"It makes you feel like you're floating in the clouds, doesn't it?" Ty Lee raised her arms and spun around in the snow. She had seen snow before on her travels with the circus, but, evidently, the sight hadn't lost its fascination for her yet. Mai had to admit it still fascinated her, too, in spite of the days she'd spent surrounded by the stuff on their trip here. It was their second day in the South Pole, and the sight of the completely white landscape didn't bore her yet. That was promising. "Wow! Isn't that beautiful?"
Mai followed her friend's gaze to a frozen lake where several people were gliding back and forth on the ice. "Interesting," she observed.
"What are they doing?" Ty Lee asked Katara.
"It's called ice skating," the Waterbender answered. "Want to give it a try?"
Ty Lee's eyes widened at the suggestion. "Is it safe?"
"Completely. Come one." Katara smiled and grabbed her hand, leading her away to the lake and nodding for Mai to follow. Mai decided to go along; something about this intrigued her.
Katara left them for a while and came back with her arms full of three pairs of boots, or so they looked. When she handed a pair to Mai, however, she saw they each had a smooth, metal blade embedded lengthwise in the bottom, just like the strange shoes all the... ice skaters were wearing.
Ty Lee examined hers as if entranced by them, while Mai, following Katara's lead, sat down on the icy bench the Waterbender had raised and now sat putting hers on. "How do you wear these without falling over?" Ty Lee asked before she joined them.
"It's actually easier than it looks," Katara assured her. "You'll see."
Mai ran her thumb along each of the blades before putting them on. It didn't feel too awkward; she was used to carrying blades near her feet. She held her legs out and rotated her ankles, examining her new gear, while Ty Lee and Katara stood up. The former took a few steps and wobbled a little until Katara caught both her arms in her own. "They're not really made for walking," she said. "Let's go out on the ice. You coming, Mai?"
Without taking her eyes off the shoes, Mai said, "I'll be there in a second – you guys go ahead."
Katara accepted this with an, "Okay," before leading Ty Lee away to the ice.
"Whoah... whoah, whoah!" Mai looked up to see Ty Lee, a few feet out on the ice, flailing her arms like crazy as she took a few steps forward before her feet finally shot out from under her and she was lying on her back, laughing as if she'd never done anything more fun. "I... don't think I'm doing it right."
Katara laughed along with her as she pulled her up. "Not exactly... Don't try to walk. I mean, don't move like you're walking." After making sure her friend was steady, she raised her right foot a few inches off the ice. "Move your feet sideways," she said as she did just that. She repeated the motion with her left. "Step sideways, and push forward. Sideways, push forward. Sideways, push forward," she repeated as she circled her friend.
Ty Lee nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay... sideways... whoah!" Katara managed to catch her this time.
"And start with small steps," she warned her student.
The beginner nodded again, still beaming. "Good idea." With Katara holding her right arm and shoulder, she gingerly lifted her right foot and slid it forward... and knocked herself back into her coach again.
"Don't put so much muscle into it. A little push goes a long way."
"Right." She tried again and giggled with glee as she managed to stay upright.
"That's it," Katara said encouragingly. "Left... right. Left, right, left, right... Don't look at your feet! Never look at your feet... That's it... left, right..."
Mai stood up herself now and, keeping her eyes firmly on the horizon, took a few slow, deliberate steps towards the ice. She reached the edge and stuck her left foot out on the smooth surface, tapping it with the front tip of the blade a few times. She pressed the whole length of the blade against the ice and slid it back and forth, imagining it was another one of her knives and she was preparing to launch it from her ankle holster.
"I've got it! I've got it! Whoah!" Ty Lee had gotten carried away and, in a fit of excitement, had started going so fast that she'd lost control and slipped, landing flat on her bottom. "Well, almost."
"Don't worry, everyone does that their first day," Katara said as she helped her up. "You just need to get used to the motion."
"It feels great!" Ty Lee exclaimed. "Mai, come out and try it!"
"In a minute..." Mai said softly, her attention focused on something else. She put her other foot on the ice and closed her eyes.
Katara soon gave up on her efforts to restrain Ty Lee and let the exuberant girl go as fast as she pleased. By turns, her upper body wobbled back and forth as she tried to find her balance, her legs shot apart of their own volition like she was doing a split, she found herself sliding forward with no way to stop ("Sorry!"), and she ended up spinning in circles, but she didn't care. She was far too excited to take it slow and attacked the ice with all the energy she had and all the speed that energy could give her. Finally, she and Katara ended up hitting the ice together, where they sat laughing until the overeager pupil said, "I'm sorry!"
"That's okay – you'll get the hang of it."
They got to their feet, and Ty Lee actually skated alongside the Waterbender with no trouble, her acrobat's flexibility and agility serving her well when she took her time. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it... whoah!" She caught herself and regained her balance on her own.
"You've got it," Katara said with an approving grin. The former circus star skated all around the rink without slipping or falling once. It was really no different than walking on a highwire. Katara clapped at her mastery of the art. "You're a natural!"
Grinning back, Ty Lee begged her, "Teach me how to spin around and dance like they are!"
"Whoah, one thing at a time!" her friend warned her.
The acrobat couldn't exactly argue with that, knowing from experience how learning elaborate tricks in any art took time. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head, smiling in mock disappointment. "You make it look so easy."
Katara shrugged. "Well, ice is my element."
They both looked up at the sight they had both caught out of the corner of their eye. Mai was skating ahead of them, slowly, at first, tentatively, like someone walking on hot coals, but gradually speeding up, very gradually, until she was gliding along the ice, not like a pro, not effortlessly, but smoothly and agilely, with confidence and without fear. She reached the curve and turned without slipping or falling, soaring over the entire circumference of the ice, swerving around other skaters, never looking down, never faltering. She moved her legs as if they were weapons she was aiming and launching with such precision, they never missed their mark. After a second loop around the circle, she turned both her feet sideways and skidded to a stop a few feet away from her friends.
Katara, her eyes as wide as Ty Lee's, looked down at Mai's feet and then back up at her face. "How did you do that?"
Mai felt the corners of her mouth curve upward of their own accord into a smile. "Blades are my element."