Avatar Katara

Bitter Work

A/N I just read The Search, and uh, Rina is Ursa's mother's name. I'm not changing Rina's (the airbender's) name, but remind me to double-check the ATLA wiki before naming my characters.

Katara was drowsy when she woke up, and then her eyes shot open. This was it! She was finally going to learn earthbending!

Toph's earth tent exploded. "Good morning, my earthbending student!"

Katara bowed to her. "Good morning, Sifu Toph."

"Hey, you never call me Sifu Rina," Rina muttered sleepily.

Sokka grumbled as he rolled over in his sleeping bag.

"Sorry, Snoozles. We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can." Toph kicked up a rock that bounced Sokka into the air. He continued grumbling as he hopped away, still in his sleeping bag.

"So what are you going to teach me first?" Katara asked.

"Let's start with 'move a rock.'"

---

"The key to earthbending is your stance," Toph explained as the two of them stood in a canyon. "You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element." She shoved Katara, causing her to stumble slightly. "If you're going to move it, you've got to be like a rock yourself."

"Like a rock. Got it." Katara adjusted her stance and Toph nodded approvingly.

"Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple." She lunged forward and punched, causing a boulder to slam into the side of the canyon. "Are you ready to try?"

Katara punched forward. A wave from the river slammed into the canyon instead.

Sokka whooped as he and Rina watched from an outcropping, still in his sleeping bag. "Rock beats waterbender!"

---

Iroh ran up a grassy hill with a single tree on top. His son, Lu Ten, pretended to firebend. "I got you, dad!"

Iroh cried out in pretend pain and fell to the ground. Lu Ten fell on top of him and they both laughed.

---

"My beloved Lu Ten, I will never see you again." Iroh knelt before a grave under a tree on another hill.

"Uncle!"

---

Iroh woke up with a start. Zuko was leaning over him, a concerned look on his face. "Uncle, you were unconscious. Azula did this to you. It was a surprise attack."

Iroh tried to get up, then winced as he realized a bandage covered his shoulder and torso. "Somehow, that's not too surprising."

Zuko handed Iroh a cup. "I made you some tea. I hope it's the way you like it."

Iroh took a sip. Ah, how kind and thoughtful of his dear nephew, making tea-

Spirits.

Iroh masked his disgust. "Mmm, good. That was very, uh, bracing."

He tossed it out the window when Zuko wasn't looking.

"So uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say. She's my sister and I need to get along with her-"

"No," Iroh said firmly. "She's crazy and she needs to go down. It's time to resume your training."

---

"I don't understand what went wrong," Katara said. "I did it exactly the way you did. Maybe if I came from a different angle-"

"No, that's your problem," Toph explained. "You need to stop thinking like a waterbender. You need to create force, not redirect it. There's no flow, no path to follow. You need to make your path. You need to get the rock moving. You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this." She jumped into the rock and hit it headfirst, shattering it.