Interlude: Pakku

…

Pakku stared at the boy, whom he somehow ended up adopting.

Lee was an oddly thoughtful child. He was obedient, diligent, and disciplined. And based on the amount of praise the girl whom he had hired as a caretaker had for the boy, he was also very mentally gifted. The boy was a hard-working genius for all intents and purposes, which meant he was the most perfect waterbending student Pakku could ever ask for.

It was the night of a full moon when he had arrived at the little village the boy used to call home. He was late. Fire Nation soldiers had already killed everyone in the village by then. Or at least he thought they had while getting rid of those pests.

He found the boy lying in his own pool of blood. Those inhuman soldiers were particularly cruel to him. Most of his bones were broken, half of his skin was burned, and his body was riddled with wounds. Yet, the boy was still breathing, desperately fighting against the clutches of death. It was a miracle if he had ever seen one, only to later find out that it was only one of the miracles he would see that night.

Pakku picked him up in his arms and rushed to the city despite his mind constantly telling him that it was too late. It was then that he witnessed the second miracle of the night. The boy’s body started to heal itself.

It wasn’t waterbending. The boy was unconscious, and even if he wasn’t, he couldn’t have used water healing techniques in Pakku’s arms without him realising what was happening. Whatever it was, it healed the boy enough that he wasn’t on the brink of death.

So when he arrived at the city, Pakku rushed to Tokka to get him treated. She wasn’t as good a healer as Yagoda, but she was good enough. And unlike the old hag, she was capable of keeping secrets.

He didn’t tell her about the mysterious healing incident. The fewer who knew, the better it was. He wasn’t surprised when she told him how miraculously the boy’s body reacted to her healing arts. By then, he already knew that the boy was special, which was why he wrote that letter to the Grand Lotus.

“Are you ready?” Pakku asked, widening his stance. He spun his arms around one another before pulling his right hand backwards and pushing his left hand forward. Both of his palms were fully open.

Lee nodded, adopting a serious expression and mirroring his posture.

Pakku inhaled and, at the same time, pushed his chi inside his water chakra with a grace that could only be gained with vast experience. Then, he exhaled and extended his chi beyond his body alongside the act.

The chi followed his intent even outside his body, merging with a portion of the ice beneath their feet. It turned into water in a heartbeat as per his desire, and a blob the size of his head floated upwards to stop near his open palm.

Pakku pushed the blob toward his youngest student and watched with delight as he took control of the water with his chi, circled it around his body, before pushing the blob back to him.

He repeated the actions of his student before pushing the water toward Lee once again, but this time, he put a tiny bit more force into the gesture.

They continued the exercise for a while. Each time Lee successfully returned the blob of water to him, he increased the difficulty by a notch. Sometimes, he increased the speed slightly, or left some of his chi as residue, or added more water to the blob.

Whenever Lee failed, they began the exercise from the very beginning.

“Be more agile,” Pakku said calmly. “We trained for this, didn’t we? Use the flexibility you gained by doing those poses every morning. Flow instead of moving.”

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Lee nodded, absorbing the advice immediately. His technique improved at a visible pace as their game continued.

Pakku let out a hum of approval. He started to move, thus increasing the difficulty once again.

Lee struggled to follow him while performing the waterbending kata.

“Your intent matters as much as your movements and your chi,” Pakku remarked. “The stronger your intent is, the better water will be at following your commands.”

“How can I make my intent stronger?” Lee asked, a frown on his face.

“Meditate,” Pakku said without a hint of hesitation. “Intent is the culmination of emotional desire, mental will, and pure spiritual awareness. Everyone already has emotional desires and wants. Meditation is the way to enlightenment, and thus, will provide you with pure spiritual awareness. You can sharpen your mental will by putting it under stress. Give your mind difficult tasks to complete.

“…Now, we’re done for today. Go to the side and either meditate on our exercise to glean insights into water and the art of bending. Think about how you can improve your technique. See what can be further refined.”

“Yes, master.”