Redeemed (Sokka x O.C.) ‐ Finished- Trigger Warning In Discription

14: The Dai Li

It had been almost a three weeks since the party and Tu Cho knew they were being watched. She didn't have to see the Dai Li agents to know they were everywhere. She could sense them. And that's why she would decline going outside when ever possible.

Tu Cho held her stomach, hoping she wasn't about to barf again. At two months pregnant morning sickness had already gotten very old. The nausea quickly subsided. Tu Cho walked out of her room that she was sharing with Katara to find that Sokka had spread many childish looking pictures across the floor. "What are all these?" she asked as she gathered the papers in her hands.

"They're my pictures of Appa. I just can't seem to get it right..." He continued hard at work on another.

Toph gave a shrug as Momo licked her toes. "He's been at it most of the morning."

"Right..." Tu Cho set the papers down. "They don't look..." Tu Cho covered her mouth as vile rose in her throat. She ran for the back room and bent over the toilet.

"Didn't think they were that bad!" Sokka called after her, jokingly.

~~~

Later Tu Cho sat with Katara and Sokka watching them play a card game. "Katara..."

Katara stared at her cards. "Yeah, To Cho?"

"I'd like your help with something later tonight, okay? It's important..."

"If it's important wouldn't it be better to do it now?" Sokka asked.

"Nope," Tu Cho said as her face flushed. "It has to wait until later."

Toph gave a laugh. "Chicken."

"Shut up," Tu Cho hissed at her.

"What was that?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"You're blind, not deaf. Don't try that with me, little missy." Tu Cho stood to stretch her back. "Aang is going to be back soon."

"How do you know?" Toph asked.

Tu Cho shrugged. "I just do. How do you see with Earth Bending?"

"Just do," Toph responded. She paused. "Fair point."

Suddenly Aang bust through the door. "I just finished dropping all the leaflets. Has anyone come in with news about Appa?"

Katara continued studying her cards. "It's only been a day, just be patient. "

Aang, dejected, settled to rest his chin on the table. A moment later there was a rapping on the front door. Aang sat up eagerly. "Wow, you're right! Patience really pays off." He ran to open the door. " Joo Dee?"

Joo Dee had her usual eerie grin. "Hello, Aang and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Tu Cho."

They all gathered to talk to her but Tu Cho stayed toward the back of the circle.

Sokka asked, "What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"

Joo Dee dismissed this as crazy talk. "What, jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."

Toph responded with, "But you disappeared at the Earth King's party."

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing." Joo Dee's smile never faultered. Tu Cho and Sokka gained matching expressions of suspicion at her words.

"But then they replaced you with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee," Katara explained.

Joo Dee responded with a cheerful, "I'm Joo Dee."

"Yep. That's about what I thought." Tu Cho turned away and sat back at the table. She rubbed her swollen ankles as she listened to the conversation continue.

Joo Dee's face never changed in the same way a dolls face never would. "You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."

Aang's face went red and he was steaming with frustration. He yelled, "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES, AND WE'RE NOT ASKING PERMISSON!" Joo Dee backed away from him as he flared his arms in anger. "We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" He slammed the door shut.

Sokka said, thoughtfully, "That might come back to bite us in the blubber."

Aang glared at the door. "I don't care. From now on we do whatever it takes to find Appa.

Toph raised her arms in the air. "YEAH! Let's break some rules!" She punched a hole into the wall with earth bending.