AN: Thank you for your patience these past two weeks have been long and busy. I've been visiting with my family and, unfortunately, left my notebook and flash drive at home with no way to get it back, so I had nothing to go off of and now I have to wait longer to post because the internet is being stupid. GAHHH. Anyway… It's so relaxing and fun where I am and I hope you are having a wonderful summer wherever it may be! So Chapter 9 everyone, man it feels good to be writing again!

PS- I think I'm going to start recapping so we don't forget where we left off – well, mainly because I have a bad tendency to be extremely late with updates and I profusely apologize for that;

Previously On Avatar:

Aang, Katara, Toph, Joy, Hui-Ying, and a few of the Kyoshi warriors were on a mission to find Momo; Joy attempted to tell her secret to Aang but chickened out. And Katara finally spoke. The Order had another meeting and Azula decided to scare them and send them a letter, but Iroh has a trick up his sleeve. Yori was on her way to the South Pole and had a vivid vision, she then meets Sokka where she gives him some disturbing news… now…

I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 9: Momo's New and Old Families

Mei and Zhong were snoring, with Momo in Zhong's lap. The boat was softly rocking back and forth. Mei's head fell and rested on Zhong's shoulder, his head rested on hers. After a while the door slammed open and Piao walked in franticly looking around. He laid his eyes on the two and snorted. Mei jerked awake, and, in consequence, so did Zhong.

"Get up!" Piao hissed, "The captain is looking for you!"

"What?" Mei gulped, "Oh lord! I'm going to get in so much trouble." She shook her head and, hopping on one foot, tried to get her shoe on. She fell into Zhong's arms, "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I'm leaving."

"No, you're coming with us." Zhong stated, grabbing her by the arms.

"Come again?" Piao said, wringing his hands.

"We're leaving." Zhong said, "Now. Let's go." Mei looked at him in awe, Piao mirrored her.

"MEI." Came the captains' voice, "Idiot girl… You get out here if you know what's good for you!" Mei cringed at his words and made her way towards the door handle, her hand was outstretched, reaching, and slightly shaking. Zhong grabbed her hand and put a finger to his lips. They backed away from the door, two shadows went by quickly, the other came with a loud clanking noise, the shadow lingered near the door but continued on. The three friends held their breath, Mei had her arms around Zhongs' waist and her head in his chest, and tears were beginning to form. He was holding her tightly. Piao was holding the lemur still, trying to prevent him from making any sort of noise. When the shadows and clanking all finally disappeared they exhaled in relief.

"Let's get moving." Zhong said with determination. "Piao, you take the lemur, sneak him out to this area of the ship," Zhong handed him a map and pointed to where he meant, "Mei and I will pack only what we need, we're about a day's trip from the South Pole, maybe a little longer. But we can rest there."

Piao interrupted him, "Now wait, I have no problem leaving, the captain is a sick, twisted, and abusive man. But bringing the lemur? We carried it from the South Pole to here, and now you just want to bring it back?" He shook his head, "Doesn't make much sense to me. The thing is too much of a burden."

"Well I'm not leaving it here! You said it yourself; the captain is a sick man." Piao groaned but started gathering his possessions – which wasn't a lot – and hid the lemur. Mei started packing what they would need for the journey. Piao snuck out the door, making sure to only step on his toes.

"What if we get caught?" Mei whispered, as she was closing a bag.

"The whole ship wants to see that you're safely away from that man, as long as your uncle doesn't find us, I think we will be okay. Do you need me to carry that for you?" His hand was outstretched, but she gave him a disapproving look. Even though she was helpless when it came to her uncle, she really was a strong woman. Her uncle had just pushed so much fear into her life; she was reluctant to show who she was, which was a persevered, hot-headed, and skilled martial artist, and extremely intelligent. Piao poked his head back in the door. He nodded for them to follow and they crept out of the room. It was morning, but still dark enough for the trio to be able to sneak on a boat and row away. As they were tip-toeing down a hallway, a door creaked behind them; there was a sharp inhale from the group, but the door was closed and remained so; they walked to the door at the end of the hall Piao and slowly opened it, trying to prevent loud noises. They cringed when it made a loud EEK noise, but no one came to check. Mei, more confident then before did some what of a dance as she made her way to the edge of the ship. She was careful to make no sound. Zhong stared at her and Piao had to push him for Zhong to come back and pay attention to the situation. He motioned for Zhong to continue on; he nodded at Piao and gently placed his foot over the threshold. Voices came from behind them, the men froze. They could see Mei on the other side, her jaw had dropped but she clenched it and jumped to hide in the boat. The foot steps were getting closer behind Zhong and Piao.

"When I get my hands on that girl, she is going to wish she had died with her parents." The captain was coming closer. Zhong looked at Piao, absolutely terrified, he formed a word with his mouth, 'Run'. The men took off in a sprint, trying to make the least noise possible, however their attempts were futile, "What was that?" the captain said.

"I'm not sure sir, but it sounded like it came from out there."

"Move!" The captain yelled. Zhong and Piao had reached the boat. They both scrambled in the boat with Mei pulling on their shirts. There were under a top when they heard the footsteps stop.

"Which way did they go?" the captain growled. The group was holding their breath, not daring to look out, in fear of being caught. It then began to rain, "Damn, go this way, that wimp of a girl wouldn't be able to stay out in the rain." Mei glowered at the floor at the statement. They sat still until they were sure the footsteps had disappeared. They took the cover down and lowered the boat, thankful for the mist that was forming. Mei was still glowered at the floor as Piao slowly rowed the boat away from the ship. They were sitting in the rain for hours; an awkward silence had filled their morning and was sneaking into the afternoon. They had no food and Piao was beginning to get grouchy. Zhong had confronted him after he had brutally insulted Mei. That had been the only talking until Zhong had pointed out that they were passing more and more icebergs. Mei never spoke, and never moved, she just stared at her feet. The rain had stopped but the clouds decided to linger. The wind picked up and it had become quite chilly. Zhong, noticing Mei slightly shivering, had attempted to give her his jacket, he was again, awarded with an annoyed look, she didn't want or need his help, and she didn't care for the offer. He awkwardly brought his hands back and stared at them for a while. After Piao got tired of rowing he and Zhong switched. The trio had forgotten that Momo was with them until the lemur was going crazy whining trying to fly towards land. Piao had to grab him and hold the flying lemur in his lap.

"Looks like he knows where he is." Piao finally spoke.

Zhong nodded, "Yeah, looks like it."

"I need to talk to you," Mei looked at Zhong, "Umm… later." She put her head back down and continued to look at her feet.

"Uh… okay." Zhong said. Piao chuckled, and look off into the distance when Zhong glared at him.

"Doesn't look far now, maybe a few minutes," Piao said, "Hey, look over there, in the sky." Zhong looked to where Piao was pointing. A giant flying bison was soaring along the horizon, he gazed over to where the bison had come from; smoke was coming from behind some cliffs.

"Let's head in that direction," Zhong said, pointing at the plume of smoke, "We'd never catch up with the bison. Maybe they can help us, give us a place to stay." Piao shook his head.

"No, look, there flying down, we should follow them," Zhong shrugged at the statement then agreed. The boat began turning heading for where the bison had landed. The sun was beginning to set and it was bringing a soft orange glow to the sky that made the ice sparkle. The clouds lit up with reds and purples and Mei stared up at the clouds, deep in thought. Zhong watched her; her hair ruffled in the wind and her eyes glistened. Her cheeks had a soft pink to them, and her lips were a rosy red. But that might have been because of the cold. She had mentioned that her lips went a deep red when she got cold; and Zhong loved it. Her whole body shivered and when Zhong just watched her Piao rolled his eyes and gave her his jacket. She tried to reject the offer but he wasn't having it, she eventually gave in, smiled and thanked him. Her eyes then darted to a spot on land and Zhong looked to where she pointed. They ran into an iceberg.

"Monkey-feathers!" Zhong yelled. He pushed off the ice with an oar begging the spirits they hadn't ruined their boat. Piao bent over the side and yelled, "We're good!" Then gave Zhong a thumbs-up. Zhong sighed and helped him back in the boat.

"Maybe I better row," Mei giggled, after being silent for a number of hours, "You two seem, well, tired and stupid."

"Stupid?" Piao said placing his hand on his chest, "I'm hurt!" He laughed.

She giggled again and took the oars from Zhong, "Thank you." He nodded. He closed his eyes and rested his arms on his stomach; it wasn't long before he was snoring softly. Mei watched him with a smile on her face. And Piao watched her.

"Mei," he said.

"Hmm…?"

"What exactly happened to your parents?" He tilted his head to the side and she exhaled loudly. She pushed out her cheeks and stopped rowing, staring at the sky.

"I was six years old… The sky was an ominous black and there were people running in all directions, Mei, holding her stuffed platypus-bear was crying, trying to find her parents. She was hit and fell to the ground, someone had kicked her in the stomach, and oh did it hurt. Her crying became louder and she was screaming for her mother and father. A man came and picked her up before another herd of people ran at her. She hadn't realized who picked her up until she looked at his face, her grandfather was holding her and was running towards their house, where she saw her older brother standing in the door way. He was motioning her grandfather inside, the boy's eyes darted in every direction; he was both terrified and determined. When they reached the door it was slammed shut behind them, scrapping her grandfathers' heels. Mei was still crying, frantically looking everywhere for her parents. Her mother came around a corner and Mei almost managed to jump out of her grandfathers hands before he caught her.

"Mama," she yelled.

"Darling," her mother said, reaching for her small child. Her mother was a short woman; she had dark hair and hazel eyes. She had a soft loving smile and a twinkle in her eyes. Even in fear and sadness, Mei felt protected and loved. But, Mei began crying again, her mother tried to comfort her; she took her into a corner just before the door flung open and three men charged inside. Mei was shoved behind her mother into a corner. She was still weeping but her mother was fierce and silenced her. No one noticed them in the background.

"Where is it?" One of the men asked. He was short and he too had dark hair and hazel eyes, just like Mei's mother.

"Where is what?" The grandfather retorted calmly.

"It." The man simply said. Mei's mother came out from behind her father, and walked strait up to the man, with a look of deepest loathing on her face.

"Leave." Mei's mother said. She pointed towards the door.

"Not until I have what I want."

"What do you want?" The brother snarled. The man slapped him across the face, the family flinched and Mei glared at the man who could not see her.

"Shut up," he snarled back, "The map and information, Jia, give it to me." He was looking at the mother. She was helping her child up. The boy had tears in his eyes and a red mark across his cheek, he sniffed and wobbled a little before he was able to stand without his mother's help.

"You may be my brother and twin by blood Jie, but you are not family. You are an evil man, leave this house."

Jie laughed, "I think not." Before Jia could get herself away from her she was struck. A mixture of lightning and fire had hit her in the throat and chest. Two large gashes had formed and blood had spattered her child, a boy of eleven was holding his mothers' spazzing body that suddenly went limp. He burst into tears and Mei, still behind the wall, wasn't able to move, she wasn't able to cry, she couldn't even breathe. The world spun and she wished she was dead but the world wouldn't let her die, it wouldn't let her go with her mother, the universe was against her, a six year old. It was then that a tall man with jet black hair and green eyes came running into the room and stared in awe at what lay in front of him.

"Dad," The boy managed.

"Qing," The uncle glared.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Qing sat down beside his wife, stroking her hair, his tears hit her chest. "What did you do?" Qing demanded.

"Tell me what I want to know." Jie said. Qing shook his head and stood up, tears still flowing down his face.

"You're a cold and heartless killer! How could you do that to your own sister? Your twin?"

"Information," Jie said bluntly.

Qing shook his head, the Jie began forming his lightening, "All right! All right, I'll give you the information you need." Jie nodded, a smirk danced across his lips but quickly faded. The grandfather was rocking back and forth in a corner, trying hard not to believe what he had just witnessed. His grandson tried to comfort him but to no avail, "Here they are," Qing said, "The maps and reports," He handed Jie several scrolls, "Now please leave."

"No."

"What?" Qing said in disbelief

"No," Before Qing could demand an answer Jie had the deadly mixture of fire and lightening formed and struck down the father and son. His father looked at him in disbelief, "I won't kill you." Jie said simply to the only person he had any sympathy for.

"No," His father took to his feet, struggling to keep his balance. In just the past few minutes he looked liked he had aged twenty years, his face was screaming sadness and disappointment. He looked at the boy he raised and said, "Kill me, but watch your niece." Jie nodded, throughout the years he only cared about his father, the man who had been most important in his life. He didn't care about his sister, nephew, niece, and brother-in-law, they were disposable. But, believing he was a fair man, would do what his father said; but it didn't mean he would care about her. Mei watched as her grandfather as he fell to the ground, then the screaming started; she rushed out from her corner and fell on her grandfathers' torso. Sobbing in his chest, and soaking his shirt. Someone pulled her off of him, but it wasn't her uncle, it was a boy, not eight years older then her, who had tears in his eyes. She noticed it was uncomfortable to be carried out, the boy had ropes around his hands, and was being towed by an older man, not paying either of them any attention. As Mei was crying and struggling to get free the boy soothed her, trying to make her feel better. When he felt no one could hear him he said his name was Gao, and that Jie, too, had killed his parents and had taken him. He said they were going to a ship and that he could help her leave; if she wanted his help. She ignored him, and continued to struggle. He tried to quiet her but it wasn't long before the man holding on to the rope said, "Silence your self child, or I shall silence you myself." Mei gulped and held her tears and the lump in her throat. Gao had more tears in his eyes. Mei looked curiously at the boy, wondering what was making him cry. His parents hadn't just been killed. What was he worried about? Throughout the night she had been cleaning everything her uncle pointed too. He gave her several hours for sleep, but she had cried the whole time. Each second was replaying in her head, and it did for another 13 years.

"That's what happened." She whispered when she was finished. She hung her head and began to shake, tears were falling into her lap, and she started to hyperventilate. Zhong rushed to her side before Piao could even move. He had her in his lap and tears were cascading down his face. Piao quickly realized Zhong had heard the entire story, and it had killed him to listen to it, and to see her in the pain she was in telling the story. Piao had wanted to interrupt her throughout the entire story, and just stop her, but his curiosity was too strong. He took the oars and started rowing towards the bison as fast as he could, he knew they would need shelter… and soon.

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The Gaang had just landed and set up camp for the night. They weren't quite ready for bed, and the sun hadn't totally set. Katara had warmed up to Aang and she was leaning on him, but she wasn't trying to remain in the conversation, and no one was pushing her. Toph was the highlight of the night. She was always cracking a joke; she had the group in tears and their nails clawing at their stomachs. The air was chilly and Appa yawned so loud a bird screeched and flew as fast as it could away from the large beast. Aang kept the fire going and Katara kept the ice from melting around the fire. Joy had fallen asleep in the saddle Aang had taken off Appa's back, no one had bothered her. Katara had dozed off after moving away from Aang. When she was unconscious Aang had put a blanket on her. Toph looked over at the couple with sadness, Katara had been pulling away from everyone and her warming up to Aang was hardly a milestone, she loved him, she couldn't stay mad at him forever, but she didn't think they would be a couple much longer. Aang curled up next to a sleeping Appa and attempted to go to sleep, but before he could drift off into the sleep he so craved, someone was yelling.

"What was that?" Toph said, moving her head from side to side.

"I don't know." Aang answered, he airbended himself up onto a small column of ice. He squinted his eyes at the boat that was coming, "Is that; is that Momo?"

"Momo?" Katara said, finally waking up, "Where is he?"

"On that boat I think!" Aang yelled back, in a strained voice, he was leaning over as far as he could to try and get a better view, "I'm going to go see who they are! And how they got my lemur." Aang pulled out his glider and soared to the unknown boat, "Hello?" he shouted at the boat. He heard Momo screech then he saw the lemur fly strait for him, "Momo! Stop!" Momo, however, didn't and smacked right into Aang's stomach. "Gahh!" Aang's eyes bugged out and he got the wind knocked out of him. He began to fall a little before catching himself. He landed smoothly on the boat. He looked at the new faces staring at him, mouths were open, and eyes were wide. "Hello." Aang said cheerfully.

"Are you the Avatar?" The girl asked. He nodded. She stared at him, wondering about something, Aang wasn't quite sure what it was. One of the boys was rowing the boat and the other wrapped his arms around the girl's stomach.

"Umm… Can we help you with anything?" The girl shrugged. The one rowing answered his question.

"Can we stay with you tonight? We have no food, no shelter, no where to go." He stopped rowing and looked up at the boy. Aang shrugged then nodded. The boy went back to rowing. But Aang figured it would be faster and easier if he used waterbending to get them back to the camp. He made swaying motions with his arms and the boat began moving quicker then before.

"I'm Piao." The boy who had been rowing said. He looked up at Aang then down at his feet. He was holding his hands together, as if trying to resist something.

Aang rose his eyebrow curiously, but quickly dropped it, "I'm Aang." Piao nodded. He already knew the answer but Aang was trying to be polite.

"I'm Mei." The girl said, and she outstretched her hand. The boy with is arms around her flinched when their fingers met. Aang hesitated. "Sorry," Mei said, "It's a fire nation… attitude, I guess. He has been trained to capture you, that's why we had your lemur." Aang nodded in understanding, he knew it would take a while for people to let go of what they had been taught their entire lives. But he had so much hope for the world; he knew people would come to understand. "This is Zhong." Mei said, holding his hands next to her stomach, again in some restraint. Aang knew the men desperately wanted to capture him, out of instinct, but were quite capable of fighting it, and they wanted to.

"We would be glad to help you, we can take you back to our camp in the South Pole, or we could continue on, my girlfriend wants to… uh… find someone. So we need to keep going."

"We can head that way," Piao said, "We don't want to make a life here anyway. Uh… no offense." Aang shrugged and said it was nothing and that it didn't matter to him.

"TWINKLETOES!" Toph yelled from the shore, "WHAT'S GOING ON? SUGAR QUEEN IS GETTING ANTSY!"

"SHUT UP TOPH!" Aang heard Katara yell, he laughed and shook his head.

"So, is sugar queen your girl friend or Toph?" Piao said.

"Sugar Queen," Aang laughed, "ON MY WAY!" Aang yelled back. They made it back to shore and Aang introduced everyone. He explained how they had brought back Momo and that they were going to travel with them until they find their own route. Katara took no interest in any of this and dozed back off. Aang asked her if she could figure out what was wrong with her, Mei said she would try but she would have to get to know her first and that could take a while. Aang sulked but said okay. He offered to find them a place to sleep but they refused and convinced him that they were okay. Aang curled up into his spot next to Appa. The sun had finally set and Yue set off a soft glow. They all slept well that night.

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Yori was talking to Suki, "Should I tell him who?" Yori asked Suki.

"No." Suki said simply. Yori sighed, she wanted to tell Sokka who was going to die, but she didn't want him to freak out anymore then he already was. Just then Sokka came bursting into the room.

"Come." He said to Suki then rushed back out the door. Suki looked puzzled then her eyes lit up in understanding.

"Go." Yori said. She already knew what was going on. Suki nodded. As she left Yori sighed again. Hakoda had taken a turn for the worse, and the outcome didn't look so great.

AN: I know, I know, Meis' story was really depressing, when I was writing it I almost began to cry, the poor girl! Evil, evil, man… possible foreshadowing? Hmm…? And I know, I'm just so mean to Hakoda, I do love him, don't think I'm punishing him! Anyway, hope this was worth the wait and I'm going to start on Chapter 10 hopefully tomorrow! *blows kiss* G'Night Everybody!

P.S. - Only cool 90's kids will understand my reference. Remember; The 90's are All That! ;)