Thanks to all who reviewed and favorited this, mwaah! I had one person who reviewed asking if it took place before or after the comet, it's before, just as they were about to migrate to Ember Island after the invasion. :p That review in specific made me cry (': ON WITH THE STORY! :D

Btw, sorry if this chapter took a long time.. I got distracted by Kingdom Hearts. I played the first 2 games just for the giggles. Now im back.


Katara

Aang and I had begun taking down the tents and setting them next to Appa to be packed on. "So why did you take off last night?" He asked, now almost as tall as me.

I considered how I should answer this. Lying would only make me feel so much worse about this whole thing. Lying wasn't an option. I tied up another sleeping bag and then turned to face grey eyes. "I had alot on my mind." Which is true, in a twisted way.

The sun had just been coming up when Zuko had apparently carried me back to camp. Sokka had been sure to confront me about my 'secret thing' with Zuko after waterbending training. Blocking out the thoughts of every kiss, hug, and tear, I'd assured him I had no feelings for Zuko whatsoever. He didn't buy it.

Aang smiled at me, guilt tugging at me. I don't regret sleeping last night in Zuko's arms, but the only problem is that I knew how Aang felt about me, yet I still did it. "About what?"

I panicked. Of course, because I can't lie to Aang. I can't lie to him ever. Not because he'd get mad, but because I'd get too frustrated with myself. I sat leaning against Appa next to him as we both took a break. The grass felt nice against my hands, and my fingers picked at the small strands, closing my eyes momentarily against Appa. I'd definitely be sleeping on the fly down to Ember Island, it would be about a four hour fly from here.

"I don't know, Aang. The storm just kept me up."

Aang frowned. "Ever since you and Zuko confronted that man from the Southern Raiders, you've been different," He said, crossing his arms. "I'm worried."

"Aang, I'm fine."

"Are you sure, because—"

"She said," Zuko's hard voice interrupted, "She's fine. Just go with it, she'll be fine."

As Toph threw her stuff next to me, I stood up and did a mental head-count. Suki, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, Aang and I. All here. I climbed up onto Appa last, watching the land behind us disappear as we flew farther and farther away. For a moment, I forgot about my priorities and relaxed, watching the sky. This was something I'd always done when we'd travel in the night. I'd watch the stars, the sky, amazed that this was the same sky I'd seen my whole life back at the south pole.

Toph broke the peace first. "Hey, Sparky, mind moving?"

"Why should I?"

"Because Katara has that whole side to herself, and I don't feel like being PMS'd at." Wait, "PMS'd at"? That didn't even make sense! I should have said something, but fighting right now would only make everything worse, I figured.

"What is PM—.. Nevermind," Zuko muttered. I felt his weight next to me, but I kept my eyes on the sky. I fought the impulse to roll over and talk to him, ask him questions about last night, everything. That's right, Katara, keep your eyes on the blue sky above.

I rubbed my eyes, the fact that I had about three hours of solid sleep last night taking its toll on me. Sleeping now wouldn't help me any, I'd only be restless again tonight.

Thinking back to before I'd forgiven Zuko, I remembered how he'd pulled me from my position, knocking me off balance and wrapping his arms around me as we both fell to the ground. I'd been astonished, he'd just saved me from being crushed by a ton of rocks. Surprised and shocked, I'd forced him off of me, running ahead to find my father and Sokka. I'd replayed those crazy two seconds in my head; Zuko's long arms holding me close, leaving himself open for attack.

Appa suddenly slowed to a significantly slower speed. I looked around, finding two fire nation ships surrounding us. I jumped up, pulling steam from the air around us, trying to create cover. "Katara! I need you to put distance between them!" Aang yelled, as we nodded at each other. There was nothing Toph, Suki, Sokka or Zuko could do. They'd be attacked if they tried to swim. At least, Zuko, Sokka and Suki would be. Toph couldn't swim.

I jumped into the water, freezing it underneath my feet and traveling toward a mid-way point, dividing the ships. Along the way, I'd been knocked off my hunk of ice twice, throwing me into the chilly water. In all this madness, all I could feel was Zuko's impressed expression baring into my back. Aang was on one of the ships, which one, I wasn't sure. All I could see was the air currents knocking some off the ship.

I found myself wondering why we didn't just try flying off. Aang must have had a reason, otherwise he would have tried to protect us all and get everyone out safely.

Shouting. The shout echoed in the air; "Get them out of here, Sokka! We'll handle this!" It lingered in the air for a minute to me. I'd stopped and watched with frightened eyes on an opposite ship as Aang struggled. So, there definitely was something wrong. And if it weren't that bad, Aang wouldn't have made them leave us.

"Be safe!" I cried to the group as Sokka took the reigns and yelled a 'yip yip'.

Taking a deep gulp of oxygen, I hurled myself off of the side of the now-vacant ship, forcing the water currents to mold to my form. I found myself back-to-back with Aang on the next, barely saving him from being hit by lightning. Then, I realized the problem.

Princess Azula of the Fire Nation stood in front of us, anger painting her every expression. I mentally cursed. Why didn't we run? Lightning shot into the air again, Appa almost out of sight. I heaved a circle around Aang and I, taking the octopus formation. My heart raced in my chest; adrenaline pumping through my veins. Here we go. One last time.


Zuko

"Why did we just leave them? I want to go back! The Fire Nation will never know what hit 'em!" Toph cried, throwing her hands up in the air for effect.

Not that I wasn't angry, but Katara and Aang could stand their ground. I've known that ever since I'd watched her control that man back when we looked for the man who killed her mother. Watching her bend water at all made me fear water. Hm, no. Fear wasn't the right word. Appreciate. I remember my amazement when she'd stopped raindrops all around us, making a dome over our heads and then throwing it back in motion.

Suki's panic pulled us all from thought. "What was that?"

I followed her eyes back to the now-lit up sky. Rain wasn't falling, yet lightning lit the sky. And when I realized it, my stomach nearly dropped to the fiery pits of Hades. "That's my sister."

Sokka, who had apparently had a few bad experiences with Azula during the invasion, perked his eyebrows. "The crazy one who shoots blue fire?"

"That's her," I replied, putting the pieces together. Katara and Aang were on that ship. Azula was there. What chance did they stand? Two against a whole shipful of soldiers didn't make me feel the 'warm and fuzzies'. "And she's not happy."

Sokka shook his head. "We need to keep going."

"Are you crazy!" Toph yelled, "Leaving them there is like murdering them with our own hands! Worse, with fire! Katara's like the group's mother, and I mean, Aang the the freaking Avatar. We can't seriously leave them there!"

Two more pieces connected. Katara's mother had been killed by the fire nation. So had mine. Or, so I think. Killed or banished, it didn't matter in my mind. She'd been taken from me.

"Sokka, she's right. We can't let them.."

"What? die? Suki, Katara's my sister. If I thought something would happen, we'd go get them. Right now, we have to save ourselves first."

I stayed quiet for some reason. I didn't speak until then. Letting my people take away innocent lives wouldn't be 'just fine' with me anymore. Before, I didn't think there was anything I could do without making things worse, or disappointing my father. And now, I don't care. I don't care about displeasing my father, that doesn't matter to me anymore.

"We have to go back," I spoke, crossing my arms. "Katara might be your sister, but Azula is mine. Taking her down is my destiny, Sokka. And doing it now will make things easier."

Sokka took this into consideration. He'd been out-voted, of course. "Fine, we'll go back. But I'm telling you! Going toward the blood thisty firebenders isn't ever a bright idea!" Suki and I rolled our eyes in unison. Sokka just wanted to protect Suki, and it was a known fact by everyone, and I didn't blame him.

As we got closer to the ships, you could see blue fire and lightning dancing around, a deadly tango between it, and water. Which only meant one thing: Aang had been hurt. I'd only seen Katara go head-to-head with Azula once, and it included Aang almost being killed in the avatar state. That didn't make me feel better.

I could remember how her hair fell from different angles, how her clothes burnt on the end of her sleeves, how stress was so built up in her voice when we first spoke, it seemed to silence her. She deserved some relaxation at this point, surely.

I jumped from Appa, and hit the floor running, already ready to take Azula down for the final, and first time. Azula had always out-shined me, well, it ended now.

I was joined by Sokka, Suki, and Toph soon after. We all stood and stared as Azula and Katara had it out. Katara seemed to just keep getting bigger and bigger with her attacks, tossing the ship slightly as she replenished her supply of water every few seconds. Noticing me, Azula smirked. "Your girlfriend is good, but she isn't a firebender, is she?"

I could see Katara's eyes widening, as if she knew what was about to happen. My heart rate likely picked up, racing. I watched in slow motion as four guards surrounded me, and as Azula held up two fingers, and I knew exactly what that meant.

Katara took her own stance, and just as Azula was about to strike, she stopped in her tracks, back straightening. I vividly remembered Katara controlling the man who had been apart of the Southern Raiders. I watched with the same expression, scared almost to death.

Everyone did. Sokka and Toph's eyes bugged; they knew what this was. What the story behind it was. Now, I needed to know. I needed to know what this was.

Azula grunted, screaming, "You'll regret this, water peasant! You will regret it! And trust me, you're now an even bigger enemy to the fire nation! As if you weren't before!"

Sokka blew a whistle, and Appa was there. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for the second time as we climbed on, Sokka hoisting Aang up onto the bison. "Yip yip!" Sokka cried, barely on the saddle. Appa took off, everyone besides Sokka circled together on the saddle.

"Looks like sugar queen grew a backbone!" Toph rejoiced, even though Katara's stress now mixed with more guilt.

I wanted to wrap my arms around Katara, pulling her in close to my chest. I wanted to feel her arms behind my neck, responding to my touch. I wanted her.

"No, I feel incredibly bad. I don't even know why. They've hurt me so much, and now I had the chance to get revenge. I couldn't. Aang would be proud if he were awake," Katara muttered, snapping back into reality. "Aang!" She quickly popped water from her pouch, laying her hands on his leg in specific, rolling up his pants leg, revealing a bleeding scar, possibly burned. "Azula went after him first, then I stepped in, which made her angry. She separated us."

After healing him to the best of her abilities, Katara moved away from him, bending the water back into the pouch. I knew her and Sokka would be missing their water tribe clothing once we got back onto Ember Island and had to change. For a brief moment, I let my mind roam. Imagining her in fire nation clothes seemed.. wrong. But then again, she'd make one seriously beautiful fire nation teenager.

As we landed on Ember Island, I took a look around. At first glance, you knew that it was a royal house. Next to the others, it had more golden trim on the most simple things like doors and windows. It was red, and lifted off the side of the hill with posts, leading to a balcony.

Then there were wooden stairs leading to a stone pathway to the beach. Definitely belonged to royalty. But nobody lived exactly nearby, at least, the nearest neighbors were a mile and a half away. Nobody would even suspect us being here.

Katara sighed, sitting on one of the wooden chairs, while Sokka and Suki took Aang to his room. In a few hours, Katara would need to heal him again. Toph had stayed outside, claiming we need a beach party. That left her and I alone.

"You did good today," I said. "My sister isn't someone who's exactly easy to stop."

"See, but I did it by bloodbending. I'm only as good as Hama."

The name seemed to ring a bell. It gave me chills. "Who..?" I began, cut off by Katara's pleading blue eyes.

"I'll tell you the story," She began, thinking about what to say after. "But you have a promise you won't freak out and hate me."

Freak out? Hate Katara? No, never! I couldn't ever hate her! Even when I was chasing Aang, I didn't even dislike her in the least bit. Maybe I was harsh on her in the north pole, but that was different.

"I can't hate you, Katara. Don't you get it? I've tried. And hating you, so much as disliking you for me, is impossible."

Katara sighed. "Alright. It began with water tribe folk tales. I'd just finished my so-called 'scary story' and we heard a noise. May I remind you it's a full moon, so I was already jumpy and hyper. The noise only seemed to get closer, and that's when she appeared in the middle of a deserted forest. The monster. Hama."


Yup, that is where I shall end it! :D I'm thinking about a Kingdom Hearts fic. Yes, no? Let me know, guys! :D

Reviews make this gal's day fourteen times better. Thanks! xoxo, -Keri (: