Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Warning: Contains mild spoilers.
Enjoy the chapter. (::
I gazed up at his face, which I now realized was as pale as his finger tips were. My lips parted slightly, I wasn't sure what to make of this unexpected visitor. I examined him, my female adolescent senses kicking in. He was tall, more than six feet tall, at least, and his skin was translucent almost, but flawless. His eyes were a sparkling gold in the faint blue light, and his hair was brownish-black, from what I could tell. He was, without a doubt, an attractive boy. The only thing that worried me about him was a reddish-brown scar around his right eye, making that one squint, and look like a glare, almost.
"Oh." I murmured, confused, and somewhat frightened. But seeing as the boy had promised not to lay a finger on me in a harmful way, I felt somewhat confident, or perhaps safe from any danger. He seemed to grin at me, in a devious way, but it swiftly disappeared before I could blink. Perhaps he had never smiled at all, and it was only my pure imagination that saw such an expression. "Well, I guess it's, interesting to meet you, Zuko." I began. I told him interesting, because he didn't look very kind. "Is that Asian, or something? Your name?" I asked, hesitantly.
Zuko looked at me with a confused glance. "Asian? What does that mean? What are you talking about?" He questioned, and by the tone of his vocals I could tell that he was now quite curious, and almost, a bit taken off guard by my asking such a thing. I raised an eyebrow, now this was something to think about. If he didn't know what Asia was, there were only two explanations. One, he was mentally confused or just plain stupid. This didn't seem likely, however. He seemed like the intellectual type, or at least the type that was street-smart.
It must've been that he was option numero dos, because this option was simply that he wasn't from this area. Or, this planet, if weirdest came to weirdest. I narrowed my eyes, slightly. "Asia, you know, on the other side of the Earth? It's a continent? Includes Japan, China, India, the Middle East, all those places…" I trailed off, hoping he would recall this region. But he just simply shook his head. Yes, yes he was definitely not from this area, I was absolutely positive.
"Don't mind me asking, but where exactly are you from?" I inquired, now quite interested by his backgrounds. His eyes widened slightly at me, and I could just tell by his expression that he surely didn't want me to know the answer. I was persistent, though, I wouldn't let go of the contemplation. He inhaled sharply, then. I wondered why this was, but he simply told me few words to explain his living conditions.
"It's hot there." He noted, and I nodded. I tried to act satisfied, because it was obvious that he wasn't about to give up any other useful information. I wanted to display that I got the hint, understood the idea. For an awkward moment, we both looked down at the mint-green colored grass, the moved gently in the wind. I wanted to know about Zuko. I wanted to know where he came from, who he was, if he had a family who loved and appreciated him. I wanted to know why he was so clueless, if he mentally confused, or if he was just bluffing to confused me. I wondered if he'd ever felt love, I wondered if he ever felt the rejection.
For the first time, in a long time, I felt sympathetic for someone, especially because of his scar. I was ever so curious how it had been plagued onto his innocent face. I felt sick inside, just thinking about it. I knew from just his expression that it didn't come by accident, no, it was given to him on purpose, and it was never forgotten. I knew that I couldn't ask him such a deep question, it would hurt him in some way, shape, or form. So I left it alone, and decided to request information about my future, and why he even stood before me in a such a way.
"So, what are you going to do with me? Why are you here?" I asked him, softly, my eyes becoming bigger, and shiner, as I thought about the possible answer. It could be disastrous, I prepared for such a thing. I'd been born prepared for it. Some how, I'd always known that in someone's life, there was story. And in every great story, there was something great, and something terrible. The good and bad of two everlastingly battling climaxes, pulling this way, and that. I feared that this was the Climax that would begin a better one, so I shook away my fear and stood stall and proud, in metaphor.
"Don't worry," He began, in an uninterested tone. He didn't even attempt or bother to make eye contact with me. Instead, he seemed to be staring into the complete nothingness but grass, and darkness beyond my shoulder. I wondered why he was doing this, this strange activity. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I have to warn you now, you won't see your home again. You're going to be coming to another place, where I live. I can't tell you why yet." He continued on, after this. My eyes began to tear up. My family, my world, it would all be ripped away from me in a few minutes time. I felt sickly.
"Can I at least have a moment to call my mom, and just say hi, along with my dad, my little sister, my grand mother, and my best friend Aria?" I pleaded with him. He raised an eyebrow, seeming to be a bit confused, although from my point of view there was absolutely no confusion involved. He just nodded his head, and began to speak some incredibly peculiar words.
"You can, but I don't think they can hear you from where we're standing." He told me, a bit amused. I almost burst out laughing. Now, this was too funny. It was obvious that someone was fooling me, or something. I was being punked, right? I looked around, giggling, maybe for a camera. I couldn't find one, but I hadn't lost hope. I gazed back up at Zuko, and frowned at his expression. He was dead serious, it wasn't a joke, I could tell.
"You're serious?" I asked, still trying to hold back laughter. Wherever he was from, I supposed that they didn't have the same technology we had here. I pulled my red Samsung Rouge out of my pocket, and showed him. He looked awed. "You see," I began, sliding my phone open and closed. "This is a cell phone, it's technology. And what we do with it, is we dial someone else's number, for their phone, and we can call them, using waves of some sort. Let me demonstrate." I smirked. I dialed my mother's phone, and put it on speaker. I motioned for him to be quiet.
My mother answered in her pretty little voice. "Hello? Claira? Where are you?" She asked, frantically. She sounded quite worried, and I guessed the reason of this was because I had been gone for more than six hours, when I promised to be back in three. I wondered what to say. I turned to Zuko, whose mouth was suspended wide open. I almost snickered, but I didn't, simply because my mother was listening.
"I just wanted to say I'm sleeping over a friend's house." I lied. "So, I'm not coming home. Oh, and I'm just saying hi, too." I told her, softly. I felt sick for lying to her, and I tried to hold back the tears as long as I possibly could. I didn't want her to be anxious, hearing my soft whimpers.
"Alright, well have fun. I love you." I could hear the smile in her voice, and it made me want to murder myself, and my existence.
"I love you, bye." I whispered, for the last time. Zuko had the same expression on as I called all my other relatives, just to simply say hi, or, only in my knowledge, a simple goodbye, because I'd most likely never see them again. I decided to finally call my best friend. We'd met in kindergarten, when we were in the same daisy troop. Through the years, we attended school together, and were in some of the same classes. Now, nothing had changed. I would miss her terribly, but things were going to change. I had to go along with them, or I would be stuck in the terror of a dark past. So I simply dialed the last number.
"Claira!" She chimed, in a giggly loud obnoxious Aria voice. "What's up? Where are you?" Her happy etiquette made me want to go and hug her.
"I'm at…" I hesitated, slowly. "The, uh, mall, with this… guy… named…" Zuko motioned to me that he had no idea what names sounded like in my world. Then it came to me. "Zach. Yeah, and so- Wait, what's that?" I listened intently, as Zuko watched, with an amused look plastered on his face. "He's like… Hmm…" I glanced over at Zuko and took in his appearance. "Definitely an 8.…" She asked me why. "Well, he's fine, except for this scar on his eye… Well, I guess it is kind of hot. Okay, 9. 9.5?" Zuko glared at me until I hung up.
"Ready?" He growled, crossly. I smirked a little, but nodded out of the slightest movement, and stood up. I had always known that something great would happen, and that something that involved me would change the world, or somebody's world. I'd always imagined myself not belonging in this world. I daydreamed every moment, and the sound of music made me think and dream. I was different than others, that was simply it. My heart danced furiously incased inside my chest, my breath propelling it up and down. I was terrified, but I was ready.
For a short moment, I felt a flashback, of me looking in the mirror, wondering what my destiny in the world was. A strange overwhelming feeling occurred to me, this was my destiny. I wasn't sure exactly what it even was, or what I was to do, but I knew at that moment that my purpose in life was to go with Zuko, and do something amazing. I was born for it, I felt the pride in it. This was mine, my victory. I was not afraid. I stood with my back to this world, and my heart to wherever I was headed. I grinned, and Zuko suddenly took out a small crystal. It lit up, and suddenly exploded into the same blinding light. I closed my eyes, and soon, I couldn't detect the scent of the green grass from the field, or the polluted air from the cities nearby. In a whoosh of air, new scents returned. It was all fresh, and earthy. Different sounds filled my ears.
"Where am I?" I whispered, as I opened my eyes. It was still nighttime, but I could tell that I was in a field, or a landscape of some sort. I squinted more to realize it was some sort of clearing, with trees on all sides. I gazed into the skies, and billions of stars glittered. They orbited an incredibly big and bright moon, full of light. I'd never seen such a sight before in my entire life. I looked around for Zuko, and turned to see him looking at me. His face had no emotion at all.
"Where am I?" I asked, this time loud enough for him to hear. Well, it had been directed at him in the first place.
"Somewhere." He answered, flatly. And with those simple words, he was off, walking into the forest. I ran after him, not wanting to be left behind in such an unfamiliar world. I gazed around me, where was I truly?