The two boys sat in the middle of the upstairs lounge of the Jasmine Dragon, facing each other over the low table. A game of Pai Sho was set out before them, and the taller one was scratching the back of his head while he thought hard. Finally he reached out a hand and moved a piece on the board.
The other boy, with arrows tattooed on his bare head, grinned smugly as he moved another piece. "You lose, Sokka."
The first boy smacked his forehead. "Dang it, that's the third time straight I've lost to you!"
"Face it Sokka, you're not as good at Pai Sho as Twinkletoes," the blind girl sitting to the side smirked. "Go on and do what you promised to do if you lost again."
"Fine," Sokka growled before taking on a mock worshipping tone. "Oh great Avatar Aang, master of Pai Sho, your humble servant prostates himself before you in awe of your amazing Pai Sho skills. There, happy?" he muttered to the grinning audience.
"Well, you were the one who said that the loser bows down before the winner after all. Still though, watching you two playing Pai Sho is kinda boring."
"You mean feeling us playing Pai Sho, since you can't see," Aang pointed out.
"Right, Twinkletoes. Sigh, I wish Sugar Queen was here so I can annoy her."
"I'm here, but I don't want to be annoyed," Katara stated as she came up the stairs. "So you guys are playing Pai Sho? Who won?"
"Aang did, three times in a row," Toph reported. "Your brother's just prostrated himself before the master of Pai Sho."
"Which I don't plan to do again," Sokka grumbled. Just then his gaze fell on the Companion lying on its usual place on a side table. He leant over and picked it up. "Hey, why don't we do a story?"
Aang immediately pinned his fearful eyes at the Water Tribe teen. "Um, no thanks."
"Oh come on Aang, this time I'll narrate. That way we'll be sure we won't end up with some weird story about you kissing Zuko." Sokka then began browsing through the pages, ignoring Aang's pale face.
"It's okay Aang; I'll stay beside you to make sure you don't faint," Katara reassured her boyfriend as she took a seat beside him and put her arm around him. The color immediately returned to his cheeks, plus a bit of extra shading.
Sokka stopped at a certain page. "Hey, there's a new chapter for The Tale of Kara! Great, I wanna see what she's up to this time."
"Ooh, it's Sugar Queen's oh-so-perfect sister. This is going to be good," Toph grinned as she settled back and waited for the story to begin.
I was tidying up my room, straightening out some things that needed to be straightened out. Just then, the new boy who called himself Aang walked in. "Hey Kara, do you want to come penguin sledding with us?"
Katara followed him closely. "No, of course she doesn't want to, don't you Kara?" she snapped.
"Well, actually I have a few things to do. But thanks for inviting me." I smiled warmly at Aang, and I swear I could see his cheeks grow red.
"Does Aang blush at every girl he sees?" Toph asked.
"Actually, no," Katara replied. "Why'd you ask?"
"Oh, just wondering."
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "I'm wondering too; why Katara doesn't want Kara to go penguin sledding with them?"
"Because in this story she's plain annoying, just like her sister," Toph grinned. "Go on, Sokka."
"Why did you want to ask her anyway? You asked me first; you don't have to get a whole bunch of us to go penguin sledding!" Katara rattled on as she and Aang left. I sighed as I turned back to my work. Usually Katara likes to do things without me (although she often winds up needing my help in the end) but she was particularly touchy about penguin sledding with Aang. She must have developed a crush on him or something, I mused. On the other hand, I could see that the boy might also feel something for me. That blush on his cheeks was definite proof.
"Ah ha!" Toph exclaimed in a knowing tone. "So she's jealous of Kara!"
"I am not!" Katara protested. "How can I be jealous of someone who doesn't exist anyway?"
"The same way Aang somehow had a crush on her?" Sokka suggested. "Must be tough, crushing on two sisters at once."
"Actually, I think I'll just take Katara," Aang piped up, causing Katara to smile warmly at him and his cheeks to add on a bit more shading.
Everything went on peacefully in the village, with everyone carrying on their usual business. Sokka was trying to 'train' the little boys, and having problems with their weak bladders as usual. Just then, a loud sound was heard and a flare shot up into the sky. The villagers all came running out of their igloos and stood gaping as the flare burst into fireworks in mid-air. I ran over to where Sokka was standing, narrowing his eyes at the sight. "That's a Fire Nation signal," he stated.
"What?!" I asked in shock.
"I recognize that. Someone set off that flare to alert the Fire Nation that we're here."
"But there's no Fire Nation ship around here!" I cried, then stopped abruptly as I remembered the shipwreck near our village. "It couldn't be… no one's been around there for a long time!"
"Katara and that kid just went penguin sledding just now," Sokka answered. "They could have set the flare off. Now the Fire Nation knows our location!"
"Actually Sokka, the Fire Nation knows there's a Southern Water Tribe for quite some time now," Toph pointed out.
"That's not what I meant. When I said that, I was trying to say that -"
"Yeah whatever, just continue the story." Toph waved a dismissive hand causing Sokka to glare at her before turning back to the story.
"But if that's so, then it must be an accident!" I countered.
"Accident or not, that kid needs to go. He's too dangerous," Sokka concluded just as two figures were seen walking towards the village. They turned out to be Aang and Katara, who were met by the whole village. The children were happy enough to see them, but the adults were less welcoming.
Sokka stood out from the line of angry villagers and pointed an accusing finger at Aang. "I knew it! You're signaling the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"
"Sokka, I'm sure it was just an accident. Aang couldn't have set off that flare on purpose," I spoke up. Geez, my little brother can be so paranoid sometimes, even suspecting this poor kid.
"Well, I agree with Kara. You're too paranoid, Snoozles."
"He did emerge from an iceberg with a furry monster after all; I'd have to be suspicious of him."
"If anything, the weirdo who thinks six- to seven-year-old kids are soldiers and attempts to train them to 'protect our home' should be even more suspicious."
"Thanks a lot, Katara," Sokka muttered as Toph sniggered appreciatively.
I smiled reassuringly at Aang, and I could see just the slightest trace of a blush on his cheeks.
"Again with that blush," Sokka said. "Aang's only met her for about a few hours and he's already crushing on her."
"Well, I did start crushing on Katara when I first met her after she got me out of the iceberg," Aang pointed out, while Katara smiled shyly beside him.
"That's different; Katara actually exists, while this girl doesn't. In fact, I'm not surprised if I turn out to be the only guy in the whole story that doesn't have a crush on her, what with me being her brother."
"Yup, your only protection is the risk of incest," Toph smirked.
"Shut up, Kara, you weren't there! You didn't see what happened!" Katara whined before puffing her chest up self-importantly. "I saw what happened! Aang didn't do anything, it was an accident!"
I raised an eyebrow. "We know. That's what I just said."
"I'm the eye-witness here, not you!" Katara snapped. Sigh, she really is childish.
Katara glared at the book. "No, I'm childish because you make me so!"
"Probably so we can notice Kara's oh-so-perfect maturity and grace," Sokka added.
"Well, she is perfect – perfectly annoying," Toph pointed out.
"Amen to that. Now, on with the story."
Aang grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and well..." He rubbed his head awkwardly in a way that I found pretty cute. "…We boobied right into it."
Gran Gran stepped forward, worry written all over her face. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!" Katara, the spoiled brat, simply glared back at her. Doesn't she understand how worried we all were?
"Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault," Aang said sorrowfully.
"Aang, you don't have to blame yourself," I started to say, but Sokka cut me off. "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" he commanded as he made the children walk away from Aang. "The foreigner is banished from our village!"
Katara clenched her fists like she was about to throw a tantrum. "Sokka, you're making a mistake!"
"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad." Sokka pointed to Aang. "I'm protecting you, from threats like him!"
"Aang is not our enemy!" Katara yelled angrily. "He actually played with me, unlike any of you! He cares about me more than you do!"
"I'm starting to think that maybe Katara is just nine years old in this story or something," Toph said.
Sokka nodded. "I'd agree with you, except that nine-year-old Katara wasn't even this bad."
"Let's just accept that I'm supposed to be the spoiled brat in this story and move on, shall we?" Katara suggested, and everyone agreed.
"Plus, penguin sledding is pretty fun," I added.
Sokka's eyebrows were closely knitted together in annoyance. "Fun?! We can't fight firebenders with fun!"
"You should try it sometime," Aang said cheerfully.
"Get out of our village! NOW!" Sokka roared. He obviously didn't want to try it sometime.
"That's because when he tried going penguin sledding back when we were young, the penguins always ran away from him in fright," Katara smirked. "Either that, or he'd fall off halfway through the ride and end up buried in the snow."
"What a wonderful little sister I have," Sokka grumbled as the other two laughed.
So in the end, Aang got on his furry beast and left the village. Katara threw a tantrum and marched off, refusing to talk to any of us. She really made Gran Gran disappointed. As for Sokka, he was getting the kids ready for defense – without any potty breaks.
"Poor kids," Toph sighed.
Sokka glanced at the blind eathbender. "Well, you're one to talk. At least I don't make them do 200 push-ups and threaten to crush them with boulders."
"That's because I'm not teaching toddlers," Toph smirked, much to Sokka's annoyance.
I sighed as I returned to our igloo. If the Fire Nation was really arriving on our shores, I had better get ready. I grabbed a water pouch and slung it around my waist (I could have used any of the snow lying around, but carrying ready-made water would make my attacks much faster, an advantage when facing the Fire Nation),
"Actually, if she really is as good a waterbender as she makes herself out to be, it won't make much of a difference whether it's snow or water," Katara pointed out.
"And besides, we use our water pouches for drinking, not fighting," Sokka added. "I'd have killed Katara if she dared used our water supply for playing with magic water."
"Nice brother you have," Toph grinned at the waterbender, who simply shrugged.
and then looked at my reflection in the mirror. My gaze fell on my neck, where an intricately carved piece of jade sat in the hollow of my neck while held in place by a band of blue silk. It was my mother's necklace, one she had worn as a girl. My mother had given it to me while she was still alive, and it was all I have left of her. Of course, back then Katara was having a fit over not getting a necklace herself, so Mom gave her another old one that Gran Gran passed to her. It shut her up anyway, so at least it served its purpose.
"Yup, I'm the spoiled brat," Katara muttered.
"As opposed to the motherly figure, which is how you act most of the time. Come to think of it, I actually like you as a spoiled brat," Toph grinned. "Makes you more human and less holy-ish."
"I second that," Sokka piped up, causing his sister to glare at the both of them.
"Well, I like her -" Aang started to say, but he was cut off by his earthbending teacher.
"Yeah yeah, you'd like her even if she had two extra arms, we get it. Sokka, continue the story, please."
Just then, I heard gaps of horror from outside. I ran out of the igloo to see a giant metal monster sailing towards us, its movement causing the icy ground beneath my feet to quake furiously. To my horror, I saw Sokka still standing on top of the quickly collapsing wall, with Katara running straight towards him. Don't my two younger siblings know better than to stand in the way of an oncoming ship?
"For your information, I was trying to prevent my brother from getting buried under a pile of snow, unlike you, who can do nothing but make people sound childish," Katara sniffed.
"You tell her, sis," Sokka grinned.
"Katara! Sokka! Get out of there!" I shouted as I sprinted towards them, stopping only to save a small boy from a rapidly approaching fissure that would have swallowed him had I not been there.
"Oh, what a hero," Katara muttered as Sokka nodded fervently.
I dashed towards my younger brother just as the bow of the ship destroyed the wall completely. Thankfully, Sokka simply fell backwards and wasn't hurt. Katara and I ran over to him, and then the three of us and the rest of the village watched in shock as the bow opened to form a walkway and three figures emerged from the ship.
There was a young man with a ponytail, half of his face covered by an ugly burn. Two guards were following closely behind him. As more soldiers began pouring out of the ship, Sokka charged at the young man with his club, but he was soon thwarted and ended up getting his head trapped in the snow. Katara ran to help him while I clutched Gran Gran's hand tightly, not planning to let her go.
The young man approached me and Gran Gran. "Where are you hiding him?"
He surveyed the silent crowd of villagers before suddenly grabbing Gran Gran and holding her by the hood of her parka. "He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" He then shoved Gran Gran back towards me. As she embraced me, I could actually feel her shuddering in fear, which isn't something she normally does, being the strong woman she is. My eyes narrowed at the rude boy. Enough was enough.
"Well, I have to agree with her on this," Katara admitted grudgingly. "Zuko was a complete jerk back then."
"Yeah well, he's changed, hasn't he?" Sokka said
"Besides, he's not even here now," Aang pointed out. "He wouldn't want us to call him a jerk anyway."
"That doesn't change the fact that he used to be one. But okay, we'll shut up about his jerkiness," Sokka grinned before continuing the story.
I stepped forward. "Whoever you're looking for, we don't have him here. Now please leave this village. You are not welcome here."
He simply smirked at me. "Oh, I'm not welcome here? Well, I'm about to change that." He then swung his arm out and released a blast of fire that passed just over us, causing the villagers to cover their heads and cry out in fear.
Now I really hated this jerk, even if he is rather handsome once you ignore the scar.
"Excuse me?! That egghead guy is handsome?!" Sokka was appalled by his imaginary sister's comment.
"She's just saying that because she wants to get every guy that isn't you to have a crush on her," Katara said. "You should be happy you're spared from this terrible fate."
"Yeah, I guess I should be thankful for not being paired with my fake perfect sister," Sokka said as he shuddered at the thought.
Quickly uncapping my water pouch, I sent a jet of water at him but he neatly dodged it and retaliated with a few fireballs. I could see the soldiers stay in their places, staring at me in surprise. And no wonder; the Fire Nation could have never known there were still waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe. The young man wasn't holding back though, as he unleashed all his fire power at me. Although my bending was good, I hadn't trained under a master after all, and soon I began to lose my strength. Then out of nowhere he sent a kick at my heels and I toppled over. As I looked up I could see him towering over me, arm raised for another attack. Acting on pure instinct, I punched my fist in the air as self-defense. What I didn't expect was fire emerging from my fist, burning the scarred boy's hand. He drew back his arm in pain, but his amber eyes were staring at me in shock. And he wasn't the only one either; everyone present, the soldiers, the villagers, my younger siblings, even my grandmother were all staring at me as if I'd just grown two heads. I might as well have; there was no doubt that I had just firebent. The question was: how?
"Well, that last paragraph sure was long," Sokka commented as he closed the book. "That's all for that chapter; I think we'll need to wait until the next one comes out to learn why our dear sister can bend two elements."
"The monks told me the Avatar is the only individual who can bend more than one element," Aang said as he scratched his head in confusion. "How could Kara bend water and fire?"
"The same way she can fight a trained firebender without never having been taught bending herself," Katara answered. "At least that's over, for now at least."
"Yeah, until the next chapter's out." Toph propped her feet up on the low table and reclined backwards. "So, shall we do another story?"
And there you have it: the second chapter featuring our dear resident Mary Sue. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's created an OC bending two elements either. But illogical abilities aside; how was it? Don't forget, I'm always on the lookout for your opinions, so don't hesitate to share them! Till next time, folks!