Zuko was visibly shaking. The sun had set, the warmth had left the land and every insect in a 1km radius was making unbelievable noise.

“Mai!” he shouted for the eighty-seventh time, met only by a chorus of chirps, creeks and caws.

It continued, the same pattern over and over. Zuko would call and the only thing he heard were insects and birds. It frustrated him, hearing nothing yet everything, constantly. It wasn’t long until he regretted his rash decision to enter the jungle, not even bringing Azula or better yet Tadashi with him.

“If I brought Azula I bet she’d leave me for dead,” Zuko chuckled darkly, kicking a stone into a nearby bush, only for a barrage of birds to scatter about.

The sudden disturbance unwillingly gave fuel to all the insects, their calls growing louder by the second until Zuko couldn’t stomach it anymore.

“Quiet!” Zuko roared, fire unceremoniously pouring from his fists.

For a second this worked. Complete peace where nothing made a sound, a second that Zuko wanted to praise but fell into a fit of rage as every small insignificant creature called out in a symphony of innate annoyance. Nothing could stop Zuko as he started thrashing about, throwing fire in every direction, anything to drown out the noise.

Then it roared.

Zuko froze, the insects froze and even the jungle froze as the mighty beast roared with all its might. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that he just put himself in a bad situation and with no grace ran away from the source of the sound, wary of the thumping that was coming from behind. As thickets and branches whipped past the young firebender he ran into a small clearing where a pile of rocks formed a small cave. Zuko quickly threw a ball of fire at the cave, scaring a poor pack of baby Iguana seals out of their home.

Diving into the hole, Zuko thanked the spirits that the cave was deeper than he imaged because as he saw the Armadillo Bear storm out into the clearing his face went pale. The beast seemed confused, unable to see the person who raised it from its slumber, roaring in annoyance. Luckily for the older boy, Tadashi had been hot on his brother’s trail. Ever since the initial burst of firebending, the boy had been using his honed heat senses to locate the direction that Zuko had went in, then when he reached the first traces of disturbed foliage all it took was following the path of carnage to reach the spot where the Armadillo Bear was stomping about.

Tadashi crouched behind a downed tree, unable to see Zuko before he saw the quivering form of his older brother inside the rock formation. Unfortunately the Armadillo Bear had noticed too, attempting to claw its way into the cave, but being deflected by the rocks protecting Zuko. The beast raged, moving its heavy body in an attempt to topple the whole structure.

“Help!” Zuko shouted, his voice unable to hide his fear.

Tadashi grimaced, struggling to think of something. Looking around there was nothing he could use as a weapon, the only tool he had access to was his firebending. Almost smacking his head for forgetting, the boy started releasing smoke, ensuring it remained low and dense. He poured as much energy as he could into the cloud, making it denser than he’d ever attempted before. It took a few minutes, the rocks seemingly able to hold during that time, but Tadashi created a low circle of dense smoke between himself and the beast. Taking a step back, the boy called out.

“Hey ugly! Over here!” Tadashi shouted as he threw a ball of fire at the Armadillo Bear.

As the beast turned around Tadashi tried to contain the need to run, eyeing the smoke trap he had laid which was slowly filtering away. Fortunately for him the creature took the bait and charged towards the younger boy, running right over the cloud of condensed smoke as Tadashi ignited it.

The resulting explosion was huge, illuminating the evening sky for longer than Tadashi imagined. Embers flew in every direction, some of the plants had been singed dry but the plants in the Fire Nation were more resilient to fire than any other type of fauna in the world, a useful material for soft armour. Of course this didn’t save the Armadillo Bear who got caught directly above the explosion. To put it lightly, there was nothing left.

No entrails, no body, nothing.

“Um…..Zuko, it’s safe to come out.” Tadashi mumbled, so surprised by the explosion that he could barely focus his attention on anything else around him.

Zuko was in a similar state of shock, having witnessed first-hand how powerful Tadashi’s nonsensical smoke technique really turned out to be.

“You saved me,” he said after a while.

“Nah, I just went Armadillo Bear hunting,” Tadashi grinned, “I didn’t do too badly considering the circumstances.”

Zuko wanted to give his brother a death stare but found that he couldn’t stop shivering, the ability to kill someone or something in such a brutal way shook him. He didn’t want to look at his brother’s face, even if he had just saved his life, instead focusing back on the reason he had come out here.

“I’m taking it Mai never entered the jungle?” Zuko asked, frowning slightly.

“Nope,” Tadashi replied with a frown of his own, “Azula lied,”

“”Doesn’t she always…..” Zuko mumbled.

“Can’t argue with that,” Tadashi chuckled, nudging Zuko slightly, “cheer up, at least we can tell Azula that we took down an Armadillo Bear.”

“We didn’t, it was all you.” Zuko argued.

Tadashi shrugged, already moving backwards civilisation.

“She doesn’t have to know that….”

Zuko paused, giving his brother a small smile as he continued walking.

“Thanks,” he whispered, jogging to catch up Tadashi.

When they arrived at Lo and Li’s house everyone seemed worried, even Azula. Of course the young girl couldn’t help but laugh as the two boys dragged themselves in and fell with the grace of a seal onto one of the sofas. Zuko was filthier than he realised, twigs and leaves in his hair and lines of mud on his face. Tadashi was no better, having singed the clothing he wore and appearing to sport a rather awkward tan on his face.

“What did you do?” Azula asked between fits of laughter, “We saw an explosion earlier was that you?”

Before Zuko could say anything Tadashi jumped in, a sly grin on his face as he got up from the sofa.

“You wouldn’t believe it! I with my all powerful smoke technique laid a deadly and efficient trap to capture an Armadillo Bear and when Zuko ignited it…boom!” Tadashi moved his hands for emphasis, “No more Armadillo Bear!”

“Like nothing?” Ty Lee asked, grimacing at the thought.

“Nothing!” Tadashi confirmed, “Completely incinerated!”

Azula tried to nod in approval, finding it hard to believe even though she too saw the explosion from the beach house.

“Zuzu’s fire did that?” she asked skeptically.

“Umm…..yea, why do you ask?” Tadashi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s impressive,” Mai said, approaching Zuko with a relieved face.

She leant forwards to fondle one of his hair strands when a sudden smell entered her nose, forcing the young girl to recoil in disgust.

“Of course you need to wash first, you stink.” Mai said, moving as far away from Zuko as possible.

“It’s no worse than this room…” Tadashi mumbled, gaining a snort from Ty Lee who immediately looked away hiding the small blush on her face.

The remaining stay at the Island went about uneventfully, much to Azula’s disappointment. Zuko had confronted her about lying and she went about her normal routine, twisting her words until the older boy couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. Mai had somehow grown closer to Zuko, the prank that Azula had played showed the quiet girl how much Zuko did care, a feeling she was starting to heavily reciprocate. Ty Lee and Azula were always off in their own worlds, either practicing their gymnastic abilities or harassing the locals with orders from ‘the most powerful female in the Fire Nation’.

Eventually there were all back in the Fire Nation, Uncle Iroh was more active around the palace, talking with generals or inspecting regiments about to depart. Everyone seemed to go about their daily lives with no problems, the Fire Lord had taken more interest in Zuko after Azula told him about the Armadillo Bear incident and Tadashi even gained some recognition for remaining ‘loyal to his family’ as his father put it. Everything was going well and Tadashi found himself at peace, content with his position within his family.

That was until the day Zuko got himself into an Agni Kai.

“What!” Tadashi almost screamed at his servant who instinctively bowed as all servants did.

Tadashi realising that he had just spooked Naoko, immediately apologised and pinched the bridge of his nose, an action he had seen his father and uncle do many times before.

“I bet Azula is ecstatic?” Tadashi mused wistly.

“Yes, your sister was….um, dancing when she heard the news.”

Tadashi frowned, deep in thought. After a few minutes he decided to change his clothing and head towards the door.

“Um…..wait!” Naoko meekly spoke out, “Lord Iroh asked that you don’t disturb your brother.”

“What?” Tadashi asked, his temper raising by the second.

“Prince Zuko said he didn’t want to speak to you or Princess Azula, Lord Iroh said he’d need all the time he could get to practice before the Agni Kai”

Tadashi sighed, disappointed that Zuko had said such a thing. He climbed back into his bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking of something he could do. Of course no solution came.

“Am I a bad brother?”

“No, Pri- Tadashi.” Naoko stuttered as the question caught Naoko off-guard.

She fiddled with the lining of her clothing, looking at her master who seemed to be more depressed than usual, a side of him that only Naoko saw.

“You’re only saying that because you have to….” Tadashi mumbled.

Naoko shook her head, moving from her normal position to Tadashi’s bedside. She raised her hand, fighting the urge to take it back and stoked her master’s forehead, an action that always seemed to calm him down.

“You’re kind, smart and sometimes funny Tadashi,” she said quietly, “I wouldn’t have survived here without you and I think everyone is grateful you’re here, even if they don’t show it.”

“Even father?” Tadashi’s voice could barely be heard.

“Yes, even your father.” Naoko replied, unable to look at the boy whilst speaking.

The two remained like that for a while, Tadashi enjoying the gentle touch that Naoko gave him, until he inadvertently purred. The action causing both to blush immensely as Tadashi attempted to calm his heart. Naoko let out a soft chuckle, smiling at the boy who was a year younger than him.

“I have to go, other duties to attend to.” She excused herself, slowly backing away from the boy.

Tadashi sighed, looking towards the painting on his wall of a distant Fire Lord, one he didn’t know much about but was named after.

“Perhaps in another life we could have…..” he started, disappointed that he let something like that slip.

Fortunately Naoko had left the room by then, leaving the prince to himself.

It was the day of the Agni Kai and Tadashi was there, standing beside Azula and their Uncle Iroh, waiting for the duel to begin. The arena was full, ministers and high ranking individuals were all here to see the duel. A hand from behind tapped the shoulders of the young boy, a man with side burns going down his face and a smug grin on his face.

“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting?” the man asked, gaining Tadashi’s attention.

The boy didn’t speak, waiting for the man to continue in an act that he copied from his father and seemed to go well with the person in front of him.

“I am Lieutenant Zhao, an off-“he started before Tadashi interrupted him.

“I’m sure that’s all well and good, but do you have anything of importance to say Lieutenant? I’m here to watch the Agni Kai not consort with a promoted private.”

Zhao’s face darkened as he tried to maintain his composure. The statement from the young boy had been heard by everyone around him, including his Uncle Iroh who found it amusing enough to distract him from his thoughts. Tadashi took a second to realise that he insulted the man and quickly rectified his mistake.

“Don’t get me wrong, once you are a Captain or even Commander I’ll happily consort with you, as it would be expected of me, but for now we are not here to discuss the war but merely watch as spectators.”

Zhao, still clearly angry, decided that the boys follow up was good enough. He mumbled to himself as he made to walk away, just before the Fire Lord stepped into the arena. As it was expected of everyone, they bowed, greeting the Fire Lord in the traditional manner and waited to see the opponent.

“Why’s father out there?” Tadashi asked, “I thought he insulted a general?”

Azula, who was nearby, shimmied towards her older brother and filled him in on all the details, including the words their father had spoken about the duel. Tadashi’s blood went cold, he would never have expected their father to fight Zuko, especially with the way that they all desperately tried to gain his approval, Azula better at it than anyone else.

“He won’t fight…..” Tadashi mumbled.

“Really?” Azula asked, “Although that does fit Zuzu.”

The next few moments happened so quickly that is felt like a blur to Tadashi. Zuko had indeed stepped onto the field and refused to fight their father, instead asking for forgiveness. Tadashi in his heart hoped that their father would do so but knew better, he’d received the cold shoulder most of his life and learnt first-hand how heartless their father could be. When the Fire Lord burned his own son Tadashi gasped, unable to look away and entranced by the single act of maliciousness. He didn’t know if he envied the ability to dish out pain so effectively or was terrified by his father’s own lack of diplomacy. Azula was beaming, a wide grin on her face, and the opposite could be said about their Uncle Iroh who couldn’t even stomach the scene and turned away in shame.

Zuko’s screams were horrible. Pain, sadness, regret and betrayal all in one heart wrenching torrent of emotion. The boy couldn’t even get up after the attack, after the initial scream he fainted, the pain too much for his body to handle. Uncle Iroh had moved quickly, picking up the fallen boy and taking him away as quietly as possible. The crowds slowly dispersed as Zhao took a step towards Tadashi.

“Weak, who knew the Fire Lord had such a weak son. Are you like that?” Zhao asked with a sly grin.

Tadashi almost turned around in a fit of rage, planning on lashing out at the man but restrained himself as he remembered that he was still in the presence of Azula and his father.

“Perhaps you’d like to find out?” he said, putting as much venom into his words as possible.

Zhao grimaced, hoping that he would have caught the boy off-guard.

“You shouldn’t challenge a master, you’ll only get burned.” He retorted.

“So you say,” Tadashi grinned himself, “sounds to me like you’re afraid of getting beat.

“What!” Zhao put aside any doubt and threw a large fireball in Tadashi’s direction.

Azula who was standing beside Tadashi jumped out of the way as the remaining guests turned around to witness the commotion. The boy blocked the attack, a simple gesture he’d practiced a thousand times over and took several steps back until he was on the field, now being watched by the remaining guests, Azula and his father who was still on the field but had backed up slowly, watching the proceeding event with interest.

“I’ll make you swallow those words!” Zhao shouted, throwing more fire towards Tadashi.

The younger boy knew that he could not easily beat his opponent, only able to block the shots or dodge them. He threw a few punches of his own, ferocious in look but doing no real damage to Zhao who batted them aside. Time seemed to slow down for the young bender as he analysed his opponent, looking for a weakness to exploit, but the moment he noticed how wild Zhao’s shots of fire were an idea came to mind.

“A grown man is struggling to beat a kid!” Tadashi taunted, frustrating his opponent greatly.

The barrage of fire increased, filling the area with entrails of smoke, every second the amount of the substance would increase and before they knew it a decent level of the stuff had taken the field. Zhao charged forwards, tired of all the dodging and defending, wanting to finish it in as few moves as possible, however he could never have known that this was precisely what Tadashi wanted. The Fire Lord who had been watching from the side, an excited Azula standing beside him, was sporting a devious grin, having caught on to the boys plan.

As Zhao jumped, using his fist to send a wave of fire forwards, Tadashi put more strength into his legs as he dived to the side, quickly taking position far behind Zhao as he ignited the patch of smoke that Zhao had jumped into. The man jumped back, caught off-guard by the sudden intense heart and stumbled into another patch of smoke that Tadashi ignited. Zhao growled, trying to find his bearing but the young firebender wouldn’t let him do so. Another patch of smoke ignited and Zhao cursed, shielding his eyes from the heat. This however meant that he never saw the boy coming as he ran towards Zhao, leapt into the air and kicked out with his feet, throwing an intense orange flame that was barely tinted by blue embers directly into the Lieutenants chest.

Since this wasn’t an official Agni Kai the palace guard were meant to have apprehended Zhao but the Fire Lord told them to stop, even now after the bout had ended.

“So, what will you do to the man who challenged your honour?” Tadashi turned to listen to his father before facing Zhao again.

Zhao was clearly defeated but his face was that of hate and malice, ready to strike again if the opportunity arose. Tadashi saw the glint in the downed man’s eyes and a primal desire to instil obedience took over as he walked towards Zhao and grabbed his neck.

For a moment he didn’t realise what the young boy was doing until he felt an intense burning sensation around his neck. The rage in the boy's eyes mimicked that of the Fire Lord and Zhao quickly realised he had made a mistake, thinking that the boy was like Zuko. Trying to hold it in, Zhao struggled to not groan in pain as Tadashi burned his neck, the smell of seared skin making his eyes water. In seconds Tadashi pushed away, stepping back and looking down at the man in a dominating way. Guards then ran to Zhao’s side picking him up and escorting him away from the arena.

The force that took over his mind then seemingly vanished and Tadashi felt weak again, having expelled a lot of chi during that fight. He looked towards his Sister who seemed to be having the best day of her life before noticing several things from his father. His smile seemed to mimic that of a proud parent, the only thing Tadashi had ever wanted from the man but his eyes held something else, whether they were calculating, suspicious or worried Tadashi didn’t know but it scared him. He stood there, watching as everyone left, not because it was expected of him but because he couldn’t move. Too much energy had left his body and he knew that even taking one step would mean he’d fall over and look like a fool. So he waited, until Azula had finished congratulating him, for the ministers to finish nodding in approval and for everyone else to leave, Tadashi making excuses as to why he remained. It wasn’t until Naoko appeared that he relaxed, almost collapsing onto her shoulder as she helped him to his room. Tadashi made a mental note to visit Zuko, he doubted that his brother would even want to see him but he had to try, after all he did promise their mother he’d do so.