The Mother Of Fire(AANGXOC)

Bitter Work

"What are you willing to do
Oh tell me what you're willing to do?"

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"Today's the day! Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending! And this place... i-it's perfect! Don't you think, Sokka?

Sokka rolls over, giving Aang an angry look. He moans.

"Oh, you're still sleeping, huh?" Aang asks

Sokka moans again and rolls back over.

"Sorry!"Aang whispers, trying to keep Sokka from groaning and making sure he doesn't wake up Katzumi

The ground begins to shake and Aang takes a step backward. Toph's rock tent suddenly explodes, revealing Toph standing with a fist in the air.

"Good morning, earthbending student!" She cheers

"Good morning, sifu Toph."

Katara rouses from her sleeping bag.

"Hey... you never call me sifu Katara." she groans

"Well, if you think I should..."

Sokka sits up and grumbles angrily.

"Sorry, snoozles. We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can."

Toph kicks the ground and cracks travel toward Sokka. A large spire of rock shoots up underneath him. Sokka screams as he's launched into the air. He hits the ground with a thud, then gets up and bounces toward Aang and Toph, grumbling angrily. He bounces away. And also waking up Katzumi; She huffs rolls over again

"So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? The trembler? Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land! "

Toph slaps a hand on his chest to stop him.

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

"Sounds good! Sounds good!" Aang says

Aang and Toph each stand in front of a boulder. Katara watches from a rock outcropping nearby.

"The key to earthbending is your stance." Toph lowers herself and widens the distance between her feet. Aang tries to imitate her. "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." Toph explains

"Like a rock. Got it."

He rubs his side where she shoved him.

"Good. Now the actual motion of this one is pretty simple." She lunges forward and punches, causing the boulder to shoot off into the distance, slamming into the side of the canyon. "Okay, you ready to give it a try?" Toph asks

Aang takes up a similar stance.

"I'm ready."

His eyes narrow and he punches forward, but a blast of air sends him shooting backward. He slams into Appa's side and falls on his face.

"Rock beats airbender!" Sokka laughs and Also earning a laugh from the Princess

Katara and Toph are standing next to the boulder Aang tried to move. Aang walks up, a hand behind his head.

"I don't understand what went wrong. He did it exactly the way you did." Katara says

"Maybe there's another way. What if I came at the boulder from a different angle?" Aang asks

Toph grabs him by the collar and he turns around.

"No, that's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender. There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickity 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 runs forward. She jumps into the air and crashes into the rock that Aang tried to move head-first, shattering it. Aang recoils.