"What is the matter with you!" Katara shouted above Natasha's wails. "Arrrgghh!" Natasha screams and then falls to her back and begins to mutter to herself. "Um, is there any thing I can do?" Katara said crouching down next to the strange girl.
"Can you take me to the head-person of the Chinese camp?" Natasha said slowly covering her eyes with her arm.
"No."
"Is there even a Chinese camp here?"
"No."
Natasha sighs. She had to think! If she wasn't at camp then she'd just have to get back. Back. The last thing the robed man had said that she had said was 'Take me back to the past.' Past!
"When am I?" Natasha cried sitting bolt right up.
"When are you? I don't know, around mid-day, I suppose." Katara said slowly, getting kind of scared of Natasha.
Natasha mentally slaps herself, and feels around in her pockets. There! She pulled out her cell phone and tried to call 911. Nothing happened. "What's that?" Katara asked peering over Natasha's shoulder. "It's my cell." She closes it and puts it into her laptop bag. "Do you guys have cell phones? Or phones in general?" At both questions Katara shakes her head 'no'. Natasha stares at the other girl. "What exactly is your latest invention, not you specifically, but your generation's latest invention?" Natasha asked gathering up her things.
Katara thought for a moment. "Well the fire nation has had the steamboat for a while, but that is all I can think of."
"Steamboats?" Natasha said laughing at the primitiveness. "Have you ever heard of Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison? Geez, you gotta at least have electricity right?" Katara stared at Natasha.
"Electricity?"
Natasha stared wide eyed at Katara.
"Just my luck to get sent to this time! How did I get here in the first place!" ARRGGHHH! I need to get back. Some one must know how.
"Do you know any one who can take me back to where I came from?" She asked adjusting the pack on her back. Katara thought for a second, wondering if she could trust this weird speaking stranger. "Well...um... The Avatar might be able to help you, but I don't know."
"Don't know what an 'Avatar' is but if you say it'll help, I guess I'll give it a shot."
It was Katara's turn to look surprised. "You don't know what the Avatar is!"
"Not really, no, to put it bluntly." Natasha said tugging on Katara to get up.
"He's only the person of this world who can control all four elements, and bring balance to the four nations!" Katara cried. "It's practically impossible to not have even heard stories of him!" Katara shouted standing up quickly.
"Well if he's so well known, then take me to Mr. Avatar! I need to get home! I have a life, where there aren't weird people trying to hit me or who don't know what simple electricity is."
"His name is Aang! And I don't have to help you if you keep being so mean and ignorant!"
That shut her up. But Katara's words had hit home, with in seconds Natasha's eyes were watering, and she didn't seem to be breathing. She then dropped to her knees and let her backpack fall to the ground and began to cry. 'Talk about mood swings' Katara thought to herself.
"I'm sorry, I don't, I'm not mean, it's just I, I don't, I don't know why I'm here!" She cried banging her fists into the sand. "I don't want to be here!" she sobbed again. "Oh God! Why didn't I pay attention to the stupid master! Now I can't ever go home! Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god!" Her shoulders began to shudder as her cries began to get more desperate. Katara didn't know what to do. She couldn't just leave the girl here, she didn't seem to know about anything going on in the world. But she had to protect Aang, too. She bit her lip as she looked down at the poor creature in front of her. She could relate, she couldn't go home either, at least not until the fire nation was over thrown. Katara bent down and crouched again next to Natasha. She placed her hand on Natasha's back and began to comfort her new friend.
Sokka was still muttering to himself as he passed the brook that held their campsite on the other side. As he was entering the clearing, he was met with a lemur bouncing onto his head and chirping for food. "Hey Sokka!" A twelve-year-old boy said from his place beside an enormous flying bison. "Women!" Sokka yelled. "They're just so, so...RRRRRR!" He growled as he paced the camp site. "What Katara do to you this time, Sokka?" Aang joked knowing quite well of the siblings bickering nature. "Not Katara, no it's that girl who can appear out of no where and scare the hell out of me, that's who!" Sokka said as he slapped himself in the face. "That's impossible Sokka, no one could ever be on this island, no one has been following us for three days, I think we gave Zuko the slip. What is it, Sokka?" Aang asked as his friend stopped and stared into space. "I left Katara alone with her." He said turning to the forest. "Who knows what'll happen when I leave Katara alone with anyone." With that he ran back into the forest at full sprint." Aang followed using his air bending powers to speed ahead of Sokka.
He reached the end of the woods and walked out looking for his friend Katara. He found her in the middle of a pile of strange looking bags, holding a girl with strange clothes on. "Katara? What's going on? Who's that?" The girl looked up at the boy, her face streaked with tears. The girl hiccupped and held out her hand. "I'm Natasha..." Aang looked at Katara, who nodded, and then took the hand of the stranger. "My name is Aang..." He said cautiously. "Aang? You mean the Avatar guy, Aang?" Natasha cried, jumping to her feet. "Yeah, I'm that guy..." He said blushing slightly at his well-known title. "Then you can take me home, right? Katara said an Avatar could take me home! Oh please, take me home! Please, please, please!"
Natasha was still holding his hand and now she was squeezing his hand a little too hard. Aang tried to smile at her, but she was kinda scary, she wasn't making any sense at all and she wasn't dressed in earthbenders clothes, so that ment she was probably a firebender, but then again her clothes weren't like any thing he had ever seen before. "Uh, sure... I guess..." Aang said patiently, "do you live on any island near here?" Natasha shook her head plaintively. "Not home, here and now..." She said, "I need you take me to the future. You can do that right, being master of elements and all." "Hey I thought you didn't know anything about the avatar." Katara cut in. "I heard you say it." Natasha said not taking her eyes off Aang. "Um, can you let go of my hand, please?" Aang asked. Natasha's hands quickly pulled away and were patiently waiting for an answer. "You said you want me to take you to the future?" Aang asked raising a questioning eyebrow at the strange girl. She nodded her head vigorously. "Okay... Katara can I talk to you for a minute?" Aang said motioning for Katara to rise and follow him.
It was then that Sokka came crashing out of the trees and almost tripped over one of Natasha's over stuffed bags. "Hey! Watch it!" Natasha cried quickly grabbing for the bag and hugging it to her chest. Sokka looked at the bags all around her. "Where is my sister!" He cried. She stared at him funny, then pointed behind her. Sokka looked over and saw Aang and Katara, no more then three yards away from the girl talking quietly to themselves. He looks back at Natasha, who was smirking at him. He blushes then quickly makes his way over to the avatar and his sister.
"We can't just leave her here." Katara whispered to Aang, as Sokka came into the conversation. "Yes we can." Sokka said cruelly. "We can just pack up and leave, it's as simple as that." "Sokka!" Aang cried at the meanness of Sokka's plan. "Well we could! We don't know any thing about her Aang! Look at her, she's just too weird!" They all glanced back at Natasha, who was busying herself by going through all of her stuff, just to make sure every thing was there. "He has a point Katara, didn't she just say that she wants me to take her to the future? It's impossible to time travel Katara! Everyone knows that!" Katara glares at the two boys. Then quietly, oh so softly she whispers, "Then what is she doing here?" To that question, none could answer.
