Oh yeah, Jord's in trouble. Time to face the parentals.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender." I will not make any sort of profit off this story. The only thing I am claiming out of this is rights to the character(s) I have created, and I'll even make a list. They'll show up as the story plays out. Currently, the list consists of Circe (AKA Jord),Nasu, and Ronyn.

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"Circe!"

Jord sighed. She was laying in her hammock, slicing little chunks off an apple with a small dagger and flicking them at the cat owl that was perched on her feet. She had bought the animal as a baby about a year ago, when she had to make a delivery all the way in Ba Sing Se. The rebuilt city had recovered wonderfully from the war and was thriving once again, and her mother had been asked to fashion a something-or-other for a lady that lived there. So, naturally, Jord was the deliverer, and her ostrich-horse Hoz was her ride. When she came back, she not only had the payment for her mother, but a new animal companion for herself as well, which she lovingly called Zin. And while primarily a carnivore, Zin did have a strange liking for apples.

"CIRCE!"

"I'm coming!" Jord twitched her foot, causing Zin to hiss and flap his wings, flying over to his actual perch next to the window. Jord got to her feet, muttering and running a hand through her short blonde hair, only making it stick up even more. She tossed the apple at the cat-owl as she left the room. Zin opened his mouth and caught the half-eaten piece of fruit, purring happily as he gnawed on it.

Jord entered the living area to see her mother and father, Ronyn, seated, both apparently waiting for her. Nasu pointed at the remaining chair, which had been conveniently placed in a corner. Her voice was stern. "Sit. Now."

Keeping her protest to herself, Jord scooted past them and dropped down into the chair. Crossing her arms stubbornly, she turned and stared out the window nearby, waiting for one of them to say something. When neither spoke, she broke the silence. "I'm still not apologizing."

"We aren't asking for you to apologize." Ronyn said. He was a giant of a man, at least compared to the much smaller and thinner Nasu. He had a mane of thick black hair that he usually tied back. His remaining eye was a fierce green color; the hole where the other used to be was covered by a brown leather patch. His right leg was also obviously lame, as the bones had somehow been fused together after a terrible wound he got in the war. Ronyn wasn't very fast anymore, and he was restricted to hobbling around with a thick wooden crutch. He was pouring three cups of tea while he was talking. "We want to hear your side of the story." He held out a cup to Jord, whose blue eyes studied it for a moment before accepting it. Nasu picked up her own. "Now, what happened yesterday?"

Jord sighed, staring at the liquid in her cup.

FLASHBACK

The summer heat baked the hard earth under her feet; she could feel it through her boots. Wearing the boots was what set her apart from the other Earth Kingdom citizens, because for some reason there were times she could barely stand walking around without shoes. Sometimes her tolerance came and went… sometimes she went without shoes, and other times she didn't. On days like this, where the earth would feel even a little warm to an Earthbender with only the basic skills, she never thought twice about wearing the boots.

This particular day, she was in Iso Han's marketplace, leading Hoz around by the bridle. Iso Han had a mixed system of currency and bartering. Usually merchants and customers would barter, and when they finally decided on which item had what value, the difference would be paid with coins. Sometimes, coins never came into the picture at all. Jord was particularly skilled in market-speech, and the quality of the items her parents created made the job that much easier. She was usually able to bring back extra money, especially on a day when the market was this packed.

Half of the deliveries had been taken care of, and all she had left to do was trade some clothing to one merchant in exchange for meat, some jewelry to another in exchange for precious metals for her father to work with, and finally purchase some supplies for the month. But in the heat of mid day, even she had to stop to rest. One of the city's taverns was right in the middle of the market place, and she and the owner were on a first name basis. It was a good place to stop for a break, with an overhang to shelter animals and people from the sun's rays. Most people would go inside and leave their mounts outside, but Jord had a strong connection with her animals. Perhaps that was what kept her outside, or maybe it was something that was tugging at the back of her head. But in either case, she was only inside long enough to get something to eat and drink for herself and her ostrich-horse.

Jord sat on a large barrel right next to Hoz, the two of them watching the people wandering around and interacting with each other out in the sun, buying and selling and bartering in the sun. "Ugh, and I thought I had a high tolerance for heat…" Jord grumbled through a mouthful of whatever she was eating for her lunch. If there was one thing she had learned over the years, it was to never ask what was in the special at the tavern. It tasted good, it never made her feel sick, and it really stuck to her ribs. To her, that was all she had to know.

Hoz snorted and clicked his beak a couple times.

"Yeah, that's what I think too."

The two continued to sit and watch, more bored and impatient to get going again than anything else. Jord's mind started to wander, and if Hoz hadn't grunted and shifted uneasily she might not have even seen it. A young man, dressed in course green and brown garb, and a couple of old frail beggars with an infant were conversing loudly. Too loudly. The young man's clothing placed him in the same category Jord and her family were in; not quite poor, but not among the well off. She didn't know what his family did to support themselves, as she had never seen them at the market selling wares, nor did they own a store. Yet the guy strutted around like a rooster, as if he was a noble and he owned the place.

The man kicked some dirt at the beggars. Hoz growled, and Jord put a hand on his neck to calm him down. "You're right, someone needs to stop this." She put down her plate and glass, tapping him on the beak when he tried to sneak a bite of her food, and hopped off the barrel she was sitting on. She never carried any of her weapons with her, now that the war was over. Some people did it out of habit, though, even six years after it had ended. Sure, she still carried a small knife on her belt, but it was more for convenience's sake. And sometimes, she just wanted to whittle.

Jord reached the scene just as the man kicked some more dirt at the people huddled in the sparse shade. "Hey! What's going on here?" Jord quickly stepped between him and the beggars, shifting her feet, almost unconsciously moving into a sturdier stance.

"Absolutely nothing." The man said in a charming voice. His innocent smile made Jord want to gag. He extended his hand in what appeared to be a friendly gesture. "Name's Xahn."

Jord eyed him cynically, keeping her hands at her side. "I'm not interested in your name, much less making new acquaintances. Now tell me, what did you think you were doing?"

Xahn's smile lingered uncertainly before his face became hard. "I don't think it's any of your business."

"You're right, it's not. But I'm making it my business. Now, I'm only going to ask one more time before I drag you through the market behind my ostrich-horse. What did you think you were doing?"

The man was silent, as if sizing her up. This gave her the opportunity to study him in return. He couldn't be older than she was, and if he was, it could only be by a few months. He had dark skin, but then compared to her own fair complexion, most Earth Kingdom people had a good tan. His hair was dark brown, almost black, and his eyes were dark green. He was about Jord's size, rather slim, only slightly taller with a hair more muscle. Xahn had only a little stubble along his jaw line and above his upper lip, and besides that, he was clean shaven.

Xahn's voice quickly regained Jord's attention. "They asked me if I had any coins to spare. I told them to get their own. They continued to beg, so I did something about it."

Jord stared at him for a moment. "What makes you think you have any right to do that?"

"In case you haven't noticed, only the fit survive. The strong prey on the weak, that is how the world works, how nature works." Xahn laughed. "Or have you been living comfortably too long?"

"We survive, it's not too comfortable." Jord shot back. "But I don't consider myself better than anyone else in Iso Han, either. My family and I make our living and share where we can." She turned her back to him and offered both hands to the elderly beggars at her feet. They accepted the gesture gratefully, even while Jord kept addressing the smug Xahn behind her. "So tell us, what do you have that makes you better than me, or them, or any of us?"

"I am a man, isn't that enough?"

Jord laughed. "No, it just makes you human and sexist. I've worked with and trained plenty of men, and they're much better than you."

"I bet they are."

She stopped at that part, right in the middle of escorting the beggars and what appeared to be their grandchild to the shade of the tavern, too. Jord knew exactly what he was hinting at, and she did admit that she could have worded it differently, but everyone else around them knew what she was talking about. Jord clenched her jaw and continued walking the paupers towards the shade.

"So you'll just walk away? That's it?" Xahn laughed. "And here I thought you had a bigger backbone."

"Oh, I've got a backbone. I just know when to use it." Jord helped the old panhandlers sit down on the tavern's porch, then handed them what was left of her meal. Their dirt-caked granddaughter looked up at her quietly, but Jord didn't stick around to even smile.

Hoz shifted his feet uneasily as his master walked back out into the sunlight, towards the man who had just basically assaulted her honor. Xahn smirked, getting into a goofy fighting stance, as if to mock her. "Come on then. If you're going to make me regret what I just said, you'll have to do more than glare. Let's see if those tavern bums are telling the truth, when they say you helped to train the Earth Kingdom's soldiers."

"I'll make you eat those words." Jord balled her hand into a fist and swung out at the man. "Those "tavern bums", they're soldiers, and they have more honor in their eyebrows than you do in your whole body!" He blocked easily, which surprised Jord, and he countered with a hard stomp on the ground. A small hunk of rock jerked out of the road and smacked into her shoulder.

"Didn't think I was a Bender, did you?" Xahn sneered.

"No. But that doesn't make you better. Just different." Jord shifted her stance and dodged the rock that was thrown at her. Her foot kicked up loose dirt as she dropped and twisted, dodging a strangely well-aimed kick. She rolled to her feet, and just as Xahn brought his foot up in preparation to rip out some more rocks, Jord threw something in his face.

Xahn recoiled, yelling and cursing and clawing at his face, trying to get the fine sand and dust out of his eyes. Jord spun around, and the heel of her right foot connected with his side. She then physically yanked him off his feet and flipped him onto the ground. The force of the throw was strong enough to knock the breath right out of his chest. He coughed and sputtered, suddenly unsure of what to do. "I'm a Bender…" He groaned, struggling to get his breath back. "I should be stronger than you."

"Power has nothing to do with it, you punk." Jord shifted to a more comfortable ready stance. "It's about skill and timing and understanding. Apparently, you don't have that."

"I don't need that…" Xahn stumbled to his feet, still too unsteady to Bend immediately.

Jord snorted. She wasn't feeling too sympathetic, and after what he had said and the way he had acted, she was all for beating the snot out of him. "I think you need a few lessons in humility, among other things. Like tact." She grabbed him by the back of his shirt, jerked him backwards, and slammed her fist into one of his kidneys. Xahn gasped, too stunned and in too much pain to do anything else, and Jord let him drop. He would be covered with bruises later, but at least there weren't any open wounds. The only blood came out of his mouth and nose, when his face and the earth he was supposed to be Bending became one. "Once you get up, you drag your sorry self back to where ever it is you live, and you think about what you did and what was done to you. And if you get the chance to do something like this again, you think about it. Because if I'm not around to fix you, someone else better be." She turned and walked away, back towards her mount.

Hoz snorted and scratched at the ground, snapping his beak impatiently. As Jord lead him past the groaning, defeated Xahn, the ostrich kicked some dirt at him. Jord could help but laugh at the irony.

END FLASHBACK

Nasu and Ronyn studied their daughter for a moment, then turned and gave each other "the look." Jord glanced from one parent to the next, unsure of whether or not this was a good look or a bad one. "What… Neither of you believe me? When have I ever lied to you?"

"It's not that we don't believe you…" Ronyn started, somewhat offhandedly.

"But you left the boy just laying there." Nasu seemed to finish what Ronyn was starting.

Jord just looked at them both. "You aren't seriously going to… punish me, because I left him there, are you? He deserved it!"

"That doesn't make it completely right. Yes, we're proud of you for defending those people, but Circe…" Ronyn put down his empty tea cup. "That doesn't mean he had to be left in the street."

Jord stayed silent.

"Circe, honey.." Nasu stood up and approached her daughter, putting her arm around Jord's shoulder. "We know how you feel. And we're proud of you for doing the right thing. But you also need to know that everyone needs to take responsibility for what they do, including you."

She stayed quiet a little longer. "I know…" Jord turned her gaze back to the window. "What do you want me to do?"

Her parents were quiet for a moment. "Your mother and I may have to talk about it. But I think we'll be able to let you know in the morning." Was Ronyn's response.

Jord just nodded.

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It had been decided. They were going to start their own search, and they were going to start it in Omashu. All they had to do was load up Appa's saddle, get the saddle on, and just leave.

"Seriously, do we need this much stuff? It's like we're moving or something." Sokka complained as he and Toph loaded up the saddle for the next day. Well, it was more like Sokka was doing the loading. Toph really had no inclination to help, since she preferred to pack for herself and only herself. It kept her from getting involved with someone else's belongings. "Aren't you going to help?!" Sokka snapped, struggling to pull a particularly stubborn piece of luggage into Appa's huge saddle.

"What, your big bad self can't do it?"

"Yes, I can do it! I just don't want to do the work by myself."

Toph just scoffed, but in the end they both knew she would end up helping… somehow. It was how they all turned out after spending the past years together.

Not only did the four friends grow as a group over the last six years, but they had grown as individuals as well. Sokka, at the age of twenty-one, was much more muscular and well-built compared to his skinny, scrawny self six years previous. At this point in his life, he was close to being six-and-a-half-feet tall, and probably somewhere between one hundred and eighty and two hundred pounds. His fighting skills had also been well honed over the years, so he was a more impressive figure now than he had ever been. He had even grown his hair out a bit, opting to keep it loosely tied back and have his bangs fall just barely over his eyes. He still kept his facial hair down, though, despite the fact that Katara had suggested that growing it out might make him even more attractive. If Suki didn't care, neither did he.

Katara had also changed, as well. As mentioned previously, she had mastered her Waterbending art, and had even tried taking it one step farther just to see what the art's limits consisted of. She had matured into a very beautiful young woman, and she had yet to find someone who wasn't blind who didn't tell her this. Out of nostalgia, she still wore her hair as she had six years ago. She stood somewhere around five-and-a-half feet in height, maybe a little taller, and likely a good fifty or sixty pounds lighter than her brother. According to many people (especially the older women) she would make a wonderful mother. The only problem was, Katara had yet to find the time or motive to settle down and try to start a family. Besides, she still believed she could do a lot of work helping Aang, and that was her main reason for not settling.

Aang, also, had changed. He was no longer one of the shortest members of the group. In fact, he was almost as tall as Sokka. Almost. As in about half a foot shy of Sokka's impressive height. The young Avatar was still small in build, though, despite his defined muscles, which gave him a very wiry and lithe appearance, almost like a cat that was extremely toned. He wasn't as naïve as he was when he was twelve, though, and had a much better understanding of the world around him. Aside from being taller and chiseled, his appearance hadn't changed. He still preferred to shave his head, not to mention the rest of his face as well. His facial features had squared off quite a bit, though, making him look more mature and… masculine.

Just like her companions, Toph had grown and changed. She was taller, almost as tall as Katara, with an equally shapely figure. Her face had also matured, becoming a bit more angular and feminine. But while she had changed physically, she was still a smart-ass of a young woman who needed an attitude adjustment. She was more than capable of being ladylike and polite when she had to, like she had been as a child. And, she still enjoyed getting a rise out of people by abandoning said ladylike mannerisms. She still walked around barefoot, since wearing shoes usually affected the way she "saw" by feeling the vibrations in the earth with her feet. And what Earthbender in their right mind walked around in shoes?

Meanwhile, as Toph and Sokka packed up the bison saddle, Aang and Katara were busy plotting out a general course and plan for what they had in mind. "Since we're obviously going to be going to Omashu first, we'll start there and head towards Gaoling, then to Ba Sing Se. We can stop at whatever towns or cities we find along the way, too. After we search a majority of Earth Kingdom territory, we can-" Katara was interrupted by Toph shouting from a room or two over.

"Can we not go to Gaoling? And if we do, can I stay outside the city with Appa? My father and I aren't exactly on good terms, you know."

"We would need someone to watch Appa…" Aang scratched the back of his neck as he thought out loud.

"Or maybe we can take our time through the countryside, you know? See the sights or… something." Toph kept yelling to them from the other room.

"Fine, when we get to Gaoling, Toph can stay outside with Appa." Katara stared at the map in front of them for a moment. "But after we're done searching Earth Kingdom territory, we can check the North and South Pole Water Tribe lands. That should be easier, since there usually aren't little groups scattered all over the place like they are on land."

"We'll have to search Fire Nation cities, too, you know."

"True… but the war's over. It's been over for six years."

"Yeah, but there are still some people that keep trying to bring it up all the time."

"Don't worry about it, Aang." Katara put a hand on her friend's shoulder comfortingly. "They know what'll happen if they do anything stupid. We should still try, though, in case there are Airbenders there."

"Alright. I suppose that means we'll search the lands that belonged to the Air Nomads last, right?"

"Right. If anything, we can use one of the temples as a base. Maybe the Southern Temple, since that's the one you have to fly to get to. That would keep people away and give any Airbenders we do find a safe place to live until we get something worked out." Katara started to roll up the scrolls and maps they would need for the journey. There was a small box they were going to store said papers in sitting between them on the floor. They even included a few of the letters they thought were actually worth investigating.

"That'd be a good idea. Maybe we can see if we can rebuild the airball court while we're there. I liked playing that when I was a kid."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was nightfall. Jord could see the stars clearly from her spot on the rooftop. She stared up at the star-crowded sky for another moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Lowering her head, she brought her arms up and held them out horizontally, before slowly starting to move them in a complex pattern that simply seemed to… flow. Almost like water through a calm, quiet creek, only more ethereal. She didn't know where she learned it, or if she had just simply made it up on a whim. But it was her style of fighting, a mix of defense and grabs and manipulation of momentum and joints, and a little force learned from her Earthbending parents. It suited her slim form. Instead of sheer force, like the styles most people from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation used, hers was more defensive, yet she had not been able to find someone who was able to hold their own against her when she used it. For some reason, she found it difficult mix this style of unarmed combat with any of her weapons; the only thing she could possibly combine it with was a short staff, and only because it made such a good defensive weapon.

As Jord moved, she kept her eyes closed, meditating as she practiced. It was strange, how her body could just go on automatic when she was practicing this strange fighting (defending?) style. Somehow, her body just knew how to move, like she was born knowing how to do this and all she had to do was get up. Usually, slowly going through the patterns and techniques that were going through her head somehow got her body to relax.

Her mind began to wander, practically entering a dreamlike state. It took her a whole to realize that she was actually dreaming as she practiced, but instead of waking up and simply going to sleep in her own hammock, she stayed right where she was. She was curious as to what she was seeing in her head.

Clouds… or maybe a lot of fog. It was hard to tell, but she was positive it was one of the two. Through the clouds (or fog…) she could see what looked like a temple. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, or what sort of temple it could be, but she was positive it was a temple of some sort. She was approaching the building, as if she was floating or flying, because as far as she could tell her feet never touched the ground.

Jord continued to dream, even as her body continued to practice, and in her dream she explored the strange building in the sky. Eventually her body would tire, and she would most likely automatically lie down, but her mind wasn't focused on sleeping. It was simply going to dream.

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Author's Note: Think of Jord's martial arts style as three parts Aikido and one part Earthbending. Just an FYI, it'll come together later in the story, I promise.