The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

Chapter 72 [~|~] Long Feng

The next morning, Azara stretched out on the ground of the common room as Katara ran back inside the house, looking excited for the first time since they arrived in Ba Sing Se. "I got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!" Katara announced, causing Azara to sit up.

"How are we supposed to do that? 'One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!'" Toph spoke, mocking Joo Dee by pointing her finger in the air.

"The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear," Katara explained, reading the poster in her hands.

"You mean, platypus bear?" Aang asked, looking confused at Katara's statement.

"No, it just says 'bear.'" Katara shook her head, rereading the poster to confirm.

"Certainly, you mean his pet skunk bear," Sokka alluded, lying upside down as he stared up at his sister.

"Or his armadillo bear," Toph suggested, scratching her head.

"Gopher bear?" Azara tried, but Katara shook her head again.

"Just . . . bear."

"This place . . . is weird," Toph sighed as Katara shook off the confusion and smiled again.

"The palace will be packed. We can sneak in with the crowd!" Katara suggested, but Azara shook her head as Toph laid down on the ground.

"Won't work," Toph stated, arms tucked under her head as Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?" Katara questioned, sounding confused at Toph's dismissal.

"Well for one, events like that usually require invitations, which we don't have," Azara started as Toph continued the train of thought.

"And no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd will spot you a mile away. You've got no manners!" Toph explained, biting into a pastry from the bowl next to her.

"Excuse me? I've got no manners!? You're not exactly 'lady fancy fingers!'" Katara replied, placing her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.

"Azara and I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it," Toph pointed out before tossing the pastry to the side. "You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late." To punctuate her point, Toph flung a piece of snot from her finger onto the ceiling.

"Aha, but you learned it! You could teach us!" Sokka smiled, leaning over towards Toph.

"Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be?" Aang shrugged before grabbing a nearby curtain and wrapping himself in it. "Good evening, Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Ms. Katara Water Tribe, Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. Your Momo-ness," Aang spoke with a fake sophisticated voice, bowing to each person he mentioned. At the sound of his name, Momo ducked out from below the curtain and bowed back to Aang.

Sokka grabbed another curtain and wrapped it around himself, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Avatar Aang, how do you do?" Sokka mocked as well, causing Azara to playfully roll her eyes. Aang bowed to Sokka, which caused Sokka to bow back to him. They both started to bow to each other, each bow growing more aggressive, before they knocked foreheads and fell down in a heap.

"This is what Toph was talking about," Azara sighed, getting up and stretching. "I suppose I can dust off all those stupid society lessons again," she muttered, placing her hands on her hips.