AnitaGrace: Hey guys! I've resubmitted all the chapters of this story! Some chapters haven't changed at all, while others (like chapters 8-11) have changed so much it isn't funny. (tee hee) Okay, maybe it is.
I had read over this story, and it was really crappy. Not all of it, just stuff like how Zuko and Katara's relationship develops, Zuko and Katara's OOC-ness, and some general plot points that weren't consistent. It's really a much better story, though I know that's not much, seeing what it was before.
Please read, and I own none of this!
Elsie looked up at the darkening sky, flashes of the Gods' Fire already dancing in its hypnotizing way. She knew they looked the same over her village.
Reaching up with a mitten, Elsie wiped the tear that slid down her cheek. The little ice homes would be glowing with the light of the families inside them. The snow would be crunching under the fur-lined boots of the sons as they carried furs across the way, freshly aired out in the freezing artic air.
Elsie pushed her paddle into the darkening waters. There was nothing back there now. Well, yes, there was a village and her people and friends, but no parents, no siblings, and, most importantly:
No teacher.
Sokka reached up, stretching his shoulders and yawning. He patted his stomach and it gurgled. Sighing, he leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest while he sat tailor-style on the back of a giant bison.
"Katara…" Sokka began.
"Sokka," Katara warned. She didn't even bother looking back at him. "I don't want to hear about it. I'm hungry too, but we don't have any food and we haven't seen an island or land in forever. I don't even know if we're traveling in circles or not. We can't see the sun."
Katara lifted a hand to her brow and squinted at the clouds. Every time they broke through the clouds to see the sun and determine their direction, it was at a different place in the sky. They'd change direction and pop back down underneath the clouds before they got over-heated and by the time they checked again, they were headed in a different direction than where they were aiming.
Katara sighed.
"Just, I don't know," she said. "Look at the ocean, Sokka. See if there's any land in the distance we're not noticing."
"Right," Sokka grumbled as he crawled over top the side and flopped down on his stomach, arms hanging over the edge of the saddle. "Like I'm really going to notice anything you haven't."
Sokka watched ahead with deadpan eyes. This was so stupid. It was like they were supposed to be lost. Like someone was making them lost on purpose. It was like they were never going to get out of this! They were never going to find land, and food and a place to sleep. They were just going to fly around until Appa just dropped out of the sky and splashed into the water and they all drowned…
Sokka sat up.
Wait a minute… was that a… Fire Nation ship?
Sokka leaned out further over the edge.
It seemed too small to be a ship… but it was something. What was it?
"Hey, Katara!" Sokka called out, never taking his eyes off the dark thing in the water along the horizon.
"What? Did you find food?" Katara rushed to his side and peered out.
Sokka shook his head, "No, but there's something there, in the water. It's not a ship but…"
"Hey, Aang?" Katara turned her head slightly to the side, but didn't look away from the dark thing. "See that thing in the water there? Could you fly towards it?"
"Sure thing, Katara," Aang said, and he gave the reins a flap. "Come on, Appa!"
Appa groaned and changed direction. Katara and Sokka stood up and walked over to where Aang was sitting on Appa's head. They sat down next to Aang, still staring at the dark thing in the water.
As Appa neared and descended, the thing became less dark and more defined.
"It's a canoe!" Katara exclaimed in disbelief. "A Water Tribe canoe!"
"But we're so far from the North," Aang said worriedly. "And even that's closer than the South Pole."
"Can we land Appa in the water?" Sokka asked, leaning forward. "I think… I think there's a girl in the canoe!"
"Is that all right, Appa?" Aang asked the bison. The bison moaned it consent and they landed, with a light splash, near the canoe.
The force of Appa's landing sent a wave that rocked the little boat, but the figure inside didn't move.
Sokka swallowed.
Katara stood back on the saddle, her arms held in front of her, her legs far apart, as she bended the water. The canoe rocked again as Katara created waves, trying to pull the canoe closer to Appa.
Finally, the canoe bumped lightly on Appa's right side. Sokka leaned down.
A young girl was laying on the floor of the canoe, her brown her twisted and loose around her, her eyes shut and her mouth slightly open. One of her hands was clenched and the other was open slightly. She was curled up into a ball.
The canoe was empty except for skins and water flasks and a bag. Despite the warmth of the more southern atmosphere, the girl was still wearing her blue parka with white fur that so uncannily resembled Katara's and Sokka's.
"Definitely Water Tribe," Katara murmured as she looked down at her. "Should we wake her?"
"You don't think she's dead?" Sokka asked, feeling relieved and worried at the same time.
Katara pointed to the girl. "Yes, she's breathing, see?"
Sokka let out a breath.
"Oh, good," he said. "I'm just glad she's not dead. How creepy would that be? Stuck going around in circles all day, on a cloudy day, only to find a dead Water Tribe girl in a Water Tribe canoe? It'd be like a sign or something."
"Yeah," Katara said dryly. "We wouldn't want to think that. Especially not now that you've mentioned it."
Sokka pulled his boomerang out of his belt. "Hold onto this, Katara," he said. "I'm going to go get her."
"Be careful, Sokka," Katara warned.
"Do you want some help?" Aang asked. He kneeled next to Katara, not having to ride Appa up front anymore.
"No, that's all right, Aang," Sokka said, slipping down from Appa into the canoe. The canoe rocked side-to-side and Sokka flung out his arms, catching his breath. The girl didn't stir.
The boat finally stopped and Sokka held up his hands. "See?" he said. "Nothing to worry about!"
Katara humph'd. "Just don't kill yourself," she said. "I'd hate to break in a new annoying brother."
Sokka stuck his tongue out at her and crouched down. He lifted the girl's shoulders and pulled her arms up to keep them from getting in the way. The one hand was still fisted, while the other hand flopped around. Her head rolled back on her shoulders in a sickening way.
Sokka heaved her body up and just managed to toss her over his shoulder. He nearly fell back to his knees when he stood and when he tried to take a step, the canoe rocked violently and Sokka almost fell over the side and into the water, girl and all.
"Sokka!" Aang called out.
Katara reached forward with a hand and Sokka grabbed onto it. Jumping from the canoe to Appa, Sokka clutched the sides of the saddle, while digging his feet into Appa's side. The bison moaned. The girl hung on his shoulder like a sack of turnips.
Sokka tried to pull himself up with his arms but the girl was too heavy.
"Grab the girl, grab the girl!" he cried, trying to find footholds on the bison's slippery, furry side.
Katara and Aang reached down and pulled the girl up by her coat. When she was safely in the saddle, they reached down and grabbed Sokka's arms.
Sokka lay on the saddle, his arms under his stomach as he caught his breath. Rolling over, he sat up.
"Hey, Appa!" he said. "Follow that canoe."
Sokka pointed to the canoe that had drifted away when Sokka had jumped from it.
As Appa paddled over, Katara looked down at the girl. Her fist was held so tightly, that no matter what Katara tried to do to get under the little fingers, they wouldn't give way.
"Her hands are so small," Aang said softly. "Look, they're smaller than mine."
And when Aang held up his hand next to the looser hand of the girl, they were, indeed, smaller.
"But she doesn't look very young," Katara said. "She looks like she's my age, or your age."
"Her feet are really small, too," Aang said.
When Appa reached the canoe, Sokka leapt down again and tossed the few things from the canoe into the saddle. Finished, he jumped onto Appa again, but this time was able to pull himself up without any trouble.
"How is she?" he asked, settling down.
"I don't know," Katara said. "I think she's okay, but she hasn't woken up, so she can't be just sleeping. She must be unconscious."
"Well, we better get going, then," Aang said as he jumped onto Appa's head. "Yip yip, boy!"
They soared into the air.
Sokka looked back over the side of the saddle to make sure they had taken everything from the canoe, when he noticed a long dark something on the horizon. It was his day for dark somethings.
"Land!" he yelled. "Aang, there's land over there!"
Aang looked where Sokka was pointing and turned Appa in that direction.