Chapter 1
Auther's notes: A dream and doing 'yoga' with my real life bestie beth inspired this story. Big shout out to you Ani!
Disclaimer: AtLA is property of VIACOM and Nickelodeon. No profit is made from this story.
It was a fine spring day. Laura had invited her best friend Elaine over.
Laura was waiting eagerly on her black leather couch waiting for a sound of a motor.
There was a knock at the door.
She rushed to get it. "Hi Elle come on in!" She said excitedly.
She gave Elaine a fleeting hug and led her inside.
"Bye Dad!" Elaine waved to her father and went to sit down on the couch.
"See ya Paul!" Laura waved to Paul and shut the door.
"How about we start with some yoga?" Laura suggested slyly.
She knew how much Elaine loved their special form of yoga.
Elaine's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Can we go down to the studio?" She asked.
Laura nodded and started making her way to the studio.
Together they walked the length of the huge property and to the antique style studio.
Elaine opened the oak door and walked onto the polished blackwood floorboards.
The room was scattered with antique furniture and artifacts. The two friends jogged up the long staircase and into the attic.
It was dark and dusty but a large open space.
Laura lit one of the oil lamps while Elaine lit the others. She threw the box of matches back to Laura.
Laura put the two boxes back into her pocket and took her first stance.
Elaine was standing infront of Laura in the same stance, legs parted and her hands by her sides.
"I've been working on this knew move. " Elaine swayed her arms infront of herself and then smoothly back, her legs bent at ridiculous angles.
"I like it, can you show me the water whip form again?"
"Sure." Elaine demonstrated the water whip for Laura who repeated the smooth movements.
"We are such Avatards!" Elaine giggled.
"I know." Laura agreed with a nod.
"So what's your fave element? You need to decide on one."
"I know. I love water but I don't know if I'm water at heart." Laura answered sadly. She sighed and tried the water whip again.
"Maybe your the ava..." Elaine didn't finish her sentence. "Can you feel that?" She looked at Laura who was only a year younger and mature for thirteen. Her face was a mask of fear. They could feel the call of the universe. It beackoned. Treamors shook the ground.
Laura rushed to the window. The sky was glowing ashy orange. The two girls ran down the stairs and up to the house.
"Mum? Dad? Where are you!" Laura yelled.
A groan came from the master bedroom. Laura and Beth swung the door open. Laura's parents and brother were floundering on the floor, gasping for air. Her mother was turning blue from lack of air. Laura rushed to their sides and screamed at them to breath. Elaine stood under the door frame rooted to the spot.
"Take anything and everything you can and leave this place." Laura's father whispered through agonizing breaths. He handed her his wallet and a key.
"I love you all." Laura said. as they all finaly stopped kicking. She ran out the door leaving Elaine at the scene. She returned later hauling behind her seven large suitcases.
"Fill this up with all the canned food you can find. Put in four plates, bowls, and the essential cutlery and crokery." Laura ordered. She ran off with several suitcases to fill them up. She ran into the office and took the key out of her jeans pocket. She pushed a large filing cabinet to the side and put the small key into the lock of the vault built into the wall. She turned it three times and opened the heavy, metal door. She pulled out all the cash and stuffed it into the suitcase.
Next Laura ran to her room and filled another suitcase with clothes and underwear. The next suitcase she fillled with all her nesseccary objects and items. She got her own wallet and put her father's bank cards in it. She also packed two down doonas and four pillows. She rushed out of her room and into the bathroom. She packed two toothbrushes and four tubes of toothpaste and all the toilet paper she could find.
All the soap, shampoo and conditioner followed.
She hauled the heavy suitcase into her brother's room and packed all his camping gear. The two below zero degrees sleeping bags, a map of the world, his compass and her brothers knife. Not a small pocket knife but a folded steel hunting knife.
She rolled the full suitcase into the living room. "Pack anything else we could use!" She yelled to Elaine who nodded and kept packing cans.
Laura rushed out the door and into her dad's shed she got the bolt cutters of the work bench and cut the lock of the guns cabinet. She pulled out the two rifles and three hand guns. She used her T-shirt like a bag and piled all the ammo she could into it. She ran back into the living room and threw them into a spare suitcase. Elaine was frantically running around packing anything useful from tea to candles.
"Nothing electical. Okay?"
"Yeah okay. I think we've got everything that we could need." Laura said.
She quickly ran from room to room checking for anything they had missed. She ran into the master bed room and closed her eyes as she jogged past the three lifeless bodies. She ran to her mothers bedside table and opened all the draws. Inside each was a box. She grabbed all three and ran back to the living room. She stopped in the doorway. She pivoted and balanced all the boxes in one arm as she reached down to grab the car keys in her mothers pocket. She tore her eyes away as she plucked them from her mother's pocket. She rushed out the door and carefully placed the three mahogany boxes in the only spare suitcase.
The two girls hauled the seven heavy suitcases out to the fourwheel drive. They opened the back and loaded all the cases.
"Get in!" Laura yelled to Elaine. Elaine opened the shiny black door and slid into the leather seat. Laura sat in the drivers seat, buckled up and put the keys in the ignition and turned them. The car's engine purred to life.
"Laura I'm older so I have to be the voice of reason. You cant drive."
"Dad taught me."
"OK so you can drive but where are we going to go? Your parents just died!"
"I don't know, but I will soon."
Laura stepped on the gas and drove out of the long driveway and onto the freeway. The sky was the colour of fire.
"Oh my gosh!" Elaine gasped.
Laura's head snapped to face Elaine. She was staring into the sky. Laura's eyes followed. A comet was hurtling toward earth. She stepped on the gas and sped down the freeway.
