A/N: (re-write: 7/1/07) Here we go! x)

Book One – The Journey Begins

Chapter Thirteen - Didn't See That Coming

Aang sat next to Katara; literally trembling to the bone as Sokka slowly rose to his feet and crossed his arms. He menacingly strolled over to the two, an evil 'I'm going to kill you' look on his face. Katara, who was trembling with excitement a minute ago, quickly turned to a tremble full of fear. Once Sokka got too close for Katara's liking, she quickly stood and firmly planted her feet on the ground in between Sokka and Aang.

"No Sokka, d-" Katara was cut off.

"WHAT, might I ask, were you two doing?" Sokka yelled, his loud, getting-deeper voice reverberated off the cold prison walls.

"N-no Sokka! I can explain, see-"

"OH-ho, there's no need for an explanation, I saw the whole thing," Sokka yelled.

"Sokka, if you'd just listen to me, I-" Katara was cut off yet again.

"No," Sokka started as he quickly turned around and stepped a few yards away, "Dad told me to protect you, and that's just what I'm going to do," Sokka flung around and pointed an angry finger at Aang, "Katara, how could you actually go such lengths to kiss Aa-"

Sokka stopped his angry ramblings and stared at the two at the other end of the prison hold. Aang slowly and nervously rose to his feet as Sokka glared at him. His evil glare on the young airbender soon died down as he averted his gaze from Aang to the dirt. Sokka heaved a long dry sigh, knowing this would happen sooner or later. The two benders would fall in love and leave Sokka hanging in the wind with no one to be with.

Sokka suddenly thought back to Yue. He loved her so much and would do anything to have her back right now. He sighed again, thinking that there had to be someone for everyone out there, and it just so happened that the two people that mattered to him most were meant to be. Sokka quickly looked up at Aang and frowned. The whole prison cell was in an awkward death silence. Aang had a little frown etched across his face, as if the two had done something wrong. It wasn't wrong for the two to kiss, but Sokka was just getting jealous because he couldn't do the same things with someone he loved.

Sokka then averted his gaze to Katara. Sokka frowned, knowing he had always been there for her, protecting her, keeping her from harm's way and making sure that she was all right. He never thought that he'd have to protect her from a boy anytime soon. This sort of thing had never happened before, and Sokka was fine with that. He hated the fact that, sooner or later, he'd have to let go of his little sister and let her make her own decisions in life, especially if it was to decide who she fell in love with.

Sokka, yet again, took another look at Aang and sighed. He knew the two were meant to be and that he was making a big deal out of something that was good and pure. The two were perfect, as if they completed each other, and Sokka knew that Aang was a good kid and wouldn't hurt Katara even if he tried. Suddenly, Katara's soft voice broke the silence.

"Sokka, I'm so-so sorry...I can explain, a-and I understand if you want to strangle me or-or kill-"

"No," Sokka said softly as he waved one hand in the air.

"What?" Katara asked.

"I'm sorry," Sokka frowned.

"You mean-you're not mad?" Aang asked, his voice a little shaky.

"No," Sokka sighed as he stepped closer to the two, "What do you mean you can explain? I mean, I know what's going on, there's nothing to really explain," Sokka said, looking at his sister.

"W-well, yes there is," Katara said softly. "See, Aang and I think that he's doing all of this to me."

"Doing what?" Sokka asked.

"Letting me hear different animals talking," Katara said.

"How could he possibly be doing this to you? I mean, it's not like it's some sort of sickness you can catch from each other… is it?" Sokka questioned.

"W-well, yeah. I don't think it's a sickness. We think you can get it from…from kissing," Katara smiled sheepishly.

Sokka blankly stared at the two.

"It's not like everyone can suddenly hear animals talk right after they've kissed someone. This isn't normal, Katara. I think you're just making things up. Look, I understand that you and Aang have this thing for each other and- " Sokka stopped rambling and pondered for a moment. "Wait a second... if this is the first time you two have kissed, then Aang isn't doing anything to you... remember, you started hearing the birds in the forest talk, like, two days ago. Aang couldn't possibly be the cause of this."

The three were silent for a moment.

"W-well, that... that wasn't the first time we've kissed, Sokka," Katara said nervously, hoping that Sokka wouldn't blow up. Sure enough, he did.

"What?! How many other times have you two been at it! Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about?" Sokka yelled, getting furious.

"No-no, Sokka, calm down, it was just one other time...the night before I started hearing things," Katara said softly to calm his nerves.

Sokka, thankfully, calmed down and looked at the ground.

"Oh-oh well, no sense arguing about it now, we have to find a way out of here," Sokka said, suddenly dropping the subject, as he walked to the other end of the prison hold and sat down.

Katara and Aang both shrugged and sat down next to each other. The three chatted amongst themselves for what seemed like hours. Kaimah made herself comfortable in Sokka's lap for the first time, considering she was a little scared of him. She eventually warmed up to him. Sokka gently pet her soft fur as he was completely lost in thought over the whole 'kissing' situation. It wasn't too long before Katara was acting weird again, resulting from the last two kisses her and Aang had. Katara took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled happily.

"Mmm, do you smell that?" she asked in a daze.

"Smell what?" Aang asked as he glanced at Sokka.

"I think the village that we're in is having a feast! Mmm, with meat," Katara smiled, still in her daze, which oddly enough made her look and sound a lot like her brother. The two boys looked at each other.

"I think we're getting somewhere," Sokka smiled.

"With what?" Katara asked as she continued to smell the air. It wasn't too long before Kaimah slowly wandered out of Sokka's lap; head high in the air, smelling the fantastic smell of food cooking.

"This whole... animal thing," Sokka chuckled. "I mean, first you can hear animals talk, then you can mysteriously read their minds, and now you can smell smells that not even I can detect!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're actually turning into an ani-" Aang was interrupted by Katara, who suddenly stood and shushed him. She pressed her ear to the large door.

"Do you hear that?" Katara whispered.

"Here we go," Sokka mumbled.

"Hear what?" Aang questioned as Kaimah clumsily moseyed into his lap and purred loudly. Aang gently pet her soft fur.

"Those voices... they're coming this way" Katara whispered.

"We can't hear or smell anything, Katara; these walls are like... ten feet thick. It's impossible even to hear an explosion on the other side," Sokka said loudly and sarcastically.

"Earth kingdom guards, there are two of 'em," Katara said softly before she backed away from the door, " They're coming, guys, this is our chance, we can run past them once they open the door."

"I don't know," Sokka said suspiciously, but, before he could continue, the large metal door opened.

"Wow, she's good," Aang smiled as he quickly stood and set Kaimah down. The guard stepped into the large prison cell, holding a large ring with golden keys attached to it. Before the guard could say anything, Aang did an airbending forum, causing the guard to literally fly out of the prison cell and hit the far wall outside of it. Dust clouded everyone's vision.

"C'mon!" Aang yelled through the large dust cloud that roiled up around everything, making it almost impossible to see. Sokka and Aang made it out quickly, but Katara was having some trouble with it. She stumbled around until she finally came to the door and ran for it. She suddenly stopped running and turned around.

"Kaimah!" She yelled as she darted back towards the prison hold that Kaimah was still in. Once she came fully into the prison hold, she took hold of Kaimah.

Suddenly, everything went dark. Katara flung around to see the large prison door had shut and locked on her. Katara sighed.

"Just my luck," Katara said, getting aggravated. She set Kaimah down and ran to the door. She jerked on the handle until her hand throbbed. Katara then banged on the door and hollered.

"Aang! Sokka!" Katara yelled, praying that the two would come back.

They have to notice that I'm not with them, Katara thought.

Katara heaved a long sigh and plopped to the ground. Kaimah slowly strolled over to Katara and stared at her. Katara stared back before Kaimah let out a small chirp. She then made herself comfortable in front of Katara. Katara sighed and made herself comfortable too, not hearing or sensing any sign of Aang and Sokka coming back to get her, even though she did have faith that they would eventually come to get her.

After what seemed to be hours, Katara slowly reached out to pet Kaimah's soft, gleaming fur, but was stopped by a strange sensation in her hand. Her whole right hand and arm went numb. It hurt enough to cry, but Katara was more confused than hurt at the moment. Katara cringed and moved her arm and hand around but nothing seemed to work. It was all she could do until her left arm started to go numb.

Katara suddenly felt weak, faint, and light headed. She groaned and slowly lay down, knowing there was nothing else she could do about her state at the moment other than pray that the sudden numbing would go away. After about a couple minutes, Katara passed out next to Kaimah, who slept soundly.

- - -

"Sokka!" Aang hollered over the wind as the two ran around the city, searching for an exit."Where's Katara?"

"I don't know! I thought she was behind you!" Sokka yelled over his shoulder. "Where's your bison whistle!"

"That won't work on Katara!" Aang yelled, getting frustrated.

"Not on Katara, Appa, you airhead!" Sokka yelled as the two darted around corners, dodging Earth kingdom guards.

"Oh... Oh no, I think I left it on Appa's saddle!" Aang yelled.

"Great. That's just what we need! Where's the prison hold? That's where Katara was last!" Sokka yelled as Aang caught up to him.

"This way!" Aang yelled as the two ran back to the prison holds.

- - -

Katara, after about a couple minutes, woke up. She groaned and looked around, getting dizzier by the second. She gasped and suddenly noticed that everything was green. Katara's eyes widened as she looked around. The dank, once gray, prison walls were now a dark, eerie green. Katara gasped and looked down, noticing Kaimah comfortably laid in front of her. Kaimah's fur, once a pretty light yellow, was now a light glowing, greenish-yellow. Her spots, once black, were now a dark brown.

Katara slowly rose to her feet but suddenly stumbled and fell back down. Katara groaned and looked around, noticing yet again that everything was out of color, and the ceiling looked higher. Katara frowned and was so confused that she couldn't even think. She groaned and looked at Kaimah before she slowly reached out to pet her. Katara froze to find that she didn't have a human hand. Katara gasped and jerked her arm away from Kaimah and shut her eyes tight

Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream, I'm dreaming, just a dream, Katara repeated over and over before she opened her eyes and looked around again, noticing a small puddle of water a few yards away. Katara nervously inched her way over to it, stumbling and falling occasionally. Once she reached the small puddle, she peered into it. Katara let out a small yelp before she pushed herself backwards and accidentally did a few backwards tumbles. Katara shook her head in confusion and panted with fear, knowing for a fact that her reflection had never looked like that before.

Katara slowly looked down at her hands once more. She studied them, noticing that they were fury with black spots and razor sharp claws. Katara shook her head and looked around before she felt something rub against her. It was Kaimah. Kaimah purred loudly and continued to rub against Katara's arm happily. Katara quickly scoot away from her, scared half to death as to what was going on. She felt inhuman, different, like her human body was suddenly ripped away from her and changed into something else.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps outside the prison cell. Katara perked up and turned around as the large door suddenly opened, letting in enormous amounts of sunlight. Katara peered through the light to see Sokka and Aang scramble into the cell before they suddenly stopped and gasped.

"Mutant cheetah!" Sokka yelled as he pushed Aang in front of him for protection. "Kill It, Aang, and do it quickly… I've got a low threshold for pain!"

Katara slowly stood and stared at the two boys.

"You two got taller," Katara said as she strained her neck to look up at the two. "I'm so confused…"

Aang stared at her, getting somewhat nervous as to what was going on. He stared down at the girl, he once knew to be human, in shock. He slowly made his way over to her as Kaimah pranced around happily.

"...Katara?" Aang asked softly in shock.

A/N: Dun dun dun…lol kind of a shocker, eh? X) keep reading to find out more! Please R&R! No flames.

Mohalo ;)