I found peace in the library, collecting old scrolls and studying, learning new techniques and styles which I committed to memory before I began to practice them in the training arena. Hundreds of wooden poles stood upon the ground several metres up, barely broad enough for one foot to stand on however I practiced without fear, confident in my balance and trusting in myself not to fall. These new forms were amazing and there was even something new I had found that could prove to be very useful, a form of airbending healing that very few people could master so I studied and trained hard to bring myself up to speed.
Aang had years of practice under his belt, I only had less than a few months. If I was going to be any real help in this war, I need to step up my game. Teo, Haru and The Duke watched me train, seemingly quite awe filled by the elegant and graceful movements that I embodied before powerful results followed. "You're doing great Thyra!" Teo yelled to me so I smiled and waved to him, standing like a crane-hawk on one of the poles with my arms outstretched. The air was my element, mine to bend and no one shall take it from me. I felt such freedom whenever I airbended, it was so liberating and I wished I had unlocked it years ago, Gyatso would have cried with pride.
"You ready for these rocks yet?" Haru called out to me so I regulated my breathing before answered.
"Sure am! Hit me with your best shot Haru!" I smiled before taking my stance, ready and waiting. Haru lifted up large chunks of earth with his bending and sent them flying towards me. First my aim was to dodge, so every time I moved he sent it back after me and I would continue to evade, using my sensations to know when to dodge and feel the flow of the air around the rock to know where it was coming from. Oh, I was doing this all blindfolded, just so you know. With a deep drop down below me I couldn't afford to put a single foot wrong, however as I did a double summersault I then sliced down with my foot and split the rock in two, landing safely on one of the poles.
"That was awesome!"
"Yeah! Do it again! Do it again!" Laughing I continued to train, Haru helping me by giving it everything he got whilst The Duke and Teo cheered for me. After a while I was sweating and my muscles were trembling but I felt good about how much I'd improved, so I decided to call it quits before I got hit on the head with a rock by accident. I returned with Haru and the others, breathless but smiling as I picked up a change of clothes then went to go bathe. Aang and Katara had fixed up the baths, meaning we got a constant flow of hot water into the baths which was exactly what I needed after all that work.
In fact, the water was so warm and I was so peaceful that I ended up falling asleep against the side, head resting on my arms peacefully. It was only when someone yelled loudly in alarm did I wake up, yawning contentedly with a stretch. "I'm sorry! I didn't know you were in here!" Instantly I froze, eyes shooting to where Zuko stood with his hand over his eyes and the other held out towards me. I panicked.
"Get out!" With a burst of air I sent it flying towards Zuko who was forcibly removed from the baths, cheeks flaming with embarrassment as I hurriedly leaped out of the water with my arms crossed over my chest and grabbed my towel, flinging it around me so that I was covered. "Pervert!"
"I said I'm sorry!" Zuko yelled back from outside as I turned my back to him and dried myself off with airbending so that I could get dressed and cover myself. "Listen, I know that you probably hate me but I'm trying to set things right." He continued as I dressed, not leaving like I wanted him to. "I want to make it up to you, just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it." Flinging my toga back over my shoulder I grabbed my staff and walked out, never looking him in the eye as I passed.
"Jump off a cliff." I suggested before flying away, leaving him standing by himself and I did not look back. This was stupid, I could barely stand him being in my presence let alone trying to talk to me. Every time he tried I either walked away, ignored him or blasted him with some airbending. Usually the latter. He just wouldn't take a hint and kept on coming back. I returned to the others and helped Katara with dinner having recently gone to collect more food though I'd have to make another trip soon and the others were beginning to fantasize about meat and how much they missed it. There's a market town half a day away. Maybe I should head there and stock up on supplies with Appa.
"Listen everybody." At his sudden announcement I jumped slightly, spilling some of the water that I was pouring into a cup but I quickly recovered before anyone noticed. "I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff."
"Don't look at me. I didn't touch your stuff." Toph instantly protested and held up her hands innocently, helping me to relax a little as I sat down and crossed my legs, listening to what Zuko had to say.
"I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone." For a few moments there was silence until Katara suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, hugging her stomach tightly as Zuko twitched in irritation.
"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." Weaker? I haven't heard of that happening before unless the bender was sick but Zuko looks like a picture of health to me. Unfortunately. He was even less pale than he used to be, tanned from being under the sun and his hair had grown out considerably since I'd last seen him in the Earth Kingdom capital.
"Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are."
"Ouch." Toph winced at Katara's biting remark however Zuko began to pace, ignoring the jibe as he tried to think carefully.
"I bet it's because I changed sides."
"I don't know. Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage, and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to." In some ways, both answers were correct. Since Zuko didn't have the same drive as he did before to capture my brother, he had nothing left in the tank.
"So, all we need to do is make Zuko angry? Easy enough." In the true Sokka fashion, he began to poke Zuko repeatedly with the butt of his sword, laughing and giggling with entertainment until Zuko snapped and his shout made Sokka leap back whilst simultaneously smacking himself on the head with his sword.
"Okay, cut it out! Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."
"You're going to need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source." Toph informed him, much to everyone's surprise as she continued to eat whilst she spoke. "I recommend the original source."
"How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?" Not a bad idea. I'll even give him a lift.
"No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is. The original benders of earth were badgermoles." Toph explained before giving a distant smile. "One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them." I pictured a little Toph in a cave and it made me feel a little sad as I realised just how lonely she must have been all through her childhood. "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, wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world."
"That's amazing, Toph. I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the Sky Bison." Aang interjected whilst tossing a grin to Appa. "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime buddy." Appa growled in response, making me chuckle under my breath.
"Well, this doesn't help me. The original firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct." What? Now that I think about it, I haven't seen a dragon ever since Aang and I woke up from the ice. What had happened to them? How could they be extinct? I remember the first time I had seen a dragon as I little girl and how powerful it had seemed. Beautiful, agile and completely awe inspiring.
"What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid."
"Well, they aren't around anymore, okay?" Zuko snapped back at my brother and I frowned further. In the last hundred years they'd gone extinct? Impossible. "But maybe there's another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors." Walking towards the fountain my brother followed him, both standing side by side. It was still a little weird to see them like that, considering all the times Zuko tried to capture him.
"Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid."
"No, they died off thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins." The Sun Warriors were something I'd read about in one of the temple libraries. There wasn't much about their culture, but I knew that they had been one of the first people to learn how to bend fire, learning from the dragons themselves.
"It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present." Too bad the past can't be rewritten otherwise we'd all be much happier right now.
"So, what? You think that you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" Sokka questioned in a cynical and disbelieving tone, however I actually agreed with Zuko. It's not a bad idea to try and learn something from what the Sun Warriors left behind.
"More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher." To be honest, I'm still all for going to find Jeong-Jeong or Iroh. Aang and Zuko agreed that they would leave first thing in the morning, however Katara was reluctant and rather insistent that they didn't go alone, but my brother said that he'd be fine.
"This is crazy! Thyra, back me up on this!" Katara turned to me so I exhaled, rubbing my face wearily as I put down my food and stood up.
"Aang needs to learn firebending and if this is the fastest way, then we don't have much choice. If you want to go alone then there's nothing I can say to stop you, Aang, but I want you to be careful." I said to him sternly as I walked over and placed an arm around his shoulders. "But don't be upset if you don't find any answers, we can always think of something else."
"What if Zuko is just sick?" Haru suggested. "Whenever I came down with something, my bending was always weaker then."
"He's not ill." I answered coldly, shooting Zuko a look. "He has simply forgotten his basics because he's a poor student and has no discipline. Firebending is the element of power and energy, however it is not an element that relies on muscle like earthbending, to use it, it relies on extreme self-control and careful instruction." Listing off all I knew about firebending I flicked out a hand dismissively as I walked away from everyone so that I didn't have to be in his presence any longer. "At this rate, even I could teach Aang more about firebending than he could."
"Well then, maybe you should!" Zuko yelled after me angrily but I ignored him, walking away so that I could have some peace of mind. "Don't walk away from me, I'm talking to you!" Shaking my head I extended my glider and flew off into the stars, surfing with my back to the earth so that I could find a moment alone to keep my emotions from boiling over.