Okay is anybody whose school system is like mine has no school Tuesday, if so can I get a woot! No school! No evil confusing French class! No test! Freedom thy name is no school! Okay I'm done so I'll just get to the point and start this next exciting chapter of Balance of the Cycle. Ooh I wonder what will happen next for our little air manipulator and her fire manipulating love interest….ooh play the twilight zone music.

Doo doo doo doo…

H e A r T K n O c K e D

Chapter 17: Wood: Teachers

"You're going to be just fine Max, I promise." May said in a soft motherly tone as she took her brothers hand in hers and kissed the back of it affectionately. It had been two days since his accident and he had yet to wake up but Misty had been healing him as much as she could and each time she would come out of his room saying he was improving and that his breathing was normal. He just needed time and care now. As Rebecca promised she was going to stay with him in Beng and help Dawn's mother Johanna rebuild as many buildings as they could and tend to those who needed care.

Since Johanna had been working with wood her whole life she knew different tree roots that could help with any sickness and Rebecca had decided to train some wood manipulators in the art of skilled battle. Since she was older than May by a year she knew more about fighting then she did. However this training was only for protection because air manipulators were not head on fighters like fire manipulators.

May had yet to asked Dawn or Misty if they were willing to teach her but she had faith that her friends would do all they could to help her and all the people who had to suffer at the hands of fire region people like Brendan. May didn't want what happened to happen again even though every region was under fire control except for the two she visited before they could reach them, (Wood and Water)

"May, it's time to go…" Drew said sticking his head into the room. May glanced at him then looked at her brother once more before leaning over the young boy and giving him a kiss on the forehead. Drew stared solemnly as tears began to well up in the brunette's eyes.

"Take care Max." She whispered getting up and trudging her way towards the door. Drew smiled in a bittersweet way at her and she returned the smile.

"Everything will be all right." He reassured. May looked back at her sleeping brother and nodded before Drew walked away and she followed, quietly closing the door behind her. Standing in the living room ready to go was Ash, Misty and Dawn. Rebecca stood beside Johanna with a sad smile on her face just as May did. The two best friends grabbed each other in a tight embrace, crying on each other's shoulders.

"This isn't goodbye…" Becca whispered into May's water region garments. May nodded in agreement as she sniffled a bit and they pulled away, holding each other shoulders.

"This is see ya later…" May finished. Becca grinned and pulled May in for another hug that seemed too short as they finally pulled away. Johanna hugged her daughter and wished her luck before hugging May and handing her a necklace that had a wooden pendant hanging from it. On the pendant was the sign for each region surrounding the air region symbol that was in the center.

"It's for good luck, great Ping Heng." Johanna said bowing to May. May brought her right fist to her left palm and bowed as well.

"Thank you and I hope things get better." May said kindly as she put the necklace over her head.

"It would have been much worse without you." May laughed lightly and smiled brightly for what seemed like the first time in days. Misty and Ash headed for the door with Dawn following close behind. Drew and May were the last ones to exit the house.

"You gonna be okay?" He asked. May nodded as she held the pendant in the palm of her hand and ran her fingers over the intricate carvings.

"Yea, I'll be okay." She muttered. "I know I will." May said a she shut her eyes for a moment and all she saw was her three past lives. She opened her eyes again only to have them glow white for a second before it quickly flowed through her markings and faded.

"Ah! This is amazing!" Dawn exclaimed as she looked down at the waters below. Like May, she had never been on a flying Gyarados, or seen one for that matter. Even though the gate to her home overlooked a shore filled with many water pokemon.

"I thought the same thing on my first ride." May said in agreement to the navy haired girl's reaction. They hadn't been flying for long but Beng could not be seen behind them and the order they were sitting in was Misty, Ash, Dawn, May, then Drew. It was different but it was also less people for the water pokemon to carry.

"And to think we'll be doing this a lot from now on; flying above the clouds saving the world." Dawn sighed dramatically as she spread her arms wide and embraced herself in her excitement. Misty laughed lightly at the girl's naïve nature. She reminded her of May.

"Yes, you being here is important Dawn." May said. Dawn looked over her shoulder at the brunette and smiled. "As you know all the talismans are gone so I only have one last option to ensure the worlds safety and that's to learn all the elements within the cycle and you will be my wood manipulating teacher." May explained. Dawn's cobalt eyes sparkled as she clamped her hands together.

"Of course I'll teach you! What are friends for!?" Dawn exclaimed throwing her hands in the air for emphasis. "I'll teach you every move I know that my dad taught me and my mom taught me."

"Misty, I'll need your help too." May said looking forward at the Ginger haired girl sitting at the head. Misty looked over her shoulder back at May and smiled brightly.

"Anything to help you save the world May." Misty said kindly. May grinned in response to her friend's faithfulness.

"And since Drew agreed to be my fire manipulating teacher, I'll do great! All I need is an earth manipulating teacher and a metal manipulating teacher." May said happily as she shut her eyes in content. When she did she didn't see darkness, she saw a silhouette of a person that seemed to run past her view. She snapped her eyes open and blinked in surprise.

She made a face in confusion and shut her eyes again thinking that it would happen again but this time there was nothing. She slowly cracked her eyes open and shook her head.

"Onward to the earth region!" Dawn called out pointing forward as Gyarados sped up a bit causing them to hold on as they were jerked back because of the headwind.

"Never saw the O-word in the presence of Gyarados! It gets him going!" Ash commented as he held onto Misty for dear life.

It was late and the moon was high up in the sky however a certain brunette and her ginger haired friend were not asleep. Drew was nearly dipping his feet into the water as Gyarados unconsciously skimmed over it in its sleep. Dawn was curled up into a ball while Ash was sprawled out on the head but by the tail Misty and May were busy at work.

"Okay see how it all works as one movement?" Misty questioned as she slowly moved her hand up in down like a wave. It was one smooth and elegant movement that resembled a wave itself and as she did so a wave of water would raise and as she lowered her arm and hand it would lower as well.

"I get it. You don't have to pause; it's just smooth and flexible." May stated in a matter of fact tone as she raised her pointer finger in realization. "It's just like air but we do more round movements like spins and we're a bit more forceful."

"With water you don't need force. It should just flow and you have to actually feel the flow within you." Misty said getting out of her stance to stand up straight. "Why don't you try? Just try to stream the water."

May nodded and got into her stance. She put her hands out in front of her and relaxed her body before closing her eyes and lifting up her arms. She breathed deeply and opened her eyes only to see a small lump come up in the water and fall back in. May pouted and Misty smiled sheepishly.

"It's a start…"

"At this rate I'll never be able to learn everything in time." May huffed. Misty placed a hand on the younger girls shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Try again. The reason why I wanted to do this when the moon was high in the sky is because water manipulators get energy from the moon. As you know the moons gravitational pull causes tides that can get as large as tsunami's so the moon is the greatest water manipulator there is. Use its energy."

May nodded again and got back into her stance. She looked up at the glowing moon and put on a face of determination as she put her hands out in front of her. She shut her eyes once and breathed deeply regaining her focus and lifted her hands slowly as she opened her eyes. The water moved elegantly at her whim and lifted from the sea. She stopped and looked at the stream of water she just raised and grinned.

She spread her arms out and the one stream of water separated into two before she lifted her arms like birds wing and twisted her wrists causing the two streams of water to twist around her arm. She waved her arms from side to side and the water left her arm and swayed before her before she lowered her arms and the water returned to the sea. She did all this in one smooth movement and she felt it flow just like Misty said.

"I did it!" May exclaimed clapping in her excitement. "That was so cool."

"Yea you did really well on your first try! Way better than I had. You'll be a master in no time." Misty said encouragingly. May hummed in agreement.

Drew had watched her stream the water, all on her own without the assistance of a talisman and smiled at her effort. He understood that this was expected from the girl who harvested so much power but he couldn't help but be amazed by her. Or maybe it wasn't her abilities that amazed him.

His smile softened as he gazed at her cheerful expression. He still couldn't accept the fact that just over a month ago he was willing to do whatever it took to kill her and now he was admiring her. He was glad he could be her teacher.

"You're going to stop this war May. I hope you can." He muttered as Misty and May streamed their water together and made them wind into the air before whipping it into the water once again.

Aw! The softer side of Drew! It's amazing how he had such a change of heart due to one girl…sometimes I wish I could do that but eh people will be people. Well That's all I got for now so I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker and if I don't may I get hit my the softest pillows on earth!

Sincerely,

HK