Chapter 2: Katara

It was a bright sunny morning when a beautiful waterbender left her house to go shopping. With a basket containing a book and eggs for bartering in one hand, she happily walked over the bridge and into town. Looking around at the same old houses in the same old village, she knew that any minute she would hear the familiar voices of the same old townspeople.

Little town it's a quiet village.
Everyday like the one before.
Little town full of little people, waking up to say.

"Hello!"

"Hi there!"

"Good morning!"

"Good day!"

"Hiya!"

And sure enough, all at once, the people of the village poured out into the streets, refreshed and ready for a day of work and shopping. The waterbender sighed at her prediction as she walked into the crowd, giving an occasional wave or bow to the people she encountered.

There goes the baker with his tray like always.
The same old bread and rolls to sell.
Every morning just the same since the morning that we came,
To this poor provential town.

"Good Morning Katara!" yelled the baker as he carried a tray of large bread rolls to his stand.

"Good morning sir." Katara said bowing to him. "Mind if I have the first roll of the day?"

"Help yourself" the baker said as he began piling baskets on the counter. "So where you off to?"

"The book shop." Katara said eagerly while taking a roll. "I just finished the most wonderful story, about a beanstalk and an ogre and an-"

"That's nice." the baker said distractedly. "Ma Ree! The baguettes! Hurry up!" he called in the back.

Seeing he wasn't interested, Katara shrugged and left two eggs on the counter. Putting the roll in her basket she continued down the street while a group of old ladies watched and shook their heads.

Look there she goes that girl is strange no question.
Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?
Never part of any crowd.
Cause her heads up on some cloud.
No denying she's a weird girl, Katara.

Seeing a passing wagon, Katara jumped onto the back and rode it down the street while occasionally waving to bystanders. "Hi there!"

"Good day!" a woman waved.

"How is your family?" she asked as the cart passed by.

"Very good thanks!"

"Hello!" Katara said to an old man as he walked by.

"Good day!

"How is your wife?"

"Very good thanks."

Jumping off the wagon, Katara passed by a married couple who were arguing over groceries.

"But I need six eggs!" the wife insisted.

"That's too expensive!" cried the husband.

Having heard them argue the same thing the other day, Katara rolled her eyes and sighed at the repetitiveness as she walked past them to the bookstore across the street. "There must be more than this provincial life." she wondered as she entered the shop.

"Ah! Katara!" said the book shop clerk upon seeing her enter.

"Good Morning! I've come to return the book I've borrowed." she said handing him the book from her basket.

"Finished already?" asked the clerk as he flipped through the pages.

"Oh I couldn't put it down." Katara said as she climbed up the ladder and looked at the shelves "Have ya got anything new?"

"Hehe, not since yesterday!" the clerk chuckled as he put the book away.

"That's alright." Katara smiled as she browsed the shelves "Let's see, I'll borrow...this one!"

"That one?" asked the clerk in surprise "But you've read it twice!"

"Well it's my favorite!" Katara gushed "Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise... what's not to like?"

Chuckling at her enthusiasm, the clerk took the book off the shelf and handed it to her "Well if you like it all that much, it's yours."

"Really?" Katara asked in surprise as she took the book. "But sir-"

"It's okay. I insist." he said while escorting her out of the shop.

"Well thank you! Thank you very much!" Katara said gratefully as she opened the book and started reading it as she walked down the street. Across from the shop, a group of men admired the pretty young waterbender from afar while trying to figure out why she was so different from the other girls in town.

Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar.
I wonder if she's feeling well.
With a dreamy far off look.
And her nose stuck in a book.
What a puzzle to the rest of us, Katara.

For a good couple blocks, Katara kept her eyes plastered to the book, not even looking up to cross the street or avoid the hectic crowd which she bypassed with ease. Upon reaching the town square, she stopped to rest and sat on the edge of the fountain where a heard of KoalaSheep stopped for a drink.

Oh! Isn't this amazing?
It's my favorite because you'll see.
Here's where she meets prince charming.
But she won't discover that it's him
till chapter three!

Showing the book to the sheep, they either tried to take a bite of the pages or merely sniffed it and walked away. As she continued reading, Katara couldn't help but feel a tad jealous of the woman in the story who had many human and animal companions to talk to and aid her on adventures. Aside from the sheep, no one else in town was interested in her stories or even reading for that matter. A fact which often left Katara feeling isolated and lonely.

As she stood up and continued walking toward the market, a group of shoppers again began to collaborate and gossip about Katara about how strange she was and how she didn't fit in with anyone else.

Now it's no wonder that her name means beauty,
her looks have got no parallel.
But behind that fair facade,
I'm afraid she's rather odd.
Very different from the rest of us.
She's nothing like the rest of us.
Yes different from the rest of us, Katara.

Just then a loud noise rang through the air as a flock of TurtleDucks flying overhead suddenly scattered into different directions. One of the ducks then fell to the ground with an arrow through its neck.

"I got it Jet!" a voice called out. Instantly a short and bushy haired girl in a pink ran out into the street and attempted to catch the TurtleDuck with a sack. Missing it by a few inches, she quickly put the duck into the sack before running back to the entrance of a tavern. Standing in the doorway holding a bow and arrow was a tall, dark haired and handsome young man who held a piece of straw tightly between his teeth.

"Wow! You didn't miss a shot Jet! You're the greatest hunter in the whole world!" the girl said looking up at him with her wide tooth-gaped smile.

"I know." Jet said arrogantly while putting his bow and arrow back down.

"No beast alive stands a chance against you. And no girl for that matter..." the girl gushed while looking admirely up at him.

"It's true Meng." Jet said pompously clapping her on the shoulder "And I've got my sights set on the one." He then pointed down the street at Katara who was buying cloth from a stand.

"What!? The inventors daughter?!" Meng asked in disbelief.

"She's the one! The lucky girl I'm going to marry!"

"But she's-"

"The most beautiful girl in town." Jet said admiring the pretty waterbender.

"I know but-"

"That makes her the best! And don't I deserve the best!?" Jet said glaring down at Meng.

"Well of course you do, I just mean-" Ignoring her rambling, Jet pushed Meng aside and continued to watch Katara. While he did so, he noticed a mirror nearby and couldn't help but admire his reflection.

Right from the moment when I met her, saw her,
I said she's gorgeous and I fell.
Here in town there's only she, who is beautiful as me.
So I'm making plans to woo and marry Katara.

Shifting his attention back to Katara, he realized she was leaving and quickly followed pursuit. Watching him chase after her, Meng scowled as she picked up the sack and followed after Jet. Unbeknownst to either of them, three beautiful young women who were at a stand nearby saw Jet and immediately began to follow them. Jun, Jin and Song were three of the prettiest girls in the village (right next to Katara) who all had a crush on Jet and had followed him every day through town in hopes that he'd notice one of them. Jet however, had no interest and only paid them attention when he needed his ego inflated. Other than that he would only pursue Katara, much to their dismay.

Look there he goes, isn't he dreamy?
That rebel Jet, oh he's so cute!
Be still my heart, I'm hardly breathing.
He's such a tall, dark, strong and handsome brute.

Having finally spotted her, Jet tried to push his way through the crowd but kept getting caught behind people while Katara made her way around with ease. Because he was the most popular man in town, people kept coming up to Jet to either compliment him or ask for advice.

"Hi there Jet!" said a young man as Jet ran into him.

"Pardon me" Jet said as he tried pushing past him only to run into more admiring people.

"Good day Jet." said a young girl as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Jet would you call this bacon?" said an old woman as she held a slab of meat out to him.

"Lovely grapes aren't these Jet?" asked a saleswoman.

"Some cheese Jet?" asked an old man who held out a plate.

"Ten yards of wool! Just one pound Jet!" said a man holding out some cloth.

"Excuse me!" Jet said as he tried avoiding all the people who kept on following him.

"I'll get the knife." said the cheese man as he turn to leave.

"Please let me through!" Jet cried as tried rushing toward Katara who was getting further and further away.

"But Jet this bread -"

"Those fish -

"It's stale!"

"They smell!"

As Jet was being bombarded with people, Katara had almost made it to the outskirts of town. Hearing the commotion, she turned to see Jet surrounded by people and rolled her eyes again. Jet being admired by the town, the same as any other day.

"There must be more than this provincial life!" Katara wondered out loud.

"Just watch, I'm going to make Katara my wife!" Jet announced to the crowd. However, they had all averted their attention toward Katara and began gossiping about her again much to Jet's dismay.

Look there she goes
The girl is strange but special
A most peculiar waterbender

Realizing he was going to lose sight of her if he didn't do something drastic, Jet slipped into one of the alleys and took out his hook swords. Using them to climb onto the roof of the building, Jet jumped from rooftop to rooftop in an effort to catch up to Katara.

It's a pity and a sin
She doesn't quite fit in '
Cause she really is a funny girl
A beauty but a funny girl
She really is a funny girl,
Katara!

Looking up from her book, Katara glanced behind her only to see the people once again go about their daily business. As she continued forth, Jet jumped down from the rooftop and landed in front of Katara.

"Hello there Katara." Jet said giving one of his charming smiles.

"Good morning Jet." Katara said politely as she tried walking around him. Wanting to get her attention, Jet whipped the book out of her hands much to her irritation. "Jet may I have my book back please?"

"How can you read this?" Jet asked flipping through the pages. "There's no pictures!"

"Well, some people use their imagination." Katara said matter of factly.

"Katara, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things." Jet said throwing her book into a mud puddle.

"Like what exactly?" Katara asked as she knelt to get her book.

"Like me" Jet said as he stood over her and pompously started posing. From the side, the three girls sighed lovingly. Meng soon showed up and upon seeing Jet talking to Katara, scowled.

"Honestly Katara, the whole town is talking about it. It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she'll start getting ideas and...thinking." Jet said cringing at the thought.

"Wow Jet, you are positively prime evil." Katara said sarcastically as she wiped mud off her book.

"Why thank you Katara!" Jet said obliviously. "Hey, what do you say we head over to the tavern and take a look at my trophies?" He pulled Katara to her feet and tried escorting her back into town.

"Maybe some other time..." Katara said trying to resist his grip.

On the side, the three girls including Meng looked on in disbelief and anger. It infuriated them that the most handsome man in town had chosen the most oblivious girl in town (who obviously wasn't interested) while the rest of them were left forgotten on the side.

"What's wrong with her? Why doesn't she just go to the tavern?" asked Jun.

"She's crazy! I'd give my right foot for a chance to spend time with Jet!" cried Jin.

Song merely sighed "He's so gorgeous..."

But as irritated as they were, neither was more mad then Meng. She was Jet's right hand, yet he never gave her the kind of attention he did Katara. She had done everything he asked and more, yet still she was treated as 'one of the guys'. What she would give to be in Katara's position and for once, receive the affections of a boy.

"Please Jet, I can't." Katara said breaking away from Jet. "I have to go home and help my father. Goodbye."

"Ha! That crazy old loon?" Meng asked appearing at Jet's side. "If you ask me he needs all the help he can get!"

"Hey!" Katara said angrily as they started to laugh. "Don't talk about my father that way!"

"Yeah don't talk about her father that way Meng!" Jet said bopping her on the head.

"My father is not crazy. He's a genius!" Just then a loud explosion erupted from Katara's house, causing smoke to pour out of the windows and chimney. Worried, Katara rushed toward the house while Jet and Meng fell onto their sides laughing.

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