Chapter 37: Lesson One
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC.
Today was the day that Liling and Zuko would begin teaching Aang the art of firebending. Given that it was the last element Aang needed to master there normally wouldn't be much of a rush. However, given that Sozin's comet would be flying across the sky in a matter of weeks, the rush that normally wouldn't have existed was emphasized even more. If the Fire Lord was not stopped before the comet, the world would be burned to the ground.
"I know you're nervous, but remember, firebending in and of itself is not something to fear," Liling told him gently, fondly remembering Iroh and Lu Ten teaching her to firebend when she was little.
"Ok. Not something to fear." Aang mumbles to himself, feeling somewhat encouraged by Liling's words.
"But if you don't respect it, it'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!" Zuko warned, crossing his arms, efficiently ruining Aang's feelings of confidence. "Now show us what you've got. Any amount of fire you can make."
Aang exhales, takes a nervous breath and attempts to firebend. He releases a small cloud of smoke which dissipates within a second. "Maybe I need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?"
"Good idea. You might want to take a couple steps back." Zuko gestures for Aang to move backward and Aang does so. He takes a breath, grunts, and proceeds to firebend. The result is a rather small, pathetic burst of flame. "What was that? That was the worst firebending I've ever seen!" Zuko cries, recoiling in horror at his failure.
"I thought it was, nice," Aang says with a polite shrug.
Zuko grunts again and firebends in rapid succession. All his flames are small like the first. He grunts in frustration and stares at his palms. "Why is this happening?" he shouts in fury, staring angrily at his hands.
"Maybe it's the altitude," Aang suggests hopefully.
"Yeah, could be," Zuko says softly before turning towards Liling. "Why don't you try? I wonder if you're able to firebend at all either."
Obligingly, Liling stands up and takes a bending stance. Inhaling deeply, she lets loose a rapid succession of blasts, each one the same brilliant shade of blue they had always been, and just as powerful. She stopped after a moment, wondering why she had been able to but Zuko had not. "Let me see if I can still lightning bend," she says, biting her lip as Zuko angrily crossed his arms. For his sake, she almost wished she would be unable to. However, after going through the proper movements, she was able to unleash a massive strike of lightning, sending it up into the sky. It was so powerful that it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. "Maybe you should try again, Zuko. It might just be nerves since you've never taught anyone how to firebend before." Liling suggested thoughtfully, pulling out of her stance and turning towards her cousin and pupil.
Zuko grunts in frustration and unleashes another blast with no improvement. "Just breathe, and. . ." he unleashes another pitiful strike.
"That one kind of felt hot," Aang said, sitting up.
"Don't patronize me. You know what it's supposed to look like!" Zuko shouts, his fists clenching.
"Sorry, Sifu Hotman," Aang says with a jovial grin.
"And stop calling me that!" Zuko yells, causing Aang to cringe.
Sokka walks over to them, suddenly, and asks, "Hey, jerks. Mind if I watch you jerks do your jerk-bending?"
"Get out of here!" Zuko orders, slashing his arm at him.
With an amused grin on his face, Sokka says, "Ok, take it easy. I was just kidding around. Jerk bending. Hah. I still got it."
Zuko drops his head down and moans while Liling looks at him with a worried expression. After a moment, he looks at her out of the corner of his eye and says, "You can continue teaching the Avatar if you want. I'm just going to head back to my room."
Her eyes hardening, Liling snatches his arm and says, "I'm not teaching him without you. Sorry, Aang, but the lessons are going to have to wait until we figure out what's wrong with Zuko."
Whirling around, Zuko implores, "You have to, Liling! The Fire Lord is getting stronger every day and if Aang is going to defeat him, he is going to need to learn firebending and master it before Sozin's comet comes."
"Actually, the only thing Aang needs, and you two as well while we're at it, to do is join us for dinner," Sokka says, having come back from wherever he went off to in the past few minutes.
The three joined him before making their back into the heart of the temple. Zuko chose to stay in the back, keeping to the shadows, leaning on a column with his arms crossed, deep in thought. He turns his head back to the campfire where everyone else had settled for dinner. He walks toward them and sadly relates his news. "Listen everybody; I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff." Upon finishing, he drops his head in shame.
"Don't look at me. I didn't touch your stuff." Toph says, folding her arms, having misunderstood the statement.
"I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone." Zuko cries, flapping his arms to the side.
A collective silence follows the news, only to be interrupted by Katara, who laughs maniacally. Everyone turns to look at her. Wiping a tear from her eye, she says, "I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know. . . how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago?"
"Well, it's not lost. It's just weaker for some reason." Zuko explains.
"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are." Katara taunts, glaring at him over her bowl.
"Ouch." Toph relates with a smile, surprised Katara said such a snide remark.
"I bet it's because I changed sides," Zuko says suddenly.
"That's ridiculous." Katara splutters, continuing to drink the contents of her bowl.
"I have to agree with Katara on this one." Liling began slowly, holding her hands out in surrender as Zuko glared at her. "I mean, I switched sides as well yet I can bend just as well as I did before."
"I don't know. Maybe it isn't. Maybe its the source of your firebending. Liling, your's comes from your drive to do good, while Zuko, yours comes from rage, and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to." Aang said suddenly, seeing the logic in what Zuko was saying.
"So, all we need to do is make Zuko angry? Easy enough." Sokka says with a comical grin. He proceeds to nudge Zuko in the waist and head with the hilt of his sword several times.
"Ok, cut it out!" Zuko bellows. Sokka stops what he is doing and his sword falls on his head. "Look. . . even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way." he adds softly.
"You're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source." Toph suggests before continuing to eat.
"How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?" Sokka inquires, laughing hysterically at his own joke.
Swallowing her food, Toph corrected him. "No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is."
"So is it jumping into a volcano?" Sokka asked, hooked on the idea of throwing Zuko into a volcano.
"I don't know. For earthbending, the original benders were badger moles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world." Toph explains, nostalgically reminiscing about her childhood.
"That's amazing, Toph. I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the Sky Bison." Aang explained, denoting to Appa before saying, "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime buddy."
"Well, the original firebenders were dragons," Liling began informatively.
"Which doesn't help me. They're extinct." Zuko snapped.
"What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid." Aang said, confused.
"Well, they aren't around anymore, ok?" Zuko said defensively.
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry," says Aang, moving his arm around in an appeasing gesture.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Zuko added, "But maybe there's another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."
"Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid." Aang points out.
"No, they died off thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now," Liling informed him.
"Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins," Zuko added, willing to do anything to get his bending back.
His eyes lighting up, Aang exclaims, "It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present."
"So, what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" Sokka quipped, fluttering his fingers around mockingly.
Shrugging, Zuko replied, "More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend, or Liling will be the Avatar's only firebending teacher and you'll have accepted me for nothing."