Hey, guys! Seeing as this episode it Sokka's episode away from the Gaang you're gonna be getting some quiet Celina moments that may not be so quiet. I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy!
Sokka's Master
The Gaang sat lying on a makeshift roof covering Appa, watching the sky with awe as a meteor shower flew across the night sky. Peaceful moments were few and rare, especially while they were in the Fire Nation, so that Gaang took advantage of the beautiful moment.
"Wow, this is amazing to watch," Katara said.
"Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are," Sokka commented.
"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it 1,000 times," Toph shrugged.
Everyone glanced over at Toph, a small look of pity in their eyes. With her amazing skills so often they forgot she was blind. They quickly shook that and returned back to watching the meteor shower, knowing Toph wouldn't appreciate the looks she couldn't see. Just in time too as one of the meteor's broke off from the rest, growing closer to the earth.
"Oh, man. You've never not seen anything like this," Sokka said.
They all sat up in amazement as the now meteorite drew closer, engulfed in blue fire. The meteorite whistled loudly as it passed over their heads, crashing in a huge explosion off in the distance. Toph stood in surprise, having felt the vibrations. Running to check out the crash sight the group were taken aback by the crater of fire but gasped realizing that the nearby town could be in danger.
"The fire is gonna destroy that town!" Katara gasped.
"Not if we can stop it," Aang said determined.
"There's a creek over there. Katara, let's go," Celina noticed.
Katara nodded and the sisters ran to Appa, Celina taking the driver's position. Taking off they headed towards the creek to gather enough water.
"Toph, let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer," Aang suggested.
"What should I do?" Sokka asked dejected.
"Keep an eye on Momo," Aang instructed. The creature in question flew up to Sokka and landed on his head.
"So what, I'm just a lemur-sitter," Sokka complained before patting Momo's head. "There, there. Feel better?"
Sokka sat and watched as the rest of the Gaang dealt with the fire. Aang and Toph ran towards the fire, swinging their arms down to cut a fissure through the ground in front of the raging flames. Using their earthbending they turned the fissure into a trench, pushing the fire back. Celina and Katara came over on Appa. Katara used hers to shower over the fire, putting out the majority of it. Toph joined in bending huge slabs of earth to stomp out the flames while Aang used some airbending. Celina built up her huge orb of water high above the crater. Concentrating she turned the orb of water into a large globe of ice before exploding it into snow, putting out the remainder of the fire. With the fire taken care of the benders and Appa landed next to a snow covered Sokka and Momo, looking over the snowy crater.
"Good work, everybody," Aang congratulated.
Celina used her bending to remove the snow from her brother while Momo simply shook the snow off before running around, trying to catch the still falling flakes. With the snow removed she noticed the dejected and disappointed look on Sokka's face that she hadn't seen in a while.
o
The dream connection Celina and Zuko shared had an awkward atmosphere to it since their last real conversation where Zuko learned a bit about Celina's family (though the part about her biological parents heavily altered) while Celina learned that he was the one who brought her to a warm place back in the North Pole. They continued to try and avoid each other in the environments they created. Try being the keyword. It seemed like every night they would run into each other. Tonight, Zuko had beat Celina to the world and transformed it to host his old Fire Navy ship. Upon arriving she was placed in one of the ship's hallways.
While she had never been on Zuko's ship it had a similar feeling to the Fire Navy ship the Gaang had hidden out on. Taking a moment to orientate herself, Celina proceeded to make her way towards what was her room on the other ship, hoping to hunker down in there for the remainder of the night. Find a spot and don't move, the perfect way to avoid each other. If only the room she was searching for wasn't Zuko's room. He had been pacing around the room, his hands curled tightly into fists out of discomfort, which was how he was able to spot Celina when she appeared in the doorway. Both froze.
"Sorry, I didn't know this was your room," Celina apologized. "I'll just head somewhere else."
Zuko didn't get a word in before Celina turned around and left, going to find another room to hide away in. She came across another problem however as it appeared that every door she tried wouldn't open. It appeared that when controlling the dream world he relied on choosing what was familiar to him, which wasn't bad. Celina would do so as well, but she would also use places she knew as inspiration to fill in the blanks and make some creative twists. It appeared that if Zuko didn't know the complete layout of a place he would just block it off.
Thinking of a place that she could go that Zuko would have been able to create Celina headed towards the observation deck. She would have preferred the kitchen, having spent more time there than the observation deck in the past, but wasn't sure whether the Prince of the Fire Nation would have even set foot in the ship's kitchen. Upon arriving at the observation deck Celina leaned against a railing and looked out over the view. It was a bit overly simplistic. Nothing but unmoving ocean surrounding the ship, no land masses in sight.
She was debating about whether or not to change the scenery when she heard footsteps approaching. Looking over at the entrance she watched as Zuko appeared in the doorway. He froze in place upon seeing her once again.
"Sorry, I just needed to get out of my room. I didn't expect to find you here," Zuko apologized. "I can leave -"
"No, it's fine. I'll just… go jump off the ship," Celina decided.
Zuko's eyes widened and it looked like he wanted to talk to her about what she said but Celina left before he could. Heading down the stairs she made her way to the deck of the ship. She knew that wherever she went on the ship Zuko would most likely show up there as well. So the ocean would be her hiding space. Her bare feet slapped against the metal of the deck as she picked up speed, running towards the railing. The leap over was easy, what she wasn't expecting however was for Zuko to grab her arm to try and stop her. Try once again being the keyword.
Tumbling overboard the two fell into the water with a large splash, detaching them. Celina was the first to resurface first with Zuko following soon after. The both of them took a moment to see that the other was fine before the shouting started.
"What were you thinking?!" Celina exclaimed.
"What was I thinking?! What were you thinking jumping off the ship?!" Zuko shot back.
"That the ocean would be the one place we wouldn't continue to awkwardly run into each other," Celina told him.
"So you'd rather drown than see me?!" Zuko shouted, not happy with her response.
"Have you forgotten that I'm a waterbender?" she reminded him.
That stopped the shouting. Zuko tried not to show how flustered he was though Celina still noticed. She also noticed that he was getting tired treading water, weighted down thanks to the armor that he was wearing. Taking control Celina transformed the scenery. The ship disappeared as Celina switched out the ocean for a field of clouds at dawn. There was a moment where she and Zuko floated for a moment before landing softly on their knees. Surprised, Zuko looked around at the new environment.
"How are you able to do that?" Zuko asked.
"Do what?" Celina asked back, bending the water off them and tossing it into the clouds which happily ate it up.
"Change the environment from mine?" Zuko clarified, a bit annoyed.
"You don't exactly have the strongest control over this place. It was pretty easy to take over, especially since you were distracted," Celina answered.
"My control is fine," Zuko said getting defensive.
"It's basic. You have the scaffolding up along with a wall or two but those can easily be knocked down and replaced by someone with more experience," Celina told him.
"We've been here the same amount of time," Zuko tried to argue.
"And yet I've taken us to multiple places with endless possibilities, some of which don't even exist, while you've boxed us into two places. Both of which you've most likely spent the most about of time in," she pointed out, ending the budding argument.
Not that Zuko didn't want to continue. He just knew that he wasn't going to win the argument. After all, he'd seen what Celina could do in this place.
"So you chose to take us into the clouds?" Zuko questioned.
"I chose to take us somewhere peaceful, away from a metal ship on stagnant water. Somewhere I'd feel comfortable," Celina answered, getting up.
"I was comfortable, it was my ship," Zuko argued, causing Celina to let out a short, dry laugh before walking off towards a large wall of cloud off in the distance.
Mad, Zuko got up to follow her, not wanting to end the start of that argument. As he tried to catch up with her Zuko noticed colorful birds beginning to rise out from beneath the clouds, flying off in different directions. Some sticking with a group while others flew solo. The sound of their caws mixed in with the wind flowing through their feathers settled nicely into the atmosphere. The background noise creating a calm that the earlier silence couldn't. It calmed Zuko down for a second before he remembered that he wanted to continue his row with Celina. Turning his attention back on the girl he watched as she walked into the wall of cloud, disappearing. He sprinted after her, not daring to let her get away from the lecture he was about to give her.
Once he emerged from the other end of the shining sun stopped him and once he's eyes adjusted the lecture he was about to spout. The Southern Air Temple stood tall in its mountains in front of them, the epicenter of the air bison, lemurs, and airbenders that flew and walked around it. A picture of what he imagined the Temple has looked like over a hundred years ago, something no one alive today would have an inkling of what it looked like. Zuko knew that this place wasn't real, it was a purgatory that he was sent to every night when he fell asleep. He looked over at the one who was trapped here with him. She stood slightly in front of him, looking over her creation. The glow of dawn casting a heavenly light on her face as the wind gently swayed the skirt of her dress and a strand of her hair. Zuko stepped into line with her, overlooking the airbenders' sanctuary.
"How do you make this? How do you make this place feel so real? So… alive?" he genuinely asked her.
"It's a mix really. My memories, some creativity, and a lot of…," Celina swallowed, feeling a bit stupid saying the next word. "...passion."
There was a moment of silence before Zuko looked over at her, swallowing a bit of his pride. "Teach me?" he asked. Celina looked over at him, surprised and contemplating a response.
o
The next day the Gaang headed into the small mountain town that they had saved the night before. Camping out was safer but exploring towns allowed them to see more of the Fire Nation and its people, plus they got to indulge in the food. Celina remembered back during winter when her, her siblings, and Aang snuck into the Fire Nation festival. Sokka's tolerance for spice had significantly gone up since then. Not that he displayed that as they ate dumplings for lunch at one of the town's restaurants. In fact, he wasn't really eating his tray of smoked sea slugs with his usual vigor which worried Celina. Not that any of the others noticed.
"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," Aang observed.
"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love," Toph said.
"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Sokka moaned sarcastically.
"What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug," Katara noticed.
"Care to tell us what's been bothering you?" Celina asked.
"It's just… all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around. I can't fly around, okay. I can't do anything," Sokka explained sadly.
"Sokka, that's not true at all," Celina tried to tell him.
"Yeah, no one can read a map like you," Katara said.
"I can't read at all," Toph commented.
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time I mean, look at Katara's hair, right. What up with that?" Aang tried to joke, holding up a lock of Katara's hair.
"What? What's wrong with my hair?" Katara asked embarrassed, taking back the strand and trying to stroke down any flyaways.
"Nothing, I was just trying to…," Aang tried to apologize.
"Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm not. I'm just the guy in the group who's regular," Sokka interrupted.
Celina and Katara shared a look before getting up from the table to sit down next to Sokka on the edge of the floor. "I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know none of us see you that way," Katara started.
"Trust us, you are anything but regular," Celina assured him, placing a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder.
"I know something that's gonna make you feel better," Katara smiled.
"You do?" Sokka asked, still feeling depressed.
One look at her sister's smile and Celina knew where they were going next. Aang and Toph didn't ask questions as the waterbending girls took the lead. The girls lead them to a weapons shop where upon arriving Sokka's mood improved significantly.
"Shopping!" he exclaimed excited before running inside to explore.
As he went off to browse the wears the rest of the Gaang split up to look around as well, Toph choosing to stick close by Celina. For the most part, the waterbender didn't care about the weapons in the shop. With her bending, she didn't have a use for them and besides, she had seen plenty of weapons from those who've attacked them. The only products Celina showed any interest in was the knives and daggers. Sure they were useful for cooking but that wasn't the main reason behind Celina's interest. While she did have the dream connection to express her creativity with it had been a while since she spent any time carving and the itch to do so was strong.
Besides her waterbending and her siblings, carving was Celina's strongest connection to the Water Tribe. So much of what the Water Tribe used; their weapons, their accessories, their tools; were intricately carved. It was something that was always beautiful to her. And once she started learning how to carve herself, it was the only time that Hakoda would tolerate her. He was the one who taught her when she started showing interest. At the time she thought they were nice father daughter moments though she learned better after the attack. Still, Celina was able to set aside her qualms with Hakoda to admit that he was a good teacher.
For the most part, the daggers weren't really what she was looking for. Which made sense as they were meant to be used as weapons. However, the knives showed more promise. The blades were smaller which would be better for carving. She held two knives in her hand, one with a plain handle and one that had its own simple design carved into it, debating which one to purchase. The plain knife would be cheaper though Celina kept finding herself thumbing over the one with the carving. Sure it was a simple design but sometimes the most simplistic things could be the most beautiful. Deciding to treat herself, Celina set down the plain handled knife and went to find the shop owner who was pleased to sell it to her. After the knives purchase both Celina and the shopkeep noticed Sokka looking at a sword that was displayed upon the wall, a detailed dragon decorating the scabbard.
"You have a good eye," the shop keep spoke up, causing the rest of the Gaang to gather around. "That's an original from Piandao, the greatest sword master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here." Having given Sokka the information the shop keep went back to manning the shop.
"That's it. That's what you needed all along, Sokka," Aang said.
"A sword?" Sokka questioned.
"Not the sword...a master. We've all had masters to help us get better," Aang clarified.
"Not Celina," Sokka tried to protest.
"Yes even me. The Ocean and Moon spirits had been teaching me for years. And then when we visited the North Pole I studied healing under Yugoda," Celina corrected. "But I think Aang's right, you should see if you can study with Piandao."
"That's a great idea. I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Pakku. Everyone needs a teacher," Katara agreed.
"I learned from badger moles. They don't talk, but they're still good teachers," Toph added in.
"It would be nice to be a master sword fighter," Sokka said looking down at the sword. "Alright, I'll talk to him."
o
Sokka went alone up to Piandao's place. He wanted to do it on his own and besides, everyone knew it would look a bit odd if the rest of the Gaang came along as well. So with the day to themselves, Celina took the time to go off and search for a nice piece of wood. She didn't want anything too big, it wouldn't be wise since they were traveling. Something Celina wouldn't feel bad about leaving behind if she had to. There was a large branch that must have fallen down during the meteorite crashed. The branch itself was too big but Celina liked it's width so she ended up using her waterbending to cut off a couple of nice sized discs before returning back to the Gang's camp. Choosing one of the discs Celina started stripped the wood of bark.
When Hakoda was teaching her how to crave he started her off with snow, which Celina wasn't happy about. But after explaining that it was an easy way to teach her how to create designs without wasting resources Celina was satisfied. He taught her traditional Water Tribe designs before letting her use her own imagination. Once he deemed that she knew about the design process Hakoda moved her onto her first real material: bone. It was a large resource in the South Pole thanks to all the hunting and fishing they did, being incorporated into basically everything they used. She had been so excited. Of course, there were plenty of moments of frustration while she practiced, not satisfied with her designs in the beginning. But once she finally accomplished a design she was proud of Celina only wanted to do more. More intricate designs, bigger pieces to carve.
After becoming proficient in bone Hakoda moved her onto wood. It was an easier material to carve though wasn't as available for carving projects as bone. The carving projects it was used for was the handles for weapons that were often paired with leather for a steady grip. Seeing as she was quick with carving wood Hakoda moved on to teach her about adding color to her carvings. What resources to use for certain colors and what mixtures to use to keep some of the coloring from washing off. Celina spent some time with the colors, going back to old projects and adding them to her details.
She had become so proficient in carving that others from her village were asking her mom and Hakoda if she could carve something for them. It was something she took joy in. Especially as it came with positive interaction from the villagers. Whispers and insults turned into compliments and praise if just for a day or so.
Her proudest accomplishment, however, was Sokka's dagger. She had used the jawbone of an arctic wolf the men of the village had taken down. Celina kept four of the teeth as per tradition before carving out the blade from the bone. It was what Celina considered the most boring part but eventually she got to what she had been looking forward too. On one side of his dagger, Celina carved the face of an arctic wolf. With the blade finished she used wood for the handle, marking out places for leather gripping, before carving out the cycle of the moon, coloring it with white from crushed bone.
Sokka was so happy with his gift. He still polished it every now and then to make sure the arctic wolf could still be seen. Of course, using any Water Tribe weapons in public wasn't an option currently. It would alert the Fire Nation. Celina sighed, hoping that things were going well with Sokka at Piandao's. He deserved something nice and hopefully finding a master brightened his spirits.
Celina paused, looking down at the design she had started. Having reminisced over her gift to Sokka she had ended up carving the silhouette of her brother. It was just the outline at the moment but Celina had a good idea of what to fill it with. Though it would be smart to stop and make a fire to get some ash to sketch with before making any more markings. Besides, it was getting close to lunch anyway.
Pocketing the disc Celina went to work building up a fire. She had stopped using spark rocks to light the logs, choosing to practice her newly discovered firebending. It was a small, conjuring up a tiny flame at the tip of her finger and using that to light the kindling to start the campfire. Celina wouldn't dare do anything bigger, having seen the consequences for trying to firebend without proper teaching thanks to Aang ignoring Jeong Jeong. Besides, anything bigger would alert her friends and she did not want to explain how she could firebend, especially since she didn't understand it herself.
Lunch was simple, cooking up some veggies and fish that they stopped to purchase in town before coming back to their camp. The others, having sat around not knowing what to do instantly flocked to the fire once they smelled everything cooking. Katara was more than happy to take over, serving everything up. Afterwards, Katara pulled out Sokka's map for her and Aang to look over while Celina returned to her carving, drawing out the symbol of the Water Tribe in ash over Sokka's silhouette. She wanted to have the symbol in the silhouette and not out of it.
"So where are we going next?" Katara asked. Looking over at the map she pointed at an island. "We started from here."
"No, we're over on this island," Aang corrected.
"You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing. I miss, Sokka," Toph said.
"Oh, I got one! If you miss him so much, why don't you marry him?" Katara replied, attempting a joke that fell flat. She sighed and turned to her sister who had moved onto the carving process. "Celina, can you read the map?"
"If I must but why are you guys looking at it anyway?" Celina asked.
"Aang and I thought we could plan where we head next," Katara answered.
Celina looked up from her work to glance over at the map. She pointed out the island where they were currently located along with where they were to meet with the Invasion Force. "We're on this island here and need to end up here by the Day of Black Sun for the invasion."
"Great! So we can head over here next," Katara smiled, pointing at another spot on the map.
"That's the Fire Nation capital," Celina told her sister. Katara winced out of embarrassment.
"Okay, maybe we should plan our next move later," Aang said.
o
Celina had finished the wooden disc dedicated to Sokka, having added some decorative markings on the front and sides. She was thinking of what to add to the back of the disc when Toph sat up from her nap in excitement.
"Sokka's coming!" she announced.
Katara and Aang woke up from their own nap, just as excited. From over the hill, the four spotted Sokka coming up the path.
"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" he greeted him. Katara, Aang, and Toph jumped at Sokka, trapping him in a group hug.
"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed.
"You're back," Toph smiled.
"We missed you so much," Katara told him.
"Say something funny," Aang asked of him.
"Funny how?" Sokka questioned confused. Still, his words sent Katara and Aang laughing, everyone breaking out of the hug. Celina slipped in giving her brother a less suffocating hug. "What's their deal?"
"I don't know. They missed you or something. I don't care," Toph tried to play off, though she had a soft smile on her face.
"Thanks. That warms my heart," Sokka smiled.
"So what are you doing back so soon? Master sword fighting all in one day?" Celina asked her brother, teasing him a bit.
"Actually I came down to get something. Though I could use some help getting it," Sokka informed the Gaang.
What he wanted help with was getting a good chunk of the meteorite. He explained to them that Piandao said that he was ready to make his own sword and that he wanted to use the meteorite to help make it. The Gaang were more than happy to help. Toph grabbed the meteorite with her earthbending and then together the Gaang rolled it up the mountain to Piandao's place. Upon arrived Sokka ran over to the door and banged both knockets, causing Piandao to step out.
"Who's this?" the swordmaster asked, referring to the rest of the Gaang.
"Oh, these are my friends. Just other good Fire Nation folks," Sokka partially lied. Piandao bowed to them, causing the others to bow back. Afterward, Sokka motioned to his master to look at the meteorite they had brought. "Do you think we can make a sword out of a meteorite?"
"We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world," Piandao approved. "You four can come in and wait for your friend if you'd wish."
The Gaang was more than happy to stick around, not wanting to be away from Sokka again after seeing just how much his absence affected them. Piandao's butler, Fat, was kind enough to bring them refreshments before going off to help Piandao and Sokka with the sword making process.
o
The dream connection was blank when Celina arrived, Zuko standing nearby waiting for her. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him over the environment.
"I thought it would be easier to start with a blank slate," Zuko answered her unspoken question.
"Makes sense," Celina accepted. "Alright, so when building up an environment I like to use something strong or familiar to act as the roots. Be it a memory of a place or an object. The forests I create here don't really exist in the real world but I've camped out in enough of them to be familiar with the trees. I use those to anchor those forest environments. But perhaps we should start with a memory in your case."
Celina opened it up to Zuko, waiting for him to change the environment. Readying himself Zuko closed his eyes and concentrated, he had yet to figure out how to change the place without closing his eyes and imagining it in his head first. After a moment he had changed the environment to his ship like he had the night before. She had complained about that one after all.
"No, no," Celina said, taking over and reverting the environment back to its blank canvas.
"Why'd you dispeal it? I did what you asked," Zuko questioned annoyed.
"Choose a less stressful memory," Celina instructed.
"It's not a stressful memory," he tried to argue.
"If you're going to continue lying to me this isn't going to work," she told him, shuting Zuko up. "Bad and stressful memories won't strengthen your creations, it just sets you on edge and makes your hold on this place weaker. I know that those can be some of the strongest memories you have but you need to move past it here, if only for your mental health. Try again."
Zuko let out a frustrated sigh but didn't try to argue with her. He closed his eyes again and tried to think of a peaceful memory. It was difficult, there weren't many memories like that. Sure there was his mother's garden but Zuko had a feeling that Celina wouldn't accept that since he'd recreated that before. There were the memories of his times with Celina. At the apartment in Ba Sing Se and then at the Jasmine Dragon. But he decided against those, knowing it would just create awkwardness between them. Remembering those places in Ba Sing Se did bring Zuko to a decision though.
Celina watched as the blank space was filled with a fountain in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, surrounded by lit candles. "The Firelight Fountain," Celina said, speaking its name.
"You know it?" Zuko asked surprised.
"We were in the same city at one point," she reminded him. "I was on this first date with a guy and he showed it to me."
Both Celina and Zuko couldn't help but feel a pinch of jealousy. Celina remembering the kiss Zuko shared with the Earth Kingdom girl and Zuko imagining Celina on a date. But both quickly moved past it.
"Alright, so this is good. But let's add more depth to it. First, sound. It's alright for spaces to be quiet but most places aren't completely silent. You'll probably notice that complete silence makes things a bit unsettling. So looking at your environment what sounds do you think you'd hear?" Celina said, getting back to teaching.
"Uh... water from the fountain, it's night so maybe a cricket chirping,... we're in town but in a quiet place so occasional muffled noises of people," Zuko listed off.
"Good, add them in," Celina told him. Closing his eyes Zuko thought about the sounds and after a moment he actually started hearing them. Celina couldn't help but notice Zuko relax a little bit. "It feels better doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "What's next?"
"Letting the environment move. You got the sound of the fountain flowing but if you really look at it you'll notice that the water isn't moving, nor have the candles flickered," Celina answered.
"Gotcha," he said.
This time Zuko didn't need to close his eyes, unfreezing the scene happened naturally. Perhaps because he was starting to feel more relaxed. He looked over to Celina for approval and paused. The now flickering of the candles reflected off the fountains water cast the both of them in a soft light. For a moment Zuko was truly taken back to his date with Jin, but this time it was Celina. The date Zuko truly wished happened.
"Better," Celina complimented, dragging Zuko back to his lesson. "This is on level with your mother's garden. However, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to leave the Firelight Fountain if I tried."
"I don't really have a strong memory of what the rest of the Lower Ring looked like. The most I could think of is a layout maybe," Zuko told her.
"And that's fine. You're not gonna remember the details of every single thing. But you know that there's the rest of the city surrounding this. Open yourself to this place, let your subconscious fill in the blanks," Celina replied.
"That's vague," Zuko commented, not knowing if he'd be able to do so or not.
Sensing some hesitation, Celina gently took Zuko by the hand and began to slowly lead him to the edge of the fountain area. He tensed at first but quickly relaxed, happy that Celina was touching him.
"Close your eyes and take a deep breath," Celina instructed. He did as she asked, trusting that she wasn't going to lead him into a wall as they continued walking. "I know what it's like to keep your guard up. But this place has given us a little bit of freedom to relax. Take advantage of that. Imagine for me a lock with a tiny bit of light peeking out of the key hole. Create a key and open it."
As she talked her words formed visions in his mind of the lock. And when she asked him to create a key he did just that. It was a simple gold key, no ornaments needed. Zuko's hold on Celina's hand tightened as the key slide into the lock and turned. He let out a gasp as light engulfed the lock, shining brightly.
"What do you see?" Celina asked, her voice soft.
"The lock's gone. It's just light now," he answered, his voice just as soft.
"Describe it for me," she asked of him.
"It's bright but not blinding. Strong but soft. It's… warm, like the sun," he answered.
"Open your eyes," Celina told him.
Upon opening his eyes Zuko was shocked to find that they had left the Firelight Fountain and that Celina had walked them into the market space. A few people filled the space, closing up shops or walking home. None of them paying attention to Celina and Zuko who stood directly in the center. As he looked around his eyes fell on Celina who wore a soft, proud smile. They held each other's gaze for a moment before looking down at their hands which were still interlocked. Celina took her hand away.
"And so ends lesson number one," she said.
Lesson one, a promise that there would be another lesson the next night. Celina thought back to agreeing to teach Zuko. At the time she told herself that it was because she couldn't stand his environments and that maybe if she taught him that it would be better. But the real reason poked through when she took his hand. Celina knew that forming any sort of relationship with the enemy wasn't smart. Though perhaps in this world of their own she could give way to a bit of kindness to the prince, a friendship that only existed there. She just had to make sure it didn't develop into anything else.
o
The Gaang sat behind Sokka as he sat in front of Piandao, the sword master holding the sword he had created. He has stayed up the night before working hard to create his sword. Piandao had allowed the others to stay the night, Fat having stepped away from the sword making process to serve them dinner and show them to their rooms. Now that sat watching their brother and friend, proud of what he accomplished.
"Sokka, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me. No, it certainly wasn't your skills. You showed something beyond that," Piandao spoke. Unsheathing the sword the Gaang let out a soft gasp seeing the black blade of the sword Sokka spent so long crafting. "Creativity, versatility, intelligence… these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you." Sheathing the sword Piandao kneeled down and handing the sword to Sokka. "You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."
Sokka stared that the sword in his hands before lowering his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Master. You're wrong. I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," he revealed. The Gaang gawked at him in shock and disbelief, tensing. "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry." He held up the sword of Piando to take.
"I'm sorry, too," Piandao apologized.
The sword master turned around and then quickly swung back with a sword in hand. Sokka stood to avoid the attack, using the sheathed sword to block a thrust from Piandao. Celina, Katara, Aang, and Toph stood and got ready to help Sokka but he raised his hand to stop them.
"No, this is my fight alone," he told them.
The fight was paused long enough that everyone moved outside. Sokka and Piandao stood in a fighting ring while Celina, Katara, Aang, Toph, and Fat watched from the upper part of the main building. They waited for someone to make the first move, nervous and ready to step in if Sokka needed saving.
Piandao struck, lunging forward and striking four times which Sokka deflected. He took a stab himself which Piandao moved out of the away and stabbed at Sokka, swaying back and avoiding the attack. Taking the opportunity Piandao swept his sword at Sokka's legs, but Sokka jumped over it and lunged. Another deflection but this time Piandao hit Sokka with the butt of his sword's hilt, knocking him back several feet. Sokka flipped himself backward and grabbed a post of a small bridge to regain his balance. He climbed on the post and jumped from one to another as Piandao came at him. There was a moment when Sokka jumped off the bridge when Piandao's blade came close to his face. Blocking the next strike Sokka leapt away towards the end of the bridge.
"Excellent! Using your superior agility against an older opponent… smart," Piandao complimented.
The swordmaster charged, pushing Sokka up a large stone stairway. He managed to block all the attacks but ended up being pushed against the wall of the stairway. Ducking out of the way Piandao's sword sliced through part of the wall above Sokka's shoulder. He barely dodged however as Piandao swung his sword around his head and body in two large circles. Sokka cartwheeled to the right before using the wall to propel him forward, sword extended. Piandao blocked to which Sokka responded by rolling across the stairs to the other wall, climbing on top of it.
"Good use of terrain… fighting from the high ground," Piandao commented.
Celina watched in confusion, having picked up the compliments Piandao was giving to Sokka. Was he helping her brother learn still? The fight disappeared as the two moved into a bamboo forest. All they could see was the occasional cut pieces of bamboo rolling out of the forest. They didn't stay in there long as Sokka came running out with Piandao following after him. Sneaking a look behind him Sokka managed to block an attack. He stumbled forward, stabbing his sword into the ground to stop his fall. Using his momentum Sokka swung his sword around, flinging dust at Piandao, blinding him.
"Very resourceful," Piandao commented.
Seeing his opportunity to get away Sokka slowly tiptoed away. If only he hadn't stepped on a stick. Hearing where he was Piandao charged forward. Sokka managed to dodge Piandao's first attack but when he went to parry the swordmaster caught the blade with his own sword and managed to fling it out of Sokka's hand. Seeing the predicament that their friend was in the Gaang headed down to help Sokka. Piandao swung his sword at the now weaponless Sokka who thought he was done for. Yet what really hit Sokka was Piandao's arm, knocking him back. Before he could get back up Piandao had his sword pointed directly at Sokka's head. The Gaang arrived to see Piandao swinging his sword away from their friend.
"Excellent work, Sokka," Piandao complimented. Katara, Aang, and Toph went to defend Sokka though Celina hung back, already figuring out what was going on. Piandao held up his sword catching the sheath. "I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar."
This statement surprised everyone.
"How did you know?" Aang asked.
"Oh, I've been around a while. You pick things up," he answered. Fat came down to meet them, handing a cloth to Piandao so that he could wipe the dirt away from his eyes along with a drink. Sokka stood back up, finding himself to be safe. "Of course, I knew from the beginning that Sokka was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try Lee. There's a million Lees."
"But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?" Katara asked.
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all. Sokka, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am," Piandao explained.
He picked up Sokka's sword and handed it to him. Everyone had a large smile on their faces. Sokka and Piandao bowed to each other. A bit overcome with emotions the Gaang attacked Sokka in a hug, proud of him and what he's accomplished.
o
His training with Piandao complete the Gaang started to make their way down his mountain, happy to have found someone in the Fire Nation that they could trust. As they were making their way down however they paused upon hearing Fat call after them.
"Wait. The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by," Fat told Sokka, handing him a small bag before heading back to Piandao's. Curious as to what was inside Sokka opened it and pulled out a Pai Sho tile.
"It's a Pai Sho tile," Sokka said.
"The white lotus," Celina observed.
"What does it mean?" Katara questioned.
"I have no idea," Sokka replied. The Gaang looked back as the door to Piandao's closed, showing a lotus design on the doors surround the Fire Nation symbol. "Oh, that reminds me. Toph, I thought you might like this since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before."
Sokka pulled out a chunk of meteorite and handing it to Toph who started to bend it into different shapes.
"Sweet," Toph smiled.
"You know, I don't think there's such a thing as space earth. If it's from space then it's not really earth," Katara contemplated.
"Must you ruin everything?" Sokka questioned.
"I can't believe I missed you," Katara groaned, causing the others to laugh.
Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.
"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.
