9Mrs. Yi was very frustrated That was the third poster stolen in a month! Other teachers had this problem too, people stealing Firelord Zuko's portrait.
At first, the school administration and her fellow teachers thought people who disliked the new firelord were taking the posters to make some kind of statement, and possibly burning them. The firelord's past and the strange new ideas he was spreading around the country made him an unpopular figure.
In time however it became clear that this was not the case since there was little to no evidence of unauthorized bonfires around the city or scorch marks on classroom walls where pictures may have been burnt off. The theives also rarely bothered to take all of the pictures, and often the portraits would disappear during lunch brake of afternoons after detention.
The portraits in the classrooms of this firelord were much smaller than Ozai's picture had been and higher up on the wall, but somehow every time they put up new picture it went missing. No matter what they did the thief, or thieves, Mrs. Yi doubted so many thefts could be done by one person, had managed to take it down.
Mrs Yi finally decided that she needed to talk to her class about this. These pictures cost a lot of money over time; these thefts needed to stop.
When the class filed in from lunch break and noticed that Mrs. Yi was standing in front of her desk, rather than sitting down, the students exchanged glances. The pre-teens knew from her expression that "someone was going to get it" so they sat down quietly curious to see what was up, but hoping it was not something they did.
"There is a thief in this classroom." Mrs Yi began dramatically in a stern voice. The students shifted around in their seats and looked at one another. What could she be talking about?
"this year a total of seven portraits of Firelord Zuko were stolen from this classroom alone." She held up a poster. "Other teachers have . Just this week two-"
As she continued talking the students, mostly the girls, began to giggle.
The teacher frowned, "This is not funny!"
"Quiet! June," she said calling the class to order and picking one of the gigglers from the class. "stand and tell the entire class what it is that you find so funny." There is nothing funny about this theft she thought annoyed.
"Well... Mrs Yi? Um, well, us girls think that the new firelord is um well kinda cute cute."
"Like super cute" another girl cut in giggling.
The other girls became more confident after the interjection, "yah he is dreamy!" some said. A few sighed and stared at the poster in the teacher's hand.
"Haha," another girl said, "forget dreamy, he's HOT!"
There was a fresh wave of giggles in the classroom at this and a few girls blushed as they giggled.
"Oh. I don't understand what that has to do with this..." Said Mrs. Yi, clearly not expecting that answer she was surprised out of her lecture-giving-mood. She even forgot to ask who was stealing the posters; as if they would have told her anyway...
"well, then." She said in a small voice, clearing her throat. This is getting awkward. she thought. After glancing at the paper and noticing that they did have a point, she turned around, sat down at her desk, and proceeded with the lesson.
"Open your new history books to page 156, chapter twenty: Firelord Ozai and The Last Years of War"
Later that week
Mrs. Yi's daughter had some friends over and they were giggling loudly in the next room.
"Chun-Hua!*" Mrs. Yi called in an amused voice, "what are you girls doing in there!" In the living room her daughter and her friends from school were clustered around a box and giggling at something inside it. Amused, Mrs. Yi walked up behind them and caught a glimpse of a person in red on a paper before the girls hastily slammed the box shut and holding it closed looked up at her guiltily. Mrs. Yi sopped smiling.
"What is it you have there Chun-Hua…" She trailed off.
"Nothing mom," she replied smiling nervously and glancing at her friends.
"It's June's, not mine," She added as her mother reached for the box. June punched her friend on the arm.
"Ow!"
Mrs. Yi opened the box to find, of all things, a portrait of the firelord. There was also an old wanted poster and someone had drawn hearts all around Firelord Zuko's face. Suddenly, it all made sense.
The next day, during their weekly teacher's meeting, Mrs Yi brought up the subject of the stolen portraits again. She told the room that there had been another theft. A few of the teachers groaned, and there was a chorus of "not this again's.
"I don't think we will ever find the culprit, and we can't really get the police involved because parents would be upset." The headmistress said. "Unless anyone has any further ideas about putting an end to this or more information about what is going on we can't do anything more about this."
Mrs. Yi raised her hand. She had decided not to get her daughter's friends in any more trouble than a lecture from her, but she still had to tell the headmistress what was going on.
"I think the girls are stealing them." She announced, "I talked to my class the other day about it, and several of the girls looked a bit guilty. and then when I held up a picture of the Firelord the girls seemed well... they were a bit… um... excited." The headmistress raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
Mrs. Yi paused and thought about how to say this, she felt awkward explaining the preteen-obsession to her boss and an entire room full of fellow teachers.
"Well," she began, "when I held up the poster the girls… I mean... surely you've noticed!" she sputtered out, cutting herself off and blushing slightly. The firelord's "cuteness" was very noticeable now that they pointed it out.
"Noticed what?" someone threw in.
"Well… that…the firelord is a very attractive young man," was her response. She finished her sentence somewhat quickly. She didn't think it was really appropriate to describe him as "hot" like some of the girls had.
Some people turned their heads to look at her funny. Others started to talk among themselves and laugh at her embarrassment.
"Wait," said one of the teachers over the conversations that had broken out, he addressed Mrs. Yi and looked skeptical. "You don't think the girls are stealing the pictures to...?"
"Here is a solution," one male teacher boomed "why don't we give them all pictures!" And he laughed, not taking the suggestion seriously himself.
"Actually that's not a bad idea," said the headmistress, as she called the room to order again, "we can take money out of the social studies budget. We will have had to do that soon anyway with all these missing pictures. It should be alright as long as we know they are not burning them in effigy."
"I was only kidding" he interjected.
"I know, but that would stop the thefts, but we can't let it be known why we are doing this… who knows what the parents will think! Explain it to your students as part of the social studies curriculum that has to do with current events, and let anyone take one if they want to."
Two Weeks Later
By the end of the day all of Mrs. Yi's stack of portraits were gone. She was amazed that there had been so many who wanted one. She shrugged, preteens.
*combination of words for spring and flower (Disclaimer: I made the name up, so it's not legit at all.)