Chapter 180: Plan for Cooperation

Fully refreshed, mentally and physically, Nik kept his hips low, and legs steady, and even if he felt the burn around his thighs that slowly reached down to his calves, Nik kept the horse stance steady. He took deep breaths while Iroh watched him, Zuko, and Azula in the same stance. It has already been more than 15 minutes but Nik had gone through this many times that... two small cups of tea were set over the back of his palms as he kept his hands out straight, further straining his body.

Zuko and Azula looked slightly worse. Azula, for the most part, needed rest. She wasn't questioned too much about where she was yesterday when she revealed she was settling things with Jin and the woman Azula pulled into was the same and backed her story. June was currently sleeping. After all, with a prison located, they needed to actually converse about how to tackle the situation which was a task meant to be accomplished today.

Zuko, meanwhile, kept his head in training. This was a good distraction that allowed him to... just, not feel frustrated. And Iroh's training was by no means easy for the newcomers.

They had entered the cavern once again and Nik had bent earth again. Zuko felt he knew what was going on and his assumption was not far from Azula and Nik wasn't about to actually explain anything to them. Being the Avatar was a good cover when you could bend multiple elements.

But unlike Zuko and Azula, Nik's training had one other tweak.

Frowning as if he had realized something, Iroh walked up to Nik and dipped his finger into one of the cups of tea, and shook his head, "Control the temperature, Nik. This is what training is all about— controlling our gifts and growing better than a minute before."

Nik nodded silently, feeling that the slightest distraction would only serve to lower his control as the cup of tea began to cool slightly and grow more moderate.

"Uncle, how long do we need to stay like this?" Azula finally inquired, still feeling numb from before.

"You can rest when your legs give out," Iroh smiled and sat down once again. He certainly was the most patient in this cave and soon, Azula sat down, huffing deeply as her breasts heaved back and forth. She shot Nik a hateful glare. Obviously, it was his fault. After fucking June and staining her own face with his vile seed, he continued to fuck her throat without any sense of civility AND continued to slake his lust on Jin and herself. Things would have been fine if he felt satisfied with her... but he clearly preferred Jin a tiny bit more. He fucked her more. He stained her more. He kissed and touched her more.

Clearly, Azula wasn't thinking straight. Had he treated her the same way as Jin, she would be still sleeping soundly and not have enough strength to train this early in the day. But Azula was beginning to feel weak. Her routine was most certainly disrupted now that she felt she needed to sleep more in the afternoon which would make her sleep at night much more delayed...

And after last night, Azula couldn't think of what to do anything else but Nik and Jin during the night.

Although Jin and Azula hadn't talked... Azula felt that they had certainly put many things past themselves last night. One thing was for sure, both of them were ready to move on from each other even if it meant... slightly more shared interests, not that Azula was about to admit any of it. The thought that Mai and her mother were ensnared similar to Toph and Poppy... the perceptive Azula felt a pattern in the making... and she felt quite complicated.

She must make her mother stop working in their uncle's tea store, no doubt about that!

While Azula rested, Zuko crumbled soon after. His knees still shivering slightly as he panted loudly.

"Both of you need to meditate now. Let the fire building in your stomach coursing through your veins and your bodies... it will alleviate some of the strain in your body."

"Wait, firebending can do that?" Nik's mind instantly fell on Aang's claim. Although Tui had healed his knee, Iroh's sudden claim made him recall how Firebending and Earthbending were the arts that held the secret to healing him.

"Fire is the expression of passion and strength. It is also the expression of life and destruction." Iroh smiled, "Firebenders do throw balls of fire... but that is a very tiny aspect of firebending. Such is the case with other forms of bending as well. If the destructive force of fire is the physical side of the bending then the expression of life in fire is the spiritual side."

"How come you never told me any of that?" Nik parted his lips at the newfound wisdom. Aang certainly focused on the spiritual training when he taught Nik but Iroh's training was much more grounded. He didn't teach anything special like Hama and her bloodbending. He also wasn't as brazen as Toph when she taught Nik earthbending while he struggled with lavabending. So, Iroh suddenly making such claims made Nik feel that it was probably revealed to his nephew and niece.

They must have understood this as well. Zuko scoffed and quickly crossed his legs before closing his eyes, more than willing to get a leg up on Nik while Azula gave him a mocking stare and smirked, entering a meditative stance.

Yet, Iroh's wry, almost accusing tone made them want to throw up as their Royal Uncle claimed, "How can I teach you this when you barely get tired? A few minutes of rest is all it takes for you to jump up and demand more training. Hmm, I wanted to push you through some limits before letting you meditate on the element of fire with this in mind."

Nik blinked and nodded, fully focusing on keeping the temperature of tea in check as he constantly employed the Heat Vision that was derived from seismic sense to make sure that both the cups were equally warm.

Time passed gradually and eventually, even Nik felt his knees and thighs getting numb. Taking a deep breath, Nik tossed the cups up slightly and instantly straightened himself when his numb legs crumbled directly as he felt the jitters pass through his leg while the cups of tea were quickly caught by Iroh, "Huff... I saved you two..." Iroh sighed softly.

Nik snorted under his breath at his antics and entered a meditative stance, too. The benefits of having a master were apparent since Nik severely lacked knowledge of firebending. Ironically, his knowledge of the airbenders was quite extensive but he only lacked time to practice other advanced techniques and theories. But it was alright. It's not like he is wasting his time at the moment.

Sensing the heat brewing within his stomach, Nik tried to calmly direct it around his body. Bending mostly relies on energy and intentions. The movement of the body is included in the aspect of intending to do something and facilitates the anticipated results so moving the 'fire' within his body was simple enough after how much experience he had gathered but trying to heal... was hard. He was barely an average guy when it came to healing with waterbending, unlike Katara, and thinking of fire healing him was just too outlandish to be imagined...

'No, not healing but reducing strain...'

Nik grew more solemn as he imagined the warm currents of energy making his thighs less numb and his shoulders less strained only to get interrupted—

"Wow, that was easy," Azula's smug chime filled the cavern as she stood up, making Zuko and Nik look at her as she stretched down without the slightest hint of hesitation.

Even Iroh looked impressed at Azula regaining her mobility suddenly.

"Hmm? The two of you still haven't gotten it?" Azula cocked her brows with a cheeky smirk on her lips as she seemed more focused on Nik, "Maybe the royal blood is too strong even when compared to the mighty Avatar."

Nik blinked, not surprised that she would consider him the avatar. He may just be one if he didn't know how the actual Avatar could summon past life and gain their experiences and whatnot... all jotted down in the library.

"Isn't Zuko from the royal blood, too?" Nik pointed out. Of course, Azula was quick to uptake as she crossed her arms, "I'm just better."

Zuko snorted, unwilling to have any argument with her since he'd already suffered quite a lot of loss due to her words alone as Nik closed his eyes, too, "Really? I found Jin better."

Of course, his words held meaning only Azula understood as she instantly felt a peal of anger blazing into her heart while others misunderstood. Zuko instantly found himself unable to concentrate again and only god knows how he would react if he knew what happened last night.

"Well," Iroh interjected, "Since you feel well, you should start with the same training again. Fire doesn't technically heal us, but it is an expression of life and passion and that's what it does. Your body is quite ready to train... but the effects of harsh training are only delayed. You will need to rest shortly after."

Iroh continued to guide the trio. As Azula returned to the same stance, Nik and Zuko tried to alleviate the tension in their bodies. Just because Nik didn't achieve it instantly didn't mean he was lagging too behind. Healing with water had given him enough experience and soon, Nik felt his muscles relax slightly and warm up. He knew it for a fact that this wasn't anything natural for he was feeling it for the first time himself.

"Oh?" Iroh smiled. For a minute, Nik felt his chi sweeping over him in a familiar manner and realized that Iroh was sensing his body's temperature.

Realizing that Nik had achieved the intended effects, Iroh appointed a different training to Nik that made him exert his chi by performing the most foundational firebending moves.

Of course, not to break Zuko's concentration, Nik delved deeper into the tunnel and practiced elsewhere.

Ever since he had seen Azula's blue firebending, Nik had wanted to try that. But a short inquiry from Iroh netted him that while blue flames were definitely hotter, it is hard to train and even harder to maintain. After all, the blue flames lost their heat after losing the connection with the user's chi and would become ordinary flames within seconds. Not to mention the fact that Iroh believed that having blue flames did not directly affect one's capabilities and the outcome of the fight between two firebenders depended on the parties involved in the battle and not the temperature of their flames.

Nuts to that.

Even if Nik didn't need to use blue fire, he would certainly like the option for it and his opponents weren't just the Phoenix King and his forces... the spirits are significantly more dangerous and even if they hadn't affected him negatively for some time now... their first impression was lasting enough to keep Nik on his toes when it came to them.

So, as Nik threw jabs of flames and swung fatal arcs of fire, he began to think of ways how to magnify the quality of his flames. Iroh's teaching today inspired him somewhat. Ordinarily, injecting more chi into flames would only increase their base quantity. In fact, the temperature of his flames... have remained pretty consistent so far. They were hot, to be exact. Not hauntingly so.

But Iroh was pretty sure that Blue Flames aren't just awakened but trained upto. And now, Nik felt that it had something to do with the mindset of the firebender...

To maneuver the fire within and 'motivate' the body to work harder and push past limits was already wild so why not blue flames? Heck, while many things about fire nation were lost, the bending section revealed a strange subset of Firebending known as lightning bending.

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If THAT is within the realms of possibility, and if he is quite 'free' to achieve his desires, more now than ever, then why wouldn't he want blue flames? But if desires alone were sufficient, he would have already reached the top of the world.

'Mindset... what does Azula think about?' Nik grew thoughtful and began to characterize things she had done from a rational perspective. It was a terribly hard thing to do. Nik's interactions with Azula had also been pretty biased to actually form a healthy opinion.

'I should probably ask Ursa... or Zuko... or Azula if she doesn't try to bite my head off...'

He sighed.

---

The training was bound to come to an end at the break of dawn, after Azula and Zuko had left, albeit reluctantly for their own reasons— Azula being too tired at the end of it all and Zuko having his own work to do. Nik and others soon began to discuss how to approach the situation and things were fairly technical now...

They had officially disrupted the Phoenix King's governance over the Northern Water Tribe. Fortunately, there was someone with actual experience with wars.

"Hmm..." Iroh thought for a moment. It was indeed a surprise to him that Zuko and Azula were leading the rebels and could understand why they didn't want it known. He himself wasn't about to interrupt that and expose his nephew and niece... he wasn't built like that but...

"The rebels are hopeless if Zuko and Azula are indeed the leaders," Iroh concluded, surprising not a few around him.

"Really? They must have amassed quite the number of people by now," Suki frowned.

"Ozai knows." Iroh stated calmly, "To be precise, if the Ozai I remember is still the Phoenix King... then he never lost sight of Ursa, Zuko, and Azula. Their disappearance just helped him achieve his goals efficiently. What you guys lack is foresight."

Iroh shrugged and continued, "Yue, Michi, and Poppy rarely leave. Their upbringing and life have made them extremely isolated and private. If not this store then some other location. Once they find a comfortable enough location... they will feel at ease and would try to make others' lives easier. It's not a bad thing, to be more inclined to the household that is..."

Poppy, Yue, and Michi weren't the least bit offended by this. It was true, after all. This was their comfort zone and while they were training under Suki, it did not change their temperament all that much.

"Suki, Toph, and June have been too focused on their expeditions. They have no idea what's going on around them and even if June had slightly more information, given how long she has arrived for now... that advantage is long gone."

"Mai and Katara find the village rather dull when they have their own training to do. I understand the sense of urgency you feel..."

"And Nik, you just have too many things to do at once, or at least, that's what you feel so even you have not noticed after exploring the village for quite some time." Iroh smiled.

Jin entered the dining area at this time with her hands holding a tray with multiple cups of tea on it. A wide smile was plastered on her lips, "Important things must be talked over some beverage." Setting the tray on the table in the middle, Jin added, "Right, I will be out of your hair."

Jin did want to hear what they were talking about... but her gut told her that ignorance would truly be bliss right now.

She glanced at the group for a second and then left into the kitchen.

"When are you going to tell her?" Katara inquired in a muted tone. Nik didn't really hide who he slept with and even if he did, June would have celebrated the fact that they bedded another princess.

Nik shrugged, "It's not really urgent." After all... he went a long time without telling the girls already present and again, there was June who didn't know just how much of a flight risk he was...

And deep down, Nik felt that... he should just wait. After all, it would be too tiring to individually tell everyone he was an otherworldly traveling employee of sorts and just tell the truth in 'batches.'

And right now, June and Jin were barely considered a batch.

"Ehm," Iroh didn't let the conversation steer away and took a cup of tea, "The reason I am emphasizing all this is... due to the lack of information gathering within your group. Without information, you cannot deduce the truth and without certain conclusions, you cannot make informed decisions."

"Admiral Zhao did say that they only try to influence the minds of young children... and what you informed me back then about Ozai's agenda certainly supports this statement. Did you know that many children in this and surrounding villages began to disappear a few years ago before they mysteriously returned?"

Iroh questioned as everyone except June's expressions changed.

"Children? What do they have to do with anything?" June questioned.

And once she was informed about Dai Li that should be situated within the Phoenix City, even June's expression grew grim.

"I found this out when I entered the Poor Man's Land beforehand. Ozai has his eyes and ears everywhere... the Dai Li has given him the most effective way to truly bring the world to his heels. And soon, he would want an heir to his legacy. I simply wanted to find Zuko and Azula before he did... to guide them on a better path. As such, even when they do meet with their father... they aren't easily swayed."

His words were a wake-up call to everyone but... what could they do aside from helping the prisoners?

"Although risky, I suggest you guys work with the assumption that your actions are already known to Ozai. That he knows about Zuko, Azula, and Ursa. That he knows the Avatar isn't here but you guys are. That he knows about the rebels and their next possible action. Even now, he is allowing the rebels to exist, that must be for a reason."

"Find that reason." Iroh asserted.

"And what about you?" Nik inquired, "Your brother wouldn't be happy with your actions."

"What about me?" Iroh smiled, "Even if something happens to me, there is no shortage of Fire Nation higher-ups who want to do good. I have also most certainly fulfilled most of my intended roles. My brother can try and throw a tantrum whenever he pleases."

"But... this still doesn't solve our dilemma. Where would the prisoners settle once we rescue them?" Suki questioned again.

And Nik suddenly looked at Iroh who sipped on his tea. What a guy. He just said... it doesn't matter what they do. So, it also meant that they didn't need to fear the consequences of their actions for the time being.

"The rebels," Nik blinked, "They have enough underground presence and more than enough members. Not to mention, the other prisoners with the rebels won't let others in a similar situation down... in fact, why reveal our full force when we can cooperate with them?"

***

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