Alright everyone! I have revised the first book! I brushed up on some mistakes and added some details. It is longer than it was because I added in some things. The story has not changed, but hopefully the grammar has improved slightly. Thank you to all my fans! I am going to get started on revising the second and third book as soon as I can.

I do not own Avatar: The Last Air Bender. =)

The sun was just beginning to set over the southern water tribe. Gran-Gran and I were seated by the fire I had just started, and I was sowing one of Sokka's trousers back together. As I placed the needle over and under and back again, I looked over at the sun with longing. The sun was the only thing that gave me strength each and every day.

"I wonder where your siblings are. It's getting late and we need to set up supper before it gets too dark," Gran-Gran- or Kanna as the villagers called her- said.

Going back to my string and needle, I answered, "They'll be here soon. They probably went out on the stream to fish. I'm getting tired of penguin meat myself."

She smiled at me, and placed a gloved hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you go inside 'til your siblings get here. I'll finish that." Looking at my gray haired blue eyed guardian, I smiled weakly and handed over my stitch work. Then carefully standing, I said, "I'll go see if I can get some more wood instead." Gran-Gran wasn't too happy about that.

As I walked out toward the large snow wall of the village, I pulled my blue glove off and lit a flame in my hand. The flame warmed me as I wandered calmly around the village tents. No one in the village seemed to care about my ability, since they had known I was a fire bender for more than eight years now. They all treated me like I was one of them.

Leaving the village- which was a small dugout with about ten tents- I walked toward the ocean searching for stray pieces of wood. The waves would carry logs and other scraps of wood to shore, some pieces coming from the land of the southern air temple.

Walking over to look into the water, I knelt at the edge of the icy shore and stared at my reflection. My black hair was falling loosely down my body below my chest. It was wavy and the color of coal. My eyes were foreign to this land, seeing as they were a deep yellow with a tint of orange. Most of the villagers had blue or gray eyes. The color of my eyes was almost the color of fire. The village people called me 'fire girl' because of my Fire Nation qualities.

My body was strong from years of hard work and labor, and I was starting to get my fifteen year old curves. If their were older boys in the village I'm sure they'd be trying to court me by now. Sadly Sokka was the only boy even close to my age, and I had no desire to date my brother. The other boys were at war with the men of our tribe, already old enough to fight.

Something unbelievably bright suddenly appeared out of no where, and I pulled away from my reflection covering my eyes as the stream of light shot from somewhere on land up toward the sky. The light blinded me. When the light faded, I lowered my arm from my eyes and backed away from the water in shock. What was that? With terror I turned and ran back to the village, not sure at all what just happened. When I got to the village everyone was talking about the stream of light anxiously. Never before had we seen anything like it, and that caused fear among the tribe.

Gran-Gran was relieved to see I was safe when I returned to our tent, and she asked eagerly if I'd seen my siblings. Shaking my head, I looked toward the entrance of the village. "I'm sure they'll be fine. Hopefully they have enough sense not to mess with whatever created that powerful source."

Her eyes were scanning the village with worry. "This is being said of the boy and girl who almost were eaten by leopard seals."

"They'll be here soon," I promised, and then went inside the tent to finish my chores.

Truthfully I was worried too, but I knew worrying would do no good. Those two always got into trouble, and every time they managed to get out of it. They'd be fine.

Sure enough the villagers began to shout as my brother and sister returned to the village. Running out of the tent I was busily working in, I raced across the snow to greet them. However, when I saw them I froze in my tracks. Sokka and Katara had arrived back much to my relief, but I was bewildered to see behind them walked an extremely large creature. It was a fifteen foot flying sky-bison, a creature I'd only read about in books. From what I remember, the Fire Nation had wiped herds of them out almost a hundred years ago. I thought they were extinct. There was an arrow trailing from his head to tail showing he indeed was a flying sky-bison. His horns on his head made uncertainty fill inside me.

The whole village gasped at the sight of the beast, and I quickly grabbed a stick from the kindle pile just in case I needed protection. Although a tiny stick probably would do no good. "Where the spirits did you find that thing?" I asked, slowly making my way toward my siblings.

Sokka didn't answer me when he past by, carrying an unconscious twelve year old boy on his back. Sokka was my age (maybe a little older), with strong arms from manual labor, a lean tall figure, dark brown hair he always kept in a ponytail, and watery blue eyes. The boy on his back was definitely not Water Tribe. He had a bald head and his skin was lighter. He also wore strange colored clothing, and had blue arrow tattoos on his head and arms.

"Kaya!" Katara cried, running over to me. My sister was a year younger than Sokka and I, with long wavy dark brown hair she kept in a braid, and sky blue eyes. She was thrilled when she approached me, grabbing my shoulder and jumping up and down a bit. I stared at her in utter confusion.

"Kaya! Can you believe it? We've found an air bender! He's an air bender!" She left me and ran over to a shocked Gran-Gran relaying to her the exact thing she'd exclaimed to me.

First a blue light, then a giant flying sky-bison who should've been extinct, and now an air bender. This day couldn't get any weirder.

That night I slept beside Katara since the boy, Aang, was on my sleeping mat. Katara told me softly, so she didn't disturb anyone else around us, that they found the boy in an iceberg. She also told me with thrill how it was her water bending that had freed the boy. Impressed with my sisters bending skills, I whispered, "You're getting there." She nodded and fell asleep. Moments later I did so too.

When I woke up the next day, I found that I was the second to last person in the tent. Aang slept on my mat still but seemed to be restless. He was sweating and his eyes were tightly shut as if he were having a nightmare. Immediately I got out of bed and walked over to him to wake him and free him from the troubling dream. My sister walked in just as I reached for his shoulder and began to shout Aang's name, making me back off quickly and watch as Aang shot up from where he lay.

Aang took a moment to gather himself, his body trembling a bit. He recovered though and yanked his shoes beside him on. While he was putting his shirt on, Katara grabbed his hand excitedly and pulled him out of the tent. He managed to grab his wooden staff as he went, which had been leaning by the entrance way. Rubbing my tired eyes, I pulled on my fur boots, brushed a hand quickly through my hair, and followed them.

"Aang. This is the entire village," Katara began, and immediately I noticed the whole village had gathered near our small tent. "Entire village, Aang." Aang politely bowed to everyone to show his acknowledgement, but they all shot him wary glances and backed up.

"Why are they all staring at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" he asked, looking at his clothes. Gran-gran walked over to him answering, "Well no one has seen an air bender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you."

"Extinct?" Aang asked, his eyes wide with shock.

Stepping forward, I immediately tried to reassure him. "That doesn't mean their dead though. They could just be in hiding. If you're still alive then I'm sure you can't be the only one."

Katara smiled over at me grateful, and then said to an assured Aang, "This is my older sister Kaya. My father took her in when he found her on a fire navy ship our tribe destroyed." Then she turned back to Gran-Gran. "And this is my grandmother."

Grandma nodded. "Call me Gran-Gran."

Sokka suddenly walked over to us and grabbed Aang's staff with curiosity. "What is this? A weapon? You can't stab anything with this."

Aang smirked and held his hand out. The staff flew back at him making me jump in shock. "It's not for stabbing. It's for air bending."

He then undid a latch on the staff and two giant fabric orange wings flew out on each side. Sokka gasped, while Katara and I stared at the strange device with fascination. It was the first time I'd seen such a strange contraption. Children around us excitedly cried, "Magic trick! Do it again!

"Not Magic…" Aang corrected. "Air bending. It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."

Sokka rolled his eyes, scoffing. "You know last time I checked, humans can't fly!"

Aang smirked and shot a wink at me, then said to Sokka, "Check again." He then jumped up and his glider grabbed air as he soared above us. He flew for a good minute, 'til he started showing off too much and flew into my brothers watch tower. I broke into laughter as my brother ran over to the tower and got pelted with snow.

Aang managed to get back on the ground, and Sokka tried to get out of the pile of snow. "Great. You're an air bender, Katara's a water bender, and Kaya's a fire bender. Together you can just waste time all day long."

Aang looked at Katara excitedly. "You're a water bender!"

Katara blushed and said, "Well sort of. Not yet." She was then sent away to do chores by Gran-Gran, much to Katara's utter disappointment. While she left I stared at Aang curiously. Aang felt my gaze on him, and he turned to give me a smile.

Looking him over, I asked, "So you're an air bender like Katara said?" I looked at his foreign clothes curiously.

He stared me up and down asking, "And you're really a fire bender?"

Pulling off my blue glove, I breathed in slowly and a small flame appeared dancing in my palm. "The one and only of the southern water tribe," I said, then extinguished my flame.

Aang followed me as I went to tend the fire, one of my main chores. The children of the tribe followed our moves curiously as we walked from one place to the other. Aang stopped to play with the children after he got bored, and I watched from my chores. A smile formed when I saw him get his tongue stuck to his frozen staff. The children laughed and I giggled myself. Aang was a huge goofball from what I could tell. It was good to see someone was having fun through all this war.

After mending the fire, sowing more of Sokka's trousers, and preparing lunch which was fish soup, I made my way out toward the ocean. The fish would be done cooking in an hour, so that gave me plenty of time to practice my fire bending.

Taking off my water tribe gloves, I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. As my breath entered my body, I felt power build inside me. With a quick jerk of my hand, I released my energy sending a hot fireball out toward the ocean. The fire became nothing as it grew farther from me. The heat went away with the dying flames.

After shooting a few more flames with my hand, I decided to try something else. I breathed in again wanting to try the move I'd attempted before but failed numerous times. Thrusting my foot forward, I forced energy toward my heel hoping I could shoot fire from it. For the first time ever a flame shot through my boot, only it caught my fur boot on fire and I had to stomp on the snow to put it out.

When I got back to the village, I wasn't upset at all by my burned shoe. I was happy I'd learned to do something new without anyone's help. I hoped more than anything I'd become extremely skilled in fire bending. I wanted to be the best I could be to defend my tribe.

When Katara saw what I had done to my boot, she rolled her eyes and told me not to do it again. Then she helped me sow the boot back together so it looked somewhat half way decent. It was charred a bit on the bottom, but still usable.

Later Katara and I went to see what Aang was up to. We found Sokka too who decided to tag along with our search. We found Aang a few minutes later playing around with Sokka's troop of 'soldier' kids. "Stop!" Sokka exclaimed, running over to where the kids were using Appa's tail as a slide. "Stop it right now! What's wrong with you?!" He stomped over to where Aang sat on Appa's head scolding him. While he had walked over, he'd picked up a spear and waved it around as he spoke. "We don't have time for fun and games with a war going!"

Sighing, I paced over to Sokka and grabbed the spear he had picked up. He jumped when I tore the weapon from his grasp. "Calm down, Sokka. They're just kids having some fun. They're too young to worry about the war."

Aang hopped down from off of Appa asking, "What war? What are you talking about?"

Sokka looked at him bewildered, while I stared with amazement. How did he not know about the war? If he was an air bender then wouldn't he have heard about the Fire Nation? The Fire Nation had wiped out his people. It was almost like he'd been living under a rock for the last hundred years.

"You're kidding, right?" Sokka asked, then shot me a look of disbelief. Shrugging, I went to explain it all to Aang, but before I could the kid shouted, "Penguin!" Looking behind me I saw a penguin at the edge of village. They wandered through the village all the time looking for a handout of fish or seal jerky. Aang ran faster than I thought possible for anyone to run, leaving the three of us behind.

"He's kidding. Right?"

Katara and I both looked at Sokka and Katara shrugged.

Katara then set out to follow where Aang had gone, and I went to take the children home while Sokka went somewhere to pout about something. When I finally got back to our family tent, I saw Gran-Gran was seated by the fire poking at the fish I'd cooked.

"Where's your sister?" Gran-Gran asked, noticing I had arrived but Katara hadn't.

Taking a seat beside her by the fire, I answered, "She walked off with Aang… I think they were going penguin sledding."

Gran-Gran frowned and stared at the fire. "She's such a wild girl. Too much of her mother in her. I hope she doesn't let this strange boy go to her head."

Nodding, I added some more kindle to the fire. "Knowing her, she probably will."

An hour passed of sitting by the fire with Gran-Gran. Lunch was ready but Katara and Aang had yet to return. Just as I was about to venture out and find the two kids, a terrifying sound echoed across the South Pole. It was the sound of a flare being shot across the sky, and the bright fire ball sent dread through me. "No Katara… You didn't..."

I knew perfectly well she did.

The flare was still in the sky when Aang and Katara returned to the village. By that point the whole village had gathered at the edge of the town, Sokka standing at the head of the group. As they approached, a bunch of the children ran forward with excitement.

Sokka stepped forward once the two got within earshot and yelled, "I knew it! You signaled the fire navy with that flare. You're leading them straight to us aren't you?"

Sighing, I stepped forward to intervene. Sokka was jumping to conclusions way too fast. "You don't know what really happened. Just let them explain."

Sokka pushed me behind him. I wasn't sure if it was to protect me from Aang, or get me out of the way. "Stay out of this Kaya."

I scowled. It was to get me out of the way.

Katara stepped forward, almost stepping in front of Aang to protect him. "Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident."

Aang nodded and looked embarrassed. "Yeah… We were on the ship and there was this booby-trap and we- we boobied right into it."

Gran-Gran gasped from behind me. She quickly scolded her youngest grandchild. "Katara! You shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!"

Aang looked guilty stepping forward a bit and immediately defended her. "Don't blame Katara… I brought her there. It's my fault."

"Aha! The traitor confesses!" Sokka shouted, pointed an accusing finger toward him. "Warriors! Away from the enemy! The foreigner is banished from our village!" The children he was shooting orders at, whined and pouted as they walked away from Aang.

"Sokka!" I cried, grabbing his arm. "Don't you think that's a bit unfair? It was an accident!"

Katara had tears in her eyes. "Yeah, Sokka… You're making a mistake!"

Sokka yanked from me and defended himself. "No! I'm keeping my promise to dad. I'm protecting you and Kaya from threats like him!" His finger pointed once more at Aang.

"Aang's not our enemy!" Katara snapped. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun!"

Sighing, I couldn't take it anymore. All the shouting and accusations was making my head hurt. I walked away from the group as Katara, Aang, and Sokka continued their controversy. All this anger and tension was making me uncomfortable. Leaving wasn't a big deal anyway. I knew if I stuck around there wouldn't be anything I could do to help. Once Sokka made a decision you couldn't stop him.

A few hours passed, and I watched as Katara moped about. Sokka had banished Aang, and after Aang had left Katara had refused to speak to any of us. She was hurt and angry, and I understood why. Her only chance at becoming a master water bender had walked away.

Later in the evening I was just walking back from gathering some more kindle for the fire, when Sokka suddenly ran past me. He looked ready for battle, with a spear in his hand and war paint covering his face. Dropping my sticks, I turned and ran after him easily grabbing his arm to stop him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, turning him toward me and staring him up and down in shock. He was wearing traditional water tribe battle gear, and his boomerang was in a pouch on his back.

He shrugged me off his arm, but placed a brotherly hand on my shoulder. "The Fire Nation's coming. I saw there ship in the distance and it looks like we only have a few minutes. We have to prepare the village for battle."

I was horrified. "Why? What do they want from us? Do you think it's another raid?" At my last question I cringed. The last thing this village needed was more death.

He pulled from my shoulder and embraced me in his strong arms. "Don't worry Kaya... I won't let anything happen to you." He pulled away and stepped back. "Stay near Gran-Gran and protect her. It's all going to be fine."

He took off then to the large snow wall he'd made over the years. Nodding, I promised I would as he climbed the wall to the flat top and stood ready to fight. He gripped his spear tightly as if it were his only life line.

Rushing back to the city, I helped where I could by getting the elderly in their tents and the children to safety. Katara showed up a moment later asking what was going on. I caught her up and we both managed to get everyone to safety. We were just returning the last child to their parent when it happened. The ice below our feet started to shake as the enemy arrived.

Sokka was right. The Fire Nation had come.

Running to the edge of the village wanting to find Sokka, I watched in terror as the wall surrounding the village snow wall my brother had built began to tumble and fall. Katara and I gasped when we saw a dark shadow emerge from the cold fog. As the shadow emerged, almost consuming the village, a shape began to form through the fog. The shape transformed as it grew closer into a huge steel war ship. As it continued to cut through our icy terrain I heard a gasp from behind me. Looking back, I saw Gran-Gran had followed Katara and I with worry and was struggling to stand straight. Katara and I ran over to our grandma helping her stay up by taking both sides of her.

The ship finally came to a stop at the very edge of Sokka's pitiful wall. Sokka was pushed back as his snow wall tumbled to the ground. He slid a bit but managed to stay straight. He lost grip on his spear though and reached quickly for his battle club. With a sharp hissing sound, steam came out of the front of the ship as the enormous steel ramp lowered to create a platform form for the enemy to descend upon.

A figure began to walk down the ramp, and flanked behind him were about ten soldiers in hard intimidating Fire Nation uniform. Staring closely at the man in the front of line, I could tell as he approached that it wasn't a man but a teenager. Stepping slightly closer, I strained my eyes to look closer at him.

Just as I went to take another step, I felt Katara yank me back. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I muttered, yanking from her grip.

The teenage guy who was maybe sixteen or seventeen, was close enough for me to see his face. Though he wore a helmet, his head wasn't completely covered like the other soldiers with him. Upon observing the guy, I saw his eyes were a deep gold and he had a horrible scar from a burn over his left eye. The burn must've been terrible, and i could only imagine how much pain he went through receiving it. The eye with the scar was almost in a permanent squint. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. As he approached more, I suddenly felt this tug. It was almost as if something was pulling me towards him. Those eyes... They struck something inside me. Staring at the teen, I couldn't help but feel I knew him from somewhere. Who was this guy?

Suddenly Sokka took off running toward the leader, his Water Tribe battle club gripped tightly in his hand. Shouting a battle cry, he went to attack the enemy but the agile teenager kicked Sokka's weapon out of his hand. While my brother was taken off guard, the teen guy kicked at Sokka's head knocking him into the snow below. He fell upside down a bit, and landed in the cold white. He began to struggle to free himself from the cold snow.

"Sokka!" I cried, running over to him while the teenage guy and his fleet continued toward the tribe. Helping my brother out of the snow, Sokka slumped back a bit dazed. Immediately I turned back to the Fire Nation monster shooting him a hard glare. My fists tightened as my body boiled with fire.

The teenage guy had finally approached my village where I saw the other villagers had come out. They were too curious about the enemy to stay safe in their tents. The guy and his men stopped a few feet in front of the villagers. The mothers were trying to shield their children with their bodies. Katara stepped a bit in front of Gran-Gran to protect her. He scanned the small group we had while I inched back toward the villagers to protect them.

"Where are you hiding him?" His sudden question took me off guard. Stepping back beside Gran-Gran, I inched in front of her some to protect her and shot the guy a scowl to let him know he wasn't welcome.

He met my gaze for a moment, but quickly looked away. Then he looked back again as if he wasn't believing what he was seeing. He stared at my eyes and I only narrowed them. He looked away once more probably intimidated by my gaze. Suddenly he stepped forward and reached past me. Grabbing my grandma by her coat sleeve he yanked her to his side as if to show her off to the tribe. I gasped and tightened my fist more.

"He'd be about this age! Master of all elements!" No one answered. No one knew what to say, or who this guy was talking about.

He shoved my grandma back with irritation at the lack of response. Katara and I caught her as she stumbled, and we helped her steady. I was boiling though. Who did this guy think he was?

The monster growled when there was still no answer to his confusing questions. With a shout he shot a gust of fire at us that would burn someone in an instant. In both determination and fury I jumped forward and quickly grabbed his hand to extinguish the flames. He was stunned by my hand dousing his flame. Stunned and amazed. While he stared at me with bewilderment, I took a deep breath and threw fire at him with my other hand. The blast hit his armor and sent him flying back hitting the snow hard.

I stepped forward with rage. The soldiers had stepped forward to intervene if I attacked again. "How dare you touch my Gran-Gran like that? You have no respect for anyone!"

He was shocked I'd been able to fire bend. He recovered quickly though and shot a flame at me with his foot. Something I'd just learned how to do, yet he seemed to know so well. I fell back with a shriek landing in the snow on my butt. Standing, the prince stepped right in front of me and glared down at me. His shadow seemed to consume me almost. The snow on him melted away as he glared daggers at me. His eyes pierced through my own. The eyes weren't a strangers though. I felt like I'd seen them before.

He crouched in front of me a bit, hissing, "I'll deal with you later traitor!" Standing once more, he looked back at my tribe and yelled, "I know you're hiding him!"

A holler rang from behind the intruder suddenly. My brother who had a red footprint on his forehead, came running at the teenage guy with his club full speed. The leader ducked swiftly, and Sokka flew over him landing on his butt hard. I winced at the fall. While Sokka recovered the guy was ready to attack. A fireball shot from the guys fist toward Sokka, but my brother dodged and threw his boomerang at the fire bender. The guy quickly ducked with a scowl.

Katara helped me up from where I still sat in the snow. As she did a little boy named Lok threw a spear at Sokka shouting, "Show no fear!" Sokka caught the pole easily and jumped back to his feet. He ran forward with determination, ready to slice through the furious teenager. The guy was ready though. He hit the spear with his arm easily breaking the pitiful weapon. When Sokka was taken off guard the guy grabbed the rest of the weapon out of his hand. Hitting the flat part of the spear against Sokka's head repeatedly, my brother stumbled back in a daze and fell on the snow once more. The annoyed teen broke the spear into two and threw it on the ground with the rest of it's pieces.

He looked smug when he saw he'd beat my brother. However, out of no where Sokka's boomerang suddenly came flying back. It hit the teen in the head hard almost knocking him down. He managed to catch himself from falling. When he got out of his shock from the sudden hit, he fixed his crooked helmet and then growled. With tight fists he created fire in the shape of spears. That was a trick I'd never learned, and at that brief second I envied his training. Quickly, I got back to my senses though.

Ready to protect my brother from the enemy's wrath, I rushed forward and stepped in front of Sokka. Getting into a defensive stance, I lit one of my fists with fire. "Stop this! Who ever you're looking for isn't here!" I glared daggers at the leader. He was taken off guard by my sudden actions, but immediately his eyes narrowed. He went to lunge his fire daggers at me, but a shout made him stop.

Something slid out of nowhere knocking the enemy off his feet and flat on his face. Aang slid around the group of villagers and splashed snow onto the village kids faces. The kids all broke into cheers, while the rest of us looked relieved. I extinguished my flame seeing that the enemy was in the snow.

The penguin Aang was on bucked him off its back, and then waddled away. "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka," he began, and then glanced over at me. "Hey Kaya." A sigh of relief escaped. I smiled widely nodding at him to acknowledge his greeting.

Sokka seemed relieved as well. "Hey Aang. Thanks for coming."

Aang stood from the snow where the penguin had left him. He quickly got into a fighting stance, ready to defend us. A twelve year old boy was going to defend our tribe? I felt uncertain about it all. The soldiers began to surround the strange air bender boy, while their leader got into his own fighting stance. He was enraged by Aang's arrival. They had a stare down for a good minute, waiting for someone to make the first move. Finally, Aang shot a blast of snow at the soldiers and their leader. The hot headed teenager growled and melted the snow with fury.

Aang gripped his staff tightly, ready to attack again. "Looking for me." The world seemed to go quiet at his words.

What? Why would Aang say that?

The teenager was stunned. Then his eyes narrowed. "You're the air bender… You're the avatar?!" He practically spat the last part, his eyes full of fire.

The Avatar? Aang was the Avatar? No way... I'd only heard stories about the Avatar. He disappeared off the face of the earth over a hundred years ago. No wonder the guy had grabbed my grandma. He hadn't been looking for a kid. He'd been looking for an old hundred year old man.

My eyes went wide with shock at Aang's true identity. I took a step forward, almost ready to defend this kid. The world's last hope.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating… You're just a child!"

Aang looked slightly startled by this guys fury, saying, "Well you're just a teenager."

The 'teenager' must have hated this comment, because a second later he shot a strong blast of fire at Aang. The air bender deflected the fire quickly with a twirl of his staff. As Aang circled around the village, the hot head guy shot volleys of fire over and over again at the kid. One final blast shot over Aang almost hitting the villagers. Everyone shrieked at the terrifying flames, while I tried to deflect some of the fire from the children near me.

Aang saw the tribe was in danger. He quickly surrendered, saying he'd go with the enemy if the teenage dude promised to leave everyone alone. Hot head agreed and two soldiers stepped over toward Aang. One confiscated the kid's staff while the other grabbed Aang. Another soldier also joined the other side of Aang, so both of his thin arms were restrained.

Katara rushed forward as they began to walk Aang toward the ramp. With terror, she cried, "No Aang! Don't do this!"

Aang smiled weakly back at her as he was escorted away. "Don't worry Katara, it will be okay." His voice wavered at the end. He didn't really believe his own words.

He was wrong... If the Fire Nation got hold of him, it would definitely be over. The Fire Nation would surely win this war. I couldn't let them have Aang. I couldn't let our last chance of freedom be taken straight to the Fire Lord, a man whose dark image haunted my dreams. As the group of Fire Nation soldiers began to board the ship, I shot forward toward the ramps earning shouts of protest from my family.

Ignoring them, I yelled, "Let him go!" I shot a hard flame straight at one of the soldiers who immediately crashed down on the ramp with a shout. Aang looked back at me with terror, almost as if asking me what I was thinking. The teenager must have known I would fight, because he was in front of me suddenly. His hard hands grabbed onto both of my wrists cutting off my fire.

Pulling my hands behind me swiftly, I shouted in pain as he tied my hands tightly with some rope. I had no clue where he got the rope, and I didn't have much time to find out. My sister and brother stepped forward to aid me when they saw my situation. My captor quickly grabbed me around the waist and held a flame to my face. The fire's heat was intense, but thankfully it was held far enough that it wouldn't burn my skin.

"I'm taking this traitor with me," my captor snapped. "If anyone follows, I'll burn her so bad you won't be able to recognize her!"

I struggled in his hold trying to get away from the flames. His grip around my waist only tightened.

Once Katara and Sokka backed off not wanting the guy to hurt me, I was yanked toward the ship. The guy meant business as he quickly pulled me up the ramp. The enormous ship was so frightening that I actually felt I was being pulled into the mouth of a beast. Of course I didn't go down without a fight. The whole time he forced me up the steel ramp I screamed and kicked back at him. Once or twice I got a good kick to his shin, and I heard him hiss a bit in my ear. Trying to pull from his grasp, I only felt him tighten his hold more trying to cease my struggles. He managed to force me to the top of the ramp where I saw a long hall leading into the dark deep vessel. I screamed louder, trying to press my heels into the ramp. I didn't want to leave my home. I didn't want to go with the enemy.

The guy yelled over my screams to his men, "Head a course for the fire nation. I'm going home."

As the ships ramp began to shut, I tried one last attempt to free myself. My hands heated up as I tried to burn off my rope. Something hard hit me on the side of the head though knocking the wind out of me. I immediately lost consciousness and darkness consumed me.

I ran across the soft grass, my eyes shining with excitement. The air was warm, the red and gold flowers around me were in bloom, and I could hear the quacks of turtle ducks in the distance. Something in me told me that at the moment, it was my five year old self running across the garden. What was this? A dream... or a memory?

"Zuko!" My dream self beamed with delight when I spotted who I was looking for. I raced over to a six year old boy who was sitting cross legged beside a small pond. The boy was in a red shirt and black silk trousers. He had his black hair up in a topknot, and looked to be meditating. He seemed surprised and startled when he saw me.

However, when he saw it was me he grinned from ear to ear. "Amber!"

Amber? That name... It was familiar...

My dream self giggled as I tackled the black haired boy and we both fell into the pond. Water immediately soaked into our clothes and hair. We quickly held our bodies above the water so we could breath, and I was laughing playfully as I lied on top of the boy.

The boy groaned and managed to shove me off. "You got me soaked!"

I grinned sitting up in the water, and with a smile splashed the annoyed boy beside me. He held up his hands to block his face, and then lowered them with annoyance. "Stop it!" He whined. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

Immediately I frowned, hanging my head in shame. "Sorry… I thought you'd have fun. Mommy told me to cheer you up."

The young boy Zuko, smiled at me with apology. "No... I shouldn't have snapped at you. Sorry sis." He placed a hand on my wet shoulder. "It's okay." Then he grabbed my shirt and yanked me backward. I fell back in the water again with a shriek. When I resurfaced a moment later I was laughing again. Zuko laughed too, and he tackled me resulting in the both of us falling back in the water.

Waking with a gasp, I immediately clutched my head as pain surged through it. Touching the spot on my head which was pulsing hard, I felt a strip of bandage wrapped around my head to stop what I assumed to have been bleeding. I brushed my hand over the bandage and felt the remain of dried blood. Whoever had hit me earlier had hit me really hard.

My eyes started to focus on my surroundings. When I saw where I was I felt my blood run cold. The room where they had placed me was dimly lit by a few torches on the steel wall. There was a tapestry on the wall beside me that held the symbol of the Fire Nation. The door to the room was straight across from me, and there was a low table to the right of the door where candles were lit. The mattress I lied on was soft and low to the floor, and the blankets piled on me were warm almost sending me back into my confusing dreams.

The door to the room suddenly opened though, and I jerked awake at the creak of the steel. An old man in his early fifties entered the room. He had gray hair tied up in a topknot and a gray beard. He was heavyset but looked to have seen a lot of battle in his younger years. He wore a red Fire Nation robe that looked pretty warm. His gold eyes shot straight toward me, and when he saw I was awake he appeared both relieved and amazed.

"Oh!" He began, entering the room and approaching me. "You're awake," he sounded utterly relieved. "Zuko was concerned his soldier hit you too hard. Are you in pain dear?"

Zuko... The name from my dream?

Staring at the man, I wasn't sure how to respond. My brain tried to remember what had happened. A giant ship... a teenager shooting fire at my people... Aang surrendering himself over to the Fire Nation.

I suddenly gasped as I remembered everything that happened. "Aang!" I shot up on the mattress I was lying on with terror. At once I tried to get up, but as soon as I moved pain shot through my whole body. Unable to bear the pain, I fell on my side gasping and shutting my eyes tightly. My head felt like a knife was lunged into my skull. Tears burned in my eyes as I gritted my teeth to ease the pain.

The older man saw my discomfort, and he quickly approached kneeling down beside me. His gentle hands helped me slide back to the middle of the mattress so I wouldn't roll off. "You shouldn't move too much," he began, pushing on my shoulder to force me down on my back. My head rested limply on a pillow.

"I have to get out of here... I need to help Aang," I said softly, my voice broken a bit from worry.

"It's a little late for that," the man said. "The Avatar and his friends are long gone. Your water tribe friends tried to get you back but in the end my nephew outmatched them. They had no choice but to leave."

They'd left me? My family and Aang were gone? I was stuck in the hands of the enemy while they were free and safe. At first I couldn't believe they'd actually leave me. However, after thinking it over I realized they had no choice. Katara could barely throw a ball of water and Sokka wasn't the best fighter. It's better they escaped. They would've both gotten captured. I was relieved to know that they had escaped with the Avatar. They were in good hands.

The man smiled weakly. "Get some rest. I must inform Zuko you're awake. I'll return with him in a few minutes. Just stay where you are so you don't hurt yourself." The man left the room then, leaving me to watch him go with confusion.

Again with the Zuko thing... Why did that name from my dream keep coming up?

Once the man had completely left, and I no longer could hear his boots stomping away, I decided it was time to escape. Immediately I tried to get off the cot. My body protested but I cringed through the pain focused on escape. I managed to walk weakly to the steel wall and fall against it a bit for support. My head pulsed as if a club was beating against it. It felt heavy as I walked toward the closed door of the cabin I was in. Then with all my strength I pushed open the door. I really hoped I wouldn't get caught. I wasn't having much luck lately.

Heading down the narrow hall, I looked around me with both fear and amazement. It was the first time I'd ever been in such a vessel before. I was amazed by the structure, the tangle of pipes, and the small torches on the wall to light my path. The ship lurched slightly and I lost my footing. However I managed to catch myself from falling. Recovering, I gripped the wall as if it were my safety net not wanting to fall again.

The older mans voice suddenly returned, almost as if it were bouncing through the hall on the walls. "She seems stable but I suggest she stay in bed for a day or two. She was hit on the head pretty hard, so I'm sure she has a concussion."

"Not my fault she was struggling so much," another voice muttered. It was the voice of the teenage guy from before. The one who had taken Aang and I captive.

"Well do you blame her? You were tearing the poor thing from her home."

"Her home?!" the guy almost spat. "She's Fire Nation!"

I gasped knowing I needed to think fast. Taking my only chance I rushed down the dimly lit hall at full speed, just wanting to escape. There had to be some way off this vessel. There had to be some way to get back home. While I ran I felt my head protest in a pulsing pain. My eyes became blurry from the pins and needles, and my heart pounded hard as I felt panic fill me. The ship I was on suddenly lurched and I fell back landing hard against the wall. My body smacking into the wall was enough to send an echo through the hall. I hissed in pain trying to keep my body up with support from the wall. My head was pulsing from the sudden jerk of the ship.

I prayed to the spirits no one had heard my body slam against the wall. I hoped more than anything they thought it was just a noise from the ship.

Like I said earlier... My luck wasn't doing too well lately.

To prove it the teenage guy from before ran around the corner I had just turned. Quickly, I tried to take off once more but I tripped over air. Luckily I fell down on my hands instead of face, catching myself in the nick of time. Getting a bit on my knees, I breathed heavily as my heart pulsed through my ears and head. The pain shot through my whole body, pleading for me to go back to bed.

The guy stepped in front of me, his feet being the first thing I saw when my blurred vision cleared up. "That's what you get for trying to escape," he said, then crouched down to help my shaking form up.

As soon as his hands touched my shoulders I went to shove him away. He grabbed my hand so I couldn't fight him off. "Stop! I'm not going to hurt you."

Yeah right.

He stood pulling me up with him. My body staggered from pain and fatigue. He caught me easily before I fell to the steel floor again. "Let go!" I protested, trying to pull from his grip. "You... you won't ge-"

He cut me off a bit irritated. "Will you shut up. You're yelling in my ear." He suddenly placed his arm behind my back, and his other arm went under my knees. Lifting me from where I stood, I gasped when my whole body protested. Quickly, I grabbed onto his shirt afraid of being dropped. "Put me down!" I cried. Another burst of pain shot through me though and my protests turned into tightly shut eyes and a hiss of pain.

"You're only making your head worse," he muttered. He began to carry me back down the hall as I felt nauseous from the pulsing in my head. "You're lucky I'm feeling forgiving today. I could lock you in a cell for trying to escape." The last part was more of a warning: Escape again, and I'll throw you in the brig.

"Why don't you?" I muttered, my shut eyes stinging with tears. "I'm your prisoner."

The guy fell silent. He didn't know how to respond. I felt his tense arms relax a bit as he went into thought.

Taking me back into the dimly lit room, I opened my eyes enough to see the older man from earlier was in the room with a tray of steaming tea. I hated hot tea.

The old guy smiled weakly. "That was my fault Prince Zuko… I didn't think she'd try to run."

"You don't know me then," I muttered.

Zuko sat me carefully back on the mattress, which was a surprise. Why was he being so kind to me? I wasn't his friend. He wasn't my friend. We were enemies. Plus his name... It was the same one from my dream. Who was this guy? And Prince Zuko? He was a prince?!

Too tired to figure it out, I lied back against the pillow with defeat. A few tears had slid down my cheek at my failed escape. Would I ever get to go home?

The old guy smiled kindly, and then knelt beside me where I lied on the mattress. He placed the tray to the side for later. "Let's start over now… What do you two say?"

Zuko backed up and slumped against the wall with a heavy frown. There was pain in his familiar golden eyes. So much pain. He looked torn about something. "Uncle… This isn't going to do any good. There's no wa-" He was quickly cut off.

"It doesn't hurt to try," his uncle said, cutting him off. "You can't deny the resemblance."

Resemblance?

"It was nine years ago! This is going to be pointless! This girl is just some traitor who deserves to be in a cell!"

His uncle seemed disappointed with what Zuko was saying. "All we can do is see, Zuko. I'm not saying she is. I'm just saying we have to ask. She's the proper age, and she's almost the spitting image of your mom." This old guy wasn't making any sense. He must've made sense to Zuko though, because the prince sighed and crossed his arms with defeat.

The older man turned back to me apologetically. He knew I was confused with everything he'd just said. Proper age? Mom?

"Let's start with introductions," he began. "My name is Iroh, retired general of the Fire Nation and brother to Fire Lord Ozai." He gestured back to the teen leaning against the wall. "This is my nephew and the Fire Lord's son Prince Zuko. We have been on a quest for three long years hunting down the Avatar."

Zuko shifted uncomfortably as Iroh spoke, and I wondered why they were telling me this. Shouldn't I be there prisoner?

Another question came to my mind. Why was Zuko and his uncle hunting down the Avatar? If he was a prince and Iroh was retired, why didn't they send other men on the search? My eyes shot over to Zuko and his scar. Maybe he'd received the scar for some crime, and his punishment was to search the world for the Avatar... If that were the case, I wondered who gave him the scar. His father maybe?

"Why are you after the Avatar? What good is he to you people?"

Zuko scowled. "That's not your concern peasant!" He'd stepped from the wall snapping at me, his fists smoking. I sat up quickly and slid so my back was to the wall. The idea of being burned terrified me. "I don't get why were doing this stupid thing, when clearly all you are is a traitor!"

"Prince Zuko!" Iroh scolded. "Enough!"

He calmed at his Uncle's hard voice, his fists no longer searing with smoke. He backed off once more and fell back against the wall with a scowl.

Iroh sighed, turning back to me with another apology. "You have to forgive my nephew. He has a bit of a temper." Iroh then asked, "Tell me miss... What do you know about the Fire Nation royal family?"

I was stumped. My shaking form had relaxed when Zuko had backed off. Pulling my knees close to my chest, I answered softly, "Nothing really... My people aren't exactly educated with the enemy. All we care about is that you're all control freaks who want to pretty much enslave everyone." The bitterness in my voice made both Iroh and Zuko cringe.

"I see..." Iroh said softly. He almost appeared ashamed for his own people. "Well then I'll give you a brief history lesson. The Fire Lord and his wife had three children. The oldest is Zuko," he indicated toward the guy who had gone completely silent. "And the youngest is Azula. Their middle child was Amber."

Amber...? The name from my dream...

"At the age of six Amber was suddenly taken from us in the night by someone unknown. We haven't seen her for nine years, and we don't know if she's alive or dead. The Fire Lord sent out search parties to all corners of the world, but they never found her. The nation believes her to be dead, however I'm beginning to see differently." He looked at me with eager eyes. "When I saw you earlier for the first time, I just knew..." He was confusing me beyond comprehension. My head was pulsing. "Amber... Is it really you?"

I didn't respond. My mouth went dry.

"I... I don't understand," I said softly.

"For nine long years I always felt you were out there. I'd always had some feeling you were alive and well. To discover you in the Southern Water Tribe of all places, I'm a bit bewildered and saddened. You were just across the water this whole time. You were in such a frozen wasteland, and we never even thought to look among the Water Nation," Iroh stopped speaking and looked deeply into my eyes. "When I first saw you, I wasn't sure what to think. A Fire Nation girl living among the Water Tribe. Immediately the first scenario that shot through my head was you ran away from the Fire Nation because you disliked the war. However, your eyes and that face... It kept making me think about my sister-in-law. You're the spitting image of her when she was around your age. Not entirely the same, but you have so much of her beauty. That's how I have a feeling... no... That's how I know you're Amber. You look so much like your mother."

My blood started to go cold. "My mother..." My head throbbed in pain. "Amber..." More pain shot through my skull. "I don't understand."

Zuko suddenly smashed his fist into the wall making me jump in shock. "I told you this wasn't going to work Uncle! There's no way this girl is her! If Amber were alive she would've come home a long time ago! My sister wouldn't just abandon her family!"

Iroh immediately looked at Zuko with an intense gaze. "Did it ever cross your mind she may have lost her memory? There was blood on her bedroom floor. Whoever took her hit her hard. A hit like that would've caused serious damage. Plus, there's no telling what happened to her after she was kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?" I whispered, my head felt like a knife was slicing through it. I shut my eyes tightly just wanting the pain to stop.

Zuko snapped, "There's no way this girl is Amber! Amber is dead! She's dead like she's always been! "

Amber... My dream...

My head suddenly pulsed with pain and I let out a cry clutching where it had been hit earlier by Zuko's soldier. That's when something flashed through my mind. It was quick and brief, but it was enough.

An intense battle. Fire and water flying everywhere. A piece of steel falling from above. Unbelievable pain and terrifying darkness.

I was six when the Water Tribe saved me from the Fire Nation. The vessel I was on had been about to dump me in the freezing cold water of the South Pole. My father, Chief Hakoda, had interrogated one of the men they'd taken prisoner and the rookie told him everything. Somebody in the Fire Nation didn't like me. He paid for men to kill me. I'd been about to reach my doom in the ice cold ocean when the Water Tribe saved me in the nick of time.

"Are you alright?" Iroh asked suddenly. His hand pried my hand away from my head so he could examine the wound. Immediately I ripped my hand away from him and backed as far from him as I could."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I cried. "I have nothing to do with you monsters!"

Amber… My dream… What did it have to do with me? If the Fire Lord was my father, I think I'd remember that!

"See Uncle! I told you this was stupid! There's no way this peasant is my little sister!"

Iroh ignored him. "Calm down..." He said. At first I thought he was talking to Zuko. It wasn't until he took my shaking hand that I realized it was me. "You're only going to make yourself sick." He was saying this because my breathing was coming out hard and my whole body was trembling. He quickly tried to changed the subject. He tried to calm the situation. "Can you tell us your name dear?"

My voice was lost to me. My eyes were burning with tears. My head was pulsing. However somehow I managed to calm. Somehow I managed to find my voice. "Kaya," I said softly. my voice broken a bit. "My name's Kaya… My mother gave the name to me." The last part came out in a broken whisper.

Iroh had managed to make out what I spoke. "Kaya… I know I've scared you enough, but I need to ask. How did you come to be at the South Pole? Did you run away? Did the Water Tribe kidnap you? You can tell us."

My memories of that time were blurred and incomprehensible. The only thing I remembered was waking up in Katara's sleeping bag, my head and whole body pulsing in pain. That day was so terrifying. I woke up with no memory whatsoever. I had no name, I struggled to remember the basic knowledge of things, and I had no clue where I was. My brain could barely name colors, could barely remember what some words even meant, and over all I was so confused. So alone, confused, and pained.

"I… I don't know," I finally answered Iroh in a broken whisper. "I just woke up one day and was there. I don't remember anything before that day. It's all gone... My dad told me he rescued me from a Fire Nation vessel. That's all I know."

My words shocked them both, and Zuko looked at me with sudden sympathy. Once so furious, his whole change in demeanor made it seem like I was staring at a whole new person. "You don't remember anything?" He sounded uncertain, like he wasn't sure he wanted to believe me. "How old were you?"

I looked away self-consciously. I still was so confused to what was going on. Did these people really believe I was some Amber chick? "Six.. My parents kind of guessed."

Zuko's eyes widened to the point where it almost looked like he was seeing a ghost. Iroh had gone silent as well, his eyes starting to moisten with tears.

"It can't be." Zuko whispered. He seemed conflicted. "She's dead."

Iroh sighed heavily. "Kaya… When you were found, were you a prisoner on the ship?"

His words surprised me, and I felt another shock of pain shoot through me making me clutch my head. My Water Tribe father's words rang through my memories.

'We found you unconscious under a steel pipe… You were tied up with rope and a gag was over your mouth… You must have been there prisoner or something. You didn't' seem like a threat to me though.'

"They interrogated one of the soldiers on board," I answered softly. "They were ordered by someone to have me killed. I was tied with rope and gagged… That's what my father told me," I whispered, feeling warm tears stream down my cheeks.

Iroh frowned. "Kaya… I think you might be-"

"NO!" Zuko suddenly snapped cutting him off. "Don't you dare say that Uncle!" He pointed sharply at me with narrowed eyes. I pushed against the wall harder, afraid Zuko would lash out and hurt me. "Amber died nine years ago! Father said she was dead!"

"They never found her body though Zuko! It's only logic that Kaya is-"

"This traitor is not my sister!" Zuko looked so torn. At that moment I wanted to be his sister. I wanted to ease his pain. He looked so agonized over the subject of his sister who could or could not be dead. "Amber died nine years ago!" He turned and left slamming the door on his way out. The crash of the door sent another shock through my head. This shock brought another flash of blurred images. One image I managed to make out was turtle ducks swimming in the same pond I'd seen before.

"You are her," Iroh said softly. "Time may have changed you, but your eyes are hers. I know Amber is inside you somewhere. We just have to find her."

His hope made me break into sobs. I didn't want to be Amber. I just wanted to be Kaya.