Chapter 7: "Imprisoned" (Part 2)

I meant to post this chapter sooner, but I got sick. Sorry for the wait, but this chapter is pretty long so I hope you guys are satisfied!

The guards threw us into some kind of cart and it rolled towards the end of the docks. It was dark, but I could see the silhouette of a black ship. Haru and I were thrown into a lower deck and we felt the ship begin to move. I felt around at the walls. Judging by where the corners met, it couldn't be any bigger than an igloo. It was so dark I couldn't see my own hands.

"Katara, Aang, and Sokka will come for us" I said in no particular direction, but I knew Haru was in the room with me somewhere.

"They wouldn't know where to look for us. We don't even know where we're going"

"They'll come" I assured firmly. The guards hadn't searched us yet and I had to hide my dagger somewhere before they did. The door above our heads opened and I shielded my eyes as a ball of fire glowed over our heads. He threw down some kind of torn bags in front of us. I stepped back as he jumped down with a knife which resembled closely to mine. The guard grabbed my wrist and roughly cut off the bindings and did the same with Haru.

"Get dressed in your uniforms. We'll be arriving there shortly" he said and closed the door above our heads. It was pitch black again. I didn't have a choice but to find my 'uniform' on the ground and attempt to put it on. The ship came to a halt when I finally found the part of the torn bag to put my head through. The door above opened once again and we were roughly pulled out along with others that were on the ship.

The sun was just beginning to rise and I could see a metal platform in the middle of the vast water. If I knew more waterbending this could've easily worked out in my favor, maybe create a large wave to distract the guards; but the most I knew was waving a stream out of a river. We were forced into a line with guards on either side. I saw one guard talking to a rather old looking man and pointing at me. I glared back. The old looking man walked towards us. I held the bottom of my sleeve so my dagger wouldn't fall out. The old looking man, who now I could tell was the warden, walked towards me, stopping about a foot away from where I stood.

"Is she the one?" he drawled.

"Yes, sir" the guard behind him replied.

"Take her down to the prison hold. I'll deal with her later" he commanded.

Haru stepped closer as if he was about to defend me. "Don't. I'll be fine" I warned in a whisper as the one guard grabbed each arm and led me away as Haru and the other earthbenders were led in the opposite direction. As we crossed over a bridge, I saw the pale faces of tired earthbenders doing useless labor. They pushed me inside the lift and it led down to a metal corridor. We eventually stopped in front of a metal door and they pushed me inside. It was an empty room with a table and two chairs. The more I thought about it the more I believed it must be some kind of interrogation room.


"Did you find her?" Aang asked, whirling around to face Sokka as he came back inside the barn.

"No, she wasn't in the woods and I couldn't find her in the market" he replied, walking over to his sleeping back and began to roll it up.

"You told her we were leaving at dawn, right?" Aang questioned, jumping off from the mountain of hay and landing lightly on his feet.

"Of course I did. She's probably somewhere smooching Haru goodbye" Sokka remarked nonchalantly, throwing his sleeping bag into Appa's saddle. "Oh, they were coming back from a sunset walk last night. Looking super cozy together, if you ask me" he explained when Aang gave him a confused look. "Where's Katara?" he added.

As if right on cue, Katara came barging in through the door making both boys jump. "They took him! They took Haru away!" she cried in panic. "Talia was right, that old man turned him in. This is all my fault! I forced him into it!" she rambled in one breath.

"Katara, slow down. When did this happen?" Sokka asked, taking his sister's hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Last night. Haru's mother said they came for him last night" she explained, trying to calm down. "Where's Talia, I have to talk to her"

"She's been missing since this morning. I can't find her anywhere" Sokka replied. Katara's eyes widened and more worry crossed her face.

"I bet she's probably with Haru!" Aang said. "Maybe she was with him when the Fire Nation came"

"Oh no" Katara whispered, clutching her hand to her heart. The more she thought about it, the more possible it was. She knew why they'd take Haru, but why Talia? She wasn't a bender. What would they do with her? The worst case scenario flashed through her mind and Katara shook her head vigorously. "We need to find them" she said firmly.

Sokka squeezed her shoulder. "I want to find them too, Katara. But it'll be hard to track them" he said.

Katara pulled her hand away. "We won't have to" she said with a sense of determination. "The Fire Nation will take me right to them"

"Why would they do that?" Aang asked in confusion.

"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending" she declared as Aang and Sokka exchanged uneasy looks


I leaned against the wall. I didn't know how much time passed, but it had to be at least half a day. I had to force myself to keep my eyes open and my head kept lolling forward due to lack of sleep. By the time someone finally walked in, I was tired. It was the warden. I stood up straight and shook off my drowsiness the best I could.

"Sit" he said.

"I'll stand" I said stubbornly. Not bothering to be polite.

He raised an eyebrow, but seemed to accept my choice. "So tell me, how one of my guards came to find a waterbender in an Earth Kingdom village?" he asked, seating himself on the other side of the table.

I thought of Aang and shifted my dagger in my sleeve. "I'm a traveler" I said.

"A traveler…" he repeated in a long monotonous voice. "And you thought it fit to interfere with one of my guards while he was arresting an earthbender?" he asked, folding his hands together.

"My friend saved a man's life from one of the mines and was about to be wrongfully arrested for it. I felt compelled to intervene and help him" I said.

The warden chuckled as though he found what I said to be a humorous joke. "Well, are you aware that earthbending is against the law here?" he asked.

I clenched my fists. "I've heard something about it" I said through gritted teeth. "You would've lost a coal miner if he hadn't done what he did" I added.

The warden didn't remark, instead gave me an up and down look. "Where are you headed?" he asked.

"Nowhere in particular" I lied.

He pursed his lips in a tight line, clearly annoyed. "Well, let me ask you this. Where are you from?" he asked.

"What?" I asked, taken aback. It seemed like a simple question, but there was obviously more to it, I could tell.

"Where are you from?" he repeated in a more impatient tone.

He knew as well as I did that it didn't matter where I was from, he was going to keep me here anyway. But my mind suddenly started running in several directions. I couldn't tell them I was from the South Pole. They already knew I was a waterbender and no doubt would question how I avoided the raiders. They might even feel compelled to investigate the village to see if any more survived. I wasn't going to risk putting my village in another traumatizing situation, especially my sister.

"Well?" he said impatiently.

"North Pole" I replied the first thing that came to mind.

The warden didn't blink and neither did I. He suddenly stood up from his chair. "Well, forgive me for telling you this young lady, but it seems your travels about going to be delayed for at least a few years" he said boringly. The door opened and a guard stepped inside before grabbing my arm. "Of course if I hadn't known any better. I would've thought you were Fire Nation"

I turned my head faster than anyone could blink and angrily kicked the chair towards the warden, though missing him by inches. The guard grabbed both my arms and tried to restrain me. I glared at the warden and he calmly looked back. "I'm nothing like you!" I spat.

The warden looked at the fallen chair and exhaled before looking at me. "Because this is your first day, I will give you a warning. I'm sure you wouldn't want to spend the rest of this month in solitary, now would you?" he told me. The guard forcefully twisted my wrists behind my back and I stopped fighting before my hands could snap in two. The warden's eyes bore into mine. "I said, would you?" he repeated

"No" I muttered back venomously. He stood upright.

"Good. Take her away" he commanded.

The guard led me out of the small room and outside. The sun was high and shined directly in my face. How long had I been in there? He let go of my arms and I rubbed my wrists. The warden's words stuck with me, if I hadn't known any better. I would've thought you were Fire Nation. I wasn't as tired as I was angry. I wasn't Fire Nation, I was Water Tribe. I was led to the deck where I saw more morbid, pale, and exhausted faces of earthbenders. I glanced at the sky, hoping maybe to see Appa flying over my head.

"Talia" I heard Haru's voice to my left.

I turned and saw him standing several feet away. "Haru!" I said as I ran and hugged him. He momentarily lifted me off my feet and set me back down.

"You had me worried. Where'd they take you? Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" I assured "The warden wanted to speak with me and I was stuck in a confined room for hours. He only asked dumb questions" I explained dismissively.

He grabbed my hand. "There's someone I want you to meet" he said, leading me to a group of earthbenders where a tall man with white hair and beard was speaking with the ones around him. Haru was looking at him with admiringly and led me forward to him. It wasn't until we got closer I noticed a girl sitting next to him with a bowel of watery stew. I could never mistake those hair loops for someone else.

"Katara?" I said in disbelief.

She turned her head at the sound of her name and lunged at me with hug. "Talia, thank goodness!" she said, pulling away and finally allowing me to breathe in some air. "Haru told me the firebenders took you away. I was worried"

"I'm fine" I assured coolly for the second time.

She squeezed my hand. "You were right about that old man. I'm really sorry" she said guiltily.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "I'll save the 'I told you so' until we get out of here. But why are you wearing prison clothes?" I questioned.

She told me everything about how they found out we were missing and how she staged an act to make herself look like an earthbender and got herself arrested. When she finished I was staring at her with wide eyes and shaking my head.

"You can be really crazy sometimes" I said lightheartedly and she smiled. Haru tapped my shoulder and he gestured to the tall man with a white beard.

"Talia, I'd like you to meet my father Tyro. Dad, this is Talia" he introduced.

I raised both my eyebrows. This was Haru's father? Tyro smiled at me and I held my hand out politely as I sat down. "I'm honored to meet you, sir. Haru has told me so much about you" I said kindly. Tyro shook my hand. "I'm a friend of his, we actually met yesterday"

He chuckled. "It is an honor to meet you as well. Please call me Tyro" he said, reaching for an extra bowel of stew. "Have some food. You look a little ill"

I ran my fingers underneath my eyes. "I'll be fine. Just a little tired is all" I said, before taking the bowel.

"Be careful" Katara warned as she sat next to me. "They aren't exactly stewed sea prunes"

She was right, it was disgusting. At first I thought I could maybe trick myself into thinking they're like stewed sea prunes, but I ended up taking small spoonful and swallowing before I could taste it.

"So what's the plan, sir?" Katara asked, looking around at Tyro.

"Plan?" he said "The plan is to try to stay alive"

I blinked. "Wait, you're not planning to escape?"

"There is no way to escape. Once you come in here, you can't get out"

I glanced at Haru who had his head bowed. Apparently he had asked the same thing and received the same response.

"You can't really believe that! The people in my village always told us stories about you courageous earthbenders. They say it runs in your blood" Katara said and I nodded in agreement.

"I'd like to think so" he admitted "However, that's all they were. They were stories. But in our situation there's nothing we can do" he said dismally.

"But you have to try" I said then bowed my head. "I've seen too many of my people get dragged away by the Fire Nation. Katara and I were some the oldest in our tribe and were in charge of taking care of our village too. We couldn't stand around anymore and I gained my courage from hearing the stories about you and the other earthbenders. We might've been unsuccessful in trying to fight them, but at least we tried and you have to do the same" I said firmly and Katara agreed.

"I understand that you and your friends feel the need to fight against the Fire Nation, but there are times when there's nothing we can do" Tyro answered.

"We'll see about that" Katara said as she stood up.

"Katara, what're you doing?" I said lowly. She didn't answer me and walked over to the table in the middle of the courtyard. She picked up a spoon and a pan and banged on it. It echoed throughout the courtyard and many people turned their heads to look at her.

"Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know you. I'm from the Water Tribe and every night children are rocked to sleep with stories about all of you courageous people who guard your homes"

More people turned to listen to her, but so did the warden who was staring down at her intently. I got a bad feeling and slowly stood up, not taking my eyes off him. He was going to attack her, I just knew it.

"…But they can't take away your courage!" she continued, "And that's what they truly should be afraid of because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are. Hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned! So remember your courage, earthbenders. Let us fight for our freedom!" she said with her fist in the air.

Any earthbender that had been listening in on her, turned back to their watery soup. Katara glanced around the courtyard. Disappointment etched across her face and mine. I walked over to her as she stepped down from the table.

"It was worth a try" I whispered, glancing at the top of the wall. The warden stared at us for a brief moment then turned and walked away.

"I can't believe how hopeless they all are" she said sadly.

The guards told us our break was over and to get back to work. I could hardly concentrate as I hit a hammer against a nail. These earthbenders. These poor people had lost hope. I tried talking to others, but they were even more morbid than Tyro.

We both began to walk towards our bunker. "Do you have any ideas how to get them out of here?" Katara whispered.

I shook my head. "I'm just a girl with a knife" I whispered as a guard passed us. "Where are Sokka and Aang?" I asked as I sat down in front of a blanket and pillow. That was all we had for a bed. I couldn't ask her about the guys earlier because of so many Fire Nation soldiers watching us.

"They gave me twelve hours to find you and Haru otherwise we leave" she told me

"Wait, so that's it? We're just going to leave these people?" I asked in shock. I didn't know if I could turn my back and leave these people with that terrible warden. I didn't want to leave them behind. It would be like handing my own people to the Fire Nation.

"I'm not. I'm staying here" she said, covering herself with the blanket. "You and Sokka have to get Aang to the North Pole so he can practice waterbending. I'll do whatever I can to help here"

"If you're staying here then so am I" she opened her mouth to object. "Katara, I promised your Gran-Gran I would take care of you and Sokka. Besides, you said so yourself that we're all in this together. Or was that just words?" I asked

She sighed "Okay, but I don't think Aang or Sokka might be too willing about this" she said, resting her head on the pillow.

"We'll just have to try to convince them" I said, folding my hands behind my head. The bunker slowly became darker as the sun set. I lay awake trying to think of a plan to help these people. Out of the corner of my eye, someone put a hand on Katara's shoulder. It was Aang. He beckoned us to follow him. Katara and I quietly crept outside and stepped on the edge of the deck where Appa and Sokka were waiting for us.

"Glad to see you're alright, Talia. Where's Haru? We've gotta get out of here" he said

Aang jumped on Appa's head and grabbed the reins. Katara and I exchanged looks. "We can't" Katara said

Sokka ignored her. "We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Come on" he said, holding his hand out to us. I stepped back behind the metal bars.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Aang asked.

"We're staying here. We're not giving up on them" Katara said firmly.

Sokka and Aang exchanged looks and stepped on the edge of the deck with us. We moved farther so we wouldn't be seen by the guards and crouched near the bars. Appa stayed close to the edge with us.. "What do you mean you're not leaving?" Sokka demanded

"We can't abandon these people. There has to be a way to help them" Katara replied

"You guys should've seen the look on all their faces. They've lost all hope" I told them

Aang looked hesitant. "Maybe they're right" he said, then looked to Sokka "What do you think?"

"I say you three have lost your mind!" he said a little too loudly. A light glowed over our heads and we ducked. I exhaled when it passed. "Last chance, we need to leave. Now"

"No" Katara said firmly.

Sokka shook his head in defeat. "I hate when you get like this" he said, another lights glowed close by. "Come on we better hide" he said. Appa flew away and the four of us ran to find a better place to stay hidden. Two guards shined their light in the sky, barely missing Appa. We knelt behind a stack of crates as I kept watch and listened. "We don't have much time. What're we gonna do?" he said

"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane" Aang said.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "How would that help us?" I asked.

"The warden will run away and we'd steal his keys" he explained.

"Wouldn't he just take the keys with him?" Sokka pointed out.

"I'm just tossing ideas around" he said, raising his hands as if he was surrendering

"Talia and I tried talking to the earthbenders into fighting back, but it didn't work. If there was just a way to help them help themselves" she said, mainly to herself. I hid behind one of the boxes as a guard passed.

"For that they'd need some kind of earth. Something they can bend" Sokka said quietly.

"But this entire place is made of metal" his sister said, touching the ground.

"What if we use Appa to bring some earth here?" I said. They gave me the same funny look they gave Aang. "Hey, I'm only tossing around ideas like Aang. Never mind"

"Wait a minute, look!" Aang said, pointing above him. We turned and watched black smoke fill the sky. "I bet they're burning coal. In other words, earth"

We exchanged looks. "Okay, but how do we get that up here?" I said.


Katara, Sokka, and I knelt down in front of a vent. "It's almost dawn. We're running out of time. Are you sure this is going to work?" Katara asked her brother.

"It should" he said confidently "These vents remind of our little trick back at the village. We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. There's a huge deposit of coal at the base of the island and the whole system is ventilated. Aang closed off all the vents except one. When he does his airbending, the coal only has one place to go"

I stood up. "I'll gather as many earthbenders as I can and tell them all to meet here. Make sure Aang tries to bring up as much coal as he can. They'll need it" I said lowly, and told them good luck before running to find the earthbenders.

I ran through the corridor and the earthbenders were already coming in this direction. Tyro and Haru were in front. "What's going on?" Haru asked.

"I don't have time to explain. You have to come with me, now!" I said, pulling on his wrist. Several earthbenders were already there, but Katara and Sokka were cornered by guards that had their spears pointed at them.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Sokka said threateningly, holding out his weapon

Tyro ran ahead of me and Haru and stood in front of us. "Katara, stop! You can't win this fight!" he said.

I slipped my dagger in my hand. Haru squeezed my hand and held me back. I had to help them. The warden walked towards them. "You would do well to listen to him, child. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand" he said.

One of the guards advanced towards Katara with his spear. I yanked my hand out of Haru's grip and ran. I grabbed the end of the spear and thrust my dagger upward, cutting off the sharp end of the guard's weapon and stood in front of Katara, glaring at the warden.

"Not if I have anything to say about it" I snapped, holding my dagger in front of me. The insignia covered by my hand.

"Talia, enough! Surrender now!" Tyro shouted

I didn't say anything and the vent in front of me began to rumble. The cover blew off as the coal surfaced on the deck in front of the earthbenders. Several guards stumbled backwards. Aang came out after, covered in soot. Katara ran up the pile of coal. "Here's your chance, earthbenders. Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"

I looked around. Tyro stopped his son from walking forward and the other earthbenders stepped back several feet. Why weren't they taking it? The warden laughed merrily as if Katara had just told a good joke. "Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago, but you still believed in them. How sweet. They're a waste of your energy. You failed" he said

He turned to walk away and my hand shook in anger. Before I could even move, someone had thrown a rock at his head, causing him to stagger. Haru was standing next to me, spinning three rocks above his hand. The warden threw a flame of fire towards us, but a wall of coal deflected it. It was Tyro. The firebenders took a fighting stance and blasted more fire. Earthbenders gathered coals in front of them.

"For the Earth Kingdom! Attack!" Tyro yelled.

I smiled at Katara as all the earthbenders attacked the guards. A firebender came at me with his spear. I moved to the right and kicked the firebender in the face. Tyro and Haru formed a boulder and threw it at the wall, making the firebenders above fall off. I cut off another end of a spear as it came towards my head.

"Get to the ship. We'll hold them off!" Tyro shouted.

I glanced at Haru and he nodded at me. Sokka grabbed my wrist. "Come on, we have to get out of here" he said. Katara, Aang and I ran behind him as he grabbed spears and cut off the ends with his weapon like I had.

"Do not let them escape!" the warden shouted.

Aang stopped running and created some kind of air funnel. "Guys! Throw me some coal!" he shouted. We grabbed whatever rocks that were near us and threw them into the funnel. It hit the firebenders like bullets and they fell on the ground.

The earthbenders gathered the coal together, making it into some kind of rock platform with the warden and guards on it. They hovered all of the coal above the water.

"No, please, I can't swim" the warden said.

"Don't worry. I hear cowards float" Tyro replied and they fell in the water.

The earthbenders cheered. Katara and I laughed. Haru ran towards us and I hugged him. "You did it! They all did!" I laughed. He let me go and Katara hugged him too.

"Thank you. Both of you" he said.

"All it took was a little hope…and coal" I added and he smiled. Katara looked at me then to Haru and gave me a smug smile before walking towards Aang and Sokka who were helping people get on the ship. "We should probably go help" I said and we followed Katara.

We managed to safely board every earthbender on the ship. I stared back at the rig. No one was going to be using that anymore. Haru, Tyro, and Katara were talking down on the deck. The ship sailed towards the Earth Kingdom village. It didn't seem like we would be staying for long. All we needed was a few supplies and we'd be on our way. I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder and turned to smile at Haru who had his arms outstretched. I accepted the hug.

"I'm glad you're okay" he said and we stood there quietly for a minute. "Talia, before the guards brought us on that rig you were about to tell me something about your mother"

I blinked. I had completely forgotten I almost told Haru I was part Fire Nation. "I…I…" I stammered.

"The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" I heard Tyro yell and remembered why I was keeping it a secret in the first place.

"I have to talk to you about that. Maybe when we get back to the village?" I suggested. Haru seemed to understand I needed some time and he nodded before walking away to speak with the other earthbenders.

I stared at the water below and pressed my thumb to my lips in deep thought. What was I thinking? How could I have been such an idiot and almost tell him I was part Fire Nation? He would never speak to me again. I know it. He would walk away. I would away. What was I supposed to tell him now? If my mother was here I knew her reaction if I told her I showed someone I could waterbend. She was the one who told me sometimes you couldn't trust your own people. I couldn't imagine what she'd say to me if I told him I was part Fire Nation. Haru knew one secret and he promised he wouldn't tell. But this one was more than just a little secret and I knew how he felt about firebenders and Fire Nation. I liked him and I didn't want to keep secrets from him. It was one or the other. I closed my eyes and exhaled. I knew what I had to do. No matter how much I didn't like the outcome.


"I can't find my mother's necklace anywhere!" Katara said stressfully "I searched the entire ship, but couldn't find anything!"

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere on the rig" Sokka told her.

I sat on the edge of the dirt and cleaned off the extra mud from the handle of my dagger. "We can't go back. Look" I said, pointing my dagger at the rig. The sun was setting and I could still see the rig. A black ship was harbored next to it.

"Zuko" Aang said, stating the obvious.

I stood up and brushed off my robes. "We better leave right away so he can't follow us" I said. Tyro and his wife came walking toward us with a bag of food and a small pouch. I looked inside. It was several copper pieces and a few silver ones. "We can't take your money" I said.

"Think of it as a token of our gratitude" she said, looking up at her husband adoringly "You brought my husband back to me and I am truly grateful for that. Thank you all"

"Don't mention it" Sokka said, waving his hand dismissively.

I snatched the small brown pouch from his hand. "But what if you need it?" I pointed out.

"We will be fine. We owe you" Haru said, coming next to me. His long brown hair was pushed behind his shoulders and he had changed into his Earth Kingdom clothes and out of the uniform the warden wanted us to wear.

I sighed. It was now or never. I had to say it whether or not I liked it. I gave Sokka back the pouch of coins along with the bag of food. Katara raised an eyebrow and gave me that smug smile of hers. I tried to ignore it and approached Haru. "I wanted to talk to you before we leave" I said, looking out of the corner of my eye then back at him. "Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked hopefully.

Haru smiled and I held his hand as we walked through the trees, not too far from Appa and the others. I stopped until we were out of earshot. I could hear a stream bubble close by. He let go of my hand as I stood in front of him and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a worried look as I pulled away. "Talia, what's wrong?" he asked

I inhaled deeply. I didn't want to do this, but I had to. "Do you remember when I showed you that I could waterbend? And I asked you not to tell anyone? Not even Katara because I wasn't supposed to?" I asked

Haru nodded. "I haven't told her anything. Talia, what's wrong?" he said.

"This secret I was about to tell you, it's not a small secret. To me, it's like life or death" I explained "I had a good time with you while I was here. I really did" I told him

"And I had a great time with you" he said then pursed his lips before continuing "This secret you were going to tell me, whatever it is I'm sure I can take it"

I could hear my own heartbeat as I stepped back about an inch. This was harder than I thought. "Haru, you deserve someone who won't keep secrets from you" I pursed my lips and swallowed before continuing. I felt like I had a wood frog stuck in my throat. I knew I was going to regret the next thing I said. "And I'm sorry that girl can't be me"

He stepped forward and brushed his thumb on my cheek. It wasn't until then I realized I was crying! I bit my tongue to keep anymore tears from escaping with little success. "Why can't you?" he asked softly. His face was full of worry and concern. "Talia, do you…?"

I knew what his question was even though he couldn't finish it. "I do like you" I said and he lifted his face. "I really do. But your friendship is more important to me than any secret I have. You'll walk away if I tell you"

"You can't say that unless I know what it is" he said patiently.

"You will" I interrupted. "Believe me you will"

He looked away and sighed. This hurt me a lot more than it hurt him. I understood if he was upset with me, maybe it would make it easier for us to walk away from each other.

He pursed his lips and glanced back at me. "Can I at least say goodbye?" he asked, holding his hand out to me. I forced a smile and took his hand. Haru gently pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms tightly around me. At first I was shocked, but accepted his embrace. His warm body pressed against mine and his long hair tickled the side of my face. "If there's any way I could change your—"

"Haru, don't, just…just please don't say anything" I said softly, feeling my eyes grow hot. I knew if he said anything else I would start crying. For a moment I felt safe again in his arms, but the wall between us might as well have reached the sky. I tucked my face in his shoulder and hugged him tighter as he did the same. This was the closest I ever felt to anyone. Someone who understood something about me even if it was just hidden bending. I raised my head to look up at him.

Haru looked at my face and his lips found mine. It was a gentle kiss. Both of his hands were on my back. I didn't pull away, knowing this was probably the last time I'll ever get a chance to kiss him. I ran a hand through his soft hair. I wanted to just stand there with him, but it was too good to last. He pulled away and pressed his forehead to mine.

"I hope we can still be friends" he said.

"That's actually all I want" I agreed. I blinked and felt a tear rolled out from the corner.

His hand entwined with mine and he led me back to the others. I was a little uncomfortable holding his hand after our conversation we just had. Aang, Katara, and Sokka were already waiting on Appa's back. Haru's parents watched as we came through the trees. He turned me around and I looked into his green eyes one more time. He stepped back to look at my face. "Goodbye" he said.

I nodded. "Goodbye Haru" I said and walked towards Appa. I ignored the Sokka, Katara, and Aang's looks as I climbed the bison's head. I gave him a smile and looked away as I felt tears form. I swore at myself. "Thank you again for your hospitality" I told all of them. "Yip yip!"

They waved goodbye and I looked away before the dam could break. I didn't want to leave. The other three didn't say a word to me and I was glad. Sad and angry tears slipped from my eyes as Appa soared through the clouds. I covered my face in my hands and silently cried. I hardly cried. I hated it. I hated everything. I truly liked Haru, but because of one secret it could never happen. I met someone who knew what it was like to hide their bending yet still love doing it. For once I actually knew how someone felt. I knew there was nothing I could've done to prevent it from happening, but to think it was all because of one man who did terrible things and became my father. He turned me into this. He made me who I was. What I was. I curled up on top of Appa's head and let the clinging tears roll over the bridge of my nose. I hated my father as much as he hated me. One secret I could never share and I felt more alone than ever. All because of him.

End of Chapter 7.

Poor Talia...

Please review and I'll get started on Winter Solstice: Spirit World!