"Guys, I know you probably don't like me very much right now, but..."
Ty Lee paused, trying to relieve an itch from her shoulder while she was tied down to the chair, all the way to her ankles.
"...but I really appreciate you letting me be part of your secret meeting!"
The ropes were Sokka's idea, as much as Aang and Brei An deemed it unnecessary. Katara just went with it for the sake of gathering information about Azula, and properly welcoming the newest member of the Airbending community at Praying Mantis High. Loung couldn't help but snicker in the background, watching that once-ruthless acrobat move uncomfortably in her confinement. On Ji punched him on the shoulder to quiet, and the boy hid under his dreadlocks.
"Don't take this personally," Katara explained about the ropes, briefly glaring at Sokka, "We're just not entirely sure we can trust you, yet."
"Yeah," Toph stomped firmly at Ty Lee, making Yue flinch from the chair behind her, "thanks to you, I'm not stepping onto another glider as long as I live!"
"Sweetie," the cheerleader's eyes seemed to lower empathetically to the little Earthbender as she spoke, "Princess Azula wasn't planning to hurt anybody yesterday."
While Toph barked a "DON'T CALL ME SWEETIE!" and looked ready to charge at the chair-bound girl, Zuko let his raspy voice fill the room angrily from the back.
"How do you know that, Ty Lee?" the young prince challenged, his hand flailing out of his pant pockets. "Azula does everything with full intent, and she never shows pity. She attacked the airbenders in the woods. She brought food poisoning to the water tribes' meals in the cafeteria. She sabotaged the airgliders, knowing just how dangerous those falls would be. Hell... do I even have to explain this to you?"
At that, Zuko removed his jacket hood and pointed to the brutal scar that marked his face. Ty Lee had made a faint attempt to say 'that was an accident!' but everyone turned to the prince (except for Toph, raising a confused brow) and watched his angry, glimmering eyes silently explain how that scar had been far from accidental. Mai's eyes lowered themselves to the ground instantly.
Not even Katara knew the story behind that scar, but the fact that was Azula's doing was enough to conclude that the princess was heartless.
She needed to go down.
Aang finally spoke up, staying calm with a short breath. "She's trying to play at one of us every single time, maybe to scare us until she gets her way. Even if we're not afraid of her, she threatens to hurt the people we're close to... believing that will be enough for us to back down."
"We need to find a way to get ahead of her," Sokka pondered, a hand to his chin, "To be ready for whatever she might throw at us before elections. This is bad... she's so calculating!"
As Katara brought a hand to her brother's flustered form, she smiled bravely. "The last thing we have to do is make an extraordinary OmaShu performance on Saturday. If we watch each other's backs, I know we can convince the whole school that Unity will keep this school strong."
Aang smiled at Katara, suddenly forgetting that Jet and Zuko were in the same room. He practically forgot all about Ty Lee still strapped to the chair.
"Alright, so next order of business..." Sokka unrolled a long piece of parchment. "Aang's Bending Progress: Will the Avatar-in-Training be Ready to Show his Skills by Saturday?"
Sokka turned dramatically over to Toph (raising a brow, again) and he absentmindedly waited a few seconds before asking, "So how's his Earthbending coming along?"
Toph just picked her nose and slouched in her classroom chair. "Meh...he's no me, but he'll wow the crowd by show-time on Saturday. I give him a B+."
Aang grinned delightfully, hearing Suganya laugh ridiculously in the background as Sokka promptly turned over to Katara for the next grade.
"He and I have been working on the advanced freezing techniques, and he got the water whip down faster than I ever did!" Katara smiled without any sense of remorse or jealousy, as Yue softly added, 'I saw then training together one afternoon. He is really good!'
"Aang's a natural with this element," Katara then said. "I give him an A."
The boy couldn't resist and he shouted 'all right!' happily to the whole classroom, and Jet clapped mockingly while Loung did a little WaterTribe boogie. Even Ty Lee seemed excited for him, now wriggling an itch from her right elbow. Xai, who'd been slouching with his arms crossed against the back wall next to Mai and Jet, couldn't look more bored out of his mind.
"And now... the great Prince of Fire," Sokka snorted at his own formal voice, "Has the Avatar-In-Training mastered the element?"
Zuko has left his hood down and didn't seem at all interested in the light-hearted mood this meeting had brought. His mind had run elsewhere... perhaps determining the whereabouts of his sister or her henchmen... and wondering why a strange man had been encircling the grounds of Mr. Mechanist's office the day before. And then... he remembered something.
It was the lifelessness of his sister's eyes that caught his mind, then, that one afternoon he'd been practicing in the Shaolin arena of the school. He remembered watching her hands slowly grow more and more enflamed with her iconic blue... watching them reach up to her forearms as if she no longer had control over that element. As if the very element had been consuming her...
And Zuko lifted his head up and glanced at Katara, and then at Aang... as if nobody else in the room was present.
"You'll be good enough for a routine, but you're not ready to face my sister."
Aang blinked almost immediately in question, but Zuko kept talking nevertheless.
"Fire-bending involves energy, but you also need to be resourceful. You need to be careful how you use that power, because otherwise, your body will turn weak... and your opponent could easily defeat you."
"But I've been practicing every move the way you told me!" Aang proclaimed, his voice almost cracking in the process.
"I know, and I'm sorry," Zuko rasped, frustrated for being a lousy teacher. "You could still perform for the show, but I should've told you about self-control sooner... it's not safe for you to Firebend against my sister if you don't know how to use it."
A small pause drifted through the room, Aang slouching into his chair.
"So, how should I write it down as?" Sokka had his pen lifted from the parchment. "C+ for effort?"
"Oh shut up, Sokka!" Katara punched her brother on the shoulder, "This is serious. If Aang can't defend himself properly, Azula might hurt him before the OmaShu play. And he's the lead!"
On Ji winced and made a small sound, like a gasp.
"We all have to work together to keep him out of Azula's clutches. She's already threatened to destroy him!" Katara said with a slight overtone in her voice. "I say we each take turns escorting him within a few days, and we'll use our special bending abilities to make sure that Azula doesn't get near him."
Aang wanted to argue against this, since he was indeed the Avatar-in-Training and felt it should've been the other way around... but it did seem nice that Katara was actually proposing to watch over him more often than usual. Everyone seemed to agree on this plan, slowly raising a chorus of words about availability and class schedules that seemed to work well with Aang's.
The boy had never felt more pleased.
"Well, what if Azula does use Fire? Can't Twinkle Toes just weasel his way out of it?" Toph flicked another booger out from her nose as she spoke. "I mean, he does know three other elements."
"Right, but Fire's the most unpredictable... and the most deadly," Zuko said, immediately sending angry heads over to his direction. Even Katara seemed displeased with that comment, and a wave of arguing voices started up in defense of their own elements (or lack thereof). Brei An and Loung seemed to be the only ones staring confusingly at the crowd, and it was while the word 'boomerang!' was heard amongst the arguments that Loung glanced at Ty Lee once again... and his eyes popped out with an idea.
"WAIT! Guys... I got it!"
Loung's dreadlocks jumped out with excitement, pointing immediately at the girl still strapped helplessly to the chair. All voices seemed to fade, and Ty Lee hunched over herself nervously... embarrassed at the sudden attention.
"Let me ask you something," Loung said to her.
"Sure!"
"What was that little trick you pulled, back there in the forest during the airbending ceremony?" Loung spoke, and Brei An's eyes quickly rose with recollection. "You punched me in the back, and I could barely feel my toes."
Aang's heart almost stopped, immediately remembering that painful ordeal he'd gone through... paralyzed between his human self and the Avatar State.
"Oh, that wasn't a trick." Ty Lee said cheerfully, but dismissively. "It's a little game I like to call 'finger jabbing.' I work at a traveling circus in the Earth Kingdom every summer, and all the young girls are required to learn it for basic self-defense! You temporarily freeze parts of your opponent's body (or bending elements) just enough so you can get away."
"I remember that game," Zuko recollected with thin copper eyes, "You and Azula used to sneak up behind me and jab my arms to see if it would work."
Toph snickered, and way in the back, Mai couldn't help but grin to herself at those memories.
Katara's mouth was agape. "Azula knows?" she wondered out loud.
"Well, she got the hang of the some moves," Ty Lee recalled, "but she thought 'finger jabbing' was about strength and power!"
"Then what's it about?" Xai asked impatiently, barely standing this girl's perky demeanor.
"It's speed and accuracy," Ty Lee explained with the same enthusiasm, "you have to understand how your opponent moves, and I guess Azula wasn't patient enough for that."
Aang looked over at the waterbender's curious gaze, already getting that certain vibe.
"The perfect move comes at the moment your opponent doesn't expect it, or even better... when they feel like they already won," Ty Lee continued to explain happily, noticing how Katara seemed to be in utter awe of such an ability.
With an unsure gaze at the very cheerful girl, Katara crossed her arms uncomfortably and mumbled "could you teach me?" without even breathing.
"NO!" Aang and Sokka immediately heard themselves say in surprise, but Katara didn't react so violently. It was like in the back of her mind, she had been hoping somebody would disagree.
"Why not?" Toph asked appallingly but in slight defense, "Miss Water Nymph can pick up techniques like the back of her hand, and Princess Crazy's out to get her. Of course she can use a few finger moves!"
"No, Toph, they're right," Katara stammered a little in her words, but exchanging a very understanding glance with Aang from the back of the classroom. "I know it's supposed to be for Azula, but I can't trust myself with that kind of power."
Toph raised a brow, but smirking mischievously nonetheless as she left that subject alone.
Aang couldn't help but smile, proud that Katara had received his advice without argument. He then surveyed the room of airbenders and friends... glancing finally back at Ty Lee. "If we're going to defend Katara's mission before the play... the best person to learn finger-jabbing is someone who knows self-control."
"Yep. Self-control is key!" Ty Lee added. "Azula wasn't patient enough; she didn't understand that the best self-defense comes when your using the opponent's energy against them."
"Sounds like the Kyoshi's technique," Suganya pointed out.
"That's right!" Ty Lee exclaimed, lifting her legs up for a little monkey swing as they were still entwined to the chair. "We had a Kyoshi girl work in the circus last summer... she picked it up quickly!"
"Hey, maybe you should learn finger-jabbing," the short airbender with dreadlocks suggested to Suganya. "That way if Azula threatens the Kyoshi before elections, you'll be one step ahead of her."
"I would..." Suganya turned over to Loung, "...but it's wrong."
Xai stammered at the girl with lovely make-up. "What do you mean, 'it's wrong?' At this point, the more moves an airbender can hold against that crazy lady, the better."
"But weakening an opponent isn't part of our philosophy, Xai," Brei An's quiet little voice sprung up next to Loung's seat. "It's what I learned after listening to Hide; he needed someone to be at level with him... to understand what he had been going through."
"She's right, Xai," Aang came out whole-heartedly in her defense, explaining it to everyone. "Airbenders have to create peace between their enemies, no matter how difficult the situation is. We're not supposed to overpower anyone."
"Blocking someone else's chi isn't fair in our nature," Suganya then added most matter-of-factly. "I'll be purposefully giving myself the advantage over the opponent. It's no better than to say the best way to treat a wounded animal is by eating it."
Aang and the others made a disgruntled look at that, but Sokka just crossed his arms.
"Well hypothetically," Sokka started in his own matter-of-fact rant, "if the animal is badly wounded, you might as well put it out of its misery. And why should you have to starve to death?"
Suganya and Katara had frowned in unison towards the meat-loving idiot, but Aang, however, seemed to have finally found a potential student for Ty Lee. All eyes and smiles eventually agreed, leaving Sokka completely dumbfounded with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
"No. Absolutely not," came the childish husky voice.
"Jet, quit bringing me into this! I told you, I don't want to dance."
Smellerbee crossed her arms as Mai made her own reluctant statement about the boy's idea. The scrawny girl was so appalled, she tried to look away from Mai's proper stance at all costs.
"Bee, what's the deal?" the Earthdweller asked oddly with fig of straw in his mouth and leaning against the tree. "She's a pretty good ballroom dancer. Salsa shouldn't be a problem with her."
"But she's not a hip hop dancer," the little girl's eyeliner thickened from her words, shrugging her shoulders in frustration. "How's Sharpy supposed to learn a whole routine by this weekend?"
"... I think Jet said he wants us to teach her," Pipsqueak murmured at Bee's side, but she just elbowed the big guy in the ribs.
"I don't like it," the little girl's husky voice came back, "She gonna mess up onstage, and she'll make us look bad in front of the entire school. It'll be humiliating!"
Jet rolled his eyes, realizing that his friend's Runner-Up title from last year's Street Fest was still somewhat attached to her ego. Mai's copper eyes thinned into a glare, pursing her lips.
"Well I'll save you the embarrassment," Mai replied with husky bite, muttering 'stupid idea' as she turned around to leave.
"Mai, hold on..." Jet grabbed her wrist bravely from out of the shade, and as much as Mai wanted to jerk it off, she remained where she was.
And she sighed. "I was planning to hang some of my artwork onstage, anyway."
"See?" Smellerbee mentioned absolutely. "She admits she doesn't wanna do it."
Jet refused to let Mai step away any farther, and so he brought an arm admirably around her waist to bring her back into the Oak Tree's shade.
"Listen, you two..." Jet grasped the straw in his mouth tightly with his teeth as he looked at the hesitant Pipsqueak and reluctant Smellerbee. "If we're gonna help Katara's campaign and represent the coolest Non-Benders in school, we've gotta work on this thing together. Now Longshot's out in suspension, and I can't dance for the sake of my stomach... so you guys are the only ones who can teach Sharpy here our routine by Saturday."
"Do I have to?" Pipsqueak mulled over childishly in his baritone voice, feeling perfectly comfortable under the shade.
"Yes, Squeakers," Jet proclaimed in a smile. "Come on, get up... the first part of the dance is in couples..."
So Pipsqueak finished the last of his break juice and wiped his hands before nervously taking Mai's hand by the stiff grip.
"Bee?" Jet eyed over to his favorite little tomboy, and with a loud grunt... Smellerbee uncrossed her arms and led the dancing pair to the first steps of Salsa.
As the scrawny Earthdweller girl directed with the occasional 'Pipsqueak, hold her weight against you' and 'no, Sharpy! It's one-two TURN!'... Mai's pale face almost came back with color. Jet watched amusingly as she tried to stay calm within the forwards and backs, and at one point when Pipsqueak accidentally stepped on her foot, Mai glanced over to Jet with a look that said 'I hate you. I really really hate you.'
But the boy grinned nonetheless, seeing his girlfriend finally starting to loosen up to his Oak Tree crowd. And he chewed on the straw in his mouth, trying to ignore the fact that he'd be graduating within a few weeks.
Zuko had not intended to eavesdrop on her mother, of all people. Usually he would most humbly stop by to greet her as he passed by the History classroom to his locker every afternoon.
A few days had passed since the Katara's secret campaign meeting, and Zuko longed for a break from the constant vigilance of a carefree kid. He was actually supposed to meet with his mother and Uncle Iroh today, to discuss his plans after graduation more thoroughly... deciding once and for all if he should stay in the Fire Nation and shadow the Royal Ambassadors... or instead, take the opportunity to explore other regions of the world through voluntary service. The same path that Uncle and Lu Ten had taken.
Katara seemed to enjoy this subject, anyway, saying that he should embrace his youth and travel the world before he was destined to take a seating in the Royal courtroom. Her enthusiasm about it was more than enough for the two of them, but Zuko felt another headache, wondering if he was capable to leave his country for a year... maybe even more.
His mother seemed to be the most unbiased about the subject, and he was anticipating her feelings about such a decision. Zuko was ready to knock on the slightly-closed door to her classroom, when he overhead her voice speak sadly from within.
"I just don't know what to do with her, anymore."
Zuko closed his eyes, not having to guess who she'd been talking about.
A few days had already passed since that dreadful speech, and the woman could still hear her daughter's frighteningly determined voice in her mind. Ms. Ursa brought one of her slender, distraught hands to her face as she finally settled down behind her desk... gratefully accepting a fresh cup of ginseng tea from her favorite person in the world.
"Ursa, please be calm," Iroh said bluntly. He knew the ruthlessness in his niece just as much as Ursa, but it broke his heart to see this young woman so wilted in stress. It almost made her look his age, and that frightened him.
"Perhaps it's a good thing I'm passing down my tea-making art to your son," he then remarked with a slightly cheerful tone. "Who knows how much longer I will be in this world?"
Zuko, still holding himself quietly outside the door, flinched at the dreadful idea of losing his Uncle. He wondered if now was the opportunity to break that conversation by entering the room, but his hand hesitated.
Ursa rose her copper eyes to Iroh curiously, then boldly thinning them. "Don't say that," she said while shaking her head in slight disbelief and amusement. "You still have a long career as Fire Lord ahead of you."
"I know, and bringing back the Fire Nation's honor should be very interesting," Iroh commented in sarcasm, reclined back into his chair as he took a sip of his own tea.
Interesting, he thought... but exhausting.
He had grown up watching his father practically shunned by the rest of the world... watching him struggle to reclaim the Fire Nation's respect among the other cultures... after Sozin corrupted their trust with war. Iroh knew he would someday have to pick up where Fire Lord Azulon would leave off, and he knew the journey would be difficult. All it took were those overwhelmed, exhausted eyes of his father to remind young Iroh that his future responsibilities would be unpleasant. It would've been easier to say that Iroh and Ozai had grown up without a father, and the adventurous prince took the liberty of raising his younger brother into a brave, natural-born leader.
Iroh had taken pride in keeping his only family close, while his father Azulon struggled abroad to fix Fire Lord Sozin's mistakes. He was surprised, however, seeing his little brother grow more bold as a leader as each year went by. It did not bother Iroh, at first, because he felt proud that his paternal instincts had made Ozai less afraid of the world... and more determined to find his own place in the Royal court.
But the prince had never expected his brother to speak against him, years later... proclaiming to their father that he was the more capable leader. That Fire Lord Ozai would forcefully retrieve the respect and the honor their family deserved from the world. Iroh remembered the young, determined voice of Ozai as he courageously spoke his mind before Fire Lord Azulon's throne. If it had gone his way, Iroh would've supported the idea... surrendering his responsibilities to someone who greatly desired them... but the sharpness in Ozai's voice was what terrified Iroh. He barely recognized that little brother, who'd once been so scared of mice.
Inevitably, Fire Lord Azulon denied his son's request, with very harsh words that Iroh could still hear in metallic echoes through his mind. Azulon was extremely appalled by his son's bold attempt at breaking tradition, bellowing that he'd shunned his older brother's years of intellect and training in a matter of words. It had been an insult to the man's heart... and the Fire Lord dismissed Ozai from the room, telling him to take responsibility with his new wife and children... because those people would truly bring him honor for the future Fire Nation.
And that was when Iroh saw the spark in his brother's eyes disappear. It was when Ozai's frown became a permanent mark on his face, and the idea of raising Azula and Zuko became nothing but a long-running burden for him.
It wasn't long after that dreadful incident in the throne room, when Ozai ultimately disappeared from the Royal Palace... leaving nothing but a heartbroken, confused family behind.
Iroh carefully took another sip of his tea, letting the warm steam sooth for just a moment before speaking to Ursa. The way she kept her gaze to her cup was no different than the instances she'd done it before... as if contemplating what she could've possibly done to help keep a certain person close to her life, years ago.
"To tell you the truth, I am much more content here," the old man admitted full-heartedly, resting his tea cup on his stomach. "But we cannot help but endure the responsibilities that Fate gives to us. You shouldn't feel burdened by her, Ursa. She's just going through a rough time."
Ursa paused for a little while, taking the time to filter each word that Iroh said.
"Ozai was a wonderful father, and he meant so much to her," Ursa recalled sadly. "I don't know why she refuses to listen to me, now."
Zuko could no longer rely on self-control. He needed to be a part of this conversation. This was his family, and he couldn't help but feel guilty that his decision would determine whether or not they would fall apart. Sometimes, he wished he'd been born into another family... perhaps in Aang's who didn't carry the burden of blood relatives... or Katara's, who loved her brother and father in spite of their differences and heartache.
Sometimes, the boy wished he didn't have to care so much. To still care so much about a sister who was lifelessly letting herself fall into madness.
"Don't shut her out of your life, Ursa." Zuko heard his Uncle's pleading-yet-firm voice by the door. "She may be stubborn, but she is very much like her father... you remember? Only when she feels defeated will she really open up to you. And all you can do is listen."
And that was when Zuko boldly knocked on the door.
"How's the big campaign speech going?" Aang felt his heart fluttering by this opportunity he had to walk with Katara to her locker, for once being an escort instead of the escorted.
The fact that she asked him to a school dance hadn't completely registered in his mind, yet... mainly because the boy had never been to a social dance before. But Aang couldn't help but keep that grin on his face as Katara spoke... remembering how wonderful it felt to be asked.
"It's almost finished!" she said excitingly. "Sokka actually found time in his schedule to help me, and I've been practicing at home with Dad – he's such a natural public speaker, it's amazing."
"Are you going to make it super powerful and dramatic?"
"It started out like that, but I don't know... it just didn't sound right," Katara said absentmindedly, taking a few of her books and papers out of her locker. "Zuko once had to take a public speaking workshop at the palace, and he said the trick is to keep your audience engaged by talking about what you feel... rather than assuming you know how the audience feels and speak on their behalf."
"I guess Azula already failed that test," the boy remarked, attempting to make the lovely waterbender laugh.
"In a way, I think you're right," Katara was picking up a folded piece of paper that had fallen from her top shelf. "It doesn't really help if what you're trying to do is scare your audience into feeling something. That's the only reason she's won the past two ye--"
She stopped in mid-sentence as she unfolded the piece of paper. The moment she'd read Aang's name in the writing, Katara crumpled the paper closed before the young airbender could look over her shoulder.
"What is it?" Aang raised brow oddly to Katara's worried eyes, fully noticing the paper in her hands. "Did you get a bad test grade or something?"
"Y–yes..." the girl couldn't stop herself from blushing, praying that Toph wouldn't show up from a corner and announce that she was a liar. "It's Mr. Mechanist's pop quiz from last week. He wants me to go talk to him about extra credit."
"Do all the teachers leave notes in student lockers?" Aang wondered curiously, suspiciously.
"Some of them do," Katara grinned, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she closed her locker door. "Usually it's easier to get a hold of a student that way, instead of tracking them down in person."
"Oh," the boy replied off-hand, but still studying Katara's uncertainty that filtered through her blue eyes. "Well, do you want me to go with you?"
"No!" Katara heard her jumpy voice say, almost too quickly, but calmed herself down. "Besides, you're supposed to meet with On Ji for play rehearsal... remember?"
"Katara, that can wait." Aang did the best he could to approach her, to touch her arm and meet her eyes in the only way that could bring assurance that she was alright.
But she wasn't even looking at him, then.
"It's just a meeting, Aang. I'll be okay," the girl said lightly with a nervous smile, turning her head to exchange a hopeful look in his eyes. "You go on ahead."
Knowing he couldn't get anything else out from her, Aang bravely put a smile on his face, reassuring himself that whatever Katara was hiding... she could handle it on her own. She was courageous, after all. It was one of the things that Aang first loved about her, and he needed to trust her judgement.
Before he could stop himself, the young airbender lifted his toes and planted a soft kiss on Katara's cheek, for good luck, and then scampered off before the girl could say anything.
The sudden tenderness of Aang's lips almost made her forget she still had a crumpled paper in her hand. Katara knew what she had to do, but she felt steady... knowing that the Avatar-in-Training would be far from any harm's way.
With a grip in her hand, Katara took her leave towards Mr. Mechanist's abandoned laboratory building, knowing full well who she was about to deal with.
"Okay, cutey... you ready to learn some finger punches?"
Ty Lee was dressed in her full pink and purple cheerleading uniform, hands on her hips as she stared sweetly at Sokka. "I'll go easy on you!"
Sokka was slouching as he stood facing her, his eyes clearly lacking enthusiasm.
"Can't you just tell me where the pressure points are?" Sokka kept his hands in his pockets, shifting uncomfortably at the idea of touching a girl other than Suki (as much as she was still avoiding him during rehearsals.)
"No way!" Ty Lee exclaimed, her voice squeaking with disappointment. "This isn't like a game of 'connect the dots'... silly boy. You gotta be alert and quick about the punching! Always be one step ahead of the other guy."
Sokka still looked elsewhere, wary, as if in any moment he would see Suki... or his Boy Scout leader buddies watching him make a fool of himself. This was so humiliating, he thought, but he kept reminding himself that he was only doing this to protect Katara's mission.
"Now, I'm gonna send some quick jabs in your direction, so don't let me poke you!" Ty Lee smirked cunningly yet innocently to the handsome watertribesman.
"Um, so how do I exactly block the--"
But before Sokka could even finish his question, Ty Lee leapt into the air on a tumble, with her arms straight and her hands gripping onto each of his shoulders. The boy yelped involuntarily and stumbled forward, feeling a good number of jabs along his spine as Ty Lee landed gracefully back on solid ground... her hands back to her hips.
Sokka was left in a bulk mass, twitching on the ground like a pretzel, one eye barely looking up from the ground to see Ty Lee giggling at him.
"Less than a second, cutey," was all she said to Sokka as he spit dirt from his mouth, "That's all it takes. Now while you're just lying around... Let me show you some basic blocking moves!"
Ty Lee parted her feet and her arms for a wide stretch, as if summoning energy from the ground and the sky, respectively. She kept a permanent grin on her face, and as Sokka could feel his neck coming back to him... he lifted himself to gather every single move she was making. Ty Lee giggled as he stared at her... quite pleased with the attention she was getting.
"Now the most dangerous places to get jabbed – as you may have noticed – is the spinal cord and the base of your neck. While I was gripping your shoulders, I'll bet you were too stunned to even notice that I'd poked at your neck right behind your left ear!"
Sokka nodded, feeling somewhat unable to speak completely, and Ty Lee did a 'tsk tsk' sound and pointed a teasingly disappointed finger at him.
"It's a natural reaction from your neck muscles... you always look up whenever that pressure point behind your ear is hit. Once I hit the base of the neck, the rest of the spinal cord sort of panics and becomes vulnerable to pressure points. That's why it didn't take you that long to go down!" Ty Lee giggled, mostly at her own formal explanation of things she did for mere fun.
The young watertribesman could feel his upper body now, but just barely. His arms felt like they'd just gotten run over by a cabbage cart... but he tried to hold his weight by the elbows.
"How– long– before I can– stand up, again?" He managed through his numb jaw.
Ty Lee smirked. "About fifteen minutes."
"Wonderful," Sokka muttered to himself, frowning and grunting as he positioned his body more comfortably on the ground as Ty Lee continued to explain.
"So instead of being stunned, you gotta block that point as soon as you can with your hand," she gestured with one of her own hands, "draping it across the shoulder. That will also keep me from tumbling on top of you! But it has to be really quick."
The girl began to demonstrate some more blocking moves, emphasizing on the secondary pressure points that came along each of the arms, legs, and abdominal muscles. Her voice maintained the same perky, almost spacey aura to it, and Sokka tried to filter it out of his mind in order to concentrate on what she was saying.
By the time he received full feeling back into his body, Sokka had already managed to mimic the blocking moves for the 'spinal cord tumble' and the 'crouching abdominal skewer'.
And luckily, he remembered he still had his boomerang strapped to his back. This gave him a very sneaky plan.
"Ready to take it to Round Two, cutey?" Ty Lee made a devilish grin to the handsome boy, her hands once again on her hips. Sokka raised a brow in surprise, just as he was about to grab his boomerang.
"Wait– wait– I'm not ready!"
Sokka brought his arms out defensively but weakly, feeling his knees buckle at the idea of getting paralyzed a second time. He bit his lip with determination, however, as Ty Lee brought her tiny hands into fists and aimed to his direction.
Just as she was about to leap, Sokka took out his boomerang and lanced it just below one of her kneecaps... a very useful pressure point. Ty Lee squeaked and stammered back into the ground in pain, clearly not expecting that at all as she rubbed her kneecap tenderly.
"HAH!" Sokka shouted in victory, doing a little boogie for good measure. "How do you like that, 'cutey?' Pressure Point Extraordinaire!"
Ty Lee's smile instantly feel into a small frown, and it seemed like Sokka was too preoccupied with his victory dance, he didn't notice that his own boomerang had been lanced back towards his direction.
It hit his neck, squarely and surely... and Sokka practically choked in his own spit, stumbling backwards.
"Oh no! I– I'm sorry!" Ty Lee hurried over to help him. "I was aiming for the stomach."
But by the time she'd carefully tried to tend to the choking Sokka, a loud "HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY BOYFRIEND!" thundered in from the nearest corridor.
Sokka's eyes bulged, feeling the blood drain from his legs as he watched Suki dash like a Komodo Rhino from the school building to his rescue. Ty Lee turned just in time to make a rusty backflip and dodge Suki's determined punch.
"Wait -- Suki -- it's OKAY! She's just teaching me how to--" Sokka attempted to say through his painful neck. He tried to jump in between them, but the two girls were now entwined with their blocking moves and jabbing.
In a matter of last resort, Sokka held his breath and studied his ex-girlfriend's movements within seconds... and immediately afterwards... he took Ty Lee's non-bending strategy into practice.
Suki didn't even feel the light pokes that went down the base of her spine... but the next moment she tried to step forward... her legs practically turned to stone.
"Sukz, I'm sorry. I couldn't think of anything else to– I was just... oh Suki, I'm really, really sorry!" Sokka kept saying over and over as the Kyoshi looked up from her useless legs in a stunned manner. Ty Lee had maintained a defensive graceful stance a few feet away, looking from warrior to the other in confused silver eyes.
Before Suki could even get a word in, Sokka embraced her, tightly... talking nonstop about how sorry he was for not speaking to her, or not having the guts to tell her about Yue earlier, and that he was an idiot. A huge, colossal, unforgivable idiot.
"Sokka?" Suki finally felt her legs return to her favor, and she could already feel her eyes brimming with tears while she caressed the watertribesman's back. "Sokka, it's okay. No, I... I'm the idiot. I should not have reacted that way over a stupid letter..."
And she went on and on about that, holding him tightly and hearing Sokka sniffle near her ears. It didn't matter if her Kyoshi make-up was getting ruined from holding his face too tightly. She was so happy to be in his arms again.
The only thing that caught Ty Lee's attention was the mentioning of a letter... and it drew her eyes open like an alarm. Oh, she thought, THAT letter! And she concluded that it was time to call the jab-training over, and leave those two reconciled lovebirds alone.
Still, she couldn't help but giggle as she tiptoed away... hearing poetic words pass between the two warriors as they started kissing... making up for precious lost time.
Somewhere in between thoughts of regret and wonder, the young airbender felt Monk Gyatso would be ashamed of him... walking effortlessly along the corridors as he worried about Katara.
Why did she lie to me?
It didn't make any sense, and there was small pit swimming in his stomach from the idea that she didn't trust him. Aang closed his eyes meditatively as he walked, trying to find a reason behind Katara's actions... setting all assumptions aside.
She knew how ruthless Azula was, and she knew that if she used waterbending under any circumstance, she'd be taken out of the student elections. Perhaps this didn't have anything to do with Azula at all...
Perhaps, the boy felt his mind encounter those fits of jealousy once again, unable to stop them, she just said that so she could be with Zuko? Was she trying to get rid of me? Did she just ask me to the dance because she felt SORRY for me!?
Aang felt his chest grow heavier as he walked, feeling a dizzy spell kick in. He stopped and rested his body against the wall, taking a short breath and refusing to let those thoughts grow any deeper. The voice of Monk Gyatso blanketed his web of worriment once again.
My dear boy, the young heart is always vulnerable to jealousy, but an airbender must learn to overcome those feelings. Only then can you understand the importance of unconditional love.
Aang took another breath, using all his strength to muster those words. As an airbender, and as the Avatar-in-Training... it was his responsibility to follow his instincts and protect the people he knew were in danger. And Katara... regardless of the reasoning behind her lie... was undoubtedly in some sort of trouble.
On Ji herself said that he needed to protect the waterbender before anyone else. She'd understand if he would be late for OmaShu rehearsal. She would Listen.
Quickly, Aang briskly ran the other way, knowing exactly where he had to be.
A/N - Happy belated valentine's day! I was hoping to finish this earlier, but some character development was giving me a hard time. Oh teen aangst. Anyway, thanks for reading as usual. I'm foreseeing about 3 chapters left (maybe an epilogue?) so please be patient as I put this whole story to good closure! --MM
