𝑴𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 2)

The Earth King

After their happy and heartfelt reunion with Appa, they had flown away from the Dai Li's hideout. They settled on a small island in the middle of the vast lake.

Even now, Aang was still clinging to his bison's head. The smile on his face was wider than any that Jade could remember seeing before. She couldn't help but smile herself.

Standing with the rest of her friends, she watched as Momo flew over and also clung to Appa's forehead. Miko then took the chance to drape herself over one of Appa's horns. Appa proceeded to lick Aang, earning a laugh from the Avatar as he fell to the ground.

Having been sitting on a rock, Sokka stood up to approach Katara, Toph, and Jade. "Look, we escaped from the Dai Li, we got Appa back; I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a roll."

His sister frowned. "One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll."

"We can build on it." He 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?" Toph inquired from the ground. "I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't usually go that smoothly for our little gang." 

"Maybe, but we'll never know for sure if we don't give it a shot." Jade smiled. "Besides, if we don't go as soon as possible, who knows if we'll ever be able to see the King."

Sokka stared at her in surprise. "Wow, I'm surprised that you're agreeing with me. You've been wanting to leave Ba Sing Se since we got there, and now you wanna go back?"

"Yeah," She shrugged. "But if the options are either ending the war or avoiding a suspicious city, I think the choice is pretty clear."

"Well, I'll take what I can get." He held up one hand. "Welcome to team positive, Jade!"

She high-fived him. "I should say the same to you."

"Sokka, Jade," Katara pulled their attention again. "Long Feng is in control of the city. His conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful. I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."

"I'm with Sweetness." Toph declared. "I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se. And I can't even see!" 

Aang leaped 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." 

Sokka wrapped his arms around both Aang and Jade. "See, Aang's with us." The three of them smiled widely. "It's the whole reason we came here in the first place. We have to try." 

Katara furrowed her brows in thought. "Well...I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change."

Toph, however, stood up and frowned. "I don't trust the new positive Sokka." She pointed at him. "Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he?!"

Without a word, Aang suddenly ran up to the edge of the island. When he stared out at the ocean, Sokka and Katara ran up to his sides. Squinting her eyes, Jade fought the urge to groan at the sight of three ships on the lake.

"That's probably the Dai Li searching for us." Sokka turned to Katara. "So?"

She narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Let's fly!"

~

Jade didn't know what she was regretting specifically, but she decided to blame all misfortune on Sokka's new positive attitude.

It had been a long time since she'd felt afraid while flying on Appa, but she only now realized that it was much less terrifying when they were sitting in the comforts of the saddle. Gripping tightly onto the fur on Appa's back, it took all she had not to whimper in fear. All she could do was hide her face in the bison's fur as they flew much faster than she remembered that Appa was capable of going.