"Lin, if you don't want to –"

"I want to."

"Alright, but-"

"What, do you not think I'm ready?" she demanded.

He took a deep breath and smiled. "I know you're ready," he reassured.

Lin reached into her pocket but found nothing. "I forgot my blindfold, can I use your sash?"

He laughed. "Are you asking to use a key component of the traditional dress of the air nomads to-?"

"Nope, not asking," she snatched the cloth from his shoulder and tied it across her eyes. Lin took the starting stance they had practiced for weeks. "Come and get me, little birdie."

He glanced over her form. "Lower your left arm, no, you're other left." She was most displeased about being corrected. "Perfect." Tenzin was interested to see how this match would progress. For nearly a year, he and Lin had set aside their casual sparring and begun airbending lessons. The process had been grueling. To Lin, it seemed as if the art completely contradicted her nature. Being born of the element exactly opposite, she struggled angrily and tirelessly to find her niche.

And when she did it was beautiful.

At home, she had perfected her seismic sight, and she adored training with her mother, despite Toph's disciplinary tactics.

Back on the island, every minute of every lesson was arduous. Tenzin demonstrated a stance or a position or a motion, then corrected what she immediately attempted to immolate. More often than not, she would fling a rock against a tree in frustration, exclaiming how this was useless.

"I can't do it!" she screamed, forming a small crater during one of their earliest sessions.

Tenzin knew better than to intervene. Lin was by no means a wrathful person, but if she needed to vent, it was best to give her a minute alone. As he knew she would, she quickly fell to the ground, covering her face with her hands.

"I give up," came the muffled whine.

"Ok," he shrugged. He smirked as she bolted upright, bending the ground beneath him and pulling him a foot from her.

"What was that?"

"You can stop anytime you want. No one is forcing you to do this."

She released her grip, and her face fell. He wrapped her in a hug and told her, "Right now, the only thing standing in your way is yourself. You have much more airbending qualities than you think. Earth is the element of substance, but for you, that's not your driving force. You bend for the freedom it offers you, and that's the essence of what you're learning."

"You think I'll get this?" she asked his shoulder.

"There is no one in whom I have more faith."

She pushed him away and slapped his arm. "Fine. Show me that last move again."

One day, eight months after their first lesson, everything seemed to align. She was light, lithe, and fluid. She had begun to merge airbending techniques with her alarmingly advanced earthbending. Toph was an incredible, that would never be denied, but there was certain ruggedness in her methods.

Lin had created a style that allowed her bend earth and metal as gracefully and delicately as air.

"Stunning," he whispered.

"What was that?"

Tenzin snapped out of his daydream. "Starting," he recovered, "on my mark." He paused briefly to let her roll her shoulders back and inhale.

"Hey, Tez?" He tilted his head, to let her know he was listening. "You're a pretty great teacher."

He smiled. "Begin."

She struck first. Some things never change.

"If I had a yuan for every time I reminded you of patience," he called.

"You'd be almost as rich as me." She sent up tiers to block his path, which he easily avoided, but left him more easily in range of a thin whip she constructed out of a necklace and bracelet she wore.

"Resourceful," he noted.

"I don't wear them to be pretty."

"You don't need them, anyway," he half-teased, knocking her off balance with a powerful gust.

"You really think I'm pretty?" She began fluidly tossing small rock discs.

He blew them out of his way. "Let's focus on the issue at hand."

"That's not a no."

"Or a yes."

Lin laughed, broke the jewelry into small, deadly spheres and attacked. She heard him shout as one grazed his arm. "You'll have to be faster than that." She was beginning to breathe heavily and felt fatigue setting in.

He didn't respond, but suddenly he was gone. She turned left and right, listening for his breathing, but she knew it was useless. He was floating somewhere, encircled in an air shield. She could neither hear nor see him.

He was testing her.

Air is the element of freedom. Let yourself go.

She became perfectly still, and felt the slightest draft behind her. Faster than lightning, she sent out a wave of dust, was able to sense his location, struck him out of the air with her chain, and pounced. Knees on either side of his chest, hands forcing his shoulders down.

"Well done," he coughed weakly after catching his breath.

Lin restored the silver to its original shape, freeing his arms, and began to laugh. "I did it!"

She felt his hand reach behind her head to untie the sash, and he set the red fabric aside. "Yes, you did." He flicked his wrist and sent a cooling wind around her.

Lin heard herself giggle, though she didn't know why. The sound made Tenzin smile, and he pushed a loose bit of hair behind her ear. She felt herself turn red and quickly jumped up and off her defeated friend.

Tenzin cleared his throat and picked her necklace off the ground. "Where's the charm?" Lin did a quick collection of the scattered bits of silver and reshaped them into a small flying boar. She tossed it to Tenzin, who slipped it on the chain.

He walked up behind her. "Lift up your hair." It sounded soft and almost questioning, as if asking permission.

"I can do it myself."

"I know."

She gathered her hair on top of her head while he clasped the chain in place. He smelled like…

Lin snapped her head and jumped away. "Thanks for that, butterbee. Let's get some juice; my throat feels like a desert." She punched his arm and sprinted off.

Like always, he followed right behind.

Thanks again! Please let me know what you think, so I know how/if to continue. Have a great day!

-Evie