ATLA: Book Three: Fire [Makki]

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen: The Awful Play

Makki |~|

For the past couple of days, we've all been staying at Zuko's family's beach house. It was nice but it seemed a little... neglected. The whole place was covered in dust, and branches from nearby trees had begun to cover the roof.

It is actually better than camping, though.

Currently, Toph, Katara, and I all sat, watching as Zuko and Aang practiced some fire bending in the courtyard of the house. The two moved in sync as they bended fire from their hands and feet. They soon finished and bowed towards one another.

"Doesn't it seem kind of weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara asked.

"I told you, my father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy," Zuko explained. "And that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us."

"You guys are not gonna believe this!" Sokka exclaimed as he and Suki came running up to us. "There's a play about us."

"We were just in town, and we found this poster," Suki explained.

From behind his back, Sokka pulled out a large poster with a painting of Aang, Sokka, and Katara all standing in front of Zuko's eyes.

"What? How is that possible?" Katara asked.

"Listen to this," Sokka said before reading off of the poster. "'The Boy in the Iceberg' is a new production from acclaimed playwright Pu-On Tim who scoured the globe, gathering 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.'"

'Cabbage merchant'..?

"'Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players'," Suki finished.

"Ugh," Zuko groaned. "My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

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

"Come on. A day at the theater? This is the kind of wacky, time-wasting nonsense I've been missing," Sokka smiled.

[~][~][~]

That night, we all walked into town to their theater to see the play. To not draw attention, we wore our Fire Nation clothing, of course, and sat all the way up in the nosebleeds. We got three rows in the back but only used the front two. In the first row sat Toph, Katara, Aang, Zuko, and me, in that order, and behind us sat Suki and Sokka.

"Why are we sitting in the nosebleed section?" Toph asked. "My feet can't see a thing from up here."

"I don't think there's going to be much to see," I said.

"Don't worry. I'll tell your feet what's happening," said Katara.

The lights dimmed around us and the stage's curtain rose from the ground. On stage was a set of the South Pole with 'Katara' and 'Sokka' sitting in a boat.

'Katara' sighed, "Sokka, my only brother, we constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet, never do we find anything fulfilling."

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach. I'm starving!" 'Sokka' replied, making the audience laugh.

Wow... The Fire Nation has low standards for comedy.

"Is food the only thing on your mind?" 'Katara' whined.