Animals
Ah, the zoo. Where the exotic sights, sounds, and smells meet the ordinary. It is a favorite haunt of children, both young and old.
One pleasant weekend when the Avatar and his family were vacationing (well, his wife and daughter were vacationing – he was working) in the great Earth Kingdom city of Ba Sing Se, it was to this very place that they decided to visit. The Avatar's daughter was only two – a wee chiblet of a thing who toddled clumsily about and had just started talking in complete sentences. With an energy that rivaled her father's, Tian Mi was difficult to keep up with. If you didn't keep an eye on her at all times, she was bound to get into trouble, a skill all two-year-olds possess. Unfortunately, her parents were rather new to the ways of children. They only kept an eye on her 99 percent of the time, not the full 100 percent. It was during this one percent of un-supervision that Tian Mi managed to squeeze in her trouble quota for the day.
"Aang," said the Lady Katara rather anxiously, looking down by her feet.
"Yes? What's wrong? Did you drop something?" the Avatar replied looking away from the Rabbiroo exhibit.
"No, but… Where is Tian Mi?" At this, the Avatar too began to look anxiously around his feet. A great fear (one that all parents feel at least once during their parenthood) swept over them, and the parents began anxiously searching for their child. After enlisting the help of the staff, a full-fledge search was carried out. Where could she have gone?
The ice cream stand?
The fountain?
The tigerdillo exhibit?
Or (spirits forbid) was she taken? Each individual went his or her separate ways in order to cover more ground. After an hour with no luck, the search party returned to the Rabbiroo enclosure.
"Did you find her?" they asked each other hopefully, fear tinting their tones.
"No," Katara replied on the verge of tears.
"We didn't see her anywhere, sir," the staff replied, bowing their heads respectfully.
"We'll find her, don't worry," Aang replied ever the optimist. His attention was momentarily drawn away though, when he noticed the commotion at the Rabbiroo exhibit.
"Would you look at that!" the people exclaimed and "I wonder where her parents are! Poor thing must be scared silly…" Making his way to the front of the crowd, Aang was able to see what the hubbub was about. Down in the exhibit, in a Rabbiroo pouch, was a little girl!
Tian Mi!
Katara now had made it to Aang's side and noticed the predicament that her daughter was in.
"What is she doing there‽" Katara cried angrily.
"I have to admit that I don't know," her husband replied on the verge of laughter. Not seeing this as a laughing matter, the waterbender swatter her husband in the arm.
"Get her out of there!" Rolling his eyes at the silliness of it all, the Avatar jumped over the edge and gently floated down to the habitat. Approaching the Rabbiroo holding his daughter slowly so as to not startle it, Aang said,
"Tian Mi, Mama and Papa were very worried. You're in big trouble."
The little girl merely squealed playfully and held up a Rabbiroo pup. "Look, Papa!"
"Yes, I see, Baby. But now it is time to put the baby Rabbiroo back in his pouch and come out to Papa." Slightly disappointed, Tian Mi did as she was told (for she was a good little girl, really) and went to her Papa. Once safely perched on his shoulders, she asked,
"I have?" pointing to the Rabbiroos.
"You'll have to ask Mama; that is if she lets you near another animal ever again."
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Years after the incident, the individuals involved would never understand how exactly Tian Mi got in the Rabbiroo pit in the first place…
Hehe, the joys of the terrible two's. I swear, toddlers have special teleporting duties, how else would they end up in all of the places that they do?