A Strange Beginning - Sokka x OC

Chapter 23: Familiarity

HEY PEOPLE!! Anyways, new chapter. Kinda late (let's not talk about that). But still, new chapter! I was going to do a Zen/Zuko P.O.V but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. So that's that. But I promise, I'll try to find a way to do another one. Anyways, as usual, hope you enjoy and happy reading!

Presenting.......

|Familiarity|

Safiyah

We're lounging through a forest in the Earth Kingdom with no proper destination in mind, just with the motive to find food.

"Hey, this should give us a good idea of what's around here," I hear Katara say. I see her standing in front of a poster pole reading a huge poster. I get closer behind her and my eyes widen when I see what the poster's about.

"Katara, this is a poster for a Fire Nation festival," I say haltingly. "We're around some Fire Nation colony, no doubt."

"I'll bet we'll find something to eat there," Aang chimes. "And there are all kinds of jugglers, magicians, exhibits."

Does no one understand what I'm saying? I think frustrated to myself.

Sokka almost reads my mind. "Aang, you might want to rethink going there. Safiyah, I think you might want to see this too." He's standing behind the poster pole so Aang and I walk around to see the posters on his side. 

"Oh, for God's sake," I say, my heart catching in my throat.

There's a wanted poster of Aang, as expected, and a poster of me right next to it. I look bored, and my hair cascades behind me in an unruly mess. I'd be happier if I had no wanted posters of me. I've already had unpleasant nightmares. 

I look down and I notice a poster of the Blue Spirit, or as we know him, Zuko. Interesting, I think. 

"Well that's that," I conclude, trying to keep my voice cheerful. "Let's keep moving."

"I agree," Katara says, who's now next to me. 

"I need to learn fire bending at some point, and this could be my only chance to watch some masters up close," Aang pleads. 

I furrow my eyebrows at his comment. "Aang, am I just a figment of your imagination or did you just forget I can fire bend?"

"Well, I'd just like to go to a Fire Nation town. You know, see what it's like."

"You want to walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired up with, you know, fire?" Sokka exclaims. 

"Plus, I'm not even planning to teach you fire bending this early on," I confess. 

"Wait what? Why?" Aang asks incredulously. 

"You still haven't mastered water and earth. Spoiler alert, but fire bending is just a rougher version of water-bending. It would be dangerous for you to learn fire bending right now; you'd have too much trouble in control since fire easily gets out of hand."

"But you're just a regular bender! Did you have to master all the other elements to be able to control fire bending?"

"Aang, I've been practicing fire bending since I could walk and talk! I had years to slowly build up to my high level of expertise. You need to go from here," I say, tossing a small ball of fire through my hands, "to here," then switch to jet-stepping, flipping in the air and sending comets from my feet, "by summer's end, and you won't do that easily if you don't master the other elements."

"First of all, that was amazing," Sokka says, and I feel myself beaming, "and second of all, she's right. Plus, Safiyah and Aang are both wanted, if you haven't forgotten."