Chapter 37:
The sun rose and Sokka collected his fishing rod to sit himself on a stone in the water by a tree, throwing the end of his line into the end of the water.
Katara took up her bending by the end of the water and Freya smiled as she joined her.
"So, what moves were on that scroll you found?" she asked
"The water whip is my favourite." Katara smiled and she showed Freya the motion of it, whipping the water through the air.
"That's cool." Freya drew some water from the river before she followed the moves and it whipped out at a nearby tree, breaking it off.
"You really are a master bender Freya." Katara thought
"Well I have had a hundred and ten years to learn it." Katara chuckled "Besides, I'm still so excited to go to the North Pole and learn their styles!" Freya beamed
"I know, we actually get to have a master teach us!" Katara agreed.
Freya chuckled before she stole Katara's water and it moved around her in a flow before she passed it back to Katara. The two traded the water between them in different motions as Aang stood before Jeong Jeong to begin his training. Freya kept an ear on the two as Jeong Jeong stood outside his hut door and Aang stood on a flat rock sticking out of the water. He was crouched with his knees bent and his feet together.
"Widen your stance." Aang looked bored as he moved his feet further apart and had his fists out before him, his elbows bent. "Wider!" Aang did so "Bend your knees. Now, concentrate." Aang looked like he was tensing up all his muscles within his body "Good, good!" Jeong Jeong turned and then walked away from Aang without another word.
Freya passed the water back to Katara and watched the fire bender walk away from Aang confused. He hadn't even instructed Aang on what to do.
"Wait! What do I do now?" Aang questioned
"Silence!" Jeong Jeong spun around after he'd crossed the bridge. Katara had balled the water up above her head as Sokka sat still on his rock. "Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friend, is she talking?" He pointed from Katara to Sokka. "Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!"
"Hey!" Sokka complained as he turned to them.
"But what am I concentrating on?" Aang wondered
"Feel the heat of the sun. It is the greatest source of fire. Yet, it is in complete balance with nature!" Freya looked at the sun nodding in agreement as Aang glanced at her.
Aang turned to the sun to look at it before grinning back at Jeong Jeong.
"So when do I get to make some fire?" he wondered
"Concentrate!" Jeong Jeong snapped, making Aang flinch.
Aang sighed as Freya, Katara and Sokka chuckled behind him and he turned to the three of them. They all stopped and looked innocent as Sokka had removed his fishing line from the water.
Aang turned away from them and blushed as he stood on the rock in his stance.
"I can understand him telling you to feel the heat Aang." Freya assured "The fire benders draw their power from the sun just as water benders draw theirs from the moon."
"Water bending comes from the moon?" Sokka asked
"Course. I mean if the Sun is for fire benders and fire is the opposite of water than of course the night and moon is for the water benders." she said obviously.
"I never knew that." Katara smiled
"You do now." Freya grinned.
"But all he wants me to do is feel the sun. I know how to do that." Aang complained
"Aang, remembered what Jeong Jeong said yesterday, it's not all about the fire. It's about discipline as well. You need to be able to control fire, it's wild and dangerous. You need restraint and concentration. You need to be calm and meditate, fire is closely related to the emotions just like the others but it can get more out of hand than the other elements. You need to learn patience, discipline and understanding in order to be able to use fire safely." She instructed
"But this is boring." Aang complained
"Better boring than out of control." Freya believed.
"You seem to know a lot about this Freya?" Katara thought
"Well I was born in a different era, knowledge on the other benders wasn't that rare." Freya shrugged
"Sure, that's the reason." Aang said slyly. Freya shot him a scowl and the boy grinned.
"Go back to feeling the sun air boy." she snapped. Aang turned away from her chuckling.
Jeong Jeong returned a few hours later. Aang was more than bored at having to stand and just feel the heat but Freya had taken to sitting on the edge of the river to feel the sun herself to make him feel better. She concentrated on her breathing as she did, syncing with the sounds around her as she felt the air deep into her lungs and fill her chest, rushing down her throat.
When the fire master did return he commissioned Aang to follow him. Freya hopped up to skip after them excitedly.
They walked from the river until they began to climb upwards. Jeong Jeong said nothing to Freya about her following them.
"Are we coming up here so I don't burn anything with my fire blasts?" Aang asked, glancing back behind them as they moved towards the top of the hill.
"No fire yet." Jeong Jeong decided
"What?" Aang questioned, clearly disappointed and impatient.
They reached the top of the mountain and Freya grinned at the view of the country side. It'd been ages since she'd seen so much land as she'd been stuck on a boat for quite a while.
The wind blew around them and Freya took a breath.
"Power in firebending comes from the breath. That is why you must master proper breath control." Jeong Jeong spoke and Freya rose an eyebrow.
But she remembered Zuko when he meditated. He concentrated on his breathing and the fames on the candles would grow and shrink with Zuko's breathing. She turned to look over the country again as she took a breath.
"You brought me up here to breathe?" Aang questioned annoyed
"Assume your stance." Aang's expression fell annoyed and he bent his knees and squatted with his feet apart and his fists before him. Jeong Jeong turned around, his back to Aang as the airbender did as he was told.
"Wider."
"You're not even look—" Aang complained
"Wider!" Jeong Jeong interrupted. Aang did so. "Now, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth—" Aang opened his mouth "Without talking." Jeong Jeong ordered. Aang took a breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. "Good. Keep going." Aang did again before Jeong Jeong turned and walked back down the mountain. Freya watched him surprised.
"He just left me!" Aang complained. Freya sighed before she sat down cross legged beside Aang. She raised her hand a flame appeared on it. Aang watched Freya as she had both hands in front of her and, despite the wind, the fire flickered harmlessly. When Freya took a breath in the flame grew and then shrunk.
Aang watched as Freya did this for a while before he did the same.
Jeong Jeong sat in his shack before Aang walked in behind him.
"What are you doing here!? I did not tell you to stop!" Jeong Jeong snapped at him. He had a pot of tea before him within his ring of candles as he looked at Aang.
"I've been breathing for hours." Aang said simply.
"You want to stop breathing?" Jeong Jeong questioned. Aang threw his hands up into the air in frustration.
"I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun." Aang made several gestures to depict the three actions Jeong Jeong had made him do. "I want to know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!"
Jeong Jeong lowered his head and sighed heavily.
"I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of fire — how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path, but fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume and without control it destroys everything around it." Jeong Jeong poured himself some more tea.
"Learn restraint, or risk destroying yourself and everything you love." Aang turned away before he left the shack and left the fire bender alone.
Freya stood a little ways down the stream as she stood and meditated. The water before her reflected her peace of mind and was still and clear. The girl raised her hand and a flame danced around it before she began to move through her fierce stances. The water rippled as a few bursts of fire shot over it.
"Daddy! Look!" Freya ran across the ice with her hands clutched together to where her parents were sitting. They smiled at her and her father scooped her up into his arms.
"How's my little water bender?" he asked
"Daddy, you'll never guess what happened!" Freya beamed, she was around the age of four years old and looked mighty proud of herself as her rosy cheeks gleamed against the biting cold. Her blue and white furs kept her warm as she removed one of her mittens.
Azure looked at her husband in curiosity as he watched their daughter.
The two of them gasped as suddenly a flame lit up in Freya's palm and danced there.
"Look! Look!" Freya beamed pointing at it. She moved her hand and the fire trailed after it as she squealed in delight.
Her parents looked at each other astonished.
"But, she's a water bender?" Azure questioned "She couldn't be…" she trailed off
"No, the next Avatar is meant to be an Air Nomad. Having only been a few years since Avatar Roku…" he denied
"It wouldn't have changed the style would it?" Azure asked
"I doubt it…" Freya beamed up at her parents, not bothered by what they were discussing.
"Now I'm just like mummy and daddy!" she beamed. Her parents looked surprised before they smiled at her and nodded.
"That's very impressive Freya." Azure smiled as she kneeled down before her.
"Now Daddy can teach me too!" Freya beamed
"It might not be easy though Freya." Freya looked at her father confused as he crouched before her. "Water and Fire are opposites, they do not work in the same way." Freya looked at him before she smiled.
"But they work so well together." the two looked confused "After all, Mummy and Daddy are a perfect match!" the two smiled and Azure smiled as an arm was placed around her shoulders.
"I guess you're correct there." he agreed.
Freya beamed as she watched her parents.
Freya took a breath as she lowered her hands and took a breath. The fire dispersed before the water lifted up and swirled around her.
She'd left Aang who was feeling annoyed with Jeong Jeong, the boy getting impatient and not understanding the necessities of the fire bender's teachings.
"Though Jeong Jeong's way is not the only way to begin learning fire bending." Freya believed "My father didn't start that way, and I've at least covered the basics…" she mumbled frowning slightly. Right?
Freya sighed before she moved to see what everyone else was doing. She found Jeong Jeong facing Aang and handing over a leaf. She saw the smoke coming from the object as Aang groaned and took his stance on the flat rock poking out of the water.
"Master! There is trouble." Freya turned as a guard appeared beside her and caught Jeong Jeong and Aang's attention.
"What's going on?" Aang questioned
"Concentrate on your leaf." Jeong Jeong said before he turned and ran after the guard. Freya rose an eyebrow as Katara came up beside her.
"This is the worst firebending instruction ever." Aang complained as he turned to the girls. "All he does is leave me alone for hours to concentrate or breathe."
"I'm sure there's a good reason." Katara thought
"But I'm ready to do so much more."
"And it's because of that overconfidence that you're not ready." Freya said as she crossed her arms.
Aang however had retaken his stance on the rock and held the leaf before him. He took a deep breath and released it as the fire in the leaf began to make it's way out to the edges in Aang's fingers.
The leaf suddenly caught fire and Aang held the flame above his hand.
"I did it! I made fire!"
"Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow." Katara said as she moved towards him. Aang waved his other hand and the flame grew before him.
"Careful!" Katara said jumping back a bit. Aang wobbled on his feet as he'd jumped back himself and almost fell in the water. He regained his balance and stared at the flame in his hand.
"Aang, fire isn't something you play with. It's dangerous remember! Don't take it so lightly." Freya warned.
"Now that's firebending!" Aang grinned. Freya bit her lip as she watched the boy before he took a breath and shot his hands forwards. A jet of fire shot into the air and Katara watched worried from beside Freya who wasn't looking impressed.
"Aang, you'll hurt yourself!" Katara believed
"Or someone else." Freya warned.
The boy wasn't listening as he began to juggle the fire ball between his two hands over his head and then through the space in front of his waist. He almost lost the ball and leaned from his rock to re-catch it.
"Aang!" Freya scolded before the boy threw it from hand to hand over his back.
"Wonder how that juggler did it?" Aang said looking at the flame.
Aang spun around on his foot and the fire sat on the tip of his fingers. He raised his hands and then pushed them out on either side of them for the fire to go flaring out in a circle all around the boy.
Aang beamed while Freya's eyes widened and Katara cried out as she raised her hands. Freya moved her arms and the fire swirled it's way towards her before she dispersed it. Katara crouched her way to the floor as she held her hands crying in pain.
"Katara," Freya crouched beside her
"Katara!" Aang jumped the water towards the girl "I'm so sorry!" Katara cried from beside Freya as Sokka came running.
"Katara you've got to let me see." Freya said
"Katara, what's wrong!?" Sokka questioned "What did you do?" he demanded to Aang angrily.
"Iiiit was an accident! I was... Katara, I'm so—" Aang reached down towards Katara but Sokka launched at Aang and knocked him to the floor, causing the boy to grunt as he hit the soil, Sokka on top of him.
"I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! You burned my sister!" Sokka shouted at Aang angrily.
Freya had managed to uncurl Katara and saw the red burns over Katara's hands as she stood up and looked at the two boys. Aang had refused to get up as he looked sorry for himself.
"Sokka," Freya said to him warningly.
Katara however looked at the two boys before she turned and ran.
"Katara!" Freya called before she got up and chased the girl.