Steam: An Avatar Story

Chapter 1

"Is that all you got, Crown Prince Zuko?" Katara teased. She was sparring with Zuko, and they were pretty evenly matched.

"Not a chance!" He unleashed a series of fire punches, followed by a sweeping kick that sent a wall of flame racing towards Katara. Katara separated it and fought back with a complicated form that sent three jets of flame racing towards Zuko. He caught the fire streams and combined them, bringing it around his body and sending it right back towards Katara. She made the flames disappear and looked up at Zuko.

"That's not a Firebending form." She said curiously. Zuko smirked.

"You're right. It's a Waterbending form. Uncle said that it was important to take wisdom from the other elements, because they can teach us great lessons, so he also showed me how to do that form."

"That's so cool, can you teach me?" Katara asked.

"Sure. Come over here." Katara walked over and sat down in front of Zuko to watch. "Waterbenders deal with change, they go with the flow of energy and use their enemy's strength against them. So, when you sent me those streams of fire, I gathered them up like this," he held his hands out parallel to the ground with his palms and tops of his fingers facing Katara, then brought them together and rotated one hand over the other. "And sent them around my body and back towards you." While he was explaining that part, Zuko had brought his hands in a circle around his head, slightly bending at the back, and then whipped them out straight towards her. Katara nodded her understanding.

"Okay, let me practice that." Katara stood up and breathed. Then she started executing the form slowly, as if to make sure she didn't miss a step.

"Your arms aren't relaxed enough." Zuko said. "Try again. Just remember, you aren't trying to be powerful and fierce with this form like Firebending. You need to be relaxed and calm like a Water Bender." Katara nodded and tried again. Zuko chuckled softly.

"You're still to aggressive with your movements," he walked behind her. "Like this." Katara's heart started racing the moment the 17 year old stepped behind her and she felt his hot breath on her neck. Zuko grabbed her hands and walked her through the motion.

He couldn't help how he was feeling right now. Zuko was right behind Katara, teaching her a form, and her back was right up against his body. Zuko swallowed hard and tried to control his emotions, because he had no idea what was happening and they were distracting him.

He slowly walked Katara through the motions. "Feel the energy in your body flowing through each move. Make note of the pathways, and try to gently guide your chi through the motions." Katara closed her eyes, feeling for the energy in her body. Zuko stepped away.

"Good." He said, smiling. He watched her gracefully move through the form, her slender body guiding the invisible energy inside of her. "Now try it with fire." Katara started to tap into the place where her fire resided, but something weird happened. Instead of the fiery, excitable energy, she felt cool and smooth. A rush of energy roared inside of her, and something tugged on her body outside of the form. She could no longer control herself, her body took over and moved through a couple of forms that felt oddly familiar. Then something roared in her ears and splashed out around the training area. Katara opened her eyes in shock.

Everything was soaked. Katara's eyes widened as she looked around, terrified of what happened. Zuko looked absolutely stunned. He was on the ground, soaking wet, and surrounded by a puddle of water.

"Zuko, what happened to me?" Katara started freaking out. As she looked around, everything was covered with water, and all of the furniture and training equipment in the room were either broken or extremely far away from where they were supposed to be. The six clay water vases around the room for cooling off were shattered. The only thing in the room that was dry was her and a small ring around her feet.