Opposites Attract (Zuko x Reader)

🔥 the waterbending scrolls ❄️

"So you tricked a Fire Nation commander into dropping you off at a random village where an old Waterbending master happened to live?" Sokka summarized.

"Yeah, pretty much," I said. I'd told them everything, except the part about learning to Bloodbend. The memory of my own body jerking around like a puppet was too fresh. I didn't ever intend to use Bloodbending again.

I told them about the chest of Waterbending scrolls I had. Katara seemed especially fixiated on that. She went over to her own little knapsack and pulled out a scroll.

"I got this at the pier," she said. "I haven't had much time to learn from it yet, though-"

"We can practice tonight," I said. "I'll show you the other ones. Besides, Waterbending is stronger at night."

"Katara, you're getting pretty obsessed with learning more about Waterbending," Sokka said. "With Fire Prince Crazy and who-knows-who-else after us, isn't it a better idea to get some rest instead?"

Katara wheeled on her brother. "If I'm going to teach Aang how to Waterbend, don't I need all the skill I can get?"

"Hey, Y/n," Aang said. "Couldn't you teach me a thing or two? Sounds like you learned a lot from this Master Waterbender."

"I did," I said. "I'll teach you both, how about that?"

Aang nodded enthusiastically, and Katara agreed as well, although I saw the slightest look of distaste in her eyes.

🔥❄️🔥❄️

Night fell, and the slowly waning moon was at its peak. We'd gotten a few hours of rest, but now I got up from my grassy bed and dusted myself off. I didn't have a sleeping bag like the other three did. Maybe if I went back into town I'd buy one.

Katara was already up, leaning against a tree and looking up at the moon. In her hand was the chest of scrolls. Aang was still asleep.

"Aang-" I called, but Katara shushed me.

"He needs some more sleep. We can go down to the river and wait for him there."

"Um... okay."

I sling my knapsack over my shoulder and we quietly crept down to the riverbank. The night was silent except for the occasional owl hoot or frog croak.

Katara eagerly opened the chest and pulled out the top scroll. "So you've learned everything in all these scrolls?"

"Most of them," I said. "Some of the moves I still need to practice."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

🔥❄️🔥❄️

The night progressed, and as we trained more, Katara seemed to get more and more impatient. She jumped from move to move, easily exasperated when the water didn't follow her orders. Several times she dropped the water back into the river with a frustrated yell.

"Calm down," I told her. "All bending comes from a place of internal harmony."

Katara sat down on a rock. "I know, but... it's annoying to see you do everything so flawlessly and me, well, I'm no prodigy."

"I had a good teacher," I said. "I'm sorry I'm just not as good at teaching. But also, you've only been practicing for a few hours. I've had weeks."

"Point made," Katara said, standing back up. "Let's keep training."

A few hours later, I'd become so engrossed in teaching Katara that I'd forgotten that Aang was supposed to join us. Katara was making progress slowly but surely. Currently, she was fixated on learning something called the 'Water Whip'.