PARADOX

Chapter Eleven: Unneeded Scroll

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Aang's light pacing. He was rushing back and forth in the saddle, like a yo-yo being yanked up and down by someone who was just starting and didn't know how to tug just hard enough to get the yo-yo back to their hands.

"Aang will you sit down. If we hit a bump you'll go flying off." Sokka said in annoyance.

"It's what Avatar Roku said." Aang admitted as he continued to pace restlessly. "I have to master all four elements before the comet arrives this summer."

"Well, let's see. You've pretty much mastered air bending and it only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master the other three by summer." Sokka said sarcastically.

Then he yelped as Katara smacked him in the back of the head. "Not helping."

I sat up with a jaw cracking yawn and stretched my spine. It snapped several times as the bones stretched into place.

"I could teach you and Katara water bending." I volunteered. "I think I'm close to mastering the element anyway." I added almost modestly. I hated bragging. Guess it had something to do with being a Scorpio.

"You'd do that?" Both Aang and Katara asked eagerly.

"Yeah, you taught me air bending." I said to Aang.

"We need to find a good source of water." Katara said as she looked over the side of Appa's saddle.

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka said teasingly.

"Down there." Aang said as he turned Appa to land.

"Where?" Sokka asked.

We landed at the base of a gorgeous waterfall.

"Nice puddle." Sokka was back to sarcastic mode.

Appa eagerly belly flopped into the water creating a large wave of water that hit all of us. I quickly bended most of the water away from myself so I only got damp instead of soaked to the bone.

Aang eagerly began stripping. "Wait for me boy!" He shouted.

"Aang. Water bending first. Swimming later." I told him. I wanted to teach them enough that stealing the water bending scroll wouldn't be necessary.

"Oh." Said Aang sounding mildly disappointed before he went back to his cheerful self.

I quickly peeled off my outer layer of coats and clothes leaving me in a tank top cut off tee-shirt and a pair of cut off at the knee shorts.

I stepped into the water shuddering slightly at the cold of the water on my feet.

"Sokka, take Appa further up river. We don't want him to be hit by any stray waves cause by over eager students." I said.

"Why do I have to do it?" He asked.

"Because I'm teaching Aang and Katara to bend and you aren't doing anything at the moment. Do something you think will be useful: take a bath, check our supplies, sharpen your weapons, clean Appa's toes, just do something." I said as I let myself adjust to the water.

I took a deep breath as Sokka did what I said. Now we wouldn't have to go into town for supplies and Katara wouldn't steal the water bending scroll.

"Okay first thing first. Let's see you move the water." I ordered. "I'm pretty sure Katara knows how to do this. Aang, for you I want you to focus on the water. Imagine the push and pull of waves coming on the shore at a beach. Now move your wrist like this..." I trailed off showing him the movement by taking his own hands and drawing them gently into the motions.

Push, pull. Push, pull.

Katara had a stream of water floating in front of her.

I step to her side. "Now move forward smoothly. Right foot forward and to the right, left foot follow move your arms like so..." I showed her the move with me doing it and gently corrected a misplaced foot or a too stiff wrist.

"Relax Katara. Water is fluid, you have to coax it to do what you want. It is not Earth that will not move without force, nor is it fire you need to rein in. Water and air exist by themselves. They are free elements. Water takes the path of least resistance. Air flows whatever way it wants. If following you is the path of least resistance, the water will follow." I instructed gently, kindly, not sounding arrogant or like a know-it-all.

Sounding as such was a good way to lose a student and their patience.

I moved back over to Aang and gently repeated what I just told Katara, coaxing him gently into performing the water whip. I gave him the directions to perform the water wall and hurried back over to Katara.

Her moves were sharp and choppy. Not at all like a water bender's movements should be. I gently grabbed her wrists and led her through the move. "You're trying to hard, sometimes good things come to those who wait." I said gently. I corrected her stance slightly. "Feel how this is more balanced? It's easier to regain balance in this stance, easier to redirect your opponents' hits." I told her.

After another five minutes of gentle coaxing she performed a weak water whip.

"Good, good. Just work on it. It will get stronger the more it's used. Like a muscle. I showed her the water wall before heading back to Aang.

He had managed to create the wall, but he lost focus easily and it quickly dropped like a bucket of cement in the sea.

"Here." I said breathing out on the wall he had just brought up. It froze into solid ice very quickly.

"How do you do that?" Aang asked eagerly.

"First take a breath, now exhale while thinking about cold, about frozen things." I breathed out freezing another section of water into ice.

This time we practiced all day and we didn't lose our supplies or have Katara snap at Aang for being better than her.

But just because she didn't snap didn't mean she wasn't angry.

I left the boys to set up the camp and led Katara into the woods to "collect wood'.

"Katara, you shouldn't get mad at Aang for being good at being a good bender." I said as I casually picked up a couple branches.

"What? I'm not mad at Aang." Katara denied.

"No you're not mad, you're jealous." I corrected. "Which in some cases is worse. You shouldn't be jealous. I'm your first teacher and this is your first element to master. Aang has already mastered air bending. It has taught him discipline. It has taught him to take the failures he makes and fix them." I said as I calmly continued collecting wood.

"Katara, Aang is the Avatar. Every avatar masters every element. So technically Aang is just relearning to water bend. Its like using your leg after its been broken. It takes some time to build up to the level you were previously and it will eventually be stronger for the break." I told Katara hoping she would get the analogy.

"So, Aang is just relearning the elements, he's not just really talented?" Katara asked.

"Oh, he's talented alright. But he is also the avatar and that allows him a little more talent then normal." I said as we finished collecting wood.

Katara 'hmmed' in thought. "Okay, I'll try not to be jealous of Aang." Katara said.

"Good, if you ever feel the need to be jealous just remember what he's gone through and what he will have to go through." I added softly just as we entered camp.

I quickly set up the teepee of twigs and cautiously started the fire with help from the spark rocks I had packed.

"Good night, guys." I said as I settled down after dinner. It had been a good day. I had maneuvered us to avoid both Zuko and the pirates. If our luck held we wouldn't see Zuko for quite a while.

And if we were lucky Sokka wouldn't force us to walk because Zuko wouldn't have found us. Maybe...