Kain stood in place, hearing the noise of the water rushing past him. If previously he felt his waterbending to be uncomfortable, he now felt the water bend to his will without any effort on his part.
He heard a voice from behind, "So it seems that you've finally fixed that problem you had with your waterbending?"
He turned around to see Tamara standing behind him, arms on her hips, "Yes, I've realized what I was doing wrong."
Tamara smiled, "Waterbending ...it feels amazing, doesn't it."
Kain nodded enthusiastically, "It's like I'm part of the water too. This is what you feel too?"
"Yep." Tamara gave a short response, "You know, I'm kind of jealous of you."
Kain was confused, "I thought you also felt like this when waterbending?"
Tamara lowered her head dejectedly, "No it's not about that. It's just ...in the northern tribe women aren't allowed to learn waterbending except for strictly healing purposes."
Kain felt a bit embarrassed, forgetting that little tidbit of knowledge, "I see."
Tamara continued, "Ever since I found out I was a waterbender, I've always felt like I had some connection with the water. All I wanted to do was learn waterbending, but there was no one willing to teach me. I even thought of travelling to the southern tribe, but knowing that I likely wouldn't be able to make it there on my own. I was stuck here, unable to learn waterbending. So I tried to learn as much I could from public duels and my father training."
Kain looked at her with pity. Knowing how the waterbending felt like he could see how torturous it could be for a waterbender to be unable to train their bending. Truly there was a mistake made when she was born in northern tribe instead of the southern one. 'Then again, maybe it was a correct choice, considering that all waterbenders in the southern tribe are dead.'
Kain looked at her before making a decision without a further thought, "I could teach you."
Tamara's eyes lit up with surprise, "What? You want to teach me?"
Kain nodded, "I may not be a waterbender better than you currently, but I'm willing to believe that your father is. He will teach me about waterbending and I'll teach you what he taught me."
Tamara stared at him in disbelief, "You'd really be willing to teach me? You do know that if anyone finds out you taught a women waterbending here, you'd be turned into an outcast?"
Kain winked at her, "I won't become an outcast if no ones knows that I taught you, no? We just have to be careful and no one will notice."
Tamara still looked a bit surprised but she soon smiled, "Well, when do we start?"
And so for the next month Kain learnt waterbending from Maroq and late at night when everyone was sleeping, he taught Tamara what he had learned from Maroq.
*
"You're a natural at this Kain." Maroq said laughing as he watched Kain turn droplets of water into icicles before shooting them at a rock positioned far away from where they were, landing each shot, "You're progressing far quicker than when I was at the stage you're at. If you keep this up, you might find yourself becoming the next master waterbender of the northern tribe."
Moraq's words jolted Kain out of his sleepiness. He had been quite tired lately, mostly due to his daily sessions with Tamara in the night. He stood attentively again, listening to Maroq's suggestions and criticisms.
*
Late in the night he waited by a designated spot for Tamara. This was the farthest place from the city where they could practice without anyone seeing or hearing them.
As he taught Tamara how to create icicles and throw them accurately, he wondered if his increased waterbending comprehension was because he was learning and teaching waterbending for multiple hours a day.
*
Far far away on the sea, there was a massive metal warship, bearing the flag of the fire nation. Massive amounts of smoke polluted the air as the metal warship slowly moved towards its destination.
The warship was rowdy, sounds of metal smashing together, loud footsteps and the constant chit chatter of fire nation soldiers talking with each other.
But amongst the noise there was one room completely devoid of sound. No soldier dared to make any loud sounds nearby, scared of angering their commander.
Two guards guarded the door on either side. They watched as a younger soldier walked up to them, seemingly terrified. He was clutching a letter in his hand with the most delicate care.
They looked at the soldier with pity as he walked up to the door and opened it. He looked inside of the room, seeing what looked like a barrack. There were rows of weapons of various types bows, swords, spears and axes. But in the middle of the room was a desk and a chair. sitting on that chair lay one person looking at the visitor who had entered his room.
The soldier gulped stammering, "A-Admiral. I-I was sent here by the fire lord to give you a letter." With this he carefully lay the letter on the desk before backing away.
The admiral slowly picked up the letter and opened it. He took out the contents of the letter, which was one piece of paper.
'Admiral Shang, the northern water tribe has been a thorn in our side for quite a long time. They have grown lax and weak. Now is our time to strike. Our researchers have finished the model for the F12 Warship. Within six months, we will be ready to attack and bring down the defenses of the water nation. Get your men ready for an invasion.'
The admiral looked at the paper for a few seconds before slowly folding the paper back into the letter. He opened a drawer and placed the letter neatly in a corner. After having put the letter into the drawer he smiled, and son that smile turned into a grin and then he started laughing maniacally.
Outside, the guards felt a shudder as they heard the shrill, loud laugh. It seemed that the admiral had just gotten something he had desperately wanted.