I woke up really early, my mouth dry and foul-tasting, my hair tangled around my face. I lay there for a minute before sitting up suddenly, a nervous twitch in my stomach, a pang that was there for a reason unknown to me. I sat, unmoving for a minute, before I sighed and shoved my hair off my face, listening to the woods around me. It was too early for the birds, even, and I cursed myself for not rolling over and waking myself up as much as I had.

I stood up, stretching, listening to my bones crack. Then I heard a crunch. Not a bone crunch, but a someone-stepping-on-a-twig crunch. My insides froze. I tried to scan the area without letting it be known that I was looking. I was just about to whirl around when a small rabbit jumped out in front of me. I let out a small (well, maybe a loud,) screech, my heart skipping a beat. The rabbit twitched its ears and then jumped away, bounding across my clearing in a few hops. I barked out a laugh and then began to walk towards the creek that Ritu had shown me, wanting to get a better wash than I had gotten yesterday.

…

It was after my bath (which, by the way, was extremely cold and awful,) that the birds woke up and Saza came. She walked into the clearing just as I did, raising her eyebrows at my dripping hair.

"Isn't it a little cold-"

"Yes. Yes it is," I said. She laughed.

"I'll bring you a towel next time," she said. I smiled as she sat down, crossing her legs for a second before grimacing and uncrossing them, opting for a knees-to-chest sitting position. I mirrored her, biting my lip when she let out a huge sigh.

"What's wrong?"

She looked up at the tree canopy above us. "Well, for starters, my dad ate the last of the rice cakes," she said, "But, more importantly, I can't think of anything that would make your firebending as awfu- as, um, hard- as it is. I read all my books, as well as my mother's, about chi, and I got nothing. So I tried other things. I looked up teas, herbs, lotions, the like. None of that is proven to help-"

"Well, what-"

"Shh. I'm talking." She widened her eyes at me. "Never interrupt your teacher." I laughed as she went on. "So, I think what it's going to be is just… practice," she finished weakly. "Lots and lots of practice."

I scowled. "But I have been practicing! I've been practicing for so long… ever since I was five!"

Her shoulders drooped. "I know!" she cried. "Or, at least, I figured. But I cannot think of a single thing that would-" she broke off suddenly.

"What?" I asked after she was silent for a minute.

"We-e-ell," she said slowly, "I was thinking… hold on… um…"

I waited as patiently as I could, drumming my fingers on my shin, trying not to rush her. It was incredibly hard.

"What if it's- well, where do you get your fire from?"

I blinked. "What?"

"Where do you get your fire from?" she repeated. I opened and closed my mouth.

"Um… the air?"

She let out a laugh, startling me. "That's it!" she cried. "I bet that's it!"

"What? Why? Where do you get it from?"

"Me! You get it from inside of yourself! The only element that does, apparently." She jumped to her feet. "You don't draw fire from the air, you draw it from inside of you."

"That sounds impossible."

"It's true, though!" Her face flushed and her eyes lit up. "I mean, you have to bring it from the inside! It's incredibly hard to draw it from the air- not many can do it, and even fewer can then control it!" She took a deep breath. "And, since you can draw it from the air like you can, once you manage to draw it from inside of you it should be easy!"

I paused. "Um, okay." Even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

Her face fell a little, and I immediately felt bad for hesitating like I did.

"Can you show me?" I asked, hoping I sounded eager and not too fake. I think it worked, because she perked up again.

"Sure!" she chirped. I grinned and watched as she held her fingers over her heart. "So, I'm not too sure how to explain how to draw it out… um… I guess… try imagining that there are flames in your veins, instead of blood." I nodded when she looked at me expectantly. "And then… just… draw the flames out?"

"You're telling me," I said. She grimaced.

"Sorry. Then just draw the flames out." She held out her palm and a small fire danced around, casting shadows on her face even in the new sunlight.

I let out a breath and stood. "Okay. Let's try this."

I took another breath and placed two of my fingers near my heart, tracing them along and down my left arm, imagining little fires inside of my being plucked down, dragged by my hand.

And then I took my fingers from my skin and held them up.

And there was a small flame, flickering at the tips of my fingers.

I held it.

I held it.

I held it.

It was small, but I was holding it.

It had a nice warmth to it. One that didn't burn, like the other fires had.

Why has no one ever told me to do this?! I thought, a smile splitting my face.

And, when it went away, it was because I decided it should.

Joy exploded inside of me as Saza squealed loud enough to send several birds flapping away before wrapping me in a giant hug and jumping bit. I couldn't stop grinning. I was too happy to tell her that, with every jump, her shoulder slammed into my chin.

I had done it.

I had done it!