𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 2)

Lake Laogai

Aang, Katara, and Jade rushed into their guest house with smiles on their faces. Itching to inform their friends of the news, they ran up to where Sokka and Toph were sitting at the back level of the room.

"Look, you guys!" Jade beamed. "We found a printer to make the posters!"

Katara held up a small leaflet with Appa's picture on it. Below this picture, they had added a photo of Aang and some information for anyone who might have seen or found the bison. Grinning widely, Aang nodded his head and pointed to the poster.

Sokka frowned. "Hey, I thought designing the lost Appa poster was my job. I've been working all day on my Appa!" He held up one of his drawings of what was, apparently, supposed to be their bison friend.

Both Jade and Katara failed miserably in their attempts of containing laughter. Aang, meanwhile, furrowed his brows in confusion and stared at the drawing.

"Sokka, the arrow is on Appa's head." He pointed out.

Sokka pointed to where the arrow was. "This is his head."

Katara walked over to him and took the poster. "Why are feet coming out of it?"

"Those are his horns!" He snatched back the paper before dropping his head in defeat. "I haven't seen him in a while, okay?"

Lying on her back, Toph smirked. "It looks just like him to me!"

"Thank you, I worked really -- " He stopped. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

"Let's just stick with the professional version." Katara suggested. Growling, her brother tore up the drawing into pieces.

Jade smiled when Aang pulled out two handfuls of leaflets from their bag. His eyes were practically glimmering with excitement.

"Come on, let's get busy!"

~

Since Aang and Momo had left to fly over the city and drop the posters, the rest were left to sit and wait. With Miko curled up on the cushion next to her, Jade sat watching at the table as Katara and Sokka played a game of cards in front of her. Toph, meanwhile, was bouncing a ball against the wall while lying back on the floor.

After no more than fifteen minutes, Aang ran in through the door. He set down his staff while Momo flew in and perched on Jade's head. The Avatar still seemed to be brimming with excitement as he set down his staff and ran up to their table.

"I just finished dropping all the leaflets." He smiled. "Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"

With her eyes on her cards, Katara waved him off. "It's only been a day. Just be patient."

His shoulders slumped. Jade smiled sympathetically, watching as he sat down across from her and dropped his chin onto the table.

Not even a second later, the sound of a knock on the door filled their ears. Aang's smile immediately returned to his face as he darted to his feet.

"Wow, you're right! Patience really pays off!" He turned and ran up to the door to pull it open. "Joo Dee?"

Standing up alongside her friends, Jade frowned. The Joo Dee at the door was not the Joo Dee they met at the Earth King's party. This was the same woman who had shown them around Ba Sing Se. The woman they hadn't seen at all since the party.

With that ever-present, scary-wide smile on her face, Joo Dee stepped into the room. "Hello, Aang, and Katara, and Sokka, and Jade, and Toph." The rest of the group gathered around her.

"What happened to you?" Sokka inquired. "Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"

"What? Jail? Of course not." She waved him off. "The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."