Chapter 5

What the hell is wrong with the universe its putting me in uncomfortable situations one after the other. The middle age man was younger than the counter part from the show. His eyes also hold much more vigor. He was the dragon of the west, master fire bender, great general of the fire nation and the current heir to the throne.

"Greetings general Iroh its..." 

"I am afraid introductions have to wait. Answer my questions and I will decide if I reduce you to ash or not." said an unamused Iroh.

"Uncle it was I who brought him..." Azula tried to explain but she was quickly silenced.

"I will do the talking here Azula! What are you doing here doing here young man ?" Asked the general.

"I was reading about the royal bending styles to improve my own fire bending." I answered honestly knowing lying will only worsen things.

"What is your goal that require the knowledge stored here?" He asked again.

"That would be to become the strongest bender so that I can protect what I care for." I answered looking directly to his eyes. My answer seems to catch both Azula and Iroh off guard.

"A respectable answer. Final question what Is the meaning of your fire?" Iroh asked for the last time.

"The meaning of my fire would be life and energy." I said which again shocked both of them but Azula was shocked more. Iroh remained quite for some time before letting out a hearty laugh.

"What a spirited young man. Azula you should consider him as one of your husband candidate, his a great catch." Iroh said while he let Azula down and then gave me a wink. He then exited the library but just before leaving he stopped and looked at me. "If you have time, meet me tomorrow I would love to play some Pai Sho with you." And then he walked away. 

I then looked at Azula who just had a blank stare at the sealing murmuring something with a red face. I shook her a little then she looked at me but her face turned even red before fainting. Huh women!

After our thrilling encounter we called it a night and went to sleep. In the morning after having breakfast I went to find Iroh. Since I would be leaving today I thought I should honor the generals request. Ever since I was little mother taught me Pai Sho. If I had to describe it then its a mix of shogi and chess times 10. Theres just so many moves and calculations involved that many say there is and infinite number of moves involved. The beauty of Pai Sho is that you don't know if your playing against a master or beginner until you have played at least one full game with them, like the present for example. 

"Youngster these days, they really are such spirited young lads. You play well young Arima." Said the winner of the match.

"Thank you general." I said maintaining basic courtesy. 

"Come now Arima theres no need to be so formal. We could be in laws in future, but I do have to aske who taught you to play Pai Sho?" Asked a curious Iroh.

"That would be my mother Leya." Listening to the name Iroh took a closer look at me. 

"Although your face have some resembles I could not have guessed your Leyas child."

"You Know my mother?" I asked a little surprised.

"Yes she and Ursa were great friends. I also met her during the wedding of my brother." said Iroh while tacking a sip of his tea. "You see it might be rude to ask but can you look after Azula for me? That child although mature for her age carries deep pain in her heart. If shes not looked after properly in future she may fall to the wrong path." Iroh said while he put down the tea pot and looked straight at me.

"You seem to forget that I am also a 7 year old child." I said while giving him a fake angry look.

"Well sorry but I have seen no 7 year child with such vast amounts of chi and who knows the meaning of their own fires true from." Iroh said clearly finding the face that I was making amusing. I mean how could I not? up until now I did not meet anyone who could sense my chi not even Azulon I made sure of that. It reminded me That I truly was in the presence in one of the best fire benders in the world. 

"If you agree to look after her consider me owing you a favor if you ever need something." Well I was going to look after her regardless, so I agreed on the spot. I chatted with the old man til it was afternoon. After some asking he taught me a way to hide ones chi. Gotta say my trip this time was very worth while. "Remember young Arima Pai Sho is not just a game. Its a way to share like minded thoughts." Iroh said while I was leaving. what did he mean by that? No idea.

Now I was outside the royal palace while someone came to say goodbyes. "I will see you back in school and remember your promise Airma. If you double cross me I will make sure you pay for....." Before she could continue I just turned around and while waving my hands as I walked towards home.

"What ever you say Azulu will see you at school."

"Azulu?" It seemed that the princess didn't expect my counter attack and she staggered.

After returning home meeting mother I got back to school. Another year of academy awaits This year we could chose different subject based on our wishes. So I chose language courses of the 4 nations, Geography, Riding and physical fitness courses. All in all it was pretty lackluster than others.

After The first day of the school I headed to my hiding spot only to find an impatient princess and a bubly girl who was doing hand stands. After bantering for some time we finally proceeded to the actual training and it was rough. Azula was literally breaking her foundations to rebuild them using my philosophies. As time went on Azulas genius mind began to show more and more she was she was absorbing my lessons like a sponge and within just four months she was able to rebuild her foundations from the ground up. I also taught her the breath of the fire breathing technique and it worked wonders. I also taught Tye Lee the breath of love.

Though not all things were sunshine and rainbows."Aagh! how can fire be life and energy when its clearly death and destruction." said an angry Azula while she destroyed everything around us with fire. I appeared behind her quickly instructed her. 

"Calm down Azula, you will draw attention to our hiding spot." saying so moved my hands around the fire and made a pulling motion. the fires quickly gathered towards my hands and with a swipe I extinguished them. Azula also took some deep breaths and she finally calmed down. 

"Teach me" She said while pouting. Well a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do I guess.

"Sit down Azula. Tell me what is the source of our fire bending?" I asked her

"The sun but I don't understand what it has to do with understanding fire " answered a confused Azula.

"Everything actually. Did you ever see the sun directly causing destruction and death? No the sun actually does the opposite it gives light and heat which provides plants sun light needed for their growth and through those plant are we humans and animals have our foods. So in a way only because the sun provides us energy do we get to live our lives. Do you understand? Without it life is simply impossible. And as fire bending is derived from the sun it holds the same meaning. Although a forest might be burned to ashes, it is those ashes that provide the nutrients for the next generation of trees of which seeds are buried under the soil." I said in sagely manner while drawing outlines of different things on the beach sand. "Do you get it now?"

"I need to think about it more."

"Uh me! me! me next please!" Tye Lee then asked me for some instructions. While she didn't need any advise on the movement department she would ask other questions. After I gave lessons to both of them I sat under a tree and picked up a leaf. I then stuck it to my head. You see I have been thinking since the powers from demon slayers works in this world what about other other powers? After some struggle I finally mastered the leaf sticking exercise over the last month. I got up and evenly distributed my chi on the under side of my shoe and then took a step on the tree and another one then another. Yes I had succeeded!

"How did you do that?" Tye Lee who was behind me asked which woke Azula up from her meditative state. Before they could say something I bolted to the shore line.

"Arima wait up." Both of them ran after me and we finally came to the sea. Without answering them I quickly got close enough to let the waves touch my feet. I then started to do the legendary hand signs.

"Ushi Saru Oo Ne E Tori Ushi Uma Tori Ne Tora Inu Tora Mee Ushi Hitsuji"

"Whats he doing? Did he finally go crazy?" A confused Azula asked Tye Lee.

"Me E Hitsuji Ne Genne Saru Tori Tatzu Tori Ushi Uma"

"I don't know. Maybe its some sort of dance move?" Answered an equally confused Tye Lee.

"Hitsuji Tora Me Ne Saru Ooh E Tatzu Hitsuji Ne Ushi Saru Tori Ge Ne E"

"looks fun I will join too." saying so she too tried to mimic my movements 

"Tori." I competed my seal and shouted.

"Water Style water: dragon jutsu."

And.....nothing not even a splash!

"Look here stupid last time I checked you were a fire bender NOT a water bender so if you have to name that ugly dance then at least name it something like fire dragon maybe." Said Azula while she was giving me a look of stupidity. 

"Arima show it to me one more time I nearly got it!" said an ever cheerful Tye Lee. Thanks Tye Lee your a true bro.

After making a fool out of myself I got back to my dorm and started my meditation. I think I have an idea why that didn't work. Chakra and chi are both very different. Chakra is a type of energy that is created by mixing physical and spiritual energy while chi is a energy that flows through everything in this world. In this world creating chakra is impossible because I tried it already. In naruto there also is nature energy which is similar to chi yet very different in characteristics. Chi does not turn you into a stone statue and its much milder in nature so I can still do the chakra control exercises with it but anything beyond that is impossible. Though this thing also helps me a ton in my chi control so its not a total bummer. Goodbye my dream of shooting water dragons.

Its been 6 months since I went to the royal palace and I have already figure out my next goal and that is to sneak in to the dragon bone catacombs. It is where past fire lords are buried along with forbidden knowledge. Call it curiosity I really want to know more about the past fire lords. I want to learn more about the history of the fire nation. The history that is taught in the school is a load of bull. They paint fire nation as some kind of messiah who are trying to spread their prosperity by conquering other nation. They also paint Sozin as some kind of god who guid them. This is why I hate that Sozin guy, He reminds me of a guy from my previous world who should have been in art school. Honestly I am looking forward to all the knowledge the catacombs may hold.