Lost and Found

"Lost and Found" is a comic short written by Amy Chu, with drawing and coloring by Kelly Matthews and Nichole Matthews and lettering by Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt. It was released by Dark Horse Comics on May 6, 2023 as a part of Free Comic Book Day.
== Overview ==
Aang and his friends come across a village decimated by the Fire Nation. One survivor—a young child named Luumi—refuses to open up to anyone except fellow Earth Kingdom native, Toph.
== Synopsis==
Katara, Sokka, and Toph are sitting on Appa's saddle with Momo while Aang takes the reins, flying them over the Earth Kingdom. Sokka asks Katara to do something that no one else can do. Katara begins to waterbend, which Toph cannot see as they are flying. However, the earthbender makes a sarcastic guess about Katara's bending. Sokka responds by asking Katara if she can touch her nose with her tongue like he can.
Aang notices smoke below, and Sokka wonders if it is the Fire Nation. Aang directs Appa down to check on the settlement, with Sokka hoping that it is just a nice rest stop with a hot meal from friendly locals. However, once they reach the ruined village, Sokka is disappointed. Aang wonders if the Fire Nation attacked, though Sokka says it was more likely bandits. Sokka notes that there are footprints going east, and that there could be survivors, with Katara wanting to go help them. However, she notices that Toph and Momo are now gone.
The rest of Team Avatar finds Toph kneeling down with one hand to the ground near some wreckage. Aang says that they need to look for survivors, but Toph says she is doing so already. Katara was curious about how Toph could be doing so, but Aang tells her that Toph told him how she feels vibrations in the earth, which show her where everything is. Toph declares that someone is still there, though Sokka is skeptical about someone surviving. At that moment, Toph starts bending earth away from nearby, with Sokka being irritated as several large chunks of stone come close to his head. Toph tells Sokka that he will see, and kneels down again at the entrance to the passageway she has just created with her bending. Using her seismic sense, she notices a young child and pulls them out from the hiding place.
Aang asks the child what their name is, and Katara asks what happened in the village. When the child does not respond, Sokka asks why they are not talking, but Toph tells them to stop as they are traumatizing the child. Aang then says that they need to find the rest of the villagers, and asks Sokka to follow the trail.
As Team Avatar walks through the woodland with the child, Toph begins to talk to the kid. She introduces herself, and explains that she is an earthbender, also introducing Katara and Sokka. She then says that Aang is the Avatar and that she is supposed to teach him how to earthbend, and that Momo is Aang's winged lemur. Nervously, the child finally speaks, introducing themself as Luumi. They ask Toph where her shoes are, asking if she lost them like they did, as Luumi has one shoe missing. Toph confidently says that she did not, explaining that being barefoot makes her earthbend better than anyone, and that it feels great for her. Smiling, Luumi kicks off their other shoe and walks with the group barefoot.
As they progress through the area, Sokka loses the trail. Toph takes the opportunity to rest, and takes some blubbered seal jerky from Sokka, which annoys him as it is his last piece. Toph says it is for Luumi, and the child chomps down on the food with an affectionate look on their face. Sokka asks Luumi if they can touch their nose with their tongue, which makes them laugh, before Toph declares that nobody else can do what she can, raising a tall pillar of earth as Luumi cheers. She asks Luumi if they want to go for a ride, and goes skating on a wave of earth with Luumi.
An elderly couple among a group of villagers hears rumbling and laughing in the distance. The elderly woman notices the familiar sound, and they find Luumi and Toph riding on the earth wave when they pass through the trees. Luumi bounces off the earth wave as Toph brings it to a halt and goes to their grandparents. Katara asks if they came from the village, and Luumi's grandfather explains that they are all that is left.
In a flashback, Luumi's grandfather explains that bandits came in the middle of the night, riding ostrich horses and wielding torches. He goes on to say that they had extorted the village for years, until the residents took a stand, meaning that they burned everything down. He says that they managed to slip out and ran towards the river, hiding until one of them saw Team Avatar's sky bison land.
With the flashback coming to an end, Luumi's grandfather notes that it is a miracle, wondering how his grandchild survived. Katara points out that Luumi is earthbending, much to their grandfather's surprise. Luumi's grandmother notes that Luumi's mother was an earthbender too, and their grandfather says they will return to the village, with Luumi helping them to rebuild. Toph hugs Luumi and says goodbye to them. With the rest Team Avatar back on Appa's saddle at sunset, Aang directs him to take off, and Katara compliments Toph on how good she was with Luumi, with the earthbender noting that she sounds surprised. Sokka remarks that he bets her training Aang will be a piece of cake, to which Toph only says "so, about that..." as Appa flies across the Earth Kingdom.
== Production notes ==
=== Transcript ===
=== Series continuity ===
* Toph has joined Team Avatar, but has not yet begun teaching Aang earthbending, placing the comic between "The Blind Bandit" and "Bitter Work".
=== Goofs ===
* The comic is called "Team Toph" in the credits, but the title is "Lost and Found" in the story itself.
=== Trivia ===
* The comic was due to be released for Free Comic Book Day 2022. However, a preview of Avatar: The Last Airbender—Chibi Vol. 1: Aang's Unfreezing Day was released instead, with "Lost and Found" being pushed back to 2023.
* There were issues getting "Lost and Found" to the UK (due to it being tied in with the Star Wars: The High Republic comic which Dark Horse does not have the license to in the UK), meaning that it was not stocked by any of the comic shops there.
== References ==
== See also ==
* List of Avatar: The Last Airbender comics
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ru:Потерянный и найденный