Chapter 2: Switched
NOTE: in this story, today is Saturday.
Zuko was awakened by a strange buzzing as he wearily opened his eyes; expecting to find himself in his ship and in his room.
But he was awakened by a dark room with some strange glowing thing and in an actual bed instead of a mattress.
Yelping, he tried to spring out, but his short legs were weak.
Wait; short legs?
Since when did he have short, skinny legs?
And such a flabby chest?
And short and skinny arms?
One of his hands went up to clutch his forehead but he found himself in contact with short hair.
Did it grow back?
Just then, he looked into a mirror.
Instead of himself, he saw a short, skinny kid with hair and brown eyes.
What was happening to him?
After trying to sort through the mess on the floor, he found some blue khakis and red jacket with dark shoes that fit him and got dressed.
He looked at himself in the mirror; would anyone take him seriously now?
He was just a wimpy little kid.
Well, at least he didn't have his scar anymore, right?
Right?
Just then, a girl who looked about 7 or 8 burst through the door.
"Jake, didn't you hear mom? It's time to go." She said and Zuko jumped at her voice.
"Who are you?" he asked and the girl looked at him like he was crazy.
"I'm you sister, Haley. Don't you remember? You must have what I read about; Amnesia. Want me to help you remember with a little Chopin?" she said and skipped out of the room and a few seconds later, the piano began playing as Zuko just stared at that girl.
'And I thought Zula was annoying.' Zuko thought as he pulled on the rest of his clothes and was about to go out the door when he was greeted by an old guy with a funny looking mustache and slight beard.
"Jake, come with me, you have an urgent call from the leprechauns" he said and Zuko found himself being dragged down some stairs, outside, and into an old shop.
Once in, he found a dog reading the newspaper.
"What's up, Jakey?" it asked and Zuko reeled back.
"It can talk!" he said; pointing to the dog.
"Of course I can talk, you nitwit. It's me; Fu. Your buddy, Fu dog." It said as Zuko just stared at the dog.
"Jake, why are you acting so strange?" the old guy said. Zuko finally spoke.
"Look, I don't know who this Jake is, but I'm not Jake." He said and the old guy looked at him.
"Fu, give me the powder of Lung dragon. It should straighten things out." The old guy said and a second later, Fu came back with some blue powder and the old guy grabbed a handful of it and tossed it all over Zuko.
Coughing a little, Zuko looked back to the talking dog and the old guy; both of them looking astonished.
"You're not Jakey." Fu said and Zuko nodded.
"Zuko." The old guy said and the dog turned to him.
"What?" the dog asked; Zuko was going to have to get used to that and how did that old grandpa know his name?
"Zuko. Fire Lord Zuko and our distant ancestor. Or at least, Jake's and mine." He said and Zuko just looked at him; was he crazy?
Just then, the old man turned to him.
"I am Long Shu. But you can just call me Grandpa for now. You see; you're trapped in my grandson's body." He said to Zuko and Zuko nodded.
"I'm trapped in another's body?" Zuko asked and his so called grandpa nodded.
"How do I get out of this one and back to my own?" Zuko asked; slightly starting to panic.
"Well, what has happened to you during the past day or so?" his Long Shu asked and Zuko recalled a ring.
Lifting his right hand, he saw the ring there but this time, it had the symbol of the Fire Nation on it.
"This ring. I, or at least my uncle, gave this to me but the ring had the symbol of a dragon on it." Zuko said and Long Shu nodded before examining the ring thoroughly.
"The ring of Dragonfire." He suddenly said and Zuko looked at him.
"What?" he asked and Long Shu folded his hand into his sleeves and shook his head slightly.
"That ring is one of 2 rings that when 2 people are wearing it at the same time, no matter what place, or in the time-space continuum, they will switch bodies. The second ring, the one of the Dragon, was said to be lost long ago. I guess you back in your time found it. So, you and my grandson have switched bodies." He concluded; causing Zuko's jaw to slightly drop.
"How do I get back into my body?" Zuko managed to stutter out.
"I don't know. But as for now, you'll have to pose as my grandson." He said and Zuko nodded before the door burst open and 2 other people stepped in.
One was dark skinned and had curly hair that she kept up in 2 high things. The other one was pale-skinned with freckles and trying to touch his tongue to the tip of is nose.
"Jakey, it's time to go." The girl said and Grandpa suddenly butted in.
"Jake, why don't you go with Trixie and Spud? You're finished for today." He said and Zuko nodded as he began to follow them out.
When they got outside, they tossed Zuko in Jake's body a board with 4 wheels on it.
The two of them got on their own and began to go down. Zuko had never seen anything like this before; well, there were wagons, but that was it.
Sighing, Zuko had to keep Jake's reputation until he was switched back.
Sighing, Zuko put down the board and began to get on it.
It was going to be a long day.
And the worst part was, he didn't even have his Firebending skills.
"Huntsgirl. Wake up." Someone from above Katara said and Katara opened her eyes and brushed the loose blonde hair from her face.
Wait; Blonde hair? Loose? Katara bolted up and saw a balding old guy by the window; morning's dark shadows hiding his face.
"What?" Katara managed to stutter out.
The person in the shadows looked at her before scowling and Katara could feel his eyes on her.
"It's time to get up, Huntsgirl. Every day you live is another chance to slay those dragons." He said and Katara blinked; Dragons? Slaying?
"What?" she said again and the person scowled before pulling on the sheets of her bed off of her.
Sheets? Bed? Window?
Where was she? Getting up, she saw her skin was now a peach-like color.
Stumbling around the room a bit, she found a place where all the clothes were.
Pulling on a white shirt, pink pants, and these weird shows that showed most of her foot, she looked at herself in the mirror; she had light colored hair and pale skin.
Just then, she noticed a ring on her finger, or at least this girl's finger.
It was blue; just like the one she wore before, but this one had the symbol of Waterbending on it.
She wasn't her and this definitely wasn't her time. So where was she? Where was Aang? Where was anyone in this world?
Katara began to wander out and soon found her getting lost in these mazes of a house. Finally, she managed to get out of the house and into daylight.
Where was she?
Just then, a girl with brown hair came up to her.
"Rose, are you ok?" she asked and Katara looked at her like she was truly crazy.
Who was this Rose? "Yeah, sure." Katara managed to say and the girl looked at her for a moment, and then nodded her head.
"You're thinking about Jake, aren't you? Don't worry; he dumped you." She said and Katara just didn't have a single idea what she was talking about.
"Yeah, I guess so. Where is Jake?" she asked softly and the girl smiled a little.
"Today is Saturday, so he should be at his grandpa's shop or something." She said and pulled on her arm as a signal to go. Katara followed.
This was going to be a VERY interesting day.
"Prince Zuko, it's time for training." A voice rang out and Jake opened his eyes; or eye, for the matter.
When he was able to see, he saw, not his room, but a small room filled with strange banners, and a pair of swords on one side with a table with 4 candles and a picture of a Dragon on the wall on another.
Jumping up, he saw he wasn't in his bed, but in a mattress and a dark red blanket.
"Yo, where am I?" Jake nearly shouted, but his voice was deeper.
Turning to a reflective piece of sword, Jake saw that he had no hair except for a section in the back which was kept in a topknot, gold eyes, pale skin, and a scar across his left eye!
"My beautiful face!" Jake wailed as his hands went up to clutch it; only finding big, callused, and strong hands in the place of his smaller ones.
"AH!" Jake began to scream as he ran around; but the room was crowded with stuff as he tripped over that stupid table with those candles on it.
Once it moved, Jake saw there was a section of mirror underneath it.
Grasping it like it was his only lifeline, he looked into it and that same face was staring back at him.
Startling back, Jake began to use his big hands to feel his body to see if anything was his.
First he brushed along his arms, which were no longer sticks, but had bulges for the muscle.
'That's not mine.' Jake thought as his right hand went down to his now rock hard six pack abs.
'That's not mine.' He thought as he dared to go lower and touched a certain area.
'That's DEFENETLY not mine.' Jake thought as he frantically got up and nearly crashed into the wall.
Just then, an old man came in.
"Prince Zuko, it is time for your training." He said while Jake looked at him like he was crazy.
"Listen, you old geezer. I don't know who you are, but I'm not prince Zuko or anyone. My name is Jake Long" Jake said and the old man laughed.
"Very funny, Prince Zuko. Now let's go. Your crew is waiting for you." He said.
"My what?" he asked and Iroh looked at him.
"Wait; what is my name?" he asked and Jake looked for an answer.
"Uh…." He said and Iroh's eyes widened.
"You're not Prince Zuko, but how are you in his body?" he asked and Jake thought about it.
Just then, something flashed on his middle finger and he lifted it up to see the ring he had put on yesterday, but this one had the insignia of a dragon on it.
"This ring. I put on one like it in my grandpa's shop yesterday, only the ring had the shape of a flame on it instead of a dragon." Jake said and Iroh nodded.
"Well, I am Prince Zuko's uncle, Iroh." Iroh said and Jake nodded. This was just too weird right now.
Just then, a guy who looked like a monkey opened the door.
"Sir, the Avatar has been spotted. Should we go after it?" he asked and Jake in Zuko's bodylooked at him.
"Uh--" Jake said and Iroh interrupted.
"Why should you even ask? Go now." He said and the monkey guy nodded and closed the door.
"Who was monkey man?" Jake asked dully and Iroh looked at him for a minute, then remembered Zuko wasn't Zuko.
"That was your lieutenant. We're out at sea right now." Iroh said and Jake froze.
For some strange reason, he always hated the sea.
Springing out of bed, Jake ran outside through a maze of halls and finally found the deck. Suddenly, he felt what he, or Zuko, had for dinner as it came back up his throat and over the railing.
Iroh came on deck. "If you're going to be my nephew, you might want to let me teach you how to act like him." He said and Jake nodded.
This was going to be a long day.
"Katara, time to wake up." A voice above Rose said and she opened her eyes to a pale boy with blue arrows on his head.
"Hi-ya!" Rose shouted; leaping up and getting into a fighting stance before the boy who now had a slight look of hurt on his face.
Just then, a hand was on her shoulder.
"Katara, are you o---" Sokka started, but didn't finish as Rose did a total ninja body slam on him threw him against the other boy.
"Who are you?" she asked as her tan skin—
Wait; Tan skin and black braided hair?
She had blonde hair and light skin, didn't she?
Grabbing a bowl of water, she saw looking back at her a girl with dark skin and dark brunette hair with it braided and put in a strange style.
"Katara, are you ok?" the boy with blue arrows on his head said and Rose nodded; guessing that was the name of this girl whom she was in her body.
As one of her hands lifted to brush away a loose strand of hair, she saw the ring. It was blue; just like the one she had the night before, but had the figure of a ninja on it instead of that other one.
Sighing, Rose just stared at the ring.
True, she had wished that she was somewhere else as someone else, but she didn't really mean it, did she?
Yeah, it's long. Next chappie's about the encounter of Zuko in Jake's body and Katara in Rose's body. And Jake in Zuko's body and Aang, Sokka, and Rose in Katara's body.
And Zuko trying to skateboard! BWA HA HA HA HA HA!