525~~AUTHORS NOTE~~
**Alright readers! I'm trying out a new Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction. I've never ever tried to do a ZukoXOC romance, so I want to give one a shot. This is once again a sister fiction, but my character Crystal is strictly the sister of Sokka and Katara. No mysterious past, and no spirit stuff (You should definitely read my three part series"Burning Flame" if you don't know what I'm talking about :D). I've written out a few chapters of this story already, and so far I'm enjoying it. The romance won't really build until a few chapters into the story. I'm trying my best to mix in some humor, drama, and attitude. I admit this story is strictly for fun (especially since I've been bored out of my mind), so I hope you all enjoy. I'm going to try my best to keep the chapters shorter than my other stories. I was informed its better to have shorter chapters than ten thousand word ones. Also, the first two chapters will follow close to the script but chapter 3 will then take its own course, so just bare with me. I will hope to have new chapters weekly, but I'm in college so I'll have to write when I have free time. So please be patient with me. =)
Okay! That's the end of my rant! Enjoy the story everyone, and let me know what you all think. Reviews encourage me to keep writing.
-Faithy Waithy
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Chapter 1
They say water and fire don't work together. Water is fire's enemy and fire is waters downfall. My sister and brother have claimed fire is the most evil thing in the world. When I was younger I believed them. The ones who firebend had done nothing to this village but hurt us. My mom was dead, my dad was at war, and I had a scar that forever marked me as their victim.
Looking at my reflection in the small mirror of our tiny igloo home, I pressed my hand on my neck where a scar stretched from my collar bone up to my right cheekbone. The burn had happened years ago when I was nine. Now I was fifteen, but the image of that terrifying man with a flame in his hand constantly came back to me.
"Mommy! No! Mommy!"
"Step aside!"
"No!"
"Then I'll kill you girl!"
Gasping, I jumped back from the mirror as the memory of a piercing fire struck through my mind. Instinctively I touched the scar on my face and winced as the painful memory struck my mind.
"Crystal! Katara and I are going to get some fish. Want to come?" Sokka suddenly asked, and I turned to see him standing at the doorway of our small igloo. He was watching me for a moment; I saw him notice my hand on my scar. My brother was tall and lean. He had brown hair he kept tied back in a ponytail and soft blue eyes. He was my age, seeing as we were twins. Fraternal of course, since I was prettier, thin with my teenage curves, and my brown hair flowed freely below my shoulder blade. We both had the same colored skin though, and we were alike in some ways.
"You mean you're going to try and get some fish," I said, smirking when my brother glared at me.
He then frowned again when he saw my hand hadn't moved from my scar. "You okay?"
Taking my hand away from my face, I nodded, grimacing at his perception. "Yeah… Just have a lot on my mind."
He nodded, then walked into the small igloo with me and I felt his hand touch my face and trace the burn. Closing my eyes, I felt tears fill them as the memory tried to come back to me. I held them in though. I didn't like crying, especially in front of my family.
"You're having the nightmares again… You're seeing mom's death, aren't you?"
Grabbing Sokka's hand, I pulled it from my face but held it enjoying my brother's warmth and kindness. "I'm fine Sokka… You don't have to worry about me so much. You're only an hour older any way."
He rolled his eyes pulling his hand away. "That still makes me your older brother, and as your older brother I'm supposed to worry."
"Worry more about your other little sister. She's the one that gets into trouble every five minutes."
Sokka sighed. "Yeah… Guess that's what we get for having a waterbender in the family." He extended his hand toward my forehead then, flicking me at the center. I winced and rubbed the spot pouting at him. "You better start cheering up, or I'll tie you upside down to a pole."
"That sounds brutal... I'll meet you down by the boats. I'm going to make sure Gran Gran doesn't need anything before we go."
He nodded. "Don't be too long. I'll go find Katara before she freezes the whole camp."
As Sokka turned and walked off to go find our little sister, I watched him go and smiled weakly. If only he knew he had more than one sister who could waterbend.
Katara had found out she was a bender at a very young age. When she was four she had a small temper tantrum that resulted in freezing dad's feet to the ground. My sister was the talk of the tribe for years, being the last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation had either killed or captured the others. The day the Fire Nation came for Katara after hearing rumors about her, was the day my mother died sacrificing herself.
It was after my mother's death and being burned that I developed my waterbending abilities. It happened on a cold dark night, after I'd had a nightmare and couldn't sleep. I was still only nine, and I couldn't get the memories out of my head.
That night I walked out of the village, my face still bandaged from the injury I'd received a week before. In the light of the moon, I found myself stopping and standing on the middle of a snowy hill. Then I cried out to the ocean and the moon spirits in fury. "You should've helped her! She respected you two so much and you let her die!" It was with rage that I fell on my knees and slammed my fists into the snow. That was when I caused an icy path to shoot from where I stood across the South Pole almost ten yards away. The snow that was once just snow was ice that shined from the light of the moon, and it was all because of me.
Either the spirits had granted me the ability to bend, or I'd had it in me all along and it finally came out.
Over the next few years I'd practiced in secret. If the village found out I could waterbend and I hadn't told anyone, they'd have all hated me. It was better this way that I was the only one to know. That way Katara would get the title 'Last Waterbender of the South Pole'.
Walking out into the freezing cold air, I found my Gran Gran seated with a group of her elderly friends sowing clothing. Walking over to her, she looked up and smiled kindly to me with her loving faded blue eyes. "There you are granddaughter. I was just telling Fera how beautiful your singing voice is."
"Stop bragging Kanna. We've all heard Crystal's singing and I do agree it's the best in the village. You can stop throwing it in all our faces," a woman in her early thirties said, a young child on her lap. Fera had been a friend of my mom's before the last raid. After my mother's death, she helped my Gran Gran raise us while father ran off to play Chief.
"I'm not that good," I blushed, wondering when these people had heard me sing anyway. Then I recalled I'd been singing the other night while I was cooking dinner. How many people had heard me? "Um… I just came over to tell you I was going with Sokka and Katara to fish. Do you need anything before I go?"
Gran Gran shook her head. "No dear. Go have fun with your siblings so I can brag about you more."
Blushing more, I nodded and ran off through the village. It was mid-afternoon by the looks of it, so by the time we ate it would probably be sunset. That's if we caught any fish.
Running past the snowy fort my brother had made, I found myself out of the village and facing a watery stream. Katara and Sokka were at a canoe already, arguing about something as I walked up. My sister was my size, and her brown hair went farther than my own. She kept hers in a braid though. Looking over at me as I approached, I saw her watery blue eyes shining from the sun.
"Crystal! Glad you're here. Can you please help me out here! Tell him that there's probably more fish downstream than up."
Sokka rolled his eyes. "My instincts tell me we should go upstream."
Rolling my eyes, I said, "Your instincts almost got us killed last week Sokka. I say we go down stream, but you're the boss."
Sokka glowered at me, and then threw his spear in the boat. Katara giggled from my comment, knowing I was just joking about the boss thing. "Fine," Sokka muttered. "We'll go down. Get in before I change my mind."
Katara and I hopped in the small wooden canoe, and I saw my sister shoot me a grateful glance glad I'd chosen her side. As Sokka pushed us off the snowy shore, I watched him jump in the canoe and grab a paddle. Grabbing the other one we began to paddle our way down stream while Katara kept an eye out for fish. It was thirty minutes after reaching the deeper water that Katara shouted, "Found one!"
Sokka and I put our paddles down and carefully looked over the side. There were about five or six below us, and though they were small they would do. Sokka handed me my own spear, and we both pointed our weapons down toward the water. From the corner of my eyes I watched as Katara tried to use waterbending to get one.
Looking back at the fish, I went to stab one with my spear. The fish easily dodged and I growled in annoyance. "Nice try Crystal, but watch and learn. This is how you catch a fish." Rolling my eyes, I took my spear back and watched my twin brother concentrate and point his spear down at the water. As he did this I noticed Katara was using waterbending to catch her own fish.
As Katara formed a tight water ball around one of the fish and managed to lift it from the stream, I smiled approvingly at her. She had really improved since the last time I saw her bend. "Sokka look!"
My brother ignored her as he continued to look at the fish. "Shh Katara… You're gonna scare it away. Mmm… I can already smell it cooking."
"But look Sokka. I caught one!" My sister exclaimed, and I smirked at how happy she seemed moving the ball of water back and forth in the air. Sokka suddenly thrust his spear upward popping the water ball and causing the fish to fall. As this occurred I leaned forward and caught the fish before it fell in the water. It wriggled in my hand but I was too hungry to care.
As Katara began to whine to Sokka, I placed the slimy cold fish in a satchel Sokka had brought to put the fish in. "Ugh! Why is it that every time you play with your magic water I get soaked?" Sokka seemed annoyed, and I looked over to see he was wet on his head and shirt. He'd be really cold by the time we headed back.
"It's not magic," Katara snapped. "It's waterbending, and it's-"
"Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture, blah blah blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself."
"It's not weird, Sokka," I defended, crossing my arms. "It's a beautiful skill that-"
Sokka interrupted, "What would you know about it?"
Immediately I shut my mouth. If I told him I knew about it because I could do it myself he'd be furious I never told him. "Nothing," I lied. "I'm just saying that Katara's ability is a beautiful thing, and one day in the future you'll be really glad she has it."
"I just said it was weird. You don't see me or you bending water around."
"You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water," Katara snapped.
Sokka scowled, "That was one time!"
The boat suddenly lurched up and I fell back in the canoe from the impact. It was then I saw the stream was taking us downhill and it was heading us straight toward an iceberg. "Oh crap!" I shouted, managing to sit back up. Sokka was quickly at the back of the canoe using a lever to change direction.
"Watch out! Go left! Go left!" Katara cried, and I shrieked as our canoe barely missed the berg. Cold wind hit my face as we traveled downstream and I prayed to the ocean spirit we would be safe. As we dodged more icebergs and cold water splashed on us, we eventually crashed into an iceberg that had connected with three other ones. Just as our canoe hit the bergs we jumped out and fell on the icy platform.
As Katara and Sokka began to argue again while we all stood, I looked at the stream that completely surrounded us. How were we getting home from here? I guess if it came down to it I'd have to show Sokka I was a waterbender.
"You call that left?" Katara snapped.
Sokka scowled. "You don't like my steering. Well, maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice!"
"So it's my fault?"
Oh boy… Another brother sister fight. At once I tried to intervene but they both shot me looks that clearly said stay out of this.
"I knew I should have left you home. Leave it to a girl to screw things up," Sokka muttered.
"Hey!" I cried. "What's that comment supposed to mean? You invited us!"
Katara was furious and yelled, "You're the most sexist, immature, nut brained… Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died Crystal and I have been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!" As Katara shouted this Sokka and I watched with horror that as she threw her hands out in rage the iceberg behind her was beginning to crack in half.
"Uh… Katara…" Sokka began, while I tried to step over.
"I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!" Katara was still screaming and the iceberg was splitting even more into two.
"Alright, let's all just calm down. We're just tired and cranky from being up all day. Why don't we-"
The iceberg suddenly split and opened right in the middle cutting me off. A huge gust of wind flew at us as this occurred and I was thrown back on my butt. The impact hurt, and I winced from the pain. As the ice below us stopped shaking, I looked up to see Katara and Sokka were standing once more. Sokka quickly helped me up, then muttered to Katara, "Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish, Katara."
Katara gawked. "You mean I did that?"
"Yup… Congratulations."
We all stared up at the cracked iceberg then, and as we did I noticed something. There seemed to be a glowing blue form inside the iceberg, and by the silhouette of the form I could tell it was a person with some giant beast behind him. They were frozen solid.
"There's something in the iceberg," I said.
"Or someone," Katara corrected, then grabbed Sokka's club from his back.
Sokka shouted after her, but Katara ignored him and ran to the edge of the iceberg. She stared inside it for a moment, and I started to walk forward to help her. Sokka grabbed me by the forearm. "No Crystal. Stay back before you get hurt." Then he made his way instead to the edge of the iceberg.
Crossing my arms annoyed, I gave a pout. You get burned one time and that labels you as someone prone to danger for the rest of your life. With a sigh I walked up to where Katara was continuously whacking the iceberg with Sokka's club.
"He's alive! We have to help him!" Katara was frantic as she chipped ice away little by little. Looking into the berg, I did notice blue eyes were glowing back at us.
"We don't know what that thing is!" Sokka cried.
"I say we get away. It could be dangerous," I said.
Katara ignored the both of us. She eventually managed to crack the ice and another gust of air blew at us. We covered our faces and screamed from the strong cold burst. As we did I saw nothing but blue light from the cracks of my fingers, and I saw this light stretched toward the sky. Then when it stopped, we looked up in shock to see a boy walking out of the iceberg, markings on his hands and head glowing.
Sokka got in front Katara and I to block us from the bald kid who looked no older than twelve. "Stop!" Sokka ordered as the glowing boy approached us. Then his blue light faded and he slumped over unconscious. Katara noticed and caught the kid just as his head was about to connect with the ice.
What the spirits just happened?
Sokka had at some point grabbed the water tribe club back and poked the kid with the end of it. "Stop it!" Katara ordered, shoving the weapon off the kid.
As the kid began to come to, I heard him whisper, "I need to ask you something."
Katara looked at him with both bewilderment and curiosity. "What?" she asked.
His eyes opened wide then, and I noticed they were of gray tint. The kid was wearing a yellow shirt with an orange like shawl on top and brown trouser pants. Definitely a foreigner seeing as we all had hair and were wearing blue coats and blue trousers. The water tribe greatly valued the color blue because it looked like water.
"Please come closer," the boy begged.
Katara bent her head down so she was closer.
"Will you go penguin sledding with me!"
My hand connected to my forehead and I shook my head in utter disbelief. Who was this kid? He just came out of an iceberg and now he wanted to go penguin sledding. Crazy kid! Really crazy kid!
Somehow we managed to get back to the Southern Water Tribe, and it was only because we'd gotten a lift on Appa, Aang's "flying" bison. Aang was the kid we'd found in the iceberg, and it turns out he was an airbender who had somehow gotten stuck. He had no memory of how it happened; only making me and Sokka even more suspicious. On the way back to the village Aang fell asleep, and I saw Katara smile as the kid snored softly.
"He seems like a good guy," Katara said.
Sokka was too busy controlling the giant reins of the big fury skybison named Appa that we were on. Looking at Katara I asked, "But you don't find all of this odd? He was trapped in an iceberg for who knows how long and he comes out perfectly fine? He should be dead, not wanting to go penguin sledding!"
"Crystal's right, Katara. This guy shouldn't be trusted. For all we know he might be with the Fire Nation!"
At the mention of Fire Nation I felt my tan skin turn pale. Goosebumps went up and down my spine as a memory of a hot flame came back to me. Last thing I wanted was to get involved with more Fire Nation. They were all savages who cared for no one but themselves. Touching my scar, I closed my eyes as the memories tried to come again. It would've been easier to forget if I'd never been cursed with this mark.
When we got back to the water tribe Sokka gave Aang a piggy back ride back to the village while Katara carried his staff. We had no fish when we reached our small igloo home, and I knew this would greatly upset Gran Gran. As Sokka went to put Aang on my sleeping bag, and Katara went to go tell Gran Gran everything that had occurred, I grabbed a small bag and walked back out of the village toward the sea.
It was getting dark now, but I knew I had to help out my family as much as I could. We hadn't had meat in two days and I knew we were all getting hungry. Approaching the dark waters I used bending to create an icy platform that I managed to stand on. Then I made another one and hopped onto it. By the time I made my tenth icy platform I saw I was a good fifty yards from the icy shore. All around me was nothing but dark water. Staring at the waters below, I tried to see past the sunset colors so I could see movement beneath. When I did I thrust my hand forward catching the fish in a water bubble.
When I finally finished I'd managed to catch five fish, which was enough to last us for a few days. Hopping from ice platform to platform I finally managed to get back on the snow covered land of the South Pole. With the bag on my shoulder heavy and full, I made my way back toward the tribe.
Gran Gran was surprised when she saw all the fish I'd managed to catch and Sokka and Katara were bewildered. "How'd you catch so many?" Sokka asked.
Shrugging, I sat the wet bag down beside the fire. "Lucky I guess." Katara eyed me suspiciously, but I was already sitting by the small fire we created. "Who's hungry?"
That night after we ate and saved some meat for Aang in the morning, I plopped down beside Katara after we'd removed our shoes and coats. My sleeping bag was taken by Aang so I had to share with my sister. We'd done it before when we were little so it was no big deal.
As we both got settled, I turned over so I wouldn't have to see Katara's piercing gaze. She was really suspicious, and I knew I couldn't keep up this secret much longer. Soon Gran Gran, Sokka, and Aang's snores filled the igloo, and I tried to close my eyes so I could follow their lead.
"How'd you do it?" Katara suddenly asked.
My body went stiff, and I was sure Katara noticed sense she was right beside me. "Like I said," I whispered. "Just really lucky."
"You're a waterbender, aren't you?" she asked.
My eyes shot wide open. "What gave you that idea?"
Katara sighed, "Never mind. Don't tell me."
Immediately guilt filled inside me, and I shut my eyes trying to push it back. Tell her! My mind was practically screaming at me, but I was scared. She'd hate me if she found out I could bend and never told her. Sighing, I kept my mouth shut and let sleep take me over. Katara could be mad at me all she wanted. This was a secret I wanted to keep to myself.
The next morning I woke up to find everyone was still asleep. Managing to get out of the sleeping bag without waking up Katara, and slipping on my boots and coat silently, I walked outside into the breaking dawn and stared at the yellow sky with a smile. It was a new day, and I was certain a particular airbending boy would make it interesting.
Leaving the quiet village once more, I walked a good mile from it and then started to bend the snow around me. Lifting the water into the air, I gracefully moved my hands so that the water flowed the way I wanted it to. I practiced for an hour, and after the sun was starting to show in the sky, I decided it would be good to head back to the village.
When I got back the whole village (which only consisted of twenty women and children) was crowded around our small igloo home. Their main focus was a certain airbender who looked a bit surprised to see everyone. As I got closer I saw Katara and Sokka standing near him, and Katara was making introductions.
"Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, meet Aang."
Aang bowed to the village, and I noticed they all backed away in fear. We'd never met an airbender before, so we weren't sure if Aang was going to hurt us or not. "Uh, why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" The boy looked down to make sure his clothes were okay.
"Well no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct until my granddaughters and grandson found you," Gran Gran said, staring at the boy suspiciously.
"Extinct?" Aang asked, not sure what to make of what she said.
Stepping through the crowd, I heard Katara say, "Aang, this is my grandmother."
"Call me Gran Gran."
Aang nodded and bowed politely to her. As he did I saw Sokka walk over and grab Aang's staff. "What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this."
As Aang explained the glider to the tribe, I saw Katara look over at me with that same suspicious look from before. Walking over to her as Aang began to fly in the sky and the children laughed, I saw her turn her head from me. "I'm not talking to you," she said.
"Katara," I began.
She snapped her head up. "No! Don't Katara me! When you tell me the truth, then we'll talk!"
She then turned her attention back to Aang and I backed off. There was nothing else I could do at the moment to make her understand. She'd forgive me eventually. Why not just tell her? She's one herself so she'll understand. My heart yearned to tell someone, but I wasn't ready. Last thing I wanted was for it to get around the village. Katara was the last waterbender of the South Pole, and I wasn't ready to take that title away from her.
As Katara went to help Aang who had flew into Sokka's fort, I turned deciding to just get a start on my chores. Last thing I needed now was Gran Gran fussing at me for slacking.
Later that day I noticed Katara had started to talk to me again. She couldn't stay mad at me, and deeply I was relieved. Last thing I wanted was my little sister hating me. "I'm taking Aang penguin sledding. You want to come?"
Nodding, I said, "Sure. I could use some fun."
It was with that saying that I found myself on top of a giant penguin with Aang and Katara beside me. We were sliding fast down the steep snowy mountain two miles from our tribe, and I screamed from the thrill and rush. My hair flew behind me and the cold wind made my exposed skin numb. Looking beside me I saw Aang and Katara laughing. This was the most fun I'd seen Katara have in a long time.
Eventually we got to leveled ground, and we all were laughing at this point. The penguins bucked us off as we continued to laugh, and I watched with amusement as the large beasts waddled away.
Katara stood, brushing off snow. "How was that for penguin sledding?"
Aang jumped up. "Awesome! We should go again!"
I stood brushing off the wet snow from my own clothes. "Maybe later... We have to head back to the village."
Katara looked at the sun and pouted. "Man... Why does time always go by so fast?"
"Hey, what is that?" Aang suddenly asked, and I looked at the kid to see him pointing at something.
Shooting my eyes to the captured giant metal ship of the fire nation, I felt my blood run cold. Aang started to walk toward it and Katara followed. "A Fire Navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people."
At Katara's words I felt fear fill inside me. I'd tried for years to ignore the memories that always tried to resurface.
"Step aside girl!"
"Crystal... Do as he says."
"No!"
"Then suffer!"
Gasping, I found I was shaking as I clutched my head and tried to hold myself up.
"Hey... You okay?" Aang asked, noticing I suddenly went still.
Katara walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. She knew why I went stiff and didn't need to ask.
"Ye-yeah," I shakily answered Aang, my voice cracking. "I just... I need to get out of here." Katara nodded with understanding while Aang stared at me with concern and confusion.
Without hesitation, I turned and ran from the steel ship as fast as I could go; turned and tried to run from my memories. The farther I got from the ship, the farther my memories left me.
