(1) Augmentum | Zuko

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Come morning, Rana and Katara stand together, both of them practising water-bending at the river's edge. Just a little further down from them, Sokka is sat on a rock fishing with Wartortle and Pikachu. Aang and Jeong Jeong are in the other direction, close to Jeong Jeong's hut. Thanks to some interference from Roku, he finally agreed to teach Aang. Aang stands, bandy-legged, on a flat stone in the river. Jeong Jeong stands a foot or two away on the bank in front of his hut.

"Widen your stance" Aang complies. "Wider! Bend your knees. Now, concentrate" Aang takes on an expression of concentration. "Good, good!" Jeong Jeong then begins to walk away.

"Wait! What do I do now?" Aang asks. Jeong Jeong whips around to face him.

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friends" Jeong Jeong points at Rana and Katara, both silent as they practice. "Are they talking?" He then points at Sokka. "Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!"

"Hey!" Sokka yells from down the river.

"But what am I concentrating on?" Aang asks.

"Feel the heat of the sun" Jeong Jeong instructs. "It is the greatest source of fire. Yet, it is in complete balance with nature!" Aang looks up at the sun and then turns back to his instructor with a huge smile on his face.

"So when do I get to make some fire?"

"Concentrate!" Aang breathes deeply, and then flushes in embarrassment as he hears his friends laughing at him from behind. He turns to look at them, but they stop instantly, trying in vain to look innocent. Rana knows how hard this is though. She went through the training too. She knows how hard it is.

.......

Later, Rana sits with Pikachu who plays with a ball made of vines and plant material that Rana made for it to play with. Wartortle has been put back in the ball to rest for the rest of the day. She'll get them all out tomorrow and let them have a good run around. She knows it's hard on them.

.........

At the river, Aang and Jeong Jeong have returned to the banks to train, Jeong Jeong catches a falling leaf in his hand, holds it between his thumb and forefinger. He begins to burn a tiny hole in it at the point of contact.

"Concentrate on the fire. I want you to keep this flame from reaching the edges of the leaf for as long as you can" The hole is spreading with the flame even as Aang assumes his stance and begins to concentrate. Suddenly a rebel guard approaches the pair.

"Master! There is trouble."

"What's going on?" Aang asks. Jeong Jeong begins to leave with the guard.

"Concentrate on your leaf" He orders and then hurries away. Behind Aang, Katara watches from the rive's edge. Aang becomes petulant, almost as soon as Jeong Jeong has disappeared from sight.

"This is the worst fire-bending instruction ever. All he does is leave me alone for hours to concentrate or breathe"

"I'm sure there's a good reason" Katara offers.

"But I'm ready to do so much more" Suddenly Aang's face lights up with an idea. He widens his stance, begins to breathe. He still holds the leaf, which begins to smoke. Suddenly, the leaf bursts into flame and disintegrates. Aang is now holding a fireball in his hand. "I did it! I made fire!"

"Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow" Aang's expression gets annoyed at this comment, and the flame instantly gets bigger. He and Katara are surprised. "Careful!" Aang retains control and reduces the flame to its former size, but not before almost falling into the river.

"Now that's fire-bending!" Aang then shoots a whip of flame, and then begins to juggle his ball of flame happily.

"Aang, you'll hurt yourself!" Katara scolds.

"Wonder how that juggler did it?" Aang loops the ball around him. It begins a complete circle around him and he pushes it outward. The shockwave of flame engulfs Katara and burns her hands which she has raised to protect her face. She cries out in pain and crumples to her knees, hands wrapped around her. "Katara!" Aang hops over to her as she cries pitifully. "I'm so sorry!" Sokka rushes towards them.

"Katara, what's wrong!?" He asks and then turns on Aang, angrily. "What did you do?"

"Iiiit was an accident! I was... Katara, I'm so..." Sokka cuts him off as he grabs Aang and tackles him to the ground just as Aang tried to put a hand on Katara's shoulder.

"I told you we shouldn't mess around with this! Look what you did! You burned my sister!" Katara gets up and runs away. Aang looks scared and lost. Sokka is standing over him, still very angry. "You burned my sister!" Sokka scolds him just as Jeong Jeong returns. Sokka turns on the ageing fire-bender. "This is all your fault!"

"I know. Now pack your things. You must leave immediately"

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Aang tries but Sokka walks away. "I'm sorry!" Aang looks up at Jeong Jeong who has walked over to him. He looks implacable. He turns and walks away leaving Aang alone.

.......

Katara is crying by the river bank. She looks at her hands, to where they are burned before she puts them in the water. The pain intensifies, then she feels some relief. Her eyes open in surprise as she looks down. Her hands glow white underneath the water. She raises them out and they stop glowing to find that the burns are now gone. She looks at her hands in amazement.

"You have healing abilities" She turns to see Jeong Jeong approaching from behind. "The great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability" He sits next to her. "I've always wished I were blessed like you.....free from this burning curse"

"But you're a great master. You have powers I'll never know."

"Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart" Suddenly the water in front of them is blasted with gouts of flame. Jeong Jeong rises quickly to a defensive bending stance and breaks the flames that wash over him and Katara. Zhao's riverboats are bearing down on them. "Go, get your friends and flee! Do not come back here or you will all be destroyed. Hurry!" Katara hurries away. Jeong Jeong turns back to face the boats which are shooting fireballs at him. They land harmlessly all around him.

....

Sokka is preparing Appa to leave. Aang sits nearby, looking forlorn. Sokka turns to his sister as she runs towards them.

"Katara! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, we've got to get out of here. Where's Rana?" Sokka thumbs in the direction of the trees.

........

Rana is heading through the trees, back towards the hut to join the others. Pikachu sits on her shoulder with its little ball when Katara runs through them to reach her.

"We have to get out here," Katara tells her. "Zhao and his soldiers are attacking!"

"Where?" Rana asks her as Pikachu moves to Katara to show off its new ball.

"By the river. They captured Jeong Jeong." Rana turns to leave, to go after Zhao, Katara stops her with a hand on her arm.

"I have to help him!" Rana argues and shakes off Katara's arm. "Get Aang out of here...."

"Rana!" Katara yells after her but Rana just keeps going. She can't let Zhao hurt these people. She can't let him get away with this.