So I got this idea one day... Why not do something like Freaky Friday... but with the whole group! :D Enjoy!
Chapter 1- Definitely Not Cactus Juice
Toph blinked against the blinding light, then after a few seconds, she stared at her hands in sho-wait… she stared at her hands, only to figure out… these weren't her hands! This wasn't her body! She felt the floor to figure out what was going on, only to get… nothing. The soles of her shoes pressed against the hard ground, but no vibrations returned to her. She could see with eyes now, but she was still, in a sense, blind. "Ok, Aang, did you find a way to take us into the spirit world or something? This isn't funny. I want my feet back."
She had memorized the specific vibrations each of the people gave off, so it didn't take much guessing to figure out who was who. Her eyes swept over the room until her gaze was fixed upon the avatar, only to realize…
Toph snorted, trying to contain her laughter. "Nice tats, Twinkletoes!"
-three hours earlier-
Aang stared down upon the inner ring of Ba Sing Se as he flew next to Appa and Momo. After two years of being apart from his friends, he was eager to meet them at Iroh's tea shop. Unfortunately, he was lost. the buildings seemed so similar from an aerial view that he didn't know if he had passed the tea shop a few minutes ago or if he was on the wrong side of the ring completely.
"Whaddya think buddy? Should we land and ask someone for directions?"
Appa grunted in reply.
"You're right, a rogue group of Dai Li agents could jump us. Guess we'll just keep on looking."
Momo chittered irritatedly.
"Well, it could happen, Momo! You can never be too careful."
Soon a pillar of water that was about fifty feet tall came into sight. That must be from Katara and Master Pakku. Aang altered his course so he would land by the building that was next to the pillar. Momo sped on ahead until he was above the the pillar, then started to lap up water, only to have his tail grabbed by a tentacle that sprang forth from the top of the pillar. Momo chittered angrily as he soared down to Katara, who was giggling while she stood next to master Pakku as they maintained the liquid structure.
Aang landed lightly next to her and folded up his new staff that he had found at one of the temples a year back. Immediately he was swept into Katara's warm embrace, causing him to slightly blush. "What took you so long?"
Aang's blush grow deeper. Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and said, "Well, while flying over Ba Sing Se, I kinda got a little lost."
The Water Tribe girl raised an eyebrow "Why didn't you just stop and ask someone for directions?"
"Well… I was afraid that I might get ambushed by some rogue Dai Li agents."
Katara chuckled "What is it with men and not wanting to get directions?"
"TWINKLETOES!" Toph ran out of the tea shop and promptly gave Aang one of her hardest dead-arms, which was her version of giving someone a bear-hug.
"Owww…" Aang rubbed his arm.
"Gosh, I never knew that it would take the only one who can fly the longest to get here!"
"He got lost and refused to get directions."
Toph nodded knowingly. "You know, you boys can sometimes be pretty boneheaded, Twinkletoes." Toph raised her arm to bump Aang on the top of his head, only to find that she had to stand on her tip toes to reach. "Dang, you've gotten tall! Now how am I supposed to knock sense into your head full of air?"
Aang grinned sheepishly in reply, then walked into the Jasmine Dragon with the others.
"Well, well, what an honor for my tea shop to humbly serve the Avatar himself." Iroh looked up from his Pai Sho table and smiled warmly. Pretty much everyone they knew were there at his tea shop, including Gran-Gran and the waterbenders from the swamp.
Sokka, Suki, and Zuko were deep in conversation at a small table by the door, while Mai sat there with a dark expression and remained silent. They were frowning and speaking urgently, so it must have been about something serious. Sokka stopped in mid sentence and looked up after Iroh's welcoming. A grin evaporated Sokka's previous scowl. "AANG!" He jumped out his chair, knocking it over, and raced over to the Avatar and clapped him on the back. Sokka had also grown over the two years, but he was only about an inch taller than Aang, if that. "Ah, come on! I'm no longer the tall one in the group!"
"What about Zuko? He's a bit taller than you and in our group." Katara piped in.
"Well, that's different, he's older and from the Fire Nation and he didn't join until just a little while before the comet, so he counts more as a freeloader."
Zuko scowled, folded his arms, and released a puff of steam from his nostrils angrily. Mai rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if to say, Men… Suki shook her head slowly and rolled her eyes along with Mai.
Iroh got up from his seat cheerfully after humiliating his opponent once again at Pai Sho. "Well, now that you're all here and settled, I may as well show the Avatar's closer group of friends to the special room I prepared for them in the back." He led them through the passageways in the shop until they reached a room that had huge, ornate windows that overlooked a beautiful meadow.
Katara eyes lit up and gasped as she beheld the gorgeous room. There were plants that were laden with delicate, fragrant flowers, bushes trimmed into special large ink paintings of scenery from each of the four nations, and the table and each chair seemed to be a piece of artwork. Katara clasped her hands together with delight as she exclaimed, "Oh, General Iroh, it's so beautiful! How did you manage to get such gorgeous things, with the war destroying most non-Fire Nation artwork, that is."
Iroh grinned happily. "I know many people whose families have collected art for many generations. I am truly gratified that they would be so kind as to give gifts to me just to show their appreciation for ending the war and the threat to their homes and children. One of them was actually the Bei Fongs, in fact." Toph blushed in response to the mention of her family's name. Iroh bowed and left the room.
Katara cheerily waltzed through the room and inspected everything, including the food that covered the table. About every minute or so, she would eye everyone suspiciously, then would glance at the doorway nervously.
Toph gave a weird look and said, "Sokka, have you gotten some cactus juice and been sneaking it into Katara's water?"
Sokka immediately stood defensively in front of a waterskin that was on a side table. "What? Of course not!" He proclaimed immediately. After a pause he added meekly, "Then I'd have less for myself…"
"Don't tell me you found more of that stuff." Suki rubbed her temples. "I swear if you tell me that you're Avatar Momo one more time…"
"Well, you could always have some," dramatic lighting appeared over Sokka's face "and together, we will rule the world with our avatar powers of awesomeness! No evil flying platypus-monkey will have the nerve to stand against us ever again!"
"Zuko, was it always this weird when you travelled with Team Avatar?" Mai asked in an unimpressed voice.
Zuko, in the middle of a facepalm, nodded irritatedly.
The gaang seated themselves at the table under unspoken agreement and began to serve the food onto the plates.
Mai picked up her cup to take a drink, only to find it empty. "Wonderful." She rolled her eyes.
"Hey Sokka, could you get us a pitcher of water from the kitchen?" as Aang asked that, Katara paled.
"What? Why do I have to?" Sokka whined.
"Just go get the water!" Zuko commanded.
"Just order around the non-bender, why don't ya?" Sokka muttered as he sulked out of the room and appeared a moment later with a clay pitcher and poured some in everyone's cup, but when he came to Mai's, the pitcher was empty. Mai sighed and started clacking her fingernails against the table impatiently. "Oi…" Sokka trudged back to the kitchen and reappeared with another pitcher and poured some into Mai's cup, which she was holding impatiently.
"Ummm… Katara? Are you alright?" Aang looked over to notice Katara was sweating and eyeing her cup nervously. "Maybe you should have a drink of water."
Katara looked over at Aang, only to be snared up by his deep grey eyes. After a few seconds, she nodded and shakily took a drink out of the cup. Her eyes brightened and she quickly gulped down the rest of it, as most everyone else was doing. Aang raised an eyebrow, then decided to see what was so great about the water. After his first sip, his eyes widened. It felt as if a cork in his mind had suddenly been opened, allowing light to flood his consciousness.
"Sokka, are you sure this isn't cactus juice?"
"Of course not!" He said earnestly "Do you think I'd give all of my cactus juice away just like that? It's not like you could just buy some off the street!"
Outside, and man was heard shouting, "Get your fresh cactus juice right here! Nothing's quencher than cactus juice! It's the quenchiest stuff around!"
"Ok, that doesn't prove anything."
Aang shrugged and downed the rest of his drink, once again filled with light.
"I don't see what the big deal is. This stuff just tastes like regular water." Mai rolled her eyes.
"Well everything's boring to you so-" Sokka suddenly stopped and looked down at body, as if he was surprised about being attached to the ground. "Did anyone else feel that?"
Some of the others nodded unsurely, while Aang said in a confused tone, "What are you talking abou-" His spirit seemed to pull himself upwards towards the ceiling. He was still attached to it, so it felt as if he had just airbended himself out of his seat. He looked down, but his body was still firmly planted in his seat. "That was weird."
"What the heck are you guys talking about? Sokka, I swear, if you gave everyone cactus juice, I will pulverize-"
"Honestly, I didn't do anything!" Sokka replied defensively.
"It sure doesn't feel like nothing, Sokka!" Katara glared at him angrily.
"What the heck did you-" Toph stopped, although her mouth was still wide open. Aang flew through the ceiling a moment later. He looked down at his hands, which were glowing blue.
"Great, I somehow got into the spirit world." He continued flying upwards without control and looked around to notice that everyone except for Mai was close by him, scared beyond wits on what was happening. "IT'S OK! WE'RE ALL JUST IN THE SPIRIT WORLD… SOMEHOW!" Aang shouted in attempt to calm everyone down, but his voice seemed to be extremely muffled, as if he were talking into a pillow.
Katara looked over at him, her eyes glazed over with fear, and shouted something at him, but she too could not be heard.
They soon slowed to a stop, then began to fall downwards faster and faster until the tea shop was once again back in sight. Aang winced, preparing to be unified with his body once again, but instead of that happening, blackness covered all of his senses.
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