Book 1: Hikaru

Pirates

It had been a few days since we escaped the Fire Temple, but Avatar Roku's warning didn't make us feel any safer. Aang told us that Fire Lord Ozai was going to use the power of Sozin's Comet to win the war once and for all. He also told us that he has to master the other three elements by summers end. Aang, still was worried, how was he going to master Water, Earth, and Fire before the Comet comes? As we flew, Aang was pacing in the saddle, wondering how he was going to do it in time.

"Would you sit down!" shouted Sokka as he flew Appa, "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off. What's bugging you anyway?"

"It's what Avatar Roku said!" said Aang, "I'm supposed to master all four elements before that Comet arrives."

"Well let's see...you pretty much mastered airbending, and that only took you 112 years," said Sokka clearly not helping, "I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."

"I haven't even started waterbending!" panicked Aang as he continued to pace, "And we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I going to do!?"

"Calm down," said Katara as she gently pulled him down to sit, "It's going to be ok."

"Katara's right," I said, "There's no use worrying about it now. The best we can do is get to the Northern Water Tribe as quickly as possible, so you can get started on waterbending."

"Wait, I have an idea!" said Katara, "Maybe we don't have to wait to teach Aang waterbending."

"Really?" asked Aang as Katara nodded.

"Hikaru, you said you trained in the Northern Water Tribe for a while, right?" asked Katara.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"Maybe you could teach Aang waterbending until we get there," said Katara.

"That's a great idea Katara!" smiled Aang.

"Oh...uh..well..you see--" I started.

"With your skills, you could teach Aang no problem!" said Katara.

"It's not that," I said.

"Then what?" asked Aang.

"I can't teach you waterbending because I don't bend like other water benders," I confessed, "I can only bend water with my left hand, therefore I can't teach him."

"How's that?" asked Katara.

"How do I explain it to them, without telling them about---"I thought as I clenched my right hand, "Well here it goes."

I took off my right glove, revealing my thoroughly burned hand, then Aang asked, "What happened?"

"When I was little, Fire Nation soldiers came and burned my parents house, trapping us inside," I explained, "I got out, but my parents weren't so lucky. After that, my right hand was burned so badly that I couldn't bend with it any longer."

"That's awful," said Katara as I put my glove back on.

"Well, looks like they bought it," I thought, "I hate lying to these guys, but if they found out the real reason why I can't waterbend like normal, they might not trust me."

"It okay Hikaru," said Aang.

"Hey Aang if you want I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know," suggested Katara.

"Really you'd do that?!" asked Aang as Katara nodded.

"We'll need to find a good source of water first," said Katara as they scanned the area for water.