Book I: Water

Chapter VII: Preparations for War

Part III: The First Waterbending Lesson

Kuzon was up working on his firebending form. He wore a set of fur pants and boots but had decided to discard the shirt. The boy often woke up early to train. The physical activity helped him clear his head. He then came in with a fist and punched out. He then hit a Fire sidekick. The burst of flame shot out of his foot and burst out into the air. It then dissipated as soon as it came. He then took a deep breath. Okay. So we are good there. My firebending is still in top form. He performed a little spin and the flames rushed to his arms. He felt a prick of pain as the flames touched the exposed skin of the burn on his right arm. Soon both arms were enveloped in flames. The boy felt a tinge of pain on his arm but ignored it. He then snuffed them out.

Katara was leaning against one of the outside walls of his bunk. A knowing smirk came to her face. "I could get used to this, you know."

Kuzon turned to face her, obviously confused, "Get used to what exactly?"

Katara smirked at him with a hint of flirtation in her eyes. "Watching you train. It's kind of hot."

Kuzon's eyes widened at her. Woah. Okay. I'm not sure how to take that. The firebender felt his face redden. He gave her a nervous smile "I..um..thanks."

Katara chuckled to herself. She then put a hand on her hip and laughed. "Oh my flameheart. I love it when I render you speechless. Your reaction is so adorable."

Kuzon, rendered speechless by her words, just nodded in agreement.

Katara then walked up to him tentatively and softly pressed a hand onto his cheek. The waterbender snorted and shook her head. "You are still so quiet and reserved. You do realize that any other girl would be put off by that right?"

Kuzon chuckled awkwardly and shrugged. "I trust you would know better than me."

Katara snickered and looked him in the eyes. "Well seeing as I'm the only girl in our group..I would agree." She then grabbed him forcefully by the hem of his collar and pulled him in for a kiss. Now that the two of them had finally worked out their differences, she felt more sure of herself and as a result of these desires, more willing to have passionate "moments" with the firebender she adored so much. Part of it was also the duality of war itself. The fact remained that the war itself was always raining over their heads. The two of them could die at any moment..at any time. They had to make the best of what little time they had together. At least that was Katara's own reasoning.

The two then separated from one another.

Katara both chuckled and blushed at the firebender's shocked reaction. "Okay…Now that we've gotten that out of the way. Time for your first day of training. I got word from Dad that we are docking near a village. We should be able to find some streams to waterbend."

Kuzon managed to regain control of his emotions. He eyed her confused and then looked around them. He then saw the billowing smoke indicating a village was nearby. "Um, where are we supposed to train? I see the billowing smoke but no village."

One of the Southern helmsmen then called out to the captain. "Anchors away! We are docking momentarily!"

The captain gave the man a nod. "Understood!"

Katara then crossed her arms and glanced at Kuzon with a playful smirk on her face. "You were saying?"

Kuzon sighed and facepalmed. "Right. Lead the way." Katara pressed her lips to his cheek, took his hand in hers, and smiled. "Gladly. Follow me."

Somewhere in Takkau Village, Southern Water Tribe

Aang, Katara, Sokka and Kuzon were walking throughout the port village. People were coming and going throughout the small port village bartering goods with one another.

Aang looked around in awe. "Wow. It seems so lively here. I didn't think there were any settlements like this left."

Hakoda let out a small laugh. The word ashmaker threatened popped into his head but the chief held it in for the respect for the Avatar. "Takkau Village is one of the few port villages that we Southerners have left. The Fire Nation tried their damndest to raze it down to the ground during the invasion. We took the remains of what was lost and rebuilt it. We used to have many ports like this. They...unfortunately..got destroyed in the First War."

The Southern Chief then smiled at Aang. "The people of the Southern Tribe have suffered as a result of the Fire Nation's tyranny but we are a hardy and resilient people. We always endure." The man then put his hands on both Katara and Sokka's shoulders, looked down on them, and smiled. The two siblings smiled back up at him.

Katara slowly inched herself closer to waterbender's heart was beating like crazy. I need to find someplace for us to train. Perhaps that old pond is still there. She was blushing a bit. She then looked up at her father. She cleared her throat and spoke in a calm tone. "We'll catch up with the rest of you later. We have some training to do."

Aang turned back and nodded. "Understood. We'll catch up with you two later."

Sokka turned back and nodded. "Gotcha."

Hakoda glanced back at his daughter with surprise in his eyes. "You are the Avatar's waterbending teacher? When did this happen?"

Katara briskly answered. "A while ago." She then felt a bit of nervousness overcome her. I hope he at least allows me to train him in public. I admit partly I just wanted to get him alone but we do need to train.

Chief Hakoda just nodded in approval. They are still my kids but perhaps some freedom is in order. Besides I have the Avatar's word in honor that he wouldn't go after my daughter's affections. "Well it..is imperative for the Avatar to learn waterbending. Just be careful out there."

Katara beamed at him. "We will! We promise!"

Chief Hakoda just gave the two a nod and walked off.

The waterbender sighed in relief. She elbowed him in the side and turned to Kuzon with a smile on her face. "Whew..I didn't think he was ever going to let us go for a second there." She then interlocked her fingers with his. It was then that she noticed his hands were trembling. The waterbender's eyes widened in surprise. She turned to him with a worried look in her eyes. "Hey are you alright? What's wrong?"

Kuzon shook his head. "I..It's nothing really. I was just thinking."

Katara crossed her arms at him and motioned for him to continue. She then rested a hand over his scar and intermingled fingers.

Kuzon sighed. "I..miss home. I..miss being in the Fire Nation. I mean..I know it has probably all changed now. My countrymen have all become servants of a Fire Lord who seeks to make the entire world bow to his whim.. I wouldn't even recognize my home anymore but.."

Katara put a hand on his shoulder. "You miss being back in the Fire Nation don't you?"

Kuzon turned to her and nodded. "Yes…I do. I'm just confused. I don't know where to go. I wonder if I have a home at all anymore."

Katara listened and nodded. She then took his hands into hers. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what it's like for you. It can't be easy to be outcasted by your own countrymen like that." She then sighed. "You may not have a home in the Fire Nation anymore but you will always have a home here."

Kuzon raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? People are still getting used to me here. I can literally feel them looking me over like I'm some sort of predator."

Katara caressed his face with a hand.

Kuzon felt himself blush. "I am Kuzu. Everyone here owes you and Aang thanks for putting Zuko and Azula out of commission for a while. If they hadn't been stopped at Taqqaq Village, they would have attacked another village and probably killed all the villagers. That includes this village." She smirked at her boyfriend. "Besides, if anyone did try to hurt you, I wouldn't hesitate to freeze them alive. It wouldn't matter if they were a Water Tribesman or not."

Kuzon nodded. "I..see. I guess I'm just overthinking things again. Don't mind me. I'm trying to be more open with you guys and a little less pessimistic about things..but it's not in my nature."

Katara chuckled and hugged him "That's all right. What matters is that you are trying. It is progress." She then sighed and felt herself melt into his arms. He slowly put his arms around her.

Katara sighed in frustration. "As nice as this is..we need to get training. Dad is going to get suspicious if he sees us like this."

Kuzon nodded in agreement. "Agreed." The two ran off to find a place to train.

A pond somewhere in Takkau Village

The firebender and waterbender finally found a small place to train. It had a small pond of water. The waterbender figured that would be enough to start with. She then motioned for Kuzon to take the opposite end of the pool. "Okay so the first thing about waterbending is that it is the direct opposite of firebending. I have seen how you firebend. You depend on strength and power. That isn't going to work for waterbending."

Kuzon nodded in understanding and crossed his arms. "Okay then. How does it work?"

Katara smiled at him. "Just watch and learn." With a few motions, she rose a tendril. Then, with some hand motions, she began bending the tendril back and forth until it was going in a circle. "You have to bend the tendril back and forth. This is the most basic form of waterbending. Both the warrior and healer benders of the Water Tribes learn this from birth. I learned it from scrolls passed down from generation to generation. There is no power involved. There is only control and balance. " After doing it a number of times, she then smiled at him. "You want to try it?"

Kuzon shrugged. "Sure..I'll give it a shot."

Katara smirked at him. "That's the spirit!" She then set the small tendril in the middle of the pond. "Put out your hands."

Kuzon did so.

Katara came up from behind him and grabbed his arms.

He took in a deep breath and tried to control the blush spreading on his face. The sensation of her skin on his and the saltwater scent of her hair was driving had him lost for words.

Katara eyed him worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Kuzon let out a sigh. Hey now. Get a hold of yourself. This is serious. He then cleared his throat and regained control. "I'm good."

Katara nodded and smiled in relief. "Okay. Now I'm going to hover your hand over the small tendril. I want you to try to sense the water inside of it. Once you do that..then try to make a circular motion with your hands." She then moved their hands over the small tendril of water.

Kuzon then began moving his hands in a circular motion. The water seemed to respond in kind. Kuzon's eyes widened. "I..It's working."

Katara smiled with pride and kissed him on the cheek. "You are a fast learner. I'm proud of you." She then put a hand on his shoulder. "Try to draw the water out of the pond. Clear your mind and focus on what you are doing."

Kuzon nodded and closed his eyes. He then closed his eyes, intending to clear his mind. Unfortunately, that was when all the hidden emotional trauma came up. The memories of the last kiss he and Taira shared before he left the Temple...the memories of his family…The memories of the Temple's destruction..and of his mother's death. He suddenly fell backward and immediately began shaking and trembling all over. He was finding it hard to breathe. "I..can't breathe." The firebender then curled up into a ball.

Katara immediately realized this and hugged him from behind. Oh no! The meditation part of the training must have triggered some bad memories! She immediately hugged him from behind and whispered softly in his ear. "Hey. Listen to me. You are having an anxiety attack. You need to calm yourself. Whatever you are seeing is not real." She then sat him down and hugged him as tightly as she could. "It's just anxiety.. Take a deep breath. Listen to the sound of my voice."

Kuzon slowly began to regain his senses. His heartbeat began returning to normal. He slowly relaxed into her arms. "It..all came flashing back. I..don't understand. What happened? I thought I had overcome all this."

Katara sighed and held onto him tighter. "It seems you still have some emotional trauma from all that you've been through. That trauma is preventing you from being able to focus on drawing in the water. Waterbending requires that the user clear their mind and be at peace with themselves. You are..unfortunately not there just yet."

Kuzon sighed. "Damn it. I'm sorry."

Katara pressed her lips to his cheek. This brought him out of his funk. She then cuddled him and rested her on "You have done nothing of the sort Kuzu. You have had so much unresolved emotion inside you for so long that you need time to heal now. You just need time." She then turned him to face her. "Come here." She then kissed him as passionately as she could. She knew that he obviously needed to heal from his internal wounds and that she alone couldn't do that for him. She would, however, do the best she could to reassure him of her devotion and love. That would at least help him somewhat.

Kuzon felt himself melt in her grasp.

The two then broke the kiss and cuddled into one another.

Kuzon sighed in relief. "Thank you..for everything."

Katara sighed with happiness. "Of course. I love you my flameheart. No matter what happens…never forget that."