After flying for several days, the group decided to land for a rest
After flying for several days, the group decided to land for a rest. This included Aang, Katara, Sokka, Appa and Momo. They made camp a short walk from a small town, to gather supplies for their next flight. So Aang had somewhere to practice his water bending, they settled their campsite next to a river.
While shopping in the town, they decided to sit down for a quick meal in a small café. "It feels so good to be able to relax for a few days" Sokka said while placing his feet on a small stool. The other two, Katara and Aang just laughed, then found themselves blushing at each other. Sokka was too distracted to realise.
After ordering, they sat down and waited for their food. Not long later, they were served by a young girl, about the same age as Aang. When she came out, she looked at Aang, and blushed. There was a silence for a few seconds, until she remembered where she was. "Hi. . . . . . You ordered tea, right?"
Aang smiled back, "Yes, thanks." They stared into each others eyes for a little, and she placed the cups and pot in front of them. "Do you live here? I've never seen you before." She was still looking at Aang, and he was staring back into her eyes. "We travel around a bit, but we are camping just near here for a few days. Perhaps you could come over sometime" Sokka replied, trying to impress her.
"Thank you. Don't you have to clean, or something" Katara said, a bit annoyed at both the other boys. The girl seemed a little sad, and left the three alone to enjoy their tea. "She seems nice" Aang said, not taking her eyes off her.
"Yeah" Sokka agreed, also with his eyes attached to her.
After drinking their tea, they approached the counter to pay, when she rushed out to serve them again. "Water tribe money?"
"I hope that's ok with you. We have nothing else," Sokka answered, again trying to impress her.
"Wait. You travel, and you come from the water tribe? So the rumours are true. You must be the Avatar!" She seemed impressed at Sokka.
"Actually, its me" Aang said, a little bit embarrassed.
Her face lit up, even more impressed than she had been when she thought Sokka was the Avatar. "I'm Ming. Come back anytime you wish".
"I'm sure we can arrange that sometime" Sokka replied in an excited manner, and introduced the others along with himself.
"Avatar Aang, I like it" Ming smiled at Aang again. They continued talking until Katara decided they had to leave for another water bending lesson for Aang.
Katara was not very happy for the rest of the day, and didn't talk much either. All she could think about was Ming, and how she was jealous. Katara was even more annoyed when Aang and Sokka decided that they should eat dinner there as well.
Ming was so excited to see the group back again. She served them first, and gave them priority to the other customers. She stopped to talk to them whenever possible. When they finished, they all went outside to talk, while there were no other customers.
"You must need to be really brave to be the Avatar. And to travel with the Avatar, you guys must be really good water benders". Sokka seemed a little bit embarrassed while Aang was appreciating the compliment and Katara was ignoring it.
"Actually, I can't bend"
"Really? Neither can I. But I'm really good with swords"
"Maybe you could teach me sometime" Sokka seemed excited.
"We really should be going now before it gets dark". Katara was still jealous and annoyed at Ming.
"Ok, hopefully I'll see you soon."
They began walking back to their campsite, when they realised Ming was still standing outside the café. "Wait" she called out. "I need to speak to you". She sprinted over to them. "I want to join your group"
The others were all shocked. "Why would you want to join our group?" Katara quickly replied, implying that there was no use, or fun.
"Well, the shopkeeper doesn't pay me much, and then I could be Sokka's full-time sword-fighting teacher. Please, I really want to"
"We are kind of full" Katara replied, and continued walking away towards their camp.
Aang ran over and stopped her. "Why don't we just give her a chance, at least for a few days. You know how important it is to Sokka because he can't bend, and besides, she seems nice.". Katara sighed.
"Just a few days, then we can decide if she's worth keeping, but only for Sokka."
That night, when Ming thought everyone else was asleep, she snuck out of the tent and went over to the spot where the camp fire had been. Sokka came out of the tent after realising she was gone to find her. He walked up to her, without her realising. Ming took a deep breath, and lit the fire. Not with sticks, but with her own fist. She was a fire-bender, obviously from the Fire Nation. Sokka couldn't move.
Sokka grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "You're a fire-bender? You said you couldn't bend." She quickly flung rope around his wrists, and put her hand over his mouth, and led him away, until they were far enough away to talk without waking the others. Just before they were out of sight from the campsite, Katara woke up, and realised Ming and Sokka were both gone. She saw what was happening, and she began to follow, hiding incase Ming saw her.
When she thought she was far enough away, Ming took her hand away from his mouth and untied his hands. "What was that for?" Sokka screamed.
"You can't tell the others. It's a really long story but yes, I am a fire bender."
"Unless you can explain, I'm going to tell them. I bet you're undercover for the Fire Lord or something. I'm going"
"No. I want to tell you but that would just make it worse. I only wanted to join your group because the shopkeeper found out who I was. He said if I didn't work for him with no pay then he would put me in jail. But you can't tell the others, I won't let you."
"I won't let you." He began walking back to the campsite. The next thing he knew, he was tied to a tree, and Ming was sitting on the floor next to him.