Four Elements High school

Chapter 20: 3 days- part 2

Zuko parked the gray Audi about a block away from his father's mansion. The bruised and beaten up car looked out of place in the well-off neighborhood of Firestorm Hills. 

"Everyone out," he grunted. Toph climbed out of the front seat. She kicked off her green sandals, and everyone knew that today, she meant business. Next came Mai, out of the right side of the car, using the blade of a swiss army knife to file at her nails. Out of the left side of the car came Sokka and Suki, their hands loosely clasped, and their matching bracelets touching like two stars. All of them wore black, which was normal for Mai but not so much for the rest of them. 

"Mai will stay in the car and pull up in front of the mansion once we finish," Zuko said quietly.

"Didn't you just tell me to get out of the car-" Zuko shushed her. 

"I have the key to the door of the balcony of my room, but it it's on the second floor, so Toph can earthbend a staircase to get us there," he continued.

"What do I do after that," Toph grumbled.

"Join up with Mai at the car. The rest of us will get inside and look for the money."

"Where exactly is the money," Suki asked skeptically. 

"In a flat, blue jewelry box with gold embroidery on it," he paused, "I don't exactly remember where I hid it, but it'll be fine." 

"You don't remember where you hid it?!" Sokka started hyperventilating, "I already knew this could get us thrown in jail but this? This is a suicide mission!" His breathing returned to normal, "and one more thing."

"Yeah..." Zuko said nervously.

"Why are we doing this in the middle of the day?!"

"Keep your voice down," Zuko whispered harshly, "I overheard Azula saying that she was going to go shopping with Ty Lee today, and chances are, they're going to throw a party tonight since Dad isn't home." 

"Fine," Sokka grumbled, "Let's get this over with." 

                                                                           ~~~

Aang led Katara through the fields of the valley with a picnic basket in his hand, and a letter in the pocket of his hoodie. The early spring air was cool and humid as they made it to a small grove of trees, but there was one that towered over the rest, a huge banyan tree with thick branches that looked perfect to climb on. 

"Why did you ever leave," Katara said in awe, "when you would literally have lunch in a giant tree." Aang shrugged, grinning. 

"It gets old after a while. Come on. I'll show you my favorite spot." Katara put her water bottle inside the picnic basket. They climbed for a good 15 minutes until reaching a sturdy branch that was perfect to sit on. Aang set the basket down and took out some strawberries, a container of pasta salad, and two huge, chewy, bakery style chocolate cookies. 

"Lunch is served." 

Katara wasted no time eating the cookies, and blatantly ignoring everything else. Aang absentmindedly chewed on a strawberry while staring up into the canopy of the banyan tree. 

"Have you ever gone to the top?" Katara asked. 

"I think that I may have, once, with Gyatso," he replied, "It was amazing. You could see the view for miles."

"We should go right now," Katara said immediately.

"I mean, you're not an airbender, but..." he looked at her smile and knew he couldn't say no, "It should be fine." He packed everything up into the picnic basket, (except for Katara's water bottle, which she held on to) and dropped the basket to the ground, using airbending as a cushion so it wouldn't fall apart. Then Aang slowly started to finish the climb up the massive tree, with Katara behind him. It was easy for a while, since they were in the dense undergrowth of the tree, but soon it became more dangerous as the branches grew farther apart.