The Outsider- Avatar Fanfic

Chapter 5- Turns out I'm not normal, and the Avatar just might be real.

I'm once again sitting on the deck next to Iroh, watching Zuko train. Things aren't really going well; Zuko was getting all fired up (literally) and Uncle was doing his best to calm the prince down. I just rolled my eyes at him. Iroh started going on about how firebending came from the breath and not the muscles, so my mind began to wander. I got up and walked towards the side of the ship, leaning against the rail and closing my eyes, breathing in the fresh sea air, and I felt my head clear.

Then a thought occurred to me. What if I could bend? I'm now in a world where they have this ability, so why not? I remembered the strange experience I had had with the wind before, and the feeling of power and wholeness that I had felt. I shrugged. What's the harm in trying?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the smell of salt and seawater, with a little bit of smoke mixed in. The wind brushed against my skin, caressing it with its long cold fingers; it twisted and turned around my body, rustling the fabric. It whispered in my ears, saying things I could not yet understand, but I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to learn the language of the wind.

I continued to breath deeply, and eventually the sounds of firebending faded away, leaving nothing but the wind. I felt strangely still as the world moved around me, constantly shifting. Then I realised that I could feel the shifting, the movements of the benders behind me, the birds soaring in the sky, even the boat itself as it scythed through the currents of air.

The wind whispered its encouragement, it wanted me to learn the secretive language it spoke. It talked to me in a continuous stream, in whispers and howls, telling me about the things it had seen in its eternal wandering around the world; feeling of the air under my wings, soaring high into the sky with total freedom.

Freedom.

I felt myself being pulled along with the gusty breeze, wanting to be free. Wanting to fly through the clouds, feel the sun at my back and never have to worry about earthly troubles.

I started to see images, smells and sounds carried on the South Wind's back; images of icebergs and frozen wastelands, white upon white. It wanted to go to warmer lands, lands of green grass and golden flowers. I felt myself lighten and begin to drift, lifting away with the wind.....

Suddenly I felt a disturbance behind me, of something moving closer.

Danger, the wind whispered to me.

My eyes snapped open and without thinking I whirled around, shooting out my arm and splaying my hand.

Zuko went flying, landing on his royal derrière about ten metres away, staring up at me with pure shock on his face. At any other time, I would have busted a lung laughing at him, but I didn't. Because I was staring at my outstretched arm in wonder and fascination.

Because I hadn't touched him.

Time seemed to freeze, as everyone on deck stared at me. Iroh was the first to speak, saying the word that was going through everyone's mind.

'Airbender,' he breathed. I looked at him with wide eyes, my mouth still hanging open.

Airbender.

Zuko shook himself out of his reverie, and leaped to his feet, a thunderous scowl gracing his features. He stalked up to my still-frozen body and promptly drew my hands together and shoved me towards the helm.