Chapter 4 - Laundry Day
Submitted April 30, 2005 Updated February 28, 2007 Status Complete | UPDATED 2/28/07 Added 14 For full Summery see chapter titled summery. Aang needs a firebending teacher before time runs out. Zuko still wants to capture him. But what happens when he meets an old friend of Uncle Iroh’s and learns . . .
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Cartoons » Avatar: The Last Airbender |
Chapter 4 - Laundry Day
Chapter 4 - Laundry Day
III
Laundry Day
Katara was furious. How was it that every single time laundry day came around, Sokka and Aang both disappeared leaving her with Sokka’s socks? Just once she would like Sokka to wash his own socks!
Aang wasn’t half bad with helping her out. For some time he’d actually done most of the laundry himself. But Aang too grew tired of Sokka’s socks. He’d let her take over claiming that he no longer needed to practice his water bending. He ignored her every time Katara pointed out that he still used his water bending every chance he got.
Katara growled as she began washing the socks. Perhaps if Sokka washed his own socks he wouldn’t wear them three days in a row. She was convinced that was the only way Sokka’s socks could smell so bad.
Either way the entire problem boiled down to Katara stuck alone in the Omashu wash room doing laundry while the others were off having fun. Granted Aang was probably somewhere getting last minute earth bending moves from King Bumi and Toph, if they weren’t going down the world’s fastest slide, and Sokka was probably practicing with the palace guard, but that didn’t change the fact that she was stuck with Sokka’s socks.
Katara sighed and she settled down to finish the laundry. She intended to be done by mid morning in hopes that they could pack and leave at noon. That was the plan anyway, to be done and leave after lunch. Bumi claimed he and Toph no longer had anything left to teach Aang, and that all the boy needed now was practice, which Aang could easily do on his own. Toph wanted to stay in the palace a while longer. She said she felt at home here. The problem was that there was no one to teach the Avatar fire bending. When the boy had asked why they were going to search for a teacher of one art when he hadn’t fully mastered the other it had surprisingly been Sokka who pointed out the fact that since they were fighting the Fire Nation, a fire bending teacher was going to prove all but impossible to find. Well that wasn’t quite how Sokka had said it, but it all boiled down to the same thing.
About an hour later just as Katara was finishing drying the cloths. (It was quite easy to pull the water from them and poor it back into the wash tub.) Sokka himself pocked his head into the room, peeking carefully around the corner to make sure she truly was done before entering.
“You need any help?”
“You could have asked that an hour ago,” she growled.
“Sorry. I was getting a last minute lesson from Mozi,” he said referring to the guard who had offered to teach him the earth kingdom style of fighting. “Anyway who could stay inside on a day like this? The sun’s out, the birds’re chirping, the city’s in full bloom of Market day . . .”
“Someone who had to sit inside for an hour washing your socks!”
Sokka waved the comment aside. “Anyway Aang is saddling Appa and Bumi has a few things he wants to say to us before we go.”
“Then here.” Katara said smiling sweetly as she pushed a pile of clean laundry into Sokka’s arms, “If you fold, I can get the last of my stuff.”
Sokka sighed, but nodded in agreement and held up a shirt for examination.
Sokka was right, Katara decided as she walked through the halls, sun shining through the window arches and snatches of bird song floating in on the cool breeze. No one could stay grumpy for long on a day like this. She quickly found and packed all of her belongings and leaving them with Aang and Appa in the court yard returned to the wash room.
To her great surprise she actually found Sokka doing what she had requested of him. It was quite a sight to see her older brother sitting in the middle of the floor with stacks of folded laundry on all sides. And wonder of wonders he actually seemed to know what he was doing.
“I don’t know how you do it,” He said looking up at her expectantly, “but I separated it into my stuff, your stuff, Aang’s stuff, and King Bumi’s new robes.”
“King . . .” Katara trailed off at a loss for words until Sokka held up what appeared to be a frilly, lemon yellow, bath robe. “Oh, I wondered . . .”
“Come on; let’s get these down to Appa. Sooner we finish packing, sooner we can hit the road.”
“You mean skies”
“Whatever.” Katara quickly gathered her own pile and held the door open for Sokka who was managing to juggle his stuff and Aang’s, as well as the lemon yellow robe.
“So do you know where we’re going?” she asked as she walked behind him.
Sokka frowned. “Well I don’t know what anyone else had for an idea, but I was thinking last night . . .”
“You[/i]? Thinking?”
“Katara let me finish . . .”
“Sorry couldn’t resist.”
“Well, Aang needs to learn Fire bending right?”
“Right.”
“Which means we need to find him a teacher.”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well Haru and his father were going to take back their village. So maybe they’ve captured a solder or something. Some one we could bargain with to teach Aang. Some one who won’t let him try too much too soon. I don’t[/i] want you burned again!”
“Hey he did apologize . . .”
“Still we want some one who can teach him control as well as bending.”
Sokka continued to talk as they walked, but Katara’s thoughts had taken another turn. What would it be like to see Haru again? True he wasn’t quite as good looking as Jet had been, nor was he as well trained to fight, but he was kind . . . she should her head. What was she thinking?
***
“What do you mean you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Sokka exploded. Katara sighed and leaned back in her seat as Aang and Sokka continued to argue, Sokka leaning over the saddle to talk to Aang who was sitting just behind Appa’s head.
They were high enough in the sky that every thing below looked like ants, and they were still climbing.
“I just don’t want to force anyone to teach me fire bending.” Aang said calmly.
“I wasn’t suggesting forcing anyone . . . I only meant . . .”
“You want me to learn from a captured soldier. Someone in prison wouldn’t really have any choice.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“I don’t . . .”
“See Katara he shoots my idea down with out having one of his own!”
“Hey leave me out of it!” Katara protested.
“Wait! I do too have an idea.”
“Well let’s hear it!”
“We find Shyu.”
“What?”
“We find Fire Sage Shyu and ask him if he’ll teach me. Jeong Jeong won’t any more, not after I messed up so badly, plus he’s vanished . . . But Shyu might.”
“Aang,” Sokka interrupted.
“What?”
“SHYU WAS CAPTURED BY THE FIRE NATION!”
“All the more reason he’ll want to help us. If we can get him free . . .”
“You know, usually I’m the one who comes up with the crazy ideas, but ARE YOU NUTS! You can’t just break some one out of a fire nation prison!”
“It’s not as hard as you might think.” Aang protested.
“I mean what are you going to do? Walk up to an Admiral and say ‘excuse me sir, but I’m giving myself up, could you please make sure I’m placed in a cell next to Fire Sage Shyu . . .”
“Well not exactly . . .”
“Katara help me out here.”
Katara sighed. “I hate to say it Aang, but Sokka has a point. We don’t even know where Shyu is, if he’s even still alive. At least if we visit Haru’s village we might find some one to teach you a little bit while we look for a teacher who’ll teach you every thing. We can look for Shyu afterwards, but at least you’ll be learning something while we look. We can’t afford a wild goose chase Aang. We just don’t have the time.”
“So . . . what you’re saying.” Aang asked, “Is that Sokka’s prisoner will only teach me while we look for some one who wants to teach me?”
“Something like that.”
Sometime later they had landed on the outskirts of their destination and headed into the village. Katara kept her eyes peeled for anyone she might know, but had so far seen no sign of any one familiar. Sokka had stopped in the middle of the street questioning passers by, only to learn that any captured fire benders had been sent to the nest village over. It was also implied that the next village over had been slightly more inclined to be kinder to the prisoners.
He was telling them this, and Aang was looking more and more worried when Katara noticed that Sokka seemed to be suppressing a rather large grin. She wondered for a moment what could be so funny, when she felt a large pair of strong hands encircle her waist and she was lifted into the air, much as a father might lift a two year old child.
“Katara it is good to see you and your friends again,” a deep voice said. When she was placed back on the ground she turned to find her self facing Haru’s father Tyro. Haru himself was standing off to the side looking as though he had just witnessed the funniest thing in the world, but wasn’t allowed to laugh.
“So what brings you back to our meager little village?”
“Well . . .” Sokka started, but Katara cut him off.
“We were looking for some one to teach Aang to fire bend. We were hoping you might have some ideas.”
“Ahhh.” Haru’s father turned and motioned for them to fallow. “Let’s go some where we can talk.”
***
“I do not think we have any here who can[/i] teach you to fire bend. Nor do I think any of those sent to our sister village would be willing to corporate under any circumstances.” They were in Haru’s family home sitting around a low table. “The type of teacher you want Aang, is some one who will teach you everything. Even the lowest soldier will have a trick they will keep back.
“This means you are looking for some one who has virtually no ties to the Fire Nation, or some one who has committed treason of one form or another.”
“We were thinking Fire Sage Shyu might help us, except there is one problem . . .”Aang started.
“Yes?”
“He was captured some time ago and . . .”
“You have no idea where he is nor how to get him out?” Aang nodded. “Well I can not help you there, not would I were I able?”
“Why not?
“Because it is a foolish plan. The Fire Lord is not known for his mercy. It is even said he scared his own son. No the Fire Sage is probably already dead.
“But there may be another way. Stay here with us. Practice your bending. Eat and rest. Tomorrow morning I will tell you my idea.”
The small group shared a look as Haru’s father left the room. Haru sighed and looked at Aang. “Well I have a few trick I’d like you show you if you haven’t seen them yet, and maybe you have a few you could show me?”
Laundry Day
Katara was furious. How was it that every single time laundry day came around, Sokka and Aang both disappeared leaving her with Sokka’s socks? Just once she would like Sokka to wash his own socks!
Aang wasn’t half bad with helping her out. For some time he’d actually done most of the laundry himself. But Aang too grew tired of Sokka’s socks. He’d let her take over claiming that he no longer needed to practice his water bending. He ignored her every time Katara pointed out that he still used his water bending every chance he got.
Katara growled as she began washing the socks. Perhaps if Sokka washed his own socks he wouldn’t wear them three days in a row. She was convinced that was the only way Sokka’s socks could smell so bad.
Either way the entire problem boiled down to Katara stuck alone in the Omashu wash room doing laundry while the others were off having fun. Granted Aang was probably somewhere getting last minute earth bending moves from King Bumi and Toph, if they weren’t going down the world’s fastest slide, and Sokka was probably practicing with the palace guard, but that didn’t change the fact that she was stuck with Sokka’s socks.
Katara sighed and she settled down to finish the laundry. She intended to be done by mid morning in hopes that they could pack and leave at noon. That was the plan anyway, to be done and leave after lunch. Bumi claimed he and Toph no longer had anything left to teach Aang, and that all the boy needed now was practice, which Aang could easily do on his own. Toph wanted to stay in the palace a while longer. She said she felt at home here. The problem was that there was no one to teach the Avatar fire bending. When the boy had asked why they were going to search for a teacher of one art when he hadn’t fully mastered the other it had surprisingly been Sokka who pointed out the fact that since they were fighting the Fire Nation, a fire bending teacher was going to prove all but impossible to find. Well that wasn’t quite how Sokka had said it, but it all boiled down to the same thing.
About an hour later just as Katara was finishing drying the cloths. (It was quite easy to pull the water from them and poor it back into the wash tub.) Sokka himself pocked his head into the room, peeking carefully around the corner to make sure she truly was done before entering.
“You need any help?”
“You could have asked that an hour ago,” she growled.
“Sorry. I was getting a last minute lesson from Mozi,” he said referring to the guard who had offered to teach him the earth kingdom style of fighting. “Anyway who could stay inside on a day like this? The sun’s out, the birds’re chirping, the city’s in full bloom of Market day . . .”
“Someone who had to sit inside for an hour washing your socks!”
Sokka waved the comment aside. “Anyway Aang is saddling Appa and Bumi has a few things he wants to say to us before we go.”
“Then here.” Katara said smiling sweetly as she pushed a pile of clean laundry into Sokka’s arms, “If you fold, I can get the last of my stuff.”
Sokka sighed, but nodded in agreement and held up a shirt for examination.
Sokka was right, Katara decided as she walked through the halls, sun shining through the window arches and snatches of bird song floating in on the cool breeze. No one could stay grumpy for long on a day like this. She quickly found and packed all of her belongings and leaving them with Aang and Appa in the court yard returned to the wash room.
To her great surprise she actually found Sokka doing what she had requested of him. It was quite a sight to see her older brother sitting in the middle of the floor with stacks of folded laundry on all sides. And wonder of wonders he actually seemed to know what he was doing.
“I don’t know how you do it,” He said looking up at her expectantly, “but I separated it into my stuff, your stuff, Aang’s stuff, and King Bumi’s new robes.”
“King . . .” Katara trailed off at a loss for words until Sokka held up what appeared to be a frilly, lemon yellow, bath robe. “Oh, I wondered . . .”
“Come on; let’s get these down to Appa. Sooner we finish packing, sooner we can hit the road.”
“You mean skies”
“Whatever.” Katara quickly gathered her own pile and held the door open for Sokka who was managing to juggle his stuff and Aang’s, as well as the lemon yellow robe.
“So do you know where we’re going?” she asked as she walked behind him.
Sokka frowned. “Well I don’t know what anyone else had for an idea, but I was thinking last night . . .”
“You[/i]? Thinking?”
“Katara let me finish . . .”
“Sorry couldn’t resist.”
“Well, Aang needs to learn Fire bending right?”
“Right.”
“Which means we need to find him a teacher.”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well Haru and his father were going to take back their village. So maybe they’ve captured a solder or something. Some one we could bargain with to teach Aang. Some one who won’t let him try too much too soon. I don’t[/i] want you burned again!”
“Hey he did apologize . . .”
“Still we want some one who can teach him control as well as bending.”
Sokka continued to talk as they walked, but Katara’s thoughts had taken another turn. What would it be like to see Haru again? True he wasn’t quite as good looking as Jet had been, nor was he as well trained to fight, but he was kind . . . she should her head. What was she thinking?
***
“What do you mean you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Sokka exploded. Katara sighed and leaned back in her seat as Aang and Sokka continued to argue, Sokka leaning over the saddle to talk to Aang who was sitting just behind Appa’s head.
They were high enough in the sky that every thing below looked like ants, and they were still climbing.
“I just don’t want to force anyone to teach me fire bending.” Aang said calmly.
“I wasn’t suggesting forcing anyone . . . I only meant . . .”
“You want me to learn from a captured soldier. Someone in prison wouldn’t really have any choice.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“I don’t . . .”
“See Katara he shoots my idea down with out having one of his own!”
“Hey leave me out of it!” Katara protested.
“Wait! I do too have an idea.”
“Well let’s hear it!”
“We find Shyu.”
“What?”
“We find Fire Sage Shyu and ask him if he’ll teach me. Jeong Jeong won’t any more, not after I messed up so badly, plus he’s vanished . . . But Shyu might.”
“Aang,” Sokka interrupted.
“What?”
“SHYU WAS CAPTURED BY THE FIRE NATION!”
“All the more reason he’ll want to help us. If we can get him free . . .”
“You know, usually I’m the one who comes up with the crazy ideas, but ARE YOU NUTS! You can’t just break some one out of a fire nation prison!”
“It’s not as hard as you might think.” Aang protested.
“I mean what are you going to do? Walk up to an Admiral and say ‘excuse me sir, but I’m giving myself up, could you please make sure I’m placed in a cell next to Fire Sage Shyu . . .”
“Well not exactly . . .”
“Katara help me out here.”
Katara sighed. “I hate to say it Aang, but Sokka has a point. We don’t even know where Shyu is, if he’s even still alive. At least if we visit Haru’s village we might find some one to teach you a little bit while we look for a teacher who’ll teach you every thing. We can look for Shyu afterwards, but at least you’ll be learning something while we look. We can’t afford a wild goose chase Aang. We just don’t have the time.”
“So . . . what you’re saying.” Aang asked, “Is that Sokka’s prisoner will only teach me while we look for some one who wants to teach me?”
“Something like that.”
Sometime later they had landed on the outskirts of their destination and headed into the village. Katara kept her eyes peeled for anyone she might know, but had so far seen no sign of any one familiar. Sokka had stopped in the middle of the street questioning passers by, only to learn that any captured fire benders had been sent to the nest village over. It was also implied that the next village over had been slightly more inclined to be kinder to the prisoners.
He was telling them this, and Aang was looking more and more worried when Katara noticed that Sokka seemed to be suppressing a rather large grin. She wondered for a moment what could be so funny, when she felt a large pair of strong hands encircle her waist and she was lifted into the air, much as a father might lift a two year old child.
“Katara it is good to see you and your friends again,” a deep voice said. When she was placed back on the ground she turned to find her self facing Haru’s father Tyro. Haru himself was standing off to the side looking as though he had just witnessed the funniest thing in the world, but wasn’t allowed to laugh.
“So what brings you back to our meager little village?”
“Well . . .” Sokka started, but Katara cut him off.
“We were looking for some one to teach Aang to fire bend. We were hoping you might have some ideas.”
“Ahhh.” Haru’s father turned and motioned for them to fallow. “Let’s go some where we can talk.”
***
“I do not think we have any here who can[/i] teach you to fire bend. Nor do I think any of those sent to our sister village would be willing to corporate under any circumstances.” They were in Haru’s family home sitting around a low table. “The type of teacher you want Aang, is some one who will teach you everything. Even the lowest soldier will have a trick they will keep back.
“This means you are looking for some one who has virtually no ties to the Fire Nation, or some one who has committed treason of one form or another.”
“We were thinking Fire Sage Shyu might help us, except there is one problem . . .”Aang started.
“Yes?”
“He was captured some time ago and . . .”
“You have no idea where he is nor how to get him out?” Aang nodded. “Well I can not help you there, not would I were I able?”
“Why not?
“Because it is a foolish plan. The Fire Lord is not known for his mercy. It is even said he scared his own son. No the Fire Sage is probably already dead.
“But there may be another way. Stay here with us. Practice your bending. Eat and rest. Tomorrow morning I will tell you my idea.”
The small group shared a look as Haru’s father left the room. Haru sighed and looked at Aang. “Well I have a few trick I’d like you show you if you haven’t seen them yet, and maybe you have a few you could show me?”
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