I quite enjoyed writing the last chapter and I have a bit of time on my hands, and so I'll just put up a second chapter whether you guys like the first one or not. Once again, I own none of the characters of A:TLA.

Feeling the air around him grow static, Zuko immediately knew what was coming. Azula was delivering her death blow and in Ty Lee's dishevelled state there was no avoiding it for her. He knew what he had to do, and ever since he and his firebending had changed their purpose and drive in life, he was, now more than ever, prepared to do this.

Zuko was standing two paces from Azula's strike zone and knew he needed to strike at the final moment between when Azula finished the final motion of the Kata she was performing and when the bolt of pure energy would leave her hands. Pushing his hands down in a calm sweeping movement, he carefully gathered the chi within his body and pooled it in his stomach, making sure not to leave any hint of the spiritual entity in or near his heart. As his heart rate slowed, he felt his chi pathways become clearer and more defined as his arms readied themselves for the massive amount of energy that would soon race around them. He was at peace, and so was his body.

Azula was completing her final motions, vivid blue-white energy gathering visibly. In a swift movement, Zuko moved between the slumped form of Ty Lee and the clearly enraged fire princess. He thrust his middle and index fingers directly at his sister and balling his other hand into a fist alongside his face assembled himself in a strict and rigid stance often used in firebending but altered in such a way to slightly resemble a technique employed by waterbenders. With a massive thunderclap, a beam of pure white death, escaped his sisters extended index finger, the air around it compressing rapidly as it moved towards Zuko's own fingers. As it made contact Zuko felt the incredible amount of energy course dangerously around his body. He had to admit, this being the second time he was performing the move, it was still equally as exhilarating as his first encounter with lightning, but the feeling of fear was now gone. He was well and truly in control this time as he changed position, extending his other hand and pulling back the receiving one simultaneously. A determined countenance crossed his face as he pointed his newly extended fingers at his sister, her face now lined with surprise, fear and the ever present malice. The energy began to pulse out of his own fingers, following a course set directly back where it came from.

Azula had only just registered what had become of her attack before the bolt of lightning began racing back at her. Hastily she kicked her left leg to the side whilst mustering up a defensive dome of fire in front of her, as sturdy as she could make it in the short amount of time she had to react. Not propelling herself out of the way fast enough, the lightning crashed into her hasty defence, causing a massive explosion, throwing her body like a ragdoll towards the depths of the boiling waters below, her body rendered limp and motionless from the shock of the blast.

'When did he learn to use lightning? And why was his counter-attack so powerful?' She grew increasingly apprehensive and irate at the thought of her brother growing stronger. As soon as she got herself out of this mess, she would have to deal with this threat, and eliminate it, permanently. She decided the same fate should come for the traitor Ty Lee. No one had dared to stand up to her in such a way, not even Mai. And now here Ty Lee was, the weakest-willed of her minions, the easiest to manipulate and bend to her will. She didn't understand her betrayal, but it didn't matter, Ty Lee had never been privy to any of her machinations for the future and thus would be of no use to the Avatar and his friends. After all, trust was for fools. And even then, that was provided they even took her in, which based on the actions she had forced her to take against them, seemed unlikely. She didn't even know if Ty Lee would even want to join their crew as with any luck, she might still be buying into the propaganda fed to her during her time in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.

She felt like she had been falling for an eternity before the energy began to return to her limbs and with barely a seconds clearance before hitting the water, she used the last of her energy to fire a strong blast of fire to the side, thrusting her out of danger and allowing her to land, still intact, on the base floor of the prison. Pulling back several strands of hair which had found their way in front of her face, she sat up and immediately resumed her usual air of contempt as she began to formulate her next course of action. Picking herself up, she slowly travelled back to the prison, to reprimand the fool Chit Sang for his foolishness in letting the scheme fall into place right under his nose. She refused to acknowledge any blame falling on her however, instead deciding to pin her failure on the treachery of Ty Lee and Zuko, which would be believable enough. She smirked, she had this all planned out and before long, the Avatar and the filth he surrounded himself with would fall into her clutches.

"What do we do with her?" Sokka pointed at the collapsed figure of Ty Lee who had been set to rest in the corner of the gondola.

"We can't leave her here, she'll be killed." Zuko stated resolutely.

"We may as well, she didn't directly kill any Kyoshi Warriors but her little freezing act let Azula fell several members of our rank." Suki, although kind at heart, was still fuming at the deceivingly pink girl in front of her. It was true. She knew that her flurry of jabs hadn't killed any of her band, and probably never had, judging on her hesitance in directly despatching of herself, but the overall result was still the same, with Azula striking down nearly four members single-handedly with her lightning strikes. She had been forced to bury several of the members herself, the pain she felt was still fresh and the fact the group was even contemplating saving the girl in front of her was just salt in her wound. She stared at Zuko fiercely, there was no way they would be saving her.

Zuko sighed; he should have known how the group would feel about her. He knew the acrobat better than any of them however. He knew how much fear Azula had instilled into her malleable mind, driving her fears to the point where she was terrified of lightning and the thunder that came with it. He had found it had even extended to a fear of bright flashes and to some extent, of fire, especially of the blue variety. As kids, they had known each other, albeit not too well with that being mostly his own fault, and through the decent amount of interactions he had experienced with her he knew enough about her to know that she had much more depth to her character than she let on for anyone to see, including Mai and himself.

"Look, I know how you must feel about her but I've known her since we were children. She's really quite nice, albeit pretty annoying, but well-meaning nonetheless."

"Jeez, Zuko, you her boyfriend or something? I thought you were involved with that miserable one with the knives." Sokka teased comically, honestly he thought there was no way Zuko would get involved with such a bubbly person, and it would seem he was right. For he was soon rewarded with a sceptical stare riddled with anger. Sokka smiled smugly, he was so easy to provoke.

"You can't seriously think that can you?" Zuko seethed internally as he desperately sought to calm himself down. He did love Mai after all.

"Hey, I'm not judging. If that's the way you roll then I'm fine with that. Just make sure either of them don't find out." Suki sniggered as she spat out the words vehemently. They couldn't possibly be actually considering letting her live could they? She had to admit, she was grateful to the girl for rescuing her from the boiling depths below and that was the only thing which stopped her from dealing with the acrobat herself.

"Let's just throw her down and forget any of this ever happened…"

"Suki! Look, I know how much damage this girl did to the Kyoshi, but I don't think killing her is the way to go, Aang would never forgive us and I'm not sure I would be able to either. Even if she is fire nation. She even saved your life! You at least owe her that." Sokka argued. Looking down at her, he couldn't imagine taking the life of such an innocent looking girl. He wasn't trained in silencing people as his girlfriend was and definitely could not stomach the idea of doing it to the bundle of pink at his feet.

"My son is right. Killing her won't solve anything, and doing it out of revenge certainly won't." Hakoda spoke with assertion, proud that his son had reached such a conclusion. Like father like son. He let a small but proud smile escape his lips.

Sokka's stomach began grumbling in hunger and he blushed a little. "Let's just take her to the nearest little town drop her off and get some foooood. We can't afford to have her burdening us the whole way."

Zuko did not respond and instead pointed to a large regal airship docked at the port down below of a red-brown shade with a massive fire nation insignia slapped across both sides. It was obviously Azula's means of getting to this hellhole, and was now their way out of it.

"Come on let's go, we can use Azula's airship."

"Pheeewwwww, am I glad to be off that pit and back on the soil!" A delighted Sokka said as he caressed a nearby tree.

"Suki?"

The person in question didn't respond, staring daggers at the rest of the crew. They had discussed what to do with her during their travels back and in the ensuing debate the others had talked her down. Knowing they meant well, she bore no grudge against them but she was still vehemently fuming at their decision.

Consciousness hit her like a hammer as sunlight began to filter through her eyes and the memory of her last waking moment suddenly returned to her. Had Azula killed her already? No. She could hear voices around her, one which she recognized.

"Zuko?" She murmured, not realising how weak her lips felt.

"Finally. You were out for nearly 2 hours you know. Can you walk?"

She blinked. Was Zuko … carrying her? They must've pulled through and saved her somehow. She giggled slightly. "No, this is quite comfortable actually, I think I'll stay like this." She joked as she put on a quirky smile to which Zuko unceremoniously put her on the ground, simultaneously rolling his eyes. She stumbled a bit, her legs threatening to buckle under her, as if she were supported by columns of jelly. Finding her strength however, she righted herself and began walking with the rest of the group. Trudging alone, she glanced at the cohort escorting her.

There was the water tribe boy, with a slight blush colouring his cheeks as he looked back at her with his head slightly cocked. She had to admit, he was pretty cute, even if he was a water tribe peasant, according to Azula at least. To his right was the Kyoshi girl, obviously bridling a vast reservoir of rage built towards the fire nation as well as herself. She could see the girl had some self-control, but the rage showed through her eyes and her aura which was now a deep olive in colour, signifying the deception she was employing. Concentrating however, the red was still there in her aura, just hidden somewhat, like a giant saber-tooth lionmoose being held back by a mud wall barely large enough to conceal it from her view. She directed a nervous smile to her, but quickly turned away, staring at the ground as she saw her reaction. Looking behind her, she then saw another of the water tribe. She could definitely say this one was a warrior, judging by the armour and ceremonial attire the man donned. On closer inspection, she saw that he also had several similarities with the water tribe boy. For one, the blue attire worn by both of them, as well as the darker skin and the cyan eyes they both had. She guessed they were probably father and son. The biggest one she had seen in the gondola during their escape wasn't around however. She speculated they had probably dropped him off when they had landed. Looking directly behind her she then faced Zuko, who looked on disinterestedly. Her face pulled into one of her signature smiles. She had never really been too close with Zuko, he was too uptight, and she found that his tolerance for her silly antics was quite low. Despite this however, she had always seen something in Zuko which separated him from his sister and even his own father. He didn't have the same sense of malice in his golden eyes, and instead showed an inner determination and heart which many would have overlooked upon seeing the fire prince's exterior.

"So … uh where are we going?" Up till now she hadn't paid much thought to the situation at hand. But upon thinking, she realised how much danger she had placed herself in by saving the Kyoshi girl. She wasn't as stupid as people thought; she knew that to Azula, she was now a loose end, to be cut off without a second thought. Unless she found a permanent solution, it was a matter of time before she ended up back in the prison she just visited, or worse, and probably more likely, run through with Azula's lightning. She shuddered, she genuinely did feel sorry for those who felt her lightning. It would have been terrifying, and painful, incredibly painful. She shivered as she remembered her own almost encounter with death by lightning.

"We're dropping you off at Daishu, a nearby fishing village. There you should be able to pick up some supplies and then do whatever you want." Sokka said nonchalantly, using several flourishes of his arm to express the statement.

Ty Lee, who would've normally expressed her amusement at such a display, simply closed her eyes and turned away. She couldn't let them see the look of fear and disappointment which now crossed her face, being ungrateful at a time like now was the worst thing she could've done. She needed their company in case Azula decided to attack again, knowing that Zuko's counterattack probably hadn't injured her to as much an extent as they might have thought. Anyway it could've been worse, she had a few connections in Daishu, some of which may have evaporated by now in the conscription policy the Fire Nation had put into place for the war effort. She would simply have to hope that those who remained remembered and trusted her enough to help her and not decide to kill her instead.

Zuko, seeing this unusual display by Ty Lee, cocked his brow. She wasn't usually one to go deep in thought, or miss an occasion to laugh, as Sokka's little oration presented. Suki must have also noticed her change in character too for her eyebrows were now knitted and eyes crossed in annoyance.

"What, our assistance not good enough for you?"

"No-"

"What did you expect, a full entourage to escort you?"

"I didn't- I just- I wanted to-"

"Can't even string a sentence together, you must be as stupid as you look."

Ty Lee's cheeks flushed as her eyes dropped, tears beginning to gather in her eyes. She bit her lip and faced forward, attempting to act like nothing had happened. Despite being an elite assassin of the fire nation, at heart she was still a girl, and insults still hurt her, and for some reason, the Kyoshi girl's did in particular. She never enjoyed being called stupid, it was one of the less pleasant insults she had been called in her time and it never failed to sting. Feeling a tear run down her cheek , she let out a small sniffle, cursing herself as she realised she had broken her façade. She had kept on a straight face with Azula for all this time, how was this time any different?

Zuko's eyebrows arched even further. Had Ty Lee really changed that much in the 3 years he had been gone? On no occasion had he seen her express any sort of negative emotion capable of bringing herself to tears during their childhood. And yet, he had seen such a display several times in the period of two weeks. It was unnatural to see someone usually so happy in character crying the way she did, and despite his hesitance in getting involved with the matters of someone who he could not stand, he found himself moving to comfort her. He was beaten however by Hakoda, who, acutely aware of the situation at hand, put a hand on her shoulder and began to comfort her. Breathing a sigh of relief he silently thanked Hakoda. He definitely wasn't the sympathetic type and somehow knew that his intervention may possibly have caused more harm than good.

"Look, she didn't mean it, you'll be alright …" Hakoda murmured as he put a comforting hand on the shoulder of a Ty Lee whose head now hung dejectedly as she used her fingers to wipe the tears from her eyes. Zuko knew this probably wasn't true judging by the damage she had indirectly caused to Suki's sisters.

He looked back at Suki, whose countenance had softened noticeable upon seeing the hurt her words had inflicted. Being a strong yet stubborn warrior at heart however, she turned away defiantly, in a motion signifying unwillingness to admit any wrongdoing.

"Thanks … um, sorry I don't know your name …" Ty Lee managed to sniffle.

"You can just call me Hakoda. I'm Sokka over there's father." He smiled warmly as he gestured to his son who was peering over curiously at the unfolding situation.

Ty Lee managed a weak smile. "Thanks da- I mean Hakoda." She blushed slightly at her error and giggled nervously. Despite this however, Zuko saw her eyes cloud with thought momentarily before returning to their usual form.

"Hahaha!" Hakoda chuckled upon her slight mistake. "No problem, erm .. sorry I don't have a name either."

"My name's Ty Lee!" She said now more cheerfully.

"Come on now, we gotta get you to Daishu and then we'll be on our merry way." An unwilling yet wistful look flitted on the girls face for an instant before she put on a large reassuring smile. Once again they began trudging along the thickly forested part, Suki noticeable distancing herself from the acrobat.

After an hour of walking, they had reached the town's borders without event. Ty Lee felt disappointment in having to leave more 'friends' behind, especially Hakoda who she had begun to truly bond with and Zuko. Her eyes fell slightly. It seemed that every stage of her life required her to leave her friends behind and find a new set, like the changing of a guard. First it was the fire academy, then the circus, and then Azula and finally Zuko's new cohort. She would also miss being in the midst of such regal and excitable auras, even the Kyoshi girl's. It was a refreshing change from the ugly red of Azula's and the dull pasty grey of Mai's which only seemed to change in the presence of Zuko.

"Hey don't worry I'm sure we'll see you again sometime." Hakoda reassured warmly.

"Thanks, I'd like that! You're so lucky to have such a nice father you know!" As she addressed Sokka, she put on the widest smile she could muster, instantly changing the statement into a full-blooded compliment as opposed to a statement suggestive of her own family situation.

Sokka and his father both flashed an identical grin which challenged whether Ty Lee's smile could grow any wider. Sometimes she forgot that she was travelling with the enemy, the scourge of the Fire Nation. Her expression faltered slightly.

"You're not going back to fight for the Fire Nation are you?" Zuko folded his arms upon asking the question.

"Well even if you guys are sworn enemies to the Fire Nation, you seem nice enough, so I won't report your location or anything. I didn't want to fight anyways, it was Azula who dragged me out here. And I guess she's still after me now .. so no, definitely not." Seemingly unsure of herself, she looked enquiringly at the others.

"So what will you do then?" Zuko's eyes were beginning to tilt in worry as her own eyebrows did the same.

"I'm not sure really, I do know a few people in and around this area who might be able to help me out …" Once her again, a wistful look of longing crossed her eyes momentarily. Zuko wasn't one to miss the small details, and these little shows of emotion perplexed him. Perhaps he'd find out what was really happening behind those large puppy eyes sometime after the war, provided they won that is.

"How about your family? Why don't you try contacting them." Sokka had let the words leak from his mouth without a second thought and the reaction was profound. Ty Lee's eyes hardened as she closed her eyes dejectedly and everyone instantly understood a painful aspect of her life.

"I guess I'll get going then, wouldn't want to hold you guys back." Her tone lacking the cheerful oscillations they usually carried.

The group looked on in sorrow, as well as surprise at the fact such an innocent exterior could hide any pain whatsoever. Sneaking a final glance at Ty Lee's rapidly shrinking figure, he spotted a tear splash onto the ground beside her. Closing his eyes in empathy, he turned back around and began walking back to their balloon.

She cursed herself as she walked along. How could she have shown so much weakness, Azula would have killed her if she had seen her display. No, she couldn't think like that. Azula had tried to kill her for saving someone. Azula wasn't like her. She was different and she had to accept that. But what would she do now, helping the fire nation was now out of the question. All of the killing, the pain, she needed a refuge from the bloodshed. Something had changed within her after her recent daring show of defiance and her will to help Azula's conquest for destruction was crushed beneath the heaviness of her heart. She wasn't even sure if Azula could still be called her friend anymore. She had been forced as a child in the same grade to befriend her for the sake of her father's political career and Azula, seeing the weakness of her character had pounced at the chance, taking advantage of her feeble will and her frailer yet physique to bully her into submission. She had followed along to some extent however, knowing that her actions may help the Fire Nation conquest of the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes - or the quest to share their greatness, as she had been told at school.

Suddenly something caught the edge of her eye, like a flash of light off metal. Her body tensed in anticipation, she still had a small ways to go through the forest before reaching Daishu, and the tree cover around her was still thick, concealing any possible assailants behind her. On top of this she was in no condition to fight, her legs and arms still feeling like she had just woken up.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" She cautiously ventured forward, eyes alight in the event her pursuers decided to attack. Another glint of steel, this time on the other side of the path which meant only one thing. This was a planned ambush and she was outnumbered.

"Hey! I know you're there! I don't want to fight you. I just need to pass this place to get to Daishu."

Her question seemed to reach deaf ears as the woods around her remained silent, eerily still at this moment in time.

"To do what? Destroy the lives of more innocent people?" The voice had seemingly come out of thin air, her perceptive ears straining to pinpoint the location the sound originated from. It seemed her trackers were rebels, but here in the Fire Nation itself? She found that concept rather unlikely, but nevertheless readied herself in a fighting stance.

"I only did what I needed to do to help the Fire Nation help everyone else. Plus I've never killed anyone."

"You've served under Azula for close to a year now, and since I first heard of you several weeks ago, I've seen you executing her every command and although you haven't killed anyone, Azula has. You watched by as she killed and destroyed many lives. In our eyes, you're no better than her."

The voice dripped with pain and conviction, accentuating the truth in his words. She had honestly never considered the damage her actions may have caused, and simply didn't want to. She had convinced herself that she truly was Azula's friend and that all she had done was simply in the interest of the fire nation. Over time however, doubts had begun to set in as she saw the bloodshed Azula caused first-hand. But by then it was too late for her to back out, she would have been killed without a second thought if a hint of betrayal showed in her and so she played along, playing innocent in her travels with Azula. Truth had finally caught up with her again, and the fear and confusion she felt exposed the magnitude of it.

'You're no better than Azula.' She cringed, to think of herself being as bad as her in character was horrifying. It wasn't the person she wanted to be. What would Hakoda think of her? The man who had recently been so kind-hearted towards her would have been disgusted. Her heart sunk at the thought, the man had most likely endured much at the hands of the Fire Nation, yet he had shown such kindness towards her. He was the person she aspired to be, and yet she had just been compared with Azula, his polar opposite in character.

"I see you have nothing to say for yourself, I myself am wondering why you're out here all alone, but that matter is for another time. I have men, skilled benders and fighters, positioned around you and poised to attack on my word. You are surrounded, submit or prepare to face the consequences!"

Ty Lee simply kneeled down and presented her wrists face up, too shocked at the conclusion he had just assisted her in reaching to attempt resistance.

"Smart choice. One of my men will come to tie you up now. No funny business now."

'No funny business now.' Her pupils dilated as the familiar words resounded in her ears and rung in her head, bringing back joyful memories of her early childhood. A carefree time when she didn't have to worry about any of the complex conflicts the Fire Nation got itself into. There was no way this man was the same person though, he had gone away to join the army, and hadn't come back.

A man had come to tie her up, clothed in a dark red shirt and pants. She could see two sheathed daggers still lingering around his fingers as he approached. She said nothing, she wasn't going to try and escape, there was no chance she would make it and she knew it. Before long her hands were tightly bound and a blindfold was placed around her eyes. Although the last precaution had been rather useless as she could still sense the auras of those around her. Finally she could see maybe 10 – 15 men coming out of the thick undergrowth around her. As an arena of red slowly closed in on her, they crowded around her, muttering their curses to the scum they saw her as. As they came closer however, specks of orange were beginning mingle within the reds of their auras as exclamations of "She's just a girl!" "A little girl …" "She's no older than my own daughter!" buzzed around her. Finally an aura of heavy blues and oranges dropped down behind her, it was the man she had conversed with and the leader of the pack.

"Come on! We're taking her in. Let's go!"

Ty Lee stared befuddled at the aura which was now being dominated by orange walking in front of her. If he was the leader, then why was he so unsure of himself? He had the regal blue in his aura characteristic of true leaders, but the orange was slowly swirling around his figure as they trudged on. Uncertainty and confusion was generally deemed undesirable in a strong leader as it would often lead to poorly made decisions. In the battlefield, uncertainty cost lives, often either those of himself or his comrades. Slowly a thought began materialising in her head.

"Do you know who I am?" She said almost cheerfully, she was being quite hopeful here and had no idea if her theory was correct.

"A despicable person?" Even these words were spoken with a noticeable lack of conviction.

"No … no, I mean do you know who I really am? Like in person." Her face pulled into a smile as she considered the possibilities, her eyes gleaming in anticipation under the red blindfold, her theory might not have been wrong.

"Wait …. Ty Lee?"

Eh, this fic started off alright but I'm not really feeling it as I upload the second chapter. Feedback needed! Also, I'm not exactly sure where this is going, I'm kinda just improvising as I go and refining it later on. If you have any suggestions on where you would want this fic to go or whether you even want another upload or not, simply tell me! PM or review either is fine. (Tell me if you like longer or shorter chapters too)

29/05/13

Edited for mistakes and deleted some unnecessary stuff. Might need a beta reader. o-o

Thanks to the two anons who reviewed! Much appreciated!

1/6/13