9

Hoshiko slowly opened her eyes to the morning day. It was obviously earlier than she planned on waking up, because everyone else was still sound asleep. As long as I'm up, she thought, I might as well get ready for the rest of the day. She got out of her sleeping bag and stretched out her limbs, and popping her spine as well. She rolled up her sleeping bag and stuck it on Appa's saddle before heading down to the nearby river to bathe. They had left the swamp behind days ago, now they were in some part of the Earth Kingdom wilderness a little ways from a town.

When she reached the riverbank, she shed her clothes and walked into the water. The water was a little cold and completely woke her up. She grabbed her soap and started washing herself, looking up at the morning sky as clouds passed over the river. Her sharp ears picked up rustling, and she engulfed herself in the water to hide her nakedness.

"Who's there?" She called, she heard silence around her. Her eyes kept scanning the trees for any movement. She quickly washed herself off and jumped out of the river to put her clothes on. She pulled her shirt, a long sleeved purple and black kimono top, over her head and pulled up her pants, a simple purple color that was darker than her shirt. She grabbed her things and began to run back to the campsite. When she got there, she saw everyone was still asleep and sighed in relief. She began to put her things back in Appa's saddle when she heard a snoring sound. She looked and saw Sokka had been sleeping with his mouth open. She looked at him a bit closer, and silently giggled when she saw a spider's web had been made over his lips, and a little black and red spider sat calmly in the center of it.

Thinking of a wonderful idea to get revenge on him for doing what he did back at the swamp, she quickly and quietly walked over to Momo, who was resting next to Appa's foot, and carefully woke him up. Momo yawned drowsily as he was carried over to Sokka. She placed him down in front of him and pointed out the spider. Momo's eyes went wide at the sight of his sudden breakfast. He stared at the spider in the web for a minute. A fly came to the web and got tangled up in it. The spider went over to wrap it up and eat it, but Momo caught the spider before it had a chance by sticking his entire paw in Sokka's mouth. Sokka was instantly awake and his head moved upward, taking Momo with him and having the lemur land on his stomach.

"What are you doing in my mouth?" Sokka demanded of the lemur as he spat out different parts of the spider web. Hoshiko couldn't help but guffaw at the sight, she held her sides as she laughed. Sokka looked over at her, "Oh, you had something to do with this, didn't you?"

"That was for my tail!" Hoshiko declared with a smirk. Sokka began to squirm as he tried to get out of his sleeping bag to get back at her, but stopped when Momo moved to his head and let out a loud screech that woke everyone up. Something that made them wake up faster, was the feeling of the ground rumbling beneath them. Hoshiko looked around as she saw Fire Nation men come near them on rhinos. She recognized most of them right away, because her master had been the leader of their tiny, but powerful, platoon. She looked over to her right and saw a man that made the rhino-shaped burn on her back feel fresh and new as when it was first inflicted on her. She glared furiously at the sight of her former master, growling out his name, "Colonel Mongke."

"Give up!" Mongke called out from his place atop his rhino, "You're completely surrounded!" He saw Hoshiko glaring at him and smirked, "And Hoshiko, it has been too long." He said in a sickly sweet tone.

"Not long enough." Hoshiko growled back, glaring at his men as they circled around them. The Yuyan archer of the group shot flaming arrows towards Sokka as he tried to crawl away in his sleeping bag. Sokka squirmed out of it and ran towards Appa, like Katara and Aang were, Hoshiko following him, although somewhat reluctantly because she wanted nothing more than to kick Mongke's ass.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Sokka said as he ran up to the saddle. Katara looked back to a nearby stump when she realized she was about to leave something behind.

"My scrolls!" She exclaimed, one of the Rough Rhinos came up to the stump and stuck his Nagi-nata in the wood of the stump threateningly.

"My staff!" Aang exclaimed, seeing his staff leaning on a bag behind the man. Katara ran towards the stump, shooting out water at the blade of the weapon that had been stuck in the stump and freezing the water around it so he couldn't pull it out. She rushed over and grabbed her scrolls and quickly ran back to Appa. Hoshiko helped her up onto the saddle as Aang, who dodged a falling tree, retrieved his staff. One of the men threw a small bomb in his direction and, using air bending, threw it into the woods. He flew back to Appa and landed on his saddle, "Yip yip!"

Appa shot off into the air, leaving the Rough Rhinos behind. Mongke, the only fire bender in the entire group, shot out a stream of flame at the bison. Hoshiko used her shadow bending to catch the flame before it hit them and throw it back at him.

"Wait, my boomerang!" Sokka called, seeing his boomerang still lying on the ground near his abandoned sleeping bag.

"There's no time!" Katara said.

"Oh, I see!" Sokka said, "So there's time to get your scrolls," He looked at Katara, "And time to get your staff," He looked at Aang, "But no time for my boomerang?"

"That's correct!" Katara answered.

"Oh." Sokka replied sadly. Katara looked over at Hoshiko, who was glaring at the men they left behind.

"Is something wrong, Hoshiko?" Katara asked the fuming Shinjun. Hoshiko glared at Mongke's form a moment longer before turning back to her.

"No." She replied, "It's nothing." She leaned back against the saddle, feeling her insides boil in hatred. If there was one person she wanted dead in this world, or at the very least, someone she never saw again, it was him. She still felt the brand on her body burn as they flew off to the nearby town.

They arrived at a produce stand, mostly because they needed to stock up on the supplies they lost. They had Appa hidden behind some trees near the stand and had Aang wear a straw hat as they went to buy the food.

"Sorry about your boomerang, Sokka." Aang said to Sokka, who was sulking on the ground for losing his boomerang.

"I feel like I've lost part of my identity." Sokka said, he stood and moved Aang's hat to point out his tattoo, "And that's if you lost your arrow!" He turned to the Shinjun who stood on his other side, "Or if you lost your ears!" He lightly tugged on them before Hoshiko slapped his hands away, "Or if Katara lost her," He turned to his sister, who stood at the counter of the stand, "Hair loopies." He sulked over to the stand where Katara gave him a comforting hug. The man at the stand came forward holding out a basket of fruit and vegetables.

"Here's your produce, ponytail guy." He said to Sokka with a friendly smile. Sokka instantly sulked again as he took the basket.

"I used to be boomerang guy." He said sadly. Hoshiko rolled her eyes and pulled out some money to pay for the produce. She pulled out enough coins and handed them to the man as he came out from the stand.

"Hey, Water Tribe money!" He said, holding the blue coins in his hands.

"Is that okay?" Hoshiko asked.

"So long as it's money." The man replied. Hoshiko walked back over to the group, where Sokka still lamented over his boomerang. The man pulled down a wooden plank over his window and closed up his stand. "Have a nice Avatar Day!" He said as he walked toward the town.

"Avatar Day?" Aang repeated, everyone's eyes turning to the man.

"You guys are going to the festival, right?" The man asked as he kept walking. Everyone exchanged glances, most were smiling. They had to see this.

The city was alive and happy as everyone went to see the festival. Paper lanterns hung from house to house across the streets, with plenty of stands open serving fried dumplings, takoyaki, candied fruit and other festival foods. Every member of the city wore white in honor of the festival. Joyous music could be heard throughout the town as everyone celebrated.

"There's a holiday for the avatar, who knew?" Aang mused aloud as he gazed at the decorations. Hoshiko looked out to the main street and saw a giant person going by, she recognized them immediately.

"Look, they made a giant Kyoshi float!" She said, pointing it out to the others. The instantly ran to the town hall at the edge of the town, where the main event was obviously going to take place. They saw another float come, a large old man clad in red Fire Nation robes.

"And here comes avatar Roku." Sokka said.

"Having a huge festival in your honor is great." Aang said, "But frankly, it's just nice to be appreciated."

"And it's nice to appreciate their deep-fried festival food!" Sokka said as he took a bite out of a meat dumpling. Hoshiko nodded in agreement as she bit off some takoyaki.

"Aang, look!" Katara cried, she pointed at the giant float that was coming by, it was Aang, with big wide eyes, and a big happy smile.

"That's the biggest me I've ever seen!" Aang said. The three floats were lined up against one another, all of them about the same size. Everyone looked as a young man with bronzed skin with plenty of muscles on his body began to run towards the floats with a torch in his hands.

"Now, a torch! That's a nice prop!" Sokka said as he watched the guy run, "It's bright, dangerous," He took a long sniff after he ran by them, "Smells manly. But, I'm not sure I could carry it off."

"You could barely carry off your boomerang!" Hoshiko said with a grin, Sokka turned and was about to retort to her when Katara spoke.

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" She wondered as he ran towards the floats.

He ran up to the Kyoshi float and let out a wild cry as he jumped through it, making the float catch fire. Everyone cheered as the float began to burn, and soon people began chanting at the top of their lungs, "DOWN WITH THE AVATAR! DOWN WITH THE AVATAR!" As the man lit the Roku float on fire. Everyone gaped at the display. Apparently, Avatar Day was a day to celebrate the town's hatred for the avatar. Everyone watched as the young man climbed up onto the roof of the town hall. When the first two floats were halfway burned, a man in green robes, obviously the town's mayor, gave a signal to the young man on the roof. He nodded and threw the torch at Aang's float, having it land in his eye. Aang flinched at the sudden display as the townspeople began cheering louder.

Katara, who obviously couldn't take much more of this, ran up to the floats and used her bending to make water from two large pots fly up and douse the fires on the floats. The cheering and chanting stopped immediately.

"That party-pooper's ruining Avatar Day!" One man called from the crowd. Aang glared at the man before jumping up onto the shoulder of his float.

"That party-pooper's my friend!" Aang said, he threw off his hat to show the townspeople his arrow tattoo.

"It's the avatar himself!" The mayor said.

"It's going to kill us with its awesome avatar powers!" Another man said in fear.

"No, I'm not. I…" Aang raised his hand to try and emphasize his point, but the people in the crowd cowered and screamed in fear. Aang withdrew his hand and put it behind his back so he wouldn't scare them.

"I suggest you leave." The mayor said, getting up from his cowering position, "You're not welcome here, avatar."

"Why not?" Katara asked, "Aang helps people."

"It's true." Aang said as he floated down from his float, "I'm on your side."

"I find that hard to swallow," The mayor said, "Considering what you did to us in your past life! It was avatar Kyoshi. She murdered our glorious leader, Chin the Great."

"You think that I… Murdered someone?" Aang asked, obviously upset that people think of him this way.

"We used to be a great society before you killed our leader." A disfigured old man said from the crowd, "Now look at us!" Aang flinched at the old man's face.

"Aang would never do something like that." Hoshiko said, "No avatar would! And it's not fair for you all to question his honor!"

"Let's tell her what we think of the avatar's 'honor'!" A man said before turning around to show them his backside and making a farting sound with his mouth. The town cheered in agreement.

"Give me a chance to clear my name!" Aang called out over the cheers.

"The only way to prove your innocence is to stand trial." The mayor said.

"I'll gladly stand trial!" Aang replied.

"You'll have to follow all our rules!" The mayor continued, "That includes paying bail!"

"No problem!" Aang replied.

Aang, now stuck in a wooden brace that held both his wrists and his neck, looked at his friends from behind the bars of the prison wall's window. "How was I supposed to know they wouldn't take Water Tribe money?" He asked helplessly.

"I still have some left over Earth Kingdom money, but it's not enough to get you out." Hoshiko said, "I'm sure they just didn't accept the Water Tribe money just to spite you. These guys really don't like you." She saw Aang frown sadly at her words.

"So some people don't like you, big deal." Sokka said, obviously trying to comfort the air bender, "There's a whole nation of fire benders who hate you! Now, let's bust you outta here."

"I can't." Aang said.

"Sure you can!" Sokka said, "A little hwoooooo! Swish, swish, swish! Air bending slice! And we're on our way." Hoshiko gave him an odd look.

"I think what 'Master Swish' is trying to say," Katara began, "Is that you're supposed to be out saving the world! You can't do that locked up in here!"

"I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer either!" Aang insisted, "I need you guys to help prove my innocence."

"How are we gonna do that?" Sokka asked, "The crime happened over 300 years ago."

"That's okay, Sokka." Aang said, "For some reason, I thought you were an expert detective."

"Well, I guess I could be classified as such." Sokka said, obviously flattered by the compliment.

"You're an expert detective?" Hoshiko asked, raising an eyebrow dubiously.

"Yeah!" Katara said in agreement, "Back home, he was famous for solving the mystery of the missing seal jerky!"

"Everyone wanted to blame on the polar leopard, but I figured out it was old man Jargo wearing polar leopard boots!" Sokka began to rant, not noticing how Aang was mocking him as he spoke, "See, a real 800 pound polar leopard would've left much deeper tracks." Hoshiko and Katara could barely hold in their giggles as Aang kept making fun of him. "Okay, I guess I am pretty good."

"So, you'll help me with my case?" Aang asked, quickly shaking off the face he was about to make.

Sokka seemed to contemplate it for a moment before saying, "Fine! But, I'm gonna need some new props. I'll be right back!" He dashed out of the prison room, leaving Katara, Hoshiko, and Aang alone.

"How long do you think he'll be?" Hoshiko asked, still staring at the door Sokka had rushed out of.

"Probably a half hour." Katara said, "He's really particular about these kinds of things." Hoshiko let out a sigh and sat down against the prison floor, leaning up against the wall where the window that Aang was using had been placed.

"That's great." She said in obvious sarcasm, "Anyone have anything to pass the time?"

"We could just talk." Katara said as she sat down next to her. Even Aang took a seat on the other side of the window.

"About what?" Hoshiko asked, Katara shrugged.

"I don't know. We could… Describe the visions we saw in the swamp." She casually suggested, instantly noticing how Hoshiko's eyes saddened, "Something wrong?"

"No." Hoshiko replied quickly, "Why don't we talk about something else? Describe the Southern Water Tribe for me. Is it anything like the Northern Tribe?"

"No, nothing like it at all." Katara said, "We don't have huge buildings or palaces or anything like that. Just igloos and tents all inside some tiny ice walls. It's nothing special, really, when you compare it to the Northern Tribe."

"Oh." Hoshiko replied, she looked back at the young air bender, "What about you, Aang? What were the Air Nomad temples like?"

"All the temples are different in design." Aang said, "All of them use air bending for special rooms, and there are really amazing places to hang out. Like, at the Western Air Temple, they have a giant pai-sho table that was used for the annual tournament. And at the Eastern Air Temple, they raised sky bison. The Northern Air Temple wasn't much different from the Southern Temple, where I grew up. They had fields for air ball and other games, too."

"Sounds like fun." Hoshiko said.

"What about you, Hoshiko?" Katara asked, "What was your home like?"

"Well, it wasn't much different from how you described your home." Hoshiko said, "We mainly just had tents and mud huts out in a clearing in a forest. The nearest river was just a two minute walk from the village. We had everything we needed out there, pretty much. There wasn't anything special about it," A smile came to her face as she spaced off in reminiscence, "Except for this one cave. Kotaro, Xana, and I would play in there all the time. One day, I fell through this hole, and when I looked up, the whole wall was filled with all different kinds of jewels." She laughed a little, "I must've broken every nail on my fingers when I tried to get out this one ruby. I wanted to give it to my mom as a present, but I just couldn't pull it out." She held up her fist, "It was twice the size of my fist, and I thought she would really like it. So I went back to try and get help to pull it out, and most of the villagers said they'd help me tomorrow, when they had the proper equipment to get out all the jewels." She sighed sadly and pulled her arm around one knee, "But, of course, it never happened."

"Why not?" Aang asked.

"Because the next day, the Fire Nation came and raided our village." She said, "They burned down our homes, and took everyone they could as prisoner. Me and Kotaro got caught, but I heard that some of us got away. Xana was one of them, and possibly my mother as well."

"What about your dad?" Katara asked.

"He's dead." Hoshiko replied curtly, "He died trying to get me and Mom out of our home before it burned to the ground."

"Oh." Katara murmured quietly, "Sorry."

"Hey, no big deal." Hoshiko said with a shrug, "I'm doing just fine."

A moment afterward, Sokka came back to the group, holding something behind his back, "Ready to see the awesomeness that is Sokka?" He asked excitedly. Hoshiko and Katara both rolled their eyes and stood. Sokka pulled out a blue hat and stuck it on his head. The hat was equipped with a small magnifying glass to go over one of the eyes, at the back, two pieces of the hat stuck out in a bow-like look. He made a serious face as he pulled the magnifying glass over his eye, "I'm ready." He said dramatically. Hoshiko and Katara couldn't help the snickers that came out of their mouths as they stared at his ridiculous prop choice. He leaned toward them and pulled the glass forward so he could see them closer, "What?"

The mayor brought the three of them to the edge of the town, near a cliff. A small stadium had been set up for people to sit and watch whatever went on here. There was a statue of a man in old Earth Kingdom clothing raising his fist in the air, across from him was a small temple that rested closer to the edge of the cliff.

"This is the crime scene." The mayor said as he walked through the area and around the temple. Sokka, wanting to put his new hat to good use, went up to the temple and looked at the walls, "This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi." The mayor pointed to a small footprint at the very edge of the cliff. Sokka ran over to the footprint and looked at it with his magnifying glass. "It was at sunset, 370 years ago, today, that she emerged from the temple and struck down Chin the Great." He walked over to the statue, "After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalize our great leader. Feel free to appreciate it." He walked away from the group and out of the stadium, leaving them to 'investigate'. Sokka scurried over to the statue, looking over every part he could. He focused on certain parts of the statue, then scurried over to the temple, and gave the same overlook to different parts of it.

"This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone." He said, before running back over to the two girls, "And we know that the statue was built after Chin died."

"So if they were built at the same time, that means-" Hoshiko was interrupted by Sokka suddenly turning to her.

"SHHH! I wanna solve it!" He hissed childishly before going into his 'detective' mood, "That means Kyoshi never set foot in this temple!" He smiled proudly.

"That's a big hole in the mayor's story," Hoshiko said, "But it's not enough to prove Aang's innocence."

"You're right." Sokka said, he pulled out a long pipe with a dragon design and began to blow bubbles out of it. Hoshiko raised an incredulous eyebrow as he seemed to think, "We need to go to Kyoshi Island."

"Where'd you get that?" Katara asked, pointing at the pipe. Sokka said nothing as he walked away, probably to Appa so they could get to Kyoshi Island. Hoshiko watched him go with a dry look.

"He's getting way too into this." She said, "To this day, I still don't know what Yue saw in him!" Katara laughed as she and Hoshiko walked after Sokka.

The three of them flew over the ocean to Kyoshi Island, where Hoshiko was surprised to see a much warmer welcome. With a huge crowd of people, probably the entire village, coming to greet them, cheering at their arrival. They landed near a large statue of avatar Kyoshi at the front of the village. Hoshiko even saw one guy foam at the mouth because he was so excited. It only took the villagers a minute to realize that the saddle held Katara, Sokka, and Hoshiko, but no Aang.

A little girl dressed in blue stomped her foot, "Where's Aangy?" She demanded.

"He couldn't be here, Koko." Katara said apologetically, there was a collective sound of disappointment from the villagers, obviously hoping to see Aang. Hoshiko almost burst out laughing as she saw the guy who had been foaming at the mouth wipe off the remnants of his excitement and pull his kimono over his head to hide his shame as he dispersed with the townspeople. An old man with a round belly and big white beard came up to them with a smile.

"Hello, Sokka, Katara." He greeted, "I'm glad you came to see us." He looked over at Hoshiko, "Who is your friend?"

"Um, I'm Hoshiko." She greeted sheepishly, "Nice to meet you, Mister…?"

"Oyaji." The man replied, "I'm the leader of this village." Hoshiko nodded, "Where's Aang?"

"Aang is in jail." Katara said, "The town of Chin says he murdered their leader in a past life."

"They say it was Kyoshi." Sokka said, still in 'detective mode'.

"Kyoshi?" Oyaji gasped, "That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name." The group followed him as he led them through the village. Sokka walked ahead of them, Katara half-walking beside him, and Hoshiko behind them, with Momo resting on her shoulder.

As they passed by different houses, Hoshiko saw the people, although they had been disappointed before, were still smiling and waving at them. A little girl, the one Katara called Koko, came up to them, holding out what was either a choker, or a large bracelet with lots of little charms, like sparkling rocks or seashells, on it. She gave it to Katara, asking that when she saw Aang she'd give it to him and tell him it was from her and her friends. Hoshiko watched as she ran back to her friends and they started chatting happily amongst themselves before running off to play some kind of game.

"This place is so…" Hoshiko began, "Happy. Has the war even touched this place?"

"Only once." Oyaji said, "If you could call it that. It was when Fire Nation soldiers came to apprehend the avatar when they first came to visit. Other than that, soldiers have no other reason to come to this island, and so they haven't."

"That must be nice." Hoshiko said, "No war, no violence. This place is like a sanctuary in these times." She looked back to Oyaji to see him smiling.

"I'm glad." He said, "We have worked hard to make it so."

"Well, you've done an excellent job." Hoshiko replied with a smile of her own. She noticed Sokka had stopped walking and saw him staring at a long building with a red roof. He quickly moved back to the group when he saw they were getting farther away.

"So, uh," Sokka began, "What's Suki up to? Is she around?" Hoshiko didn't miss the sly grin on Katara's face.

"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war." Oyaji said, "You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspired her, and she wanted to help change the world."

"Oh, well, that's great…" Sokka said somewhat sadly. Hoshiko looked over at him.

"Who's Suki?" She asked.

"She's the leader of the Kyoshi warriors." Sokka explained, "She's a good friend of ours from when we first came here during the beginning of winter."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?" Hoshiko asked with a devious smirk, "There has to be something more than that." Sokka blushed.

"That's pretty much it." He said, his voice cracking.

"You liar!" Hoshiko said, jabbing his shoulder with her finger, "Wait, I know. She was your girlfriend, wasn't she?" Sokka's blush deepened.

"No!" He replied quickly.

"She was! She totally was!" Hoshiko said, "I can't believe there's a girl out there that actually likes you like that!" He looked away from her, so she jumped in front of him and started walking backwards so she could keep facing him, "Tell me, Sokka, 'cause I honestly just don't see how two nice girls like a guy like you!" He glared at her.

"Well, I honestly just don't see how a guy can be into you!" Sokka retorted. Hoshiko smirked.

"It's the ears." She said as she twirled back around, "Guys just can't resist the kitty cat ears." Sokka rolled his eyes at her statement. His eyes looked down at her tail and he saw his chance for revenge. If he could just yank it as hard as he could…! Then he remembered this morning, and decided against it.

They looked up as they approached a small, temple-like building.

"This temple was converted into a shrine to Kyoshi." Oyaji said as they went inside, "The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit." Katara walked over to a lovely green silk kimono, "That's her kimono."

"She had exquisite taste." Katara said as she fingered the material on the sleeves.

"Please don't touch!" Oyaji said quickly and Katara quickly removed her hand.

"These fans," Sokka said as he picked one up, "These were her weapons, no?"

"Also refrain from touching the fans." Oyaji said. Katara squatted down and looked at the shoes Kyoshi wore.

"These were her boots?" Katara asked as she looked at them, "Her feet must've been enormous!" She looked up at Momo as his head popped out of boot and looked at Katara.

"The biggest of any avatar." Oyaji replied with a proud smile. Hoshiko quirked an eyebrow at his statement. Was that supposed to be a good thing? 'Cause a woman with big feet is normally a bad thing…

"Wait a minute…" Katara said, "Big feet… Little footprints?" She rose up and turned to the others, "There's no way-!"

"Ahem." Sokka interrupted, Katara and Hoshiko looked at him. "Special outfit, hat and pipe, these things mean anything to you?"

"You're right. I'm sorry." Katara said, knowing how much this whole detective thing meant to him. She took a step back, "Please."

"Ah-HA!" Sokka said dramatically, "There's no way Kyoshi could've made that footprint, and therefore there is nothing linking her to the crime scene!"

"Brilliant, Sokka." Katara said with a roll of her eyes. Her eyes caught the painting hanging off the wall of the shrine, it was a picture of Kyoshi standing in front of the people on Kyoshi Island. Oyaji noticed her gaze toward it and began to speak.

"This piece is called 'The Birth of Kyoshi'. It was painted at sunrise on the day this island was founded." He said as Sokka walked over to the painting, looking at all the details, "Why, it was today in fact, 370 years ago."

Sokka accidentally sucked in bubble fluid from the pipe in surprise, then he spat it back out, "370 years! Wait," He said, he went up to Oyaji and fisted his kimono in his hands as he spoke to him, "Are you sure it was today?"

"Well, seeing how it's Kyoshi Day," Oyaji said as he pushed Sokka away from him, "Yes, I'm sure."

"This ceremony didn't take place at sunrise." Sokka said after looking at the painting, "It took place at sunset. Look at the shadows." Hoshiko came up beside him and noticed what he meant.

"They point east, so the sun must've been in the west!" She said.

"So what?" Oyaji asked, Hoshiko opened her mouth to explain, but Sokka pushed her aside.

"So if Kyoshi was in the ceremony at sunset, she couldn't have been in Chin committing the crime!" Sokka said, he turned around, pointing his pipe at Katara's surprised face dramatically, making his magnifying glass spin around on his hat, "She has an alibi!" Hoshiko growled at him and snatched pipe from his hands so she could bring it down on his head. Sokka let out a yelp in pain and fell to the ground.

"Honorable Mayor Tom," Katara said as she, Sokka, and Hoshiko stood outside the jail cell Aang was locked up in, "We've prepared a solid defense for the avatar. We did and investigation and found some very strong evidence." Sokka sent Aang a smile and pointed his thumb at himself. Aang smiled back at him.

"Evidence? Hmph!" The mayor scoffed, "That's not how our court system works."

"Then how can I prove my innocence?" Aang asked.

"Simple, I say what happened, and then you say what happened, and then I decide who's right." The mayor said with a smug grin. Everyone gaped at him, "That's why we call it 'justice' because it's 'just us'." The mayor walked away, cackling maniacally. Hoshiko gritted her teeth and balled up her fists.

"Why that dirty, no-good, son of a-"

"Hoshiko!" Katara exclaimed.

"Hey, everybody's thinkin' it, I'm just sayin' it." Hoshiko defended.

"Great, now all my hard work's gone to waste." Sokka groaned. Hoshiko was about to snap something at him, but Katara held up her hand to stop her.

"How am I supposed to defend myself if the mayor, and the entire town is against me?" Aang whined, "I'll be found guilty right on the spot!"

"It'll be fine." Hoshiko said, "The universe isn't going to let you die just like that." She said with a snap of her fingers, "Something's bound to happen in our favor. I mean, you're the avatar for spirits' sake! That has to count for something."

"I got it!" Sokka said, "Aang, why don't I just tell you the evidence we found so you can defend yourself?"

"It's better than nothing." Aang said, listening as well as a twelve-year-old could to Sokka as he relayed the information they found.

The next day, everyone sat in the stadium that had the statue of Chin and the temple, apparently this place also acted as a court room. Hoshiko, Sokka, and Katara, with Momo in her lap, watched as a guard brought Aang in front of the people still in his cuffs. The mayor walked up to the people and began to give his testimony.

"Everyone loved Chin the Great because he was so great." He said, "Then the avatar showed up and killed him!" He pointed his finger at Aang, "And that's how it happened." He walked away and went to take his seat at the front on the opposite side of the three friends.

"The accused will now present his argument." The guard said, pushing Aang forward to stand in front of the people.

"You can do it, Aang." Sokka said as quietly as he could from his place, "Just remember the evidence."

"Right… Evidence…" Aang mumbled, "Ladies and Gentlemen! I'm about to tell you what really happened! And I will prove it with facts! Fact number one!" Aang's mind pulled up a blank, and wasn't sure what to start with, "Uh…"

"The footprints!" Sokka hissed.

"Oh. Yeah." Aang murmured sheepishly, "You see, I have very large feet..." He pointed down at his own feet, which were not that big. "Furthermore, your temple… matches your statue…" Hoshiko felt her stomach sink at his terrible defense, "But… I was in a painting at sunset…" Hoshiko could just feel the stares from the townspeople, "So there you have it! I'm not guilty!" The townspeople did nothing. Hoshiko, Katara, and Sokka gave him wide smiles and a thumbs-up to help encourage him.

"He's dead." Sokka said through his teeth.

"Not yet." Katara said in determination, she quickly stood up, "Mayor Tom! I have a small request!"

"It's just me and the accused who can make any testimonies!" The mayor snapped, "Nobody else!"

"I know, I was just hoping if the court would allow a small recess." She said, "Just a small one!" Hoshiko looked as she gave him a small, desperate sort of stare, and he sighed.

"Oh, alright." He said, "The court gives a one-hour recess." He said.

"That's short?" Hoshiko mumbled to herself.

"Thank you." Katara said as she quickly dashed up the stairs.

"Katara, where are you going?" Sokka called after her. She didn't respond as she kept running. Sokka and Hoshiko looked after her confusedly, "What's up with her?" Hoshiko shrugged.

An hour later, Katara returned, and she stepped up in the courtroom. "Mayor Tom, I'd like for the court to hear one last testimony." She said.

"I've already told you!" The mayor snapped, "It's just me and the accused, you can't call any witnesses!"

"This isn't just any witness." Katara said, "I'm going to call avatar Kyoshi herself!" The townspeople erupted into whispers about the return of the 400 year old avatar, but the whispers died down when they just saw that it was Aang wearing Kyoshi warrior make-up and Kyoshi's old clothes from the shrine in Kyoshi.

"What are you doing?" Sokka hissed as his sister came back to her seat.

"Well, she is Aang's past life!" Katara reasoned, "Maybe wearing her stuff will trigger something!"

"I do believe in the power of stuff." Sokka said as he fiddled with the magnifying glass on his hat.

"This is a mockery of Chin law!" The mayor said as he stood up.

"Please, if you could just wait one more second!" Katara pleaded, "I'm sure Kyoshi will be here." She gave him that same stare she had before and he sat back down. Aang, trying to make the people believe something had happened, hid his face behind the fan and then peeked it back out and spoke in a high-pitched voice to sound girly.

"Hey, everybody. Avatar Kyoshi here." He said, fluttering his eyelashes.

"This is ridiculous!" The mayor said as he walked forward, Aang slumped his shoulders, "For the murder of Chin the Great, this court finds the avatar-!"

He stopped as a huge whirlwind spun around Aang, and the sky began to darken. When it seemed that the entire world had gone dark, the whirlwind lifted, and showed that it wasn't Aang in the kimono and other wares, it was a tall woman with long brown hair. Hoshiko felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of avatar Kyoshi. Katara's theory had worked!

"I killed Chin the Conqueror." She said in an ethereal voice that carried out over the entire stadium. "A horrible tyrant. Chin was expanding his army to all corners of the continent. When they came to the neck of the peninsula where we lived, he demanded our immediate surrender. I warned him that I would not sit passively while he took our home, but he did not back down. On that day, we split from the mainland. Even after his army had fled, he still stood at the cliff's edge. As we moved further away from him, he let out a cry and the cliff crumbled and he fell to his death. I created Kyoshi Island so my people could be safe from invaders." The whirlwind returned and wrapped itself around Kyoshi. This time, as the whirlwind spun, the sky became lighter as the sun returned to it. The wind disappeared and Aang stood where he had been before, still wearing Kyoshi's garments. He let out a small moan and Katara ran to catch him before he collapsed.

"So… What just happened?" Aang asked, looking up at his water bending teacher.

"Uh… You kind of… confessed." Katara said, "Sorry."

"And I find you guilty!" The mayor said, "Bring out the wheel of punishment!" The crowd cheered loudly at his words. The avatar was getting the punishment they believed he deserved. Hoshiko felt her stomach sink even more as she saw the wheel come out, with pictures of a man enduring different punishments, like a bed of nails, or a pit of spikes. They placed Aang in front of it.

"The accused will now spin the wheel of punishment to determine his sentence." The guard that had brought Aang in said. Aang looked back to his friends, who were looking at the wheel in fear.

"I said I would face justice." Aang said, "So I will." He grabbed the wheel's side and gave it a hard pull, making it spin. While it was spinning, Hoshiko heard people call out what they wanted to see.

"Come on, torture machine!"

"Eaten by bears!"

"Razor pit!"

"Community service!" Katara said, "Please stop on community service!" As the wheel began to slow down, the crowd was quiet. As the wheel came to a stop, the needle pointed to a picture of a man sitting in a giant bowl of a boiling liquid.

"Looks like it's boiled in oil." The guard said. The crowd cheered again, and Aang grimaced. Sokka gaped at the punishment, Katara had both her hands cover her mouth, and Hoshiko grabbed onto her own ears and tugged them over her eyes. She peeked them open, and something caught her eye, it was a little red bag with a smoky trail coming from it as it hopped down to the temple stairs. One second later, the temple exploded, and the stone chunks went flying over the edge of the cliff. Everyone looked up behind them to see what had caused this, and Hoshiko clenched her teeth and balled up her fists, snarling as she saw the Rough Rhinos.

"We've come to claim this village for the Fire Lord!" Mongke shouted from atop his beast, "Now show me your leader, so I may…" He paused as one of his men took his paginate and sliced at the statue of Chin, making it crumble, Mongke smirked, "'Dethrone' him."

"That's him over there!" One of the villagers said, pointing to the mayor. The mayor yelped and ran to hide behind the wheel of punishment.

"You! Avatar! Do something!" He commanded.

"Gee, I'd love to help," Aang began, "But I'm supposed to be boiled in oil." The mayor moved to the top of the wheel and moved it to a picture of a man with a broom sweeping up dust.

"There, community service!" He said, "Now serve our community and get rid of those rhinos!" Aang smirked and jumped out of Kyoshi's kimono and boots and ran at the man holding the naginata. The man began to charge at Aang on his rhino as he ran towards him, Aang whipped out Kyoshi's fans and used air bending to send him flying off the rhino and over the cliff. The rhino he was riding on charged at the wheel that the mayor was hiding behind, missing him by inches. Aang turned to look at Mongke and his lips twitched into a tiny snarl.

"Rough Rhinos!" He called, "To the town!" The people screamed as they began using their weapons to destroy different homes in the town. Sokka, Katara, and Hoshiko sprang into action after Aang as he went to stop them. Hoshiko ran towards the only man she hated.

"Mongke!" She growled out, catching his attention as he used his fire bending to burn down a home. He turned to her and smirked, she glared at him, "We have unfinished business." She took a fighting stance.

"It seems so." Mongke said, holding out a fire engulfed fist. He shot out a flame at her and she dodged it, and so their fight began.

Elsewhere, Katara was going after one of the men using his weapon to crush the stands that held up the houses. He flung the two metal balls at when she stood in his way, she used her water bending as a shield and made the chain the balls were attached to wrap around him, tying him up. She used a water whip to get the rhino to run away, knowing the man couldn't do anything to stop it.

Sokka snuck up on the archer of the group and used the magnifying glass to reflect the light from the sun into his eyes. He missed his intended target and the arrow shot at Sokka's hat, lodging the burning arrow and the hat into a pack of explosives from another Rough Rhino across the way. Sokka grinned to himself, thinking, That works. He ducked down as a masked man grabbed the pack and threw it off his rhino the second before it exploded. He looked up as he saw some of the man's belongings come flying out. He smiled when he saw one bag holding his blue boomerang.

"Boomerang!" He cried, picking it up, "You do always come back!" He looked over at the archer and saw he was loading another flaming arrow, thinking quickly, Sokka threw his pipe at the bow and made the fire go out. Aang jumped over one of the houses and used air bending to knock the archer off the rhino, and Katara, who was nearby, made another water whip and sent the rhino running. Aang smiled at them, then he realized something.

"Where's Hoshiko?" The three of them looked up as they saw a huge flame burst out nearby. They followed it to see the general from before on his rhino, facing Hoshiko. She held up her shadows around her, ready to fight, and Mongke was ready with his flames. Hoshiko's clothes were slightly singed and she had a tiny burn on the right side of her neck, even her tail was smoking. Mongke was covered in bruises and various gashes from where Hoshiko's shadows struck him. They were both breathing heavily from the fight they had been having.

"I never did understand, Hoshiko." Mongke said, "Why did you fight so much? I gave you a warm bed, a good shelter, food and water; everything you needed."

"What about my freedom?!" Hoshiko growled as she shot a stream of shadow at him, which he burned away, "What about my family?! My father and mother?! My friends?!" Each word she accentuated, she shot another stream of blackness at him. He burned away all but the last one, which knocked him off his rhino and it ran away in fear. "Hands that have been washed in the blood of the innocent man can never be washed away!"

"It's a good thing you're not a man, then." Mongke said, he shot out a giant wave of fire at her. She used her shadows to slice through it, making the wave dissipate in front of her. "Shinjuns are not human, so why should we treat them so? In the eyes of our people, a Shinjun is no different from the average pack mule." He smirked victoriously as he saw Hoshiko's eyes change, her pupils turning white, and the rest of her eyes turning a horrible black color.

"You bastard!" She roared, "I hope you rot in hell!" She charged at him, not realizing she was running on all fours, her claws out and her ears hooded back. Mongke shot flames at her and she dodged them by running up the side of the wall. She let out an animalistic roar as she jumped up, bringing a massive amount of shadows with her, and brought them down on the colonel. Or, tried to, at least. Mongke stepped out of the way, and caught Hoshiko by the collar of her kimono top, then he wrapped his hand around her neck and pinned her to the wall. She tried to cry out in pain, but she couldn't breathe, so she never made a sound. She glared at him, her eyes still dark, her lips curling into a snarl.

Mongke grinned maliciously as he brought up his flaming hand. "You know, I've been renewing my brands, lately." He said in a low voice, "Having them go over their heart instead of on their backs." Hoshiko tried to claw his hands away from her throat, squirming viciously to try and get away. He pulled his hand back to place another brand on her chest, but was suddenly knocked aside by a huge gust of wind that blew him into the wall away from her. Hoshiko fell to the ground, gasping and holding her throat. Aang and Katara ran to her side, as she looked over to where Mongke lay in a haystack. Her dark eyes narrowed as she saw him get up and begin to run away. She growled and jumped up, sending a razor sharp wave of shadow at him, giving him a large gash in his leg. He quickly limped away, and Hoshiko snarled.

"You coward!" She growled, then the darkness disappeared from her eyes and the whiteness turned back to her crystalline blue. She moaned and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Hoshiko!" Aang exclaimed, turning her onto her back. Katara pulled out her water and began to heal the wounds on her skin. Sokka poked Hoshiko's cheek and she groaned. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked up at her friends.

"What happened…?" She asked, the three friends shared a glance.

"Don't you remember?" Katara asked, Hoshiko shook her head.

"No." She mumbled, she took in a deep breath and sat up, feeling the wounds heal from Katara's hands. "Thanks, Katara. I think I'm alright now."

"Are you sure?" Katara asked, Hoshiko nodded and she took her hands away. Hoshiko stood up and everyone stood up with her.

"So, where are the rhinos?" Hoshiko asked.

"Gone," Sokka said, "We kicked their butts and they ran off!" He smiled proudly, sticking out his chest, "And that's not even the best part!" He reached behind him and pulled out his boomerang, "I GOT MY BOOMERANG BACK!" Hoshiko flinched at his loud tone of voice.

"Congratulations." Hoshiko drawled, petting one of her ears. "Well," She said, clapping her hands together, "Shall we go rub our heroic rescue in the mayor's face?"

"I'm in!" Sokka said with a raise of his hand, Katara and Aang sent them both dry looks at their smug smirks.

Fireworks went off above their heads as the four of them stood in front of the villagers holding bowls of something the mayor had given them.

"From now on, we'll celebrate a new Avatar day!" The mayor called out to the villagers, "In honor of the day avatar Aang saved us from the Rough Rhino invasion. Sokka looked into the bowl and saw the little beings made of dough with blue arrows on their heads and two raisons for eyes.

"What is this?" He asked, the mayor turned to him.

"That's our new festival food!" The mayor said cheerily, "Unfried dough." He turned back to the crowd, "May we eat it and be reminded of how, on this day, the avatar was not boiled in oil!" The crowd cheered loudly and the mayor turned to them with an expectant smile. Hoshiko inwardly groaned, he wanted them to eat the unfried dough Aangs. The group all shared a glance before sticking their hands into the bowls and pulling out one dough Aang each.

"Happy Avatar day, everyone." Katara said before eating one and swallowing it with a shudder. Aang put half of one in his mouth, the other half slowly seeping out of his mouth. Hoshiko ate the head of her dough Aang and grimaced, carefully slipping some to Momo, who was by her feet. Sokka just stared at his dough Aang before turning to the others.

"This is, by far, the worst town we've ever been to." He said before eating it. Hoshiko nodded in agreement as she swallowed another one.

I've been writing this story for a while, and it occured to me I never described how I saw Hoshiko's clothes.

I ALMOST didn't write this chapter. ALMOST! I figured since the episode was kind of pointless, I wouldn't put it in my story, but then I remembered the rhino shaped brand on Hoshiko's brand, and I was originally planning for her to not meet the general until, like, the end. But I changed my mind.

I would like ONE REVIEW for this chapter!

Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty PLEASE?