See? I promised I'd be back! Eventually! So here's the next chapter, I'm sorry that Aang comes off a bit like a jerk, but he's an angsty teen..he's AANGSTY! haha, get it? okay, sorry...I'll just go now...

Aang toyed with his food. He rolled it around on his plate, his eyes half shut. Eventually he sighed, stood, and strode from the campfire without a word. A momentary hush fell, then conversation resumed in harsh whispers. He knew what they were whispering about, and why, but their constant concern chafed at him. Setting his eyes on the horizon, Aang thought of the only woman who didn't coddle him-the woman who did quite the opposite.

Damn! For an assassin, she was disturbingly alluring. Aang thought of how she laughed in exhilaration, how she thoroughly enjoyed fighting, loved to use her skills to do what she wanted. Aang envied her freedom. He was chained by years of teaching from the monks, of being told violence was wrong, that one must sacrifice oneself for the whole. Why couldn't he give in and enjoy what he was good at? Why did he always have to rein himself in?

"Aang?" Oh, right. He mustn't terrify the others. Pasting a grin on his face, he turned to face Katara, who had dutifully checked in to play mother.

"Hey Katara." She twisted her dress in her fingers, indecisive.

"Are you alright? You've hardly touched your food, and you…don't talk like you used to." Aang replied shortly, barely suffocating a sigh.

"Yes Katara, I'm fine. I'm just thinking." She bit her lip, a soft, pink wonder Aang used to dream about. But at that sight, a different pair of lips appeared in his mind, smirking self-assuredly and seductively. Laughing at the girl's mothering. At that, Aang lost patience. Visions of his nemesis' required a thorough investigation. "Katara, I'm sorry, but I need some time alone. I need to think."

Katara hesitated, then shrugged and walked back to the group. Teo had an interesting story about the Temple, and she didn't want to miss it. Aang rolled his eyes as she left. She was sweet, true. But he was tired of sweet and good, and most of all, right. He wanted, just once, to be wrong and selfish and…bad. So, Aang set his shoulders. He wrote a note to the group and left it on the stone balcony. Then he grabbed his glider and pack.

Hey guys, I'm going on a trip to figure some things out. Don't worry, I'll be fine, I'm just going to investigate something. Two weeks tops, I promise. Just stick to the ship's path, I'll meet up with you.

\ ~Aang

He flew into the night sky, towards a palace full of assassins, in a city that wished him dead, in a nation bent on destroying the world.

Logic wasn't his strong point.