Finally! Sukka thought to herself as the small group came to a spacious opening. Land, sweet land! Sukka jumped off the flying bison before Appa could even make his crash landing. Beside her, Toph, her brother, and Aang followed. "Okay, forget setting up camp, I'm just gonna find the softest pile of dirt to lie on," Sukka grumbled, crawling away with her rolled up sleeping bag.

"That's good," Kata quipped from the other side of the clearing, "because Toph wasn't going to help anyway."

"Oh, I didn't know the baby still needed someone to tuck him into bed at night," Toph snapped right back.

Sukka shoved her sleeping bag over her head and groaned. Before a major fight could break out, Aang came to the rescue. "Come on, guys. That's enough," he huffed, pulling his shirt over his face, "there's someone chasing us and we don't even know who they are or what they want."

"It could be Zukari again, we haven't seen her since the North Pole," Kata half muttered to himself.

"Who's Zukari?" Toph asked.

Oh yeah, she never met her, Sukka reminded herself before she could make a sarcastic remark. It was weird to think that someone in their little gang hadn't met the menace; Zukari had become such a major part of their own personal hell. Sukka flopped face first onto the ground before answering, "Oh, just some angry freak with a ponytail that's chased us all over the world."

"What's wrong with ponytails, Ponytail?" Kata remarked.

Sukka freed her arm from under her body to point at her own ponytailed hairstyle. "Nothing, but I don't go shaving my entire head," she pointed out. It wasn't the best look for the princess, but Sukka wasn't about to trade fashion tips with the enemy. Time for sleep.

Or it would have been time for sleep if a certain flying lemur hadn't jumped onto her back. Sukka grumbled before waving the animal away and flopping down. Momo came back with chattery rengence. "No, Momo, sleepy time," she muttered, patting the lemur's head. Momo didn't take the hint and continued chattering before flying to a nearby rock to watch the horizon. Aang rose in alert followed by Toph and then Kata. Sukka groaned, "Oh, don't tell me."

"There's no way they could have tracked us," Aang said in disbelief.

"I can feel it with my own two feet," Toph confirmed, much to everyone else's displeasure.

Sukka finally rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up. The group walked over to the ledge of the open field to get a glimpse of their pursuers. Even from their distance, Sukka could see the plumes of smoke coming from the machines their pursuers were using. That's insane! How do they keep doing this?

"Maybe we should leave?" Kata suggested, looking none too pleased at the idea of fighting while exhausted.

"Or we could face them?" Aang suggested. "Who knows, maybe they're friendly,"

"Ever the optimist," Sukka groaned, watching the horizon. It seemed unlikely the people following them were benevolent. That just wasn't their luck. Plus, those machines reminded Sukka of Fire Nation technology. And what kind of people rush someone they're trying to befriend?

"It's those girls from Omashu," Kata gasped, bringing Sukka out of her thoughts. Well, would ya look at that. Three girls exited the machine on Mongoose Lizards. The girls seemed to be watching the little gang before their mounts took off at neck breaking speed. Shit!

The small group readied themselves into a fighting stance. "We can take them," Toph announced with determination. Sukka wasn't too positive about that, though. She remembered the last time they had fought those three; they had made it out just barely. "It's three on three," the earthbender said confidently.

Um… what?

"Actually, Toph, it's three on four," Sukka corrected hesitantly.

"Oh, sorry," Toph apologized with a sheepsh shrug, "I didn't count you, you know, no bending and all."

"I can still fight," Sukka yelled furiously at the small girl. Like hell she was about to be counted out. Maybe coming from the South Pole, she wouldn't be much of an opponent, but she's grown a lot since then! Sukka had fought beside Kyoshi warriors, been in the middle of a pirate vs firebender fight, dodged water whips from her annoyed brother, and had even fought the preppy chi blocker before. She could fight! Hell, she's fought angry jerk face for months now.

"Okay," Toph she said smugly, "three on three plus Sukka."

Sukka made an irritated noise that would have been a scream had she opened her mouth. Of course she wouldn't win with Top. The young earthbender had made it her life duty to tease her. Don't kill the earthbender, there are other enemies. Don't kill the earthbender there are other enemies. Later, she decided. Later she'd throttle the tiny pain in the ass, but for right now it was time to dodge punches, fire, and steel.

With a slide of her feet and push of her hands, the earth below them followed the young bender's command and formed three large pillars. For a brief moment Sukka thought they had an advantage. However, the three girls hadn't slowed down even a second. The eel hounds they rode climbed over the pillars and continued for the group.

Damn, so much for that. Sukka pondered a moment, desperately calming herself down to think up a plan. Four against three wasn't that bad of a chance, but that wasn't taking into consideration who they were up against. The chi blocker's punches were hard to dodge, and that was on a good day. Same for the knifes. There was also crazy blue fire to worry about, which had an incredible force behind it. Sukka glanced at her comrades: exhausted, frazzled, swaying from lack of sleep, and could barely keep their eyes open. In a split second decision, Sukka sheathed her boomerang. "Come on, we wanted to know who was chasing us and now we do. Let's go," she said in a voice that held no room for argument.

Toph quickly created a wall to block off the three girls. That might buy us some time, Sukka thought. Okay, no throttling the earthbender. The group began to leave just as there was a sudden crackling in the air. The group turned to watch a blinding light crash through the wall and create a giant gaping hole. Through the hole, the group could see the firebender in a stance that suggested she had done that. The others seemed just as aghast as Sukka was. Even Toph looked pretty stunned. Good, maybe that'll make them hurry. "Come on," Sukka urged. Toph used the earth below them to fling themselves at Appa. Aang gave a quick command and the bison was in the air and flying far away from the three crazies.

As they flew away, the group looked back and watch their enemies stare at them. Kata broke the silence to announce his disbelief, "I can't believe those girls followed us all the way from Omashu." Sukka wasn't all that surprised, but then again she had grown accustomed to seeing a certain angry assface everywhere.

"I still think we could have taken them," Toph grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting childishly. Sukka was surprised at how uncharacteristic it seemed for the earthbender to actually act her age for once.

"Are you kidding me?" Kata gasped, looking at Toph with wide eyes. He pointed his fingers upward to parody flames as he said, "If the crazy blue fire and knives weren't enough, last time we met, one of them did something that took my bending away." He looked down as he added quietly, "That's scary."

Oh no, poor bender, Sukka thought grumpily. Although she had to admit, her brother had a point. For someone that had been born with that gift, and relied on it with their life, it would be terrifying to have that power suddenly gone. Even if only for a few minutes. She had been terrified herself when the pink girl paralyzed her. Sukka's musing stopped as she noticed an orange light coming from the horizon. "Oh no," Sukka groaned, scrambling to the front of Appa's saddle to point at the sunrise. "The sun is rising! We've been up all night with no sleep," she announced unnecessarily. Of course they knew, they were all miserable because of it.

"Sukka, we'll be fine," Aang tried to reassure her.

"Are you sure? I never not slept before," She said in a panic, hands digging into her hair. "What if I fall asleep now and something happens? And something always happens," she cried, wide eyes jerking wildly to see if danger would suddenly appear. Her friends continued on, contently ignoring her delusional panic.

Kata mused aloud, "Every time we land, those girls are there. We'll just have to keep flying."

"We can't keep flying forever," Aang pointed out. The group began to contemplate their options for dealing with the persistent group of girls.

.~.~.~.

Sukka lifted the ceramic cup and took a long sip. Okay, the tea was definitely a great idea. She could feel herself waking up more as well as calming down. Sukka closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her face and the weariness draining away. She felt refreshed - well. Not even the sound of the whining behind her dampened her mood.

"I can't believe I just yelled at my earthbending teacher," Aang cried more so to himself than anyone else, collapsing back onto Appa.

"I know," Kata sighed. "We were all just trying to get used to each other. And I was so mean to her," he said gloomily.

"Yeah," Sukka drawled, deciding to add her two cents, "you two were pretty awful."

"Thanks, Sukka," Kata said sarcastically.

"No problem," she replied none the less, raising her cup slightly.

"We need to apologize to her," Kata decided with new determination.

"Okay," Sukka said slowly, turning around to face her brother from her seat on a rather comfortable rock. "But what about the tank full of dangerous ladies chasing us?"

Aang absentmindedly ran his hand through the fur underneath him. He pulled back his hand and with it, a clump of fur. The boy watched almost wistfully as he let the fur go and it blew in the wind. "I have an idea," he announced, not taking his eyes off the fur in the wind.

With slight shrugs to one another, Sukka and Kata followed as Aang began to lead Appa away from their resting spot. The Avatar stopped once they reached a river before informing the Water Tribe siblings of his plan. "Toph was right, his fur was leading them right to us. But if we bath him there won't be a trail to follow anymore," Aang explained.

Great, back on bison cleaning duty.

.~.~.~.

It's a stupid plan. It's stupid! And that's coming from the girl that makes them. Sukka looked back as she and Kata rode Appa away. Aang stayed behind to lure the girls off their trail, but she wondered if it'd be enough. If Aang would be okay. Sukka chewed on her bottom lip.

"We can't just leave him," Kata said quietly, watching Aang turn into nothing but a dot.

"And we won't," Sukka replied quickly. "We get away from the three fire ladies, we find Toph, then we meet up with Aang again, and we fly away very, very far,"

"What if the plan doesn't work, what if they catch up to Aang?" Kata asked, still staring at where Aang had once been.

What if they catch up with us, Sukka wanted to ask back. But she refrained from any comments. Kata had a right to worry. Especially considering how he felt about the air nomad. Sukka wasn't blind, she could see the world fall away for Kata when he looked at Aang. It was weird, but Sukka figured her brother could do worse than the Avatar. Plus, she had no room to talk about odd attractions considering what had happened in Kyoshi.

Warm, soft lips pushed up against her own. There was passion and a hunger in that kiss, but then Sukka saw an incredible shyness when Suki had pulled away. She had been so sure they would never meet again, that the warrior had to get out her feelings for the Water Tribe girl she had taught to fight. Sukka blushed at the memory. The kiss she shared had also made what happened in the North Pole a whole lot less shocking. The beautiful white haired princess that sacrificed herself to become the moon had won Sukka's heart with all but a single glance. In the moment it took to watch that kanoe float away, Sukka knew the whole "falling for girls" thing wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Nor would the crushes be a one time thing. No, she was as queer as the South Pole was cold. Sukka glanced at her brother who looked ready to jump off the flying bison and help Aang by himself. At least I'm not the only one, she mused. Hoo boy, was dad gonna be in for a surprise.

"It'll be okay," she said more so to herself. "Just keep an eye out for Toph… and blue fire,"

.~.~.~.

Sukka's lungs burned as she ran to catch up with her brother. She swore at the inability to exercise while hundreds of feet in the air. She'd have to bring that little problem up with Aang.

A familiar scream. The sound of something crashing. Blue fire.

Later. Yeah, definitely later.

Sukka ran between two houses just as she saw her brother run across on the other side. He's being chased. Sukka grabbed her machete and picked up her speed. She emerged from the corner just in time to almost take off their enemy's head. Almost. The firebender ducked and then dodged every swing Sukka gave. The firebender backed into the open street to gain some advantage, but Kata and Aang were at Sukka's sides once more.

Blue flames, wind, and water were exchanged between the three benders. Sukka did her best to just duck and distract when she could. The three friends had the firebender backing away. For a brief moment, Sukka worried their enemy would retreat, but then the ground moved from under the firebender's feet and she fell.

"I thought you guys could use a little help," Toph quipped, standing behind the fallen bender.

Sukka could have kissed that beautiful dirt coated face.

"Thanks," Kata said simply.

Oh good, now they're not fighting. Which technically was a good thing, but it would have been great a couple of hours ago. The firebender shot to her feet and was running before Sukka realized it. The group followed her, but blue fire kept them at bay. A smirk played on the firebender's lips as she saw an alleyway. Pointed boots swiveled and she took off into the escape route.

She's getting away! Sukka would eat her own shoe before letting that happen. This chick wanted to come crashing in, uproot their little family, make her miss an entire night of sleep, and then get off scot free? Not happening. Sukka bolted into the alleyway after the firebender. Kata was at her heels followed by Toph and Aang. When they emerged, Sukka was surprised to see a familiar old face. Of course, it was also a pretty bad thing that that face belonged to the Dragon of the West.

A figure moved behind the old man, drawing Sukka's attention. Oh, Zukari was here too. Why wouldn't she be? Hell, we're already half dead on out feet and fighting one firebender, why not throw two more- what's up with that haircut?

More surprisingly, Sukka noticed that the two weren't attacking Aang. In fact, they were side by side with their little gang and trying to chase the blue fire lady away. Okay… weird. Not bad weird, just weird. Maybe the world would make sense later and jerkface would attack them, but for right now they were allies. It was oddly comforting.

"Well, look what we have here. Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done, I know when I'm beat," the firebender said once she was backed into a literal corner. She raised her hands in the air in a sign of surrender. "A princess surrenders with honor,"

Traitors? Sukka wanted to think about that. She wanted to ask jerkface and the not-really-a-jerk-but-still-technically-the-enemy elder what that meant. Sukka wanted to hope that that meant they weren't after Aang anymore. It would make the tattered Earth Kingdom clothes make sense. It could make their temporary alliance not so temporary, and as weird as that was, it'd also be very good. Aang needed a firebender teacher and she needed inside information on the Fire Nation. But… Sukka had also seen the raw ferocity in Zukari's pale gold eyes. The sheer determination to hunting Aang, and her will to never give up. It could have made this all a trap, but Zukari wasn't the one to say it. She wasn't the one trying to trick them, freaky skin-crawling-smirk chick was.

Sukka wanted to think over all those things and try to solve whatever new puzzle this was, but she couldn't. She held her gaze on the trapped firebender. All her thoughts solely on keeping the frightening girl there. One move - one distraction - and the firebender would strike like a cobra viper. Something she thought everyone beside her knew too, but when Azula struck out at the old man beside Zukari it was not parried like Sukka thought it would be. The fire struck the man and with a pained groan, the man fell to the ground. There was a moment of horror from all five kids before they shifted back to the mutual enemy and fired.

The group ducked an explosion of thick, black smoke was created. As the smoke cleared, Sukka snatched her boomerang off the ground and stood. It was surprising what incredible destruction that little attack did. Every house in the immediate area - and some houses even behind those - had caught fire. Or maybe they had already been like that? But that was just one small stunning calamity. Sukka followed Aang's gaze to see the princess kneeling beside her Uncle's too still form. From behind, she looked like she was shaking from anger. She threw down her hands and dug her nails into the dry dirt.

Sukka, Toph, Kata, and Aang approached the two - perhaps former - enemies. This isn't right, Sukka thought to herself. Something about seeing the princess like this made something in her chest hurt.

Seeming to finally notice that she wasn't alone, Zukari looked at the group behind her. "Get away from us," she snarled with every ounce of venom Sukka remembered from her.

"Zukari, I can help," Kata said, voice softening as one would with a wounded animal.

Please, Sukka wanted to beg. Let us just help. Spirits look at you two! What in koh's name even happened? Forget the stupid fighting and let us-

"Leave," she screamed, throwing an arc of fire for emphasize.

Kata glanced at Aang, but they said nothing. Kata wanted to help. They all wanted to help. Iroh wasn't a monster, he helped save the moon. Of course they wanted to help. But Zukari didn't see it that way and she wasn't about to have her enemies anywhere near her already injured uncle. They couldn't help someone that didn't want to be helped.

With some obvious regret, the group of kids left Zukari and Iroh in the collapsing town.

When the little group got back to Appa, they all but collapsed into the saddle. Aang muttered some destination to Appa and the flying beast lifted off the ground. Sukka laid on her back, watching the clouds float through the sky. Next to her, her brother was curled on his side and already falling asleep. For once, Sukka was glad that she was tired down to her bones. She wouldn't have to think about the princess. Tomorrow, she'd wonder about it. Tomorrow she could sit up when everyone else had fallen asleep and wonder why. Why the princess looked so horrible and in need of help and why that hurt. Tomorrow….

For right now?

Sukka closed her eyes and let the world fade away.

Finally, sleep.