"COME ON WATERBENDERS! Do what you're meant to do! Bend the water, BEND IT!" No one can. Of course. Why did I expect this?"Sifu Katara, we've been TRYING to bend this block of ice for MINTUES! Can't we take a break?" "Paneua, Iftra and Makatuy take a break. I need a break too."
"Sifu Katara the tournament-"
"We're not ready yet-"
"How can we do this if-"
"I SAID TAKE A BREAK!"
They walk away, and I can hear Paneua muttering "Finally." I walk towards the house that we now live in. "Sokka, why'd you convince me to come here, to the Northern Water Tribe to start teaching? Even worse, why near an annual tournament, which only gives us 2 days to practice? Sokka, this is hopeless. Paneua can't handle 2 MINTUES of practice, Iftra is questioning EVERYTHING, and Makatuy acts like he knows better than me, and does EVERY movement wrong! Why do you still have confidence in them?" He fiddles with his boomerang, then answers me. "You remember Tophs Metalbending School, right? Before, Kunyos Firebending Dojo was going to take over. They had a match to the sit, where if one person can make one teammate sit, they win the place. They only had 3 days to practice. On the last day of practice, Toph said how she made them someone they're not. The next day, when she was almost about to sit, one of her students metalbended to stop her. After that, I believe in your students. If you thought they were the best, or if they got super emotional with you, I don't care. But as long as they're your students, I have complete faith. Didn't I tell ya I was a motivation bender? Katara?" After hearing that, I'm ready to give up. That didn't help. They're not metalbenders, they're waterbenders.
"WELCOME TO THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE ANNUAL WATERBENDING TOURNAMENT! WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS: HAYNGHO'S WATERBENDING LESSONS, JINGDAI'S SCHOOL OF WATERBENDING, AND KATARAS ART OF WATERBENDING! THE FIRST TO BE COMPETING IS HAYNGHO'S AND JINGDAI'S! WHOEVER WINS WILL GO AGAINST KATARA'S! THE WINNING SCHOOL WILL GET THE NEW AND IMPROVED SCHOOL, WITH EXTRA ROOMS FOR STORAGE! LETS BEGIN!" The cheering is deafening. My students haven't even arrived. I see Sokka in the crowd, booing at them. I can't help but remember the time when we first meet Toph, at that earthbending stadium. Hayngho's team is running from the huge wave that Jingdai's team has conjured. AS they get washed away, and into the out of bounds/immediately out area. "AND NOW THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, JINGDAI'S SCHOOL AGAINST KATARA'S SCHOOL! AND- WAIT! WHERE ARE THEY? IF THEY'RE NOT HERE, IT'S AN AUTOMATIC FORFEIT! ARE THEY HERE?" When everyone thought they weren't here, they came bursting out, and panting. "*Puff* Sorry we're late…*puff*…extra practice…*puff*…are we too late?" panted Iftra. "NO! JUST IN TIME! GO INSIDE THE ARENA, AND GET READY TO FIGHT!" I think about seeing Madam Dustrio to see if I can take the nearest boat ride to the Fire Nation so I can meet the Mother of Faces. Just for a new identity. As they go into the arena, I know I have enough dignity to face this. Sokka's cheering them on, saying motivational words. As the fight starts, the first teammate on the other team has to attack Paneua. She dodges it, then says "You sliced my hair! I'll get you!" and blasts the teammate out. Then the second teammate attacks Iftra. She backfires it, gets the opponent out, then asks "Is that okay? Will I get in trouble? Did I break any rules?" The last opponent attacks Makatuy and he blocks it. "That's not how you do it properly. Your hand's to far apart. Try this-!" and bursts water at him. He goes out. The tradition is the team that's ahead must make a huge wave to finally beat them. They do it perfectly; equivalent amounts of water, and showers them into the out of bounds/immediately out area. "AND THE WINNING SCHOOL…KATARA'S ART OF WATERBENDING SCHOOL! CONGRATULATIONS!" I can't believe it. When we head back, I ask them "How did you do it?" Paneua answers. "We overheard you and Sokka talking. No one believed in us like you and Sokka. People only thought I was a self centered brat who's lazy."
"A person who's annoyingly asks questions a lot."
"A tall, handsome rebel."
I look at them, and say "Well, you become masters when you only win one tournament? Come on, let's get going!" I shout. This time, I have complete faith in them.
