Journey To Another World (An Avatar The Last Airbender FanFic)

Bato of the Water Tribe

Ava

"Did someone lose something?" Katara asks looking at the two boys looking in the bushes.

"No, we found something," Aang said looking through a bush. We had stopped by an abbey on our journey. We were in the woods trying to find food for the night when Katara and I lost track of the boys.

We turn to look at Sokka and see him pick up a broken arrow, "It's burned." He moves over to a tree and uses his hand to inspect the marks on the tree. "There was a battle. Water tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders." Sokka moves away from the tree. "The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill..." 

"Well don't we have ourselves a regular Sherlock Holms!" Sokka begins running down the hill at a rapid pace. He jumps over some rocks making me nervous just slightly. Sokka runs across the sand making prints as he runs. 

"So then what happened?" Aang asks Sokka when he finally stopped.

"I don't know. The trail ends here." Sokka looks down disappointed.

"Wait! Look!" Katara holds up her arm to point at a giant boat just off to the side. 

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka and Katara run over to the boat like their life depends on it. I put my hand in the center of his two shoulder blades and give him a gentle push.

"Is this... Dad's boat?" Sokka rubs the prow of the boat while Katara just looks in joy and wonder.

"No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here." Sokka looks up and smiles.

We all wait for each other to talk. None of us wanting to break the silence. "Okay. If we're staying then we ought to build a fire and set up the tents." I move away from the group and go up to Appa using his fur to climb up onto his back.

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The cold concrete dug into my thighs. My shorts not helping the pending sunburn that laced my skin. I was about to walk home. I should have walked home a long time ago. It was only a few miles I could make it without Mikey, but grandma would have a cow. 

Tears threatened to fall but they wouldn't. I hadn't cried in months. Not since that night. Mikey was late as usual. I should have known he forgot about me. "Avalon! Get in the car!" I look up only to see Mikey in his 1996 Pontiac. The only thing he was able to afford. I stand and grab my bag moving to the car door. The handle was broken and the door had been replaced before he bought it with a blue rusty door. It was a stark difference from the bright red that was the rest of his car.

I climbed in through the window that no longer rolled up. Mikey snuffed out his cigarette in the full ashtray. I cough at the smell and finally settle in. "You're late." I didn't look at him. Not when the started to move, not when he looked at me. I wiggle my body on the sickly fabric seats that were somehow always sticky to the touch.

"I was busy. You could have walked." He lit another cigarette and puffed it out the window.

"Grandma told you to pick me up from Dr. Curan's office at 11:25, five minutes before my therapy session ended. It is currently," I look at my watch, "12:48 you are one hour and twenty-three minutes late. It would have taken me thirty minutes to walk to grandma's house. I could have been home at 11:55 give or take some time for the crosswalks and the lights." Mikey didn't look at me. In fact, he hasn't looked me in the eyes since that night.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Avalon. I have a life. It's not my fault that our psycho brother decided to kill dad. I've gotten over it, and so should you."  This time he flicks the cigarette out the window. My jaw tightened at the comment. At the light, he takes a right turn.