The Dual Bender

9

    "Hey! You guys picked a great campsite." Toph yells directing everyone's attention to her. She wriggles her toes in the thick mat of fur covering the ground around Appa. "The grass is so soft." I giggled and jumped down.

"Not grass Appa's shedding. It's Spring!" I said

"Oh, gross!" Katara said. Shui sighs and walked away as I hopped back up beside Aang, who was sitting on Appa, a bluebird perched on his head and a yellow butterfly fluttering past. Momo jumps up in an attempt to catch the butterfly.

"That's not gross, it's just a part of spring! You know, rebirth, flowers blooming and Appa gets a new coat."

    "Ah, the beauty of spring." Appa, who had currently been grooming himself, sneezes, releasing a thick cloud of fur. I burst out laughing as everyone gets coated in fur using wind to blow it off myself.

"Stop! Appa, stop! Ugh!" Katara coughs dramatically.

"It's not that bad, Katara." Sokka said then turns to reveal a wig made of fur, done up in a towering beehive. "It makes a great wig!"

    "And a great beard!" Aang and Sokka laugh while pointing at each other. I run over to Toph as we shove fur in our pits. I grinned and then looked at the guys.

    "I'm just glad we finally have another girl in the group, because you two are disgusting."

"Excuse me, does anyone have a razor?" I said walking forward

"Because I've got some hairy pits!" We raised ours armpits. We all laughed loudly as Aang sneezes, sending himself flying backward. The big sneeze causes him to crash against Appa's leg and for fur to blow off his friends and himself. The impact leaves some fur on his back. We continue to laugh joyfully, causing Shui to join and Katara to chuckle slightly.

Later in the evening where the group is setting up camp. Aang sets up the tent while Sokka throws down a pile of firewood he collected. Katara, who spends her time stirring around water in a pot and Toph slumped lazily against a rock.

"Shui put me down I'm no longer covered in fur!" I yelled. "I'm clean I don't smell like Appa!"

"No, Kida you smell like Toph. Mud. How did you manage that?!"

"I'm not a baby let me down!"

"Okay." He said dropping me into the pond. I grumbled as the water swirled around me mixing with the smell of soap he threw in and then I jumped out.

"I'm clean now. Can I go?" He smirked and shrugged.

"Dry off."

"I don't wanna." He rolled his eyes again and pulled the water out of my clothes.

"Go." He mumbled.

"Aang. I was about to drown." I said leaning against him. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around me as he looked at his finished work.

"I would've saved you." He said poking my cheek.

"Yeah?" He nodded and smiled.

     Later that day, set up continues. I was sitting on top of Appa as Aang stood beside me. Aang uses airbending to lift the saddle. He mistakenly causes it to land directly on top of Shui, who had been standing on the ground beside the bison. I burst out laughing and shook my head.

     "Sorry!" He said causing my laughter to become even louder. My brothers eyes met mine as he squeezed his way out from under the saddle. I smiled and moved into a meditative pose. The wind around me began to pick up as I blew as much fur as I could off of Appa.