Double Bender

Part 49

We all filed out onto the beach and packed up all our stuff. Zuko and I tried to refrain from eye-contact, every time we did, it resulted in us blushing harder than ever. Sokka loaded up the rest of our gear. "That's everything." He said. Toph paused. "No, it's not." She said. "Where's Aang?" We all looked amongst ourselves and rushed up to the house. "Aang?" I called. "Aang!" Zuko yelled. We looked all over the house; In all the bedrooms, in the now damaged attic, even in the closer section of the woods. It just seemed like he disappeared. The two of us gave each other a worried look and ran back out to the backyard.
"He left his staff." Sokka said, holding up the slim piece of wood. "That's so strange." I said. "Look!" said Katara. "There's his footprints." We followed the trail around the house and out to the ocean. Unfortunately, that was as far as it went. They just stopped at the water. "This is so weird." I said, scratching my head. "How could Aang just disappear like that?" Suki tried to be optimistic. "Maybe he just went for a midnight swim...and didn't come back..." her voice trailed hopelessly. "Maybe he was captured!" Katara said frantically. Sokka looked at the smooth sand and said, "No, there's no sign of a struggle." There were no crazy patterns of footprints, just a straight path leading through the sea. "He probably ran away again," Toph suggested. "Uh-uh," Sokka chided sarcastically. "And just leave his glider and Appa." "Then what do you think happened, oh sleuthy one?" Sarcasm, I'm seeing a lot of it lately. "Isn't it obvious?" he chimed. "Aang always disappears before a big battle. He's probably in the spirit world." He snapped his fingers in an "I got it" kind of way. "But if he was," said Zuko, interrupting Sokka and ruining his theory, "wouldn't his body still be here?" Sokka slumped. "Forgot about that." "Then he's gotta be somewhere on the island." Katara explained. "We should split up and look for him." In less than a heartbeat, Toph was over by Zuko, hugging his arm. "I'm going with Zuko!" she said happily. We all stared at her in disbelief. "What?" she said. "Everyone else got to go on a life changing field trip with Zuko, now it's my turn." She hugged his arm even tighter. Zuko was blushing harder than I was the first time I kissed him. I guess it must be kind of embarrassing to have a twelve-year-old girl hugging your arm when you have a girlfriend (and she's standing right in front of you). We were all silent, then Geo spoke up. "This," she said, "is literally too shocking to make a witty response to." That was very shocking in it of itself, because that never happened before.
We all split into pairs, except for Sokka, who flew around on Appa. Katara went with Suki, Zuko, much to his embarrassment and dismay, went with Toph, and I went with Geo. As we searched through the woods near the house, she asked me a question. "So... you and Zuko...in that cave...?" "No!" I exclaimed. "I know what you're thinking. So stop. It did not happen." "I wasn't going to say anything!" "Yes you were." I mocked. "You said it yourself, you're like my little sister. It's your job to say stuff like that. I know you were thinking it." "Okay, so maybe I was... But I was only gonna tell Katara" she admitted. I gave her a look. "...and Suki...and Toph." I rolled my eyes "But you guys looked so cute together. By the way, what was with that cave anyway?" I contemplated whether or not I should tell her. I mean, that cave was supposed to be our place, Zuko's and mine. I didn't know if it was right to tell her, if that place was supposed to be private. "He...stormed off and found it...I don't know." "You know I can tell you're lying right?" Geo said slyly. "Okay," I admitted. "You can't tell anyone about this, it's supposed to be private. We consider it our 'secret' place." "Girly," Geo commented. I rolled my eyes and continued. "He found it when he was little and he goes there when he needs some time by himself." "Where do you fit into this?" Geo asked as she lifted up a branch, still looking for Aang. My face fell slightly. "He brought me there after we left the show. He saw I was upset and needed consoling, or just needed to talk where we were alone. I actually didn't need it but it was a nice gesture anyway." Okay, I was lying. I really didn't like admitting that I could be a bit of a wimp at some times. Geo obviously knew, but she didn't let on. I guess she just liked hearing about me, Zuko, and our little moments. "And, after our argument, I stormed off to my room, he went to the cave and started shouting angrily at himself. I found him there and," I sighed dreamily. "we just talked. Then, he kissed my forehead and...promised me..." "Promised you what?" Geo said, hanging on every word. "Promised that...we'd always have each other. I'd always have him, even if... even if... he said we'd always have each other." I didn't want to finish that previous thought. "That's really sweet." Geo whispered. I shook off the wistful feeling that had left me whenever I thought of him. "We should keep looking." I changed the subject quickly. "Mmm hmm..." Geo chided. "Don't give me that look!" I laughed. "So quick to change the subject..." she remarked. "Oh shut up!" I squealed as I pulled her in and gave her a noogie. She laughed louder than an angry armadillo-bear. I always enjoyed moments where she, or one of us, was laughing. It reminded me that things were still bright, even if we were about to go into a dark time. "I have one more question..." Geo trailed. "Go ahead." "When's the wedding?" "I'm gonna get you for every time you've joked about that." I said. "Oh right." She said. "You don't think it's a joke. You think it's gonna happen." I glared at her. "I'm kidding!" she giggled. "Let's go, whack-a-doo," I joked.
We searched everywhere in the woods and Aang wasn't there. We searched around the house, in the house again, all in the woods, got lost a couple times (Yeah, yeah, how do two half-earth benders get lost?). Anyway, we looked all around and we couldn't find Aang. We went back up to the porch looking glum. Katara, Suki, Zuko, and even Toph mirrored our expression. Sokka landed on the beach and walked up to the steps as Appa growled in disapproval. "Judging by your expressions, you didn't find Aang either." We all sadly shook our heads. "It's like he just...disappeared." Zuko sighed. "No dip." Geo remarked. "So what do we do now?" I asked. Suddenly, Toph sat up. "Wait a second!" She said. We all looked at her. She paused and then said, "Has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too?" We all looked around. Most of the time, Momo was with one of us, sitting on our shoulders...or Aang's! "You're right." I breathed. Sokka looked up in horror. "Oh no!" he said. "I knew it was only a matter of time!" "Before what?!" I asked, trying not to sound frantic. Sokka ran over to Appa, who was sitting by the steps. "Appa ate Momo!" I face palmed and sat back down. "He's cracked." Geo whispered to me. Sokka lifted Appa's jaw and crawled into his mouth. "Momo!" he screamed. "I'm comin' for ya, buddy!" "You're wrong." I whispered back to Geo. "He hasn't cracked. He had nothing to crack in the first place." Katara stood up and stared in annoyance at her brother. "Appa didn't eat Momo, Sokka." She said. "He's probably with Aang." "Besides," I said. "Appa only eats plants. We can't all be carnivores like you, Sokka." Sokka crawled out again and looked at us. "That's what Appa wants you to think!" he said sternly as he crawled into Appa's mouth again. "Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka." Zuko said, rolling his eyes. Sokka didn't listen. Zuko sighed and gave up. "We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away." "Well, then what should we do?" Katara said, looking at Zuko.
Now, I've been in several situations where I was unwillingly put in charge and was trusted with the plan. I know how stressful it can be. But, when you're the only one who's taking the situation seriously, people start to look to you for guidance. But they don't know that you're just as scared and clueless as they are and you don't know what you're going to do and that just makes you even more scared and more clueless and more helpless and there's that one moment when you know that everyone's counting on you even when you don't know what to do. Fore some reason, there's that look in someone's eyes when they realize this. They realize that they have guide everyone through that situation and they have to do it with a straight face because if they look scared or helpless, everyone else will know that it's hopeless. I saw that look in Zuko's eyes as soon as Katara asked the question. "I don't know." He replied. We all stared at him, because we knew he had a way, even if he didn't realize it. He had a better plan than all of us combined. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked casually. "You kind of are the expert on tracking Aang." Katara said. Toph stood up. "Yeah if anyone's got experience with tracking the Avatar, it's you." She added. I stood up and looked Zuko in the eyes. "Well, you're the future Fire Lord. You're our leader. What do you think we should do?" He put a hand on his chin, thought for a moment, and said, "I've got an idea."
We spent the next few hours packing up and saddling up Appa. Zuko said that we'd be heading to the Earth-Kingdom again. There was a friend of his that would help. He said that she was good at tracking. Once we were completely packed, we took off and left Ember Island behind.

Oh boy, almost time for the Comet!!!!!!!
DUN DUN DUN!!!!
So what is up Wafflebunnies?
I'm tired. I want to go to bed. Shemurr. (What up iisuperwomanii reference)
What was I talking about?
OH YEAH!
4.52 READS MUTHABLEEPERS!
Love you guys.
~Maeve :D