THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 2)

(XII) Water

Aang's voice awakens me rather abruptly.

"Today's the day! Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending! And this place, it's perfect, don't you think? Alya? Sokka?" He probably realized that we were not responsive. "Oh, you're still sleeping, huh? Sorry."

"Thanks. Just give us a few--"

I don't finish before I feel the earth quaking below me and I hear Toph's louder voice. "Goooood morning, earthbending student!"

"Good morning, Sifu Toph," Aang says back.

"Hey, you never called me Sifu Katara," Katara complains, sounding rather offended.

"Well... I could if you want me to," Aang suggests. "Now that I think about it, Alya hasn't called me Sifu Aang, either."

I don't even bother opening my eyes or leaving the comfort of Appa's soft fur to reply. "And I'm not going to call you that. Not ever."

"So what move are you going to teach me first? Rock-a-lanche? The Trembler? Oh, maybe I could learn to make a whirlpool out of land!" Aang says excitedly, and that's when I realize I'm not getting any more sleep.

"Let's start with... move a rock," Toph says, and I can see the excitement on Aang's face fading.

"Sounds good, sounds good!"

"I thought you were going to sleep some more?" Katara raises an eyebrow suspiciously at me.

"Oh, this I got to see."

***

"The key to earthbending is your stance. You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself."

"Like a rock. Got it," Aang nods, as he copies Toph's stance as best as he can.

"Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple," Toph then earthbends a large boulder into a wall and smashes it completely. "Okay, you ready to give it a try?"

"I'm ready," Aang attempts to move the rock himself, but instead, he ends up airbending himself backwards, slamming into Appa's back. "Ahh!"

"Rock beats airbender!" Sokka teases with a laugh.

"I don't understand what went wrong. He did it exactly the way you did," Katara notes with a confused look.

"Maybe there's another way... what if I came at the boulder from another angle?" Aang suggests, but Toph shakes her head.

"No. That's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickety-trick that's going to move that rock. You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this..." Toph then smashes her head into the remaining boulder and destroys it completely.

"Woah!" Aang continues trying out the stances he just learned, while I follow Katara as she approaches Toph nearby.

"I've been training Aang for a while now. He really responds well to a positive teaching experience. Lots of encouragement and praise. Kind words. If he's doing something wrong, maybe a gentle nudge in the right direction."

"Thanks, Katara. A gentle nudge. I'll try that," Toph says, before turning back to Aang and yelling at the top of her lungs. "Keep your knees high, Twinkle Toes!"

***

The following exercises are even worse. However, the more he practices, the better Aang gets at being "stubborn like a rock". I'm actually enjoying watching them train, it gives me something to do rather than train more myself.