Guard duty is so boring. I swing so that I'm hanging upside down on a thick tree limb. Jet is such a jerk sometimes. He sent me out here to be on guard duty. Guard Duty, for crying out loud! How does he expect me to stay still when there's nothing going on. All of a sudden I hear something, probably just another animal, although, this one sounds different. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I hop from tree to tree trying to find the source of the strange noise. Jet is going to kill me if he finds out I left my post. Oh, well, he's my brother. He'll understand. I hope. Jet has gotten a bit off of the right path lately. It's making me really worried. Jet is really kind and caring, but he just sees things differently now, more darkly. I finally reach the source of the noise. It looks like some kind of lemur. He stops at a pile of leaves. I'm guessing there's food down there. I notice the trap before it does, but I don't react fast enough. The poor lemur is caught in a trap. I look up and see some other animals trapped in hanging cages. Those Fire Nation jerks! How can you even do that to those poor animals? I start to release some of the animals. It's a bit hard because Jet took away my knife. It wasn't my fault it slipped and almost got him. He took my apology and my knife, happily. Whatever, I'll get it back soon enough. It's hard to free these animals without something, though. I think I hear something, so I stop to listen. I hear a group of footsteps, probably three sets. I hide. I have no idea who it is, and I have no weapon. If anyone that was an enemy saw me, I would be toast. I wait and watch to see who it is. I see three kids, well, one kid, and two teenagers, I think. The two maybe teenager are in blue, and the other kid is wearing orange and, is that, yellow? "Hang on, Momo!" All of a sudden, the kid jumps from tree to tree. How did he get up there so fast? I watch as they all rescue the lemur-I'm guessing his name is Momo, very fitting. They look back up at the baboons, who are now whining to be let out. "Alright, you, too." I'm about to go over there when the bald kid jumps all the way up to the top, not even bothering to use the trees this time.

"This is gonna take forever." The male teenager takes something from behind his back and throws it. It looks likes sharp boomerang. It cuts down the monkeys from their cages. It's so high up, I'm scared that they're going to get hurt, but they land perfectly fine.

"That works." The bald kid is right next to me, climbing on the underside of the tree limb. The monkeys escape as he slides down the tree.

"No, it doesn't! You could've killed those poor monkeys!" They look up and stare at me. Oops, I guess I was the one that said that. I tie my rope around the limb and slide down. I take my rope in my hands and turn to them. "Do you know how high up they were? You could have easily killed them by just cutting the rope like that. Why were you gentle with the lemur, when you weren't with the monkeys?"

The bald kid speaks up. "Well, I can't speak for Sokka, but it's because Momo is my pet."

"It doesn't matter!" They look taken aback by my shout. I completely understand of course, I mean, I'm not even as tall the bald kid. "All life has meaning and purpose! You can't just treat something else badly, simply because it's not special to you! For all you know, they could've been somebody else's pets!" I finally stop my little rant, feeling more than a little miffed. "It didn't take you that long to get the lemur down, so you could've just been patient when getting the others down. I helped the others, and it didn't take me forever. However, even if it did, it wouldn't have mattered, because I saved a few animals lives, and that, in itself, is completely worth it." By the end of the next rant, I'm smiling. They just look at me confused. Oh, wait! I totally forgot about guard duty! I have to get back to Jet or he's going to be furious, and I'll never get my knife back! "I'm sorry, I've got to go. I'm going to be in so much trouble!" I pull on the rope, and it yanks me back up in less than a second. I have got to get back to Jet. Maybe, I won't tell him about the kids. They don't seem all that dangerous. Besides, the bald boy was kinda cute. Ah, oh well, never gonna see him again. I land in front of Jet.

He turns to me and starts whisper yelling. "Why aren't you at your post!? If you saw anyone, you were supposed to give me the signal!"

I begin to whisper yell too. "I told you I could never get that whistle down! Besides, I didn't really know if this counted or not." I shrug and he stares at me expectantly. "Well, I heard a little lemur get trapped in one of those Fire Nation traps, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to set the animals free. Stupid Fire Nation, hurting those poor animals." I shake my head to get back on topic. "Anyways, when I went to help, there was a group of three kids, and they saved their lemur and the last two of the animals that were trapped." I'm just going to leave out the part of me yelling at them.

He looks down at the Fire Nation camp then looks back at me. "Is that them?" I look down and see them. I nod. What are they doing there? "Go back to the camp." I'm about to protest when he cuts me off. "You don't have a weapon with you. You can't really do anything, and you could get hurt. Go back and prepare some medicine, we might need it." He goes down there and begins to fight the soldiers. I do as I'm told, albeit begrudgingly. It doesn't take all that long to get the medicine ready. I'm so bored. Waiting for the freedom fighters to get back is so B-O-R-I-N-G! I look in the mirror across from me, and almost scream. I look awful. I'm all dirty, and my hands have rust and little pieces of rope on them from helping those animals. My hair is everywhere from jumping from tree to tree. I clean myself up, put my hair back in its original ponytail, put on some clean green clothes, and latch on my special bracelet. It was the first thing we ever stole from the Fire Nation soldiers. Jet and I were only ten. It was also the day we met Pipsqueak and The Duke. The Duke is really fun and Pipsqueak is like a giant teddy-bear. Whenever someone would get sick, injured, or the same would happen to me, Pipsqueak would always stay behind and help me. Trust me he doesn't love me and I don't love him. It's more like I'm the doting mother, and he's the mamma's boy. He's really helpful, and if anybody bugs me, Pipsqueak just gives them a mean look, and they run away. I hear a scream and run out of my room to see who it is and if they need medical attention. I see the teenage boy from earlier, and he's struggling to get out of the rope pulley. I stop the rope right when it gets to me and untie him.

"Thanks." I give him a big smile.

"No problem." The next person I see is the bald kid from before. "Hello."

He turns to me and smiles. He looks up and sees the pulley system. "What are those?"

"Oh, that's our pulley system." I grin mischievously. "It's also a really fun ride." I grab his hand and lead him over to the closest one. "You just hold onto the pulleys like this...and...GO!" I push his back. He's loving every second of it. I know the feeling, the wind in your face, the breeze flowing by you, making you feel like you're flying.

I look over and see Jet holding the teenage girl from earlier. He is such a flirt. "Nice place you got!" The bald kid is zooming from place to place on the pulleys. He finally lands next to me after a few minutes. "That was so much fun!"

"It really is." I look over and see Jet talking to the girl on one of our bridges. "Hey! I just had a great idea. Why don't you guys stay here for a little while? Nobody's come to me, so I'm guessing the mission was successful, and that means we are going to have a feast tonight. You could stay, eat, and even swing from the pulleys some more, if you want!"

He gets a really bug, goofy grin. "Really?"

"Why not?" He starts jumping around in excitement, well, more like floating. "Hey, how are you doing that?" He stops and makes a little ball of air in his hands. that's all the explanation I need. "You-you're an air-bender?" He nods. "That. Is. So. Awesome! I didn't think there were any others!"

"Others?" Oops. Backtrack! Backtrack!

"Yeah, I, uh, thought all of the air-benders were gone. It's nice to finally meet one." He looks slightly disappointed, but shrugs nonetheless. That was a close one.

"Well, my name is Aang." He reaches out his hand.

I shake his hand. I'm about to tell him my name, when I see one of our friends limping toward me. "Well, duty calls. I'll see you at dinner." With that I turn and go to help the little boy.

Later on we are sitting around the table, waiting to start the feast. I want to sit next to Pipsqueak, but the only open spot is next to Aang, so I go sit there. "Oh, hey." I wave and see Jet stand up.

"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Cheers. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldiers face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet, and rode him like a wild hog-monkey." The Duke walks around on the table. More Cheers. "Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right." Boos. "Or maybe, they're dead wrong!" Cheers. He grabs my hand, and pulls me up onto the table. "Let's also not forget the wonderful work my sister did on patching everybody up. Without her, we wouldn't be able to plan as many attacks, or have as many able bodied people. Let's give a round of applause for Lei, The Flower of the Treetops." Cheers. I blush, and do a little curtsie. He helps me off of the table, and I go back to my seat near Aang.

"Hey, Jet. Nice speech"

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today."

"Well, he's great. He's the Avatar." Woah, what? "I could use some practice."

"The Avatar, huh? Very nice."

"Thanks, Jet." Jet continues to talk to Katara, so Aang turns to me. "So, you're name is Lei, huh?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" He shakes his head. "Sorry about that. So, you're the Avatar, huh?" I mimicked his tone.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" He copies me and we laugh. "So, why are you called the 'Flower of the Treetops'?"

"Well, my name means flower, and it was my idea to live up here. Jet always says that his sister is like his mother. I am the caretaker of everyone here, so it's natural that I come off a little motherly." I walk over to Pipsqueak and pat his shoulder. "Especially, to Pipsqueak. He's such a good helper." He grips me in a big hug, and we laugh as loud and as much as we want. I walk back over to Aang. "So, is it hard?" He looks confused. "You're the Avatar, the last air-bender, and you're only twelve years old. That has to be a big burden to bear, and a lot of pressure. It's lonesome thinking you're the last one of your kind. You always feel like your all alone, and no one truly understands except you. Do you ever get lonely?"

He looks at the ground. "Well, it is true that it's a lot of pressure, but I'm slowly getting used to being the Avatar. I feel lonely sometimes, but I don't feel alone. I have Katara, Sokka, even Momo and Appa."

"Well, now you have me, too. That is, if you guys will let me travel with you?"

"We can't take you." I feel my spirits drop. "Don't worry, it's not that I think you wouldn't be helpful or anything. It's just that you're needed here, with Jet and the others."

"But Jet's going to break his promise."

"What do you mean?"

"Jet made a promise to me when we made our home in the trees, after our parents died. He said that he would protect me and stay by my side, and I told him that I could take care of myself. He promised that he would let me leave if he ever became a monster. I have a bad feeling about the next few days. I know he's going to break his promise. He's not going to do it intentionally. He sees things differently now. He's been blinded by rage at the Fire Nation. He's going to do something drastic, but that's all that I can tell you." I yawn. "I'd better get some sleep."

"I'll walk you back." We walk back to my tree house. "Wow, it's so big."

"Jet let me have the biggest one, because I'm the doctor here, and sometimes I need the space for the freedom fighters. Thanks for walking me back, and I'm really sorry for yelling at you."

"That's okay. I feel the same way. The monks taught me that all life is sacred. Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight, Aang." I fall down on my bed exhausted from today.

I wake up the next morning to find that Jet and the others are already gone. I make my usual rounds checking up on everybody. I find The Duke handing something to Aang. "Hey, Aang. Hey, The Duke, where's Pipsqueak?"

"He went on the mission with Jet."

"Oh, okay. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He shakes his head. "Okay, then. Later."

"Hey, Lei. What are you doing?"

"Well, I just finished making sure everyone was okay, so nothing now. Why?"

"I need you to show me how to use the pulleys again."

"Oh, okay." We walk up to the nearest one. There are two, so I show him by example. "You have to hold it by the triangle, or it won't go anywhere." He puts his hands on his and looks to me. "Just like that. Now, how about a race?"

"Oh, you're on!" We start racing on the pulleys. He starts to catch up with me. "You've got some speed, but I bet you can't beat an air-bender." He blows air beneath him to make him go faster, and it works.

"We'll just see about that." I move my arm to push some air back, and go flying. I pass by him and he looks shocked. "Hah! You're gonna get beat by-" I hear something snap. I look up and see the pulley starting to break. One side of the pulley snaps, and I pull the other down to hold on. The edge in between them breaks from the pressure, and I go falling. "Aang!" A few seconds later, I'm floating. I look down and see Aang air-bending me down to safety. I finally land, safe and sound. I turn around and give him a hug. "Thank you, so much. I-I thought I was going to die."

He just laughs. "I wouldn't just let my new friend go like that." I blush. I turn and see Jet back with Pipsqueak and the others.

I run up to Jet and tell him what happened. He nods and walks over to Aang. "So, I hear you saved my sister?" Aang nods sheepishly. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost her." I walk up to him and punch his arm. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"You're too mushy. You're more of a girl than I am. Come on, Pipsqueak, I need your help." He just smiles and follows me. I think Aang goes off onto the pulley system again. I make a mental note to make sure to ask Jet if he can find anymore pulleys for me. If he doesn't want to, I can always guilt trip him for leaving me. A few hours later I remember something very important. Everything I have left to do today, I need my knife for. I have to go ask Jet for it back. Pipsqueak can't help, cause he just carries around a log. It's effective, but not what I need it for. While heading to Jet's tent, I see Sokka coming out of it looking very angry. "Hi, Sokka!"

"Hey, Lei."

"You seem upset. What did Jet do?" He looks shocked. "You just came out of his tent, and you look angry. I can put two and two together, you know. Even though he's my brother, I'll listen to what you have to say." He tells me the story of what just happened, including the bit about the knife. "Wait, did the knife have a secret compartment with poison in it?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" I gasp. I see Katara and Aang walk out of the tent.

"Hey, Lei. Are you okay? You look mad."

"I'll be fine after I speak to my brother." I walk into Jet's tent. I stand there tapping my foot and crossing my arms.

"What is it, Lei?"

"Don't act like you don't know. Why did you lie to them about the knife?"

"I did what had to be done. It made the story more convincing." He turns to walk out of the tent.

"You've started to break your promise." I mumble to myself, but he probably heard it. He stops for a second , but continues walking. I go to sleep any have terrible nightmares. All of them oddly consist of Jet, water, explosions, and monsters. I finally wake up from my last nightmare. My dreams tend to mean something, so I always think about them afterwards. Jet, water, explosions, and monsters. What do all of those things have in common. Yesterday, I told Jet that he started to break his promise on becoming a monster. That's two. Now, water and explosions. Hmm. Sokka wasn't too happy about Jet and he was with him yesterday. Maybe I should talk to him. He would be brutally honest about Jet, even to me. I find Sokka walking with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee. Are his hands tied. I hide behind a tree. He notices me, and I make a motion for him to come over to me. He runs this way and traps the other two in the Fire Nation cages.

"While you two are up there, you might wanna practice your knotwork."

"Sokka, why did you trap them. What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way. First, we need to head to the village."

"Let me handle this. There's a tree around here that has a secret tunnel." I start searching. I see the tree with my orange necklace on it. "There it is!" I pull Sokka with me and blow into a secret hole in the tree. "Go on, I'll be there in a second." He nods and climbs in. I walk back to where the boys are. I jump up and untie them. "Pipsqueak, why?" He looks sad, and I give him a hug. "He's broken his promise, so I'm allowed to leave. I will miss you very much. Take care of everyone for me, alright?" He nods, a single tear running down his cheek. I wipe it away with my thumb. I run back to the tree, grab my necklace,a nd catch up with Sokka. "Okay, now while we're heading to the village, what is Jet going to do?"

"You don't need a lot of convincing, do you?"

"He's my brother. I know him better than anybody. So, what's he planning this time?"

"He's planning on blowing up the damn. He's going to kill all of those innocent people, just to get rid of a few Fire Nation soldiers."

"Well, I guess that's where the water and explosions come in. We're not going to be able to stop it, but maybe we can get the people out in time." He nods. "I made this tunnel because Jet wanted me to spy on the town to get information. It exits just behind a shop in the middle of town. I usually wear a disguise, but there's no need this time. However, this does need to move along a bit quicker if we are going to get the people out." I see a flicker of light. I pull down on the silver pulley, and we go flying. We reach the end in a matter of seconds.

"Now, time to convince the people."

"You might want to consider convincing the soldiers first." I draw his attention to the fact that we're surrounded by soldiers.

A few minutes later and we're riding on Appa. "Jet, you monster!"

"That's Katara." He directs Appa to the edge of a cliff. We hear Jet say that the valley will be safe. "It will be safe. Without you. I warned the villagers of your plan, just in time." Jet looks really mad. "At first, they didn't believe me. The soldiers assumed I was a spy, but one man vouched for me, the old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time."

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!"

"Who would be free? Everyone would be dead."

"You traitor!"

"No, Jet, you became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

"Katara, please, help me."

"Goodbye, Jet." She gets on Appa while I jump off.

"Lei, help me get out of this."

"No."

"What?"

"I told you yesterday, but today you've finished. You've officially become a monster, Jet. I am now free to leave, that was you promise. Thank you, for always protecting me." I get back on Appa and leave.

"Thank you, Lei."

"What for?"

"We wouldn't have been able to save the people without you. So, thank you."

I jump up and hug Sokka. "Aw, that's so sweet! Katara will you be my sister, so Sokka can be my brother, too? It can only be pretend if you want."

She laughs at me. "Sure, Lei."

"Thanks!" I sit down next to Aang. "Oh, yeah!" I reach into my bag that I brought with me. "Aang, I need you to look at something for me." I grab my necklace that was on the tree out of my bag and hand it to him.

He gasps. "Where did you get this."

"I found it. Why?"

"This is a sacred air-nomad necklace."