This is an amateur, non-commercial story, which is not produced, approved of, or in any way sponsored by the holders of the trademarks/copyrights from which this work is derived, nor is it intended to infringe on the rights of these holders. And so it goes.

JINORA'S JOYRIDE

"… Aang walked up to Appa and held out the apple. Appa sniffed the apple and put it in his mouth. Aang hugged his new friend and promised they would be together forever and ever. The end." Pema smiled and carefully shut the picture book closed. "Did you enjoy the story, girls?"

Little Ikki rocked back and forth impatiently. "Wanna play," she informed her mother, who nodded and motioned for her to get toddling off to her new distraction. "What about you, Jinora?" Pema asked. "Did you like it?"

"It was okay," Jinora said slowly. Of course, it would have been even better had she been able to sit in Mommy's lap, but the stupid baby in her belly made that impossible. Stupid baby. Jinora still wasn't sure why they had to have Ikki around, much less this new intruder, but nobody ever asked her opinion.

"Just okay, hmmm?" Pema smiled and slowly stood up. "Well, I've got things that need doing. Did you want to look at the picture book?" Jinora sighed heavily and accepted it; her mother had to know by now she could read it perfectly well by herself, but 'family time' was important. As Pema headed inside, though, a new thought suddenly struck her.

"Mommy," she asked very gently and politely, "when do I get my sky bison?"

Pema paused and blinked. "Well," she finally said, "it's not that easy, Jinora. For one thing, Aang and your father were both a little older than you when they met theirs. And you know that sky bison are very rare and hard to find. It might take a while before we find one you can have as your friend."

"I'm five years old," Jinora said defiantly. "I could take care of a bison. Daddy lets me watch how he does it." To her point of view it seemed simple-you brushed them, talked to them, gave them apples and scritches, and ordered an acolyte to clean up the poop. Jinora didn't see what the big deal was.

"I'm sure you could," Pema nodded, smiling. "But you're just going to have to wait." She smiled at Jinora and headed inside, a hand pressed against the small of her back. Jinora watched her leave, then flipped open the picture book to the page where Aang was offering the apple to Appa.

Hmmm….

Fifteen minutes later Jinora was down in Oogi's cave. She dragged a bag of apples behind her—she wasn't sure if one would be quite enough to snag her sky bison, and Jinora was not the type to take chances. Oogi wasn't wearing his saddle or harness, but Jinora had seen Daddy guide Oogi bareback often enough that she was pretty sure she could manage as well.

A few quick airbursts later found her (and the bag) sitting on Oogi's large neck. "Oogi, yip yip!" she cried, giving him a quick little kick with her knees for emphasis.

Oogi did nothing. "Yip yip!" she yelled again, to no avail. Jinora scratched her head. She knew those were the magic words to get him moving-why wasn't he flying? A moment later inspiration struck again; she quickly retrieved an apple from her bag and tossed it just in front of the sky bison's face. "Like that?" she asked him. "There's more if you'll yip yip!"

To her delight the sky bison lumbered forward to gather up the apple. Three apples later he was outside and ready to fly; with a hearty "Yip yip!" and another kick, Oogi slowly rumbled skyward.

Troubles and trials never came alone. Tenzin knew this lesson by heart, and just in case he ever forgot, moments like now were a very solid reminder. First was the acolyte who ran up to him during his afternoon meditation and informed him that Oogi was no longer in his cave. Next, a second acolyte ran up and told him that a large number of apples had been pilfered from the storeroom. Last but certainly not least was Pema (with Ikki trailing behind) waddling over (gliding gracefully, he reminded himself sharply) to ask him in worried tones whether he'd seen Jinora in the last hour or so.

The apple issue could wait. "I'm sure she's nearby," Tenzin told his wife. "I'll have the acolytes search the island. She's probably down by the lemur nests."

"Don't you think I've already looked there?" Pema said.

"Pema, are you sure you should be doing all that walking around in your…" Tenzin paused as the beginnings of the patented Pema Death Glare flickered into life. "Well, if she's not there, perhaps we should start with…"

"I've already checked the temple…and the gates…and the ferry dock…and her bedroom." Pema tapped her foot impatiently. "Well?"

"Just a moment." Tenzin retrieved his sky bison whistle from his robe pocket and raised it to his lips. Two minutes passed without any sign of Oogi. "That's odd," he muttered before blowing into it a second time.

"I think Jinora takes precedence over Oogi!" Pema noted, her temper rising.

"I know, dear, but Oogi would enable me to make a faster sweep of the island," Tenzin replied, his own irritation rising. He blew the whistle a third time. "Where the blazes is he?"

"Tenzin…" Pema said, her voice and irritation soaring, but at that moment yet another acolyte appeared to tell her that Lin Beifong was on the phone asking for her.

This wasn't working the way Jinora had planned. Oogi was supposed to be taking her somewhere remote and secret to where the wild bison roamed and played. Once there, she would find her bison, give her an apple, and be best friends forever (and wouldn't Ikki be jealous?), just like in the book.

But instead Oogi was making slow, lazy circles around Republic City, and she was reasonably sure there weren't any sky bison to be found there. If there had been, Daddy would have taken her to them ages ago and she'd already have her bison. Frustrated, she dug into the bag for another apple and tossed it directly in front of Oogi, who gobbled it down immediately. "Come ON, Oogi!" she demanded.

For his part, Oogi had no intentions of doing anything but continuing his slow, lazy circuit. He'd heard Tenzin's whistle several times now, but given how he hadn't bothered to even visit the past week or so, much less take him out on a flight, why should Oogi go racing back to him? Let him wait a bit and consider the shameful way he'd been treating his 'old friend'.

Besides, apples.

Tenzin snapped up the receiver and frowned. "What is it, Lin? I'm rather busy."

"Okay, I wasn't expecting this," Lin said after a momentary pause. "So you're there….?"

"Where else would I be?" Tenzin snapped. "Again, what do you need, Lin?"

"Settle down, Tenzin," Lin ordered. " I'll let you get back to your crisis if you'll answer one question. If you're not on Oogi, who is? And why is he circling the city repeatedly?"

"That's two questions," Tenzin pointed out. "Wait. What?" he added as her sentence sank in.

"You heard me. He's not too high up, so we can make out someone riding around his neck, but that's about all we know. I figured it was you, so I called to see if Pema knew what was going on."

Realization hit Tenzin like a herd of badgermoles. "Oh no," he said, his voice faint. "Jinora."

"What?" Lin snapped. "Tenzin, what in blazes is your daughter doing up there, riding your bison around town?"

"I…" He abruptly noticed that a bored Ikki was thumbing through the picture book Pema had been reading to her earlier. "Apples."

Pema caught on immediately. "Oh no."

"Tenzin?" said Lin from the other end of the phone line. "Want to say something that makes sense?"

"She must have decided to take Oogi out and find a bison of her own," Tenzin said quickly. His eyes fell on one of the acolytes. "Get one of the transport bison ready."

"Sir…there aren't any right now," the acolyte said weakly, looking as though they'd rather be anywhere else at the moment. "They're all out on assignments."

"This just gets better and better," Lin commented. "So why haven't you whistled for him?"

"I have!" Tenzin yelled. "He's not responding for some reason."

"Oh, so you've pissed your 'old friend' off, is that it?" The amusement in Lin's voice was unmistakable. "Sounds familiar. You've got a knack for that, don't you?"

"Lin, I don't have time for this!"

"I know, I know." There was still a faint chuckle in Lin's voice. "Look, take the ferry over. I'll meet you there and we can track Oogi until he lands. Sooner or later he'll have to touch down."

"We'll get there as soon as we can." Tenzin slammed the receiver down and glared at the nearest acolyte. "Tell me the ferry is at the dock."

"Yes sir," the acolyte gulped, visibly trembling in the wake of Master Tenzin's glare.

"Good. Pema, stay here…"

"Not on your life, mister," she retorted.

"But…." Tenzin started, glancing down at her belly, but the Death Glare was moving into Stage Two. "What about Ikki?" he asked.

Pema looked down at her daughter. "Ikki, we're going on a boat ride. Let's go."

"Yay!"

"Oogi, come on…" Jinora pleaded tiredly. They'd been going in circles for such a long time, the apples were all gone, and she was getting sleepy, and Oogi's fur was so nice and warm…

The whistle went off again; Oogi rumbled softly to himself and drifted toward the city park on a slow, steady decline. He moved carefully so as to not dislodge his passenger or jolt her unnecessarily. This had been rather fun, all told, and perhaps the man would realize just how much he'd neglected his partner.

If he blew that damned whistle one more time, though…

"There we go," Lin said, nodding toward the slowly sinking bison. "Looks like he's heading for the park for a landing. I think you can stop blowing on that thing now, Tenzin." She tried and failed to hide her smirk. "Not that it did any good the previous dozen tries." She put her car into drive and forced her way into the late afternoon traffic, sirens wailing.

"I just hope Jinora's all right," the Air Master said nervously. "I don't know what's gotten into either of them. Pema, are you all right?" he called to the back seat.

"Everything's fine," came the answer, "just so long as there's a bathroom in our near future."

Jinora was sound asleep, snuggled tightly in Oogi's fur. Tenzin gently pulled her down from her perch. "Thank the spirits she's all right," he breathed. "Can I put her in your car, Lin?"

"No problem. I'm assuming you'll need me to take everyone home while you and your 'old friend' work things out?" Oogi's stomach rumbled ominously, and a moment later everyone was taking a few steps back. "Whoa."

"I was afraid of this. The bag is empty." Tenzin sighed and folded it up, then turned to face Oogi. "I'm very disappointed in you," he said, wagging a finger for emphasis. "You took Jinora on a trip without my being there, you refused to come when I repeatedly called, and…" He shook the bag. "You know what happened the last time you ate too many apples at one time."

Oogi snorted and farted loudly in reply.

"I think we'll leave you two to sort things out," Lin said, her eyes tearing from the aroma. "Pema, please tell me you're ready to go."

"Trust me," Pema replied with a hand over her nose as she shooed Ikki into the car. "Even if I wasn't, I am."

As the car headed for the docks and from there home, Jinora lay blissfully asleep with her head on her mother's lap. She dreamt of flying high in the sky atop her very own bison, heading off to magical lands for great adventures together as best friends should.

And Ikki was so jealous…!