Chapter 2- -Festivals at Gilashi- -Part 1- -Pukki and Mekki

They were in their canoe. The three of them were using their Waterbending as jets. Pakku stopped. "I never thought I would get sick of the color blue!" "Stop being such a whiney baby. We've covered more area with the Waterbending then if we spent 10 days without it!" "HOW CAN YOU TELL! WE"VE BEEN SEEING ONLY BLUE FOR 2 DAYS!" he sat down. Enya, who had been quiet suddenly yelled, "LAND!" "Finally! And I hope they have food!" He showed the empty basket. "Hey! You ate that all! It was gonna last two more days..." she sighed. They carried the canoe through a thick forest. They stopped. "Wow. That's amazing..." They were in front of a city where it was covered in green.

"Yep. That's definitely an Earthbending city." Kiara ran up and put her arms around the other two. "Welcome to the city of Gilashi, you two!" She hugged them, and then grabbed the canoe and ran off. The guards stopped them. "Who are you?" "I am Yisha and this is my fiancee, Nikki. This is Zana. We are here to trade goods from the Northern Water Tribe." "Welcome to the city of Gilashi. Enjoy your stay." She skipped in. Pakku caught up to her. "Nikki, Yisha, and Zana? And I'm your FIANCEE! I dont remember asking you to marry me!" "Shh! Don't worry. You should never give your real name and reason." He rolled his eyes. They went into the market. Kiara went into a shop, and left with multiple huge bundles.

"Supplies!" She smiled. "And you call this a supply?" He held up a cake. "Hey! I'm hungry! And I got two more!" She held out two more. "Okay, nevermind." They ate their cakes. "We should probably find an inn to stay at." She looked around. For some reason, she felt a feeling to go into one in particular. She walked into it. "Hello. Welcome to the Freedom Inn." He bowed. She sensed that she knew this tall, dark haired Earthbender. He was middle-aged, probably 40 or so. He was rather skinny. He had a sunny disposition and seemed rather nice. Another man came up behind him. "Welcome!" This man was roughly the same age. He had dirty, shaggy, long, dark hair. Then it hit her. She knew who they were. "HARU! JET!"

She hugged him. He responded to this by covering her mouth. "Don't. Say. Those. Names. Ever. Again." he whispered in her ear. "Mekki, the chamber." Jet followed Haru. They went into the cellar. They placed her on a barrell. They stood parallel to each other. Stomped several times, and together Earthbended. The wall rumbled. Part of it sank into the ground. "Mekki." Jet nodded. He went over and took her into his arms. She was kinda surprised at this action, but she blushed. "You know, I'm perfectly capable of walking." Jet groaned. "Come on! I haven't gotten to hold a girl since..." he cut off. He stopped walking, and seemed to be remembering a painful, yet tender memory.

"Mekki. She's gone." Haru said, also getting this look in his eyes. Jet nodded. He wiped a tear from his eyes. "Anyways," Haru continued, seeing that Jet was having a rough time, "this is sacred Earth. You see, this used to be an Earthbending Temple. Only Earthbenders may walk on it." "Well, what would happen, if say, a Waterbender walked on it?" Jet laughed. "We tried that. Ever wondered what happened to Giliki?" "Who's that?" "Exactly." Haru looked at him. "Don't even joke like that." "Alright! Okay, really, we don't know. But, we aren't gonna waste a pretty lady like you. I'm personally waiting for a Firebender." He laughed coldly. Kiara looked around.

"Here we are!" Haru said, pointing at a small table with a couple of chairs and candles. Jet placed her on a chair, and striked a match and lit some candles. "First things first. We havent used our names, Jet and Haru, for over 20 years. I'm Pukki, and Jet is Mekki. Now, who are you?" She straightened up. "I am Kiara, of the Northern Water Tribe. Age 15." He nodded.

"Okay. How did you know our actual names!"
She had never thought about that.
"My friends and I needed to rest. We are on a journey. We decided to stop at your inn. And then I saw you two. It was like, I knew you from a past life!"

Then she realized that being the Avatar, it probably was. Aang most likely because these men didnt look over forty! Jet, who had been quiet, spoke up.
"Could you tell me what happened to Katara?"
"I never met them. I was born the day they died. She married Aang after he defeated Ozai. They lived in our village for a little while, but then they went to the Fire Nation to visit Sokka. They were ambushed and they fought bravely. But they had both been burned in the chest. They jumped in a lake and didnt survive. Katara's healing and Aang's airbending couldnt help them. They were found in each other's arms by my tribe the next day."

She had no clue how she knew this! Jet and Haru looked sad. "We both knew Katara. She was a great woman." Haru said. "Jet and Katara kinda had a thing for each other. But that quickly ended when she found out that Jet was gonna flood the village." They heard a noise. "Stay here."

Jet went and crept around. He returned with a person. She couldn't tell who, because their clothes covered their upper body. Jet was dangling a boy upside down. "LET ME GO!" "Why were you spying on us!" "I just wanted to know where Kiara went!" She recognized that voice. It was Pakku! "Pakku!" Jet stopped. "You know this...this thing?" "HEY!" "Yes! We are traveling together!" She jumped up and ran over. Jet shoved Pakku into a chair ("OUCH!") and then Haru and him came over, eyes wide and jaws dropped.

"What? What are you staring at?" Haru and Jet both pointed. Jet mumbled, "You are walking...Earthbenders only...how?"
Haru rolled his eyes. "He means how can you walk on Earthbending ground if you are a Waterbender?"
"Hey, how do you know that?" Jet retorted. "She never said she was!"
Kiara bit her lip. "Yes, and no."
"How could you be both a Waterbender and an Earthbender? It's impossible! What are you, a crossbender?"
"Well, sorta."
"Sorta? It's yes or no!"
"Oh my goodness! Don't you get it? I'M THE AVATAR!"

Everyone froze. She looked around hesitantly. She smiled weakly.

"Wow, that was random." Pakku said. She smiled. "Well, we better get back. We've got a hotel to run." Jet went and picked up Kiara and held her. "Hey, I thought we cleared this up. I-" "SHH! I know." "So you are gonna hold me anyways?" "Yep. I never give up the chance to hold a girl, especially a beautiful one like you." She blushed and smiled. Pakku frowned. He folded his arms and glared at Jet. "I think someone's jealous!" Haru said. "AM NOT!" Pakku said, and he ran into a wall. Haru rolled his eyes, and they all laughed except Pakku. "Jealous? I'm SO not jealous. Im the least jealous guy you'll ever meet." Pakku kept mumbling stuff like that under his breath.

Finally the came up. (ooc: by the way, Haru is holding Pakku. His head ran into the wall.) Jet set Kiara down, and Haru set Pakku down. "Well, we've gotta go. Thanks for the visit." Pakku said, frowning. He started out the door. "What's his problem?" Enya said, as she stood up. "Jealousy." Kiara laughed. "We'll come back tonight, ok?" "Alright." Jet said. Kiara and Enya ran after Pakku. "Thanks for the show, Pakku." "Hey! That guy had his arms all over you!" "He was caring for my safety!" "YOU COULD WALK AND HE HELD YOU ANYWAYS!" "So? He wanted to make sure I was safe!" Pakku started to say something, but just grunted and ran out. Kiara went the other way.

MEANWHILE

Prince Iroh stood on his ship. His father, Fire Lord Zuko, had passed down the task of capturing the Avatar. A task that his father was in charge of, and his father, and his father, and his father. All of them had failed. His own father had even given up the task and befriended the Avatar. When the past Avatar defeated his grandfather, Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko, being the only heir, was forced upon the throne. His banishment was over. As Fire Lord, he had kept peace, but as soon as Aang was reported as dead, he started the war again. For fifteen years, the war had gone strong. Fire had already conquered the Earth Kingdom, and was on the attempt of conquering the young Air Nation. Now, being 16, he had searched for a year for the new Avatar.

No one knew anything except the obvious fact that the Avatar had been reincarnated into the Water tribe. The Southern or the Northern, he had no clue. He had only his crew and two best friends to accompany him. Princess Denyre and Hiku. Betrothed since age ten, they were never apart. You couldnt find one without the other. Denyre was not his sister. She was the only daughter of his aunt Princess Zula and Uncle Sokka. Aunt Zula had died in childbirth, and Uncle Sokka was forced to leave because he was wanted in the Fire Nation. It served him right.

But, anyways, his cousin and best friend had joined him in his mission. He was staring at the horizon when he heard her. "Aw, cousin, why must you always look so serious?" "You would too if you were the next Fire Lord and couldnt find the Avatar!" he said, anger in his voice. His hands were gripping the boat in a deathgrip and had turned redhot. "Iroh, it's not good to burn down your own ship." "It's always a joke to you, isn't it, Hiku?" "Of course, Iroh, you know me." "You are too much like your father, cousin." She was right, of course. He was the spitting image of his father, and you couldnt tell the difference between him or his father. They were carbon copies.

"And why not? My father is a great man." "Your father was an exiled prince who failed to capture the Avatar, then gave up the mission, joined the Avatar as his best friend, and then helped kill his own father. Yeah, great man." Hiku rolled his eyes as he said this. "Don't insult my father in front of me!" Iroh turned around, a dangerous glare in his eyes. He had flames sneaking out. "Are you gonna fight me, Iroh? It won't be a very fair fight. Fire against fire...Master." Hiku was Iroh's apprentice. Iroh was almost a Master Firebender, and was teaching Hiku. "Don't underestimate me." "Oh, I'm not. I would be more worried for me. I wouldn't stand a chance against a big, strong, almost-Master Firebender like you."

"DON'T MOCK ME, HIKU!" Iroh shot a flame out. He growled, and spun around. "I see you are in a mood again, Iroh. I'll leave you be." Hiku took Denyre's hand and glared at him and left. "A nice cup of calming tea wouldnt hurt, either." he said, as he opened the door to the cabin. Iroh sighed, and looked at the empty deck. "Good riddance."

BACK TO THE OTHERS

Kiara sat on the river Waterbending. "Um...Kiara?" Pakku said hesitantly, Enya pushing him forward. She grunted, "Hmm." "Well, I just wanted to say sorry for how I acted earlier." "Oh, Pakku!" She ran to him and hugged him. "That was so silly! I'm sorry!" He patted her on the back akwardly, and then said, "Um, okay, I guess. Let's get back to town." When they got back, Kiara asked what was going on in Gilashi. Haru replied, "Hm...I don't know. I haven't been up there for weeks!" Pakku did a double-take. "What do you mean 'up there'?" "I mean, that this isn't really Gilashi. We live under the rule of Gilashi, but this is just a small village." "WHAT!" Pakku said. "Sorry! I didn't know you didn't know!" Pakku sighed. "Well, we better get going." Kiara stopped. "Why?" "We have a schedule to keep, Kiara! We need to find you an Earthbending Master." Jet came in. "I would try Omashu. I heard there's a crazy old king there that's a master." Haru choked on the noodles he was eating. "That man is still alive!" "Yah, it's about seven or so miles from Gilashi." Kiara nodded. "Thank you."