A/N: Ah… I know. It's late and you guys have been waiting… well. I assume you've been waiting since I got ZERO reviews for last chapter. Jeez! Now I'm worried it sucked so bad no one wanted to say anything. Anyway – In here we will be enjoying some new characters and a surprise visit Jackie didn't think would ever happen in her wildest dreams.

Also, this is a different approach to a Fanfiction Academy. While the OFUATLA is much more direct in teaching I do so with the approach of doing so with a story. This is for those who enjoy this approach more than the direct one.

Last note, my thanks to my Beta-Reader, Jillie Rose for helping me with this chapter. Your aid is much appreciated.

And now…


The Avatar: TLA Fan-fiction Writer's Academy

By Midori Aoi

Chapter 8:

Dreams and Nightmares


The sound of rustling fabric was the first thing Jackie heard as she slipped out of fading dreams and into a moderate headache.

Touch came back next. Instead of rocks and rough stone, she lay on top of soft and warm sheets. I'm on a bed…

Her fingers stretched and clenched at the thick cotton blanket over her and she could feel a wide square of radiating warmth over her legs. It's day… that's daylight. Warm…

She breathed in deeply, the smell of laundry detergent and daisies whirled in her nose. Her blanket was fresh. Safe…

The sudden image of flesh like molten earth and fire slammed over her mind for a moment and Jackie's stomach twisted with sudden hysteria. Her eyes snapped open, finding a soft grey ceiling and bright yellow fluorescent (very modern) lights and an open window that flooded the room with warm sunlight. Swiftly pushing herself up, Jackie cast around urgently..

"Elise!" A startled Asian girl in Air Nomad clothing who had been coming through the door dropped the sheets she was carrying. Jackie stared, noting absently the purple streak in the jet-black hair.

"Where's Elise? Where's my friend?" But the world was spinning again, and she was falling...

The girl rushed to her side and pulled her upright. Woozy and thoroughly disoriented, Jackie swallowed deep gulps of air.

A cup of water was pushed into her hands, and Jackie swallowed gratefully, willing the world to stop swirling.

"You're in the infirmary." The girl said after a long moment of silence between them. Jackie's breaths came at a slower pace as she allowed herself to relax, the water had been sweet and refreshing and had helped her calm down. "Your friends are alright."

Jackie looked at her fully. She was pretty, athletic, and looked...rather how Jackie imagined Mulan would look like in real life. She was dressed in the very same style of clothes Aang wore in the first season and she carried an air of calm and serenity about her.

The girl gave her a warm smile. "I was told you would stare."

Jackie tore her gaze away, more irritated than humiliated and let out a grudging sigh.

"Sorry," Jackie apologized, looking down at her cup of water. It was a pale yellow ceramic mug with gentle curving orange swirls and Jackie let her eyes follow the design so she could avoid the girl's face as she giggled.

"There's nothing wrong with being attentive, it's a sign you pay close attention to detail. That will help out quite a lot during your time here."

Jackie allowed herself to look back at her with a sheepish half-smile before introducing herself, "I'm Jackie."

"I know," the girl grinned, "I've been your nurse since you came in last night. I'm Andrea, but please just call me Andi."

Not quite sure whether to offer a handshake or a bow, Jackie settled for nodding at her instead. Taking in another sip of the water, Jackie cleared her throat before allowing herself to look around. She was in a fairly large room that seemed a bit too homey for a clinical room. Her sheets were pale yellow and trimmed with orange, the headboard of her bed a bright Birchwood. The floor was lined in white tile, several rugs colored the area with the theme of the Air Nomads. The walls were a soft cream and pale sherbet orange and just several feet away from the bed was a low Birchwood table surrounded by orange throw pillows and cushions, a lovely jade tea set was placed immaculately over its center.

Jackie looked over and spotted a table with the pitcher of water and by its side was the door. Unlike the doors of the E.K dorms, this one was circular and wide and Jackie was thrilled to see the swirling symbol of the Air Nomads carved into the pale wood.

"It's a pretty nice room," Andi commented, clearly following her train of thought. Jackie smiled back before looking to the other side and looked out the window. They were on the first floor, and by the look of it, it was mid-morning.

"How long have I been here?" Jackie asked, absentmindedly as she studied the tall oak tree just a few meters away.

"Since last night," came the response and then silence. Jackie sighed and looked back at the girl; she had taken to sitting down on a chair Jackie hadn't noticed before.

"Andi…" Jackie paused before biting her lip, unsure how to explain how she felt. "What… what happened?"

The Airbender's brows furrowed gently before she gave a small sigh as well. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself. All I was told is that you needed immediate attention after leaving the Hallway of Endless Sentences. I have to say, I was concerned and rather baffled. We receive people who get sick all the time, especially after that particular tour. When you were brought in though, you seemed to have suffered a severe mental breakdown. Do you not… remember anything?" She tilted her head, adding the question with a bit of hesitation.

Jackie tightened her lips in a grim line before looking back down at the cup in her hands. It was quite cool and smooth in her hands and a quick clench of her eyes and she could remember rough stone and cold, muggy air and running…

"No," Jackie lied. "I don't remember anything…"

Andi gave her a sympathetic look before nodding silently, "I guess that's to be expected. I'll go get your guide. She should be here right about now."

Jackie perked at the mention of the girl with the whirligig and glanced at the circular door, "You mean Aoi?"

Andi nodded and reached over to give Jackie's arm a reassuring squeeze, "I'll be fairly quick. So, just sit tight. If you need anything just reach over the side of your bed and press the 'call' button and someone will get to you swiftly."

Jackie nodded numbly as she watched her turn and walk out. As expected the girl's footsteps were light and nearly soundless, when she reached the door she shot a stream of air from her hands into the Air Nomad insignia and the door slid open with a hollow whoosh. Jackie watched fascinated as she slid past the door and the door slid close.

She didn't have to wait long at all, because within minutes she could hear rushed footfalls outside her door and a familiar whoosh and the door slid open. Kim pushed through, her bare feet slapping over the tile and her wide brown eyes landing on Jackie with a mixture of relief and alarm.

"Jackie!" Kim exclaimed. She snatched Jackie's hands into her own and Jackie nearly jumped when the (thankfully empty) mug tilted and fell into her lap. The short, black haired woman was looking her face over with quick eyes and upon looking over Jackie's clothes, Kim's nose wrinkled. Jackie took that moment to realize she wasn't dressed in the Earth Kingdom clothes she had worn the day before, instead wearing a pale yellow yukata with an orange sash.

"You look positively like an Air Nomad," Kim said after a quick assessment over her appearance before blinding her with a grin. "How do you feel?"

Jackie smiled at the worried Guide and shook her head. "I'm fine, Kim."

"That's great to hear." Jackie looked up to see Aoi standing by the closing door. The whirligig was, as per usual, in its place behind her ear, the stem resting among long and very black locks of hair. Jackie noted she liked this darker hair tone on the Guide. Auburn is much too happy for her personality, Jackie thought whilst trying to hide a snide smirk.

"What happened?"

"That's what I'd like to ask you. You caused an unnecessary scare, Ortega." the Guide said, her voice betraying a rising irritation.

Jackie bit her lip, staying silent.

"Mae Ling told us you had left the group to go search for another student, correct?"

Whoa, is this an interrogation now?

"Elise," Jackie bit out. "I went to go search for Elise."

"That wasn't your responsibility," Aoi replied tersely and Jackie bristled.

"Oh, so whose responsibility was it? Yours?" Jackie snapped. "Because you definitely proved how useful you were when it really counted. If I hadn't gone to find Elise she could've been in even graver danger than she was when I found her. I'm just glad Wolfwood was there to keep her safe until I did."

Aoi's eyes narrowed and it was as if the temperature in the room had plummeted and as if to exaggerate the atmosphere the sunlight had dimmed. It was a cloud, Jackie had no doubt, but the effect was to make Aoi's icy stare all the more intimidating.

"Watch yourself, Jacqueline." Aoi said slowly, her voice coming out low and nearly inaudible but it hit Jackie with the power of a scream. Kim took a step between them, breaking the powerful hold of Aoi's glower from Jackie and despite how it made Jackie's insides squirm she refused to show it in her face, choosing to maintain a look of defiance.

"Aoi's right," Kim said, frowning at the bed-ridden girl with disapproval. "You shouldn't have left the group, Jackie. Despite your good intentions you did cause more harm than good. By taking off on your own without knowing the full depth of the situation you caused us with responsibility over you more stress and thus more trouble. What you should have done is inform me or Aoi of Elise's and Wolfwood's disappearance and we would've handled it accordingly. We have been trained to deal with these sorts of situations and despite the fact you're a natural bender, you are by no means qualified to run off on that kind of mission."

Jackie looked away, feeling somewhat abashed by Kim's admonition. "Furthermore," Kim continued, "You placed yourself in quite severe danger. You're lucky the CDM sent enough back-up to contain the situation as quickly as it did."

"CDM?" Jackie asked, curious.

"The Central Defense Mainframe," Kim replied and Jackie opened her mouth to ask what that was exactly before Aoi stepped around Kim to face her more directly.

"More than anything," the Guide interjected, her voice returning back to its complacent tone, "You were lucky it had been a level 6 Troll. Had it been any stronger you would've been sent back home in a split moment. Now," Aoi crossed her arms, "begin explaining everything that happened."

Jackie swallowed an annoyed grunt at Aoi's demand but obeyed nevertheless, choosing to start after the quake. The two women were attentive to Jackie's account, watching intently as she explained how she searched for Elise and frowning when she had encountered the issue of the wall appearing out of nowhere when Jackie, Elise and Wolfwood were fleeing from the Troll.

Choosing to filter some parts, like when Jackie demanded more information from Wolfwood or when he had hugged her as if she had died, Jackie explained as much as she could with as much detail as she could give. When she finished they stood in silence, taking in all her information with guarded expressions.

A bit put off by their silence, Jackie felt her hands fidget with the blanket over her. "Are you guys going to tell me your side of the story or not?" Jackie asked finally, biting her lip.

Aoi's eyes flashed toward her in annoyance but Kim merely nodded. After an exchange of looks between the two girls, (Aoi looking more against the idea than anything, but she relented with a nod after a raise of the eyebrows from Kim) the tan Guide looked at Jackie with a small smile.

"Not long after you left I did a headcount. You're lucky you weren't there to see Aoi's expression when we found out you were gone. Well, technically you wouldn't have been able to see that particular expression had it not been for your decision to deviate from the group anyway," Kim said tilting her head to the side as she considered her statement. Jackie couldn't help but think of the Tenth Doctor, and tried not to smile.

"Anyway, at that point we had managed to get in contact with the Central Defense Mainframe, thanks to Aoi's quick thinking with the Map Card and her totem – er, whirligig, and we received the information of the apparition of a Troll. At that point we were instructed to keep watch over the group until help arrived. It must have been another ten minutes at that point until Captain Zha Yu and half an army of Metalbenders plowed right through and managed to round up the group. After that we had to try to find a way to configure the defense systems so we could find you and help you escape whilst keeping the Troll locked inside. All I can tell you is that it was not easy by any means." Kim sighed dramatically, and wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead.

"You're exceedingly lucky we arrived when we did," Aoi said after a short pause, looking away with a scowl. "Had we been seconds later, you would have been thrown to your world and ended up with a smoothie for a brain." Jackie swallowed.

"Taking care of that Troll was no easy business," Kim added, leaning towards Jackie with an intense stare. "For one we had to make sure it's mind had completely released yours. You owe your life to Aoi, Jackie," she added with a more solemn glance to the other guide who stood by silently as if uncaring. "I don't think I've seen her fight a Troll quite so fiercely in my life."

"Wait, you fought that thing?" Jackie sputtered, looking at Aoi with both shock and awe.

"How?" Jackie pressed. Maybe she would actually tell her anything on how that situation went down. Aoi's expression was flat.

"Kim." Kim stopped talking. Jackie found herself unable to look away from the girl with the whirligig. What else is she capable of?

"Anyway," Kim coughed after another moment of awkward silence and Aoi shifted her weight. "We were able to take care of the Troll. When we had finished, Wolfwood had been holding on to you, scowling at anyone who tried to move you."

Jackie bit the inside of her cheek at the news, torn at the mention of Wolfwood. What was the deal with that boy? One minute he's threatening her and ramming a kiss on her mouth, the next he's protecting her? There's no way he's doing this out of his own agenda (EH? He HAS his own agenda, or he's working on someone else's? The sentence isn't clear), she thought with irritation, too frustrated to allow herself even a spark of gratitude towards the cryptic youth. I need to figure out his game.

"Once everything was taken care of," Kim continued, "We brought you here to ensure your mind suffered no ill-effect from that encounter."

"And Elise…?" Jackie pressed.

"Elise is right…" Aoi began before trailing off, the sound of several footsteps pounding the ground right outside the door overwhelmed her statement and the familiar whoosh pushed the door to slide over as the object of their conversation burst through the door. "Here," Aoi finished just as Elise caught sight of Jackie on the bed.

"Jackie!" Elise exclaimed, obviously relieved at seeing her friend awake. Jackie felt a relieved grin spread over her face as she took in Elise's appearance but her smile dropped upon seeing the girl's left hand wrapped from wrist to elbow in a white cast.

"Elise!" Jackie gasped, pushing the blankets off her legs before pulling herself up and only had a short moment to brace against the bed as the younger girl barreled into her arms. Mae Ling burst into the room behind her and ran to join the hugging girls. Relief melted over Jackie's features as the young girls tightened their embrace.

"What happened to your arm?" Jackie wheezed after a particularly tight squeeze from Elise.

"What happened to my arm?" Elise echoed, pulling away with a look of complete surprise and outrage. "Are you nuts? You nearly had your brain turned to soup and you worry about my arm?"

"El," Mae Ling hushed, pulling her away. "Sorry, Jackie, Elise hardly slept last night."

"How could I?" Elise breathed, exasperated. "It's not the kind of experience you deal with then have a happy nap after."

Jackie almost laughed but forced herself to study Elise firmly. Sure enough, upon closer inspection, Jackie noticed bags under the girl's eyes and her fidgety air.

"Elise…" Jackie said calmly, "What happened to your arm?"

The young girl gave her a weak smile at her question before sighing. "It was right after you passed out, when they were fighting the Troll. I kind of… tried to tackle it…?"

Jackie's eyes bulged nearly out of her sockets. "WHAT?"

Elise winced and when Jackie looked around she could see Aoi looking at the girl with similar disapproval, yet there was a hint of a smile playing at her lips. "You tried to tackle…!" Jackie trailed off, running a hand over her face as she sunk back into the bed.

"She was lucky she managed to scrape by with an injured arm." The voice was by no means a welcome sound.

Jackie snapped her gaze to the boy leaning by the circular door and tried to resist the urge to snarl. There he was, dressed in a dark green tunic and long sleeved black undershirt, looking as if nothing had happened since their stand off by the trees.

"You were supposed to keep her safe," Jackie hissed.

"You're welcome for keeping you safe." Wolfwood rolled his eyes, flipping his black bangs out of his eyes.

"I didn't ask you for help, Wolfwood." She snapped, rising to her feet. "She needed you to keep her out of harm's way and you just let her try to tackle a beast that could've killed her!"

"In his defense," Elise interjected, "I did kind of completely ignore Kim's commands of staying put and rushed over to help."

"It's true, though...reckless as it was, in a sense, Elise did help out."

Both Aoi and Jackie glared at Kim.

"Uh – I mean, uh, she shouldn't have gotten involved." Elise blushed at the comment but made no objection.

"But we do owe her some thanks," Kim continued despite Aoi's irritated stare. "Aoi had been thrown against the wall after the Troll lashed out and our other backup had become subject to the Troll's mind power - if it hadn't been for Elise, it wouldn't have gotten distracted enough for the rest of us to take over."

"Even so," Jackie growled through her teeth, "Elise was in danger and you just decided you couldn't keep your hands off me."

Wolfwood's stare hardened. "I was making sure your mind was safe, Jackie."

"He's not lying, Jackie." Elise said, looking back at Jackie with a light and confused frown. "Right when everyone showed up you started to shake and tremble because of the Troll's power over you. Wolfwood worked really hard to keep your brain from turning to scrambled egg. Why are you so against him?"

Jackie looked back at Elise with surprise before realizing she hadn't been there when Wolfwood had pushed himself on her, yet she couldn't help but feel some kind of betrayal that her friend was protecting her enemy.

"He's a complete scumbag, Elise!" Jackie exclaimed in disbelief, certain that she would at least believe her even if Jackie decided to keep that little encounter to herself.

"He cannot be trusted," she turned back to fix Wolfwood with another bone-chilling glower, "And I don't care if he helped me. He put you in danger and I cannot forgive that." Not to mention the other things, Jackie thought nastily, but kept that to herself.

"Uh, hello," Elise stepped forward, frustrated. "He kept me safe! If it wasn't for him I would've been lost in the Hallway without light or food and he even made sure to keep you safe! What is your deal?"

"I admit he did a small part in keeping you safe," Jackie said, shaking her head, "But he should've taken better care of you instead of letting you run head first into a creature that could've killed you!"

"I was just fine! If anyone needed the help it was you!" Elise exclaimed, "You were nearly completely possessed and he made sure you made it out alive. If anything you owe him a thank you."

"I should thank him? You don't even know what he's done!"

"I know he kept us alive! If it wasn't for Wolfwood we would've both been completely overrun by the Troll. You're acting like a little child!" Elise argued, stepping between them, and that hurt more than Jackie could've been prepared for.

"How can you take his side?" Jackie gasped, Elise's comment feeling like a slap to the face. "Can't you see what he's been doing? He's nothing but trouble, El, and completely drowning in secrets! He can't be trusted! You have to believe me!"

"Ugh!" Elise snarled, before turning on her heel. "Fine, if you want to continue to act like this then do it. I don't want to deal with this anymore. I'm going to class now, I'll see you around," and with that Jackie watched as Elise stormed out of the room, brushing past Wolfwood with a small apologetic glance at him.

"Elise," Mae Ling called, following the girl with a surprised frown, throwing Jackie a torn glance before running around Wolfwood to catch up with the angry freedom fighter.

"Elise!" Jackie exclaimed, struggling to keep the hurt from her voice as the two girls disappeared from the room in a flurry of rushed footsteps. Turning on Wolfwood, Jackie took a step forward, furious.

"Look what you did," She growled acidly before attempting to push past him to run after her friend but no sooner did she take a few steps did Jackie feel the floor sway under her and she was suddenly tilting dangerously far to the side. She let out a choked gasp as she fell and was immediately caught by two powerful hands and pressed against a familiar chest that made Jackie's stomach writhe with disgust and loathing.

"Don't… touch me!" Jackie attempted to shrug Wolfwood off her before Aoi stepped in and helped her up.

"You need to rest, Jackie." Kim's voice was in her ear and Jackie was led back to her bed, tears stinging at her eyes.

"Get him out of my room." Jackie said quietly, body trembling with fury and emotional turmoil.

"With pleasure," Aoi replied and Jackie could hear several more sets of steps before another whoosh met her ears and the door was closed, leaving Jackie alone in her room to weep bitterly into her pillow.


It was late afternoon by the time Jackie came to. The sunlight that had once warmed her bed had heated the room to almost an unbearable degree and she found herself sweating in her yellow and orange clothes.

Groggy and surprisingly sore, Jackie lifted herself up from the bed to glance around the room for any sign of life.

She was alone.

Heaving a shuddering sigh, Jackie rubbed the grit from her eyes and forced herself off the bed. The cool tile was a welcome feeling on her bare feet and she walked around the bed to open a window. In a moment she caught her reflection on the glass and she grimaced. Her hair was a disaster.

She knew there was a mirror just several feet behind her but she was in no mood to feel any worse than she already did.

Outside, people dressed in Air Nomad clothes walked here and there, mingling with the occasional Earth Kingdom student. The shockingly large oak tree's branches swayed gently with a breeze. Jackie watched the movement longingly.

Lifting a hand, wincing as her skin felt too tight over her fingers, Jackie made to locate some kind of flip, or a switch, any kind of locking mechanism to let in the air. Running her fingers around the glass and window pane, Jackie let out a grunt of annoyance upon seeing nothing that could help her and tried to push at the glass.

When pressing her shoulder against the glass did nothing but earn her a bruise, Jackie bit her lip and pulled away. As she glanced at the reflection on the glass she saw another face just a little ways behind her. Jackie screamed and whirled around.

"Sorry, sorry!" Her visitor exclaimed, and Jackie felt the blood rush to her face as her jaw went slack.

There, sitting cross-legged just three feet away was the young Air Nomadic Avatar that had captured her imagination since she had graduated middle school. He was grinning at her, rubbing at the back of his bald head, sheepishly.

"I didn't mean to startle you," He said letting his hand slide behind his head and resting at his shoulder.

Jackie couldn't move, staring wide-eyed at the twelve year old fictional character with something akin to a dreamlike trance. He was dressed in the same clothes he had donned in the third season; orange wrap tied over one shoulder, trousers and boots. It was so surreal, and Jackie couldn't believe it.

This is a dream… I'm dreaming. Jackie thought and would later pat herself in the back for being able to carry on a coherent thought in front of this clearly impossible person.

He looked to sport a real body of flesh and blood and he had talked to her just now. He had talked to her…

"Oh!" Jackie snapped out of her scattered train of thoughts and pulled herself into an awkward movement of stretching out a hand to shake then twisting to an attempted formal bow to a horrid attempt to a casual lean on the wall.

"I…uh…um…" She stammered, realizing her cheeks were flushing scarlet as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

"Take your time," He said with a wide smile.

"Oh…my…good giddy aunt," Jackie breathed before shaking her head vehemently. When that didn't seem to snap her out completely Jackie lifted a hand and properly slapped herself in front of the young Avatar.

He only flinched at her conduct but did not appear surprised – no doubt having seen such things done when he introduced himself.

"You're Aang!" Jackie finally exclaimed.

"Yep, that's me! I'm the Avatar." He waved, beaming.

"Oh…" She drifted, staring at him yet again and he cocked his head to the side. Jackie nearly jumped and placed a hand to her chest, more as a way to calm herself than to motion to her own up-coming introduction. "I'm Jackie. Jackie Ortega."

"Nice to meet you, Jackie," Aang said, his smile spreading widely. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"Well," Jackie tried to chuckle but it only came out as a nearly hysterical giggle. "It wasn't… as if…I wasn't… I didn't expect to have you… you know…"

"Pay a visit?" He finished for her and Jackie nodded dumbly. He laughed then, "Well, I don't normally pay visits. I'm usually pretty busy. Plus, I have to steer clear from the fan girls, but I've got it on good authority you're not the rabid kind."

"Oh, I'm not. Definitely not… I mean, I am a fan. Huge fan, really…" Jackie tried to remember to breathe, and wished she could sit down. But the chairs were on the other side of her bed and she didn't want to invade any personal space – for all she knew if she stood too close she'd get zapped home.

"I got news about you facing a Troll." He said, his voice taking a more sympathetic tone. "I'm sorry for that."

"Ah well, I'm alright," Jackie shrugged, scratching an arm, "Everything's all… you know…" The memories of the previous night and her and Elise's fight sobered her to nearly a depressing point and she finished with a lame, "…peachy."

"It's not the kind of thing most people bounce back from easily," He said, leaning forward. "So, I felt it was my duty, not just as the Avatar but as a friend, to come make sure you were doing alright."

"You think… I'm a… friend?" Jackie squeaked, her cheeks burning and her head felt incredibly light.

Aang nodded brightly, "Of course! Everyone that comes to this school is a friend. We're all students and that is enough to bring forth a good sense of camaraderie! That is," He faltered a bit, eyeing her uncomfortably, "Unless you've got… other ideas…"

"No, no!" Jackie exploded before plastering a hand to her mouth. "Uh… I…I'd love to be your friend, Avatar Aang."

"You can just call me Aang." He smiled again and got off the bed with a quick display of Airbending. Jackie felt the breeze tickle her hair around her cheeks and she stared, dumbfounded, as he gave her a quick bow.

"I'll just leave you to rest up a bit more," He said. "But first…" then he lifted a hand and with a quick twist of his wrist he bent a little whirlwind toward the window Jackie had been struggling to open. Once the concentrated blast of wind struck, Jackie heard several clicks on the windowpane before the window slid outwards and upwards to let in more air.

Jackie watched, fascinated, as the window locked itself into position and a cool breeze surrounded her. She turned to thank the young Avatar, Jackie but the young man had disappeared and the door was already sliding closed.

"Thanks…"

It was at that moment she glanced at the vanity just by the door and let out a horrified wail at the sight of her reflection.


"And he disappeared, just like that?" Maki gushed as she lay belly down on Jackie's bed.

"I didn't have a chance to say thanks," Jackie glanced at the blonde behind her through the mirror, and tugged on a knot with her hairbrush. She still hadn't been allowed to leave the infirmary as she still suffered from sudden bouts of dizziness and powerful headaches.

Her roommate Maki had arrived not fifteen minutes after Andi had left with Jackie's verdict and sat by as Jackie explained what had happened from the moment they took off into the final tour to Aang's surprise visit. Of course, Jackie left out certain bits in the story.

"Well, they're like that, you know." Maki sighed, reaching down to nab a rice cake from a plate Jackie had received for dinner, "the main characters."

"They pop in on random students to see how they're doing?" Jackie supplied after catching yet another terrible tangle from her long hair.

"More or less," Maki giggled. Jackie sighed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Maki had brought with her a bag with brushes, some snacks and some other hair accessories – some more ridiculous than others – and Jackie nearly hugged her out of sheer appreciation. Sure enough she had tackled the nightmare that was her mane and transformed the gruesome spider web into something presentable.

After a shower, Jackie had been given a new set of clothes that still matched the theme of the Air nomads.

"You'd think they want me to transfer or something," Jackie had joked upon seeing her new clothes. Maki had only grinned.

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Jackie asked, turning to face her roommate. Maki's baby blues blinked at her blankly before she glanced up thoughtfully.

"I'm no expert," Maki began before rolling on her back, licking the sweetness of the cake off her fingers, "but I'm sure it won't be long. No doubt they're still investigating the situation, and considering you were directly attacked they probably want to keep you somewhere as far from the Hallway as possible for now."

Jackie pursed her lips in thought. She didn't really pay much attention to the map of the campus she had been given, focusing most of her attention on the sights around her than directions. Maki's statement made sense and from that Jackie quickly assessed that the Air dorms were probably on the other side of the campus to the Hallway.

The memories of the dark place came unbidden and unwanted. Jackie closed her eyes calmly to try to keep from heaving. Her head felt too light and she clenched her fists as she inhaled deeply.

"Are you alright?" Maki asked.

Jackie exhaled before turning to give Maki a bright, albeit forced, smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."


"I'm not ready." Jackie said her voice low and empty. Kim and Aoi stood over her as Jackie looked away from them, focusing her gaze on the oak tree and the fire flies that floated around it as darkness fell over the sky.

"We need you to give a statement, Jackie." Kim urged gently. "You were the only one that had been attacked by the Troll, and so you're our only witness in this investigation."

Jackie remained silent, fidgeting uneasily under her covers. No sooner did Maki leave her did Jackie nearly collapse from the weight of a sudden migraine. Had Andi not shown up and helped her to the bed before calling for some help, Jackie would've passed out on the floor. Her head felt hollow and her stomach felt swollen and she blamed that on the pills they administered to kill her migraine.

It hadn't been thirty minutes until Aoi and Kim arrived and asked if she was strong enough to go with them to see Headmistress Baikei so she could review what had happened.

"Jackie," Aoi spoke, voice soft. "Would you be alright with allowing a waterbender to help you with those memories?"

Jackie frowned and looked at the black-haired guide, quizzically. Kim flashed her a grin. "Remember in the episode of Lake Laogai when Katara helped Jet with regaining his memories of the Dai Li?"

Jackie nodded, "Yeah, but I already remember everything. What good will that do?"

"What you remember is only a small fraction of what truly happened," Aoi explained. "What you can recall is only what your consciousness can pull out from experience and that isn't enough. Your subconscious, on the other hand, stores far more information than your consciousness can register and that is where we can find the information we're looking for."

Jackie looked down at the palms of her hands. "…Will it," Jackie began before hesitating with a grimace, her heart clenching. "Will it hurt?"

"No," Kim said kindly, "If anything it'll feel really nice."

Memories of the Troll flashed through her mind, its effect on her mind causing nearly another painful throb to take hold over her head and Jackie struggled to keep her breath even. Someone had created that Troll… someone's idea of a joke was to create a beast so terrifying it could've killed her and that much angered her.

"When would we be doing this?" Jackie asked, clenching her eyelids to ward off the oncoming headache.

"The sooner we can get everything prepared is for noon the day after tomorrow." Aoi answered. Jackie nodded silently, and sighed.

None of this mess would've happened if it wasn't for that stupid Troll. Jackie thought viciously. Elise would still be my friend and Wolfwood wouldn't have manipulated her like he did. Whoever made this happen is to blame…

Jackie clenched her jaw tightly before looking back at the expectant women and with a stout nod, Jackie said, "I'll do it."

"Good," Aoi affirmed and Kim smiled at her. "Now get some rest, tomorrow you should be good to get really started here." Jackie didn't bother asking what she meant, and as the girls exited her room, Jackie let herself plop backwards on her pillow and stare at the swirling shadows on the ceiling until her eyes slid shut and she drifted into a dreamless sleep.


Papers were rustling, brushing against each other and sliding over a smooth surface and Jackie stirred from her sleep at the sound. Among some of Jackie's favorite noises, like the purring of cats and car engines, or the sound of water sloshing against the inside of a clay pot, the sound of rustling papers was possibly one of the only sounds that reminded her of her dad.

Being little and her father being a lieutenant general in the marines, whenever he would come home to stay with Jackie and her mother he usually stayed up late nights working on last minute paperwork about who knows what. Jackie would go to his study and curl on the leather couch and just listen to him scratch pen tips to the surface of papers and close her eyes as he stacked them together, straightened them and then let them fall on the side of his desk. Those minutes of silence held the most precious moments Jackie ever had with her father and the memory was so vivid it momentarily flooded her closed eyes with tears.

In the warm room, her tears burned trails down her temples and curved through her ears and she focused on the peculiarity of the feeling to keep her from succumbing to such profound homesickness. A few minutes passed and when Jackie was certain there would be no more tears did she realize that papers don't rustle by themselves and there had been no paper anywhere yesterday.

Cracking a moist eye open, Jackie shifting on her back to look around and sitting by the table was a man dressed in Air Nomad clothing, much like how Aang had looked when he paid her the surprise visit.

Jackie nearly felt her heart stop upon seeing the shockingly familiar curve of his back and before she could help herself, she croaked out a breathy, "Dad…?"

"I'm not your dad, kid." The man replied and Jackie felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment. If not by his declaration it was the pitch of his voice that made it clear he was definitely not her father. Jackie's dad had a light baritone voice - almost like water. This man's voice was lower, gruffer and reminded her more of the earth by comparison.

"Oh…" Jackie sighed and she sat up, throwing a quick glance in the mirror to see if she looked better than she felt.

"You seem to be gathering quite a bit of attention since you got here," her guest continued. Jackie narrowed her eyes at him, confused as well as inquiring.

He suddenly let out a snorting sigh, if that was possible, before rising from where he sat to turn to her.

He was muscular but wiry, with messy brown hair, a short beard, olive skin and brown eyes. He was definitely handsome and by the way he stood, Jackie could guess he was a few years shy of thirty. How she confused him to be her father, Jackie couldn't say. Her dad had the body of an experienced swimmer; this guy looked much more like a dancer than anything.

"First your impressive discovery of your earth bending and now facing a Troll and coming out alive," he continued, placing the papers on the table.

"I have to say… not super bad potential as a writer, either." He added before turning back to look at her and crossed his firm arms. Jackie swallowed a bit nervously as she tried to refrain from staring at his arms for longer than necessary.

"Thanks…" Jackie finally said uncertainly. He smirked at her before straightening and heading towards her open window.

"So… any guesses as to who I could be, kid?"

"My… doctor?" She asked, absentminded trying to keep her focus on anywhere but his bare skin. He let out a sudden bark of laughter that nearly made her jump.

"Not even close. I don't think I'd ever qualify as a doctor, anyway." Jackie slid out of her bed, suddenly very uncomfortable being in a bed while he stood just a few feet away.

"Well…" Jackie began as she walked a bit closer to the table, just to see what the papers were about.

"Those papers won't surprise you too much," He said lightly, still gazing out the window. Jackie frowned at his comment and looked back at the stack. After running her eyes over the first few lines, Jackie didn't realize how her eyes began to widen in near horror when she recognized each line and could even tell where the rest of the papers concluded.

"That's…!" Jackie choked before snatching at a page and looked it over several times in shock.

"How did you…?" She exclaimed again, this time looking at the man for answers. He had his head ducked and judging by the rhythmic shake of his shoulders Jackie quickly deduced he was struggling to contain his laughter.

"I'll be honest. It was quite the entertaining read." He said, stifling a laugh in vain.

Jackie slapped the page back on the pile and nearly stormed towards the door in sheer humiliation. He finally let out a bright chuckle before the sound of bed springs squeaking met her burning ears.

"Oh come on, it wasn't a complete terror." he said amicably and Jackie nearly let out an outraged gasp before she whirled on him. Her spit nearly got lodged in her throat to see him lying on her bed, the sunlight cascading over his body, shadows hugging the edges of his arms…

"Get out." Jackie demanded, throwing a finger at the circular door. Had she been able to airbend or even help the door budge she would've slammed it open just to be rid of… whoever he was.

"Whoa, whoa, testy," He whistled before hoisting himself up on his elbows. "You don't do so well with compliments."

"That was a compliment?" Jackie snapped, crossing her arms. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Alright, I admit, that wasn't the nicest thing in the world…"

"Something of an understatement there," Jackie interjected, fuming. The man gave her a pointed stare before rising to a sit-up position, his arms wrapping around his legs. "Oi, get your feet off my bed!" Jackie growled. He ignored her.

"But if there's one thing I promise I'll be is honest." He continued, folding his legs and leaning towards her. "I'll make sure everything works out between us splendidly."

Jackie glared at him. "Look at you talking as if we're going to be pals. Who are you anyway?"

He raised an eyebrow at her before grinning, "I'll give you a hint. I'll be charged with helping you with your atrocious writing."

"Oh, now it's atrocious?" Jackie nearly shrieked before doing a double take. "Wait, charged...?"

"Uh-huh!" He replied cheerfully before a blast of wind hoisted him from the bed and on his feet.

"You don't mean…" Jackie paled, as she finally put two and two together.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Jacqueline Ortega, also known as Jackie," He then gave a gracious, if a bit dramatic, bow. "The name is Ianto Hunter and I will be your assigned teacher for the next few weeks!"

A thin moment of silence met Jackie as she stared at Ianto with jaw wide open and eyes bulging.

When she awoke three hours later she would be kicking herself for passing out. Especially when all he did was look at her, grin and wink.


A/N: I know I promised to start classes in this chapter but if I kept going I would never finish this chapter. So starting now I will be uploading much faster, however chapters will be shorter.

Now we've got some tension and Jackie finally has a teacher! As she begins her classes, the investigation continues on who conjured up the Troll and while Jackie tries to reconcile with Elise, Wolfwood has suddenly disappeared from her life and Jackie struggles to decide whether to tell Elise the truth of what transpired between her and the enigmatic boy. Meanwhile, Aoi, after a sudden confrontation from Baikei begins to question what Wolfwood meant and if there is anything truly to be searched out.

See you next time!

EDIT: I am no longer accepting Characters at this point. If I were to need them in the future I will let you know. Until then, I AM ONLY ASKING FOR REVIEWS FROM YOU GUYS. You guys have no idea how sad it is to post something you slaved over only to receive zero critiques and/or reactions at all. Honestly. Anyway! Thanks for those of you who are still following this story! Next chapter will be out early June!

Let it ROCK!