atla one shots

3-fire

This one is kinda AU, everything's the same, but some of the characters fire color will change and that will have meaning. There will also probably be inaccuracies about chi, firebending and emotions, but bear with me. Also, I have it so Zuko never did any firebending around the gang, so imagine he used a different weapon:swords, scythe, arrows, anything.

Zuko's POV

I'm not sure how much this group knows about fire, but I amuse myself by sitting in their circle and listening to all their inaccuracies. I know Toph enjoys it just as much as me, since we sit beside each other and I can hear her chuckling, along with the knowledge she can feel and on ocassion hear my soft chuckles. She is also aware I am a FIREbender, so I'm going to know the most on fire. However, I don't think any of the others truly care about the nature of fire, or even anything more than how to learn it, dodge it or destroy it, so I never speak up.

"Zuko, what do you think?"

I look up in surprise, this is the 4th night they've had this discussion about fire, but it's the first honest time anyone had asked me a question. I smile wryly, realizing this is more than likely because of how simple the answer was. The simpler the answer, the harder it is to see.

"Well, it depends on what you want to know."

"I want to know why some firebenders have different colors than others. I've seen a few firebenders fight us with grey or white. What does that mean?"

"It depends on color. Grey means ashamed, white means against the cause they are fighting for. The color of the fire tells you almost more about the bender than the person themselves can tell you. The fire stays one color, until the person is balanced and making the decisions they want to be. The grey will probably become a beautiful silver when the war is over and the white will become a purple color. Silver means satisfied, while purple means making amends."

"Ok.... then what about the ones with red fire? What do those mean?"

"Red is for drive. The red fire means they are completely in the right and know they are doing the right thing, at least in their mind. If you haven't noticed, Ozai's fire is red, but he's not right at all. Azula's blue is overconfidence. She thinks she can beat anyone and her fire reflects that. However, that also brings into light, the fact the color of the fire brings out some of the Bender's weaknesses. Azula can easily be angered or pushed into overconfidence enough that someone can easily overtake her with smart thinking and a clear head. Grey? Just throw some questions about how their loyalty always seems to be wavering, betraying one thing after another, and they will completely collapse. It depends only on the color of the fire."

"Zuko..... I noticed you never firebent at us. You always used arrows or swords or anything else, but you never bent at us or around us. Hell, I still haven't seen you bend, and you're teaching me firebending."

I nod slowly, figuring this would come up eventually. I smile, even as they all throw a suspicious glare my way. I figured this might make them question me. But, I couldn't have them know I was pretending to chase the avatar from the beginning. I never wanted him. I just wanted to join him so I could help end the war, but my father was too deep into my business to allow me to do that. Now that he knows what I'm doing, I don't have to hide it anymore. I forgot that, because I trained myself not to rely on my bending. 

"I'm aware of this, yes. It's something I trained myself to do. Not rely on my bending. With the color of my flame, it would've given away my plans right from the start. Uncle was the only one to ever know the color of my fire, and it's the same color today as it was back then. The color of my fire is rare and never seen, so I couldn't let it be about, or Ozai would've tried to get me back immediately, or he would've had me killed sooner. It depends on how he was feeling that day."