Double Bender

Part 13

All of us sat around, talking about what to do next. "Well," Said Toph. "We could steer the ship east and look for Aang there and if he's not there, we'll look west." "That'll blow us off course." Hakoda said. "Well, we can't leave Aang!" Katara cried. "We'll find him, Katara." I reassured her. "If we go off course, we'll never make it to the island in time for the invasion." Bato said. "But if we don't start looking," Katara said, "Aang will die out there." Sokka stood up. "Dad," Said Sokka, "you and the rest of the crew will stay here on course. But before you reach the island, I need you to go around, looking for allies. Check in the swamps near the outskirts of the Earth-Kingdom. There's some fellows there who might help. And look at the Northern Air-Temple too. Geo, Toph, Katara, Tatiana, and I will take Appa and look for Aang." Hakoda nodded. We all packed up our stuff and saddled up Appa. Momo hopped onto Geo's shoulder as Sokka and Katara hugged their dad and got onto Appa. "Yip yip." Sokka said as he cracked the reigns. Appa flapped his tail and rose into the sky.
We rode for a very long time when suddenly, it started storming. We all grabbed onto the saddle for support but poor Appa was losing altitude. "Hang on, Appa!" Geo shouted. But Appa couldn't hold on much longer. He fell out of the sky and we all fell into the sea. Lightening cracked and thunder boomed. I coughed up sea water and gasped for breath. Then, I was pushed down by another wave. The black water surfaced around me, consuming me. I clawed at the wet, black mess and swam up to the surface again only to be pushed back down again. "Help!" I screamed. But all that came out were bubbles. I struggled to get back to the surface and grabbed onto a piece of drift wood. Wait a second... is this drift wood... orange? No, just some of it. It's orange paper? No, fabric. It was a long wooden staff with orange fabric on it with the fabric spread out at an angle. I gasped.
The rain fell on all of us and made it hard to see. The water choked us and the storm was getting even worse. Then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Appa swam over to everyone and they all climbed back up onto his saddle. "Guys..." I said. "I think you might want to see this..." Katara used water-bending to help me out of the water and then gasped at the object in my hand. I was holding Aang's glider. Katara gently rubbed her hand over the smooth wood. "We'll find you, Aang." She whispered. We flew all night with very little success. Then, as the sun started to rise, we approached a small island in the shape of a crescent with a very large volcano at the top, with several streams of lava flowing down to the river. And there, lying on the beach was Aang. Appa landed and Momo hopped off of Geo and started licking Aang's face. "Aang!" Katara cried. Toph, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Momo all pulled together in a group hug and Appa rubbed his face up against them. Geo and I stood by awkwardly. When they pulled away, Aang said, "I have so much to do." "I know. But you'll have our help." Said Katara. "Yeah," said Toph. "You didn't think that you could get out of training by coming to the Fire-Nation, did you?" "But what about the invasion?" Aang asked. "We'll meet up with my dad and the invasion team on the day of the invasion." "Oh, Aang." My voice fell a little. I held out his glider to him. "We found this. Sorry," "That's okay." Said Aang. "If someone saw, it would give away my identity. I think it's better if no one knows I'm alive." He turned around and stuck his staff into a lava stream and the staff caught on fire and burned up.
We knew that we couldn't stay on that island very long. We had no food and there was a temple nearby, with Fire-Nation people and if they found us, we'd be goners. We all got onto Appa, but before Aang said "Yip yip", he started to move his arms around in a weird pattern. And Katara did too. "Help us out here, Tatiana." Katara said. I stood up. "Okay...what do I do?" "Just move your arms and bend the water around us. Aang will take care of the rest." Katara and I bended the water, just a little bit, and Aang moved it around, formed it around us, and soon, it became a cloud. "Yip yip." Aang whispered. The Appa-cloud lifted into the air and started moving. While Appa flew, Aang bended the air around us so the cloud wouldn't break away. We cloud flew for a while when Aang said, "I think I see a cave," "Shh!" Sokka hissed. He hopped off of Appa and started stealthily walking around. "Great job on the cloud camo," He said, "but next time, be the kind of cloud that knows how to keep it's mouth shut!" "Yeah we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in." Toph said. A couple of us sniggered. "Hey!" Said Sokka. "We're in enemy territory, those are enemy birds." As if on cue, a small black, white, and blue bird hopped down onto Sokka's head and screeched. We all laughed and started to walk towards the cave. Sokka tried, and failed, at being stealthy. He jumped into the air over us, put his arms out and landed on the ground. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Nothing." Sokka said. We all walked into the cave and Sokka decided to take charge. "Okay," He said. "So this is how we'll be living until the invasion. Hiding in cave after cave after cave...after cave..." Sokka hung his head. "Sokka," Said Katara, "we don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes." "I'm fine with that idea." Geo said. "If we get new disguises," Said Aang, "we'll be a lot better at blending in. We'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave." "Plus they have real food out there." Toph added. "Does anyone want to sit in the dirt and eat cave hoppers all day?" She banged her fist against the rock wall and a bunch of small, white bugs hopped out onto the cave floor. Momo grabbed one and started eating. He looked at us with his big, green, lemur eyes. "Looks like we got outvoted." Said Sokka to Momo, then he turned to us and continued. "Let's get some new clothes."
"I don't know about this." Said Aang as we snuck behind a big, white and red house. "These clothes belong to someone." "I call the silk robe!" Katara yelled. She and the others ran off into the yard, where a bunch of laundry was hanging. "Well," Said Aang. "If it's essential to our survival, then I call the suit!" "I call the velvet shirt and sweater!" Geo said. "I call the silk dress!" I yelled. "I call something." Toph said. Aang grabbed the suit he called, put it on, and tied a headband around his forehead. "Tada!" He said. "Normal kid." "Hmm," Said Toph. "I should probably wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see as well." She thought for a moment and said, "Sorry shoes!" She ripped off the bottom and just wore the top of the shoe. It actually did look like she was wearing shoes. I pulled on a light red dress with short sleeves and little flames all along the trim, sleeves, and neckline, tied a belt with the Fire-Nation insignia on it around my waist. It was efficient, easy to move in, and possibly fight in, and it looked pretty darn good. I had also managed to grab a pair for shoes so I didn't turn any heads. I mean, in the Fire-Nation, people without essentials like shoes, or fancy clothes were considered bottom feeders and I didn't want to make us look bad. Anyway, I pulled on the pair of shoes I'd swiped and sighed. Honestly, I liked it better without the shoes. With them, it was harder to use my earth sense. Everything felt kind of fuzzy. So this is what it's like wearing shoes again, I thought sarcastically. Geo then pulled my hair back into a very, very short ponytail. "I actually look pretty good." I said. "How do I look?" Said Katara after she was done changing. She actually looked pretty good too. She wore a long, burgundy skirt with a short, sleeveless shirt and had a golden ring around each of her arms. Aang blushed, then frowned a little bit. "Your mom's necklace." "Oh yeah." Katara's face fell a little. "I guess that sort of screams Water-Tribe." "You should probably ditch the ring too." Geo said. "No way!" I answered. "Geo's right," Said Sokka. "It might give us away." "But that doesn't mean that it will, guaranteed. It doesn't specifically say it's from the Earth-Kingdom. It's just a simple gold ring. No one will notice and no one will care." It didn't matter and I didn't care. I wouldn't give up the last thing of my mother. It was all that I had of her and my father.
We went into town. Katara got a new necklace, Toph got a new headband, Sokka got a hair tie, Geo and I got matching bracelets with little flames on them, and Momo got shoved into Aang's shirt. "I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago. So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool, or, as they say in the Fire-Nation, stay flamin'!" "Flaming?" I looked at Geo. "Yeah...we're gonna get exposed as frauds in less than five minutes." We walked through town and Aang said, "Flamey-o, Hotman." To everyone. It got annoying in no time flat.
We pulled up to a stand with lots of food; chicken-cows, hippo-cows, pig-chickens, the works. Aang had his doubts. "We're going to a meat place?" He asked nervously. "What's the matter, Aang?" I asked. "Aang's a vegetarian." Katara answered. "Oh, right." I said. "C'mon, Aang." Sokka said. "Everyone eats meat here. Even the meat." We looked over and saw a huge hippo-cow eat a whole pile of day-old meat. "That's wrong." I said. "That's so wrong on so many levels." Aang made a face. "You guys go ahead." He said. "I'll just pick some lettuce out of the garbage." We went inside and Aang waited for us.
After eating, I got to tell you, the food was very spicy, we went outside. Aang wasn't there. "Aang?" Called Katara. "Aang!" "Shh." Sokka hissed. "Don't go around calling his name like that. They don't know he's alive." "We have to find him." Katara said. "We'll split up to cover more area." Geo ordered. Everyone nodded and we ran off in all directions. I ran all around but I didn't see him. I stopped to catch my breath. "Looking for someone, sweet cheeks?" A voice said. "As a matter of fact, yes, I am. I'm looking for...my little brother...Kuzon." I looked up to see a tall young man with dark hair, sandy skin, and deep eyes. A smirk was slapped across his face. He held out his hand. "I'm Stayne." "Naussica." I don't care what you say, I was not giving that creep my real name. We shook hands. "So," He said. "You from the colonies?" "How'd you know that?" I said defensively. "None of the girls here wear their hair like that," He said, referring to my ponytail. "Oh," I said, pulling it out. "And you lost your little brother?" "Yes." "Well, I'll keep an eye out for him." Then all of a sudden, he grabbed my wrist. "You know, Naussica, you're much prettier than the other girls on this island." "Why thank you," I said frantically. "So, what do you say you and I get out of here and go back to my place?" "That's very kind of you but, I have to get back to looking-" "I'm sure your brother will turn up. C'mon. We'll make a night of it." " No." I protested. "Get your paws OFF my sister, Jerk face!" I spun around and saw Geo. She stalked up to the guy, whacked him hard across the face, and we ran for it. I shook my head. "All the guys here are pigs." "Yeah," said Geo. "I had at least five guys ask me out on a date before they even knew my name."
It was late afternoon when everyone else came back to the cave. "He's not in the western sector." I said. "He's not in the eastern." Katara said. "He's not in the northern sector either." Said Sokka. "Well, then he disappeared into thin air because Toph and I couldn't find him in the southern sector." Said Geo. Katara looked dismal. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm sure he knows to come back here." In time, Aang did come back to the cave, covered in soot and ash. "Where have you been?" Katara asked. "Probably playing in a volcano." Geo said snidely. Katara ignored her. "We've been worried sick." Mom voice. "Well," Said Geo. "Obviously not really sick seeing as there's no puke on the floor." "I got invited to play with some Fire-Nation kids after school." Sokka shot up like a geyser. "After WHAT?!" "I enrolled in a Fire-Nation school. And I'm going back tomorrow." "Enrolled in WHAT?!" Sokka said as he passed out.
A few hours later, we all sat around a campfire and tried to talk some sense into Aang. "Listen," Said Sokka. "I'm trying to be mature about it and not instantly shoot down your idea, but your idea sounds terrible." "Yeah," Said Toph. "We already have our disguises. What do you need to go to school for?" "Every moment I'm in that classroom," Aang replied, "I'm learning more and more things about the Fire-Nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Ozai." He held up a painting of a man with long hair separated into a top bun. Sticking out of the top bun was a shining, metal flame that was supposed to be some kind of crown. He wasn't smiling but the rest of his expression was normal. But I didn't see any of that. I recognized him instantly. I only saw murder and bloodlust behind those painted eyes. Fear and anger surged through me like a river bursting a dam. I screamed and fell off the log I was sitting on. Everyone looked at me like I had gone crazy. I held up a shaking finger and pointed at the painting. "What is it?" Asked Geo. "Have you gone nuts?" Asked Toph. I stuttered random gibberish like I was only a baby. Geo ran and knelt by me. "Listen." She said softly. "We can't understand a thing you're saying. Now, why don't you just calm down and-" "THAT'S THE MAN WHO KILLED MY PARENTS!"
Geo brought me into the back of the cave and brought up a wall of earth to make sure that we were alone. I hugged my knees to my chest. "I hate the Fire-Nation." I cried. "Every one of them!" "I'm sure you don't hate every one of them." Geo soothed. "I do." I argued. "What about Zuko, I'm sure you don't..." she cut herself off. "I'm sorry!" She said quickly. "I forgot all about-" "I hate him especially. He's the one who did this to me!" I gestured to my back where my scar was. "I know." She said. "But what about Uncle?" I thought for a moment. I didn't hate Uncle. Not one bit. He had been like a father to me, in the month-and-a-half that I knew him. "He's the exception." I muttered. "The only exception. The rest..." I couldn't believe what I was about to say. I always tried to not judge a book by it's cover or judge a whole book by just one page, as they say, but this was actually how I felt, no matter how hard I tried to hide it. "...monsters."
The next day, Aang went back to that Fire-Nation school, Sokka went into town to find more food, and Toph, Katara, Geo and I stayed behind in the cave. However, on the way out, Sokka made a very sexist remark. "You guys are staying home because that's what women do." He got kicked in the butt by Geo, had his head frozen and then unfrozen by Katara, his feet grounded by Toph, and I kicked him in the knee. Unfortunately for him, I aimed a little too high. Guess Katara's never gonna be an aunt.
The day went unnaturally and uncomfortably slow. Sokka came back around lunch time with his arms full of food that he bought. When Aang came home, looking dismal, Sokka leapt up and said, "Did you find out about that secret river you promised?" Aang shook his head. "Aw, it's not that bad." Sokka said. "You just forgot to find out about information that might be vital to the invasion." "I have to bring my parents to a conference with my head-master."
So Katara and Sokka went to go meet with Aang's teacher. Sokka put on this ridiculous beard and called himself "Wang Fire." Katara stuffed her dress with extra blankets to make it look like she was pregnant and pulled her hair into two buns on the side of her head and became "Sapphire Fire." By the time they got home Katara had taken off her disguise but Sokka was having way too much fun being Aang's dad. "That settles it, no more school for you, young man?" He said as he creepily stroked the beard. "But I don't want to leave yet." Aang said. "I'm actually having fun. I'm actually being a normal kid. You don't get it because...you get to be normal all the time." "Haha." Mocked Toph. Aang went on. "Those kids are the future of the Fire-Nation. If we want to change this place for the better, we need to give them a little taste of freedom." Sokka decided to be stubborn, yeah I know, big flippin' surprise. "What could you possibly do for a country of freedom depraved fire-monsters?" The old me would have scolded him for calling them monsters. The old me. Aang smirked. "I'm gonna throw them..." Pause for effect, "... a secret dance party." He said as he failed at trying to dance. Sokka was shocked. "Hold on," I said. "A dance party?" I asked as I stopped poking the fire. "No offense to your obviously brilliant plan, Aang, but, what the hell is that gonna do for them?" "These kids have little to no freedom at all." Aang explained. "They aren't even allowed to dance?" Aang sadly shook his head. Geo was also skeptical. "So, this whole country tries to keep it's kids from... dancing?" Aang nodded. "Geez. Talk about a controlling government." Geo scoffed. Aang nodded. "If I do this, I'll help those kids let loose and have fun, like kids are supposed to. I'll let them dance to their hearts content." "Go to your room." Sokka said firmly.
Later that night, Toph set up a stage for the musicians, Geo set to work lighting the candles, which was hard work seeing as she wasn't a fire-bender, Katara and I stirred the drinks, Aang put on his headband, and Sokka was skeptical, sarcastic and stubborn. Big flipping surprise. "I don't see why we're throwing these kids a dance party." He said. And if you're wondering, no. He didn't lose the dang beard. "It seems so...silly." "Sokka," Said Geo as she lit the last candle. "Everything you do is silly. You do not get to judge what silly is." "Besides," Said Aang. "Don't think of it as a dance party. Think of it as a celebration, praising the art of fancy footwork." He said as he did a little jig. Then, Toph, Geo, and I could feel movement from the outside. "They're coming!" Toph shouted. "Everyone stop bending!" We all looked back at Appa. It would be pretty hard to hide him. "I think you'll have to wait out back, buddy." Aang said. Appa made a sad noise. "I know, I know." Said Aang. "You have the fanciest feet here. And you have six of them." Appa reluctantly went out the back.
The kids slowly started filing in and stood there awkwardly. Several of them brought instruments and started playing a very lively tune that had a wonderful dance beat. "Ladies and gentlemen," Aang introduced. "The Flamey-os!" I face palmed. He was still using that dumb catchphrase. The music was fast-paced and lively but, the funny thing was no one was moving a muscle. They were just separated into two groups, one of boys one of girls, on either side of the room. "What do we do now?" One kid asked. "This is when you start dancing." Aang said. One kid hid in his collar. "I don't think my parents would like it if I was dancing in a cave." "Yeah," Another rather jumpy kid said. "What if someone finds out?" "Oh boy," Aang said. "Listen guys. Dancing isn't about thinking. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you." Nobody moved. "Okay," I said getting annoyed. "Hey Geo, c'mon, dance with me." "What?" She said. "No! I'm not making an idiot out of myself!" I looked at Katara. "Katara?" I asked. "No thanks." She said putting her drink down. "Don't look at me," Said Toph. "I suck at dancing." I huffed. "Wang Fire would like to dance with you." Said Sokka. "Well, Wang Fire is gonna get slapped unless he loses the beard." "Not gonna happen." Sokka said. WHACK! I walked over to the dance floor. And I danced. I twirled. Then I jumped. Then I started moving my feet in the craziest, zigzag motion that would have never worked but at the same time it did. I finished with a twirl and a flourish. Everyone stared at me. "See?" Said Aang. "Naussica isn't afraid to dance, even though she knows she'll look like an idiot." "Hey!" I snorted. "But she still does it. Because she thinks it's fun. That's how dancing works." "Maybe it was different it the colonies, Kuzon." Said one kid. "But we don't do that here." "Sure you do!" Said Aang. "You've done it for generations. And it just so happens that I know some classic Fire-Nation dance moves." "Here we go." I muttered as I sat down. "They did this move a hundred years ago. They called it the Phoenix Flight." He crouched down and put his hands behind his back and scooted, kicking his legs out in front of him. Everyone "oohed" and "ahhed". "And this was the Camelephant strut." He danced in a zigzag patter while alternating his hands in front of him, starting with his left hand on the bottom, near his stomach and his right hand on top, near his chest. Then he switched his hands with his right on the bottom and his left on the top. He did this for a couple zags when he suddenly did a backflip into the center, stood upright in front of a blushing girl, back flipped again, and ended with a flourish. Everyone cheered and clapped. "Who knew Twinkletoes could dance?" Toph said as she sipped her drink. Katara blushed and smiled. Then, Aang grabbed a girl from the crowd and started moving his arms in a small, semicircular motion. "This is how they do it in the ballrooms of Ba Sing Se." Soon, everyone in the room started doing it. Dancing by themselves or with a partner. "Now everybody freestyle!" Aang said. Soon everyone crawled out of their shells and danced like mad. But they didn't care. It was probably the most fun they'd had in years, probably their whole life. Aang kept dancing with that girl. "Wow," I said. "They're pretty good." "Eh," Said Katara, who obviously couldn't care less. Everyone was having a great time. Even Geo was dancing like nobody's business. Katara still sat alone. Aang went up to her and offered her his hand. Katara started nervously pulling at a lock of hair. "I don't know." She said. "These shoes aren't really right for dancing and I'm not so sure I'd be very good at it and-" Aang cut her off. "Take my hand." "Okay." Katara said nervously. Aang took her hand and they were off. They went to the center and bowed before each other. Then they put their left hands up and started circling each other. Then again in the other direction. Everyone stopped dancing and looked at them. They continued their little circle when they stepped away and pushed the air away from them and then went back to circling. Then, Katara ducked and Aang kicked over her head. Then they grabbed hands and cinched each other in. Then they twirled and leaned in. If they were any closer, they'd have been kissing. Then it was dance chaos. Twirls and flips, flips and twirls. Aang pulled in Katara, she spun out and did a backflip. Aang twirled her and summersaulted. Backflips, spins, kicks, twirls, one right after the other. Then they did a cartwheel at the same time and did several two-second handstands and went back to the ballroom dance for a split second. Then Katara did a flip with a half-twist in it that wowed all the boys. Then, for the grand finish, Katara backflipped to Aangs arms, Aang took her hand, twirled her, cinched her in, and dipped her. The crowed went nuts. "This is incredible!" One kid said."It's like my inhibitions just disappeared." Then suddenly, everyone stopped. In the doorway stood a strict-looking old man who could only be the Headmaster of Aang's school. "Okay. They're back again." Said the kid sinking into his collar. Aang danced on, not noticing the man in the doorway. "He's the one we want." The Headmaster said. "The boy with the headband." The two guards ran towards Aang. "Wuh-oh." Aang said. He set off into the crowd and tried to lose his pursuers. Geo grabbed me and ran out with the others. The last thing I saw was all the kids tying headbands around their foreheads. Odd.
We ran out of the cave and climbed onto Appa. "Yip yip." Aang said quickly. Once Appa was in the air, Aang climbed back into the saddle with the rest of us. "We're safe, Sokka," Katara said irritably. "You can take off the mustache now." "No I can't." Said Sokka stroking the beard. "It's permanently glued to my skin." "Way to go dancypants." Toph said, whacking Aang in the arm. "I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free." "I don't know." Said Aang. "It was just a dance party, that's all." "Well," Said Katara. "That was some dance party Aang." Said Katara as she kissed him on the cheek. Aang blushed. Sokka started to slow-clap. "Flamey-o, sir." He said. "Fla-mee-o."


If you can look past the corny-ness, I think it's pretty good. Vote and comment! Luvs u!