The Last Five Years (2/2)

"Filth."

"Swine."

"Disgusting Creature."

Servants muttered as Xiao walked through the halls. It has been a few weeks since he got to the royal palace in the Fire Nation Capital.

He had long since changed out of his dirty rags, and his clean skin looked much more healthy than it had before.

Xiao had tanned skin, with handsome facial features. His nose was pointed, and his eyes looked kind. On his ears he wore a pair of hanafuda earrings.

As for clothing, He wore a violet kimono, which contrasted with the normal red attire of the Fire nation, along with a black shirt, pants, belt, and shoes underneath.

He was currently on his way to see Iroh, who said he was to start training today. After he had collapsed in front of the large Audience of nobles when he had over exerted himself to defeat Azula, no one had any more qualms with Iroh training him.

They let him move in with Iroh to the west wing of the royal palace. It was a peaceful place, with many beautiful Japanese styled gardens. Small streams ran throughout them, and a few hot-springs could be found if you looked.

They even had their own private training ground, where Iroh was supposed to be waiting. Xiao arrived ten minutes earlier than the agreed time, and so he sat there waiting for Iroh who had yet to show up. He brewed some tea while he waited, making Jasmine tea with a bit of goat milk and honey, just how Iroh liked it. He had asked a servant for it, and since they were required to serve him, the servant did it begrudgingly.

Xiao now waited for Iroh to show up, smiling in the morning sun. His hands rested in his lap as he closed his eyes and sniffed. He always had a good sense of smell after all.

He smelled a bunch of… fancy smells. He doesn't really know what they are since most of them seem to be unique to the palace.

"Aren't you Uncle's apprentice? Nice to meet you, my name is Zuko!" Xiao suddenly heard a young voice from his right. He was slightly startled as he didn't pick up on the boy's scent due to the overwhelming amount of stronger scents nearby.

He turned and saw a boy with an innocent but handsome face and a ponytail. He wore fancy looking robes and was looking at the violet-dressed boy curiously. 'Isn't he the prince?' Xiao thought as he smiled nervously. "Hello. My name is Xiao, nice to meet you, Zuko." He said, getting up and bowing slightly. He didn't want to offend the heir of the Fire Nation after all.

"Great morning, isn't it?" Zuko said with a light chuckle. Xiao smiled and nodded. 'He doesn't seem too bad.' He though to himself as they chatted and laughed together for a bit.

Soon however, Iroh showed up, at which point Ciao stopped talking to Zuko and bowed deeply. "Good morning, Master." He said in a respective tone. His head was practically touching the ground from how low he was bowing.

"Stand, young Xiao. I don't want you to be so formal in my presence when no one is around. It makes me uncomfortable!" Iroh said with a smile. Xiao immediately straightened out and said with a serious tone. "Very well, Master. I will make sure to act more casually from now on!"

Zuko and Iroh both smiled, their eyes twitching. "Good morning, uncle." Zuko said, smiling as he hugged Iroh. Iroh just smiled, before sniffing. "Is that jasmine tea with goat milk and honey? Where?!" He said, suddenly jumping out of his nephew's embrace and racing past Xiao with his mouth watering and stars in his eyes. When he saw the kettle, he zipped over and with inhuman speed poured three cups of tea and started sipping from his own. He sighed with pleasure before looking up at the two boys before him.

"What?" He asked as he saw their expressions. Xiao was shocked and Zuko wore and amused face. "Nothing." They said simultaneously, sitting down and drinking as well. After chatting for a bit and sipping tea, Xiao suddenly straightened his back and looked seriously at Iroh.

"What should I do first, Master?" He said, to which Iroh also became more serious. "We will start with controlling your flames and learning the basics. We will move on from there." Iroh said, to which Xiao nodded and stood up. He went over to the training ground and started following Iroh's instructing. Zuko looked on with interest as Xiao trained for many hours.

Suddenly, Zuko got up and went out as well, practicing next to Xiao. They were silent for a while before Xiao looked over. "I will master this first." He said, to which Zuko scoffed. "Not if I can do something about it!" And so they trained with vigor until they had both collapsed on the ground.

"You may be better at bending, but I am better at the sword!" Zuko said, knowing that since he had been trained since young isn't he sword that the likely hood that Xiao would be better than him in it was low.

"We'll see!" Xiao exclaimed, not wanting to loose in anything.

"I cannot teach that to you, but I know someone who can…" Iroh said while scratching his beard. He sipped some tea before standing up. "Training is done for today, would anyone like some roasted turtle-duck?"