Notes: This chapter is set a few months before Zuko develops his ice quirk.

.

.

.

chapter iii.

.

.

.

man in a child's body

.

.

.

Todoroki Enji's definition of training is more or less what he expected.

.

.

.

He is forced awake by one of his siblings-Fuyumi, was it?-at the wee hours of the morning. When he opens his eyes, he is greeted by a pair of glasses atop his mother's-sister's-gray eyes.

(He is suddenly reminded of his beloved daughter, but he pushes the thought back.)

She leans back slightly, startled. Even after three years she is still not used to the light ethereal color of her youngest brother's eyes.

"What is it?" Zuko asks, rubbing his eyes. It is still dark outside, with only a few traces of light seeping in.

Fuyumi blinks. "Uh, um…Dad says he wants you to go outside."

There is suddenly a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, along with an undercurrent of annoyance. "Why?"

"Training."

"At this hour?"

His sister does not respond at first. "Yes. You better go before, you know…before he gets angry." The last words are said in a hush, a whisper, hesitant.

I'll show him angry, he wants to say, but he does not want to involve his older sibling in any trouble that might ensue because of his temper. For a moment, he feels like he is thirteen again, furious and defiant and alone, sent on an impossible quest orchestrated by his father just to ensure that he would never come back.

Instead, he swallows his spit, and says, "Okay. I'll be there in a minute."

There is an uncomfortable silence between them, and just as Zuko stands up to go and see his bastard of a father, Fuyumi unexpectedly pulls him close into a hug.

He is still, painfully aware of his sharp elbows against her stomach, but he does not pull away. Fuyumi hugs him tighter. She smells like their mother.

"Shouto…I'm sorry. For this. For everything. I'm sorry."

He is silent for a few seconds. Finally he opens his mouth. "It's okay. I'm fine."

Fuyumi's words are muffled, so quiet that only the two of them in the world can hear her words. "You're strong, Shouto. I wish I had your strength."

They don't talk after that, and eventually she goes out of the room and closes the door carefully.

Zuko stares at her retreating back, bitterly reminded of how real everything is.

.

.

.

His father's chosen training ground is located in the open courtyard of their home. The Todoroki residence is huge and traditional in style-all smooth wood (an impractical thing, considering the nature of the quirk of the head of the household) and rows of fresh bonsai decorating the interior and exterior of the estate. Shouto Todoroki's house is huge (although it does not compare to the Fire Nation Royal Palace; it is miniscule in comparison to it).

The open air is cool on his skin and he takes his time to relish it as he wanders through the wide space of the courtyard. When he arrives, he finds Todoroki Enji standing in the middle, arms folded and fire flickering from his form. Show-off, Zuko thinks, but he is too drowsy and too tired to say anything.

"Shouto," his father begins. "Today I'm going to train you on how to control your quirk."

"Okay."

"You haven't shown any signs of your mother's quirk yet, but I know it'll reveal itself soon. I have a good feeling about you, boy. Don't disappoint me."

Go eat dust, Zuko thinks drily, and then chastises himself. He's not supposed to be having a tantrum in his head. Dear Agni, he hasn't felt this frustrated since his younger years.

Todoroki Enji continues to talk. "You're still young so your fire isn't that strong. That's fine. Even the best has to start from the bottom. We're going to focus on honing your natural talent before we move up to combat stances and forms. Maybe when you're already five we can start with that, but in the meantime I'll make sure your body gets used to any physical strain."

He pauses, waiting for his son to make any comment, any objection. No response. Shouto stares at him, wolf-gold eyes unblinking.

"You're special, Shouto. You aren't like your siblings. They are weak. You are not. You are a masterpiece sprung from me and your mother. Never forget that. Or else I'll make it so that you won't ever forget it."

What a horrible father you are.

"Don't forget your purpose. You will become the Number One hero for all time. You will defeat All Might. You will become the greatest hallmark of my legacy. Don't worry; you'll thank me for this later in life, boy."

Great, you're delusional as well, just my luck I'm-Zuko stops his mid-tirade when he sees his father frown at him. He'd unthinkingly spoken out loud.

Instead of blasting him with a fist full of fire, Endeavor bellows out loud, startling the birds perched from the trees. "You have quite a mouth on you. Who taught you those words? Your siblings?"

"No one. Myself."

"From all that reading and watching, huh? Starting from now on, I forbid you from watching television, not until you've mastered everything I will teach you. You're a prodigy borne from your parents' genes, but don't think I'll go easy on you. We'll start right now."

His father-Endeavor-beckons his son closer, making a show of clenching his fist and then opening it, the bright flames from his palm reaching up to his father's face. "What are quirks again, boy?" he asks.

"Quirks are a mutation of the gene-"

"And? What else?"

"Quirks are an extension of one's body."

"Yes, they are. You've developed your quirk at an earlier age than most. That means you have an advantage over your peers. Don't waste the opportunity. Now do what I just did."

Zuko mulls over grabbing his new father's arm and setting his entire body ablaze just for the heck of it, but he decides against such an unwise action. Grudgingly he relents and calls forth the fire from within him, releasing it unto the tiny palm of his left hand. The fire jumps up to lick at the dip of his chin, once, twice.

It feels exhilarating.

"Good. That's good." Endeavor gives him what he thinks is a proud smile. "But power isn't everything; you need to learn how to control it." I know that more than you. "Now try to extinguish it without the use of much force. Don't think about it."

He does exactly as he's told. What exactly is the purpose of all this?

"When you use your quirk, you have to think of it as a natural action, similar to breathing. It should be as easy as flipping on a light switch. Don't think too hard about it. Let the fire control you as much as you control it."

In a weird way, that made sense. But something about all this irritated him.

It felt like Endeavor was treating him like a child.

But he was a child. A three-year old child. Zuko had never felt like a child; not since his former father decided to teach him a permanent lesson on his face.

Something was building up inside him; resentment, frustration, impatience. Pent-up confusion and sadness. Was this the consequence of being reborn again as a child?

Along with having to be apart from his family and friends, instead of dying and passing away peacefully, he just has to be reincarnated into a different world, just to end up as a tool for his new father's personal vendetta of vengeance. It wasn't fair. Hadn't he faced enough hardships in his previous life?

It made him so angry he could hardly breathe.

No. Now was not the time. He had to keep a hold of his feelings in check.

"-Shouto! Are you listening to me?" His father's booming voice suddenly brings him back to reality. Zuko turns towards his irritated father, eyes glaring. Todoroki Enji almost takes a step back; his son seemed like a different person now, compared to a few moments prior.

Choosing to ignore it, Enji takes a stance and faced towards the opposite direction, away from his son. "Look closely. I am going to punch through the air, but I'm going to use my fire quirk to enhance my punch." Shouto remains quiet, but Enji could sense a nervous, tense atmosphere around him despite the calm look on his face.

Enji did what he did best as Endeavor, and afterwards the entire courtyard smelled like smoke.

"Now, Shouto, try to do that. Focus all your energy on your left hand."

Instead of doing that, his youngest son does nothing and just stares at him. There is something uneasy about his stare. It starts to make Enji uncomfortable, so much that he shouts at his son-"Shouto! I told you-"

"I heard you. Now you watch."

Suddenly his son readies himself into an unfamiliar stance, an unreadable expression on his face.

.

.

.

Zuko feels a horrible moment of déjà vu, flashbacks of when he was ten and Azula was eight and they were expected to perform in front of their great grandfather Fire Lord Azulon. It had been a nerve-wracking moment, and as expected, he wasn't skilled enough, wasn't good enough compared to his younger sibling. He could still remember the hidden sneers on his father's and sister's faces, but along with it, the comforting embrace of his mother.

Now he was doing the same thing, but in front of someone who was not even truly his father, genes and blood relation be damned.

I'll show him fire.

Zuko jumps, spinning in the air and kicking, despite his father's yelp of surprise. Fire shoots out from his left foot and leaves red-orange sparks and a gust of hot smoke in its wake, incinerating the cool air. While in the air, he twists the other way and kicks out another jet of fire from his foot. To his back, Todoroki Enji says nothing, quietly observing his son.

Jump, spin, kick, twist, kick, land.

Again and again he repeats the same actions until his small chest starts heaving from the effort. But he doesn't stop.

It didn't matter that he was stuck in a three-year old's body. Controlling his fire like this was familiar, comforting. It made him forget about the cruel reality he was in.

"Shouto, stop-"

Zuko ignores him.

After his feet touch the ground for the fourth time, he shifts his position and raises his left arm upwards-

-and a pillar of fire at least ten feet high shoots into the air, screaming into the darkness like a raging phoenix with its wings forcibly ripped off.

It is so great that the entire courtyard lights up, bathing their surroundings with a warm red glow.

After he is done, he wobbles on his feet and stumbles down unto the ground, trembling and taking short breaths. Zuko stares at his left hand. Where did that power come from?

Slowly, he understands.

The raw power of his vessel combined with the gift of his firebending…

It was something worthy of awe.

His father is still silent behind him, and he doesn't dare turn around.

"That was impressive."

Surprised, he glances over at his back. Endeavor has a disapproving frown on his face, but the shine in his eyes was a different story. They stare at each other, father and son. Finally, the corners of his father's mouth curl up into a smile. "You have great potential. When my quirk first manifested itself, I could only produce a small amount of my power. But you…you are something special."

He grins.

"Come closer, boy."

"Don't call me boy. I have a name. Use it," Zuko spits out. I'm twice as old as you, maybe older. His father's grin falters a little.

"Even so. You better follow my instructions next time, if you know what's good for you," Enji says. When his son only scoffs at him-disrespectful brat-he considers smacking him for discipline but refrains from it.

Zuko warily trudges over to him. Endeavor stares at him for a second, two, and then gives a benign pat on his head. The gesture is uncharacteristically affectionate, and Zuko-Shouto-glances up, surprised.

A long time ago, he would have killed to have a father like Endeavor. Someone who appreciated him, who spoke greatly of him, unlike Ozai. Ozai, who never showed outright affection, even to his precious prodigy child, the apple of his eyes, Azula. Thinking back, it was embarrassing. He was so desperate for affection back then, and he just had the misfortune of asking it from a man who couldn't care less.

(Even despite all the cruelty and wrongdoings that Ozai inflicted on him and his family, there was still something that he gained from it.

His past made him strong. Made him wise.

Now he knows, now he sees the truth behind façade. Sees the hidden monster in men like Fire Lord Ozai and Todoroki Enji.)

His father in this world, compared to his father back then (but not the father he acknowledges, that honor belongs to his uncle) is indescribably similar and yet vastly different at the same time.

Todoroki Enji and Father-Fire Lord Ozai-share the same kind of pride that threatens to swallow them whole and the people surrounding them. Their actions directly affect the lives of their families, good or bad, and that is the worst type of person that anyone can ever hope to fight-the type who strongly believes whatever he is doing or saying is right. They are the ones who are willing to burn everything to ashes until only a single crown is left.

But while Endeavor is a raging inferno, passionate and engulfing and brimming with his oppressive presence, Ozai is the fire that starts in the quiet corner and doesn't let you know until you start choking on the smoke that invades your lungs. He is the flame that leaves painful scars all over your body, on your torso, on your wrists, on the left side of your face. The second son of the late Fire Lord who instigated the massacre of an entire tribe is malicious in the way Endeavor is not and will never be, because even for all the envy and bitterness that he carries in his heart, Todoroki Enji is not inherently evil.

.

.

.

For that small comfort, Zuko is glad.

He firms his stance and starts again.

.

.

.

Endeavor tells him to stop his training for the day. He wanted to encourage initiative and perseverance in his son, but Shouto did it all on his own.

He may be an insensitive, callous man, but even he understands the capacity of a three-year old's body. He doesn't want to overwork his Shouto. His body is still young, and rest is important.

His youngest child just stares at him, golden eyes unwavering. Shortly afterwards, Endeavor leaves the house, prioritizing his hero career over his impudent child.

Zuko shrugs him off and continues to train for two more hours, until the sun starts to rise. Eventually the physical toll takes over his body. Adrenaline cannot keep him going anymore.

I've endured training harder than this. I have to train myself harder, longer.

I can't hope to beat Endeavor in my current state. His hands clench the grass under him, form trembling from overexertion. I have to get stronger. Fast.

He doesn't notice his mother, fearful eyes watching him from above the balcony of their home.

.

.

.

A/N: Wasn't expecting Zuko and Endeavor to have a sort-of love/hate relationship, but then my fingers started moving on its own. Mind you, Zuko just tolerates him slightly. Only slightly. And Endeavor is still a piece of crap, only occasionally encouraging.

I've started watching Zuko tribute videos in Youtube in order to get a better feel of his character, and now I remember just why I love him so much. Search for "Zuko & Azula - I'll Be Good" by AniMagix101. It gave me so many feels ughhh

The next chapter would be more emotional, Zuko interacting with his new mother, and another (somewhat) confrontation again with his father. This story will be a bit of canon-divergent, as Zuko is more rebellious and also for other obvious reasons.

Now time for some shameless self-promotion! (lol) I'll be posting my reincarnated-into-an-OC-body!Azula fic soon, so stay tuned!

Lastly, please review. Thanks!

[UPDATE] 05/19/18: I've just posted my reincarnated!Azula fic, so anyone who's interested can see it in my profile.

I'll try to update Chapter Four of this story, although I'm not so sure if I can post it soon, due to some unforeseen circumstances and events right now in my life. So yeah.

Love you guys!