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

Chapter 19: Back Home

Tenzin's room had always been barren, just his bed, his closet, and a bookshelf with his favorites stacked neatly in alphabetical order. But now, it seemed alien. His bed had been replaced with one that was much softer than he liked, his books were gone, burned up in the explosion and the fire that followed, and he had only brought a few from Toph's apartment. The location of the window had moved, leaving clear, pale moonlight to shine through. Tenzin had been sleeping in fits and starts for the entire night, until finally, he decided to meditate instead. There weren't any matches in his room to light incense with, but Bumi's room hadn't been affected as much, and all of his stuff was still there, even if Tenzin's brother wasn't. So he tip-toed across the hallway, and saw that the door was closed. That was odd. It had been open a crack the last time he had checked. Tenzin hesitated before opening the door, its hinges creaking so loudly he was surprised the whole island wasn't awake. 

"Tenzin?" Tenzin jumped, trying to keep himself from screaming. He could barely make out Bumi's form sitting against the wall. 

"You're here," Tenzin said.

"I am here," Bumi said, downcast, "Yep." 

"What happened? Were you actually kidnapped? When did you get here? Where's Izumi? And mom and dad?"

"A couple hours ago," he said, choosing to answer the third question, "We weren't kidnapped. Izumi's sleeping in the dormitory. Mom and Dad are at the police station." 

"Why? Did they catch Azula?"

"Yep," Bumi said, even grumpier than before. Tenzin sighed.

"Are you okay?" he asked, trying not to let the fear show in his voice. Bumi stood up and took a box of matches from his bedside table.

"Do you need these?"

"I don't need them anymore." Bumi shrugged and lit the lamp on the table. His hair was even messier than it normally was. There was a bandage on his hand that hadn't been there before.

"I'm okay, Tenzin," he said, "I'm just tired. A lot happened." He grinned, "But I used my flute as a weapon." 

"Huh?" Bumi sat at the foot of the bed and gestured for Tenzin to join him.

"Let me paint a picture for you. We're standing in this underground spirit cave, and there are two heavily armed guards..." Tenzin knew it was all a load of monkey feathers, but he was just glad to have his brother back. 

~~~

Over the past week, Izumi had broken more rules than she ever had in her entire life. So what was a few more? She was supposed to stay in the room on air temple island, while her parents "figured things out," whatever that meant, but she had work to do. Izumi tip-toed out of the women's dormitory, and found her way to the main house. She considered for a moment, that she should wake up Bumi, but she had gotten him into enough trouble. Ha! Her, getting Bumi in trouble. She peeked in the windows from the outside until she saw Kya, sleeping. Izumi tapped on the window a few times. Kya stirred, rubbed her eyes, and jumped when she saw her outside. 

"Izumi?" she whispered, opening the window, "What happened? What-"

"I'll explain everything," Izumi said, "But I need to get to Republic City. Get dressed, and meet me at the docks." Kya nodded, though her face was uncertain, and closed the window. Izumi ran to the boardwalk at the edge of the shoreline, and waited. She was only standing there for a few minutes, when she saw Kya running towards her, tying her hair up with a ribbon.

"Do you want the fast way or the slow way to the city?" she asked.

"Um, the fast way?" Izumi guessed. Kya smirked, grabbed her arm, and pulled her into the water. It took a moment for Izumi to get her bearings, but then she realized that they were in a giant air bubble, propelled toward the distant city lights through waterbending. 

"You don't need to hold your breath," Kya said.

"Oh," Izumi said, "I didn't realize..."

"So, you were going to tell me about what happened, right?"

"Right!" So Izumi told her, as they sped towards the bay. She couldn't see anything under the water. It was too dark for that. And it was probably better that way. She wasn't sure what lived there. After she had finished her tale, even explaining her firebending problem, something she finally felt ready to share with people other than Bumi, Kya told her about what had happened in Republic City.

"So you don't think Azula did it," she said as they reached the harbor, sitting on the edge of the water for a moment to catch their breath.

"I know she didn't," Izumi said, "It wouldn't make any sense, and that's why I'm going to clear her name." 

"How are you going to do that?" Kya asked, curious.

"By representing her in court and winning."

"That... sounds really boring," Kya said flatly, "You want to be her lawyer?! I was just starting to think you were cool!"

"Hey, I have a very good understanding of criminal law," said Izumi, only half joking, as Kya rolled her eyes, "How is that not cool?"

"But Azula has still done some really bad things," Kya said.

"Yeah, but here, in republic city, she'll only be on trial for the attack on the island, and the thing is, that she didn't do that! If she is scapegoated, then the real criminals will never be held responsible."

"That seems counter productive, just trying her for a certain crime, instead of all of them."

"The legal system is weird," Izumi shrugged, "But we can't just blame Azula for all of our problems. That's what our parents are doing, and it's not right."

"You know, you are pretty cool, Izumi," Kya said, "So, where are we going from here?" 

"You are going back home. I'm going to the police station. I need to talk to Azula." Izumi stood up and squeezed the water out of her clothes. They were maroon, with flowy sleeves that had absorbed a lot of water. Kya stood up too. She had already dried off with waterbending. 

"Did you hear any of what I just said on the way here?! I've been fighting and sneaking around for the entire time you've been gone. Just let me come with you!" Izumi frowned, and considered. 

"You know what? Fine, I probably can't stop you anyways."

"Yeah," Kya said with a laugh, "You can't."

~~~

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