ZenBenders - 2014

Unity

Everyone in the room stared at Katara.

"What?" She asked finally, a faint blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"It's just... That was quicker than we thought," Aang said, looking at her in awe. Katara's blush intensified.

"When do we leave?" She asked again, in an attempt to change the subject. The young Fire Lord crossed his arms and regarded the Avatar.

"What do you think Aang?" He asked. Aang looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I've got a few things to tie up here, but what about next week?" He suggested. Zuko grinned.

"It's settled then. We leave a week from today, at dawn." Katara spoke up.

"Hold on a second, before we go diving headfirst into the water. What exactly is everyone going to do without the Avatar and the Fire Lord?" Suki smiled.

"I plan to leave the Kyoshi Warriors behind to share in the responsibility," she said.

"Yeah, and Dad and some of the other warriors from our tribe will help out too," Sokka added.

****

"Eventually, along with the soldiers from the Water Tribes and the Kyoshi Warriors, the White Lotus, and even Haru and the remaining Freedom Fighters, were signed up on the theoretical list to protect the nations, as they developed into one. It was unity at its finest, something we had all been striving for," the man in red, now known as an aged Zuko said. Kya yawned.

"Daaaad! When do we get to the romance?" She asked. Her twin yawned as well.

"When do we get to the adventure?" She asked blankly. Katara smiled.

"Now girls, you have to be patient! Storytelling is an art. Before your books, there were scrolls. And before those scrolls there was storytelling. Artfully crafted tales to teach lessons, entertain, and explain the unknown."

Both girls gave her a blank stare.

"Boooorrrrring," they said in unison. Katara sighed and looked to her husband. He shrugged.

"There's no reasoning with them, Katara. They don't, ah, understand the art as much as you do," he said, choosing his words carefully. Katara caught on and continued the story.

****

Katara and the Gaang wasted no time in preparing for their journey. In fact, they had organized training schedules, in which they would often practice their battle techniques and/or bending against each other. The fiercest battle was notably between Katara and Zuko, and Aang and Toph. It certainly was challenging fighting against your opposite element. Sokka had grown tremendously in swordsmanship, and Suki was already quite skilled in hand to hand combat, but she was also learning to use small throwing stars from Mai. Ty Lee also played a role in showing the Gaang the correct spots to hit to disable a bender, in the worst case scenario.

They learned a bit more about their enemy as well. The wore red masks on their faces with gold flames covering the sides. They also sported long black and gold capes. Of course, the Avatar and the Firelord had attempted to catch them each time they were spotted in public, but they were elusive, slipping into the shadows before they were caught. It seemed the only way was to show up at their headquarters and try to resolve the situation peacefully. But if this were a tale of peace, it would've ended much sooner.

Finally, the day arrived. Or rather, night. The Gaang sat by the pond in the courtyard of the Fire Palace, preparing to leave. Toph offered to metal bend armor for the rest out of scrap metal leftover from some of the Fire Nation ships. Aang, Katara, and Ty Lee declined as the metal would just get in the way of their swift movements. Toph thought otherwise.

"Oh, c'mon Twinkletoes! Sweetness? Fine, it's your loss." She grinned and concentrated on the metal. Sokka stood nervously in front of Toph.

"Don't mess up, Toph!" Sokka shouted. Toph scoffed.

"Clearly you don't know who you're dealing with Sokka," she said. She bended and wrapped the metal to his chest over his clothing, over his knees, and finally on his shoulders. Sokka admired it before giving Toph a thumbs up. Then he realized she couldn't see him, and put his hand back down.

"Excellent! This is really awesome Toph, I feel ready for anything!" He said, instead. Katara discretely bended a sphere of water above her brother and let it fall. Suki laughed and Toph gave Katara a high five.

"Almost anything," he added.

Toph repeated this metalbending process with Suki and Zuko. Mai declined as she didn't feel comfortable with the process.

Aang and Katara rechecked all their food supplies and water- no one knew how long the negotiation attempts would be- and the rest got some last minute bending in, before the sun came up. Zuko approached Katara, who was conversing with Aang.

"Hey, Katara. How about a last minute sparring match?" He smirked. He knew Katara couldn't resist a bending match against him-she constantly felt the urge to beat him, and show the firebender who's boss. Katara narrowed her eyes.

"Deal. You're on." She gave Aang a quick kiss before facing Zuko. Toph sat perched on a rock by Sokka and Suki and the others were scattered around watching the spectacle, Aang with an amused look on his face.

"Anytime you're ready, Katara." Zuko prompted. She wasted no time in taking advantage of the fact that the moon was still out. She pulled a stream of water from the pond and lashed out at Zuko. He swiftly jumped back and kicked out a stream of fire, narrowly missing the waterbender. She narrowed her eyes.

"If you set me on fire, I'll end you." Zuko only shrugged in reply. He punched out several flames aimed towards Katara's feet. She pulled even more water from the pond and froze it into a block of ice. She concentrated on the ice, shattering it into many smaller shards pointed toward the firebender. He froze and she sent them flying at him before he put up a wall of fire, melting the ice instantly.

"Are they always this intense with each other?" Ty Lee asked.

"Yes. I don't think there's ever been a time where they weren't intense," Suki answered, with an amused smile on her face.

Katara bended a huge sphere of water, bigger than the one she used on Sokka, and doused the firebender. He looked at her, soaking wet from head to toe. While she and the rest of the gang were doubled over in laughter, he used that to his advantage and lunged at her, pinning her arms to the ground and his knees on either side of her thighs. She looked up at him, her eyes were widened and she was breathing heavily. His breath caught in his throat but that was probably because a powerful gust of wind blew him off of Katara. She giggled as Aang stood over her, offering her his hand.

"Score one for the Water Tribe!" Sokka remarked as Katara stood. She rolled her eyes and Zuko stood as well, brushing the dirt off of his clothes.

"We should be going now. The sun is nearly up," Zuko noted. The others solemnly climbed into Appa's huge, but crowded saddle.

They all knew that the journey ahead wasn't going to be a peaceful one. They could hope and pray the operation with the Phoenix went smoothly and they would return home quicker, but nothing could change their destinies. The only hope they had of beating their new foes would be if they all united and fought together as one, a challenge that would prove to be difficult among the group of friends.