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Some time after talking with Steph, Zuko still has no idea how to go about approaching the many people who he should proably talk to.

Instead, he's focusing on something that puts it all off very nicely, and practicing firebending forms out in the training field. They really do make much more sense after visiting the Masters - without having to spend to much effort on brute force and anger to produce the flame, everything flows more, and that in turn is levelling out his thoughts.

So. Another version of him had children. And they're here. They also seem to think he's their father- at least, the version that they knew. He should talk to Mel first, then. He's not sure what she thinks, but he should ask, in any case. And Iroh should know.

Later. He finishes off a form, and moves onto the next.

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She is fast. Unusually so, although it isn't unknown among firebenders, at least.

He exhales deliberately, moving away as fast as he can manage to limit the impact of her blow, aiming a retaliatory strike at her lower back as he spins around.

Dinah doesn't consider it cheating if she doesn't quite stick to the same discipline. She likes to mix and match.

Like, for instance, somersaulting backwards and over his flame before it can even make her warm. She hits the ground in a crouch and spins, a foot out at ankle height.

--Wow, and there's jumping. Zuko narrows his eyes, following her over, before pivoting almost in tandem with her spin to bring a non-flaming, but very solid punch down to her side, and slamming the other foot dwn to try and keep stability in spite of being kicked.

(Ouch, but he'll deal with bruising later.)

The trouble is: by not flaming he completely sacrifices his advantage. She rolls over air away and his fist doesn't connect... with her side.

He might want to watch that knife hand coming for his wrist.

He snatches his hand to the side just in time, before grabbing at her other one as he turns, widening his stance for greater stability. Zuko isn't that tall, but he's strong, and currently shifting his weight to pull her over his head once he can get an anchor on her arm to roll her up and over.

He can do that.

It's not immediately obvious whether Dinah lets him, or he's just too fast, or whether she's thinking that clearly in battle and has decided that she can turn this to her advantage.

Except as he pulls her over, her other hand comes down, fast and sharp, two knuckles extended, and twists as it comes at his solar plexus.

Let's see how he manages with his Third Chakra blocked.

Zuko coughs at the bruising blow, and shoves her away from him, rolling back himself to try and gain a little breathing space. His breath comes hot, but although the pain isn't crippling, something feels... off. Familiarly so.

He raises his hands again, breathing slowly, and...

Oh. Shit.

Dinah rolls in the air, and lands firm on spread feet, crouched and ready and breathing steady.

She watches him when he raises his hands, and when she sees that expression on his face, she grins.

It was the flow of qi.

Zuko sees the look on her face, oddly similar to the look Ty Lee sometimes got when she'd just taken on a Bender and won.

He grins back, sharply. "Good guess," he says, breathing rough, and darts fowards again, ignoring the ache of his stomach muscles.

Been awhile since he's fought like this - but all the more reason to keep going, fully concentrated on technique this time, instead of trying to regain his Bending.

"No guess," Dinah tells him.

She moves gracefully out of the way of his attack, letting the fight flow around her, and watching how he fights more than anything else.

Except she has the advantage now, and she's going to us it by hitting him hard and fast.

He fights... well, stubbornly. And while his strength clearly lies in firebending, or possibly with the twin swords that he isn't wearing right now, he also fights like someone who's had to rely on it before.

Her technique is superior, though, he realises, and focuses on speed and endurance, aiming to avoid heavier blows, and roll with lighter ones for as long as he can.

It's a test to see how he does for himself, as much as for her.

And he does pretty well, Dinah reflects. He doesn't rely on his ability nearly as much as most people here, and he's got technique and ability that go beyond pyrokinesis.

She's impressed.

Not threatened, but impressed.

She can thank Iroh for that.

Iroh, and Zuko's Sekrit, non-Firebending identity.

Meanwhile, in the actual ~~thread~~ fight, Zuko's just about hanging in there. But he's flagging, he can tell, and is grimly undecided between surrendering and keeping going until he drops, just to see if he can.

Even well trained teenage boys are not always all that smart.

Dinah knows that. Dinah's dealt with a few well-trained teenage boys.

She misses Roy, whenever she thinks of the people at home. Roy and Ted more than about anyone.

And she's rally not flagging. She's sweating and breathing deliberately, but she's not flagging. So when she sees he is, she can take his ankle out from underneath of her with a flick of her heel.

WAUGH.

He lands on one shoulder and rolls, ready to spring up and continue, but...

Look, he's down, and that's decided the point for him. He doesn't try to get up, just folds into an ingrained pose of submission, head inclined, hands slightly out at his sides but relaxed and aimed at the floor.

(Not that it's ever worked that well for him before, but some things are ingrained.)

"I yield."

Dinah lowers her hands, grins and offers him a hand.

"You're good."

Oh thank the spirits he can get out of that position.

One of the things about habit - he did that before remembering the last time he submitted to an opponent in Agni Kai. Nice to have a different memory to use, much as he hated doing it.

He doesn't smile back, because of that, but takes her hand to get up.

"Thank you," he says, in a tone that says 'not good enough!, but he looks her in the eyes before bowing. "But you're better. How long have you been training?"

"All my life," she answers frankly. "I was more or less brought up by a society of the best fighters in my world."

"That would explain your technique," he says. "It's incredible. Much better for hand-to hand than anything I know."

"That technique's called 'whatever works'," Dinah admits. "It's down to knowing as much as you can and keeping a clear head so you can use the right move in a fight."

Zuko nods.

"That's been a problem for me up until recently," he admits. "Even just using the techniques I do know... I relied a lot on rage, and although it's powerful, it doesn't make for a clear head."

"Never fight angry," Dinah says. "It's the first thing any of my uncles ever taught me."

"A lot of Firebenders can or will only do that," Zuko says, and shrugs dryly. "That our 'whatever works.' But the best ones..." Iroh, the Sun Warriors. Azula. "I'm getting better at keeping rage out of it."

"Good," Dinah says, because keeping rage out is such an imporant part of her discipline.

"Have I said how cool it is that you guys have a meta power linked to qi?"

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