Havi of the Earth Kingdom

Chapter 33: The Library

Havi's pov

After a lot of traveling, we finally had time for ourselves and to take mini vacations! Currently, we're in the middle of no where for something Aang had chosen. He said he wanted to show us something but I'm just seeing a whole lot of dirt.

"What's out here?" Sokka asked.

Toph bends down to place her palm on the ground, "A lot actually. There's hundreds of little—"

"Shh!" Aang cuts her off, "I know you can see underground but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch." He suddenly takes out a flute, which I have no idea where it came from, and plays a note. Not even a moment later, a small animal popped out of a hole to sing the same sound, "yeah! I'm putting an orchestra together."

"Orchestra, huh? Well, la-dee-da" Sokka's sing-songy tune made three more animals appear and repeat them.

I smile, "Shut up, Sokka. This is cool!" He rolls his eyes and discretely grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers with care. Aang continues to play random notes until Momo began running after each critter when they'd pop up.

"This is great and all but don't we have more important things to worry about?" Sokka says as a reminder, "We should be making plans."

"We did make plans," Toph tells him, "We're all picking mini vacations."

His grip gets tighter as his frustration grows, "There's no time for vacations."

Aang looks at Sokka, "I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard everyday with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off!"

"Yeah," Katara agrees, "what's wrong with having a little fun in our down time?"

"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the fire nation," Sokka gestures his free hand wildly, "Should we just head west until we reach the fire lord's house? Knock-knock. Hello, fire lord! Anybody home? I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war."

"Well, you could definitely use some extra intelligence," I smile politely and he groans.

"Alright, we'll finish our vacations and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence," Katara announced.

Aang laughs while holding out a map, "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini vacation?"

She points to a spot, "How about the misty palms oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"Oh, yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine, natural ice spring, and I don't usually use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." We all ride on Appa to this 'wonder' but when we get there, it was a major let down, "Must've changed ownership since I was here." The town itself seemed rundown and the ice spring was so small it should be considered an ice cube.

We walk into a building with a few people standing outside. A man with missing teeth spits on the ground by my foot and Sokka seemed like he was getting angry, so I pull him by his arm before he could make a scene. Inside, there were mostly empty tables and a drink bar. The man behind the counter used large knives to chop up fruit into a smoothie. Sokka puts his hand under his chin, "I don't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while we plan our strategy."

"If he gets one I want one!" I run after Sokka as he orders but my attention was taken by another person spilling their drink on Aang.

"No worries. I clean up easy," he airbends the filth from his shirt.

The man gasps, "You're a living relic."

Aang shrugs, "Thanks. I try."

"An air nomad. Right in front of me," He bows as Sokka hands me a fruit drink, "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university, but tell me, which of the air temples do you hail from?"