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Zutara-Princess

The Void

"Hey! That's mine! Give it back!"

"No!"

"It's mine!"

"Not anymore! You dropped it!

"I dropped on accident! It's still mine!"

"Nuh-uh. I'm putting this in my toy box!"

"It's not a toy! It's a very dangerous weapon!"

"Finders keep-"

"GIMMIE BACK MY BOOMERANG!"

Sokka was starting to turn purple. Katara couldn't help but laugh obnoxiously in her head. Nothing was funnier than watching Sokka get made a fool of by a toddler. "Uumm, Katara, I found one." Katara tore her eyes away from the exceptionally large scene her brother and the little boy were making to look at Aang.

"You did? Let me see." She took the dark blue strand from Aang's outstretched palm.

"Will it fit?" Aang asked curiously.

"GIMMIE!" They heard Sokka roar. A very large crowd had gathered in front of the shop to watch the struggle.

She shrugged it off as her mind turned back to Aang. "I'm not sure, let's see." Katara said, and pulled her necklace from her pocket.

"Yes, Aang, I think it will. Thank you." she said as she measured the length of the string. Aang beamed happily at Katara, "You're welcome."

She took another look at the new strand that would soon be around her neck. It was the same size as the string to her necklace. Perfect.

She walked up to the shopkeeper, who was watching Sokka's argument through his shop window.

"Excuse me sir, can you help me? I need someone to switch the string on this necklace."

He turned his attention from the fight to Katara. He smiled politely. "Of course. We have quite a bargain today only. One copper piece & I'll take it off your hands."

Katara & the shopkeeper began to talk just as one of the windows crashed.

Apparently, the little boy sent the boomerang flying & from the looks of it, he'd probably thrown a boomerang before.

The boomerang twirled and headed strait for Katara, but she ducked just in time.

"Aaghh!" The shopkeeper yelled frightened as Sokka's boomerang pinned his topknot to the wall behind him.

"My boomerang!" Sokka yelled happily and ran into the shop. He grabbed his boomerang out of the hair of the still stunned shopkeeper and hugged it tightly as if the toddler was going to come and swipe it from his grasp.

He placed it carefully in its case, so it wouldn't fall out again.

"Katara, are you okay?" Aang asked worriedly as he ran from behind one of the shelves.

Am I okay? What about the poor old shopkeeper?

"I'm fine Aang." Katara turned around and knelt down beside the old man. "You don't look so good." she told him, a worried expression crossing her face. He didn't. He was deathly pale. If Sokka's boomerang had gone any lower, the shop keeper would have-

She shuddered. She didn't want to think about that. The old man shuddered too. Maybe he was thinking the same thing.

"Come on. We should take him to bed." Aang said. "Once he sleeps on it he'll feel better. But he might want to visit a barber when he wakes up." This was true. His hair was falling from what was left at the top of his head.

Later...

"Did they find the boy?" Katara asked, trying to make conversation. They had been silent for too long. It was driving her crazy.

"No, but he owes the shopkeeper a lot of money." Aang said. This was wonderful. Just wonderful. Nothing to talk about. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go until Appa's burns healed. They were stuck on this mad island in a mad town, with tons of mad people trying to hypnotize Katara into going mad as well.

And the worst part was, she could swear it was working.

If it wasn't for her waterbending she would have already gone mad. My talent is the only thing that keeps me down to earth. Sokka & Aang liked it here. This town is for men, boys, & tomboys. I can't wait to leave.

Sokka yawned loudly. "I'm going to bed."

Aang & Katara yawned too. Aang snuggled against Appa while Katara got into her sleeping bag. Momo laid down on Appa's saddle and everyone sort of fell asleep.

Almost everyone.

10 minutes later...

Katara waited. She heard the snores of her brother & saw Aang's soft breath become a foggy white mist in the cold air.

She snuck out of her sleeping bag and wandered out towards the beach. She stripped to her undergarments and took a deep breath before diving off of a rock and into the cold, clear water. She swam down a few feet. She forgot to take off her necklace.

Maybe I should go back up now. I need to put my necklace away in case I lose it.

Why? When you can go down deeper. You can hold your breath a little longer.

I don't know... It could be dangerous..

Come on. Just a little farther. It couldn't hurt...

I guess you're right...

She swam a little deeper.

Okay, I want to go back up now. I really do.

Oh, come on. Just a little more... You're in water. Your element. What could possibly happen that you can't control?

She swam down and down, until her lungs almost burst with need for air. She swam down as far as she possibly could, almost to the floor, leaving all her troubles on the rock from which she dove.

She saw something in the corner of her eye. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, and she had to warn Aang. She didn't know why, she just had to. She began to panic. This was bad.

She saw something large and black. Then she felt a great pressure push her back towards the rock. Something had just happened. She was being pulled towards the part of the rock the was under water.

Something was pushing on her back very hard. What is that? It hurt. I want up. This hurts too bad. The more she tried to go upward, the farther down she went, and she really wanted to get above the surface now.

She felt so much pain in her back she couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted to die right there, to end it. Too much pain! I can't take it! Make it stop!

Finally the pressure built up and her mouth released all of the air her body had been concealing, until there was none left leaving her lungs exposed to the water. She gasped for air, and got nothing but water. It filled her lungs & left her clawing at the rock under the current.

Then she saw colors. The first one was red. Dark red. It was frightening, yet beautiful. It floated in the water like smoke in air.

Is, is that blood! Sokka! Sokka! Help me! I don't want to die! Please! Save me! AANG! SOMEONE! HEAR ME! PLEASE!

Then she saw green. The water of the sea. She couldn't see anything but colors, and the searing pain in her back increased with every desperate wish for breath. Her lungs were useless, they were completely filled with water.

Then suddenly, She saw black. The pain had stopped. She couldn't feel anything, or hear the pounding that had been filling her ears during the encounter. She was in a void. A lost place she had never been before. She wasn't breathing. She didn't need to. There was no pain in her lungs that told her she needed air.

She was just, there. It didn't matter where she was. It was so peaceful here, & it was hard to believe that there was ever another place in existence. She didn't know who Aang was, or Sokka. She'd never been to the south pole, or learned waterbending.

She didn't know of anything before this place. She had been here for a few seconds but it felt like an eternity. She'd been here, her entire life. An immortal being, no purpose, just there.

Her name was Katara. That was it, everything else just disappeared. She was tired. She fell into a deep, graceful slumber. Never to awaken.

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Chapter 2: An Unlikely Friend

Zutara-Princess