Chapter One:
"Come on, Aang," Katara smiled. "This Avatar stuff can wait. Have a little fun!"
"I'm sorry, Katara, but I really have to meditate right now. Every day, I need to get in touch with my spiritual self. And it's nighttime now, so I need to get this done," Aang replied, much to Katara's annoyance.
"Get in the water, Twinkletoes," Toph called from the ocean. "I'm in, and I almost never swim. It's hard to see anything in the water, for me anyway. Your eyes work though, so you'll have more fun than me."
"Pleeeaaaassseee, Aang?" Sokka pleaded, his eyes growing comically huge. "I need someone to help me defeat Suki in our splash war."
"I'll beat you anyway, Sokka," Suki smirked.
"Hello? He's the Avatar," Sokka said, making crazy arm motions towards Aang. "All four kinds of bending! We could totally take you."
As the two continued their argument, Katara tried to get Aang to go swimming with the rest of them one more time.
"Look, Aang, I know that being the Avatar is important, but what about being a teenager? You need to have fun every once in a while," she said. "It's been a whole year since you defeated Firelord Ozai, but you still seem so tense. Just relax. I know Toph and Sokka don't seem like they're taking it seriously, but they actually really want to spend time with you."
"I understand, but I've been relaxing all day, and I've been spending time with all of you. Now I need to meditate. Even if it's just for five minutes, I need to focus on my Avatar spirit," Aang explained. "Then I'll have fun with you guys."
"But Aang-" Katara started to say.
"Katara, just leave him alone for a little while," Zuko interrupted. "He'll be done faster if you stop pestering him."
"Thanks, Zuko," Aang said, getting into the lotus position and closing his eyes.
Zuko and Katara walked across the sandy beach, towards the sea where the others were having an all out splash battle.
"I just want him to unwind. Haven't you noticed how stressed he's been?" Katara asked.
"Yeah, and maybe meditation will clear his head," Zuko said. "But that shouldn't stop you from swimming with us. You do love the water."
"Maybe you're right. He'll come in when he wants to. Maybe he's still paranoid because of the Unagi that almost killed him," she laughed. "You all better run for cover, because I'm joining this splash war!" she shouted happily, launching herself into the water.
"Never had a splash war before," Zuko muttered to himself. "Then again, my upbringing wasn't exactly fun and games at the beach. More like, sit and obey your father at the beach." He smiled bitterly, looking at the others. "It can't be that bad though... Watch out, everyone, the Firelord's ready to attack!"
"Firelord?" Toph said. "Please. This is water. You're gonna get creamed."
"No, you're getting creamed!" Sokka said, coming up behind Toph and pushing her underwater.
"Thanks, Sokka-"
"Don't thank me, Zuko, because you're next!" Sokka yelled, chasing Zuko through the water.
***
Meanwhile, Aang was having trouble meditating. With all that noise, it was hard to concentrate. But he couldn't leave. He didn't want to upset Katara more.
***
After a few minutes of violent splash battling, Sokka decided that Aang would have to go in the water sometime. And, being a strategic genius, he knew just how to help Aang get there. "Stop the splash war!" he shouted. Everyone paused, looking at him questioningly.
"Sokka the super crazy, fun-loving guy stopping a splash war?" Katara asked. "There must be a very good reason for this."
"Maybe he lost his ponytail holder in the water," Toph snickered.
"Haha, very funny," Sokka deadpanned. "Come over here, and get into a huddle."
"You're so weird," Suki said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"That's why you love me," Sokka said dreamily.
"Oh, stop it," Suki said, her face turning red.
"Anyway," Sokka said, pulling Suki into the huddle and lowering his voice down to a whisper, "we have to get Aang to come in. And it seems like he's not gonna get up for a while. So I was thinking... we should drag him in!"
There was a murmur of agreement from everyone, except Zuko, who was frowning.
"Wait, what if he's in the spirit world? Doesn't something bad happen if his body is moved?" Zuko asked.
"He's not in the spirit world," Katara said. "His arrow's not glowing."
"Oh, okay. But doesn't he deserve some peace?" Zuko said.
"Do you not want him here, or something?" Toph asked.
"No, no, Aang's one of my closest friends!" Zuko said.
"Well then help us out, Mr. Firelord," Toph said, giving Zuko a tiny shove.
"Okay, so Zuko and I will grab his legs. Toph and Suki, get his arms. Katara, lift his stomach... or back, whichever. Everyone ready?" Sokka said, grinning evily.
Everyone nodded. Team Avatar was back in action.
***
Aang didn't know why everything had gotten so quiet. Maybe they were having an underwater breath holding contest? The silence was enough to clear his head, though. Now he could finally make it to the spirit world...
***
After tiptoeing across the beach, Sokka had positioned himself next to Aang's right leg. Everyone was in position. Ready? he mouthed. They all nodded. "Now!" Sokka shouted and grabbed Aang's leg, right as Aang's arrow started to glow. The glow spread out through the Avatar's body, and transferred to them too.
"Oh, shoot," Sokka said nervously.
"Has anything like this ever happened before?" Zuko asked.
"No, it's usually only his arrow tattoo that glows!" Katara said in dismay.
"What's going on?" Toph said. "I can't see what you're talking about! Someone explain!"
"We're all glowing!" Suki said fearfully.
"This is not good, what's going to happen?" Sokka said. He was starting to go into panic mode. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, are we going into the-"
A blinding light flashed, cutting Sokka off mid-sentence. Team Avatar had disappeared into thin air.
***
"What just happened?" Suki asked.
"I can't see anything! My feet aren't working. What's going on?" Toph said.
They were in a strange place that looked like a misty swamp. There was something about the swamp that made it seem strange and unreal, almost otherworldly.
"Oh no, we're in the spirit world, guys!" Sokka said, hugging his knees to his chest.
"I told you this was a bad idea, Sokka!" Zuko shouted. "Look what you got us into!"
"It's not his fault, Zuko! He didn't know this would happen!" Katara said angrily. "This isn't normal for Aang, anyway. He doesn't bring people into the spirit world."
"Speaking of Aang, where is he?" Sokka asked.
"I told you to leave me alone!" A voice said. "Can't you just listen for once?"
They saw Aang standing a few feet away, glaring at them.
"Aang, I'm sorry-" Katara said.
"Katara, I told you specifically that I needed meditation time! Now look what you've done-what you all have done," Aang said, his voice rising to a shout. "The spirit world is no place for humans. Sokka, you should know that after Heibai kidnapped you."
"I know you're mad, Aang, but think about this for a second," Toph said. "Do you think any of us actually meant to come here? You usually don't bring anyone into the spirit world, and like you said, Sokka knows that the spirit world is not a fun place. We did grab you while you were meditating, and that was on purpose, but we never thought we'd end up here. We were just trying to get you to join us. We thought you were missing out."
There were a few seconds of silence. Then Aang spoke again.
"Okay, I guess I overreacted a little. I get it. I've pranked people too. You were just trying to help me out and have some fun. But you still shouldn't interrupt me while I'm meditating."
"Yeah, and I think we've all learned that lesson for ourselves," Suki said.
"You don't have to tell me twice," Sokka agreed. "I don't like it here at all."
"I've got to get you guys back to the normal world," Aang said. "Follow me, everyone."
They walked behind Aang in a line, Toph holding Katara's arm and Sokka jumping and grabbing Suki as any bugs flew by. Soon they came to a glowing white circle, about as tall as an average person. Aang put his hand through it and smiled.
"This is our way back, guys," he said. "I'll go last, just in case-"
"I'm first, come on, Suki!" Sokka yelled, grabbing Suki and running through the bright light.
"Me second," Toph said. "I hate not being able to see here."
"Why can't she see, Aang?" Katara asked.
"Bending doesn't work in the spirit world," Aang explained. "Toph sees with earthbending, so it didn't work here."
"Katara, let's go," Toph said. They jumped through the circle.
"Zuko, your turn," Aang said. He looked back and saw Zuko staring into space. "Zuko?"
"I can't help but wonder if Uncle was here," Zuko said. "Some people said he'd visited the spirit world, but I thought they made it up. But now that I know normal humans can come here, I don't know what to think."
"Well, your uncle does have a great respect for spirits, so maybe he has been here," Aang said. "You should ask him."
"I will," Zuko smiled.
"Aang? Zuko? Where are you guys?" Sokka's muffled, but distressed-sounding voice came from the portal.
"Is everything okay, Sokka?" Aang asked.
"How do we get back through?" Sokka said.
"I thought you hated it here," Zuko teased.
"Not funny, Zuko. Something weird's going on here," Sokka said.
"What's going on? Are you guys in danger? Don't worry, I'm coming!" Aang shouted. "Zuko, come on, go!"
Zuko jumped through the circle.
"What the... Aang something's definitely off here," Zuko said.
"I'm coming!" Aang said, racing through the portal.
"No, wait, Aang! You might be our only chance to get back through!" Zuko yelled, but Aang was already through.
The portal shrunk until it was the size of a coin. Then it blinked and dissolved into a few sparks.
"Where are we?" Sokka asked.
Aang looked up and saw that they were in an alleyway. "I'll get on the roof and see where we are," he said.
"That's what's weird," Zuko said. "Look how tall the buildings are."
Aang looked up and saw that the buildings weren't the normal size of houses. They were even taller than the air temples he's been to. And they seemed to be made of glass.
"Are we still in the spirit world?" Katara asked.
"No, I can see things here," Toph said. "They're pretty weird, though. There are a bunch of things that feel kind of like those Fire Nation tanks over there, only they're going much faster than normal tanks." She pointed to the left.
"Toph, can you take us there?" Aang asked.
"You got it, Twinkletoes," Toph smiled, running down the alley. Everyone else ran after her, until they got to what seemed like a street. Only, there were a bunch of metal tank-looking things running along it.
"What are those machines?" Zuko asked. "I've never seen anything like them!"
"I have no idea," Sokka said. "This is definitely not our world."
"Well, wherever we are, we're going to have to stay a while, because the portal disappeared," Aang said.
"Can't you just get back into the spirit world by meditating?" Katara said.
"I don't think so, not with all the noise these things are making," Aang said.
` "Look at those people," Zuko said. "They're dressed completely different than we are. We've gotta get some new clothes."
"Like how we got clothes in the Fire Nation?" Toph asked.
"No, something tells me that people here don't leave their clothes out to dry," Katara said. "There's not enough space. So I guess we're going to have to-"
"Wait, wait, wait. Does this mean... we're going shopping?!" Sokka asked excitedly.
"You know, I think you're the only guy who likes shopping, Sokka," Suki said, smiling.
"But you like shopping too, don't you?" Sokka said.
"Of course I like shopping! Let's go!" Suki said.