with us?”
Zuko regarded the woman a moment, trying to decide how he would say no before the woman removed the small cup from her lips, standing, “If I may, your highness? No matter the element, education is always subjective. How you may be teaching her might be too soft or too rough on her. From what I can see, my method of teaching is quite compatible with her chi and...exuberance.” She chuckled. Zuko had given the woman a surprised look, questioning how she knew that he had been teaching her.
“Well, good tea prompts candor.”
“Uncle Iroh will love her!”
This was true.
“Please don’t feel pushed to say yes, sir. Izumi had brought up the idea and I have always liked the idea of working with children and it seemed to work. I would only need somewhere to rest my head and proper attire for Izumi. No money sent directly to me but to my organization.”
“I would need to speak to the Council about that,” he affirmed.
“That’s fine by me.”
She agreed to come down and train Izumi once she was done with her promise of three months in the mountains.
As promised, she arrived promptly upon the doorstep of the Royal Family with her bags. The training attire bought for Izumi already broken in, worn for days in anticipation for the woman’s arrival. The assumed compatibility was properly predicted and Zuko was astounded to see the blaze of cobalt flames outside his chamber window with an excited Izumi yelling for her father to come see.
Even at that time of her excelling gift with bending, Kyla had been apprehensive to actually display it without proper techniques readied. She simply preferred things at the ready before they were displayed. She, however, did swallow this and permit a small peak at their practice. When this occurred, Izumi knew she would press for the hardest one and looked up a bit anxiously at Kyla.
A firm smile was her offer and she knelt down, “I will let you decide which one you want to do.”
Izumi smiles brightly, “Truly?”
“Of course…” She steps back from Izumi and sets her hands behind her back, “She will display her personal choice today.” Zuko gives a nod and nods towards his daughter who feels the anxiousness of a performer from the plays she has seen with her father, clearing her throat. She shuts her eyes tight and desperately searches for one that has ease but enough so that she will come off as skilled. She concurs with herself and balances on a single foot, the entire bottom of her foot pressed against the side of her calf before she begins. An array of blue flames ignite upward and her hands find the ground as she flips herself, a streak of fire thundering down with her right foot as it extends on its own. She is careful not to ignite anything within the garden and curbs the length of her blazing. When she finishes, she huffs a bit, gaze moving to Kyla first who smiles in approval, fist to palm as she gives a respectful bow. Izumi turns to her father who is equally impressed with her work.
She squeaks in surprise when Master Kyla consumes her in a hug that lifts her briefly, releasing her softly and ushering her towards the entrance of the palace. She gives her father a tight hug on the leg, calling for her nanny of sorts as she moves within to brag of her skills. Kyla openly laughs, holding her stomach and gives a respectful bow to Zuko, moving past him, “Your presence always proves counterproductive, sire.”
Zuko blinks, “How do you mean? She did great.”
“Great. Exceptional. But she was nervous.” She smiled, turning on a heel back to the man, “Was meant in no way as an insult to you or her highness. Just...me being observant. She is dire in her need to impress you despite your consistent pride in her mere existence. I truly believe it is what drives her.” She pauses and looks at him. She cannot read his expression but curves her head with a small smile, “I apologize if I have offended you.”
“You didn’t,” He assures a bit gruffly, “Not at all.”
“Good. That is never my intention when we speak.”
“Will you be joining Izumi and I for dinner?”
“Oh, is there any other way I spend my nights?” She chuckles, the Fire Lord following at her side as he scratches the corner of his nose, “Most nights. Where do you go the other times? If you don’t mind my asking.” She blinks at his curiosity and smiles what seems in a somewhat timid smile, “Oh, um. Well, I’ll find a nice inn serving or really anywhere. I try not to disturb the palace so I’ll often climb back through the window. The first time doing that was...problematic and I had guards firing at me before we worked it out.”
“Disturb us?” He blinks.
“Busy man. Edged guards. I cross the entire palace to get to my quarters. I have to cut through several rooms and get lost frequently. I’m better off cutting through the gardens and reaching the window. Keeps me agile as well.”
He chuckles, “My quarters aren’t so far from the entrance.”
There is a pause and he sees a sudden shyness about her manner. She seems startled and looks at him with puzzlement, as though expecting something further. Her hands leave her back and she has them at her side. He can nearly feel the heat of nervousness radiating off of her as she mumbles quietly, “No, they’re not…?”
He moves to ask the issue before there is crashing within the halls. They both move quickly to the end to find Izumi on the ground of her room, face down with her arms dramatically sprawled. The Master and Fire Lord share a look of confusion before Kyla steps forward, “Princess?” Izumi peaks her gaze up, looking behind at them, a small bruise on her forehead, “Yes?”
“Are you...well?”
“Utterly.”
Zuko chimed in, “You’re bruised.”
“I fell.”
“When?”
“When I was running earlier.”
“...so why are you on the floor now?”
“Tired.”
Zuko moves to push the subject before Kyla grins, “The rugs here are uncomfortably comfortable. I completely understand. I suppose we’ll leave you to it, yes?” Izumi gives a content smile, cheek now to the floor as she remains where she is. Kyla gives a shrug with amusement and leaves the room with him, hands brushing over her clothes as she follows him through the hall.
If there is one person next to Zuko that understands Izumi immensely, it is Kyla. She had turned into a motherly figure without any real plan in doing so. She was someone Izumi greatly respected. She had turned into something of a family member truly and the thought of her absence seemed so strange to Zuko. Kyla. Gone. The Palace quiet with Izumi lazing around as she once had before Kyla. The words themselves felt so strange. He looks at her, “Kyla...I don’t...I’m not sure if I have ever truly expressed this or really know if I’m doing so correctly now, but...I’m glad you’re here.”
“Sire?” She looks at him, baffled.
Was she really so oblivious to her worth within this family?
“I am.” He puts firmly, “You’ve been nothing but an asset and I’m...glad you’re here.”
She smiles and what she says beyond that is lost to him. He receives a strange tension when she smiles. Feels enlightened. The same feeling he has compared to his Uncle with the perfect tea. He loves it. Three years ago and even in this moment, he knows the rarely mentioned beauty of her. He winces at the sight of bruises on her cheeks or when she wraps herself up after training sometimes, working her body to unnatural lengths. There is a guilt that compounds the weight of his words and he reels back in thought of Mai. Reels back in thought of all she had been to him and scolds himself inwardly for daring to look at another woman the same way.
He managed constantly to distance himself to his attraction to Kyla with the affirmation that she was a stranger. He didn’t know Kyla. He had known Mai. He didn’t know Kyla. He would never know Kyla.
He gives her a nod, “I suppose we’ll be seeing you for dinner then.”
He waits for no response. Cannot bare the smile. Doesn’t hesitate for a second and by the time her head rises to concur with something witty to end their conversation, he is already striding down the hall to his quarters, the doors quietly shutting behind him.