Kind of a filler "episode," but it shows Huo's relationships with her men on the ship. Also, Huo discovers something pretty awesome about her bending!

Chapter 13: Rainbow of Diversity

Don't lose who you are in the blur of the stars!
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It's okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart.
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising,
Just be true to who you are.

Kojo

It wasn't very often that I had a day off. Between training with Iroh, studying, cleaning, more studying...let's just say I didn't normally get days off. It was beautiful out, though, as I laid in the crow's nest with Kojo and stared up at the fluffy clouds. The sea air was soothing and the sounds of the seafaring men below me was something I didn't think I could live without.

"There's a sky bison!" Kojo shouted, pointing at a cloud.

I squinted at it. "I dunno...I've never seen one. Kinda looks like a Platypus Bear. When did you see a sky bison?"

Kojo's growing feet swung over the edge of the crow's nest, underneath the protective railing. Both of us were practically monkey-sloths and could climb through the sails with no problem. How high up were wasn't a problem, either. "I was six. Lady Katara came to visit the Northern Water Tribe with her son, Tenzin. They brought a few of the fuzzy guys. They're big, it's awesome!"

Although I missed the company of people my age, it was refreshing to just be a kid again with Kojo. I had grown up much too fast after my mother had died and I'd never just gotten to lay around and look at the clouds. "Tell me about the Northern Water Tribe."

"It's cold."

I laughed and hit him lightly with the back of my hand. "More than that!"

He was quiet for a moment. He stared up at the sky with his light blue eyes and sighed. "I dunno. I didn't like it much. It's changed for the better since Lady Katara made it to where women can practice Waterbending. Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way. Men are looked down upon for wanting to practice healing."

Kojo always practiced healing on me and he was actually pretty good for a kid. "Wanna heal this burn while you keep talking?" I held out my arm and showed him where Iroh had gotten a good shot at me.

He nodded and sat up. He held a water skin on him at all times so he pulled some water out of it and covered his hand with it. Then he held his hand over my arm and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. The healing always felt amazing and I melted against the crow's nest's railing. "I told you before that my great-grandmother was an expert healer. Dad told me that her name was Yugoda. I never met her. She had a daughter, who was also an amazing healer. And then she had my dad. He never wanted to be a fighter, so he learned under my mother. He was made fun of and laughed at. So he ran away to Omashu."

"Omashu?"

"It's in the Earth Kingdom. It's where I was born." Kojo finished with my arm and it felt a million times better. Then he sat back and wrapped his arms around his leg. He still wouldn't look at me but I stared at him. His skin was a lot lighter than his dad's, so his mother had to have been Earth Kingdom-born. "When my mom died, he moved back to the Northern Water Tribe as a master healer. Still, though, he was made fun of and shunned. So we left...and now we're here."

I knocked my foot against his and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're here. It'd be boring without you."

He gave me a small one in return. "Yeah, whatever. None of that mushy stuff."

I tried so hard to keep the smile from my face from turning into a motherly grin. He's growing up. Wants to be seen as a "man." He's getting taller, too. He needs a haircut. But I ignored it all and kicked his leg out of my way as I laid back down to look up at the beautiful blue sky. "Yeah, no mushy stuff."

Iroh

I watched Iroh practice as I did every third day of the week. Today he was working with Lighteningbenders! I thought that it was an incredibly amazing way to bend. Not every Firebender could do it, but those who could only could if they had patience and experience with Firebending. I wasn't supposed to practice alongside them, I was just supposed to watch. But in this case I moved along with them, never even trying to generate lightening, but following the flow of their moves.

I did the same when I watched the Water and Earthbenders practice. Learning the way they moved helped me improve my own bending skills. In fact, I saw some Waterbending in the way that lightening was generated.

"You can't control it," Iroh was saying as he and the men created circular movements. "All you can do is guide it, give it direction. Sometimes you can even redirect it." Every moment they made passed the lightening through the stomach, unlike Firebending, which centered around the chest. It involved a lot of pathways from the fingertip, through the stomach, and out, 'guiding' the lightening.

Iroh was a master at everything he chose to do. He'd been trained by the best of the best ever since he'd been born. It was only natural that he look completely perfect doing and teaching Firebending...or in that case, Lighteningbending. It looked so effortless to him, as if it were an extension of his body, not some inner energy that erupted from his fingertips at will.

I could feel the air around me crackle when I completed a circuit. As no one was supposed to be bending, only following the movements, everyone stopped to look at me. I jumped and shoved both hands behind my back, my face on fire from embarrassment.

"Well, look at that," Iroh said with a small smile on his face. I looked down to my toes like a kid who'd gotten her hand stuck in a cookie jar. "Little Huo's got some lightening in him."

The air crackled around me a little more and I just stared at the crazy man who was my commanding officer. "Me? A Lighteningbender?"

Iroh nodded and stopped for a moment. He was glistening in sweat and breathing hard, his hair only slightly messy. He looked a little too good and I almost missed it when he said, "It's settled. We'll get started practicing tomorrow."

Genji

Watching Genji practice Metalbending was like watching a new invention being made. He had this hunk of rock that he would play with in his off-time. It changed shape like it was put into a mold, but it floated there and moved with seemingly no effort whatsoever from the boy wielding it.

He wasn't even paying attention to it. Rather, he was studying a map and doing geographical calculations while still bending the strange metal. "If we continue at this trajectory at 90 knots an hour for eight hours, with the wind speed at three meters per hour in the Southeast direction, how far will you travel and in what direction?"

I shook my head, not having paid attention, and looked at the map again. "Uh...I don't know?" I hated velocity and the study of movement. It was meant to help me navigate the ocean but I just couldn't get it. I didn't want to have to get it. This is stupid. "Can't we just go over some more math? You know, the kind I like?"

Genji sighed and sat back. "Huo, if you want to ever become an officer, you have to learn this. Just...you know, it is math!"

The metal in his hand was changing rapidly. I stared at it more and wished that I could do something similar. "That's so cool."

"What?" He stared at his hand and his eyes widened as if he didn't know he'd been doing it. His hand shook and the metal dropped with a thunk to the ground. "Sorry. Didn't even realize I was doing it. I do it when I get agitated." He pointed the last word at me but I just went over to pick up the strange rock.

It was soft, like...clay, almost, but not quite as malleable. I couldn't smash it or make it change shape or anything. "What kind of metal is this?" Not one I've ever seen.

"It's space rock," Genji sighed, finally realizing that I wouldn't pay attention to the lesson.

"Where'd ya get it?"

He snatched it out of my hands, his fingers molding around it like it was clay. "From Zaofu."

I stared at him—his jaw was tense, his eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring. He was being extremely defensive and secretive. He'd told me about his crush on the girl from Zaofu, so why wouldn't he tell me about some secret space rock? "Why are you being so defensive, huh?"

"I'm not being defensive!" I raised my eyebrow at him and just waited, crossing my arms. He sighed and sat back in his chair. I'd never seen him slouch before but he did just then; he also put his feet on the desk. "Fine. I got it from Suyin. She's the girl I like's mom. She taught me all the Metalbending I know. I just...I miss it, y'know? I just want to Metalbend again. But as an Earth Officer, I've got to mainly practice Earthbending and it's..." Genji crushed the metal in his hand in frustration.

I sat there and just watched my friend. He looked tired—maybe even restless. When I'd lived in Jang Hui, I remembered not being able to sleep some nights because of all of my unused energy from not Firebending. Now, I slept soundly because I was literally exhausted at the end of every day. Genji was made for more, though. "Why don't you ask Iroh to create a new Metalbending division?"

He tried to instantly argue but then he stopped and sat back. "Huh. Well, I didn't think it was that simple...you think he'd do it?"

A small smile graced my lips. I nodded. "Iroh's really open to new ideas. He listens to all of his men. Even me!" And I'm not even a man.

Genji pursed his lips and his eyes brightened. Then he punched his palm and stood up. "Yeah, you're right! You know, Huo, you're pretty smart for a kid. You sure you're only twelve?"

"What? Of course I'm twelve! I know how old I am, Genji! Sheesh!"

"Now who's being defensive?"

Li

"Now, you've gotta gaze down the shaft...lift your arm, take a deep breath, and on the exhale..."

The arrow gave a thwoom! in my ear as it raced past my head and hit its target all the way across the ship. It hit right in the center. I jumped and pumped my fist in the air, all of the adrenaline turning into excitement. "Oh yeah, that was awesome!"

Li gave me one of his signature shit-eating grin and thumbed his nose. "Oh, well, y'know, it's just a good teacher, is all."

I pushed him a little. His freckles jumped in surprise much like his light hazel eyes. "Don't be a braggart. The spirits don't look kindly on those!"

The teenager just shook his head and spat his tongue out at me. Li had always been a little immature. "Spirits. Not sure what you see in them. I see you prayin' to them all the time, and for what? Like they do anything for us."

Li reminded me a little of Shiji, the little boy from Jang-Hui who asked, "What if we don't believe in spirits?" I wasn't about to break out into a children's song for the teenager, but I figured that I could get Li to understand much like a child. I set up for another shot, as I didn't want to be seen as slacking off. "The spirits are everywhere, Li. They guide my arrow and strengthen my Firebending."

Just as I was about to release my arrow, Li flicked the tip of my bow and my shot careened wildly out of control. It almost hit another non-bender! "See?" he asked, turning his nose up at me. "Where were your spirits there, huh?"

I punched him hard in the stomach. He doubled over with a groan. "You ever endanger another crew member like that and you'll see the spirits sooner than you think!"

Li laughed and stood up, slapping me on the back. "Hey, kid, you've got more spirit than I thought!" His bad pun didn't go over to well with me. I gave him another shot to the stomach.

Tagon

"Hey, buddy," I said a little while later. Every sixth day of the week I went down to visit my dragon moose Tagon (and sneak him down some fruit from the officer's mess.) He seemed to be doing pretty well, even while being locked up. He was getting fed a lot better than when we'd been in Jang-Hui and he seemed to thrive from it. "How are you?"

He nuzzled my hand, looking for another apple. I just laughed and pet him some more.

"It's hard to believe we've been on this ship for six months, huh? I'm learning so much—apparently I can Lighteningbend, too! How cool is that? Iroh's been teaching me a little bit every day. I'm too small to really learn yet, he said. Too bad I won't grow anymore..." I let out a nervous laugh at that. "Oh, I didn't tell you about Kyoshi, either. There was this girl who kissed me—weird, huh? She was cute but definitely not my type. But I got some cool fans out of the deal. What, 'cool'? It's a Water Tribe saying. Kojo's starting to rub off on me, I guess. He's a nice kid. I'll introduce you two sometime. You know, we never would have gotten to do any of this if we'd stayed in Jang-Hui. Those Equalists messed up everything...but leaving was the best choice we've ever made.

"I...I'd never wish our fate on anyone. When those murderers attacked, they killed everyone...I don't even know if the kids survived." Just thinking about those kids made me sad. "I find it hard to thank the spirits for my good fortune when so many others were killed...to kill people like me. Like my father." Like my great-grandfather. "Hah...if only mom could see me now. A second to a general, learning Firebending... She'd be so proud."

"Hey, kid." I turned to see Zargo standing there, looking at me with pity. I was suddenly very glad that I hadn't said anything about being a girl like I normally did when I was talking to my dragon moose. "This your dragon-moose?"

I nodded and pet his beak. His coat was a lot shinier and he was actually gaining a lot of weight. "Yeah. He's gonna get fat if he keeps living the high life though!"

Zargo just stared at me for a while. Finally, he said, "Is all of that true? What you were saying to the animal?"

My hands kept petting through Tagon's hair. The boat swayed a little dangerously beneath me but I didn't concentrate too much on it. "Yeah."

"What happened to your mom?"

I buried my head in Tagon's soft side. "She caught a cold...it didn't go away. A few others in our village caught it. We didn't have enough money or...or food or blankets or anything." Tagon nipped at my ears and whined a little. I had to take a few deep breaths but all of my emotions just boiled to the surface—how unfair it was that we'd been poor, that my family had died with no one to protect them. Even the few men of Iroh's hadn't been able to stop the raid.

"Kid? You okay?"

"I just...I'm so angry, Zargo."

The old man grasped my shoulder, turned me around, and pulled me into a hug. At first I was nervous—I hadn't hugged anyone in...way too long. But he just held me close and hummed against my hair. "It's okay, Huo. It's okay to be angry. Just don't let the anger run your life. When everything is changing around you, make sure that you remember who you are."

I hugged him tighter and felt tears prick at my eyes. I didn't normally let myself loose like that, but talking to Tagon reminded me of losing my mother and my father all at the same time. Zargo just held me like it was okay to cry, like I was his son and he was my father and...

Why do I feel so guilty? I pulled back and wiped my eyes. "Thanks," I said, not looking at him.

He put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "Anytime, kid. But listen. I came down here to secure the animals and send the men to their stations. There's a storm coming and you need to get to safety."

I stared up at the old man in shock. He look genuinely worried. "Why aren't you in the engine room?"

"I'll get there. But now you need to get to—"

My mind instantly flew to— "Iroh!"

"No, Huo, get to safety!"

I was out the door before his words were swallowed by the storm that was stating to beat against the hull.