An Echo of Legends: An ATLA Mystery Story (on hiatus)

Chapter 3: Tenzin

Tenzin couldn't sleep. His house was on fire. His parents were fighting said fire, and Bumi snored very loudly. He tossed and turned on the makeshift sleeping bag for hours, before he heard the front door open. He sat up, and quietly headed down the hall to the living room. As he peeked around the corner, he saw his parents, along with Toph and Zuko trudging into the apartment. They were covered in ash and soot. Tenzin was about to run up and greet them, when a hand grabbed the cuff of his shirt and pulled him back. 

"What are you doing?!" Kya whispered harshly, "You can't just walk in there."

"Why not?"

"Because then we won't hear what they're saying." 

"How is everything?" Mai asked.

"The fire's under control," Aang replied wearily, "There's been some damage to the building, but nothing that we can't fix, and all of the artifacts are mostly safe." Tenzin breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Are the kids asleep?" Katara said. Kya clamped her hand around Tenzin's mouth as he struggled to say something. 

"They should be," Sokka said.

"Well, they can't stay here. We don't know if this could happen again."

"They can stay at Ember Island, while we carry out the investigation," Zuko suggested.

"That's right, we still have the house there," Mai said. Kya frowned and pulled Tenzin back down the hall, just as Toph said, 

"I'm assuming we all had the same thought when we saw the blue fire." Kya walked up to where Bumi was sleeping and shook him awake. 

"Just 2 more hours," he mumbled, "Ugh, Kya, what is it."

"Wake up, we need to talk."

"Fine," he stood up and dragged the quilt he was laying on to the other room. Together they made quite the parade of sleepy teenagers. Izumi's eyes snapped open as soon as Tenzin tapped her shoulder, making him think that she had never been asleep in the first place. Lin was awake in mere moments, and they decided not to wake Su, who was curled up near the wall, breathing evenly. 

"They're trying to send us away," Kya said, "To Ember Island."

"Sounds good to me," Izumi said, with a bitterness that Tenzin didn't understand, "We should stay out of their way. It's not like we're going to be able to help them." Tenzin nodded. He wasn't big on danger or fighting. He loved the spiritual side of bending. Meditation, discipline, balancing exercises. 

"Honestly, a vacation on the beach sounds great," Bumi said, "We won't have to worry about anything." But Tenzin knew he would worry. He always worried about everything. At least if he were in Republic city he would know where his parents were. Still...

"I guess Ember Island wouldn't be so bad," he said out loud, "What do you think, Lin." The beach would only be fun if he could look at tide pools with her. The open ocean was intimidating. 

"I really want to stay," Lin said quietly, seriously, "I want to be a police chief, just like my mom, and I want to watch the investigation." 

"I bet if we talk to them, they'll let us stay," Kya said confidently. She and Lin stood up to leave.

"W-wait!" Tenzin said, "I think I want to stay too."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ty Lee

As everyone else continued to talk in hushed tones, Ty Lee heard a light tapping on the window sill. A quick glance around the room showed her that no one else had heard it. Katara was snoring softly, her head rested on Aang's shoulder, and he looked pretty drowsy himself. Sokka was writing in a notepad as Toph talked to someone, most likely at the police station, on the telephone that was sitting in the corner of the living room. Ty Lee walked lightly away from where Zuko was pouring tea, and opened the door to the balcony of the apartment. A hooded figure was perched on the edge. Ty Lee's eyes widened and she quickly shut the door behind her. 

"What are you doing here!?" Ty Lee asked, "You know everyone will be looking for you. They all think you might have a hand in this!"

"Please, I need to get out of the city as soon as possible," said the figure. "Ty, you have to help me!" Ty Lee looked away. 

"Did you do it?" she said in strained voice. 

"No! It was either a coincidence, or someone was trying to frame me with the blue flames."

"And how do you expect me to believe you, Azula!" Ty Lee covered her mouth with her hands. She looked around frantically, making sure that the door was closed. The wind was blowing loudly, so hopefully no one had heard them. 

"Don't be stupid," Azula said harshly, "Just get me somewhere I won't be found, and I'll be out of your life." 

"I don't- I mean-" Ty Lee sighed, "Fine, the kids are going to Ember Island. I'll be going with them. I can sneak you on as a white lotus guard, and you can stay out of the way. This is the end." Azula hesitated for a moment, but then she nodded and jumped off the balcony. There was no fire in sight. One moment she was there, and the next, she was gone. Ty Lee crept back into the apartment to see that the kids were awake. 

"No," a very awake Katara was saying, "You are going to Ember Island, where you'll be safe."

"But mom, you guys were our age when you saved the world," Kya pleaded. Toph shrugged. 

"They make a fair point. They're old enough to make their own decisions." 

"I agree," Ty Lee piped in surprising all of them, "There's going to be danger wherever they go." 

"That's... an odd way to phrase it," Aang said, "But you're right. It's seems unlikely that there will be another attack, and if there is, who better to protect them than us?" Katara frowned for a second, then nodded. 

"So Kya, Lin, and Tenzin are staying here, and the rest are going with Ty Lee to the island," she clarified.

"Yes!" said Kya. 

"We promise not to get in your way," Lin said. 

"This was a mistake," Tenzin muttered, as they all filed back down the hallway. Ty Lee couldn't help but feel glad. Less people on the trip to Ember Island meant that there was less of a chance that something would go wrong with Azula. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and of course Mai noticed. 

"Is everything alright?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes," Ty Lee said, her eyes darting back and forth, "I'm just relieved that everyone's okay." Mai stared at her for a second with an unflinching gaze, before saying, 

"You know you can trust me," and walked back to pour herself a cup of tea.

~~~

Thanks for Reading! 

I'm sorry that updates have been so slow lately. I've been busy, and just haven't had the time to write that much.