DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar, or anything related to Avatar...

Yeah, sorry if the title's not good... "Gentle Hands" is a song that's been stuck in my head for like a week now...

ON WITH THE STORY!

Prologue

How did I get myself into this?

I stood at one end of a very short table and nervously looked over at the man on the other side. "He's no match for you," I kept telling myself. Yes, I know that... but then why do I feel so scared?

No time for that now. I took a deep breath and grasped my staff with both hands.

"This should be over soon." He chuckled menacingly from the other end of the table. I gulped and charged full speed to the other side of the table and took a swing at the man, knocking him off the table. Unfortunately, as I swung, he let out a roar, and fire singed my left arm. I let out a yelp- I'd never been burned before... I could barely feel my arm, and didn't want to look at it, either.

He slammed into one of the dark red columns directly across from the table, nearly knocking the breath out of him.

"You'll pay for that." He hissed, getting back up and chucking fireball after fireball at me. I tried to remember what I saw the other monks doing at the temples- they twirled their staff super-fast, and apparently the air currents blew away the- whoa, that's hot. The fireball flew past at the speed of sound, further damaging my arm. I winced and charged again, trying to ignore the searing pain.

I saw a small hole in the wood floor, probably from the impact when he landed on it. Perfect, I thought.

Gaining speed, I could see another fireball forming in his hands. Sheesh, is this all he knows how to do?

I planted the bottom of my staff in the broken floor and flung myself halfway around him, jabbing my feet back and kicking him to the ground. I recovered my staff and pressed the other side of it onto his chest. He paused for about half a second, then just as I was about to finish this once and for all, he grabbed my staff with his hand and jerked it forward, flinging me across the room this time.

I managed to get back up after what seemed like an hour, and looked up. Where was my staff?

Oh, no.

I saw him standing on the other side of the room, my staff in his hands. He snapped it like it was a twig and got in some position I'd never seen before. Of course, I'd never studied firebending all that much before, so go figure.

Suddenly, bright light began flashing around him. Was that--- lightning?

As soon as I thought the word, I could already see the pure white electricity heading towards me. I closed my eyes. Yeah, like that would help, genius.

Suddenly, the searing pain that was in my arm surged all over my body, five hundred times hotter at the least.

My life was over. I failed.

I collapsed on the ground, my heart beating a marathon out, my lungs had no air left, my brain was not willing to fill them again...

"I'm sorry." I mouthed, knowing whom I wanted to hear it, couldn't. My desperate attempt at breathing had failed, the searing pain burning hotter by the second, my heart no longer beating.

I'm sorry...