We could never learn to be brave or patient, if there were only joy in the world. - Helen Keller

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, "Hide and Explode" would be a real game, possibly played with self-detonating paintballs, Black Cats, and roman candles.

Chapter 3 – Anguish

As Kaiya led Longshot across the narrow rope bridge, the ground suddenly fell out from under her as a large mass knocked her sideways off the wobbly planks. She let out a panicked shriek before she realized the fall was more of a swing and there was a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She turned her head and glared at the imbecile who carried her through the trees.

When their feet touched the ground, she jumped out of his grasp before turning back. "You—are—such—an—idiot!" she yelled, each word punctuated by her fists.

Holding his arms up in defense, Jet just laughed. "What? I heard girls love being swept off their feet."

"Ha ha, real funny," she said with an exasperated look on her face. "If you wanted to talk, you could have just asked."

"Where's the fun in that?" he said walking away from her.

She growled in frustration at his retreating form before reluctantly following.

"So..." she prompted, her curiosity getting the better of her as she caught up to him.

"So what?"

"You must have had some reason to come barreling into me like that."

"Maybe I was just testing your reflexes." He smirked at the daggers that flashed in her eyes. "And it looks to me that we're going to have to resume your training."

"Sure. A few more concussions should do me a world of good," she said sarcastically before she rammed her shoulder into his side and successfully tackled the unsuspecting teen.

"Who's got slow reflexes now?" she said picking herself up, eyes gleaming in triumph.

Jet stood with deliberate slowness, keeping his eyes, which held a mischievous glint, on Kaiya. "So you want to spare?"

"Whenever, wherever. Too bad my weapons are back at the hide-out."

"I'm disappointed in you, Kaiya," he teased. "A warrior should always be prepared."

"Well, I didn't plan on being thrown from the bridge by a maniac with a death wish," she said, stepping back into a fighting stance.

He smiled, laid his hook swords aside, and began unstrapping his armor. "So that's how it's gonna be."

As he laid his armor beside his swords, her eyes darted around taking in the layout of their surroundings, taking inventory of possible escape routes, advantages, and hazards, just as she'd been taught.

For a few moments, they circled each other before Jet charged. Kaiya turned away to avoid the blow, but he anticipated this and swung an elbow out as she passed, catching her in the back and knocking her to her knees. She curled, turning the fall into a roll and was on her feet again ready for his next strike. He threw a punch at her shoulder, which she dodged, ducking under his swing. He continued to advance and she to retreat, kicking and spinning, striking and evading.

"This is getting boring, Kaiya," he panted, halting in his attack. "You need to do more than just defend. If I were a firebender, you'd be dead by now."

"The world isn't made up of just good guys and firebenders."

"Everything that's wrong with the world is because of the Fire Nation. Ever wonder why they're the only benders who carry their element inside them? The fire is in their blood, Kaiya. It makes them evil and cruel."

He mistook her silence for fear. "They won't stop until we're all dead," he said raising a hand to touch her cheek. "I just don't want to see you get burned."

His words pierced her and tears of shame welled in her eyes.

Seeing her reaction, he stepped closer. "Kaiya..." he said softly as he bent his head to look into her down-turned face. "You can tell me."

She pulled away from him, "I want to go back now."

"You don't have to hide your past. No matter what, you're a Freedom Fighter and we stick together. I understand what you're going through. We've all been through it."

"No, you don't understand. The soldiers didn't destroy my home..." she said, her fists shaking as a knife of guilt twisted in her chest. "I did."

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he forced her to face him. "You can't keep blaming yourself for what..." Jerking his head to the side, he stared into the distance his eyebrows creased in a deep frown.

"What is it?" she whispered, on alert now as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Get into the trees," he said as he rushed back to retrieve his weapons.

She barely had time to react before two men broke into the clearing. Catching sight of them, she dashed toward the nearest tree and jumped. Catching a limb with one arm, she swung her leg over the bough and righted herself on it. She moved to stand while planning her next move. In her head, the lattice of branches forming a path; jump to this one, swing across that one, use another to get higher, safer, further away from danger.

As she reached for the next branch, her foot was suddenly pulled out from under her. She tried to catch herself as she fell across the branch below. One of the men had caught her foot in a chain; the weighted ball on the end causing it to wrap tightly around her ankle. With another jerk, he brought the girl to the ground.

Stars danced in front of her eyes as she tried to catch her breath, which had left her when her back made contact with the ground. Rolling to her side, she coughed as her vision cleared before two rough hands picked her up by her wrists.

"Well, aren't you a pretty little thing," the man sneered.

She kicked him as hard as she could and wrenched herself from his grip as he doubled over, but just as she turned to run, two arms caught her from behind. They wrapped tightly across her chest, pinning her arms at her sides.

"That wasn't very nice." She shivered as the man's hot breath licked at her neck.

She struggled against her captor, inciting only laughter as the first righted himself and approached her. She saw the fist coming but was powerless to avoid it. The blow connected painfully with her cheek and her vision darkened for a few moments.

"Leave her alone!"

Author's Notes

Two updates in one day, whew! I'm really enjoying this story. I hope you are too.

You remember those fight scenes I've been talking about that started out as one fight scene, morphed into two, well now I've got three. Kaiya vs Jet and Kaiya vs The Men are above. Next chapter will have more. Man, for someone who hates to write combat, I can't seem to get away from it.

What do you think of my fight scenes? Do they flow? Are they easy to picture? Anything I can do to make them better?

Oh, and there's a tiny Harry Potter reference in this chapter. I've been wanting to see if I can write on request so I'll grant a request fic to the first person to find it.