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Target Practice
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I have overheard an unusual conversation between Toph and Subject, before breakfast today. Okay, I was eavesdropping again.
Whatever.
Toph woke up early, just to speak to Subject, which is unusual for her. She normally is one of the last of us to get up, but this morning she wanted to wake up before Haru so she would be better able to avoid him. She came up to Subject and boldly asked if there was an easy way to get rid of a stalker. Subject seemed very surprised and perplexed by her question. He replied that he didn't think there was an easy way to get rid of a stalker. Or if there was, he hadn't found it yet. At first I thought they were talking about me, but they were actually referring to Haru.
He still stalks Toph and has very affectionately composed some lovely haikus about how awesome she is. He reads them out to her as he follows her adoringly around. Toph hates them. Subject says they are actually quite good Haikus and the one that compares her to an armadillo-bear is especially sweet. Toph earthbended at him in a most irate fashion and said that he was even less helpful than me in this situation. Subject took offense to this.
What the hell is this? I am always helpful.
Toph told him about me sending Haru off to find metal. Now he leaves her little metal presents at her door every morning. Mostly in the form of bent spoons. He bends them into flowers and arranges them into bouquets. Toph hates this too. Personally, I think the spoon bouquets are hilarious!
Toph wants Haru to be given something to do. She says he obviously needs something to occupy himself with because he has too much time of his hands, if he is composing haikus and making spoon bouquets. Subject said he'd help her out and then he thought for a bit. Then he got a bit excited because he had come up with an idea. An idea that wasn't stupid.
This is a rare occurrence for Subject.
It actually sounded like a good idea that would occupy her stalker, help Aang learn firebending and help Subject not go crazy from Aang's worrying lack of progress. Subject wants to try working on fast, precision firebending with Aang. He feels it is more Aang's style. It involves smaller, faster blasts as opposed to raw power. There was much talk about how it is based on speed and agility, which Aang has lots of, and Subject wants to try teaching to Aang's strengths, to build his confidence.
Subject wanted to have small targets made for Aang so they could test his accuracy and power. Haru could be put to work making those targets with earthbending. And if all went according to plan and Aang was good at precision bending, then Haru would have to make the targets again tomorrow. Voila, Haru occupied and Aang progressing.
Subject and Toph walked of together to find Haru. He was composing another haiku about how Toph is like a dandelion (how is Toph like a dandelion?) when they found him. They have assigned him his new role as target maker. Since Haru is both nervous of Subject and adoring of Toph, he has set to work straight away.
Subject has gone to wake up Aang and get him started on precision bending.
-!-
We had breakfast all together and afterwards Dad, Chit Sang, Sokka and I helped Subject hang the first lot of the targets in one of the bigger halls. Aang was quite excited to try a new style of firebending. Subject was right, small, fast and precise fire blasts are much better suited to Aang. They worked on getting Aang's speed and power up. Subject told Haru to start making the targets thicker, so Aang will have to hit them quite firmly to crack them. He times Aang to see how many Aang can smash in a minute. 41 targets broken clean through when I last checked.
-!-
Aang has really come along way today. He can smash 72 targets in a minute. Aang is quite pleased with this. He asked Subject how many he could do in a minute and Subject said he could do all of them in a really deadpan tone of voice. Aang did not believe him and wanted Subject to show him. Subject gave a big sigh, flipped the hourglass over and let loose. Every target in the room was smashed in under a minute. Haru is a sad panda about this, because now he has to make every target again. Toph is quite pleased with this result because now he is no longer stalking her, but being constructive.
I think she will miss the bouquets and haikus tomorrow.
-!-
Subject and I always do the dishes together, aside from the nights when he's buggered off somewhere or when he was sick. His firebending is most helpful for heating the water and drying the plates. Chit Sang offered to dry the dishes in Subject's place when Subject was sick, but I didn't think he'd be very helpful, so I declined. Chit Sang looks like he'd be a bit clumsy because he's such a gorillabear of a person.
Subject is really good at those fast little fireballs.
I ask Subject if he'd ever used precision fireballs in combat before. They seem quite contrary to his normal style. He certainly never whipped them out when we were fighting. Subject said he's never used them in combat. But he had his shy smile on, so I knew there was more to the story. I asked him if he had used it for anything else.
The shy smile was back! Ah ha!
He said he'd used it once in Ba Sing Se. I truth-bended at him again, and nagged him a little for good measure. It turns out Subject used it to light all the candles at something called the Firelight Fountain, which was his favourite place in the lower ring. I didn't know Subject had lived in the lower ring, which had seemed really rough when we drove through it on our tour. I thought he and his Uncle had just naturally ended up in the upper ring, by virtue of being them and we just hadn't run into them. Ba Sing Se is a big city after all. I couldn't see Subject and his Uncle living with all those poor refugees and tattooed, menacing morons in the lower ring. Subject said the lower ring wasn't so bad and after a while he'd gotten used to it and just been glad to be in a city again. He was born and raised in a city after all and is a bit of a city boy at heart. And there were some pretty parts in the lower ring, like the Firelight Fountain.
What was so special about this Firelight Fountain?
Subject told me a girl called Jin had taken him there and it had been nice. Was this a date?
Cripes! How many floozies has Subject taken up with?
I asked him how Jin wore her hair and what she was like. Subject seemed extremely surprised by my question but replied that she'd been quite perky and forthright and wore her hair in a ponytail. Bloody Perky Ponytail. She sounds like the exact opposite of Gloomy Hairbuns.
Was the Firelight Fountain his favourite place because his date with Perky Ponytail was so awesome? Subject smiled a little ruefully and admitted he's made an arse of himself. This does not surprise me. Subject confessed a little shyly that he feels a bit awkward on dates because he never knows what to say and he always ends up saying the wrong thing. I told Subject his ability to say the wrong thing and make an arse out of himself isn't only limited to when he's on dates. Subject splashed me playfully with the dishwater and I splashed him back. We had a small soap-sudsy water fight. I won.
But I really wanted to know what he'd loved so much about this Fountain, because he seemed to really like it. I was just curious. It is research for this stalking journal…err record of observations after all. I just want to know what makes Subject tick. I asked Subject again and he said he wouldn't tell me now because I would tease him and splash him and wouldn't understand. I told him I wouldn't tease him and I'd try to understand if he told me. He still seemed reluctant. I told him I could tell him what my favourite place was and why, and he could tease me about that. He relented.
He liked the fountain because it had reminded him that not all firebending was bad. And he really needed that in Ba Sing Se because he couldn't bend there and all he heard about in the Lower Ring was about how horrible the firenation and firebenders were. When Perky Ponytail had taken them to the fountain, none of the candles were lit and she'd been sad about that. But he'd made her close her eyes and had been able to light them all in two seconds flat and that had made her happy. And he'd felt happy that his bending could make someone else happy. And everybody was happy.
Until Subject made an arse of himself, that is.
Well isn't that lovely for Perky Ponytail!
Why would Subject think I would tease him about something like that? I know what it's like to feel conflicted about your bending. After Hama. I haven't told Subject about that though. I've never talked about Hama or the Bloodbending to anyone. We were talking about favourite places anyway, not depressing stuff.
I told him my favourite place was the secret tunnel to Omashu, the Cave of Two Lovers. Subject thought I was trying to trick him and said that it was just a legend. I said it was a real legend and he made a doubtful face at me. I told him about how we'd gotten stuck and had to let love lead the way and he'd been a bit sarcastic about the success rate of following love over a map. I now understand part of the reason why Sokka and Subject get along so well. I told him about the huge crystals in the ceiling that lit up in the complete darkness when our torch went out.
I though they were so beautiful. Really shiny and pretty.
They gave me hope.
The whole cave reminded me that even when things look bad, like when you're stuck in a labyrinth with no light, there's still hope and a way of going forward. Subject said he probably would not have been able to see the crystals because he would never have stopped using his firebending for a light source, if he'd been in the cave with us. That's probably true. If Subject had been present in the cave, it would have been the one time, in all those months he was chasing us, that he would have been useful to us.
He didn't tease me about liking the cave at all. He said it sounded nice (and he wasn't being sarcastic when he said that) and asked about what type of crystals they were. I wasn't sure and said he'd probably have to ask Aang. Aang knows a lot more about weird crystals on account of his long friendship with Bumi. So that is where Subject has gone now.
Things I have learned about Subject:
Subject is actually quite shy, especially when it comes to girls and dates etc, though he hides it very well.
Subject is also completely clueless when it comes to girls and dates etc.
Subject, despite this, seems to attract floozies with his Subject-ness wherever he goes.
Note: How does Subject do this? Does he just go up to girls and say 'hey ladies, I'm dorky and grumpy and clueless with girls, but I am so fit! Seriously, just look at me!"… and then he'd take off his shirt… and floozies would flock from miles around …and gridlock the lower ring in Ba Sing Se…and all would be chaos…and it would be all Subject's fault.
Subject likes feeling useful and making other people, especially perky girls with ponytails, happy.
Subject likes to help Toph, not matter how ridiculous her problem is.
Subject thinks Haru's haikus are sweet.
Subject also really does put a lot of thought into training Aang. Aang is far more comfortable with small precise fire blasts and today has really boosted his confidence.
Subject does occasionally have an idea that is not totally stupid.
Subject is a city boy at heart.
Subject didn't find the rough, crime-riddled, poverty stricken lower ring that bad. Maybe all the tattooed, menacing morons didn't give him a hard time. Subject can handle himself in combat and the scar does make him look a lot meaner than he actually is. I wouldn't mess with Subject if I were a tattooed, menacing moron.
Of course, as myself, I mess with him all the time.
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Time for another Authors note:
Lovely readers! You have made it to the end of Target Practice! Congratulations! And Ihope you've enjoyed it so far! Huge Thanks, a pocket full of sunshine and cherry on top to you lovely reviewers! You know I love you all! Reading your comments and knowing that you guys are enjoying the story makes my day!
Toph, Zuko and Haru: One of the best things about giving Toph an affectionate stalker is that I think it makes a nice foil for Zuko. Zuko's gotten a bit fond of his stalker and doesn't mind her following him around (he doesn't know about the stalker journal yet) so he's stopped looking for ways to discourage her from stalking. Toph, however, finds spoons bouquets and haikus mostly irritating and a very small part of her finds them strangely flattering. Mostly she just wants Haru to find something else to do and She thinks Zuko's the expert in being stalked and will have some pointers.
Jin and Ba Sing Se and bending:
I think that bending seems to be quite an integral part of the bender. Katara waterbends, before she's been trained, when she's in a state of intense emotion. Zuko and Iroh don't bend at all in the lower ring except for Iroh's tea and the Firelight Fountain. I think that would have been quite difficult for Zuko. At the same time he's probably feeling a little conflicted about his bending because for the last few months he's seen first hand what kind of damage the firenation and firebenders have done and the lower ring is full of refugees who have been affected by the war and who probably don't have anything positive to say about firebenders. So I think he would have been in a bit of negative space about his bending until he met Jin.
But on his date with Jin, he can use his firebending for a positive aim and make someone happy with it. I think it would have been a nice moment for him to realize that firebending is not all about destruction and that it can be about warmth and light as well.
The firebending he uses at the fountain is quite different to what he uses when he's fighting. It was all about being fast and precise. I thought that if Zuko was trying new things when he's teaching Aang and trying to boost Aang's confidence and assertiveness, the small, precise blasts he used at the firelight fountain would be a good place to start.
Jin: I have a lot of affection for her. It was so refreshing to see such a positive, forthright girl in a kids show. I thought she was cute, their date was cute, and it was all very cute. Naturally Zuko screws it up! Coupon for a free cup of tea anyone? Really though, she fancies Zuko when he's at a low point in his life and I think feeling fancied is a great ego boost for anyone. Especially because Jin fancies him as he is, completely without ulterior motive and gives him a fun night out. Zuko doesn't have much fun, after all. So I think Zuko would remember her fondly, even if he'd be a little embarrassed about making an arse of himself in front of her.
All this cuteness however, does not stop Katara from being irrationally jealous.
I think Zuko and Katara are both getting to the stage where they are genuinely curious about each other and what to know what the other person is thinking. Katara will claim it is research for her record of observations, but really she does want to know him better. Zuko, in my imagination, is starting to fancy Katara and is feeling more relaxed around her after they've bonded a little bit. So naturally he wants to learn about her. So I think they are both getting to a stage where they would instigate and participate in 'sharing' conversations like this.
But naturally YMMV!
Next chapter there is a calamity and someone will read Katara's record of observations!
Oh noes!