Chapter 77

By the next morning, Appa was healed enough to travel. He could still use some rest, but won't be doing anything intensive. At some point, Appa lost his saddle so no one can ride him until we get him a new one. Flying bison saddles aren't the kind of thing you can pick up at any random village, so if we want to get him a new one we need to go to a city. Appa might be fast in the air, but just walking around he's a bit slower than us and he can't maneuver nearly as well.

We figured that we had two choices either push on to Ba Sing Se without getting Appa a saddle or make a detour to the southeast peninsula to the port city of Jeonnan. We thought about it and figured both trips would take comparable amounts of travel time. That made the detour choice the more preferable one. We would be able to get Appa a new saddle, not have to camp for a few days, and then ride out the second part of the journey in comfort on Appa.

Jeonnan aesthetically reminded me Gaoling. Which makes sense since they're both port merchant hubs. However, Gaoling was very centrally located making it a more viable trading hub, so it had a lot of permanent shops. Jeonnan was more of a shipping hub most of what came into Jeonnan left Jeonnan. Instead of permanent shops, Jeonnan had a wide variety of pop up stalls selling whatever's popular at the moment. Luckily every town still needs some craftsmen. We found

A leather and wood worker willing to make a saddle quickly. I paid through the nose, but gold and money have lost all meaning to me. The craftsman told us it would be done in two days and to check back in then.

While we were waiting I gave a fat stack of money to the Kiyoshi Warriors, Ty Lee, and Azula so that they could go shopping. Azula had been a bit of a stick in the mud, but even she got into it. While they were all shopping I singled out Suki and took her on a date. We found this upscale restaurant a short walk from the market square. I got some tuna-salmon nigiri and a swordfish-halibut steak. She got some kind of fried chicken-turkey with gravy. Then we just talked.

"So, you've taught the Avatar water bending, found him a fire bending master, and now you're going to return his sky bison. How ever are you going to top yourself?"

"Well... I also discovered how to give people bending, and have made a plan to end the war. So I guess I will restore air bending to the world and ensure world peace."

"You certainly don't do things halfway. Wait did you say you can give people bending? How?"

"Why are you interested?" I ask ignoring the explanation.

"YES!" She says a bit too loudly, so she covers her mouth embarrassed. "whoops. I am. I mean I love being a Kiyoshi Warrior, and as Kiyoshi Warrior, I would never turn down advantage. Only a fool chooses to be weak when freely offered strength."

"Solid philosophy. I think bending can become a core part of yourself, but it doesn't have to be. So, what element?"

"Oh wow I hadn't expected to make such a big decision tonight. Obviously not fire. It's destructive and I would have to deal with people thinking I'm Fire Nation. I guess I should be earth but honestly, my fighting focuses on agility and mobility and earth bending is the total opposite. Water bending seems cool and I already know this talented handsome master who I could get hands-on experience with." She says winking at me as if it was subtle at all. "That said I think air bending is the best fit its the quickest, stealthiest, and most free of the elements."

"You'll need Aang to teach you"

"Then I guess I'll just have to stay with you and the rest of Team Avatar" She smirks.

"That's for the best we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself jumping off a cliff or something."

She scoff "I'm not an idiot. When I jump off cliffs, I make sure I have a spotter. Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."

"Fine. Fine. Give me your hands"

She puts her hands forward and I grab them. I close my eyes and focus on the familiar feeling of energy bending. I reach out to her core and instead of stoking a flame, I start to fan some wind. I force a great storm to start in her soul. It's not long before I open my eyes and hear her giggling. As my eyes open I realize I'm an idiot, or at the very least closing my eyes to concentrate has been thoroughly ingrained into my subconscious.

"I feel so light. Is this how benders feel all the time?"

"That's just air benders. I think fire benders feel warm, earth benders feel strong, water benders feel loose."

"I love it. I can't wait to find Aang so I can start lessons." She gleefully tells me.

"Who knew you were so impatient. If you wanted lessons immediately you should have picked water. But there is another way. The original air benders learned from sky bison really pay attention to Appa when he flies. It might help or it might be so uneventful it drives you crazy."

"Is this what you do as a teacher? Give your students vague hints so they can chase their own tail like a weasel-dog?" She asks mockingly.

"It's not all I do"