Rie screamed and the monkey, startled, ran off. Rie thought it would be squealing if it had a mouth. Suddenly, a voice behind her chuckled.
"You did not have to scare him. He would not have harmed you." Rie turned and screamed again.
The old man facing her held up his hand, as if to quiet her. "Hush. I will not hurt you, but there are some here who would. Yelling will only draw them closer." Rie immediately shut her mouth. The man pulled his hand back and nodded. "Thank you, Rie."
Rie dared to ask, "How do you know my name?"
The man smiled. "There is a lot I know that you can never comprehend, my dear child." Rie just nodded, trying to remember where she had seen that face, and heard that voice before. Suddenly, a picture of the monkey made it all click.
"You're Avatar Roku, aren't you?" The man nodded. "Then I'm in...?" Again, the man nodded. Rie stumbled back, shocked. "Oh my God, no one back home will ever believe this, if I ever get home," she said, looking around.
"You will return home, Rie, but I have a task I need you to complete." Roku paused, allowing Rie to soak in the fact that a character from her favorite television show had asked her to do something. Once it had sunk in, he continued.
"In the Mortal World, there are two groups of people; those who support the Avatar, and those who want him captured. But, as with almost every war, there are some unexpected twists. In this case, Destiny is showing her hand, and the twist is love.
"In order to assure the current Avatar's victory, two people will have to fall in love. Two people from very different worlds. As Aang's past life, I cannot cause these two to fall in love. But, however, I can choose someone to bring the two together. Rie, that someone is you.
"I need you to go up to the Mortal World, in disguise, and get these two key people together, or Aang will be doomed. I need you to play matchmaker."
By this time, Rie's jaw was dropped so low, a monkey could have used it for a swing. "Let me get this straight. You want me, someone from Earth, to play matchmaker so Aang can win the war? Well, that's a twist I didn't see coming. Who am I supposed to match up, anyway?"
"Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and Katara of the Water Tribe." Rie fell back into the water.
"WHAT? I thought matches were supposed to be made in heaven! You want me to get those two together? Oh, well, Aang's doomed."
Roku's expression didn't change. "What makes you say that?"
Rie got up and started pacing. "You mean, besides getting those two somewhere and they not try to kill each other? And besides that, even if I succeed in that, there is a very small chance that those two will ever think of each other as anything but mortal enemies!" Rie stopped pacing.
"But, I suppose that you know best, since you are Aang's most recent life." Rie looked at Roku. "Okay, when do I start?"
Roku didn't answer right away. Instead, he placed his hands on Rie's head and muttered something Rie didn't catch. Stepping back, Roku spoke.
"I have given you the power of Master Firebending. It will be essential when you depart for the Mortal World. You will leave as soon as you can, but first I must give you some information that may help you with this task.
"If anyone is looking at you right now, they assume you are in a trance. When you awaken, you will be on a ship. Two people will be arriving shortly and will want to buy the ship. Say you'll sell it to them for 500 gold pieces. If they don't have much, say you'll lower it to 250 gold pieces only if they allow you to stay on the ship. When the ship has been sold, mutter something about a vision you had that made mention of this sale. This will convince one of the buyers that you are essential tothe quest. I will periodically send you visions so you are not lying when you give the new owners advice. That is all the information I can give you right now."
Rie nodded. "Okay. I'm supposed to sell my ship to some people only if they let me stay on it? And I do this because of a vision?" Rie shrugged. "Sounds okay t'me. But, what will my name be? Marie isn't too Asian sounding."
Roku nodded. "No, but Rie is. That will be your name. Now, you must go. When you awake, it will be to shouts and people stomping." Roku waved his hand, and Rie blacked out.
When Rie woke up, she noticed she was on a ship similar to Prince Zuko's before it was blown to pieces. Her black hair was all in her face. Black hair? I'm a blonde, Rie thought, before the meeting with Roku came back. I guess blond hair isn't common here, huh? She slowly stood up and fell the boat rock. "Whoa. Steady, Rie. You don't want to fall over." Suddenly, loud, angry voices, and one calm voice, came through the closed door. Coming closer, she recognized one of the angry voices. Looking around, she saw that, thankfully, she was dressed in and outfit similar to Princess Zula's, and her hair was done up. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door. Rie sighed and said, "What is it?"
The door opened, and someone who Rie knew to be the captain (though how she knew that was beyond her), came in and shut the door. "Madam Rie, two men are here, asking for you. Shall I send them on their way?"
Rie looked like she was pondering this question, when in fact she already knew what they wanted and who they were. "No. Tell them I shall see them. I will be out on deck momentarily." The captain bowed and left. No sooner had he left then the youngest buyer stormed in. Not giving her enough time to speak, the hot-headed teen gave her his request. Or, more accurately, order, since he made it clear that his order was not to be refused.
"I want to buy your ship." Rie just stared stonily back, with a look that would have made anyone other than her sister and this teen back down. Suddenly, an elderly man came in, bowing to Rie, who bowed back.
"Forgive the intrusion, Madam. Upon hearing that you'd see us, my nephew demanded to see you now." Rie nodded.
"It's fine. This isn't the first time this has happened to me." It was true; Beth never knocked when she wanted to annoy Rie. "Your nephew requested to buy my ship. What for?" she said, sitting down at the small table in her room. This is so cool, she thought. I'm actually talking to Prince Zuko! How many people can say that and not mean Dante Basco?
The prince snapped, "I did not request, I ordered. There's a difference." Rie made no reply to the prince's remark. Iroh answered her question.
"My nephew is on a quest, as it were, and we need a proper ship to complete it." Rie nodded and got up.
"Ah yes. The quest to capture the Avatar, Prince Zuko?" Zuko opened his mouth, but Iroh stopped him.
"Yes. Our ship was, um, damaged and we need a new one. There were rumors that you were thinking of selling your ship, Madam," Iroh explained. Remembering what Roku had told her, Rie gave the appearance of thinking of a good price. "
"Do you want the ship and crew or just the ship?" she asked, genuinely curious.
Zuko got to it before his uncle. "The ship and crew."
Rie nodded. "In that case, my asking price is 500 gold pieces." Iroh sighed.
"I'm sorry, but most of the gold we had was destroyed when the ship was damaged. We cannot pay you that much. Sorry for disturbing you. Come, Zuko." As the two turned to go, Rie spoke up.
"I'm willing to lower it to 250 if you allow me to stay on the ship with my crew. Not a copper piece less." Zuko nodded.
"Done." Iroh handed the gold to Rie, who muttered, "So this is the sale my vision warned me of." Just as Roku said, someone had heard her.
"Vision? You are a Seer?" Rie nodded.
"I was in a trance when you boarded the ship. That is why I didn't see you when you first arrived, General Iroh." Zuko scoffed when he heard this.
"You don't really expect us to believe that, do you?" Rie came closer to Zuko, stopping only a few paces away.
"Yes, I do. If I was lying, would I be able to tell you that your sister Zula has been sent to capture the Avatar by your father? And that the reason you ship was 'damaged' was due to an attempted assassination by Admiral Zhao?" When Zuko didn't reply, Rie nodded and returned to her table. "My point. General Iroh," she said, turning to the retired officer, "there are two rooms open, just down the passage from mine. You can take one of them. The other will go to your nephew." She spat the word nephew like it was acid. Iroh bowed and led Zuko out. "Oh, I'm sure the ship's doctor can tend to those recent cuts and bruises, Prince Zuko," she added, knowing that Zuko would refuse.
"I don't need a doctor," he said in that harsh voice of his."
Rie shrugged. "Fine. See you later." After the two left, Rie smiled to herself.
"This is gonna be fun."