Back at the inn, the kids began packing the groceries onto the counter in Jin's direction.
"That goes there," she would say. Or "Put those in that bowl."
"Hama seems a little strange," Sokka commented.
"You will NOT go looking for trouble," Jin pointed a finger at the boy.
"Hey, where'd Mangetsu go?" Mogui commented.
Muteki sighed heavily. "I'm starting to hate that trick of his."
Jin shook her head with a slight smile.
"Look, forgetting Mangetsu's little hide-and-seek trick," Sokka insisted. "I'm telling you that Hama is... weird. Like in a "she knows something" or a "she's hiding something" kind of way."
"That's ridiculous," Katara scoffed. "She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She kind of reminds me of Gran-Gran."
"Then your Gran-Gran is creepy," Mogui shrugged. "I'm with Sokka on this one; she gives me the creeps."
"She probably ate Mangetsu," Muteki commented as he hoisted a bag of flour onto a shelf. "That's why he's missing."
"Doesn't seem like much of a meal," Jin laughed.
"You're all just being ridiculous; she's a lovely old woman," Katara sniffed.
There was a sudden yelp, followed by a loud thump from somewhere upstairs that startled the group. They quickly hurried upstairs to find Mangetsu lying flat on his back in front of a cabinet with several marionettes hanging by their strings inside.
"Are... are you alright?" Jin questioned.
Mangetsu tilted his head to look at them, then grinned sheepishly.
"Oops?"
"What were you even doing?" Mogui helped the boy back to his feet.
He rubbed the back of his head and his backside with a mildly pained expression.
"I realized we forgot to get new bandages, so I was looking for some," he said.
At the disbelieving expressions on the younger ones' faces, he rolled his eyes and sighed.
"This is an inn, right? There should be bandages somewhere in case someone gets hurt."
"He's got a point there," Muteki shrugged.
"My question is," Mogui eyed the puppets. "What the heck is up with these creepy things?"
"They are pretty creepy," Aang said.
Katara sighed heavily and pushed the doors closed. "Look, so she's got a hobby. There's nothing weird about that."
"Eh, I've seen weirder," Mangetsu shrugged his shoulders then resumed wandering down the hall, opening every other cupboard, albeit, this time, he opened them a little slower and peered in carefully.
"Mangetsu!" Katara called after him. "I'll heal your arm completely; just stop going through her stuff! You're going to get us in trouble!"
"Why would we get in trouble for looking for bandages?" Mangetsu questioned.
Sokka happened to notice the slight glint of mischief in the boy's eyes and caught on.
"Oh! Yeah, we're just looking for basic medical supplies, Katara," Sokka then joined Mangetsu in looking inside random cupboards and rooms.
The older three sighed heavily and shrugged, following at a more leisurely pace and letting the two swordsmen do all the looking. Eventually, Mangetsu seemed to pick a different direction, and the others lost track of him while following Sokka up into a dark attic. He tried the door, only to find it locked.
"Just an ordinary, puppet-loving innkeeper, huh?" Sokka commented. "Then why does she have a locked door up here?"
"Probably to keep people like you from snooping through her stuff," Katara retorted.
"She's got you there, mate," Mogui shrugged.
"We'll see," Sokka peered through the keyhole. "It's empty except for a little chest."
"Maybe it's treasure," Toph said excitedly.
"Depends on your definition of treasure," Jin said.
"True, not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," Mogui grinned.
"Steady on there, Jack," Muteki chuckled.
"Um... Captain Jack, thank you," Mogui said with mock indignance.
Sokka then drew his sword and tried to use it to pick the lock.
"That makes no sense," Jin said, pulling a pin from her hair. "Use this, you nitwit."
"Sokka!" Katara then blinked as the pin passed into her brother's hand. "Jin!!! What are you doing? This is breaking into a private room!"
"I have to see what's in there!" Sokka retorted.
"I gotta admit, I'm curious," Jin shrugged.
There was a click, and the group filed in behind Sokka as he approached the chest.
"We shouldn't be doing this," Aang whispered anxiously.
"Hey, squirt, tell Aang to man - hey, where'd Mangetsu go?" Mogui blinked comically at the sudden realization that Mangetsu was missing. Again.
Jin sighed heavily while Muteki made a comical expression of mock horror.
"THIS time, the old woman ate him!"
"Muteki, stop," Jin sighed again.
Sokka, meanwhile, was looking for a key while Toph was trying to metal bend her bracelet into a key. Unsuccessfully.
"Oh, come on," Jin grumbled, taking her hairpin back from Sokka and immediately trying to pick the lock.
Sokka and Toph leaned over Jin, both barely keeping from bouncing from their excitement.
"Come on, come on," Sokka was practically pulling out his hair.
"Dude, don't rush me," Jin muttered, chewing her lip.
"She'll be back any minute," Toph reminded, also wringing her hands with barely contained anxiety-excitement.
"Yeah, no pressure or anything," Mogui added.
"Not helping!" Jin growled.
"Guys, I don't know about this," Aang said nervously.
"This is crazy; I'm leaving," Katara turned to leave.
"Suit yourself," Sokka called back. "Do it, Jin."
A click and Jin held it up triumphantly. The kids all crammed to see inside, while Jin abandoned the chest to back up away from the overly excited kids and avoid injury. The lid was almost completely open as Sokka opened it agonizingly slow.
"I'll tell you what's in the box."
The sudden voice startled all of them as they all jumped in surprise with a yelp. They all turned to see Hama standing in the doorway and Mangetsu appearing not long after, looking a little put-out.
"There you lot are, did you find bandages? Because Hama found bandages," he held up his rewrapped arm.
"Uh..." Mogui blinked as they all realized that Mangetsu had actually been looking for bandages and wasn't snooping.
Sokka held the box up to the old woman, who smiled sweetly to Mangetsu, then returned to a solemn expression as she reached inside the box and slowly pulled out...
"An old comb?" Sokka questioned in disbelief.
"That's a pretty neat comb," Mangetsu commented, earning another 'dazzling' smiled from the old woman.
"It's my greatest treasure," she said. "It's the last thing I owned from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe."
"Oh yeah, also she's a waterbender," Mangetsu added nonchalantly.
"Dude..." Muteki shook his head at the boy.