Flameheart | Zuko

TWENTY-FOUR

The gentle breeze of the wind blew her dark hair back, caressing her face, screwed up in concentration. Her lips were pursed and her eyes were closed, her whole body tense. She stood as still as she could, attempting to balance on the hilt of her sword, buried in the ground. She swayed at first but then, as she attempted to calm down, she started to find her balance. A few minutes later, she had attempted to balance on the hilt of her sword completely, on one foot.

Homura's eyes were still closed but this time, her expression was serene, her lips slightly parted as she breathed in and out. She seemed perfectly still on the outside, the picture of calmness. In her mind, though, what took place was another story.

-

She kicked again and again, focusing all of her anger and aggression on the dummy that had been placed in front of her, showing it no mercy. The little girl glared at it so hard one would think it would burst aflame just by her glare, but the dummy still stood. She willed herself to make some fire, as she reminded herself of what she needed to do. All she had to do was focus on the dummy and hit it like she meant to cause it serious harm, or else her mother, father and grandmother watching would know for sure she wasn't a firebender. Her mother and father already believed that. She needed to prove she was a firebender. That she was as good as they were.

She punched the dummy and made a flip backwards, kicking the air, hoping for a flame to burst out of the end of her feet. She stood there, panting as she looked up at the dummy, sweat gathering in her forehead. The dummy hadn't caught fire. She growled as she got ready to attack again when she heard her father speak up.

"That's enough, Homura." Her face fell as she turned to face him and she could clearly see the disappointment in his eyes. "Your mother and I were convinced for some time. You aren't a firebender."

Tears were gathering in the girl's eyes rapidly as she looked at the ground so as to not show her tears. She wasn't a firebender. She was just a failure.

"She's not entirely useless, Zhao," her mother spoke up, her voice cold, and the girl knew she was sneering. "Perhaps the Fire Lord will have other uses of her. Let me take her with me in the next mission in Ba Sing Se. Let me teach her the ways of spying. She doesn't need to be a firebender to become a decent spy. The Fire Lord will have use of her in the future."

Zhao nodded as he turned to his wife. "You're right, Chiaki. The Fire Lord will be pleased to know you're training a new spy for him."

She could hear her parents leaving but still, she didn't look up from the ground. She sniffed quietly, tears running down her cheeks and she attempted to silence her small sob. It was only then she caught sight of someone sitting down opposite her she realised she wasn't alone.

Homura looked up, startled, only to see her grandmother. She was smiling at her, a wrinkled, sad smile. She didn't hesitate to reach over and brush her tears away, and once there were no more tears on her cheeks, she rested her hand on one of them.

"You aren't useless, Homura. And you aren't a failure."

"Easy for you to say," she frowned, "you're a firebender."

"The Fire Lady isn't a bender, though, and she's still not useless," she pointed out softly as she brushed away yet another tear. "Nevermind you don't need to be useful to someone to have value."

It was the last straw. Homura jumped in her grandmother's arms as she allowed herself to cry, and her grandmother in return put her arms around her and held her close.