"So I ran out the back, into the woods, and somehow ended up here."

I didn't mention the weird field; I didn't want to sound totally crazy. I hugged my knees to my chest again, and rested my chin on my arms. I was afraid to look at Zuko, and see pity in his eyes. I was going to try and brush it off like it wasn't that bad, when I felt an incredible heat next to me. I looked over at Zuko, but he wasn't looking back at me. He was just staring into the sea with an almost frightening expression. He sounded angry as he said,

"People like that make me sick. That guy has no honor, and doesn't deserve someone like you."

"It doesn't matter now anyway. Now that I'm here I'll probably never see him again."

"It does matter. He hurt you, and if he ever shows up here, he's going to pay for it."

I looked at him then, and froze as he reached out a hand to my face. He gently put his hand under my chin, and turned my face towards him. I was totally speechless when he leaned closer. He traced his thumb over my bottom lip, and said,

"He cut you."

It wasn't a question. I just nodded slightly, and he pulled his hand away. I could still feel the warmth from his hand on my face, and I begged my body not to blush. He was about to say something else when I heard someone clear their throat behind us. We were both surprised and turned quickly around to see Toph standing there with her hands on her hips. She spoke in that –ever-so-snarky tone of hers,

"Sorry to interrupt whatever this is, but Aang needs you guys up here."

We both followed Toph back up the hill and into the courtyard. Sokka and Suki weren't around, and Toph went to sit with Katara on the stairs. Aang walked over to Zuko and bowed.

"I'm sorry for goofing off so much, but I'm ready to learn if you're ready to teach me."

"Good because there's something you need to learn before facing my father."

Aang raised his head again, and we both looked at Zuko. His tone was deadly serious,

"You need to learn how to redirect lightning."

Zuko took a few steps back and faced the both of us. He stretched both his arms out to the left and slightly pointed up, using two fingers. He dragged one hand back down to his stomach, and then pointed it out again in the opposite direction. He repeated the movement with his other arm. He did it once more, and then spoke to us again.

"If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning with follow it. You have to turn your opponent's energy against them."

Aang looked intrigued. He started to copy Zuko's movements, and I followed the suit.

"That sounds a lot like waterbending." Aang added, and Zuko replied with,

"Exactly. My uncle invented this technique after studying waterbenders."

Wow, his uncle sounds pretty bad-ass, I mean come on; Lightning bending? Awesome.

Once I got the hang of the movements I asked Zuko,

"Have you ever actually had to redirect lightning before?"

His tone was serious as he answered,

"Once, against my father."

"What was it like?"

He stopped then, and seemed to ponder the question. Aang and I stopped as well, and listened carefully as he spoke.

"It was exhilarating, yet terrifying. You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body, but you know that if you make the wrong move…it's over."

Aang looked frightened, but asked in a hopeful voice,

"Not, like, over over…right?"

"Over, as in, your heart will probably stop. My father will definitely try to use lightning against you. You're going to have to take his life before he takes yours."

I gulped involuntarily, and Aang looked conflicted. Zuko turned and walked up the stairs, and into the house. I stood next to Aang and asked him,

"Aang, are you ok?"

He sighed and spoke in a sad tone,

"You're new here so you probably don't know. The Avatar is born into a new cycle after each life. In this one I was born an Air Nomad, and I was taught that every life is sacred. I've always believed in that, and now I'm practically being forced to kill a man."

I put a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. I tried to maintain a calm, and understanding, tone.

"Aang, this man is going to end the lives of thousands of people. This just seems like a sacrifice you'll have to make. It's him, or thousands of innocent people."

He looked at me, and could swear there were tears in his eyes; but he seemed to understand and nodded slightly. I gave him a small smile and said,

"It's not like you have to go through this alone. You have your family here with you, and I know we just met, but I promise I'll be here for you too."

He brightened up then, and surprised me with a bear hug.

Jeeze the scrawny kid's stronger than he looks…

"Thank you Maggie. I really need to hear that right now."

I gave up and hugged him back. When we let go Katara and Toph walked over to us.

"My brother and Suki have been working on a training course. They should be ready by now, so we should head over there."

"Gather 'round team Avatar."

We all stood around Sokka as he shared his "battle strategy. The area we walked to mostly consisted of rocks, and there were large boulders everywhere. Behind Sokka was his makeshift fire lord, which Aang was meant to "kill". It was basically a scarecrow with a watermelon for a head. Sokka spoke in a matter-of-fact voice.

"In order to defeat the fire lord, or in this case the melon lord, our timing has to be perfect."

He used a stick to draw a visual of his plan as he explained it.

"First, Suki and I will draw his fire. Then Katara and Zuko charge in with some liquidy-hot offense, and while the melon lord is distracted Aang swoops in and BAM! He delivers the final blow."

I looked over and saw Aang's face drop a bit. I was going to ask a question but Toph beat me to it.

"Uh, what about me?"

"For now you're the melon lords' forces."

"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?"

She sounds way too happy about that…

"Whatever makes the training feel more realistic."

"Sweetness." Toph gave a scary grin, and the group was about to disperse when I cut in.

"Wait, what should I do?"

Sokka looked surprised, and spoke in an apologetic voice.

"Crap, I'm sorry Maggie! I almost forgot that we had an extra team member."

"It's ok; I just want to be able to help when the time comes."

Sokka stopped to think for a moment then continued with,

"Well the basic idea is to get past Toph to reach the melon lord, but I already paired everyone off…"

He seemed to be deep in thought when I got an idea.

"Well I can try it by myself, if that's ok?"

"I guess that's ok. It could be good practice for you…ok. It'll be Suki and I, Zuko and Katara, and Maggie will fly solo."

We all dispersed to our designated areas and waited for the first strike from Toph. I was hiding behind a large rock formation, but I knew that would be useless against someone who could feel where I was. I heard a maniacal laugh come from the top of the hill where the melon lord was perched. I peeked around my hiding spot only to see Toph move an oil covered boulder over an open flame, and chuck it into the air. Sokka and Suki had already made their first move and were rushing forward towards the melon lord.

I heard Toph's bolder crash to the ground, darted out from behind my hiding place, and ran forward. I had only gotten about fifteen feet when two rock-soldiers burst from the ground and blocked my path. They moved towards me, and I barley dodged them. I instinctively shot out my right hand and a burst of fire came out and destroyed one of the soldiers. I quickly dodged the other, and repeated the attack. The head came clean off, and I turned to run up the hill again.

I looked to my left only to see Katara and Zuko fighting off a hoard of rock-soldiers. I was really impressed as they took out the group in a matter of seconds. I was snapped back to reality when I heard Suki shout,

"Look out!"

I looked up just in time to see the flaming boulder flying at me, and used airbending to push myself out of the way. I fell to the ground with a thud, but quickly got to my feet again.

This girl is crazy; she's going to kill someone!

I heard another crash and looked over at Sokka, who was lying on the ground face to face with a flaming boulder. I watched in admiration as Suki gracefully jumped up onto the boulder, then off the other side. Sokka yelled out,

"Watch it Toph!"

I felt chills run down my spine when Toph shouted back,

"I am not Toph! I am Melon Lord! Muahahahaha!" With that she launched another rock towards Zuko and Katara. They dodged it easily, and I used Tophs' moment of distraction to run as fast as I could. I'm a pretty fast runner, so I reached Katara and Zuko in no time. Katara turned to me for a moment and said in a breathless voice,

"You're not half bad for a beginner."

"Thanks, but I have a long way to go before I'm anything like you guys. I can't believe you guys do this stuff all the time!"

I was still trying to catch my breath when I heard Zuko yell,

"Mags!" I felt a rough tug on my arm and was pulled away into someone's arms. I heard a crash next to me, and realized what happened. Toph had used my moment of distraction to send a boulder at me. Zuko had seen it, and pulled me out of the way. I was wrapped up in his arms, and I stopped breathing.

I can feel his heart beating…So warm…so safe…

He was still holding on to me when I heard Sokka yell,

"Now Aang!"

Zuko let go then, and we both looked up at the melon lord. Aang had jumped out from behind a rock and was about to deliver his final blow. Just as he was about to strike, he froze in place and stopped his attack. Zuko shouted out to him,

"Aang what are you waiting for? Take him out!"

Aang just looked down and replied,

"I can't"

I felt so bad for him at that moment. If he couldn't kill a watermelon, how was he supposed to kill the Fire Lord? Sokka walked up the hill and spoke to Aang in an irritated tone.

"What's wrong with you? If this were the real thing you'd be shot full of lightning by now!"

"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself."

Aang looked down in shame, and Sokka walked up to the melon lord, and decapitated him with his sword.

"There. That's how it's done."

Aang looked at him in horror, but Sokka's usually comical grin was replaced with a steel gaze. Nobody said anything as they made their way down the hill, back to the house. Aang hung back for a moment, and then made his way down.

Instead of heading back I stepped forward and looked at the broken melon lord. I picked one of the pieces up and gazed at it for a moment. I could feel tears in my eyes as I thought of the burden that poor kid must be carrying. I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard that familiar gruff voice.

"Are you ok?"

I didn't really know how to answer, so I just kept staring at the remains of the fallen melon lord. Zuko waited patiently, so I tried to answer.

"I'm just worried about Aang. If he can't even decapitate a melon, how is he supposed to murder someone?"

I let the melon drop to the ground, and turned around to face Zuko. I was hoping he wouldn't notice the tears in my eyes, but he noticeably stiffened and his eyes widened slightly. His voice was softer this time when he asked,

"Why do you care so much about people you just met?"

I don't know why that question surprised me. After all it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. Why did I care? I had only just met these people today, yet I cared about their well-being. I tried to answer to the best of my ability.

"I think of people in a different way than most. I consider everyone I meet a friend until they prove to be otherwise. I like to give people a chance before I pass judgment. I've only been with you guys a day, but I can already tell that you're great people, and I am honored that I've been accepted so quickly."

I looked down and continued,

"But I guess that's what got me into this mess in the first place. I gave the wrong person my trust, and now I'm paying the price for it."

Zuko walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, and we walked back to the house together in a peaceful silence.