Chance Meeting-An Avatar Story

~Sorin~

"Y-your parents are here?" I asked, a little stunned.

~Star~

I kept walking until Sorin said something again. I stopped short, and turned around.

"Maybe." I said, my voice barely cracking. "That's what I'm about to find out."

~Sorin~

I stood there for a second, then started walking again. Everyone else followed. We walked past the second floor, which, luckily, did not have any guards. Finally, we got to the third floor. I walked up next to Star, who was standing in the doorway, and sighed.

"What if they aren't here?" I whispered to myself, dreading the thought. But, I was going to delay myself even further, by letting Star look for her parents first. Even if it meant walking right past the cell my parents might be in, I just wanted to delay finding out even longer.

~Star~

I took a deep breath, sighed, and then walked through the doorway. I held my breath as I scanned the room, looking for any sign of my parents. I might not recognize them first off, so I looked at every prisoner I could see from my spot- frozen by the doorway- closely. I turned to Sorin, about to say something. I never got the words out of my mouth, and I turned back around, scanning the room again....

(Wait....how would she be able to scan the room from the doorway???? All of the cells are rooms, right?)

(Yeah, but she wasn't actually looking into the cells; she was kinda exagerating. She was scanning the room mostly to make sure there weren't any guards. Make sense? '^^)

(Ohh....okay! Yep, makes sense now! ^^')

~Sorin~

"D-do you know where they might be?" I asked, my voice low.

~Star~

I looked down, shaking my head, and said "Not a clue...." My voice trailed off.
"But I guess I won't find out until I look," I said, mostly to myself. I didn't see any guards right now, so I took another step forward, then another....A few seconds later, I was slowly walking through the room, towards the cells....

~Sorin~

I looked behind me, and noticed that everyone were now sort of guarding the stairway. Except Summer, who was watching me. I shot her a quick smile, then walked after Star.

~Star~

I looked behind me, and saw that everyone but Summer, Sorin, and I were kind of guarding the stairway in a way. I gave them all a wary and weak smile before turning around again. The minute I turned around, my expression changed, and I was back to my blank-but-kinda-sad emotion. I'm sure it showed on my face....

I shook my head once, like I was clearing all my other thoughts out. Then I took a few steps foreward, took another deep breath, and looked around again. I wasn't sure if I could do this. What if they weren't here....? Or what if they were....I couldn't even finish that thought. I shook my head again, getting that thought out. Well, trying to, at least. If my parents were....dead....Well, I wasn't sure if I could live with the pain. I promised that I would rescue them, and, if I failed....I just stopped thinking all together then, and started walked a little more fast-paced....

~Sorin~

I follwoed Star down the hall, making sure to look straight ahead and not to look into any of the cells.

~Star~

I looked into all of the cells quickly as we passed them. I walked passed them a little slower than usual, so I could see semi-clearly into each cell. One of them caught my attention, and I stopped in my track, looking into the cell.

"....Syra....?" I asked, my voice a whisper, and my voice sort of cracked at the end.

(Dun dun....DUUUNN!!! )

(O_O OHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!)

~Sorin~

I noticed that Star had stopped, staring into one of the cells. I walked up to her.

"What's wrong?"

(Wait....What's "O_O OHMYGOSH!!!!!!!" ? Hehehe....'^^)

~Star~

I was about to answer Sorin, but then the women in the cell, who was sleeping, turned around. It looked enough like her, but she wasn't my mother.

"Nothing," I said, sighing. I continued to walk forward, looking through all the cells again.

(.....DON'T TEASE ME LIKE THAT!! ())

~Sorin~

"Oh." I said simply, resuming my staring at the ground, glancing back at Summer every few seconds.

(Tease you like what? ())

~Star~

I continued walking forward, glancing into all the cells. Again, one caught my eye. But for a different reason than the first time.

There was a girl sitting there, no older than nine or ten years old. My eyes widened as I got closer to the cell. She was looking back at me, her eyes wide too, but full of fear.
Tattered and dirty clothes hung from her body, and she looked terrible. She clung onto an also-tattered doll, like it was her life. She probably had nothing else to her name.

At first, I was completely shocked. I motioned Sorin to come over and look into the cell, and I took a closer look at the poor little girl.

~Sorin~

I noticed Star motioning me to come over to the cell she was standing in front of. She wasn't as.....excited, or surprised as last time, so I figured it probably wasn't her parents.

I walked over, and looked in the cell.

(Even I feel sorry for the little girl. )

~Star~

"P-please don't h-hurt me...." the little girl said, her voice hoarse, like she was about to cry. Her big, blue eyes were starting to water up at the edges.

"Why would they do this to an innocent little girl?!" I asked, mostly to myself, in a whisper. Then I looked back at the girl.

"Don't worry, honey. We're not going to hurt you," I said, my voice soft and gentle.

~Sorin~

I looked at the little girl, who looked so helpless. She was practically on the verge of crying, and she was gripping on to a little doll. I looked over at Summer, who was starting to walk over.

"What's wrong?" She whispered when she got closer. Instead of answering her, I spoke to the little girl, my voice soft.

"What happened?" I asked, starting to unlock the door to her cell.

~Star~

Summer had started walking up towards us, and Sorin asked the little girl what had happened. He was trying to unlock the door.

"I...I don't k-know," the girl said, the tears silently rolling down her face. She probably still thought we were going to hurt her.

"That's just not right! The Fire Nation shouldn't imprison some innocent little girl," I told Sorin, as he struggled with the lock.

"Now, honey, can you tell me what happened to you? How you got here?" I asked, looking at the girl. It made me feel bad for the girl, and be terribly angry at the Fire Nation at the same time.

"The big people in the red clothes came to my home one day, and...th-they took my mommy, and s-said they took me because...because of my...magic way to move the water," the girl explained. I guess she didn't know what Waterbending was yet, but apperantly, she was a Waterbender.

I looked over at Sorin, a look of shock spreading across my face. He was still strugling with the lock.

"We've got to get her out of there!" I said, moslty to myself again.

~Summer~

I stared at the little girl, even more rage welling up inside of me.

"Let me see that." I told Sorin, pushing him out of the way. I took out one of my swords, which made the little girl cringe with fear. I spoke, my voice gentle.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm not gonna hurt you." I whispered to her, picking the lock with my sword. A few moments later, the lock fell to the ground, and I opened the door.

~Star~

When Summer finally got the lock open, it fell to the ground, and I sighed with relief. I stepped into the little cell, the girl cringing back again as I did. I walked in, a few feet away from her, and got down on my knees in front of her.

"Can you tell me how old you are?" I asked her, my voice still a soft whisper.

"S-six," she said, looking up at me. So she was younger than I thought.

"Wow," I probably just mouthed the words. "Well...Do you want to come with us, sweetie?" I asked, looking back at Sorin and Summer, as if asking them if it was okay. "We can get you out of here...."

~Summer~

I walked into the cell as well, putting my sword back into it's sheath and kneeling down in front of the little girl.

"She's right. You'd be safe with us." I said, looking her over. She looked awful.

What did these monsters do to her? I thought.

~Star~

I'm sure Summer and I were probably thinking the same thing.

"Mhhm," the little girl mumbled, outstreching her arms towards me. I guess she wanted me to pick her up or something....
I picked her up, and stood up slowly. She rested her head on my shoulder, still gripping onto her doll.
"Thank you," she said, her voice a little muffled from my shoulder. I patted her hair, saying "You're welcome", and walked out of the cell.

(Aww! )

~Sorin~

I smiled, the little girl already comfortable in Star's arms. Then I sighed as I spoke.

"I guess we should continue looking for your parents, right?" I asked, looking down the hallway.