When Worlds Collide: Book One, Water

I was dozing. I would sleep for a while, then I’d wake up. But every time I did wake up, I’d find myself on the ground. Then I’d burst into a fit a giggles for no reason, before I fell back asleep.

(Zuko’s POV)

Even though I woke up, and the Avatar was right in front of me, the first thing that popped in my mind was Sam.
I don’t know why I kidnaped her. I just... really miss her, I guess.
The Avatar was had said something, and was looking at me, waiting for an answer to some question. I sat up and threw a huge fire ball at him. He dodged, and ran away. I sighed, and looked at the ground.
There, on the forest floor was a frozen frog. He must’ve dropped it.
I remember him saying something earlier, when I had rescued him, about how his friends needed to suck on them. I think he said to get better.
I hesitated before picking it up, and walking over to the place where I had hid Sam.
She was asleep, muttering something about a directioner or something like that.
I smiled softly at her.
There was something about her, that I couldn’t say, that made me feel different.
Happier.
She calmed me down when I was angry, which was a very hard thing to do.
I sighed, looking down at the frozen frog in my hand. I finally just put it in her mouth and lifted her up bridal style, making my way back to the ship.

(Aang’s POV)

After I left Zuko, I made my way to my friends.
I hope they were okay. And I really hope that Katara isn’t talking nonsense, like Sam and Sokka...
They were terrible. Sokka, at least we understood what he was talking about.... well, kind of.
But Sam...
She was talking about stuff we had no clue what it was. Especially in her sleep. Stuff about directioners, and beliebers, and a thousand other things. But the thing that Katara had really wanted to know was about the Cody guy Sam was crying about, before she started chasing Momo, yelling something about a bunny.
I sighed as I entered our makeshift hideout, not paying attention to anything. “Here,” I said, “suck on these. They’ll make you feel better.” I reached into my pocket for another frog for Sam and held it out. Nothing.
Thinking she was asleep, I turned, but gasped when she wasn’t there.
“Oh no,” I whispered. “Katara! Sokka! Hurry up and get better! Sam is missing!”
The frogs hadn’t kicked in yet, so they were still loopy. I was jumping up and down, trying to make the frogs thaw faster.
After forever, the frogs jumped out of their mouths.
“Ew!” they groaned, but I ignored them.
“You guys, Sam’s missing!” I shouted.
“What?” Katara gasped, standing up quickly, but swaying. I caught her before she fell. “I don’t understand,” she said. “She was here the whole time! Then I fell asleep...”
“Oh man!” Sokka said. “What if she wandered off in her crazy state?”
I tapped my chin, thinking. My eyes widened, and I gasped when realization dawned on me.
“Zuko.”
“What?” Katara asked.
I shook my head. “I wasn’t going to tell you guys, but I think I have to now.”
Then I told them of my adventure and how Zuko saved me.
“And I think he must’ve came here and took Sam,” I concluded.
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” Sokka said. “Why would Zuko go through the trouble to come get Sam?”
“Unless... Sam wasn’t telling the truth,” I said.
Katara gave me a weird look. “No. We already agreed that Sam was trustworthy, right?”
Sokka rolled his eyes. “And it only took about two weeks.”
I locked eyes with Katara. “But what if?”

(Sam’s POV)

I woke up in a bed, with something in my mouth. It was cold, and icy, so I started sucking on it.
“Mm,” I sighed. “Popsicle.”
When the thing started moving, I yelped, and spit it out.
A frog! I was sucking on a frog!
“Ew!” I whimpered, and rubbed my tongue on the blankets, trying to get all the bad stuff off.
I heard a chuckle, and froze. My tongue was still on the blanket, when I looked up and over to the sound.
My eyes widened and I smiled at the sight before me. “Iroh! Zuko!” I exclaimed, and jumped up to give them a hug.
“Hello Sam,” Iroh said.
Zuko had a faint blush, and I chuckled. I then looked around, realizing I was on the ship again. “How did I get here?” I asked.
Iroh smiled, and Zuko blushed more. “I... I brought you here,” he said.
I raised my eyebrows. “You mean you kidnaped me?”
“Well... I wouldn’t call it that,” he said.
I smiled. “Well I would. And so would the others.” My eyes widened. “Oh no... the others! Now they’ll never trust me again.”
“What do you mean?” Zuko asked.
I sighed. “Katara like, just, forgave me for being kidnaped in the first place. And you had reason too that time. But now, you just randomly stop by and say ‘Oh, look, I’m going to capture Sam again because I’m bored.’” I said. “They’ll believe that. They’re always like ‘everything happens for reason’, and blah, blah, blah...” I sighed, and plopped back down on the bed.
Iroh chuckled. “Don’t believe in Destiny and Fate?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Not really. I mean, destiny to an extent, but that’s because I’m a daydreamer or whatever my friends call me.” I rolled my eyes.
Iroh smiled. “I must tell you then, that in this world, Destiny and Fate play a huge role in our lives.”
I grinned. “And that’s the reason why I love it here.”

Several days passed, and every once in a while, Zuko would give me an odd look and ask me questions about my world.
“So... who’s Cody?” he asked one day.
I froze in the middle of the fire bending move that I was suppose to learn.
“H-how do you know about him?” I asked.
“Do you remember anything about that day I... kidnaped you?” Zuko asked.
I shook my head.
“Well... you were saying a bunch of weird things... and one of them was about some guy named Cody.”
“What did I say about him?” I asked, looking into his eyes.
“You said something about how if you stayed here, you’d be okay because then you wouldn’t have to see him. And something about how he treated you before he cheated, or something,” he said.
I swallowed. “Um... did I say anything else?”
Zuko shrugged. “That was the only thing I understood. Except you kept saying stuff about ‘season three’ and cartoon characters and that everything would be okay.”
“Oh.”
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yea. Totally.”
He raised his brow, but let it go.
That was the last time he asked me anything about me in my feverish state.

“See, Prince Zuko?” Iroh asked. “Silence is good for your well being.”
We were having tea in Iroh’s room. It had been a while since Zuko had heard anything about Aang and them, but right now, I was completely fine with it. I was too afraid of what they would accuse me of this time.
Zuko was about to take a drink when the ship suddenly jolted. He growled and stood up, walking out the door.
Iroh and I followed him on deck where we saw a chick on a giant animal.
“Get back!” she said. “I’m looking for a stowaway.”
“There are no stowaways on my ship,” Zuko said menacingly.
The giant creature took a huge chunk of metal out of the floor of the deck and threw it. We all to duck to avoid it, and I turned to assess the damage.
“Wow,” I muttered.
The creature stuck its head into the hole, and when he emerged, a man followed after it.
The animal flicked its tongue, and the man fell to the ground, unmoving.
I winced as he landed. “He’s paralyzed,” Zuko and I said at the same time.
“Temporarily,” the chick said. “In about an hour, the toxins with wear off. But by then, he’ll be in jail, and I’ll have my money.”
“But how did you find him on my ship?” Zuko asked.
“My sheer shu can find a rata land away.” she said.
“Wow,” Iroh admired, “I’m impressed.”
Without another word, she was gone.

That night, Zuko dragged Iroh and I along to go after the chick from earlier.
“I don’t understand why she’s so freaking important,” I muttered.
Zuko raised his eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing... just that I could sleeping, but instead, I’m with you, looking for some girl,” I griped.
He smiled slightly. “Well next time I’ll leave you on the ship while I go look for ‘some girl’ by myself.
I glared. “Don’t be getting any bad ideas there, Prince.”
He chuckled. “Someone’s jealous,” he said.
I froze. “Of what?”
“I don’t know why. I just know you are,” he said.
“Well I’m not,” I said, pushing past him.
Iroh chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Zuko asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Iroh said.
I sighed as we approached a shop that resembled a pub. “How do you even know that she’ll be here?” I asked.
“Did you see her?” he asked. “She looked exactly like someone who would spend all her free time here.”
“Yea, well, in my world the looks of her would put her under the ‘goth’ stereotype, not ‘party-girl’.”
He looked at me. “This is not a place for parties,” he said.
I sighed. “Well, all the bars in my world are nothing but people getting drunk and grinding up against random strangers.”
He rolled his eyes. “This is definitely not that kind of place.”
Then he opened the doors, and my eyebrows shot up. “Oh my gosh. This is like a parlor on those old western movies my pop watches,” I said.
Zuko sighed, and walked in, pushing people out of the way. “Out of my way, filth!” Zuko said, while Iroh came in behind us, apologizing for Zuko’s words.
My eyes took in everything, and then they landed on someone’s drink. “Ooh,” I said. “I want one.”
Yea, yea, I know, I’m too young to drink. I’m sixteen. In highschool, going to be a Junior. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of parties.
I started to walk over to the bar to get a drink, but Iroh held me back. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.
I pouted. “Please? Just one?”
He shook his head, and I sighed, still following Zuko.
“I need to talk to you,” Zuko said to the chick.
My eyes followed some guy with a drink. I really wanted one...
“Well, if it isn’t my new friends,” she said. “Angry Boy, Uncle Lazy, and Princess.”
“Princess?” I asked.
Iroh just laughed, and then the girl slammed down the hand of the guy she was arm wrestling.
“Sweet,” I complimented, and she smirked.
“Your beast trashed my ship. You have to pay me back,” Zuko demanded.
“Well, I’d love to help you out, but I’m a little short on money,” the chick said, bugging a pile of coins to her chest. “Drinks on me!” she shouted.
Everyone cheered. I smiled, pulling up a chair next to her. “You know,” I said. “You’re not so bad after all.”
She chuckled, and handed me a drink. I smiled, and took a swig.
The burning sensation ran down my throat, and in seconds, it was gone.
The girl chuckled at me, and started to take a drink too, but Zuko stopped her. “Money wasn’t what I had in mind.”

It took a while to drag me and the girl both out of the bar. I had only had a few drinks, because Zuko kept trying to stop me every time I reached for another one.
Zuko had to help me walk out of the bar, since I kept stumbling.
“I need you to find someone,” Zuko said, holding up Katara’s necklace.
“What happened?” the chick asked. Why couldn’t I remember her name? She must’ve told me... I think... “your girlfriend run off?” she asked.
I laughed. “Girlfriend. You’re so funny,” I said, poking her nose.
She raised her eyebrow. “You’re not alcohol tolerant, are you?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Nope,” I said, popping the ‘P’. “At home, my friend Ali had to drag me out the door to get me away from the Jell-O Shots!” I laughed again.
“Anyway...,” Zuko said. “It’s not the girl I’m after. It’s the bald monk she’s traveling with.”
“Whatever you say,” she said tiredly.
“If you do this, I’ll consider the damage done to m ship payed for.”
I sat on the ground, drawing in the dirt. In no time, Zuko was picking me up and putting me up on the giant mole-like creature, and we were off, me giggling all the way.

That next morning, I woke up with a slight headache.
I snuggled deeper into the big pillow I was laying on, and sighed. Thank goodness I didn’t have anymore to drink than what I did last night. I would’ve had a huge hangover.
After a while, I finally opened my eyes, and saw that I was leaning up against Zuko.
“Sorry,” I mumbled tiredly. “So were are we?”
Zuko shrugged. “Hopefully close.”
“Close to where?” I asked, looking around.
“To the Avatar,” Zuko said, like it was obvious.
I sighed, and looked ahead past the chick, June. Up ahead, I saw a small building like structure.
Within seconds, we were storming in, scaring old women to death.
“We’re getting close,”June said. Then we were running back out.
In no time, we were jumping behind Sokka and Katara.
They jumped, and the animal cornered them.
Sokka’s eyes narrowed at me. “You,” he growled.
I shrunk back, away from his glare, into Zuko’s chest.
“So this is your girlfriend?” June asked. “No wonder she left. She’s way to pretty for you.”
I smiled, and Zuko jumped down. “Where is he?” Zuko asked. “Where’s the Avatar?”
“We split up,” Sokka said, giving me a sideways glare. “He’s long gone.”
“How stupid do you think I am?” Zuko asked.
“Zuko,” I sighed. “You never ask that question when it comes to your enemies.”
“She’s right. Pretty stupid,” Sokka said, smirking. Then he turned to his sister. “Run!”
Then animal shot out it’s tongue, paralyzing them.
I winced as they hit the ground.
“What are we suppose to do now?” Zuko asked.
“It’s seeking a different scent,” June said, as the animal started to sniff the Water Tribe siblings. “Something that the Avatar held.”
It nudged Sokka’s backpack, and a piece of parchment fell out.
Zuko threw Sokka and Katara onto the back of the creature and we were off again.
I sat next to them, making sure they didn’t fall off. “You know,” I said, “I didn’t plan for Zuko to kidnap me again. I just thought I’d let you know before you falsely suspected something.”
They were silent, and glared at me.
“But, I guess it’s too late for that,” I muttered.
Another minute, and we were storming back into the place with the old people.
After walking in a circle several times, I looked up to see Aang gliding towards us. The animal jumped, trying to catch him, but missed. We all fell off, and I landed on the ground with a thud.
The chick jumped back on, and went after Aang, but Appa shoved them into a wall. Aang looked relieved, until Zuko stepped up.
They readied for battle, and I chewed my lip.
Before I could say anything, they began to duel. My eyes tried to follow what was going on, but they were moving to fast. Before my eyes, a mushroom cloud appeared, and Zuko when one way, and Aang went another.
But a few seconds more, they were back on their feet.
I looked over to Iroh, who was sneaking some cologne into his sleeve. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I felt useless. Aang and Zuko were fighting, Katara and Sokka were temporarily paralyzed, and Iroh was stealing perfume.
I... was doing nothing. I felt so powerless. I looked back over to see water flying out of a well, and then, Zuko was flying up. The water rained down, and Zuko fell, and landed on the ground.
“Ooh, that’s gotta hurt,” I said under my breath.
But it apparently didn’t hurt much, because he got back up and started to fight Aang again.
After the creature defeated Appa, it started to help Zuko with Aang, and in seconds, the monk was cornered. I ran over to try to help him, but Zuko kept getting in my way.
“No!” I said. “Stop it! Leave him alone.”
I then noticed that Katara, Sokka and the old ladies were spilling the jars of perfume. I watched as Katara bended the liquids to confuse the animal. It soon went crazy, shooting it’s tongue out and hitting both Zuko and I.
We fell to the ground, me landing on his chest.
I looked as best as I could to see June get hit too, and Iroh ran over to catch her as she fell.
“Uncle,” Zuko groaned, “I didn’t see you get hit with the tongue.”
“Shh,” Iroh shushed, and I tried to smile, but I was still to paralyzed.
Aang, Katara and Sokka walked over to us.
“Hey guys,” I mumbled.
They glared, and started walking away.
I sighed. “I’m still Team Avatar,” I called.
Just... Team Avatar when there’s five in the group.