Accidental Avatar 3: Totally Lit

Secret Plans for Fun

Aang jumped to his feet anxiously as Jin, Sokka, and Mangetsu returned. Sokka appeared to be limping, and once in the cave mouth, turned to Mangetsu with an angry face.

"That settles it!" he screamed into Mangetsu's face. "No more school for you, young man!"

"Good!" Mangetsu snapped back. "I didn't even want to go in the first place. It was Aang's dumb idea!"

"Hey!" Jin put herself between the two. "Can we tone it down? Mangetsu? Seriously? You're picking fights with firebenders in the Fire Nation?"

"Kid knows no fear," Muteki called from near the fire where he played chopsticks with Katara.

"Or he's just an idiot," I cut in.

"I will fight you," Mangetsu said, only for Sokka to grab him by the collar and yank him back.

"Young man, you will learn some respect or so help me!"

"Kiss my ass!"

"Mangetsu, Sokka's right," Aang said, trying to placate the irate waterbender. "If we're going to learn more about the Fire Nation, picking fights in the school grounds is the wrong way to go about it."

"Oh no, if Mangetsu's fighting hasn't already drawn attention to you, then I'll clean Appa droppings for a week," I said. "Sorry, little buddy, but I don't think you should go to school either."

"I'm not ready to leave, though!" Aang said, his eyes rounding with disappointment. "I'm having fun for once, just being a normal kid."

"Normal is overrated," Muteki shrugged.

"I'm going to have to agree with Muteki on this one," Sokka said, stroking his beard with an imperious look.

"You don't know what it's like though, Sokka," Aang said with a slight shake of his head. "You get to be normal all the time."

"Ha, ha!" Mangetsu and Toph high-fived each other, the former snickering behind an oversized sleeve.

Sokka scowled at the pair of them, and I shook my head.

That was a pretty good burn.

"Look, I get what you're trying to say," I said gently. "But even you have to admit, Mangetsu's made you look a little bit suspicious."

"Well, yeah, but listen," Aang said. "Those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation. If we wanna change this place for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom."

"What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?" Sokka demanded.

"What he said," Mangetsu added, a suspicious glare on his face.

"If you say dance party, I will personally kick your ass," Jin said with an equally suspicious glare.

"Uh..." Aang chuckled awkwardly.

"Go to your room," Sokka said, pointing off deeper into the cave.

"For the record, I can do a mean ceilidh," I said casually, earning a confused look from the others. "Little bit of waltzing, maybe a cha-cha if I really tried."

"Are you just making weird noises with your mouth or actually speaking words?" Mangetsu asked with a slight raise of one eyebrow. "Because it sounds like you're making words up."

"Uh, I can do a little bit of a samba?" Jin added.

"You can dirty dance?" Muteki frowned.

"Sort of?" Jin shrugged.

"Get a room, guys," I mimed a puke.

"I wouldn't mind," Mut laughed. 

Jin hit him in the shoulder playfully.

"Wait, guys, are we going to ignore the blatant insulting things that Mangetsu said?" I demanded.

"What did he say?" Jin and Muteki asked in synch.

"That's really creepy, you two," I sighed.

We all moved deeper into the cave, and I threw another log onto the fire.

"You mentioned a Kayley?" Jin asked.

"No, a Ceilidh," I corrected. "It's some Scottish Country dancing."

"Is that from your home?" Katara asked.

"Close enough," I smiled at her.

"Do you remember more?" she pressed.

"Just Trivia," I sighed. "Like songs, places, and every so often, I get a glimpse of my... my family," I don't like crying. 

The whole face leaking thing is just nasty.

"What is Scottish Country Dancing?" Aang asked.

"It's easier to show you," I looked at Jin, then at her 'Oh heck no' face. "Katara?" 

I offered my hand to the Watertribe girl.

She took it.

"Mut," I looked to my friend. "Give me a quick four-four song that makes you think Scotland. And while you think of one, I'll walk you all through the steps."

"How's 'Five Hundred Miles'?" he asked.

"By the Proclaimers? I love that song!" I grinned. "That song is perfect!"