"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! Now stop asking!"

"Okay, okay."

Sokka and Katara had been going on like that for more than 15 minutes when Katara had had enough. She, Sokka and Aang had been traveling in the desert for days, and the three of them were now extremely tired. They were headed towards Ozi's Fire Kingdom in search of someone to teach Aang Fire Bending, the last element he needed to know to complete his Avatar training.

"Does it ever rain in the desert? I could really use some rain. I love rain. Rain... rain…rain…rain…." Sokka said dreamily.

"He's losing it." Katara said.

"No kidding." Aang replied.

Since there was obviously nothing much to do, Aang figured he'd strike up a conversation with Katara.

"Hey, Katara," He began casually.

"Yes Aang?" She said, looking at him with a smile.

"Do you actually think we're going to find someone to teach me Fire Bending? I mean, if we're caught in the Fire Kingdom, we're dead."

"Well," She began, starting to frown. "I'll bet there's at least one decent Fire bender who will teach you. I mean, they can't all be bad, can they?"

"I hope not." Aang said quietly, looking down at the desert sand.

Soon, night fell, and the three friends were preparing to go to sleep. Sokka was still going on about rain.

"Rain… rain… rain… rain…"

"He's starting to annoy me." Aang said to Katara.

"I know the feeling. Goodnight, Aang."

"Goodnight, Katara." And Aang silently watched her as she lay down on the sand and fell asleep. He pulled a blanket out from his bag and put it on her, watching her sleep, protecting her from any harm. He could hear Sokka muttering something about rain in his sleep. Aang looked off into the night.

"Wait a minute." He said as he squinted into the distance. "What is that?"

There was a fire burning some distance away from him. And fire usually means people. Aang got excited and scared all at the same time.

"Katara! Sokka! Wake up!" Aang said as he shook them. "Look!"

"What?" Katara asked, still half-asleep. She smiled when she saw the blanket on her lap and Aang's backpack open.

"There's a fire! There's a fire!" Aang shouted bouncing up and down.

"Shhh! Aang! Quiet down!" Katara scolded in a hushed tone.

"There's a fire! There's a fire!" Aang whispered.

"Oh, I hope the rain doesn't put it out." Sokka said, obviously not registering what he was talking about.

"Sokka! Snap out of it!" Aang yelled in his face.

"What?" Sokka said, realizing what had happened. "Oh," He grinned. "Sorry."

"Well, let's go check it out." Aang said as he started to walk towards the fire.

"Aang, wait! It could be an enemy." Katara whispered, pulling on Aang's arm.

"Come on Katara." Aang said. Then, low enough that Sokka couldn't overhear, Aang whispered in her ear, "I'll protect you."