THE OTHER AIRBENDER (Book 1)

(XI) Fire

"Would you sit down?" Sokka tells Aang, getting annoyed at his pacing. "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off."

"A bump? Sokka, we're FLYING," I tell him.

"What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka continues to ask him, completely dismissing my observation.

"It's what Avatar Roku said. I'm supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives."

"Well, let's see. You pretty much mastered airbending and that only took you a hundred and twelve years. I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer," Sokka replies sarcastically.

"I haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole. What am I gonna do?"

"Well, I'm not going to lie. It does seem like an impossible mission. But look on the bright side..."

"Which is?" Aang asks curiously.

I raise my hands defensively, giving him an apologetic smile. "I was kind of counting on you to come up with something, being the optimist among the four of us."

"Everyone, calm down. Aang, if you want, I can try to teach you some of the stuff I know," Katara offers. I notice his eyes immediately light up.

"You'd do that?"

"We'll need to find a good source of water first."

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in," Sokka replies sarcastically.

Boy, does he come to regret it soon after. Somehow, we manage to find an enclosed area with a huge waterfall that ends up in a large river. I can already tell the excitement in Aang and Katara's expression just by their huge smiles, while Sokka seems unamused, frowning as usual.

"Well, this is one good puddle if I've ever seen one," I note.

We watch as Appa immediately throws himself into the river and gets soaked, rolling around happily. Aang attempts to follow behind his bison, quickly making his way toward the water. "Yeah! Don't start without me, boy!"

Katara stops him, raising an eyebrow. "Remember the reason we're here."

"Oh right. Time to practice waterbending."

"Great. So what are Alya and I supposed to do?" Sokka asks, clearly annoyed.

"You could... clean the gunk out of Appa's toes," Aang suggests, handing Sokka a long, bushy branch.

"So, while you guys are playing in the water, we're supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?"

"Well, Alya should be trying to train with her airbending," Katara replies.

"What? Why?" I complain.

"Would you rather clean Appa's feet?" Katara retorts.

"Have fun, Sokka," I tell him, as I quickly head towards an empty area nearby and start practicing the movements Aang has been able to teach me so far.

The hardest part about airbending isn't taking control of the wind, but pulling off the sensory aspect of it. Aang explained to me that the key to airbending is to be flexible and to avoid resistance. The second part has proven to be the most difficult for me, because, as much as I am an Air Nomad, my father was from the Earth Kingdom. Even though I never met him, my mother always told me I inherited his proud and strong spirit. 

"Hey, Alya, when you're done with the dancing over there, mind giving me a hand and drying Appa?" Sokka interrupts me, making me frown.

"Airbending is an ancient art—"