When we finally landed on Kyoshi island we were met by a crowd of people cheering. Katara had told me that the people loved the Aang. What I wasn't expecting was a man to be foaming at the mouth and screaming as he frantically waved around his arms. I stared at him in concern as he fell onto the grounded and also looked to be unconscious.
I leaned over the edge of Appa and climb down as easily as I could. When I turned around the villagers gave me curious looks, but none of them seemed to be upset. Perhaps they didn't recognize or see me when Zuko terrorized their island.
A little girl stomp her foot in anger. "Where's Aangy!"
"He couldn't be here KoKo." Katara said. The crowd now looked disappointed. I watched the mouth foaming man get off the ground and quietly sneak away with the rest of the crowd when they walked off.
An old man walked up to us as Katara called out to him. "Oyaji! Aang is in jail! The town says they he murder a man named Chen in a past life."
"They say it was Kyoshi." Sokka added.
The man looked exasperated. "Kyoshi?! That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine, maybe something there will help clear this up."
"That would be great thank you." Katara said.
The man nodded as he began walking and we followed behind him. "Yes, I can't have someone defaming Kyoshi. It's completely ridiculous, murder? I think not." The man looked at me."What might your name be child?"
"I'm Sozai, it's nice to meet you. I've read so much about this island, it's great to be here again..." I trailed off realizing my mistake. The watertribe siblings caught it as well as their eyes widen slightly.
"Again?" Oyaji questioned. "I don't believe that I've seen you before." His eyes went over my outfit.
"Yes..." I took in a breath. "I...well, my brother...he attacked...your village a while ago."
"You're brother?" His eyes widened. "The angry prince that nearly burned down our village is your brother?"
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'm really sorry about that. There wasn't much that I could do."
Katara intervened. "Actually Sozai has been helping us for a while now. She was the one that told us how to get away from Zuko when he attacked."
"Yeah, she's one of the good guys now." Sokka said as he gave me a smile that hurt my chest.
Stupid crush.
"Well, if you are now helping out the avatar and he trusts you. Then we can leave the past behind us. We can't be judged by what our family does. Only by our own actions." The older man said.
I paused at his kind words. "Thank you." I didn't realize how much I needed to hear that when I felt a tightness release from my chest. Sometimes I felt like I was being persecuted with every move I made and to hear someone tell me this made my heart so happy.
We began walking up a hill as Sokka jogged a few steps behind Oyaji. "So...where's Suki, is she around?"
"Actually she and the other Kyoshi warriors went to go fight in the war. You kids made a big impact on her. She said that you inspired her and she wanted to help change the world."
I watched as Sokka seemed to be more disappointed by this despite it being a rather inspirational and honored statement. "Oh, well that's great."
I knew that the boy seemed to like the girl at least, that's what I saw from the last time. Though that wasn't important right now. What matters at the moment is getting Aang out of jail.
"This temple was converted into a shrine to Kyoshi." Oyaji said as we walked into the door of the temple. "The clerics tell us that these relics are still connected to her spirit." My eyes looked over the entire room with interest. To think that I had read about Kyoshi in books and I finally get to see items that belonged to her. Though, it wasn't under very good circumstances.
"That's her Kimono." Oyaji continued pointing at the clothing. Katara stood in front of it with a smile.
"She had exquisite tastes." She said bringing up her hand to touch it. I put mine over hers.
"Don't, it's super old so it might fall apart if we put our hands on it." I explained. Oyaji seemed grateful for my words and that was good considering I watched his village burn to the ground on by the hands of my brother.
"These fans." Sokka said as we looked over at him as he picked them up. I sighed, did he not hear anything I just said? "These were her weapons, no?"
"Also refrain from touching the fans." The elderly man said in a tired tone.
"These were her boots?" Katara asked squatting down in front of them with curiosity in her tone. "Her feet must have been enormous!"
"The biggest of any avatar." Oyaji bragged with a proud smile.
At this I furrowed by brow. "Then wait a minute..." Katara seemed to be on the same track of mind as myself.
"Big feet, little foot print?"
We both smiled coming to the same conclusion. "There's no way that-" We were both interrupted by an obnoxious cough.
Sokka had a frown on his face. "Special outfit, hat and pipe- do these things mean anything to you guys?"
"No not really." I said with a deadpanned expression. "but I am but a humble sidekick, so what do I know?"
Exactly!" He agreed pointing the pipe in my direction. I rolled my eyes. "So! There's no way Kyoshi could have made that little foot print, therefore, there's nothing linking her to the crime scene!" He walked away from us with his arms behind his back.
"Brilliant Sokka." Katara said.
"Incredible conclusion, my lord." I said, as Katara snorted. "Were it not for you, we would definitely perish in our own stupidity." The girl covered up her laughter as the older boy eyed both of us. I simply grinned, before a painting on the wall behind the boy caught my eye.
"What's that over there?" I questioned.
We all walked over to the painting as Oyaji spoke. "The is painting is called the birth of Kyoshi, it was made when the island was founded. Why it was today, in fact, three-hundred and seventy years ago."
"Wait! Really! Are you sure it was today?" Sokka said grabbing the man's shirt.
"Yes, considering it is Kyoshi day." The man said fixing his clothing.
"The ceremony didn't take place at sunrise, it took place at sunset." The boy said.
"How can you tell?" Oyaji questioned.
"Ah, I see." I took a step closer to the painting. "Look at the shadows, there pointed to the east. The sun rises in the east and set to the west."
"So what?" The man said
"Well that would mean that if Kyoshi was here for the ceremony, she couldn't have been in Chen committing the crime." I said feeling happy with myself. "She definitely has an alibi." I heard a cough behind me and saw Sokka staring at me with a frown.
I shrugged. "You need to be more aggressive if you're going to be a detective."
"Honorable Mayor, we have put together a solid defense for the avatar." Katara said. "We did an investigation and found some very strong evidence."
I gave Aang a thumbs up and he smiled in return. I may be mad at him for getting himself into a situation like this, but it was good to have made some progress.
"Evidence?" The mayor scoffed. "That's not how our court works."
My smile slowly faded off my face. "But isn't that's usually how it works in the court system?"
The man thought for a moment. "Nope." I gave him an exasperated expression.
"Then how am I going to prove my innocents?" Aang asked.
"Simple, I say what happened and then you say what happened and then I decide whose right." He said seeming very proud of himself.
Everyone gasped while I furrowed my brows. "That's a very corrupt since of justice." He looked at me continuing to smile.
"Well that's why they call it justice, because it's just us." He beings to laugh as he walks away. Everyone looked at one another with gaping mouths.
"Well this isn't going to work." I paused. "Escaping is still an option?"
"I agree." Katara said. "If the mayor isn't going to be fair about this, then I think we should just get you out of here."
"Yeah, Aang! We spent all of that time finding clues when we could have just been prison breaking!" The boy said. "My detective gear went to waste."
"Glad to see what you find important." I said rolling my eyes.
Aang shook his head. "I'm not doing it guys. I need to show these people that the avatar is a sign of hope and wouldn't just take another persons life like that. I'm staying for the trial. Just tell me what you found out and I'll just say that. Simple!"
"Yeah, simple." I mumbled to myself. I glanced at the boy behind the bars. "Are you sure you just don't want to prison break?"
"I'm sure, I believe in you guys, Sozai." We all looked at one another before I sighed.
"Well great detective, give him the details." Sokka puffed out his chest.
"I thought you'd never ask!"
The next morning we all took our seats out by the cliff. Aang stood in his wooden shackles next to a guard where the mayor began his convoluted speech on why he thinks that Aang is actually guilty. I frowned through the whole thing. When it was finally Aang turn to defend himself he stood with a nervous expression.
"You can do it Aang, just remember the evidence." Sokka said, which didn't seem to help the boys mood.
"Right...evidence." The boy straightened up with a smile. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to tell you what really happened and I will prove it with facts! Fact number one,...uh."
I put a hand on my forehead as I saw the boy struggle to remember what we told him the night before. Sokka spoke up. "The foot prints!"
"O-Oh yeah! You see I have very large feet." The audience looks down to see that his feet were in fact not large. "Further more, your temple matches your statue, but I was in a painting at sunset. So there you have it! I'm no guilty!"
This was a disaster.
"He's dead." Sokka said with a smile.
Katara spoke up, "He's not dead yet." We both looked at her in confusion. "I need to go get something, you guys distract the crowd!"
I furrowed my brow. "And just how do you suppose that we do that?"
"I don't know, you're quick witted just think of something! I'll be back!" My panicked eyes followed the girls back as she ran.
"What do we do?" Sokka whispered as the mayor stood up.
"Well it seems to me, it's pretty clear what the verdict is going to be. So let's get right to the point, avatar you are-"
"Wait!" I yelled standing to my feet. Sokka stared at me as if to ask, what are you doing? "Um! Honorable Mayor, sir!"
The entire audience turned to me with judging eyes and looks of suspicion set on their faces. "What is it?" The man asked.
"...well...you clearly know a lot about Chen and how great he was, as you stated earlier, b-but you didn't really say what he did?" I stated slowly.
"How dare you question the greatness of Chen!" He said pointing at me.
"I'm not!" I raised my hands in surrender. "I just- as an outsider you know, to all of this, I wouldn't know what Chen accomplished. So, I'm sure this is a good time as any to talk of his achievements. I mean, the avatar isn't going anywhere at this moment is he? You have time, I'm sure."
Everyone turned to the mayor waiting for him to answer and for a moment I thought that I was going to faint from all of the tension. He cleared his throat and walked down in front of the statue "I suppose we do have a bit of time. This could also prove our case even more so than I already have!" He said with a laugh. The mayor began to speak about Chen as the audience listened in closely.
I sighed in relief before sitting back down. Sokka glanced at me. "That was smart." He complimented.
"Thanks, let just hope that it buys us a bit of time. I have no idea what Katara is planning to do."
The mayor had been talking for a while and I was getting worried about when Katara would be back. Then I saw her running back with clothes in her hand. I blinked, those were Kyoshi's! What did Katara plan to do with those? She snuck back to where Aang was being held and I saw him easily take off the wooden shackles.
I huffed. Of course he was able to take them off the entire time, because that would be just like him to do. He quickly changed into the outfit and Katara seemed to be putting on the makeup of the Kyoshi warriors. I was so glad that none of the people seemed to be paying attention.
"And that's all I have to say!" The mayor said and I realized that he had finished talking. Oh no. "Now let's move on to finishing this trial shall we?"
"Honorable Mayor, sir!" I blurted, standing to my feet again.
"What is it girl! We are trying to finish this quickly!"
Everyone looked at me once again. "We have one more thing to show you!" I didn't know how true that was, but by the looks of Katara running back out, that seemed valid.
"She's right!" Katara said, seeming to be out of breath. "We have one more testimony."
"I've already told you this! It is just me and the accused!" The mayor yelled. "You can't call any witnesses!"
"Oh, but this isn't just any testimony, we'll be hearing from avatar Kyoshi herself!" Katara said as Aang walked out in Kyoshi's clothing, which was several sizes to big for him.
She walked back to her seat and Sokka questioned his sisters actions. "What are you doing?"
"Well Kyoshi is Aang's past life, so I thought that wearing her stuff would trigger something."
"I do believe in the power of stuff." Sokka said.
"I think it's a good idea actually. Spirits can dwindle in the human world and Aang is a pretty spiritual person." I said.
"This is a mockery of Chen law!" The mayor yelled.
"Please just wait, I'm sure that Kyoshi will be here!" Katara pleaded, but Aang wasn't really helping the matter. He held the fan up to his face and began speaking in what could be assumed as his "Kyoshi" voice.
"Hey everybody, avatar Kyoshi here."
"Oh man." I mumbled. The mayor stood up and walked over to the young monk boy.
"This is ridiculous." He said. "For the murder of Chen the great I hear by-"
Suddenly the skies went gray and a swirling wind formed around Aang and I unconsciously grabbed hold of Sokka's hand, before showing Kyoshi in front of us. "Wow." I whispered. Katara's plan actually worked.
Then what came next ruined everything we had been working for. "I killed Chen the conqueror."
Well.
She continued. "He was a horrible tyrant and he was taking over the continent. When they came to the neck of the peninsula where we lived, he demanded our surrender. I warned him that I would not sit passively when he took our home, but he did not back down. On that day we split from the main land. I created Kyoshi island so that my people could be safe from invaders."
When she finished speaking the dark grey sky disappeared and Aang showed before us once again. Katara ran up to Aang to keep him from falling to the ground.
"So what happened?" Aang asked.
"You kind of confessed, sorry." Katara grimaced.
"And I find you guilty!" The mayor yelled. "Bring out the wheel of punishment!" The crowd cheered at this.
"Ugh! This is so dumb! I told you we should have left when we got the chance!" I yelled in frustration. They brought out the wheel with various pictures on them and none seemed to be good.
"It's okay, Sozai. I said I would face justice, so I will." He gave me a smile which I did not return, before turn to the wheel and spinning it. It began to turn and so did my stomach. My grip on Sokka's hand tightened.
"Come on torture machine!" A man said.
"Eaten by bears!" Another said.
I turned my head to this. "What is wrong with you people! He's literally twelve years old!"
"And I'm eighty-three! Your point!" I glare at the old man and turned around.
"Please stop on community service!" Katara begged. When the wheel finally stopped, the picture show a man sitting in a boiling pot. That couldn't be good.
"Looks like it's boiling in oil." The guard said as the crowd of deranged lunatics cheered. I was about to stand up and yell at the crowd before being horrible people, when I saw an object being thrown at the temple.
It began to smoke before exploding. "We've come to claim this village for the fire lord!" My eyes widened when I saw that it was the same men who ambushed at our camp. "Now show me your leader so that I may dethrown him." The man said with a smirk, while another with a staff destroyed the statue of Chen.
"That's him over there!" A man said pointing at the mayor who went to hide behind the wheel. These people really have no loyalty do they?
"Avatar do something!"
"Oh jeez, I would but I'm suppose to be boiled in oil." He said sarcastically. The mayor changed it quickly to community service.
"There community service, now serve our community and get rid of those rhinos!" He demanded.
The man who I assumed to be the leader, order then men to go into the village. They began tearing down buildings and lighting houses on fire. I glanced back at Aang who seemed to be able to take care of himself. I let go of Sokka who called after me. One of the men on rhinos charged towards us. I rolled over out of the way as he destroyed part of a wall.
I needed to do something, but what could I do? I saw that I had lost track of everyone and I was now by myself, which scared me. Then man on the rhino shot arrows in my direction an I yelped falling to the ground to avoid them. At that moment I saw a wooden stick on the ground, about the same size as Aangs glider. He had been giving me some pointers on how to use it and that was all I had at the moment.
I quickly picked it up and pushed myself to my feet, before running around the narrow alleyway where the rhino couldn't follow. I took off down the next street and waited, trying my best not to breath to loud. I slowly edge out back to the main road an saw that the man was gone. Rhinos were huge and not that fast, where did he-
"There you are." The man said grabbing me by the back of my shirt. He was behind me and I struggled for a moment after being raised into the air before turning slightly and kicking him in his chest. This weakened him for a moment as I feel to the ground. I grabbed the staff after having dropped it. I glanced at a pack of explosives on the side saddle of the rhino and raddled my brain at what to do. He was shoot flaming arrows at me and he had explosives?
I got it!
I ran up to him and ducked down when he tried to grab me again, yanking the packet off his saddle, then hiding it behind my back. I would have to stand still and waiting for him to shoot me. Which was an absolutely horrible idea, but it was the only one I had. He pulled out an arrow to shoot me with and I took out the packet catching the scorching arrow with it and hit it back at him with the back end of the stick. I took off running so not to get hit with any back fire, but the explosion made me fall to the ground. I glanced back to see the man was unconscious and I sighed and laid on the ground.
I had actually fought someone by myself and won.
My eyes followed the fireworks with an unimpressed expression. The villagers were cheering and I wasn't having it. "These are the most fake people I've ever encountered in my entire life and I lived with my sister. So I should know."
Sokka nodded in agreement eating the uncooked cookie dough that was given to us as a piece offering. "This is the worst village that we've ever been too."
The mayor decided that this was the new avatar day. A day where the people of this village were saved from the men and rhino. It was also the day that they decided not to boil Aang in oil. "Happy avatar day, everyone." Katara said sarcastically.
I took a breath and looked at the cookie dough. I didn't want or plan to eat it just because of how annoying this whole day had been. Though something good had come out of it. I'd actually won a fight. It was sloppy and not very well planned, but I did it. "So Sokka?" I called.
"Mhm." He said turning to me with a mouth full of dough. He swallowed quickly. "What is it Sozai?"
"I..." I rubbed my arm nervously. "I need to ask you something."
He took a step closer. "Yeah?"
"I know what I want from that bet we made." I said.
"You do?"
"...yeah, I was wondering if you could help me train to be a better fighter." I said awkwardly, looking back up at his face. Though for some reason he seemed to be disappointed.
"Oh...yeah sure I can do that!" He said doing his best to cover it up. "But I thought Aang was helping you with that?"
"Well he is, but anything that anyone can teach me would be great." I said with a smile. "If that's okay with you."
"Sure, Sozai." He said. I smiled widened as we looked at the fireworks. I was going to work hard to be useful no matter what.
