Chapter Forty Nine
My Cabbages
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"Whoa, dude," I said, taking a step back. "Nice metal man, nice metal man . . . " And then I realized something in his hand. "My bracelet? Now where would you get something like that?" He'd probably used an animal to track me down. But how did he get it in the first place?
Uh-oh.
"Did Zuko send you?" I asked. "What do you want?"
He didn't answer me.
"Um, dude . . . " Suddenly, he sucked in breath through his nose, his face wrinkling up. "Am I supposed to—oh, shit." I leaped behind a barrel before he could murder me. The place where I was just standing blew up as some sort of light thing exploded out of his third eye. "You're one strange dude!" I yelled, running.
Things broke behind me, and I jumped for cover behind a cabbage cart.
As the cart exploded, the cabbage merchant screamed. "MY CABBAGES!"
"Shut up and duck! The man's gonna kill all of us."
Leaving the merchant behind, I ran, grabbing a wooden pole on top of a window and heaved myself up, swinging my legs over the rooftop. I silently cursed Zuko for doing this.
"I hate you," I said under my breath. "Wait. I still can't hate you." I laughed sheepishly as I hid behind a chimney. "Despise is a good word." I rolled away as the chimney exploded. "Oookay."
I stood up, waving my arms. "Yo, three eyes!" I yelled. "Wouldn't glasses have worked?"
He looked angry, taking a deep breath. I picked up a stone and marked my place carefully.
"Please let this work." I threw it, rolling away.
The small stone hit it's mark, right on the man's third eye. "Buh-bye, Satan." I said under my breath as his eye sparked. He went crosseyed, and then 'Boom!' he was flying backwards. He was done for now, but something told me he'd be coming back. "Hah! In your big fat three-eyed face, oval brain." I walked away, jumping over bricks and stuff. "Sorry 'bout your house . . . " I chuckled sympathetically. "I would pay for it, but I'm broke, see . . . "
As I walked over the rooftops, I jumped onto a wooden board, climbing on a bigger building. I looked over the edge . . . and almost fell off.
There was Aang, with other kids his age playing around. Playing? He looked so cute talking to this other girl. Suddenly, a bigger boy came, pushing the girl slightly and talking to Aang rudely. Aang didn't seem to mind. He just grinned, nodded, and walked away. I slunk away, grinning.
Aang knew where to find us. We were staying in a cave, far from human life.
"So, Aang, where were you?" I asked slyly as Katara cooked fish over the fire.
"This really cool school. They thought I was a student there." Aang replied, boyishly.
"I—we were worried sick!" Katara said. "How could you be so calm about this? You could've at least told us where you were—"
"Give him a break," I rolled my eyes at Katara. "He's old enough to take care of himself."
She glared at me. "I'm not talking to you."
"Yeah, well I'm talking to you." I scowled. "What's your problem?"
"What's yours?" she shot back.
"Why are you acting like his mother?"
Everything went silent. Katara was seething, hand reaching for her waterskin.
Something flared inside me. I didn't hear what anyone said after that, but suddenly the fire she was cooking the fish over exploded, knocking her off balance. All heads turned towards me. "Oops." I stood up, clearing my throat. "Excuse me."
