music: "My Medicine" - The Pretty Reckless


The sun's rays were bouncing off the walls in her room as the young girl roused from her slumber. She stretched and rubbed the sleep from her tired eyes with balled fists. Slipping out of the white sheets, she rose to began her day. After bathing in one of the more private fountains she dressed in a dark red tunic, forgoing her leggings and slipping into her leather boots that laced up her calves. It was a particualry hot day and the wind felt great against her exposed legs. She slipped the gold bands up to wrap around her slim, but toned biceps, then set off to the front of the temple.

She usually started off her days with meditation, mimicking the poses of the stone air nomads. Then would stretch herself out with some simple yoga poses. After her mind and body were free, she would practice her bending. She remembers her father's voice as she goes through the motions. His brass tenor telling her how to keep her motions controlled and fluid. Breathing deeply, she slid her feet along the stone and made a sweeping arch with her hands, blasting fire out of her palms. The fire swirled around in her in a chaotic dance of reds and oranges. She closed her eyes, relinquinshing the power flowing through her blood. Smiling, she came back into a standing postion, her fingers sparking as her palms came to rest in front of her chest.

After another hour of practicing, she decided to go hunt for something fresh to eat. She was on her way to the gardens when she heard what sounded like laughter.

She immediately ducked into the shadows of the temple. Listening closely, she followed the group of voices until she came upon three boys. They were not dressed in the traditional fire nation colors. She sighed in relief when she realized that they were not with the fire nation army.

"This place is amazing" a young boy wearing a helmet said in wonderment. "Yea, it's a lot different than the Northeren Air Temple." said another boy who was riding in a chair with wheels on it. The oldest boy with a silly mustache just gazed around, taking in the beauty of the temple. "The others sure are missing out" he said after a moment of silence. "Eh, they'll explore when they get a chance" the boy in the chair replied. "In the meantime, I want to find the statue room, so come on!" He sped up in his chair and the other boys took off after him laughing. Not once did they notice the raven-haired girl creeping in the shadows.

She quickly scaled the wall hopping up onto the stone beams that supported the temple's ceilings. Jumping from one beam to another like a cat, she set off to see who the others were. She hoped that maybe these people were just tourist, but deep down she knew that was a far-fetched hope. No one has been to the temple as long as she has lived here. Well, except for the soilders who captured her father so many years ago.

She finally heard other voices as she turned down one hall. Keeping to the high beams she sneaked up to where she could get a better look.

Why, they're just a bunch of kids! she thought as she looked down at the scene below girl wasn't sure what she was expecting to find exactly, but it sure as hell wasn't what she was looking at now.

Toph immediately "saw" the girl who was hiding in the high beams of the temple. "Uh guys, we have company" she said standing up and taking a defensive stance. Katara and Sokka looked up in the direction Toph had mentioned and saw a shadowed figure with narrow emerald green eyes glaring at them.

"Who are you?" Katara demanded. "Show yourself!" With a stomp of her foot, Toph sent the stone beam crumbling to the ground, bringing the girl with it.

Realizing what was happening, the shadowed girl kicked off the wall and landed in a crouch before the strangers. She immediately straightened up in a defensive positon as well, and stared down the imposters.

Katara, seeing the fire nation red tunic, immediately pulled a ribbon of water out of the fountain and wrapped it around the girl's leg, causing her to lose her balance and fall on her back.

Twisting off of the ground the fire nation girl shot blasts of fire at Katara with her feet. With a fluid motion of her hands, Katara sent a wave of water towrads the girl. She was quick though and rolled out of the way of the attack. Running to try and get a better angle on the waterbender, she sent blast after blast of raw firepower at the girl, knocking her on her ass and singeing her clothes.

Toph stepped in and sent up a wall in front of them to stop the blasts, and then sent it flying towards the other girl, pinning her to the wall. Toph then locked her hands and feet in stone, rendering the girl helpless.

The girl growled in frustration, she was sorely outnumbered. "Why are you here! What do you want with me?" she yelled.

Toph scoffed "Hunny, I don't think you're in any position to be demanding answers. If anyone is going to be getting answers around here, it's us."

The other girl smirked slightly, then by super heating her body, she weakened the stone enough to break through it. When she was free she kicked off the wall behind her and summersaulted through the air, landing on the small earthbender. She glanced over and saw the waterbender getting ready to strike.

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that princess, not unless you want me to fry your little friend here." She held back a flaming fist ready to strike if necessary. The waterbender backed off but held her defensive stance.

She smirked down at the sassy little earthbender. "Now hunny, about those answers I wanted." The girl writhed beneath her and growled in frustration at getting her butt handed to her.

"What's going on here?" The girl looked up and gasped at the boy before her. Recognition flashed in her eyes as she spotted the arrow tattoos adorning his body.

Seeing her chance, Katara knocked the girl off of Toph with a blast of water. She landed back near the wall coughing and sputtering. Toph jumped up quickly and locked her hands and feet to the earth once more.

The airbender immediately took charge and walked up to her. He crouched down in front of her, boring his gray eyes into her green ones. "You're going to tell us who you are and who sent you, understand?" The boy said authoritively. The firebender narrowed her eyes. She did not appreciate some twelve year old boy giving her orders.

She really didn't have any other choice though. With a sigh she answered, her voice as hard a steel. "My name is Aaliyah, and no one sent me. I live here."

The boy looked taken back at her answer "You...live here? In the temple?" She nodded. He turned to look at the earthbender who shrugged. "She's not lying."

The boy looked back at her. "Why are living here?" he asked, his voice hard. She looked down and swallowed. "Eleven years ago, Fire Lord Ozai tried to have my family killed. My father found this place and decided it would be the perfect refuge from the Fire Nation." The boy's gray eyes softened when he heard the stifled saddness in the girl's voice.

"You're a refugee." She nodded. "Why did you attack my friends?" She looked back up. "They attacked first." she said indgantly. The boy looked around to glare at his friends. Toph and Katara were looking incredibly sheepish. When Aang leveled his gaze on Toph she huffed. "What? She was spying on us?" He rolled his eyes and turned back to the girl.

"Why were you spying on us?"

"Because you're strangers, and well, the last time strangers were at this temple my father was taken away and probably killed." she bit out, her voice icy. Aang's eyes widened at yet another sad admisson from the girl. "Well, if your father is gone, then does that mean your mother is still around." Aaliyah swallowed and took a deep breath. "No, she died a long time ago" she said, saddness lacing her voice though she tried to hide it.

Katara couldn't stay mad a the girl any longer after hearing that admission. She walked forward already feeling a connection with the girl. She knelt down beside Aang. "We didn't come here to cause you any harm. Aang here", she rested a hand on the airbenders shoulder, "is the avatar as well as the last known airbender." Aaliyah snapped her eyes over to the young boy who looked sheepish all of a sudden. "Impossible. You're just a boy. The avatar would be nearly one hundred years old by now." She said incredulously.

"A hundred and twleve to be exact." Aang said. Aaliyah shook her head, completely baffled. "So, you guys are what? His posse or something." A boy who was standing off to the side said, "We prefer Team Avatar." Katara smiled and shook her head. "Ignore my brother. I'm actually Aang's waterbending teacher, Katara, and Toph over there is his earthbending teacher."

Katara's brother scoffed. "What am I? Chopped liver?" He walked a little closer to the girl. "I'm Sokka, strategic genius and sword master extroidinaire." He did a muscle pose and tried to look buff. The girl raised an eyebrow at the odd boy. "Well now that I know that you're not here to harm me, can you let me go?"

Toph scoffed. "Why, so you can shoot fire at us again?" Aaliyah rolled her eyes. "I promise not to attack if you let me up." Aang smiled and made a motion with his hands, releasing the girl from her stone entrapments.

Aaliyah brushed the dust off of her as she stood. "What brings you all to the Western Air Temple?" she asked steaming the water out of her hair.

"Weellll, we're kind of hiding from the Fire Nation." Aang said. Aaliyah laughed dryly. "Aren't we all. Why are you running from them?"

"We launched an invasion on the Fire Nation capital, and failed." replied Sokka. "Woah, ballsy." Aaliyah said, impressed by their courage.

"Yeah, and since that didn't work out we're going back to plan A." Toph spoke this time. "What's plan A?"

"Aang needs to master all four elements, then he'll take down the Fire Lord." Aaliyah's eyes flashed with fury when her father's killer was mentioned.

"Well I sincerely hope you succeed with that Aang." God knows how much Aaliyah wants to see that bastard and his twisted family fall.

Aang sighed. "There's just one problem with the plan. I can't find a firebending teacher." Aaliyah stared at him patiently, waiting for him to come to the realization that she was, in fact, a firebender.

"Heyyy, wait a second. You're a firebender!" Aang said pointing his finger at Aaliyah. She smirked. "I sure am, and if you ask nicely I might just teach you everything I know."

"Hold up just a second." Toph said before Aang started begging. "How do we even know that she's qualified to teach Aang firebending."

"Well, if I remember correctly, I had you pinned on the ground just minutes ago." Aaliyah smirked, and Toph scoffed. "That was a suprise attack. It doesn't count."she muttered.

Aaliyah rolled her eyes, the girl's ego was clearly bruised. "Alright then, how about a little demonstration." Aaliyah took a deep breath, centering herself. Then twisted and slid across the stone. She demonstrated a series of motions, her powerful fire blasts contrasting with her graceful movements. With her final demonstration, she steadied herself and with her index and middle finger together, she did a series of movements with her arms before lightening shot out from her fingertips and off the ledge of the temple, crackling through the air. Bringing her hands back together in front of her chest, she took another deep steadying breath. She turned around to see the awed faces of her audience.

Aang jumped up from his seated position waving his arms about. "That. Was. AMAZING!"

Sokka's mouth was hanging open, and he had a lusty glimmer in his eyes. Her tunic split very high up on her thighs, and her legs looked so, smooth and..wow. Aang too had noticed her lithe body, and the way her waist-length hair twirled around her pretty face as she twisted in the air. She made firebending look like a beautiful art.

"Yeah" Katara agreed. "I never realized the beauty and power of bending lightening. We've only seen one other person do it, and well, we were too busy trying to avoid it that we really didn't have the time to admire it."

Aaliyah chuckled. "Yes, well, generating lightening is firebending in it's truest form. Very few firebenders are able to seperate the negative and positive energy in their bodies. My father was one of them, and he taught me." She sat down with group. "Just out of curiosity, who was the person shooting lightening at you?"

Katara's face quickly morphed into a scowl "Princess Azula." she said with distaste. "She also shoots blue fire."

"Like this" Aaliyah produced a blue fame in her palm. Katara nodded.

"How can you do that?" Aang asked, scooting closer.

"Firebenders can control the intensity of their firebending. There are many different colors within fire." She demonstrated this by changing the intensity of the flame in her hand. The flame danced around as it's colors changed from orange, red, yellow, white, purple, and green. "Each color has it's own properties. A blue flame is more effiecent than the standard orange-yellow flames. It's also very hot, so hot that it actually feels cold. Like freezer burn. It posseses more physical force and superheats the air around it, making the blasts go farther and last longer. It also requires more energy than bending regular yellow-orange flames. Most benders tire out quickly when controlling the intensity like that."

"I never knew how, complex, fire was." Aang whispered.

"Fire is more than just destruction Aang. It's energy and life. Like the sun, but inside of you." Aaliyah smiled a little as she repeated the very words her father said to her so many years ago.

"The first time I tried to firebend, I burned Katara. I don't know if I can trust myself with it."

"Firebending is something you have to be careful with. If you can't control yourself then you hurt the people around you. If you can't conquer the turmoil inside of you, then you can't truly master firebending. You have to learn to control irrational emotions that might interfere, and develop an unflinching will."

Aang smiled at the raven-haired girl. He stood and bowed "Aaliyah, I would be honored if you would be my firebending teacher." Aaliyah stood as well and bowed back. "It would be my honor to teach you all that I know."

Sokka came over and clapped her on the back. "Welcome to Team Avatar" he grinned.

Toph stood up, clearly displeased "Yes, we're so happy to have you." She said sarcasticly. Aaliyah mock pouted. "Awh, is teh wittle earthbender still mad that the big bad firebender got the best of her."

Toph's face turned purple with rage. "That's it Sparky! Rematch, now." she growled.

Aalyiah giggled in delight. "Ooo, sassy." she quipped. "I'll show you sassy!" Toph raged, stomping her foot on the ground bringing up a huge boulder, then punching it towards the firebender.

Aaliyah did a roundhouse kick, shattering the boulder with a fire blast. They battled for the next twenty minutes, insulting and bending at each other. Toph's clothes were singed on the edges and Aaliyah was covered in dirt when they finally took time to breathe.

The other boys that Aaliyah followed earlier had returned and were now watching the action with the others.

"Should we stop them?" Haru asked, staring at the firebender's bare legs. "Nah, they need to work this out own their own." Sokka said dismissively.

Both Toph and Aaliyah were breathing deeply, waiting for each other to strike. Toph smiled as the firebender stared her down, then stood out of her stance and started laughing. Aaliyah looked confused for a second before joining in on her laughter. The group of spectators looked at each other questionaly and shrugged.

Aaliayh walked up to Toph and threw her arm around the small girl. "You're not bad kid." Toph punched her in the arm. "Yea, you're pretty good yourself."

The rest of the night was spent around the campfire, joking around and laughing at all the crazy adventures Aang and his friends experienced over the past few months. Though she wouldn't say it out loud, Aaliyah was thankful that these people had come here. The heavy blanket of loneliness had been lifted off of her shoulders and she felt like she could move around with ease now. She felt care-free and happy. Two feelings that had been foreign to her for such a long time.


A/N: I re-read the original second chapter, and hated it. So I re-wrote it. Hopefully you get a little more insight on Aaliyah's personality. And yes, she's just as good, if not better than Azula when it comes to firebending. Remember that for later chapters. Plus, Aaliyah is a very attractive girl. She hails from noble fire nation blood. So she get's quite a bit of attention from the boys. Also, the guys are used to girls wearing leggings or pants under their tunics like Katara and Toph. Aaliyah doesn't really like leggings or long-sleeved undershirts unless it's cold. So she leaves her legs and arms bare. Just sayin'. Anywho, this chapter is still dedicated to KeBzO and clearspring2009 (: Thank you lovely reviewers. Zuko and angst next chapter.

xInspired