Gulls caw and swoop through the air as Aang had done on so many occasions. Back on the beach, I get the strange feeling of déjà vu. I know I had been here yesterday, but it wasn't that. It's just out of reach…
"There's his foot prints!" Sokka points to the feet leading to the surf. "But the trail ends here." Sokka's right, the foot prints lead right into the water. But only one set.
"So he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki suggests.
"Maybe he was captured," Katara's face goes dark.
"I don't think so," Sokka and I bend down to look at the prints.
"There's no sign of a struggle," I add.
Toph runs her feet across the sand, feeling for any hint or clue as to where he went. "I bet he ran away again."
"No way," Sokka swears. "He left behind his glider and Appa."
"Then what do you think happened, oh sleuthy one?"
Sokka rises from the ground, finger in the air as if proving a point. "It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle. He's definitely on a Spirit World journey!"
"But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko points out.
Sokka deflates. "Oh yeah, forgot about that."
"So Aang's gone missing before?" I ask. "Is it like a regular thing for him?"
"Yeah," Toph says. "But he usually leaves some clue for where he went. Now we have nothing."
"Then he's got to be somewhere on Ember Island," Katara decides. "Let's split up and look for him."
"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph zooms to his side and hugs his arm as if calling the best swing on the playground as hers. Everyone stares at her, me with an oh-no-she-didn't gleam in my eye.
"What?" She says noticing our silence. "Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn."
We all sigh and split up the remaining areas. Sokka takes to the air on Appa, Katara and Suki search the town, and Zuko and Toph walk to the forest. I stay on the sand where his footsteps disappear, by I can't say why. Something is calling to me, just out of reach, but I can't grasp it.
