The Avatar's Protector

C h a p t e r S e v e n: T h e W a t e r b e n d i n g S c r o l l

A/N: I'm so sorry about the long wait, but I've been busy. As you can see, I've changed the cover into one I drew - I was never going to keep the last cover, it was always just temporary. Thank you to everyone who's commented and/or starred, it means a lot! But I'll stop talking now, and here is the long-awaited chapter!

We're flying through a mostly cloudy sky, broken only by a few shafts of sunlight that pierce the cloud cover dramatically in certain areas. Aang's pacing up and down Appa's back, a worried expression on his face while Sokka drives Appa. Echo is sitting behind me on Lakko, and once or twice she's come close to suffocating me with her tight hug.

"Would you sit down? If we hit a bump you'll go flying off! What's bugging you anyway?" Sokka asks Aang.

"It's what Avatar Roku said. Luna and I are supposed to master all four elements before that comet arrives." He sighs.

"All four elements, WOW!" Echo cries, and I sigh. I shouldn't be dragging her along with us, but she managed to find her way to us about half an hour ago, saying that she wanted to come with us and that something had gone wrong in the village.

"Well, let's see, you've 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 says, and I facepalm.

"Plus Lightbending for me," I sigh quietly, making sure Echo doesn't hear. I'm not ready to tell her - yet.

Aang has a frightened expression on his face. "We haven't even started waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What are we gonna do!?" He asks, and I pull open my glider, flying off Lakko and onto Appa.
"Aang, don't worry. I'm in this with you," I smile, putting my hand on his shoulder and turning him around. "We can do this." I say when he turns around, but Aang has his head in his hands in frustration and his left arm is hanging loose. I pull him to a sitting position and take his hands in my own.

"Calm down. It's going to be okay." I say, hugging him.

"If you want, I can try and teach you two some of the stuff I know." Katara suggests.

"You'd do that?" Both Aang and I ask in unison. Katara nods her head and smiles. She, Aang, and I then crawl over to the edge of the saddle to look down.

"We'll need to find a good source of water first." Katara says, peering down into the clouds.

"Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in." Sokka suggests.

****

I look up at the huge waterfall and the river running at the bottom of the fall. Katara, Sokka, Aang, Momo, and I are on the left bank. Sokka looks a little sour, while Katara is looking up in excitement and happiness at the mighty waterfall. Aang has an expression similar to Katara's, and I'm pretty sure I do too.

"Nice puddle." Sokka states.

Appa swoops in overhead, grunts loudly and drops himself into the water. The sun is blotted by a shadow – the wave of water from Appa's messy swan dive. The wave crashes over Momo and he is soaked. Appa rolls over in the water, relaxing. Aang has removed everything but his underwear and is ready to join the fun. I turn to Katara, who does not look pleased.

"Yeahhh! Don't start without me, boy!" Aang shouts as Lakko begins splashing Appa with water.

"Remember the reason we're here." Katara sighs, looking at me and rolling her eyes.

Caught at the moment of running to jump in the water, Aang stops and looks back to Katara and I.

"Oh right, time to practice waterbending." Aang laughs, running back to us.