The Prank of the Airbender

by Windrises

Aang decides to prank his friends. His friends get very upset about Aang's pranks, so they want to get revenge on them. When their revenge goes too far, Katara has to step in.

Notes: Avatar: The Last Airbender is a Nickelodeon animated show that was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. This story is meant to serve as a cautinoary tale about how pulling extreme pranks can lead to harmful consequences.

People tend to grow and develop into more mature, responsible people as they grow up. However, that was not the case for Aang and his friends. Aang and his friends were all in their twenties, but Katara was the only one who had grown up. Aang, Sokka, Toph and Zuko were as rambunctious as they had ever been. In fact, some people thought that Aang and his friends were even more immature as adults than they were as kids. Katara had been trying her best to keep her loved ones under control, but that was easier said than done.

Aang and his friends had decided that they wanted to go camping, but most of them were too lazy to have the energy to go very far. That's why Zuko suggested that he and the others camp on the lawn of Iroh's tea shop. He figured that would be much easier than hiking for dozens of miles. Aang and his friends quickly agreed to Zuko's suggestion. Katara was disappointed in how lazy her friends were, but she went along with Zuko's plan.

Aang and Katara started setting up the camp area, while the others rested and relaxed in Iroh's tea shop. Katara was upset at her friends for not helping with camp preparations, but she was happy to have some quality time with Aang. Aang and Katara set up a tent for each of their friends. They filled each tent with blankets, sleeping bags and spare clothes.

Katara smiled at Aang, while saying, "Thank you for helping me set things up."

Aang replied, "No need to thank me. I'm just doing my fair share of the work."

Katara put her hands on her hips, while saying, "Nobody else is doing their fair share of the work." She angrily grunted and said, "I love the others, but their lack of responsibility is enough to drive me mad."

Aang said, "I'm sorry that our friends have been angering you." He started looking guilty, while saying, "I suppose I haven't been making things easier by being so immature."

Katara said, "I blame the others. They haven't been a very good influence on you."

Aang replied, "Well, I'm lucky to have you by my side, because you're the best influence."

Katara pulled something out of a bag, while saying, "I know how excited you have been to go camping, so I got something for you." She handed Aang an official camping hat that was bright blue.

Aang smiled and said, "Thank you, Katara." He put on the hat and asked, "How do I look?"

Kata answered, "Very cute."

A few minutes later, Zuko walked out of the tea shop. He was followed by Sokka and Toph, both of whom had just finished drinking several cups of tea. Zuko looked at Aang and Katara, while asking, "Have you guys finished getting the camp stuff ready?"

Katara looked annoyed, while replying, "Yes we have, but it would have been easier for us if any of you pitched in."

Zuko put his hand on his own heart, while saying, "It was my idea to camp outside of my uncle's place, so I already have done enough work."

Sokka said, "I'm not a fan of doing work."

Toph replied, "Neither am I."

Katara folded her arms and said, "Sometimes, you have to do stuff that you don't want to do."

Sokka replied, "I disagree with that philosophy. Life is about doing stuff that we want to do." Zuko and Toph nodded.

Aang pointed at his head, while asking, "Do you like my new hat?"

Zuko answered, "Not really."

Suddenly, Aang's hat fell off of his head. Zuko, Sokka and Toph saw Aang's bald head and burst into laughter. Aang looked confused, while asking, "What's so funny?"

Sokka could barely control his own laughter, while saying, "You're bald!"

Aang said, "You already knew that I was bald, so what's so funny?"

Toph explained, "We had gotten so used to your baldness that we had forgotten how funny you look."

Katara gave her friends a disapproving look, while asking, "What's wrong with you guys? Being bald is not funny. In fact, making fun of somebody for being bald is pretty disrespectful. I know that you're not the most mature bunch of people in the world, but I expected better from you."

Sokka replied, "You need a sense of humor."

Toph smirked and said, "Katara can't stand to watch us poke fun at her precious boyfriend."

Katara angrily blushed and replied, "My feelings for Aang have nothing to do with the fact that you guys are being jerks."

Sokka was laughing so hard that he felt like he couldn't keep standing, so he plopped to the ground. He continued laughing it up, while rolling around a field of grass. He said, "Aang's head is a riot."

Aang replied, "I don't think so."

Toph started prancing around Aang, while saying, "You don't have hair!"

Zuko pointed at Aang, while saying, "I'll let you borrow my scissors. That way, you can cut off the hair that you don't have. That might sound pointless, but it sure would be funny."

Aang was tired of his friends making fun of him, so he said, "You know what? I think I need an afternoon nap." He quickly went into his tent.

Katara looked back at the others, while saying, "All of you should be ashamed of yourselves."

Sokka said, "Having a sense of humor is nothing to be ashamed of."

Toph looked at Katatra, while saying, "You're too serious."

Katara replied, "That's not true. Since you guys act so immature, I have to be serious to balance things out."

Zuko said, "Katara, there's no reason to be upset. We just think that Aang looks hilarious."

Katara replied, "Making fun of people is not okay."

Sokka said, "I don't see anything wrong with poking fun at Aang."

Toph replied, "Neither do I."

Katara said, "You guys better find a way to apologize to Aang." Katara was sick of arguing with the others, so she quickly stormed into her tent.

Toph faced Sokka, while asking, "What's wrong with your sister?"

Sokka answered, "I'm not sure."

Zuko put his hand on his chin, while saying, "Maybe we did go too far. Maybe we should buy Aang a gift."

Sokka had a mischievous smile on his face, while saying, "That's a great idea. As the guy who comes up with the best ideas, I know what to get Aang. We should get him a joke gift."

Zuko replied, "A joke gift? Wouldn't that just make things worse?"

Sokka said, "No way. Aang and Katara need to chill out. The way to do that is to make them laugh."

Toph replied, "I agree."

Zuko responded, "Okay."

While Aang was sleeping, Zuko went to a nearby store and bought a gift and some wrapping paper. After getting back to the camping area, Zuko wrapped up the gift and put it in Aang's tent.

A few hours later, Aang opened his eyes and said, "Ah, that was a nice nap." He opened up his tent and saw that it was dark out. It was the middle of the night, so everyone else was asleep. Aang sighed and said, "The problem with taking afternoon naps is waking up too early. Nobody else is awake, so what am I supposed to do?" Aang looked around the tent and saw Zuko's gift. He said, "A gift? Maybe Katara got me something else." He opened the gift and quickly got upset. The gift was a pair of scissors! Aang angrily said, "This isn't from Katara. It's from Zuko! He's still poking fun of me for being bald. I'm sick of him and the others making fun of me. It's time they got punished."

Aang left his tent and started walking over to Zuko's tent. He quietly opened up Zuko's tent and went inside. Zuko was asleep, so Aang thought it was a good time to prank him. Aang got out his scissors and started cutting off Zuko's hair. Aang tried to avoid laughing too loudly, so that Zuko wouldn't wake up. By the time that Aang was done, Zuko barely had any strands of hair left on his head. Aang quietly chuckled and ran out of Zuko's tent. Afterwards, Aang went into Sokka's tent and cut off Sokka's hair. That was followed by Aang going into Toph's tent and cutting off Toph's hair.

Aang stood outside, while feeling pleased with his prank. He said, "Zuko tried using the scissors to make me mad, but I turned the tables on him. He and the others have all been rude to me." He looked over at Katara's tent and said, "Katara is the exception. She's the one person who always treats me with respect." Aang crouched down and saw a note that was next to Katara's tent. It was a note from Katara that said that Aang could come talk to her if he needed anything. Aang smiled and said, "She's so sweet, but I don't want to wake her up." He quietly went into Katara's tent and gave Katara a quick kiss on the cheek. Afterwards, Aang returned to his own tent and went back to sleep.

The next morning, Sokka left his tent and went outside. He looked around and saw Toph doing some stretches. Sokka said, "Hi, Toph. I feel weird."

Toph replied, "Well, you are a weirdo."

Sokka said, "My head feels lighter."

Toph replied, "That's surprising, because your head was already pretty light on information."

Sokka took a closer look at Toph and realized that her hair was gone. He gasped and said, "You're bald!"

Toph touched her head and felt no hair, so she realized that Sokka was right. She said, "No!"

Sokka quickly realized that his hair was also gone. He had a horrified look on his face, while saying, "I'm completely bald!"

Zuko burst out of his tent, while having an angry expression on his face. He walked up to Sokka and Toph, while saying, "My hair's gone!"

Sokka asked, "How could our hair disappear? Did we age during our sleep?"

Zuko looked over at Aang's tent and angrily growled. He looked back at Sokka and Toph, while saying, "I know what happened to our hair. Aang cut off our hair with the scissors that I gave him."

Toph said, "You shouldn't have given Aang scissors."

Zuko replied, "In hindsight, I regret that."

Sokka said, "It's time for revenge."

Zuko angrily said, "I'm going to set Aang's tent on fire! That'll teach him for getting rid of my precious hair!"

Sokka smiled and replied, "That's a great idea."

Toph asked, "Isn't Aang still in his tent?"

Zuko asked, "Does it matter?"

Sokka answered, "I don't see why it would."

A moment later, Katara walked out of her tent. She looked around and saw Zuko getting ready to burn Aang's tent. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, but she didn't have time to react in surprise. She had to act quickly, so she could save Aang. Before Zuko got a chance to start burning Aang's tent, Katara froze his hands. She angrily stormed up to Zuko and asked, "What do you think you were doing?!"

Zuko angrily screamed, "Aang cut off all of my hair!"

Sokka said, "He also took my hair away."

Toph said, "He even cut off my hair."

Aang walked out of his tent and yawned. He looked at the others and asked, "What's going on?"

Katara folded her arms and said, "Zuko was about to burn your tent."

Aang nervously said, "What? He could have set me on fire."

Zuko defensively replied, "I wasn't completely sure if you were still in your tent or not. Either way, I would have put out the fire before you got set on fire."

Katara furiously responded, "That's a bunch of crap. If I hadn't stepped in, Aang might have died. I never should have trusted you. You put my sweet Aang's life in danger. I don't know if I can ever forgive you for that."

Sokka said, "Let's not act like Aang's so innocent. He cut off our hair."

Katara angrily replied, "I don't care."

Sokka said, "Talk about playing favorites, Katara."

Katara said, "Frankly, I could care less about your hair. Should Aang have done that? No. However, you can't compare cutting off hair to trying to set somebody on fire!"

Sokka replied, "That's debatable."

Katara asked, "Where did Aang event get scissors?"

Zuko explained, "I gave Aang those scissors as an innocent joke. However, Aang took things too far by using my harmless prank for his own dastardly purposes."

Katara replied, "If you were dumb enough to give Aang scissors after making fun of him for being bald, you deserved to lose your hair." She nudged Aang and said, "Come with me."

Aang responded, "Um, okay." He and Katara went into Katara's tent.

Iroh walked out of his tea shop, because he had heard a bunch of shouting. He walked up to Zuko, while asking, "What's going on?"

After Zuko explained the situation to Iroh, Iroh facepalmed. Zuko asked, "Did I do the wrong thing?"

Iroh said, "I'm afraid so. You know that I love a good joke, but what I love even more is treating others with respect. You have failed to respect your friend, Aang. I expect better from you."

Zuko had a guilty expression on his face, while replying, "I'm sorry, Uncle Iroh. It seems like I did go too far."

Meanwhile, Aang and Katara sat down in Katara's tent. At first, Aang wasn't sure how Katara would react to what happened. He wondered if Katara would be upset or not. Before Aang could say anything, Katara embraced him. Aang said, "So, are things okay?"

Katara replied, "No they're not! I woke up to you almost being burned by Zuko. I could have lost you."

Aang lightly smiled and said, "But you saved me, so everything's okay."

Katara shook her head and said, "Things are not okay. Aang, the way Zuko and the others treated you was just awful. How could they do something so bad?"

Aang sighed and replied, "I suppose I might deserve some of the blame. After all, I did cut off their hair."

Katara asked, "Why did you have to do that? You're one of the most heroic people that I know. Why would you do something so foolish?"

Aang replied, "I was mad at the others, especially Zuko. They made me feel bad for being bald."

Katara said, "Well, who cares what a bunch of judgmental jerks think? I think that you look beautiful."

Aang smiled and replied, "Thank you, Katara."

Katara held hands with Aang, while saying, "Frankly, Zuko and the others got what was coming to them. However, you shouldn't stoop down to their level. You're better than they are. Why be a prankster when you can be a hero?"

Aang replied, "You're right. I'm so sorry, Katara. I regret acting so dumb."

Katara said, "You'll have to make this up to me."

Aang replied, "I'm willing to do anything to make things up to you. Just tell me what you want."

Katara gave Aang a kiss on the lips and said, "There's been enough fighting amongst the group. Isn't it time to replace anger with happiness?"

Aang smiled and replied, "I suppose it is."

Aang and Katara started kissing each other. After all the pain that they had gone through, the kisses felt like gifts from the heart. They felt like they could kiss for the rest of the camping trip without getting tired.

Zuko figured it was about time that he apologized for what he did. He stuck his head into Katara's head and saw that Aang kissing Katara, so he quickly stuck his head out of the tent.

Sokka looked at Zuko, while asking, "What are you doing? I thought you were going to go apologize."

Zuko wanted to respect Aang and Katara's privacy, so he said, "Aang and Katara seem busy."

Toph asked, "What are they doing?"

Zuko said, "Um, they're talking about ice and stuff like that. Nothing interesting. We can apologize to them later."

Sokka replied, "Sounds good."

An hour later, Zuko peeked his head into Katara's tent and saw that Aang and Katara had fallen asleep in Katara's sleeping bag. Zuko realized that he and the others would have to wait a long time to apologize, because Aang and Katara were finally having the sweet, cozy camping trip that they had deserved.