Hello, My fellow AAF! AAF means Avid Avatar Fans…my own special Avatar club!
Disclaimer: Well, sadly enough I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to the lucky people at Nickelodeon…Oh…I envy them.
Sari woke up and looked around. She didn't see the hard gray metal she had been seeing the past few days. All she saw was blue fabric, waving around with a mysterious push from the outside. She looked down at her clothes and saw that she wasn't in her parka anymore. She looked to the side and saw Luna, a gray and tan dog, lying on top of her grandparents' sleeping bags. She got up and walked out the flap to the outside world with Luna at her heels.
Aang laid Sari's body on Zuko's bed. He ran up to the deck, grabbed Katara, and pulled her down the stairs.
"What the-" Katara started saying.
"Its Sari. She's unconscious again. I found her gripping her necklace. I'm starting to feel suspicious about it." Aang interrupted. By now, they were bursting into Zuko's bedroom.
Katara gasped. She had never seen Sari like this. She had always pictured Sari strong person. She had never expected to see Sari break down like this. Katara leaned in to look at Sari's necklace. It wasn't like any Water Tribe necklace she had ever seen. And it couldn't be from the Air Nomads because it would be orange and yellow.
"Aang, there's something fishy about that necklace of Sari's." Katara said at last.
"Maybe Iroh would know something about it. He's old enough to remember something to do with this" Aang said.
"Aang!" Katara exclaimed gently hitting the young Avatar's shoulder. "You shouldn't say something like that. Iroh has to be only in his late 50s or early 60s."
"Exactly. That's old." Aang bent down to undo the clasp of the necklace on the back of Sari's neck. He was careful not to touch the gem even though Sari was clutching it.
"Come on, let's take it to Iroh." Aang said walking out of the room with Katara behind him.
Sari walked around. From what she saw it was early morning, and barely anyone else was up. She walked over to the middle of the campsite and saw her grandmother making breakfast.
"Morning, honey." Her grandmother said.
"Morning, Grandma." Sari replied, obviously in deep though as she sat down on a log that was around the fire.
"What you thinking about?" Grandma asked.
"Oh, nothing. Where's Grandpa?"
"He's out getting some wood."
"Ok, I'm going to go for a walk."
"Ok, just be back in time for breakfast, since we have to leave afterward."
Sari walked off into the woods towards a river she had heard running earlier.
Zuko, Iroh, Katara, Aang, Angel, and Sokka were seated around a table in the ship's dinning area. Sari's necklace was lying in the middle of the table. Iroh reached out, grabbed the two ends of the necklace, and lifted it off the table cautiously. The whole room went silent and all eyes were on Iroh. He examined the front of the necklace, then turned it over. Iroh gasped.
"What is it?" Katara said nervously.
"It's the engravings on the back of the charm. I never thought I would see these in person. Only in books." Iroh said, still shocked.
Katara looked over the man's shoulder and saw the engraving.
"But…but…" She stuttered.
"What is it?" Sokka asked.
"Zuko, could you please do the honor of reading this?" Iroh said passing the necklace across the table towards Zuko.
"Um…sure." Zuko said, taking it slowly. Zuko squinted at the small carvings in the back of the charm.
"Only for the possession of the Avatar: A transportation item." Zuko read slowly.
"You mean, it's a transportation necklace. That belongs to me?" Aang said surprised.
"Yes. It is only meant to take the Avatar to one safe place. It was originally made by the Air Nomads and was meant to help the Avatar if they were in great danger so they could escape. I learned about these when I was young. It's a wonder of how Sari's necklace is one." Iroh stated.
"One of us must travel to go get and tell Sari." Angel said quietly.
"Why doesn't Aang go? After all he is the Avatar." Sokka said.
"Wouldn't it be odd if some guy with an arrow on his head appeared out of no where?" Zuko said laughing.
"Yea, Sokka, its not the best idea for me to go." Aang said.
"I'll go." Zuko said.
"No, you might scare people with that scar." Iroh said as Zuko got an upset and mad looks on his face.
"Its not best for me to go either, or Sokka." Angel said.
"No! I won't go!" Katara said, upset.
"No one asked you to, Katara." Sokka said.
"Fine, I'll go!" Katara said. She was really upset know. You would be upset too if your really good friend was in another world.
"I won't let you go until you understand." Iroh said.
"I do understand. I must go because I'm the closest to Sari. Even though I don't understand her past entirely, she understands me and our world, when she comes from another world." Katara said with a little shake in her voice.
"Ok, that's settled! You'll go at night, so you can't scare anyone or something like that." Iroh stated happily. Everyone stood up and left the room, walking out to the deck to see a Pai Sho game, except Katara.
Katara walked up to the deck that was around the steering room. She stood on the backside, facing land and she swore she could almost see ice, but she knew it was her mind playing tricks on her.
Since Katara was so deep in thought, she didn't hear the footsteps coming behind her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you ok?" She heard an all-too familiar voice in her ear.
"Oh, Zuko! I'm fine, thanks."
"Ok, you seemed really upset in the dinning room."
"Yea, I'm not used to having my friend go to another world, then having to go after her." Katara forced a laugh.
"Good point. Why don't you give us a demonstration of waterbending with Aang? It'll keep your mind off Sari until you have to leave."
"Ok." They walked down to the deck and Katara got ready to perform her best waterbending.
Sari sat on a log around a fire surrounded by her family and friends. They had traveled today. And they were almost to the city where they would celebrate the Winter Solstice with other tribes. She looked around at all the familiar faces. Had they known she was an airbender and a waterbender? Were they even their family? She had many questions for them, but they all disappeared when she was handed a bowl of stew.
Katara prepared for her journey to Sari, wherever she was. Katara had Sari's necklace around her neck. She felt different without her mother's necklace there, even though she had it in the pocket of her parka. Katara pulled her parka over her head and walked out the door of the girls' room, up to the deck.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she took a deep breath. She wanted a few minutes of alone time, so she could think this all over. She slowly opened the door, silently praying it wouldn't squeak. She heard Zuko, Sokka, and Aang talking at the end of the ship. She stood there, behind the door, listening to their conversation.
"I hope Zhao doesn't discover you're here, Aang. Who knows what he would do if he found out I was helping you. He could even team up with my sister and try to kill me!" Zuko said.
"You have a sister?" Sokka said curiously, "Is she anything like you? I can't imagine another Zuko running around."
"Hey! She's actually quite the opposite of me. Always playing evil tricks on me and telling lies. I thought girls were crazy after she made me attack her friend Mai when they were playing something along the lines of knocking an apple of her head." Aang laughed.
"Sounds like fun! Can we play it some time?" Aang said excitedly.
"Um…sure, Aang." Sokka said, "So Zuko, if Zhao was chasing you, thinking you had Aang aboard, what would you do?"
"Well, I'd make you and Aang hid in Uncle's hidden tea room, where Monkey-Face could never find you. Then I would make Angel, Sari and Katara dress up like rich people from the Fire Nation and say I saved them from Earth Kingdom pirates and were giving them a ride back to the Fire Nation. He's stupid enough to fall for that." Zuko explained.
Katara walked out the door silently and walked toward the back of the ship to think. Little did they know, Zhao was already suspicious of the Prince.
Zhao was asleep in the best room of the best inn in the port of Kaul. His ship had stopped there, getting more supplies and sending a letter back to the Fire Lord about the Avatar and the Prince.
It had been a long day of bossing people around and scaring young children in the town around the port with his firebending. He didn't expect someone to come knocking on his door in the middle of the night.
Zhao awoke as soon as he heard the knock.
"Hold on I'm coming." He said angrily as he slid out of bed and put a shirt on. He opened the door and was about to yell at the person when he realized who it was.
"My lady." Zhao said bowing, "What would you like at this hour of night?"
"I need some help tracking down a traitor." The young lady said.
"So you came to me at this hour just to ask me of my help? And in these clothes?" Zhao said as he motioned to the girl's clothing. She was wearing a red dress with a black hem along the sleeves and bottom of the dress. She had a white apron across the front and had a black and red cape on. It was the traditional dress for non-rich ladies in the Fire Nation.
"I had to come without people knowing I was here. I didn't even let my crew know I left. I rode a horse here from Omashu."
"I see. Now tell me, is the traitor who I think it is?" Zhao said with a smirk on his face.
I bet you didn't see that coming! Send me reviews of who you think the young lady is! And I got that scene where Katara doesn't want to go from A Wrinkle in Time, a book I just finished reading. I had to alter it a bit to make it work with what I wanted it to say.
And yes! I do believe that Zhao is alive. He was pulled out to sea and resuced by his crew in my story, so that's what happened to him.
Anyway, I'm so sorry it took forever for this chapter! I had this huge project due and I totally forgot about my fanfic. This chapter didn't really turn out what I wanted it to be, but it leads up to the really cool next part, which I must start typing soon. I promise you'll see a lot more in the chapters during the summer, but you'll have to wait till after the 16th!
Toph is so cool,
Sara.