For Zuko

[thethirdwonder]

There were a lot of things Cassie felt like she was loosing her grip of on the island. Her friends from home all seemed to have lives that didn't include her...and whatever life she had had on the island had disappeared with a lot of its residents. She had thought things would get better with Kon...but in truth it felt more like she was loosing him

Comments

[irisewiththesun]

Zuko's been practicing every day since he came to the island. He absolutely hates that he doesn't have his bending, but that's even more reason to keep up all his other skills, especially now that he has his broadswords. And he still goes through the motions with his firebending drills, doing the practice even though the fire isn't there.

He's walking along, joined blades strapped across his back, and he still can't get used to how when he blows out a breath in this cold weather it comes out as a faint cloud instead of a puff of flame. When he comes across a girl, practicing with a blade of some sort that's not like anything he's ever seen before, he stops and watches for a minute, silently assessing.

"That's pretty good," he says finally, mainly to announce his presence.

[thethirdwonder]

Either she'd been too engrossed in her drills or he was good enough not to make a sound in the snow because she didn't want to admit her senses hadn't picked him up before he spoke. She paused in the middle of her drill then straightened to give him a small smile as Oathkeeper fell to her side. "Thanks. It's been a while since my teachers disappeared so those drills are all I got."

If his appearance bothered her, she didn't show it. After some of the heroes she had worked with, a scared face wasn't that shocking.

[irisewiththesun]

It's funny, because it's a role he only imagined for himself recently, but Zuko's come to like being a teacher, and now that he's here without Aang he's started to miss it.

"Would you mind showing me that again?" he asks, wanting to see what she's got.

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie cocked her head for a moment, as if assessing him, then nodded with a small smile. "Sure, I can do that." She took a moment to tighten one of her pig tails before getting back into a stance Riku had taught her and raised Oathkeeper up to start the drill again.

While the drill was accurate, it was clear she was still trying to call on a super strength that just wasn't there anymore.