Hey guys! Sorry for all the typos in here, and sorry for the lateness. I'll try to update sooner I just really don't like the episode or chapter. - Jet's not one of my favorite people. Anyway, please review and I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do not won Avatar: The Last Airbender. I would have made sure the movie was much better if I did. ;)
~Diana's POV~
~Flashback~
"Mommy! Mommy!"
A young girl tore through the house in search of her mother.
"In here, dear!"
The little girl raced into the room her mother's voice had come from and found her sewing.
"Mommy! Guess what?" She said running up, her blue eyes sparkling.
"What is it, Diana? You don't have to yell."
I was eight years old…
Diana giggled, "I'm sorry, mommy. I forgot." she whispered, her smile making her eyes light up even more.
Her mother put her sowing down and pulled the girl to sit next to her, "Diana, you're hands are so cold!" she exclaimed, taking the childs cold hands in hers with concern.
This was the day when my bright cheery attitude changed.
"You'll never, ever guess what I did today!"
Mother took up her sowing again, giving a soft smile she asked what she'd done.
"Well, me and Jenny were-"
"Jenny and I." her mother corrected gently and Diana giggled, "Jenny and I were playing in the sandbox at school and Tommy came over and started being really mean!"
I would never forget that day.
"Oh? And what happened then?"
This was the day I learned I was different.
"Jenny was crying and I got really, really mad because he was being mean!"
"What did you do?"
This was the day…
"You'll never believe it, Mommy!"
…That I froze Tommy Blackwood solid.
~Cody's POV~
I smiled, looking around at all the trees as we took a break from traveling.
I knew we'd be running into Jet soon but I was really not looking forward to it.
"Hey guys? Where's Momo?" Aang asked and I shot a quick glance around to see if the lemur was gone.
Just as we noticed the lemurs absence we heard him making frantic calls.
Katara and Sokka got up and we all listened carefully, trying to distinguish where the echoing calls were coming from.
"That way!" I yelled, springing off to the direction of the snares.
When we finally located him, he was hanging in a round snare trap, high up in the trees. Flanked by two other cages, one empty and one with two monkey-ish creatures.
"Hang on, Momo!" I called as Aang began to leap from tree to tree using his air bending.
Aang reached the branch where the wench holding Momo's cage up was.
"Careful, Aang!" I warned as he flipped under the branch to mess with the wench, like an acrobat on a trapeze.
Katara and Sokka carefully lowered the snare down between them and pulled, making a hole big enough for Momo to slip through-just so he could run off and eat his berries as Sokka groaned.
Aang leapt back to the ground and looked back up at the monkey things-I later learned to be hog-monkeys-that were giving him sad pitiful looks from the cage they shared.
"Okay...you too." Aang said, beginning to leap between the trees again.
"This will take too long!" Sokka complained, whipping out his boomerang and making short work of the rope holding them up and the cage fell to the ground.
"Sokka!" I chided as I went to help the hog-monkeys out of the cage.
Aang looked down from the tree he was koala hugging-a term Diana came up with-and gave a chuckle, "That works…"
Sokka walked over to the trap the hog-monkeys had left and knelt down to expect it, "These are Fire Nation traps-you can tell from the metal work. We'd better pack up camp, and get moving."
~Diana's POV~
I was sitting at my favorite spot on the boat, watching Zuko train, with Cuddles chirping and running between Zuko and I.
He'd become quite fond of the testy Prince…which didn't go well with earlier mentioned testy Prince.
"Diana! Keep that thing away from me while I'm training!" Zuko fumed, pointing to Cuddles who was sniffing his feet.
"Cuddles is not a thing, Zuko." I scolded, holding my hand out for Cuddles to come back over to me.
Instead, he scuttled over to Uncle Iroh, curling up in his lap as Zuko fumed a bit more.
I rolled my eyes and lifted my hand and swiping it towards Zuko, sending a wave toward him, leaving him soaked and not very happy.
I laughed, "Zuko! I love your face!"
"…"
"Chirp?"
"Get that thing away from me!"
~Cody's POV~
We had finished packing up camp and Aang had begun to load it into Appa's saddle when Sokka noticed and walked over.
"Ah-Ah…no flying this time."
"What?" Katara asked, staring at him like he was stupid.
I bit my lip, I kind of did not want to meet Jet and this was my opportunity to stop it.
"Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked, looking adorable and confused.
I sighed, the town needed us and Jet was needed in the future-I had to suck it up and do my own thing.
"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa-he's too noticeable!" Sokka said, flailing a bit at the end.
"What? Appa is not too noticeable!" Katara yelled, glaring at her poor brother.
"He's a gigantic fluffy, flying bison with an arrow on his head that everyone believes is extinct-it's kinda hard to miss him!" I said, joining in the argument-earning fierce glares from Katara.
That girl needs to give it a rest. Yes, I control fire…get over it.
"Sokka's just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow on his head, it's nothing personal, Appa." I said gently, patting Appa softly.
"Who made you the boss?" Katara snapped, putting her hands on her hips.
"I'm not the boss-I'm the leader." Sokka said, standing straighter.
"You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!" Katara said with a playful laugh, even though it was obvious she was frustrated with her brother.
"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior!" he tried to deepen his voice, "So…I'm the leader!"
"Actually, Sokka," I chimed in from where I was standing with Aang, "I'm the oldest."
"What?" Katara asked, turning to me.
"Yup! I'm sixteen. One year older than you, Sokka. But, I don't want to be the leader…"
"If anyone's the leader it's Aang!" Katara yelled, turning back to Sokka, "I mean, he is the Avatar."
"Are you kidding? He's just a goofy kid!" Sokka said, pointing to where Aang was hanging upside down from Appa's horn.
Sokka was unimpressed.
"He's right!" Aang chirped, giving a laugh as well.
"Why do boys always think someone's got to be the leader? I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl." Katara complained and I laughed when Sokka began stuttering.
"I-I've kissed a girl-you…just haven't met her."
"Who? Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran." Katara said, a smirk playing along her lips.
"No!-besides Gran-Gran. Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through unnoticed on foot. And a leader has to trust his instincts!" Sokka said with a matter-of-fact air to him.
"Okay, we'll try it your way, oh wise leader." Katara said, rolling her eyes and I sighed, pulling my pack on.
"Who knows-walking may be fun!" Aang said cheerfully and I shot him a look of pity.
He had no idea…
~Diana's POV~
Of course, Zuko didn't take the wave of water laying down and I now was standing across from him for 'training'.
Yeah, Right! He was going to try to hurt me!
I smiled since I had an unlimited amount of water around me, I mean, ever since I was little I was able to pull water out of the air but I didn't like the way that water felt when I controlled it.
Yeah, I have a water preference.
I began to have water seep up the sides of the boat, I'd have to be sneaky!
I knew Zuko was going to be evil the second his hands lit up.
"Zuko…please…at least make this entertaining, okay?" I asked, pulling water quickly up that had been slinking behind him.
Fire shot toward me, making me loose concentration on the building stream behind Zuko.
"Focus, Prince Zuko! Break her roots!" Uncle Iroh called as Zuko shot blast after blast at me.
"Uncle!" I whined, diving between Zuko's legs to avoid another blast.
I pulled water to the back of me as Zuko turned and used it as a one time shield, flipping behind his back and placing my hands on his back.
"Diana! This isn't funny!" Zuko snapped, beginning to twirl fire around, trying to catch me.
"Think you can get me? Think again!" I smirked, making sure to avoid the flames.
He turned the fire toward the ground and I quickly jumped on his back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Nice try!" I said with a giggle as he let out a frustrated grunt as my weight hit him.
He suddenly dropped on his back and I let out a groan as all the air was pushed out of me.
"Thanks for that opening." Zuko said with a smirk as he got up and held his hand out to help me up.
"Zuko, you jerk." I said with a laugh, sweeping his legs out from under him-leaving him sprawled out on deck next to me and Uncle Iroh and I laughed as Cuddles ran over and licked Zuko's face.
~Cody's POV~
"Walking stinks!"
We had been walking for, oh, I'd say about fifteen or thirty minutes and Aang had already given up.
"How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?" he whine and I laughed.
"I don't know, Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts-they seem to know everything." Katara said with a little smirk.
"Ha ha. Very funny." Sokka said with a roll of his eyes.
"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang whined, shifting the pack over his shoulders.
"You know who you could ask to carry it? Sokka's Instincts!"
"That's a great idea! Hey, Sokka's Instincts, would you mind-"
"Okay, okay I get it." Sokka said, starting to wrestle with the bush in front of him, "I'm tired too. But the important thing is, we're safe from the…Fire Nation…"
Sokka had led us straight into a Fire Nation encampment.
I clapped slowly after they had all noticed us, "Good Job, Sokka."
"RUN!"
We all turned to run as Fire Nation soldiers leapt up from their posts and began to charge at us.
One of them shot a blast of fire, blocking our way.
"We're cut off!" Sokka yelled and I gasped when his sleeve caught on fire, "Sokka! Your sleeve!"
Katara spun around, whipping some water out of the flask on her hip and put Sokka's flailing arm out and returning the water.
We were surrounded and I knew I couldn't put out the flames behind us because of Jet's fury towards Fire Benders…it wouldn't end well.
"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you." Sokka said, standing up a little straighter.
"What are you doing?" Katara whispered, her eyes flicking between the soldiers around us.
"Bluffing?" Sokka whispered back and I sighed, standing up straighter to back up his bluff.
The leader of the fire benders-a big man with an eye patch-laughed, "You? Promise not to hurt us?"
It was quiet for a moment then there was a zip and a big thud.
The Captain looked surprised for a moment before groaning and collapsing face first into the dirt.
His men lowered their weapons, staring at us in shock and confusion.
"Nice work, Sokka! How'd you do that?" Aang exclaimed, staring at the unconscious man.
"Uh, Instinct?"
"Look!" Katara called out and I turned my attention towards where the Freedom Fighters would appear.
Up in the trees, a figure was perched in the branches.
The figure dropped what it was holding and pulled out two blades from his back.
It jumped off the branch and instead of falling, the blades would catch on the trees letting him slide all the way to the ground gracefully.
When he got to the ground he kicked two Fire Nation soldiers, furthest away from us, over and he landed neatly with one foot on each of their backs.
I looked at Jet-who else would it be-with slight annoyance. Everything from his mismatched armor pads to his all green attire-even his red vest and the twig in his mouth annoyed me.
He rushed forward and I recalled the name of his weapon-Shuang Gou.
He hooked a leg on two more soldiers and sent them flying head over heels.
He gave a nice body flip, making the soldiers land on the Captain in front of us.
"Down you go!" he said and I rolled my eyes at the expressions of awe Katara and Aang were giving him.
A soldier rushed up behind Jet and he whirled, his Shuang Gou catching the sword the soldier head-knocking him back and to the feet of a sword quartet.
"They're in the trees!" I heard one of them call and smiled when the rest of the Freedom Fighters arrived.
~Third Person POV~
A small boy dropped from the trees and landed on a soldiers shoulders-spinning his helmet around and blinding him.
The soldier staggered off, the boy still on his shoulders laughing victoriously.
Before the other three swordsmen could react, there were three swift zip sounds as three arrows took them down.
The archer sat high in the trees, another arrow strung in his bow-ready to strike.
Two soldiers ran over where their comrades just fell from the archer and a figure jumped from a low branch when those soldiers were disarmed by the archer and they swiftly ran off as a swordsman came up behind them to attack the freedom fighter that had just joined the party.
The freedom fighter dodged the sword and the soldier was tossed back and into the branches above.
The swordsman that followed was a bit more cautious-watching for arrows as he advanced.
It was to no effect, however as the fighter grabbed him, spinning him around before throwing him again to join the others.
A smaller figure began to run through and joining the fight as well.
Katara and Aang joined the fight, using their bending to add to the various piles of Fire Nation soldiers scattered around.
Cody jumped into action, snagging a sword from a fallen soldier and praying she remembered how to use it with out causing more damage.
Cody ran past Jet to continue fighting and smirked when Jet continually stole Sokka's kills.
Not too long later, all the Fire Nation soldiers had been taken out and the group was standing there sizing each other up.
~Cody's POV~
We all stood and stared at the freedom fighters, I must admit-seeing them in person was probably the most epic thing ever!
"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!" Aang exclaimed in awe as Katara stared at Jet dreamily.
"Army? Pfft. There were only about twenty guys!" Sokka complained and I mentally agreed with him even though the Freedom Fighters were majorly impressive.
"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers," The rebel that had slammed soldiers into trees, "Longshot," The archer who looked up at his name, "Smellerbee," The smaller fighter with face paint, "And the Duke and Pipsqueak." The smallest and largest freedom fighters.
Aang walked over to, whom he assumed, was Pipsqueak, "Pipsqueak-that's a funny name." he said chuckling.
"You think my name is funny?" The real Pipsqueak asked, towering over Aang.
"It's hilarious!"
They stared at each other before they all laughed and I laughed along with them.
Couldn't be too bad, right?
~Diana's POV~
Zuko was pouting and I, being the nice one, had to go and fix things up.
It wasn't my fault that Cuddles liked him. Or that he had an issue with cute fluffy things.
"Oh, Zuko! Come out, come out wherever you are! Stop being a whiny prince!" I yelled, to the amusement of some of the soldiers and Uncle Iroh.
"I believe you'll find him in your general spot." Uncle Iroh said, deep in thought over a Pai-Sho game.
"Thanks, Uncle!" I said with a grin and started off, with a little chirping ball of happy following at my feet.
"Let's go find our pouting prince, eh, Cuddles?"
"Chirp!"
~Cody's POV~
We had decided to help the Freedom Fighters go through the camp and actually, it was kind of fun rummaging through it all.
"Um…thanks for saving us, Jet. We were lucky you were there." Katara said to Jet, a slight blush on her cheeks.
"I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning-we just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in." Jet answered with a crooked smile.
"We were relying on instincts."
"You'll get yourself killed that way."
Sokka, who was close enough to hear the conversation, closed his eyes in frustration.
I patted his shoulder, "I think you were right, Sokka. Keep going with those instincts."
He smiled at me and our attention was caught by the Duke and Pipsqueak mentioning the blasting jelly and jelly candy.
"We'll take the stuff back to the hideout." Pipsqueak said, stacking boxes.
"You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked, his eyes lighting up.
"You wanna see it?"
Katara pretty much slid up to Jet, her hands clasped, "Of course we want to see it!"
Jet's eyes softened but his smirk stayed confidentially in place-making me want to slap him.
Next thing I knew, we were walking on the forest floor towards the hideout.
"We're here." Jet said, stopping and crossing his arms.
"Where? There's nothing here!" Sokka asked, looking around for the hideout.
"Hold this." Jet answered, handing him a rope with a lop on the end.
"Why? What's this do?" Sokka asked, studying the rope carefully.
The loop ended up around Sokka's wrist, quickly pulling him up into the trees.
"Whoa!"
We all stared up at where Sokka had disappeared.
"He's gonna be okay, right?" I asked, staring up where his legs were hanging.
"I'm okay!" we heard him mutter as Jet offered Aang a rope
"I'll get up myself." Aang said, quickly hopping up and soaring through the trees.
I glared at Jet as I took the rope, ready to get away from the Jet/Katara fluff as DJ called it.
"It's beautiful up here!" Katara said, glancing around at everything.
We continued walking across the bridge and I saw something I didn't expect to see.
"Hey, Jet! Back already? That was fast!"
A brown haired boy was walking across the bridge, dressed similar to Jet and smiling.
"Haha, yeah. These guys helped take them out and caused a nice distraction." Jet answered as I stared on stupidly.
"Nick?" I asked, walking forward, slightly shoving Katara and Jet out of my way.
The guys green eyes focused on me and widened in surprise, "Cody?"
"Wait, hold up. You two know each other?" Jet asked, ignoring Katara for once.
"Yeah. This is my girlfriend…Cody." Nick said, still a bit stunned.
And who could blame him? I didn't know he was here either. I could only assume.
Everything just got a lot more complicated. Not only did I have Diana to protect, now I had Nick too!
Gah!
"What are you doing here?!" I yelled, fuming now at the situation he'd put me, unknowingly, in.
…And the fact he was with Jet. Of all people! Jet!
"Well, I met Jet and it's safe from the Fire Nation here…So, I joined the Freedom Fighters."
I took a few deep breaths, trying to not shoot off sparks when Smellerbee joined us.
"They'd love to find you and Sage, eh Jet?"
"It's not going to happen, Smellerbee."
"And why would they want to find you?" I asked, glaring daggers at Nick to show my disappointment as we continued over the bridge.
He had the good grace to look sheepish.
"I guess you could say we've been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back." Jet answered, a mug smirk on his face.
"We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em!" Pipsqueak said from beside me.
I smiled slightly when I saw Sokka doing his best to see over Pipsqueak, he was giving little hops and it was so far very ineffective.
"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town." Jet said, a determined look on his face.
My stomach twisted at his words and Nick gave me a concerned look-I must have grimaced.
"That's so brave!" Katara cooed and I rolled my eyes, glad that Nick and I were rarely seen as 'that' couple.
Sokka came up next to me, somehow managing to slid past Pipsqueak, "Yeah, nothings braver than a guy in a tree house."
I chuckled, glad that at least Sokka could understand that Jet was kind of a fail.
"Don't pay any attention to my brother." Katara said, tossing a small glare over her shoulder-including me in it.
"No problem. He's probably had a rough day." Jet replied with a small smile.
"So, you all live here?"
Sokka, effectively ignored, slunk back to the end of the group.
"That's right. Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found the Duke trying to steal our food. I don't think he every really had a home…"
"What about you?"
Jet stopped and we continued on, I knew how the Fire Nation had claimed his parents when he was eight.
It was tragic, yes. But, it didn't give him an excuse for the things he'd done.
"Cody, you okay?" Nick asked, pulling me into a hug.
"Yeah, just…too much going on in my head."
He nodded and turned to lead me down to where we'd eat.
Why did he have to be here too? Some crazy psycho was after us and not only was Diana in the line of fire…now Nick would be too.
My best friend and my boyfriend. If I had to make a choice…who would I save?
Or would I forsake them all to save Aang…or for my won skin?
Avatar Roku knew how hard this would be…but he can't help me now.
I have to figure it out myself. At least Diana was sort of protected.
Zuko seemed to care if she got hurt or not.
Now, I had to help Nick and get him out of the Freedom Fighters before something happened he'd regret…
~Diana's POV~
I'd been walking for a while, man, he must really be annoyed at Cuddles and I.
Suddenly, Cuddles at my feet chirped and took off around the corner, his little tail swishing as he walked.
There was a little chirp and a groan of frustration and I grinned, and there would be the prince.
I crept around the corner and crouched when I saw Cuddles nuzzling into Zuko's hand as Zuko picked him up.
"I guess you're not all that bad…"
~Cody's POV~
I found myself sitting next to Nick down at the banquet table, food all around us and glowing lanterns hanging in the trees making everything glow gorgeously. We were about to listen to Jet's great speech.
"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Jet said, standing on the table as his followers cheered at his words.
"I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when the Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey."
The Duke jumped up and took a victory lap around the table as the other Freedom Fighters cheered for him.
"Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees." Jet said, picking up a cup to take a drink and his followers began to boo at his words.
"Or maybe…they are dead wrong."
Cheers rose up all around and Jet came to sit with us as everyone celebrated and dug into their food.
"Nice speech, Jet." Katara volunteered and I shook my head slowly, wishing we'd just skipped the whole ordeal.
"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today."
I rolled my eyes and Sokka and I shared a look.
"Well, he's great. He's the Avatar. I could use some more training." she said with a blush.
Okay, don't get me wrong. I like romance and all, I mean I do have a boyfriend. But this was so sickenly sweet I couldn't take it anymore.
I stood up and turned to walk away, "Where are you going Cody?" Nick asked, jumping up and catching the attention of a few Freedom Fighters.
"I need some air. Let's go catch up, hmm?" I asked and he smiled, following after me as we left the celebration.
~Sokka's POV~
I frowned as Cody left, we needed to stick together.
My instinct was telling me something was off and Cody was the only one who'd listen!
Jet and Katara continued talking as if Cody had never left. Whereas Aang glanced at her before turning back to Jet.
"Avatar, huh? Very nice." Jet said with a half smile that made my mind send off warning signals.
"Thanks, Jet."
"So, I might know a way you and Aang can help our struggle."
More warning alarms.
"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight." I said gruffly as I stood up.
"Sokka, you're kidding me! I needed you on an important mission tomorrow!"
I stopped and turned, "What mission?"
~Cody's POV~
Nick and I had left the treetops and were walking down below quite a ways off from the hideout.
"What's going on, Cody? You've been acting weird since you got here." Nick said, taking my hands and pulling me down to sit on the grass.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked instead, looking up at the treetops.
"We're in a forest in a TV show you and Diana watch all the time. That's the extent of my knowledge." he said, running a hand through his unkempt brown hair.
I nodded, "Do you know why we're here?"
Nick shook his head, "No. The first week I got here I was chased all over the place for 'Earth bending.' I was running and ran into Jet. I figured the Fire Nation was the enemy here."
"You're partially right. The Fire Nation is this worlds enemy…"
"But not ours?"
"No, not ours."
It was silent for a moment before Nick spoke again, "And you're not going to tell me about this danger?"
I shook my head, "Avatar Roku entrusted this to me. I have to keep you and Diana safe."
"I should have known she was here too. What about Jasper?" he asked, looking up at the bit of moonlight peaking through the clouds and treetops.
"I haven't found her. I hope she's safe. You know, you didn't choose the best leader to follow after."
Nick laughed, "I knew it! You don't like Jet. What's he ever done to you?"
I scoffed, "Nothing to me. It's what he does to the village nearby that I'm worried about. I've seen what happens remember?"
"Ah, yes. But…our presence has probably changed things a bit right?"
"Only the Avatars past cycles know." I said with a growl and Nick laughed, "Guess we'll have to kick butt like usual huh?"
I nodded and smiled when he kissed my cheek.
It was almost like old times.
~? POV~
Two teens were our target, sitting completely unaware of us.
"Your orders?"
"We were instructed to capture the girl alive. Nothing was said of the male."
I felt excitement rise in the air around me.
"May we kill him?" An excited voice hissed.
I took my time to answer, enjoying the excitement in the air, "Since nothing was said about him we can only assume he's worthless…Kill him."
Excited hisses rose up and I grinned.
The hatred in the air grew strong.
~Diana's POV~
I snuck away, letting Zuko and Cuddles bond…In a manly way of course!
I found myself walking through the kitchen, snagging a small snack before ending up back on the deck, watching the sea and the moon go by.
"I wonder what Cody's doing right now."
~Sokka's POV~
It was quiet, the only sounds were the morning birds calling to each other and Jet and I's soft breathing as we perched in the tree.
Jet cupped his hands and made a whistle like bird call to the other Freedom Fighters hiding around us.
A few seconds later there was a reply call from Pipsqueak and Smellerbee.
I pulled out my jawbone knife and jammed it into the trunk of the tree.
"What are you doing?" Jet asked and I held my hand up.
"Shh…it amplifies vibrations."
"Good trick." Jet muttered and I nodded before cupping my hands around it and putting my ear to it.
"Nothing yet." I muttered, listening intently.
"Wait, yes, someone's approaching." I said, lowering my voice even more.
"How many?"
"I think there's just one."
Jet whistled again and patted me on the back softly, "Good job, Sokka. Ready your weapon."
I pulled my knife out of the tree and waited.
An old man with a cane came through wearing a simple red robe.
"Wait! False alarm…he's just an old man." I said, relaxing back onto the branch.
Jet continued through, he leapt to the ground in front of the old man, weapons at the ready.
I stared at him in horror when he began to speak, "What are you doing in our woods, you leech." Jet snapped at him and the old man trembled.
"Please Sir, I'm just a traveler."
Jet took a step back and with one swipe of his sword sent the man's cane flying back.
The man began to back up, but when he tried to run away he ran face first into Pipsqueaks chest.
The force of the impact knocked him to the ground.
He tried to crawl away but Pipsqueak placed his foot on his back, effectively pining him in place.
"Do you like destroying towns? Do you like destroying families? Do you?!" Jet yelled, looking like he'd lost his mind.
"Oh…please let me go…have mercy…"
"Does the Fire Nation let people go?! Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!"
Jet winds up to kick the old man but I swiftly caught it with my club before he could deliver it.
"Jet, he's just an old man!" I said, releasing his leg cautiously.
"He's Fire Nation! Search him!" Jet snapped, looking even more irritated.
Pipsqueak held him up and Smellerbee walked up to search him.
"But he's not hurting anyone!" I yelled, not sure why they were being so ruthless.
"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother Remember why you fight!"
I took a step back.
"We've got his stuff, Jet."
The old man was back on the ground and Smellerbee was holding his bag.
"This feels wrong." I said, looking down.
Dad wouldn't do something like this.
"It's what has t be done-now let's get out of here." Jet said, turning and walking away, Smellerbee and Pipsqueak him.
I looked back at the old man, still on his hands and knees, guilt filling my heart.
"C'mon, Sokka!"
I turned and slowly walked after them.
Too many thoughts and emotions running through my brain.
_~Diana's POV~
"Diana?"
I startled awake when I heard Zuko calling me.
Strange, I must have fallen asleep over here last night.
"Over here, Zuko!" I called as I stood up and began to stretch.
As I stretched I felt odd, like there was something I should know that I didn't. I gasped when I felt a tearing sensation over my back and searing pain shooting up it.
My body froze up, a voice sounded in my head-screaming liked he owner was on fire.
I felt myself fall but I wasn't myself anymore.
I was no longer looking at Zuko and Cuddles coming towards me; I was looking at a forest and a crimson covered knife about to plunge back into me.
Wait…back?
Where was I?
I cleared my head of panic and kicked the blade away and froze it.
"DJ?"
I glanced over to see Cody staring at me in shock, "Um, yes…Cody, you're bleeding." I said, obviously this was a dream.
"Yeah, well…you're in Nick's body…"
I laughed, "What a strange dream! If only it didn't have the pain of it." I said, kicking another man in the face.
He was dressed in a red and black robe with a hood covering his face.
Cody set him on fire the second he touched the ground and I frowned…that wasn't Cody-like.
She preferred not to kill and were those…tears on her face?
What if this wasn't a dream.
What if…what if I was only here because Nick…had died?
I gathered water to my hands-half way expecting to find earth instead-the water did my biding and I began to attack the ones Cody couldn't get to.
After a few moments I felt a strange sensation, like life was crawling over my limbs and I blacked out.
_~Sokka's POV~
After we got back to the hideout, I managed to find Aang and Katara.
"Sokka! Look what the Duke gave me!" Aang greeted me, wearing a satchel that he pulled one pellets out of.
With a sly grin, he tossed it at the platform next to Momo, where it exploded with a pop.
Momo puffed up with a startled growl.
He then lunged for the satchel, grabbing the pellets and aiming them at Aang's feet while he saw on his head-making him dance.
"Ow! Quit it!"
I sighed, guilt still filling my heart.
"Hey Sokka. Is Jet back?"
I glanced up and gave a weary look to Katara, "Yeah, he's back. But we're laving. Have you seen Cody around?"
"What?" Aang asked, walking over.
"But I made him this hat!" Katara said, holding up a little stitched leaves hat with a flower on top.
"Your boyfriend Jet is a thug." I snapped, more than a little irritated.
"What? No he's not."
"He's messed up, Katara."
"He's not messed up, he's just got a different way of life-a fun way of life." Aang said with a grin.
"He beat and robbed a harmless old man!"
Katara gave me a little glare and thought for a moment, "I want to hear Jet's side of the story."
"Okay, fine."
~Diana's POV~
I woke up to this strange sensation that felt like something licking my face.
I opened my eyes to see Cuddles on top of me and Zuko staring at me in concern.
"It better have been Cuddles licking my face, Zuko." I teased, trying to sit up but found that my arms wouldn't move to push me up.
Zuko rolled his eyes-like a normal teen, can you believe it?-and called for Uncle Iroh.
"She's awake and making jokes."
"Ah, she must be feeling better then." Uncle said as he walked in, a tray of tea with him.
"No." I said when I saw it, "I don't want or need tea."
"What happened, Diana?" Zuko asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I have no idea." I said, touching my side gingerly. "It wasn't a dream though." I finished when my hand had had blood on it when I pulled it away.
_~Sokka's POV~
"Sokka-you told them what happened but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire nation?"
We were in a lantern-lit hut. Jet was sitting on a hammock while we stood around him.
I stood furthest away from Jet, not wanting to be near him.
Aang stood next to Katara, wearing the hat she made-he looked like an acorn.
"No, he conveniently left that part out." Katara said with a glare back towards me.
"Fine! But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian!"
"He was an assassin, Sokka."
Jet pulled out a knife and thrust it into a nearby block of wood.
It had a sinister looking curved blade and there were four spokes evenly spaced along the rip with enough space for the fingers to go in-between them. There was a ring on the butt of the knife.
"See There's a compartment for poison in the knife." he pulled on the ring and removed a small glass tube filled with red liquid, "He was sent to eliminate me-you helped save my life, Sokka."
"I knew there was an explanation." Katara said, a pleasant smile on her face.
"I didn't see any knife!" I exclaimed, pulling earlier back into my mind-as if it had left.
"That's because he was concealing it." Jet said simply.
"See, Sokka? I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife."
"There was no knife! I'm going to go pack my bags. You guys find Cody." I snapped and I left, knowing Jet was lying.
Something bad was going to happen.
~Katara's POV~
I watched Sokka's retreating back a little surprised.
He was always stubborn and got worked up a lot but I didn't realize how much this had upset him.
"Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet. I really need your help." Jet said and I turned my attention back to him, forgetting Sokka for the moment.
"What can we do?" Aang asked and Jet smiled.
"The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest. If you both use water bending to fill the reservoir, we could fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley."
~Sokka's POV~
"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" Katara yelled as I was trying up a bed roll.
"I'm sorry, Katara. Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him." I said, wishing I'd been able to find Cody-she would have backed me up.
"You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader!"
I sighed, "Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet. It's just that my instinct-"
"Well my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet. Come on, Aang." Katara said, storming out of the hut.
"Sorry, Sokka." Aang said before following.
"I really wish that Cody was here to help. What happened to her?"
~Diana's POV~
"One moment I was here and the next I was with my friend fighting these weird hood guys!" I exclaimed, flailing my arms slightly.
"Calm down, your wounds are still unhealed." Uncle said, sipping his tea and thinking over my situations carefully.
"That's another thing, how did I get these wounds if I was someone else?" I asked, getting an odd look from Cuddles.
"I believe you have a link with this girl, Cody. You two know when the other is in trouble. The rest I can't explain…but it was not a dream." Uncle said, looking really confused and deep in thought.
"How do you know it's not just a dream?" I asked, taking a bit of bread Zuko handed me.
"Zuko witnessed the wounds appear though no one had touched you. It's curious. Very curious, Indeed." Uncle said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.
~Sokka's POV~
I woke up for some reason and crept to the door of our hut to see what was going on.
Jet and some of his followers were descending on some rope lines to the forest floor.
I left the hut, deciding to follow them, and took a rope to some lower branches.
On the ground, Jet's freedom fighters were quietly pushing a loaded wagon as Jet led the way.
I decided to follow and see what was going on.
In the dark valley, the walled town sits on the far side of a river that cuts through the forest.
Upstream, and up toward the wall of the valley there is an old falls, and beyond that a man-made dam.
Jet and his boys emerged from the forest. He went the edge and looked down to the dam below. The reservoir is low and he turned back to the wagon.
"Now listen-you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive." Jet said to his men.
The Duke jumped off the wagon, "But what about the people in the town-won't they get wiped out too?"
Jet placed a hand on the Duke's shoulder, "Look, Duke, that's the price of ridding this place of the Fire Nation."
He turned to Longshot, "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal-got it?"
Longshot nodded and I stared on in shock.
He couldn't!
The whole village would be done for!
I frowned as I heard some rustling behind me and winced when someone grabbed my hair and pulled me out of the thicket I was hiding in.
Smellerbee instantly had a knife to my throat when I was pulled out.
"Where do you think you're going, Ponytail?" Smellerbee sneered.
~? POV~
Hisses were heard all around, whips cracked.
"You failed." A voice hissed out, sounding very much like a snake.
The figure in front of it trembled, "We didn't mean-"
"Silence! You were not meant to kill her. You could have at least brought the body back for our problems."
The figure raised it's hand, motioning two guards forward, "Take him away."
Screams and pleas of mercy sounded as the person was pulled away, leaving the leader in silence.
"I am not the one to tell Xiang we failed." It hissed quietly in the darkness.
~Sokka's POV~
"Sokka, I'm glad you decided to join us." Jet said with a fake smile.
My captors pushed me down on my knees and I rubbed my shoulder.
"I heard your plans to destroy the Earth Kingdom town." I said with a glare.
"Our plan is to rid the valley of Fire Nation." Jet said simply making me wish I could strangle him.
"There are people living there, Jet-mothers and fathers and children!"
Jet shrugged, "It's a sacrifice we need to make."
I pointed a finger at him, accusing him, "You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!"
"Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like you and I do." he said, waving his hand to dismiss the thought.
"I do understand. I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want." I said seriously, I knew I was in trouble but I wouldn't stand for this.
"I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice."
Pipsqueak and Smellerbee made to grab me, before I could react though, Jet had trapped one of my hands with his Shuang gou.
"I can't let you warn Katara and Aang. Take him for a walk. A long walk." Jet said as they tied my hands behind my back.
"You can't do this!"
"Cheer up, Sokka. We're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today."
~Katara's POV~
"Jet-I'm sorry about how Sokka's been acting." I said, we were upriver from the dam.
"No worries-he already apologized." Jet answered with a smile.
"Really?" Aang asked, looking at me surprised, "Sokka apologized?"
"Yeah-I was surprised too. I got the sense that maybe you talked to him or something."
"Yeah, I did." I said, pleased that it may have worked.
"I guess something you said got through to him. Anyhow, he went out on a scouting mission with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee."
"I'm glad he cooled off. He's so stubborn sometimes." I said with a huff.
We were now walking in the gully beside the river-not much of a river if you ask me.
Aang paused by something and was launched into the air by a geyser blast.
"All right, we're here. Underground water's trying to escape through these vents. I need you guys to help it along." Jet said, pointing to a few of the vents.
"I've never used bending on water I can't see. I don't know…" I said nervously, glancing at the vents.
Jet stood behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders, "Katara, you can do this."
I blushed and Aang landed back on the ground, "What about me?"
"I know the Avatar can do this." Jet answered with a smile.
We stood one ether side of a geyser hole in the gully.
We carefully made bending motions, encouraging the water to come out.
After a few minutes a water blob merged, we pulled it up to our height, then sent it towards the river where it continued to flow.
"Yes! Good job! This river empties into the reservoir-a few more geysers and it'll be full." Jet said, a grin on his face.
"Look! There's another steam vent." Aang pointed out and we want over to it.
"Okay. You two keep it up-I'll go check on things at the reservoir." Jet said, turning to walk off.
"When we're done we'll meet you over there." I said with a smile.
"Actually…probably better if you meet me back at the hideout when you're done." Jet continued walking away and we continued with geysers.
"I bet that's enough-and I'm not saying that to be lazy." Aang said a while later and I laughed looking around at all the geysers we'd emptied.
"Let's catch up with Jet at the reservoir." I said, wiping my hands off.
"I thought we agreed to meet Jet back at the hideout." Aang said, looking pleased with our work.
"Well, we finished early-I'm sure he'll be happy to see us." I said confidentially as we began to walk.
~Sokka's POV~
Pipsqueak, Smellerbee and I were walking down a path, my hands still bound behind my back as I tried to get a plan to get away and get back.
Smellerbee gave me a shove, causing me to stumble, "Come on-move along!"
"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" I asked them.
"Hey, listen, Sokka, Jet's a great leader. We follow what he says, and things always turn out okay." Pipsqueak said and while he was talking, I noticed a couple of snare leaf piles nearby; just like the ones that caught Momo.
"If that's how Jet leads then he's got a lot to learn." I said and then I sprinted towards the leaves.
"Hey!" Smellerbee yelled, making a grab for me but missing.
They gave chase and I made sure to ump over the leaves.
Fortunately, they didn't and ended up snared an hanging in the air.
"While you wo are up there you might want to work on your knot-work." I called to them, holding up my hands showing the worthless bindings before walking away.
"Hey, Smellerbee-you gonna eat your leechee nuts?"
A nut struck {Pipsqueak in the head and fell into his hands.
"Oooooh."
~Katara's POV~
We were standing at the edge of the cliff, looking at the base of the dam where Jet was suppose to be.
Four of his men were unloading barrels from the wagon and arranging them.
"What are they doing?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"Hey, those are the barrels he got from the Fire Nation." Aang pointed out, his brow furrowing more confused than before.
"Because Jet's going to blow up the dam."
We turned, my mouth open to protest when we saw on of Jet's men-Cody's friend Nick.
"What? No-that would destroy the town. Jet wouldn't do that."
Nick looked grim ad I n noticed all sorts of healing cuts and bruises on him.
"I've got to stop him." Aang said, snapping his gliders wings open.
"Jet-Jet wouldn't do that." I said, hoping with all my heart that I was right.
Before Aang could reach the ledge, Jet crossed his path and snatched the glider.
Leaving Aang to use Air bending to steady himself.
"Yes, I would."
"Jet-why?" I asked, horror welling up in my heart as I realized Sokka was right.
"Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother-we can't let them do that to anyone else, ever again." Jet said with fierce determination.
"This isn't the answer!"
"She's right, Jet. You need to cool it." Nick said from my side.
"Sage…where did you come from? Where have you been?!" Jet yelled, loosing his cool by the minute.
"I got a little…held up. Did you send those men, Jet? Because you knew I'd side against you?"
Jet scoffed, "I want you to understand me, especially you, Katara. I thought your brother would understand, but-"
"Where's Sokka?" I asked, fear clutching my heart.
Tears began to fall from my eyes and Jet reached out to touch me.
"No!" I yelled, pulling water out of my pouch and flinging him back.
"I need to get to the dam." Aang said, glancing at his glider on the ground.
He began to reach for it but the crescent end of one of Jet's Shuang gou pins it like an axe.
With a yank, he pulled the glider to him, "You're not going anywhere without your glider."
Jet swung the swords at Aang, who summer salted backwards to avoid the extra reach.
"I'm not going to fight you, Jet."
"You'll have to if you ant your glider back."
Nick moved forward, his fists clenched and he sent a well aimed kick towards Jet who narrowly avoided it.
Jet, realizing Nick was against him, lunged at Aang once more and when Aang retreated into the forest, he followed.
_~Third Person's POV~
Jet hooked a branch and pulled himself up into the trees and Katara and Nick followed on the ground.
Jet attacked and Aang defended himself with balls of air, which Jet ducked.
Jet attacks head on but Aang blocked with his arms and sent him flying back into a tree trunk with an air kick.
Jet combines his swords again and advances, determined to keep them for stopping him.
Aang avoided the flail like movement and let the air flow over and past him and then lunged.
They continued the chase through the many levels of the forest.
Jet catches up to Aang and sends them both freefalling, attacking as they go.
Jet continues to attack and Aang avoids it all.
Jet charges again, but Aang hits him with a jet stream of air and Jet fell.
He recovered but lost the glider in the process. Before Aang can get to the ground, Jet kicks him into a trunk and he lands next to his glider; A small tributary flows past him.
Aang is slow to get up but before Jet can make more than a step towards Aang, however, he is hit by a large water strike and shoved into a tree where earth binds his hands and legs.
Katara is there throwing stream after stream of water at him, bending the water to ice, "Why Jet? I can't believe I trusted you. You lied to me-you're sick and I trusted you!"
A single call is heard, Katara and Aang look round started and then to the valley below where it came from.
"No!"
Everyone turned to see Cody running towards them.
They only had a few seconds to take in her bruised and bloody appearance before Jet let out an answering call.
"You're too late."
"No!" Katara yelled, horrified.
Aang snapped open his glider and runs for the cliff. His gliders wing is too shredded for him to lift, however.
"Sokka's still out there-he's our only chance."
"Come on, Sokka. I'm sorry I doubted you."
"Help us, Sokka wan Kenobi-You're our only hope."
"You're not helping…" Cody said, before collapsing to the ground, panting for air.
~Cody's POV~
I panted, exhausted as we waited. I knew Longshot was currently aiming at the barrels.
The arrow released and we watched it arch down to the base of the dam.
"No…"
The center of the dam exploded in a cloud of smoke and fire.
WE watched as a massive wall of water cascaded off the 'dry' falls and down to the town.
Nick knelt by me, knowing I was too exhausted to get up just yet.
"Sokka didn't make it in time." Aang said, looking at the dam in horror.
"All those people…" Katara turned to Jet, rage in her eyes, "Jet-you monster!"
"It was a victory, Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe."
"It will be safe-without you."
In shock, Jet looked up to see Sokka, Appa and Momo rising below the level of the cliff.
"Sokka!"
"Good timing." I said with a smile, leaning against Nick.
"I warned the villagers of your plan, just in time." Sokka said to Jet.
"What!"
"At first they didn't believe me. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy. But one man vouched for me-the old man you attacked. He urged everyone to trust me, and we got everyone out in time."
"Sokka, you fool! We could of freed this valley!"
"Who would be free? Everyone would be dead." I said and Jet turned his wild gaze to Nick and I.
"You traitor!"
Nick shook his head, "I'm not the traitor. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting the innocent." Nick said and Sokka nodded to him in approval.
"Katara-please-help me!" Jet cried, turning to his last resort.
"Goodbye, Jet."
"Nest decision you've ever made." I said with a smile as we climbed into Appa's saddle, Nick having to carry me most of the way up.
"Yip Yip!"
We left Jet standing frozen and bound to that tree and the village saved.
"We thought you were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?" Aang asked Sokka.
"Lemme guess-your instincts told you." Katara said with a laugh.
"Hey-sometimes they're right."
"Sokka, you know we need to be going the other way, right?" I asked with a laugh.
Sokka looked surprised but quickly corrected our course, "…And sometimes they're wrong." he said with a grin.
"So, Cody, where were you during all of this?" Aang asked, glancing at my worn out clothing and wounds.
"Oh, you know. Here and there. Nick and I managed to run into some troops going to the town and they didn't like us very much." I said easily, smiling at Nick.
"Well, welcome to the group, Nick!" Aang said with an easy laugh.
He nodded back and when the attention was off of us, he sent me a look clearly asking, 'why did you lie?'
I shook my head. It was better that they didn't know Xiang's men were after us.
They weren't after the trio…they were after Nick and I.
I sighed, too many things were in motion and I couldn't be sure if they were for the better or worse.
I guess we could only do our best with what we had and save the world with Aang.
Sounded like a good plan to me.
