Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, the Last Airbender, or any of its characters, except for the kids I made up. I own them, for sure.

Hmn...I don't have any clever sorts of conversations between me and my characters today. Come back next Teusday, Thursday and Friday after 5.

Chapter 12: Training

The group beamed when they were close enough to see the finer details of Shan-Yu, an Earth Bending village just north of Meekoh, named after the first son of Kya.

They landed away from the red roofed houses and huts, carefully sliding off of Appa's back as he began to eat some bushes and shrubs in the distance. Golden Gates and a large, iron fence surrounded the large town. It seemed to be the only form of protection, for there were no guards at the gates.

"Is this an Earth Bender village?" Katara asked Mika as they entered the gates, Mika pulling down on the pointed hat covering her ears.

"Used to be...then again this village was created when the war started, for refugees..." Mika looked around the saddened village. She remembered how full of life it used to be, back when she was younger and all of the refugees had come from the Middle Kingdom. One of her closest friends had been an Earth Bender, before Skya had--

"Should we stay here for the night?" Sokka's voice broke her train of thought. "Or should we go just leave in tomarrow?"

No one answered him. Besides Sokka, everyone seemed tranced. This area was like a city of memories, seeping through the ground and pulling down on the travelers. The town seemed so empty, an old merchant here or there, no children.

"So...this is Shan-Yu? This is it?" Aang asked bluntly, returning from his state of shock.

Mika nodded. "There's a small pond near the end of the village, man made...Appa can get a drink there and you guys can practise your Water Bending. No one would mind, I'm sure."

Katara smiled slightly and glanced at Aang. "Sounds good," she answered. "Can we go now?"
Mika nodded again and they trudged to the pond, Appa and Momo follwing them.

----------xXx-----------

"This does'nt make sense," reasoned Zuko to his uncle. "A Fire Bender not with the Fire Nation?"

"It has happened before, Prince Zuko. It will happen again." Iroh poured more tea into his glass and sipped it, sighing deeply at its pleasure. "It will happen again."

Zuko slammed his fist on the rim of the ship. "You obviously don't know what this means, Uncle. If I can capture her, she will be part of my army. Another hand in capturing that kid Air Bender."

Iroh swallowed a slow gulp of tea. "You can not be serious, Zuko. This girl is obviously a Master Bender. And why capture someone so young? She is but the age of the Avatar."

Zuko was silent for a moment, his head rushing through and through with thought. Maybe his uncle had a point. Maybe his uncle was right.

"Please, Prince Zuko, think it over for a day or two, get some rest. Going after someone else will not help you in your search." His uncle retired to his sleeping quarters and left his nephew behind.

----------xXx------------

"You aren't going to master this in one day, Aang. Even Masters aren't that good." Katara was slightly jealous. Already she had broke a sweat trying to get a double water whip and Aang seemed to be doing it with ease, his whole body seemed to flow with the water. Angerly she looked at the blob of water she was levitating and flopped it on the smooth stones below. The man made pond was much bigger than Katara had expected it to be.

"What?" Aang asked oblviously, dropping his blob of water too.

"Nothing, I'm just...tired...that's all. We can finish practising in the morning." Katara spun around and walked back to the slight fire that Sokka had made. Aang watched her back crossly.

The object of your affection...he swallowed at the thought. Katara would never see him as attractive, let alone handsome. He was just her cute little friend, just some kid that was taking her to the North Pole. Just some kid she had saved from an ice cube. Nothing more.

Aang shook his shoes from the water and followed Katara to camp. The sky was already darkening and the wind seemed to get more frigid. Aang could almost see his breath. "Where's Mika?" He asked Sokka when he was close enough to the fire.

Sokka shrugged and rubbed his gloved hands together.

"You don't know?" Aang asked.

"I'm right here, Aang." There was a quiet voice right behind Appa, a delicate tone and a wave of a hand. "Behind Appa."

"Oh," Aang said happily. "Well...Katara's done teaching me for today. You think we could start Fire Bending training right now?" He didn't know why he was so anxious. It was something new...something he had never tried before. But there seemed to be something else, something else...he just didn't know what.

He heard shuffling behind Appa and Mika emerged from her spot. She bowed infront of Aang. "As you wish, Avatar. Where would you like our training to begin?"

Aang shrugged. "Any where. You pick."

Mika moved uncomfortably in her spot. "Anywhere. Fire does not need a specific location."

"Then again, you don't want to be too close to trees," Sokka said loudly. He laughed at his own joke. "Get it Katara, because they're trees? And the fire? Ha! Don't you get it?" Katara was silent and soon, so was Sokka.

"We can go by the water," Aang suggested. "There aren't any trees there."

Mika nodded and followed Aang to their training spot.

----------xXx----------

"I'm not the greatest teacher, Avatar. But I can show you what I know. Whatever you learn from that will hopefully aid you against the Fire Nation." Mika cleared her throat. "What do you know about Fire Bending so far?"

"Nothing," Aang admitted. "Never tried it before." He sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. He was getting a cold already. "And you don't have to call me Avatar, you know. Just call me Aang."

Mika shifted in her spot and stood up straight, bending just a bit at the knees and putting her hands infront of her. "Do as I do...Aang..."

With a puff of air, Aang was on his feet and imitating Mika's every move.

"Imagine warmth, flame...give your hands life from what you have inside of you." Mika's voice was distant and growing faint. Aang tried to imagine what she was trying to tell him, but it didn't make any sense. He didn't have to give life to air, it was already there for him to move. He concentrated harder.

"Don't force it," Mika said hastly, feeling Aang's aggrivation. "It should come naturally."

Aang tried to relax, his shoulders rolling downward again. But somehow, he could not imagine the flame. He couldn't give life to something. He watched the ball of fire between Mika's palms disappear. "You won't get it all in one day...Aang. Even Masters aren't that good."

He remembered Katara's voice saying the same thing and feel to his knees, arranging himself to cross his legs. "I'm not trying to...it's just hard."

"It is," Mika answered and sat down next to Aang. "It's very hard. Harder than any sort of Bending."

"How long did it take you?" Aang asked happily, awaiting an embarrassing response.

"I'd rather not tell you," Mika admitted, opening her ears in full and stretching them out.

"Why not?"

"It's for your own good, Aang."

Aang sighed and looked Mika straight in the eye, his lower lip trembling and his eyes growing watery. "Please...?"

Mika grimaced her teeth and stood up. "It took me 2 weeks to learn the basics, about a month to learn the advanced set, about another month to become a Master. You won't get it as fast as I did, Aang. You don't need fire the way I do." Without another word Mika left to sleep behind Appa, leaving Aang alone on the shore.