When Worlds Collide: Book Two, Earth

Chapter Fifteen

"I can't believe how many people's lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation," Katara said. 

"There all looking for a better life," the man, Fong, said. "Safe, behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." 

"It's terrible," I murmered. "I've never seen anything so horrible." 

"It's how a lot things are now-a-days," Fong sighed. 

To our left, we could see a line of people, waiting to get their tickets. We joined them, and I tried to ignore everything around me. 

Soon, there was only one man in front of us, and the woman was yelling at him, something about vegetables not being allowed on the ferry. I watched a giant bear-like creature (did Aang say it was a platypus-bear?) destroy a cart of the mans cabages, and the poor geezer had to be carried away. 

"Next!" the woman screamed, and I jumped behind Sokka and Katara, while Aang went up to the lady. 

"Um... four tickets to Ba Sing Se, please," he stuttered. 

"Passports?" the woman spat, not looking up. 

"Um... no one told us we had to have passports," Aang admitted. 

"Don't you know who this is?" Sokka asked, stepping up. "He's the Avatar." 

The woman only shrugged. "I see fifty avatars a day. And by the way, not a very impressive costume." She pointed off to the side, where a group of people dressed like Aang were hanging out. Only one of them looked vaguely similar to the real Aang, but he was still pretty far off. Momo popped his head to have a look too, and the woman sneered. "Besides," she added, "no animals allowed. Do I need to call security?" 

Aang glanced at the platypus-bear, and Momo shrunk back. "That won't be necessary," he said quickly, backing up. 

"Next!" the woman hollered, and Toph stepped up. 

"I'll take care of this," she promised, and slid a shiny green passport onto the crabby ladys desk. "My name is Toph Bei Fong, and I need four tickets." 

I saw the hag's eyes widen, and she gasped. "Ah! The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family." 

She gave an awkward bow, and I raised my eyebrows. Maybe she has a bottle under her desk, and took a swig when I wasn't looking... 

"It is your pleasure," Toph said, slightly turning. "As you can see, I am blind, and these four imbeciles are my valets." 

"But... the animal-" the lady started, but was cut off by Toph. 

"-Is my seeing eye lemur." 

"Well, normally, it is only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official, I... guess it's worth four tickets," the lady said, and stamped four times, before handing the tickets to Toph. 

"Thank you very much," Toph said, and I smirked. 

As we walked away, Sokka celebrated. "All right, we scammed that lady good!" he cheered. 

It suddenly became quiet, and I laughed. "It's a miracle," I chuckled. "He can be quiet!" 

I turned, and was shocked to see a girl guard kissing him on the cheek. 

"Guys?" I called, and the others stopped. 

"Sukki!" Sokka beamed, and the girl, Sukki grinned. 

"It's great to see you again, Sokka!" Sukki led us to a little lookout area, where we could all talk. 

"You look so different without your make up," Katara admitted. "And... that new outfit." 

"That crazy lady makes all the security guards wear them," Sukki sighed, and shrugged. "And look at you, sleeveless guy," She said, turning to Sokka. "Been working out?" 

"Oh, I'll grab a tree branch, and do a few chin touches every now and then," Sokka bragged, trying to flex his muscles. "Nothing major."