It had been a hectic day to say the least. The web of Dai Li lies had crumbled precipitously not long after Aang and his friends had discovered the secret complex under Lake Laogai. The group had thought Appa lost once again only to have him swoop in and rescue them with a masked Zuko leaping from the basket on his back to aid in their defense.

Zuko sat before the group of teens staring at him warily, the worst of them being the blank eyes of the small blind girl who nevertheless seemed to stare into his very soul.

"So let me get this straight." Sokka's skeptical voice rang out. "You mean to tell us that because your uncle disappeared, and you went to train with that crazy fire hermit, you stopped wanting to capture Aang and now want to help him? I don't buy it. What's the catch?"

"The 'catch', is I want the Avatar's help for finding my uncle." Here Zuko turned to look Aang full in the face. "Can I safely assume you know about that huge fire spirit that's been going crazy in the area for the last couple of weeks?"

Aang grimaced. He had felt that spirit; he had been feeling it, and its frustration now for almost a full two weeks now. He had tried to commune with it, to figure out what it was and why it was so agitated, but he just couldn’t do it with all the other things going on at the moment; he couldn’t maintain the focus he needed long enough to get into contact with the enraged spirit long enough to speak to it.

"It showed up a couple of days after Uncle Iroh disappeared. One minute he was walking behind me, the next he was gone with no trace."

Katara and Aang's eyes widened simultaneously as they made the connection. "Waaiiiit a minute," Katara interrupted him, "you don't happen to mean the old guy with the big beard that helped us out at the North Pole?"

Zuko's grimace was all they needed for confirmation. He looked aside as he continued, embarrassed by what he had to say.

"Look. I'm not exactly pleased with the way things turned out, I can still hardly believe I'm doing this, but what Master Jeong told me was backed up by too many things. The Fire Nation - my father - they've lost sight of what's important. Zhao showed it especially well; they don't care how much damage they do just so long as they win."

The group's eyes were riveted on him, Katara and Aang looking on with compassion, if not understanding. Sokka eyed him with suspicion while Toph smiled knowingly - at the tree three feet to his left - but knowingly all the same.

"Uncle had it right this whole time. I always thought he was crazy giving up power, but now I think he might have been right. What's the point of honor and glory if all you win are ashes? He needs to be stopped, but I can't do it, I- I'm not strong enough."

Zuko looked up, tears of shame and regret glistening unshed in the corners of his eyes, "Zhao's already made it known that I'm a traitor to the Fire Nation, I have nothing left but my Uncle. You help me find him, and I'll train you in firebending."

It was starting to heat up in Ponyville as summer had come into full swing. Iroh was once again at the log piles working on what he was told was one of the last loads of heavy beams that would be needed for the reconstruction of the town. He had ignored the noise of the Ponyville Express coming and going in the background as he worked, by now well used to the flamboyantly colored train and its comings and goings.

The noises of surprise and awe around him as well as some of discontent, however, made him take a second look. Lumbering from the station with a steady gait were two of the largest and most intimidating mortal beings he had ever seen. Each stood at double, perhaps even triple the height of the nearby ponies or at least those few locals who did not shy away from their massive forms. Thick coils of what looked like a smooth rope were slung over each of their shoulders.

"Minotaurs. Hope they're not like that one that showed up a couple of summers ago."

Iroh glanced aside at Baritone, the stallion who had been assisting him with moving the beams he was working with that morning.

"They're not dangerous, are they?" he asked.

"Sweet Celestia, no, nothing like that. They'll be the wire workers, they'll be sorting out the lights and other fiddly bits that most unicorns don't have the talent to deal with. I hear Rivet singing their praises every now and then. The one from a couple of years ago was what he called a motivational speaker, drove one of the local mares crazy, he did."

Iroh furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before he raised a finger. "That's something that had been bothering me. Why do I hardly ever see unicorns helping with the building? They only seem to move materials around, but not actually any building work."

At this, Baritone smirked slightly at that. "A unicorn with a practical talent is very rare. Mental skills like organisation, maybe artistic skills, sure. But getting a pin-head to get his hooves dirty with some hard work? Cheh, good luck with that, that Snails foal is the first I've seen who isn't that way in years."

Iroh hummed in agreement. The lanky unicorn foal was deceptively strong and wise well beyond his meager years, traits he had come to associate more with Earth ponies. Iroh turned away from the spectacle and back to his work. The sooner he finished up here, the sooner he could get back to his new home.

"Welcome home, Spike," Twilight greeted her ward from the couch as he stepped into the library. Spike smiled broadly as he carried on through the library and into the kitchen, waving and calling out a "Hi, Twilight!" as he passed her.

A month of lessons with Iroh every day had wrought changes in the young dragon that were plain for all who knew him to see; he stood slightly straighter, though he had not grown noticeably taller. His eyes, while they had always been clear and alert, now shone with self-confidence.

Spike smiled as he turned on the stove and set some water to boil. Though he had to work hard to manipulate flames that he had not breathed from his own mouth, he was getting better and better at sensing them. In fact, he rather enjoyed the tickling sensation the flames brought to the edge of his senses.

He had just begun chopping the vegetables for the evening meal when Twilight entered floating what they had come to deem 'his book'. As put out as Twilight had been at not being allowed to observe his lessons first hand, she had quickly come up with the idea of interrogating Spike thoroughly after each session and recording what he had been taught in a notebook – "for his future reference" as she had put it.

"Now," Twilight started as she made herself comfortable at the table and readied her quill in an odd reversal of Twilight's speaking as he took the notes that Spike had yet to entirely get used to, "what exercises did Iroh put you through today?"

"Well, we started with the flame dampening routine again. I was able to keep a leaf from burning for more than a full minute this time!"

Spike smiled happily at Twilight over his shoulder as he continued to cut the carrots directly into the soup pot.

"After that, we spent... about an hour I think on Fire Style Kung Fu. I'm still not very good at it; though, I think my legs are too short for some of the moves. The last thing we did was working on my flame meditation. That one I know I am getting better at, I can actually feel when there are flames around me, even when I can't actually see them or feel their heat."

"Do you think Iroh's remark from last week might be accurate then? The one about you having a knack for energy reading?" Twilight asked with interest as she finished making the latest set of notes.

"I don't know yet, but Iroh says that if my meditation improves enough, then he will try to teach me. He says he can't do it himself, but he knows the theory behind it."

At this, Twilight visibly perked up. "Did he by any chance explain the theory to you?"

Spike had hesitated a moment before he turned to Twilight "He did, and he told me to be VERY careful not to even attempt it until he could set up some safe conditions for it. He said it involves sensing the heat energy and later simply the energy in another being's body so that you can determine if and where something is wrong. He said it was about the closest a firebender can possibly get to a healing technique without access to another form of bending or magic."

"Really? Well, I guess that is kind of logical seeing how destructive fire normally is. Now I really wish we could meet more of his people, I would love to do a study on all four types of elemental manipulation as they do it."

At this, Spike merely rolled his eyes and turned back to his soup, this had been an oft-repeated refrain of Twilight's.

The sun had just set in that rapid manner that Iroh had still yet to get used to. A few times since he had gotten here he had seen the sun set slowly, the last rays of light playing artistically off the clouds to the west. A marvellous show that the ponies here seemed to appreciate all the more because it didn't happen every day.

Withdrawing a couple of small metal balls on fine chains from their chest on his back counter, he filled one with dried jasmine leaves and the other with chrysanthemum. He had just filled a couple of pots with water and placed a ball in each when the bells set above the entry door chimed pleasantly.

As she had for the last week and a half, every day since his little tea house had officially opened for business, a white unicorn with a long pink mane stepped in with a small package settled on her back -- precisely 7 minutes after the sun had set.

"Good evening, Miss Sunny." Iroh greeted her as he set his hands on either side of the pot with chrysanthemum in it and began heating the water inside.

Sunny smiled brilliantly at Iroh as she set her package on the bar counter then glanced around the room as she sat on one of the low stools. There were several small tables dotted around the room, most with three or four cushioned stools sitting next to them. A larger table sat in pride of place in the centre of the room, an octagonal grid was etched into it while 2 trays of lovingly carved and painted Pai Sho chips were slung slightly under the table on opposite sides.

This was the quiet time of day when most ponies were returning home from their day jobs, or foals were called in from their play time and sitting down to dinner. As such there were only a few of ponies in the room, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere or chatting amongst themselves.

"I would recommend you get those into the cool box as soon as possible," said Sunny Skies, indicating the box on the counter, "They were not easy to get my hooves on, and you don't want them to go to waste."

Curiously, Iroh lifted the lid on the box and his eyes widened at the sight of a dozen skewers, each loaded with a quartet of pastry wrapped balls. Two jars sat beside them, each filled to the brim with a thick red sauce.

"I thought you were merely curious when you asked to learn some recipes from my world, but to produce a box of what appears to be perfectly prepared dango? Well, now you really can call me a believer that you really do know how to brighten somepony's day."

Iroh stopped for a moment and groaned. "That verbal tick of yours is annoyingly infectious. Someone's day! Some. One."

Sunny giggled happily from across the counter as she poured her first cup of Iroh's heavenly tea. "Speaking of brightening days, I know somepony who has been waiting for this almost all day."

Iroh looked on as she took her first sip of tea and sighed contentedly as the stress of the day almost visibly melted from her face. He picked up the box and excused himself for a moment as he took it into the back room. Iroh returned with a single stick in one hand and a small dish of the red sauce in the other. Sunny looked on as he placed the whole skewer in a pot with a little water in the bottom, put a lid on it and set it in one of the fires he maintained at the back of the room for heating large pots of water.

"Do I even want to know how you came across what smells like real meat? I know you ponies can eat it, but you all seem to have an aversion to anything but eggs at the very least."

Sunny merely smiled mysteriously and said "You might say I know a mare or two..."

The bells rang from the front of the room again, making Iroh look up.

"Good evening, Lyra," he called out to her. "How are you tonight?"

"I'm good, how about you?" she replied almost automatically.

Iroh grinned broadly as he called back to her. "Your answer for today is 'very good'. See you tomorrow."

"Huh? Bu- wai- what the- but- AAAARRG!!!"

Lyra stammered then screamed in frustration as she charged straight back out the door.

Sunny stared at the door flatly for a moment before turning back to Iroh and pouting at him. "So mean..."

Iroh shrugged helplessly at her, even if his smile didn't waver in the slightest. "I can't help it if she falls for the simplest verbal trap in the world. The condition is one question a day; I can't help it if she keeps asking me the same one."

"Has she actually managed to ask you any questions she wanted to ask?"

"Just the once, and it was where other humans live. I couldn't give her an answer she was happy with."

Sunny turned her eyes back to Iroh, "What about you? I know you miss that nephew of yours, the way you talk about him makes that obvious enough. I know I would certainly miss my nephews and nieces if I were to be separated from them for any length of time, no matter how they behave."

Iroh was intrigued; this was the first time the mare had mentioned any family. He had assumed her to be relatively young though it was quite hard to tell with most ponies. "Tell me about your family. Why haven't you brought any of them with you? I'm sure they can't be all that bad."

Sunny laughed gaily and launched into a slightly edited story about how her nephew had met a lovely unicorn at a party only a few months prior, only to end up with a cake being dumped on his head.

Breathe in... The flames flicker upwards and inwards.

Breathe out... The flames sway back out again, barely losing any of their height.

Inwards... The energy of life is stoked, feel your inner flame gain strength.

Outwards... Be aware of your surroundings, feel the spirit soar in communion with the sun.

In... Maintain the control of the fire.

Out... Allow the flame its life.

"Very, very good. This is coming even more easily to you than I had hoped."

A befanged mouth pulled back into a smile, and brown eyes opened to fall upon the proud smile of Iroh. Barely a second later, they widened in shock before the candles burned themselves out in an instant, and the young dragon toppled backwards off of the cushion he had been sitting on.

"WOAH!" Spike shouted as he barely avoided landing on his head spines. "Wha- what was that?!"

Author's Notes:

I'm alive, and for that matter so is this story. I only did a basic proofread on this chapter before posting it, so please excuse what are probably way too many mistakes.

Now spelling and slightly grammar checked.