Katara immediately tried putting the fire out with water waves and Aang was helping her. Toph crushed flying sparks with her rocks and I tried to keep the fire under control.
"What do I do?" Then there was Sokka, leaping around dodging sparks.
"Uh . . . take care of Momo!" Aang yelled.
When the fire was out, I turned to Sokka.
"Whew. That was hot," I gasped, wiping sweat from my forehead.
"Tell me about it." He scowled, pointing at the burn holes all through his clothes. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.
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I'm in the mood to make a joke. What do you call a bunch of earthbenders running down a hill? An avalanche! I'm dying right now.
-M
Everyone sat around the table, eating. Man was I hungry.
Suddenly, I realized it was quiet. A little too quiet.
"Hey," I kicked Sokka lightly under the table, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Okay."
"I mean, I can't do anything!" Sokka said, frowning. "You all have magic powers," he waggled his fingers in the air, "And I mean, you can fly. I'm useless."
"Yiu just realized?" Toph joked.
I glared at her, and then realized she couldn't see me, so I kicked her under the table.
"I'm just joking!" Toph shrugged.
"You're not useless, Sokka," Katara comforted her brother.
"Besides the fact that all you wave around is a boomerang that doesn't really do much . . ."
I kicked Toph again.
"Jeez okay," she raised her hands in surrender.
"And we don't really fly," Aang pointed out.
"Like it matters!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Okay, I have a good idea," I cleared my throat and stood up, tossing the waiter the money for our food. "Sokka, we're going to shop."
"Shop? I'm sorry, Ayame, but that's not going to make me feel any better."
"You'll see."
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We took him to a weapons shop.
Aang, first of all, was the funniest. I kept laughing at him as he, dressed in heavy way-too-large-for-him armor, kept falling around in it, tripping over his feet. Toph crashed into something, and Katara picked up a sword, twirling it around and almost slicing her head open.
Then there was Sokka.
First he picked up a sword that almost chopped off his hand. Next came the nunchucks. He was good at it at first, and then it slammed into his head, almost knocking him out. No knives, no clubs, no swords, no anything could he handle without almost murdering himself.
And then he was the sword.
"I love this." Sokka said. "It's . . . It's . . . "
"Priceless?" a voice completed from behind us. "That it is. That sword was forged by the famous swordmaster who happens to live at the castle closeby."
"Swordsmaster?"
"Yup."
Sokka turned to Aang. "You know, maybe I should go up there. I mean, you've been trained by the monks, Toph was trained by those badgermoles or whatever, Katara was trained by Master Pakku, Ayame was trained by . . ." he paused, glancing at me.
"Trees," I answered with a curt nod.
"My point is, I should get a shot too."
"He's got a point" Toph raised her eyebrows.
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S
okka went alone.
"I'm bored," Toph said, tossing a stone.
"I need to hear a joke." Aang sighed.
"Oh come on everyone, cheer up," Katara punched Aang playfully, "I'll give you a joke. Knock knock."
"Who's there?" everyone chorused.
"Shirshu."
"Shirshu who?" we repeated.
"Bless you!" Katara cracked up, and stopped when she realized she was the only one doing so.
"I guess the funny side skipped a generation," Aang said skeptically. I burst out laughing.
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O
h, that's hilarious. I hope you hear the sarcasm in the letter. I've heard so many of those. Like this one: What do you call a bunch of waterbenders running down a hill? A flood. See, they're just stupid.
-A
Well I'm still laughing, Azula. Guess what you call a bunch of airbenders running down a hill? Gas! Oh geez I can't breathe.
-M
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Sokka was still gone.
"How many days has it been?" Toph groaned.
"I've lost count."
"Let's not think about it."
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Ha-ha. I'm laughing so hard I've lost my breath and died. Because no I haven't. I'm being sarcastic. Look, I thought you wanted to know about your parents? You know what I think? It's time we met.
-A
My hands literally started shaking. No way. I was not ever . . .
But she sounded like she had inside information.
Could she have known something? Important? One meeting wouldn't hurt.
Suddenly, Sokka appeared out of nowhere, running towards us. Everybody jumped up and ran to him in relief. I turned my back, only catching a few words. Meteorite. Sword.
Help.
Maybe. Maybe this was my destiny.
