You screamed loudly, falling through the sky. Your body feels weightless, very odd and uncomfortable. Your hair is flapping around your face, making your vision unclear. It reminded you of the time when you rode that rollercoaster at that carnival, when you dipped low, except this time, you were dipping longer than that! But you did recall your life flashing before your eyes, how your stomach jumped, how it was impossible to even make a single sound as your body fell without the help of gravity. This time; however, you weren't on a rollercoaster. You were falling—falling like a tiny rock, into a vast ocean stretched beneath you.
You couldn't remember how you got here. All you remembered is that you were watching this show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, which was one of your favorite show if not your absolute favorite. Then, right when the beginning was over, a bright, vivid light flashed before your eyes, and that's all you remembered. The next minute you were falling through the sky, screaming bloody murder. It got to the point where you couldn't even scream—where you were stunned speechless.
All you could do was watch death approach you.
Wait.
You squinted your eyes, and you stopped screaming. What were those red dots on that big log thing? It took you a few moments to realize it was a ship, and people were running around it wearing red. They looked like little ants from where you were falling.
Then it hit you.
Some kind of huge tub filled with water was directly below you.
Oh, you thought silently. I can land in there and I won't die!
You double-check yourself, making sure you are directly above the tub. Then, you close your eyes in deep concentration as you can see more details of the people on the ship. You took a deep breath and then—
WHOOSH!
You landed into the tub of refreshing, cool water. Your feet finally hit the bottom, and you kicked up to the surface. Soaking wet, you swam to the edge, panting heavily, and regained your composure.
That was close.
It was then you felt people watching you.
Slowly—ever so slowly, you craned your neck to see fire nation soldiers surrounding you, looking surprised. You rubbed your eyes. They couldn't really be fire nation soldiers! This had to be some kind of joke. Yes. You were on a television show where they make the victim believe they were put into their favorite show, surrounded by the enemies. They were waiting for you to laugh. But then you looked for any hidden cameras, and found nothing. The men around you looked a lot like the fire nation soldiers in the show…they even looked like they were drawn, anime-style, in the show.
You stared at them in shock, trying to process this bizarre information. But..nothing made sense.
What's going on?
"Hey guys," You said uncertainly, feeling humiliated underneath the soldiers' stares. "Do you know where I am?"
Do you know where I am? What kind of question is that?
You outstretched your arm to grab a better hold of the edge of the tub, and you broke away, screaming wildly. Your arm—it looked like it was drawn, too! Terrified, you looked down to see your entire body was drawn! But you weren't wearing your normal clothes—you were dressed in a simple white tunic tied securely with a white sash. You wore no shoes, but you felt some kind of shirt underneath followed by light pants.
"Where am I?" You asked, more hysterically. You quickly struggled to get out of the tub, carefully touching the edge, thinking your hand was going to go right through it. But it didn't. You flipped over, easily than you normally could ever do, and you stood before the crowd of speechless soldiers.
You jumped when something hot exploded next to you. Turning over your shoulder, you saw none other than Prince Zuko sauner towards you, shirtless, in a battle stance. It took you a few moments to realize he just shot a fire ball at you.
You never did like Prince Zuko in the show. He was the villain after all—and always messed with the avatar and his friends. But right now, the disgust you felt for him was gone, and you felt intimidated.
With that hateful scowl and strong-looking abs, he looked scary.
You felt your legs trembling, and not from the cold.
"Are you traveling with the avatar?" Zuko asked accusingly.
You couldn't believe your ears.
The avatar? What's going on?
"Look, I-I don't know what happened but—"
"—I asked you a simple question, filthy peasant!" He shouted. "Now answer my question!"
You noticed how better he looked with his shaggy hair than his topknot, though the topknot did show off his masculine features. Wait…shouldn't he be nice? When did I enter this? Is this the normal show?
Confused beyond comprehension, you fell to your knees. "I don't know what's going on."
"I don't have time for these mindless answers!" Zuko roared. "Answer me or I'll throw you overboard!"
Weakly, you tell him what town you were from, and where you came from.
"I've never heard of that." He snapped. "Are you with the avatar?"
A headache was approaching. You felt really weak.
"ANSWER ME!" He bellowed.
"SHUT UP!" You shouted back, covering your ears with your hands. "Your voice is really annoying, you know that?"
You didn't mean to sound insulting, but you instantly regretted saying that after it came out of your mouth.
Oh crap.
"If you don't travel with the avatar," Zuko hissed mockingly, "then you must be less superior than I am. You should, after all, have respect for the heir for the throne! For your prince!"
"You aren't my prince!" You snapped.
Zuko's eyes narrowed. You gulped.
He lowered in his stance, taking a deep breath. You felt like running away, knowing he was going to throw another fire ball at you. But this time…he wouldn't purposely miss.
"Nephew, what is the problem here?" Iroh of all people walk up calmly, offering you a kind and warm smile as he passed. He smelled like tea. Heavy tea.
Zuko tried to ignore his uncle, you could tell, but he failed miserably and stood straight out of his battle stance. You exhaled in relief—you were saved.
"This girl is a liar." Zuko told his uncle stubbornly. "She says she's not with the avatar, but I know she is."
"How do you know?" You asked angrily.
"What has she done?" Iroh ignored your outburst.
"I did nothing wrong." You tried saying, but Zuko cut you off.
"She's lying! I know she's traveling with him—I just know it!"
"But I don't remember seeing her with them." Iroh bowed to you, receiving a gasp from Zuko.
"Uncle! Don't bow to a peasant like that!"
"Mind your manners, Zuko!"
Your body shook in anger. Curling your hands into fists, you shouted, "I'M NOT TRAVELING WITH THE AVATAR!" Then you added sarcastically, "I just got here, moron."
Some soldiers backed up, noticing your obvious fury.
"What did you just call me?" Zuko said lowly.
"A moron."
He suddenly growled, and shot out like lightning, picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder like a rag doll. You yelped and grabbed a tight hold on his shoulders, balancing yourself on his shoulder, which was strangely boney yet muscular at the same time.
"Hey!" You struggled wildly, twisting and turning. He kept your legs still by pressing underneath your knees, making you immobile. Eventually you just gave up and went limp, trying to make yourself heavier to make it harder for him to carry you.
Jerk.
Zuko carries you into the ship, and you're in a narrow, dim hallway. It's like walking through the TV show…wait…that's exactly what you were doing! Your eyes went wide. It was still so unbelievable you were actually—
"Ouch!" You were thrown on a bed, and Zuko left the room before you could say anything else.
"Hey!" You began pounding on the door, but it hurt after awhile because it was metal. "Open this door! I command you to open the door!"
You heard Zuko walking away.
"Stupid prince." You muttered, sitting on the bed. The room was exactly how it was in the first episode, with the fire emblem hanging proudly on the wall. The mattress was in the middle of the room, but a blanket was missing.
You lay down. Despite the heat, which was expected because you were in a fire nation ship and all, you felt yourself shivering from the cold. Your clothes were soaking wet, and you were getting the mattress wet. That'll probably make Zuko mad.
Good. Let him get mad. Stupid, arrogant jerk.
A/N: Wow. I feel so odd rewriting it. I LOVE THIS STORY! I always felt like crying when I remembered writing it :,( Well thanks to my buddy, EmpressVicky, she sent me the original first chapters of "Messing With Heat" and I knew I just had to continue it! I felt so hurt when I had to take it off, believe me. But now it's back on! And I'm sorry if you liked the original, but I may change a few things. Not a lot though. I'll be rewriting the entire thing, yet the story will follow the same flow as it had originally. Yay! I'm so happy "Messing With Heat" is back! I shall update as soon as possible!
Thank you!
:)SmilinForYa:)