訓練

 

BOOK TWO:

TRAINING

 

            Back in the Fire Nation, four weeks after Taeyeon left for her training, Sunny and Fany sat together by the turtle-duck pond. It was not the same without Taeyeon. Both seemed to feel the empty void that Taeyeon once filled. Most of their free time, they just find themselves sitting idly, wondering what Taeyeon is doing out in the big wide world. They haven’t received a single letter from her—though that shouldn’t really be a surprise assuming that she was busy with “Avatar affairs.” Nevertheless, the longer time passed, the more the twin sisters longed for Taeyeon’s company. Even Sunny admitted that she missed having a student to train.

            Fany breathed a heavy sigh as she threw some bread crumbs at the waddling turtle-ducks. “It’s only been a month and I feel like dying of loneliness already. When is Taeyeon supposed to come back anyway?”

            “I don’t know, maybe a few years,” Sunny said as she lay back on the soft grass.

            “What?! Years? That’s a long time!” Fany exclaimed as she threw the bread down beside her on the grass.

            “Well, what do you expect? If fire bending takes years to master—unless you’re extremely gifted—then how much longer will mastering the rest of the elements take?”

            Fany sighed once more and lay down with Sunny on the grass. “Why’d she have to be the Avatar anyway? If she stayed as the normal old Taeyeon that she used to be, we wouldn’t have to be separated from her.”

            “It’s fate. You couldn’t have changed her identity if you tried.”

            Suddenly, as they were lying down, they saw something flying overhead. It grew bigger and bigger as it came closer until it was visible enough to be recognizable. And with that, their downcast hearts began to beat faster in new found joy.

            “Isn’t that Ginger?” Fany said as she sat up with her eyes concentrated on the bird flying toward them.

            “Oh yes, it is!” Sunny jumped up in excitement. When the messenger hawk finally arrived, it perched on Sunny’s shoulder and she began to take out the letter rolled up in the cylinder case attached to the bird’s back.

            Fany huddled beside her sister to read Taeyeon’s writing with her. This is Taeyeon’s first letter to them. At that moment, they read the words with Taeyeon’s voice in mind, as if she herself was telling them everything that has happened in her adventure so far.

          “Dear Sunny and Fany,

I do not even know where to begin since I haven’t really written to anyone before, but here goes.

           Right now, I am staying with a friend, a new friend, whom I met here in the North Pole after I became frustrated with my training. Yes, that means I am no longer staying with Princess Sica in her cold, boring palace. The reason for that is a long complicated story, which I will recount as detailed as I can in this letter. Anyway, this new friend happens to be the sweetest, most innocent, and caring person I have ever met in my life. Her name is Seohyun, and I wish that you could all be here to meet her. Sorry but she beats both of you on my list of kindest people alive, but fear not—you guys are still my number one sisters and no one can replace both of you.

Now let me recount my whole story with Princess Sica…”

***

            One week after Taeyeon arrived at the North Pole, Taeyeon stayed out by the water-path streets looking for fish. She had been staring at glassy-blue water for hours now, and she still had not caught anything other than an uncomfortable chill and a growing cold. This is one of Sica’s assignments. At first, Taeyeon was eager to start training with Sica, but now, she was questioning whether training with her was a good idea or not. Her first training on the job was to swirl water in a large circular bucket. That lesson itself was not difficult, but Sica left Taeyeon to swirl water in the bucket for hours. When Taeyeon got sick of it, she went to look for her teacher, only to find that Sica had dozed off. Then Sica taught her to draw out the water and swirl it around like a giant hula-hoop. She also did that and other water bending moves for hours while Sica left her to do other things—mainly sleep. Now she was looking for fish out in the freezing cold. She has actually found a bunch of fish swimming by, but she couldn’t exactly figure out how to grab them and take them to her teacher. Sica specifically told her to bring the fish alive. Taeyeon has absolutely no idea how to do that, and now she just wants to give up.

            “Hey Avatar Eonni,” Krystal greeted. She was walking with her brother Yonghwa out to the library, but seeing that the Avatar was having a bit of trouble with her assignment, she felt obliged to help. After all, everyone discovered the Avatar because of the little kid. The scene at the Earth Kingdom Coronation still played in her head every time she sees Taeyeon.

            “Oh, hello Krystal and Yonghwa,” Taeyeon said as she looked up briefly to acknowledge them. She immediately focused back on looking for fish though.

            “What are you looking for in the water?” Yonghwa asked.

            “Fish,” Taeyeon replied. “Your sister wanted fish.”

            “There’s plenty in the market,” Yonghwa shrugged.

            “She wants it alive.”

            “Let me help you,” Krystal eagerly volunteered. “First, spot a fish. A lot of fish actually swim by here. You just need a good eye.”

            Then, just in time, a silhouette of a nine-inch fish passed by in the waters before them. “There’s one! Now what?” Taeyeon turned to Krystal.

            “Well you just do this…” With a quick wave of her hand, she made a bubble of water rise from the blue surface. In it was the fish, swimming in the little bubble. After tensing her fingers for a second, an ice crust was formed around the bubble, making it look like a fish bowl. Taeyeon then took the ice bowl with her two hands and marveled at Krystal’s amazing water bending skills.

            “The bowl trick is optional,” Krystal said with a shrug. At that second Taeyeon saw how similar she was to her brother. Then Krystal continued, “It took a while for me to get that move too when I was little, so don’t worry if you can’t do proper freezing techniques right away.”

            “Gee, thanks, Krystal. For a kid, you’re pretty skilled,” Taeyeon complimented her.

            “No problem, Avatar Eonni. Now I actually have things to do with Yong Oppa here, so don’t count on me to help you all the time. I’m kinda busy.”

            “Busy with what?”

            “Oh, just brother-sister things…nothing important…,” Yonghwa replied for Krystal as he cupped his hands on to keep her from talking further. “Anyway, we’re going. Good luck on the water bending, Miss Taeyeon. See you around.”

***

            Taeyeon slammed the fish bowl on the desk beside Sica’s recliner, loud enough to wake up the Sleeping Beauty. Sica’s eyes fluttered open and stared up at the frustrated Taeyeon.

            “Oh, you’re back,” Sica said groggily. Then she sat up and stretched for a bit. “What did I ask you to do again?”

            Taeyeon just rolled her eyes at her.

            “Oh, right, the fish,” Sica giggled for a bit. “What time is it? How did it take you this long just to catch a stupid fish?”

            “It’s not like you told me how to do it specifically,” Taeyeon replied.

            “I wanted to test your critical thinking. A time will come when nobody will tell you how to do things. You need to learn to figure things out for yourself.” After Sica inspected the ice bowl, she looked at Taeyeon with a displeased frown. “Krystal caught the fish for you and made this bowl, didn’t she? This is considered cheating. Go get me another fish. This time, do it without anyone’s help.”

            “But that’s unfair! In real life, you are allowed to ask for help,” Taeyeon retorted.

            “It’s just catching fish, for goodness sakes!” Sica shot back.

            “When are you going to teach me any real moves? All you make me do is a bunch of nonsense all day while you sleep in your warm, comfy palace! You don’t even show me any of your moves! Sunny isn’t like this!”

            “Well then, you want to fight me, huh? You want me to teach you the hard way?” Sica stepped forward with her cold, piercing glare directed at Taeyeon. Taeyeon isn’t backing down though.

            “If I can learn something from it, then bring it on!”

***

            Krystal and Yonghwa arrived at the library. There they were greeted by fifteen-year-old Suho, who manages the library all by himself. Everyone sees him as one of the smartest and most responsible kids out there. Everyone’s parents want their sons to be just like him. Yonghwa dislikes him a little for that. If Suho is so great, then why not make him Crown Prince instead? Yonghwa also doesn’t like the fact that Suho is close with Seohyun. They see each other often, talk to each other about books often, discuss important self-improvement lessons often… If anything, Yonghwa is the exact opposite of this angel-like boy. He has to admit—he is a little jealous of the guy.

            “Good afternoon, Your Highnesses,” Suho greeted with a warm, friendly smile. In this little city, everyone knows the Royal Family and how they look like. In fact, everyone pretty much knows each other.

            “Your Highness my foot,” Yonghwa mumbled. Krystal stomped on his foot to rebuke him. Then Yonghwa cleared his throat and asked, “Is there any self-improvement literature that I can possibly benefit from?”

            “Oh, why yes! You’ve come to the right place.” Suho motioned for the two royalties to follow him through the stacks of shelves filled with all sorts of books and scrolls. As they walked, Suho began to converse with him. “I’m really glad that the Crown Prince is taking initiative in learning about how to be a better person for our little Kingdom. Now there are lots of areas that humans can possibly improve on…” Then he started rambling on about a bunch of unintelligible things that Yonghwa doesn’t really care about.

            “Remind me again, why are we even doing this?” Yonghwa whispered to his little sister as they followed the rambling Suho through the library. “I don’t even like books.”

            “Seohyun Eonni likes these sorts of things. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt you to learn about attitude improvement. Reading is a great way to stimulate the mind. Yoochun Oppa suggested this and I think it’s a good idea,” Krystal whispered back.

            “Secretary Yoochun again? Man, what is wrong with him?”

            “Anyway, we’re here at the self-improvement section,” Suho announced. “Feel free to browse through some books. Do you want anything specific?”

            “We’ll just look around and check some titles for ourselves,” Krystal replied with a sweet smile. “Thanks for helping us out, Suho Oppa.”

            “You’re welcome. If Your Highnesses need me, don’t hesitate to ask.” And with that, Suho left them alone to browse through books.

            “Leadership for Dummies,” Krystal read a book that she happened to pick up. Then she put it back on the shelf and looked for another one. “Nah… You need to sound smarter than that… What about this?”

            “The Marks of Brilliant Leadership? Sounds boring as hell,” Yonghwa groaned.

            “Read it anyway,” Krystal said as she handed the book over to her brother.

            After choosing about two more boring books, Yonghwa and Krystal went back to Suho’s desk to show them what they want to borrow.

            “These are brilliant books. I know because I’ve read these.” Suho’s eyes were gleaming as he spoke. “Well, I hope you enjoy these and learn more about the world and yourself. Thank you for stopping by!”

            “Oh, yeah, I will surely enjoy these,” Yonghwa said sarcastically. Before leaving, Yonghwa remembered something. He turned to Suho and asked, “Um, I didn’t see Miss Seohyun around today. Doesn’t she come here often?”

            “She does, but I guess she has other things to do today,” Suho politely answered. “If you want to see her, she is probably at the town clinic. She said that she just found a job there. I’m sure that she will appreciate having friends visit her, especially the Royal Jung Family.”

            “Let’s go!” Krystal enthusiastically tugged at her brother’s fur cloak.

Yonghwa doesn’t even know where the town clinic is. Thankfully Krystal was around to take him to places. Just as she said, she memorized every nook and cranny of this city. Before long, they arrived at the clinic, where mostly old folks gather to be therapeutically healed. Outside the small clinic is a huge “hot spring” Jacuzzi where old folks can soothe their aching bones. The temperature of the “hot spring” is regulated by a fire bender named Shim Changmin, who decided to move to the North Pole a few years ago. Inside the clinic is the water bending healers. They are able to use their water bending to heal wounds, injuries, and other physical problems.

There aren’t much people at the clinic today. Sickness isn’t common in the North Pole. For today, it seems that Zhang Yixing, also called Lay by most people, is the only healer around. Even Seohyun is nowhere in sight.

“Lay Oppa,” Krystal greeted Yixing. He immediately flashed a bright smile—complete with dimples.

“Oh, it’s the Jung Royals,” Yixing stood up and bowed. “I hope none of you are here for a healing session. I can only wish for the best of Your Highnesses’ health.”

“I’m sure we’re pretty healthy,” Krystal said with a giggle. “Is Seohyun Eonni around?”

“I’m sorry but she’s not here. I believe it’s her day off today.”

“Where could she be then?”

“Sorry, I don’t really know.”

***

            Sica and Taeyeon went out to a wide open space near a huge waterfall where they can have their training. Taeyeon is actually getting pretty excited about this. Even in the cold arctic climate she felt fired up.

            “Okay, so all you need to do is raise up a protective water wall like this,” Sica said as she raised her hands to draw water out of the frozen ground. The water shield distorted Sica’s image as Taeyeon looked through the water. Taeyeon thought that she looked funny. “Now, Taeyeon, you try it.”

            Taeyeon did exactly what Sica told her. After a few more tries, she easily mastered he move. She felt pretty good about herself.

            “Good, you’re doing well,” Sica complimented her. “Now, I will shoot tiny ice darts at you at blinding speed, and you better protect yourself with the move I taught you. Okay?”

            Taeyeon immediately nodded and began to focus. However, when Sica started throwing the darts at her, she was too shocked by the speed that instead of using water bending to protect herself, she used fire to melt the ice by reflex.

            “Hey, no fire bending!” Sica yelled.

            “Sorry, but your attack was too fast! I can’t even water bend a shield that quickly!” Taeyeon yelled back.

            “In real fights, you don’t ask your opponent to go easy on you!” Sica retorted. As much as Taeyeon is annoyed by this princess, she does make some sense though. “See? This is what I’m talking about. You can’t even have practice duels because you lack practice on the basic moves. Go back to getting me a fish and practicing your Tai Chi! And be more fluid in your movements!”

            “Can’t you at least watch me and stay by me while I practice? So that I can at least figure out if I’m doing something wrong?” Taeyeon whined.

            “If you still at it, it means you’re doing something wrong,” Sica said bluntly.

            Then while the two bickering ladies were still firing shots of harsh words against each other, a green bullfrog suddenly jumped in between them and croaked. Where in the world did that frog come from?

            “Ew! What the heck is that thing?” Sica exclaimed. Being the decorous princess that she was, Sica was terribly appalled by the creature’s unexpected apparition. She almost jumped when the frog hopped closer to her.

            “Um, I think it’s a frog,” said Taeyeon as she tried to approach the creature.

            “Oh no, I’m so sorry!” cried a teenage girl about a few years younger than Sica and Taeyeon. She ran toward the frog and grabbed to make sure that it won’t jump away again. Then she tucked some of her loose black hair back behind her ear and respectfully bowed to the two arguing princesses. “I’m really sorry for bothering both of you!”

            “Seohyun, what the heck are you doing with a frog?” Sica asked the girl.

            “Oh this is my new friend, Sergeant Keroro!” Seohyun said with bright, shining eyes, as if it was completely normal to have a friend bullfrog. Her childish charm was just too adorable that Taeyeon couldn’t help but chuckle.

            “Aigoo, this kid,” Sica said as she gave Seohyun a playful thud on her head. Suddenly Sica became tinged in sweetness for some reason. Maybe it was because of this new girl?

            Taeyeon approached the young girl and held a hand out to her. Then she introduced herself saying, “Hi, I’m Taeyeon, the new Avatar.”

            “Oh hello Avatar Taeyeon, it’s very nice to finally meet you in person!” Seohyun said as she bowed and shook Taeyeon’s hand. After a bit of silence, she then remarked, “You’re a little tinier than I thought…”

            Seohyun was quite tall. She was taller than Sica and Taeyeon even though she was two years younger than them. Taeyeon felt a little annoyed by the comment, but she just brushed it off. She doesn’t want to make any more new enemies. Having to put up with the Ice Princess was bad enough.

            The young and innocent Seohyun placed Sergeant Keroro in the bosom of her coat. It looked rather ridiculous seeing as there is a frog peeking out from her chest. Sica grimaced at the sight of it, while Taeyeon was trying to hold back her laughter the entire time.

            “Anyway, I’ll be going now. Please take care of yourselves, Eonnis! And please stop fighting. That’s not healthy for either of you,” Seohyun advised. She then left as she skipped about with her pet frog in her coat.

            When Seohyun left, Taeyeon and Sica looked at each other and apologized. Maybe Sica was being a little too harsh on the new water bender and Taeyeon didn’t trust her teacher enough to obey her orders. They gave each other a hug. Now all harsh words had been forgiven. Later that afternoon, Taeyeon even cooked the fish that Krystal caught and ate it with Sica. Both of them just decided to spend some time together and get to know each other more. That way they can understand how to get along.

            However, a few days later, both of them started fighting again. Usually their miffs were all about Taeyeon’s frustrations. First, she misses her family in the Fire Nation, the warm sun, and being treated like a proper royal princess instead of being treated as the Avatar. Second, everyone expects a lot from her, but her water bending was just weak and terrible. Third, Sica forbid her to use fire bending since she thinks that it would be best for Taeyeon to step out of her comfort zone. How was that even possible? To Taeyeon, fire bending is a big part of her whole being. Telling to stop using fire bending is like telling her to stop using an arm. Besides, Sunny specifically told her to practice fire bending as often as she can. Who should she listen to, Sunny or Sica? Now she is just confused. Sica on the other hand only wants to help Taeyeon in the best possible way that she knows how. She believes that coddling Taeyeon will not do her any good. If only Taeyeon could see how much Sica really wants her to become a great water bender, maybe they wouldn’t be bickering like this. Just like Taeyeon, Sica really does not know how to express her feelings properly. Most of the time she just comes across as a very cold, snobby princess, but deep down she really cares about the Avatar.

            Finally, Taeyeon has gotten sick of everything. She packed her bags and calmly said to Sica with a wry smile, “Look, I want to take a break from all this. I don’t want us to keep on fighting about stupid things. Maybe I should just leave for now to clear my head.”

            “And where do even plan on going?” Sica pleadingly stared at Taeyeon’s eyes. As much as they don’t get along, they did have some times when they truly enjoyed each other’s company. She honestly did not want Taeyeon to leave.

            “I don’t know. I just can’t stay here in the palace,” Taeyeon replied with a sigh. “I think this is for the best. Goodbye for now.”

            “Okay, if that’s what you want. No one can stop the Avatar,” Sica shrugged. “But just so you know, you’re still welcome to stay here with us if you want to come back.”

            “I’ll keep that in mind,” Taeyeon smiled. Then she gave Sica a hug and left the palace.

            Lonely little Taengoo went off on her own. She had no idea where she was going, and she certainly had no specific goal in mind other than to just rest from all the stress. So there she wandered aimlessly at the small North Pole city. That night, as she was walking down a lonesome isolated street, Taeyeon heard a familiar voice calling out to her from a rooftop.

            “Taeyeon Noona!”

            Taeyeon looked around. From right above the low rooftop stood Crown Prince Yonghwa, dressed in shabby clothes with his guitar hanging from his shoulders. He cautiously made his way down and approached the lonely Avatar.

            “Oh, Yonghwa, what are you doing here?” Taeyeon wondered.

            “I should ask the same to you. Nobody usually comes here,” said Yonghwa.

            “If nobody comes here then why are you here?” Taeyeon tried to humor him.

            To answer Taeyeon’s question right on time, a shout was heard from the same rooftop saying, “Yonghwa Hyung! Aren’t you coming?”

            “I’m coming!” Yonghwa shouted back. Then he turned to Taeyeon and grabbed her luggage. “Come, Noona, I’ll show you why I’m here.”

            Yonghwa tried to help Taeyeon climb up to the rooftop but she refused. Instead, she jumped up and fired a strong rocket-blastlike force from her feet and arms with her fire bending, enabling her to jump higher than about twelve feet. Now Yonghwa had to climb up with his ordinary, non-bending limbs.

            When Taeyeon reached the top, three other teenage boys about the same age as Seohyun were up there with Krystal. All were playing instruments: a guitar, an acoustic bass guitar, and some percussion. They were surprised to see a fire bender flying up to the rooftop like that. The only fire bender in the city was Shim Changmin anyway, and he does not fly like that.

            “Avatar Eonni!” Krystal greeted. “You’re here!”

            “Avatar?” all three of them stopped playing their instruments.

            “It’s okay. Just continue what you’re doing. You guys don’t have to bow,” said Taeyeon. “I’ve been getting sick of all the respect lately.”

            When Yonghwa arrived, they all played their instruments and began singing songs together while Krystal and Taeyeon just watched. Taeyeon even made a little bonfire to keep themselves warm in the growing cold.

Then, after finishing a few songs, one of the boys named Minhyuk, who was playing percussion on the bongo drums, turned to Krystal and said, “This next song is for you, Princess Krystal.”

Taeyeon began snickering beside Krystal. For such a young kid, she already has a boy singing songs for her. Taeyeon has to admit though, the boy was pretty cute, and his adorable baby face looked great with Krystal’s. Krystal just clapped in excitement and listened intently to the song. The other guy named Jonghyun, who was the most quiet out of all of them, began playing his guitar to accompany Minhyuk’s singing.

“…the star engraved in my heart, the star that shines in my heart, I think that might be you…,” he sang.

Song: (Star - Kang Minhyuk)

Taeyeon’s snickers turned to laugher. The others began laughing too. Meanwhile, Krystal was still enchanted by Minhyuk’s sweet charm. Before the infatuation got worse, Yonghwa thumped Minhyuk’s head, and told him to stop.

“Hey punk, my sister is too young for this,” he called off. The truth is, he was just a little jealous that Minhyuk was able to easily sing love songs to a girl while he couldn’t even get Seohyun to like him. Plus, he can’t allow his sister to have a boyfriend before he gets his own girlfriend.

“Eh, Yonghwa, you’re no fun,” Taeyeon teased.

“Speaking of stars, the sky is really pretty tonight! Look at all the gleaming jewels!” said Krystal as she looked up at the cold winter sky. “Yoochun Oppa says that there will be a meteor shower during the full moon next week. Isn’t that romantic?” she looked at Yonghwa and gave him a smirk, implying that taking Seohyun out under the meteor shower would be a good idea. Yonghwa just dismissed her and pretended not to hear anything.

After a while, Jungshin, the tall guy with the bass, took out some snacks from his bag and shared it with everyone. They all had a really fun night. Taeyeon felt like her problems were immediately forgotten just by singing and chatting with them. Somehow, she wished that Fany and Sunny would be around to experience this with her. She even wished that Sica was around to listen to the music too.

“Guys, I have to run. My mom wants me home before bedtime,” said tall Jungshin as he stood up to leave. “It’s important to obey parents.”

“Tch, such a mama’s boy,” handsome Jonghyun teased.

Later on, all of them decided to go home. Now this only leaves one question.

“So Avatar Eonni, where do you plan on going?” Krystal asked. “I heard from Sica Eonni that you won’t be staying with us anymore.”

“I’ll probably just wander out for a while. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” Taeyeon sighed.

So later on that night, Taeyeon continued wandering around. To make sure that nothing bad happens to the Avatar, Krystal and Yonghwa kept a close watch on her. They secretly stalked her all night. Finally she stopped near a waterfall and tried practicing her water bending again.

As the two Jung Royalties watched Taeyeon play with water, Krystal turned to Yonghwa and asked, “Do you know where we are?”

Yonghwa shook his head. “Where are we anyway?”

Krystal smirked and continued watching. Yonghwa had no idea what Krystal meant by that strange smirk but he just continued watching from afar anyway. Later, while Taeyeon was trying so hard to bend ice, a girl came out of one of the nearby houses. Just by looking at the silhouette, Yonghwa knew exactly who it was. Now he understood by Krystal gave him that smirk. The girl seemed to be looking for something, but became distracted when she saw Taeyeon. At that moment, Taeyeon lost control of the pointed icicles that she made, and one of them fell straight down her arm, giving her a huge wound.

“Ow, my arm!” Taeyeon cried in pain as she held on to her bleeding limb.

“Oh my, are you okay?” gasped a familiar voice. Taeyeon looked from behind and saw a worried girl approaching her from the shadows. When she got closer, Taeyeon recognized her immediately. It was the girl with the pet bullfrog, Seohyun. “Avatar Taeyeon? What are you doing here? Come with me inside, quickly!”

Seohyun helped Taeyeon stand and led the wounded Avatar into her house. When Krystal and Yonghwa saw this, Krystal slowly dragged her brother home. Yonghwa still wanted to watch though, but Krystal insisted that the Avatar did not need their watchful eye anymore. "Come on, Oppa. You still need to read self-improvement books."

Meanwhile, Seohyun drew out some water from a jug with her water bending and placed her hands wrapped in water over Taeyeon’s wound. For a few seconds, the water began to glow. Afterwards, Taeyeon’s wound was completely healed.

“Whoa, how’d you do that?” Taeyeon asked in amazement. She stared at her healed arm. She couldn’t fully grasp what just happened.

“I just healed your wound, Miss Avatar. It’s nothing special,” Seohyun humbly replied.

“Just call me Taeyeon Eonni.”

“Anyway, I thought you were staying with the Jung Royalties. What are you doing in this quiet part of the city?” Seohyun blinked in curiosity. “You need to go home, Eonni. It’s late.”

“Oh, I was just wandering around. I sort of just wanted to take a break from water bending training with Sica. We were getting in each other’s nerves so I decided to leave the palace for a while before our crazy relationship gets worse,” Taeyeon explained.

Then, as if she wasn’t listening, Seohyun replied with, “You should go back now, Eonni. It’s late. If you want, I can accompany you on the way there.”

“No, I told you, I don’t want to make things worse with Sica right now,” Taeyeon tried to explain again. “I even have my luggage here with me.”

“Then why don’t you two just make up and be friends again?” she innocently asked. If only it was that simple.

“We already did that. I just want a little break from her right now.”

Seeing that Taeyeon doesn’t want to discuss it any further, she just took Taeyeon’s luggage and neatly placed it by the wall. Then she said with a wry smile, “If you have no other place to stay, you can sleep here for the night, Eonni. You can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thank you, but I don’t want to be a burden,” Taeyeon said awkwardly.

“It’s fine, I insist,” Seohyun said with a sweet smile.

“Oh, thank you.” Taeyeon just feels really overwhelmed by all the hospitable people in her life. First, it was Sunny and Fany, then the Jung Royal Family, and now this warm-hearted girl named Seohyun. She knew she doesn’t deserve to be treated with this much kindness.

“There’s one condition though,” Seohyun continued.

“What?” Taeyeon gulped. Her heart began beating faster. Conditions never sounded good.

“You need to promise me that you and Princess Sica will be really good friends again, and that you need to continue your training with her.”

Taeyeon nodded. Seohyun held her pinky up and Taeyeon held it with hers. “I promise.”

“Oh, and one more thing… My Sergeant Keroro is missing again. I looked for him all day, but I just couldn’t find him anywhere! I’m getting worried. Can you please help me find him tomorrow?”

Seohyun’s sudden change of topic from serious to frog issues caught Taeyeon off guard. On one second, the girl insists on mending relationships, and on another, she suddenly worries about something entirely childish and trivial. Taeyeon found that strange, but she liked Seohyun anyway.

***

“…The next day, I went all over the city to look for her pet bullfrog, but it was still nowhere to be found. Anyway, since I was with her, she taught me a lot of basic water bending too. It feels really strange to have someone younger teach me things. We got along really well though, except for the times when she would tease my height. Now I am writing this letter in Seohyun’s living room. I told her all about my life in the Fire Nation and about both of you. I also told her my frustrations with Sica. She still insists that I go back to train with Sica. She keeps saying that Sica only has everyone’s best interests at heart and other stuff like that.

            Now I will try my best to get better at basic water bending while I am with her. Like I promised Seohyun, I will surely make up with Sica and train with her again. Now that I took a break from all the fuss, I did realize that I was a bit too stubborn. If anything, Sica was actually a great teacher. I just didn’t see that sooner because of her lazy/sleepy/cold guise. All she ever taught me was for my own good, even though I did not appreciate the long hours of doing nothing but swirling water or catching fish.

            Don’t forget to write back to me! I’d love to hear what my twin sisters have been up to. How is the Firelord? How are the turtle-ducks? Fany, I hope you’re not missing me too much. Don’t skip your meals! Don’t fight with your sister either! Sometimes, at night, I just have dreams of me poking your face. Strange, I know. How about you, Master Sunny? Are you still practicing your fire bending? Wait till I come back, and I’ll show you what a real fire bending master is like! I love you both! I miss your eye-smiling faces! I always keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Take care!

Your dear Avatar Sister,

Taengoo”

            “Aigoo, the Ice Princess,” Sunny and Fany laughed together as they read Taeyeon’s dilemma with Sica. Both were just so happy to hear from Taeyeon after a long time. When they finished reading, they immediately ran into the house to compose a letter to be sent to Taeyeon.

Over at the North Pole, Taeyeon daily waited patiently for their reply. Sometimes, she would close her eyes, and imagine her two beloved sisters giggling as they read her letter under the warm Fire Nation sky. Just thinking about them gives her peace and strength for another day in her Avatar adventures. Then, when she opened her eyes, she whispers to herself exactly the way Fany and Sunny would say it: “Avataeng, fighting!”