Here we are months after my last update...yup. I'm not saying anything else. If you want a lengthy excuse...I mean explanation of my delay go to my profile. For now, just read, gosh darnit. Wait. What's a DVD has been updated as well for those of you who read it. Okay, commence the reading.
o0o
Ah, wonderful school again. Katara had to hitch a ride with Zuko that morning, since Sokka was still out cold from his overdose of Chinese food. It was already a sign that today was not going to be good.
Actually it wasn't a bad ride. Zuko was surprisingly quiet the entire time they were driving to school. When she asked what was wrong with him, he said he was only tired and didn't feel like teasing her.
The apocalypse must be near.
Katara headed up to the front of the school to see if she could catch Aang before class started. She couldn't find him in his usual places. The hall near his locker was empty and their usual table contained people she knew, but no Aang. The bell rang and she decided she would look for him during lunch. Maybe he was just late.
o
By lunch, Sokka had arrived. He was looking and acting like his normal self. Sokka must have just needed to sleep it off. They all sat at their lunch table. Katara anxiously looked around for Aang.
"You look lonely, Katara. Where's your partner in crime?" Sokka asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him all day." Katara shrugged.
"Maybe he's feeling sick after last night." Sokka shrugged.
"Sokka, you ate everything off a Chinese restaurants menu and you're here at school. I think Aang will be fine." Zuko shrugged.
"But Sokka's a black hole. What makes Sokka ill and what makes Aang ill are two entirely different things." Toph explained.
"Whatever." Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Hey, guys."
Aang slowly approached their table. His eyes were puffy and blood shot. He was hunched over and shuffling as if he was asleep on his feet. Aang looked as if he hadn't slept all night.
"Wow, Aang. Did you go out clubbing all night after we dropped you off last night?" Zuko lightly joked.
"No," Aang bitterly shot.
"Oh my, God, Aang. What the hell happened to you? Why weren't you here this morning?" Katara asked.
"Appa's gone." Aang sniffled as he sat down.
"That's it? His dog died?" Zuko mumbled to Mai. "It looks like he overdosed on something and then like went out and drank every alcoholic beverage possible."
"Appa's not dead. He ran away." Aang mumbled.
"He only ran away? Why are you acting like that then?" Zuko hissed.
"Zuko, why are you acting like this towards him? He's had that dog since he was two! You have no idea—"
"Okay, but Katara…you still have a chance of finding the dog! He's still out there somewhere, you don't know if he's dead or not. So stop moping and you have to actually look for him." Zuko slammed his hands on the table.
"That was surprisingly optimistic for Zuko…" Sokka mumbled.
"Zuko, I hate to break you down and disappoint Aang…but to find a lost dog around these parts of town? You really think that it's possible? I think Appa's y'know. Gone. Either that or hit by a car…there's lots of busy streets around here." Katara grumbled grimly.
"That's nice, Katara. Shoot down any possibilities that the kid might have." Zuko folded his arms.
"Yeah, I say we at least try." Sokka voted.
"I'm not saying we can't—"
"Okay, so how are we going to do this? Posters?" Sokka suggested.
"Yeah!" Zuko nodded. "Look, I can get posters by the end of the school day. Just meet at my locker at the end of school."
"How are you going to get that many posters done by the end of school?" Sokka asked.
"I'm a TA. I pretty much show up and leave. The teacher I aid for doesn't make me do anything and I have pretty much access to any supplies the school has. I can just tell the copy people I'm doing something for my teacher. So I'll type up a missing poster and just make up a hundred or so copies to hang up." Zuko explained. "Aang do you have a good picture of Appa that I can put on the poster?"
"On me?" Aang asked.
"On your cell phone?" Zuko asked. "Just find one and send it to my cell. I can get it from there."
"I might I have one." Aang pulled out his phone and started dejectedly going through his photos. "I think this one will be good…" Aang mumbled. Katara looked over Aang's shoulder.
"Yeah, that's perfect Aang." Katara softly kissed his temple. Aang sent the picture to Zuko.
"I miss him so much…we've hardly ever been apart." Aang told her as he laid his head on the lunch table.
"I know, Aang." Katara gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Do you want something to eat?" she offered him part of her lunch.
"No, I'm not hungry." Aang sighed. Katara searched for his hand under the table and squeezed it. "I'll do whatever it takes to find out what happened to Appa." Katara promised.
"Thanks, Katara. I knew I could depend on you." Aang smiled softly.
"Yeah, she says that after she told him that his dog is probably dead." Sokka whispered to Toph.
"Sokka!" Katara hissed.
o
It was the end of the school day before Katara saw Aang again. She stopped by his locker before they were heading towards Zuko's locker to pick up the posters.
"Hey, Aang. How are you doing?" Katara asked sympathetically.
"I'm doing okay, thanks." Aang shot her a tired smile. "Let's go get those posters from Zuko. I'm glad we're able to do something for Appa." Aang smiled as he shut his locker.
"Yeah, I can't believe Zuko could whip something up like that in such little time." Katara agreed. When they arrived down the hall at Zuko's locker they found everyone else was there already. Zuko was briefing Mai, Toph, Sokka and Suki.
"I convinced Suki to come along!" Sokka grinned as if he were a child who had just done something great and wanted praise.
"Well, Sokka told me what was going on and I wanted to help." Suki nodded at Aang.
"Thanks," mumbled Aang.
"Okay, now that everyone's here we'll be dividing into three units to cover more ground: inside, outside, and off-campus. Mai and I have already taken to off campus and we're taking the little blind girl since she can't put up posters." Zuko explained.
"Thanks, Zuko." Toph nodded.
"What?" Zuko asked.
"Afraid I'm going to staple my finger or something? Give me the paper and the stapler." Toph put her hands out. Zuko handed her a lime green sheet and one of the staplers he 'borrowed' from the copy office. Toph went over to one of the notice boards and placed the poster up there. Grabbing the stapler she tacked it up there backwards. No one said a thing for several long drawn out moments.
"It's upside down, isn't it?" Toph asked.
"So Toph is going with us!" Zuko declared. "What are the other grounds the two infantry troops taking?"
"If you'd stop treating us like the military or secret special ops men, we'll be taking inside." Katara volunteered.
"Then Suki and I will take outside!" Sokka declared. Zuko divided up the neon papers and handed it between every group.
"Questions before we begin?" Zuko asked. Aang timidly raised his hand.
"Don't raise your hand, private!" Zuko shouted.
"We aren't in the military!" Katara screamed.
"Okay, what do you want Aang?" Zuko asked.
"Is this your cell phone number on these posters?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't want your home phone being bogged down with calls. Sometimes people will get a hold of numbers and call them to be stupid or spam it with crap. At least they can do that and get a hold of me. If they do that to me…" Zuko trailed off looking quite sinister. "Okay, then. Anymore questions?" Zuko asked.
"You gave us like a million copies. There aren't that many announcement boards." Katara stated.
"So? Was that a question? Put as many as you can everywhere you can." Zuko told her. "It'll get peoples attention."
"Anymore questions?" Zuko asked.
"What—?" Sokka started.
"WHEN I SAY ANY QUESTIONS THERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE NO MORE QUESTIONS SO WE CAN GET ON WITH OUR LIVES! IS THAT CLEAR, LIEUTENANT?!"
"Cool, I'm a Lieutenant!" Sokka grinned.
"I SAID IS THAT CLEAR?!"
"Sir, yes sir." Sokka said a little chagrinned.
o
They broke out into their squads. Katara and Aang set immediately to work inside with the announcement boards. Aang stapled and Katara directed him on where to put them. Sokka and Suki headed outside with Zuko, Mai and Toph. Zuko switched got them both masking tape instead of the stapler that Katara and Aang were using inside. They set off around the school starting to post the missing signs on doors, posts and fences. Meanwhile, Zuko, Mai, and Toph jumped into Zuko's car. Mai drove while Zuko sat in the passenger side to jump out every block and place a sign on every street corner or stop sign.
"This is ridiculous." Katara sighed as they stared at their piece of neon green artwork. The board was covered in posters. The one down the hall was too. Almost every board in the school was and they still had thirty or more papers in their stack.
"Hey, Katara. I think me and the guys found your dog," a voice came from behind them.
It was Jet.
"What the hell do you want, Jet?" Katara asked harshly.
"Hey, no need to be like that. I just wanted to let you know we found the dog." Jet held up a lime green poster.
"Where!?" Aang asked urgently.
"Slow down, Aang. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him." Katara hissed.
"What's with the harsh 'tude, Tara?" Jet asked.
"'What's with the harsh 'tude'? The nerve! You're only the biggest douche I know. Plus you date that bitch Azula. I'll give you a harsh 'tude." Katara spat.
"I stopped dating Azula a long time ago after she turned into that bitch. Besides, this is no time for harsh words." Jet tried to calm Katara down.
"He's right, Katara. What if he really did find Appa?" Aang told Katara.
"If your lying…" Katara mumbled.
"Come with me." Jet flashed a grin and turned away. They followed him outside.
"You see, me and the guys were out here playing some football when we saw this dog run through. We didn't want him to get lost again so we put him in this storage shed so he wouldn't run away." Jet explained as they came to the practice field. They walked to the storage shed and Jet opened the latch.
"Appa!" Aang cried as he ran forward to look inside. "Appa? I don't see him."
"He must be in there, maybe he's just afraid." Jet pushed him further in and shut the door. He latched it from the outside. Katara could hear some scuffling and she knew Aang wasn't alone in there.
"What are you doing!?" Katara ran to the door. Jet leaned against it as Aang pounded against it.
"Gerr'off!" Aang's muffled shout came through the door as one of Jet's cronies continued to attack.
"STOP IT!" Katara pounded against Jet to make him open it. She needed to get help but she was afraid to leave Aang alone in the shed. Katara immediately pulled out her cell phone but before she could dial anything Jet slapped it out of her hands.
"Why are you doing this?" Katara cried.
"Because now you'll be mine." Jet grinned as he clutched Katara's arm.
"Stop it! I never liked you and never will! I love Aang!" Katara screamed at him. At that moment she saw Sokka coming around the building to come back inside.
"SOKKA! GET HELP!" Katara yelled. Sokka's face snapped up and tensed. He hissed something at Suki who snapped back at him in a retort. She came dashing across to the practice field as Sokka ran inside. As she reached the shed she made a high kick for Jet's clutch on Katara, which freed her. She finished off with a roundhouse kick to his stomach and a kick to his face, which sent him reeling backwards. Suki turned towards the shed and opened it. Aang flew out with his attacker behind him. Both of them looked beat up and worn out.
"Aang! Oh, my God!" Katara ran forward. Before Suki could get a hold of Aang's attacker, he ran off, with a limp in his step. Suki turned towards Katara and Aang. Aang had a black eye, cracked lip and bloody nose, but otherwise unharmed.
"What happened?" Suki asked.
"We were putting up posters when Jet said he found Appa. He led us out here and said that his buddies had put him in the shed for safe keeping so he wouldn't run away again. Jet shoved Aang in there and locked him in." Katara explained, as she tended to Aang's bloody nose. As Jet was slowly starting to rouse Katara turned towards the school she saw Sokka. She only expected campus security to come out to take care of this, but it was Vice Principal Kyoshi herself! As the two reached the shed Katara helped Aang up.
"What happened here?" Kyoshi asked in her cool yet demanding and threatening tone of voice.
"I suppose it's my fault, Vice Principal." Aang spoke first as he wiped away the blood one his lip.
"Your fault?" Kyoshi asked.
"You see, I have a dog that ran away. Jet said he found it and led us to this shed. He pushed me in though, where one of his friends did this to me." Aang explained.
"So, it's your fault then Jet?" Kyoshi asked.
"Are you kidding me? Do you see the way this crazy bitch came and beat me shitless?" Jet hissed. "It's their fault! They all ganged up on me! I was out here minding my own business."
"It was self-defense from you, Jet!" Suki hissed.
"I saw it with my own eyes as well, Vice Principal. Before I came to get you I saw Jet grabbing my sister." Sokka testified.
"Very well then. Detention for Jet for the next week." Kyoshi decided. Everyone except Jet breathed a sigh of relief. "As well as for Suki."
"What?" Sokka protested the loudest.
"You should not have fought back." Kyoshi determined. "It only provokes the violence."
"It was self-defense!" Suki protested.
"Detention, no buts!" Kyoshi snapped. "Jet if you will follow me back to my office we will notify your guardians right away about what has happened."
o0o
Okay, may be a little melodramatic/soapy, but I want to do an actual story line that's semi in line with the actual series. So stab your eyes out all you want. It's my form of entertainment. :D
And no none of Jet's cronies were Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, Pipsqueak, or any of those awesome guys. While I hate (okay, strongly dislike) Jet I do not hate any of them. They would not harm anyone, so one of Jet's buddies is just some random guy from the school that has no correlation to Avatar. Unless you find someone to relate, lol. Okay, I'm leaving now. Really I am.