Chance Meeting-An Avatar Story

~Star~

"Well, maybe we could split up into groups of two or three, since most people here are, too." I said, looking around. Most people were either walking alone or in a group of no more than three.

"Who do you think should go together?" I asked, not sure myself. I couldn't think very clearly right now. I was so edgy, it wasn't even funny. I took a deep breath, calming myself, waiting for Sorin to answer.

~Sorin~

"How about Summer, Toph and I," I began, "Then you, Sokka, and Mariko, then Aang and Katara, and my dad and your mom," I suggested.

~Star~

I nodded in agreement. Everyone was listening at this point, so we didn't really have to repeat our "plan". Everyone split up into their groups, all going into different directions. And, obviously, we would all meet up at the outskirts of the town.

((Wow, that was short. I couldn't think of anything else to put...'^^))

~Sorin~

Summer, Toph and I be gan walking away from the others down one of the paths. I guess we would all meet up back at the hole in the crater. Summer walked a little faster than me and Toph, and I tried to walk up next to her, but she just walked faster. I frowned a little, then fell behind her. Toph walked next to me, and I was almost a little surprised when she said something.

"Trouble?" She asked, and I could've sworn that she was almost smirking.

"Erm...no," I said, not sure what to say.

~Star~

I had handed Mariko off to my mother before we left, since she wanted to take her. She really liked that kid. I'm not exactly sure why, though....

And, before we left, Katara and Aang stayed behind for a few minutes, so we could make it look like we had "ran into each other", so nothing looked too suspicious. I mean, a big group like ours, who had been walking together, suddenly splitting up into smaller groups could look a little suspicious. So we stayed behind for about a minute and "talked" to them casually before going off in a different direction.

As we were walking down some random path through the town, I was gripping onto the edges of my sleeve. I was still nervous, but a little more at ease, considering we looked more "casual" now. I took a deep breath.

While I kept looking straight ahead, I spoke up.

"Uhh, Sokka?" I asked, keeping my eyes straight ahead.

"Yeah?" he answered back.

"Uhm...Can we...talk?"

~Sorin~

"Uh-huh," Toph said, unconvinced. I think she even rolled her eyes.

"Really," I said, "Everything's fine."

(Sorry it's so short...^^')

(('Tis fine, 'tis fine. ))

~Star~

"Uh, sure?" Sokka replied, confused.
I was hesitant for words. I couldn't think of what to say. I knew what I wanted to say, yet I couldn't put it into words. I took a deep breath before continuing.

"It's just, I haven't really gotten to talk to you since we ran into you guys, and...well..." Again, at a loss for words. I didn't know what Sokka's expression was, because I didn't dare take my eyes off the path straight ahead of us. I bit my lip, searching my mind for some way to put this feeling into words. Nothing came to mind, and silence followed shortly after.

But I wasn't going to let myself stop there. I took another deep breath, getting ready to continue.

(heh...)

~Sorin~

I sighed, giving up explaining myself to Toph. I looked around, taking in my surroundings. We were walked by a bunch of fancy houses, a lot bigger than the houses-of you could even call them that-back in my village.

~Star~

"Well, it's just..." I started, not sure how to follow through with my thoughts. Why was this so hard?! Probably because it was so awkward....

"I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you...alone...since Summer, Sorin, and I met up with you guys. And I just think, y'know, we should talk about some things. It seems like forever since I saw you, and-" I stopped, noticing that he was gone when I looked over.

"Sokka?" I asked, and turned around, searching for him. He had stopped in his tracks, and was staring at something in one of the markets, his eyes wide. "Sokka?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his face.

(O_O WHAT IS IT?!)

~Summer~

I don't know why, but all I felt like being was alone right then. As we were walking in almost silence, my mind drifted. Back to simpler days, when everything was alright.

"Gotcha!" Aleks yelled, as he pretended to earthbend at me. I screamed/laughed, falling over as I pretended he had hit me. He laughed, too, as Ema suddenly jumped on him from behind. They both fell over, and Ema and I laughed as Aleks mumbled something about how he had hit his head.

I snapped out of my daydreaming when Sorin touched my shoulder. He said something about us being at the wall. I guess I really hadn't been paying attention.

(Hehe...)

~Star~

I glanced over to what Sokka had been staring at and rolled my eyes. A huge grin spread across his face as he mumbled the word "food". I sighed as he spoke up.

"But I haven't eaten all day!" he complained.

"Ohh, you poor thing," I said sarcastically. Then I started to walk off.

"Wait! What about the food?!" he asked desperatly.

"Go buy some; I'll wait," I told him, stopping to turn around. He gave me a pathetic look.

"What, you don't have any money?" I guessed. He shook his head.

I sighed once more, and walked over to the little market stand thing that was selling food. I pulled out the little bag that held my money from under my sash, and looked at how much I had to spare.

I didn't have much at all. I took out a little of it and threw it at Sokka, who, of course, missed. The few coins fell to the ground and rolled in different directions.

"That's my lunch!" Sokka nearly screamed as he chased one of the coins down the street as it rolled away from him. I shook my head, watching everyone stare at him as he went.



(Wow, that was...random. )

(Yesh, it was! )

~Summer~

I stared up at the wall, towering over us. Then, I looked back at the hole in front of us. We were so close, I just hoped we would get out of there soon. I sighed, not noticing any of the others nearby. I leaned up against the wall, and continued with my daydreaming.

"Kids!" My mother yelled, and we all looked at her from our little play-area in front of my parents and I's modest little home. Next to her, I could see Ema and Alek's moms. We all ran up to them, and I instantly starting whining.

"But mom!" I squealed. "Do Ema and Aleks have to go now?" I pleaded.

"It's getting dark. And I'm sure Ema and Aleks are hungry." To this, Aleks instantly nodded his head.

I pouted as I watched my friends leave. Little did I know, this would be the last time I would see them before it happened.

~Star~

Sokka was now fighting with some kid who had picked up the stray coin. I went ahead and bought some food from the street vendor with the rest of my money.

When he came back up to the street vendor, I told him to give me my money back. He was hesitant until I threw a bag of food at his face. Then I walked off, realizing that everyone was probably going to end up waiting on us back at that wall....

(I'm having fun with this "remembering thing"...I think I'll make it a little longer!)

~Summer~

I ran from my house that next fateful day, trying to push the memories now burned into my mind away. Tears were falling down my face, and I could barely even see straight. I managed to look up, and when I did, I gasped, a horrible sight before me. Maybe hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers, either killing or badly burning fellow villagers.

I ran through all of this, managing to dodge quite a few fireballs. I knew where I was going, and nothing could stop me. I came to a small house, pushing open the door. Exactly what I feared was what happened. Ema was in front of me, kneeling down in front of her dead mother. I could hear her baby brother crying from the other room.

I dropped the swords I still held in my hands, and rushed to my best friend. Her mother, who had raised Ema and her brother on her own ever since Ema's father had gone away to war and never came back, lay there, lifeless.

Before I could say anything, Ema realized I was there.

"Summer...Wh-what's happening?" She asked, confused.

"Th-the soldiers...Th-they came," She continued before I could answer.

"Th-they di-did this to m-mom..." She said. She was sobbing now, and so was I. I tried to not remember seeing my own parents dead, but now...It was just too hard.

"Wh-what are we gonna d-do, S-Summer?" She asked, but I was already walking away. I had picked up my swords, and was near the door.

"S-Summer?" She asked, noticing me at the door.

"I'll...I'll be back, Ema. I...I promise," I said, tears still streaming down my face.

I couldn't stay there any longer. So I ran. I ran out of Ema's house, out of that village, away from everything I had ever known. I ran.

Suddenly, Sorin snapped me out of my daydreaming again. I realized that everyone else except Star and Sokka had arrived. I wondered where they were, and almost worried a little, but then just figured that maybe their path was longer or something.

(O_O That was LONG!)

(Hehe, yesh, yesh it was long! xP)

~Star~

Once we had met up with everyone, I realized we were the last ones.

"Sorry, someone got hungry, and-" I started, but immediatly stopped once I noticed my mother was missing.

"Where's Syra?" I asked, slightly worried. Sorin's dad said that she and Mariko had stopped somewhere back in the town for some reason.

So I decided to wait, but after a few minutes, the worry started to slowly seep in....

(WHAT DID YOU DO?! .... Sorry...that was me just being paranoid and imagining Syra and Mariko going into a shop and being killed by some phsyco...Even though that has nothing to do with this. O_o')

~Summer~

We waited a few minutes for Syra to come back with Mariko, but they still weren't coming. Star was looking really worried, and I could guess what was going to happen next.

(From a really long reply to a really short one...)

(Yeah, it was pretty short! xP)

~Star~

"Okay," I said, finally tired of waiting. "I'm going back. Something has to be up..." I said, then turned to Sorin's dad, Jonas.

"Which way did you guys come from?" I asked, and he pointed down to a path on the outskirts of the town. I took off running towards the path, using Airbending to speed myself up.
If something was happening, I had to be fast. I couldn't let this happen again....


(Wow, that was kind of short, too...'^^)

(I hate my computer...I thought I had posted here already...- -')

~Sorin~

"Um, should we follow her?" I asked, refering to Star, who had just took off running in the direction my father had said they had come from. I took the half-nods and mumbling of, "sure" and "yeah" as a yes. I started to walk/jog down the path.

(('Tis okay! ))

~Star~

I ran as fast as I could when I got into town, but just slow enough to not look suspicous. I wasn't fast enough.

I immediatly sped up once I saw my mom and Mariko; they were already surrounded by soldiers. My eyes widened as I saw one of the soldiers take Mariko from my mothers grip.
I couldn't hear every word they were saying, because I was trying to stay at a safe distance. But, from what I did hear, one of the guards had seen her leave with us, and wanted not only her, but me as well, back in the prison. But she wouldn't give them the direction we had all went. She wasn't willing to surrender what was left of her family; her daughter.

My mind was screaming at me, telling me to run. Telling me to stop the soldiers, and to save my mother. But my body disagreed. It was like every single bone and joint in my body were frozen. I couldn't move. I couldn't even blink. My body refused to move an inch. There was a sound building in my chest. It bubbled up, giving me that weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. But I resisted the screaming.

And I knew what was going to happen. I had seen it happen many times before. I couldn't let it happen. But I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't stop my own mothers death....

Everything was rushing through my head in just seconds. When I returned back to reality, I could see my mother in the middle of a circle of soldiers, not even trying to fight.

~Sorin~

When I realized that no one was really following me, I ran a little faster, until I saw Star. I walked up behind her, and instantly noticed the soldiers surrounding her mother. I looked at her, and she was obviously in some sort of shock, because it didn't seem like she was even trying to stop them.

"Star?" I whispered.

~Star~

I wasn't fully aware of my surroundings until I heard someone say my name. I turned my head to see Sorin standing beside me.

Once I was fully aware of everything again, I took off towards the soldiers, determined. I had been so happy to have found my mother alive, and the Fire Nation wasn't going to take her away from me, too.
It seemed like I was running forever before I even came close to the soldiers. I had been farther away than I thought. And I couldn't make it in time...

It happened so fast, I couldn't even look away. I heard her scream, her gasp of final breath, and then she was completely still. My eyes were starting to get wet. Tears of anger. Tears of sorrow. Tears of grief. Whatever they were, they blurred my vision. All I could do was fall to my knees, unable to have the strength to stand. It had all happened so fast, I wasn't even sure if this was all really happening.
I was now sitting on the ground, near some sort of shop or something. I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them tightly, burrying my face in my lap. Nobody else noticed me sitting there; they were all too absored in what was happening.

To assure me that this wasn't just some terrible dream I would wake up from, I heard the soldiers' footsteps as the walked away a few yards ahead of me. I squeezed my eyes shut, the tears flowing freely now. I wasn't sure what to do next

~Sorin~

My eyes widened. Syra was gone, and there was nothing either of us could've done. I ran up to Star, who was now on the ground. I bent down next to her, staring at the soldiers. The hadn't really noticed either of us yet, which was good. I put my hand on Star's shoulder, and spoke.

"It...It's alright, Star," I said, not exactly sure what to say.

~Star~

The voice at my side had scared me, and made me jump a little. I looked up to find Sorin bending down beside me, his hand on my shoulder. He said it was alright. But how could this ever be alright?! I had witnesed my mother's murder before me. She was my last shred of hope. Without her, I just might end up going crazy again! So he couldn't tell me that this was "alright"!

I nearly yelled at him, wanting to let my frustration out. But I knew that he only meant good. And what else was he to say? I slightly nodded my head, my tears finally managing to stop. I wiped my eyes a couple of times with my sleeve, taking a deep breath. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, or how I was going to do it, but I stood up, my legs still shaking, and slowly walked over to my mother's lifeless body. I took another deep breath, kneeling on the ground once more when I reached her. The crowd was already gone, most of the citizens back to their normal routine.
But why had the Fire Nation soldiers just left her there, to die if she hadn't already? Probably for a show of power. The thought made me sick at my stomach. What kind of sick, cruel place were we in?

I looked at my mother's face, now peaceful, of course. Then again, she should be peaceful. She was going to a better place now, a place with no war, a place of freedom. I wanted to be happy for her, because that's what she would have wanted. She wouldn't want me to be so sad, yet I couldn't manage to feel anything but sorrow. I didn't know how the soldiers had killed her, but all that mattered was that she was dead. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping I could wake up from this nightmare. But when I opened my eyes, the scene was the same, and all too familiar. I felt fresh tears welling up in my eyes.


((Wow...that was kinda long. '^^))

~Sorin~

I watched Star walk over to her mother lying on the ground, lifeless. I suddenly heard a voice next to me, which freaked me out a little. It was Summer.

"What happened?" She said, then looked over at Star and Syra. Her eyes widened, then she frowned a little.

"Soldiers...they...they did this," I said, still a little stunned.

(*cough cough* )