Chapter 17

-[Aroh]-

Between his fire bending and Katara's water bending, their getaway had been quick. With the other ship also destroyed, the surviving fire nation soldiers had no way of following them.

Though they'd made their escape, more problems arose. He'd thought that with Zhao now dead, the northern water tribe invasion wouldn't happen…or at least it would have been delayed.

It wasn't so. With Zhao apparently obsessing over his and Katara's capture, another commander was sent in his steed to do it. Aroh only found out due to the numerous letters and miscellaneous pieces of information that Zhao had left on his ship.

Apparently, Aang had been on a rampage against fire nation ships after Katara was captured. It was noted that during his rampages, he hadn't used water bending even once despite them being at sea.

The only conclusion was that the avatar hadn't learnt water bending yet. To permanently stop him from learning it, the fire nation was going to destroy the northern water tribe.

From what he could see after analyzing the letters and notes, Zhao was merely a distraction to keep the avatar busy until the army was ready to move. What was probably the most amusing thing was that Zhao wasn't aware that he was just being used as a distraction.

There was a letter telling Zhao to join them with his fleet as they had started moving towards the water tribe but unfortunately for them, Zhao was a proud bastard and was now dead.

As much as he'd rather head to the desert to find the library, he also couldn't allow the fire nation to destroy the water tribe, forcing him to adjust his immediate goal.

Other than that, there was also the issue of getting a different ship. Though the current ship they were using was fast, it drew attention and also sent the wrong message. How were they supposed to find the northern water tribe while in a fire nation navy ship?

"You're doing good, Katara. Feel the motion. It isn't enough to simply move the water, you have to feel the push and pull to succeed." He advised Katara who was controlling a large amount of water around her.

The water danced through the air in a smooth motion. Despite them being surrounded by the sea, he had instructed her not to bend that water. She was to draw water from the air around them and control them.

So far, her hard work and natural talent came together to bring good results. She had gotten faster in drawing water from the air and fluidly controlling the water.

"Ice." He said suddenly as the water came together to form a large blob of water before splitting into smaller blobs and solidifying into ice spikes. "Release."

The ice immediately melted back to its fluid form, Katara controlling it to flow above and around the ship.

"You're getting faster at changing its state. Water bending doesn't need superfluous body movement. By removing those unnecessary movements, not only will your bending speed and efficiency increase, you will also spend less energy." He wasn't a waterbender but the amount of knowledge he had about the arts was staggering to say the least.

They continued the lesson for about another hour before Katara had to take a break. "I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical when you said you could teach me waterbending." She said, causing him to arch a brow.

"But I can proudly say that I was wrong." She added with a content smile.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're the one doing the actual waterbending. You wouldn't have gotten this far if you didn't try your best to do it." He said with an encouraging smile.

"Still, I couldn't have gotten this far without your help. Thank you." She said, taking the initiative to pull him into a deep kiss.

-[Katara]-

She felt terrible.

Ever since she met Aroh, she'd been nothing but a burden he had to carry. He risked his life to feed her when she was in captivity.

He had to save her when their ship was blown up and she wasn't of any help when he was up against the freedom fighters in the forest.

It was because of her that they had to stop in the forest to rest and it was because of her that they were looking for Aang and Sokka in the first place. And now he was teaching her waterbending.

So far, she couldn't think of something she'd done for him. He was doing so much for her and she had barely done any. If that wasn't terrible then she didn't know what was.

She had to find a way to do something for him and actually become useful. She had to.

*BOOM**BOOM**BOOM*

-[Aroh]-

He was starting to get annoyed. They'd been riding along the current while passing a forest when suddenly, explosives were thrown into the ship.

He was currently standing on the mast of the now sinking and blazing ship, holding a frowning Katara in his hands.

"What is with everyone trying to blow me up?" He couldn't help but ask with a glare at the primitive looking people that surrounded him.

They wore strawhats with a black mask covering the lower part of their face. Those features along with the spears in their hand reminding him who exactly he was going to face here.

"Kill the abomination!" One of them shouted as they threw their spears at him in an attempt to skewer him.

Leaping off the mast, he dodged all the spear, landing on dry ground. "Abomination? I haven't heard that one before." Aroh muttered as he grabbed a spear that sailed towards his face.

Channeling his chi through it, he tossed it towards another spear that was sent forward, the chi enhanced weapon tearing through the other spear and cutting it in half.

The man who threw the spear only barely jumped out of the way. He was unlucky as it tore into his shoulder, causing him to let out a pained scream.

Looking around, he could see that they were surrounded by these people. "You abomination! How dare you taint our forest?!" Another one of them screamed.

"I consider myself pretty patient but even my patience has its limits. What do you want? Why are you calling me an abomination?" Aroh asked as he took a step forward.

He suddenly blurred out of position as a powerful blast of fire impacted where he previously stood. With a frown, he turned to the side where a white haired man had emerged from the forest.

"To think you had the gall to come here." The man said, another ball of fire appearing above his palm. "You are an amalgamation of evil."

He recognized the man very easily. Jeong Jeong the deserter. Aroh's frown deepened at the situation. "Since you're all being so tight lipped, I'll get my answers after I've dealt with you." He said as he pulled up a sword from his hip.

His encounters so far had given him enough reason to have a weapon on him at all times.

Just as he tensed his body to cull Jeong Jeong and his primitive comrades, childish shouted. "Katara!"

It was accompanied by a blast of air which he easily dodged as he looked at the monk that landed in front of him. "Give her back!"