Disclaimer: No, I don't own Avatar…
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Chapter 4) My Double Ability
"You do!" exclaimed Aang. He jumped ten feet in the air.
"Are you going to teach him?" asked Katara.
"No, I'm not a master, or even that good," I sighed.
"You can't be that bad, show me," said Aang.
"What?" I asked.
"I said show me," Aang repeated. I swallowed the lump in my throat, swallowing the fear building inside me. That boy said you can bend, you can! My mind screamed. I put out my right fist and opened it up in a clean jerk. A small ball of yellow fire hung in mid air over my hand. My jaw fell open; I regained my composure and slid my hands forward slowly, sending the ball of flame into the fire. Aang applauded. Sokka turned away uninterested. Katara studied my movements closely as Toph wondered over to the fire.
"Where did you learn to bend?" Katara asked.
"From the city's master, why?" I answered.
"You move like a water bender," she responded. I froze; she could tell that by watching me move my hands a few inches!
"Watch," Katara instructed pulling out her water skin. She pulled a thin rope of water from within it and twirled it around midair. I watched her and saw she had a point, I did move like her.
Behind my back my hand easily moved with the water in the air. With a quick movement of my hand the water swerved, changing direction and coming to float over my out stretched hand. I felt the water, not by touching it, but by bending it.
"What's going on?" stuttered Katara. I jumped up, dropped the water, and ran from the camp sight. I was shocked to find I could control two elements. That's not what I wanted; I wanted to be a normal bender! Why didn't my star listen? It's Aang's job to master the four elements, not mine! I collapsed next to a large tree, and pulled my knees to my chin. I fingered my hair, even in the moon light the blue dye shown clearly, and caught my attention, blue; like water. That's why my room was purple, blue and red. That's why I had fountains in my room with floating candles, fire and water, together. As one.
Crashing branches pulled me from my reverie.
"She's over here, you guys," called Toph. I sighed, stood up, and walked over to them.
"Niki what happened? Why did you run off like that?" asked Katara. I noticed that none of them would get within five feet of me.
"I don't know," I mumbled, "Aang, do you still want to learn?" Aang nodded.
"I'll show you where to go," I walked away, not turning around to see if they followed. I made my way back to the wall.
"Here," I said placing my hand on the wall, "we practice fire bending in the morning, just watch us from a crack in the wall or peek over the top or something."
"Thank you," smiled Aang.
"Your welcome. Um can one of you give me a boost?" I asked. Katara and Aang turned to Toph.
"Oh fine," huffed Toph, feeling their eyes staring at her. She took her stance, put out her hands, and pulled them up slowly. I started to rise up on a column of earth. I leaped onto the wall, waved goodbye, and slid down the other side. The long shadows of late afternoon followed me as I made my way back to my room.
I played around with my bending. My fire skills were mostly for show and wouldn't leave a mark in a fight, but then I accidentally found one that might be useful. I had dropped a small fire ball into one of the small fountains, but instead of putting out the fire like water should, the fire spread over the surface of it, as if the water was oil. That's cool, I thought and left it burning as I curled up in my bed.