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

Chapter 7: Katara

Katara was awoken in the middle of the night by Toph's telephone ringing. She had always been a light sleeper. During the hundred year war, one had to be ready for anything during the night, and now she'd wake up at the slightest noise. She tiptoed out of the guest room of Toph's apartment, careful not to wake Aang, who was fast asleep. Katara didn't want to wake Toph up either, so she answered the phone in her stead. 

"Hello?"

"Katara?" her brow furrowed. 

"Ty Lee?!"

"I've been trying to reach you all night, but I couldn't find a phone, and-"

"Okay, slow down," Katara said with a yawn, "What's going on?"

"They're gone." Her voice was crystal clear, but Katara still had to say,

"What?"

"Bumi and Izumi. They're gone."

"What do you mean 'They're gone'!" Katara said frantically, "Are they lost? Did they wander off somewhere?"

"No," Ty Lee's voice went quiet all of a sudden, "She took them. Azula." Katara's blood ran cold. 

"How?" she whispered, "How did she get on the island? Why haven't you followed them? Did she kidnap them? How-"

"I helped her get to the island," Ty Lee's voice suddenly seemed very small. Katara wasn't sure if she heard her right. 

"You what?!" 

"Is something wrong?" Aang walked into the room, yawning. Katara's distraught face seemed to tell him all he needed to know. 

"Ty Lee," She said, her voice trembling, "Tell us everything you know." 

~~~

So she did. Ty Lee told them of how she'd disguised Azula as a red lotus guard and took her to the island, and how yesterday evening she'd seen her, along with Izumi and Bumi, ride off on Tenzin's bison.  

"I  can't believe this," Toph paced back and forth, "How are we ever going to find them?"

"I'm going to Ember Island on Appa right now," Katara said, "I can't just stand here and do nothing!" 

"Maybe we should wait," Aang said gently, "I'm as worried about them as you are, but there aren't any clues as to where they went."

"You don't know that," Katara said halfheartedly.

"Regardless, Azula is now the prime suspect for the attack on the island," Toph said, "She obviously wanted to leave the city because she was afraid of being caught."

"I don't know," Sokka cut in. He and Suki had rushed over as soon as possible, as well as Zuko and Mai, "She's committed a lot of other crimes that she should be worried about getting caught for. It doesn't mean that she committed this one." 

"It just doesn't seem like Azula," Zuko muttered, "The attack didn't seem very calculated, and the blue fire? How much more obvious could you get?" Suki shrugged. 

"She has always had a bit of a flair for the dramatic." There was a thunk as Mai stabbed a knife into the table.

"Enough," she said calmly, though there was fire in her eyes, "I don't care about the attack on the island. I care about finding our children." Katara nodded. 

"We should at least go to Ember Island. Maybe there are some clues as to where they went."

"Maybe," Zuko mused, before saying, "We should leave as soon as possible." 

"I can't," Toph said, "There's too much going on in Republic City. I can't just leave it."

"Well, Toph, I'm sure no one would object to you leaving for a little while." She shook her head. 

"Believe it or not, I have a lot of enemies who want my job. Plus, We have to investigate Kwong's Cuisine, after what Lin found."

"I think we need to stay too," said Suki, "To help with the investigation." Sokka nodded in agreement. 

"So the four of us will go to Ember Island," Mai said. Everyone agreed. By now, the edges of sunlight were just starting to peek over the horizon. After all that had happened, Katara had almost forgotten it was still night. Of course, she couldn't just go back to sleep now. She started packing food and supplies  for the trip as the morning began. 

"Katara?" Aang approached her as she filled up her water skins in Toph's kitchen sink, "I think Tenzin and Kya are awake." 

"Right," Katara breathed, turning off the faucet. They walked to down the hall to Lin's room. Aang squeezed her hand, and knocked. It opened, revealing Kya and Tenzin, the latter of which seemed to be reading a book. Lin was still asleep in her bed, and Kya was in the middle of a yawn. 

"So, we received some news from Ty Lee, last night," Aang said with hesitation. 

"In Ember Island," Tenzin said worriedly, "Did something happen?"

"Well, it seems that Bumi and Izumi have... gone missing," Katara said. No, she wouldn't tell them that they'd been most likely kidnapped by a disgraced fire nation princess, "We're going to the island to look for them, but I'm sure that it's nothing serious. We'll find them." The look on her children's faces showed her they were not convinced. Their eyes seemed to flood with questions, questions Katara had no desire to answer.

"Aang! Katara!" It was Zuko. Katara hugged them both quickly, and Aang did the same. Then they headed out of the room.

~~~

That could've gone a lot better," Aang sighed as they walked out of the apartment, a few steps behind Zuko and Mai. 

"We've had three kids, you'd think we'd know how to talk to them," Katara agreed.

"We're always learning," Aang said, gently taking her arm, "But I swear, sometimes we treat those kids like they're made of glass."

"I just... don't want them to have the childhood that we did. I don't want them to get hurt, like we did. I thought they'd be safe on Ember Island!" she threw her hands up in the air.

"We can't shelter them forever," Aang said quietly, "We're going to have to be honest with them." Appa was sitting near the back of the apartment, munching on the hay that had been given to him.

"Do we have everything?" Zuko asked. They nodded in unison. Katara, Mai, and Zuko sat in the saddle, while Aang perched on Appa's head, as he always did. 

"Yip Yip!" As Appa flew over the Republic City harbor, Aang kept giving concerned glances in Katara's direction. She felt her eyes begin to droop as the long and exhausting night caught up to her. Eventually, she drifted off, her head on her knapsack, as they left the city behind. 

~~~

Thanks for Reading!