Author's Notes: So I finally figured out how to work this thing, or at least I think I did. I know the beginning is really suckish, but it gets better, much better. As you probably know, this is my first ff, so please be kind!! Please enjoy!!

Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

I sat there on the ground round a blazing bonfire in the dead of night with my village. The village leader was having one of his mid night meetings again. 'Tomorrow we will bring respect to the real element of fire,' blah, blah, blah. I knew the drill.

I started doodling in the dirt with a twig, completely zoned out and nearly bored out of my mind. Snap, my doodling twig broke. I looked up into the starry sky for new entertainment. The sky was the color of deep ocean water. In a distant tree, a fat owl hooted a melancholy song. I'd name it Coo. I turned my head back to it, but it was gone. I looked at the ground again, elbows on my knees, chin resting on my palms. I looked up the leader and tried to listen. I knew it was important, but it was hard to keep my eyes open.

"We have been waiting for this moment for so many years," he said, "and now it's closer than ever." He paused. "In forty-eight hours, we shall fight... the Fire Nation." He spat on the ground in disgust.

A skinny little boy timidly raised his hand. "Um, aren't we the, um, Fire Nation?"

The leader paused before he spoke again. He lowered his voice. "No. We are nothing like them. They are war. We are peace."

The boy spoke again. "But aren't we-,"

"SILENCE!" The boy hid in his mother's arms. "You are too young to understand. Goodnight." I trudged to bed behind my mother with the rest of the village.

I'd just have to wait one more boring day before some real action. Finally.

I woke up, hardly tired as all. I stretched my arms way above my head and let out a deep yawn. I looked over at my sleeping mother. She seemed so peaceful, but she was hardly in my life at all. I hardly ever spoke to her, let alone feel like I need her. Even as a young child, I did things by myself. That's how it had to be. She was the last one in my family, and I couldn't need her. I was independent, and that's how I wanted it to stay.

The morning air was cool and crisp. It was clear today, pretty rare in the Fire Nation.

I breathed fire into my hand to keep warm. I rubbed my hands together furiously and put them on my face. That's better, I thought.

I threw some clothes on and went to the water basin to wash my face. It was ice cold from the night before. I held it in the air and put flames under it to make it warm. Fire came in handy in the morning. I splashed the water on my face and looked out the window. It was actually hard to see anything; the window was so dirty, scratched and discolored. But I could see that the sun was close to coming up, so I walked outside.

I held a small but bright flame in front of me; it was still dark. I walked up to the tallest point in the village. I practiced my Fire Bending there at sunrise every morning. As I walked up there, I watched the East horizon. It was completely mountainous and so beautiful.

Yellow orange peeked up from the valleys and my body started to tingle. This happened every time, and I loved the feeling.

I squatted low and breathed in... and out. I turned to the side and punched twice, then once again sending flames everywhere. I kicked and turned, resulting in a line of fire in the air.

I was just warming up.

I was learning this new move. The idea was to create a twenty foot high ring of fire. It was more of a defensive move, one of the few in the entire art of Fire Bending.

I almost got it before last time. I thought about the moves. One hand stretched out in front, the other in back. Wrists perfectly vertical. A strong stance. You had to move your arms to the side, then lift them high in the air. The movements were easy, but you had to be perfect.

I tried it, and was surrounded by a twenty foot high- ring of fire. I raised my hands higher, and the flames with it. I looked turned my head up so high that I nearly stumbled into the opposite side of the ring.

"Whoa."

I lowered my arms down. "Moving on."

Maybe I could try, I thought. I needed to be more than prepared for the fight tomorrow. I needed to know everything. I was going to try to conjure lightning. I had never personally been taught step by step how to do it, but I had seen someone teaching someone else.

A wizened old man was teaching a younger boy, step by step. I was hiding in the bushes, watching them from far off, so I couldn't see their faces. I could just barely make out what they were saying though.

'Lightning is not like ordinary Fire Bending. It is not fueled by emotions. It requires total peace of mind. Peace of the mind is absolutely necessary to separate energy in your body. These energies are positive and negative. This is extremely difficult to do. Once you separate these energies, you can not control the lightning; you are merely its guide. When the positives and negatives come together, you create lightning. Now try this.'

The old man made strange motions with his arms, and lightning shot out at a tree nearby to me. I had ducked down in the bushes and scrambled off before they could find me.

I tried to imagine his motions and mimic them exactly. I tried once, and nothing happened except a small spark. I yelled in disappointment. I was used to doing things the first time, why couldn't I do it?

"Just stay calm," I muttered to myself. I tried it again. Nothing. Again. Nada. One more time? Not even sparks.

I groaned. "Why can't I do it?!" I tried the moves one more time without thinking in fury. Lightning shot into the sky. I smiled big and was so excited I was nearly jumping up and down. I walked back to the village, singing to my self.

Note, I'm only egotistical when I'm happy. Very happy.