Last chapter has gotten more review then any of my other works. That's just crazy too me considering how much I had to change this story from the one I wrote when I was younger.

Edit 7/15: This chapter was Beta'd by Rosezelene Ersa

Chapter 2: As The World Around You Changes

Before, she was a city girl.

There were times she would go camping, or visit her aunt on the farm, but there were a lot of things she took for granted. Things like… accessibility to education, books, running water, washing machines, etc. It was something Vidya was missing a lot, but after five long years of living in such an archaic fashion, she had gotten used to it.

Vidya had been in this 'school' for two years now. There were only three classes, and the curriculum was particularly underwhelming for the girl. The first was taught to young children to foster reading, writing, and basic math skills that would be beneficial to them in the future. The next consisted mostly of 8-year-olds who were learning basic sciences and memorizing the village's brief and admittedly simple history. The last class offered by the school was reserved for the teenagers and young adults to learn about taxes and skills you need for a job or apprenticeship.

Vidya hadn't been able to make it to college in her past life, but despite that fact she came to the surprising conclusion that she knew more than her teachers, even when it came to their so called "life lessons".

Honestly, not talking back to your elders? Never look a gift Ostrich Horse in the mouth? The depths of their wisdom was utterly astounding.

These facts lead to the reason Vidya was currently in the third level class, hunched in the back of the room over a parchment trying to reverse engineer a washing machine from memory. Her first mom wanted her to be an engineer, but she herself had wanted to be a neurologist. Now though, Vidya couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she listened to that advice. The only subject in school that had been easy for her was math, and that was only when they got to algebra and above.

Not to mention that trying to figure out how to make a washing machine run on its own power is hard enough, and Vidya didn't know how a normal washing machine worked.

It was a challenge, and Vidya needed something to do. She was bored out of her mind, always hearing the repeated lessons that made it impossible for her to forget even the unattractive subjects she didn't enjoy learning.

It wasn't all bad though. Out of all the places to be reincarnated, the Avatar cartoon was pretty good. In her past life, there were times she would take online tests about the element she had the best affinity for, and she would always get air. In fact, it was the only personality test where she got an answer since most of them had her in between two and she would always have to take it again. One of her friends even commented how she had to be really bad at testing to fail a personality test, and secretly, she found herself agreeing with them. It would have been better to have been born after the 100-year war, she mused, but there was magic and Vidya always wanted to go on a real adventure.

Maybe this is what I get for using so many of my birthday wishes on hoping for an adventure. The girl smiled at the bittersweet thought. Her slender fingers brushed over the parchment to smooth it as she worked.

She had yet to find out if she was a bender, in modern terms she was ripe to be a late bloomer, but her father in this life seemed confident that his daughter was an Earthbender. Something about having a strong spirit? Vidya wasn't sure if he met that figuratively or literally, but supposed that either way would work regardless of his intent.

"Vidya! Are you paying attention?" The speaker, a balding man who appeared much older than his 40 years of life, bellowed from the front of the room.

"No." Vidya replied curtly as she continued sketching possible blueprints for her design.

Unlike most of her past - and present – family members, Vidya wasn't much of an artist, so the sketch was little more than a dilapidated box with exposed gears and other mechanics that looked somewhat like limp noodles. The only things that may point to the true reasoning behind the drawing were the written cues for what things were and what their purpose was in the design.

"Vidya. Come up here, now." Her disgruntled elder commanded as he crossed tanned, wrinkled arms across his chest to display his discontentment.

Vidya stood up. It wasn't like she wanted to annoy the teacher, but it was so hard to pay attention when the classes were little more than an overgrown daycare to her.

"Now! What is it that you don't understand, daft child!?"

"Nothing. I understand everything that you've been teaching." Because I already know it all… She added, but left the words unsaid.

"Don't be so arrogant. Maybe a trip to the principal will change your brash attitude."

"Why? I haven't done anything to disrupt the class." Vidya inquired, her honest confusion plain on her face.

Vidya was, and always had been, a model student. She did her homework, aced the tests, and was quiet during class. She never spoke when she was not spoken to, and was a resource for the other students when they were struggling with a subject. Maybe it's just because this is a small class, and I'm the youngest?

"YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS!" The man fumed, his muddy eyes bulging as his blistered face reddened from the ears down.

"I always considered respect to be something earned, not given." Vidya said, knowing that her words were not going to help her with a man who was baiting her to speak her mind.

It was too hard not to.

Vidya didn't have any friends since the children who were her current age couldn't carry a decent conversation, and the teenagers in her class didn't want to hang out with a 'baby'. It had only recently started getting on her nerves; in the past she had never had trouble making friends.

Vidya found out because of that she has a much shorter fuse when it came
to dealing with others.

"I told her you were too young to understand this! Come on, let's get you back to your correct class." He ordered while pulling Vidya out of the classroom.

"But I do understand this. I've been passing all of your tests!" Vidya reasoned, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

She may not have been enjoying school, but it was better than staying home all day.

"You must have been cheating."

"Why would I do that? How would I do that? Aren't my grades the best of the class? Who's work would I even cheat from?" Vidya contested, struggling to keep up with the man's agitated strides.

It wasn't her fault her legs were so short compared to the grown man.

"Miss. Wan! I told you my class is far to advance for the girl!" The teacher declared as he and his student entered what resembled an office, his grip lessening until she could shake herself out of his grasp.

Vidya sighed, her eyes flickering to the floor. She wished at that moment that she could be anywhere else.

"Vidya, do we need to get your mother?" The principle cooed, her sweet smile dripping with venomous honey.

"No. I would like to go back to class." Vidya stated calmly, her expression unwavering.

"The class is obviously far too challenging for such a young child. I see her constantly doodling instead of taking notes. In fact, I haven't seen her taking any notes!"

"Vidya, why were you drawing instead of doing your work?"

"I didn't need to take notes because I already understood the lesson." Vidya replied, angling the conversation away from her current project so they wouldn't pry into her "doodles".

"How is she doing on her tests?" The principle's question was aimed at the teacher, not his perfectly capable student who was more than able to respond for herself.

Instead, she was ignored. Like she wasn't even there.

"She get all the questions right. I think she has been cheating."

"Vidya, cheating is very bad."

"I have NOT been cheating!" Vidya replied, aghast that the suggestion had even been brought up. "How many times do I need to say that before it gets through your thick skull?" The prodigy's patience was wearing thin; why were they so willing to believe the worst of her, when all they had seen was the best?

Because of her physical age, Vidya understood why they would treat her like a child. In their eyes, she was one. However, if she had never died she would have been 23 years of age. She was mature enough to see the injustice that was going on, and she didn't want to wait another 15 years to see fair treatment.

"Are you just going to let her keep insulting me?" The teacher demanded lividly, and Vidya knew she lost whatever this argument actually was.

"Vidya stay here. I'll send someone to get your mom."

It was a quiet walk home. Vidya wanted to wait until her mom said something, but their house was already in sight and neither had said a word.

"Vidya, why couldn't you just stay in the class?" Li-An finally questioned, her voice tired.

"I wanted to but teacher keep making a big deal out of nothing."

"No, I mean why did you want to move up a class? You were already the youngest to start school, I hoped that you would act normal for once."

"What most people consider normal is never the norm, so I would rather just be me." Vidya responded with a shrug as she walked inside.

Vidya didn't like comparing her present parents to her past ones, but times like this it was hard not to. Her past mom was always supporting her, whether it was taking college classes in high school or learning guitar. Trying to become the best 'you' you can be was a common motivation in that household.

Her mom now seemed to fear anything that was abnormal. Vidya always shook her head at this, labeling the concept as just plain silly because 'normal' was just a verbal construct of society. Being 'normal' was just as possible as being 'perfect'. Vidya usually didn't pay much attention to that since she had friends in her past with family members who also tried to play the role of normal. She always saw how it didn't work out for them, and because of that, she often found herself annoyed at how this mom treated her.

"We'll talk more about this when your father gets back."

Which means we will never talk about it.

It was a few weeks after Vidya's six birthday that Cheng decided it was time to teach her Earthbending.

"Really? How are we going to do it? Do we have to meditate or sleep inside of a mountain or..."

"We are going to punch some rocks!" Cheng cheered with an enormous grin.

"Punch some rocks. Okay, let's do it!" Vidya replied enthusiastically.

"Don't be out too late! My brother should be coming home today." Li-An called out as the 2 members of her immediate family raced each other over to one of the abandoned mines.

Vidya's dark brown hair was long enough to be pulled back, which she did. It took more time to get used to having straight hair rather than curly then it did for Vidya to accept the whole reincarnation thing. Mostly she had to get over the fact she can brush her hair without it getting stuck in the bristles.

"Okay, the key of Earthbending is a strong stance. You must be as tough as a rock to move a rock!"

"Got it!" Vidya chirped as she mimicked her father's posture.

"Your feet must be pointing not at your target, but your destination. For this move, it is one in the same, but remember that!"

Vidya gave a nod as she watched Cheng walk over to the side of the mountain, before getting into that stance he showed earlier. With one foot in front of the other, Cheng moved slowly so that Vidya could try. Then as he pulled one arm back, the other one shot forward like he was really going to punch the mountain. But before his fist connected, the rock around him moved back, creating a small dug out.

"That was awesome!" Vidya shouted as her fist shot excitedly towards the sky.

No matter how many times she had seen bending, it still seemed surreal. To see a mighty element heed to the will of anyone was simply amazing to her, and she was convinced she'd never forget that childlike wonder that came with it.

"It will be even more awesome when my little girl can do it." Cheng said as he motioned her over to a boulder that was as tall as he was.

Vidya couldn't get rid of the smile on her face- she was so excited! She wasted no time to get into that stance, even going through the movements a few times so Cheng could correct her should she do it incorrectly.

"Looks good. The important thing is to commit to your actions. Earthbending isn't about how strong you are, but how you use that strength. Now give it all you got!"

Vidya gave a nod before pulling a fist back like how one would draw the string of a bow. As she shot it forward, Vidya thought she felt something. A energy that wasn't there before that was making her hair go wild like an anime character powering up. Vidya didn't pull her punch. She was sure the way she was feeling was it, chi, or whatever allowed bending to happen in this world.

There was a crack sound like when Cheng did it, but the rock didn't move an inch.

"Dad, I think I broke my hand."

"So this is my niece... what happened to your hand?" The man speaking looked unsettlingly like the mirror image of Li-An, and Vidya shifted uncomfortably to the side.

He was, her mother had said, a few years older than his sister, but one would never be able to tell.

"I punched a rock." Vidya said from Cheng's shoulders as she showed her bandaged hand.

"Why?" Li-An asked quietly. The disappointment in her tone was so great, Vidya thought her mother was going to break down into tears.

"Earthbending. Vidya did well for her first time though. She certainly has the spirit of an Earthbender!" Her father chuckled as he gently set Vidya back on the ground.

"How is my nerdy brother-in-law?" Cheng asked in an amicable fashion as he gave the smaller man a bone crushing hug.

"Good. I just graduated from Ba Sing Se University and I'm one of Professor Lin's interns. That's part of the reason I should be able to visit more often. You can only gather so much from books you have already read."

"Maybe Vidya here will follow in your footsteps. She has already been kicked out of the school for being too smart for them!" Cheng chimed happily while Li-An's face met her palm at her sigh.

"Can we talk about something else? Please. I just want to have a nice, normal, dinner with my family."

"Alright, Mei Mei." Vidya's Uncle responded with a slight smirk. " I have been missing your cooking. Are you sure you don't want me to get you guys passes to Ba Sing Se?"

"What? I can't leave the fight! Who else will protect the town from the hotheads?" Cheng said before Li-An could respond with a more… refined… answer.

Vidya listen quietly as the 'adults' talked. The only thing she knew of Ba Sing Se was the brainwashing and Dai Li ninja people. Still, it was the safest place until Gaang came. Vidya had yet to figure out how long the war had been going on, so it was possible that her knowledge of the future might not come into play for some time.

It wouldn't be a bad option, for her family to move to Ba Sing Se. Vidya would rather have to deal with the Dai Li then the Fire Army after all. Lesser of two evils, or at least an evil that wouldn't kill you right away.

It's a bit shorted then I planed, but I also wasn't expecting people to read this until I had a few more chapters. So You get this chapter sooner.

Thank you everyone who follow/favorite this story right off the bat. And a special thanks Cee, DannyPhantom619, HelpfulNudge, Aralys, T-Tforhappy, lizyeh2000, Nerd J Fics, Tsuki, DarkDust27, AngelAmongTheStars, Kawaii-Inari, and the three guests.

With my current outline for this story, Vidya will be traveing by chapter 5. I have two different paths Land or water. Land was my original idea but water makes a bit more sense for Vidya motivations. The end is the same which is why i'm leaving the choice up to you.

So far it is two for land and three for water.

Until next time!