So here's chapter five. I hope you like it.
don't own atla
Chapter 5: The Test
Northern Water Tribe…
"You're here before me, why?" Kailee asked as she walked into the arena. Arlyn sat up and glared at his waterbending master. Kailee pulled off her parka and sat down beside her pupil. "Something's up you're never up this early, I usually have to drag you out of your room."
"What do you do when the person you like is engaged to be married?" Arlyn asked.
"I don't know I haven't had much experience with that kind of stuff." Kailee said tugging at the sleeve of her dark blue long sleeved shirt. "I'm only fifteen, how much do you expect me to know about romance, engagements, and marriage?"
"You're almost of marrying age." Arlyn said bumping her shoulder.
"Not even." Kailee said bumping his shoulder back.
"Sixteen's the marrying age." He said.
"Yeah here in the Water Tribes but in the Fire Nation the marrying age is eighteen." Kailee said picking at the fabric of her loose fitting black pants. "I still have three years to be courted by the sons of Noblemen. Enough about that and lets talk about something more cheerful and by cheerful I mean exciting and long awaited."
"I don't like that excited glint in your eyes." Arlyn said standing up and extending his hand out to her, she took it and he pulled her up effortlessly. "Your definition of exciting is different than mine."
"Whatever I guess you don't what to know." Kailee said folding her hands behind her back and tiptoeing away from him. "Just show up at the compound arena Friday at sundown. Now lets begin with today's lesson."
Arlyn pulled his parka off, grabbed Kailee's parka, and tossed them both into the stands. He uncovers the pool of water that surrounds the arena by turning the ice cover into water. He and Kailee walked to the center of the arena. They bowed to each other and both of them could see the fire in the other's eyes.
"Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' own forces against them." Kailee said as she walked away from Arlyn. When she was a far enough distance away she quickly turned around. "Show me you can do that."
Kailee quickly waved her hand in the air and drew water from the moisture in the air around her fingers and froze it. Without hesitation she shot the frozen ice at Arlyn as if she were throwing knives, she had watched Lady Mai do it once and had since adapted it to waterbending. Thinking quick Arlyn drew water from the pool below and compressed the water so that it made an impenetrable shield. Kailee's ice claws bounced off the water shield. He used the water of his shield and used it to send a forceful blow at Kailee. She deflected the water bullet, froze it into an ice sphere and forcefully threw it back at Arlyn.
"You like throwing projectiles at me." Arlyn said bending the snow from the ground into a water whip that he used to break the ice spear.
oOo
"Parka!" Kailee said as she pulled herself out of the small hole she created in the ice and out of the pool. Arlyn smiled, proud that he had been able to win their match by pushing her into the pool and freezing the surface. He picked up her parka and hopped off of the bleachers and walked up to her. "You're a fast learner."
He took a strand of her wet black hair in his free hand, during their match he managed to get it out of the high ponytail she wore it in during training, and slowly pulled the water out of it. Kailee gave him a shy smile, it was the first time he had seen her lack confidence. He took another strand of her hair and pulled the water out of it and softly said, "You're a great teacher."
Kailee put her hands on his chest and pushed him gently, "Flattery will get you nowhere."
"It usually does." Arlyn said watching as she pulled the water out of her clothes and the rest of her hair. He handed her, her parka. "Well I'll see you at dinner."
"Where are you going?" Kailee asked as she pulled her parka on.
"To ask Mika out on a date." Arlyn said.
"I thought she was engaged to be married." When Arlyn raised his eyebrows at her she sighed, "If I'm not dragging you out of your room I'm pulling you away from her, it's not hard to tell that you're attracted to her. I just put two and two together, your obvious attraction to Mika and your earlier question."
"Pretty, smart, stubborn, and funny is there more to the Fire Nation Princess that I don't know about?" Arlyn asked.
"Oh there's a lot more." Kailee said with a laugh.
"Like what?"
"Lets just say that my father taught us a lot of useful stuff." Kailee answered.
"Come on give me a little love Princess." Arlyn said.
"He taught us how to play the tsungi horn." Kailee said running away from him before he could say anything about her father's musical talent. She turned around and winked, "The rest of the stuff you'll just have to wait to see."
oOo
Arlyn watched as Ryuu practiced with his dual Dao blades, he found it interesting that both the Fire Nation prince and princess knew skills beyond bending. He had yet to see Ryuu use his bending for something more than starting the campfire they sat around in the late evenings. He had seen a lot of his sword and weapon work when he watched him and Judai practice but not once had he seen him bend like the firebending master he allegedly was. Ryuu sheathed his swords and turned toward him but his eyes were fixed behind him not at him.
"Master Toku, Master Hiro, Master Broca." He said with a bow. Arlyn turned around and saw the three White Lotus sentries, Kailee, and Judai standing behind him.
"Prince Ryuu." The sentries said bowing to him. "Is the Avatar ready for his waterbending test?"
"What?" Arlyn said.
"Master Kailee didn't tell you that your test was today?" Hiro said shooting a glare at Kailee.
"I would like a couple of minutes to prepare my student for the test." Kailee said walking toward Arlyn before they even gave her their permission to talk to him. She took his wrist and dragged him into the locker room. She sat him down on the bench and opened one of the lockers. "So this is that exciting news I had at the beginning of the week, you're test today is to see if you can pass into the advance level of training. If you pass we can leave here and go to Republic City."
"You honestly think I'm ready for this test?" Arlyn asked.
Kailee put her hands on his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes, he could see the gold flecks and determination in her ocean blue eyes. "I taught the intermediate level class at the Southern Waterbending Academy for years and I know when a student is ready to be tested for the next class and in the past couple of weeks you've progressed faster than any student I have ever taught."
"Flattery will get you nowhere Princess." Arlyn said. Kailee scoffed and turned back to the locker. "What's in there?"
"Your testing outfit." Kailee said taking it out and handing it to him. "Put it on and get ready to kick Hiro's ass." Arlyn gave her a satisfied smirk before ushering her out of the room.
Republic City
Katara took a seat in one of the plush red chairs and looked around the sitting room of their summer home. She and Ursa had spent the last couple of weeks getting the house ready for the arrival of the children and were finally finished. Ursa walked into the sitting room carrying a gold tray with Katara's favorite china atop of it, the white hand crafted porcelain cups and saucers with the gold rims and hand painted red dragons that Katara and Zuko had gotten for their wedding.
"Iroh made us tea before he left and I made some biscuits." Ursa said setting the tray down on the coffee table and taking a seat on the red plush couch. "Why did you not go with Zuko and Iroh to see Toph and Haru?"
Katara looked at her mother-in-law, she knew that Ursa would be able to see through the answer she had given Zuko and Iroh about being too tired to go out. Her reason for not going out with her husband and friends was because she really didn't want to be around her friends and pretend that she and Zuko weren't in the middle of a big argument. She had high hopes that they'd resolve their problem before Ryuu and Kailee arrived, she hadn't seen her kids on over a year and she didn't want their reunion to be marred by her and Zuko's argument.
"Zuko and I promised not to keep secrets from each other the day we were married. We made a solemn vow to tell each other everything." Katara said quietly.
"It wasn't his secret to tell." Ursa said.
"I guess what bothers me about the whole situation is that Aang had children with some woman." Katara said.
"You moved on and he had to too. Do you regret marrying my son instead of Aang?"
Katara had loved Aang, they had dated for a couple of months after the war and she had honestly thought that she was going to be married to Aang but everything changed after Zuko and Mai's break up. After Zuko and Mai broke up Zuko was a mess and Katara didn't like seeing her friend look so down and depressed. She found herself writing to him more and visiting him more often. Aang was busy restoring the air temples and Zuko was dealing with his country and the mistrust of the world. The more time Katara spent with Zuko the more she fell for him. Then she and Aang broke up, it was a mutual thing really, and she found herself spending even more time in the Fire Nation.
"No, I don't regret anything." Katara said. "I love Zuko and I wouldn't trade my life with him for anything or anyone."
Northern Water Tribe…
A smile spread across Kailee's face as she watched Arlyn encase Hiro in a ball of ice thus ending the match and passing his test. Arlyn turned around and caught sight of Kailee's eye-to-eye smile. He saw Broca and Toku nod and he knew that he had passed.
"Congratulations Arlyn you have passed your waterbending test." Broca said. He turned to Kailee. "He still needs to be trained to be considered a master but your mother can finish his training and he can begin his earthbending training with Master Toph."
"What?" Kailee said. "My mother has been missing for over a year and even if she were here its not her job to teach him, its mine."
"Did Hiro not tell you that if your mother was found before Arlyn mastered waterbending she would complete his training? Your mother has more experience in teaching and bending then you do Princess." Toku said.
"The Order said that I was to teach him waterbending, Misaki were going to teach him earthbending, and Ryuu was going to teach him firebending. I am more than qualified to finish his training, I became a master at the age of thirteen. Besides he doesn't respond to…" Kailee stopped midsentence as she realized what they had said and what it meant. She turned to Ryuu and said, "They found our mom."
"I want to finish my training with Kailee and I want to learn from Ryuu and Misaki." Arlyn said to the three members of the Order.
"Let them travel to Republic City and have the Order members there sort it all out." Hiro said as he bent himself out of the ball of ice Arlyn had trapped him in.
"Very well." Toku and Broca said.
To be continued...
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