Frustration

"Ok Aang, focus."

"I am. I'm just really frustrated. I mean the Fire Lord is OBVIOUSLY a firebender and I can't even make a leaf catch fire without it hurting someone! All the teachers we found didn't work. Who else is there to teach me?"

Sensing the frustration in Aang's voice, Katara put down the water dome she was in the middle of teaching him and went over to comfort him. "I'm sure we'll find another teacher Aang. You just can't give up hope, that's all."

"I guess you're right Katara. Hey Sokka! How are you doing on cleaning Momo and Oppa?"

"Well, I have one thing to say, winged-lemurs do NOT like water." He nodded towards Momo who was high up in the tallest tree and probably wasn't planning on coming down anytime soon. Sokka had given up a while ago trying to get him down. He was now fishing in the stream that supplied the river with water; bored because he hadn't gotten a single bite.

"I'm sure Oppa appreciated the bath, didn't he Sokka?" Aang questioned as he looked at Sokka with an eyebrow up. "I'm sure all the sand is out of his fur?" He saw Sokka trying to pretend he had a fish.

"Oh, um, yeah. He's clean. Clean as a whistle, yessurree." Sokka looked over at Katara and Aang and saw them with their hands on their hips. Obviously they did not believe him.

"I'll go check." Katara stated as she walked over to where Oppa was drifting on his back. He was obviously enjoying the water compared to the desert. Katara noticed he wasn't wet on the side out of the water. A sure sign that he was just washed. Katara bended some water in the shape of a comb and started to brush the bison of the sand.

Aang noticed what Katara was doing and went over to give her a hand. Momo had come down from the tree and was now eating a fish he had caught from the stream.

"Hey! No fair! I have been here fishing for how long, and you just fly down and scoop one out of the water! Humph." He glared at him and put his pole where Momo had gotten his fish; still not even a nibble.

Momo just looked at him, and continued with his fish.

Toph was on the rocks by the edge of the water, practicing her bending. She wanted to be ready for the lesson she and Aang had later that day. She had heard Sokka's griping about the fish and decided to frustrate him more. She walked into the water and sensed the vibration of a fish landing on the bottom of the river. She encased it with a dome of hardened mud and raised it to the surface. "Sokka look what I caught!"

"What is that, a ball of mud? Wow," Sokka went back to fishing.

"No," cried Toph. "It's a fish!"

"What? All I see is a big ball of mud. Are you blind?" Sokka felt a bit uncomfortable with that last phrase. "Sorry about that." It's still just a ball of mud.

"Whatever." Toph looked a bit offended and yet like she really didn't care. She grabbed the fish and went over to Sokka, hearing his mumbling. She hit him with a pebble, and when he turned around hit him with the fish. "Told ya it was a fish!" She smiled and went back to practicing.

---Back to Aang and Katara---

"Katara, I'm going to go see how Sokka and Toph are doing."

"Ok. I'll finish Appa"

Aang waded over to the other side of the river. He saw Toph earthbending and Sokka hopping and dancing like a maniac.

"Look Aang I caught a fish!"

"Sure you did Sokka, good job." Sokka was unaware he had witnessed the entire thing. He walked up to Toph wanting to get away from the slap-happy, singing, dancing Sokka.

"What do you want Twinkle-toes? Ready for today's lesson?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."