𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑺 || 𝑨𝒂𝒏𝒈 (𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 3)

The Ember Island Players

Aang had made plenty of progress with firebending. Jade told him numerous times how proud she was of him for coming so far; he started out refusing to make a single flame, and now he was able to control it like it was nothing. He has come so far in the span of just a few weeks.

As Katara entertained herself by putting Jade's hair in a Water Tribe style -- a bun formed from braided hair on the back of her head while the rest fell loose -- Jade watched Aang and Zuko's practice. Their movements were synchronized; they shot fire from their fists and feet repeatedly.

Once they were finished, Aang and Zuko exhaled. After they bowed to each other, Jade tossed them each one of the towels she had next to her.

Still half-distracted, Katara spoke up from behind Jade. "Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?"

"I told you," Wiping his face and neck with the towel, Zuko took a seat on the courtyard's empty fountain. "My father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy...And that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us."

Taking a glance around the courtyard, Jade pulled her legs close. "It's really nice, though. Seems like a great place for making memories."

Zuko sighed. "It was."

"...So -- "

"I'm not showing you my baby pictures, Jade."

"Please, Zuko! I have to know!"

"You guys are not gonna believe this!" She stopped begging when Sokka and Suki approached. Having returned from town, Sokka had a rolled-up sheet of paper in his hand. "There's a play about us!"

Suki smiled as Sokka unrolled the poster to show them. "We were just in town and we found this poster."

The poster had strangely detailed images of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Jade. Zuko's face was in the background, but Jade really only stood up to gape at the depiction of herself.

"No way -- that's actually me." She turned back to her friends with wide eyes. "Guys, are we famous?"

Toph walked over with Katara. "Of course, we're famous, Jade. We're friends with the Avatar and we've spent the last year traveling and trying to save the world."

"But that still doesn't explain how there's a play about us." Katara pointed out.

Jade squinted at the poster. "Are we sure it'd even be accurate? They put Zuko's scar on the wrong side."

"What do you mean they put my scar on the wrong side?"

"Listen to this." Sokka turned the poster back around to read it. ""The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from a claimed playwright, Pu-on Tim, who scoured the globe gaining information on the Avatar. From the icy South Pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se, his sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war, and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage"."

Jade glanced away. "I'm sure he had plenty to say about us..."

Suki read over Sokka's shoulder. ""Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players"."

When Zuko groaned out loud, they all turned to see him slouching. "My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

Katara turned to her brother. "Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?"

"Come on, a day at the theatre?" Showing off the poster again, he grinned. "This is the kind of wacky time-wasting nonsense I've been missing!"