trans_9 | Winter Wonderland: Southern Tribe Style

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alex furest

Winter Wonderland: Southern Tribe Style

She thought it would be impossible at first: the idea of keeping the area around the Outsider's hotel that cold, and keeping snow on the ground with just the use of water? It sounded crazy, and Katara had been wondered if she was skilled enough to do it. It was why she and Sokka hadn't had their Southern Water Tribe thing: it would have just been re-imagined in the Sensorium, and in a way that was almost cheating. The real experience, ice cold water and all, needed to be had, and there were certainly enough people on Trans 9 who could have used a little playtime.

That was, of course, before she had time to think. In time, she was beginning to see that where she had failed was really in her own confidence level: she could see her limitations, and didn't go further than what she could do. The longer she did that though, was more time she realized she had to be trained in other ways, if water wasn't available. It was hard to think about, but she had to be ruthless in her ability to be able to take down a person if she needed. This kind of fighting, though, felt much like murder. So after the Yeerk incident, she made a promise to never raise a hand against a person in that way, like her anger towards Jet or Zuko in the past. To do that would edge closer to that place, and she needed to remember the true goal: standing against the Ohm.

That said, she learned a great deal of other things, like how to super extend her breath, how to manipulate her body much more than she had before, and how to strengthen your feel of "wave" so much your arms were hardly ever tired. Now she found that this was possible, all that was needed was the water. With Stacey's approval, this happened.

And so Katara got to work, bobbing and weaving, guiding the water to solid water, using force to create that into powdered snow. It was work that would have severely diminished her in the past, but now it was simply a joy to be bending again, to have her element all around her instead of just contained in a small pouch, and she let loose. The snow was an interesting sensation, it was like shaping ice and then shaking it between her fingers: it littered the ground all around the Outsider's backspace, and she was glad that they had that backspace to begin with. She figured that once this was over, the water would bee used for the sauna, so she figured one last bit of fun would be a good thing.

"Okay!" She said after awhile, looking around her. "Now hopefully people will come!"

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He flushed again at the compliment. Him? Special? "Y-you think so? I-I'm not really all th-that special, I don' think." Even as he denied it he smiled, happy to even hear that said.

She took his hand, smiling. "I do. You've been through a lot, and have probably seen a lot of painful things. You've had this power too, which is still a hard thing to deal with. But you're here, still trying, and I think it makes you very brave."

And she gave him another hug.

He jumped a little at the touch of her hand, and began blushing again as she hugged him. After a moment he relaxed and began to hug her back, resting his head on her shoulder. "Thanks K-Katara. I'm... trying. I w-want to be s-stronger. F-for you an' all my friends."

Katara laughed, but not in a mean way.

"Sorry to startle you Alex: i guess you're still getting used to touch and everything, right? But I definitely admire that: its why I wanted to be strong. For a long time, I felt like I was destined to stay where I was and not become stronger. But things change, experiences happen. Soon, you'll see you are strong for your friends, but getting strong for yourself is where it starts."

"It's all right. I g-guess it's just b-been engrained, that c-contact isn't a good thing. I think th-that it'll b-be a while before I c-can really be able ta be strong f-for myself."

She nodded, and put her hands around his. "I know. It takes a long time to get rid of some things, things you were taught. But I'll do what I can to help YOU too, ok Alex? If I can find a way to ease some of that panic you feel, so you can be comfortable, I'll do my best."

He gave her a brilliant smile and flips his hands over so that he's holding hers. "Y-you already are K-Katara. I've learned ta f-feel more c-comfortable in m-my own skin s-since I've met you."

She smiled. "Good, I'm really glad to hear that! When you first came here, I could see you'd been through a lot of things. I hoped that if there were a way to get you to know other people on the ship, that might change. And look, you already met Luna and are friends with Tavros!"

He bit his lip, blushing again. "W-was it really that obvious? I'm g-glad I've made those friends, and you and Billy too."

Katara shook her head. "I was trained on the ship with a teacher who made me look at the things people did with their bodies. That was why I picked up on that. But when I talked to you, I always thought you'd make friends: you seemed to be the kind of person who would eventually bring people toward you."

She Picked up the tray, grinning. "Proof."

"I... d-don't think I w-would'a believed you th-then, but now... W-well, I've g-got proof now, after all."

He went back and grabbed his tray. "I n-never made friends like th-this at home. I think you did a lot to help. Thank you, K-Katara."

She smiled. "We all have things we have to work on, even when we're doing well, you know? You've seen me: I can't be brave all the time, I have to cry a little bit. The important thing is getting back up and braving things."

And things DID get hard, she knew that.

"But I'm glad I helped in some way, though more that you're happier now."

He smiled back at her "I-I r-really don't s-see c-crying sometimes a-as a bad thing. B-but thanks. F-for everything."

She sighed. "When you want people to have faith and give them hope, this smile becomes something very important Alex. So I try to save my crying to when it counts, so I can deal and then help others again. I want them to know they'll always have someone who will do what she can to make things feel better."

She smiled. "And thank you, for helping me with this. I needed it more than you know."

"I-I want to do the best for my friends. I w-want to be someone that y-you c-can rely on, not s-someone who needs so m-much c-careful treatment and protection. I-I'm glad that I'm starting to b-be able to."

She heard him quietly, thinking a moment. She could understand, a little bit, of what Alex was feeling: she'd been there once. She knew what it was like to feel powerless and want to help, want to do everything she could to end that feeling in others.

"That's a start," Katara said, "But you have to remember you have to have confidence in yourself for that to happen. Real strength to carry that out depends on what you put in. People can guide you to where you have to go, but you have to have the bravery to go through the door, to dare. That's where it all starts.

His face fell a bit at the mention of bravery. He had never thought of himself as being very brave. He figured he spent too much time being scared to be brave. Not to mention, whenever things got to be too much for him, no matter how brave he wanted to be, he couldn't. He would just 'check out', as if he wasn't actually there. It would all just seem like a dream. "I-I t-try, b-but bravery h-has never b-been my thing..."

"There are a lot of things I'm sure that weren't other people's strong points before they got here," Katara said. "But we're people: we have the capacity to change what we are and what we do. If I didn't believe that, I could never be the waterbender I am now. But its like I was saying: it all comes down to the decisions we make when we're here."

She closed her eyes, and drummed her fingers on Alex's. "And if you ever need to feel brave, or need someone to talk to, I'll be here. Remember: almost anyone you look up to has had to go through this, and sometimes still do."

Alex smiled and wrapped his arms around Katara just long enough to say "Thank you," before retreating. "I-I'll k-keep that in mind, K-Katara."

He was silent for a moment before looking up at Katara, "y-you said, y-you trained to c-control your emotions?"

She was quiet, but really really happy that Alex had willingly hugged her all on his own. She hadn't known him to take initiative like this before. "I hope you do."

She nodded. "Yes, and some of that training happened here, on this ship. When you meet a lot of different people, they test your patience sometimes, and you have to make sure they don't get to you. But there are ways to be the better person."

"Y-you... d-don't think maybe...?" He looked up at her. If he could control his emotions, then maybe he wouldn't be led around by his fear. It would make it easier for him to even eat, if every time wasn't a violent struggle to control himself.

"I mean, I-I rely s-so much on m-my c-control..."

"Control is important," Katara said, "but the only way you have control in the first place is to understand a situation. For instance, if someone is telling you you're beneath them, you feel pain, right? It reminds you of what your father says. In that situation, you have to realize that the person telling you this wants to hurt you in any way they can, and you can't let them. In that way, you have to fight for control."

His eyes widened as he looked up at Katara in realization. His jaw hung a bit as he tried to find the words. "I... n-never thought of it l-like that. S-so, it's n-not self c-control but it's knowing what the other person is d-doing."

"Self control IS tied into that. There's always going to be a point when you exercise that control and reign it in, and when to let it loose. People can talk all they want, but what they're really after is a way to get into your head, to hurt you. When they're actually serious about it, you know, and that's when you take a stand."

It was tricky, but Katara knew when to actually defend someone and when they were just trying to create conflict.

Alex bit at his lip, "I g-guess... It's hard t-to tell though. They a-almost always have sh-shadows either w-way." Shadows tended to lead his judgements of those situations.

Winter Wonderland: Southern Tribe Style

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