When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

We were standing in the middle of a desert, watching Aang, who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed.

"What's out here?" Sokka asked, looking confused.

"A lot actually," Toph said, kneeling down, and putting her hand to the earth. "There are hundreds of little-"

"Shh," Aang interrupted her. "I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." The boy pulled out a piece of wood, almost like one of those recorders I used to have. He played a note, and a little groundhog popped out of a hole, and copied the sound. Aang laughed in glee, and played another note, getting the same result. "I'm putting an orchestra together!"

"An orchestra, huh?" Sokka said. "Well, la, dee da."

Three little groundhogs popped out of the ground, copying Sokka. I laughed as Momo tried to catch the little animals, but they ducked back into their holes. Aang played more notes, and more groundhogs would pop out, singing.

Sokka put his finger in Aangs instrument, stopping him from making any more music. "This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans." Sokka stood up straight, looking at all of us.

"We did make plans," Toph said. "We're all picking mini vacations."

"There's no time for vacations," Sokka huffed.

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can," Aang defended himself. "I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off."

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?" Katara asked.

"Besides," I smirked. "If anyone's behind on lessons, it's you Sokka. Aang and Katara can at least sound out the letters."

Sokka glared, and stuck out his tongue. "I'm a slow learner, okay?" he whined. "Besides, even if you do master all four elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation! Do we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house? Knock, knock. Hello, Fire Lord? Are you home? I don't think so! We need some intelligence if we're going to win this war."

We all were paying attention to his words, but as soon as Sokka was done speaking, Aang tooted on his recorder thing, and a groundhog sang the short note, causing Katara to chuckle.

"Alright," she said. "We'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence."

Aang and I chuckled, amused by Sokka's upset look.

"Your turn, Sam!" Aang chirped. "Where do you want to go?"

"Me?" I asked, then shook my head. "This entire place is my vacation. I'm set for the rest of my life."

Aang smiled, and turned to Katara. "Where would you like to go?"

Katara studied the map, a strange look on her face. "How about the Misty Palm Oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"Misty Palm Oasis?" I asked. "It sounds like a spa. You have good taste." I looped my arm in hers, grinning.

"I've been there!" Aang exclaimed. "It's a pristine natural ice spring... and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." He glanced at me. "And it's not a spa... whatever that is."

I laughed. "Darn. I could really use a massage right now."

/////\\\\\

"It must've... changed ownerships... since I was here," Aang sheepishly said. He started walking, and we followed.

"Well, you did get something right," I told him. "It's definitely not a spa."

We passed under the wooden sign, and it instantly fell, breaking in half. We jumped, and spun around to see the carnage.

"I guess it could be one of nature's wonders," I thought aloud. "How could a huge ice spring turn into this?" I looked at the small clump of ice in the middle of some shops, and saw a dog of some sort licking at it.

We entered one of the shops, and saw it was a small juice bar, you could call it. We watched the man at the counter make a tasty looking drink with mangoes, and Sokka looked at it yearnfully.

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy." He pushed through us, and ran to the counter.

We followed, and a man who had just gotten a drink, turned and accidentally spilt his drink on Aang. Before he could apologize, Aang waved his hand. "No problem. I clean up easy." He put his hands together, and the air around him acted like one of those hand dryers you would see at the mall or something.

The man gasped. "You're a living relic," he said.

"Thanks," Aang said, shrugging. "I try."

"An Air Nomad... in front me," the man said, rubbing his chin with his hand. "Professor Zang, head of Anthropology at Ba Sing Se University. Tell me, which of the Air temples do you hail from?" The Professor took Aang's hand, and studied it.

"The Southern Temple," Aang answered as the Professor measured his head.

"Oh, splendid! Tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?" he asked.

Aang looked confused. "Uh... are fruit pies an agricultural product?"

"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal."

"So, Professor," Sokka started. "You're obviously a well traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little bit dated."

"Certainly," the professor said, and pulled a map from his bag.

Sokka studied it for a few short moments before becoming dissapointed. "No Fire Nation?" he whined. "Doesn't anyone have a good map of that place?"

I looked at the map and saw a bunch of dashed lines. "You've made a lot of trips into the desert," I observed.

"All in vain, I'm afraid. I've found lost civilizations, all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel. Wan Shi Tong's Library."

"You've spent years wandering through the desert to find some guys library?" Toph said, with her dirty feet of the table.

"This library is more valuble than gold, young lady," the Professor assured her. "It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge. And knowledge"-- he paused-- "is priceless."

"Hm," Toph grunted. "sounds like good times."

"Oh, it is!" he said, not noticing the sarcasm. "According to legend, it was built by the Great Knowledge Spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers."

"So this spirit has some attractive helpers, huh?" Sokka said, smirking to himself.

Katara shoved his head, and I elbowed him in the stomach.

"I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka," Katara huffed.

"You're both right," the professor said, clasping his hands together. "Handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read-" the professor pulled out a piece of parchment, and laid it on the table for us to see. It was a sketch of a giant building, that I could only guess was the library. "-so that we may better ourselves."

"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they may have info on the Fire Nation? A map maybe?" Sokka asked hopefully, while Aang slurped his drink.

"I wouldn't know," the professor confessed. "But, if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's library."

Sokka got a skeptical look in his eye, and I tilted my head, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Penny for your thoughts?" I asked.

He ignored me, instead turning to Aang. "I believe it's my turn! I would like to spend my vacation at... the LIBRARY!" he shouted, being overly dramatic. Then he turned to me, with an eyebrow raised. "What's a penny?"

I grunted, and rolled my eyes, sitting down next to Toph.

"Hey, what about me?" Toph asked. "When do I get to pick?"

"You gotta work here a little longer to qualify for vacation time," Sokka said, crossing his arms.

The twelve year old girl slammed her drink down on the table and grunted. "Well what about Sam?" she asked. "When does she get to pick? Hers at least won't stink."

"This entire adventure is my vacation. I could be stuck on the farm all summer, but instead I'm here," I said. "Therefore, I don't need to choose a vacation when I'm already on one."

The professor ignored us, which was probably good, because otherwise, he'd be asking a lot of questions. "Of course, there is the matter of finding the library..." the man thought aloud. "I've made several trips into the desert, and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert is impossible to cross."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "Almost dying?" I glared at Sokka, who was sharing a knowing look with Aang. "Sokka, do you understand what kind of vacation you just chose?"

"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?" Sokka asked, smiriking at me. I stuck my tongue out, slouching in my seat.

"A sky bison?!" the professor exclaimed. "You actually have one?"

"Appa's right outside," Aang told him. "Come on."

We all walked out the door, only to see a group of men trying to aproach the giant bison.

"Sandbenders! Shoo!" the professor yelled, running towards the group. "Step away from the bison!"

The men relunctently stepping away, still watching Appa. Then they got on a boat like contraption, and sped away. Aang glared at them until they were out of sight, then snapped back to his normal self. We all climbed up on Appa, and entered the sandy abyss.

/////\\\\\

We had been flying for hours. Sokka had taken his shirt off a while ago, and had tied it around his forehead. Toph was sprawled out on the saddle, looking as if she wanted to pass out. Aang slouched from his perch, lazily steering Appa, ignoring the professors random facts. Katara was borrowing one of my fans, fanning herself, and I had the other. I pulled my hair band from my wrist, and put my hair in a high ponytail. It was a wonder how I hadn't lost my little blue band, or how it hadn't broken yet. Usually I went through two a week.

Toph suddenly sat up, groaing. "Does this place even exist?" she asked, looking annoyed.

"Some say it doesn't!" the proffessor said giddily, smiling with his eyes closed.

"Shouldn't you have said something about that before?" I spat, still fanning myself.

Toph groaned, slamming down on the saddle with a thud.

Really, I couldn't blame her.

Almost half an hour went by, and the heat was making me tired. I leaned against Katara, and my eyes fluttered closed.

"There it is!" Toph exclaimed, and we all rushed to the side to see where she was pointing. We saw nothing but sand dunes, and when we realized our stupidity, we glared at our young friend.

"That's what it'll sound like when one of you spots it," Toph said dryly, then faced us with a giant grin, and waving her hand up and down in front of her face.

I shoved her head gently, unable to be too mad at her.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find a giant building in from the air," I stated. "It's like going to New York and being blind to the all the skyscrapers."

"New York?" the professor asked. "Skyscrapers?"

"Erm, nothing," I said, shifting my eyes.

"Smooth," Sokka murmured, still searching for the library with a telescope. "Down there," he suddenly said, pointing at the ground. "What's that?"

We all looked, and saw a tower sticking out of the sand.

We landed next to it, and stared at it in wonder. "Forget it," Katara sighed. "It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is ginormous."

We all looked as a shimmer caught our eye. There, climbing over a pile of sand was a brown fox like creature, making its way to the giant tower. It looked at us, and I could see something in its mouth. The animal climbed up the huge tower, and disappeared through the window.

"What kind of animal was that?" Sokka asked when it was no longer in sight.

"I think it was one of the knowledge seekers," the professor exclaimed. "We must be close to the library!"

"No," Sokka said, studying the picture. "This is the library. Look!" He pointed to the big tower, and then motioned to the drawing. "It's completely buried."

I looked at the sketch carefully, and compared the tallest steeple to the tower sticking out of the ground. "Sokka... I think you're right," I said, my eyes wide.

"The library is buried?!" the professor screamed. "My lifes ambition is now full of sand!" The man collapsed to the ground, and pulled out a small shovel. "Well... time to start excavating." He stuck the tiny spade into the ground, and sent sand flying.

"Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact," Toph informed us. "And, it's huge."

"That fox thing went in through a window," Sokka thought alound. "I say we climb up there and give it a look."

"I say you guys go ahead without me," Toph said, crossing her arms.

"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked, also crossing her arms.

"I've held books before." Toph shrugged. "I gotta say, they don't exactly do it for me."

"Oh, right," Katara said, blushing and rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry."

"Let me know if they have something I can listen to," Toph said, smiling to let Katara know there was no harm done.

Sokka tied a rope to his boomerang, and swung it up to the window.

"Just ask Rapunzel to let down her hair," I joked.

"Who's Rapunzel?" Aang asked, and I sighed.

"Nevermind. You guys wouldn't get it," I sighed.

Sokka rolled his eyes at me, something I was used to by now. After checking to make sure the rope could support his weight, he began to climb.

"Don't worry, buddy," Aang said, petting the sky bison. "I won't make you go underground ever again. You can stay out here with Toph."

I started to follow Sokka up the rope, but a small hand caught my arm. I turned to face Toph, who was staring at the ground. "Will you stay here with me?" she asked. "I don't want to be out here by myself."

I smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "Sure I will," I told her. "What are friends for?"

She looked at me gratefully, and I stepped away from the rope. Katara then climbed up, followed by the professor. Before Aang could use airbending to fly up and meet them, I stopped him.

"Aang," I said.

"Yeah?" he asked, standing back up straight.

"This library... the professor said that it's for people to share knowledge and stuff, right?" I asked.

The monk nodded, looking at me curiously.

"Take this," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. "It's the alphabet. Maybe someone else can learn to write like me. It isn't much, but... I feel like I have to leave a mark here."

Aang smiled. "You've already made your mark here," he told me, but accepted the parchment anyway. Without another word, he leapt into the air, and disappeared into the window.

"So..." Toph mumbled. "What's up?"

I laughed, and sat down next to her. "Nothing, you?"

The earthbender shrugged, laying down. "I can't see," she said.

I raised my eyebrow, unsure of her meaning. "Um... care to elaborate?"

"The sand," she said. "It's loose and shifty. It makes everything fuzzy."

I nodded in understanding. That makes sense," I aknowledged.

Appa groaned, and Toph tensed. "Not that there's anything wrong with fuzzy," she rushed, and I chuckled. "Sam?" Toph asked.

"Hmm?" I hummed, also laying down.

"What's it like in your world?"

I thought about it. There were a lot of differences between this world and mine. "Well... for starters, there's no bending," I told her. "And we have more technology."

"Wait, no bending?" Toph asked. "At all?"

I chuckled at her reaction. "I forgot that you came into the group late. The others already knew that. But yeah, no bending, at all."

"So, how can you bend?" she asked, resting her head in her palm.

"I have no clue," I sighed. "My world is so different from this one. When I first got here, I thought it was a dream. And after a while, I started to wonder if I would ever survive this place. We don't have all these different animals, or four nations. It's much more seperated."

We were silent for a while, and Toph's breathing was slow. I thought she was asleep, but was proven wrong when she called my name again.

"Yes?" I answered, turning to face her.

"If you were given the choice to go back... w-would you?"

At first, I didn't answer. Would I go back? I would get to see my family and friends again if I did. I could see my brother, and parents. I could get my drivers license, and go to college, to live the life I had always dreamed about. I would get to see if my grandparents made it through the accident. I could properly tell my friends what happened between Cody and I, and could properly get the revenge that he deserved. In the future, I could get a job, and start a family.

Here, though, I had new friends, that were also like my family. And, even though their trust in me has been tested twice now, they still accepted me. In my world, that wouldn't happen. In this world, I could bend two elements. I'm fighting to help the world, instead of sitting on the sidelines, and ignoring the problems like I did in my world. This world had Zuko.

If I did have the choice, what would I choose?

"Sam?" Toph asked, sitting up, and staring at me.

"Honestly... I have no clue," I decided. "I don't want to leave you guys, but I miss my family. I guess I'll decide that when the time comes."

Toph surprised me in that moment, by tackling me with a hug. "None of us want to see you go," she said, and I hugged her back.

"Toph, I'm not leaving now," I assured her, squeezing her back. "I don't know if I ever will go back, simply because I don't know how. But, if you would have asked me the same question when I first got here, I would've chosen to go back in a heartbeat. But because of you guys, I don't want to leave either."

We embraced for several minutes before we noticed the ground was beginning to shake.

"What the...?"

We jumped up, and saw that the tower was beginning to sink.

"Library's sinking," Toph muttered. "Library's sinking!" She ran over to use earth bending, and tried to stop, or at least slow down the the giant building from going under with our friends. At first, I thought she was going to succeed. Feeling useless, I scrambled around, trying to find something that would help her. "What is it now?" Toph asked, looking behind her.

I turned too, and saw a giant sand cloud making its way towards us. My eyes widened at the sight of the sandbenders, but quickly recovered. "Toph, focus on the library!" I commanded. "I'll take care of these guys."

She grunted in response, using all her strength to keep the tower above ground.

The sand benders encircled Appa and I together, and my mind raced. They obviously wanted to take Appa, but why?

A man made the mistake of stepping out of the protection of the sand, and I shot a ball of fire at him. I wanted to use water, but it was impossible in the desert.

"Firebender!" one screamed, and I was tackled to the ground.

I watched as Appa was tied down with ropes, and anger swelled inside me. I hadn't felt this angry since I was first kidnapped by Zuko. I yelled in frustration, and used fire to burn the ropes that held me. I attacked with more force than before, trying to save the giant, fuzzy beast.

Someone attacked me from behind, and I heard Toph shouting. A gust of sand flew up several feet to my left, shocking many of the men, but it didn't stop them. My hands were tied behind my back, and Appa was tied down agian. I kicked the man behind me in what I hoped was the groin, but with my hands tied, I was usless. I was caught up in the sand tornado, and when the sand cleared, Appa and the sand benders were gone.

"No," I whispered. Aang, Sokka, and Katara landed beside me, and Toph let go of the tower, letting it sink to the ground. We both collapsed to the ground in defeat, and ignored Sokka and Katara's giddiness, not understanding what they were talking about.

"Where's Appa?" Aang asked, walking towards Toph.

She had her hands over her ears, and moaned, shaking her head.

He then turned to me, noticing my hands still tied behind me. "Sam?" he asked.

A tear slid down my cheek, and I tried to drown myself in the yellow powder beneath me. Aang began to cry, and I could do nothing but hide my own sobs.

I had failed.