And after over a week of traveling together, Toph finally gets started on Aang's earthbending training. Personally, I'm not big on watching Aang heft boulders around, or watching Toph throw boulders at him, so I find a nice open space for me to do some very complicated stretches, they are the prelude to a very dance-like firebending form that my family has passed down for hundreds of years.

Thankfully, since I rise with the sun, I'm the only one that Aang and Toph don't wake up with their early morning exuberance, I'm up before they are. And as Aang's training progresses, I find myself making up new steps to my firebending dance, to account for how Zuko and Azula fight. Those two are going to be our biggest problems going forward, at least, if I trust my instincts. And frankly, I trust my instincts more than I trust Sokka's. I still remember all of the issues from when we ran into Jet. And for now, I refuse to be left behind in perfecting my bending.

Of course, with his earthbending training progressing badly, Aang gets back to mastering waterbending, which he still hasn't completed. And as for me, I find myself growing well. And with visualization, I can effectively make up moves to counter Azula and Zuko.

Toph comes to find me at sundown and she sits down against my back. "Twinkle Toes has the wrong attitude for an earthbender. Teaching him is like trying to move a rock without earthbending. It's so frustrating. He's just not an earthbender!"

"Well, to be fair, he's been trained as an airbender, so this is probably pretty opposite to what he's used to." But as I consider the problem, I stop meditating. I lean against Toph, creating a pleasant pressure between our backs. "So anyway, why are you telling me instead of Katara? She's teaching Aang as well. Wouldn't it be better to discuss this with another of his teachers?"

Toph throws up her hands. "Because Katara is like Aang. She tries to mediate things and stay calm." Then she laughs a bit. "Well, you do too, but it's more in the group leader or group advisor kind of way. Whenever you want our attention urgently, you make us know it. You don't take crap from any of us if there's something bad going on. You don't think like any one kind of bender, but you act a bit like an airbender, your emotions are steady, but unmovable like an earthbender, and when you get mad, your emotions blaze like a firebender, but when you want to mediate a situation, you become adaptable and fluid like a waterbender. I just don't get how you can be everything and not explode."

I laugh a little and look at the sky. "That's because in order to survive, I have to hunt, and for that, I need the patience of a waterbender. To keep moving when everything seems hopeless, I need the steady persistence of an earthbender. Because of my past, I value freedom highly like an airbender. But most of all, though I have a habit of suppressing it all, I have the passionate, determined and hot-tempered personality of a firebender, I am one after all. I take from everything, but only because it just happened. It wasn't on purpose, none of it is. It just…happened."

"Yeah, that makes sense, kind of. So, how do I get Aang to understand the whole steady and strong thing? He's just too airy. Katara's approach didn't work well, I'm not good with positive reinforcement."

"Hmm…" I give it a little thought. "Well, you need to make him want to butt heads with you. You need to make him obstinate and stubborn. I can do stubborn pretty well when I'm mad, so I know what that's like. If I were trying to make him stubborn, I would tell him that he gives up too easily. Because no matter how powerful or talented you are, there are just some things that you need to stubbornly stick out like your life depends on it. Make him mad at you, make him stand against you; give him something to push against. Because people do their best work when they have a rival or a challenge facing them. It inspires them to reach beyond their limits."

"Yeah, that sounds like it'll work. Thanks Miss Firebender." Toph jumps to her feet and I smile. "By the way, why hasn't Twinkletoes learned firebending yet? Couldn't you teach him how to do it?"

I look away from her and off into the distance. "Aang isn't ready to learn firebending. He's undisciplined and too unfocused. That's why he failed the first time. And now, he doesn't want to learn. So I'm not going to force him to learn if he doesn't want to."

"Hm…you're right, he is a little undisciplined. I can see why you wouldn't want to teach him. Fire's pretty dangerous." She walks away humming to herself. "Now…how to get Twinkletoes to be as stubborn as a rock…"

I snicker as she walks off, and I contemplate the idea of teaching Aang. I'm really ill-suited to be teaching him, at least at his current level. To do what I do takes incredible discipline, developed over time alongside the skills themselves. They're ancient forms and dances that have been passed down through my family over centuries. And they've been refines to the point of perfection.

With the afternoon growing old, I get back to work, surrounding myself with golden fire, and swirling it around me as I dance. My feet slide across the ground like water, smooth and even. And while I land lightly, I jump with enough power to fly through the air like a bird. Fly like the phoenix that my ancestors believed gave them this gift. The creature whose power I now hold.

I get back to camp late and I see that Aang has finally gotten the hang of basic earthbending. And he's so happy about it that I can't help but giggle quietly to myself. He looks so cute when he's excited. Kind of like the hyperactive brother I never had.

Days pass, and while at first, Aang was struggling with his training, he's slowly improving, despite the opposite element block. It's actually pretty admirable from where I'm standing. Considering his age and his upbringing, and leaving out the whole Avatar aptitude for all the elements, his block is only to be expected. It's like trying to teach a creature of the land to fly, or in this case, a creature of the sky to walk.

And Toph seems to be acting on my advice, and she picks a fight with Aang over his glider staff. At first, he tolerates her abuse of his staff. But eventually, it becomes too much, and I can hear his exclamations from a couple hundred meters away. They're indistinct, but still, he's got some pipes on him. And that makes me smirk a little. "Looks like our little airbender is getting himself grounded. Good…" I laugh quietly, before returning to my complex dance movements.