Love is in the Gifts

Momo was hiding in the small Mess compartment when Iroh made an announcement over the Speaker Tubes. (The lemur had previously tried to use those pipes as shortcuts through the airship, but that hadn't worked out well at all.) Whatever it was that the Old Human was saying, it caught the attention of the red-faced man and two white-faced women who were snacking on rations at the room's only table. They looked up at the tubes, as if that would help them hear better, and Momo made his move. He scampered out from between a pair of storage boxes, quickly climbed up to the table top, and while staying as flat as possible, snatched the half-eaten biscuits from right beneath the humans' noses.

Then, balancing on his hind legs with his arms and wings wrapped protectively around his prize, he fled the scene of the crime like a bat-thing out of the Fire Nation.

Momo paused at the room's doorway when the pipes began squawking with the Old Human's singing. There was a soothing quality to the melody and the singer's warm enthusiasm, but the sound itself was horribly off key and spurred Momo to trot a little faster as he carried his snacks through the Airship's corridors. The lemur only had to stop and hide at two points- once when the Nice But Bossy Water Girl passed through the halls with a bar of soap in her hands, and another when Aang and the Loud Pink Girl were carrying a metal pipe to the back of the ship. Finally, Momo reached his destination- the bomb bay (or as he liked to think of it, the Big Place That Wasn't As Good As Outside But Had Lots of Hiding and Climbing Spaces). Momo relaxed, and put his stolen biscuits down so that he could sink to all four paws for a rest. The Old Human was still singing; it sounded like he had taken the song up again from the beginning.

That's when The Enemy struck. Momo had no idea where it had come from, but at some point after Annoying Hawky had been sent into the horizon, a Pigeon Jay had materialized from the depths of the ship, and had claimed Hawky's makeshift nest in the heights of the bomb bay as its own.

Whatever the misfortune was that had all the humans smelling so stressed, it must be dire indeed if it came with the arrival of nest-stealers!

The treacherous bird swooped down from the darkness of the rafters and absconded with its talons full of Momo's hard won (stolen) biscuits. Momo did what any reasonable lemur would do- screeched with outrage and launched himself after the thief. The Jay's feathered wings provided more lift in the enclosed space, but Momo had more useful limbs and hands, and could easily transition from flight to climbing and back faster than any human could process. As the Jay neared the top of the bay, it twitched its head to the side to scope out the pursuit, and when it saw Momo hot on its tail feathers, the bird changed its flight course away from its nest and back towards the relatively open air of the lower bay.

This was the Jay's downfall. As the bird dived sharply, it turned its head again to check on Momo. The lemur was still in angry pursuit, but his spirits lifted when he saw a huge, furry obstruction rise into the Jay's path unnoticed.

Giant Warm Friend Protector Appa!

The thieving Pigeon Jay crashed right into Appa's fuzzy arrow, bounced off, and landed on the bay's metal floor sprawled on its back. The stolen biscuits scattered across the deck.

Momo landed lightly on Appa's forehead, nuzzled the bison in the same manner that Aang frequently used, and jumped off to collect his prize. The lemur set most of the pile in front of Appa, keeping one fruit-flavored biscuit for himself, and scampered up to eat on his friend's back. Appa let out a grateful groan, and licked up the rest of the food.

Just as Momo got his own biscuit in his mouth, he spotted the Pigeon Jay watching from a rafter. When the bird caught the lemur looking at him, it gave a mournful little coo.

Momo cocked his head, paced on all fours in a little circle, and came to a decision. He took the unchewed food out of his mouth, broke a piece off, and threw it at the bird. The Pigeon Jay leapt into flight with a grateful cry, and snatched the morsel out of the air.

Momo's remaining piece was oh so sweet.

To Be Continued...