Opposites Attract (Zuko x Reader)

🔥 the full moon ❄️

The next day, I was up early. It felt fantastic not to have to rely on that stupid crutch to walk anymore. I'd always taken walking on two feet for granted. Now, I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it.

Before we left for the marketplace, Hama had also healed the cuts on my hands. We spent so long at the market that even though I was healed, my feet started hurting just from standing for so damn long.

Finally though, we went back up to the inn. I helped Hama put away the groceries and swept the floor while she cleaned the table. In no time, the little inn was spotless.

"You're a Waterbender, yes, Y/n?" Hama asked as she put away the broom.

"Yes. Although I'm not trained or anything."

Hama's eyes sparkled. "I can teach you. It's my duty as one of the last Southern Waterbenders. I must pass on my knowledge to the next generation."

During our shopping trip Hama had also insisted on getting me some clothes that didn't look so 'Fire-Nation-Royal-scummy', as she had put it. I changed into a comfortable beige tunic and brown pants, like what the rest of the townsfolk wore, and put the old red outfit into a knapsack I'd also gotten. Instead of the gold-lined flats, I wore sturdy leather workers' boots.

I grabbed the chest of scrolls and went downstairs where Hama was waiting. She led me to a field of tall grass.

"Aren't we going down to the shore?" I asked. "That's where the water is."

"We don't need the sea to Waterbend," Hama said. "Every living thing is made of water. If you concentrate, you can draw the water out of any living thing and use it."

She reached out her hand and made a pulling motion upwards. I heard a sucking noise as a tendril of water rose from the grass, leaving the green blades shriveled and yellow. Hama froze the water and launched the newly-formed ice daggers into the trunk of a nearby tree.

If my eyes weren't attached to my head, they would've fallen out. Hama may have appeared harmless and frail, but she was far from weak. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side.

She gestured to me. "Now you try, child."

I concentrated, imagining the water in the grass obeying my command. I managed to create a small orb, but it wasn't even half the amount Hama had gotten.

"It takes practice," Hama assured me. "Use the water you have."

I flicked my wrist, making one icicle that stabbed into the tree bark.

"Very good for not being trained," Hama said. "But I can help you improve."

🔥❄️🔥❄️

A few weeks later, I still hadn't found a way back to the South Pole. But currently, I wasn't really focusing on getting home. I was focusing on learning as much as I could from Hama, passing on the tradition of Waterbending. Maybe if I saw Katara again, I could teach her what I'd learned.

Hama and I spent hours looking over the scrolls. She never asked where I got them. I was a fast learner, she said. In only a few days I'd mastered the ability to draw water out of plants and use it to attack enemies (or, in my case, scarecrow dummies).

I'd grown accustomed to life in this little town. I didn't plan on staying forever, but I liked the place. There was a little girl named Yuna who ran a vegetable stand with her mother. She'd always offer me an extra cabbage or two on the house. In return, I made her little dolls out of sticks and wool thread. Back at home I'd always make toys for the children in my spare time.