When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

/////SAM'S POV\\\\\

I was awoken by rock flying over my head, and Toph shouting. "Goood morning, earth bending student!"

"Good morning, Sifu Toph," Aang greeted her.

"Hey... you never called me Sifu Katara," Katara said.

"Well, if you think I should." Aang rubbed the back of his neck.

Sokka started grumbling from his sleeping bag, glaring at the two youngest of the group.

"Sorry Snoozles," Toph said. "We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can." Then she slammed her foot on the ground, and Sokka went sailing into the sky. He landed with a thud, and stood up, mumbling nonsense at Toph and Aang. He then hopped away, still in his sleeping bag.

I thought about following him, but decided I was too lazy.

/////\\\\\

Katara and I sat on the rocks, watching Toph and Aang. We were too far away to listen, but we could easily see Toph slam a rock into the cliff side, and then Aang fail to do so, instead flying back and slamming into Appa.

"Rock beats airbender!" Sokka shouted from his sleeping bag, and I chuckled. Katara elbowed me, and I winced.

"Be nice," she scolded.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

/////ZUKO'S POV\\\\\

While Uncle was unconscious, my mind wandered to the other day, when I saw Sam. I was so mean, and she was just trying to offer help. I felt terrible, and wished I could take it all back, but I couldn't. I could only hope that next time I saw her, she would forgive me.

/////SAM'S POV\\\\

"I don't understand what went wrong," Katara said, pointing at Aang. "He did it exactly like you did."

"Maybe there's another way," Aang rushed, "what if I came at the boulder at a different angle?" He squinted at the rock, and moved around.

"No," Toph said, pulling the young monk back. "That's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an airbender." She knocked on Aang's head to prove her point. "There's no other angle, there's no clever solution, there's no trickety trick that's gonna move that rock." She pushed Aang, and he flew to the ground. "You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this." Toph jumped on the boulder, making it crumble to pieces.

"Whoa!" Aang gasped, jumping back. His face fell, and I patted his back while Katara went to catch up with Toph.

"It's okay, Aang," I told him. "You can't expect to get it on the first try."

"I know, it's just... I was so excited to have my first earthbending lesson, and I end up getting yelled at by my teacher," Aang complained.

I gave him a half smile. "You'll get it," I promised.

He smiled back. "Thanks, Sam."

/////\\\\\

"KEEP YOUR KNEES HIGH, TWINKLE TOES!" Toph screamed at a frightened Aang, who was carrying either a huge rock, or a small boulder.

Toph put him through several harsh earth bending exercises. By noon, he was in shape, and passing all the sudden tests that Toph would throw at him. Katara and I grinned at each other, happy that Aang had progressed from his slump earlier that morning.

"This time, we're going to try something a little different," Toph said. "Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock. Get in your horse stance!"

"Don't you mean ostrich horse stance?" I teased.

Toph glared, and I chuckled, holding up my hands. "Sorry, sorry," I laughed.

Aang ignored us, and got in his stance.

"I'm going to roll that boulder down that hill. If you have the attitude of an earth bender, you'll stay in your stance, and stop the rock," Toph explained.

Aang looked at the boulder fearfully, and Katara and I looked at each other, unsure.

"Like... this!" Toph demonstrated what she wanted Aang to do, and Katara walked over.

"Sorry Toph, but are you sure that this is really the best way to teach Aang earth bending?" she asked.

"I'm glad you said something!" Toph said, and ripped a piece of Aangs shirt off. "Actually, there is a better way." She tied the strip of clothing around Aangs head, covering his eyes. "This way, you'll have to really sense the vibrations of the boulder to stop it. Thank you, Katara."

"Yeah, thanks Katara," Aang accused, and Katara laughed nervously.

We stood off to the side, watching the boulder tumble toward Aang. At the last second, the airbender leapt into the air, out of harms way. Katara, Momo and I watched the boulder roll past and slam into some cliff sides. The next second, Toph was running toward Aang, with an angry look on her face.

"I guess I just panicked," Aang said, taking off his blindfold to see the twelve year old girl in his face. "I don't know what to say."

"There's nothing to say! You blew it! You had a perfect stance, and a perfect form! But when it got down to it, you didn't have the guts." Toph poked Aang on the shoulder so hard, he fell to the ground.

"I know," Aang said, looking up her, sitting cross legged. "I'm sorry."

"Yea, you are sorry," Toph shouted, getting in his face again. "If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, then you could at least give it the pleasure of squishing you, instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp! Now. Do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?"

Aang was silent for a bit. "No," he finally said. "I don't think I do."

"Aang, it's no big deal," Katara said, as we were walking up to them. "You'll take a break, and try earthbending again when you're ready. Besides, you still have a lot of water bending to work on, okay?"

"Yeah," Aang agreed sadly. "That sounds good."

He stood, and Katara started to lead him away, but I stepped in front of them. "Oh, no you don't," I smirked. "It's my turn to play teacher."

They glanced at each other, scared.

"You guys haven't been writing my language for a while. You're out of practice." I winked at their sad faces.

Even though Aang was having trouble with earthbending, his writing skills were strong. He had progressed up to the letter R, along with Katara. They knew how to write all the letters, but they had no clue of the sounds, or how to put the letters together. Sokka on the other hand...

After a while of writing and learning, Aang suddenly exploded. "I need to face it head on, like a rock. I just can't do it. I don't know why I can't do it, but I can't," he ranted.

"Aang," Katara said, stopping what she was doing. "If fire and water are opposites, what's the opposite of air?"

"I guess earth," Aang sighed.

"That's why it's so hard for you to get it down," I told him. "It's like day and night - natural opposites. You can't change it, but you can overcome it."

"You'll figure it out, I know you will," Katara promised.

I smiled. "Alright. I'm done with writing," I declared. "Who wants to do some water bending?"

We all grinned, and raced each other to the waterhole.

/////\\\\\

"Sam?" Katara asked, while I was drawing the sun setting over the rocky cliffs.

"Yeah?" I asked, focusing on the paper.

"Have you seen Sokka?" she asked.

"No," I muttered. "He's probably trying to be macho or something, and tried to go on an adventure. Hey, can you show me how to hold this pencil again?"

Katara glared.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Come on," she said, pulling me over to where Aang was meditating. "Hey Aang?" she asked. "Have you seen-"

"Meditating here," he said harshly.

"It's important. It's almost sundown, and Sokka isn't back yet," Katara said, her eyes big. "I think we should search for him."

"We'll find him faster if we split up," Aang said, dashing away.

"I agree. I'll stay here, just in case he comes back." I sat on the ground, trying to finish my sunset.

"Oh, come on," Katara said, pulling me up and dragging me in a random direction.

/////\\\\\

"You found him!" Katara exclaimed when she saw Toph and Aang helping Sokka over to our camp.

"See, I could've stayed here," I griped, but they ignored me.

"The whole time I was in that hole, not knowing if I would live, or die," Sokka said, looking up at the sky dramatically. "It makes a man think about what's really important. I realized-"

"Hey Katara!" Aang shouted, interrupting Sokkas long speech. "Look what I can do!" He earthbent a rock off of another one, then turned around, smiling.

"You did it!" Katara congratulated. "I knew you could!"

"Appa! Appa! I can earthbend now!" Aang proclaimed, turning his back to the giant sky bison to show his stance. "They key is to be completely rooted. Physically, and mentally unmovable."

Appa licked Aang, sending him flying ten feet, and making us all laugh.

"Oh, Sokka," I said, holding up a piece of parchment and a pencil. "Aang and Katara already had their lessons. It's your turn."

"But what about Toph?" he asked, clearly unhappy.

"I'm blind," Toph said, sitting down. "I can't exactly see what you guys are doing."

Sokka sighed, grabbed the paper - still complaining, of course - and started to write the alphabet.