Woops…it's been a while. Lol sorry. Happy New Year! And thankyou to all those people who are reviewing this story :)

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It had been two days since Sokka and Ty Lee had got their feelings towards each other out in the open. It had been a long, awkward two days that involved very little talking between the two, large amounts of blushing and many curious stares from everyone else because of their strange behaviour. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, so they decided to come up with a plan to alleviate their growing curiosity. Sui (Katara), Kuzon (Aang) and Tama (Toph) sat in the garden, watching the sun wane behind the distant mountains.

"Ok, we need to found out what's wrong with Sokka and Ty Lee," whispered Katara "It's obvious that they like each other, but they haven't talked or acted normally for two days now."

Toph smirked. "Well, Sokka's obviously been jealous of Sashin since we got here…" She rubbed her chin in thought. "That explains for his strange behaviour, but not for Ty Lee's…" Toph suddenly had a mischievous smile plastered on her face. "Maybe we should just spy on them."

"Why don't we just ask them what's wrong?" suggested Aang. Katara nodded in agreement, while Toph crossed her arms and mumbled something about Aang ruining her fun. After figuring out who was going where, they set off to find Ty Lee and Sokka.

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She had been siting on her window-sill overlooking the town since morning. So much had been happening in this short amount of time that she didn't have much of a chance to think about everything. She had seen the true nature of the Fire Nation; people were hurt just for their gain, just so they could be seen as the strongest of the four nations. Ty Lee knew before the incident with the young Earth Kingdom girl that it was the Fire Nation's nature: that event just made her see it in a different light. She wanted to know if that girl was doing okay. She wanted to help her, show her how sorry and burdened she felt by what happened to her. Ty Lee needed to help set things right.

The Fire Nation, the people she thought were her family and friends, had proved themselves wrong.

I wonder if they care that I'm gone…

She highly doubted that Azula was capable of caring that she was gone. But…Mai might. She barely showed any emotions, so Ty Lee would never know how Mai took her 'death/disappearance'.

What about her family?

They probably didn't mind; just one less daughter to worry about. They were all the same anyway. Well, except when Ty Lee ran away to join the circus, trying to find a way to be different. Her father successfully covered up the scandal to save his reputation within the Fire Nation. The one thing she wanted them to notice was her need for difference, and the need for them to accept her as an individual. She smiled as she realised her parents have to accept her as an individual now, especially when she decided to go against everything she was raised to be. Well, that is if they find out.

Ty Lee was so proud, so happy to know that she was doing something right, helping the Avatar and his friends.

Then there was Sokka…

He made her feel good. He accepted her, even though it would seem impossible considering his hate towards anything to do with the Fire Nation. Sokka noticed that she was different from them, and she was grateful for it. And that kiss... it reassured her feelings even further.

The past few days were extremely awkward for Ty Lee. She decided it would be best if they didn't tell everyone about their 'relationship' so the focus would still be on their task at hand: getting Sashin to understand his important role of teaching Aang fire bending. Both Sokka and Ty Lee were trying to hide any hints that they had these feelings for each other. This resulted in the awkward moments of Sokka and Ty Lee trying to ignore each other. Hopefully no one's noticing…

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by knocking on her door. Curious as to who it could be, Ty Lee got up from her seat at the window-sill and headed for the door. She opened it to find Katara with an odd smile on her face, as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Hey Ty Lee, I was wondering if maybe I could talk with you for a bit." Ty Lee gave her a small smile and let her in.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Ty Lee inquisitively.

Katara looked out the window uncomfortably. "Look, I don't know you that well, but I was wondering if something was wrong. You've been acting… different these past couple of days."

"W-well, not really. I've just been thinking about everything that's happening and I guess it's just showing…" Ty Lee hoped that was enough of an explanation for Katara, she would feel too uncomfortable talking about Sokka with his younger sister.

"Oh…ok." Said Katara hesitantly. She started walking towards the door. Ty Lee let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, relieved that topic didn't come up. Katara stopped for a moment and turned to face her again. "Ty Lee?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" she asked while trying to decipher Katara's expression.

"Nothing… it's just that, I can tell you like Sokka…" Ty Lee could hear her heart beating after knowing what Katara discovered. "And I want you to know I'm ok with that." She gave Ty Lee a sincere smile and began walking towards the exit again.

"Thankyou" said Ty Lee as she saw Katara's retreating form leave the room.

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Off in another part of the Faan residence, Sokka was thinking about what was going on in his life. He was thinking about Ty Lee and the kiss he shared with her the other day. He was thinking about how he wanted to experience that again and how he wanted to share more experiences with her. The kiss was good physically, but it also made him realise other things…

It made him realise that Ty Lee was helping him get over his stereotypes of people. Just because someone comes from a certain place, it doesn't mean they are always the same as the people from that place. There are always exceptions.

He never thought that he of all people would learn to trust and become close to someone from the fire nation. He never thought he'd accept someone like her… but he did.

It seemed like Sokka was loosing hope in the world, even with the Avatar nearby. He kept loosing people he loved, people he wanted to protect but couldn't. Ty Lee was starting to help him put the pains of the past behind him. She was helping him with focusing on the future, and how much they could change it.

"Found him Aang!" said a voice that Sokka knew too well. Suddenly Toph and Aang appeared in front of him; Aang looking uneasy and Toph with a satisfied smirk on her face. "We've been looking for you, Sokka. We want to ask some questions." Toph said in her usual blunt persona.

Aang suddenly stood in front of her and looked at Sokka with an unnaturally large smile on his face. "Hehehe, just ignore her Sokka." He then turned his attention to Toph. "This isn't an interrogation, you know!" he whispered pleadingly. Toph just shrugged and let Aang take over.

"Well, Sokka…um…w-we've noticed that you and Ty Lee have been acting weird lately. You're both ignoring each other and….um, well….we were wondering….you know, if-"

"Ugh!!" interrupted Toph agitatedly. "Get to the point Twinkle toes!" Aang flinched at her anger and couldn't form a sentence – this was an uncomfortable topic for Aang. Toph decided to take over again; Aang was taking too long and dragging this simple question out. "What's going on with you and Ty Lee?" she said, relieved that Sokka finally understood what was going on. Sokka looked like a deer caught in head lights at this sudden question.

"Well…me and Ty Lee kind of…um…wereallylikeeachother." The last part of his sentence seemed to come out as one big, muddled word.

"We already knew that Sokka, but why have you two been avoiding each other?" Toph really wanted to know what was happening and fast.

"Oh, well, we didn't really want anyone to find out so we could focus on everything else that's been going on. But I guess that didn't really work, did it?" he sighed in annoyance and walked away from two very confused people.

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"Sashin?" Ty Lee cautiously asked, a bit unsure if she should disturb him. Sashin was sitting in his study, writing what looked to be a report. His dark brown eyes that were previously focused on the parchment looked up to Ty Lee. He responded to her with a smile and motioned for her to sit down. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something… it's kind of hard for me to talk about, because I'm not sure how you'll respond to it." Sashin's brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity towards Ty Lee's nervous, almost scared speech.

"Ty Lee, you know you can talk to me. I know we haven't really been in touch these past few years, but I'd still like to think I'm your best friend." He gave her a reassuring nod and smile to continue with what she was attempting to say.

"Do you trust me Sashin?" Ty Lee sighed before starting to talk again. "Do you trust my judgment?"

"Of course I do Ty Lee." Sashin said this reassuringly, but was confused as to where Ty Lee was going to take this conversation.

"Do you trust me even more than the Fire Lord?" There was a moment of silence; he was unsure of how he should answer this question.

"Yes, I do…but what does that have to do with what you're going to tell me?" Sashin said with a worried tone.

"It just might make it easier for me to tell you, that's all…" Ty Lee left the conversation there for an awkward silence to take place; no one was sure what should be said. Ty Lee was still thinking over how she could tell Sashin what was happening, while he was waiting for her to give him some insight into what was going on.

"Well, I think I might start by telling what's been happening up until this point." Sashin just stared at Ty Lee with a confused expression, still unsure as to what was happening. "Well, the truth is, about a month ago now, Azula invited Mai and I to help her hunt down her brother and the Avatar. We were asking around at many different Earth Kingdom towns…" she sighed in sadness at having to revisit this event again. "At one of the towns, Azula burnt a little girl to try and get information out of the villagers when it was obvious they didn't know anything… That's what led me to runaway from Azula, to try and get away from what the Fire Nation was doing."

"I…I don't…"

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything to that. Besides, I've got a lot more to tell you."

Sashin's eyebrows raised in response to what Ty Lee said. What has been going on this past month?

"Well, I found this fortune teller, who told me I can help change the outcome of something important. I understood that I had to help set things right in the world…"

"Where are you going with this?" Sashin didn't mean it in an impatient way, he was confused.

"I need to help stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world. That's why I tried to find the Avatar and help him out."

"Wait, what?! The Avatar?!" Sashin rose from his chair and paced around the room in confusion, frustration and worry. "Do you know how much trouble you're in when they find you?! Were you even thinking?!" Ty Lee just sat there and let him get his frustration out; it wasn't worth talking to an angry person. She was taking a big risk, for all she knew, Sashin might tell the Fire Lord and hand them over… But, there was a chance that he wouldn't.

"So I'm guessing Kuzon is actually the Avatar?" Sashin said this in a softer voice while returning to his chair. Ty Lee showed her surprise at how fast he came to that conclusion, but quickly hid it and nodded solemnly. She felt so bad that she had to put all of this trouble onto him, but they needed more help.

"I'm so sorry Sashin, and I can understand if you want to take this information to the Fire Lord…I was just hoping that maybe you would understand the pain that this is causing for everyone and that maybe… you might trust me." Ty Lee looked down to her lap; she didn't want to see the betrayed look on Sashin's face.

"I…don't want to betray the Fire Nation…" he whispered. Ty Lee looked up to see him with a pained look. "But you are my best friend, I don't want you to get in trouble." She smiled up at him, hopeful. "I can understand why you want to stop what the Fire Nation is doing, I never really thought about what happens to the other nations until hearing what you've said to me. It might take me a while to think it over…but I want to help."

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God you people probably want to kill me… oh well, would you like to review:)