trans_9 | Basics

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Basics

There was a time to get sick. There was a time to bemoan the things that seemed like empty spots in her head. and there was time to sleep and dream of times that were better (or have nightmares of worse times too). But when these times passed, and eventually that was the case, there was nothing left to do but go back to what you were best at, and refine it to make it your own. Going to the podpop had been a start, and Katara capitalized on it the next day. A visit to the Sensorium and the scenery changed: she was at the desert lands they'd been left to brave after the library sunk and Appa had been captured. There was no gang here though, just miles and miles of sand and heat bearing down on her. To Toph and Aang, she was sure these circumstances were unpleasant, but to her and Sokka specifically, it had been alien and frustrating (it had helped Sokka that he was strung out on Cactus juice and she was fixated on keeping the group together at the time). She had also made sure there would be no water nearby, and so her pouch was also gone.

The morning was spent in quiet meditation on the sands. Her mind was full of questions and brimming with thoughts, but she momentarily displaced them from her mind. She was uncomfortable, sweaty and hot, but stayed in deep meditation, moving from time to time so she wouldn't cramp up. Once she'd seen the sun position itself to indicate noontime, Katara rose, and her attire was that of her firebending disguise: she would need it.

The exercising in the Weirding way, however, required targets, so the desert was now strewn with several dummies. Here Katara incorporated her Bene Gesserit martial art with that of the training she'd practiced in Will's gym: she catapulted herself upward, struck with deadly precision and then rolled into a new defensive stance, ready for the next attack. It had been awhile since Katara incorporated her waterbending flexibility with the Weirding way, and truthfully it was seldom Katara practiced the art, fully aware (thanks to deadly robots) how damaging it could be. She bent her legs a bit and brought her arms up again, using her force against the dummy and knocking it backward with what looked like minimal effort. She knew it would be awhile before she was an expert in the Weirding Way, but that was more than reason to practice, with all they had encountered.

When she had worked up a definite sweat, she went back to the flexibility part: she flipped, jumped, turned several times in the air and, on her back, curled her legs upward and leapt back to position. She was stinky and definitely perspiring, but that was easily taken care of if she decided to turn the Sensorium into a spa, not that she was in a big hurry to do so.

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A war then. Negi was never quite used to the violence that befell humanity all the time, even though his own life was built on it. "A reminder for your own," he said with a shake of his head. "Such a strong group of people you belong to Katara."

Edited 2010-04-06 15:20 (UTC)

"It's not something we ever wanted...but then, I guess that's what most people say about war, right? No one ever wants to have to deal with all of the pain that comes with it, all the separation. Sometimes its necessary though: war can make you a stronger person, makes you appreciate what you have and who you have it with. You don't take things for granted as much anymore."

Dark was beginning to fall, so she started a fire and made them a dish of five flavored soup and whale jerky. "It's traditional water tribe food. I hope you like it!"

Negi nodded, and watched in fascination at the food being prepared before his eyes. "I'm sure I'll enjoy it!"

Taking a sip, he nodded as his expression lit up. "This is wonderful! It's just amazing how the flavors come together!"

Katara smiled. He was sure a nice boy: she was glad that he had found some of his friends on the ship. She wouldn't have tolerated someone like him being alone. Also, he was strong: she was sure he would be an asset if they ever had to face a mission together.

"Well, that's a recipe from the Southern Water Tribe with a dash of Fire Nation flavoring. I learned it from someone I thought was a friend...but she at least has good taste in food."

Negi nodded, thinking of a few people who were like that, nice at first, but with hidden motives. Evangeline came to mind.

"It's very tasty. Delicious too. I applaud the chef." said Negi honestly.

Katara flushed, but grinned. "You know, you're going to make a girl very happy when you get older. I don't know too many people who would be receptive to trying new things."

She was curious. "Do you happen to know how to cook yourself?"

Negi blushed a brilliant red when he was complimented. "Well um, I try to be a English Gentleman with everything that goes on."

He nodded. "Some regular foods, fish and chips, a few teas, breakfast foods... I had to cook for myself at a young age."

"Well that's good then. Girls may think they want a bad boy, but the truth is they really wants someone they can depend on who respects them and is a good friend. You're really sweet."

Katara wrinkled her nose. "The fish is good, but you might want to think about broadening your range of what you can cook. I would, but there's barely enough time in the day for all the things I want to do. With training, meditation, meeting new people and all of the teams I'm on, not to mentioning looking after my brother and friends from my world...I'm pretty busy. Maybe you'd like to meet some of my friends?"

He blushed again, rubbing his head. "Well sure, I wouldn't mind at all! I do like to meet new people and quite honestly my cooking skills are quite limited."

"It's a big ship, and there are people who would be more than happy to help someone like you!" Katara assured the boy. "As for cooking, I know a guy specifically who can help you with that since he actually has real food, not the slop that the ship plops out."

Negi nodded, thinking of all the help he could get. There was a lot still weighing on his mind and he wanted to make certain he could do his best. "Alright, that sounds excellent!"

Then a thought came to him. "Slop?"

"I'm glad you think so!" Katara said. She decided to lazily bring another log to the fire, and then, with arms extended, she brought some water to steam around them so it had an almost sauna-like effect.

"Yes, slop," Katara said, making a face. "Trust me, you'll know when you taste it."

The steam felt good in the cool air and he was intrigued on how she moved the water like that, and then he nodded, thinking of the strange things out there to eat. "I'll take your word for it."

He asked "is that your bending at work? With the steam?"

"You should," Katara said, "But the actual food won't last forever, so you may be finding out about the slop later. but I think you'll like Matt, and you definitely should visit the Magic Bus. With your martial arts and your magic, I think you'll really like it!"

She said this unflinchingly, letting him know that she actually DID see him use magic, but not in a way to rub his nose in it: she thought magic, after all, was still pretty cool.

Here, Katara waved her hand. "That's really the least that I can do, but its a part of it, yes."

Negi grinned and rubbed his head. "You saw that huh? I'm just a normal kid without my magic really."

And it was true. While coordinated, he was nowhere near as full of reflexes as he was as a normal kid.

"I'll definitely look things up."

"Then your magic is your strong point along with being a gentleman," Katara said plainly, grinning. "Besides, nine times out of ten on the ship, everybody has some kind of training or inner strength that makes them special. You're no different. I'm sure you'll be able to do great things...you might even want to join the Magical Defense section on the ship! My friend Nanoha is the commander there."

She stoked the fire a bit. "So...not to pry, but did you leave anyone special back home?"

Negi reddened at the question and he rubbed his head. "Well um, I have my students, all of them are precious to me but um..."

Thoughts of Yue, Nodoka, Asuna and others flickered through his head. "Maybe... I just haven't figured out what love is yet, other than family love."

Katara shook her head. she really didn't thinks he'd ever met a boy as bashful as this pone, not even in her travels. She began to wonder of she might actually need to help him a little in the department of love: it seemed to make him very uneasy, even skittish. Then again, he was very young. She was sure that she could work wonders with him, at least, as far as being a gentleman was concerned.

"You're pretty young in that department, makes sense," Katara commented. "I was just curious. How people get along when it comes to universes and ages are a little different though, that was why I asked."

"Ah, well my world is fairly normal even by magic standards," replied Negi with a rub of his head. "I might be a university graduate but I'm also fairly much a normal kid. Though I've got a classroom full of girls to teach." And potentially avoid losing his chastity while he was at it.

A normal kid that could bash through walls, make things explode and run headlong into feminine anatomy at the drop of a hat.

"A room full of girls?" Katara was astounded. She assumed some guys might have some situations like that, but she would have never thought that someone as young as him might. That seemed to spell a recipe for disaster in some cases: he might be young, but he was still very mature for his age. She was sure that it was possible puberty might rear his ugly head, and then where would he be?

She decided that may it was time they changed things up a bit.

She kept the food: it had tasted good, and she had certainly like having a traditional Water Tribe dinner. The scenery, however, had changed: now they were at the Earth King's palace at Ba Sing Se. Basco the bear was at the head of the table, growling as he bit into his dinner. Katara had changed to a more stylish Earth Kingdom dress (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/thumb/a/af/Toph_and_Katara_undercover.png/300px-Toph_and_Katara_undercover.png). Negi would be dressed however he liked.

The two sat several feet down from Basco, and Katara cleaned the tips of her lips daintily. "A ball. Go on...try to ask someone here to dance. You can even imagine one of your students of you like."

Edited 2010-04-07 17:42 (UTC)

Negi nodded. "They're my students. They're... very energetic."

At the change of location and outfit, Negi found himself dressed in the tuxedo that he was wearing back in the governors ball. He nodded, blushing a little as he thought up someone.

As if on cue, Asuna appeared dressed in her long pale white and peach colored dress. "Negi!" proclaimed Asuna in surprise. "What's going on?"

"Erk!" proclaimed Negi for a moment before clearing his throat. "Um, Asuna-san, this is Katara. And um, would you like to dance?"

Asuna blushed. "... dance? But I...!"

Katara gave a polite bow. At the girl's stammering, Katara decided to help Negi along. She HAD done this for his benefit, after all.

"It would be the height of foolishness to turn down such a polite invitation, don't you think?" She said gently with a hint of sternness in her voice. "Negi thinks highly of you. Why not take his invitation?"

Ah, matchmaking, even in the Sensorium, yielded to Katara.

Asuna exhaled sharply. "Alright. If only for you."

Negi nodded, bowing politely as he took up and bowed to Asuna who curtsied in reply. Slowly, the pair started to dance in an elegant waltz, despite the height differences.

"Negi, you're short," said Asuna as she lead the waltz.

Negi blushed as he held up a candy. "Should I...?"

Asuna blushed a little and said, "Do what you want."

He smiled and ate the candy. And in a poof of smoke, a tall teenager danced in the same tuxedo.

Well that was new. Katara goggled a moment, then shrugged. She thought he would be attractive if he was older, and it appeared that she was right. In any case, she started to bite at the jerky, watching Asuna and Negi, smiling a little in their direction. He really was a sweet boy...much like someone else she knew.

Not that she would allow herself to think about that. No point in making herself depressed when she was supposed to helping Negi out. Luckily for her, he had a way about him that hardly needed coaxing. She was almost envious at how he danced.

"We're drawing looks," said Asuna self consciously as they waltzed around the room.

"It's okay, just focus on me Asuna-san," said Negi as he spun her around. The pair danced around and drew close when the music slowly moved to a close. Blushing a little, Negi bowed to his companion who nodded back. "You dance well."

"You're the same way," replied Asuna.

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