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Light from the Shadows Chapter 4
Kakashi
The group had been flying on Appa for a couple of days when they landed on a small clearing in a rocky valley. Kakashi hopped off and popped his joints before helping Sakura get down off the giant beast. They half-walked, half-climbed the hill they were on to the peak. Aang made it to the top first. He spread his arms wide and took a deep breath.
"The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Kakashi reached the peak a few moments later and looked over. The city was huge. All made of rock. It was impressive. He had never visited the city before but had heard of it in stories and on his travels. He looked back and took Sakura's hand to pull her up on the peak with him. She seemed either reluctant or nervous, he couldn't tell which.
"I used to come here to visit my friend, Bumi."
Sokka and Katara seemed a bit... shell shocked. If he hadn't been feeling just the same, Kakashi would have laughed.
"Wow... we don't have cities like this in the South Pole..." Her jaw practically touched the ground.
"They have buildings here that don't melt!" Sokka cried, his eyes wide.
Aang turned to them, "Well, let's go slow pokes! The real fun is inside the city!"
Wait, fun? Isn't he supposed to be on this journey to learn to master the elements and you know... important war-ending stuff? Eh, who am I to stop a child from a little fun? Maybe I'll get to try some new kind of tea, or find a new book? Maybe some good miso soup... What I wouldn't give to relax to some nice music in my apartment. If there's anything left of it...
Aang started toward the city.
"Wait, Aang! It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar." Katara placed a hand on his shoulder.
Sokka nodded in agreement, "You need a disguise."
"So, what am I supposed to do? Grow a moustache?"
"You know... that might actually work." Kakashi looked from Appa to Aang and back again. He had a devilish idea.
It took a little fancy airbending, a rope and a bit of spit, but they ended up tying a bunch of Appa's hair to Aang's head, as well as a moustache on his lip, to give him the appearance of an old man. He found a stick lying on the ground and his disguise was complete. Momo hid amongst the hair. Aang would pretend to be Kakashi's father, as well as Sokka and Katara's grandfather. Sakura just had to pretend to be Kakashi's husband.
Aang scratched his head, apparently the hair was quite itchy.
"Ooh, this is so itchy! How do you live in this stuff, Appa?" The bison grunted at him and sat down on the ground. Sokka laughed.
"This is great, you look just like my grandfather!"
"That's kind of the point..." Kakashi grumbled. Sokka glared at him.
"You know, Aang is technically 112 years old... This was a pretty genius idea, Kakashi." Katara mentioned. Aang was getting impatient and waved them along. Sokka sulked at the back of the group, wishing he had thought of the idea instead of Kakashi.
"Now let's get skippin', young whippersnappers! The big city awaits!"
Sakura hooked her arm through his.
"Let's go, husband."
"Much obliged, wife." Kakashi grinned at Sakura and they walked arm in arm to the city, following their hobbling 'grandfather'. He looked back over his shoulder at Sokka and urged him on with a wave. I am such an asshole. He's just a kid, I should go easier on him.
"Come on son, if you don't hurry up, you'll be as old as Aang by the time we get there."
Sokka gave him the evil eye and raspberried him. Sakura elbowed him in the ribs.
"Stop giving him such a hard time, Kakashi. He's just a boy." Kakashi leaned into her ear and whispered, "But it's just so much fun messing with him." He smiled and she chuckled.
"I hear you, honey, but if you start up with the dad jokes, I may just have to punch you through a wall." She smiled acidly at him, her grip tightening on his arm. Kakashi gulped and remained quiet for the rest of the walk to the gate. I don't know about anyone else, but being on the receiving end of one of Sakura's punches is just no fun, especially when she summons earth around it.
Kakashi recalled one of their bouts of sparring not too long ago on Kyoshi, where Sakura had punched him incredibly hard in the abdomen after losing both her fans in the fight. Kakashi had flown several feet backwards on his ass. The fight had ended there, and Sakura had helped nurse the sensitive bruises on his stomach for several days after.
'But Sakuraaa, what about my...'
'Nope. You get to feel that bruised butt-bone. That's for ruining my fans.'
'Mahhh, so mean, Sakura.'
Kakashi chuckled at the memory.
…
As they reached the access road into Omashu, a cabbage vendor in front of them was trying to get into the city, pushing his cart of cabbages in front of him.
"You guys are gunna love Omashu, the people here are the friendliest in the world."
The cabbage merchant was being inspected. The guard was holding one of his cabbages. The vegetable was deemed rotten and squashed in the man's hand. The other guard knocked the cabbages from the man's hands and earthbent a piece of the ground up to knock the cart into the air and over the side of the road.
"Rotten cabbages! What kind of slum do you think this is!?"
The man looked over the edge of the road and watched his cabbages fall deep into the pit.
"Noo! My cabbages!"
What a poor guy. Losing all of his produce. Asshole guards, they didn't have to throw away the cart, they could have just told him to leave. His group hesitated, maybe Omashu wasn't so friendly after all.
"Just keep smiling..." Aang whispered to them, as he approached the guards. Kakashi watched the cabbage vendor leave the gate, his face dejected and sad. Better luck next time buddy. The guard that had knocked the man's cart off the road pulled a large rock from the wall and held it over Aang's head. Damn, they're more savage than Tsunade on one of her bad days.
"State your business!" Their not-so-bald-anymore friend slipped out from under the rock, much too quickly for his supposed age, and started waving a finger in the man's face.
"My business is my business, young man, and none of yours! I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!" Kakashi watched as the stone dropped behind Aang, he obviously caught the guard by surprise. What the fuck. Is this actually going to work!? A bead of sweat dropped on his forehead.
"Settle down, old timer. Just tell me who you are." His hands were up in defense.
"Name's Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis, the Third, and there is my son, Bonzu the Fourth, his wife, Ume, and my grandkids." Katara stepped forward and waved at the guard,
"Hi, June Pipinpadaloxicopolis. Nice to meet you." The guard pointed at her.
"You seem like responsible young lady. See that your family stays out of trouble. Especially your grandfather. Enjoy Omashu!" The guards opened the gate and Kakashi's group gaped in awe of the massive city.
"We will."
Aang, Katara, Kakashi and Sakura all walked forward into the city, with Sokka trailing a bit behind them.
"Wait a minute!" The guard grabbed Sokka by the shoulder just after he passed. Kakashi stiffened, he thought they might have been caught. "You're a strong young boy. Show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag." Aang stopped, and threw his bag at Sokka,
"Good idea!" Once the gates shut behind them, they really took in the city. From a distance it looked impressive, but up close? Kakashi had a hard time fathoming it all. There were chutes and tubes everywhere, packages and crates holding things sliding along them. How am I supposed to find a tea shop or book store here? It's worse than the Fire Nation capital. I'd be lost within minutes. His shoulders slumped as it dawned on him that he'd be stuck with the three kids and their shenanigans for the whole time they were in the city. I have this horrible feeling things are not going to go as planned.
"This is the Omashu delivery system. Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Earthbending brings the packages up and gravity brings them down." Sokka was unimpressed.
"Great, so they get their mail on time."
"They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes..."
…
The five were at the top of a slide, Aang, Katara and Sokka in one crate, and Kakashi with Sakura in the other. The first crate was teetering on the edge. Kakashi saw that Katara and Sokka weren't completely sold on the idea of the slide. Smart, those two are. Not buying into Aang's adrenaline junkie antics.
"One ride, then we're off to the North Pole, Airbender's honor."
"This sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second thoughts!" You and me both, Katara. Kakashi debated getting out of the crate as he watched the three drop into the chute. Just as he was about to get out, Sakura shoved them forward with her own bit of earthbending.
"Ohhh no you don't. If I'm stuck going after them, you are too. We can't just let them go, we have to be the responsible 'parents' we are and go after them."
"I hate that you're right."
They drop down the chute and quickly catch up to the three. In the neighboring chute, a crate with a rack of spears is shooting closer and closer, on a collision course further down the chute. The two paths merge and Kakashi and Sakura freak out.
"A little help here Aang!" Sakura ducked under the spears that threatened to kill her.
"I'm on it! I'm on it!" Aang rocked his container off the chute, Kakashi and Sakura following suit. They landed amongst a group of Earthbender recruits, before Aang propelled the bin with him, Katara and Sokka in it. Unfortunately he wasn't able to do the same for Kakashi and Sakura. They slid into the clearing and came to a full stop.
"Hehe.. Uh... care to give us some directions to a bookstore?" He laughed nervously and scratched his head.
It didn't work. They were arrested by the earthbenders.
Kakashi and Sakura were brought to the King's throne chamber.
"Your majesty, these two were arrested for vandalism, and traveling under false pretenses."
"Just set them there, off to the side. I'll figure out what to do with them in a minute," the king turned to them then, "In the meantime would you like some candy?" He pulled a few red bits from his sleeve. He shook his head and saw Sakura do the same.
"Too bad. More for me!" He tossed the candy back in his mouth.
Kakashi turned to Sakura, and whispered to her, "I knew we shouldn't have gone on that stupid slide. That kid has the most ridiculous ideas."
Just a minute or two later and another group of guards came through the doors, Katara, Aang and Sokka bound in front of them. The King was sitting on his throne.
"Mm?"
"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages." A man started talking off to the side that Kakashi hadn't seen come in.
"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" What was with people and cabbages? They weren't that bad of a vegetable! The guard looked at the man,
"Silence! Only the King can pass down judgment," he looked back at the king. "What is your judgment, Sire?"
Kakashi waited as the king glanced over all of them. He hummed with indecision then rose and made his decision,
"Throw them... a feast!" The guard next to Kakashi made a noise of surprise. Kakashi sighed. I have a feeling this place is ran like a god-damned circus! Perhaps a well-put-together circus, but a circus all the same. All Omashu is missing is the big red and white tent.
"Huh?" Aang questioned the king's decision.
…
Kakashi sat next to Sakura at the king's feast table, food laid out before him and the rest of their group, there were meats, cheeses, and all sorts of other foods. Omashu was apparently not a starving city. The king walked behind Aang and waved a chicken leg in the air, chuckling.
"Heheh! The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin." Aang refused the meat politely,
"Thanks, but I don't eat meat."
"How about you?" He directed the question at Sokka, "I bet you like meat." The king shoved the drumstick in Sokka's mouth.
"Mmm!"
Kakashi leaned in to Sakura's ear, "Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?" He make a cukoo motion beside his head and Sakura giggled. The king took his seat at the end of the table.
"So, tell me young bald one. Where are you from?"
"I'm from... Kangaroo Island."
"Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hoppin!" Silence filled the room around the bad joke. It was broken by Sokka's late laughter, Kakashi looked at him, along with the rest of the group. What in the actual hell, Sokka? Do you want us thrown in the dungeon?
"What? It was pretty funny." The king yawned.
"Well, all these good jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay." The king threw his drumstick at Aang, who brought it to a standstill with his airbending. The guards around them gasped in surprise. Should have known, this kid can't do undercover to save his life.
"There's an airbender in our presence and not just any airbender, the Avatar!" The king stood up. Aang dropped the drumstick and tried to act like nothing had happened. Kakashi just sat there in silence. "Now what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Pipinpadaloxicopolis?"
Aang got to his feet, "okay! You caught me. I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out," Aang lifted the tablecloth in front of him, "no firebenders here. So... good work everybody."
He put his arms around Katara and Sokka as they stood and Kakashi rose after them, pulling Sakura up as well, "Love each other, respect all life and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!"
They all had been slowly backing out towards the door, but the guards stop them.
Sakura turned to the king, Kakashi could tell she was itching to fight back. "You can't keep us here. Let us leave."
"Lettuce leaf?" The king chewed a leaf of lettuce. Yep definitely a circus. Kakashi turned to the others.
"We're in serious trouble here. This guy is a nutcase." The king turned to them and got up.
"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber." A guard next to the king leaned into his ear,
"My liege, do you mean the good chamber, or the bad chamber?"
"The newly refurbished chamber."
"Wait, which one are we talking about?"
"The one that used to be the bad chamber, until the recent refurbishing that is. Of course, we've been calling it the new chamber, but we really should number them. Uh, take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!"
They were led away by a few guards, on in the front and two behind. Kakashi didn't know if they were in trouble or not. The king hadn't sounded angry, just serious. I should have just stayed with Appa, at least he's not getting me arrested and put at the mercy of a crazy old king.
After a few minutes they arrived at a spot in the wall with a small lamp, the guard in front tore open the wall with earthbending. The guards thrust them all inside and the 'door' that had been created was closed just as quick. Kakashi looked around the chamber. It was a spacious room, with five beds, each beautiful and new looking.
Katara and Sakura looked around in confusion. Katara turned to Aang.
"This is a prison cell? But it's so nice." Aang responded,
"He did say it was newly refurbished."
"Nice or not, we're still prisoners." Sokka said.
"He's right. Sakura is there any way you can use your earthbending to get us out?"
"I mean I could try... but I think there's a reason we've been treated so kindly. We've been fed, and given a room to sleep in? I'd say that's pretty good treatment compared to the cabbage vendors proposal of cutting off our heads." Aang sat on the edge of the bed.
"I wonder what these challenges are going to be."
"We are not sticking around to find out! There's gotta be some way outta here." Kakashi just stood there looking at the three kids who were trying to find a way out of the room. What idiots. Yes this place is loopy, but I'm sure the king has a reason for his challenges. At least I hope so. Sakura looked at him.
"Do you think the king has something up his sleeve?"
"I do."
"We really should stick around, there's no reason to get on the king's bad side. Especially a crazy king like this one."
"You are not wrong." Kakashi looked back towards the three kids and they were attempting to shove Aang's lemur, Momo into the air vents to go get Appa. The lemur had gorged during the feast and was too fat to push into the small hole.
"If they think that lemur is going to fit into that hole after how much he ate, they are crazier than that king."
They stopped, and Momo's behind dangled out of the hole, the poor lemur was stuck. It's a wonder that thing sticks around, after how much abuse they put him through.
"Eh, how was Appa supposed to save us anyway?" Aang flopped onto one of the beds and stared at the ceiling.
"Appa is a ten ton flying bison, I think he could figure something out."
Kakashi climbed into the bed next to Sakura as everyone settled in to sleep. I miss my tea. I had really gotten used to having that every night before bed. Now I really won't get a chance to have some miso... Kakashi pouted as he laid in bed.He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep. Luckily his dreams weren't of the haunting variety tonight.
A few hours later, some guards came into the room and took them away, leaving Aang to sleep.
Kakashi was the last of the group to leave and turned to the guard,
"You're not going to do anything harmful to him are you?" The guard looked at Aang, a fleeting look of pity crossed the man's face.
"I don't think King Bumi has any malicious intent with the boy, but what do I know? The man is unpredictable. Usually harmless, but he has his moments." Well at least everyone feels the same way as I do about him.
"I figured as much. Thanks."
They walked along with the guards, Kakashi yawned a bit at being woken up in the middle of the night. The guards took them back to the throne room and they were put into a room in a wall. The open wall closed in front of them. Something like 10 minutes passed before they heard anything through the wall. Sokka and Katara were surprisingly quiet, most likely still half-asleep. Muffled voices could be heard through the wall.
"First, Avatar, what do you think of my new outfit? I want your honest opinion." This voice belonged to the king. Bumi. What the fuck? Was Aang just a fashion advisor? We have way more important things to be doing than accessing the king's outfits. "I'm waiting."
"I... guess it's fine." The second voice belonged to Aang.
"Excellent! You passed the first test."
"Really?"
"Well, not one of the deadly tests. The real challenges are much more... challenging."
"I don't have time for your crazy games! Gimme my friends back! We're leaving!"
"Ohh, I thought you might refuse..."
The door opened in front of them and the guards held them back. One of them in the room placed a ring on each of their hands. It was then that Sokka and Katara started struggling. The second the ring was on his hand, it constricted to his finger. The stone was cold and of a dark purple shade. Kakashi tried to get the ring off, but it was to no avail. The ring was stuck. He looked at the other three, and they were having the same predicament. Katara's stone was of a jade color, Sokka's a violet and Sakura's pink. Kakashi looked out at the king. His outfit was actually quite hideous, a mix of purples, blues and greens.
"…so I will give your friends some special souvenirs. Those delightful rings are made of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate." Kakashi looked at the ring on his finger. It didn't seem too malicious, but once it started to creep, he knew that it would be a fast process. The thought didn't sit well with him.
"Ah! It's already creeping!" The statement came from Sokka, who was freaking out over the ring." Kakashi looked back at his ring, and saw that it had indeed moved just the slightest
"I'll do as you want." Aang decided to cooperate. Thank goodness. I didn't sign up for hostage duty…I'm starting to think this king has no marbles left.
…
They all stood on a rocky balcony as Aang started the first task, retrieving the key from a waterfall. Aang tried to jump in and climb the ladder. He fell. King Bumi taunted him. He tried to push in from the side, and fell again. He earned another round of taunting from the king. The third try, he broke one of the stalagmites surrounding the chamber and threw it at the key, following it with a slice of airbending. The rock stabbed into the wall above King Bumi with the key dangling just above his head. Kakashi put his best bored look on his face and waited for them to continue. He really was proud of the kid, but was getting a bit impatient. When they had arrived in the cavern, the rock was just up to his forearm, but now it was at his shoulder, and it was starting to get heavy. God damn it, Aang. This really is no time for screwing around. I'd rather not become one with this stupid rock.
"There, enjoy your lunch! I want my friends back, now!" Bumi looked like he was slightly surprised at Aang's succeeding this quickly with his first task and didn't quite know what to do next.
"Uh, not yet. I need help with another matter. It seems I've lost my pet Flopsy."
Aang searched the palace long and hard for the animal, and Kakashi was getting hopeful when they finally found a bunny with long ears sitting on a rock in a courtyard. Please let this be Flopsy. I'm half covered in crystal!
Needless to say, the floppy bunny was not Flopsy. The giant horned rabbit that came afterwards was. And he turned out to be the biggest sweetheart ever. Maybe I should get a horned rabbit. Upon seeing Aang dripping with saliva, he was convinced otherwise.
King Bumi whistled for the animal and he dropped Aang to return to his master.
"Wait… if that's all you had to do to get Flopsy to come to you, why didn't he just do that in the first place?" Kakashi asked Sakura.
"I really don't know, but I wish Aang would hurry up, there's not much time before we are crystals…. Not that it means anything…" She mumbled the last part and Kakashi was too irritated to care what she meant. Aang jumped onto the balcony to join them.
"Guys, are you ok?" Just jumping for joy, idiot.
"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body, doing great." It was Katara who dished out the sarcasm this time.
Kakashi looked at the rest of the group, each in similar situations to himself, covered ankle to shoulder in crystal. As he looked at Sokka, a new row of crystals grew on the left side of his head. It was too heavy and he lost his balance, keeling over. King Bumi was oblivious and continued to rub Flopsy's belly.
"Aww… yes…" Aang was having none of his antics.
"Come on. I'm ready for the next challenge." King Bumi laughed maniacally. Their next challenge was in an Earthbending arena. It was fairly dark, with no features but the dirt floor. Kakashi and the rest of the prisoners were on one balcony, Aang and King Bumi on the other. The crystal had fully covered everything but their faces and feet at this point.
"Your final test is a duel and as a special treat you may choose your opponent. Point and choose."
Kakashi saw two men come out of the darkness behind Bumi, both looking particularly nasty. One had an axe and the other looked like he could smash someone with just two fingers. I'd probably be at a disadvantage if I fought either of those two, maybe I could take the axe guy. Aang is just a 12 year old boy, how does Bumi expect him to fight either one? Then again how does the world expect him to settle this war? He won't have mastered the elements for quite a while. Possibly years in fact. Though I doubt the world will wait that long. The Fire Lord always has some terrible thing cooking up in the back of his mind.
Kakashi knew Aang had to be terrified, but there was nothing he could do to save the boy. And even if he was free, he had no weapons and firebending was out of the question.
"So, you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?" What are you thinking Aang? Point to one of us? He should do that. It would be an easy fight that he could win without even trying. Just knock us down and he'd be considered the winner.
"Choose wisely."
"I… choose… you!" Aang pointed at King Bumi. The man responded with laughter.
"Haha! Wrong choice!" Ice crawled down Kakashi's spine, and it wasn't because the crystals were crawling every so closely to his skin. King Bumi, formerly the deranged old king, with horrific posture and an overall appearance of weakness surprised Kakashi. Surprised everyone. The king, with a good amount of effort, corrected his posture, and dumped his robes to reveal a surprisingly muscular body for such an old man. He was clearly a formidable foe, Aang realized his mistake, but it was too late. He had already made his decision. Aang took a couple steps back on their balcony away from the man. Wait one fucking second. Wait! What? That guard said the king's name was Bumi right? Aang said his friend he came to visit here was named Bumi! They couldn't possibly be the same person, could they?
King Bumi stamped the ground, a piece of rock shooting up blew Aang far out into the arena, where he landed in the dust. The king launched himself off the balcony and landed next to Aang. He laughed evilly as he stared the boy down.
"You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see."
"Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?"
"There are no 'take-back-sees' in my kingdom. You might need this!" He motioned to a guard who threw Aang his staff. King Bumi and Aang fought. Aang employed his typical fighting style of avoid and evade. His opponent bemoaned his disappointment in the Avatar as being so predictable.
He taunted Aang repeatedly, "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here! Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?"
They continued fighting, using bigger and trickier techniques to outwit the other. Just as Aang finally pinned the king, he failed to see that Bumi still had control over a large rock above both of them.
"Hehe! Well done, Avatar. You fight with much fire in your heart." Bumi threw his rock to the other side of the arena and fell into the earth, leaving a human shaped hole. Kakashi felt the earth rumble next to him and moved away. King Bumi appeared through it.
Aang used his staff to get himself back up to the balcony, spinning it like some sort of flying machine.
"You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question." Kakashi fought the urge to sigh. This day will never end. I'm so sick of this place.
"That's not fair! You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests."
"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?"
"Oh come on!" Sokka burst out. I kind of agree with him. But I'll wait and see what Bumi says.
"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What… is my name? From the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes." King Bumi left, shuffling through the crystal bodies.
"How am I supposed to know his name?" Kakashi exchanged a look with Sakura. She looked amused. I mean, I know his name because a guard slipped up, but what does she know?
"Hey. What do you know?" Kakashi whispered as close to her as he could.
"Isn't the king's name Bumi? At least he was the king when I lived here."
"I think so too, but I'm not going to tell him unless he can't figure it out on his own. He did say it was all a test." They turned back to the other three. They were trying to figure it out.
"Think about the challenges, maybe it's some kind of riddle." Katara suggested.
"I got it!" Kakashi looked at Sokka, hopeful that the boy had something intelligent to say.
"Yeah?"
"He's an earthbender, right? Rocky!... You know, because of all the rocks?" His suggestion was met with brief silence. I knew I should never expect anything but stupidity to come from his mouth.
"We're gonna keep trying, but that is a good backup." Katara was just being nice.
"Okay, so back to the challenges. I got a key from the waterfall. I saved his pet and I had a duel."
"And what did you learn?" That King Bumi is crazy?
"Well, everything was different than I expected." A piece of crystal grew into Katara's cheek, pushing it up a bit.
"And…?"
"Well, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would," Aang straightened up, he realized something. "I know his name!"
…
Back in the throne room…
"… As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." King Bumi started to laugh and snort. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!" They are two peas in a pod. No wonder they were such good friends, they're both crazy!
"Oh, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally." Katara was the first to speak up of those of them that were still encased in crystal.
"Uh… over here!" Kakashi was covered from head to toe, everything except his nose, so all he could do was sort of hear Aang and the King talking. All he could see was a bit of purple crystal all around him. Sokka was next to him, he thought, and said,
"Little help?" King Bumi apparently did something, and all the rocks around them shattered. King Bumi caught a piece of it.
"Genemite is made of rock candy," He took a bite. "Delicious!" Katara, who wasn't in the know about Bumi, turned to Aang.
"So this crazy king is your old friend, Bumi?" King Bumi, who had been talking to Sakura about the rock's properties, turned to Katara. Sakura pouted, and stowed away her notebook. She had been scribbling down notes over the new information.
"Who you calling old?" the man paused for a second, his shoulders slumped a bit. "Okay. I'm old."
"Why did you do all this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Kakashi asked, quite curious about the king's strange antics.
"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people," snort, snort. "But I do have a reason." Bumi turned to Aang and looked at him seriously, "Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord, and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius!" Aang clasped his hands together and bowed in thanks.
"And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help defeat the Fire Nation." Kakashi noticed Aang's lemur friend jump on his shoulder. "And you'll need Momo too."
"Thank you for your wisdom. But before we leave, I have a challenge for you!"
…
Kakashi and Sakura refused to join this time.
"Do you think Bumi will ever grow up? He has to be at least a 115!"
"Maybe not. Maybe there's a little bit of child in all of us. But personally I do think that it is good advice to think outside the box when he meets the fire lord. God knows that man is terrifying."
"Like you would know?"
"Not personally, but the stories are horrible. I heard at one point he even banished his own son."
"What kind of monster would do that? How old is his son?"
"I have no idea. Can't imagine he could be more than 16."
"That's rough. Do you know his name?"
"I don't."
While they waited on the outer wall of the city, Kakashi saw a dust cloud rise from a part of the city a ways away from them and soon after a tiny cry,
"My cabbages!"
"Seriously, the world must have it out for that man. Either that or he has rotten luck."
"Or poor cart placement."
"That could be it. Maybe it's just Omashu that's chewing him up and spitting him out."
"Maybe." Kakashi watched Sakura look back longingly at the city.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm from here, Kakashi. I didn't even get to see my old home. To see if they had come back. Or if anyone lives there now. It just seems like I'll never have time to really figure out what happened to them, to really get closure on the place."
"Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure we'll be back again someday. Aang and Bumi are such good friends, he'll probably have Bumi teach him Earthbending."
"And thank god that doesn't have to be me."
"What? Why? I'm sure you're an excellent teacher."
They were descending the steps and Sakura stopped abruptly after he said that.
"I'm really not. I'm better at learning than I am at passing it on. I expect too much from people and they get frustrated, then I get frustrated, and then I punch holes in walls."
"Sounds dangerous. Then again, how many times has Tsunade had to repair walls in the dojo because she put me through them?"
"I think seven after the last time."
"Then don't feel too bad, Tsunade is an excellent teacher and still puts stupid students through walls."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just don't feel qualified to teach the Avatar, when he has someone so much better here to teach him. Not to mention the fact that he's supposed to be learning these in order, water, earth, fire. So he'd have to learn water before I'd even think about it."
"Good point."
When they reached Appa, Sakura lied down on his hair and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Kakashi joined her.
"I miss our evening tea." She mumbled, her head almost swallowed by Appa's hair. Kakashi sneezed, one of said hairs getting stuck in his nose.
"Me too. Maybe the next place we go we can get some."
"I hope so. Honestly I just agreed to come along because I'd learn more new things on an adventure than I would on my own on Kyoshi. They didn't even have a library before I came for crying out loud."
"I hate to think about it, but I hope that library is still there. That it was spared." Sakura looked at him, her eyes wide and sad.
"I didn't even think about that before we left. I think I left it locked even so. Now the people of Kyoshi won't have access to it."
"Didn't you give Oyagi a key?"
"Oh. Yeah I guess you're right."
Kakashi patted her head and climbed up to Appa's saddle.
"C'mon, those guys will be needing to leave soon, we better go get them before they cause some serious damage."
Sakura took his offered hand and sat in the saddle while Kakashi moved to Appa's head.
"Appa, yip yip!" The bison rose to his feet and took off. It was an exhilarating feeling to Kakashi, being in control of such a large animal. He took them over the city. They followed the destruction trail to Aang and the rest of the group and flew down to retrieve them.
It was time to be off!