Guess who tells the Avatar Version of a classic ghost story? I think I rushed this one.


"Can I tell the next story?" a cheerful voice asked.

Everyone turned and found Ty Lee and Mai standing in the open doorway. Ty Lee was grinning, dressed in a gaudy bright orange kimono trimmed in black, Mai stood by her side with her usual bored expression, in her usual black garments, pretending not to notice how handsome Zuko looked in the firelight.

"I'd forgotten it was Spirit Night!" she chirped, inviting herself and Mai to sit beside Sokka.

"Hi cutie…"

Everyone inwardly groaned at the thought of Azula's former friends joining them for the night, but Aang smiled and said:

"Everyone is welcome to join us!"

"I didn't know you knew any scary stories Miss Ty Lee," Iroh said handing her and Mai cups of tea.

"Which story will you tell?"

"The one about the girl who hitches a ride," Ty Lee said in a silly, spooky voice.

"A young man was going home from a market place far from his village. It was a rainy stormy night, but luckily, his wagon was covered, so he wouldn't get wet.

While he traveled, he saw standing by the side of the road a pretty girl wearing a drenched red yukata. He black hair was plastered to her head and she was pale as bone, but she was very pretty. He stopped his carriage and asked: "Do you need a ride, miss?"

"Oh yes, thank you very much," she said.

He helped her up into the wagon and sat her beside him.

"Where do you live?" he asked.

"I live in the village nearby. I'm on my way home from a party." She said.

The young man noticed the girl was shivering and offered her his cloak. She accepted it graciously. After that, they didn't talk to each other, because the young man was trying to concentrate on the muddy road.

Finally they made it to her house, and when he turned to her to tell her so, he found that she was gone! He went to the door of the house and knocked. A very careworn woman answered the door. When he told her what had happened she looked upset and called for her husband. He came invited the young man in and took led him to a little altar.

"This has happened before," he explained.

"What do you mean?" The Young Man asked.

"The girl you gave a ride to is my daughter. She has been dead for five years. She was coming home from a party when she was struck by lightening and killed. Now her spirit is trying to come home," the man said sadly.

"Here is her portrait."

The girl's father showed him an ink portrait of the same small girl who the young man had given a ride to.

The couple let him stay they night. In the morning, they took him to the cemetery where their daughter was buried. Folded on her grave was his cloak."

"Ah, an old classic. They were telling that story in my time," Iroh sighed.

"I never knew you could tell stories."

"I learned lots of them when I was in the circus," Ty Lee said.

"I learned lots of things in the circus." She purred, winking at Sokka.

Sokka gulped and stood up, and dashed over to the fireplace.

"I think I am telling the next story,"