Thawing Frosts <Shai City, North Pole>

[hotaru]

What he said made sense, for a split second she felt like he knew what she was thinking, felt the way she did and cared enough to look out for her. She blushed slightly looking down with a slight nod. so it seemed running out to kill people in the firenation was out of the question as satisfying as she thought it might feel.

He spoke of water and she felt at home, like she was part of something, she bent fire but she lived in the water tribe, it would always be her element and she would need to learn to change herself to be water tribe and a firebender, it would be hard but she felt she could do it. After all what would her mother want? Her to sit around and sob the day away?

No, she'd want Hotaru to be strong and happy, it was all any mother would want for their child and she had to admit to herself that it was better than crying her eyes out until she was sore and broken. She was part of the water tribe, they were doing what they did because they were trying to help her, it was that simple. She was fighting it but it was time to let go and follow the current, trust that it would lead her some place safe.

Hotaru nodded to Aden and leaned forward hugging him the way little girls do, she needed it and he didn't seem to be too giving in that category so she made herself at home. Her sobs were calmed, just a little hiccup now and then, her eyes too were starting to dry and a part of the numbness left. Maybe it wasn't hopeless after all.

[aden]

As aware as he was of how it must seem for a boy his age to be hugging a girl like Hotaru out in public, Aden figured that the circumstances would make it allowable. Slowly, he raised a hand up and patted her back lightly. The girl needed this, he thought, and it was nothing short of a miracle that he'd been able to talk her out of her emotional turmoil. There would be no sense in ruining all that progress by slinking out of a hug...

He allowed her to stay her like for a little while, saying nothing, but just letting her collect herself. Eventually, though, Aden eased away from her and kept one hand on her shoulder.

"You just have to stay strong," he said, "And know that there will always be other people to help you." Aden took a few moments to let that settle in before asking, "So, do you think you're up for learning one last secret training method?" He threw in the word 'secret' mostly just to garner some sort of childish curiosity or enthusiasm from the younger girl, and just in case she was hesitant about firebending some more, he quickly added, "It's a very simple meditation technique that will help you gain control over your bending. What do you say?"

[hotaru]

Hotaru allowed herself to calm down further until she felt slightly drained but mostly better. No more sniffles sobs or tears at the very least. She found herself loosening her hold on the teen and standing up more on her own. It felt good to be held, she really did miss her mother and father, it was hard for any child to loose a parent let alone two but she'd survive, it wasn't like she could mope around forever, she'd heard mummers of finding a home for her after she was stable but as unlikely as she thought it would be for anyone to take her in she did admit it was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

She sat back down on the ice block Aden constructed and peered up at him, now only his hand was on her shoulder and she gave him what little was left of her already thin attention

"Secret?" Hotaru repeated to make sure she heard it right, that kind of made this interesting? Perhaps it was an odd quirk of youth but she was all ears now. Although she was tired and semi tapped out she still wanted to be a good student for Aden. Nodding Hotaru's bangs worked their way into her face and she tried to smile but found it to be a slightly forced quirk instead. "okay."

[aden]

"Great," Aden said, grateful that Hotaru was still somewhat interesed in learning. He wasn't sure just how much more heartfelt advice he had in him without starting to turn into a complete sap. "For this one it's easiest to have something to rest against," he told her, and with that he took a crouched step backwards until he was sitting at the base of his own ice seat..

Aden crossed his legs comfortably in front of him and pressed his back flat against the side of the ice to keep himself as upright as he could. The young warrior gestured for Hotaru to do likewise. "First we have to take a meditative posture. Make sure that your back is nice and straight and your legs are tight under you, but not so tight that it's uncomfortable. The key here is for your body to be so relaxed that you don't noticed anything outside your own mind."

He then closed his eyes and brought his hands together above his lap, showing Hotaru the particulars of this technique. "Once you're set up, just take a minute to breathe nice and deep. Try and feel chi paths flowing."

[hotaru]

Hotaru nodded a bit and shuffled around on the ice block until she'd managed to get herself in position like he was, her legs didn't seem to want to go the way Aden's were so she allowed them to rest over the edge of the ice block and she moved them into the meditative position, her heavy boots didn't help much but she was at least sitting like he was now. That was closer.

She placed her hands and rested them on her knees, her eyes closing and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to look for anything in the darkness but it seemed like nothing was there. She opened an eye and looked at Aden wondering if he was getting anything out of this and she saw he was just sitting so she closed her eyes and tried again. There was nothing but dark, she could feel her body but didn't really know what she was looking for. She sighed a bit and allowed herself to relax somewhat

She could feel a light pull through her body, was that what she was looking for? It centered around her stomach but it seemed stiff and blocked, was that right?

[aden]

Aden sat calmly for a while, counting out ten deep breaths so that he could bring himself fully into a state of relaxation. During that time he somehow managed to push aside all the emotions that had surfaced when he was trying to calm Hotaru down, and by the time he was done counting his mind was a blank slate.

"Okay," he said calmly, cracking his eyes open. With slow, methodical movements he raised a hand to his side and pulled up a handful of water from the ground. "Now, you'll be doing this with a different element, but the principle should be the same," he told her, hopefully hinting for her to open her eyes and watch.

"I want you to start off with a very small flame, holding it between your hands," Aden said, and with a motion of his hands he condensed the water into a near perfect sphere. He brought his hands closer together and the sphere solidified from the inside out into a crystal clear orb of ice. "Once you have that, breathe in deep...." he did so and slowly let his hands drift apart. As he did so, the water melted into liquid and then dissolved into a hovering mist. "...And let the fire grow larger. However big you feel comfortable making it, as long as you retain perfect control."

"Then breathe out..." he did so as he brought his hands back together, freezing the water once more, "And reduce the flame to the smallest amount you can maintain. Take your time with this, and just do your best to remain in control."

[hotaru]

She continued to sit for a while wondering why her stomach felt so odd, it was like the energy flew normally through the rest of her body but in her stomach it was cinched tightly. Her lips pulled into a line as she attempted to try and give it more breathing room but she couldn't do anything aside from make her body flex in odd ways that felt awkward.

A couple more seconds of that was interrupted when Aden began to speak, she cracked her eyes open slightly and tried to figure out if he wanted to to keep meditating or open her eyes and pay attention. She was answered fairly quickly when he began to bend water from the ground so she let her stomach slack and looked at Aden curiously. Her thin attention was becoming strained again, she'd had a rough day, crying her eyes out and punching fireballs was a lot more than she usually did in a twenty four hour period.

The fact that he was bending helped her slightly though, she loved water bending and even something as simple as what his hands were doing was enough to gain her attention. What he was asking of her seemed rather easy and she was confident she'd be able to pull it off. Her eyes closed again and she put her palms together creating a small flame, she opened her eyes to look at it as she began to stretch it out, making it bigger and brighter until it was about the size of her head, she could feel the heat on her cheeks and focused to make it smaller once more, a couple times it flared or vanished but it was a start.

The second time she remembered to breath like he told her, stretching and changing the flames, it was difficult and commanded her focus but she was learning.

[aden]

Aden continued to perform the exercise alongside Hotaru for a little while, but eventually he stopped doing it in order to watch her more closely and make sure her technique was right. He wasn't exactly an expert on firebending, so there might be differences in the optmum breathing patterns for controlling the fire. But Hotaru seemed to be doing well enough on her own, and with any luck this training could help her to gain mastery over her ability to generate fire. Aden knew first hand just how much this technique helped him to control his own bending, especially when it came to phase shifting.

"Very good," he said encouragingly, though quietly enough not to break her concentration. Aden was prepared to simply let Hotaru continue on that as long as she felt comfortable, but after another minute or two he heard voices from the other side of the ice wall.

"What's this doing here?" someone asked, just moments before the barricade began to melt and was then swept back into the pool. Aden shifted his weight forward and began to stand up as Master Yuuka and two of the other bending instructors entered into their secluded training area. "Once the wall was gone, they spotted Aden and Hotaru and began to make their way over. "Well? Any luck?" Master Yuuka asked, though his tone implied that he didn't expect a positive answer.

Aden cast a look down at Hotaru, offering a slight smile to try and keep her from feeling discouraged by the Master's attitude toward this experiment.

"Master..." Aden greeted the older man with a small bow in order to observe the formalities, "I believe we've made good progress for such a short training session."

"Oh really?" Master Yuuka walked closer to them and circled around to observe Hotaru. "Would you care to give us a demonstration?"

[hotaru]

She was focusing on the flame trying to let herself get lost in the heat of her bending, she could feel it lick her skin but it wouldn't burn her, she let her thoughts float around fire, heat warmth and security. Her eyes followed the flames as they grew and changed, her fire was red, an odd color on the ice and the snow of the North. It was rare to see something like this, one may watch the flames of an oil candle or the glow of a fire beneath a stew pot but in the end this was more fascinating.

Aden whispered some words of encouragement to her and she smiled a bit making the flames smaller and with the shift in the icy wall, vanish. Her eyes went to Aden first, to see if he was the one getting rid of the barrier but it wasn't him who was taking away the privacy she coveted for this training session.

Her hands went behind her back and sheepishly she stood up looking at the old men who, though part of her tribe, scared her. Her first impulse was to move behind Aden and hide but she stood still, he smiled at her trying to keep her from panicking no doubt but she couldn't bring herself to smile back. People were looking at her again and it was unnerving. She wanted to run home though she no longer had a home to run to. The closest thing was her room in the healing huts. So that was where her mind went, the little bed with the thick furs she'd bury herself in. That's where she'd rather be right now.

Hotaru stiffened when the man began to move around her, she didn't like it, she felt like a wounded animal being circled by a hunter. It was scary. Her eyes went to Aden pleeing for some sort of assistance but he only cast her that reassuring look. " Okay..." She murmured pulling into a punching stance like what Aden Showed her.

Aside from how she was quivering somewhat it was a solid stance, she punched creating bright flames that erupted into the air then sputtered out fluidly as to not set anything ablaze. Then she collected herself, standing up straight with her hands at her side looking down at the ground. Would that be enough for them?

[aden]

Aden had felt a momentary desire to intervene when the bending master asked for a demonstration. With the wall gone and prying eyes around to watch her, he figured that might scare the girl back into a state of nervousness that could easily undo the progress they'd made. He was surprised, though, when she stood up and got into a punching stance. Aden took a step back, and was somewhat happy to see her succeed in making a successful burst of flame. By now he was able to control the sudden minor impulses to fight when he saw her firebending.

Master Yuuka hummed to himself at the sight of Hotaru's solid technique and imrpoved fire generation. "Progress indeed," he remarked as he stroked his beard. The other instructors muttered similar comments about the different direction that Aden's brief training had seemed to take her. "Did you base your teachings off your experiences in battle?" Master Yuuka asked, seeming genuinely curious.

"Somewhat," Aden replied, "A combination of observation and... understanding, if I may put it that way." He glanced just for a moment at Hotaru, and then back at the master.

"Interesting... Well, we are grateful for your efforts." Master Yuuka bowed, and Aden returned the gesture. "Perhaps we will call on you in the future if we hit another snag."

Aden looked at the older man for a moment, unsure of exactly what to respond. This whole experiment was done as a one-time favor to Hissun. And as much as he truly felt sorry for the girl who seemed to be even more strongly affected by the Fire Nation than he was, it seemed like a committment that wasn't to be taken lightly.

However, in the end, despite his apprehension, his heart eventually won out.

"Of course," he said after a few moments, "I'd be happy to help." Aden cast a glance over at Hotaru, smiling ever so slightly before looking back at Master Yuuka.

[hotaru]

Hotaru fidgeted waiting for the man to approve or disapprove, she didn't like seeing the way people stood up and took notice when she mad flames but there wasn't anything she could do about it, that was out of her hands. Her eyes flitted between the ground and the masters faces and after what seemed like forever he seemed to approve of the progress she'd made, his words could have been more encouraging but it didn't sound like he was talking to her, more like he was talking to Aden. Still she didn't let it disappoint her too much.

She watched Aden curiously and when he looked at her she smiled sheepishly in return, he was really nice for an older boy, and one of the first people to really be nice to her. It reminded her of her uncle Kaden before he got married, back when he was still fun and would go play with her in the snow fields, build snowforts and entertain her with bending.

That was something she really missed but it was gone before this whole mess started up, he fell in love and got serious and then he was having a baby with his wife and got more serious, she wondered if her little cousin would ever really get to know the fun playful guy his dad used to be.

Returning back to the conversation Hotaru watched the masters talk, The one man with the beard was talking to Aden still and he seemed to agree to help in the future if they needed it, that meant she'd see him again, she beamed but then shyly looked down at the ground. It felt good to have one friend who seemed to treat her like a person. With everything off her chest she felt a lot better about everything.

" That's probably enough for today." A man commented and then flanked Hotaru starting to move her back towards the healing huts, grudgingly she moved but looked back at Aden curiously with a touch of sadness, for once she didn't want to go back to her little room, not without a good bye anyway. Trotting around the man she made her way over to Aden and hugged him, well his middle anyway " Bye..." Then she ran off, a couple of the older men frowned disapprovingly but she kept on walking with the master following her keeping a better eyes on the girl.

She let out a bit of a sigh but she felt at ease. They'd leave her in her room and she was already planning on practicing making her flames shift in size. She had a starting point and she wouldn't let go.

[aden]

Aden gently placed a hand near the top of Hotaru's back as she emraced him and then took a step back as she ran off. "Good-bye," he said, and he caught the glance of one of the instructors. Aden offered him a slght shrug as if to deny any real explanation for the display of affection, and the older man turned away to help guide Hotaru back to the healing huts.

For a moment Aden stood there, unsure of exactly what to do next. His initial desire to resume his training had been derailed, and instead he had quite the unusual tutoring session with perhaps the first firebending member of the Water Tribe in history. All things considered, he had come to certain personal realizations by helping her, but he wasn't quite sure how to proceed from there.

Eventually, though, Aden decided that he needed to do something to take his mind off the exchange. He didn't feel like re-examining his core beliefs for a second time this month. Instead, he managed to slip back into the training session that was still in progress.


*********************************************************

About an hour later, the young waterbenders learning their daily lesson began to disperse. The day's technique had been displayed and drilled until perfected, and now only a small handful lingered around to practice with some light sparring. Aden was hesitant to head home, but he honestly doubted that any of the younger benders could pose a real challenge in the sparring circle. He watched one match between a pair of moderately skilled boys,occasionally spouting advice, but then decided it was time to go.

One his way down the steps to the lower rings of the city, however, he happened to cross paths once more with war chief Hissun. His old commander was standing on his own by a fountain with a scroll in hand, looking out at the harbor where a few captured Fire Nation ships were anchored.

The older man seemed intent on his own musings, and so Aden didn't call a greeting. Instead he just walked past and offered a nod when Hissun spotted him.

"I heard you make a good teacher," the war chief said as Aden walked by. Aden slowed as he was spoken to, but was still turned as if to resume walking. "Thank you again for indulging my curiosity."

"You're welcome," Aden replied, and he offered a slight bow. "But I only had time to teach her a little bit."

"You'd be surprised what you can learn in a short period of time," Hissun replied, sneaking a cryptic smile along with that statement.

Aden's eyebrow twitched up slightly, and he wondered for the first time what other motives Hissun had in asking him this favor. "When I was teaching Hotaru, I couldn't help but remember something you once said to me..."

"That you'd make a good firebender yourself?" Hissun finished for him. Aden nodded slowly. "Yes... I must admit that discussion crossed my mind when I considered enlisting your help."

"I thought so," Aden said quietly.

Hissun shrugged lightly and then looked back to his scroll. "Well, I thank you again for your time," he said.

"No problem," Aden answered, and he looked at his former commander for a few seconds before resuming his walk home.

[The End]