Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

"Dammit," Gale grumbles, dropping his fist and letting the rock in front of him drop to the ground. With a deep breath he tries again, balling his hand into a fist and taking the proper form. He feels like a non-bender for crying out loud.

"That's the wrong stance," a breeze calls over his shoulder. Again Gale releases the piece of earth, turning quickly and sending the ground below the girl thundering in tiny waves to trip her. Before it reaches Madge she pushes down, a burst of air lifting her a few inches so she stays where she was. "You're too predictable, Hawthorne."

He growls, "What would you know about earth bending, Undersee?"

"That you're doing the wrong stance," she repeats, crossing her arms lightly in front of her. Her eyes scan his and his scowl deepens.

"Again I repeat, what would you know about earth bending? You're an air bender."

She smirks, "Maybe I'm the Avatar."

Gale turns away from her, attempting to lift the rock again. "Funny," he grunts. Maybe she is. She already has everything she could possibly want considering she's the mayor's daughter. It wouldn't surprise him.

"You can't bend inside the fences, Gale," Madge sighs, drifting over and placing her hand on his shoulder. "There are things installed to prevent that." That would explain why he feels so much stronger in the woods, outside the fence.

Struck with a thought he whips back around to face her. Her hand drops as if he's burned her. "You just did. You bent."

"Air can't be controlled," she shrugs. "Besides, my family has the only air benders in the District. It's not like we're a problem."

"You're plenty a problem," Gale grumbles, finally giving up in his motions.

He had been practicing just in case. The Quarter Quell was this year and only benders were being reaped, aged 16 to 25. His father was a magnificent earth bender when he was still alive, though unable to stop the collapsing of the mine which killed him.

Gale needed a master, someone to train him just in case his name was picked from that stupid glass bowl when the day rolled around.

"You need to practice in the woods," Madge says lightly.

Again Gale groans, annoyed that she's still trying to speak to him. "Obviously."

It's not like he can just hop the fence in broad daylight. There's only an allotted amount of time in which Gale can actually be in the woods. Considering he has to work half the day it's very limited to be at one with nature.

With a huff Madge sends a burst of air in his face. "Sink into the ground, you idiot!" Gale blinks, stunned by the wave of wind, and shakes his hair out of his face. "The Capitol made it nearly impossible to lift the earth, not sink it!" Still, Gale blinks at her. "Use it to go under the fence. That's less obvious. It'll be dark by the time you come back and you can slip under without drawing attention."

"How do you—"

"Unless you're not good enough," she hums lightly, letting out a deep breath. "Wouldn't surprise me." Gale locks eyes with her and takes his stance, lifting his foot before stomping into the ground and disappearing into the earth. A few minutes later he appears on the other side of the fence, gasping for breath. "Forgot breathing room?" Madge calls amusedly.

Gale grumbles, waving his arm over his shoulder in annoyance before jogging up the hill on the other side. Air benders were too flexible, they knew how to get around too much.

a/n: bender!Gadge c: So much fun to write, and I'm a major fan of A:TLA, so it was a good write for me.