꧁ chapter eight ꧂
detective sokka

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MEILUNA STARED UP at the blue expanse over her head, watching the sun rise as it replaced her sister in the sky. It seemed like the stars were out just moments ago. She rubbed her eyes, feeling the strain in trying to keep them open. It almost felt impossible for her to get any sleep.

She couldn't help but wonder whether she made the right decision to leave the Northern Water Tribe to travel with the Avatar. In the moment, she felt so sure that this was her destiny, to help play her part in ending the war. Ending her tribe's suffering. But her father's disapproval weighed heavily on her mind. Was she so incredibly selfish to leave her only remaining family behind?

She wished so dearly that Yue could talk to her. Tell her what to do. Guide her. Meiluna spent the late hours of the night wondering whether her decision was worth the expense of her father's happiness. How was she ever supposed to sleep peacefully when she was reminded of her guilt every minute she was away from her home?

"What are you doing in my mouth?" Sokka yelled angrily.

Meiluna sat up, watching him spit out a spider web that covered his mouth.

"Momo, you need to be a little more sensitive to my boundaries"

Momo completely ignored Sokka's comment, climbing on to his face with his ears perked up, chattering loudly, causing Katara to wake up.

Meiluna suddenly felt the ground shake beneath her, she turned to where Momo was looking and saw three men riding atop rhinos, approaching the group.

"Give up! You're completely surrounded!" One man shouted as he looked over their campsite.

Meiluna hardly had the energy to deal with these intruders, stifling a yawn as she stood up. She quickly ran over to Appa, where Aang already sat, before being joined by Sokka who had crawled over in his sleeping bag.

Katara was about to make her way over when one of the men spun his weapon, planting it in the spot where she previously slept.

"My scrolls!" Katara cried out.

"My staff!" Aang said in shock as he instantly jumped off Appa's head.

Katara charged at the man with a water whip, freezing his blade to the trunk of the tree, giving her the chance to grab her scrolls before rushing back to Appa.

Aang manouvered his way around, avoiding the attacks from the men before reaching his staff as one of the men ignited a hand grenade, throwing it at the Avatar. Aang quickly deflected it before propelling himself back on to Appa's head,

"Yip yip!"

Appa took off, leaving the rhino men behind. Suddenly, a fireball was sent their direction, Katara pushed Meiluna's head down, noticing how disoriented she was, as she and Sokka also ducked, narrowly avoiding the hit.

"Wait, my boomerang!" Sokka called out as he sat back up, realising his weapon was still at their previous campsite.

"There's no time!" Katara said, grabbing her brother's arm.

"Oh, I see," Sokka said as he turned to face Katara, "So there's time to get your scrolls and time to get your staff," Sokka continued as he faced Aang, "But no time for my boomerang"

"That's correct!" Katara answered cheerfully.

Sokka bowed his head in defeat as Meiluna patted the boy on the head with sympathy, laying on his shoulder as she tried to sleep.

"Oh"

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"Sorry about your boomerang, Sokka" Aang apologised to the sulking boy.

"I feel like I've lost a part of my identity," Sokka said sadly, sitting on the ground.

"Imagine if you lost your arrow, or Meiluna lost her hair ornaments," He continued, "Or Katara lost her hair loopies"

The three made their way over to Katara who was buying supplies. She saw Sokka dragging his feet over to her and gave him a loving hug to comfort him.

"Here's your produce, ponytail guy" The merchant spoke.

Sokka accepted the basket of supplies.

"I used to be boomerang guy" Sokka said dejectedly.

Katara gave him a sad look before paying the merchant.

"Hey, Water Tribe money!" The merchant spoke in surprise after inspecting the coins in his hand.

"I hope that's okay?" Katara asked hopefully.

"So long as it's money," The merchant spoke happily before closing his shop, "Have a nice Avatar Day!"

Meiluna perked up from her spot beside Sokka.

"Avatar Day?" Aang asked, his interested piqued.

"You guys are going to the festival right?" The merchant asked as he walked away.

"There's a holiday for the Avatar, who knew?" Aang asked with a smile on his face.

"Look! They made a giant Kyoshi float!" Katara exclaimed.

The group followed the floats down the street into the main square.

"And here comes Avatar Roku!" Sokka pointed out.

"Having a huge festival in your honour is great but frankly, it's just nice to appreciated" Aang said, admiring the celebration.

Meiluna managed to find a small vendor distributing fried snacks. She happily took one, taking a bite as Sokka spoke,

"And it's nice to appreciate their deep fried festival food!"

"You're right about that!" Meiluna agreed as Sokka turned to her, grabbing the snack out of her hands, taking a bite.

Meiluna glared at the boy next to her as he gave her a smile, offering the remainder.

Meiluna rolled her eyes,
"Just have the rest of it"

"Aang, look!" Katara called out as she pointed at a giant float made in Aang's image.

"That's the biggest me I've ever seen!" Aang looked in astonishment.

"Now a torch, that's a nice prop," Sokka said as they watched a villager run down the street with the torch in his hand, "It's bright, dangerous,"

Sokka hesitated, sniffing the air,

"Smells manly. But I'm not sure I could carry it off"

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" Katara questioned.

A loud scream followed as the villager jumped through the Kyoshi float, setting it on fire and chanted,

"Down with the Avatar!"

The other villagers joined in with the chanting as Katara, Aang, Meiluna and Sokka stood frozen in shock, mouths wide open.

Meiluna hesitated before speaking up,

"I don't think these guys are your biggest fans, Aang"

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"This party pooper's ruining Avatar Day!" A villager yelled out angrily, pointing at Katara who used her bending to extinguish the flames.

Aang turned angrily to the villager before airbending himself to the top of his own float.

"That party pooper's my friend!" Aang defended as he removed his hat, to reveal his tattoo.

"It's the Avatar himself!" Another villager called out in shock.

"It's going to kill us with it's awesome Avatar powers" Someone else yelled out in fear.

"No, I'm not I-" Aang raised his hand in the air as several villagers cowered in fear.

"I suggest you leave! You're not welcome here Avatar!" The man told him, waving him away.

Katara turned to face him.

"Why not? Aang helps people" She replied back.

Aang jumped down beside her.

"It's true! I'm on your side" He tried to convince them.

"I find that hard to swallow," The Mayor spoke calmly, "Considering what you did to us in your past life! It was Avatar Kyoshi, she murdered our glorious leader, Chin the Great" He accused loudly.

The village broke out in to whispers.

"You think that I murdered someone?" Aang asked in utter shock.

"We used to be a great society before you killed our leader. Now look at us!" A villager called out.

"Aang would never do something like that. No Avatar would," Katara defended, placing her arms on Aang's shoulders, "And it's not fair for you all to question his honour"

"Let's tell her what we all think of the Avatar's honour" Another man yelled out, turning around and shaking his rear while blowing a raspberry as the other villagers cheered him on.

"Give me a chance to clear my name" Aang requested.

"The only way to prove your innocence is to stand trial" The Mayor explained.

"I'll gladly stand trial" Aang replied confidently.

"You'll have to follow all our rules. That includes paying bail" He continued.

Aang, still confident as ever, responded,

"No problem"

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"How was I supposed to know they wouldn't take Water Tribe money?" Aang spoke apologetically as he stood cuffed with his head stuck in a wooden panel.

"So some people don't like you, big deal!" Sokka told him, "There's a whole nation of firebenders who hate you. So, let's bust you out of here!"

"I can't" Aang said sadly.

"Sure you can! A little swish, swish, swish!" Sokka said as he waved his arms around, pretending to cut the air, "Airbending slice! And we're on our way"

"I think what Master Swish is trying to say is that you're supposed to be out saving the world. You can't do that locked up in here" Katara said seriously, looking at Aang.

"I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer either. I need you guys to help prove my innocence" Aang said unhappily.

"How're we gonna do that?" Sokka asked, "The crime happened over three hundred years ago"

Aang smiled mischievously as he looked toward Sokka once again.

"That's okay, Sokka. For some reason I thought you were an expert detective" Aang sighed.

"Well, I could be classified as such" Sokka replied, content with the praise he received.

"Yeah! Back home, he was famous for solving the mystery of the missing seal jerky" Katara added, feeding Sokka's ego.

"Everyone wanted to blame it on the polar leopard, but I figured out it was Old Man Jarko wearing polar leopard boots," Sokka bragged, "See, a real eight hundred-pound polar leopard would have left much deeper tracks"

Katara attempted to hold back a laugh as Aang made fun of Sokka.

"Okay, I guess I am pretty good" He admitted not so humbly.

"So you'll help me with my case?" Aang asked hopefully.

Sokka spent a moment pondering the question.

"Come on, Detective Sokka" Meiluna added, poking fun at the boy.

"Fine! But I'm going to need some new props"

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"I'm ready!"

Katara and Meiluna shared a look before looking back at Sokka's ridiculous outfit, trying to hold back their laughter.

Sokka used his monocle to inspect the girls,

"What?"

Mayor Tong had escorted the three of them to the edge of a tall cliff surrounded by green pastures where a shrine stood.

"This is the crime scene," He presented.

Sokka took some time to investigate the walls of the shrine while the Mayor moved towards the edge of the cliff.

"This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi," He continued as he pointed at the mark in the ground, "It was at sunset, 370 years ago today, that she emerged from the temple and struck down Chin the Great. After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalise our great leader"

Everyone turned to look at the statue.

"Feel free to appreciate it" He added before he left the them to continue their investigation.

Sokka's eyes widened as something caught his attention.

"This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone. And we know that the statue was built after Chin died" Sokka stated as he ran over to the statue.

Realisation struck Katara as she started to understand what her brother was implying,

"So if they were built at the same time, that means-"

Katara was cut off as Sokka interrupted.

"Shh! I wanna solve it," He whined like a small child, "That means Kyoshi never set foot in this temple"

"That's a big hole in the Mayor's story" Meiluna commented.

"But it's not enough to prove Aang's innocence" Katara said, disappointed.

"I'm sure the lead detective has an idea" Meiluna laughed as she and Katara looked over to Sokka, who blew bubbles with his dragon shaped pipe.

"We need to go to Kyoshi Island" He replied.

Katara stared at the pipe,

"Where did you get that?"

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"Where's Aangy?" A young girl asked, angrily stomping over to Katara.

"He couldn't be here, Koko" Katara gently broke the news.

The rest of the villagers who had gathered around sighed in disappointment.

"I wanted to see Aangy" Koko whined before turning to leave with everyone else.

"Oyaji! Aang is in jail. The town of Chin says he murdered their leader in a past life" Katara explained.

"They say it was Kyoshi" Sokka added.

"Kyoshi? That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name" Oyaji said, leading the three of them up a gentle slope.

"So, uh, what's Suki up to? Is she around?" Sokka tried to ask casually.

"Who's that?" Meiluna asked looking between Sokka and Katara, who gave her brother a knowing smile.

Sokka felt a blush creep up his neck as he avoided eye contact with the Princess.

"She was a Kyoshi Warrior we met," Katara explained, "She made Sokka wear a dress"

Meiluna couldn't help but laugh as Sokka glared at his sister.

"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war. You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspired her and she wanted to help change the world" Oyaji explained.

"Oh, well, that's great" Sokka mumbled sadly.

The group walked under a large paifang gate towards a temple that sat at the top of a tall hill.

"This temple was converted into a shrine for Kyoshi. The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit. That's her kimono" Oyaji spoke.

Meiluna observed the beautiful article of clothing.

"She has exquisite taste" Katara said approvingly, feeling the kimono.

"Please don't touch!" Oyaji warned.

Katara instantly let go of the robe.

"These fans," Sokka said as he picked up a fan waving it back and forth, "They were her weapons, no?"

"Also refrain from touching the fans" Oyaji added sternly.

"Were these were her boots?" Meiluna asked, staring at a pair of brown shoes.

"Her feet must've been enormous" Katara added as she squatted down beside the boots.

"The biggest of any Avatar" Oyaki spoke proudly.

"Wait a minute, big feet?" Katara spoke to herself, "Little footprint? There's no way-"

Katara was cut off by Meiluna's hand covering her mouth, she turned to Sokka and gave him a small smile and a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Meiluna," Sokka said gratefully before turning to Katara.

"Special outfit? Hat and pipe? These things mean anything to you?" Sokka asked giving her sister an annoyed look.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Katara bowed mockingly, "Please"

"Aha!" Sokka spoke, dramatically raising his hand in the air, "There's no way Kyoshi could have made that footprint, and therefore there is nothing linking her to the crime scene"

Katara looked at him, unimpressed,

"Brilliant Sokka"

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"This piece is called 'The Birth of Kyoshi'. It was painted at sunrise on the day this island was founded. Why, it was today in fact, three hundred and seventy years ago" Oyaji said, bringing Sokka, Katara and Meiluna's attention to the painting.

"Three hundred and seventy years?" Sokka said spinning around very quickly as he spat out some of the bubbles he accidentally swallowed.

"Wait, are you sure it was today?" He asked as he grabbed Oyaji by the collar.

"Oh, seeing how it's Kyoshi Day," He replied, giving Sokka a dirty look as he pushed him back, "Yes, I'm sure"

"This ceremony didn't take place at sunrise, it took place at sunset," Sokka explained, "Look at the shadows"

"They point east, so the sun must've been in the west" Katara remarked.

"So what?" Oyaji challenged.

Sokka shoved Katara out of his way as she yelped.

"If Kyoshi was in the ceremony at sunset, she couldn't have been with Chin committing the crime, she has an alibi!"

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"Honourable Mayor, we have prepared a solid defence for the Avatar" Meiluna told Mayor Tong.

"We did an investigation and found some very strong evidence" Katara added.

"Evidence? That's not how our court system works" Tong said dismissively.

Meiluna furrowed her eyebrows sharing a questioning look with Katara.

"Then how can I prove my innocence?" Aang asked from behind bars.

"Simple. I say what happened, then you say what happened, and then I decide who's right" He explained,

"That's why we call it justice, because it's just us"

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"Everyone loved Chin the Great because he was so great. Then the Avatar showed up and killed him, and that's how it happened" Tong announced emotionally before walking away with a giant smile on his face.

"The accused will now present its argument" A guard spoke in a deep, monotonous voice.

"You can do it Aang. Just remember the evidence" Sokka whispered to the Avatar while Meiluna shot him a reassuring smile.

"Right, evidence. Ladies and gentleman, I'm about to tell you what really happened. And I will prove it with facts," Aang spoke, "Fact number one, uh" He trailed off trying to remember his talking point.

"The footprint!" Sokka whisper-shouted at Aang.

"Oh yeah, You see I have large feet,"

Meiluna let out a defeated sigh as she leaned back in her seat. They had definitely just lost the case.

"Furthermore, your temple matched your statue. But I was in a painting at sunset! So there you have it, I'm not guilty" Aang ended his exposition with a big smile.

The crowd all looked at each other with confusion while Sokka gave Aang a big smile and a thumbs up, before mumbling to the girls beside him,

"Yeah, he's dead"

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"Mayor Tong, I'd like for the court to hear one last testimony" Katara insisted.

"I've already told you, it's just me and the accused. You can't call any witnesses" He dismissed.

"This isn't just any witness. I'm going to call Avatar Kyoshi!" Katara announced dramatically.

A guard escorted Aang, who was dressed in a Kyoshi costume, to the front of the crowd.

"What are you doing?" Sokka whispered as Katara sat back down.

"Well, she is Aang's past life. Maybe wearing her stuff will trigger something" Katara answered hopefully.

"It better, otherwise we just lost and made Aang look like an idiot" Meiluna mumbled, looking at Aang's makeup.

"This is a mockery of Chin Law!" Tong accused.

"Please! If you could