Dragonflies [1] Bolin

Chapter 25

I stand opposite the White Lotus officer panting heavily just like him. After yesterday Master Tenzin had agreed to up my allowed training to three hours, as long as I meditate with them during air bending training. It's a fair deal, I need to meditate to keep my calm and I actually enjoy it, so it wasn't hard for me to agree to his terms. I had assumed that after I had been hurt pretty bad he would have argued with me for hours about how I need to rest and take care of myself, just like he had after Amon almost killed me in the arena, but he didn't. Instead he asked me what I needed to be confident in myself and I simply said that I needed to train more.

Everyone either saw or knows about my fight against the Equalists from last night. Everyone knows that I had suffered what arguably can be classed as torture, and everyone knows that I stopped bending when I could have held on. No one has asked me questions about it after the night, but I can tell that everyone has a different idea to why I stopped. I'm pretty sure Master Tenzin's theory is that I didn't believe in my strength, and I know that Asami thinks it's because of the reminder of my father's death. But the only person I think that has any real idea is Bolin. He has seen me at my weakest, held me and comforted me. He knows more about me than anyone else, so if anyone is to know the true reason, it's him.

The man in front of me bends fire towards me and I swiftly move out of the way of his attack, feeling the heat from the fire against my exposed abs. I shoot a series of fire balls at him, taking steps towards him with each punch. He grabs my arm and spins it around to prevent me from moving. I groan before creating a large dagger of fire with my free hand. I go to hit him with it, and in response he creates his own and pushes against mine. His grip on my hand drops allowing me to make another dagger of fire to hit against his. We both move quickly, using the fire like a sword as we dual fiercely. He releases a series of grunts and sweat falls from my hairline as we move in sync. Our fire daggers clash against one another harshly and I know I can't win this way. I might be a strong bender, but he is twice the height of me and a lot stronger physically.

I push against his fire dagger strongly before backing away. I spin on my heel and kick my leg into the air, bending a large wave of fire towards the officer. His eyes widen as he dodges my attack. He plants his feet into the ground before sending a large stream of fire towards me with both of his fists. I raise my arms up and grunt as I steal control of the large stream of fire. The fire between us grows larger as I allow it to rise into the air. I keep complete focus on it and I start making circular motions with my arms. I barely notice the White Lotus officer look at the tornado of fire in panic as I make it grow bigger. The heat coming off it is enough to burn you, and it's when I feel the heat against my chest that I realise I'm taking this too far. I take my eyes off the tornado for a split second to see the other White Lotus officers looking at us in fear before returning back to the whirlwind of fire.

I stop moving my arms in spiral motions and lower them to my chest. The flames start to die down in between us and when I'm confident I take a deep breath before dropping the fire completely. The flames hit the floor and vanish, leaving just a scorch mark in its place.

"That's enough for today." The White Lotus officer says as he watches me closely.

"Yeah, I thought you would say that." I reply panting. The man walks away from me and I put my hands on my knees and bend over allowing myself to regain my breath. I can't tell whether I'm tired from training or if I'm exhausted from yesterday.

"Ulazu, it's time for the grand tour!" I hear Ikki's voice yell to me. I stand up and look over to her to see her standing with her siblings and my friends. Why are Bolin, Mako and Asami here? I walk over to the bench where my hoodie is and I put it on, zipping it up to cover my exposed skin. I then head towards the group wearing a confused look.