So sorry that this took so long to update! What with my computer acting up and Band Camp starting...
I'm rather disapointed that there were no reviews for chapter two. I need feedback, espesially since this is my first fanfic.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar
"Absolutely NOT!" Sokka's obnoxious voice could be heard for miles.
With that being his final word, he sat back down on the ground, seemingly satisfied that he got his point across. He would not let the firebending child come.
Katara cautiously pulled a finger from out of her ear, and then sighed. "Sokka, can I ask you something?"
Sokka was about to reply, but Toph interrupted.
"When you talk, do you hear the words that you say, or do you just hear the ocean? Or maybe a large roaring in your ears?"
She definitely had him looking confused there.
"Um… not what I was going to say, exactly, but that could work…" Katara muttered.
"Do you know who you sound like when you talk like that?" she tried again, from a different approach.
"No…"
"Just. Like. Them." Katara said, pausing for emphasis with every word. "Just like the people that you're ridiculing."
"I'm not like that," came the quiet voice of Makayla. "I mean, I know I have a temper and all, there's not a firebender in existence that doesn't, but I'm not mean and insensitive…" Her amber eyes began to water, and she whispered, "I'm not like that. I'm not."
Sokka turned to answer her when his gaze locked onto the pout that the little firebender was giving him.
Her large golden orbs had somehow increased in size, and their metallic properties were reflecting the twilight sky. The pool of tears threatening to spill over seemed out of place inside the eyes of the lightly tan-skinned red head.
The look was worse than Katara's pout back when the two water tribers were children.
He growled and walked away.
Toph rolled her eyes. "That's Snoozles for ya," she sighed. "Can't ever get something as simple as this through that thick skull and into that tiny brain of his."
Makayla sighed and politely excused herself. She then stood up and walked up to Sokka. She saw Sokka flinch as she approached, but she merely stood beside him in a relaxed stance. Nothing more.
"Your friend is sick," She stated.
Sokka didn't turn his head, but his eyes moved to look at her.
"Most likely the result of a post-nasal drip. The sign of weakened sinuses."
"And you'd know about this…how?"
She shrugged. "It's common for firebenders, actually. They'd firebend too much and scorch their throats. Then their sinuses would produce extra mucus to try and relieve the pain, but it only hinders them. They can't talk right. They can't swallow without it hurting. Sometimes they can't even breathe right."
She turned her head to look at him. "Daddy taught me to make herbal tea for it. I keep some on my person all the time." She patted her pocket.
Sokka turned his head slightly in her direction. "Are you saying that you can help Aang?"
Her face turned serious. "Yes, but I can't unless you let me."
"What's stopping you?" He asked, facing her.
"You," she stated plainly. "You won't let me come with you."
"But you can just-"
"NO," she said, cutting him off. "I refuse to be left behind. I refuse to be treated like I'm just a one-use-only person. And I also refuse to give up, to surrender, without a fight." As she said this, she clenched her fists, narrowed her eyes, and stared into his squarely.
Her stubbornness surprised Sokka, for it mirrored his own.
"You don't need to fight," he eventually murmured.
Her eyes returned to normal, or rather, they were no longer narrowed. "What are you saying?"
He sighed. "Just don't make a big deal about it, okay? I'm not one to fraternize with the enemy."
"I'm not the enemy," she said, calmly. Then her face broke into a goofy smile. "WE should get going if we're gonna kick Ozai where it hurts!"
Sokka had to laugh at that comment. Maybe he could get used to this kid.
Katara's jaw dropped. "Did she just get Sokka to…laugh!"
Aang went bug-eyed.
Momo cocked his head in confusion.
Toph fainted.
The two said adolescents looked back.
"What's with them?" Makayla asked. Sokka merely shrugged.
"So…" Makayla started, trying to dissipate the awkward moment, "Who wants tea?"
Iroh took a tentative sip of the tea and widened his eyes in surprise. "It's good!" He said, his tone matching his facial expression.
The young lady sitting across from him smiled at the compliment. "Is it?"
He smiled again and drained his cup. "As good as ginseng, possible even better."
Zuko, who had been sitting near the entrance since daybreak, looked towards the other two, shocked. "Uncle has found a new favorite tea! Agni, have mercy on us! The world's coming to an end!"
The young lady, Astrid, didn't bother to stifle her laughter.
After hearing her laugh, Zuko winced and turned away.
She stopped laughing. "What's his problem?" she muttered.
"You sound like his mother," Iroh replied.
She looked back at him. "Huh?"
"When you laughed like that, you sounded just like his mother."
"And I'm guessing that something happened to her, right?" she asked in a sober tone. Iroh merely nodded.
She appeared to be in deep thought for a minute, but then she chuckled out of nowhere.
"What?" Iroh asked.
"Eh, it's nothing, really. It's just…" she paused. "My dad said the same thing about MY mom…" She got a faraway look in her eyes. "I never knew her, so I took Dad's word for it." A thought hit her.
"What was his mom's name?"
"Ursa," Zuko said, "Not that it's any of your concern..."
"Mine was called Sora," Astrid said, unfazed by Zuko's manners, or lack there of…
"And you're right. It wasn't my concern. I just wanted to make sure that we were talking about two entirely different people. I mean, it's weird enough that, according to your uncle, General Iroh-"
"Oh, please, I'm retired." Iroh said, waving his arm like the subject really didn't matter. Then a thought occurred to him. "I don't recall telling you I used to be a general…"
She drew in a sharp breath, bit her lower lip, and looked away. For a few seconds there was an awkward silence, which Iroh finally broke. "You are a Seer, aren't you?"
Astrid looked up to see both firebenders staring at her intently, and she could imagine the spirits ridiculing her for her slip up. "Yeah," she finally admitted. "To a degree."
"And what would that degree be?" Iroh asked, interested.
"Well…" she paused, as though waiting for permission. "I am gifted with the ability to see the true identities of others, by making eye contact with them. When I do so, the spirits grant me a vision of an event that took place in their past, one that I could use to identify them with."
"So that's how you knew that I was a prince…" Zuko muttered.
She nodded her head. "The vision helped me to identify you, but I had heard stories about you, so I didn't need much more information to know who you were."
She turned back to Iroh. "I can also visit the spirit world in my sleep, but only if I intend to."
"What do you mean by that?" Iroh asked.
She blushed. "I also draw in my sleep."
This fascinated the retired general. "Is that like sleepwalking?"
She shook her head. "No, it-" she pursed her lips together to try and get the blushing to stop. "I draw in my sleep, but the catch is that I never move…"
Iroh's eyes widened. "You move it with your mind!" Zuko spun around. "She moves what with her mind?"
"What kind of things do you draw?" he asked, ignoring Zuko's outburst, which Astrid made a mental note of to do the same. Zuko huffed and walked away.
She thought for a minute. "It's randomized, really. It could be a person, a miscellaneous item, or it could be a texture of something. Most often, though, I draw events."
"What kind of events?"
She shrugged. "That's also randomized."
"Say, Miss Astrid?"
"Just Astrid, please. No 'Miss' or anything like that, if you please, General."
Iroh chuckled. "I see your point there. But I was just wondering about something."
"Okay, shoot."
"My nephew is learning how to bend lightening, but I am unable to tutor him any longer. It would appear as though age has finally caught up with me. (A/N: As if it already hasn't…) But Zuko is not done with his training, and there are few benders out there willing to help the fire nation, much less fugitives…"
"Uh…" she appeared slightly nervous. "Wouldn't you need a firebending teacher for that?"
"Lightening bending mimics waterbending techniques," Iroh explained. "It would probably be best if a waterbender taught him properly."
"I see," she said, rather slowly. "Can I sleep on that offer?"
"Sure," he said. "In the mean time, I'm going to look for Zuko." He got up and walked out of the run-down cabin.
"Say, Iroh?"
"Yes?"
"Why is there a bump on your head?"
She giggled as he automatically felt his head in confusion, sigh, and then walk away.
Calming her mind, she crawled to a corner, curled up into a semi-comfy position, as if to be ready to bolt should the need arise, and forced herself to sleep.
She opened her eyes a moment later and saw that her environment around her had changed from a run down house to a foggy swamp.
Smiling, she stood and began to walk. She walked for what seemed to be a few minutes, but was actually a few hours, before she reached a clear pond. The only soul there was a great white stag. Her smile widened. "I knew I'd find you here."
The magnanimous being lifted its head in surprise, and then made its way over to her.
"Greetings, Astrid," a fairly quiet yet soothing voice echoed in Astrid's head. "I dare say that this is quite unexpected. I thought for sure that you'd summon me to the human world if you wanted something…"
Astrid scowled. "You're never going to let that go, are you, Yasuo?"
"Nope!" the voice echoed again, in a cheerful tone.
"How many times do I gotta say that I'm sorry! I mean, how was I supposed to know that it was mating season! I didn't even know that mononokes could even mate!"
She took a deep breath to calm herself from that outburst. "Look, I didn't come here to get poked at with that again. I came here to-"
"You're welcome."
She shut her mouth and pursed her lips together. "Yeah, that and I needed to ask you something important."
"Let me guess," a child's voice pierced through the swamp. "You wanted to ask if he could give you a ride across the Earth Kingdom, right?"
Astrid's eyes narrowed, the blue on her outer iris almost crystallized, representing her mood. "Nevan…"
A young boy, about 12 years old, with blonde hair pulled into a topknot and bangs coming down to his blind grey eyes appeared from behind a tree with a smirk on his face.
(A/N: Okay, for this character, picture a younger Zuko, before he got his scar, Aang eyes clouded over, and Toph style bangs)
"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked, slightly peeved.
"Annoying you. What's it look like I'm doing?" the smirk intensified.
"Are you sure that we're even related?"
"Naw, we're not related, some hobo just dropped you on my grandfather's front foyer."
"Why you-" Astrid's eye color changed drastically. One second it looked the same as before, blue and brown, and then the next it was pure gold. It was as though her eyes were on fire!
"Stop it!" that voice rang through her head again, and in the head of Nevan, too, apparently. "Both of you will cease this pointless cousinly bickering or, so help me, I will plague both of your minds with visions so disturbing you'll be too frightened to sleep ever again!"
Both gulped nervously and nodded.
"Now, Nevan, is there anything you need?"
"Huh? Oh, right! I was wondering if you knew where my guide is. You know Ryu, right?"
"Did you try the caves?"
Nevan's eyes widened. He slapped his forehead and started walking away.
When he was out of sight, Yasuo turned back to Astrid. "You wanted to discuss whether or not to go through with teaching the fire prince waterbending, correct?"
She nodded.
"Very well, but listen closely. What I'm about to tell you is something that you must keep a secret at all costs."
"Even my life?"
"You're not going to die, Astrid. We've been through this before. It's my job to make sure that you don't die before your job is complete."
She sighed in relief, and then motioned for him to continue.
"Now, this is what you must do…"
Her eyes snapped open, and, for a split second, they were a pure gold again. But then she blinked and her eyes returned to normal.
"You're up, finally," Zuko noted.
"Zuko, do not be rude to a young lady, no matter what nation." Iroh reprimanded.
"It's fine," Astrid said with a slight wave of her hand as she sat up, as if to dismiss the subject. "We have more important matters to discuss anyway."
"Like what?" Zuko asked, in an annoyed tone.
She looked at him with an earnest face. "I've made my decision…"
Remember to review, please!