The Traitor Princess

Chapter 50 - The Painted Lady

Two Years Ago...

Eziri stood on the deck of her brother's ship, shifting quickly through her advanced forms. Her uncle was going to teach her how to bend lightning later that day and she wanted to hurry through her warm-ups.

"No!" Iroh chastised. Eziri dropped her stance and groaned, preparing for a lecture. "You cannot cut corners, Princess Eziri. Arrogance will ruin your bending. Do the set again and do it correctly this time." He instructed.

A few feet away, Zuko snickered and smirked at his sister. Eziri narrowed her eyes and lifted her hand, fully intending to shoot fire at him.

"Send even one puff of smoke at your brother right now and I will end our lessons for today." Eziri sighed and dropped her hand. Iroh turned to his nephew. "And you—don't you have your own set to work on?" Iroh gave Zuko a pointed look. Zuko rolled his eyes and returned to his training.

Eziri reluctantly got into her stance and started shifting through her set, not rushing this time. It took her quite some time to feel relaxed during her training sessions with her Uncle. Up until Zuko's banishment, she had received all of her training from her father. And during those sessions, one toe out of line resulted in serious consequences. Training with her uncle was completely different. The first dozen lessons, she winced and prepared for him to strike when she made an error or got tired while they were still working. Zuko thought she was just being an insufferable perfectionist, but Iroh knew better. He was stern with his niece and nephew, but he was also patient and kind. He was much gentler with Eziri at first, but he toughened up a bit once she realized he would never hurt her. Regardless, she never tested her uncle's limits. One correction or lecture was all she needed to stay in line.

When she finished her forms, Iroh sat her down to begin her lightning training. They spent a long time talking about energy and working through the motions. Once Iroh was certain she was ready, they stood and she tried to produce lightning for the first time. She moved her arms around in sweeping motions, using two fingers to separate the positive and negative energy. Unfortunately, when she shot her arm out to the sky, a small explosion erupted and knocked her back a few feet. She rolled to the floor and skidded all the way to the railing with a grunt.

Iroh and Zuko both rushed over. "Are you ok?" Zuko extended his hand down to his sister. She sat up and took his hand, standing and dusting herself off.

"Fine." She grumbled. She was embarrassed at her failed attempt. She was especially embarrassed because the entire crew witnessed it.

"You almost had it, my dear. At the last moment, you hesitated." Iroh said.

"I know, I'm sorry." Eziri avoided eye contact with her Uncle. She didn't take her failure well. She expected to get it on the first try and was mentally kicking herself. Both Iroh and Zuko stared at her expectantly. She felt their eyes on her and slowly looked up. "What?"

"Aren't you going to try again?" Zuko asked as though it was obvious.

Eziri turned to her Uncle. "I-Is that ok?" She asked quietly.

Iroh smiled. "Of course it is." He patted her shoulder. "Keep trying until you get it."

Eziri moved back to the center of the deck. She shifted through the motions a few times in preparation. Iroh started working with Zuko a safe distance away, but both of them kept glancing at Eziri out of the corner of their eyes.

Eziri tried to form lighting once again but got blown away again. She growled and got up once more, fueled by determination. She strengthened her stance and tried one more time. To her surprise, she could feel the electricity crackling through her arms as she moved. When she shot two fingers towards the sky, a large, bright lightning bolt erupted. Eziri stared at it in awe, her fingertips smoking slightly from the blast.