Summary: I'm back to writing more again. I actually have had the firsthalf of thischapter written for about a month, but hit a writer's block on the second part. Anyhow, I thank you for the early reviews and will continue this story for as long as I see fit. Please review, it helps a lot.

Chapter 2: The Brutal Truth

It was hot. It was humid. It was everything he remembered. The chains hung from the cuffs on his wrists and ankles as they rubbed his skin. This prison, that the Blue Spirit helped him escape from before, was now a living hell. The cuts on his body stung from the sweat running through them. He had no help. He had no family. He had no friends.

He was Aang, Captured by Admiral Zhao, with no escape.

The large metal doors screeched as they opened in front of him, followed by the man of the hour: Admiral Zhao. Aang refused to meet the man's eyes as he stepped forward. Head held high and shoulders back. Zhao began to circle the airbender.

"So, how did the Avatar find himself all alone in the woods?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." Aang snapped back.

"Oh I would. But I have a feeling it has something to do with my old master."

Aang's eyes widened in shock. "You were Jeong Jeong's student?"

"Oh yes. But that was a long time ago. I grew bored." Aang flinched. He was no better than Zhao.

"So you're the hothead with no self control."

Zhao launched towards the airbender with a small fire blast, striking Aang's left shoulder just enough to be painful, but not enough to leave a scar. Aang screamed from the searing pain. "Don't make me lose it, Avatar." Zhao growled. "Now, tell me. What happened to your friends?" Aang cringed at the mention of Sokka and Katara. He regretted everything before, but now he most definitely regrets leaving. Zhao took notice of Aang's reactions. "It seems I have hit a nerve." Zhao walked a full circle around Aang before leaning down in front of the boy's face. "Tell me. What did you do?" Aang looked away for a moment before staring back into the Admiral's eyes. Anger, ever present in his iris's. Aang sucked in a breath and let it loose, launching the Admiral across the chamber. Zhao was flat on his back for a moment before sitting up.

"I will never answer to you!" Aang yelled as Zhao stood.

"Oh you will. In time." Zhao resumed his circling of the Avatar. "But first, I want you to tell me where your friends are."

"I will never tell you! Even if I knew."

"Ah yes, of course. But they are enemies of the Fire Nation. If you would like them to have their lives, I would suggest you cooperate with me. It would be a shame if they were to get burned, such a painful experience."

Aang looked away from Zhao, tears forming in his eyes. Why did he have to be so careless? He burned Katara, and now Zhao would go after his former friends if he didn't cooperate.

"Ah, that's it then." Zhao stated confidently. Aang was confused; had he just told Zhao something. "You burned your friends." Zhao mocked. "No wonder they left you." Aang started to cry now. He had lost everything, and now Zhao knew why. "It's such a pity that the Avatar be so careless about his friends.

"Shut up!" Aang yelled, his voice failing him from the utter ache in his core.

"Such disrespect." Zhao shook his head as he stopped in front of his prisoner. With a giant swing, he punched Aang in the stomach, causing him to cough and sputter. "I'll show you respect." Another punch, and another, and another. Zhao backed away, satisfied with his work. Aang hung from his chains limp, and weak. Aang wanted to scream in pain, emotionally or physically, but he couldn't. Zhao had knocked the wind out of an airbender. Zhao walked out of the two, large metal doors laughing maniacally. "I will see you in the morning."

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The siblings had just gotten up early in the morning and were in a heated at argument over what to do. Sokka had suggested that they not look for Aang right now. But, before he could explain his reasoning, Katara flipped. She was not going to leave her best friend.

"How can you just give up that easily?!" Katara yelled. "He's our friend!"

"Katara, listen to m-" Sokka was cut off.

"NO!" She yelled. "I'm going after him, alone if I have to." She began to stomp off towards the woods, not even grabbing supplies.

"Katara, don't do this. I have a plan to find him." Sokka exclaimed as he caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

"Sure you do." Katara replied sarcastically, shrugging away his grip.

"I do. Just listen." Sokka exclaimed once more.

Katara gave up. "Fine." She sat down on a nearby rock.

"We know where Aang is headed, right?" Sokka asked, sitting nealing down in front of her.

"To the North Pole, yeah I know." Katara replied dryly.

"So, if we continue travelling there, we can look for him along the way. We're faster than him with Appa, so we'll be able to close the gap we already have." Sokka smiled at his genious.

"Okay, but what if we don't see him, Sokka?" Katara asked with more than genuine concern in her voice.

"I have a plan for that." Sokka unrolled the map. "The Northern Air Temple is along the way. I'm certain he'll want to stop there whether we're with him or not. So, my plan is: we fly towards the Northern Air Temple, looking for him along the way. If we don't see him, we can wait at the Northern Air Temple for him to get there."

"And what if he doesn't? I will not abandon him out there by himself." Katara exclaimed, getting increasingly more worried.

"I was also thinking he might bypass the Northern Air Temple, because of the limited supplies he has" Sokka mused. "Then my thought was that we go to the North Pole from there. We can look for him along the way. If he's at the North Pole when we get there, that's great. if not, we'll wait."

"But Sokka, what if he never gets to the North Pole?" She began to shake a little bit.

"Then we'll look for him, getting every lead we can to find him."

"Okay. It's decent plan. But, I'm worried." Katara looked down. "What if he's scared? What if he's hurt?" Katara began to cry. "Wh-wha-what if he's d-" She began to tremble violently now.

"Katara, no. I'm sure he's fine." Sokka pulled her into a tight embrace. "We'll find him." Katara hugged him back even tighter, crying into his shoulder.

"I...I just do...don't want to lose him." She mumbled into his shoulder as her shoulders shook violently.

"You won't, okay. We'll find him together." Sokka patted her back before holding her at arm's length away from him. "Get on Appa. I'll finish packing up."

Katara smiled through her tears. "Okay, I'll wait on Appa." She walked up appa's tail and sat down in the saddle. Appa let out a grunt, most likely one of comfort and support for Katara. After all, he was going through the same thing. Sokka on the other hand knew something was off with Katara. She was usually the strong and logical one, but now she was being overly driven by emotion. Sure, she has before in the past, but this was different, and Sokka didn't want to touch on it with here right now. It would probably just irritate her. He continued to pack for their adventure: an adventure that was not the enjoyable kind. They had to find Aang.

A/N: Hoped you liked it. The next chapters will get longer. Right now I am just trying to get the plot on its feet. Thanks for reading, and please review.