AN: sorry! I think I may have screwed up the files and stuff O_O Weeeeell w/e the case may be, this is the REAL chapter 9, and not a part of my Pucca Fanfic lol^^ Enjoy!

"I thought the world had ended when mother left me by myself in that horrible place. My young mind wasn't developed enough yet to understand the concept of leaving because you want to stay forever but can't."

"Do you understand it now?" Aang asked. A tear slid down the young woman's face as she turned to her brother.

"Of course I understand it, or else I would still be at home, with you, where I don't belong!" she sobbed. He pulled her into his arms, and the siblings cried together. And though only one was crying with her tears, all of the children were crying with their hearts.

Chapter9: Blackout

I didn't know Nika like I knew the others, but seeing her crying like this, in a way that was a strong contrast to what she usually presented, made me want to do whatever it took to help her stop. Appa roared.

Nika picked up her head from where it was resting on Zuko's shoulder and slid down to where Aang was sitting in the crook of Appa's neck. He happily moved up for her. She stroked Appa's head, all the while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"What would I do without a friend like you?" she cooed. She looked at her necklace, and then turned to us.

"This symbol was given to me in the temple of the Fire Sages. They said that it would help me to find my true meaning in life. I think that the only thing it's done is provide a painful reminder as to what happened that day." She mumbled, so that it was difficult to hear her. But what we did hear loud and clear was her next statement.

"I HATE THIS THING!!!" she screamed, tearing the ribbon off of her neck. Now, the events that happened in the next few seconds were a mystery to me.

Nika's eyes glaze over.

She begins to waver.

Toph yells at us to catch her before she falls.

Aang reaches out to grab her cloak.

He grabs it.

Nika slips through it and plunges into the clouds.

Her necklace follows.

"Nika!!!" Sokka cries. He turns to Aang desperately. Aang is already unfolding his glider, but thinks better of it and simply jumps after her. I watch fearfully as he uses airbending to increase his speed and catch up with her.

I see a strip of land and begin to steer Appa towards it. We descended rapidly enough so that I could hear Aang yelling.

"Nika!" he called. "Wake up!" When she didn't respond, Aang was left wondering what to do. They were both falling to the ground from an incredible height at a dangerously fast speed, there was little Aang could do to stop them, I was too far away to be of any use, and the only thing that could possibly save them from dying a horrible (and flat) death was Nika regaining consciousness, which wasn't about to happen. I recognized where we were. It was the Shore of Kyoshi Island, where we had landed for the very first time a few weeks earlier. The irony. The place where Aang was about to get killed was the place in which he was the most appreciated. They were getting closer to the ground.

"Aang!" I cried desperately. Then, I realized that he was never going to make it. I looked away. I couldn't bear to witness it. Appa roared in agony. Or… was it surprise? I turned and saw that Aang had realized what I had, and, at a point of desperation, had triggered the Avatar state.

Zuko moved scooted next to me. He had never seen Aang in the Avatar state other than when he was getting his butt kicked (during which he was too busy running for his life to pay attention…)

In a brilliant display of waterbending, Aang brought a wave up to where he was falling next to Nika. She plunged into the wave, slowing her speed. Aang slowed himself down by encompassing himself in an air sphere, and landed on the ground. He stood drunkenly for a moment, like he usually did after exiting the Avatar state, and then ran on the water, small ice floes steadying his steps, to where Nika's seemingly lifeless body was slowly sinking underneath the waves.

By now, I had landed with Appa and was watching the entire scene with sick relief. I had only once experienced this feeling. It was when I was watching Sokka build his lookout tower when we were young children. Suddenly, Sokka slipped and fell. I knew that even if I ran faster than the wind, I would never make it in time to catch him, or at least soften his fall. I arrived at the scene, sure that I would find Sokka with every bone in his body broken, including his neck, when I saw that he had landed headfirst in a snow pile. It was a mixture of relief and horror.

Aang was swimming towards us, Nika's arms around his neck. Zuko carried her towards the rest of us and set her down near Appa's tail. I gasped. Her entire body was covered in her tattoos! I hadn't known that! They went from her left eye all the way down to her feet. No one else seemed surprised by this. Was I the only one that noticed? No, I realized. Aang was staring at her in wonder as well.

"What's wrong with her, Katara?" Sokka asked me. I looked at her. I wanted to say "nothing", but something definitely wasn't right. I walked over to where everyone was crowding around her. There was enough water left on her body for me to examine her properly.

"Well…" I started.

"Well what?" Zuko asked angrily. I gave him a dirty look.

"She's not… physically hurt…" I continued, not sure of what to say.

"Well, then what is she?" Toph asked.

"Don't rush me!" I snapped.

"Now wait just a darn minute…!"

"If she's not physically hurt, then why isn't she… er… awake?" Aang asked, cutting Toph off before this could escalate into a fight.

"I dunno." I answered. Toph sighed.

Does this have anything to do with it?" she asked, picking Nika's necklace up off of the floor. Sokka took it and carefully placed it around Nika's neck. As soon as he shut the clasp, her eyes jerked open. A swirl of orange light entered her pitch black eyes and she blinked.

"What…?" she asked. "Ugh…" she groaned, and grasped her head. The orange had completely entered her entire eyes, and it was turning brown now. It was the most amazing thing that I ever saw happening to a person. She wavered a bit, and I reached out to catch her, but she steadied herself in time.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked.

"I'm fine, as always…" she said suspiciously. "Why are you all looking at me? What happened?" Then, she looked down at herself. Realizing that her scars were exposed, she blushed.

"Where's my robe?" she asked, frantically trying to cover herself. Zuko handed it to her. She snatched it away from him, glaring at him angrily.

"Don't you remember what just happened?" I asked, emphasizing the just.

"I remember one thing. We were in the air, and now, we're on the ground."

"And between that?"

"I dunno. What's going on?" I was about to answer, when a small head poked out of the bushes. It was a little girl. Her eyes widened when she saw Aang.

"Aang, Aang, Aang!! You're back! Yippee!!!!" She ran down and hugged him. A million other faces peered out of the reeds that surrounded the shore. Of course. Along with Kyoshi Island came the swarms of adoring fans. They all shared a similar reaction to Aang's presence. The crowded around him, until one of them took notice of Nika. She turned around protectively, giving her an evil stare. I had to snicker. She was so little, yet so dangerous!

"Who's she?" she asked quietly, menacingly.

"She's… uh… a princess!" Aang answered quickly. Nika looked at me questioningly, but played along, bowing formally. She was greeted with a chorus of oohs and aahs.

"Sokka?" a voice asked with contained excitement. Uh oh. Suki. This wasn't going to end well. I was all too aware of the Nika-Sokka relationship.

"Nika!" I called. I was relieved when she turned to face me. I motioned for her to come over to me. As she was walking over to me, Suki planted a kiss on Sokka's lips. I shook my head when I thought of what would happen if Nika were to find out about… them. I hoped that nothing bad would happen…

Let's just hope that everything goes well... except for the fact that it won't because there's and entire part three that I have to type up. lol I already wrote it out, but I'm just too lazy to type it!

REVIEW!!!!!

~Sweep~