Zuko walked into the room as you were all getting supper around. "Listen, everybody! I've got some pretty bad news." He hung his head. "I've lost my stuff."
"Don't look at me! I didn't touch your stuff!" Toph denied, holding her hands up in surrender.
"I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone."
Your eyes widened.
Laughter rang through your ears. You turned, glaring at Katara. "I fail to see the humor in this." You spoke sharply.
"I'm sorry." She said, though she clearly wasn't. "I'm just laughing at the irony. You know how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago?"
"Well, it's not lost it's just... weaker for some reason." Zuko informed, clenching his fists by his sides.
"Well, maybe you're just not as good as you think you are." She snapped, raising a bowl to her lips.
"Ouch." Toph voiced.
Zuko looked away before turning back. "I bet it's because I changed sides!"
"That's ridiculous." Katara said.
"I don't know." Aang piped up. "Maybe it isn't." He looked over at Zuko. "Maybe your firebending comes from rage. And you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to."
"Sooo, all we have to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough." Sokka said. He began poking Zuko with his sheathed space-sword, pointing and laughing.
"Okay! Cut it out!" Zuko yelled after a moment.
Sokka was so startled that the sword flew into the air, falling back and landing on Sokka's head.
Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."
You smiled in pride.
"You're going to need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source." Toph spoke. "I recommend the original source."
"How is he supposed to do that?" Sokka asked, a joking tone in his voice. "By jumping into a volcano!?"
"No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is."
"So, is it jumping into a volcano?"
"I don't know." She set down the bowl she was eating out of. "For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me. So we understood each other."
You clutched your knees to your chest, resting your chin on them as you listened to her story.
"I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world."
"That's amazing, Toph." Aang said. "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison." He leaned backwards so that he could see around Toph to look at Appa. "Maybe you can give me a lesson some time, buddy!"
Appa stopped eating for a second to roar in response.
"Well, that doesn't help me." Zuko said quietly. "The original firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct."
YOU ARE READING
Avatar: The Last Airbender
AventuraIn hunting down the thieves that took the waterbending scroll from Y/n's home, the North Pole, she finds the Avatar and his friends. Traveling with them to return to the North Pole, she goes on many adventures and decides she wants to stay with them...
