Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Special thanks to Jetisr for helping me keep this semi-accurate. Enjoy.
Sparks
Part 1- Year One
Chapter 1: Gypsies
"Katara?" A young girl's voice sounded throughout the clearing. Another girl, no older than eleven, looked up from the river, her brown hair plaited in the back with two loops framing her face. She was dressed in a simple blue dress, the sleeves and hood lined with white fur. She wore a blue stone necklace that matched her dark skin and blue eyes perfectly.
"Over here Toph." said the girl, Katara. She was out of breath from running.
A girl of nine came running in the direction of Katara's voice. She was dressed in a green shirt and pants with a beige tunic wrapped around it. She had short black hair and misty green eyes showing she was blind.
"Katara think we're close?" Toph asked Katara.
"Yes," Katara said, looking behind Toph into the woods.
"You don't think their still following us, do you?" Toph asked, sitting on the ground.
Before Katara could answer she heard incoherent shouting.
"Quick into the river." Katara whispered to Toph before pushing them both into the cold water. The sunset reflecting on the water blinded Katara slightly. She squinted and could see four figures rush into the clearing. She pulled Toph deeper. Katara could hold her breathe for quite a while, Toph, however, could not.
"I could've sworn they went this way." said one man, dressed in a fiery red army uniform and helmet. All the men were dressed the same.
"Split up, they can't have gotten far." Another man said. They all headed in different directions, except for one officer that stayed behind.
Katara could feel Toph struggling. She tried to keep her calm. She sank themselves lower as the man walked closer to the river. Katara saw a fish and made it jump out at him before bolting through the water with Toph. Once they were a safe distance away, she climbed on land dragging the barely conscious girl with her.
"You okay?" Katara asked, wringing the water out of her braid. "Toph?" She turned around and saw her friend on her hands and knees breathing slowly.
"I'm...fine." Toph said, choking up water. "Ugh, those guys just won't give up..."
"I thought for sure that we'd lost them in the ocean." Katara said.
Toph collapsed forward.
"Toph!" Katara exclaimed rushing to the girl and knelt beside her.
Toph help up a hand to stop her friend. "I'm fine." said Toph, panting She sat up on her knees. "Think Sokka and Haru made it out okay?"
"I'm sure they did. They had a head start from us, so they're probably already to the Earth Kingdom by now." Said Katara, taking off her wet and now heavy dress revealing a light blue under dress. While folding her clothes up she assessed what materials they had with them. The only carry-on items they had were Katara's water canteen, a dagger, a map they stole, and Toph's small pouch of pebbles. Katara thought of Sokka.
"I hope he's okay." said Katara, whispering.
"Your brother can handle himself just fine; he may be an idiot sometimes but he's not dumb." Toph said, sitting cross-legged on the dirt.
"I swear its like you can read minds sometimes." Said Katara, moving her hands in a slow circle above her folded dress, watching the water rise out of the fabric.
"No, I just know how you think of Sokka in comparison to Haru." Said Toph. "He's stronger than you think."
"I know." Said Katara.
"So where are we going now?" Toph asked Katara, making her pebbles hover in a circle above her right palm.
"Not sure, first we have to figure out where we are." said Katara moving the water back into the river.
Toph stood up and placed her bare feet on the ground. Katara sat perfectly still so not to interfere with the vibrations. The blind girl sighed. "Nothing."
Katara pulled out the map and began studying it. "Maybe we should just continue heading west, the Fire Nation can't be far from the colony, but since its not on the map its hard to tell. So that means no stopping."
There was silence while Katara waited for Toph's answer. "Katara, we both know you don't know how to read that thing." said Toph, referring to the map.
"I can understand it well enough!" Katara snapped at Toph. "And do you think you should really be questioning my ability to read?" she added crossing her arms.
Toph rolled her sightless eyes and said. "Fair enough. Lead the way, Sugar Queen."
Following the river, both girls walked in silence, Katara holding both the map and her dress close to her. The two walked around for two hours without stopping. Toph was getting tired and was about to collapse when she sensed something.
"There's a carriage going the same way as us. Their on a road up ahead, turn right!" said Toph. They both ran away from the river and stumbled upon a dust road with a closed carriage parked on the side. The passengers, a middle age man and woman, were having their lunch while the Dragon Moose rested on the ground. Katara observed their clothing and transportation.
"Fire Nation, and they must be rich." she whispered to Toph.
"Let's go." said Toph, sneaking around to the back of the carriage with Katara following close behind.
Katara stopped Toph, set the map and dress on the ground, and checked inside the carriage. She pulled back the red pelt with her forefinger and peered inside with one eye. Inside was a small room. There was a bed in the back made out of blankets of white fur. On the left side was a small chest that was open slightly to reveal a red sleeve of a Fire Nation dress. The room was lit by a small candle sitting on top of a crate on the right side of the carriage. The place smelled of ash and cinnamon.
"I'm going in, you stay here." said Katara, whispering.
Toph nodded and pulled back the pelt all the way, carefully lifting herself up to sit on the edge. Once she had balanced herself she crawled over to the chest and began sifting through the clothes. Katara wasn't worried about size, she could just cut it to the right length later on. She grabbed all the female clothing she could find along with a pair of red pants for Toph. She opened the pelt and was about to jump out when she saw that Toph was missing. She began to panic when she saw the blind girl come silently running back around to where Katara was with medium size pouch in her right hand.
Katara began to question her but Toph cut her off, explaining what she had over heard from the passengers in a low excited voice. "Their heading to the Fire Nation, their trip will only last about a few more days so they decided not to stop." she said.
Katara thought about what this could mean for them. She decided that they should stow away in the carriage until they reached the Fire Nation. Toph showed her the pouch that she had stole from the passengers up front. It was full of Fire Flakes, Toph thought they would be good for food while they hid. Katara and Toph both stripped off their clothes and quickly fitted themselves into the Fire Nation attire. Katara threw aside the pieces of scrap fabric. Lastly Katara took off her deceased mothers necklace and placed it in Toph's pebble pouch.
"What will we do with our other clothes?" Toph asked Katara.
Katara thought fast and quickly took both her and Toph's garments and ran back to the river as silently as she could. She then tossed them into the water watching the current take it upstream. She stood there for a moment and watched then ran back to Toph and the carriage. Toph did not question Katara as they both crawled into the back of the carriage. Katara got in first and Toph, handing her the map and dagger, got in next. They both settled themselves in as quietly as they could. After waiting a few more hours they felt the carriage shift and begin to move.
They kept their belongings close and took shifts sleeping and taking watch just in case they were caught, eating only when necessary and taking sips of Katara's water. After three days this became routine. On the third night during Katara's watch the young waterbender found herself reminiscing about the past two weeks. When the Fire Nation had once again invaded her home, the Southern Water tribe. Her and Sokka's father, Hakoda, had been holding the first real war meeting in two years, since a previous Fire Nation Raid had killed his wife, Kya. Haru's father, Tyro, and Toph's family, the Bei Fongs', both arrived from the Earth Kingdom by boat. Haru was only thirteen and Sokka was twelve.
While Hakoda and the other adults conversed privately in his tent, Sokka guided his sister, Toph, and Haru off to a small block of ice near his grandmothers tent. There he placed a map of the world on the ice and began to recite the invasion plan that he had overheard and memorized from Hakoda. He gave each child a position and told them what to do. Toph, being blind only listened to Sokka's instructions, grinning every now and then when he mentioned attacking the Fire Nation soldiers.
Sokka himself was not a bender but Katara, Haru, and Toph were and were considered quite skilled. Katara was the only waterbender in the Southern Water tribe and both Haru and Toph were Earthbenders, Sokka served as the warrior of the group and also a leader of sorts. At first everything was going smoothly, everything in the tribe felt peaceful and everyone went about their day as normal. Katara had wandered off from the children's war meeting while Sokka and Haru got into an argument over who should lead the group during the invasion.
Katara had been the first to notice the black soot. When she saw it mixing with the snow flurries in the air, her heart sunk. She had stood frozen staring out at the horizon watching the black ships appear surrounding the small village. Soon everyone was in a panic, women and their children rushing into their tents and the men of the tribe going out to guard their home. Sokka and Haru were among them and Katara had rushed off to find Toph, who was still standing by the block of ice.
That was when Katara heard the screams of pain. She had turned around and saw Firebenders throwing flames at her neighbors. Katara remembers screaming for Sokka and Haru, dragging Toph with her. When the group had met up, Hakoda found them and without explaining why ushered them to travel to the Earth Kingdom and wait for the counsel's arrival. Haru had said he knew where the boats where and lead the group away from the raid, Katara crying silently.
The group traveled for about a week surviving on the food and water they found onboard the boat. Haru was convinced they heading to the Earth Kingdom and the others didn't question him when they came across a Fire Nation Colony, common in the Earth Kingdom. But when they arrived they did not see the Council. Sokka not wanting to panic figured that it would be okay to camp there for awhile to re-supply. They spent the first day in peace, camping behind an old decrepit building. They wore black cloaks to hide their clothes and faces. The next morning though Sokka had woke up to a scream to see Katara and Haru struggling against two armed men, Toph was trying to wrestle three to the ground at once. Before Sokka could react he was pushed face first into the ground and all four of them were handcuffed.
They had spent the next two nights in a jail cell that was guarded from the outside. During those two nights Sokka had silently come up with an escape plan. He had observed the floor of the cell was pure earth and none of the guards knew that three of them were benders. While Katara had kept watch Sokka coached Toph and Haru to silently dig a tunnel in the floor. They had timed it so it would happen at night, when the guards thought they were asleep. It took a few hours but once Haru had resurfaced from the dark hole, he guided Katara down first and she helped Sokka. Haru didn't want to fill in the hole in case it caved in. Once out on the other side, which was behind the Jail twenty feet away.
Once outside the group were soon spotted by the guards. Sokka had led them behind a cart which bought them a few minutes. Katara then decided to split from the group and lead the guards away. Sokka had refused and Toph had opted to go with Katara. Soon four guards were advancing on them and before Sokka and Haru could act Katara and Toph were running away trying to get the guards attention by shouting at them while they discarded their cloaks. The guards, not being able to see nor fire bend foolishly followed them leaving Sokka and Haru to run the other way, Sokka praying to meet up with them again. The two girls then sailed on a boat for another week only to arrive at another island still being chased by the guards. Katara stole a map she found on board before Toph and her were chased into the woods. Katara sighed bringing her own self back to reality. She looked at the candle and with one final thought of meeting up with Sokka in the Fire Nation blew out the flame.
The next two nights both girls stayed awake eating more of the Fire Flakes and trying to ration the water. Katara was getting anxious and on the fifth night decided to peek outside. She crawled slowly over to the pelt while Toph listened to the front of the carriage for any disturbances while Katara looked outside carefully, she saw a dirt road and the jungle a short distance away, she decided to peer around the edge up front and saw they were headed for a huge gate with the Fire Nation emblem on either side, a golden flame.
She quickly returned inside and crawled back to Toph. "We're here." Katara said excitedly.
Both girls brightened up for a second but then their faces went solemn as they waited for the carriage to stop. Once it did
both girls sat as still as statues not sure what to do. They felt the two passengers get of the front of the carriage, shifting its
weight a bit. Katara crawled over to the entrance slowly and peered outside once more. She saw that the carriage had been parked in market place near several venders and their carts. She went and guided Toph over to the entrance and whispered to her a plan.
"We need to sneak out of here as quietly as possible. We'll walk around behind the carts since some of them are unattended and come out on the other side, blending in with the crowd." Katara said to Toph, stuffing the map in her belt.
"Sounds good." Said Toph, hiding the dagger in her loose clothing and belt.
Both girls exited the carriage one by one, leaving behind the fire flakes and Katara's water pouch. They crept along the wall behind the carts to avoid being seen. Katara held her breath for the most of it afraid of tripping in her boots. After passing at least five carts in ten minutes Katara saw an opening and both girls casually walked out onto the busy street. Both were tense and on their guard. They passed a little girl sitting on the ground next to her mother, who was shopping while the girl played with a fabric doll. The girl looked up at them and caught Katara's eye her own wide with curiosity. Katara bit her lip and smiled slightly at the girl who grinned back at her.
The next few moments happened in a blur. Katara could hear shouts that sounded like. "Don't let them get away."
Before she and Toph could react, both girls were tackled to the ground. Katara landing headfirst. She turned painfully on her back and through dizzy disoriented eyes she looked up at her attacker. It was the colony guard from the river, the one who she had threw a fish at. She saw another man walk up beside him that she did not recognize but he was clearly another guard.
"You sure these are the girls?" asked the unrecognizable man.
"Of course I'm sure, just look at her shoes, they are clearly water nation." Said the man hovering over Katara, the colony guard.
Katara took one look at the little girl who watched the scene curiously and attempted to fight back while they talked. She kicked his legs out from underneath him and quickly backed up. She grabbed Toph, pulled the blind girl up and the two were off running. Everyone on the street continued to go about his or her business as if nothing was happening. Katara took the lead as Toph began knocking over random carts littering the streets with various foods and novelties. It felt as if they were running in circles, dodging citizens who would glare at them as they passed. Katara passed by a fountain and thought about using her bending to fend them off but decided against it since she was in the Fire Nation itself.
The girls reached a dead end and were surrounded by four guards now. They backed Katara and Toph to the wall.
"Alright no more games." Said one of the men. He had a black goatee and appeared to be the oldest.
The two guards that had tackled Katara and Toph were both holding two handcuffs as they walked over to the girls. The slammed them face first against the wall and cuffed their hands behind their backs. The guard behind Katara snatched the map from her belt and she shouted in protest.
"Shut it." said the man as he read the paper. He crumpled it up and tossed it aside in disgust. "Just a lousy map. Take them to the cells."
The younger of the two guards pushed Katara and Toph forcefully behind the goatee and colony guard. They walked for a bit before Toph broke the silence, her voice irritable. "Hey we can walk, you know."
"Shut up and just keep moving, brat." said a high pitched voice, it was the guard behind Toph.
Toph's sightless eyes widened and she laughed out loud. "I didn't know I was captured by a mouse. Was that really your voice?"
"Toph..." said Katara quietly, trying to get her to stop.
"Katara did you not hear it?" Toph asked Katara turning slightly to her.
The boy pushed Toph and caused her to almost fall forward. "I said shut up." he said angrily.
They all had arrived at a colorless building with only two windows placed on either side of a wooden door with bars on each one. Katara and Toph were walked inside, un-cuffed and pushed into one of the empty cells, Katara clenched her teeth as she heard it lock behind her. She ran to the bars and glared at the guards, the one with the high voice just smirked at her.
"What are you going to do with us." Asked Katara through her teeth.
They ignored her. The goatee guard led the other men minus the boy to the door. "Ichiro, keep an eye on them for us will you?"
"Yes sir." said the boy, Ichiro.
"I'll tell your mother that you'll be home late." he said.
"Yes Dad." said Ichiro.
The three men exited and Ichiro took off his helmet to reveal greasy dark brown hair. He leaned against the wall and smirked at Katara. Katara glared at him and looked at Toph who was sitting crossed legged on the concrete floor sighing.
"Your kind of cute," said Ichiro, walking closer to Katara.
"Oh bite me." Katara said moving away from the bars and sitting against the wall opposite.
Ichiro unlocked the cell door and walked in nonchalantly. "Oh come on, don't tell me you don't like what you see." said Ichiro gesturing to his body and face.
Katara raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. "Of course I do." she said standing up and walking slowly over to him.
Toph raised her head slightly and gave Katara and odd look but stayed silent.
Ichiro began to turn red and stared down at Katara who was a foot shorter than him. She stood up on her toes and leaned in close to his face. Ichiro closed his eyes and puckered his lips awkwardly. Katara just grinned and spat in his face. He backed up surprised.
"Brat." said Ichiro attempting to grab her wrist and she blocked him and twisted his hand back. He gasped in pain and backed out of the cell, relocking it and rubbing his hand.
"Like I would ever kiss Fire Nation scum like you." said Katara snidely as she joined Toph by the wall who fist bumped her.
"Nice one. Sugar Queen."