Searching (Zuko x OC)

Chapter 21

"Did you hit your head or something? Did you get dropped as a child and I just wasn't aware? That's impossible!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms in annoyance.

Zuko stood in front of me and he was just as determined as I was to win this argument.

"I'm serious. You need to learn. I can teach you," he insisted.

"You're a firebender! You can't teach me waterbending!" I argued.

"Why not? They aren't that different," Zuko persisted, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"They're complete opposites! They're as different as you can get!" I shouted, throwing my arms out in front of me.

"You might as well try! You're the one who always tells me to never give up. Take your own advice for once," Zuko said, clearly losing his patience.

I sighed and let my head hang back, staring at the sky. Truth be told, I was terrified of learning. This was completely different than the fighting I was comfortable with. I didn't know what I was capable of and I didn't want to find out, but I knew Zuko would never let it go.

"Fine. You can try for one hour and then I'm done. But there's one condition," I said, smirking at him.

"What's the condition?" he asked, looking at me suspiciously.

"You have to join us for music night tonight," I said with a smile.

"Absolutely not! Forget it," he snapped, "I'm not singing stupid songs around a fire."

"You don't have to sing just sit with us. Please? You're always sulking in your room. I miss you when you hide away," I begged, clasping my hands together and pouting.

"Ugh, don't make that face! That's cheating. Don't guilt me like that," he complained, turning his head so he didn't have to look at me.

"Pleaseeeee," I continued.

"Fine," he relented, "But you train for 2 hours instead of one."

"Alright! Let's get started then," I said eagerly.

Zuko began by teaching me one of the easiest forms. I struggled a little bit to follow along at first but I began to get the hang of it. Soon enough, I was following his moves exactly and he seemed satisfied.

"Alright, now that you've done that you should try it with water," he said, bringing a bucket of water over to me.

I stood beside it and focused on the water, bringing it out of the bucket and into my hands. Once I felt like I had a firm grasp on it, I began to move slowly through the stances. As I attempted, the water splashed next to me on the ground. I groaned, but picked it up and tried again. The same thing happened over and over again. Zuko was growing annoyed.

"Your stance is perfect! I don't understand why this isn't working!" he groaned, clearly frustrated that his teaching wasn't working.

"It's because she's too rigid," Uncle said, coming up from under the deck.

We both turned to him in shock. Neither of us had realized that he had been watching us.

"Uncle, this is exactly how you taught me to do it," Zuko argued, crossing his arms defensively.

"Yes, but you are a firebender. Waterbending moves are about fluidity. It's like floating. You need to dance through the stances instead of thinking of them all as seperate," Iroh explained.

"I guess that makes sense. I'll try it again," I said.

I focused on what Uncle said and tried again. Picking up the water once more, I tried again. I managed to do it slowly without dropping the water and I was quite proud of myself. The energy I felt flowing through me made me feel more powerful than I ever had before. I still wasn't as comfortable with it as my knives and my hand to hand combat, but I felt like a missing piece of myself had been found.