The Little Dragon

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Sunday August, 9th

Kaida

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    I was lying flat on my back. I had been knocked back for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Hyo has given up worrying about me at this point. I was looking at how the dark sky turned into day.

    "What am I going to tell Iroh?" I groaned putting my hands on my face. I can only tell him that I get a little bit of lighting but it only blows up in my face when I try to direct it.

    I sat up, "again."

    And I got blown back down into the sand again. I punched the air. "Why do I suck at this?" I flopped my arms down into the sand.

    I sat up once more, "one more time." I stood and circled my hands and watched it blow up in my face. Sending me back down into the sand. I let out a groan in frustration.

    "Last time," I sat up again and started once more. I probably had twenty last times before it was time for me to meet with Uncle Iroh again. I sulked over to Hyo who looked up at me from where he was eating fish.

    He gave me an 'are you done abusing yourself' look, before lowering and allowing me to climb on top of him. I took the time back to Iroh to catch up on the sleep that I lost through the night. If Iroh tells me to meditate today, I will certainly use that as a nap time.

    We arrived and I melted the bars like the day before, hopping down. Iroh was already awake and doing push up's. "Good morning," I said wearily. I didn't want to admit that I had been a complete failure.

    "How did you do?" He continued to do push-ups, not sounding out of breath at all. I shrunk back sulkily, why did he have to ask the hard question right out of the gates?

    "Uh-" I looked away, the wall seemed to be very interesting at this point. Then I sighed, no point dancing around it, "I sucked." I slumped my shoulders. "I would get a spark and it blew up in my face before it could leave my hands."

    "You got a spark?" Iroh stopped his push-ups, sitting cross-legged. I nodded my head. At the rate I was going, I would have to leave without knowing the basics of this Lightning Technique.

    "Yeah but I tried really hard and gave it my all, I didn't know what I was doing wrong." I sighed, bowing my head. "Please help me so I don't disappoint you." I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.

    "I was only hoping for a spark on the first day." He gave me a soft smile. "The Fire Nation was not built in a day," his voice was somber yet encouraging. "Let's begin today."

    Today was more brutal than yesterday. This time more physical than anything else. I had to hang from the upper vent bars for as long as I could, which was very metal too. "You must be resilient." Iroh kept saying to me.

    When I came out of that training session twelve hours later, I was so tired. I slugged over to Hyo who was looking pretty worried about me. I climbed up onto Hyo after getting his permission, and we took off. When we got to the lagoon, I flopped off him into the sand.

    "Sleep." I groaned closing my eyes. Then they shot open again, "I must practice!" I sat up and walked over to the water, my back facing the Hyo so he wouldn't get hurt.

    I circled my hands like Iroh had drilled into me, feeling the shock from within my fingertips. The power crackling in my core. What I was doing wrong was not having a secure target for my lighting. I was just aiming at the side of the cliff, not a single crack that I wanted to blast into oblivion.

   Of course, there was much more that I was doing wrong. I pointed my fingers and lighting... blew up in my face. I flew backward this time my body not landing in the sand but blasting all the way back to the cliff. When I collided pain shot through my body before I slumped into the sand.

    I felt Hyo nudge me, worry back in his eyes. "It's hopeless isn't it." I put my hand on Hyo's nose. I was a fool for jumping into this with no preparation. I was trying so hard though, why wasn't it working.

    I felt Hyo's nose at my back helping me sit up. "Thanks, buddy." I rubbed his scales. What would I do about him? I stood up, dusting myself off. "Alright, this is for you, Hyo!" I shouted and circled my hands, the shock coming through.

   I pointed it at the small crack in the side of the cliff. Come on, this is for Hyo. The lighting rattled out of me and snaked towards the cliff hitting way off target but coming out of my hands never the less. My eyes widen in surprise as I looked at my smoking fingers.

    "Did that actually happen?" I said to myself in shock. Did I actually do it? No way. I looked back at Hyo who seemed surprised too. Then I looked back to the gaping hole in the side of the mountain.

    "We did it Hyo!" I cheered when I realized what had happened. I ran up to him and hugged his neck. "We did it!" I hugged him so tight.

    "Alright, one more time." I sized up the wall. "Let's get it close this time."

    I did not get it close. But the lighting did erupt from my fingers once more. I cheered with success. "Alright!" I jumped for joy. I can't believe that I got it. The despair that I was feeling a second ago was long gone.

    "Now it was time to sleep!" I walked over to Hyo who was sitting down ready to sleep as well. Hyo didn't need to sleep but only did it when I was because it seemed normal for him, and I didn't have the guts to tell him he didn't need too, because he was just too cute. "Thanks again, buddy. I couldn't have done it without you."

   I couldn't wait for tomorrow, tomorrow would be my last day here, before I had to go meet with the gAang. I couldn't wait to see my friends either. I fell asleep with a smile on my face excited for what the future would bring.

    At times like these, I think about Zuko. How was he? What was he doing? Was he happy? Would I ever see him again? My stomach sank with that. When a Dragon fall in love, they do it for life.

    Zuko could fall in love with someone else while I loved him for the rest of my life. Well, that was a sad thought. I snuggled into Hyo's side. There was no point worrying about that now. What I needed to worry about was trying to not get my ass kicked by Iroh's training tomorrow.

    I couldn't wait.

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