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

Chapter 10: Kya

The day of the meeting at Kwong's Cuisine had finally arrived. The past few days had been chaotic to be sure. Kya's parents had left to find Bumi and Izumi, who were 'missing'. Kya knew it was than that. She had never seen her parents so shaken up before, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She pushed that feeling down, however, because tonight was important. She and Lin had badgered Toph until she agreed to let them come along. 

They were in an office building across from the restaurant. Kya, Lin and Tenzin stood near the open window with Toph, Sokka and Suki. 

"Remember, we're only observing right now," Toph said, "To see if there's any suspicious activity. If we do end up going into the restaurant, the three of you will stay here, understand?" They nodded. Kya looked out the window. It wasn't a particularly busy night. Sokka was writing down every customer that went in, to see if they came out. Kya sighed. 

"I thought stakeouts were supposed to be exciting," she muttered, "We've been here for an hour and nothing has happened."

"This is exciting," Lin retorted. 

"It's terrifying," Tenzin added. Kya rolled her eyes and glanced back out the window. They were on the second floor, just above ground level. If anyone noticed them in the window, they didn't show it. 

"The family of four just left," Sokka said, half to himself and half to the others.

"I don't think a family of four attacked Air Temple Island, snoozles," Toph sighed. Then Kya noticed something a bit odd. A girl about her age was walking towards the restaurant. And in Kya's opinion she was looking very suspicious. 

"Psst! Hey! Kya!" Tenzin whispered harshly, "Whatever you're thinking stop thinking it!" 

"Fine," Kya muttered, "I just want to actually do something for once." So she waited. And waited, and after 45 minutes the girl still hadn't come out of the restaurant. Kya pulled Lin aside.

"I want to go see what's going on in there," she said quietly, so the others couldn't hear.

"Kya, no," Lin said, "I finally get to be a real cop, and I don't want that to get ruined by you messing everything up!"

"You don't have to do anything," Kya whispered, "Just stop them from looking at the street for like thirty seconds."

"Fine," Lin said, "But if we get in trouble, which we will, I will not be the one to take the fall-"

"I'm going to the bathroom!" Kya announced, before racing down the stairs and out of the back door of the office building. She could only hope that Lin was distracting the adults as she ran across the street and into the imposing double doors of Kwong's cuisine. She was in a large, open room that seemed to be a lobby of some kind, with a lavish red velvet carpet and expensive looking chairs and benches. There was a receptionist standing just inside the door. 

"Do you have a reservation," he asked doubtfully, as Kya realized that she was in no way dressed well enough for a place like this. 

"I think I'll just sit, over here," Kya muttered and moved to sit in one of the armchairs. No sooner had she done this when the girl from before emerged from the dining area looking thoroughly disgruntled. For a moment Kya doubted herself. Maybe the girl was just having a solitary meal to herself, and had left a bit later than expected. But instead of leaving the building, she plopped down in an armchair a few seats away from Kya. Up close she could see that she was quite pretty, with olive colored eyes and delicate freckles smattering her skin. Kya moved closer to her, quickly making up a story. 

"Are you waiting for your parents too," she fibbed.

"Huh? Oh- yeah," she stammered in reply.

"I'm Kya," Kya said. 

"Chihiro" the girl replied, "I was just... checking to see if they were ready to leave yet, a-and, they weren't, so now I-I'm here. Are your parents inside too?" she added, changing the subject. 

What a terrible liar, Kya thought, "No, they... said they'd meet me here, but I don't know if they'll come." She meant to stop talking there, but the words just flowed out, "They have a lot on their plate, a lot of responsibilities, and it's really cool being their kid, but at the same time I don't know if I can handle all of that responsibility, even if I'm not bearing the blunt of it." She thought of Tenzin, and how, as an airbender, he was carrying so much of his father's legacy. Then she thought of Bumi, and how being the nonbending son of the avatar was a different kind of burden to bear. But she was the middle child, minding her own business, the mediator. Her struggle seemed like so much less in comparison, but still-

"You said your name was Kya, right?" Chihiro said. Kya nodded. Chihiro stood up, "I- I'm going to go check on them. I'll be back." Now was her chance. Kya quietly followed Chihiro as she walked through the dining room full of wealthy looking patrons. Near the wall were two doors that presumably led to the kitchen, and one more inconspicuous door that Chihiro walked through. Kya took a deep breath and followed. It was a staircase.

"Okay, not creepy at all," she muttered, before walking down it, one step at a time. She could no longer see Chihiro, but she could hear her footsteps, the wooden steps creaking ominously. At the bottom of the stairs was a long hallway, and Kya could hear voices coming from the end of it. 

"...It was too risky of a job... damage control," Kya heard snippets of a quiet female voice.

"After what the avatar did, it doesn't take much to convince me," came a much louder voice, "We just need to get paid, and then we can put this all behind us," Kya came to a closed door. The voices were too quiet. She needed to hear more. She turned the handle, and there was a loud click. She froze, and heard the words, "Check the hallway" from the quiet voice. There was nowhere to hide. Kya threw herself against the wall desperately in the hope that no one would see her. 

The door swung open. It was Chihiro. She looked to the right, and then the left. Her mouth turned into a perfect 'o' as she and Kya locked eyes. Finally she said, with a tremble in he voice, "There's no one there, mom," and slammed the door shut.

~~~

Kya raced out of the restaurant and into the office building, her heart pounding. 

"That was some bathroom break," Suki said with a frown.

"Now is not the time for sarcasm!" Kya said, out of breath. There's a secret room in Kwong's cuisine, and there were people talking about they got hired for a job, and that there was something that Aang did that angered them-" (she was too freaked out to make an 'aangered' joke. Those were more Bumi's specialty) "And-"

"Stop," Toph said, "You can tell us about it later. For now, Sokka will take you guys home."

"But-"

"No buts. You purposefully disobeyed me. I don't have time to argue right now." She and Suki ran out of the room. Kya looked out the window and saw them as well as some police officers, race across the street before disappearing into Kwong's cuisine.

~~~

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