Tougher Than Stone

Chapter 7

-Liena's POV-

It's been two and a half weeks since we started training Gui. We've picked up two more students, we're going to go one a week, so we don't overwhelm ourselves. Our other recruits are Yohan and Mei Li.

Yohan is much older than me, but he's very strong, and I think he'll make a great asset when we go to free Shoa.

Mei Li is one of my friends. She's one of my best friends that's my age and a girl. She's pretty stubborn, and I'm excited to see what kind of bender she can evolve into. I think she's perfect!

Earth Bending is all about showing the rocks who's boss. You're the boss. That's another reason why I like it so much. I like having control, this is something I can do really well.

Not only do I like doing it, it makes me feel a connection to my brother. I know I've said it before, but even though I never really knew him, I miss him. He was a bender. The last thing he showed me was earthbending. I still vaguely remember the awe of seeing the rock move on its own, the coo of Guozhi's voice while I sat nestled in his lap. That's my one of two memories. The other is him and Nakia singing a lullaby to me. Sometimes at night when I can't sleep, I call up his song. They're good memories.

Nakia comes around the small room lit by numerous candles and sits by me. We're on a water break in the training room. Well, I'm just supervising the other's training. At least, I was supposed to be.

Nakia has this kind of psychic sense, she can tell when I'm thinking deeply about things. She tells me talking about them will help, and I have a middleground stance on that. Some things I like to talk about, while some things I think would be better if I just kept them in my head.

This, though, is a topic I don't mind chatting about. Nakia knew my brother, and she probably knew him best. They were best friends (if he had been around longer, they would have been more than that *wink*) (did I just wink in my subconscious, why yes I did) so she knows everything about him, from his favorite food to his tells for lying.

"What's on your mind?" she asks. I smile and rub my fingers.

"I know what you're doing. What's upsetting you?" She grabs my hands.

"I was just thinking about Guozhi. Trying to recall more details from those memories. And match some to your descriptions and stories. I find it quite fun, really, but it just makes me miss him more." I glance at her face, tears now pooling in her eyes as she thinks of her best friend.

"Sorry," I say, feeling bad that I'm making her cry.

"No, no, I understand. I miss him, too," she looks around, "but that's why we're doing this. So we can free our people. So we can get him back." She wipes a single tear from her cheek.

Looking down at her knees, she adds, "Although it makes me think, what am I doing to contribute to this cause? What can I do to actually help? I know I can do more than manage an earthbending school I can't even be a part of. Don't get me wrong, I love helping you, but there's more I can do. You know?"

I sat there staring at her. Wow. I hadn't even thought about that. Geez, I'm stupid. Of course Nakia wants to help! What am I doing not finding a way for her to fight??

"Liena, you're doing it again," Nakia crashes my train of thought again. I have this dumb thinking face whenever she reveals something I never noticed. She calls it my "special face".

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. I just... I feel bad, you should be able to help." I looked her in the eyes. "You know what? We're going to find you a fighting instructor. I'll get you one, you deserve it. I swear, best friend's honor."

She looked at me, a sincere look in her eyes. All she did was nod.

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"Thank you so much!" I'm running through the preparation list in my head, about to set up the best thing in the history of comedy. I just bought a firecracker from this traveling merchant. He comes from the Fire Nation, bearing leftover fireworks from a Fire Nation festival. His visit is annual, and everyone else dreads it because that's when I go crazy!

I convinced Mom to make soup tonight, and we invited Nakia's family over because we have enough to make extra food, and sometimes they just need free food. They're not poor, they just have a lot of mouths to feed.

On my way home, I wave to the Cabbage Merchant. He frowns back at me. Last year, let's just say one of the pranks went wrong and his cart didn't see the next day...

"How's it goin'?" I want to say his name, but no one actually knows it. To us, he's just the Cabbage Merchant or Cabbage Man. He only hugs another one of his cabbages and looks away, so I move on to Nakia's stall.

"You excited for dinner tonight? Mom's making veggie soup, since Cabbage Man is in town!"

"Liena, you seem more excited about soup than when Gui was over here a few minutes ago."

"PSSHT, noo! Just excited for your family's company tonight! Speaking of, how's Tira?" Tira is Nakia's little sister, who also happens to be my mother's apprentice.

Mom is the town doctor, though people only come to her for emergencies, because most people know basic first aid. She's still needed, though. Among helping patients with broken bones and torn muscles, she helps deliver babies and sooth sick ones and panicked new mothers.

She originally wanted me to help out with the business, but let me tell you, blood? Not my thing. Nuh uh. Nope. I much prefer helping Dad with the farm all day than spending one minute in the presence of someone bleeding a river. Exaggeration? No, actually. That really happened, and I don't wanna talk about it. I can never look at Bo the same way again.

"She's doing fine, and already surprisingly knowledgeable for only being an almost seven year old. Your mother is teaching her well. You know she adores you?"

"Who doesn--"

"What I'm saying is every prank you pull, she's gonna want to repeat it," Nakia gets close to my face, her voice dripping with heat, "so don't try anything, okay?"

She pulls away and I laugh nervously. We start putting away the flowers after a long day, closing up the small stall. Before we make an exit, I've got to say my line.

"No promises!" I loop my arm through hers and we walk back to my house.

The rest of the day was pretty fun. We had dinner, me and Nakia ate outside, because it was nice out and also because it was crowded in the house. It was the perfect time to strike! I swiftly lit the firecracker on the candle I set up on the porch (which I told Nakia was for better lighting) and slipped it into an unsuspecting Nakia's bowl.

IT WAS SO FUNNY!!! I died from laughter. There was soup everywhere, on her, on the side of the house, on me even. Even though Mom, LIVID, came out and yelled at me, made me clean up the mess and grounded me for a month, it was worth it. Ohhh, it was SO worth it. I think I even heard some of the soldiers chuckle nearby! If you can make them laugh, you know you've accomplished something great! I don't know how I'll top this, but ah, I can't wait until the Firework Merchant comes back next year!! 

Written by KateWalker553