Chapter 59

Episode 17, The Ember Island Players

A few days passed until we decided it would be best to move. After thinking about possible places we could stay at, Zuko said we could stay at his summer vacation house on Ember Island.

As that was the best and only option we had, we flew to the island.

The vacation home was huge. But what did I even expect from a royal vacation home. However, it didn't have the feeling and warmth of a home. The house was full of dust and it was clear that no one had been there for ages.

The only thing that was good, was the huge garden where Aang and Zuko could continue their training without being seen by any island residents.

The days got hotter and all of us put on our Fire Nation clothes in order not to draw any attention to ourselves.

As Zuko and Aang continued their training, I joined Sokka and Suki who were going to stroll through the market on the island

Yeah, I shouldn't have gone with them. Being a third wheel was not cool. Not even an hour passed by and I already decided to go back because my brother completely ignored my existence. Next time, I'll take Toph with me.

When I got back and entered the garden, I froze. Zuko and Aang were firebending. Shirtless. Heat rose to my cheeks but I couldn't look away. For an 18 year old he had a very well shaped and toned body.

This wasn't the first time seeing Zuko shirtless. It was right at the beginning of our story when he had challenged Zhao to an Agni Kai. But last time I wasn't interested in him in any way; we were enemies.

Toph and Katara were sitting on the ventliated terrace stairs watching Zuko and Aang.

"Enjoying the view?" Toph asked with a smirk and turned her head to me.

I snapped out of my staring and looked at her, quickly shaking my head. "What? No?" An awkward chuckle left my mouth.

Her smirk widened. "Your heart's beating."

Only after she said that did I notice that my heart was beating faster. I took a quick breath before commenting, "Well, I hope so. It would get a little difficult if it didn't." Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to seem unbothered by the situation.

Toph's only response was another smirk before she turned her head away from me. Gulping, I sat down beside her.

"Doesn't it seem kinda weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?" Katara asked. And boy was I glad that someone finally said something and changed the topic.

Zuko and Aang just finished and sat down on the foutain which was in the middle of the garden. "I told you, my father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck with a towel. "And that was a long time ago. It's the last place anyone would think to look for us"

Before anyone could react to it, Sokka came running into the garden."You guys are not gonna believe this!"

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrow at him. I'm still mad that he forgot me.

"There's a play about us!" Sokka showed us a flyer. A smile broke on my face and I ran up to him immediately, snatching it out of his hand.

The poster's upper half was red with a pair of eyes, one of them was scarred. A tiny bit under the eyes, there were four people in a fighting position. Aang was in the middle and Sokka to his right while Katara was to his left. Next to Katara there was me. My siblings were portrayed in water tribe clothes but I had fire nation clothes on and I was a bit too far away from the others for my liking.

"What? How is that possible?" Katara asked and came up to us.

"Yeah, how is that possible?!" I exclaimed and shoved the poster in her face. "I have black hair and not light brown. And they forgot Toph and Suki!"

Sokka nudged my side and took the poster out of my hands. He cleared his throat. "Listen to this," he said and started reading the text that was on the bottom left of the poster. "The Boy In The Iceberg is a new production from the claimed playwright Puan Tin who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar, from the icy south pole to the heart of Ba Sing Se. His sources include singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgable merchant of cabbage. Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island players."

Zuko let out a groan as his shoulders dropped. "My mother used to take us to see them. They butchered Love Amongst the Dragons every year."

"Sokka, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?" Katara turned to my brother with a sceptical look on her face.

"Come on. A day at the theatre? This is the kinda time-wasting nonsense I've been missing." Sokka shot her a stupid grin.

"Yeah," I said and put an arm around his shoulders, "We need a break from all of this for once. Let us be normal teenagers for tonight." I shot her the same grin as my brother.

She shook her head and sighed but I didn't miss the tiny smile on her face.

Later tonight we made our way to the theatre and Zuko was still a bit grumpy about it. Before entering the theatre, I linked my arm with his. "Come one, this will be fun," I said with a small smile and he let out a sigh.

With a grin, I more or less dragged Zuko to our seats. We had our own cabin somewhere at the top with a perfect view on the stage.

There were two benches. Toph and Katara sat down on the first bench. Aang tried to sit next to my twin but Zuko beat him to it.

"Hey, uhm," Aang said, "I wanted to sit there." He pointed at the space next to Katara.

Zuko looked at Aang. "Just sit next to me. What's the big deal?"

"I was just... I wanted to..." Aang tried to explain but the poor guy was just too awkward right there. He let out a defeated sigh and sat beside Zuko, "Okay."

I giggled but my face fell when I saw that I had to third wheel again by sitting next to Suki and Sokka behind the others.

"Okay, why are we sitting in the nosebleed section?" Toph asked just when I sat down beside my brother. "I can't see a damn thing up here," she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.

"Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening," Katara said with a smile.

The curtains opened and the play began. With a smile I leaned forward slightly and watched the stage with excitement.

There were three people sitting in a boat and I gasped. "I don't have light brown hair!" I whisper yelled. Sokka nudged my side and pointed at the stage and at our characters with a smile. I giggled and nodded.

Katara sighed and put the back of her hand on her forehead. "Sokka, my only brother. We constantly roam these icy south pole seas and yet, never do we find anything fulfilling."

"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach. I'm starving!" Sokka exclaimed. The whole audience laughed at the joke.

I knitted my eyebrows and watched the actors. This was not accurate at all. Sokka's face fell and Katara looked concerned. This was so not gonna go well.

"Is food the only thing on your mind?" Katara asked.

"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and into my mouth. I'm starving!" Sokka pointed at his mouth, making the audience laugh again.

"This is pathetic!" Sokka whisper yelled and pointed at the stage with an angry look on his face. "My jokes are way funnier than this."

Toph laughed and put her hands behind her head. "I think he's got you pegged."

"Every day, the world awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still we cannot give up hope, for hope is all we have," Katara dramaically exclaimed and fake cried. "And we must never relinquish it, even to our dying breath!" She started to sob

Katara huffed and crossed her arms. "That's just silly, I don't sound like that." Sokka, Toph and me giggled at that.

"Sometimes you do," I joked and she let out another huff and sunk in her seat.

"Oh man, this writer's a genius," Toph laughed.

Finally my actor came into action. Jasmine crossed her arms and shook her head. "You have so much hope, yet you never hope for me to be loved by our family. I am the child that no one loved, I am the outcast, but that will not stand in my way, for I will be stronger than you!"

My jaw dropped and I face palmed. "Hell nah," I mumbled and crossed my arms.

Then a bright blue light appeared behind the actors and a round iceberg popped up. Katara gasped dramatically and the three siblings turned around with surprised faces.

"It appears to be somone frozen in ice, perhaps for a 100 years," Katara said.

"But who? Who is the boy in the iceberg?" Sokka asked.

"The Avatar of course, but as usual you wouldn't believe the smarter outcast sibling," Jasmine said and crossed her arms. They ignored her comment and the three of them looked at the iceberg.

"Seriously, this is plain stupid," I mumbled with knitted eyebrows and a little pout on my lips.

So far the only ones who were out of character were us siblings. Aang was still excited to see himself in this play but I had a feeling that this could only get worse.

A small and thin figure jumped up behind the iceberg and landed between the siblings. I let out a snort when I saw that it was a woman who played the Avatar.

"I take it back, this is hilarious," I laughed and Sokka had a hard time containing his laughter. Since all of us were played so badly and stupidly, I could look past my own stupid character and actually laugh about this whole thing.

"Who are you frozen boy?" Katara asked and Aang giggled. That was one hell of a fake giggle.

"I'm the Avatar, silly, here to spread joy and fun." Aang jumped up one time before spinning around like a ballet dancer.

Then Appa jumped up behind the iceberg as well before running around the stage crazily.

Katara gasped again, staring at Appa. "An airbender." She put both of her hands on her chest. "My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tear-bend." She fell on her knees and fake cried again, hugging Aang's legs.

"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tear-bend," Sokka said and fell on his knees as well. "I need meat!" he said and hugged Aang's legs as well.

"My heart is so empty that it's making me tear-bend," Jasmine said in a monotone voice and crossed her arms. At least, I didn't fall on my knees.

The play continued like this but things started to get more amusing when Zuko and uncle Iroh were shown for the first time.

Zuko and Iroh were on a ship. While Zuko was looking through a telescope, Iroh had a cake in his hands.

"Prince Zuko, you must try this cake." Iroh spoke up first.

"I don't have time to stuff my face!" Zuko exclaimed. And his angry tone was spot on may I add; it was making me chuckle. "I must capture the Avatar to regain my honour!"

"Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice." Iroh started to literally stuff his face with the cake while his nephew was looking at him with a disgusted face.

"You sicken me!" Zuko spat out before looking through his telescope again.

"They make me look totally stiff and humorless," Zuko complained.

Katara glanced at him with an amused expression while I leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Actually I think the actor's pretty spot-on."

"How could you say that?!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages." Iroh suggested.

Zuko whipped around. "How could you say that?!"

Katara and me let out a laugh while Zuko just sunk in his seat

To be honest, the play was so stupid that is started to be funny again. And luckily there was a break.

Aang and my siblings were pretty frustrated by the break time. Aang's character was way too happy and upbeat but fake while Katara was just talking about hope and Sokka wasn't even the tiniest bit funny.

Meanwhile I was the emo girl who hated her siblings and wanted to be better than them. And I had the biggest crush on Zuko which was really embarrassing to watch.

"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play," Zuko huffed out. We were sitting on the floor outside our cabin.

"Agreed," I mumbled and crossed my arms.

"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time," Sokka complained.

Suki let out a chuckle. "Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics."

"I know!" My brother said and Aang let out a sigh.

"At least the Sokka actor kinda looks like you. That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!"

"I don't know," Toph said and shrugged, "You are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys."

Aang let out a groan and stood up from the ground.

"Relax Aang, they're not accurate portrayals," Katara said, "It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time." She let out a laugh but she stopped and her face fell when we were all giving her unimpressed looks.

"Yeah, you're right. That's not you at all," I commented before addressing Aang. "Well, at least you're not someone who apparently hates live and their siblings."

Aang let out a sigh and sat down again. Toph crossed her arms. "Listen friends, it's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing on stage is the truth."

We all let out sighs and the play continued.

The three siblings and the Avatar were currently in the Earth Kingdom, looking for an eartbending teacher. Aang flew around the city in hopes of finding one. "I couldn't find an earthbending teacher!" he exclaimed.

So far, Toph was the only one who wasn't in the play yet and I was curious about how she would be portrayed.

"This is it, that's were I come in." Toph clapped her hands and Katara glanced at her briefly with a concerned look in her eyes.

Suddenly a deep and rough voice spoke up. "You can't find an earthbending master in the sky." A tall, muscular man in Toph's outfit picked up a rock and threw it over Aang. "You have to look underground!"

Toph sat up straight and listened carefully to her character's voice while the others but me laughed at her character.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I said, "The only accurate character in this play is Toph!"

"Who are you?" Aang asked and pointed his or should I say her finger toward Toph.

"My name is Toph because it sounds like tough, and that's just what I am." She or actually he flexed his muscles and I had to laugh at that line. At least one character is on point.

"Wait a minute," Toph said, "I sound like... a guy. A really buff guy."

"Well Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?" Katara said with a smirk.

However, Toph was smiling brightly. "Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have cast it any other way." Katara's face fell and Toph giggled. "At least it's not a flying bald lady." I had to laugh at that.

A few scenes later, I was cracking up. Zuko and Iroh were standing opposite of each other. But Zuko's hair was now longer and voluminous and it wasn't in a ponytail like usual but was falling down up to his shoulders.

"Zuko it's time we had a talk," Iroh said and pointed at him, "About your hair. It's gone too far."

Zuko slightly shook his head to get the hair out of his face. "Maybe it's best if we split up." And with that he dramatically turned around and walked away while some fake wind was blowing his hair out of his face.

There was a scene where they really did Zuko bad. It wasn't funny but I couldn't help but laugh anyway.

It was set when all of us, including Zuko and Iroh, surrounded Azula that one time when Appa was shedding.

"Azula, my sister. What are you doing here?" Zuko asked.

Azula raised her hands in surrender while the rest of the actors surrounded her. "You caught me," she said with a small smile. "Wait, what's that?" she suddenly gasped and pointed at the sky. "I think it's your honour!"

All the actors turned around and looked at the sky. "Where?" Zuko asked and Azula escaped while no one was looking.

I really wondered how they managed to do such detailed reasearch because the content of this play was actually pretty accurate except for small details. For example that Katara had a crush on Zuko and vice versa.

That scene especially frustrated poor Aang. He was angry and sad that they made Katara think of him as a little brother in the play. He got up and left the cabin and he didn't come back until after the next break.

We were sitting outside our cabin again, but this time Katara left looking for Aang and Sokka and Suki went backstage so that my brother could give his actor some better jokes. That left Toph, Zuko and me behind.

"Geez, everyone's getting so upset about their characters." Toph looked at Zuko. "Even you seem more down than usual, and that's saying someting."

"You don't get it, it's different for you," Zuko said and I agreed with him. As funny as this play may be, my character was slowly getting on my nerves as well. "You get a muscly guy taking down ten bad guys at once and making sassy remarks."

Toph grinned and sat down beside us. "Yeah, that's pretty great."

Zuko looked on the ground. "But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face."

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze. I was starting to hate this play and just wanted it to get over with. After the break, the rest of us came back except for Aang and Katara seemed off.

We went back inside our cabin and this time I sat beside my twin. "Did something happen?" I whispered after leaning closer to her.

She sighed and shook her head slightly. "Aang just kissed me," she whispered as well.

I froze for a moment before grabbing her arm. "He what?" I asked with a smile. Finally one of them made a move.

She quietly shushed me and I quickly pressed my lips together. "I'll tell you later," she whispered and I nodded before we both turned back to the play.

The play stayed bad until the end. The only thing that improved was Sokka's actor. Somehow my brother managed to give him some tips and jokes which made the actor funnier.

They even wrote their own ending in which the Fire Nation won. Azula defeated Zuko by burning him to death with his last words being honour. Fire Lord Ozai defeated Aang and the whole world was now ruled by him and Azula.

"I can't believe, I wanted to watch this," I said and stretched as we left the theatre and walked back to the vacation home. "This was the worst play I have ever seen."

Zuko nodded. "Agreed."

"That was horrible," Sokka said.

"No kidding," Toph added.

"You say it," Katara mumbled while hugging herself.

We certainly had enough of Fire Nation entertainment for a while.

A/N - Heyyy guys! This chapter is only filler and a bit longer, sorry. At first I didn't know whether or not to include this episode but I actually enjoy it and decided to write this. I hope you like it.  Don't forget to vote and comment.Stay safe and healthy. Love you guys :))