Avatar Day
In the world of Avatar, a group of children were. One, a young boy named Sokka, was talking to a lemur about personal space. Two girls who were like sisters huddled together by their dragons. A preteen boy slept on his flying bison and a third girl slept in her sleeping bag.
Then, the preteen boy named Aang awoke as he heard someone making their way towards their camp site.
A fire nation soldier riding on a rhinoceros rode in. Katara jumped up, Lin and Aqua gasped, being pulled from their dreams as more soldiers surrounded the group of five plus four animals.
"Give up! You're completely surrounded!" the man yelled. Sokka and Katara ran towards Appa while Aqua and Lin jumped on Sapphire and Ruby.
"My scrolls!" Katara cried, running back towards a tree stump where her scrolls had been left the previous night.
"My staff!" Aang yelled, running back down.
"My comb!" Aqua jumped off Sapphire.
"My cloak!" Lin cried, jumping off Ruby. Everyone jumped back on their animals and took to the skies before the fire nation soldiers could cause serious damage. The children screamed as they dodged fireballs.
"Wait, my boomerang!" Sokka cried, reaching over Appa's saddle, watching his boomerang that still laid on the ground get farther and farther.
"There's no time!" Katara said.
"I'm sorry Sokka, but we can't go back." Aqua said.
"Oh, I see," Sokka grumbled. "There's time to get your scrolls, your comb, your cloak, your staff, but no time for my boomerang."
"That's correct," Katara said cheerily.
"Oh," Sokka said, pouting as he leaned over the side of Appa's saddle. A few hours later, they finally landed somewhere near a town.
"Sorry about your boomerang, Sokka." Aang said. Later, the group could be found in the small nearby village. Aang wore a hat to hide his tattoos as Aqua and Lin wore the hat on their cloak's to hide their recognizable features.
"I feel as if I lost part of my identity." Sokka said. "Imagine if you lost your arrow, or Lin lost her necklace, or Aqua lost her…eye color. Or if Katara lost her…" she looked at him confused. "Hair loopies." He finally declared.
"Here's your produce, ponytail guy," the merchant said, handing him the basket of fruit and vegtables.
"I used to be boomerang guy," Sokka said dejected. Aqua gave him a one arm hug because of the basket, and laid her head on his shoulder.
"It'll be okay Sokka, you know that." Aqua said.
"Hey, water tribe money!" the merchant exclaimed. They turned to the merchant and Katara where Katara was paying.
"I hope that's okay," Katara said.
"So long as it's money," the merchant shrugged. He closed the shop and started to walk away calling behind him, "Have a nice Avatar Day!"
"Avatar Day?" Aang, Aqua, and Lin asked.
"You guys are going to the festival, right?" The Merchant asked. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Aqua, and Lin looked at the other.
"I guess we are now," Lin smiled.
"There's a holiday for the avatar? Who knew?" Aang asked later that day. Green banners were all over this part of town. A float of Avatar Kyoshi rolled by.
"Look!" Katara exclaimed. "They made a giant Kyoshi float."
"Hey, I wonder if they have a Guardian Day somewhere in the world." Aqua said.
"Who knows, maybe there is." Lin smiled.
"And here comes Avatar Roku," Sokka said as the float passed them.
"Having a huge festival in your honor is great, but frankly, it's just nice to be appreciated," Aang said.
"And it's nice to appreciate their deep-friend festival food," Sokka said, taking a large bite out of the food in the bowl he held.
"Aang, look!" Katara cried as a large Aang float rolled passed them.
"That's so cool," Aqua laughed.
"That's the biggest me I've ever seen." Aang said.
"Hey, look over there." Lin pointed and where her finger was, was a man holding a torch running towards the floats.
"Now a torch; that's a nice prop," Sokka commented. "It's bright, dangerous," he stopped to take in a deep breath. "Smells manly. But I'm not sure I could carry it off."
"Hey, what's that guy doing?" Katara asked as the man screamed. He jumped in the air, through the Avatar Kyoshi float, lighting it with flames.
"Down with the avatar!" the crowd chanted as he lit Avatar Roku up. They crowd cheer, and the group of five suddenly had five dropped jaws.
Elsewhere, Iroh, Jade, and Ember sat in a cave when Zuko walked in. His hair had gotten longer, now that it wasn't held in that ponytail. He was looking…pretty cute. Jade blushed at that thought. She was snapped out of it as he tossed something in front of the three. Baskets of food.
Ember started searching through the bags, "This is rabbit-bear food but it nothing ever tasted so good," she smiled widely, biting into an apple. Jade giggled at her sister and started her own search. As long as it wasn't meat.
"Where did you get these?" Iroh asked. Instead of feeling grateful for the food, he looked more concerned.
"What does it matter where they come from?" Zuko said, stalking away. Jade looked at him worried, her lips glued to her apple.
Back in town, "Down with the avatar! Down with the avatar!" the crowd chanted. The man with the torch threw his torch at the Aang float and started to burn. But Katara ran to the float, using her water bending to put out the floats!"
"This is just horrid," Aqua shivered disgusted.
"Hey!" someone from the crowd yelled angrily. "That party-pooper's ruining Avatar Day!"
"Hey, leave her alone!" Lin cried. Aang jumped, using his air bending, to jump high and land onto the float Aang's shoulder. "That part-pooper's my friend!" Aang cried, taking off his hat and throwing it so everyone could see his bald arrowed head.
"It's the avatar himself!" a man in front of the crowd yelled.
"It's going to kill us with its awesome Avatar powers!" another man yelled.
"It!" Aqua and Lin cried. That made him sound like some kind of creature instead of a person.
"No, I'm not," Aang tried again but the guy started running around completely scared.
"I suggest you leave," the man dressed like a mayor demanded. "You're not welcome here, Avatar."
"Why not, Aang helps people." Katara said.
"It's true," Aang said, hopping down to Katara, Aqua, Lin, and the Mayor. "I'm on your side."
"I find that hard to swallow considering what you did to us in your past life. It was Avatar Kyoshi; she murdered our glorious leader, Chin the great." The mayor insisted.
"The great?" Aqua scoffed to herself.
"You think that i…murdered someone…" Aang said wide eyed. Lin put her hand on his shoulder. "Of course not Aang…your only twelve in this life…" it was her way of trying to comfort him.
"We used to be a great society before you killed our leader." An old man said. "Now look at us!" Katara, Aang, Aqua, and Lin leaned back. Aqua looked around, where was Sokka anyway?
"Aang would never do that!" Katara declared insisted. "No Avatar would. And it's not fair for you all to question his honor!"
"Let's tell her what we think of the Avatar's honor!" a man yelled and stuck his butt at them.
"Give me a chance to clear my name!" Aang declared.
"The only way to prove your innocence is to stand trial." The mayor said.
"I'll gladly stand trial." Aang said confident.
"You'll have to follow all our rules. That includes paying bail." The mayor insisted.
"No problem." Aang smiled widely.
A few minutes later, Katara, Sokka, Lin, and Aqua were unhappily standing outside a prison cell that held Aang with a wooden shock shut around his neck and hands.
"How was I supposed to know they wouldn't take Water Tribe money?" Aang asked. Lin slapped her forehead.
"So some people don't like you. Big deal!" Sokka scoffed. "There's a whole nation of fire benders who hate you. Now let's bust you out of here."
"I can't," Aang said and the water Aqua was about to use to freeze the bars of the cell, she dropped surprised.
"Sure you can!" Sokka said, putting his arm on Aqua's shoulder and leaning on her. "Aqua here can just freeze the bars and we'll break them, then we're on our way."
"I think what he's trying to say is that you're supposed to be out saving the world." Katara said. "You can't do that locked up in here." Katara said
"Yeah, we got to go show up and stop the fire nation so let' go." Lin said.
"I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer, either." Aang said. "I need you guys to help prove my innocence."
"We'll do it," Lin nodded.
"Hello," Sokka said. "How are we gonne do that? The crime happened over three hundred years ago."
"That's okay, Sokka." Aang shrugged. "For some reason, I thought you were an expert detective."
"Well, I guess I could be classified as such," Sokka said, puffing out his chest.
"Yeah!" Katara exclaimed. "Back home, he was famous for solving the mystery of the missing seal jerky."
"Everyone wanted to blame it on a polar leopard but I figured out that it was old man Jarco wearing polar leopard boots." Sokka bragged. "See, a real eight hundred polar leopard would have left much deeper tracks. Okay, I guess I am pretty good."
"Then I guess that mean you'll help our friend," Aqua said, looking up at him, making her eyes much larger and innocent, the blue popping out against her tan skin. Sokka turned hoping no one would notice his face burning.
"Fine," Sokka finally said. "But I'm gonna need some new props," Sokka said. He disappeared for a minute and when he came back, he was wearing a weird looking hat. Where'd he get that? Aqua wondered but decided not to say anything. "I'm ready," he said, putting a magnifying glass over his eye. Katara giggled. "What?" he asked but she didn't answer. And so, the search for the answers began.
"This is the crime scene," the mayor said later that day. Katara, Aqua, Lin, and Sokka stood in front of the large temple.
The mayor pointed down at a small footprint embedded in the concrete. "This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi. It was at sunset three hundred and seventy years ago today that she emerged from the temple and struck down," he stopped to indicate at a statue of a stern Earth Kingdom warrior made of pink marble near the temple. "Chin the Great. After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalize our great leader. Feel free to appreciate it. "
Aqua and Lin looked at the other and stuck their figures down their throat, making gagging sounds. The mayor sounded so pompous.
Sokka walked around the statue and temple before saying, "This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone. And we know if the statue was built after Chin died…
"So, if they were built at the same time that means…" Katara started.
"Shh, I wanna solve it!" Sokka whined.
"That Kyoshi never set foot in this temple," Lin interrupted. Sokka groaned and Aqua patted his shoulder. "You'll get it next time,"
"That's a big hole in the mayor's tory, but it's not enough to prove Aang's innocence." Katara said.
"You're right," Sokka said, pulling a water pipe out of his pocket. "We need to get to Kyoshi island."
"Where'd you get that?" Lin asked. Sokka didn't answer. A few hours later, they were landed on Kyoshi and quickly found the village leader.
"Oyagi!" Katara cried when they reached him. "Aang is in jail. The two of China says he murdered their leader in a past life."
"But we know it can't be true," Aqua said.
"They say it was Kyoshi." Sokka explained.
"Kyoshi, that's crazy talk!" Oyagi cried. "I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name."
"Thank you, Oyagi," Lin said relieved. They might not be going back empty handed.
"So, uh…what's Suki up to, is Suki around?" Sokka asked as the three walked up the pathway. Aqua huffed and crossed her arms. "What?" Sokka asked. Lin shook her head. That guy could be so stupid.
"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war. You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspited her and she wanted to help change the world."
Walking under a gate, the group descended upon another temple. "This temple was convered into a shrine to Kyoshi." Walking in, it was dark and filled with clothing and weapons Kyoshi had used. "The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit. That's her kimono." He said, pointing to the dress hanging up.
"She had exquisite taste." Katara said, gently touching the kimono.
"Please don't touch." Oyagi said quickly.
"So what are we looking for?" Lin asked.
"Any clues," Aqua said. Lin sighed and started to look. For what, she didn't know.
"These fans…they were her weapons, no?" Sokka asked, leaning in on the facs sitting on the desk.
"Also refrain from touching the fans." Oyagi said wearily.
"There were her boots?" Katara asked, looking at the large shoes on the floor. "Her feet must have been enormous!"
"The biggest of any Avatar," Oyagi said proudly.
"That's…nice," Lin said, unsure what to say to that.
"Wait a minute…big feet," Katara said and the other occupants of the shrine turned to the young water bender. "Little footprints, there's no way…"
"Ahem." Sokka said, clearing his throat. Every one turned to the water tribe warrior. "These things mean anything to you."
"You're right. I'm sorry. Please," Katara said. Sokka missed her mockery but Aqua and Lin covered their mouth's to muffle their giggles.
"Aha!" Sokka cried dramatically. "There's no way Kyoshi could have made that footprint and therefore, there is nothing linking her to the crime scene."
"Brilliant, Sokka." Katara said, unimpressed. The group wondered over to a mural. "This piece is called The Birth of Kyoshi." Oyagi explained. "It was painted at sunrise on the day this island was founded. Why, it was today, in fact, three hundred and seventy years ago."
"Three hundred…and seventy years ago," Aqua echoed, her eyebrows creased together in thought.
"Wait, are you sure it was today!" Sokka exclaimed, grabbing onto Oyagi.
"Seeing how it's Kyoshi day, yes. I'm sure." He said, pushing Sokka off him.
"This ceremony didn't take place at sunrise, it took place at sunset." Sokka said, looking at the mural. "Look at the shadows."
"They point east." Aqua said.
"So the sun must have been in the west." Katara realized.
"So what?" Oyagi shrugged and Sokka took over. "If Kyoshi was at the ceremony at sunset, she couldn't have been in Chin committing the crime. She has an alibi!" Sokka said, blowing on his pipe.
"This proves that she's innocent!" Lin grinned. Katara snatched Sokka's pipe and hit him with it.
Later, in the town of Chin, "Honorable Mayor," Katara said. With Aqua, Lin, Sokka, and the Mayor, they stood in front of Aang still locked away in the jail cell. "We've prepared a solid defense for the Avatar. We did an investigation and found some very strong evidence.
"Evidence," the mayor huffed. "That's not how our court system works."
"What does that mean?" Aqua snarled.
"Then how can I prove my innocence?" Aang asked.
"Simple." The Mayor said. "I say what happened and then you say what happened and then I decide whose right." The small group of five gasped, looking horrified at the mayor. "That's why we call it justice. Because it's 'Just Us'." And he walked out laughing.
The next day, everyone stood on the temple's ground, waiting for the trial to begin. Finally, the mayor stood and everyone quieted. "Everyone loved Chin the great because he was so great." The mayor started. "Then the Avatar showed up and killed him! And that's how it happened!" he grinned, obviously pleased with himself, and sat back down.
"That is how he's going to win this trial?" Lin asked.
"The accused will now present its argument." A man said.
"It's him!" Aqua and Lin shouted.
"You can do it, Aang. Just remember the evidence." Sokka whispered.
"Right…evidence." Aang nodded, walking to the center. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he said loudly to get everyone's attention even though he didn't need to. No whisper was heard and no eyes wavered from the avatar. "I'm about to tell you what really happened and I will prove it with facts. Fact number one…uh…" Aang's mind went blank.
"He's dead," Aqua slapped a hand to her forehead.
"The footprints," Sokka whispered loudly to Aang.
"Oh, yeah…" Aang nodded and turned to the crowd. "You see, I have very large feet!" everyone looked at his small little girly feet and their gaze went back to his face. "Furthermore, your…temple matches your statue. But…I was painting at sunset. So there you have it. I'm not guilty!" he said but the crowd didn't look very impressed.
Sokka, Katara, Aqua, and Lin gave a fake encouraging smile. "He'd dead," Sokka said through his clenched teethed smile.
Elsewhere, in a cave sat Iroh, Zuko, Ember, and Jade. Ember and Jade were leaning against the other with the fire warming their bodies. Zuko tossed something to Uncle. A golden teacup.
"Looks like you did some shopping." Iroh said. Zuko threw Ember a green hair piece and he stepped behind Jade.
"Zuko?" she asked confused, stretching her neck to look behind her, only to feel cooled metal be placed around her neck. Even more confused, she looked down to see a silver necklace shaped like an eight pointer star. Jade's eyes glimmer.
"Zuko!" she cried. "It's so beautiful!" throwing herself into his arms. Ember smirked, was it or was the fire prince's cheeks going a little red. He quickly stood, Jade frowned and turned back to the fire, snugging into her friend. Ember was a fire bender so of course she wasn't as cold as Jade was.
"But where did you get the money?" Iroh asked.
"Do you like your new stuff?" Zuko asked.
"To be honest with you, the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup. I know we've had some difficult times lately." Iroh sighed. "We've had to struggle to get by. But it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty."
"There's no honor for me without the Avatar." Zuko declared.
"Zuko," Jade shook her head. "Remember, Aang may be just a kid but he's outwitted you a million times. Plus, he still has Katara, Sokka, and the four guardians protecting him."
"And Appa and Momo to," Ember said.
"Right," Jade nodded.
"Dumb girls," Zuko muttered. Jade growled, reaching to throw Iroh's tea pot at him. She would have too had Ember not pulled her away from it.
"Even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not so sure it would solve our problems. Not now," Iroh said.
"Then there is no hope at all." Zuko said. Jade gasped. How could he think that?
"Zuko!" Jade stood, glaring and clenching her fists. Tears were gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Don't you dare say that! There is always hope! You can't ever get on, even if someone is on the wrong path, they can still make it right as long as they never give up."
"She is right." Iroh quickly agreed. "If you allow yourself to slip down the road of despair and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. This is the meaning of inner strength." Zuko looked at his uncle, then the two girls, and walked out.
Jade went to follow but Uncle Iroh stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Jade, I think he just needs to be alone." He said. Jade didn't look happy about it, but nodded anyway.
At the trial, "Mayor Tong, I'd like the court to hear one last testimony." Katara announced.
The mayor jumped up angrily. "I've already told you! It's just me and the accused! You can't call any witnesses."
"This isn't just any witness." Katara declared. "I'm going to call…Avatar Kyoshi herself!" the crowd started to mumble among themselves. What did she mean?
Aang walked out wearing Kyoshi's clothes. Since they were so much bigger than the twelve year old boy, they were extremely baggy and his face was also painted the way Kyoshi would do hers.
"What are you doing?" Sokka questioned in a whisper.
"Well, she's in Aang's past life." Katara whispered back. "Maybe wearing her stuff will trigger something."
"Aqua, what do you think? Lin?" Sokka asked.
"Well…" Aqua said. "It could work."
"If something did or said something that would trigger it." Lin said.
"We can just hope for the best." Aqua shrugged.
"This is a mockery of Chin law!" the mayor protested.
"Please!" Katara stood. "If you could just wait one more second, I'm sure Kyoshi will be here."
"Hey, everybody," Aang said. He waved Kyoshi's fan in her face, talking in a girly voice. "Avatar Kyoshi here."
"This is ridiculous." The mayor determined.
"Give him a chance!" Lin and Aqua yelled. But they mayor wasn't bugging. "For the murder of Chin the Great, the court finds the Avatar…" before he can finished, a circle of wind surrounded Aang and when it finished, the real Avatar Kyoshi stood where Aang had been. Aqua and Lin bowed in respect for the previous Avatar.
"I killed Chin the Conqueror." She admitted. "A horrible tyrant, Chin was expanding his army to all corners of the continent. When they ame to the neck of the peninsula where we lived, he demanded our immediate surrender. I warned him that I would not sit passively while he took our home, but he did not back down. On that day, we split from the mainland. I created Kyoshi Island so my people could be safe from invaders." The wind circled her and when it disappeared, Aang appeared again. He fell and Katara quickly ran to catch him before he could hit his head on the hard ground.
"So…what just happened?" Aang asked, weakly confused.
"Uh, you kind of confessed. Sorry." Katara apologized.
"Well, on a brighter note, at least we know what really happened." Aqua said.
"And I find you guilty!" the mayor stood. "Bring out the wheel of punishment!" the crowd cheered.
Elsewhere, Zuko walked back in the cave Iroh, Jade, and Aqua was staying in. "I thought a lot about what you said." He confessed.
"You did? Good, good." Iroh said, poking at the fire.
"It's helped me realize something." Zuko said. "We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together. I need to find my own way."
Jade tried to hold back her tears and Zuko rode away on the ostrich horse. They watched until he was out of sight. Iroh placed a hand on Jade's elbow. "Yes, Uncle?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"Please, go with him." He said. Jade looked confused. "He'll need someone and I have a feeling he cares about you more than he's willing to admit."
"Yeah, go for it Jade. Go on." Ember nudged her.
"But what about you two?" Jade asked.
"I'll be fine. Old age hasn't caught up with me quite yet." Iroh said.
"And he'll need some company," With one final push from Ember, she grabbed her bag and ran off in the direction Zuko had disappeared, using the wind as her friend to run faster.
In Chin Town, Aang still dressed as Kyoshi stood next to the wheel of punishment. The eight choices were getting boiled in oil, in a torture machine, eaten by a bear, eaten by a shark, forced to lie on a bed of spikes, getting burned alive, falling into a pit of razors, and community service.
"I said I would face justice, so I will." Aang said and spun the wheel. The crowd started to scream, each punishment worse than the last. "Community service, community service." Katara, Aqua, and Lin chanted, crossing their fingers. The wheel stopped.
The jailer man said in a bored voice, "Looks like it's boiled in oil." Aqua and Lin's jaw dropped. If only Jade were here, she could have blew soft enough where no one would know for the wheel to land on community service, the symbol right next to being boiled in oil. The crowd cheered.
Everyone stopped and gasped as a firebomb exploded. "We've come to claim this village for the fire lord!" a man yelled, walking in on his rhino with two others. It was the same man they had escaped from earlier. "Now show me your leader so I may…" here, he stopped. The other man beside him destroyed the statue of Chin the Conqueror. "…Dethrone him." The man said.
"That's him over there!" one of the townspeople yelled, pointing to the wheel of punishment where the mayor was cowering behind.
"You! Avatar! Do something!" the mayor shouted.
"Gee, I'd love to help, but I'm supposed to be boiled in oil." Aang said dryly.
"There!" the mayor said, moving the wheel to community service. "Now serve our community and get rid of those rhinos!" Aang smiled and jumped into the air, throwing off the boots and dress. Aqua and Lin joined in the fight.
After the battle, that night, fireworks shot to the heavens, signaling their victory. "From now on, we'll celebrate a new avatar day, in honor of the day Avatar Aang saved us from the Rough Rhino Invasion." Mayor Tong announced. Sokka looked at the food in his bowl.
"What is this?" he asked. They looked like cookies, but sure didn't feel like it. They felt mushy and cold.
"That's our new festival food." The Mayor explained. "Unfried dough. May we eat it," he stopped and turned to the crowd. "And be reminded of the day the Avatar was not boiled in oil."
"Happy Avatar day, everyone," Katara said dryly, sticking a small piece in her mouth. Lin wrinkled her nose disgusted but tried some to.
"This is by far the worst time we've ever been to," Sokka said.
"I couldn't agree with you more," Aqua said, flicking some dough out of her bowl. It was so squishy. Lin squeaked as it landed on her clothing.