It was still dead silent when Jasmine woke up but she didn't mind. The girl liked being up when it was dark and everyone was fast asleep; it gave her a sense of peace and time to think without being interrupted.
This time, she thought about how she could possibly avoid her grandmother. It wouldn't be an easy task as the village in the southern water tribe was small.
Always voicing out her opinion without any filter got her into trouble most of the time, just like this time. Her grandmother was a strict woman, especially when it came to tradition. Jasmine couldn't and wouldn't agree and go along with some of them as she found them ridiculous. She still tried her best to respect them; especially since she was the youngest child of the tribe's Chief, Hakoda. Having a higher rank was an additional reason to act accordingly. But only she seemed to have trouble with that as her two siblings were fine with everything.
However, Jasmine found she was right for once. This time, the tradition went too far, even if it was the one her twin sister, Katara, was excited about the most. In Jasmine's opinion her twin must have lost her mind.
Tomorrow would be the twins' 16th birthday. The celebration would be huge, as girls, after they have turned 16, undergo sort of a three year long training which prepares them for their marriage at age 19. The girls take care of most of the chores and other tasks which are typical for a housewife. The other women in the tribe are more or less not allowed to help or do anything when the girl in question is there. Then after these preparation years, the girl would have to marry a man of her tribe.
Jasmine didn't want to marry someone she didn't love and spend the rest of her life as a housewife. The girl hadn't even seen the outside world and hadn't met other people yet. She wanted to see and experience the culture and life in the other countries before settling down with the one she loves. She knew that travelling the world was practically impossible due to the war which didn't seem to end any time soon.
That's exactly why she spoke up against her grandmother, saying that she didn't want to be part of the birthday celebration and training. There weren't any men or boys left in her village. Everyone went away to fight in the war, leaving only the fragile elderly, little children, and the women behind. Her father, as the Chief, went with them as well. With that, her two siblings and grandmother were the only family left in the village as her mother had passed away when she was six years old.
Jasmine always wondered if things would have gone differently if her mother was still alive. The girl had always been different from the rest of her family and even though her grandmother treated the three siblings the same, she could see in her eyes that she looked at her youngest grandchild differently.
The youngest tried to be unbothered by the different look in her grandmother's eyes. However she couldn't help but think that it was Katara who had been the favourite child of the three, and of course her older brother Sokka as well since he was the first son.
Jasmine partially blamed it on her different looks which were the first thing to differ her from the rest. Unlike the typical water tribe look which consisted of blue eyes, olive skin and brown hair, she had dark, almost black eyes, pale skin and pitch black shirt hair and freckles covered her nose and cheeks. In her opinion she looked like a Fire Nation citizen and she was sure the other thought so as well. However no one would dare to say that out loud.
Something that made her stand out as well was her big mouth. The girl couldn't simply shut up or sugar-coat everything she said. Katara was an openly kind and caring person, almost motherly-like, and often scolded the youngest, about not keeping her mouth shut. The advice that it's better to stay silent sometimes was nothing for her as she simply liked to say what's on her mind. Thus she got into trouble often.
However, Jasmine was somehow glad that it was Katara who was the golden child. She didn't like too much attention. But if she wanted to, she could get all the attention she wanted if only she didn't hide the fact that she could bend fire and water. She rather let Katara be the only waterbender in the tribe.
"Shh, you coming?" The sudden whisper snapped her out of her thoughts. The girl snapped her head to where the voice came from with wide eyes. She let out a breath of relief when she saw it was her older brother Sokka. Even though Katara was her twin, Jasmine always felt like she had a better relationship with her older brother.
Knitting her eyebrows slightly, she tilted her head to the side. "Why are you awake? It's still dark outside?" It wasn't like her brother to get up so early.
"I want to go fishing but not alone. You want to come?" His question brought a smile to her face. It was nice to think that he wanted her company.
She got up from her bed and nodded. "Let me change quickly."
The girl got out of her tent only to see Sokka stretching his sides. "You ready to catch some fish now, Sokky?"
Her voice made him stop immediately. He straightened his posture and dusted himself off. "How many times have I told you not to call me that stupid nickname?" He crossed his arms and looked at her, waiting for an answer.
She giggled at his annoyed tone. When they were little kids she used to call him that and she hadn't stopped even if he despised it. It was not an appropriate name for a man in his opinion. "Too many times, big bro. But I can't help it, it sounds so cute." She stood on her tip toes and pinched his cheek.
He swatted her hand away quickly before pressing his lips together. He shook his head slightly but the slight pink colour of his cheeks didn't go unnoticed by her. "Just stop calling me Sokky." With that he started walking out of the village, in the direction of the shore where their canoe was waiting.
"Fine," she said and followed him. They both knew that she would never stop calling him that.
Upon seeing the canoe, she remembered how she often thought about leaving the water tribe and travelling the world. Her main goal had been going to the northern water tribe in order to find her mother's family. The topic was highly avoided and every time Jasmine asked her grandmother about it, she would avoid it and change the subject.
The siblings knew very little about their mother's life. Mainly because they were too little to understand or remember something their mother told them and because no one else told them anything now that they were almost grown up. If asked about, her grandmother would only briefly say something everyone already knew; the whole thing smelled fishy for the youngest.
"Hello?" Sokka waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. She snapped her head towards him and waited for him to say something. The youngest hadn't even realised that they already reached the shore. "I've been trying to get attention for a minute now. What's up?"
Shaking her head, she shot him a smile. "Nothing, just thinking," she said while he eyed her briefly. She had considered telling him about her bending or even just about her doubts behind her mother's story. But she decided against it, not wanting him to worry about her. He was already burdened with the task to look after the tribe as the Chief's only son and one of the only boys left behind.
"Were you possibly thinking about your future husband?" He wiggled his eyebrows as he climbed into the canoe.
Jasmin narrowed her eyes and shot her brother a threatening glare as she followed him. When she stood next to him, she nudged her elbow into his side hard. He grimaced with pain and held his side. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Actually I was thinking of ways to make murder look like a canoe accident," she said and shrugged her shoulders briefly. A smirk spread on her lips when Sokka's face turned into an expression of slight fear. He whispered something under his breath she couldn't understand.
"I'm just gonna ignore that, little miss," he said and before he pushed the canoe into the water, Jasmine grabbed his arm. He looked over his shoulder at her and raised an eyebrow. She had heard fast footsteps approaching them as the fresh snow made walking loud. The youngest nodded to the distance where they could see their remaining sibling walking up to them.
"Wait!" Katara called out and waved her arms around wildly. "Where are you going this early?" she asked when she reached her siblings at the shore.
Jasmine shrugged, "just leaving the water tribe, you now." She smiled innocently at Katara who shot her an unimpressed look. The older twin disapproved of her comments and remarks most of the time, but Jasmine couldn't help it; stupid questions required stupid answers.
"Fishing," Sokka intervened quickly. He, just like Jasmine herself, sensed a scolding coming from Katara. "We're just going fishing." Sokka nodded with every word he said, Jasmine joining him quickly.
Katara let out a breath and nodded. Together, the three siblings drove out to the ocean in order to catch some fish for the village. After silently driving for a while, they stopped when Sokka declared that it was the best place to get some food. While Jasmine just stayed seated, she watched her brother fail for the fourth time at catching the fish he had been focusing on with his spear.
"Come on big bro," she said in an amused tone, "It's not like your honour depends on that fish." She let out a chuckle and raised her hands in surrender when he shot her a glare over his shoulder.
"It's not getting away from me this time," he said when he turned away from her to look at the water with slightly knitted eyebrows showing his determination. "Watch and learn sis, this is how you catch a fish." She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.
Katara tapped her twin on the shoulder, successfully getting her attention. She handed Jasmine her glove and the youngest nodded briefly before taking it. Katara barely had time to practise her bending so it was quite understandable that she partially used the time she spent with her siblings to practise. The older twin was always busy and sometimes also took over Jasmine's tasks. Not that the youngest complained, rather she was glad as she always had a dispute with their grandmother every time it came to chores. Jasmine would use her free time to get out of the village and train her bending; more firebending that waterbending.
The older daughter slightly stretched out her arm while she took a deep breath and fixated her eyes on a fish in the water below them. Slightly bending her fingers, the water started to bubble up lightly before a small bubble with the fish in it popped out of the ocean. A big smile stretched on Katara's face while the fish desperately tried to get out of the water cage.
Jasmine nodded briefly with a small smile. Katara manipulated the bubble to float over their heads, the smile never leaving her face. "Guys, look!"
Sokka was quick to shush her without averting his gaze from the fish. "You're gonna scare it away," he said in a quiet tone. He was too distracted that he still didn't notice the bubble lingering above his head. When he raised his spear slowly to kill the fish, the handle popped open the bubble.
He flinched when the water hit him, soaking him as he dropped his spear into the canoe. The fish fell on his head before falling back into the water. Sokka's fish swam away quickly due to the sudden disruption. A chuckle escaped Jasmine's lips, finding the situation amusing, however the oldest didn't feel the same way about it. He turned around with a furious expression covering his young face.
"Why is it that everytime you play with your magic water, I get soaked?!" He clenched his jaw and balled his fists.
Jasmine rolled her eyes at his dramatic complaint. Katara sighed at his original expression for waterbending. "It's not magic water, it's waterbending and it's-"
Her usual tedious speech about the art of waterbending was interrupted by Sokka. "Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture... blah, blah, blah." He turned his back to his sisters and slightly shook his head. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had real powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself," he said as he squeezed the excess water out of his mini ponytail.
Katara crossed her arms as her eyebrows shot up. "You're calling me weird?" she challenged.
Jasmine snickered and mentally agreed with her sister. One time she had found Sokka in his tent while he was in front of a mirror. He had been talking to himself about how handsome he was and about going on a date. Her brother had too much imagination and too little common sense sometimes.
"I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water," the older twin exposed.
"Or in the mirror," Jasmine added, making Katara laugh. The twins didn't even have to prove their point because instead of listening to them, Sokka was doing exactly what Katara had said.
A strong stream in front of them caught Jasmine's attention, her stomach tightening immediately at the sight. "Uh, guys?" she started as the canoe started moving towards the stream slowly. However her siblings weren't paying attention to her. "Look!" The youngest exclaimed loudly, successfully snapping her siblings out of their staring contest, and pointed at the front.
Sokka reacted quickly and tried to steer the canoe out of the way. But a big ice floe came into their way, pushing the canoe directly into the stream. Sokka frantically tried to paddle out of the stream while Jasmine tightly grabbed the closest thing to her which was Katara's arm. The older twin hugged her back tightly as both sisters screamed while the canoe slammed into different ice floes while quickly floating down the stream.
"Watch out!" Katara yelled and pointed at even more ice floes in front of them. They were so close to each other that it was impossible for the canoe to get through them. It would be crushed immediately. Jasmine mentally prepared herself for the end and even tightened her grip on her sister.
"I love you guys so damn much!" the youngest shouted out with her eyes tightly shut. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the left side was free of any ice floes. Letting go of Katara, she grabbed Sokka's shoulders harshly. "Left! Go left!"
In his panicked state he mistook left for right which led the canoe deeper into the stream. By now it was floating down the stream at unbelievable speed. The canoe slammed against another ice floe. The loud scraping noise was enough for Jasmine to clasp her hands over her ears but due to the impact, she lost balance and almost fell into the water. Sokka quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into his side, holding her tightly.
Before anything else could happen, the canoe slammed into the biggest ice floe at the end of the stream. Jasmine tightly shut her eyes and held onto her brother for dear life. The rear end of the canoe shot up as the front was crushed. The impact sent the siblings flying out and onto the ice floe. Jasmine, still in her brother's arm, slid across it, coming to a stop at the edge.
A/N - hellooo people! welcome to Fire Meet Gasoline! i decided to rewrite the first story i've ever written. i really do hope that my writing became better, hehe. as this is only a 'rewrite', i won't put myself under pressure to update regularly. i found that it actually slows me down and makes me less motivated if i put myself under too much pressure to update stories.
So i really hope you like the first chapter and for all of you who've read the story before, tell me what you think about the new version so far. (I won't change too much from the original version.)
Stay safe and healthy :)