Aya's POV
"I can't believe it. I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed... untouchable." Aang spoke in a shocked tone, turning to us with a sorrowful look.
Maybe that's why the Fire Nation was near. They were here to take over Omashu, but I could be completely wrong.
Sokka crosses his arms over his chest. "Up until now it was. Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."
"This is horrible." I stepped forward to stand next to Aang with Bubbles attached to my arm like always.
"It is, but we have to move on." Katara declared and I glanced at her. She has a point but Bumi is there and is also Aang's friend.
"No, I'm going in to find Bumi." Aang denied.
"Aang, stop. We don't even know if Bumi's still..."
"What?!" Aang asked, angrily. "If he's still what?"
Sokka's expression became unsure. "A-around."
"I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you earthbending." Katara reasoned with our Avatar friend.
"But Bumi is Aang's friend." I countered with a soft voice.
"Yeah, this isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend." Aang agreed.
We decided to go below Omashu's front gate and open a door to a secret tunnel to get in to the city. We couldn't be seen by the Fire Nation so we have to enter Omashu by a tunnel.
Aang was attempting to open the entrance to the secret tunnel.
"A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?" Sokka asked.
Aang manages to open the tunnel but inside was filled with sewage and I mentally gagged.
"Oh god," I muttered with disgust.
"Ugh!" Sokka grimaced.
"That answer your question?" Aang asked.
"Eww!" Sokka shivered.
We carefully proceeded through the tunnel and trudged through the sewage. Aang purposely kept me close to I wouldn't get covered in sewage and conjures an airball with his staff to clear the path and Katara waterbended the sewage away. Sokka, on the other hand, was probably getting soaked in the disgusting sewage.
My arms were wrapped around Aang's neck as we walked through the sewage. Bubbles was on my back as we maneuvered through it.
After a good minute or two, we managed to make it through and Aang, Katara, and I didn't have any sewage on us. I let go of Aang and turned to Sokka, who was covered in the foul substance.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought." Katara mentioned.
Sinks emerges from the sewage covered in it. Katara waterbends nearby water and splashes Sokka with it so it washes of the sewage. Aang airbends Sokka to dry him off. Suddenly Sokka screams when he is completely cleaned off and spots three small creatures has attached to his skin.
Sokka panics and tries to yank off the bugs. "Ahh! They won't let go! Help!"
Aang quickly tackles Sokka to a wall in order to silence him.
"Shh! Stop making so much noise. It's just a purple pentapus." Aang assured him.
Sokka gives the pentapuses a look of fear as Aang removes the first pentapuses by rubbing its head. Sokka rubs the spot where that pentapus was as Aang removes one and Sokka removes another.
Several Fire Nation guards approach us and I look at Sokka and Aang. They might notice the marks on Sokka and question us.
"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?" One of the soldiers ask us. Katara grabs my hand like a mother would with her daughter. We quickly cover Aang's tattoo without them noticing.
"Sorry. We were just on our way home." Katara informed the guards before we turned to walk away.
"Wait, what's the matter with him?"
We halted in our tracks and turned around. I mentally groaned. I knew it.
"Uh, he has pentapox, sir." Katara explained as the guard approached us. "Umm, it's highly contagious."
Sokka pretends to act sick. "Oh, it's so awful. I'm dying."
"And deadly." Katara adds.
"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox! Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" The second guard asked the first guard.
"We'd better go wash our hands, and burn our clothes." The first guard suggested before they both run away in fear.
"Thank you, little sewer friends." I smiled with relief at the pentapuses.
——
Later that day, twilight casted over us and we were sneaking around Omashu. Bubbles fell asleep during that time period but thankfully kept her grasp around my back. The six of us hid behind some metal bars that were being used for construction purposes. A patrol passes us and we didn't get spotted.
"Let's find Bumi and get out of here." Katara stated in a rushed tone.
"Where would they be keeping him?" I asked, mainly looking at Aang.
"Somewhere he can't earthbend. Somewhere made of metal." Aang answered before we continued down our path.
We stopped abruptly when a rock rolled down a track and we saw a group of Fire Nation people walking by. Looked like a family to me.
Aang acted fast and destroyed the boulder with his airbending.
"The resistance!" The older woman with a child called.
You're welcome by the way. Thanks for exposing us.
The teenage girl immediately spreads her arms out and sends multiple tiny arrows at Aang, who dodges them swiftly and the arrows hit the construction material behind him. All of us begin to run away as two Fire Nation guards climb up and chase us. I quickly turn around and form two fire balls and shoot them at the guards. Catching them off guard(Haha, "off guard"), they get sent back into the deep and the teenage girl approaches me. She sends tiny arrows at me but I pull out my daggers and hit each one away. The girl continues to charge at me and I run away from her. I catch up to Aang and the others who are waiting for me.
The teenage girl easily catches up to us and Aang uses his airbending to cause some of the construction scaffolding to collapse. The girl notices this and sends a throwing star at him, but Aang twirls his staff in front of it and catches the star with it. The girl continues to throw more arrows at us, but the ground beneath us opens up, causing us to fall and it rapidly closes once we're inside.
I looked around the area we fell into and it was room with a group of people looking at us. The room had green sewage dripping from the ceiling and it smelled like Sokka's feet.
My sister and I share a disorientated look as the two boys rub their heads. Bubbles awakens but didn't move from her position and just chitters.
——
Turns out these people underground are the resistance and are fighting for their kingdom. The small tunnel had hundreds of people inside, fighting for their lives. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and I enter the large room through a tunnel and we were talking to three other men.
"So, is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang asked the man who seemed to be the leader.
The mad balled his fists in anger at Aang's question.
"Of course not! The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city... to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." The man explained and I felt sorrow rush through me.
I turned to Aang who was disconcerted by the news of his friend. I gave Aang a sorrowfully expression and touched his shoulder, assuringly.
"The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said..." The man stopped for a moment before continuing. "I'm going to do...nothing!"
I met King Bumi once and it seems like something he would do. Think of something like this as a joke and just sit back and relax.
"It doesn't matter now." The man continued and I glanced at Aang who was still downcast. "Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for."
The man smiles at the end of his speech but Aang quickly speaks up.
"Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."
Aang makes a good point. Retreating now would mean they would live to fight another day and win this fight.
"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!" The man expressed using big hand gestures to make his point clear.
"I don't know, Yung, living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me." A resistance fighter reasoned with the leader who was apparently named, Yung.
Another fighter stepped forward and points to himself. "Yeah, I'm with the kid!"
All the people who were taken underground start to whisper to one another as Yung ponders Aang's idea.
"Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?" Yung asked.
"Suckers!" Sokka suddenly yells out. We all give Sokka an odd look as the animals chirp questionably at my brother and Sokka smiles broadly.
Lollipops?
"You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."
Oh, I get it now. It's not a delicious treat, it's a disgusting disease.
All the refuges agreed with Sokka's plan and got covered with marks from the pentapai. They looked sick from all the spots on their skin but they needed to act it so it will seem believable.
After seeing them for awhile, the pentapai seem adorable. They don't actually hurt you, they just stick to you.
After all the refuges got 'pentapoxed', Sokka observed their work.
"The marks make ya look sick, but you gotta act sick too. Ya gotta sell it!" Sokka exclaimed.
Right then, an elderly man hobbled by with a cane and moans in pain. I don't think that's acting.
Sokka wraps an arm around the guy next to him. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
The elderly man turns to us and smiles. "Years of practice." He taps his wooden leg with his cane.
"Okay everyone! Into sick formation." Sokka ordered and all the civilians head for the gates of Omashu.
We start to follow but Aang didn't move. I stopped and turned to him.
"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us." I asked him and he turns to me.
"No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." Aang declares and Momo hopped onto his shoulder. "Sorry Momo, I'll feed you later." Aang removes the lemur off his shoulder.
"Be careful." I advised him. Aang gave me a nod before he airbends into the sky and leaps across the buildings.
I glanced at Momo and set Bubbles down next to him.
"Momo, keep Bubbles with you, okay?" I told him and Momo chitters. Bubbles gives me a sad look and I petted her fur. "I'll be back, okay?"
She chitters sadly at me before I turn away and catch up with everyone else.
Katara, Sokka, and I cover ourselves with spots from the pentapai before we infiltrate the Fire Nation guards.
All of us pretended to act sick and moan as we approached the guards. They seemed scared of us. Disgusted by us, the guards retreat.
"Plague! Plague!" A guard called and they start to flee from us. Above us, a gong starts to ring to alert the issue. We continued our path through the city, still pretending to be sick and head through the gates.
——
That night, we all managed to make it out of the city and set up camp for all of us. Bubbles and Momo were safe too but Aang wasn't back yet. I was starting to get worried.
In the distance, I saw two figures walk towards us. I recognized them as Aang and a huge creature. As the got closer, I was able to tell that is was Bumi's pet, Flopsie.
"Aang." I smiled and my siblings looked up and saw them. The three of us run up to them and I tackled Aang in a hug before he spoke.
"We looked everywhere. No Bumi." Aang told us, sadly. I once again hugged Aang, who was too upset to hug back. Katara joined us and Sokka hugged Flopsie.
"We've got a problem."
We turned around to see Yung had approached us.
"We just did head count."
"Oh no, did someone got left behind?" Katara questions, worriedly.
"No, we have an extra." Yung responds. He points to the side and we look to see Momo and Bubbles straggling forward with a cute baby attached to them.
We just stare at the trio for a moment.
Not knowing what to do with the baby, we had to keep it safe. We could be wrong, but we think that baby is a Fire Nation baby and we might be in trouble if they find out that he is missing.
Aang, Sokka, Katara, Yung, a few resistance fighters, and Flopsie all surround one of the campfires. The baby was still trying to catch Momo and Bubbles but they both leap and run away from him. Bubbles hops onto my lap, scared of the young child, and I hold her. The baby notices Sokka's boomerang and picks it up as he falls onto his butt. He starts to suck on it and Sokka interrupts this.
"No!" Sokka snatches his weapon. "Bad Fire Nation baby!"
The baby bursts out crying and Katara whacks her brother in the head for making the child cry. I give my brother a glare and he gives in.
"Oh, alright." Sokka hands the child his boomerang and the child becomes happy again.
Katara hugs the baby from behind and cuddles him. "Oh! You're so cute!" She kisses the baby's cheek.
"Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army." Yung spoke. Katara continues to play with the baby and Sokka is still annoyed by the child. "You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."
Katara picks up the baby and shows Yung.
"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?" She asked Yung.
In the distance, a loud shriek was heard. Behind us, a hawk lands and it looked like a hawk that delivers messages. A messenger hawk, perhaps?
"A messenger hawk!" Yung exclaims.
I was right.
Aang retrieved the message from the hawk and unrolled it. He skimmed it.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son." Aang informed us. "So, he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."
——
The following day, we agreed to make the trade to return the baby for Bumi. It could be a trap for all we know but it could be wrong. I think the governor wants his son back just as much as we all want the King back.
"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap." Sokka asked Aang who was carrying the baby in his arms.
"I don't think so. I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi." Aang reasoned, smiling at the sleeping baby. "It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."
The four of us, plus the baby, arrive at the spot we were meeting for the trade. Three girls walk toward us and I recognized the middle one as the girl who attacked us yesterday and the one on the right was Princess Azula, Zuko's sister, and the other girl, I had no idea who she was.
I heard laughter above us and I saw King Bumi's head sticking out of a metal cage that was being lowered down by a crane.
"Hi everybody!" He snorted as the cage made contact with the ground.
"You brought my brother?" The middle girl asked and I was shocked by this. I didn't know the baby was her little brother.
"He's here. We're ready to trade." Aang spoke.
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?" Azula interjected.
"Of course not, Princess Azula." The girl said.
"We're trading a two-year old for a king." Azula reasoned, glancing at Bumi. "A powerful, earthbending king?"
Bumi nods. "Mmm hmmm!"
"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Azula asked and I glared at her. I can see the similarity between her and Zuko now.
The girl ponders this for a moment before she walked forward. "You're right. The deal's off."
The girl holds up her hand and Bumi is lifted up into the sky.
"Whhhoa! See you all later!" Bumi laughs, amused by all this.
"Bumi!" Aang calls before he sprints forward to attack. Azula tries to block his path with her firebending but Aang leaps into the air and gets on his glider.
Azula runs out of sight to chase Aang and I wanted to help but we had to deal with the other girls.
Both girls ran toward us and I pulled out my daggers.
"We've got to get the baby out of here!" Katara exclaimed. I glanced at Sokka who was blowing the bison whistle.
"Way ahead of ya." He grinned. The three of us start to head for the edge of the platform but Sokka is suddenly knocked off his feet and slides across the platform and almost falls off.
The girl in the pink heads toward Sokka and I and Katara faces the other girl. I block my brother and the baby and face her. She seems agile and nimble but so am I.
I launch one of my daggers at her but she bends back far enough to dodge it. She stands straight up and Katara uses her water whip to grab the girl's ankle and trips her.
Sokka stands up and heads to a nearby ladder and climbs down it. I quickly pick up my dagger and decide to follow Sokka and climb down with him. We find Appa quickly and board him so we can grab Katara, Aang, and Bumi and get out of here.
We fly back to my sister who seems to be having trouble and couldn't fight.
"How are you gonna fight without your bending?" The girl in Fire Nation clothing taunted. I hopped off Appa and landed behind them.
I grabbed my dagger and knocked the sai out of the girl's hand. Both girls were shocked by this and I used this time to whack the both of them in their heads with the handles on my daggers and they both fell for the floor, dazed
"My brother and I seem to manage!" I exclaimed. Katara gave me a smile and I winked. Appa landed in front of us and I moved out of the way so Appa could slam his tail and send both girls flying. Katara and I board Appa and we flew away to find Aang and Bumi.
We searched for them and I found Aang.
"Look! Aang!" I pointed.
"We can catch him!" Sokka said and flew Appa in the direction of Aang.
Sokka flew Appa next to a mail chute where Aang was riding the cage Bumi was in and Azula was chasing him.
"Hang on, Bumi! Our ride's here!" Aang assured Bumi. Azula shoots two Fire blasts but we dodge them and Aang lifts the cage out of the chute by hitting the side. My siblings and I try to catch it but it was too high for us to reach and the cage falls.
Aang grabs onto the cage and lands on a different chute and rides down it. Azula follows him and we lost sight of them after that.
After searching for a good few minutes, we managed to find Aang at the end of a chute. Aang saw us and he boarded Appa with Momo.
Aang told us that Bumi won't teach Aang and that he needed to find a different teacher. I understood why after Aang explained it to us.
——
The night, Aang and I were going to return the baby to his home without being spotted. Can't let them know that the Avatar was here.
Aang and I snuck to the governor's house and sat at the top to wait for the right moment. We saw the governor holding his wife as they stood in the balcony looking at the moon.
Aang gave me a nod and I hopped carefully to the balcony with the baby in my arms. I smiled at the child who giggles softly and I gently set him down. The baby waddles toward his parents and Aang lands next to me to pick me and airbend me out of sight.
The couple turn around and the mother gasps with delight.
"Tom-Tom!"
The couple hug their child happily and Aang and I smile at the sight before Aang and I take off.
No matter what nation or culture someone is from, I get filed with joy and satisfaction to see a family reunite.