A/N:Sorry for wait guys, I know I said the next chapter would be in wednesday but I had writer's block and had to rewrite the damn chapter several times. I don't think it's too short, I know when I read other people's fanfiction I like chapters to be long enough to take at least an hour to read... but perhaps I'm over thinking an unimportant detail and you guys will be happy with the length. =) Enjoy!
"Flimsy." Toph said crossing her arms.
Sokka's face now had a look somewhere between rage and annoyance. "You never called Katara flimsy when she's waterbender this entire time." Pointing to his sister who stood directly behind her.
"She's a girl Sokka, she's supposed to be flimsy." Toph explained.
"You're a girl too you know!" Katara called sarcastically.
"I'm an earthbender, and earthbenders are NOT flimsy!" Toph shouted now on the defense.
Katara had decided to do defense and offence drills with Sokka using only his waterbending. How it would work is each of the four benders would be on one side of Sokka and Sokka would be in the middle, with Aang only being able to use airbending. Going clockwise each bender would alternate with either defending or attacking. Sokka's goal was simple, break through each elemental barrier six attacks or less and knock the defender down, or the next bender going clockwise would attack and Sokka would have to defend himself using what he'd learned so far after the first day.
It was tough, but Sokka had said he wanted the crash course, in that moment Katara remembered his exact words, "It'd easy to just throw some magic water around."
"Sokka, you ready?" Katara asked wanting to get started. Her brother nodded, "I'll start us off then." Katara extended a sheet of ice sphere all around her with the water from her waterskin about six feet high and about an inch thick, she then stood poised to defend herself, if he managed to break through before he used his six allotted attacks. It reminded Zuko instantly of the technique used against him in the Northern Water Tribe's spirit oasis.
Sokka, had two giant clay jugs by his either side, filled with about eight gallons each. He began with forming two water balls, and with a simple palm strike launched both at his sister's protective shell, they broke against the surface with two pitiful plops. "Again." Katara instructed.
Sokka now with determination in his eyes now bended a short strand of water and flowing through the moves he was taught with a simple back and forth sway in his palm strikes to either side of his body, he started delivering blows in an "X" shape. He was clearly having trouble as the strand wasn't robust with much water, the whip he'd made was thin and long but didn't have the density to do much damage at all, and the swiping motion that he had set upon was only barely scratching the surface. Finally with his last move, he did one final swipe, which barely improved upon his progress.
In his small triumph Sokka had forgotten Zuko was next in line and began attacking with fireball after fireball, to which Sokka lifted up sheets of water to extinguish the flames, but Zuko was quick… and one of Zuko's fireballs punched right through his friend's defenses knocking him to the ground.
Sokka just looked at Zuko despairingly as the firebender helped him to off the stone floor.
"This isn't fair, you guys are all masters of your bending, how am I supposed to break through that?" Sokka asked pointing to his sister's ice cage. At this Katara started walking forward as the ice instantly turned back to liquid.
"Remember how easy waterbending was for Aang in the beginning?" Katara asked, kneeling down to pick her brother from the floor.
"How could I forget." Sokka replied dully as he rose to his feet along with his sister.
"He was so overconfident, that when he started earthbending he was thinking it would be as natural to him as waterbending." Katara saw an immediate response in Sokka and his eyes turned fiery with a renewed confidence.
"It's the same idea with me, waterbending is just my natural opposite." Sokka stated to himself looking at his feet pensively. He then exhaled slowly, as though he was letting Katara's words fully sink in. Then he understood.
"Katara can you put up your ice bubble again." She obeyed, bending her entire pouch dry and erecting almost the exact ice sphere she had used before. He then took a stance, and moved through his stances, taking steps forward by arcing one foot barely off the ground in a half circular motion outward as he swayed his hands back and forth as before.
The water reacted immediately and he grabbed the whip with a single hand and with a reverse grip on the strand he did what looked like a horizontal elbow strike, but Piandao and Zuko immediately recognized it as a simple reverse grip strike, as Sokka's fist that clutched the whip came to rest near his opposite shoulder Zuko noticed that the move could be applied to his friend's sword just as easily.
The whip followed close behind his move, and seemed to slash with an almost explosive force as it clashed with Katara's ice sphere, blowing a hole in the center with about a three-foot radius. He then put his hands in front of his chest and swirled his hands horizontally with the palms facing each other and then pushed toward the ground. The water obeyed and returned to the ceramic jugs it had been retrieved from.
While everyone else gave high fives and cheered, Katara simply nodded and hugged Sokka. When she released him and the noise died down she asked. "How did you pull that off? I haven't even taught you the water whip yet."
"I remembered Zuko had told me of how he could use his swords in conjunction with his firebending for better control and power, I thought the same could be true for my sword techniques as well." Sokka told her proudly.
"You could say… he opened his water chakra." Toph laughed. To his surprise Zuko joined her and after a minute they were both hysterical rolling on the ground clutching their ribs.
Katara shook her head disappointedly as though her friend was suppose to be more mature. Turning back to Sokka, she just looked at him warmly with a smile and thought that finally, they had something to share, something in common.
"Sokka, I think you're real training's about to start." She said with an approving nod.
A/N: New chapter soonish, I promise.
