Chapter 1

Earthquake

There comes a time in everyone's life when a change must occur. Whether it is when you turn a certain age, or when you go to college, or when you become a parent. It is part of the natural order of the world. My life was no different, except my life changed in a rather drastic way and it all started with an earthquake.

It wasn't unheard of for earthquakes to hit my part of the world but they were rarely strong enough to cause problems. I had experienced an earthquake only once in my life. I was five years old back then and the only reason I had recognized it was because my mom had just finished an earthquake safety unit.

My day started on a long weekend. It was Saturday and I was enjoying the warm summer sun. It was one of those days where you don't want to do anything. I was just enjoying my time, wandering around town. As I walked down main street I passed by a small restaurant, which was one of the favourite places to eat in town, a family owned pizza place with a 60's theme. I smiled at the image of myself in the reflection. I was pretty, a soft round face, fairly high cheekbones, brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. Average weight and a height of five foot eight. Nothing really big or spectacular, pretty normal actually, if not a little on the tall side. I sighed, it was nice to get out of the apartment, it was so hot right now.

My family was not well off so we lived in a small apartment. We would sometimes get through a month by the skin on our teeth, Not that I was complaining, our lives were hard but they could have been harder. We had a house, food, a car, a good school. Life wasn't bad.

I was distracted by a rumble. I quickly looked to the highway but there wasn't a single large truck or van going by. I frowned, a little confused but shrugged it off as nothing really major.

It was then that the ground lurched under my feet and began shaking like it was having a seizure. Cars and trucks swerved and lost control, crashing into buildings, trees and each other. I heard people screaming, lose their footing and fall. There was another rumble and the sound of rushing water came to my ears. I stood stalk still, stunned. Then the ground literally opened up beneath me. I screamed as a massive sinkhole formed under my feet. I was falling for a few seconds before I hit water feet first and was dragged under. A heavy current pulled at me. I struggled to get above the water. My head bobbed up and I caught a gasping breath before being shoved under again.

I don't know how long I was thrown about. I was sure I had a few bruises and cuts but if that was all I had at the end of this I would be thankful. That was when my head was shoved into a wall. I gasped, losing the bit of precious air I had been holding. My head felt fuzzy and I knew that I was going to faint. I was going to die.

When I woke up I was dimly aware of not being alone. There were other people near me, around me. My left arm was stiff and sore, my body ached and sweated. I was uncomfortable, hot, hungry and thirsty. Slowly I managed to swim through the fog of desires into the real world, surfacing slowly.

"...okay?"

"She's healing as well as can be expected Katara. Her fever broke last night. We seem to be through the worst." The voice was old and worn, the voice of an old woman. I was just able to assess that through the lifting fogginess of my head.

"Does that mean she'll survive?" This voice was also female but significantly younger then the previous speaker. This was probably Katara. I paused mentally. The name seemed familiar but I couldn't focus enough right now to firmly place it.

"Only if she wakes up. She's been asleep for three days. We've been lucky that we could even manage to get her to drink anything at all. Still, if she falls into the living death there is nothing we can do about it besides send her to the Spirit World." My needs were growing and I was beginning to feel tired again but what the elder woman had said scared me. The Spirit World. I couldn't place the name any more than the girl's but I could figure out that it was the realm of spirits, in other words, the realm of the dead.

I was not going to die.

My eyes felt like someone had cemented them closed but I forced them open. It was only a little bit but it was enough for me to come fully into myself. Struggling to get the attention of my caretakers I tried to speak. Only a pathetic moan passed my lips. The smaller blurry figure in blue, the one who I assumed was the younger speaker noticed my moving. She sped over to where I was and leaned in, "She's awake Gran-gran!"

My body felt heavy and I wanted to sleep again. I smelt a strong scent of something edible and managed to open my mouth. I tiredly allowed them to spoon the food into my mouth like an infant. Despite my hunger my stomach filled up quickly. I knew why but couldn't explain it. Even if I could have I wouldn't have had the energy to do so anyways.

I fell asleep again soon after.

I must have woken up for short periods several times in the next couple of days. At least that's what Katara and her brother Sokka told me. During that time I hadn't really understood where I was, being exhausted and weak from my ordeal. It was about five days after I had woken up for the first time that I began to realize what had happened to me.

I woke up. It wasn't slow or groggy and I didn't want to go back to sleep. I had energy and for the first time since I had come here I was able to sit up without the help of others. Looking around I saw that I was laying in a tent of some kind on a thick, blue sleeping bag with a tan coloured blanket laying over my body. My left arm was still stiff and now that I had the energy to be curious I turned to look at it. My arm was fixed between two strong pieces of wood, tied firmly there with pieces of torn cloth.

I looked down at myself and for the first time realized that I was all but naked. My clothes had been stripped and replaced by something like a small tube top that covered below and above my breasts. The rest of me was covered in bandages though I was pleased to see when I peered under the blanket that I had on a pair of underwear. Looking around some more I took in a metal stove of some sort as well as a bowl and spoon. Picking it up I was surprised to see that both bowl and utensil were made out of bone. Putting aside the urge to study the bowl further I quickly dipped the spoon into the thick broth and devoured the food there. The broth was thick, with chunks of something that reminded me a little of gelatin but I was too hungry to care.

That was when he entered.

Before that moment I hadn't put a lot of thought into what I had already heard and seen, too focused on curiosity and hunger. Then the boy walked in. He had brown skin, a wolf tail, blue clothes and equally blue eyes. The second I lay eyes on him my heart sped up to match that of a jackrabbits as everything I had experienced hit me like a sledgehammer. Katara, Gran-Gran, this boy here, Sokka Katara's brother. Oh. My. God. My heart had somehow jumped to my throat and I stared at him in wide eyes. This couldn't be happening, despite how realistic it looked, despite how they weren't cartoon, I knew. I was in Avatar the Last Airbender. I couldn't make a sound, I couldn't move. My breath started coming out in gasps and I distantly realized that I was hyperventilating. The boy, Sokka spun and shouted something. Within seconds I had Katara and Gran-Gran helping me to calm down, rubbing my back and speaking soothingly to me.

I took a deep breath and finally managed to calm down somewhat, my body still shaking like a leaf. Unwilling to believe it I asked, "Where am I? Who are you?" Katara, ever kind and helpful explained softly, "You're in the South pole. I'm Katara, this is my grandmother and the one who scared you was my brother, Sokka."despite the fact I knew it already my brain froze on the South Pole. I was in another world, heck I was in the south pole of that world. I realized then, my family probably thought I was dead, my body floating in some underground river. I realized that no one would ever search for it. I began to cry.

I was inconsolable. Katara was trying to calm me down but I slapped her hand away with my right hand, before curling into a ball. I wanted to be left alone, luckily for me, Gran-Gran knew that and she guided both Sokka and Katara outside. I dimly registered Katara's protests but I was to caught up in my grief. I cried for what my life would have been had that earthquake not happened, I cried for my family who would never know my fate and I cried because I was here and not there with them. I had never wanted to go home so badly.

Didn't stop crying until I fell asleep.

The next morning I was surprised by Katara sitting beside me. She watched me nervously before speaking.

"Please don't panic again."

"I won't," I promised, I couldn't help but look away, feeling ashamed for my behaviour yesterday. I didn't apologize, I had every right to panic and cry. dimly in the back of my mind I was glad that despite the fact these characters looked realistic they didn't look anything like the movie's characters. I probably would have committed suicide if I had ended up in the move verse.

"So what's your name?" I jumped and looked at Katara wide-eyed. She smiled, completely unaware of the conundrum she just stuck me in. How was I supposed to give my name? A name that was in no way remotely ATLA sounding. While I desperately mentally searched the names I had heard that could fit into this universe Katara continued on.

"How old are you? How did you get here? Where do you come from? Are you a bender?" I sighed and looked at her. Even if I gave her a different name it would soon be obvious that it wasn't really my name. I wouldn't respond to it fast enough. How was I going to answer all these questions? Finally I just decided to tell as much of the truth as she could understand and I could handle.

"My name is...," I sighed, "My name is Madison. I'm seventeen years old. umm..." I paused to remember the other questions, "I don't know how I got here," I paused again. Where should I come from and how could I answer the bender question. I didn't know if I was a bender, and I was pretty sure that my hometown wouldn't be recognized. I could say it was a small earth kingdom town though.

"I'm not a bender and I come from a small town on... Kangaroo Island." I supplied with a guilty smile. I was an awful lair even Sokka would probably tell when I was lying. Normally I would blush, look away, or start laughing. The few instances where I could lie were based around anger when I would spout anything I could think of to hurt someone. I rarely got angry but when I lost it I grew a mean streak about a mile long. Speaking of mean streak. I looked at Katara. Either we would be the best of friends or we would hate each other because of how similar we were. Really it was the only option I could see. Both of us were mother hens, both of us cared for our friends and both of us could be downright cruel when it came down to it. Still I also had better control over my desires and anger, I was extremely patient and I had learned from my mistakes. So, while we were alike I was more mature which made sense as she was three years younger than me.

"Oh, okay," I looked up surprised. She hadn't noticed I was lying. Deciding to count my lucky stars I went for a change of topic.

"So... healer Katara, how long will I be stuck here with this?" I raised my stiff arm, rather surprised at how well a couple of wood shafts and cloth could work as a cast. Katara blushed, "Well I'm not a healer... but Gran-gran says that you'll be in bed for another five days and another week before the splint comes off." I nodded than cracked a smile, "I've put this poor arm through the wringer, this is the third time I've broken it,"

Katara looked shocked, "that means-"

"The bone is going to either get stronger or weaker, at this point I don't care much anyway." I replied with a shrug. After a moment of silent contemplation Katara asked, "Did the Fire Nation separate you from your family?" I paused. It would be so easy to blame it all on the Fire Nation but I didn't agree with that. Not every Fire Nation person was a sick bastard just like not all earth kingdom people were strong and resolute or all water tribe flowing and relaxed. Katara's master in the North defiantly proved that one.

"No," I finally said after a moment, "it wasn't the fire nation. Just a natural disaster" I felt my eyes prickle and quickly wiped at them, "It doesn't matter anyway,"

"Yeah it does," Katara stated softly coming up to sit beside me, "the fire nation came to this very village eight years ago. They killed my mother," I looked up at Katara. A lot of people believed that Katara is a whiny baby and/or a Mary Sue. When I looked at her now though... all I saw was a fourteen year old girl who was really hurting and had been forced to grow up to fast. I frowned before leaning over to her and pulling her into an awkward hug. She stiffened than nervously returned it. I smiled, "Sorry but I couldn't help it. You're the same age as my little sister." I looked at Katara and it occurred to me. She had been forced to grow up and become an adult, needing to be the woman of the house. Despite that she was the younger of the two she had to be the mother to her brother.

Silently I made an oath. If I was going to be in this world then I wasn't going to stand idly by while these people got hurt. If I had any control over it I would do my best to ease that pain without risking this world's ending. It would be hard but I was willing to risk myself. The worst thing that could happen was death after all and I had already lived through that.


"There you go Pala" Kanna said with a smile. I nodded with my own smile looking at my arm, finally free of its bindings. I carefully bent it. The muscle had atrophied but I knew what would be needed to fix that issue. Weight lifting. Or in this case as Kanna had it, hauling buckets of clean snow to be boiled into fresh drinking and wash water. I sighed at the buckets she was pointing to and moved to pick them up. "Is this really necessary?" I asked. Kanna just gave me this look and I hurried out of the tent.

In the last two weeks I'd somehow joined the water tribe. I'd begun to wear water tribe clothing, not that I had much choice given the fact that all my other clothes were destroyed beyond repair when they found me. My hair, an inch longer then my shoulders, had changed from being left loose to do what it willed to being worn in a short, three stranded braid. I'd also been given a nickname by the local population Palartok, which means quiet. Katara though had taken to calling me Pala since I called her Tara once. I told her I actually preferred Pala, she told me she preferred Katara and that was the end of that.

My arm began to ache after the first trip and I was quick to decide that the bucket with my weaker arm was going to hold less snow. Luckily I was not the only person doing this chore so everyone wasn't depending upon my rather limited competence when it came to this icy land.

"Need some help there?" I looked up to see Sokka. He quickly took the bucket from my shaking arm, looking at me worriedly. Sokka was a lot nicer then I remembered on the show and a lot more than just comic relief. Sure his voice did still crack and boom from time to time and yes, he could be immature but he was a sixteen year old boy. It was nothing beyond what I expected in the first place. Still occasionally like now, he showed incredible depth for someone who was comic relief for the first season and a half. I had found that I had to remind myself less and less that they are more than just characters on a TV set. They are as real as I am.

"As much as I'd like to say yes don't you have warrior training to do? Besides I need to do this. It'll strengthen up my arm and that is something that needs to happen, as painful as it is." Sokka grimaced then took the bucket from me anyways. He walked with me for a moment before speaking up, "What warrior training? Who am I kidding? I can't teach these kids anything," he paused, "I wish dad was here, or even Bato, either one of them could really help." I said nothing for a while before replying thoughtfully.

"You can teach them basics, some pretty neat tricks-"

"What's that going to do against the fire nation?" Sokka interrupted. I sighed and took the bucket back from him, using this action to make him fully pay attention to me. Sokka and Katara had become very close to me, not that I was surprised, they were the only children their age that had survived the attack of the Fire Nation and a shortage on food that came not long after, causing many people to starve to death. Even now food was scarce among this village and they had little to barter with. They could barter with the few other villages on this pole but few were doing better then they were.

Dragging my mind back to the conversation at hand I spoke firmly.

"Sokka you can give these children something that they have very little of, forgive me from taking a leaf from Katara's book but you can give them hope and the heart and courage of a warrior through observation. You might not be the best warrior out there but you have determination and intelligence." I grinned, "don't waste it okay?"