22
After finding a small island in the middle of the lake, Appa landed there. Aang instantly hugged his head, the biggest smile on his face that anyone had seen since they arrived in Ba-Sing-Se.
"I missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy." Aang said, Momo chirped and flew up, hugging Appa's head the way Aang was. Appa moved his head and gave Aang a big, affectionate lick when he came off his head. Aang laughed as he nuzzled him. Everyone watched the scene with a smile, glad to see Appa back with them. Sokka looked over at Hoshiko, Katara, and Toph and walked over to them.
"Look, we escaped from the Dai Lee, we got Appa back!" He began, "I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a roll!"
"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll." Katara said.
"We can build on it!" Sokka insisted, "If we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we need the Earth King's support."
"What makes you think we'll get it?" Hoshiko asked, "I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't exactly go all that well for our little team."
"I know." Sokka said, "But I've got a good feeling about this. This time will be different."
"Sokka, Long Feng is in control of the city," Katara said, "His conspiracy with the Dai Lee is too powerful. I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."
"I'm with Sweetness." Toph said, "I've seen enough of Ba-Sing-Se, and I can't even see!"
"It's just not worth it." Hoshiko said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Aang came over to them, "But now that we have Appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth! About the conspiracy, and the war."
"See?" Sokka said, putting his arm around Aang's shoulders, "Aang's with me!" Hoshiko rolled her eyes, "It's the whole reason we came here in the first place. We have to try." Hoshiko put her hand to her chin in thought.
"Well…" She mumbled, "I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change for us." Aang and Sokka smiled at her answer.
"I don't trust the new, positive Sokka." Toph said, she pointed her finger accusingly at him and shouted, "LONG FENG BRAINWASHED YOU, DIDN'T HE?" Movement caught Aang's eye and he looked to see three boats sailing over Lake Laogai's waters. Katara and Sokka ran over next to him.
"That's probably the Dai Lee searching for us!" Sokka said, he turned to his sister, "So?" He asked, her being the last one to give their opinion on the situation. Katara thought for a moment, then turned to her brother.
"Let's fly."
Appa let out a roar as he soared over the city. Aang sat at his head, holding the reigns, while everyone else rode on his back. The saddle they were normally used to using, however, was gone, so they had to hang onto his fur.
"Can we please buy a new saddle?" Toph cried, "Riding bareback is terrifying!" She quickly buried her face back into Appa's fur. Hoshiko pulled herself up slightly as they came to what she could only guess was the center of the city, because the entire area was surrounded by a wall.
"There it is." Sokka said, pointing to the huge building they were coming up on, "That whole thing is the palace. The Earth King's chamber should be in the center."
"We have to be careful." Katara said, "Long Feng's probably warned the king that we're coming."
"Why would you assume that?" Sokka asked, "If you ask me, I think we're just gonna sail right in-" Appa swerved to avoid an airborne boulder.
"What was that?" Toph asked, terrified.
"Surface-to-air rocks!" Sokka said, "More incoming!" Hoshiko gripped tightly onto Appa's fur as they swerved left and right to avoid being hit by the huge rocks thrown by the earth bending soldiers below. When one came up too close, Aang used his own earth bending to shatter it. As they flew closer to the ground, the rocks soared over their heads, when another boulder got too close for Aang's liking, he earth bended it in two. As they got closer, Hoshiko saw a whole platoon of soldiers waited for them. Aang jumped off Appa and headed straight for the ground. When he landed, he used earth bending to create a huge shockwave that knocked them all back. When those soldiers were out of the way, they began running towards the palace. After a few seconds, they were surrounded by soldiers again, who stood all along the pathway they ran on. They bent up the walkway and started shooting them off at them, but Toph and Aang made sure to deflect the rocks with their own earth bending. And once the soldiers were unarmed, Hoshiko bent up enough shadow to use it as a whip to send them flying back. Katara did the same with her own water whip on the opposite side.
As more soldiers ran towards them, Toph used her earth bending to make the path they were running on flip over and trap them underneath.
"Sorry!" Katara said as she ran past them, "We just need to get through to see the Earth King!" They ran closer towards the moat that surrounded the palace. Soldiers quickly came out and surrounded the moat opposite the side they were on. A group of soldiers lifted up two, large badger mold statues and threw them towards the group of five. Sokka looked up at the oncoming statues in fear, and Aang and Toph reacted quickly by bending up a dome of earth to protect them as the statues fell. When they had collapsed, Katara ran out from the dome and used her water bending to freeze a small ramp at the edge of the moat so she could jump over the line of soldiers and land on the other side. She used her water bending to knock them over into the water of the moat. When the closest soldiers had fallen in, Katara used her water bending again to grab the soldiers from the top of the stairs that led up to the palace and throw them into the moat as well. As everyone else ran across the bridge over the moat, Aang used his air bending to freeze the water and trap the soldiers in the water.
Hoshiko let out a yelp and narrowly dodged a flying boulder before it hit the ground. Everyone looked up to see more soldiers were coming down the stairs towards them. Toph stepped in front of everyone and held up her hands. Hoshiko felt the earth shaking slightly as she prepared for whatever she was doing. Finally, Toph pulled her arms back to herself, and the stairs flattened out into a ramp that all the soldiers slid down. Aang and Toph bent up a slab of earth and used it as something of an elevator to go up the ramp, with Appa giving and extra push by pumping his huge tail up and down.
"Seriously! We're actually on your guys' side!" Sokka said to the soldiers sliding past them. Hoshiko rolled her eyes, knowing the soldiers wouldn't care if they were on their side or not, all that mattered was that they were invading the castle, "Sorry." When they reached the top of the stairs, more soldiers came on each side of them. Hoshiko stepped out in front of everyone and raised her arms, creating two, inky black walls and using them to push the soldiers back, letting everyone run through the entranceway to the palace. "In there!" Sokka said, they ran into the main entry room and they saw there were three other hallways leading to other rooms. Soldiers quickly ran into the room, Toph quickly used her earth bending to pin some of the soldiers to the ceiling, "Toph, which way to the Earth King?"
"How should I know?" Toph asked, "I'm still voting we leave Ba-Sing-Se!" She used her earth bending again to throw back the other soldiers. Sokka ran from hallway to hallway, opening each door to see if it would lead him to the Earth King. After the third door, Hoshiko grabbed his ponytail to stop him from going any further.
"Ow!" Sokka cried.
"Sokka, when you're looking for somewhere important," She said, "It's probably going to have big, fancy important doors!" She pointed to a pair of huge green doors with golden dragon-shaped handles, "Like that."
"Oh." Sokka said dumbly. He ran towards the door, letting out a battle cry as he jumped into the air, foot out, to try and kick it open. It didn't work, so he tried to push it open. Aang and Toph came over to him and earth bended the door down, making the two doors go flying into the room, Sokka with them. He sat up and looked back at the two, "A little warning next time?"
Everyone ran into the room, armed and ready for Long Feng and his Dai Lee as he stood next to the Earth King. The Dai Lee soldiers quickly came out, armed and ready, but they didn't make an attack.
"We need to talk to you!" Aang said to the Earth King.
"They're here to overthrow you!" Long Feng said.
"No, we're on your side!" Sokka said, "We're here to help!"
"You have to trust us!" Katara said. The Earth King stood up from his throne.
"You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, break down my fancy door," He said, "And you expect me to trust you?"
"He does make a good point." Hoshiko said.
"If you're on my side," The Earth King continued, "Then drop your weapons and stand down." Everyone shared glances before doing as he asked. Aang threw down his staff, Katara put away her water, Toph put down the rock she had been holding up, Sokka put down his club, and Hoshiko released her hold on the shadow she had bent up.
"See? We're friends, your earthiness!" Aang said, smiling up at him. The Earth King did not smile back. Long Feng lifted his hand and the Dai Lee threw out their hands, shooting their earth gloves at each of their hands and cuffing them behind their backs.
"Detain the assailants." Long Feng ordered. The Dai Lee quickly ran forward and went behind each of them, grabbing their arms.
"But we dropped our weapons!" Sokka said, "We're your allies!"
"Make sure the avatar and his friends never see daylight again." Long Feng ordered, at the mention of the avatar, the Earth King's eyes widened.
"The avatar?" He repeated, "You're the avatar?" He pointed at Sokka.
"Ha!" Hoshiko laughed.
"Uh, no." Sokka said, glaring slightly at Hoshiko, "Him." He nodded his head to Aang.
"Over here." Aang said, lifting up his hands from the earth cuffs, and then putting them back.
"What does it matter, your highness?" Long Feng asked, "They're enemies of the state."
"Perhaps you're right…" The Earth King said. Hoshiko looked over at the Earth King's bear as it came over to Aang and started licking him. Aang laughed at the affection, and the Earth King smiled in appreciation, "Though, Bosco seems to like him." He looked back at Aang, "I'll hear what he has to say." Long Feng narrowed his eyes in anger.
"Well, sir," Aang began, stepping forward, "There's a war going on right now. For the past 100 years in fact. The Dai Lee's kept it a secret from you, it's a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you."
"A secret war?" The Earth King asked, "That's crazy!"
"Completely." Long Feng agreed.
"Long Feng didn't want us to tell you," Aang continued, "So he stole our sky bison to blackmail us. And blackmail is the least of his crimes! He brainwashed our friend!"
"All lies." Long Feng said, "I've never even seen a sky bison, Your Majesty. Frankly, I thought they were extinct."
"Your claim is difficult to believe." The Earth King said, sitting on his throne, "Even from an avatar." Long Feng came over to him and spoke in his ear. Only Hoshiko could hear what he was saying.
"These hooligans are part of an anarchist cell that my agents have been tracking for weeks." He said, "If you listen to them, you're playing right into your own destruction."
"Liar!" Hoshiko called out, getting the Earth King's attention for the first time, "Anarchist cell my ass! You just don't want to get caught! Sneaky little-!"
"Hoshiko, shut up!" Sokka hissed, Hoshiko shut her mouth, "Do you want to get us into even more trouble?" Hoshiko growled lowly, her ears hooding back in anger as she glared at Long Feng.
"Is that… A Shinjun?" He asked, seeing her.
"Uh, duh." Hoshiko said dryly, "What else would I be?"
"I don't understand." The Earth King said, turning to Long Feng, "How did she get past the security?"
"I came in with him!" Hoshiko said, nodding her head to Aang.
"She is the only Shinjun within the city's walls." Long Feng said, "Even so, the Shinjuns are a very dangerous race. Restrain her." Hoshiko let out a muffled scream when one of the Dai Lee put a ring of rocks around her mouth. The Earth King sat back on his throne.
"I have to trust my advisor." He said solemnly, Aang gaped at him as two Dai Lee agents came over to him and pulled him away.
"Wait!" Sokka said quickly, "I can prove he's lying! Long Feng said he's never seen a sky bison. Ask him to lift his robe."
"What?!" Long Feng exclaimed, "I am not disrobing!" Sokka looked to Aang slyly, and Aang nodded back at him. He took in a deep breath and blew out a huge gust of wind that lifted up Long Feng's robe, showing the bite mark from before.
"Right there!" Aang said, "Appa bit him!"
"Never met a sky bison, huh?" Sokka said slyly.
"That happens to be a large birthmark." Long Feng said as he pushed his robe down, "Thanks for showing everyone."
"Well, I suppose there's no way to prove where those marks came from." The Earth King said.
"Of course there is!" Sokka said, "Just let us bring in our bison and we can prove it!" The Earth King allowed it, and told the Dai Lee to release their cuffs, except for Hoshiko's, and let them bring in the bison. Aang had Appa open up his mouth, and he pointed to one of his teeth, then he went over to Long Feng, who had his robe lifted up and compared the teeth to the mark on his leg.
"Yep, that pretty much proves it." The Earth King said, "But it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory." Hoshiko made a squealing noise through the rocks covering her mouth, and the Earth King looked over at her. He ordered the Dai Lee to let her speak, and they moved the rocks away.
"Give us a chance." She said, "After the way we came into your palace, you have every reason not to trust us. But believe us when we tell you that there is a war going on, and it has done more damage than you can ever know." The Earth King looked at her for a minute, studying her expression, then turned back to Aang.
"Though, I suppose this matter is worth looking into." He said.
"So this is what a train is like…" The Earth King mumbled, looking around at all the passengers, "I didn't realize it would be this… public."
"So, you've never been outside the upper ring before?" Katara asked him.
"I've never been outside the palace." The Earth King said, he turned his gaze to the window and smiled at the sight of Hoshiko and Aang riding on Appa just outside, "Now that's the way to travel." He turned back to Sokka, "So, may I ask where we're going?"
"Underneath Lake Laogai, your Kingliness." Sokka said, "To the Dai Lee's secret headquarters. You're about to see where all the brainwashing and conspiring took place."
Aang looked over at Hoshiko, who was laying comfortably on Appa's bare back while he rode at his head.
"Hoshiko?" She looked over at him, "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah." She said sarcastically, "The Earth King is just convinced that every Shinjun he meets is some horrible, bloodthirsty terrorist. I'm freakin' peachy!" She rolled over onto her stomach, angrily gripping onto Appa's fur. Aang frowned.
"I'm sure he doesn't think that." Aang said, Hoshiko pushed herself up.
"Didn't you hear the way he talked to Long Feng about me?" She asked, "I bet you Long Feng's the reason Shinjuns aren't allowed in Ba-Sing-Se! That jerk!" She turned back over on her back, "I can't wait to bring that guy down."
When they reached the lake, Toph walked over to where the tunnel had been the previous day, and tried to bend it back up. Instead of a tunnel, she only bent up a pile of rocks from under the water.
"It's gone!" She exclaimed.
"Oh, don't tell me-!" Sokka moaned, he sighed and calmed himself, "That's okay, still got my positive attitude." Hoshiko rolled her eyes.
"The Dai Lee must have known that we were coming and destroyed the evidence!" Katara said.
"That seems awfully convenient." The Earth King said suspiciously.
"Hey! If anything, this proves the conspiracy exists even more!" Sokka said. The Earth King shook his head.
"Long Feng was right." He said, "This was a waste of time." He turned around, and his bodyguards followed, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the palace." Hoshiko bit her lip, thinking of some way to help the Earth King believe them, and an idea struck her like lightening.
"We have to show him the wall." Hoshiko said to the others, "There's no way the Dai Lee can cover that up in time!"
"Oh, yeah!" Aang said, he jumped up with air bending and landed in front of the Earth King. "If you come with us to the outer wall, we can prove to you that the secret war is real!"
"No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall." The Earth King said sternly, walking past Aang, "I don't have any more time for this nonsense." Aang pouted sadly.
"Wait!" Sokka cried, running towards the Earth King, "If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa~." That made the Earth King stop. Appa grunted, getting the royal's attention. The Earth King grinned in excitement.
"AAAHHHHH!" The Earth King wailed as Appa took off. Hoshiko groaned and buried her face into Appa's fur, trying to muffle the sound of his screams of fear.
"First time flying?" Toph asked him.
"It's both thrilling, and terrifying." He said to the blind earth bender.
Toph smiled, "Yeah, I hate it, too." She put her head back down, still gripping tightly to Appa's fur. The Earth King looked over at where Aang was sitting at Appa's head.
"I have to be honest with you," The Earth King said, "Part of me really hopes that what you're telling me about this war… isn't true."
"I wish it wasn't." Aang said, "But it is. The Fire Nation is responsible for the extermination of the air benders, and they've taken any Shinjuns they can into slavery." The Earth King looked over at Hoshiko.
"Slavery?" He repeated, she looked over at him.
"Yeah, I was one." She said, scowling angrily at the thought of the Fire Nation, "And they killed off my tribe, and my family."
The Earth King was silent, "…I'm sorry." Hoshiko scoffed.
"There was nothing that could be done." She said, "So don't be sorry."
As they flew over the land separating the inner and outer walls, they finally came to the outer wall, and as they came to the outside of it, the group saw exactly what they had been searching for.
"It's still there!" Aang said happily, pointing to where the Fire Nation drill incident had occurred. The remains of the drill had been hidden by walls surrounding it, but not above it, so they had a perfect view of the machine.
"What is that?" The Earth King asked in awe.
"It's a drill." Sokka said, "A giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls." The Earth King covered his mouth in shock. Aang, deciding Appa was a little bit tired, brought him to land on the outer wall. Everyone jumped off the bison to see the damage the drill had inflicted. The Earth King looked over the edge of the wall, with an expression of sorrow on his face.
"I can't believe I never knew." He lamented, hanging his head in shame. A rumbling sound caught everyone's attention and they looked to see Long Feng, and two Dai Lee agents ride up a small earth elevator through the wall to where they were standing.
"I can explain this, your majesty." Long Feng said smoothly as he walked forward, "This is nothing more than… a construction project!"
"Really?" Katara drawled out, walking over to Long Feng with her hands planted on her hips, "Then, perhaps you could explain why there's a Fire Nation insignia on your 'construction project'." The Earth King looked down at the insignia and scowled at Long Feng.
"Well, it's imported, of course!" Long Feng said, "You know you can't trust domestic machinery." He looked back at the Earth King, and frowned when he saw how he still scowled at him, "Surely, you don't believe these children, instead of your most loyal attendant!" The Earth King looked over at the group of kids, then back at Long Feng. He closed his eyes and took in a small breath before speaking.
"Dai Lee, arrest Long Feng." He ordered, "I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom." Everyone gaped at the Earth King, amazed that he was going to have Long Feng arrested. The two Dai Lee agents shot out a pair of earth cuffs and put them on Long Feng's wrists, pulling him towards them.
"You can't arrest me!" Long Feng said, "You all need me more than you know!" The Dai Lee dragged him away and the little avatar gang smiled at each other.
"Looks like Long Feng is long gone!" Sokka said happily, laughing at his own joke, "Yeah, I've been waiting to use that one."
"Too bad it sucks." Hoshiko said, everyone laughed at her words, except Sokka, who scowled.
Later on, they went back to the palace, where the Earth King sat on his throne.
"I want to thank you, young heroes," He said, "For opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis, was merely a city of fools." He hung his head slightly, "And that makes me the king fool." Bosco let out a soft growl as he lay at the Earth King's feet. The Earth King put his hand to his head in shame, "We're at war. With the Fire Nation!"
"That's why we came to Ba-Sing-Se, Your Highness." Sokka said, the Earth King looked up as he spoke, "Because we think you can help us end the war."
"We don't have much time." Aang said, "There's a comet coming this summer. Its energy will give the fire benders unbelievable strength." The Earth King linked his fingers together as he listened interestedly to Aang, "They'll be unstoppable."
"But there is hope!" Sokka said, "Before the comet comes, we have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming. The sun will be entirely blocked out by the moon, and the fire benders will be helpless."
"What are you suggesting, Sokka?" The Earth King asked.
"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation." Sokka said, the Earth King's eyes widened, "The day of Black Sun."
"…I don't know." The Earth King said, "That would require moving troops out of Ba-Sing-Se, we'd be completely vulnerable!"
"You're already vulnerable!" Hoshiko said, "The Fire Nation will not stop until Ba-Sing-Se falls. Now, you can either sit on that throne, and watch it happen, or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance!" The Earth King thought for a moment, and then smiled.
"Very well," He said, "You have my support."
"YES!" Sokka cheered happily, throwing his arms up in the air. Aang made himself an air scooter and rode around Sokka, Hoshiko, Katara, and Toph as they hugged each other in joy. The celebration was cut short by someone coming into the throne room.
"Your Majesty," The man said, everyone turned to see a man with a long, brown beard walking towards them in an Earth Kingdom General's uniform, "I apologize for the interruption." He kneeled down before the king.
"This is General How," The Earth King introduced, "The leader of the Council of Five; my highest-ranking generals." General How lifted his head up to the Earth King.
"We searched Long Feng's office," He said, "I think we've found something that will interest everybody." Everyone exchanged curious glances.
Hoshiko looked over at the soldier as he walked into the library, carrying a small, green chest in his hands. The Earth King sat at a table as he brought them in, everyone else stood.
"There are secret files on everyone in Ba-Sing-Se." General How said, he looked over at Aang, "Including you kids."
"Secret files?" Aang said in surprise. The Earth King opened the chest, which was full of scrolls, and pulled on out, reading the name written on it.
"Toph Bei-Fong." He said, he handed the scroll to General How, who handed it to Toph, who handed it to Katara to read for her.
"It's a letter from your mom." Katara said, scanning over the words, "Your mom's here in the city, and she wants to see you!" Toph's eyes widened.
"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" Toph asked, she shook her head, "That's just sad." The Earth King reached into the chest again, pulling out another scroll.
"Aang." He said, handing it to him.
"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Lee captured it." General How explained. Aang opened up the scroll and scanned over it.
"It's from the Eastern Air Temple," He said with a smile. The Earth King reached in again and pulled out another scroll.
"Hoshiko." He said, handing it to her, she unwrapped the scroll and scanned over it, smiling when she saw it was Xana's handwriting.
"It's from Xana." She said, "She said she's made it to the Shinjun encampment, and…" She paused, staring at the letter. Everyone looked at her concernedly as her eyes began to well up in tears and she covered her mouth in shock.
"What is it?" Aang asked urgently, Hoshiko took her hand away from her mouth so she could speak, a smile plastered onto her face.
"She's found Kotaro!" She exclaimed happily, tears of joy running down her cheeks, "And my mother! They're alive!" She hugged the letter tightly to her chest in joy, wiping away her tears. Toph patted her shoulder with a smile as Hoshiko rolled the scroll back up.
Katara leaned over the table, a hopeful smile on her face, "Is there a… letter for me and Sokka, by any chance?" She asked. The Earth King rummaged through the chest, and looked up at the two siblings.
"I'm afraid not." He said sadly. They glanced at each other sadly.
"Oh." Sokka murmured.
"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you." General How said, handing Katara the scroll. She took it and opened it up, reading it.
"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships?" She breathed, reading the report.
"What?" Sokka exclaimed, "That could be Dad!"
Katara kept reading, "Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay… Led by Hakoda! It is Dad!" She and Sokka hugged each other in joy. The Earth King smiled at the group and stood up.
"I'll give you five some time to talk." He said, "Come, General." The general nodded once.
"Yes, Your Highness." He said, following him out of the library. Everyone sat down, carefully reading over every word in their scrolls (Except for Toph, who had Katara read hers aloud).
When they had finished, they all sat around in a circle, relaying back to the others what their letters had said.
"I can't believe it," Aang said, "There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru!"
"What's a guru?" Sokka asked, "Some kind of poisonous blowfish?"
"A guru is a spiritual expert, dimwit." Hoshiko said, Sokka stuck his tongue out immaturely at her, and she did the same to him.
"He wants to help me take the next step in the avatar journey." Aang continued, "He says he can teach me to control the avatar state!"
"And I can't believe we know where our dad is now!" Katara exclaimed.
"Tell me about it." Hoshiko said, hugging her letter close to her like a child would a stuffed animal, "I can't believe Kota and everyone's been in the encampment outside of Ba-Sing-Se. They've been so close to me this whole time, and I never even knew!"
"I know what you mean," Toph said, "My mom's in the city, and from her letter, it sounds like she finally understands me!"
"This is all such big news!" Sokka said, "Where do we even start?"
"I hate to say it, but," Katara began, "We have to split up."
"Split up?" Aang repeated in shock, "We just found Appa and got the family back together! Now, you want us to separate?!"
"You have to meet this guru, Aang." Katara said, "If we're gonna invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready."
Aang thought for a moment, "Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple, Appa and I could drop you off at the encampment to see your family," He looked at Hoshiko when he said this, "And then drop you off at Chameleon Bay to see your dad!"
"Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion." Sokka said, he stood up, "I guess that's me."
"No, Sokka," Katara said, standing up as well, "I know how badly you wanna help Dad. You go to Chameleon Bay, I'll stay here with the king." Sokka smiled at his sister, tears welling up in his eyes. He went over to her, his feet going up and down in excitement.
"You… are the nicest… sister… ever!" He planted a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Easy there, big brother." Katara said, pushing him away. She smiled to herself, "Though, you're right. I am."
"So, then." Hoshiko said, standing up, "We'll all spend one last night in Ba-Sing-Se, then tomorrow, we'll head off on our trips."
Hoshiko turned over again in her sleep, trying to sleep on her side. She sighed and moved onto her back, staring up at the ceiling with a smile. She couldn't sleep, she was too excited! Tomorrow she was going to see her mother, her best friend, and the love of her life all in one day! She couldn't stop thinking about it. She sat up in bed and walked out of her room, deciding that getting a glass of water might help her sleep a little easier. As she walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see a few candles had been lit, and even more surprised to see Sokka sitting at a table, drinking his own glass of water. He looked at her as she came in and smiled.
"Can't sleep?" He asked her, she nodded, smiling back.
"I'm too excited." She said, taking a glass from the cupboard, "I can't stop thinking about tomorrow."
"Me either." Sokka said, he looked down at the liquid in his glass, "I'm finally going to see my dad again, after so long…!" Hoshiko smiled at him as she poured water from a nearby pitcher into the glass.
"I know what you mean." Hoshiko said, coming over and sitting next to him, "So, when you see your dad, are you going to help him fight?"
"Absolutely." Sokka said, "I'll do everything I can to help my dad." Hoshiko nodded once.
"Then, I guess…" She looked down at the water in her own glass, "These are probably our last couple days together."
"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.
"Don't you remember?" Hoshiko asked him, "The only reason I started travelling with you guys was to find my family. Once I get to the encampment, I'll have no more reason to see any of you ever again." Sokka looked at the ground sadly.
"Oh… Yeah." He said, "But you could still travel with us. You know, for the sake of taking down the Fire Nation." Hoshiko smiled at him.
"I suppose I could." She said, "Out of the goodness of my heart." Sokka chuckled, he raised his glass.
"To the Fire Nation's downfall." He said, Hoshiko smiled and raised her own glass.
"To reuniting with family." Their glasses clinked and they chugged down their water. When they were done, they slammed their glasses on the table, laughing together like a pair of idiots.
The next morning, everyone was preparing to leave on the palace grounds, receiving a royal send-off from the Earth King. Hoshiko stretched her limbs out as she looked up at the clear sky, the smile feeling permanently plastered to her face. She looked over at Katara, who was nuzzling her face into Appa's leg to say goodbye before the big beast took off. Aang went over to her.
"Katara?" She looked over at him, "I need to tell you something." Hoshiko's ears pricked up as he spoke, seeing his blushing face, "I've been wanting to say it for a long time…"
"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked. Hoshiko watched the couple with interest, was Aang about to confess his love for Katara? Finally?
"Katara… I-" Sokka ran over and put Aang in a friendly headlock, giving him a noogie.
"Alright! Who's ready to get goin' on our little men-only man trip?" Sokka asked. Hoshiko and Katara scowled at him.
"Hey, genius," Hoshiko said, coming over to him, "I'm coming on this 'men-only man trip' too, in case you forgot."
"I meant only the human men, Hoshiko." Sokka said sincerely, Hoshiko looked at him suspiciously, not believing him. She looked over at Toph.
"Toph, is he telling the truth?" She asked.
Toph smirked, "Nope." Hoshiko turned back to Sokka, bending up a shadowy ball.
"I'll give you a ten second head start." She said, an intimidating smile on her face. Sokka released Aang from the head lock and backed away slowly, then ran. "1… 10!" She threw the ball at him, laughing when it hit the back of his head and made him fall over.
"That was not ten seconds!" Sokka shouted, getting up. Hoshiko was about to retort, when the Earth King came over to them and spoke.
"Aang, Hoshiko, and Sokka," He said, getting their attention, "I wish you a good journey. Ba-Sing-Se owes you its thanks. And, to show it, I'm going to lift the ban on Shinjuns entering the city," Hoshiko smiled at him, "As the first of many tokens of my appreciation." He smiled at the group, "We look forward to your safe return." The group smiled at him and bowed respectfully. Sokka went over to Appa and began climbing up onto his back as a soldier came up to the Earth King.
"Your Majesty, there are three female warriors here to see you." He said, "They're from the Island of Kyoshi."
"That's Suki!" Sokka exclaimed in surprise, falling off the bison.
"You know these warriors?" The Earth King asked, Sokka stood up.
"Oh, yeah. The Kyoshi warriors are a skilled group of fighters." Sokka said, "Trustworthy, too. They're good friends of ours." The Earth King nodded.
"Then we shall welcome them as honored guests." The soldier who gave him the news bowed and walked away, preparing to welcome the three warriors. Aang began to walk towards Appa, and Katara stopped him.
"Wait, Aang." She ran over to him and hugged him, putting a kiss on his cheek as she pulled away.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys." Toph said, Katara, Aang and Hoshiko came over to her and pulled her into a group hug.
"Me, too." Katara said.
"Yeah." Aang agreed. Hoshiko simply nuzzled the small girl's head with a smile.
They looked over at Sokka, who had opted out of the group hug. They all exchanged glances before running over to him and pulling him into their hug.
"Great." Sokka said, "That's enough!" No one pulled away, "Okay, we love each other." Still, no one pulled away. He patted Aang and Katara's heads, "Seriously."
Hoshiko waved goodbye to Toph and Katara as she, Aang, and Sokka took off into the air on Appa. Once they were out of sight, Hoshiko turned to face the front of the bison as they rode.
"You see, guys?" Sokka said as they flew over the inner wall, "A little positive thinking works wonders. We got the king on our side, we got Long Feng arrested, and when we get back, Suki's waiting for me." Hoshiko rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah…" Aang mumbled, "Girls are waiting for us."
"Thank you, positive attitude!" Hoshiko exclaimed, throwing her hands up.
"Everything's gonna work out perfectly!" Sokka said, "From now on, and forever!" Hoshiko and Aang smiled at him.
Next chapter is when Kotaro and Hoshiko reunite! Hooray! ^_^