Kei was flicking his thumb and forefinger together to produce a flame, a usual habit he did either to pass the time or when he was nervous. He often showed it to Eriko.

"I bet you're a fire bender like me, Eri. Here, try doing this." He showed her how snapping his fingers produced a small flame.

Once, he remembered seeing a tiny spark appear when she tried it once.

"See! You are a fire bender. I'm going to find a way to cure you, so you can practice fire bending with me."

It had been a little over ten years since that memory now. Eriko's condition had only worsened since then. She could only muster the strength to get out of bed about two times a day or so, but Kei still remained hopeful. There had to be a cure out there somewhere. Maybe fleeing to Republic City was a good thing. There were from all over the place there, which meant more chances at finding what he was looking for.

"Hey, Kei. We should get going," Kai interrupted his train of thought, touching his shoulder as he passed by.

"Right," he said and followed after him.

He wore a little smile as he walked through the town with Kai. For a moment, it almost seemed like they were just two friends hanging out and walking around town together, even though in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't true. From the meetings he attended, he knew just how in depth the Fire Nation planned things. There was no doubt that they had a team out hunting for him right now.

"What's the plan now? We'll have to take a boat eventually to get to Republic City."

"Exactly. We're not too far from the sea. We'll hitch a ride to the coast. We're lucky I had just gotten paid before the incident."

Kei nodded, letting Kai take control of the situation and getting them a ride. What caught his eye as he waited outside was a messenger hawk soaring through the sky. In this day, they had telegrams and such for communication, but the Fire Nation, specifically the military, still used messenger hawks, sticking to tradition. His heart lurched when he saw it land in the nearby town hall. He had no doubt it was to warn the mayor of the town about the news. They probably even dug up pictures of him too. His eyes flicked between the town hall and the house Kai was in. He found himself tapping his foot impatiently, mentally pleading for them to hurry up.

"Good news, Kei! We have a ride!" Kai chirped about ten minutes later followed by a middle aged man. "This kind man is going to take us to the coast."

"Oh, great! Thank you, sir," Kei said with a bow, physically relaxing some.

He looked like he was about to break into a sweat with tiny beads of it forming on his forehead. The man showed them to the car he had parked by the side of his house.

"It's rather old, but it hasn't broken down on me ever."

The two of them bowed once more. Kai took the front passenger seat while Kei slouched low in the back, keeping an eye out for more messenger hawks.

"Your friend seems a bit paranoid. You kids aren't in trouble or anything, are you?" the man asked with a suspicious look.

"Of course not. He just..has bad social anxiety. He's used to being at home, and I convinced him to venture out on a trip to Republic City with me, so don't mind him," Kai said, making it all up as he went along.

"Ah, Republic City. I've heard great things about it. It's very diverse with all different kinds of benders and non benders living together. There's even a group of air benders that live on an island by it, trying to revive the old air nomad culture. I'm sure you'll both have fun there."

Kei glared over at Kai and sighed, taking to looking to the side and watching the scenery go by as the car picked up speed. He'd get him back for the whole "social anxiety homely body" thing later. For now, he was focused on getting as far away from the palace as possible. He knew he wouldn't relax until they reached Republic City, but even then, there was still a huge risk. Apart from the dangers they were currently facing, his thoughts drifted over to the whole Avatar thing. He knew that he could sometimes earth bend on accident, but being the Avatar meant that he'd have to master the other elements as well. He didn't even know what the hell to do for water bending or air bending for that matter. At least earth bending techniques were somewhat similar to fire bending but with more force. He recalled hearing the man say that a group of air benders lived by Republic City, so that was always an option. He'd still have to figure out earth and water, but he at least had an idea on where to go. As he thought about it more and more, he found his eyes slowly closing, and soon, he was dozing off in the back seat, rocking around with the motions of the car.

"Hey, Kei-" Kai stopped when he saw the other fast asleep in the back seat.

"Geez, for being so jittery and nervous, he sure can fall asleep easily."

"Yeah, that's Kei for you," Kai chuckled and went back to casually conversing with the man driving.

A few hours later, Kei was woken up by Kai shaking him by his shoulder.

"Mm, I'm up," he grunted and slowly opened his eyes. "Are we here?"

"Yup, time to get up, sleeping beauty."

Kei could hear the sound of waves crashing against a rocky shore as he stepped out of the car on shaky, stiff legs. For the time being, he clung onto Kai's arm and walked with him like that, gaining a few chuckles and looks from the locals.

"Thank you for everything," Kai said and handed a sack of money over to their driver.

"You boys enjoy Republic City." He smiled, and they went their separate ways.

The two of them walked through the bustling port town. Kei was rather enjoying the fresh sea breeze, not minding his bangs getting tossed around by the wind. People here seemed rather friendly, even though he was aware of how they looked with him clinging to Kai like that, but he still felt rather off balance from sleeping so long in the car. He was aware of how easily that friendliness could change when they hear the news of the Avatar. It was quite obvious that they hadn't yet. No one recognized Kei, and they could walk through the streets with ease. Like before, Kei stayed off to the side, while Kai negotiated a ride on a freighter bound to Republic City. It seemed like forever, but finally, the captain agreed as long as the two of them didn't get in the way of his crew.

"We'll stay out of your way. Thank you."

He motioned for Kei to join him, helping him up the gang plank to the huge freighter. While the ship was getting prepared to leave, Kei chose to stand at the bow overlooking the sea ahead of them, tilting his head up at the light breeze.

"Hey, how about I take you shopping when we get to Republic City? I always see you wearing the same clothes everyday even though I know you can afford more," Kai teased and leaned on the railing next to him.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I guess some new clothes would be nice. I've never really shopped much for myself. I was so busy, you know? Guess I'll have a lot more free time now." Kei thought about all the new possibilities, though he still felt a knot in his stomach thinking about how far away from home he was already. "Do you..know what would look good on me? I don't think I have much of fashion sense. I just went with what other school boys my age wore."

"Yeah, we'll have fun with it. I bet there's a lot of things you'd look cute in," he said with a wink, making the other blush profusely.

"Geez, you always say the dumbest things," he sighed, puffing his cheeks.

"So, I guess you'll have to start learning to bend the other elements since you are the Avatar and all. Any plans for that?" Kai asked, moving onto a different subject to save Kei from further embarrassment.

"Well..that guy said there's a group of air benders who live by Republic City. I'm thinking I could start there if I can get one of them to teach me. I think water and air will be the hardest for me, so I might as well start with the hard ones."

"True, I've always wanted to meet an air bender. I wonder what they're like. Long ago, there used to be a ton of them."

"That is until our 'great Fire Nation' wiped most of them out," Kei tutted. "It's not that I'm not proud of our nation, but man, they've done some messed up stuff. They're still not all that great to be honest."

"Yeah, I suppose you know more than me when it comes to that, but we're moving onto better things now. They won't have you. I'll make sure of that."

"Thanks, Kai."

A few minutes later, they had to migrate below deck as the ship was setting off for its destination. After they were at cruising speed, they emerged again and perched back up at their spot on the bow.

"I've never been on a ship before. I thought it'd be hell with sea sickness and all, but it's actually not that bad," Kei noted, kicking his feet around in enjoyment.

"Yeah, I love boats. They've been around a long time and are still one of the most efficient methods of travel."

The two engaged in casual, relaxed conversation for the rest of the trip, not noticing a group of ships looming on the horizon behind them. On the lead ship, Tosaki was keeping an eye on their target through a pair of binoculars. A woman stood by him, eyes trained on that same ship with her own binoculars.

"Do you see them?" he asked, referring to the two figures on the bow.

"Yes, sir."

"You know what to do. We need to intercept them before that ship reaches Republic City, and there's not much time."

The mountains that Republic City rested between loomed in the distance like vast titans. It wouldn't be long until the ship reached the waters of Republic City's main port.

"Don't fail me. Now go, Shimomura."

In an instant, without any hesitation, she hopped off of the ship's bow down into the water. There was a splash as she dove in but soon resurfaced and jetted forward using the water. She was an avid water bender, and a feared one. She was within the range of the target ship within about ten minutes, sticking close to the sides until she could see Nagai and his accomplice leaning on the railing above. She cursed under her breath as the main port was now visible. It had to be now. With a quick, fluid motion of her arm, a pillar of water shot out from her left side, moving through the air like a serpent. Tendrils that looked like fingers formed and was headed right for them.

When Kei spotted it, he nearly completely froze, feet feeling rather heavy as this arm of water was headed right for them.

"Kai! Get down!"

Instinctively, Kei formed a fist and lunged forward, propelling a fist of flames right into the water hand, instantly evaporating the water. It slowed it down some but didn't stop it altogether.

"Shit, come on, we gotta go!"

Now, Kei was the one pulling Kai along while shooting fire balls at any oncoming water.

"What is that?"

"There's water bender somewhere. It has to be that one that Tosaki always has with him. If that's the case, we're in trouble. I mean, I could say we're fucked by that's less hopeful."

Kei wasn't sure where they could go besides the sea below. They were on a boat, and until they reached the port, there was nowhere else to run. He didn't have much of a choice but to face the bender. He kept Kai behind him as he turned around and kept his hands up in a defensive position.

"I have been trying a new technique. It's beaten every opponent so far..should I give it a try?" Kei asked like there was a choice in the matter.

"Uh, yup, feel free," Kai chuckled nervously and watched with wide eyes as Shimomura ascended up with a pillar of water and stood on the other side of the bow.

"There's no use in fighting. I'm under orders to bring you in, Nagai. That means there's no other option," she said in a low voice, slowly walking closer as her arms were encased with water.

"In my opinion, there's always another option."

Kei glanced around, keeping note of possible escape points just in case. With another step, he took a deep breath and began to bend in a specific sequence, elegantly moving his arms, stopping as he formed them into a triangle right over his chest. Kai stared in amazement as a fiery humanoid figure stood behind Kei.

"Go get her," Kei commanded, moving his arm forward.

The thing suddenly lunged forward toward Shimomura. From time to time, Kei would bend and provide it with more fire to fuel it. Kei still wasn't great at controlling its movements, so they were rather jerky and sporadic, but in this case, that worked in their favor as a distraction. They only needed to keep Shimomura busy while the ship got closer and closer to the port.

Shimomura found herself in an intense match between her and this figure made entirely of fire. It would instantly evaporate any water that reached it as Kei kept feeding it more flames. Finally, she concentrated her efforts into overwhelming it with water, bringing it into a vortex and throwing it into the sea, but when she looked back to where the two boys had been, they were gone.

"Shit," she cursed under her breath and ran over to that side, looking over the ledge.

While that thing had been distracting her, Kei and Kai made a break for it by jumping over into the sea and swam hard for the port. By now, they had reached the far dock with Kai helping Kei up.

Failure is not an option.

"I won't fail you."

Seeing her jump into the water and propel herself forward, Kai grabbed Kei's hand and made a break for the city. They were so close already, and he wasn't going to let them get caught so close to their goal.

"Kai," Kei panted, looking back and gasping when he saw her land on the dock.

"She's not going to catch us, Kei. We'll make for the air bender's island. They'll keep us safe, and that's where you wanted to go anyway."

"Okay..I trust you."