The Return of the Avatar - Book one: Body

Chapter Ten - Firebending

After the meeting with the Firelord, Chou was flown back to the Air Temple on Badan's back. That would be the last she would see that dragon, but still was very anxious to meet her own personal dragon, Kokoro. Everything was happening so fast that her main concern right now was if Daisuke was going to be friends with Kokoro or if the dragon would try to eat her fox cat.

Once at the dorm room, Ling, Buniq and Bansi were all waiting to hear the news of what happened with the Firelord. And they were all surprised to see Chou's new hairpiece. The girls helped her to fix her clothes to match the artifact and made her promise that she'd never take it out, since it looked so good on her. Chou's new outfit would be a formal training robe from the Fire Nation, comfortable and unique, not looking like she'd just been out of practice. But still, she'd have enough flexibility to practice all bending arts. Even Bansi approved the outfit chosen by the girls.

The following morning, Daisuke woke Chou up because he noticed some movement outside. She got up, served her fox cat some food, put on her new clothes and hairpiece and opened the door. Outside, she saw a young firenational, with dark long hair, tied behind his head, with honey-collored eyes. He also had a great smile and strong voice:

"Good morning, Avatar Chou," saluted the man, with the formal Fire Nation hand greating - placing an open left palm over a closed right fist. "I'm prince Akai, and I'll be your firebending master."

"Good morning, master Akai," sad Chou, bowing and saluting him as well. "I'm ready for our first lesson."

"That's good, but first things first. I have something to show you before we get started."

Akai grabbed Chou's hand as they both ran up, trying to avoid some people who were already up. Fortunately, the White Lotus had organized the hallways the night before. Once reaching the top of the underground dormitory building, they ran far from the temple.

"Where are we going?" asked Chou as they ran.

"Not far from here. I need to take you to your first lesson."

They ran a bit more and Chou was already out of breath.

"We're here," said Akai, as they came close to a mountain side, where there were some rocks and a small cave opening. Chou fell to her knees as she panted for breath. "Not used to running, I see."

"I'm... not... used... to... exer...cising... at... all", said Chou as she tryed to catch her breath.

"Well, this is part of the first lesson. Firebending comes from your breath. If you can control it, you can control your inner fire."

"I can see... I can feel my lungs burn now!" They both laughed.

"Well, at least you can feel part of the bending energy you'll need to learn how to bend. Are you ready for your surprise?"

"I thought the surprise was that I could still be alive after you almost trying to kill me like this."

"Get ready," said Akai smiling. "Come here, boy!" cryed out the prince.

And out from the cave came a dragon. It startled Chou a bit, as she fell on her back, while trying to avoid the creature.

"This is your dragon, Avatar," said Akai.

"My dragon? Is this Kokoro?"

"Yes. And he would very much like to meet you."

"Would like to eat me?" asked Chou. Akai giggled.

"Come closer. He already ate for the day."

Chou got on her feet and walked towards the lizard. He wasn't as big as Badan who could easily carry half a dozen people on her back. But still, Kokoro was slightly bigger than a polar bear dog or a platypus bear. He had orange scales with a green crest and light orange, slightly golden whiskers. And, as Chou looked him in the eyes, he saw two deep sapphire blue orbs. At that moment, Kokoro leaned closer and Chou felt more confident, as she reached his face with her hands.

"It looks like he likes you," said Akai.

But Chou wasn't listening. She was concentrated with Kokoro on a deeper level. So much that, after some time, the two started to breathe in the same rhythm. Air in and out. And the shortness of breath due to the startling and running, eventually faded. Akai was watching everything and glad that the two connected.

"Does he know who I am?" asked Chou to Akai, without taking her eyes from Kokoro's.

"Dragons are very sensitive and can see a person's heart and desires. He recognizes you as someone he can trust. Eventually you two will bond and become inseparable."

After some time of staring, Kokoro started to move, almost inviting Chou to move with him.

"What's happening?" asked Chou.

"He want's to show you something," answered the prince. "Try to imitate him."

He moved his head forwards and back, stretching, reaching high and low, almost on a circular dance. Chou tried to accompany, but using her hands and arms to simulate the dragon's body. The movement was gentle at first. And after some time, it started to repeat and move faster. Some minutes later, both apparently were synchronized, with Chou's arms and legs moving as fast punches and kicks. And on the last movement, Kokoro's mouth opened and breathed fire, while Chou's right fist flew in front of her and produced fire as if it were breathing itself.

"Wow! What was that?" asked Chou, surprized.

"You just firebended," said Akai. "Was this your first time?"

"Yes! I mean, the first time I consciously produced fire. How did I do it?"

"Dragons are the original firebenders. Kokoro saw into your heart that you too were a firebender that needed to express it. He showed you how to breath and how to move, how to let your Chi flow through your body so that your inner fire could also breathe."

"So, can I do it any time I want now?" asked the Avatar, while punching the air. "I'm not bending. What's wrong?"

"You need practice. What about we start with the breathing and movements Kokoro showed you?"

And the for next three hours the three practiced firebending. And as the time passed and the sun rose in the sky, Chou was producing more and more fire.

"We're doing great for the first lesson! Now that you know how to produce fire, we need to know how to control fire," taught Akai,

"Control," pondered Chou. "Yes, this could be important."

Akai produced a flame from his hand and instructed Chou to do the same.

"Now," he continued, "you will sit, and breath, controlling the flame on your hand, not letting it die or grow too much. Remember to do this using your breathing."

And for the next hour the two sat silently with flames on their hands, breathing. Akai's flame was majestic, strong and steady, hardly moving. Chou's was inconsistent. Sometimes growing, sometimes waning and always flickering as if there was a wind blowing around it.

Even though this was the first time Chou ever produced or bended fire in her life, the inconsistency of her flame worried her. What if her bending was always to be inconsistent like that? What if she were never able to bend properly? And what about the other elements, how would she do it?

By the end of the hour, Chou's flame was almost dying and Akai noticed that Chou wasn't focused anymore on the training.

"It's been almost four hours of straight firebending practice," said the prince. "Perhaps we should stop now."

"Okay," said Chou as her flame died.

"And you were great on your first day, Avatar! I can see that you'll be mastering firebending in no time."

"Thank you, master," said Chou, with a pale smile on her face.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I guess. I mean, I'm supposed to be the Avatar and only now I'm learning the basics of firebending. I wasn't always a bright student at school, always average, and never athletic. I used to see all the bending games on the radioscreen and never imagined myself bending like that. I mean, every kid dreams to be as good as those athletes, but when I learned that I would never be able to bend because of my illness, I gave up on those dreams."

"But now you can live them once more. And Kokoro will help you, won't you, big guy?" Akai said as the dragon replied with a gentle roar.