A/N: Hullo! Sorry I took so long, been a bit busy. I know that in light of recent events in canon (that I shall not name for fear of spoiling those who have not seen Avatar Day yet), that this story's canon is a bit off. Again. Just… imagine they met up again and traveled together once more. Or maybe this is set right after the Swamp. I dunno yet.

Another note of interest: I know that the canonical spellings for Azula's two buddies are actually Mai and Ty Lee, but I like Mei and Tai Li better. Fanon rawks, yo! XD

Disclaimer: Lesee… If I owned Avatar, then you all would not be in this fandom because it'd be such a poorly-done show. Obviously you all are part of this fandom, so it is safe to assume that Avatar is not mine. (In other words… K'sani tried to come up with a clever disclaimer and failed. Miserably.)

Entente Cordiale

Chapter Two

Sokka walked with Aang through the plain that seemed to stretch as far as the horizon; and beyond that, there was a deep green forest that they had stumbled on days ago along the way to finding an Earthbending Master. Looking around, Sokka's stomach gave a deafening rumble. At first, Aang thought it was some wild prairie animal, but he started laughing when he found out it was only Sokka's ravenous desire for food. Still laughing good-naturedly, Aang said to Sokka, "Do you see anything, Sokka? You must be a master food-gatherer, after all."

Sokka made a noise that sounded like a cross between indignation and self-approval. He cracked a smile at Aang and then refocused his attention to the area around them: all he saw was yellowing, untrimmed grasslands—not an animal in sight—nothing to be consumed. "Well, this stinks," remarked Sokka. Momo cooed sympathetically and offered Sokka a beetle. "No, Momo, no thanks."

Aang was not paying attention to the exchange between Momo and Sokka. His eyes seemed to be staring straight into the end of the earth, his face firm and his hands in fists. "Do you see that?" Aang asked, pointing to a blur of dark color on the horizon. A second splotch joined the first; and after a while, the two things turned into darkened silhouettes of living people—one was unmistakably on foot, and the other was riding some bipedal animal unknown to both Sokka and Aang.

"That's weird," muttered Sokka. And before Aang knew what had happened, he was standing by himself and Sokka was far ahead of him, running towards the silhouettes.

"Sokka, wait up!" Aang shouted, but he really didn't need to, for by the time he had finished shouting it, he had already passed Sokka and Momo. "Ha, you can't keep up!" bellowed Aang over his shoulder, pushing still faster and further ahead.

"Aang!" Sokka whined, struggling to stay within a reasonable distance of his friend. Momo chattered rapidly and clung tightly to Sokka's shoulder until he decided to take to the air, opening up his wings and flapping them to gain a lead on Sokka. "The world hates me, doesn't it?" muttered Sokka, trying to keep up and keep breathing. Something told him it would be a very long morning.

The ostrich trotted lazily along, nibbling on the grass here and there but finding the taste bland and bitter compared to the lush grass it used to eat when it had its previous master. That master was long gone, of course, and now it had two new masters: an old, chubby man and a tall, tempered youth. Glad to be rid of the bitterer master, the bird continued tramping on through the prairie, going towards nowhere. It was then that the ostrich realized that the one master on its back wasn't controlling where it went. And, marveling at its newfound freedom, the bird stopped right in its tracks and settled down on the edge of the dirt road, content to not be working for once.

It was not ten minutes later that the ostrich's nap (which had been quite pleasant) was interrupted. Two boys about the same age as its other master were walking along the dirt road, talking with one another; they seemed to be looking for something.

"Sokka, I haven't seen anything along here. I think we should go back," said one.

"What?" exclaimed the other, "Those people have got to be around here. And besides, we can't go back to Katara empty-handed! Do you know how mad she'll be at me? And there's got to be food in this prairie; there are animals living here. The animals have to be living off of some food source."

"I never thought of that," mused the first. "Although, I haven't seen anything except the occasional weasel-fox. And they don't live off of plants."

"Yes! That means there has to be meat out here. I'm so hungry. We're going to have meat today though, so that's good."

There was a moment of awkward silence. The ostrich craned its neck over the grass to see the two boys more clearly. The shorter one, who was dressed in orange, had a frown on his face.

"Sokka, I don't eat meat."

"Yeah, yeah, and I don't like stewed sea cucumbers either, but you don't see me complaining. Come on, let's go find some weasel-foxes." The one who had finished speaking (this one was taller than the first and dressed in blue) turned from his shorter companion and started walking down the road. But not after two steps, the boy stopped short. "Aang, do you see that thing? I think that's what we saw earlier this morning!"

The ostrich let out a bellow, scrambling on its legs and preparing to run as far away as possible. The two travelers had seen the ostrich, and by the looks of it, the two boys wanted to eat it for their breakfast.

"Hey! It's okay, it's okay," called the shorter boy, running over to comfort the bird. The boy rubbed the ostrich's head, smiling at it. Glancing past the ostrich's neck, the boy saw the ostrich's rider. "Oh—what—Sokka! There's somebody riding this thing! And he's unconscious, I think. It's—Sokka, it is Zuko's uncle!"

"What?" spat the older boy. "Well, we probably should just leave him in the grass and sell the bird—horse—beast—um, thing. We need the money. And hey, we'll have money to buy some fresh meat, not just weasel-foxes but real stuff like seal or—" The blue-adorned boy laughed at the look on his companion's face, "—or we could use some of it to buy some fresh vegetables, how does that sound?"

"No, Sokka, it's not about the meat—well, not just about the meat—but—Sokka, we can't leave him here like this! He's a hero; don't you remember what happened at the North Pole? He saved the moon; Katara told me all about it."

The blue-adorned boy's expression immediately became more sullen. "Yeah, Aang, I know what happened at the North Pole. I know what he did. I know what Yue did to save the moon."

Another awkward moment followed in which a lemur that the ostrich hadn't previously seen perched on the taller boy's head and munched bugs that he'd caught, chattering animatedly. Seeing the looks on his two masters' faces, the lemur held out a would-be hand to each of them with a bug in it. The younger boy looked like he was going to be sick and the older one just shoved the lemur away.

"No, Momo—we've got to bring him back, Sokka, and besides, it's been a while since we left camp. We should be going—"

"Going? Going where? Somewhere more interesting than this place, I should hope. Nothing but continuous tromping through grass all morning, I swear I'd kill Azula when I see her again, but it'd be too much effort to expend—but hey! Don't you go anywhere. You're coming with me," said a newcomer girl dressed in dark red and black. There were knives in her hands, and she was prepared to attack the two boys. An apathetic look on her face plainly said, 'I wish I was somewhere else.' She appeared, overall, extremely dull to be around.

"What?" said the older boy stupidly.

"Sokka, that means run!" shouted the younger boy, who was already dashing away. Thrashing his head about, the blue-adornded boy ducked a knife thrown at him and mounted the ostrich, slapping it on the haunches to go. The ostrich made a vocal protest to running after it had walked so far already, but its new master only yelled at him, "Go!"

The ostrich started off at a slow trot, much to its rider's displeasure. "Hurry! We're being chased, you stupid animal!"

The girl was keeping up to speed with the ostrich, and now she made a grasp for the ostrich's leg—before the ostrich knew it, it clunked over in a most ridiculous way and its two riders sprawled out over the road. It bayed in complaint, trying to raise its legs up once again but only crashing to the road once more. The girl rapped the ostrich's head with her foot and the creature saw no more.

Mei quickly secured the dazed Water Tribe boy and Zuko's uncle. Zuko's uncle was already unconscious, so that made her job much easier. She wondered what to do now—she couldn't go back once she'd seen the Avatar. Surely the boy would come back to rescue his friend.

So Mei sat down and ate a packet of fireflakes indifferently, waiting for the Avatar to come back. There was no way she was walking all the way back to meet Azula and Tai Li; Azula may've been the Princess of the Fire Nation, but Mei wouldn't do work she didn't have to whenever she had the chance. Mei sighed as she looked overhead, clouds gathering in the sky. Such was the life of a Fire Nation girl—everything was always so dull and dreary these days.

Three fourths of the way through her packet of fireflakes (which she had been taking quite a long time to eat), she heard one of her prisoners comment, "Let me go! Let me—who's that? Oh no. Not—Aang, you stupid moron—" Such a string of expletives followed that Mei was, wonder of wonders, slight amused at the warrior's antics. Turning her head to see who he was cursing about, she immediately jumped to her feet, flinging out two sharp disks that had been previously strapped to her legs. A blast of air from the Avatar sent the disks flying opposite ways. The Avatar twirled his staff and steadied it, running in towards the captives.

Not wasting a moment, Mei rushed straight at the Avatar and sent a knife flying at his head. He just barely ducked it, but the distraction was all Mei needed, and she sent two more knives at his arms; the Avatar barely noticed them coming and twisted in a way that only an Airbender could to evade the sharp projectiles. Mei screamed in frustration, hurling a random sharp object she'd found on her forearm. But the Avatar blocked that one too with only a spin of his staff; he was a worthy opponent.

Meanwhile, one of the captives' pets, a lemur, broke free of its constricting bonds and set to work on the Water Tribe boy's ropes. Not a few seconds later, the warrior was up and holding his club. He called out, "Stop! You're outnumbered."

"Oh, is she really?" laughed a voice that sent chills down the warrior's spine. But Mei smirked.

"About time you showed up, guys," she chided. "Help me tie them back up, will you?"

"Of course! I wouldn't miss capturing the Avatar for anything—and my uncle! You have done quite well, Mei, quite well," commented Azula.

"Would you stop talking and start fighting?" roared the Water Tribe warrior, charging at Azula with club in hand. Azula pretended to yawn, sidestepping the charging warrior. He grunted in frustration, wheeling around on his heels and stampeding right back at Azula. Meanwhile the Avatar had engaged in a skirmish with Tai Li and Mei; he was having trouble blocking both of the girls' attacks, but he hadn't been taken down yet. And Azula was smirking still, holding out her hand and stopping the Water Tribe boy in his tracks, smashing his own club right into his head. He crumpled on the ground, clutching his new injury.

"Tai Li, take care of him!" yelled Azula, motioning towards the Water Tribe boy. She then charged headfirst at the Avatar, dodging a blast of air, a twirl of his staff. "Mei, to the right!" she called, and her friend obeyed. The Avatar backed away as the two girls lunged at him, eyes scanning the area in front of him. An abrupt gasp of shock came from his mouth as Tai Li pounced from behind him, poking both his pressure points at the same time.

Agitated and confused, the boy shoved Tai Li out of the way and threw his staff into the air, instantly converting it to a glider. But when he tried to jump up and catch it, he fell to the ground. "What?" he said, befuddled. Azula took advantage of his unrest and looped a rope around him, tying it behind his back. She tied his hands and his feet too; she couldn't risk letting the Avatar bend, for that would be his ticket to freedom.

Azula's eyes widened as the arrows on the Avatar's body began to glow and, realizing what was happening, held the Avatar tightly within her grasp. "Mei, Tai Li! Help me restrain him." The three girls secured the ropes but soon the Avatar Spirit's wrath was upon them.

A howling wind of fury circled around the area, lifting up Azula and the others who were still holding secure the Avatar. Even though he couldn't bend because Tai Li had located his pressure points and even though he was tied at the wrists and ankles, the wind billowed mightily around them. Azula tried to focus, mentally cursing as her fire hairpin dropped to the ground below. She kept a monstrous hold on the Avatar, certain that she couldn't let him go, that she wouldn't be bested by a mere boy. Finally the wind slowly died down, and the group that had been suspended in the air went crashing to the ground. The Avatar was out cold, bound; Azula marveled at what a lucky day she was having, even though her ribs ached from the fall and her arm panged with pain.

It wasn't every day, after all, that one captured an Avatar.

Scampering off unnoticed into the tall grass, Momo kept his head down, feeling the urge to squeal in fright but being intelligent enough to know that if he was too loud, he would be captured again. The lemur tumbled through the tall plant life for a long distance and, finally unable to bear the scratchy blades of grass, leapt up and flapped his wings once, twice, many times, until he was completely airborne.

Once in the air, he flew with a great sense of speed and direction; the lemur navigated his way back to the campsite in a frenzy, and did not settle down once he landed straight on Appa's head. Appa gave a groan of annoyance. Momo ignored the bison, chirping loudly and flicking his large ears this way and that to locate the girl, his master's friend. And there she was, humming to herself cheerfully, doing some unimportant chore while she waited for the boys to return from their food-gathering.

Momo scurried over to the girl, chirping animatedly; the girl laughed and said something that sounded like "Mwap mwa mwap mwap mwa!" Cocking his head to the side, the lemur suddenly remembered: his master, his master's friend! They were in trouble, the master's other friend had to know, had to save them. Momo chirped louder and more insistently, trying to point with his wing, but he still couldn't convey the message to her. Curling his tail nervously, he gave one final, noisy chirp. She just looked at the lemur as though he was insane.

Nervous still, Momo turned and flew over to Appa, poking the bison's head until it moaned and got up from its nap to quell Momo's insistent chirps. Momo gave Appa a quick pinch and evaded Appa's paw as he became airborne once again, flying towards the direction he'd come from. Appa slowly but surely followed—and all at once, the girl finally realized something was wrong.

"Appa, Momo, wait!" she cried out desperately. "Where are Sokka and Aang?"

Momo flew over to the girl and landed on her shoulder. He chirped once more, blinking his wide eyes, and Appa howled eerily up at the empty morning sky.