PARADOX

Chapter Fourteen: Use Appa as a Ferry

We landed on a small plateau overlooking a giant canyon. It reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the Grand Canyon. Katara and Sokka were bickering about something, but I ignored them as I went to gather water and some firewood.

I found a pathetic looking creek, and filled up the canteens using my water bending to coax the water into the containers. I capped the waterskins and began searching for firewood. There was very little in the way of firewood, but I managed to find an armful of twigs and a few bigger branches.

I walked back into camp just in time to see Sokka start to pick up firewood and Katara start to put the tent up. I could've swore they were supposed to have each other's jobs. Oh, well, butterfly effect and all that. I probably messed something up when I changed events earlier in the timeline.

I set my pile of wood down and began to set up the fire pit. I used a little earth bending to make a circle of rocks and built a tee-pee in the middle for the fire.

"Hey, Sokka!" I turned my head to look at him. "Pass me the spark rocks." I called making a small nest of bark fibers in the middle of the tee-pee for the sparks that I would use to make the fire.

Sokka grumbled something uncomplimentary under his breath but went to dig the spark rocks out of his bag. I accepted the offered stones and quickly smacked them against each other several times until I got a good number of sparks. I bent down a blew gently on the sparks making them glow hotter and begin to spread. Soon I had a merry little fire going.

Katara set up a pot and quickly made a vegetable stew. No meat because Aang was a vegetarian. We didn't have any meat with us anyway. Sokka had eaten it all.

Aang, Sokka, and Katara snuggled up in the tent. I sat against Appa's side thinking about my past.

When I first got to this world I was homesick. The feeling had gradually faded, I had more important things to think about anyway. How to survive in an environment that our science said was impossible, for one.

Then it was just a matter of pushing thoughts that made me homesick aside. I was eighteen when I arrived anyway. I would have been going off to college and onto my own life anyway. I would have had to got used to being without my family either way. I had continued to tell myself that trying to make the all consuming loneliness go away. I was a solitary person by nature but it was nice to know someone was there if you did want to be around them.

Flashback:

"Come on Shannin-poo." I rolled my eyes at the childish nickname that had stuck. When I was younger I thought Shampoo was called Shannin-poo. My dad had made the name stick. It wasn't a completely horrible nickname. Just mildly annoying. Especially when it made me remember how naive I had been when I was younger.

"I'm coming, I coming." I grumbled good-naturally, pulling myself away from my computer to see what he wanted.

"Come and sit with your old man." He cajoled patting the vacant spot beside him. I rolled my eyes and sat next to him humoring him. He put his arm around my shoulder and turned back to the movie he was watching. It was Smokey and the Bandit 3. We had watched it so many times I could recite it along with the movie. I grinned leaning against his side.

We laughed at Big and Little Enos Burdett's antics, and Cledus' actions. We had a lot of fun.

End Flashback

And now that I looked back and was glad I had spent that time with my dad. I missed him but I had good memories to last as I waited until I could either go back or see him again.

I slept against Appa again that night.

The next morning I was woken up to the normal ruckus of a group of teenagers waking up. I groaned rolling over so I had my face buried into Appa's soft fur. "Five more minutes." I mumbled childishly. I had always acted younger than my age in some areas and older in others. I was the oldest child out of three. My brothers were twins, both two years younger than me. I was forced to take responsibility at a younger age, to take care of my brothers.

So I was more childish in other areas. I continued to trick-or-treat when my brothers had stopped even when they were two years younger than me; I loved watching children's cartoons; and I even played video games for long amounts of time.

"Kiara, did you sleep out here?" Katara asked worriedly.

"Yeah," I mumbled into Appa's fur.

"Why? We would've made room." Aang asked.

"Don't know. Comfortable." I mumbled back.

"Well its time to get up." Katara said.

"Alright." I groaned, "I'm up." I pulled myself away from Appa's warm fur. And stretched languidly, my spine popping as the vertebrae moved away from each other slightly, removing the slight pressure that had built up over night.

I moved over to the fire pit and began to relight the fire. It was harder than it should've been because I hadn't banked it the night before.

But soon I had a merry little fire going. Katara heated up some rice, water, and several root vegetables to make a quick stew for breakfast. I headed to the small creek I had found yesterday to refill the waterskins we had emptied to make supper and breakfast as well as what we drank.

I coaxed the water into the canteens again. As soon as I was sure I had filled them completely I coaxed water out to rinse my face with and get a drink with. I looked at the small stream and watched it bubble as it flowed lightly downward. I drew simple joy out of watching my element, well, my main element. I rarely used any of the others even though I could.

Maybe I should use my other elements. I was a good enough air bender; I wasn't half shabby with my earth bending either, even though I had only had a few lessons in it. I slipped my boots off digging my bare feet into the earth below me. I moved my toes in the earth making small gorges with them.

I closed my eyes and focused on my surroundings through the earth. I felt small vibrations. A mild motion, a small animal burrowing underground. A bigger animal moving though the canyon. I openned my eyes as I realized with shock I had done it. I had felt the earth. I had sensed the vibrations, I had seen without my eyes. Like Toph could, like a Earthbending master would; no not even earth bending masters learned to sense the movements through earth. If I practiced I might be able to move in the dark like it was daylight. I could be able to move unseen. I could help the others move unseen. We would be able to sneak past Fire benders we normally wouldn't be able to. But I was getting ahead of myself. It was too soon to count my fox-hens, they hadn't hatched yet. But they would.

"Kiara! Kiaraaa! Where are you? Breakfast is ready!" Sokka's shouting brought my attention back to my surroundings.

"Coming!" I shouted back as I picked up the canteens. I picked up my boots but didn't put them back on. I ran toward the camp the others were still at. I picked my way around, avoiding any sharp rocks as I went.

"Kiara! Why are you bare foot?" Katara asked as she noticed I was bare foot.

"Oh, I was practicing earth bending." I explained as I sat down next to the fire. I accepted a bowl from Katara. I sipped the liquid quietly. It was good, it would be better with meat but it was still good.

"So where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to fly by The Great Divide." Aang explained. "Its the biggest Canyon in the whole world." I let Aang's eager voice wash over me as I finished my food. As we loaded up on Appa I searched through the bags. "Hey, Aang?" I asked getting his attention. "Do you have anyway to call Appa to you?" I asked realizing I had accidentally prevented them from getting the Bison whistle. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"No... Why would I need something like that?" He asked innocently.

"Oh, I thought it would be useful for a quick get away encase we got swamped by fire benders." I hedged, damn, what had I done. I probably ruined the whole timeline. I could make one. I had managed to make one for Kovu. Maybe Kovu's would work for Appa? I wondered to myself. I reached in around my neck pulling out the small wolf shaped whistle I had carved myself from Carribou-goat bone. I blew on it as hard as I could using air bending to help.

Momo screeched diving under a bag covering his ears. Appa groaned irritably, apparently wolves, dogs, lemurs, and bison heard on the same frequency.

"It works." I sighed in relief.

"What was it?" Aang asked examining the small whistle.

"Its my wolf whistle. I made it so Kovu could hear it. It makes a sound at a frequency humans' ears can't hear. It took me ages to get it right. I managed to make a bunch of other whistles that work like normal whistles though." I explained feeling a pang of loss. I missed Kovu terribly. He had been my only companion for four years, my best friend, my confidant, my family. It was like losing a limb, an extension of myself. Maybe he was like a spirit animal to me, I did after all have a portion of the soul of an Avatar in me. It would make sense that I needed a partner to ground me, like Appa did for Aang.

"You okay?" Aang asked noticing my sudden pained expression.

"I'm fine." I managed to choke out. I was too old to cry. I wouldn't cry. So why were my eyes burning and why was my face wet. I reached up to feel the tears that slid down my face.

Aang's face swam in my vision his concerned features blurring in my perception.

Then I was wrapped in a hug. I buried my face in his neck and cried silently, only slight hitches in my breathing and the slight shudder in my shoulders showed I was crying. Katara noticing my strife and hurried over to add her own arms to the hug. Sokka who noticed much slower noticed nonetheless and put his hand on my shoulder supportively.

It was then I finally realized these guys were my family too. I had ignored it, grieving my own family and thinking they had only brought me because I had been captured by Zuko too. But now I realized they could have left me anywhere if the had not wanted me to come. They could have dumped me in any earth kingdom town we had passed but they hadn't. They wanted me to come. That caused me to break into even more tears as I finally let down the emotional barrier I normally kept up around people to avoid being hurt by the verbal bullying I had recieved in school.

When I had finally finished ruining Aang's shirt my eyes were irritated and raw from the tears I had shed. I slumped against my new family and closed my eyes tiredly. They let me lay there with them for several minutes before slowly getting up. Aang lifted me easily using his air bending. He jumped up onto Appa's saddle setting me down carefully. Katara and Sokka scrambled up and sat on either side of me to make sure I didn't fall off during the short flight.

I finally sat up when we landed. My eyes were still sore, I bended a small amount of water and held them over my eyes. My hand glowed bright blue as the irritation in my eyes gradually decreased until it disappeared completely.

"How did you do that?" Katara asked eagerly.

"I show you later." I promised my voice still scratchy from crying. I swallowed thickly, it got stuck in my throat slightly but still went down.

"Here we are." Aang said as he helped me and Katara off of Appa's back. "The Great Divide." He announced impressively holding one hand out as if he were a host inviting someone into his home.

"It's beautiful." I said.

"Wow, I could stand here looking at it forever." Katara agreed.

"I've seen enough." Sokka said breaking the mood.

I glared at him. I was enjoying the view until his cloud of negativity got in the way.

A guy in a white and gold robe ran by us. "If you're looking for the canyon guide, I was here first." He said pompously.

"Ooh, a canyon guide, that sounds informative." Katara cooed excitedly.

I barely restrained myself from slapping my own forehead.

"Katara, we have to get Aang to the North Pole." I reminded her. "We don't have time to wait for someone only to have to fight another group over his attention." I explained calmly and reasonably.

"Come on Kiara, live a little." Aang agreed with Katara about the canyon guide.

I groaned disappointed. Aang would always pick Katara's side on everything.

"He's more than a tour guide." The arrogant man said. "He's an earth bender, and the only way in and out of the canyon is with his help. And he's taking my tribe across next." He finished rudely.

"Calm down, we know you're next." Sokka placated the conceited man.

"You wouldn't be calm if the fire nation destroyed your home and you were forced to walk all the way to Ba Sing Se." He retorted.

"How do you know we're not?" I asked honestly curious. Didn't we look like refugees too?

"You're traveling with a giant beast that obviously carries you. If you were a refugee you would have shoes on at the very least." He sneered looking at my bare feet which were by now caked with dirt.

"I'm a bender." I replied sounding offended.

His sneer grew smaller but didn't vanish completely. Apparently shoes were a must with him.

A large group of people dressed in brown rags lined with furs. They looked much scruffier than the man with us did.

"Is that your tribe?" Katara asked not noticing the difference yet.

"Its most certainly not! Those are the Zhangs. They're a bunch of low life thieves." He sneered. Stupid snob. I hated people like him. Not that I liked complete slobs either.

"Our tribes have been feuding for nearly a hundred years." He explained.

The tribe soon reached us.

"Hey Zhangs! I'm saving a spot for my tribe, so don't even think about stealing it." The man yelled at the approaching tribe.

The leader of the tribe, a woman decked out in furs and with her hair up in short pig tails, snorted. " Where are the rest of the Gan Jin? Still tidying up their campsite?" She sneered at the man.

"Yes." The man retorted. "But they sent me ahead to hold a spot."

"I didn't know the guide took reservations." She replied

"Of course you didn't." The man said mockingly. "That's the ignorance of a Zhang, so unorginized and ill-prepared for a journey." He snapped.

The rest of the Zhangs yelled angrily at him.

I saw, from the corner of my eye, Katara look at Aang.

The ground began to shake behind us. I felt it even more strongly than the rest of the group because I had my bare feet on the ground and I was using earth bending.

"Sorry about the wait youngsters." The middle-aged man that appeared apologized as he tipped his hat back and his mustache wiggled when he spoke. "Who's ready to cross this here canyon?" He asked.

"Um, one of them I think." Katara replied pointing at the arguing group.

The man ran forward. "I was here first. My party's on their way." He replied eagerly.

"I can't guide people who aren't here." The guide replied.

The Zhang tribe walked forward. "I guess you'll have to go tomorrow." The leader said with mocking pity in her voice.

"Wait here they come!" The Gan Jin man said pointing at the neat rows of people coming over the hill.

"You're not going to cave to those spoiled Gan Jins are you." The leader of the Zhangs said in a manipulative tone. "We're refugees too, and we have sick that need to get through the canyon to shelter." She wheedled.

"I-uh, well." The guide stuttered trying to think of a response.

"We've got old that are tired from traveling." The man from the Gan Jin replied.

"Sick people are more important than old people."

"Maybe you Zhangs wouldn't have so many sick if you weren't such slobs." An old man from the Gan Jin tribe sniped.

"Well maybe if you Gan Jins weren't such neat freaks you wouldn't live to be so old." She replied.

They squabbled back and forth for several more minutes before Aang actually snapped.

"Enough! You're going together and Appa will carry your sick and elderly across." He snapped.

"Wait!" I called quickly. "Why don't we have Appa carry everyone across? He can carry a dozen people at a time. The flight shouldn't take too long. He could get everyone across quicker than everyone walking." I suggested.

Aang looked thoughtful for a couple seconds before looking at Appa. "What do ya think buddy?" He asked the bison. Appa groaned.

"Alright!" Aang cheered. "Sick and elderly first." Aang ordered hopping up onto Appa's head.

I nodded as I took a seat. Katara and Sokka would go with Aang and the group of refugees and keep them from fighting as Aang had Appa carry the groups across. The guide looked a little clueless, apparently he had never been rendered useless.

"Hey Mr. Canyon Guide. Can you teach me some earth bending?" I asked as soon as Appa was out of sight.

"Sure thing little lady." He agreed looking glad to be of some use.

He showed me several stances how to move my weight forcefully to make my moves more powerful. It felt odd, that was the only way I could describe it. Water bending was fluid, you needed to move; water bending was a passive art. Air bending required movement too, it was avoidance. Earth bending was the opposite; it was offense and defense, and hit the enemy hard before he hits you. It was like learning a whole new language. It was awkward at first, hard to make the mental switch to the new element's way of thinking.

We practiced all afternoon. While Aang and Appa ferried the feuding tribes across the large canyon. He taught me to do some fancy moves too. A move that made the earth rise like a wave to hit the opponent, the move Toph used on that one earth bender to make him do a split in the Earth Rumble Tournament. A move that buried your opponent up to his neck in earth. Another move that did basically the same thing except it drawled your opponent into the ground instead of making the ground go to them.

Aang was way ahead in water bending then he had been in the show. At the rate we were learning Aang would only have to go to the North Pole to complete his training.

When Aang came back the last time to get the last group of people I got on Appa's back and fell asleep right away. My last thought was 'I didn't know bending took so much energy.'

A/N: I am really really really sorry I took so long. At first it was just lack of motivation, then it was writers block, then it was procrastination. I'm super sorry. I'll make sure the next one is quicker (I think). Please review.