Chapter Nine : Of Subways and Snogging

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Katara and Toph filled us in on how they had tracked down Sokka; it wasn't a very elaborate story, but it did manage to keep us entertained for the first half of our train ride. It is a rather long train ride into Brooklyn, especially with the transfers – and if I haven't mentioned it already, let me tell you now. Subways do not run well on the weekend.

That said, here is how the story goes.

Toph and Katara sat at Columbus Circle for some time after we left. Exactly what they did to entertain themselves is not entirely clear; talked about girly things and did each other's hair, for all I know. Toph kept her feet to the ground, a metaphorical eye on the skateboarders. She was sure she had seen Sokka before, and hoped he hadn't left. If they were lucky, she figured he'd fall of his skateboard and they'd have him.

Katara went out to get them lunch around noon; Toph thought she might have picked up Sokka again, but didn't dare go after him. The skateboards rattling and bouncing around on the concrete of the Circle was her equivalent of static on a television screen – not ideal conditions to try and walk through. At any rate, he disappeared again, not as if he walked off (which would have been a sort of fade), but sharply, as if he had climbed back on a board.

The skateboarders packed it in around three o'clock in the afternoon, about when we got on the ferry for Staten Island. Toph immediately picked up Sokka again. "There," she said, pointing. Katara ran over to the group of skateboarders.

"Um… hello?"

"Hello?" said one. "Do I know you?"

Katara looked for backup. "Toph, which one?"

Toph pointed again, to the dark-haired skater who had spoken. "Him," she said as though delivering a death sentence.

"Um, me? I didn't do it!" he said in mock consternation.

Katara sighed and gave Toph a Look; the younger girl was being a little harsher then she would like. "It's okay, you're not in trouble," she told the boy with a smile. "Could we speak to you for a moment?"

He looked at his friends. One of them sniggered, another muttered something about 'confessing her love.' With a shrug and an "okay," he followed Katara over to the edge of the Circle, where the splashing of the fountain hid their conversation. "Look," she said. "I don't know any easy way to put this, but… your name is Sokka, and you're my brother."

He raised his eyebrows. "My name is Alex and I'm an only child," he corrected. "Am I supposed to play along? Is this some sort of hidden camera thing?" He looked at her suspiciously and bent his head, looking around Katara as though there might be a hidden camera behind her back.

Katara sighed. "No. You lost your memory when you came through a portal to this world. We all did. But you're not from here, whatever you're thinking right now. I know it's confusing, but I can prove it."

Alex gave up his search for hidden cameras. "Really?"

Katara nodded solemnly and turned her attention to the fountain behind her; with a frown of concentration, she positioned herself in a waterbending stance and swayed her arms. A single jet of water rocketed high into the air and froze solid, into a crystal spire.

"Um. That's. Very cool," said Alex, staring upward. "No pun intended. But… can I maybe do this later? I don't want to keep them waiting…" he thrust his chin in the direction of the other skaters "…and I'm kind of…"

As he tried to sidle away, Toph lost patience, stomped one foot, and extended her arm. Part of the low stone wall in front of the fountain tore into its component bricks and rose up between Alex and the other skaters, hovering solid and unsupported in the air. "Listen, dope-for-brains. It's not all pretty sparklies. This is dead serious. Either you come with us easy, or I pound you until you remember every last detail. Got it?"

He stopped sidling. "Okay, I don't think we have to get violent here."

Toph smiled and gestured negligently; the bricks re-piled themselves. "Good. I didn't really want to hurt you, Sokka." Her grin was downright sadistic, though.

"Where are we going?" he ventured.

"The subway station, to start with," answered Toph.

It was around then that our group called to check in for the second time. Katara, Toph, and Alex got on a train to South Ferry; they caught him up on what was going on; and that brings us to now.

I half expected Alex to run away every time the train stopped, but as I had observed earlier, he seemed kind of out of it, high on whatever the skater-boy drug of choice is at the moment. I imagine this made it easier for him to just go along with the whole thing – but if we were counting on Sokka's sharp wit to get us out of any jams, then we were pretty much sunk.

We reached the Flatbush Avenue stop and piled out of the train; it was a straight shot up the block and to the zoo entrance. It was getting late, but it seemed we had at least half an hour before the place closed, so although the person taking tickets gave us a strange look as we paid admissions – Ty Lee and Sean tapped into their funds from the ferry performances, which was good, because what I had brought was nearly out – we got in easily enough.

The sea lions at the Prospect Park Zoo are in the center, a round tank filled with water the animals swim through like graceful torpedoes and rocks they lie on to bask, torpid brown lumps. Aang stopped at the tank for a minute to look at them. "Weird," was his final verdict. "I wonder if you could ride one?"

"Not now," said Katara.

"I know not now. Just… for future reference."

Set all around the sea lion tank are various buildings, containing the indoor animals; some of them have doors out the back to more outdoor exhibits, the barn or the Discovery Trail. I was thinking feverishly of what kinds of statues or sculptures the zoo might have that could be the Kraken; perhaps it was in fact inhabiting a live animal. We walked the perimeter of the courtyard, surveying all the buildings.

"There," said Aang.

Oh. I had forgotten about those… how is quite beyond me. He was pointing down a long cobbled path that lead to another zoo entrance. It was lined by massive mesh-and wire sculptures: a frog. A lizard. An octopus.

We trudged up the path, to where the octopus tentacles flared from the ground, solid lengths of metal painted cheap, institutional green; Aang pulled out the three fragments he had collected so far, green and yellow and crimson on his palm, and extended them. Where their mingled light hit the metal, it seemed to soften and flex like muscle under skin; quite suddenly, all the tentacles of the beast convulsed, and a fleshy head rose out of the pavement, which rippled behind it like water. Its voice was hoarse and gurgling as it greeted Aang with the same terseness of its counterparts. "Avatar."

Aang bowed. "I'm looking for the final fragment of the Amulet of the Four Elements," he said. "And I need to know how to use it to get home. Please…"

The squidlike head of the Kraken settled against the pavement, which had gone solid again, and its beaklike mouth worked. "The final fragment lies in the lion's waters. But your second request is more difficult. The Amulet must be quickened by bending of all four elements; the instructions are writ in glass in the final borough. Take the second train."

"Thank you," said Aang. "Is there… anything else I should know?"

The Kraken blinked slowly. "Leave no one behind. This world and yours are not meant to mingle for long. The barriers are too thin already."

Again, the pavement rippled, and the Kraken's head sank once more below the ground. Its tentacles flailed like a medusa for a moment, then stilled, fading back to metal.

I turned over the words in my mind. There was only one borough we hadn't been to yet – the Bronx – so I was ready to wager whatever we were looking for was there somewhere, but that was a big place to look. Writ on glass… the second train…

There were a couple of conversations going on around me. To the front, Aang addressed Katara and Zuko: "We can't leave anyone behind. That means Azula, too. We have to find her and make her come back with us, somehow."

"And Mai," said Zuko fervently. Well, he had said he'd talk to them about that…

Behind me, Ty Lee was leaning on the arm of Alex-the-stoner. "Sokka… don't you think that was scary?" she sighed. His responses were halfhearted at best, but she kept talking at him until Sean broke in:

"Hey! What's so great about this Sokka guy, anyway?"

I think he said it more loudly then he had meant to, because everyone in the group turned their attention on him. "Um," he muttered. "So. Y'know, I should probably be getting home now…" He took several steps backwards, turned, and darted for one of the buildings.

"Wait!" Ty Lee called unexpectedly, releasing Alex, and tore off after him.

"I'll go keep an eye on them," I muttered. "You go get the last fragment. Sea lion tank, I think."

"Yeah, we got that," said Zuko.

I headed for the building Sean had taken shelter in and managed to track the pair of them to the monkey exhibit, a large room with uneven walls of fake stone and a set of steps leading down to a sheet of glass. On the other side, a troop of baboons go about their business in an outdoor enclosure; on this side, Sean and Ty Lee were standing next to a clump of fake rocks, talking. They were quite uninterested in the baboons and even failed to notice me, so I took a fairly hidden seat behind a pillar dressed up as a stalactite and watched the drama unfold.

"…you don't even know him?" Sean was saying. "So how can you flirt with him like that?"

Ty Lee swung herself up onto a rock and crouched there, braid hanging over her shoulder. "It's easy. Look, you're not going to ask me to choose between you, are you Sean?" She batted her long lashes.

"It's the normal thing to do," he pointed out.

She flipped over on her back and giggled, clearly more flattered by all the attention than intending to take this seriously – although Sean was as earnest as I'd ever seen him. I'm always a bit surprised when boys of his ilk manage to be earnest. "I don't really know you, either," said Ty Lee.

"Well, yeah…" Sean allowed. "But I did try to save you from that seamonster."

Ty Lee crossed her arms over her chest, mock-stern, which is a hard thing to pull off when you're looking at someone upside-down as you hang half way off a fake rock. "I almost drowned pulling you out of the water afterwards."

"True… but you have to admit it was a good try."

She giggled again.

Sean sighed in defeat and turned away, as though to walk off.

"Psst!" Ty Lee hissed, trying to catch his attention. He turned back.

"What now?" he asked suspiciously.

She whispered something, but Sean shook his head. "Sorry, can't hear you," he said, leaning closer. "What-"

His face was about an inch away from hers; she lifted her head a little bit from the rock and kissed him – upside down, Spiderman-style, a mischievous smile on her lips.

I winced, but couldn't look away. It was like watching a car wreck. You feel guilty for it, but try as you might, not watching it is impossible. So I saw the full run of expressions that washed across Sean's face. Startlement, then pleasure as he leaned into the kiss; then, utter confusion. Then revulsion.

With a cry, he pulled away, shoving a fist against his mouth. "Gah! I- you- kiss- no…" he sputtered.

Ty Lee flipped herself upright, leaning on her elbows and looking hurt again. "What's wrong?"

"You're the crazy girl who works with Azula, that's what's wrong! And I told you before, I'm with Suki! Who would kill me if she found out about this! And she could, too!" He was spazzing out in a way that was only too familiar; I think Ty Lee and I realized what was going on at about the same time.

Grey eyes sparkling with indignation and betrayal, Ty Lee rose into a crouch. "You're Sokka?"

Sean rubbed a hand over his bleach-blonde hair which, I realized for the first time, was actually quite dark at the roots, and took a step back. "Yes?" he hazarded. Ty Lee's face trembled. "Look, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with you, I just…" he began hurriedly.

"How could you?!" Ty Lee shouted, and sprang down from the rocks, racing away, tears flying from her eyes.

"Oh. Great," said Sokka.

"Give her a minute to cool down," I suggested flatly.

"Gah! Where'd you come from?" he asked as I leaned around the pillar.

I was saved from answering as, with a pattering of feet, the rest of the gang came into the baboon exhibit. "We got the fragment," Katara began, but broke off suddenly. "Sokka?"

Sean waved amicably.

"But…" she rounded on Toph. "You said Alex was him!"

I was just glad she didn't point out I was the one who had said Sokka would be a skater in the first place. Toph seemed to wilt a little under her glare; she looked down at her bare toes. "Well, Sean looked kind of like him too, but I didn't want to say anything. Look, there's a lot of metal and concrete and noise and weird tunnels around here, I'm not infallible, okay?"

I focused on adjusting my perceptions, to stop expecting Sean and look for Sokka instead. I had just about managed it, in time to see his mouth drop open. "You're not infallible? Katara, are you sure she's who she says she is?"

"Shut up, Sidekick," Toph told him.

Alex leaned around the back of the group. "Does this mean I can go home?"

Katara sighed. "Well, I guess this worked out in our favor. I think we're all pretty tired, so let's just find Ty Lee and get out of here, okay?"

I watched Alex sidle off, then turn and start running in the opposite direction. Yeah, everything had worked out in our favor. It seemed almost too neat.

That was when someone screamed.