Crossing Worlds (Avatar: A Fanfiction)

Chapter 5 (Part 1): Spilling The Beans

"......."

Sokka and I stare at each other from across the saddle. Him staring because he distrusts me, me because... well, it's him. Like, he's Sokka! The meat-loving, sarcastic, goofy idea guy! But there's only one problem: I can see questions building up in his blue eyes.

"Wait for it..." I mutter under my breath. Three...two...

"Look, I can't put a finger on it but I think there's something fishy going on here. I still think you're lying, or hiding something from us!" Sokka explodes, his face red from the pressure.

One.

Aang and Katara turn to face us from the front, presumably to watch my reactions.

I sigh softly. I guess I can't keep the truth from them if I expect them to trust me. Then I realise some part of me knew all along that I am going to tell them the truth sooner or later. It's sooner, now.

'"Alright, alright, you've got me, Sokka's right," I start slowly, thinking how to put everything into words. "I-"

Before I can finish, the three of them immediately stand up and get into defence positions. Sokka grips his boomerang tightly; Katara draws water from her water pouch; Aang holds his glider in front of him, all poised to attack.

"Which part of what Sokka said is true?" Aang yells, fear in his eyes. "That you're from the Fire Nation? That you're lying about your identity? Or you're just hiding something from us?"

I flinch, feeling shocked and maybe a bit scared. I didn't expect their reactions to be so huge.

"Please guys! J-just calm down and h-hear me out first, okay?! I swear on my grave, I've got nothing to do with the Fire Nation!" I exclaim, feeling panicky at the thought of them really attacking me. That's what you get for hiding the truth, I mentally reprimand myself.

I guess my face really shows my fear and sincerity, because they immediately relax their positions and start looking guilty.

"Then explain yourself. Now. Before we decide what to do with you," Katara commands fiercely.

I put my hands up in surrender. "Okay," I say, struggling to come up with something that makes sense. '"Okay. Uh... Okay."

Sokka glares at me and huffs impatiently. My eyebrows furrow in annoyance but I ignore him and continue speaking, slowly. "I'm not from... anywhere in this world. I don't belong to the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation or the Air Nomads," at this, I press on a little louder because I can see Sokka opening his mouth to interrupt. "So to put it simply: I come from another world."

Silence descends upon us the second time on Appa's saddle as everyone - including me - struggle to accept this seemingly impossible fact.

Sokka is the first to react. "Another... world? As in, you come from other...like, what, dimensions? How can you expect us to trust you when you say something far-fetched like that?" He challenges, disbelief colouring his tone. Aang and Katara widen their eyes, proving his point.

I nod seriously. "I don't. I know it's hard to take in, but it's true. I'll never lie for no good reason. One minute I was chasing Aang through the forest in my world, then next, poof! I'm here!"

"You were chasing Aang... when? Who? How? Why? Where?" Katara fires while looking disapprovingly at Aang, who just shakes his head and shrugs in a very confused manner.

"You forgotten to ask 'what'," I add helpfully.

"What?" Katara asks, now confused herself. I choke back a chuckle.

"Nothing. I'm just saying it all started when I was in my hospital room. I saw a kid fly past my room, and he looked like Aang, so I followed him outside."

"Hospital room? What's that? A disease?" Sokka questions with a disdainful look on his face.

I explain patiently, "A hospital is a place where the sick and injured go to. So anyway, I was in the hospital because of a train accident..." Slowly, I tell them everything I've been through, while carefully analysing their faces. It's a bit funny really, watching their expressions turn from disbelief to curiosity. I guess being curious is better than being distrustful.

"-so when I was catching my breath after getting out of the pond, Aang poked his glider at my head and asked me who I am," I finish. Phew. It took almost an hour to finish my explanation, because I was always asked to explain simple things, such as hospitals, et cetera.

"Wait wait wait, Aang poked your head?" Sokka snickers. "Hey guys, remember how I poked Aang's head when we first met? I think this is becoming a tradition."

Laughing along with the others, I breathe a sigh of relief. If they're comfortable enough to joke around me, they might trust me enough.

"Look,"I start. They turn their attention back to me. "I'm sorry I made you guys feel uneasy, but I really hope you can trust me after this."

At this, everyone turns serious. Without hesitation, Aang claims that he trusts me and believes that I'm not lying. "After all, I have heard of stories of other worlds from the monks. And you certainly are weird enough to qualify as a girl from another world!" He explains with a huge grin to show no offense.

I smile gratefully at him, as Katara says slowly, "Well... This is all very hard to take in. I need time," while Sokka nods agreeably.

Aang whines and say something about how I don't look like someone evil, and how I wouldn't betray them because what benefit can I get from doing so? Katara finally gives in.

"Alright fine. If the Avatar says you can be trusted, then I'll respect his instinct and trust you too." Although her tone is hard, she gives me a brief smile that seems like she really means it. I grin back.

"Wait, what? Am I supposed to trust her too?" Sokka exclaims aloud. He proceeds to rant like a grumpy old man. "She invents words, she's wearing weird stuff and she's claiming that she's from another world! Don't you think those are the signs that she's-" Sokka lowers his voice to a whisper, as if I'm not there and can't hear every word he's saying. "-cuckoo in the head?"

I smack him on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that-" Sokka begins, but stops at the look on our faces. He closes his eyes and groans in exasperation. "Oh alright alright, we trust you, blah blah blah. I guess I have no choice, do I?" He sulks.

"Not really, no," Katara replies smugly.

Relief washes over me once I realise that everyone here do trust me. I stick my hand out to Katara for a high five, but she just stares at my outstretched hand with questions in her blue eyes.

"Um, it's for a high five. This basically symbolises that we agree on something together. You just uh... raise your hand and hit mine, at the same time," I explain.

She does what she's told with a look of wonder on her face.

I snigger. There'll be so much more to teach and learn, I can't wait for what happens next.

"Oh, and FYI Sokka, hospital is a real word in my world. I didn't invent it myself."

I chuckle at the dark look he throws at me. I can tell that we're going to get along famously.

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A/N: FEEDBACKS, PLEASE! I'M DESPERATE FOR EM