Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Fuel for the Fire ❯ Chapter 1

An alternate version of events for 'The Firebending Masters' episode. Shameless smut without much of a plot at all, just because I desperately need to write something and there is a horrible lack of Zukaang in the world. Oh, and since this obviously isn't what happens in the series, it's obviously not official, and I don't own it nor make any profit off of it.

No, I don't condone sex with kids. I prefer to think that Aang was frozen at the age of 16, when he was supposed to learn he was the Avatar. Plus, the Avatar has countless adult minds in his own. Pretend it makes sense, kay?

--

“That's it? That was pathetic,” Zuko said, managing to forget the promises he'd made to himself to be patient with the Avatar.

“Welllll... maybe I need a little more instruction first. Maybe a demonstration?” Aang asked, seeming to not mind the gruff attitude of his instructor.

Zuko drew himself up, allowing a little pride to colour his tone. “Of course. You might want to stand back a bit.”After all, he'd spent his entire life learning this art, studying under the best instructors available, and most recently his uncle, the most creative firebender Zuko knew. And he was finally using it for a good reason, too! Of course, the feeble flicker of flame that almost immediately snuffed out of existance wasn't exactly awe inspiring.

Double checking his form, Zuko went through the move again, the flame no larger this time through. “I... I don't understand what's wrong,” he said, going through one of his flashiest katas, one that usually filled the area with an inferno of whirling flames. Nothing. Spits of fire, not one of them dangerous to anything bigger than a mosquito.

“Maybe it's the elevation?” Aang suggested..

Wanting desperately to grab onto the possibility, Zuko agreed, “Yeah, maybe...” He knew that wasn't it, though. Something was badly wrong, and he didn't know what. Determined not to let the day go completely to waste, he guided Aang through some of the breathing exercises designed to control one's inner heat, but knew he couldn't stall for long.

-

Around the dinner fire that evening, it wasn't like the others were that helpful. Katara went into hysterics, even, the waterbender torn between taunting him and berating him for it. “I haven't completely lost the ability,” he protested, trying to salve some of his pride. “It's just a lot weaker than it should be. I think it happened when I switched sides.”

“Yeah. Cause that makes sense,” Sokka interjected, rolling his eyes.

“Well... wait, maybe it does,” Aang said, leaning forward eagerly. “All that time you were driven by rage and hate. Now that you've joined us, that's not fuelling your fire anymore, literally.”

“So that means we just have to piss him off!” Sokka declared excitedly, springing to his feet and proceeding to prod the already uncomfortable prince with the hilt of his sword.
Zuko managed to tolerate it for a few moments, and then gave up and tried channeling his irritation, but when he finally snapped at Sokka, his words were just words, not even accompanied by a wisp of smoke, let alone the fireball that they would have been a month ago. “Irritating me isn't the answer,” he sighed. “I'm not sure if I want to be driven by hate and rage anymore, even if we could get me that mad at anyone again.”

“So then you need to find a different source for your fire?” Toph asked. “Earthbenders are solid and calm, but rock-headed stubborn. Twinkletoes over there just stays all happy and bubbly and buoyant. Waterbenders are taught to use everything, water is such a changeable element that it doesn't seem to matter what fuels it. But fire... I've only ever seen crazy, angry firebenders.” she said, shrugging.

“Most of the soldiers aren't any different than soldiers in any other army,” Zuko said, shaking his head. “They might get angry, or frustrated, but not to any special degree...”

“Maybe they're proud of their job,” Suki suggested, dropping into the group and stealing a bite of Sokka's bread. “That's what fuels my warriors.”

She actually had a point, Zuko reflected. “I think I really am proud of myself, for the first time in a very long time. Problem is... there's a lot of shame there too. It cancels out... and I'm already doing what I can to make up for the things I regret. That's why I'm here,” he said.

Sounding reluctant to be dragged into this conversation, Katara added, “Plus... and I can't believe I'm admitting this... Zuko's not a common-level firebender. Pride in a daily job well done might be enough for the soldiers, but not for some of his caliber.” She almost spit the last word, looking disgusted that she'd actually admitted it.

Zuko just stared at her for a moment, not entirely believing she'd just given him a compliment. Or at least a sentence that stated facts that cast him in a not-horrible light. He shook his head quickly, and said, “Well... then what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Beats me,” Toph said, shrugging. “I'm gonna sleep. Maybe you should do the same, and something awesome will come to you in a dream or something.” Getting up and walking confidently off into the darkness away from the fire, she left the circle.

Sokka was the next to go, drawing Suki with him. “It's not like we're much help in a conversation about bending anyway,” he said, shrugging. Not that anyone doubted what they were actually leaving so eagerly to do.

“Come on, Aang, it's time you got some sleep too,” Katara said, clearly unwilling to leave the airbender alone with Zuko any more than necessary. Aang didn't seem too worried one way or another, but did stand up, saying something about wanting to meditate before bed.

“Don't worry about it too much, Zuko,” Aang said, his ever-forgiving, sweet personality kicking in again. “I'm sure we'll think of something.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” he said. “Or you're going to have to find a new firebending teacher...”

-

Zuko wasn't sure how long he stayed sitting by the fire. Long enough for it to burn out. He'd been experimenting, but even with an existing fire, he was having trouble bringing it up to anything approaching what he should be able to manage. Eventually, he gave up, leaving the coals to smoulder in their stone ring, and stood up to walk out to the area they'd been training in earlier.

It was full night, and the stars were spectacularly bright. A new moon, even, which made it even more perplexing that he couldn't firebend more than the weakest child. He followed the starlight out to the edge of the cliff, sitting down and looking out at the world. Starlight didn't really illuminate that much, of course, and mostly it was just the soft, deep black sillhouettes of the ground cutting out great swaths of the starry sky. It was very peaceful. Not helping the firebending, but nice anyway.

Soft footsteps sounded behind him. Too light to be Sokka, even too light for Katara. Sandals scuffed against the stone, so it couldn't be Toph. “Zuko? You're still awake?” came Aang's soft voice, confirming his guess.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am,” he said, just as quietly. It seemed wrong to speak loudly once it was so dark, somehow. Not just about being polite to the sleepers, just... polite to the world. Even the nighttime chorus of creatures was quieter than during the day.

Aang padded out beside him and sat down, completely at ease with being on the edge of an impossibly long drop in a dark night. “I've been thinking about what Toph was saying, the different emotions that drive benders. Well, actually... I've been asking my past selves about it.”

“Really?” Zuko asked, intrigued despite his current state of mild depression. “You can do that?”

“Sure,” Aang said. “It's easier with ones I can identify with a bit, of course. Knowing their name makes it easier to talk to them. But anyways. I was talking with the last Avatar, and he said that Firebenders do take their power from rage and hate... but that they're only a couple facets of what you're really drawing on.”

“He... he did actually tell you what that thing I'm drawing on is, right?” Zuko asked. It would be just his luck if Aang's past lives liked to talk in riddles the way his Uncle did and never actually say the most important part of the lecture.

“Yeah. You're supposed to draw on passion. That's why hate and rage and fear can work.” Aang shrugged. “But there are nice passions too. Pride, and desire, and even love, if you have love that isn't tainted by guilt.”

“That would explain why I could do so much while I was hunting you,” Zuko said, laying back onto his elbows. “I wanted to catch you so badly... it was everything to me. I was furious and hurt at being exiled and shamed, but I wanted it back, and I thought I needed you to do it.”

It was hard to judge Aang's reaction in the dark, Zuko could only see his basic shape outlined against the sky. “Yeah, that makes sense.” His voice sounded a little subdued, as if he was thinking particularly hard about something. “So... what about love, then? You must have someone you care about.”

Zuko felt his heart clench, his stomach drop. “Yeah... I do. Problem is, I betrayed one and abandoned the other... Way too much guilt caught up in the people I care about for that to work.”

It seemed somehow like Aang was expecting him to reply that way. “So then... that's cutting most of your passions out of the possibilites. And since you won't use anything negative...”

“I know, I know,” Zuko said, not quite snapping, but certainly cutting him off. “I'm useless. I just hope I can teach you enough of the basics somehow to get you firebending like you're supposed to...”

“...what about desire?” came Aang's calm voice, as if Zuko hadn't talked right over him.

It brought him to a complete halt, and he had a hard moment understanding what he'd said. “Sorry, what?” Zuko asked, looking over at Aang blankly.

“I asked you if you'd thought about using desire,” Aang said, shifting to look at him, the starlight just showing the rough shape of him. Zuko's complete, shocked silence made him chuckle after a moment. “I take it that it hadn't crossed your mind?”

“Ah... no. Aang, I'm not sure where you're going with this...” Zuko said, suddenly aware of just how close Aang was sitting to him. Or maybe it just seemed closer in the darkness and with the subject matter change.

“Are you willing to let me help you with it?” Aang asked, leaning closer. Zuko could see his face now, eyes mostly dark with a couple flecks of starlight, the rest of his skin showing up light, the blue arrow on his forehead a slightly darker smudge.

“What?” Zuko asked again, sure he'd missed something vital in this conversation. It simply wasn't proceeding in anything approaching a logical manner. And why was Aang sitting so close to him?

Aang smiled, the expression soft and blurred in the darkness. “Zuko... I'm saying that we should try exploring you tapping into the more positive side of desire to try firebending with. And in order to do that, we have to give you something to desire.”

“Okay, I think I follow so far...”

“You wanted me once. You wanted me so badly that you chased me around the world, kidnapped me, rescued me, kidnapped me again...”

“... Aang, you're not going...”

“So I figure I could try and get you to desire me again...” Aang said, that grin of his broadening. “I'm not so innocent as I look, Zuko.”

“Yeah, I can see that...” Zuko managed to say, his voice having a hard time staying level as he realized that Aang was pushing him back from the edge, and crawling into his lap. His lap. “Aang, wait a second...”

“What?” he asked, holding still. Even still though, he was a warm, pleasant weight against Zuko's legs, just slightly down from anywhere really inappropriate. He was close though. Oh, he was close. “Don't you want me?” he asked, his voice going soft and slightly hurt, then switching to playful. “Don't you want to have the Avatar right where you finally have him?”

Zuko opened his mouth to reply, not entirely sure what he was going to say. As it turned out, it didn't matter, because Aang had leaned forward, his mouth pressing gently against Zuko's slightly parted lips. Time froze, or at least Zuko did, having no idea how to react. A part of him was screaming that this wasn't what he'd been wanting the Avatar for all that time. Another part of him was protesting that the playful, innocent seeming Aang couldn't possibly be doing this. And then he was shocked to notice the parts of him that were observing that Aang's lips were nice and soft as they moved gently against his, that Aang's body was pressing lightly against his chest, and that yes, he did desire this thank you very much for asking.

A light tug on his hair was Aang's hand, brushing the slightly uneven strands back from his face, then running slowly through his hair, down the back of his head. When Aang finally pulled away, Zuko gasped for breath, completely unprepared for how much of a reaction it had gotten out of him. “So, Zuko,” Aang said, his fingers still playing through his hair, rubbing lightly at the back of his neck. “Do you want me yet?”

“I thought that the Avatar was supposed to be this bright, pure being...” Zuko said hoarsely, surprised at how affected he was already. “When did you get this... this dirty?”

“You think I'm being dirty now, Zuko? I haven't even started yet,” Aang chuckled. And then, he abruptly left. Just up and gone, melting into the darkness fast enough that Zuko couldn't track him. It wasn't for quite some time that he realized Aang had actually left, gone to bed and left him alone here in the dark. Sighing, and trying to think of something peaceful and sleep inducing, Zuko went back to his bedroll and tried to drop off to sleep again.

-

He woke up some time later, the sky just starting to lighten. He'd had vivid dreams, full of high emotion and intense feeling, and realized with slight disgust that he'd jerked himself off in his dreams, making the inside of his bedroll sticky. At least it meant he didn't need to deal with morning wood at the moment, so he got out of bed without needing to deal with a bulge. The last thing he wanted first thing in the morning was Sokka lewdly speculating who he'd been thinking of. Especially this morning.

It was early enough he didn't need to worry anyway. Nobody had even woken up enough to start a breakfast fire, the sun hadn't even started to pink the highest clouds. Anyone else would probably have gone back to sleep, but he was wide awake, a byproduct of years training with the military and his uncle. So, true to habit, he went back out to the ledge where he'd been trying to train Aang to go through some firebending forms.

He'd only just started when he realized he wasn't the only one awake. Aang was up too, or sort of up. He was meditating, but he turned when Zuko approached. “Good morning,” he said, smiling cheerfully at him. He stretched up, looking bonelessly flexible as he unfolded from his cross-legged sitting position. While Aang was almost exactly the same age as him (give or take a hundred years), the differences in their training had given them quite different body types. Where Zuko was toned, tough muscle and deliberate movement, Aang was light, muscles long and slender, looking as if he was always ready to spring up and float away with the wind.

And it gave him an almost disturbing amount of grace. While Aang had grown drastically taller recently, he was still a head shorter than Zuko, and maybe due to his monk's careful training, never got that awkward, clumsy stage, his child-like grace and ability moving smoothly into a more polished, adult version.

In fact, Zuko was starting to think Aang was turning it up, somehow. He wasn't exactly sure what was being turned up, but something was, because the way the airbender was walking towards him, smiling so cheerfully, looked completely unlike he usually did. Something about the walk, as light as ever but somehow more deliberate, more... sensual, was the only word that really fit. “So, how are you feeling this morning, Zuko?” Aang asked. Maybe it was the dim grey light, or some crossover from his dream, but there was a decidedly surreal feeling to the air right now.

“Uh... fine, I guess,” Zuko said, feeling very strange and disconnected, almost like he was still dreaming.

“Feeling any strong urges of desire?” he chuckled, hands coming up to Zuko's chest, running lightly across it, a couple fingers brushing across Zuko's chest. They felt cool on his skin, making his breath hitch slighlty. The reaction made Aang smile, the normally lighthearted expression seeming a touch more intense, more prideful, maybe. “Getting there, I see. So... did you have dreams last night, Zuko?”

When did the Avatar get so... direct? Zuko was horrified to feel his cheeks flushing in response to the question. Even if his conscious mind had blocked out the dreams' content, his subconscious knew perfectly well who he'd been fantasizing about, whose hand he'd imagined stroking his cock.

So even when Aang stepped right close to him, much closer than just about anyone had ever dared, or wanted to come to him, Zuko was frozen in place, his body very much wanting the closeness even as his mind weakly protested. And when Aang leaned forward to let his lips ghost along the exposed skin on his chest, he let out a groan of want, his hands coming up to grab...

On nothing. The soft warmth of Aang's breath on his skin was gone, leaving a cool patch of skin, the airbender having somehow ducked and twisted away from his grasping hands. “Ah ah... no touching. Not yet,” Aang chuckled, moving up behind him, hands reaching around his waist, tugging his belt open. Zuko closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of Aang pressed up against his back, his hands so light and deft as they pulled the knot on his belt free. And then he was gone again. Zuko twisted around to see where he'd got to, and gasped when he felt Aang come up on his other side, hands running under his shirt, over his chest.

He felt Aang's fingers exploring over muscles built from years of training, scars from years of battle, his skin prickling at the light touch. Unable to help himself, he reached out again, swearing under his breath when Aang danced away from him again. Zuko growled, and dropped his hands back to his sides, trying his best to play along.

“You're learning,” Aang chuckled. “Don't worry, you'll get to play eventually.” His hands moved up to his own tunic now, unfastening it slowly, turning around. With his back to the prince, he slowly shrugged the shirt off of his shoulders, Zuko watching avidly as his pale skin was exposed, one tiny bit at a time. He'd always wondered if that arrow on his head continued down his back, and was intrigued to discover that it did indeed.

Aang turned to look at him when his shirt was about halfway down, his arms crossed demurely in front of his chest as he slid his shirt down, the tattoos on his arms almost glowing in the predawn light. The scar over his heart was a dark smudge interrupting the otherwise pale evenness of his skin. It was a jarring mark, but it simply added to his appearance. Zuko wouldn't say that it enhanced him, but it was a part of him anyways, showing the strength of character that made him who he was. Which was part of the appeal, after all.

He was yanked from his musings when Aang walked forward abruptly, and a gust of wind knocked his feet out from under him. Zuko yelped as he hit the ground, catching himself enough to prevent injury to his body, if not his dignity. He forgot that quite quickly though, when Aang knelt down on top of him, leaning over him and kissing him deeply. Considering his state of mind already, Zuko didn't have a chance, melting like a teenager with his first kiss. He felt Aang's hands running over his shoulders, down his arms, and relished the contact. Distracted by the feeling of Aang's tongue caressing surprisingly competently against his own, he didn't notice a sudden feeling of roughness against his wrists.

By the time he realized that Aang had tied him down to the ruins, the airbender sprang lightly up off of him, and he couldn't do more than yank futiley on the ropes binding his wrists down. Aang grinned down at him quite cheerfully, saying, “That's just vines holding you down, by the way. Nice and dry, easy to burn through... for a firebender.”

Zuko was floored. “You... you...”

“I know, I'm a lot more devious than you thought,” Aang chuckled. “But I'm sure that I can get your desire fanned up enough to generate a few flames.” And that was when his hands started to run over his own body, fingers teasing lightly over his skin. Aang let his head drop back, clearly planning to enjoy his own touch to the fullest extent. “Are you wishing you were the one touching me, Zuko?” Aang asked, his voice light, with just the hint of a moan hiding in his words. “Wishing these were your hands, running down over my skin?”

If Zuko had though he was speechless before, it was nothing to how he felt now. An inarticulate groan escaped him as he strained at his bonds, squirming in the slightly awkward, mostly prone position he was stuck in. “I know that I'm imagining they're your hands,” Aang continued, licking his lips as his hands caressed over his body, “Feeling out all my most sensitive places...” One hand brushed over a nipple, flicking the sensitive bud. “Seeing how best to affect me, get me to squirm...”

The prince had been a little aroused before. By this point, his cock was straining against his pants in the most intense hard-on he'd ever remembered having. At least his pants were loose and comfortable to start with, so they were only a little bit painful now as his gaze was fixed on the Avatar. Aang's gaze dropped down to the obvious erection tenting his pants, smiling lazily. “Looks like you're starting to enjoy yourself... good. But let's see if we can't get it a bit better, hmm?”

Zuko's cheeks were burning at his casual, blatant observation, the humiliation of it not taking away from the heated arousal in the slightest. In fact, he suspected it might be making it worse, but didn't really care. Certainly, Aang was putting on a show that would take the attention off of just about anything. He'd turned slightly, in profile now, and his hands were sliding down his chest, over his stomach... and stopping on the waistband of his pants.

“So, is this what you're wanting to see now?” Aang asked, his fingers running over his hips, slowly undoing the ties on his pants. Zuko groaned as Aang's hips slowly inched into view, and then he turned in some maddening fashion that managed to block everything important from his point of view. Aang looked over his shoulder at him flirtatiously, smiling mischeviously. The growing light was showing him in more detail, finally light enough to show the first hints of pink in the sky far above them.

He growled with frustration, squirming awkwardly to try and relieve the pressure on his straining cock, tilting his head to the side to try and see either side of the demon-in-Avatar-form torturing him like this. Aang chuckled, turning to face him, one hand leisurely stroking himself. “Enjoying the view so far?” he asked, smiling devilishly. “I know I'm enjoying myself.” His fingers were pale as they brushed over his engorged cock, proof of his words, in case Zuko didn't believe him. Zuko's own member twitched as he drank in the view, committing the view to memory, from the confident, relaxed pose to the erotic fact that Aang kept his whole body as carefully shaved as his head.

“So, motivated yet?” Aang asked, sounding almost mocking about it. “Or are you still needing more?” He turned around again, one hand continuing to rub his cock in slow, lazy strokes, the other reaching back to caress over his ass. The arrow running down his spine branched off at his hips, arching elegantly down his legs, framing his cheeks perfectly. Like the rest of his body, there was no extra flesh, just tight, toned muscles making a perfect, sculpted shape.

Aang twisted around, looking at him, and smiled again, saying, “Hmm, looks like I'll just have to play with myself then...” And then to Zuko's great delight/frustration/astonishment, he lifted one leg, as smoothly acrobatic as he was in battle, placing it lightly on a raised step, spreading his cheeks apart. He arched his back, and turned to look over his shoulder, raising his hand to his mouth, sucking slowly on two fingers.

After a moment of that provocative imagery, Aang dropped his hand back down to his ass, the glistening fingers probing between his cheeks, one of them slipping slowly inside. Aang let out a soft moan of delight echoed by Zuko's moan of intense desire. He strained futilely against the vines holding him down, desperately wanting to get up now.

Zuko moaned as Aang slid a second finger into his ass, leaning forward and starting to increase the speed of his stroking. “Oh, Zuko...” he whimpered. “I want this to be you inside me... It feels so good...”

Aang sank to his knees, breathing more heavily, his shoulders tensing as he worked himself, moaning softly. “Zuko...” he gasped softly. “Take me...” The sun abruptly broke through a crag of the mountain range, bathing them both in brilliant orange light.

With a strangled howl, Zuko strained forward, feeling a great surge of satisfactory heat as fire roared through him, scorching his bonds to ash in an instant. He stumbled to his feet and forward, his body unprepared for his abrupt freedom. He fell against Aang, knocking the airbender to all fours, his hands fumbling to touch him, explore his skin, trace the tattoos, to undo his own maddeningly still-present pants, to stroke his cock, to squeeze his ass... too many things at once. He growled, biting down on his shoulder hard enough to make Aang yelp underneath him.

He finally got his pants undone and yanked open, too impatient to bother pulling them all the way down. While one hand was occupied with that, the other ran demandingly over Aang's chest and stomach, finally touching that soft skin he'd been yearning for. He leaned forward, his cock settling pleasingly between tight, muscled cheeks, rubbing against Aang as his other hand slipped around his waist, fingers running lightly down his cock, just as hard as his own.

The airbender whimpered, squirming under him, trying to guide his hand, encourage him. “It's a good thing for you I'm so impatient right now,” Zuko murmured in his ear, licking the rim of it lightly. “Or I'd make you wait like this for hours...”

Aang seemed about to reply, but the words melted together into a strangled moan as Zuko's hand wrapped fully around his cock, stroking it firmly. “You really weren't lying about wanting this, were you?” he chuckled, leaning down to kiss down the back of his neck.

“Obviously... not.” Aang gasped, his back arching up, pressing into Zuko's chest. “I'm glad it worked...”

“Me too,” Zuko murmured, letting go of Aang's cock, causing him to whimper in protest. It was quickly cut off when Zuko pushed him forward slightly, letting his own cock slide down, nestling perfectly against his entrance. He laughed when Aang pressed back against him, eagerly seeking the intrusion. By this point, he was more than willing to oblige, spitting into his hand to slick his shaft and hold it steady before pressing slowly forward, the other hand holding onto Aang's hip, fingers playing lightly over his skin.

He was surprised at how easily he slid in, he hadn't expected it to be this smooth without proper lubricant. And then Aang spoke up, “I figured I should prepare before I ambushed you... stole some of Katara's hand cream.” The thought of Aang stretching himself out, fingers slicked with stolen lube was almost enough to make Zuko cum right then, but he fought down the urge, determined to enjoy this now that he had it.

“Well, aren't you a well prepared little tease,” Zuko said, his voice hoarse from arousal as he drew back out of Aang, then slid forward again, making him gasp as he buried his cock completely inside him. “I like that.” His firebending fully on again, Zuko drew heat to his fingertips, warming them almost to the scorching point. As he set a slow, steady rhythm pumping into Aang, he drew his fingers down his back, making the airbender shudder and take in a long, ragged gasp.

“Ohh, you have to teach me that one,” Aang moaned as Zuko's hand moved around to his chest, following the curve of his ribs, the strong, elegant line of his muscles, tracing light circles around a nipple.

Zuko chuckled. “Maybe later. If you're very good.” Despite wanting to hold his orgasm back, make it last, Zuko was too close due to all the teasing, and his pace quickened, driving into Aang solidly, making him yelp with almost every thrust. His hand dropped down, hot fingers wrapping around Aang's bobbing cock and starting to pump furiously, not wanting to finish early and be too out of it to finish off his partner.

Apparently, this was all Aang had been waiting for, as less than a minute later he cried out, cum spurting forward onto the ground, some splashing against his own chin and chest, smearing on Zuko's hand before he let go, both hands gripping his hips, struggling to thrust into Aang's suddenly incredibly tight ass. The pulsing contracting of his muscles massaged his cock in a spectacularly satisfying way, and Zuko's hips jerked forward reflexively as he came, balls tightening as they released their load deep inside him.

Aang sank down to his elbows, then flat onto the ground, and Zuko barely avoided collapsing on top of him, his arms trembling and weak from the orgasm. He pulled carefully out, making both of them groan from oversensitive parts, rolling to the side just enough to fall down to the ground beside him. “Well. That was the most interesting firebending strategy I've ever encountered,” he said, panting slightly.

Giggling, Aang rolled over onto his side to look at him. “It was pretty fun. So, are you gonna teach me now?”

Zuko laughed, flopping onto his back and reached out to shove Aang's shoulder gently. “Give a guy a minute to catch his breath, Avatar.”