431. Life is like the Tea

*BOOM*

Aang sent a big gust of wind at Zuko, reducing his flames to mere sparks. All this time he had been trying to copy the moments of Zuko and tried to make fire. But he was unsuccessful. It all looked like a weird dance to others.

Zuko was showing anger and fought Aang in a way that looked more like a deathmatch than a spar. Aang meanwhile looked scared of fire and tried to avoid it rather than face it. It was clear that both had some kind of psychological problems.

Aang then fully stopped trying to do firebending and only fought Zuko with three other bending styles. Both were in an intense stalemate due to this.

"OKAY STOP!" Alexander shouted.

"Zuko, don't use your anger to fuel your power. And Aang, why are you not focused on fire bending?" Alexander asked the two.

"But this is how we were taught to firebend," Zuko said.

"I don't want to become angry." Aang also spoke.

*Sigh*

"Who said firebending was about anger and hate? The first firebender, the Sun Warriors, didn't have anything to hate. They only wanted to survive by gathering food. They cared about balance. The Fire Nation was also set up on this belief, but it was all changed when Sozin started planning for this war.

"He changed the training method of all firebenders to make them more fueled by rage because it made them easier to control and more destructive." He explained.

"You're are making this up, aren't you? The Sun Warriors died out thousands of years ago," Zuko refuted.

"Well, you are wrong. They are very much alive and still practicing their ways. And we even have a man who met them first hand." Alexander revealed and looked at Iroh.

Zuko followed his face and exclaimed, "UNCLE?!"

"Well, think about it. Your uncle is one of the most peaceful men I have met and yet he can firebend. I refuse to believe that he based it on hatred." Alexander said.

Iroh stroked his beard and walked up to them, "I never wanted to tell anyone about this but because it is in the presence of the Spirit God, I will.

"Zuko, I met the Sun Warriors on an island north of the Fire Nation mainland. There are ruins of an ancient city. Everyone thinks the island is uninhabited but it isn't.

"I met them and they put me through a test, to be judged by the mighty dragons, Ran and Shaw. They saw me fit and showed me the true way of firebending."

"But Dragons were extinct," Zuko refuted.

Alexander scoffed, "Huh. It was Fire Lord Sozin who began the tradition throughout the Fire Nation of hunting dragons as the ultimate sport. Anyone who managed to slay a dragon earned the honorary title of "Dragon" and their talents as firebenders would become legendary.

"If I had not intervened and saved them, they all would have died and Ragnarok would have probably destroyed this whole world in his anger. This Ran and Shaw must be somewhere hidden when I saved others."

"Y-You mean, all of the dragons are alive?" Iroh asked.

"Yes, they live in my dimension. There are millions of them and they have a whole planet to themselves." Alexander replied.

Iroh took a sigh of relief and said, "That is a very good thing to hear. I am happy that they are living in peace now. It is better if they stay with you. People seem to find some kind of pride in hunting them even before what Sozin did. Even if Sozin had not done it they would have still gone extinct in a few hundred years"

"Okay, everyone, pack up. We are leaving to meet the Sun Warriors. Aang and Zuko will get to meet the two dragons there and learn from them first hand." He announced.

"YES! Finally, adventure," Sokka cheered.

"Dobby, you stay here and run things. Keep an eye on everyone here too. Chomei, keep up the good work." He instructed.

Everyone else jumped on the back of Appa and left. Alexander could have used anywhere door but he needed Zuko and Aang to become friends and that needed time.

"Tea, my friend?" Iroh passed him

"Haha, thank you. Do you also have a song for tea?" Alexander asked.

"Of course, I have songs for every situation." Iroh proudly said and started singing.

He walked to each of them to give them a tea glass while singing. His words seemed to be hinting at them too.

♫Life is like the tea

It always makes you free

Happiness is life's key♫

He walked to Sokka and gave him the glass while singing what made Sokka twitch.

♫He thought it was a She

But she turned out to be a he.

But still, life was like the tea

every sip making me free♫

"Hey, is that a personal attack? Anyone would have gotten confused." Sokka tried to save his pride but only received a laugh from Katara and Toph.

Then he went to Aang and gave him the glass. Then he went to a depressed Zuko. Zuko denied the tea at first.

♫Are you sad, my boy?

Are you tense, my boy?

Here, drink some tea,

It will make your mind go free.♫

Zuko felt like these lines were for him. So, he took to the glass.

Iroh looked at Zuko kindly and spoke, "No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Relax a bit, son."

"I don't know, uncle. I feel lost. I want to become the Fire Lord and stop this war and start helping. But, I have done so many bad things in my life that I don't think I am the right person to be fire lord." Zuko said.

Iroh sat beside him. "Even I killed many when I was a General. But what has passed may never return, and what is yet to come may never be known. Stop anticipating everything and just believe in yourself."

"Besides, you are the best possible Fire Lord that can ever be. Do you know about your great grandfather?" Iroh asked.

"I remember what I learned in school. He was a friend of Avatar Roku. But no one knows about how he died, except that he was on his bed at that moment." Zuko answered.

"No, I was not talking about Sozin. I was talking about your great grandfather from your mother's side. Zuko, the grandfather of your mother was Avatar Roku himself. In you lies the blood of the last Avatar too.

"Only you can bring the Fire Nation back on its intended path," Iroh revealed.

Zuko was shocked, "W-Why didn't you tell this to me before?"

"Because you were so filled by your anger and goal to catch the Avatar that even if I had told you you would have dismissed it as a lie. You know it." Iroh said.

Zuko calmed down and didn't raise his voice. "Why didn't you become the Fire Lord? Why? You could have stopped all this."

Iroh sighed and looked at the changing scenery around them, "I never got the chance, Zuko. I did want to become the Fire Lord after Lu Ten's death. I wanted to immediately put an end to the war. It had not just killed my sons but countless other sons of countless parents like me.

"But, before I could even return home, I received the news that your father became the Fire lord. I knew that he had plotted his way to that position. I was a single man at that time and if I fought him it would have caused more bloodshed. So, I left to travel the Spirit realm and found my peace there."

"I HAVE A GRANDSON?" Aang's voice came soon. It was clear he was joking.

"Hahaha, yeah, it seems that way, Aang." Alexander laughed.

"Well, I am more than a hundred years old so I'm not surprised," Aang said jokingly.

Zuko grunted hearing them laughing. But he didn't get angry. He was heeding his uncle's advice and let go of his arrogance and foolish pride.

"If this is the case, then Aang must have had hundreds of children, wives, and even husbands because many past Avatars were women too." Zuko japed back.

It made Aang's face fall when he thought about it.

"Hahaha... Aang is the real stud among us," Sokka started loudly laughing.

"At least I don't mistake a man for a woman," Aang replied back.

Making Sokka stop, "Okay, let's call a truce. I didn't hear anything and you didn't see anything."

"No," Aang denied.

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