Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. All of the rights belong to Nickelodean and the creators of the show.

I'm gonna go off topic for just a second here: I was just recently informed (by Jeff Palmer from youtube, look him up! His updates are very useful for the upcoming movie) that Toph won't be in the series! What the fuck? Toph is my favorite character on the show. Instead, some dude is taking her place. That pisses me off.

Anyway, enjoy the chapp

"Lightin' up alittle bit, huh?" Holly was relieved. She had to have some kind of relationship going with him for these next few days. This mission wasn't what she exactly how she intended it to be. She began to think that this would extended her time with Aang greatly for the near future. She had a feeling inside that that won't be a bad thing at all. She could finally make friends with somebody that was close to her age.

A gust of wind sheered against the two of them that was ten degrees colder then the rest of the air. Holly was used to it. She, in fact, didn't notice it much until it was mentioned.

"It's freezing here!" Aang said. He crossed his arms to gather any warmth that was left in him. Holly could see the blue on his face. His eyes were still sunken from the immense dose of drugs that was needed to knock him out for the night. She felt a rush of remorse for not being able to do much for him when he saved her life. Holly did not want help at all. She didn't feel like it was worth it to save someone like her.

"And all we have for the night is the clothes on our backs? How are we going to survive this?" Aang protested.

"Didn't you have a whole bunch of shit with you yesterday?"

Aang flinched, but didn't comment on her choice of words. He chose continue on: "Yeah, but I don't have it now because-"

The continuing failed. He froze.

Appa was gone too. Again.

"Cause what?" Holly tried to read his emotions. She has never witnessed such complicated things running through him so quickly. It looked confusing to her, but Aang was confused too. The fact that a girl dragged him out of a mafia-infested city and into the middle of the desert was lots of pressure to handle at once. His friends were under control of this mafia, and Holly dragged him away from it.

"D-dude, Aang, you were just smiling two seconds ago."

Unlike any other person, Holly did not squint when Aang's tattoos glowed a brilliant blue because that reflected the color of her own fire. She only lowered her eyebrows in confusement. She wasn't expecting something like this to happen. She felt scared for once. Her knowledge of the avatar was great, and she knew what was happening and what could be the consequences of standing too close. But he is also vulnerable. If she were to try to fight back, the cycle of the avatar's would be lost forever.

Holly thought of a plan in mere seconds. It was ridiculous, but she was confident that it was going to work. She walked towards him. The wind was picking up fast, and it wasn't the weather's fault. Aang's airbending was increasing every step she took. She was lucky not to have been flown off of her feet. Her stradegy was to use her fire as a shield against his air blasts. She created a bubble of white fire that surrounded her as close as it could. She could not see in front of her from such bright light, so she could only assume where his proximety was.

She killed the fire, threw her hands on his shoulders, and pulled him back on his feet before he got too high. Holly slammed her eyes shut with so much concentration. She was manipulating his heart beat with electricity to calm him down.

Aang jolted in his avatar state. His joints snapped far across while his head tipped back.

His eyes flew open. They were not blue anymore.

Holly's hands were still resting on his shoulders. "There is no time to panic."

Not only were here hands warm, but her words were just as comforting. That jolt of reality was just what he needed.

"Good evening, Chen," a soft voice greeted.

"Evenin', general," a rather rough voice replied. He was screaming on the inside to just keep walking to avoid conversation. His feet hezitated to move forward. The man strode in front of him and began talking before he could get out of the way. His tone of voice made it even harder to not feel intimidated.

"Do you have any news on wether the air ships have left for the search?"

"Sure did," he said. "Saw them left just this mornin'." Chen put his hand up to his bearded chin. He couldn't keep still for very long under so much nerves. One night prior, he witnessed an innocent man being tortured by the general standing before him. Losing his job would be the least of punishment for him. He was about the only one left that has been working at The Boiling Rock since before Holly has broke out of their system. Ever since, things have never been the same.

"Has the damage been repaired to our roof?"

The questions were becoming more difficult to answer. The more deeper he was reaching into, the more ugly the answers were going to get. Beads of sweat formed upon Chen's wrinkled forehead. He could feel it getting hot in his uniform.

"Er. . no one has gotten to it yet, sir, but we did get some men to accept the job-"

"Are you saying that there is still a large gaping hole inside one of our jail cells? What about the prisoner that was there previously?"

"Angra was moved to the first floor, last time I checked."

"Angra?" the general asked. He folded his hands gently in front of his waist. He was slightly bowing his head to him in a courtly manor, but he was lowering his eyebrows.

"Angra Mainyu, sir," he said. He did not want to go into further detail about him. He did, though, know on the inside that he was going to ask wether he wanted him to or not. The general wanted to know everything there is about everyone, believing that there is no one to trust anymore. He is obsessed in capturing Holly, the one that has escaped more then once.

"Ah, and what is his purpose here?" General Shang paced between the two narrow walls that were on either side of them. His head was held high, absorbing that fact that he had all of the power under this roof. This man was an easy target, easy to manipulate any information from him.

"He was. . . he er, used to be part of a mob, sir."

"More specifically?"

"Well, er, I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard that he's been workin' with Holly."

"Exactly. And I have recently been told that no one has been keeping a close eye on him ever since Holly Wilson has made her escape," the general pointed out. "You shall do so. Go check on Mainyu," he bluntly stated.

He felt his stomach lurch from his command. Chen was forced to be face-to-face with this man. He has never seen Holly Wilson in person ever in his life, but if he ever was to, she must be at least similar to Mainyu. Angra Mainyu was the most frightened of all of the prisoners still staying at The Boiling Rock. He stood a good six and a half feet tall. His muscles were stringed from age, but they were still there nonetheless. From staying in prison for so long, his wavy gray hair hung below his shoulders, followed by a beard that he attempted to cut with a small knife every so often. Many times, there would be moderate cuts upon his face. That was his only attempt at hygeine.

Chen walked down the darkened hallway, down the metal staircase (he retrieved a torch by then for a source of light), and down the next hallway on the east side of the building. There was only one occupant jail cell down this corner. It was occupied by Mainyu. His jail cell was heavily gaurded with metal, but not as much by gaurds themselves.

His hand was severely shaking when he withdrew a keychain from his pocket. His stormy eyes were strictly upon the chain of keyes, and not the metal door in front of him. The other hand was shaking while holding his torch, and soon both of his entire arms were. The keys rattled and clinged together. From the loss of a firm grip, the keys dropped to the floor with a small clash from metal versus metal.

Half of his weight bent over to retrieve it. A few moments later of shaking and clinging, he got his grip back. Chen stood up straight.

Just then, he noticed that there really wasn't a door in front of him at all. It was blown apart. Almost exactly how Holly had escaped.

"Holly. . . I'm sorry. I know I've been being a jerk lately, and I know I should be nice to you because you were just trying to help, and you just saved my life too. I've just been so confused today, and, I don't know what's going on anymore-"

A pair of unbelievably strong arms wrapped around him. "No, I'm sorry. You don't have anything to be sorry about. I've been a bitch to you and your friends right from the start. I attacked your girlfriend, for god's sake, and you still went out there and saved my ass. I really didn't deserve that."

The two of them parted. "Are you kidding me? You took down that whole airship for us!"

"Uh, yeah, about that," Holly gave a nervous laugh. "Those people weren't really after you. They were there because of me."

"Because of you?" he asked. "Why?"

"Uh. . . I kind of broke out of the best prisons of the fire nation and pissed them off."

The small distinct scars on Holly's face became noticable to him again. Visions of the people in the city came back to him. He began to make the connections. But he had to be sure of himself. Aang took a step back. "Why were you in prison?"

"Because I was working with someone on a mission that contradicted their rules."

"A mission?" This wasn't exactly what he was having in mind. "What kind of mission?"

Holly sighed, and then ticked her head behind her shoulder. "The leader of the mob back there gave me a mission to find you. My intentions are different then his. He wants you for the same reason that the fire lord does (even if he doesn't want to admit it). I went along with his plan, and he actually thinks that I'm out bound to capture you and bring you straight to him. But I actually went along with his plan for a different thing in mind."

Aang formed a questionable expression on his face.

"You have already mastered the elements of air, water, and earth. Right?"

He was taken aback by such a random question, but still agreed, nodding his head once. It unfixed him off of the theory that Holly was once involved with the mafia.

"Maybe we should sit down and talk? Maybe you could whip us up some earth chairs, or some kind of fire pit for me to work with?"

"You're not thinking of teaching me how to firebend, are you?"

"Princess Azula, Prince Zuko, we have found someone in the desert!"

"Who is it?" Zuko asked, straightening his posture in his chair.

"It's not Holly Wilson, but we think that he has something to do with her."

Zuko heard Azula huff in the corner. Every bit of her wanted Holly dead. It was utterly humiliating to come back into their home nation to let people know that everyone besides her and her brother have perished. None of them believed her when she said that Holly killed them all from a swipe in the air. Not even her own father.

Zuko was used to not being trusted, of course. His father never treated him like he should. He had the scar to prove it. But Azula was always treated with respect and praise by their father, and all because of Holly, his actions toward her have turned around. Her escape has ruined her repuation as the Princess.

"Bring him in," Zuko ordered. He wasn't really expecting much on the inside. Their new staff members were just the left overs that no one wanted to take with them on other's journeys. They were here to fill space, Zuko thought throughout their whole destination. His hope has sunken ever since they had left.

The man that entered before him had to be escorted by a few of his strongest men on board. Smoke was spewing out of his mouth that let half open, showing drastically stained teeth. His eyes drooped with dark shadows that gave him a dead-look to his face. His hair was very unkempt and still had sand at the roots from the wind in the desert. Some of his hair, and the surface of his skin shone sweat against the few of the lights in the room. He was old, tall, and lanky. Zuko didn't understand how someone like him could possibly be wandering around in a desert on a day like this. He knew of the drastic temperature change that took place at night.

"State your name."

Zuko didn't notice until now that Azula had made her way next to him like nothing has ever happened back at home. She was the same Azula all over again.

"Angra Mainyu."

Many pairs of wide eyes focused upon him. His voice was raspy, but bold. He didn't seem intimidated by any of the men in the air ship, including Zuko and Azula. The two siblings have heard of his name before along with most of the other soldiers. He had to do a lot with Holly Wilson. Zuko's mind played a flashback of Holly killing all of his former soldiers at once. Azula couldn't play the act of being intimidating any longer. She actually took a few steps back and landed in her seat beside his brother's.

Mainyu laughed. He sounded crazy, which made it frightening. His voice was still very low and raspy. His jawline was widespread when he smiled. His pale golden eyes rolled up to the smokey ceiling, made by himself. Two of the men had to hold him up by the arms because he lost so much of his balance.

"Are you under the impression that I am a murderer?" Mainyu asked, turning to Zuko and Azula. His eyes flickered between the two of them. "No, those are not my intentions. Frankly, I was looking for Holly, as well. I could use some help from the fire nation."

"Why do you want to find her?" asked Zuko.

"It's very simple, actually. You see, I thought I tricked the girl into capturing the avatar for myself. But I am an old man, so I had to think long and hard to come to the conclusion that she has gone against my plan for her own selfish ways."

Azula could tell that what he was saying was only partly true. "You seem pretty smart to me, Mainyu, so tell me: What really convinced you to change your ways?" she asked. She gave her men a look that told them to get the answer out of him.

Two blazes of normal fire erupted out of the men's palms. They rested just below his chin. Mainyu laughed, but not as hard as before.

"Very clever, Princess, you know how to read a person well," he complimented.

"Tell us what happened!" Zuko yelled.

Mainyu's eyes pierced Zuko's. The stare seemed to go on forever. He found it to be a mistake to push him after so long. He dropped the anger from his expression and let off.

"Holly broke into my mafia to save the avatar."

Holly squared her shoulders and smiled, rolling her eyes to give away her approval. Her hands slid down her sides, then she came to realize that she didn't have any pockets in her outfit. She missed her old apparel.

"Can't save the world without a little fire," she commented.

Aang would laugh, but there were too many other emotions still running through his mind. The jolt of electricity was still tingling his insides. He felt much more alive. He hasn't felt any more clearer since a few days ago.

"Maybe you can teach me how to make white fire," he suggested. His face lit up as he expected a positive answer, but it sunk when he saw a rather dark expression in her eyes. She looked dissapointed or upset. She sighed.

"You wanna set up camp instead of standing here out in the open - cold desert?"

Aang was puzzled when she didn't want to press the converstion any further. Was it something that he said?

"Um. . . sure," he said. He rolled his head along with his gray eyes around his surroundings. He wasn't persay a master at earthbending yet like Holly assumed. He wasn't so sure how to create an earth dome large enough for the two of them. That was something that he usually left for Toph to do. . .

Poof. Holly plopped into the dry sand where she was standing. A dust cloud formed around her, and it became larger when she layed her back into it. She connected her fingers behind her head and crossed her short legs like she was lounging on a beach. She might have been pretending to to get over the fact that they were stuck in a desert for the night.

"Try not to make the tent thing too noticable," she reminded him. "The mob might spot us here and slit our throats." It sounded like she was trying to be funny, but it only scared him even more then he was. He shot a look at Holly after assuming that it was an insult to his abilities, but he didn't manage to catch her eye. And what was she going to do for the rest of the night?

Despite his annoying and lack of self confidence, Aang managed to create a large earth dome while in his horse stance. It was already getting dark when they were in the open, but now it was pitch black. He couldn't see a thing.

A pair of glowing golden eyes seemed to come out of nowhere. That was all that he could see.

"Holly, I think there's an animal in here!"

WHOOSH! The small blaze of white fire was enough to illuminate the entire "room".

"Where?" she asked obliviously. She was shot up into a sitting position, trying to look for this animal.

Aang could not believe it. He was awestruck.

"What?"

"So: You are telling me that you walked down to Mainyu's jail cell, and he wasn't there when you got there? That sounds convenient. He already left when you got there? How do I know that you are lying?"

"Uh, I dunno, general, I think it sounds pretty straightforward-"

"Silence!"

Chen's eyes formed a glassy appearance when he became nose-to-nose with the terrifyingly strict man. Even though there were dozens of people in the area, he felt as though they were the only two people visible.

"You know, Chen, your sense of nervousness tells me that you are lying through your teeth! I say that Mainyu was, in fact, still there when you went there! But you were too week to hold him off, and you let him escape!"

"Sir, that's not-"

"Take him away!"

The whispering within the crowd of staff members increased to a low buzz. Chen begged General Shang to spare him. His words were so studdered and slurred, you couldn't tell what he was saying half of the time. Two of the higher-appointed gaurds took hold of his large arms and were forced to drag him out of the courtyard. General Shang brought up other gaurds and whispered in their ears. They nodded, and followed Chen back into the building. He gave his orders to be exiled.

"The rest of you are dismissed!"

Wow, what a chapter. This took me a while to write, but I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. Feedback?

And idk if the last scene is really needed, but it was pretty cool to end with. Basically, the general sent Chen off to be killed in some kind of torturous way haha. But on a serious level, I'm just trying to show the cruelness of the fire nation and how the ridiculous the war is getting.

The next chapter will get real interesting, if you're into this story. Aang and Holly are gonna infiltrate the mob :P