Chapter Nineteen

    Returning home, Mai helped Kei Lo walk. He'd sprained his ankle during the fight and was obviously having trouble walking around. After Mai broke up with Zuko, she found out that her father was the leader of a secret society that's main goal was to get Ozai back on the throne. He'd even been part of the ambush... He got away.

    "I promise Mai, I didn't lie to you." Kei Lo said yet again, standing on her porch.

    "And I told you, I believe you, for now." Mai sighed, looking up at him.

    Her gaze flitted to the roof. A shadow swished past. She looked back to Kei Lo. It was probably just a trick of the light. A shrill scream interrupted whatever Kei Lo had planned on saying and both of them turned towards the house.

    "Tom Tom!" Mai's mother cried from within.

    Before she was able to even move towards the house, the shadow moved again. She stepped back and looked up at the roof. Several cloaked figures stood together, fog drifted around their feet, one of them held something. Mai squinted at them.

    "Who are you?!" She shouted. "What do you want?!"

    "We already have what we want." One of them hissed, revealing a sleeping Tom Tom, cradled in their arms.

    "Tom Tom!"

_

    Sitting in his temporary room, Sokka flipped through a book. It was unnamed and there wasn't an author on it, but the contents were rather... intriguing. He flushed, looking at the lightly detailed pictures and the extremely detailed descriptions. It was a book about sex, which was kind of a strange thing to have in a tea shop, but he wasn't here to question things, he was here to read.

    Most of the drawings were between a man and a woman, but near the back there were a few same sex positions that caught his eye. Raising his eyebrows, he smiled awkwardly to himself, picturing him and Zuko doing some of them.

    "Sokka." Katara knocked on his door.

    "AAAGH!" Sokka yelped, slamming the book shut. "What?!"

    "...are you okay?"

    "I'm fine! What do you want?!"

    "Dinner's ready."

    After her footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Sokka opened the book again, feeling his cheeks cool down and his heartbeat slow. Looking at the pictures, he finally started to ponder things... In each of these, one of the guys was giving... And the other was receiving...

    "Which one would I be..?" He muttered to himself.

    Wouldn't having it there feel weird? How could that possibly feel good? He frowned. Well, if people did it, it had to feel good, right? He sighed, maybe he'd just have to wait and ask which one Zuko wanted to be...

     When was that going to even happen though...

_

    "Where could they have gone?" Mai's mother pondered, her voice was shaky.

    "I'm not sure mom, but I know we'll find him." Mai touched her shoulder.

    The doors to the shop opened and Zuko walked through. Everyone's expression dropped into one of shock.

    "Zuko?" Mai uttered.

    "I heard about Tom Tom, I'm so sorry," He said softly, casting a pitied glance at Mai's mother. "Do you have any idea who could have done it?"

    "They looked like... The Kemurikage..." Mai responded softly.

    "But those aren't real! We made them up to get you kids to behave!" Mai's mother reasoned.

    "Spirits...," Zuko frowned. "I guess we'll have to get Aang involved..."

_

    "We ready to go?" Aang asked, turning to Katara and Sokka.

    "I told you, I finished packing last night." Sokka nodded, stretching.

    "Great! Then let's get going!" Aang grinned.

    "Uh..." Katara pointed to something behind her boyfriend.

    He turned around, coming face to face with a huge messanger hawk right in front of his face. He shot back a bit, startled, but held out his arm so it could land. Taking out the scroll of paper, Katara walked over to stand beside him.

    "It's from Zuko...," Aang stated, gaining the attention from Sokka. "He needs my help."

    "All of us? Or just you?" Sokka asked, standing on the other side of Aang.

    "Well, it says that the problem involves spirits... So probably just me..."

    "Do you want us to come with you?" Katara asked.

    "No, you guys go home. You've been away long enough," Aang shook his head, holding Katara's hand. "I'll meet you there when I'm done."

    "Are you sure?" Katara touched his shoulder.

    "Yeah, of course!" Aang nodded.

    "You take Appa then, we can just hitch a ride on one of the boats." Katara said, gesturing southward.

    "We're going to be sitting in a fish boat?" Sokka grumbled.

     "Can it, Sokka." Katara frowned.