When Zuko crossed the final street from his house to the park, he noticed Katara standing next to the dinosaur-shaped monkey bars. Sitting on the dinosaur’s foot was a roundish, cottonish bundle made entirely of lace and ribbons, with little bits of black stuff that looked like fur coming out the top. It was sobbing and rocking back and forth.

“What’s wrong with that?” he asked, pointing at it. It stopped wailing, took a deep breath, and then started the waterworks all over again, even louder.

“She is crying,” Katara reported, like it was the answer to a test and she was happy to share with the class.

“I can tell that. You made her cry, didn't you?”

“I did not! Someone kidnapped her seepy eyes dog—”

“MUSHI!” the little package of frills shouted, then went back to her wheezy sniffling.

“—Mushi,” Katara confirmed.

“Oh,” said Zuko, and felt a little bad.

“I’m going to help her find it,” Katara announced. “I’ve never seen a seepy eyes dog. Is that like a crying dog? I’ve never seen a dog cry, either.”

Zuko knew about seeing-eye dogs because he’d seen a show about them on the Discovery Channel a few weeks before. It was one of the few channels he and Azula agreed on (the Disney Channel and Animal Planet were the other two, but sometimes Mom wouldn’t let them watch Animal Planet because they might get nightmares from episodes about big cats.) He was about to explain it, but what came out was a bit different.

“Dogs don’t cry, stupid.”

“Her dog does.”

“No he doesn’t.”

“I bet he would if he were sad!”

“I bet he wouldn’t! Because only stupid people think dogs cry!”

“Take that back!”

“No!”

“I’m gonna beat you up!”

“In your dreams, you little baby!”

“Meanie!”

“Girl!”

“Stupid-head!”

“Chicke—” But before Zuko could finish his next insult, a sound more horrifying than a hundred shrieking boogiemen reverberated through the park, bouncing off every wall and window, scaring birds out of trees, and making mothers clutch their little ones close in their arms. Zuko and Katara froze in place, too terrified to move muscle.

After an agonizing stretch, the nightmarish sound ceased. Silence echoed hollow in the air, and Zuko watched in terror as the bundle of bows and fluff stood on its little legs and walked over to him.

“You.” She poked him in the chest with her little chubby finger. “You’re gonna find my dog. Now.”

“Okay,” Zuko squeaked.