Back on Appa's Saddle...
Appa flew towards Ba Sing Se quickly, making everyone feel much better once they saw the walls in the distance. Avatar Aang smiled widely the moment he saw that they were finally here.
He could feel the marking burn his skin, making him flinch at the pain.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Katara asked him.
Aang sat up to face Katara as he held his robe.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Aang said to her, "It's burning a little."
Katara really wanted to heal her boyfriend so badly, but they were right there. They had just passed the wall and were now passing by some buildings and homes. Uncle Iroh's tea shop, The Jasmine Dragon, was almost in view. They couldn't turn back now, especially if he knew something about this strange, treasure island.
"There it is! Appa, land right down there!" Aang cried to Appa to land.
The Jasmine Dragon was below them and finally got to their destination. Team Avatar was so excited to finally be back to get some answers about the island, but were also excited to see Uncle Iroh again.
He was such a big help with Sozin's Comet, that he had to have known something about the treasure island.
Aang tried to airdrop off of Appa, but for once, didn't land very gracefully on his feet because of the burning sensation.
"Wow, Twinkle Toes. I've never seen you trip over your bending before," Toph teased.
"This burning is getting worse," Aang said as Zuko helped him up, "We better go get Iroh. He must know something about the island."
"Let's head in before it gets crowded in the shop," Zuko said to them.
They all headed in, hoping there wasn't that many people taking orders. The moment they walked in, they all breathed a sigh of relief to see only a couple people just relaxing with a cup of tea.
Zuko spotted Uncle Iroh right by the counter where he makes his tea and ran over to him.
"Uncle!" Zuko greeted him with a big hug.
"Zuko, I wasn't expecting you back so soon. I thought you were busy with Fire Lord duties," Uncle Iroh said, hugging his nephew.
"I was busy, but I got it done on time just to come and see you," Zuko explained with a genuine smile on his face.
Aang was scratching his neck, and it already seemed to get worse. Luckily, the overwhelming heat wasn't as bad right now.
"What's going on with Aang over there? If he ate the White Jade Bush, I know a great medicinal herb back when I had tried to make tea out of it," Uncle Iroh said to the team, rubbing his head in embarrassment.
"That's because you didn't brew it correctly, Uncle," Zuko said, chuckling a little bit, "You should've seen him covered in hives."
"So sorry to break up the reunion, but we're kind of here on an important mission," Sokka reminded Zuko.
"Iroh, can we talk in the back for a minute?" Katara asked him, "I promise it won't take that long."
Uncle Iroh looked back at the tables, realizing he wasn't busy this morning. He could tell it had something to do with the Avatar, and he led them away from the people that were relaxing with a cup of hot tea.
"What seems to be the trouble, Aang? I guess this has nothing to do with the White Jade Bush," Uncle Iroh asked him.
Aang chuckled a little that comment, but the itching wasn't letting up.
"Yeah, I wish that's all it was," Aang said to him, "Zuko might be able to explain it better though since he found the necklace in his throne room."
"Necklace? What necklace?" Uncle Iroh asked Zuko.
"Well, I came across this fire emblem necklace in my throne room. I've never seen before, and it just showed up out no where," Zuko explained.
"Hmm... It sounds like there might be a spirit attached to this necklace. Do you know who it belonged to?" Uncle Iroh asked as he groomed his beard.
"Actually, it belonged to Avatar Roku," Sokka said to him.
Uncle Iroh's golden eyes widened at the realization, looking at Zuko. He couldn't seem to look him in the eyes at this point, knowing full well what he was dealing with here.
"Ca-Can I see the necklace?" Uncle Iroh asked them, "I think I might've seen it before."
Aang flinched the moment he laid eyes on him, trying to stop itching at the marking. Aang gave him an awkward smile, but didn't hand him anything.
"Umm... Yeah, about that..." Aang said as he stood there awkwardly holding his staff, "The necklace... it sort of..."
"It gave Aang a really cool tattoo!" Sokka cried unnecessarily, but earned himself an elbow in the ribs by Toph.
"What Sokka means to say is that the necklace has somehow fused with him. Now we can't get it off," Toph said to Uncle Iroh.
"And now it's left the fire emblem marking on him," Katara said in a very worried tone, "My healing won't even make it go away. It just seems to subside it a little."
"Maybe I should take a look at the marking," Uncle Iroh said to Aang.
Aang nodded and slowly took off his robe, making everyone gasp in horror. The Fire Emblem marking was starting to spread a little. The markings now were now spreading out to his shoulders, looking like swirls.
"Well, that's not what I was expecting," Uncle Iroh said as a sweatdrop formed on his forehead, "Is the marking creating that heat, because I can feel it from over here."
"Yes, it is. I even got the chance speak to Avatar Roku about it, and he sent me to this strange island. I've never seen it before, but it right behind the Fire Lord's Palace. Even Zuko had never been there. He's it hasn't been used probably since Fire Lord Sozin was around," Aang explained.
"I don't remember much about it. All I know is that Fire Lord Sozin used it to hide treasures of all sorts there," Zuko told him.
"We thought you might know something about this necklace and this strange island," Suki said to him.
Uncle Iroh looked around at everyone in the room, and then at Zuko. He looked just as worried as everyone else.
He let out a sigh and led the team to a table. Aang put on his robe and soon enough, Uncle Iroh brought them a tea set filled with lavender mint tea and some cookies. He gave everyone some hot cups of the tea and settled down next to Zuko.
"If it is the necklace that I think it is, there might be another necklace just like that. Possibly somewhere on the island," Uncle Iroh told them as he sipped his tea, "That necklace was given to Avatar Roku by someone. Someone very special to him."
"Someone special? Like, his wife?" Katara asked him as she took a sip of her tea.
"No. It was given to him by his best friend, Fire Lord Sozin."
Another Chapter!
Team Avatar finally made it to The Jasmine Dragon! Uncle Iroh is so excited to Zuko! He seems to know something about the necklace, maybe even more about this strange island. It looks like Uncle Iroh has more to tell them, and it looks like Fire Lord Sozin gave Avatar Roku that necklace! What's going to happen next??
More to come soon!