Mizumi (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Chapter 7: A Cave of Love

Team Avatar were all in their swimwear, relaxing in a small body of water they had found.

Well two of them were practicing waterbending, the others were relaxing. Sokka was floating on a large leaf with Momo and Zumi was sleeping on a small ice platform she had made.

"You guys are going to be done soon, right? We have a lot of ground to cover if we're going to make it to Omashu today." said Sokka.

"What? Like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" said Katara smiling smugly.

"I could be ready in two minutes. Seriously," he pulled back the hair that had been covering his eyes, "whenever."

"So, you were showing me the octopus form?" said Aang continuing the lesson.

"Right, let me see your stance."

Aang got into a stance and, after studying his form, Katara walked over to him and adjusted his arms. "Your arms are too far apart." she said, "See, if you move them closer together, you protect your center. You got it?"

Aang blushed, "Oh, yeah... thanks."

Katara walked away and got into a fighting stance, "Okay, let's see what you got."

Aang used the octopus form to fend off the icicles Katara threw at him. Finally, he used one of the water tentacles to grab onto Katara's leg and pull on it. "You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang." She told him proudly. "Okay, Zumi! You're up!" she called out to her friend who was still asleep, startling her awake, and making her fall off her ice platform and into the water while screaming "Badger Frogs!" Splash!

"You really love waking me up, don't you Katara?" she said when she emerged from the water, moving her now soaked hair out of her face.

"She loves waking everyone up; she's bossy." said Sokka, causing Katara to retaliate by bending a small wave of water his way causing his leaf to spin, "woah!"

"Okay!" said Zumi, clapping her hands together, after adjusting the white wrapping on her upper right arm. "Time for an earth-less earthbending lesson from a waterbender!" she said as she walked out of the water. "But I can't promise you I'll be any good as a teacher. I'm not sure how good I actually am at these techniques." she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Oh, come on, Zumi. We all know you're a great bender." said Katara.

"She's right. You need to stop doubting yourself." said Aang.

"You guys are probably right, I'm sorry, it's just... it's been a long time since I've really felt confident in my skills. I guess I'm just too hard on myself." she looked down, but changed the topic quickly, "But enough of that. Let's get started!"

She got into a wide stance, "Okay Aang. Since you're an airbender, earthbending will probably be a bit tough for you, since a key here is to stay grounded." Aang mimicked her stance and she walked towards him to help him perfect it. "Feet wider apart, good. Back straight. Perfect! Now Aang you need to stay there, no matter what. Feel the earth under your feet. You need to feel connected to it."

"Like a tree?"

"Yeah, kind of." she said thoughtfully, but it's more like you're a mountain. Unmovable. You don't move for anything. Wind, water, they move for you, around you. Am I making sense?" she was really nervous, and she hoped it wasn't showing. She tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah... A mountain." he adjusted his feet to feel closer to the earth and bent his legs more for strength and balance.

"Great! Now stay there and I'll be right back." She made her way to where Sokka was, still on his leaf. "Hey Sokka, I need your help with something."