Safe & Sound | Book 1

11: The Necklace

Art: Waterbending Scroll by Stephanie Cost

After some discussion, we decided that it was time to start waterbending training. Katara and I were going to show Aang everything we knew. It sounded simple enough but I had a feeling it wouldn't be. We found a waterfall and a river to use for our first lesson. I kind of wished that we weren't training since it was such a beautiful sight to just sit back and relax.

As soon as we touched down and got the saddle off of Appa, he flew into the river, creating a huge splash. He turned over and began floating on his back, ready to be lazy for a few hours.

Suddenly, Aang began to strip to his swim trunks. "Yeah! Don't start without me, boy!"

"Aang, we're here for a reason, remember?" I reminded him, grabbing his shoulder.

"Oh right, time to practice waterbending." He started to redress.

Aang continued to talk to Sokka and Katara for a moment while I got ready. Thankfully, I was able to change back into my Water Tribe clothes; the Kyoshi Warrior uniform was nice but it was starting to get a little annoying. I did somewhat miss the robe Zuko had given me though, it was so soft.

Soon, Aang and Katara joined me to start the lesson on the shore. Katara was going first to show what she knew. They were fairly basic moves but considering she's been self-taught with fewer years than me, she was doing fairly well.

Up next was Aang. He had to apologize after seeing the look on Katara's face. He had made the move Katara had been working so hard on look like an opening act for the circus. "Well, don't stop now," he urged. "Keep 'em coming!"

Katara looked a bit discouraged but spoke up nonetheless, "Well I kind of know this one other move but it's pretty hard. I haven't even totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a big, powerful wave." She moved her hands up, her arms trembling, and started to get a large mass of water to rise out of the river. However, it popped like a bubble before forming into anything that great.

"So, like this?" Aang raised his hands and created a massive wave that towered over our heads.

"Aang!" Sokka yelled from the other side of it. The water fell and threw Sokka off into the river.

"Looks like I got the hang of that move! What else do you got?" Aang asked, grinning ear to ear.

Katara looked like she was about to strangle Aang but I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back behind me.

"Uh, maybe we should take a break from practicing," I told him.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Sokka yelled at us. "You just 'practiced' our supplies down the river."

"Uh, sorry," Aang said meekly. "I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff.

Sokka continued to grumble but I ignored him. Aang went over to the saddle which only had our sleeping rolls and a bag of spare clothes. We put it back onto Appa and left to go look for any kind of village.

It didn't take long to find a large market. We all dismounted and began to look for supplies. It felt odd being in a harbor. I had occasionally ventured out when we docked for pit stops - Zuko never liked it which is why I kept doing it. I had never felt particularly unsafe though. Maybe it was because I had always been accompanied by the crew or Iroh whenever we stopped, or it was because I was now the one who had to be responsible. Was this how Zuko always felt trailing after me in these places?