37
Hoshiko stood in a fighting stance, a few feet away from where Xana was standing in her own stance.
"Ready?" Hoshiko asked, Xana smirked and nodded.
"Bring it on." She said, pulling her fists up and causing two pots filled with sand to empty out as she pulled them out, showing how ready she was. Hoshiko took a deep breath in and out, preparing herself.
Off to the side sat Kotaro, Haru, and Sokka, who had just arrived.
"What's going on?" Sokka asked.
"Hoshiko's training." Kotaro said, "Since the invasion, something's happened. I'm not sure what, but something happened, and now she needs to go through basic shadow bending training all over again."
"Why?" Sokka asked, Kotaro pointed to where Hoshiko was bringing up the shadows around her. He watched as she brought them up, creating something like a huge blackness around her feet, and she had it turn into an octopus-like form. She had some of the tentacles shoot out to Xana, who blocked their oncoming with the sand, bringing it up to protect herself. Sokka watched with wide eyes as the shadows suddenly began to quiver and shake, and grew twice their size. Suddenly, the attacks became much fiercer, and one of the tentacles snuck around behind Xana and struck her before grabbing and lifting her up. Xana yelped as she was lifted up in the air and the shadows began to surround her.
"Hoshi!" She shrieked.
"I got it! Hang on!" Hoshiko said, she held up her hand, closing her eyes as she tried to concentrate, suddenly she closed her fist, only for the shadows to move even more and begin to swallow Xana.
"HOSHI!" She screamed.
"Hang on!" Hoshiko hollered back, sweat began dripping down her forehead as she tried to regain control of the shadows as they slowly began to swallow Xana in their darkness. Just before the darkness reached her waist, Kotaro shot out a bolt of lightning. The shadows suddenly writhed, as if it were a living creature in pain, and they disappeared. Xana fell onto the floor of the platform, and Hoshiko gripped at the roots of her hair, groaning in frustration.
"That's why." Kotaro said to Sokka, before getting up and going over to where Hoshiko was. He put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, her blue eyes glimmering in disappointment and sadness. Xana grunted as she pushed herself back up.
"Hoshiko, that's the fifth time you've almost killed me!" Xana growled, "I don't know how much more of this I can do!"
"I'm sorry…" Hoshiko muttered quietly, depressed by what had just happened. Kotaro looked over at Xana, still staying close to Hoshiko.
"Why don't you go and take a break, Xana?" He said, "I think Hoshiko needs it, too."
"Fine by me!" Xana said, dusting off her clothes as she stood up, "I'm gonna have nightmares tonight for sure…" She went over to Haru, who stood up at her arrival and they both walked off together. Hoshiko let out a small whimper in sadness and leaned against Kotaro. Sokka walked over to them.
"What the heck was that about?" He asked, "I thought you had mastered this shadow bending stuff!"
"Like I said before," Kotaro said pointedly, "Things changed after the invasion. Her power's increased to twice of what it was before. She needs to learn to get it under control. When she does, she could really be a great help when we take down the Fire Lord. It'll take some time, but she'll get it." He gently pushed her off his shoulder and looked down at her, "Why don't you go and find somewhere quiet? Try and relax some, okay?"
"Yeah…" Hoshiko said, Kotaro smiled and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before she left. Kotaro looked back at Sokka, and he looked back at him.
"So… any idea how it happened?" He asked the Shinjun, who shook his head.
"I don't have a clue." He said, "Hoshiko won't tell me. Whatever it is, it's really troubling her. I think it might have something to do with Kagemi."
"Do you think she'll come back?" Sokka asked, suddenly steeling himself. He had no interest to meet the evil little dark side of Hoshiko again.
Kotaro shook his head, "Not unless she takes Hoshiko's body by force, which I don't think she's strong enough to do right now. But she might have gotten stronger. I can't really be sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say Hoshiko's sudden increase in power would be a sign of Kagemi getting weaker, and the power she had is transferring over to Hoshiko. Kagemi's always been something of a filter for her abilities, and she's always had a good grasp on how much strength she has, but this changes everything."
"Well, a stronger Hoshiko is a good ally." Sokka said with a small grin, "Does she need any help? Maybe I could…" He trailed off when Kotaro shook his head.
"I don't think that's a good idea." He said, "No offense Sokka, but I think only a bender would be able to take on Hoshiko in her current state."
"Oh." Sokka's shoulders slumped a little at the mention of his ability to not-bend, "Well, if there's anything I can do…"
"She'll let you know." Kotaro said with a nod.
Later on, Hoshiko tried again, only for it to end up in the same results as before, and Kotaro stopped her every time the shadows began to take in too much of Xana. So, instead, she just opted for some small, first-level exercises to try and calm herself down and work on her concentration, but even those were starting to get a little difficult. Kotaro made sure she was given the space she needed when she was doing this or meditating.
That night, Kotaro took her out of her self-training sessions to join everyone for dinner. Katara had made them all some rice and curry, and everyone was pretty comfortable. When Hoshiko looked around, she noticed someone wasn't among them, and turned to see Zuko was over somewhere, heating a small teapot in his hands with his fire bending.
"Zuko, what are you doing?" She asked him, her voice getting everyone's attention as they looked over at the Fire Nation prince.
"I'm making tea." Zuko called back, he smiled when he heard the teapot beginning to whistle through to the small hole. He grabbed a tray and some teacups and went over to where everyone was sitting around a small fire. He began pouring the liquid into some of the cups. "No one can make tea like Uncle, but hopefully, I learned a thing or two."
"Thanks, Zuko." Xana said, happy about the prospect of having some tea to relax with. Zuko smiled in return.
"Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" He asked them.
"Sure!" Xana said happily.
"I like jokes." Aang said.
"Bring it." Toph encouraged. Zuko got up, having finished pouring all the tea. He carried the tray over to Haru and Xana to give them a cup first.
"Okay, well, I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is 'Leaf me alone, I'm bushed!'" Zuko's attempt at a joke was met with silence, "…Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it." He got up and went over to where The Duke and Katara were.
"Right, maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing." Katara said as she took her teacup from him. Everyone laughed a little at her words, and Zuko smiled to himself as he got up to serve tea to Toph and Aang.
"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little." Toph said, "It hardly ever happens."
"Well, when you're travelling with the avatar," Kotaro began with a grin, "It's kind of expected that it'll be fight after fight, what with the war and all."
"I guess so." Toph said with a shrug before taking a sip of her tea. She let out a hum of approval, "You know, this isn't half bad, Princey Pants."
Zuko paused, "Princey Pants?"
"Looks like another nickname to add to Toph's arsenal." Hoshiko said with a grin, "I'm surprised you haven't thought of one for me yet."
"Oh, haven't I? Kitty Cat?" Toph said with a grin. Hoshiko giggled.
"She does this to everyone?" Zuko asked as he gave some tea to Teo.
"Pretty much, she has a nickname for everyone she knows well." Hoshiko said.
"Yeah, they're pretty funny." Aang said, "She calls me 'Twinkle Toes'."
"She's called me 'Sugar Queen' a bunch of times." Katara said, wrinkling up her nose a little.
"Sokka's 'Boomerang Boy'." Kotaro said as Zuko came over to where he and Hoshiko were sitting, "I'm 'Wolfy'." Zuko handed Kotaro a cup, but Hoshiko stopped him from handing him hers.
"I wanna try something." She said, her brow furrowed in concentration as shadowy tendrils extended from her fingers and wrapped around one of the tea cups. She bit her lip as she picked it up and tried to bring it back to herself. The cup began to shake after a moment, and she tried to keep her bending under control, but she failed, and let out a pain-filled yelp when the tea spilled over her clothes, the hot water burning her skin a little bit. "Damn!"
"Do you need-" Hoshiko got up before Kotaro could finish.
"I got it, don't worry." Hoshiko said, grumbling as she went to go and change her clothes. Kotaro sighed and drank some of his tea as Zuko went over to where Sokka was.
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Sokka asked him. Zuko nodded and put the tray down, following Sokka over to where Appa was resting so they could speak privately. What they didn't know was that Kotaro could hear every word they said to each other. He kept calm and acted casually as his hearing picked up their conversation.
"So, what's up?" Zuko asked.
"If…someone was captured by the Fire Nation," Sokka began, "Where would they be taken?"
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, "Who was captured?"
"When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops got taken." Sokka said, "I just… wanna know where they might be."
"…I can't tell you." Zuko said.
"What?" Sokka asked, "Why not?"
"Trust me, knowing would just make you feel worse." Zuko said, he moved to go back to the others, but Sokka stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder.
"It's my dad." Sokka said, "He was captured, too. I need to know what I put him through."
Zuko looked back at him, "It's not good, Sokka."
"Please." Sokka said gently. Zuko sighed and he turned around to face him.
"My guess is…" Zuko hesitated for a moment, "They were taken to the Boiling Rock." Kotaro's eyes widened a little bit, his ears twitching. He had heard of the Boiling Rock or rather, stories about it. It wasn't pretty.
"What's that?" Sokka asked.
"The highest security prison in the Fire Nation." Zuko said, "It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable."
"So where is this place?" Sokka asked.
"Why do you need to know? Zuko shot at him, "What are you planning?"
"Nothing." Sokka said, "Boy, you're so paranoid."
Zuko didn't believe him, but told him anyway, "It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. You guys actually flew right past it on your way here."
"Thanks Zuko." Sokka said, he yawned and stretched his arms above his head, "Just knowing makes me feel better." He walked back to the others, and Zuko looked after him with narrowed eyes, knowing he was up to something.
"Yeah, I'm sure it does." He muttered to himself. He went back to the others just as Hoshiko came back in a new shirt and pants. Kotaro offered her his cup of tea, and she took a sip from it. She smiled and licked her lips.
"This is good tea, Zuko." She said, making herself comfortable at Kotaro's side.
"Thanks." He said, seating himself beside Toph, drinking some of his own tea. Hoshiko looked up at Kotaro, and frowned when she saw the serious expression on his face.
"Something wrong?" She asked quietly. Kotaro looked at her and smiled.
"Now that you're here, nope." He said, pressing a small kiss to her temple. Hoshiko smiled and chuckled.
"Everyone's right, we are really cheesy." She said, nudging him playfully. Everyone laughed a little at her words.
"I expect you to tell me what's wrong later." Hoshiko whispered, just loud enough for him to hear, and no one else. Kotaro didn't reply as he took his tea back from her and took a sip.
Hoshiko walked into the room she and Kotaro shared, brushing her black locks to get it free of any tangles. It was warm that night, so she was only wearing the top half of her normal clothes, which was enough to cover her, but just barely. If she were to bend over, you would get a very good look at her rear end. She smiled when she felt Kotaro come up behind her, pressing kisses to her shoulder. His arms slowly wrapped around her waist.
"Ready for bed yet?" He asked, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"In a minute." Hoshiko said, shrugging his head off of her body. He still kept his arms on her as she brushed out the rest of her hair, "So, you want to tell me what's wrong?"
"Hmm?"
"At dinner tonight. You said you'd tell me later."
"Oh, yeah, that." Kotaro said, he moved his arms away from Hoshiko, and she turned around to face him as she kept brushing her hair, "I overheard something Sokka and Zuko were talking about."
"What was it?" Hoshiko asked.
"Sokka wanted to know where his dad had been taken." Kotaro said, "And Zuko told him about the Boiling Rock." Hoshiko let out a low hiss.
"That's not good." She said, "And knowing Sokka, he's probably going to try and get there." Hoshiko put up the brush and the couple began to move towards the bed, "He didn't tell him where it was, right?"
"Not the exact location, but Sokka knows that if he goes on the flight path we took over here, he'll find it." Kotaro said, getting into the bed when she did.
"Great…" Hoshiko let out a huff of air. She looked over at Kotaro, "What do you want to do about it?"
"I don't know." Kotaro said, "I want to stop him, or at the very least, go with him and help him out."
"No." Hoshiko said instantly, and Kotaro looked over at her in surprise, "You are absolutely not going."
"Why not?" Kotaro asked, "He's going to need help."
"I can't let you go." Hoshiko said, she moved closer to him, "I can't stand the thought of you going, and me just staying here and doing nothing. If you go, I'll come with you."
"It's too dangerous." Kotaro said.
"That's exactly why you shouldn't go!" Hoshiko said, she sighed and rested her head against him, "I don't want to fight about this. I'm tired. You're tired. Can we just think about this in the morning?"
"Okay." Kotaro consented, he kissed her forehead and lay down on the bed, drifting off to sleep with Hoshiko in his arms.
Early the next morning, Kotaro got up, being careful not to wake up Hoshiko, and snuck out of the room. He headed to the place where Appa was being kept, and inwardly cursed when he saw Sokka sneaking around the sleeping forms of his sister and friends. He started to climb up Appa, who was too tired to make any noise about him being there, and headed up to the saddle. Kotaro was about to run over and stop him, but someone beat him to it.
"Not up to anything, huh?" A voice asked from the saddle. Sokka let out a surprised yelp and fell back onto the ground. Kotaro watched as Zuko leaned over from where he was sitting in the saddle. Sokka glared up at him, and Kotaro hid behind a pillar, not wanting to be caught by either of them.
"Fine, you caught me." Sokka said as he gathered up the things he was bringing with him, "I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"
"I'm never happy." Zuko muttered.
"Look, I have to do this." Sokka said as he continued to pack up, "The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong." He closed up his bag and stood up to face Zuko, who jumped down from Appa's saddle, "It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko." He pushed past him to start climbing up Appa again.
"You need to regain your honor," Zuko began, "Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."
"No." Sokka said, "I have to do this alone."
"How are you going to get there? On Appa?" Zuko asked, "Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison day-cares." Sokka stopped and sighed, realizing that Zuko was right. He looked back down at the fire bender, knowing he would have some kind of solution for this, "We'll take my war balloon." Sokka jumped down from the bison and followed the prince. Kotaro did nothing as he watched them leave. He felt a little relieved that Sokka wouldn't be going alone.
"Oh, hang on." Sokka said, he turned around, grabbing a piece of paper and quickly scribbling out a message.
"What are you doing?" Zuko asked.
"Leaving a note so no one will wonder why we're gone." Sokka said. Zuko came over and looked over the note.
"Here, give me that." Zuko said, taking the piece of paper from him and writing out another message on it.
"What's that for?" Sokka asked, looking at it curiously.
"Just because I'm gone doesn't mean Aang's getting a break." Zuko said, "He still has a lot of fire bending training to catch up on." Sokka shrugged.
"Well, you are his teacher." Sokka said. Zuko finished the note and put it over by Momo, who was sleeping soundly. They both turned and left, heading to where Zuko's war balloon was.
Kotaro watched them leave, and turned around, heading back to his room. Sokka might have some trouble on his own, but he trusted Zuko to get his non-bending friend to come back to them before too long.
Later on that morning, Hoshiko and Kotaro got up and headed to where the others were to get some breakfast. The Duke carried a big pile of hay (Well, big for a child of his size) over to Appa, who happily ate it. Momo was still sleeping on the ground, the note Sokka and Zuko had left on his stomach, as if it were a blanket. Katara went over and picked it up, Toph and a very sleepy Aang coming up beside her.
"What does it say?" Toph asked as Hoshiko and Kotaro came over to her.
"It says 'Need meat. Gone fishing. Back in a few days. –Sokka and Zuko'." Katara read out. Aang yawned and headed back to his sleeping roll, collapsing on it with a small smile, "One more thing. 'Aang, practice your fire bending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger frog croak. –Zuko'."
In the distance, a badger frog was heard. Aang's eyes opened and he groaned as he got up.
"Nobody else has homework." He grumbled as he began working on his hot squats, counting them off aloud as he worked, "One hot squat, two hot squats, three hot squats…"
Hoshiko looked at Kotaro, "Guess they left without you." She said quietly.
"Guess so." Kotaro said, "I'm just glad he didn't go alone. It can be dangerous."
Hoshiko nodded, "I wonder how long it'll take for them to get back. The Boiling Rock is inescapable."
"Hopefully, not too long." Kotaro said, "We don't want Sozin's Comet to have come and gone while they're trying to break out." Hoshiko nodded her head in agreement.
"In the meantime, I need to practice." She went over, grabbed a quick bite of breakfast and headed off somewhere else.
"Where are you going?" Katara asked as she walked off.
"I won't go too far." Hoshiko said as she continued on to another part of the temple. Aang looked after her curiously as he kept squatting.
"Do you think she's okay?" He asked.
"Hoshiko's just dealing with a few things right now." Kotaro said, "I just hope she can handle it." He took a bite out of his breakfast.
Hoshiko held up her hand, focusing on the small wooden dummy before her. She took in a deep breath and got into her fighting stance. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the shadows as they came towards her, lifting up and materializing in front of her. She looked at the dummy, and watching in her mind's eye how it was going to hit it. Just a simple move, hitting the center of the target, then pulling away. She blew out her deep breath and made her move. The shadow moved forward as she wanted to, and it hit the center of the target, but that hit soon got bigger and covered the entire target, the shadows wrapping around it and tried to crush it. Hoshiko cursed and released her stance, letting the shadows fall back to where they had been originally.
She looked at the wooden dummy, seeing where the marks had been made. It looked as if a huge claw had grabbed the wood and had grabbed it as tightly as it could. She sighed and tried again, only to end up with the same result, the marks even deeper than before.
"Damn it!" She cursed again.
"Having trouble?" She looked back to see Kotaro.
"Hey." She greeted him.
He came up to her, "How've you been doing?"
"No better than before." Hoshiko said, looking back at the dummy, "I just can't seem to get the flow right. If a do a little bit, it's not enough, if a do a bit more, it's too much and it almost destroys what I'm trying to work on." Her ears drooped sadly, "I'm not sure I can get my control back."
"Yes, you can." Kotaro said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders from behind. She leaned into his touch. He kissed the side of her jaw softly, "I know you can, Hoshiko. You beat Kagemi, didn't you?"
"Only because I had your help." Hoshiko mumbled. Kotaro grinned.
"Mostly you, though." He said, he moved away from her, "Now, why don't you try again?"
"But every time I try, something goes wrong." Hoshiko said, turning around to face him, "I'm starting to think this wasn't worth Kagemi. I can't control any of it anymore." Kotaro frowned.
"Hey," He reached up and took her chin in his hand, "Don't talk like that. You're Hoshiko of the Siela tribe. You survived a Fire Nation raid, you survived slavery, you survived an invasion! I know you can get your powers back." He gave her a reassuring smile, and she did her best to return it.
"Okay." She turned back to the dummy and lifted up her hands, trying again. She lifted the shadows up and they moved around the dummy again, she hit it once in the center, and she moved her shadows back. She gleefully exclaimed, "I did it!"
"Knew you could." Kotaro said, "Now, try it again, but this time, try and lift the dummy up." Hoshiko nodded, a new confidence instilled in her as she tried it again. She slowly had a shadowy tendril wrap around the bottom of her wooden dummy and lift it up. Her hands shook as she fought to keep control of her shadows, the shadows beginning to quiver and ripple like water. Suddenly, the shadows grew much larger and swallowed up the dummy.
"No!" Hoshiko shouted, she pulled the shadows back, only for her to be too late. The wooden dummy had been crushed to pieces. Hoshiko cursed. "Why does this keep happening? I get the target, but I can't even manage to lift something up anymore? What is the matter with me?"
"Hoshiko, calm down." Kotaro said, he put his hands on her shoulders, "Take a deep breath." Hoshiko did so, "Let it out." She expelled the breath from her body, "Maybe a wooden dummy isn't the best option for you to practice with."
"I know." Hoshiko said, looking at the remains, "I need something stronger. You think I can get Toph to make a stone one for me?"
"How about we try a living dummy?" Kotaro suggested.
"Absolutely not." Hoshiko said, "I could barely control my bending with Xana. How is it going to change with anyone else?"
"Do it with me." Kotaro said, Hoshiko's eyes went wide.
"No, I… I couldn't do that." She said, "Kota, I can't do that! I could kill you!"
"I know." Kotaro said, he gently held onto her shoulders, "I know you could be successful, too."
"Kota…" Hoshiko murmured, her voice laced with worry.
"Just try." Kotaro said. He stepped over to where the dummy had been and held out his arms, "I'm ready whenever you are." Hoshiko nodded nervously, and carefully lifted up her hand, a small shadow wrapping around Kotaro's ankle and pulling to try and lift him up, but it wasn't strong enough. She made it a little stronger, and Kotaro watched as the shadow pulled up just his leg.
"Okay I lifted you up." Hoshiko said, quickly making the shadow return from whence it had come.
"Hoshiko." Kotaro said firmly, "I'm not letting you off that easily. Now really try to do it this time." Hoshiko looked at him in worry, "I'll be fine, I promise."
Hoshiko took a deep breath and brought up more shadows, she had them wrap around Kotaro's shoulders and his torso, beginning to lift him up. He was about three feet in the air when the shadows around him began to shake.
No, no, no, no, no, no… Hoshiko thought, she watched in fear as they began to get a little bigger, beginning to encase Kotaro. Stop! Don't do that! She tried to keep them under control, but they just kept growing, starting to swallow Kotaro into the darkness. The entire time this was happening, Kotaro was silent. He didn't call for help, he didn't even try to wiggle free, although he was getting nervous, he had complete faith in Hoshiko. He wouldn't do anything that could hinder her abilities. Sweat dripped down from Hoshiko's forehead as she tried to keep everything in control. Don't hurt him! I don't want to hurt him! The shadows didn't seem to obey as they kept swallowing Kotaro up. Hoshiko let out a feral growl, I won't let you hurt him! You're under my control now! You listen to ME! If you don't you'll always regret it! The shadows paused, as if they had heard her words, and they began to recede back to the original position they were in. Kotaro smiled when he saw that he was no longer in danger, and Hoshiko lowered him back to the ground.
"See? I told you I'd be fine." Kotaro said to her just before she ran over and embraced him tightly.
"Never let me do that ever again." Hoshiko said, before kissing him. Kotaro nodded.
"If that's what you want." He said, he turned her towards the remains of the wooden dummy, "Now, keep practicing." Hoshiko moved so that the shadows would put the pieces back together, which they did perfectly. She kept practicing, doing everything as flawlessly as she had before. She had her control back!
Aang let out a groan as he heard a badger frog croak, "Not again…" He got up and started doing hot squats again. The others around him laughed a little bit.
"You know, Aang, you can take a break." Xana said to him, "Zuko's not even here."
"I know that," Aang said, "But I want to make sure that I follow all his training, so I can be ready to face the Fire Lord." Xana shrugged.
"Okay, you're the avatar." She said, she turned to where Hoshiko was comfortably sitting beside Kotaro, "So, tell the truth, did you really get your control back?"
"Yes, I did." Hoshiko said, "I promise. I can prove it to you if you want."
"Well… okay," Xana said, "But you better not pull me into the shadows again!"
"Don't have to." Hoshiko said, lifting her hand and moving around her fingers. Xana looked at her confusedly until her dinner bowl was snatched out of her hands by something.
"Hey!" She quickly turned to see who had tried to take her dinner, and was surprised to see a shadowy tendril was the one that had grabbed it. She reached for her dinner, and it moved away. She reached for it again, and again it jumped back. She growled and started grabbing at it, but it kept moving out of the way. Everyone around her laughed at the little scene as she kept trying to get it. Eventually it got to a point where she was jumping on her tiptoes to get her meal. She stopped, too tired to keep going, and she whined, "Hoshiiiii…"
"Okay, here." She said, lowering the shadow and letting her take her dinner back. She stuck out her tongue at the shadow before sitting back down, hunching over her meal to keep it from anyone's grabby hands.
Kotaro laughed a little at her behavior, but stopped when he smelled something in the air. He frowned when he recognized it, and he stiffened. Hoshiko noticed his change in behavior.
"What's wrong?" She asked him.
"I smell burning coal…" Kotaro said with a slight growl. He got up and went over to the balcony, looking out over the night sky to see a small, slowly growing dot in the distance. Hoshiko and Katara got up to see what he was looking at.
"What is it?" Hoshiko asked, seeing the dot that he was looking at.
"I think it might be a war zeppelin." Kotaro said.
Katara stiffened, "Should we attack?"
"No… If they were going to attack us, they would have done it by now, and they wouldn't let themselves be visible." Hoshiko said, "I don't think they're going to do anything."
"Does anyone have a telescope?" Kotaro asked the group. Teo went over to his bag and pulled one out, going over to Kotaro and giving it to him. He looked through it to see who was driving the huge war zeppelin, and saw a familiar face dressed in Fire Nation uniform. "It's Sokka and Zuko! They're back!" He looked back at the zeppelin, "And they changed up their war balloon." Hoshiko took the telescope from him and saw the same thing he did.
"It is them!" She said in surprise, "Where did they get a war balloon that big?"
The balloon flew closer and closer to them, carefully docking itself beside the balcony. Sokka and Zuko soon came out, Sokka dressed in a Fire Nation prison guard uniform, and Zuko dressed in, what looked like, Fire Nation prisoner clothes.
"What are you doing in this thing?" Katara asked them when they came out, "What happened to the war balloon?"
"It kinda got destroyed." Zuko said.
"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip." Aang commented.
"Did you at least get some good meat?" Toph asked with an eager smile.
"I did." Sokka said, "The best meat of all. The meat of friendship, and fatherhood." They looked at him oddly until they saw the small group of people coming out of the zeppelin. The first one Hoshiko recognized was Suki, the Kyoshi warrior and Sokka's girlfriend. The second one was one she didn't recognize, but Kotaro recognized as Hakoda. And finally, the third was a tall, muscled man who greeted them with a friendly smile and wave.
"I'm new." He said, "What's up everybody?"
"Dad…" Katara murmured, her eyes filling with tears of joy.
"Hi Katara." Hakoda greeted her with a soft smile. Hoshiko's eyes widened. She had never met Katara and Sokka's father before. Katara ran up to her father and embraced him tightly.
"How are you here?" She asked, she turned to Sokka, "What is going on? Where did you go?"
"We… kind of went to a Fire Nation prison." Sokka said, Katara reached out and took his hand, pulling him into a group hug with their father, and everyone was quiet, letting them have their moment.
The moment was broken when Toph asked, "Seriously, you guys didn't find any meat?" Everyone chuckled a little. Hoshiko patted the blind girl's shoulder.
"Maybe next time, Toph." She said, she turned to Suki and smiled. She went over to the girl and they shared a short embrace, "It's good to see you again, Suki."
"You too." Suki said. Hoshiko turned and had her face Kotaro, "Suki, this is Kotaro, my hanbun tamashi. Kotaro, this is Suki, she's a Kyoshi warrior."
Kotaro shook hands with her, "It's nice to meet you." Hakoda came over to Kotaro and clapped him on the shoulder.
"So this is your girl." He said, nodding to Hoshiko. She turned to him and bowed. "I thought she was dead."
"Well, she kinda was… for a little bit." Kotaro said. Hoshiko stood back up.
"It's nice to meet you." She said, she held out her hand for him to shake, "It's a real honor to meet the man who helped lead the invasion force." Hakoda shrugged.
"Not my best work." He said, he shook her hand, "And it's nice to finally meet you." Hoshiko smiled at him.
The two Shinjuns turned to look at the third member of their party, "So you are…?"
"Chit Sang." He said, holding out his big hand to the two of them, which they shook, "I helped these two guys escape." He nodded over at Sokka and Zuko.
"We couldn't have done it without him." Sokka said, giving a thumbs-up.
"Well, it's nice to meet you." Hoshiko said.
"And since you're all here," Kotaro began, "You might as well get a good meal for tonight."
"And you can tell us all about your 'fishing trip'." Aang said with a grin. Sokka and Zuko returned it, heading over to where the fire had been made to discuss their adventure at the Boiling Rock.
It's a little short, but I couldn't really come up with much else for this chapter.