I only own the stuff I came up with. The stuff that I originally didn't have in my story is not mine.

I changed the very very end of this. Just the last paragraph.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book 2: Earth

THE COMPANION

Chapter 7: A New Friend

Ananda woke up in a strange place. It definitely wasn't her home. What exactly happened to her? "Mommy? Daddy? Hellooooo," she called out. Where was she? She got up and looked around at her surroundings. She was in a place covered with trees and plants. A forest maybe? Then she heard a growl from behind her. She spun around quickly and saw a huge creature that had the tail of a scorpion, and the body and head of a lion. She squealed, turned around and started to run.

She didn't know how fast or where she was running, but she knew she had to outrun the creature. How she did outrun the creature, she didn't know. But even after she was sure it wasn't chasing her anymore, she continued to run. She felt so scared, and alone. Maybe if she kept running she would find her way out of this endless forest. But just as she thought this, the scene around her shifted. and she was suddenly running strait for the edge of a VERY high cliff. She stopped herself just as she reached the edge and caught her balance just in time.

Once she had caught her breath, she looked down toward the bottom of the cliff. "Wha-?" She said to herself breathlessly. All she saw were clouds. She must be higher up than she thought.

"Who are you?" A voice asked from behind her. It startled her so much, that when she jumped and turned around, she nearly jumped right off the cliff. Then, as if on instinct, she immediately pounced on the person. He was a male around her age. He was bald and had arrows on is head, arms, and feet. She was studying him when he just barely choked out, "C-can't bre-breath."

That brought her out of her thoughts, and she realized she had pinned him down and was nearly strangling him. "Oh My Gosh! I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up!" She quickly got up and offered him her hand.

"Thanks." He said slowly, eying her while he cautiously took her hand. "So, now I have two questions. Who are you and why did you just try to strangle me?" The girl tilted her head to the side, and he felt a sudden bond with the girl. He felt as if he had known her his whole life.

"I don't know why. I was wondering that myself." She told him slowly. "It was some sort of instinct I guess. But it's never happened before." Then, she looked him in the eyes and said, "Again, I'm Really sorry," and he could tell that she meant it. "And as for my name, I'm Ananda. And you are?"

"I'm Aang," he told her. But his voice sounded distant, as if his thoughts were far away.

"Well, hello Aang. Pleased to meet you. Now, could you possibly tell me where I am?" She asked him. She was still studying the boy. She felt a tight bond with him, like they were tied together in some way.

"Yeah, you're in the Southern Air Temple." The Southern Air Temple huh? Well, how did I get here? She thought to herself. Aang voiced her thoughts by asking her that very question. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know. I was wondering that too." Now she was really confused. "What did you see?"

Aang thought for a minute then replied, "I don't know really. I was just walking out here to fly around on my glider, when you suddenly show up out of nowhere! You kind of just formed out of nothing."

"So, your saying I just appeared here. I wasn't here before?"

"No." He told her.

"Alrighty then, until I figure out how to get home, looks like I'm staying here." She told him. "Got a place I can stay?" She asked him politely.

"Uhhhhhh, yeah I guess." He told her kind of confused. "Come on. I'll take you to meet Monk Gyatso." He motioned for her to follow him.

"Alright!" She exclaimed. Ananda ran forward and grabbed his hand. "Lead the way!" She said very excited.

Aang was startled when she grabbed his hand. Why was she acting so familiar, so comfortable with him? Did she feel the bond too? But instead of showing his surprise, he just pulled her along.

"OPEN UP!" *BANG BANG BANG* "LET US IN!"

The group was jolted out of the visions by the loud, angry voice from outside. Ananda turned and gasped. "Oh No! No, no, no, no, NO! You guys have to go. You guys have to go NOW!" She yelled and jumped up. "Quick, follow me!" she told them on her way out. They trio got up and ran after her. She led them back into the inn and up the stairs. Then, she turned into the wall and went strait through.

"Whoa! Does she expect us to be able to do that?" Sokka asked.

"I think so." Katara Answered her brother.

"Look, this chick may have a bunch of strange, mystical, weird abilities, but I don't! I'm not gonna walk into a wall on purpose!" Sokka yelled back.

"Yeah, you do it enough on accident." Katara told him with a smirk.

"That's right! Hey, now wait a minute, I-" But Ananda walked back out and cut him off.

"What are you guys still doing out here? We gotta get outta here now!" She ran over to them and started shoving them toward the wall.

"Look, I believe everything you said before. But we don't have a freaky, supernatural ability to walk through walls like you do!" Sokka complained.

Ananda just stopped and looked at him with a blank expression. "Well I should hope not. That'd just be weird." Then, Aang and Katara burst out laughing.

"He's weird enough already!" Katara told her through giggles.

Ananda started laughing too. Then she just pushed them through the wall. They weren't suspecting it and screamed. Then they appeared on the other side of the wall in a strange room and stood with their mouths agape.

"Whoa!" Aang was the first to break the silence.

"I know." Ananda replied with a satisfied smile.

"How..." Katara started.

"Well, it's not really a wall we just walked through. It's a trick I learned a while back. All I had to do was make it look like a wall. Then no one would even try to get in here!" Ananda explained.

"And where is here exactly?" Sokka asked, his voice a little shaky. They were all in a big room about the size of the entire upstairs floor. It was a dark shade of purple and made for a creepy/mysterious mood. There were a lot of jewels decorating the room. As well as a bed, some jewelry, books, incense, and a lot of other mystical, magical stuff. But in the center of everything, was a full-length mirror. It was brown and decorated in vines and flowers curling their way all around it and decorating in beautiful colors of green, pink, purple, yellow, blue, and red. It was also covered in beautiful gemstones. All of them were different and made it so beautiful. It was amazing! Breathtaking even!

"This is my room." She told them. Then she walked up to the mirror, closed her eyes, kissed two fingers on her right hand, and touched the red gemstone at the very top of the mirror. Then, she placed her forehead on the surface of the mirror and whispered something none of them could hear. Then she turned to them and said, "Alright. It's time for you all to go."

"Wait, what!" Aang exclaimed in shock. "I just got to see you again and now we're gonna be separated? AGAIN!"

"Yeah, we're not gonna leave you. You've helped us so much." Katara continued.

"Why don't you come with us?" Sokka suggested.

That surprised them all. "Well for one, you've been trying to get away from me from the very beginning. And two, I have to stay back and distract those guys." She told them all. "And besides, you don't need me anymore. I was just the little push you needed. Now go find yourself an earthbending master!" She smiled at them.

"Now, in order for you all to escape, I need you to come here." She told them, beckoning them forward. When they were all in front of her she looked at them and told them, "Well, what are you waiting for? Jump in!" She said it like she expected them to know what the heck she was talking about.

"You can't be serious." Katara started.

"No way." Sokka continued.

"Oh come on. You'll go right through! See?" She told them as she pushed Sokka right through the mirror.

He screamed and once he realized he was fine, he turned to her and said, "And you wonder why I keep trying to get away from you!"

She just laughed and turned to Katara and Aang. "See? It's harmless! But it can get a bit confusing. Which reminds me! Hachi!" she called. Almost immediately her beautiful white dog came bounding up the stairs and into the room.

"That's a pretty dog. I've never seen one like her before." Katara told her.

"I know. No one has. She's the last of her kind. That blasted fire lord killed the rest of her kind. It's very sad. But she's go me to take care of her now. Isn't that right?" She said as she kissed Hachi's head. "Now, I need you to be a very good girl and guide my friends through the mirror so they make it to the other side okay?" Hachi licked her in response and she just laughed. "That's my girl. Now go on." and with that Hachi jumped into the mirror to join Sokka.

"Now, you two next." She started shoving Aang and Katara toward the mirror. Katara looked at her and said, "Just be careful, and join us soon okay?"

"Alright. Now go." She told them. Katara walked into the mirror. However, Aang was much more stubborn.

"I'm not gonna leave without you." He told her.

"Oh yes you are!" Ananda insisted.

"It's been 100 years since I've seen you! I'm not abandoning you again!" He exclaimed.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll come in right after you." she told him. Then they heard the door break down, and they both glanced at the wall where they came in. "Hurry up!" she shouted.

Aang jumped into the mirror and turned around waiting for her to jump through. But she heard the footsteps running up the stairs and approaching her room. So, she looked in the mirror and told him, "I'm sorry," with a tear in her eye. "Go find you're earthbending master. I'll meet up with you along the way." she comforted him.

The last thing Aang saw was firebenders stumble into the room and run toward her. She screamed and tripped backward, knocking the mirror down. "No!" Aang shouted. The mirror shattered and his last view of her was a firebender standing over her ready to strike.