Chosen by the Spirits | A male reader x Avatar the Last Airbender story

Chapter 3- The Waterbending Master (part 1)

The next morning was rather grey, as the sun was covered behind a layer of clouds. Despite this, I was internally bubbling with excitement. Today I was going to help teach the Avatar waterbending! Despite my eagerness, I kept myself calm and collected as I waited patiently for Aang with Master Pakku. Both myself and Pakku were in deep concentration, controlling a swirl of water that we were moving around our bodies. However the peace was quickly snapped with the arrival of the energetic Avatar Aang.

"Good morning master Pakku and master (Y/N)!" Aang yelled from a few metres behind us. At the sudden shock, both myself and my master dropped the water we had been bending. Unfortunately, I had just been holding my stream of water above my head, meaning that when I lost concentration it dropped all over me, soaking my clothes. Although soggy, I was still over the moon: the Avatar had just called me master (Y/N)! How cool is that?

"No, please, march right in. It's not like we're concentrating or anything," Pakku growled, evidently annoyed at the disruption. As I used waterbending to remove the liquid that was now in my clothes, I twirled around to see Aang stood there next to Katara. My heart dropped when I saw them, as I remembered that I purposefully didn't tell either of them that it is forbidden for women to teach waterbending. Katara was going to be distraught, and I knew that this wasn't going to go as planned.

"Uhh, this is my friend Katara. The one I told you about," Aang stated as Katara bowed out of respect. Pakku whipped around to look at them, and I saw an unhappy look on his face. I prayed that master Pakku would rethink his ways and openly accept Katara, but I knew deep down that it was a long shot. He quickly proved me right.

"I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding," Pakku explained as he used waterbending to create an ice chair that he then sat in. "You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending," he continued, and I saw the look of pure hatred start to appear on Katara's face. Aang turned to look at me with a pleading face, as if he were begging me to tell him that it was all a joke. With regret, I sadly shook my head. Katara continued to look at us with rage.

"What do you mean, you won't teach me?!" she fired up. "I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no!"

"No." Pakku stated ruthless and unremorseful, and I officially lost all hope.

"But there must be female waterbenders in your tribe," Katara begged, her eyes desperately turning to repeatedly look at both me and Master Pakku. I regretfully lowered my gaze so that I looked at the snowy floor in an attempt to avoid her gaze

"The women learn to use their waterbending abilities to heal," I broke my silence, hoping to reach a compromise. "I'm sure that Yagoda would be delighted to teach you," I continued with a smile, but Katara didn't budge.

"I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" she exclaimed passionately. Although I couldn't see this going well for her, I had to admire how driven she was.

"I can see that," Pakku started. "But out tribe has customs, rules,".

"Well, your rules stink!" Katara shouted. Although I agreed with her words, she wasn't going about this the right way. Speaking aggressively would not go well against master Pakku. Aang was quick to agree with his friend

"Yeah, they're not fair!" he announced with equal passion. "If you won't teach Katara, then-"

"Then what?!" Pakku snapped, eager to provoke the Avatar. I stood still, and very on edge, as I watched the scene play out. Surely Aang wouldn't refuse to be taught waterbending?

"Then I won't learn from you!" Aang blurted out with anger, confirming my suspicion before turning and starting to walk off. I instantly started to get worried; the Avatar had to learn waterbending somehow. If he can't master waterbending, he won't be able to learn to earthbend or firebend, meaning he won't stand a chance against Fire Lord Ozai. Feeling that the world could be on the line, I shouted out to the young Avatar in an act of desperation.