This story is now officially my longest fic, with me now reaching over 100k words. It is an achievement I wasn't sure I would reach. Now all that's left is to see how much further I can go.
As a reminder, I do not own Avatar, in either incarnation. It is the property of Nickelodeon and its creators.
Enjoy!
"Master Gyatso? Why do you need me here too?"
"Patience Katara. You will see when we get there."
Patience. She wondered if that was a monk thing. Aang certainly didn't have it. And she didn't either, wanting to know exactly why Gyatso had called for her after he had gotten Aang under control. But her Gran Gran had always told her to be polite, so she kept her questions in check for the time.
When she reached a waterfall that Aang had been waiting at, she decided to finally come clean.
"Now can you tell me why you need me?"
"Yeah, I was wondering that too Monk Gyatso."
"It's quite simple really. You are both going to train with me today."
The air monk and water tribe girl both shared a look. Both of them practiced different bending styles, even if Aang technically could use all four.
"Both of us together? But I can only waterbend Master Gyatso."
"That is true. However, being able to only use one element doesn't mean you can't learn, does it?"
Katara, and even Aang, was confused by that question. What was he getting at?
"Let us start with something simple. Aang, perform with me the circle walk. Katara, I want you to watch us carefully. I will be asking you something after this is done."
Confused but attentive, Katara watched as Aang and Gyatso performed what looked to be simple movements. With graceful feet and light toes, the two of them moved from one side of her to the other without a single full step, spinning their bodies the entire time.
"Ok? What am I supposed to do now?"
"Before I answer that, allow me to ask my own question," Gyatso proposed. "While we performed our demonstration, did you notice the air moving around us?"
Katara hadn't. She had been more focused on the movements themselves and trying to figure out why she needed to be here. The moves didn't give her any answers, and Gyatso realized that.
"I want you to try and imitate what Aang and I just did. But I want you to try and use your waterbending while doing it."
Katara frowned. How was imitating two airbenders supposed to help her learn waterbending? But she didn't have many other options, and Gyatso was older and wiser than her, so she figured that there had to be a point here. So she gave it a shot.
It was harder than it looked to her.
She knew that airbenders were light on their feet, but she never expected a simple exercise of theirs to make her feel like she had a club foot. She tried to copy the grace that Aang and Gyatso had, but she barely looked half as good.
And that was before she tried adding her water into the mix.
It wasn't bad. Honestly, she thought her handling of the water around her body as she spun was better than her footwork. But all she really managed to accomplish was making a swirl of water around herself as she moved and letting it fall to the ground when she stopped.
"Ok? What exactly was I supposed to do?"
"You did it. You created the basis for a waterbending move you can learn."
Katara's eyes widened. "What? How did I do that? It didn't feel like I did anything."
"But you did," Gyatso explained. "The circle walk that I and Aang performed is meant as a defensive move. A way to move around attacks. Granted, we usually perform it with the help of a mechanical contraption, but that's another matter. But if a waterbender like yourself used such a technique, it would become a move of defense and offense."
Katara frowned. Gyatso saw all of that from her just moving around? Even Aang was confused.
"Monk Gyatso, is it really going to work like that? I don't think katara is getting it," Aang said. He quickly realized what he had insinuated, and tried to save himself. "I'm saying that you're dumb Katara. I would never say that. It's just.. this is confusing, and.."
"It's fine Aang. I get what you're trying to say," Katara said softly. "But he is right Master Gyatso. I don't get it."
"In that case, a physical demonstration is needed. Katara, I want you to do it again. But instead of letting the water spill down this time, I want you to use it as a strike."
Katara did know how to throw water, but she wouldn't classify it as an attack. Still, she was curious as to what Gyatso was trying to do.
So she repeated the motions she had completed earlier. Except that this time, she kept the words that Gyatso had said in her mind. And she could see it.
The spinning water around her body worked as a defense while she moved. If anything tried to hit her, she could use the water she surrounded herself with to ward it off. And when she struck the water out, she would be able to that strike to knock down an aggressor.
It would take practice since it wasn't something she felt she could do right now. Not without taking at least a few hits. And her water strike would do much more than splashing some water in a person's face. But there was a chance for it to work.
"Do you see it now?" Gyatso asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I get it."
"Good. Air and water are both fluids elements, so there are ways for them to overlap. And I can teach you to find them as I help Aang."
"Really? You would do that?" Katara asked, eager for the chance to learn some real waterbending. Even if it would be makeshift moves she would be making up with the help of airbenders.
"Cool! Does that mean I get a practice partner?"
Katara smiled at the younger monk, while Gyatso shook his head at his ward. Even when learning to help his friend, his main concern was being able to spend more time with the girl he liked.
"I promised your grandmother that I would help you. And since she was gracious enough to allow you to come with us, I intend to keep that promise," Gyatso assured Katara. "And now that we all have a basis to work with, I want training to begin. We have time before we set out to the North Pole. And I expect us to spend that time preparing ourselves. Am I understood?"
Aang and Katara both nodded at their teacher. They both had a lot to learn.
Foggy Swamp...
Zuko woke up when he felt something hit him in the side of his waist. Open his eye, he saw that it was Druk's wing unfurling, hitting Zuko's side slightly.
The dragon had grown in the time they had traveled from Gaoling to this swamp. When he had first hatched, his body wasn't even the length of Zuko's arm. Now he was almost as long as Zuko's whole body. The length from his nose to his tail tip stopped just short of Zuko's feet. And his body was getting thicker too, no longer as thin as a noodle. Now built like a long and strong snake with feet and wings, Zuko wondered just how impressive he would look at full size.
He had heard stories of great dragons as a child. Hard to believe he had one that would one day match those stories. He also wondered how he would ride Druk. Logically, getting on his neck and hanging on would be an easy way to do it. But that sounded dangerous, and Zuko would much prefer to use a saddle.
Deciding not to wake him up yet, Zuko got dressed and headed outside the tent. He was expecting to see everyone else up and moving too, maybe getting breakfast.
But there was no one outside. Not every tent was closed, but even the open ones seemed to be empty.
"Where is everyone?"
"Waiting on you."
Surprised, Zuko turned to see Due chewing on a big bug. He was also sitting right next to Zuko's tent.
"Due? What's going on?"
"Oh, Huu took everyone to the tree. They're going through a connection right now."
"A connection?"
"Yeah. Huu might tell you about it one day. Right now, your uncle and the badger girl are waiting on you. They said you should find your cousin, then you'll find them."
Zuko frowned. "Huh? What does that mean?"
"I don't know. They said you would get it. Now can I finish eating?" Due said in annoyance as he took another massive bite out of his bug.
"Right. Sorry."
Zuko walked away from the tent as he tried to think about where he could find his uncle and Toph. Find his cousin?
Maybe they meant to go back to where he had seen Lu Ten. It was a little hard to remember the exact spot, but he had a good idea of where he could start looking.
Deciding not to wake up Druk or even bother looking for Vaatu, Zuko made his way towards the tree he first saw Lu Ten under.
It took Zuko almost ten minutes to find the spot. But he remembered it well. This was where he found Lu Ten's ghost. Or Lu Ten's ghost found him. That part wasn't exactly clear.
Regardless, it was empty right now. There was not a single person in sight. No uncle, no crazy young earthbender, or even a single swampbender or animal in sight.
"Where is everyone?"
That's when Zuko felt it. A sudden rush of heat on his left side. The side that was most sensitive to flames.
Quickly ducking, Zuko dodged a small fireball that shot past him. And looking behind, he saw the person who had shot it.
"Uncle? What's going on?"
"I have devised a way to help you in your training nephew. I hope you do not take this personally."
Making a small fireball in his hand, Iroh launched it at his nephew with such speed that he almost missed. But Zuko was deceptively fast, and he moved out of the way just in time to avoid a burn.
"No nephew. You need to use the water to defend yourself. Again!"
"Waterbeding, but uncle, I..."
"Don't forget about me Sparky!"
Turning around, Zuko was just quick enough to avoid getting his head smashed back by a big muddy rock. Toph was just ahead, her eyes confused even as a toothy smile dominated her face.
"I didn't see what happened. I don't feel your back in the mud, did I miss?"
"Thanks to Agni, yes," Zuko gritted. "What exactly is going on, Uncle?"
"I am helping you the best way I know how to. By making you learn on the spot. And since Master Huu is busy with his people, we will help you today," Iroh explained. "Remember Zuko. Only use your waterbending. It is a tool you will use throughout your life, so it may be best to get used to it very quickly."
"Wait, can I at least-?"
"No. Start dodging."
Iroh took in a deep breath. One second later, a wall of flame was accelerating towards Zuko. The scarred avatar had to quickly make an opposing wall of water to turn the water into steam.
*SPLAT*
A ball of mud hit Zuko in the back of his head, melting into his hair and covering the top of his face.
"Did you really forget about me Sparky? That's not a great decision."
Iroh looked concerned. "Actually young Toph, the idea was to let Zuko face one of us at a time. I think the best thing to do would be..."
"Here comes the rocks! Good luck Sparky!"
True to her word, Toph lifted two large stones out of the mud. She hurled both of them at Zuko, who had to find a way to avoid being hit by rocks the size of his head.
The first one was easy to dodge. Zuko just sidestepped. The second one was getting too close too soon. Zuko impulsively made a whip out of a nearby stream and struck the rock out of the air.
"I felt that one fall. Your turn Uncle."
Iroh heard Toph and shot two fireballs in Zuko's direction. The young boy remembered an old trick he had learned and made a cycle of water around himself. The defensive circle was able to block the fireballs from hitting Zuko. But he also had to turn around to block a series of pebbles that Toph had thrown at him.
"Really? Pebbles?"
"Would you prefer I make a boulder?"
"Pebbles are fine."
Any other banter was cut off when Iroh took his turn to launch fire. And Toph after that. The back to Iroh. Then Toph. Then Iroh.
It was getting tedious, and Zuko was running out of both patience and an ample water supply. The nearby stream was big, but it wasn't infinite. And even if he could find more water supplies, it wouldn't matter if he couldn't stop the fight. Iroh and Toph would tire him out soon, so he needed a way to take them both down.
So he took a risk.
He gathered more and more water to himself. The cycle grew until it was a shield covering his entire body. Something that confused both Iroh and Toph.
"Uh, what's he doing?" The earthbender asked.
"I'm not sure," Iroh responded. "Perhaps he is..."
Both of them were cut off when the wall of water exploded. It sent out blasts and whips of liquid everywhere, some of which hit Iroh and Toph. Both of them were knocked on their backs.
"Are we done?
Zuko was tired and sweating, and it wasn't even noon yet. Iroh and Toph were tired too, and they felt that they did what they set out to do.
"Do you feel more comfortable using waterbending, nephew?"
Zuko sighed. "I guess so. Just don't do this again."
"I have no intention to," Iroh promised.
"I might. You give good results when you act on impulse Sparky," Toph said without missing a beat.
Zuko decided he would deal with that on another day. Right now, he just wanted to-
"Ah?"
Looking down, Druk was watching Zuko. He had a confused face like he was still trying to figure out what was happening.
"Did you really just wake up?"
The dragon was confused by Zuko's annoyance. He saw Iroh and Toph on the ground breathing, so he had assumed that Zuko had trained. That usually made him happy. So Druk decided to do something to try and make Zuko happy. Something he had seen his other two human companions do often.
He started by curling back his lips, making his white fangs visible. He then opened his mouth wide, his teeth out and tongue steady. He held that face as he looked directly at Zuko.
Zuko, for this part, was consumed but also intrigued by what Druk was doing.
"Are you... trying to smile?"
Druk maintained the same face, which was now having the desired effect. Zuko gave a small smile to his dragon, who was now licking Zuko's face.
"Ok, ok. I'm good Druk. You can stop."
From a distance, Iroh saw the interaction between his nephew and his animal companion. He had often heard tales that Raava's Avatar always had an animal accompany them to ward off the loneliness of their difficult lives. And to help alleviate the stress that came with their responsibilities.
He was glad that Zuko had such a wonderful companion himself.
"Is everyone ok?"
Toph just shrugged, content to lie down in the mud. "I'm cool. Just don't throw any more water at me. I want my earth as solid as possible."
"Uncle?"
"I am very much fine nephew," Iroh said as he walked over to pet Druk himself. While the dragon reserved most of his affection for Zuko, he was still receptive to the old general. A pleasure that Iroh never expected to feel in his lifetime.
"Why don't we go back? I have accomplished what I have sought today."
Both Zuko and Toph nodded. Both of them started to walk back to the camp, with Druk flying around them both. Iroh walked behind them.
He stopped for a moment when he felt something behind him. Turning quickly, Iroh assumed a stance to fight off whatever might have snuck upon him.
But there was nothing. Not a swamp vine or a mud pile out of place. Everything was the way Iroh had last seen it. Not seeing anything wrong, Iroh rejoined his companions.
Not noticing the smiling soldier boy who watched them all walk to camp. His smile was content even as he disappeared back into the spirit world.
Aang was woken up by his shoulder being rustled. His eyes opened to his teacher above him.
"Monk Gyatso? What's going on?"
"Come with me Aang. I have a boat ready. There is someplace we need to go."
"What? Now? What about Katara and Sokka? And Appa?"
"We are only leaving for three days at the most. There is a place you need to see."
"Where? And why is it important?"
"It is not too far from here. And as for why it is important..."
Gyatso looked down at Aang with an expression of seriousness Aang was not used to seeing on him.
"It is your history. And something you need to learn."
This is where I will stop for now. The next chapter will have a bigger focus on how Aang and Gyatso are doing. It is also a chapter that I plan to use to change the trajectory of the story. I feel like it may have gotten a little stagnant lately, with Aang doing his thing and Zuko hanging out in a swamp. The next ending will change things, shaking them up in a way I am looking forward to.
I just learned that Avatar is going to be taken off of Netflix, which means I am going to have to go back to pirating it. I already have way too many streaming services to buy Paramount+.
Also got a bit of training done with Aang. The next chapter will also see him begin a metamorphosis for him of sorts. You'll see where he and Gyatso are heading in the next chapter.
Anyway, please leave reviews, tell me what you think, and I will see you all next time.
Bye!