Chapter 2:
The day broke; Sokka and Suki were sitting next each other at a table in the main room of teahouse, waiting for Iroh to finish preparing the tea for breakfast. Toph and Zuko were out on the terrace, fighting with stones and fireballs. It had been their favorite form of entertainment since the end of the war. Mai looked on with an expression of profound boredom that, despite appearances, was only superficial. Deep down she loved to see her prince having some fun for once.
Aang entered the courtyard, and Sokka cried out, "Hi Aang!"
"Eh? Oh. Hello Sokka."
"You seem like you didn't have a good night. That's too bad, I slept like a koala-sheep!"
"Yes, and your snoring sounds just like one!" Quipped Suki.
Sokka pouted, but he could not stay angry with her for more than two minutes.
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Suki continued.
"I had a nightmare," Aang noticed that Katara wasn't there... "Where's Katara?" He demanded anxiously.
"Your friend is still asleep; we have not seen her the whole morning." Iroh down put his tray full of small cakes and cups of tea on a table, and called Aang to join them.
"No, I'm going to see Katara!"
"No," Toph called to him from the terrace, "let the sleeping beauty rest, she needs it, and we need the vacation!"
"Okay, "said Aang tasting a yummy cake Iroh had made."
Shortly after – while the sun was at its zenith – Katara had still not shown up and Aang became seriously worried.
"- Well, I gotta go find out what's wrong. It's not normal for her to sleep this late; she's always the first one to wake up."
"Is your worry related to your dream?" May asked, looking as disinterested as usual.
"You could say that. I dreamed that..." He stopped, thinking back to the expression of fear on Katara's face in his dream, the sweet face that he loved. "I must see that she's safe!" And he ran to Katara's room.
"What's the matter with him?" asked Toph who had come back into the room with Zuko.
The others shrugged their shoulders.
Aang knocked on the door once, then twice, then three times ... but nothing happened, it was completely silent!
"Katara? Are you there? "
Still nothing. He decided to enter.
As he had feared, the room was empty. No trace of Katara anywhere! He ran off as quickly as he had arrived and joined the others.
"Katara has disappeared! She's not in her room!"
"What? That's not possible! I stayed here all day and I'm sure my sister didn't leave her room!
"Maybe she was awake earlier than us and she left?" Proposed Zuko.
"No it's impossible, she would never do that, and she would have at least left a note!" Sokka continued, a bit more worried than usual. "Aang, what do you think?"
"I have ... I dreamt that she had been kidnapped!" He told them the whole story, careful not to forget any detail, as they listened closely. Then he continued: "She looked so worried, but I thought it was just a dream!"
"Oh no! My sister was abducted by an officer of the Dai Li! I thought we were finally finished with all this stuff!"
"It was a dream Sokka, just a dream!" Aang tried to reassure him.
Sokka would not be reassured. If there was something he could not bear, it was someone touching his little sister!
"It's not a just dream Aang, I'm sure it's still one of your Avatar tricks, and now my sister is in danger!"
"Good," Zuko threw in, a little quieter than Sokka, "we will separate and search for her, Sokka and Suki will go together. Mai will go with me. Toph – since you are a master of the earth, you will be most useful. You'll go with my uncle."
"At your orders, Highness Spark! Toph mocked.
"This is not a time to joke! Aang, you fly over the city with Appa and Momo. Do you all agree?"
"YES, of course!" They replied simultaneously.
Zuko was completely in. Katara had become his best friend over time, and he could not bear to lose her. He would find her at whatever cost!
"Hm, "said Suki, "one cannot just rely on a drea ..."
"Of course we can!" Sokka interrupted, "it is the only lead we have, and I want my sister back, she is my responsibility!"
"Well, stop talking and let's go!" Toph was still a fan of action.
And it was left for a day of searching; which was, unfortunately, unsuccessful!
During this time in a cave somewhere in the slums of Bah-Sing-Se, Katara finally woke up. Her whole body ached and her head hurt so badly!
"Where am I and why am I tied up?"
"Isn't it obvious? That way you will not use your Bending."
She recognized that voice, it was Long-Feng. But how was that possible? He should be in jail!
"Long-Feng! How did you get out of jail? And what do you want with me?"
"You are just the bait! The one I want is the Avatar. I told myself that if I had been able to control the city through the Earth King; through the Avatar, I might control the whole world!" A spark flashed in his eyes, the envy, wickedness, and above all the madness! "And as for how I got out of prison ... I would say that my pain was reduced. I still have contacts."
"You're an old fool! Aang will save me, and you will regret your actions."
"If he comes, he will fall right into my trap. You are not in a position to speak that way to me!"
Long-Feng threw a huge stone which struck Katara in the stomach, slamming her against the wall.
Gasping with pain, Katara spit out, "Is that all you've got? You don't scare me!" But that was the drop that made the vase overflow.
"Oh, you're not afraid, are you? How about now?"
A sword pierced her shoulder "AAAAHHHHH!" Katara screamed, a cry so loud it could be heard for miles throughout the underground tunnels. If only she could use her gifts of healing!
Blood started flowing from her shoulder, and the pain was so bad that she fell unconscious again.
Night had fallen, and the desperate searchers had been unable to find anything. Aang had not yet returned, leaving a spark of hope glowing in Iroh's teahouse. Maybe, just maybe, he had been more fortunate.
"There he is!" Toph cried, before the others could see him.
Aang came trudging down the road, Momo on his shoulder, and a weary Appa just barely floating behind him. Sokka rushed to ask him if he had found something:
"How did your search go?"
"I found Katara's necklace, or rather, Momo found it – but I don't know where." Aang's expression showed the pain he felt, he more than the others, for failing to react in time, not realizing the message he had been sent! His thoughts whirled around one concept: it was all his fault end if anything happened to her, and he could never forgive himself!
The night promised to be long and sad. No one had touched the dinner prepared by Iroh (not even Sokka) and a silence of death filled the atmosphere. Soon, everyone decided to go to bed, even though they knew they would not be able to sleep. Katara was a source of joy, security and friendship. And now they had lost her.
