Summary : Iroh's nephew is missing, and so apparently is a young water bender. Cue Detective Wang Fire to the rescue.
Prince Zuko was missing, and Iroh was quite worried. Or at least rather worried. Somewhat worried, perhaps. Yes, let's go with somewhat.
Prince Zuko was missing, and Iroh was somewhat worried. Normally Iroh wouldn't have been worried at all. To the contrary, he would have been thrilled, taking his nephew's disappearance as an opportunity to hope against hopes that he had gotten himself entangled with a female or in trouble with the law or involved in some other healthy youthful indiscretion. His nephew on the whole did not experience nearly enough healthy youthful indiscretions for a boy of eighteen years and it was with the idea that he might find it in himself to experience such indiscretions if in a suitable environment that his uncle invited Prince Zuko to spend the summer months with him in the grand city of Ba Sing Se.
Zuko had been gone for so long (nearly eight hours now) that Iroh began to worry (hope) that he perhaps needed to be bailed out of jail or saved from an angry father. It was more likely that his nephew had become lost in his own brooding and the time had gotten away from him, but an old man could dream. Either way, it was about time that he go save the boy, even if it was from his own sour disposition.
No harm in hoping for the best, Iroh thought to himself, strolling down the street after telling the the manager of the tea shop he owned that he was going to go look for his nephew.
Though it was close to six o'clock the sun was still strong and wouldn't surrender the sky to night for a good two hours yet. The shadow he would have cast was swallowed by the larger shadows of the buildings around him as he made his way to the park. It was his nephew's favorite place in the upper ring – he liked to feed the turtleducks.
At the entrance of the park a small group of young people crowded around a tree and Iroh couldn't help but overhear their animated conversation as he neared them.
"You see this scorch mark?" said the oldest boy, a dark skinned lad around his nephew's age, perhaps a year or two younger. "She was with a fire bender." The boy was wearing what appeared to be a very low quality fake beard.
"A fire bender?" asked a bald boy with blue arrow tattoos on his head and hands, his voice cracking. "What was she doing with a fire bender? Were they fighting?" Though obviously younger than the darker skinned boy by several years he was nearly as tall, but in the lanky way of someone who'd just gone through a growth spurt.
"Hmmmmmm…" the older boy intoned, leaning down to inspect the contents of a tree-adjacent trashcan. "I think what we had here was a classic case of -" here he paused for dramatic affect, causing the shortest member of the group, a girl with a delicate build and messy black hair, to whisper something to a pretty auburn-haired girl with a warrior's build and posture. Judging from the stifled giggle that came from the second girl, it was most likely a joke at the boy's expense.
"Indigestion!" said boy finally finished, jabbing his finger in the air.
"How do you figure that, Sokka?" the auburn-haired girl asked. "Oops – I mean, how do you figure that, Detective Wang Fire?" She wore an amused but patient smile, obviously humoring him.
"I'm glad you asked, Suki," Sokka –er –I mean, 'Detective Wang Fire' answered, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Upon observing the scorch mark on the bark of tree, I quickly estimated the angle and velocity of the –"
"There's an empty bag of fire flakes in the trashcan," the tattooed-boy interrupted. A lemur stood on the rim of the can, holding said bag. After inspecting it for any remaining crumbs the creature tossed the bag aside and jumped up onto the boy's shoulder.
'Wang Fire" snatched the bag out of the air as it wafted on the breeze, lips pursed in a disappointed pout over having his thunder stolen by the team pet.
The auburn-haired girl leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.
"It's okay sweetie, I'm still impressed," she consoled, earning a goofy grin in return.
Iroh took advantage of the momentary lull and stepped forward.
"Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and I believe we could perhaps be of help to one another."
The teens all turned to look at the old man, exchanging questioning glances amongst one another before 'Wang Fire' nodded sagely (or in way he though was sagely) for the man to continue.
"From what I overheard, it seems you are looking for a friend of yours who might be in the company of a fire bender, am I right?"
"Yeah, that's right," the delicately built girl affirmed. "Detective Snoozles' sister decided to wander off a few hours ago and still hasn't come back."
"She was talking to this guy last I saw her – really cute, probably Fire Nation," Suki offered, patting the oldest boy's cheek reassuringly when he scowled at her description of the boy his sister was with.
Iroh clapped his hands together. "My nephew has also been missing for several hours – he's visiting from the Fire Nation, and those," he indicated the bag of extra-hot fire flakes held in 'Wang Fire's hand, "are his favorite snack."
"Really?" the tattooed-boy enthused, eyes bright. "That's great, you can help us find them!"
Suki rubbed her chin, mimicking her boyfriend.
"Your nephew," she began, "Is he tall with broad shoulders, black hair, dreamy eyes, and a sexy scar?"
Iroh chuckled at her description and the puce color her boyfriend's face was turning.
"Not exactly the words I would have used, but yes, that sounds like my nephew." He turned to the older boy and bowed his head deferentially. "I would be most grateful if you would assist me in locating him, Detective."
Mollified, 'Wang Fire' puffed out his chest.
"I would be happy to help, good sir."
The smallest girl smacked her forehead – now that he was closer he could see to his surprise that her green eyes were misted over with blindness.
"Thanks for encouraging him, Gramps."
Iroh learned that Detective Wang Fire, otherwise known as Sokka, was in fact a quite capable tracker..
"Interesting, very interesting," he said. "Do you see how one set of footprints disappears here? I believe I can deduce through simple application of – "
"Sokka, will you just get on with it," came from the blind girl – whose name Iroh had learned was Toph – exasperated and all out of blind jokes by now.
"Okay, okay, jeesh. Alright, so right over here," he indicated a secluded spot where the grass had been badly trampled and a bush appeared to have been crushed, "there seems to have been some sort of scuffle. Iroh's nephew pushed Katara out of the way to protect her from whoever was attacking them, which you can tell from the way the blades of grass here have been bent under their combined weight rolling on the ground."
"She then used her bending to manipulate the vines and subdue their assailant, who must have attacked from above given that they left no trail." He pointed out a mess of vines that had been tied in a series of complicated knots.
"But Sokka," interrupted the other boy, who was named Aang, "Who would have tried to attack them, and why?"
"Ahem."
"Oops, sorry - Detective Wang Fire, who would have tried to attack them?"
"That I don't know. What I do know, however, is that after tying him up on the ground Katara must have given him a nasty beating, judging from the way his head and limbs pressed into the ground."
"And where was Iroh's nephew during all of this?" asked Toph flatly, as if she already knew the answer but knew Sokka didn't.
He looked stumped.
"Ummm…" He scratched under his beard and looked to Suki for help. She just shrugged and crossed her arms, waiting to see what he would come up with. Sokka got on all fours and inspected the ground, face just inches from the grass and dirt.
"It seems that at some point, he came over here and using his fire bending cut the assailant loose, who then must have jumped back up into the trees, obviously terrified and no longer a threat. Katara must have been hurt somehow, because this is where her tracks disappear. So, Zuko must have picked her up and carried her…"
Sokka lead the group around some tall shrubs.
"… over here!" he said, rounding the corner. His face fell, shocked at what he saw. It appeared he had been correct about Iroh's nephew having carried Katara this way, but wrong about everything else.
Everyone was too stunned to speak for a long moment, before Iroh finally broke the silence.
"Zuko, I see you've made a new friend, I'm so proud of you."
"Uncle!"
"What are you doing to my little sister?" Sokka raged over Toph and Suki's laughter.
"It's not his fault, Sokka, I can explain! We were just talking, and then well… one thing lead to another…"
"Maybe we should give them some privacy, you guys…" said Aang, hands already over his eyes.
"Hey, Snoozles, are you sure she was using those vines to tie up an assailant?"
"Euuuuuughh! I don't want to think about this!"