Winter in Kyoshi Island was an unusual time, in Sokka's opinion. Where he came from, Winter was every day. Ice and snow was all around you as far as the eye could see. He'd never thought that ice could appear and then vanish in just a few short months. And it happened every year, apparently.
He was alone at present, Aang and Katara were off enjoying their newfound relationship somewhere he couldn't see. That suited him well though, he loved his sister and thought of Aang like a brother but that didn't mean he entirely approved of their relationship. They were rather young, after all.
Sadly his own girlfriend was busy as well, off training her warriors in her dojo. She'd invited him along, but he had no desire to don their uniform again. Once had been enough. He didn't begrudge her, though; their defeat and subsequent imprisonment at the hands of Azula had spurred the Kyoshi Warriors to train harder than ever, despite the war's end.
"Cutie!" The sudden cry was startling. His hand went to his back to retrieve his boomerang. Only it wasn't there; instead lying somewhere in the Earth Kingdom near the burnt wreckage of many Fire Nation airships alongside his beloved Space Sword.
The shout was quickly followed by a green, black and brown blur, and almost quicker than his eye could follow Ty Lee stood before him, a wide grin stretching her painted lips.
Sokka wasn't sure about Ty Lee, in all due honesty. Though she'd been amnestied for her part in the war by the Fire Lord, and even allowed into the Kyoshi Warriors, there was a part of him that was a little scared of her.
He wasn't entirely sure what the reason was - it could either have been her curious ability to render people immobile - through her looks and her punches, her relentlessly bubbly personality (even Aang sometimes got overwhelmed by her cheer), her constant smile or her insistence on referring to him as "cutie", even in the presence of his girlfriend and her superior.
Suki, for her part, was mildly amused by it. Sokka's love for her had been cemented long ago, and she had nothing to fear from the sprightly former-acrobat. This only served to make Sokka even more nervous.
But that didn't mean he'd ignore her. "Hey Ty Lee. I thought you'd be in the dojo, doing katas with the other Warriors."
"Suki gave me the day off, she's been working me hard since my induction ceremony. So I figured I'd go see what you were up to." Her face radiated innocence.
Sokka swallowed. Well, could be an antidote to his lethargy, he supposed. It beat lying around and thinking about nothing at least.
"Truthfully, I'm a little bored. Aang and Katara are off being cuddly, Toph's still in the Earth Kingdom and Zuko has his Fire Lord duties now. Even Appa and Momo are busy stuffing their faces. And I don't even have my weapons to train with any more." He sighed unhappily.
Ty Lee smiled sympathetically at him, tapping a finger to her chin thoughtfully."You can train with me!" Came the joyful exclamation. "I've been teaching the other girls how to Chi block, maybe you can learn how too."
Sokka furrowed his brow. It would be a pretty useful skill to have, especially until he could replace his other gear. He still wasn't great at fighting benders, being able to stop them would level the playing field nicely. He might even be able to stop Katara from dousing him with water whenever she wanted. It was nice to dream, anyway.
"Alright, Ty Lee. This can't be any harder than learning swordfighting, can it?" He'd picked that up quite quickly.
"Okay, Cutie. The first thing you need to know about Chi blocking is: it's all in the fingers. Hold out your hands."
Sokka did as he was bid, and Ty Lee leaned in close, inspecting them thoroughly. She nodded approvingly.
"Your nails are quite short, that's good. Now make a fist."
Sokka squinted, confused. "What do nails have to do with anything?"
The look of stern concentration was rather out of place on the beautiful girl's face, but Ty Lee was determined.
"Long nails hinder the connection between your fingertips and your opponent's body. It also makes it harder to close your hand, and can injure you if you punch hard. Azula once asked me to teach her Chi blocking, but lost interest once I told her she'd have to trim her nails."
Sokka remembered the long, sharp claws the fallen Fire Princess had sported. Zuko had four thin, faint scars on his shoulder from an ancient battle with her as a result of them.
Ty Lee interrupted his thoughts by poking the top of his hand. Hastily, he closed his fingers.
"Now, look at this training dummy. See all of the pressure points? Different points correspond to different parts of your body. If I punch here, near the hip, it shuts down the leg," the Fire Nation girl tapped the pilfered dummy lightly. "Now you do the same."
Sokka heeded her beckon, striking hard against the straw man. Ty Lee shook her head.
"Too hard. You don't need to put so much force into it, just enough to disrupt the flow of chi."
There was repetition of his effort, though he moderated his attack slightly. The straw still shuddered under the blow. Ty Lee wrinkled her nose, but smiled.
"Okay, you've got the force under control, pretty much. But there's more to Chi blocking than just punching, otherwise everyone would be able to do it. You've got to gather your own Chi, and release it through your first. It's similar to Firebending, I hear."
Sokka's face was immediately marred by a scowl. He might be friends with one of the best Firebenders alive, but he still was no fan of them. Still, he was here to learn. "Alright, I guess. Uh... How do I do that exactly?"
Ty Lee giggled. "Breathe in. Feel the energy in your stomach? That's where your Chi is."
"Are you sure? I'm fairly sure that's where my food is. Or should be. It must be lunch time now." Sokka's stomach rumbled for emphasis.
"Sorry, Cutie, but we're not done here yet. Gather the Chi into a ball, then direct it through your arm and into your fist." The girl followed along her own suggestion to demonstrate.
Grumbling slightly, Sokka complied. He could feel the energy roiling inside him. Gathering Chi was a strange sensation, like trying to hold a slightly viscous liquid that was somehow also a gas.
The connection between him and the Chi broke a few times, but he managed to direct it through his body and into his hand after several tries. His skin tingled pleasantly, like pins and needles without the discomfort.
"You got that? Good. And now, thrust it out with your fist." Ty Lee punched the air in front of her.
Sokka followed her directive, but the Chi only left his fist in a slow trickle. He tried again with more effort to no avail.
Ty Lee laid a hand on his shoulder at his frustrated noise. "Calm down, Cutie. This isn't exactly easy. Be happy you can direct it at all, only a few of the girls can actually get any real results and I've been training them for ages."
Sokka sighed. "Well, thanks for trying Ty Lee. It was nice of you to teach me."
She laughed for a moment. "I'm always willing to help out a friend, especially one as cute as you, Sokka! Maybe I'll be able to teach you more later."
She grabbed him in a tight hug for a moment, then whirled around, grabbed a hold of the practice dummy and cartwheeled away. Sokka stared after her in confusion, before smiling to himself. It was probably lunch time, and training always made him feel hungry.
He wasn't scared of Ty Lee any more.