~Annabeth's POV~

I took a bite of my peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, smiling as Amy chased the squirrel that had stolen her food.

"Come back here, you little sandwich thief!" she yelled. Jacob laughed so hard he started choking on his lemonade. I snickered and patted his back.

"Ahh!" I jumped up at Amy's scream. She stared at me, a horrified look on her face as she pointed to my hands. I looked down to see green flames surrounding my fists.

Jacob scrambled away, glaring at me.

"Guys ..." I took a step forwards, and fire flared at my feet and spread across the grass, burning the picnic basket and blanket. The air was full of smoke, and I couldn't breathe. "What's happening?!"

Then the smoke cleared, and there stood Aang, Sokka, and Katara. "Guys! You gotta help me!" I stumbled toward them, and they shifted into defensive stances.

"We can't trust you ..." Sokka murmured.

"You're a firebender ..." Katara whispered.

"You'll try to hurt me ..." Aang growled.

"You're dangerous," they chorused. "We can't let you get away." Aang swung his staff, an air blade flying towards me. Katara sent a water whip my way. Sokka threw his boomerang. The smoke came back, and flames licked at my feet. I cowered at the sight of the attacks coming toward me, closer ... closer ...

"Ahh!"

I sat bolt upright, panting and clutching my blanket. The moon shone pale in the sky, thousands of stars accompanying it. My friends laid nearby, deep in sleep. Aang was curled up a few feet in front of me, mumbling something about leechee nuts.

I slowed my breathing and stood up slowly. I crept past Aang, trying not to wake him.

Appa groaned as I approached him. "Shh, Appa, it's okay. I just need to grab something. Go back to sleep." The bison yawned, rested his head on his paws, and closed his eyes. I climbed into his saddle and carefully picked up my bow and quiver.

Thwang! The arrow embedded itself in the center of the tree trunk. Thwang! Another arrow split the first in two. I pulled back on the string, taking aim.

"Beth?"

I jumped, and my arrow flew off into the forest. I whirled around to see Aang standing behind me, rubbing his eyes. "Aang. You startled me." I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice, but I didn't do a very good job.

He yawned, "It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you sleeping?"

I turned back to the tree, nocking another arrow. "Couldn't. I figured if I must be up, I should at least do something productive."

He came up beside me. "How long have you been awake?"

I frowned, "A few hours. Now, shush." I closed my left eye, took a deep breath, and exhaled. I released the arrow, and it hit just above the other two. I growled in annoyance.

Aang swung his head from side to side, taking in the many trees with arrows sticking out of them, like so many pincushions. "Well, I still think you should get some rest."

Thwang!

"Okay, then ..." He walked away, a frown on his face.

*****

"Ack! Momo!" Sokka screeched.

I looked up from my quiver, smirking in amusement. Momo had just tried to grab a spider out of Sokka's mouth. I shook my head and looked back down at my arrows.

"Okay, twenty-nine ... thirty ... thirty-one ..." My eyes drooped, and my head dipped down. I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear it. Back to counting. "Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four-"

A rumbling noise filled the air. Katara and Aang woke up. "What's going on?" Katara yelled.

A rhino-creature plowed through the bushes around our camp, a Fire Nation man riding it. Three more appeared. "We've got you!" one of them yelled.

Sokka abandoned his sleeping bag and ran towards Appa. "Come on, let's go!" Katara started to follow him, then hesitated.

"I left my scrolls!" she yelped, running back to the stump she had been sleeping next to.

Aang gasped, "I left my staff!" He jumped off of Appa's head.

My eyes widened when I saw my bag sitting on the ground next to Katara's stump. "My bag!" I ran forward.

Katara froze the man's sword to the stump, giving us time to grab our things. We scrambled into the saddle.

"Aang, come on!" I yelled. A tree fell in front of him, but he simply jumped over it and grabbed his staff. He turned and airbent himself back over the tree and onto Appa's head just as an explosion boomed behind him.

"Wow, I've heard of the expression 'Cool guys don't look at explosions,' but that was awesome!" I cheered. Then I ducked as a fireball flew over us.

Sokka moaned, "Aw, my boomerang is down there!"

"We don't have time to go back," Katara said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sokka glared, "Oh, I see. We can stop to get your staff, and your scrolls, and your bag, but not my boomerang."

"Yup," I said, cradling my bag. His shoulders slumped.

"Okay ..." he sighed, with a longing glance at the burning campsite.

*****

I plopped down on the dirt road, my eyes drifting shut. Then Sokka crouched next to me, and I was snapped out of my daze.

"How're you holding up?" I yawned. He just glared at the ground. "It's okay. We'll get you another boomerang."

Sokka sighed, "It's just ... imagine if you lost your ..."

"Phone?" I offered.

"Right. Imagine if you lost your phone, or Aang his staff, or Katara her hair loopies."

I blinked, " 'Hair loopies' ? Oh, so that's what those things are called!" I glanced at his sullen face. "But, uh, yeah, I would be pretty down if I lost my phone." I patted his shoulder and stood, stretching. Sokka stood as well, and we made our way over to the vendor that Katara and Aang were buying from.

While Katara paid the man for our food, Aang pulled me off to the side. "Hey, are you okay?"

I shrugged, "Never better. Why?"

Aang frowned, "You keep nodding off. And you have bags under your eyes." He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?"

I rolled my eyes. "So what if I didn't?" He started to speak, but I cut him off. "Look, your concern is appreciated, but right now we need to focus on finding you that earthbending teacher. Besides, it's my job to worry about you. Not the other way around." I walked over to Katara, leaving behind a worried Aang.

"Hey, you kids going to the festival?" the vendor asked.

Katara's eyebrows rose. "Ooh, festival?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, for Avatar Day!" Then he skipped away, humming to himself.

"Hey, Aang, you here that? You have a whole holiday, just for you!" Sokka said, trying to cheer himself up.

"Let's check it out!" Aang grinned, although not without giving me another glance.

*****

 We strolled down the street, dodging excited townspeople and shouting vendors.

Katara pointed at something. "Hey, cool, a Kyoshi float!" A giant Avatar Kyoshi float rolled into the center of the town. We pushed our way to the front of the crowd.

"And Roku!" I yelled, pointing at another.

Aang sighed happily, "It's nice to be appreciated."

"The food is pretty nice, too!" Sokka cheered through a mouthful of food. Then a giant Aang rolled in.

"Cool. It's you!" I nudged his shoulder. "I always knew you had a big head."

"Hey!" Aang growled, before laughing and giving me a smile.

A man ran into the center, carrying a burning torch. He ran around in a big circle a few times before he sprinted straight for the Kyoshi float.

I squinted, "What is he ..."

The man jumped straight through the float, his torch setting it ablaze. He set the Roku effigy on fire as well.

We stared in shock as the two Avatar burned before our very eyes. "Well," I gulped, "that escalated quickly."

The torch man threw his burning stick into Float Aang's right eye, causing it to burst into flames. Real Aang gasped, and Katara ran forward. She waterbent water from two nearby pots and put out the fire. The villagers booed at her.

Aang airbent himself onto his float. "Hey, stop that! She's my friend!" He whipped off his hat, revealing his arrow and bald head. The crowd gasped.

"It's the Avatar!" a man shouted, pointing at him.

"He's gonna kill us all!" another yelled.

Aang recoiled in surprise. "What?! No I'm not!" He raised a hand, and the crowd cowered in fear. Aang hid his hand behind his back with a crestfallen look on his face.

The man from before stood up. "Go away, Avatar! You're not welcome here!" I huffed and rolled my eyes as I ran to stand beside Katara.

"What? Aang's a good guy! He's the Avatar," my friend yelled, indignant.

Aang nodded, "Yeah, I'm a good guy!"

The man snorted, "How can you be, after what you did? Your past life, Avatar Kyoshi, killed our founder, Chin the Great!"

I coughed, "I'm sorry, what? You think Aang killed someone? He's the sweetest little kid I've ever met! He wouldn't do that!" I was so angry that this person dare accuse Aang of murder, that my curled fists started to smoke faintly. I stuffed my hands in my sweatshirt pockets, hoping no one noticed.

Katara glared out at the crowd. "Aang is the most caring person I know. You have no right to question his honor!"

The crowd booed at her, and Aang raised his hands.

"Hey, at least give me a chance to prove I didn't do it!"

The annoying man sniffed at him, "You have to stand trial. You have to follow all our rules, including bail."

Aang smiled, "Well, okay then!"

I dug my wallet out of my bag (Apparently everything that was in it came with me.) and riffled through it. "I have, like, thirty bucks in here. Plus, Katara's got some money. You'll be fine, Aang."

"Well, how was I supposed to know they don't take American money?!" I wailed. I had honestly thought that they would take my money. I mean, since American money is rare in the Avatar world, surely it would be valuable, right?

Haha ... no.

Tong- the annoying guy that accused Aang of murder- had just laughed and threw the bills back at me. It was all I could do not to roast his face.

Sokka and Katara looked at Aang, who was in the prison courtyard, behind bars, in stalks. It was little bit too much, if you ask me.

Sokka huffed, "I'm sorry that these folks don't like you, Aang, but we gotta go. So, let's get you out of here."

Aang looked down. "I'm sorry. I can't leave."

"Of course we can!" Sokka replied. "Just do a little airbending ..." He made dramatic gestures, which caused me to snicker and Katara to roll her eyes. "... and we'll be outta here in no time!"

Aang stared at him with wide eyes.

Katara stepped forward. "I believe what my idiot brother is trying to say-" Sokka glared at her, while I threw back my head in a laugh, "-is that you can't save the world if your in jail."

Aang shook his head. "But I can't save the world if people think I killed someone. Please, guys, help me clear my name!"

"How?" Sokka spread his arms. "This happened three hundred years ago!"

"Actually, it was more than three hundred years," I corrected.

"Whatever! It just can't be done."

Aang frowned, then a devious smirk fell upon his face. "Oh. Okay, then. I just somehow got it in my head that you were some master detective."

Sokka stroked his chin. "Well, I guess one could say I am a pretty great detective!"

Katara smiled, "Oh, yeah! He even solved the case of the missing seal jerky!" Then Sokka launched into a braggy explanation of how he solved the mystery. I wasn't really paying attention; I was too tired to hear anything they said. I leaned up against the wall, my eyes closed.

Aang's voice woke me up. "You'll help me then?"

Sokka pondered this for a moment, before announcing, "Okay! But first ..." He turned his back to us, then popped up wearing a ridiculous hat with a monocle attached to it. I busted out laughing. "What's so funny, Beth?"

I shook my head, "Nothing, it's just ... who do you think you are, Sherlock Holmes?" I let out another laugh, which turned into a yawn.

Katara clasped her hands in front of her. "Let's go!"

Aang glanced at the prison yard behind him, a worried look on his face. I watched him and grunted, "I'm staying."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not gonna leave a twelve-year-old alone in a prison with a bunch of criminals." I sat down in front of the bars and pulled my book our of my bag. "Bye, now."

Katara and Sokka exchanged looks, then walked away. Aang mouthed "Thank you." I nodded and started reading. He leaned up against the bars behind me, sighing.

As I pored over the pages, I couldn't help but think, How're we going to get Aang out of this?