A/N - DISCLAIMER - I do not own anything having anything to do with Avatar: The Last Airbender, except maybe the DVD's and an Aang key-chain. I also do not have permission from the writers to be making this story, but who does? ;-) I do however own and take full custody of my character, Emily. I also do not own the episode, "The Southern Air Temple."

~EMILY~

I always wished that something absolutely amazing would happen to me. Something like in the hundreds upon hundreds of books I read. I wanted to dive in the pool one day and notice my legs turning into a mermaid's tail. Or jump in the air onto to find I can fly around a couple hundred feet off the ground. Or lift my arm one day and find that water bends at my command.

For I am also an avid "Avatar: The Last Airbender" fan. Or at least I was. But now...let's just say that things are...different now. Anyway, I always used to watch it with my best friend in the entire world, Victoria. We would sit in front of the TV for hours on end, not noticing the time until we looked out the window to see that the sun had left us, watching episode upon glorious episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender. And then, of course, there were the epic, slow-motion waterbending battles in our swimming pools. Yeah, we pretty much spent our lives revolving around that show. But, let me tell you, it was no waste! Knowing every character's depth and background came in pretty handy when...it happened.

But, anyway, I'm getting off topic. Sometimes I just drift away, thinking of how things used to be... Not to say that I don't love my life now; I do! But sometimes...I just wish I could relive those times...just for a day. Oh, sorry, I'm drifting again.

So, point of things is, I always wished that something wonderful and magical would occur. I wanted to have the adventures that all of my favorite storybook or movie characters would get. Like Frodo, or Sarah from Labyrinth, or Harry Potter, or any of those people! I wished desperately with all my being that these things would happen to me. But you know that saying about wishes? "Be careful what you wish for"? Yeah, believe me when I say that that saying has got some truth to it. I mean...my wish ended up good in the end, and I love my life now, as I said. But...I still wish I'd been more careful when I'd made it...

So...here comes the explanation. Or, at least, my best attempt. It was long ago, so it's tough to remember. Let me see...I was...sleeping over at Victoria's! That's it! Yes, I was at Victoria's. After spending virtually our entire evening watching most of Book 1, we finally decided to hit the hay.

Every so often, my desperate wish would hit me hard and it would be all I could think about. Tonight was one of those times.

I laid my head down on my pillow, and looked sideways out the window at the stars. 'Please let something amazing happen tomorrow,' I pleaded, 'I don't care about specifics. Just, whoever is listening, make it magical! I don't care what, just...' my eyelids closed slowly, 'amazing...' I began drifting into slumber, 'and magical.' and just like that, I was fast asleep.

~ZHAO~

I still lay there, staring after my chronic enemy as he left with his uncle, probably feeling so damn smart. I thought I'd one-upped him. I always one-up him! He was always so easy to beat! This time, however, he had not only defeated me in combat, but his "esteemed" uncle scolded me! How dare he?

Well, Zhao, this has certainly been a banner day. I hate that kid.

Something about him, today...he seemed different somehow. Different from when his sorry butt had left the Fire Nation. I couldn't quite place it, but...I knew that was why he'd beaten me today.

Of course, he hadn't really beaten me. He didn't even have the guts to take the final shot. While that wouldn't have been too fun to me, I would have liked to been defeated properly. He's such a disgrace to the Fire Nation. I wished so badly to take that ship from him. His ship and crew; he didn't deserve them. Not one bit. If he went around telling people he was the Fire Prince with his fancy ship and crew, and then made a fool of himself wherever he went...people would lose their respect for the Fire Nation.

No...no, not "respect." They probably don't respect us. But that doesn't matter. If the other nations find out what an idiot the Fire Prince is, they will lose their fear of us. And that was what mattered. I needed something. Something to help me get ahead. Get ahead to a position in which I could take care of this nuisance, Zuko.

I laid my head down on my pillow, and looked sideways out the window at the stars. 'Please let something helpful happen tomorrow,' I pleaded, 'I don't care about specifics. Just, whoever is listening, make it powerful! I don't care what, just...' my eyelids closed slowly, 'helpful...' I began drifting into slumber, 'and powerful.' and just like that, I was fast asleep.

~WAN SHI TONG~

The Great Knowledge Spirit had much to do that night. There were wishers that needed attending to. The all-knowing owl had heard their wishes, of course, and he knew that these wishes were not wise. He knew that one of these wishes was not thought over, was not expected to come true. However, the girl that had made it needed to know that there is always a chance that your wishes will be heard and answered. He also knew that the other wish wasn't thought over. It was only made in anger and frustration, and had no chance of coming true. So, he had decided to grant these crude wishers their foolish wishes. He had never cared much for humans, so he didn't particularly care of their personal consequences. Only that they learned their lesson about wishing.

So, during the one night that both wishers had unknowingly called out to him, Wan Shi Tong visited each in their dreams. He started with the more difficult: getting to the real world. Being the Spirit of Knowledge, he not only knew all within his own universe, but that of the three-dimensional world. He was the only one in the two-dimensional world that knew of the other; not even the other Spirits knew. Only him.

So he began with the girl, Emily. Then he would get back to his own universe, which wasn't nearly as difficult. It was not easy to add another dimension to yourself, but taking one away was simple. Once he was back, he would visit the Fire Nation Commander, Zhao. These two wishers would soon see the power of wishing, and its many downsides. This would teach them not abuse that power that everyone had, but the wise did not use.

Wan Shi Tong came into each of the two dreams, and gave the wishers the same message.

"I will grant your wish." he said plainly, "You will be granted your seemingly most desperate wish. But I warn you that it will not be what you think. However, you have lost your choice in this matter. You have already made your foolish wish. And it will be granted."

Emily had seemed to think he looked familiar, but he knew that they didn't quite recognize him. Zhao had, of course, easily recognized him from the time he had sneaked into the Library and Wan Shi Tong had found him and tried to apprehend him.

So, he went back to his own Library feeling as satisfied as one who never smiles can feel. He granted their wishes, and waited for them to wake up so he could enjoy their confusion, anger, fear, and foolishness.

A/N - This looked longer in OpenOffice.