trans_9 | The Sinking Feeling You Get When You Eat Magic Food

Was that Jamie? It was! A cuter and still indignant Jamie, but why was he so small and young, and why was she so...

OH.

"Yes, me too," Katara said, "And I think I know why too. I was just thirsty and wasn't feeling like too much sugar, so I went for the lemonade. You probably went for the brownies, didn't you?"

"Aye," he replies, his mouth pulling off to the side in a very familiar way. "I've not had one in a very long time." His sweet tooth got the better of him, and, well...you can see the result. He hitches up the kilt as it starts to slip.

"I wonder who's idea this was," Jamie says darkly. "I'd like to have a few wee words with them." His voice decides that it would be a fun time to crack right in the middle of that, and he looks rather pained. He's not too young, it seems. Just short for his new age.

"I'm sorry you were tricked then," Katara said, offering him a sympathetic smile. To be helpful though, she bent down and started to pin the Kilt closer to his body so it wouldn't fall off. This was the type of thing you needed to learn when your dad went off the war and you were left to play mother to your brother and several of the village boys.

"There," she said. "I won't make fun of you now, but wait until you get bigger again, its only fair." She grinned at him. "In the meantime, why not take advantage of this and do what you've always wanted to do as a kid?"

"It was a good brownie, though," he admits. It was, too, right up to the point where it zapped him into a younger form. He doesn't protest when she adjusts the kilt, and even manages a small smile for her. "Thank ye," he says politely.

He has some ideas about adjusting the belt, but that can wait. "What do ye mean do what I've always wanted to do? I was a kid once, ye know."

Jamie remembered doing quite a lot of things, then. Guddling fish, hunting rabbits, watching the clouds and imagining them to be terrifying beasties, and putting frogs in his cousin's bed. That last one was pretty fun, actually, and he chuckles a little as he remembers it.

"I may be a wee bit older now...er, normally, but I've not forgotten what it's like."

"I'll take your word for it," Katara said. "Where I'm from you don't really have the opportunity to ave a lot of sweets. I don't mind them, but I won't have them too often. They're ok."

She stood up. "You're welcome. I don't want you tripping over the kilt, right?"

She laughed. "Sorry. I meant, what would you do if you WERE a kid again that you can't do now? I think I phrased that wrong...I've been talking with some others, and they tended to not really get to enjoy being a kid."

She grinned. "Sounded like you had fun!"

"Aye, I'd not care to tear it." Oh, he could likely get it mended, but it'd not be quite the same afterward. And while, eventually, he knows he'll need to get it replaced, he's hoping to be able to hold off on that happening for quite some time. He doesn't really want to lose this last tie to his old life.

There's a soft 'Ah' when Katara corrects herself, and he thinks about it for a moment. "There's not much ye can't do, not with the Sensoriums being here. But if I had to pick something, it would be frog catching. Do ye have frogs where ye come from?"

"It could be mended, but I'm thinking it wouldn't be the same," Katara said. She hadn't been hanging with Jamie all this time and neglected that he liked the things that were still his. It might have been why he was so resistant to wearing a different colored kilt: THIS one was the last thing he had left from where he lived, just like her necklace and her tribe clothing was all she had left of her own.

She wrinkled her nose a little. "Yes," she said, thinking of the last gross encounter she had with a frog. Poor Sokka had still been convinced he had a wart in the back of his throat. "So let's go do that, why not?"

Seeing Katara wrinkling her nose, Jamie gets the idea that maybe that's not something she enjoys overmuch. And while he wouldn't mind it, he doesn't necessarily want to force her into doing something she wouldn't enjoy because she wants to humor him. "Look, Katara, if ye don't want to catch frogs, just say so."

There's always something else that they could come up with, he figures. "What did ye do when ye were little?"

Edited 2010-11-23 09:42 (UTC)

"It isn't that, believe me," Katara said, laughing at herself. "I just had an unpleasant memory, that's all. See, one time me and my brother got really sick, and Aang had to go and get medicine. Well, he found it and gave it to us...we just didn't know that medicine was sucking and partially frozen frogs."

Which was funny talking about it now, but had been far from funny then, that was for sure. "Oh, ice sledding, igloo building, things involving water. Your catching frogs idea sounds great, actually."

"Oh!" It's not the strangest cure Jamie had heard of - far from it. In his day, pretty much anything and everything was used to make medicine. Frogs might have very well found their way into some mixtures. Some of what she said is a little bit different, though. "Why did they have to be partially frozen? Did it work better that way?"

And since they seem to have agreed on frog hunting, Jamie starts to head towards the Sensoriums, figuring Katara'll catch up with him relatively quickly - especially given their relative sizes at the moment.

"They only worked when they were frozen, for some reason," Katara said, shaking her head. "Maybe there was something the skin gave off combined with the ice, I'm not sure. I know that once they were thawed off and hopped off on their own, we were pretty surprised. Sokka almost had a heart attack."

Katara followed suit of course, making sure that Jamie led the way, as it would be his memories that framed what they would do next. She was actually looking forward to this though.

"Aye," Jamie says quietly. "Ye must miss having him around." Having her friends here may help, but it's hard when your family was here as well, and then has to go back. Without thinking about it, he reaches his hand back and offers it to Katara. He may be smaller, but he's still thinking like normal Jamie, and he thinks she might not mind the comfort.

And maybe the Sensoriums will help. Once he gets there, he goes first, fixing in his mind a marshy area similar to one found not too far from where he grew up. There's plenty of places there where frogs can live and breed quite happily, and a while there's a settlement that can be seen in the distance, the area right here is quite unspoiled by the hand of man.

Turning to Katara, he comments rather dryly, "Well, I did tell ye I'd show ye Scotland some day. I hope ye don't mind getting a wee bit mucked up."

She lowered her head a moment. "Yeah, him and Zuko, even Mai. They were all people that meant something to me. It's hard to think its possible I may never see them again. If I didn't have you guys here on the ship, I don't know. I'd be in a really bad place right now."

She did take his hand here, glad to have it, really. There wasn't any doubt about getting comfort from that. She is a little surprised when everything around them starts to change though: when she looks all around her, she doesn't see a glade. but a muddy swamp, which actually reminded her of back home.

"Yeah, I guess I did! I don't mind though: we actually were in a place like this in my world once, and we met swamp benders. Hold on a minute."

She cuffed up her sleeves and leggings, making sure to braid her hair just so it wouldn't get in the way. Katara was girly, but not afraid to get a little dirty.

"Ok, let's go find some frogs!"

"Aye, let's!" He, too, makes sure that things aren't going to get in the way. Luckily, Katara was quite good at pinning the kilt in place, and he's confident he won't lose it.

Jamie starts to carefully comb his way through the area he's in, moving as quietly as he can. Too much noise will scare away the frogs, and he doesn't want to do that. It does defeat the purpose, after all. He turns towards Katara and holds up a finger to her mouth to ask her to do the same.

Hopefully she'll understand what he's trying to do.

If there was one thing that Katara could do, it was move nimbly. She had watched how Toph was still a little mystified how Aang moved so quietly with his feet, and how he had done it. It was with air currents, so of course she could never master it as Aang did, but thanks to her training, she DID know how to reposition her steps so that she made the least amount of noise possible.

The marsh was still new, of course, as far as background was concerned. She was used to frozen tundra an even desert land by now, but this was something else entirely. Still, she was able to move deftly: after a few missteps, she could move lightly, waiting for Jamie's version of frogs to show themselves.

The marsh is filled with various sounds, from the hum of insects to the slight rustling of vegetation as some of its occupants move through them. Jamie stops, craning his head slightly to listen for any signs of frogs calling out. And soon enough, he picks up on a faint, high-pitched chirping noise. He motions to Katara to follow, and takes off towards the noise.

It's not too far until he can see their quarry - a small, brown creature with irregular black blotches covering its smooth skin. It's sitting on a rock, and appears blissfully unaware of their presence. "That's what they look like," murmurs Jamie, as quietly as he can. "Ye want to try and sneak up on it and grab it before it gets away." Once it's found a plant to hide under, it's much harder to spot.

Katara followed him, heaing the noise herself. She was pretty good and moving quietly, but catching something as small as a frog was something she was woefully inexperienced at.

She nodded at Jamie's words, and decided to try her hand at catching on herself. She crept up as quietly as she could, moving with stealth as she'd done the day that she'd went hunting for the man from the Southern Raiders. She was about to grab him...when a particularly muddy hole in the mash tripped her up. Not only did the frog get away, but Katara fell face first into the marsh.

She came up sputtering, sprigs of plant in her hair and mud everywhere.

"I think I'll let you show me," she said dryly.

That's pretty funny - and while he doesn't actually laugh out loud at Katara's misfortune, there's a hint of a smile on his face. He's trying very hard not to be a jerk about it, though, and goes over to help her up.

"Aye, maybe you'd better."

Once he's sure Katara's okay, he moves back out into the marsh to try and find another frog. It takes a bit, since the ones in the immediate area took off once they heard the noise. Finally, though, he does spot one. He's more used to this area than Katara is, so he's able to find a path where he can move into position without falling in.

Jamie inches closer and closer to the frog and is just about to reach over and grab it when there's a faint pop from the water's surface as a particularly fetid bubble of swamp gas bursts practically under Jamie's nose.

His face contorts as he tries to fight back a sneeze...and fails. "Ah...ah...achoo!" The frog takes off and Jamie falls on his rump back into the water - with a very unhappy expression on his face.

Oh, Katara could forgive you this time, especially since you were looking adorable enough as it was, Jamie. Still, she also looked a little surly about tripping all over herself, so she followed him with a grouchy look for the moment, her pride noticeably taking a hit.

Once she saw he was closing in, she watched from a distance so as not to disturb the frog. She could watch easily enough, and though this area was new, she could still move about water pretty easily.

Jamie was closing in, almost had it, and that bubble bursts and throws off Jamie's pursuit. She bit back a giggle and made her way toward him, looking only slightly amused.

There was an easier way for her to do this, but she was almost guaranteed that Jamie wouldn't approve, so she helped him up to his feet.

"Try again?" she asked.

Just don't tell him he's adorable. He'll get all cranky about it...rather like he does right at the moment, actually. He knows full well that Katara probably has some sort of water-bending trick up her sleeve to try and catch the frogs. It's not like the place is lacking in the liquid, after all.

But it's not half as much fun as trying to catch them the other way, even with impromptu sneezes, so he nods. "Aye, follow me." And he's off again, making his way through the swamp. This time, he almost doesn't spot the frog until he's nearly on it. Realizing it's there at the last second, he throws himself at it with a yell - completely forgetting he's supposed to be quiet.

Fortunately, he's gotten used enough to being back in a smaller form that he doesn't trip over himself in the process, and he manages to grab hold of the frog. "Got it!" he says, triumphantly.

He turns to show it to Katara, and the frog takes that moment to squirt free from his hands and launch itself in the general direction of Katara's face. Well, at least she's got a chance to catch it now?

Katara watched as Jamie moved with gusto for the next frog. Yes, she would make sure to keep how cute he looked to herself for fear or embarrassing him, even if it really was nice to see him so excited. It looked like he might fail again though, but she was soon proved otherwise wrong.

Mostly.

He finally did grab this one, and she was about to clap her hands enthusiastically when the frog shot out of his grip and went straight for her face. Without thinking about it her hand shout out and nabbed the frog, holding him just enough not to squish him but tightly enough so it wouldn't get away.

Whoa. Every once and awhile she was amazed at how much better she'd gotten at this sort of thing since arriving on the ship. She would definitely had fumbled and yelled about the frog coming near her face in the past.

"Nice Jamie!" She said, grinning, letting the frog bounce away, using her bending to get some of the mud off him. 'Let's catch another together!"

Being muddy was part of the fun, but Jamie figures it's better not fuss when Katara bends some of the goop away. Getting into an argument over it would mean less time frog hunting. And, eventually, if things didn't wear off, they'd have to stop playing and figure out what to do next. Better to simply continue with what they're doing, he figures. So it was back to creeping through the swamp. Jamie thought idly that this part was rather easier than he remembers it being - although he's not sure if it's his size, or the extra experience he's gotten in moving quietly since he was actually a lad.

"Funny how this stuff works," he comments idly. "Ye can catch them easier and I can move easier...hey. That gives me an idea! Wait here."

He disappears into the depths of the swamp again, and a few moments later there's a mighty yell of 'Creag an tuire!' and some thrashing about. A very startled looking frog comes hopping in Katara's direction with a second and a third frog following close behind. Apparently they were all in the same area that Jamie just chose to make a heck of a lot of noise in.

"Katara! See if ye can't grab one of those!"

Katara was also pretty pleased to see how quickly Jamie was maneuvering himself through the swamp: she was pretty sure it was because of all of his new duties as Red ranger. She made a mental note to let him know this once he got bigger, but for now they had nigger fish to fry. Or frogs to catch, as it were.

"We've gotten a lot better because we're faster now," she said, then stifled when he moved on faster, keeping up. With the yell, Katara's senses were on alert, and once the frog came through she seized it quickly, then nabbed the second and placed them in her lap just in time to grab the third.

By the time Jamie came back he'd see three ribbing frogs and a beaming older Katara, pleased as punch that the slipperiness of the frogs still hadn't prevented her from overtaking them.

It wouldn't be entirely due to that - although it does help. Jamie did have three years or so where there was plenty of creeping along in various places to be had before coming to Stacy. He's just not thought to apply it to frog hunting before...mostly because he hasn't thought about frog hunting itself in quite some time. This whole reverting to a younger age did have some benefits, it seems.

Spotting Katara and the frogs, Jamie grins himself. "Hey, ye got all of them!" That's pretty impressive - even he thinks he wouldn't have been able to do that. Not that he'll say so out loud. Even wee Jamie has some pride.

"Do ye want me to flush out some more for ye or should we take a break?"

Katara herself hadn't expected to catch the frogs so quickly, which just goes to show that she'd gotten even better and hadn't known it. It was really the terrain she'd had to get used to though: she hadn't been in a marsh in a really long time. In any case, it was definitely fun to see Jamie enjoying himself so much.

She grinned. "I guess I did! I can see why you like doing this, its a challenge! I only just barely held onto all of them!"

She thought a moment, then said, "Oh, let's keep doing this a little while longer. It's fun!"

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