Enter: The World of Aang

Chapter 3: Kidnappings sure do suck

As I began to wake up again, I felt I was being kept in bondage on cool, metal flooring. It wasn't too bad; I was only tied up with ropes. But then I heard footsteps coming towards me. The person grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up to my feet.

"Ow…" I whined. "Do you have to be so rough with a young lady?"

"Shut up," The voice--which was Zuko's--replied flatly, proceeding to ripped off my blindfold. He found I had been crying and scoffed, turning on his heel and walking away.

"That's right. You better run. You don't know what I could've done to you!" I yelled at him. He said nothing and continued walking.

Luckily the ropes that kept me tied up were loose and rotting, so I was able to break free easily. I took note that it was day time, since I was captured at night, and a window showed me it was light outside. Using my super-stealthy skills, I snuck around what seemed to be Zuko's ship, trying to figure out where he went. Apparently I wasn't doing so hot of a job, since I accidentally bumped into a guard. "Hey! What are you doing?" Panicking, I turned the other way and bolted off.

The guard had called other men to help him, and I was now being chased by four large Firebenders who were ready to turn me to charcoal at any given second. But as I was running, I got a sudden head rush and fell to the floor, passed out.

With Aang and the others

"Where could she be?" Sokka wondered, pacing all around camp.

"Don't worry, Sokka," Aang tried to assure him. "She's probably just cooling off."

"Yeah, you're over-reacting." Katara said.

"Well, she's been gone for a--… What's this?" Sokka looked down to see one of the bracelets I bought the previous night. He picked it up and brought it to the others.

"Isn't that Jennifer's?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, it is…"

There was a long silence.

"I'm really worried.. I'm going to go look for her." Sokka stated, standing up and taking his leave.

Back to Zuko's ship

"Prince Zuko, come quick!" One of the guards shouted. "There's something wrong with the girl. What should we do?"

Zuko stayed quiet for a second. Then he finally said, "Ditch the girl. Throw her over-board. We'll come back for her later."

"Yes, sir." The guard agreed as he quickly carried me out and threw me into the water below.

"Done," he said quietly.

"Good work." Zuko replied, emotionless.

With Sokka's search

"Jennifer?" Sokka yelled out in the forest. He came to a riverbank. He saw something headed his way that was in the water. "No, it can't be." He whispered to himself. Taking a closer look, he realized that the thing in the water was me, and I was currently being taken downstream. "JENNIFER!" He , running to catch up with the current's flow. Luckily, Katara and Aang heard him and came running to help.

"What's going-- oh my gosh!" Katara yelled. She and Aang helped Sokka get retrieve me from the river. When I was pulled out, they checked my vitals; my pulse was very faint. Katara hugged Aang for comfort, tears forming in her eyes.

"Jennifer," Sokka whispered while holding my cold wet hand, "please, don't go." Pulling me closer, he embraced my body and didn't let go. After a few moments, I sputtered and coughed, vomiting a little water on him.

"Jen…Jennifer?" Sokka said, ignoring the vomit as he noticed me squinting up at him. "Aang! Katara! I think she's alive!" Sokka yelled in happiness. I groaned.

"Sokka… shut up. My head hurts really bad."

"Okay, what happened? Where did you go? And why were you not breathing?!" Sokka questioned all at once.

I took a deep breath. "First off, when I was walking away, I got captured by--you'll never guess--Zuko! He took me to his ship and held me hostage, and I overheard him saying he was going to use to me get to Aang… But that didn't work, obviously. My head felt funny as I tried to escape so I passed out, and they threw me overboard… I can't swim, Sokka! I almost drowned!" I drew in another deep breath and sighed. "Okay, I'm done."

"Jeez… I was worried sick about you." He shut his eyes tight and held me tight.

"Well, I'm so--" … Whoa. What? "Wait… what? You worried about me?" I pulled away and looked him in the eye.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"You don't know me very well," I blinked. "And I thought you didn't really care about me."

"What? Not care about you? How could I not?" Sokka said with a hint of hurt in his voice. He pulled me back into the tight embrace. "How can I not worry? You're practically one of us now."

We sat in silence, but I finally broke it. "Oh, Sokka," I smiled, planting a sweet kiss on his lips.