AnitaGrace: I think Katara seems older in this fic than she really is. Which is a-okay with me, because that just makes it less creepy to be writing about someone three years younger than me doing stuff I only started doing lately. And no, there's still no sex, so stop being perverted, you perverts.
Read the excellence!
Katara had laid the girl down on a few of her own skins after pulling off her parka. It was really too warm for her to be running around in that thing. Katara couldn't remember the last time she had actually needed her own.
The girl was laying peacefully, her breathing slow and regular; her brown hair splayed out around her and shining after Katara's brushing it.
Katara walked back to the fire that Sokka had just finished building.
"Aang's getting fruit or something," he said as Katara sat down next to him.
"Don't you think it's weird?" she asked. "All day long we're lost and searching for land, and then suddenly, you find this girl – who's a member of our nation – and then as soon as she's safe with us, you find this island."
"What do you mean, Katara?"
"Well," Katara looked back at the girl. "I don't know really, I guess. I just think it's kind of weird. A weird coincidence is all."
Sokka shrugged. "I guess. I don't know."
A stirring came from behind them and Sokka jumped up, his boomerang in hand as Katara spun around.
The girl was sitting up, her hand to her head.
"What?" she asked. "Where am I?"
Katara stood up and walked over to her. Kneeling down she touched the girl's hand. The girl jerked it back and put it on the sand.
"You were unconscious," Katara said gently. "We found you in a canoe, floating in the middle of the ocean. We took your stuff and you but we had to leave your canoe." Katara smiled and cocked her head to the side. "I don't think canoes and flying bison mix."
The girl looked confused but said nothing.
"Okay…" Katara said after a sort of awkward silence. The girl looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap.
"Are you okay?" Katara asked gently. "Why were you all alone in the middle of the ocean, so far from the North Pole?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders.
"Come on," Katara urged her. "You can talk to me. I'm a girl, like you. I'm a member of the Water Tribe, like you. We've got a lot in common. So talk to me."
"You're not like me," the girl muttered. Her voice sounded like she was going to cry. "I'm a freak."
"No, you're not!" Katara said. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I've met a lot of strange people in my lifetime but I've never met a freak and I'll bet you they don't even exist."
The girl's body shook as she sobbed.
"Yes, they do," she said. "And I am one."
Katara pulled the girl into a hug. She let loose with a whole lot of racking sobs she tried to quiet but just couldn't.
It sounded like to Katara that this girl was in a lot of pain. She had probably been banished from her tribe, it sounded, to be so convinced of her freakishness.
Sokka shifted awkwardly on his feet by the fire. The strange girl was sobbing into Katara's shoulder while Katara rubbed her back and tried to soothe her.
What was wrong with the girl, though? Was she really a freak or did she just get into a fight with somebody at home – like a friend or somebody – and that friend called her a freak and she ran away and got lost?
Maybe Katara shouldn't be touching this girl. At least not until they found out more about her.
But when Sokka stepped towards them, Katara glared at him and shooed him away with a hand.
Sokka glared back at her and stuck out his tongue. Katara rolled her eyes.
Finally, the girl seemed to have calmed down.
At least, she had stopped crying and had pulled away from Katara. She was currently wiping her tears away with the back of her hand and avoiding Katara's gaze.
"Sorry," she mumbled into her lap.
"It's all right," Katara said. "Sometimes I just need to cry too. By the way, my name's Katara."
Katara held out her hand but the girl shook her head at it. Dropping it, Katara gestured to Sokka behind her.
"That's Sokka, my brother and we're both from the Water Bending Tribe in the South. I'm a waterbender," Katara decided right now would be a good time to explain everything, to make the girl feel like she was welcome to share her life story too. Or at least what was worrying her. "We found the long-lost Avatar in a glacier and set him free. Now we're traveling on his flying bison, Appa and trying to reach the North Pole-"
"While avoiding this crazy Fire Nation Prince!" Sokka interrupted.
"Yes…" Katara glared at him. "Thanks for the interruption, Sokka." She turned and smiled at the girl to show-no-harm. "Anyways, so we were flying around with Appa and Aang – the avatar – when we found you. Right now Aang's in the forest trying to find us some food. He should be back soon."
The girl still didn't say anything.
"Well," Katara said slowly but with a smile. "I told you my name… why don't you tell me yours?"
"Elsie," the girl muttered.
"Elsie?" Katara said. "That's a pretty name."
The girl shrugged.
"Elsie?" Katara asked. "Why do you think you're a freak?"
Elsie frowned. "Because I am. Because I can…"
"Yes?" Katara urged.
"I can bend…"
Katara laughed and clapped her hands.
"Well, that's just great!" she said. "So can I!"
"Yeah, but-"
"There's nothing wrong with it!" Katara told her. Finally! Another waterbender like her! Not Aang, who was Avatar – another waterbending girl from a Water Tribe!
"This is great!" Katara went on. "We can train together! And Aang can help us! He's going to be learning this stuff too!"
"The Avatar has to learn how to bend?" Elsie asked.
"Yes," Katara said. "How else would he know how to do it?"
"I don't know," Elsie shrugged. "I guess I just assumed he'd already know how."
Katara shrugged. "Well, he doesn't. But whatever – this'll be great! You don't know how annoying it is to be stuck with just two smelly, stinky boys for weeks on end!"
"Hey!" came a call from the campfire.
Elsie giggled nervously as Katara stuck her tongue out at Sokka.
"See?" she said. "We'll have lots of fun. You can just relax!"
Just then, a rustling came from the bushes and a large figure came out, its light eyes reflecting evilly from the darkness.