AN: Thanks to my awesome reviewers!
Libowiekitty: Thanks! I'm gonna reveal a bit more of him next chapter, and soon you will know the full story.
Dandyparakeet: Thanks a lot! Actually that is a very good guess, as you will see a bit in this chapter
Dawnnoondusk: Yea I kinda agree. I'm trying to fix the abruptness of this story, and hopefully you can see that work in this chapter
Liselle129: Thanks for reviewing. I've tried to slow it down a little in this chapter, as, I agree, it did seem a bit rushed. And no, I don't plan on him ruling the story, that's the main cast's job.
Twilight Rose2: Hey thanks for reviewing! I can't say how happy I am with having a Beta Reader, and thanks for the advice on this one!
Disclaimer: No own Avatar…Make me sad.
Misunderstanding
"Time to wake up Twinkle Toes, your day of practice with yours truly has begun. It actually began about half an hour ago, I felt nice and let you sleep, but now that mood is over, and it's straight to training." Toph said with a grin growing on her face.
"Can't I at least get something to eat first?" Aang replied, getting up from Appa's tail.
"Nope no time, wasted enough time already, time to start training…hey what are you eating?" Toph said, bending the earth beneath Aang's feet, throwing him in the air. Aang reacted instinctively, bending the air around him to change his course, from a nearby tree, to Toph, he noticed too late to slow down.
"Watch out!" Aang yelled, but it was too late. He hit Toph and they both went flying to the ground, landing in a particularly uncomfortable position: his head, mere inches from Toph's.
"What's going on this early in the morni-…Aang? What are you doing…on top of Toph?" Katara asked half confused and half angrily, just getting out of her tent.
"Umm, well Katara, that's an interesting question." Aang replied, quickly getting off of Toph. "You see..."
"No Aang, I don't see…" interrupted Katara, fully awake and angered at what she awoke to.
"Katara, may I speak to you alone?" Rukil says, walking into camp.
"No you may no-"
"May I please talk to you alone?" Rukil repeats, no longer really asking.
"Fine." Katara answered, shooting a glance towards Aang. We'll finish this later.
"Aang, you should go to your earthbending lessons now, I'll be showing Katara some of the waterbending moves I promised. Katara, as Aang's master, it will be up to you whether or not to pass them along." Rukil says, and upon noticing Aang's grimace, adds "Don't worry Aang, I've got a few things to tell you, although they might not be as interesting as the new moves I'm going to show Katara."
Both Aang and Katara, significantly cheered by this announcement, go off to their respective teaching areas: Aang, to the rocky hills to the east of the camp, Katara, to the waterfall that lies to the west. But before Rukil goes to join Katara, he decides to check on the only member of the group that still wasn't outside, Sokka. When he checks inside the tent, he can't help but smile broadly. Sokka was still fully out of it, snoring loudly.
----
"So what are these waterbending moves that you're gonna show me, Rukil?" Katara asked, wondering if this lesson was for real or just an attempt to distract her from Aang. As she thought his name, waves of sorrow wracked her. He had been laying on the ground with Toph…Toph! She was supposed to be her friend, not try and take Aang from her. She was the one person that had known about both Aang's and Katara's feelings, and she decided to try to take him from her? And Aang, don't even start about Aang. HE had pretty much confessed his love to her a few nights ago, and now he was kissing Toph?
You never saw them kissing. A small voice in her head said.
He was on top of her…
But she never got a chance to finish that thought, as she noticed that Rukil was beginning to waterbend. I've never seen those forms before she thought, and decided to voice this concern to Rukil
"Well Katara, I'm glad that you at least stopped daydreaming about him enough to pay at least a small amount of attention to my lesson, and before you ask, yes it was that obvious." Rukil says with a grin on his face, as he notices Katara's face turning from a light pink tint, to a deep shade of maroon
"Well," Rukil says "on with the lesson. Now I was showing you a very simple move that some firebenders use to calm themselves after a battle, only in our case using water. However since you obviously know everything about waterbending that there is to know, I would like for us to duel."
"Us duel?" Katara asks, slightly worried, slightly thinking she was ready for whatever he could throw at her. After all, she thinks, I did manage to beat Master Pakku in a private rematch duel we had. "You're on."
Rukil, merely nodding at this, bows his head at her, and waits for her to bow back. After bowing, he stands perfectly still in the water, not causing a single ripple. As soon as he hears Katara exhale, and a small ripple in the water forms, he smiles to himself. So overconfident, but then again, so was I when I was learning. He easily stops the many icicles that Katara had thrown at him, and with almost without effort forms them into one large water whip that he attaches to his arm. "Come now Katara, I always thought that you would put up more or a fight that this" Rukil says, egging her on.
"Oh, I'm far from done with you" Katara says, blowing a loose hair out of her face with a smile
----
"No, not like that Twinkle Toes, I thought I had thought you better than this" Toph says angrily.
"I'm sorry; I just can't concentrate right now." Aang replies, with a frown.
"Well," Toph says "I'm not gonna have this whole day ruined by you having a fight with your girlfriend. Now get back into your stance."
With a groan, Aang shifts his stance slightly, preparing himself for the barrage that was soon to come. As soon as he feels the shifting of Toph's feet he readies himself for the boulder that was hurtled at him at an amazing speed…and gets hit in the gut…again.
"No, no, no. That's all wrong. Didn't I teach you at all? So I guess you've got a lot to practice: both earthbending and love." Toph says with a small grin
"What did you say?" Aang replies, slightly coldly.
"Oh, nothing. Just that your love life right now could use an overhaul." Toph says, now with an even bigger grin.
"Take that back." Aang replies, even more coldly than before.
"What? It's the truth. I mean you did mess up kinda badly this morning, you know, with you looking like you were about to kiss me and all…" Toph says, slightly defensive upon seeing how angry Aang was getting.
"At least I'm trying to tell her how I feel. All you ever do is hide your feelings from him." Aang snaps back.
"I-I, uh, don't…"Toph stutters. I'm making a fool of myself
"You know Toph, it does feel pretty good to let out your feelings every once in a while. I'm sorry that I just flipped out like that at you, but what I said is true." Aang replies, calming down.
"It's ok Aang, but do it again, and I might just have to hurt you. Badly. Now run the set again."
She smiles slightly as she feels him shift his feet and even more so when she feels his mood. Calm and collected, peaceful, as if nothing was fazing him at all. Much like the earth itself, Toph thinks to herself, wonder if him venting at me caused that.. However she wasn't smiling for long, as Aang had pushed the earth under her feet back, which she nimbly dodged. However Aang was expecting that same move, so as soon as her feet were back on the ground he stomped his foot, and the solid ground that Toph had landed on, just milliseconds before, liquefied into quicksand. Unable to move her feet, or feel vibrations well, Toph sent out many large boulders at random hoping that she would hit him with one. However, Toph got the strange feeling that there was ground above her, and lifted a hand and touched it. It was a massive boulder that Aang had created out of all the smaller ones Toph had thrown at her.
Sighing Toph lowered her head. "Nice moves."
"I had a great teacher." And with that Aang threw aside the boulder and helped Toph out of the quicksand.
"Thanks" was Toph's only reply, as she was stunned. How had he beaten her? "I guess you can go now, we're done for today."
"Oh, and Toph, I think you have the same problem I had before I let out all that emotion a couple days back. It is ok to tell someone you love them, you know." Aang says, walking away. Just as hear is almost out of earshot he adds, with a small smile, "I'm sure Snoozles feels the same way."
As soon as he adds this the earth beneath his feet moves, and he falls over. He sees Toph running back towards the camp, with a smile on her face. "Thanks Twinkle Toes"
As she runs off Aang mutters to himself, "I just wish Katara would give me an answer…" and decides to avoid the camp for a little while, for some obvious reasons, and go forage for some food.
----
"Argh!" Katara yelled, as her attack proved futile yet again. How does he do it? It's almost as if he already knows what I'm going to do before I even start attacking.
"Ready to give up, and learn from me now Katara?" Rukil asks kindly, as this one sided battle had been going on for nearly an hour now. I do admire her spirit though, not one to give up, that one.
"Fine…" Katara answered sadly. I used every trick in the book and nothing even touched him…maybe I shouldn't be a master after all.
"Good, now you may be wondering how I knew what you were going to do before you even finished, am I correct?" Rukil asks with a small smile on his face.
"Yes, that would be kind of nice…" Katara answers still depressed that she got beaten.
"Katara", Rukil says upon seeing her mood, "I have been training my bending for almost 35 years now. You have done incredibly well for one who has just finished their training for being a master."
"So how did you do it?" Katara asks, somewhat cheered by Rukil's words.
"Much like Toph who can feel vibrations through the earth, we can feel vibrations through water. Liquid water is the easiest to do this with; however it is possible to do this with both ice and steam."
'So every time I pulled water out of the pond to do an attack…" Katara says, processing this thought
"…I already knew what was coming." Rukil finishes. "As I move through the water, try to feel my vibrations traveling through the water."
Katara, concentrating on the water, without thinking, lashes out with a water whip, and hits Rukil in the arm. "Oh god, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine Katara, very good job; you truly felt the vibrations just then." As he said this he bending some water onto the wound and pressed his hand against it. Glowing briefly, he pulled his hand away. "Healing always does come in handy, although it's always not enough…" Rukil trails off, lost in thought, while Katara just looks at him confused. After a few seconds however he snaps back into the present, and with a small smile, he instructs Katara in the next move. Katara, so busy practicing the new moves fails to notice the one, small tear running down Rukil's face.
AN: Gasp: what will happen next? Ideas of any sort welcome, except conflicting relationships (Zutara, Taang), but don't get offended if I can't use them right away, or at all. Review Please! Criticism Wanted!
