Chapter 1

Sister Iio shook back her long sleeves and threw her arm forward, sending an ark of air flying off of the balcony. Kaiee sniffed and stifled a yawn, the repeated routine sending her to sleep. It had been a week since they're first venture into the outside world, and Kaiee longed to be back in the earth kingdom, studying a different way of life. Halay and Liane seemed bored as well, but they could at least manage to pay attention to what Sister Iio was teaching them.

"Kaiee? Is there a problem?"

Kaiee bolted up right and blushed. "No, Sister. Sorry."

Gaana giggled annoyingly and leaned back, swirling a small circle of air in her palms. "Kai-Kai's just tired because she stayed up all night long with the bison!"

Kaiee grimaced and blushed even harder. "I did not! I just…"

Liane hit Gaana in the back with a gust of wind. "Be quiet, you! It isn't your business!"

Kaiee smiled appreciatively and sank down further onto the balcony, relaxing back into her reverie. The earth kingdom had been so fascinating, and though they had only spent a month there, Kaiee had made tons of new friends that she would probably never see again. Now she was back in the Eastern Air Temple, studying the same old airbending styles and surrounded by the same old benders.

Half an hour later, the Sister dismissed the class and Kaiee set off with Liane and Halay. She hadn't gotten very far before Gaana and her friends started sending little breezes up the backs of their shawls. Liane swirled around in frustration, but Halay, the more sensible one, grabbed her by the arm.

"Just ignore her!" she hissed. "It doesn't matter, the monks want us to be peaceful. And I'm pretty sure that Gaana is failing miserably at at least that!"

Kaiee grinned and kept walking. It was true. Some of the Airbenders who didn't adapt a pacifistic nature simply left the temples and wandered through the other nations. The moment of happiness passed, though, as she started to reflect on her own desperate situation. At nine years old, the most she could hope for was that one-day, some far away day, she would master airbending. At least she was calm enough to be accepted at the temples, even if her bending was sub-par.

She thought that the other girls had left by the time they reached the mountain bridge, but Gaana leaped ahead of her and started to imitate a bison, putting her fingers up like horns and flopping around the walkways. "Do you like animals, Kai-Kai?" she asked tauntingly.

Kaiee nodded solemnly and hurried ahead. "Yes, I do."

Gaana followed her slowly, swaying her head back and forth. "Are you going to get a bison?"

Kaiee froze and then kept on walking. "Someday, I suppose."

Gaana started to laugh and dropped her imitation. "When? As if you would get a bison! Don't you need to master the first fifteen steps of airbending to get a bison? How many have you mastered?"

Kaiee dropped her head, and her friends pushed her along.

"How many, huh? Five?"

Liane and Halay pushed Kaiee away from Gaana and over the bridge connecting the central and eastern mountains. Gaana had no choice but to turn the opposite way to her bedroom in the western mountain.

"Don't pay her any mind, Kaiee. She's just…" Liane broke off and looked down at her shoes.

"Jealous? I don't think so."

Gaana, who had mastered thirteen techniques, had no reason to be jealous of Kaiee.

"No…" continued Halay. "I mean, she could be. You're so nice, and all the bison like you."

Kaiee slumped into her room, her friends trailing in gloomily. "Right, I'm so nice. So why am I in here complaining? Aren't nice people supposed to forget their differences?"

Liane leaned in closely and whispered, "Um, how many techniques did you master?"

Halay hit her gently and looked away, embarrassed, but Kaiee answered, "Eight."

Liane winced and Halay became very interested in the wall behind her. Kaiee threw a faint gust of wind out the window, and sighed again.

"I mean," Liane started to say, "You could always…"

"Ask Sister Iio? Unlikely. She's too…"

Halay finished all their thoughts. "Expecting."

"Exactly!" Kaiee proclaimed, standing up. "At this point she thinks we should be masters! And the other sisters are no help. They just sigh and tell you that airbending comes naturally."

"The benders from the south are coming soon. Maybe you could ask Monk Gyatso."

Kaiee smiled weakly and nodded, but her eyes flickered down hopelessly.