Chapter 4: Aang's New Friends
Being ruler of the world can be tedious and lonely. To that end, Aang decided to make some new friends. Afterwards, he invited them to his palace for some festivities and to get to know each other better. At days end, they all went to Aang's bedroom just to talk and hang out. After a while, they started to grow a little bored. Enters Zuko! Aang had been waiting for a moment just like this for quite some time now. Thus, he seized this opportunity to introduce Zuko to his friends. Aang pulled Zuko out of his pocket and presented him. At first, they did not know what to think. Is it a doll? Is it a toy? Can we play with him? As a matter of perspective, the answer to questions such as this is "Yes." According to Aang's power over Zuko, Aang's friends subliminally perceived Zuko to be a play toy, even though Aang explained everything. At that, they all took turns "playing" with Zuko. Since Zuko was literally down at everyone's feet, they started to play with him with their feet, of course. They teased him with their wiggling toes. They rubbed their feet all over him. They put him between their toes and made him squirm a lot. He was made to dance and perform acrobatics before them, and they would sometimes trip him with their toes while making fun of him. And, of course, Zuko could not talk back or do anything about it. And this went on all night.
Suddenly, it occurred to someone that maybe it was mean to keep Zuko down at their feet all night. But Aang assured them all that Zuko really likes it. Just to tease Zuko some more, Aang gave Zuko a glimmer of false hope. He enabled Zuko to speak out, but the very moment he tried, Aang put his big toe over Zuko's face covering his mouth so no one could hear him. In face, Aang made it a point to sometimes give Zuko a small glimmer of false hope, and then "Crush" it underfoot just to tease and frustrate tiny, helpless Zuko. And all Zuko could do about it was to tremble and grovel at Aang's giant, dirty, stinky feet and beg for mercy.
