The return of the Kyoshi Warriors sent the village into a state of unbridled celebration. The child's family was elated to have their little girl back. In addition, after locking up the bandits to ensure that they would not be causing any further harm, the village was transformed into a festival overnight. The Kyoshi Warriors, though they felt it was time to journey on, couldn't set out with their leader injured. Thus, Ty Lee and the other Kyoshi Warrior were forced to stay and enjoy the festival after all.
Ty Lee walked down the hall of the local inn. She came to the door where Suki was housed and knocked twice.
"Come in." the response murmured.
Ty Lee opened the door and stepped inside, she saw her fearless leader reading a large tome while lying in bed, "Feeling any better?" she asked.
"Not really." Suki replied honestly, adjusting the bandages around her chest, "Evidently an arrow to the chest isn't something one just bounces back from."
"Go figure." Ty Lee commented, trying to lighten the mood.
"But hey, you handled yourself fairly well back there," Suki said shutting the book.
"R-really?!" Ty Lee leaped up in wonder.
"Really. I've seen my fair share of bandits and the ones we faced were not to be taken lightly. And in the end, we accomplished our goal, with no small thanks to you."
Ty Lee's eyes lit up, "Wow thank you so much Suki! That really… means… a lot…" Ty Lee frowned, "D-do you hear something?"
Suki nodded, a sound was definitely coming from the hall, it sounded like doors opening and slamming and also some shouting.
The door next to theirs burst open, the shouting continued. Then their door burst open, "Suki!" A water tribe warrior shouted into the room, "SUKI!" he rushed to the bedside, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" He shouted, completely hysterical.
"Sokka, I'll be fine."
Sokka sniffed, tears rolling down his face, "Oh yeah? Well, you're lucky. When Hawkey came with your letter saying that you might not be okay, I said, 'Suki had better be okay or she'll be sorry!' " Sokka sobbed, throwing his arms around her.
"Agh! Aaaah! Sokka! No! Bad!" Suki cried out in pain.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's alright, it'll take more than that to take me from you." Suki said touching Sokka's face.
"I'm just really glad you're safe." he took her hand and pressed it to his lips, "If you weren't, I don't know what I'd do."
Ty Lee quietly excused herself, stepping out of the room. She made her way back to her room, where she saw the outfit she had laid out for the afternoon. Now that she knew her leader was safe, she didn't see anything wrong with going out and enjoying the festival a little. She changed quickly and exited the inn.
As soon as she walked outside, she felt the energy of the festival. She glanced around at the children running through the streets with sparking rods and noise makers. There were musicians across the street playing an old Earth Kingdom folk song Ty Lee recognized.
Then her stomach growled, "Hmm, where can a girl get some flamin' fire flakes around here?" she thought. But as she rounded the next corner all thoughts of food left her mind.
A group of performers enacted their performances in the square. Ty Lee counted four acrobats, a tall man, a tigerdillo trainer and a fire spitter. Wow, that takes me back. Sometimes I do miss the circus life, but now I'm fighting for something bigger than just the thrill. She thought.
A man on the opposite side of the square caught her eye, "The earthbender!" she said. She tried to make her way through the crowd to reach him, but the crowd was thick with people. Her heart sank when she saw him turn and walk down the street. She took one look at the trapeze and high wire and smiled.
She fought through the first two rows of people ringed around the performance. Scattered gasps could be heard throughout the audience, but the performers by and large just ignored her.
A mark of the experienced performer: Knowing that the show must go on. Ty Lee thought as she leaped up and grabbed the wrists of the acrobat hanging upside down from the trapeze. She released her grip, launching herself up to the high wire. She caught it easily with both hands, flung her feet onto the wire and started across.
She was entirely undaunted by the performer who was crossing the wire in the opposite direction and simply leaped over him, landing on the other side of him on one leg.
Ty Lee looked down at the street below. It had been a while since she had been up so high. From her position, leaping from the highwire to the nearest building and sliding down the shingles was simple. She landed on the street to the sound of applause.
She waited a moment for her head to cease spinning. Once it did, she realized she was standing right in front of the earthbender, whose mouth now hung open.
"Hi, it's Haru right?" she said cheerfully.