Appa was getting tired of flying. And since none of his passengers were starting to wake up, he decided that the field over which they were flying would be the perfect place to rest. He landed softly; making sure that none of his passengers had been awoken. Humans were so fragile…He felt the little green girl shift and wished, not for the first time that he could tell someone about the hidden sadness wafting over from her. It wasn't normal. At least the airbender should have been able to do something about it… After all, the blue girl was made to be with the red boy, he knew enough about scents to be able to tell at least that much. What he didn't understand was why the yellow friend's smell became happy as soon as he was in close range of the nice blue girl. It didn't make sense. Didn't he get that she wasn't his to have? She was in his life as his life-maker (mother) not as his life-mate (obvious signification). The blue girl seemed conscious of that. So, logically, the yellow friend had to help the sad green girl. It made perfect sense to his bison-mind.

He laid his large head on is paws. It was time for a well-deserved nape. And too bad for the humans if they fell off the saddle. After all, a bison couldn't be held responsible for his friend's blunders. The jolt shook his passengers, but as far as he could tell, they all still slept soundly. And, as a kind of bonus, the blue girl was now pressed to the red boy, from what he could smell, and feel through the saddle. All was looking up.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 Moving on to Sokka 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sokka slowly opened his eyes, utterly confused. Where was he already? It took him a few seconds before he realised where he was and how he had ended up there. He slowly stood up, feeling all the aches that he had accumulated over his stay in Zhao's ship. His muscles groaned in protest. After so little use, they had been drastically weakened. 'Good thing that my mind is still as strong as before, hunh?' He stretched his arms and legs as he stood there. The feeling of dread that had been growing ever since Yue had mentioned that Suki needed him just kept on growing. She needed help, and she was somewhere close enough for him to feel the pull of her soul on his. And the strength of that pull kept on growing.

He took a deep breath and started walking down the dirt road. After a few minutes, he felt his stomach rumble. It felt good to be able to feel hungry…but he needed FOOD! Looking in front of him, he finally noticed a signpost a few meters ahead. That had to mean that he was getting closer to…somewhere. There were the usual wanted posters for the Blue Spirit, the Avatar, Jeong-Jeong and a few others. He finally caught sight of a name: Myreiku, 5 days of walking (North). Just underneath it, one could read Kusenat, 1.5 days of walking (East). Sokka groaned. Why did Earth Kingdom villages have to be spaced so far apart? Readjusting his shirt, he sighed and started trudging towards the town of Kusenat.

Every few minutes, the grumbling of his stomach would interrupt his thoughts. If it had been anyone or anything else than saving Suki, he would have given up to look for food, but she was too important for that. And she needed his help. He kept on walking, step after step, breathing in, breathing out.

A sudden movement on his left made him reach for the place on his back where his boomerang used to hang, by reflex more than anything else. He smacked himself in the forehead when he realised that it wasn't there anymore. The mole-rabbit that had caused the disturbance rushed across the road into the bushes on the other side. Sokka sighed. Dinner had come straight to him, and he couldn't even catch it. 'Who would have thought that I would regret those strange nuts that Momo used to bring back…' He walked on, glancing up from time to time at the stars. They were so beautiful… It made no sense that something so beautiful could exist in a world torn apart by war and cruelty, yet still they shone, beacons of hope in a time of lost souls.

Night had fallen: it was time to stop if he didn't want to lose himself while walking through the dark forest. Going to the side of the dirt road, he lay down and tried to put his mind to sleep. But the thought of all the time he was losing, and all the distance he had yet to cover kept tormenting him. He tossed and turned for so long that he was almost screaming with frustration when sleep finally took hold of him.

When the sun rose, Sokka awoke almost immediately. He pulled his shirt on, looked around half-heartedly for berries to eat, and finding none, got to his feet. He would have to eat later. After he had found Suki. Later. He stood in one spot for a second, waiting for the world around him to stop spinning. He felt weak at the knees and stumbled for a few steps before he found a constant rhythm and walked on.

The sun was high in the sky before he found a stream to quench his thirst. Landing awkwardly on his knees (ouch! A rock…) He started to gulp down water as quickly as possible. His breaths slowed and he rested back on his heels, tension gradually falling from his over-tight shoulders. He stood up again, partly replenished, and continued on his way. When the sun had started to set, he finally reached the village he had been yearning towards. He entered, judging the atmosphere.

All of the houses had lit windows. Kusenat wasn't big, but not small either. It was extremely clean, compared to most villages he had crossed through (or over) in his immeasurable experience of the world. However, he still couldn't see more than three feet in front of him. Suki was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, as his stomach growled. It was then that he realised just how hungry he was. The world around him was spinning again. He stumbled for a few feet before his knees gave way. He crawled a few more meters before he finally collapsed on the dry dirt. The fly-crickets continued singing their sweet song, oblivious to the troubles of the humans who surrounded them.

0o0o0o0o0 Time has passed 0o0o0o0o0

He opened his eyes. And blinked. 'Where am I?' He could see whitewashed walls all around him, light streaming in through a large window. The sun shone brightly. Sokka nearly bounded out of his bed, surprising even himself. 'Since when am I so eager to wake up?' He pinched himself on the arm once, to see if he was dreaming.

An elderly man was just starting to arrange his precious new shipment of beautiful lush and green cabbages when… "OUCH!" A resounding yell made him jump, accidentally hitting the bottom row of cabbages. The whole cart shook. It seemed to regain its balance, just when it was on the edge of falling. Cabbage Man let out a sigh. That quickly turned into a moan of despair as the whole thing fell onto the ground. A young man dressed in torn blue clothes rushed by. His eyes were wide as the young man disappeared around the corner of a house. That had been… No! The Avatar and his friends were here too. It just wasn't fair! "My poor, poor cabbages…Why?!? Why do they always have to be the ones to suffer?"

Sokka had screamed as he pinched his arm. But La, that had hurt! 'Note to self: stop pinching myself so hard. It bloody hurts!' He shook his head at his own stupidity and exited the bedroom in which he had recuperated his lost hours of sleep. As he entered the main room of the housed, he same face to face with a man who looked no older than Hakoda. He stopped at a dead halt, skidding straight into the table beside the older man. Once he steadied himself, he took a few steps back and peered curiously at his impromptu host. "Er… Good morning, Sir!"

The man stared at him for a few seconds then burst out laughing. "Hello, young man! Did you have a nice sleep? Of course you did! Why wouldn't you have? Are you hungry? Definitively. Boys your age always are. Come, come, we mustn't dilly-dally. What's your name? I'm Aishon. Do you like pan cakes? Of course you do! Everyone does! Now sit down and eat!"

Sokka just gaped at him. That man had just out-talked him! It was, by all means, theoretically impossible! It didn't make any sense. He felt himself being towed to a chair, then made to sit. He was going to ask the man if he had seen a girl of Suki's description when all thought of her flew out of his head as a plate of delicious pan cakes was put in front of his face. Reaching for the utensils, he dug in with guests, entirely consecrating himself to the task of eating the wondrously tasty pan cakes.

Having finished wolfing them down, he rushed towards his host. "Have you seen a girl about my age with t-"

"She was brought to the prison earlier. You might want to check the third cell on the left in the second hallway. And you could always use the back door to get out… It's at the end of that hallway…and if you're really lucky, you should find a copy of the keys in the sugar pot in the entry. Or they could always be hanging on a hook somewhere in the same hallway as the cell."

Sokka grinned. The man was helping him. And he was going to make the best of that help. He bowed to his host, then rushed out of the door, sprinting as fast as he could. He just didn't have the strength to lose someone else, someone that close to him.

On his way around a corner, he rushed past a cart of cabbages that looked like it was just about to fall. Turning another corner, he heard a crash that told him of the outcome. He chuckled lightly: that man would never manage to keep his cabbages safe from them… Becoming serious again, he continued to run towards the prison, every fibre of his being intent on saving one of the only people in the world that he still trusted completely.

0o0o0o0o0o0 Azula and Tomaku 0o0o0o0o0o0

Azula and Tomaku had been walking for about two days when the fateful accident happened. The day had started out quite normally, like any other time in their travels together. The traveling players had, strangely enough in Azula's opinion, elected to travel with them for a few more days. The logical part of her kept on telling her that there was something that they wanted from her, that there had to be a darker reason for how friendly they were being.

As much as it was against her upbringing, she tried to spend her time forcing herself to believe that they were well-meaning. But it was taking all of her concentration. That was why she had failed to notice all the whispering that took place behind her back, at days length. It also rendered her unable to make sure that Tomaku wasn't conniving behind her back to either betray her or give her up to the army.

She had started to pour all of her energy into her chi-protection training. She had managed to keep up a shield for a grand total of three minutes. After that, she would invariably collapse, completely exhausted. One thing she couldn't deny was that Tomaku, for all his grumbling about how she was too slow at learning this – those words had earned him a light slap on the top of the head – was amazingly talented teacher. And seemed to have an almost never ending store of good humour and patience. It angered her that he was able to stay so calm and serene when she was almost exploding from anger and frustration at her incapacity to control herself. It just wasn't fair! How could Tomaku have learned to control his chi so well and so quickly when she was struggling with even the simplest exercises.

The fury was slowly growing inside of her. Unable to admit to herself that she wasn't able to better everyone else in this, unable to simply say that Tomaku was better than her. This feeling had slowly pushed her towards experimenting somewhat foolishly with amounts of chi that she could use. She had seen some things that Tomaku could do that seemed to use chi instead of bending. But for most, it was only a guess. The fact that she hadn't talked to Tomaku about it yet made her angrier against herself. He hadn't thought that she was good enough to learn those kind of advanced things, did he? She was already so close to snapping because of the constant fight between what she had believed in her whole life, and what she was slowly starting to discover about herself… Tomaku's annoying lack of trust was just something else pointing towards an explosion. The fact that she was actually starting to care about what he thought of her was what bothered her the most.

That day, she had woken up early to go check out a theory that she had been developing. Ever since her early years, she had been instructed on how bending had started and how it worked. The main story was that the power of your chi determined how powerful your bending would be. She was supposing that the opposite was also true: strong bending meant strong chi flow. And chi was part of all humans. The only thing that determined what kind of bender you were was the middle in which you were born. In her case, that had been the Fire Nation capital. She had never, ever thought of controlling water, earth or air as a child. Everyone she saw around her controlled the wildness of fire, it followed reason that she should do the same. She had figured that that was why she had become a firebender. And she was almost sure that that "choice" made as a child was permanent, lasting a whole lifetime.

She was conscious of that now, and she was planning on that to help her. Her chi had always been directed towards getting more and more control over fire and lightening. Never had she thought that she could push the limits of her soul towards other sorts of bending. Yet that was just what she was about to try. She crept silently out of the camp, making sure that no one else had awoken. If her theory worked out, she could rival the Avatar in strength. When he was in the Avatar State, of course. When he had the knowledge of thousands of Avatars before him fuelling his bending. Once she thought she was far enough from the camp to avoid being heard, she started to walk at a faster pace, disregarding all forms of caution.

She was making her way to the stream that she had noticed as they were starting to set up camp. Once she heard the slow trickle of water, she started to run. The source of water was getting closer and closer. She could almost feel the pull of the water on her soul. It was a strange experience, as she had never felt the attraction of any other element. She had never WANTED to feel any other kind of elemental pull. But ever since that day in the water with Tomaku, her whole outlook had shifted ever so slightly.

The morning sunlight reflected on the water: it looked so peaceful. Azula shook her head. 'I'm thinking about…water? What's wrong with me? Next I'll be sighing over men and becoming a monk whose life goal is to spread peace and love in the world! Tomaku is…He can't! He just cannot be changing me that much!' Her outrage had started to make her shake. It was crazy…she had lost most of her self-control from the shocks she had received. First, losing Ty Lee and Mai, then meeting Tomaku with his strange powers, and finally having the frustration of being beaten up systematically by but a boy who should have been serving her with no questions asked.

She sat down at the edge of the water and closed her eyes. She had figured that the only way that she was going to do this was through meditation. As hard as it was, she managed to calm herself enough that she started to feel the warm rays of the sun on her face. A small voice in her head kept nagging her, but she tried to push it as far back as possible. After all, she wasn't a child anymore! So she certainly didn't need her conscience to repeat over and over again: "You're going to get caught, you shouldn't be doing this… Tomaku'll catch you! This isn't allowed. Tomaku will catch you." She groaned. That voice was just so annoying…

She took a deep breath and visualised her inner pool of molten liquid chi. She could just make out the small rivers of chi flowing into her centre. All of it was coloured in various shades of red, orange and yellow. Now, to try out her theory. She waited for a few seconds, just to be completely sure that she was ready to complete her experience. 'I am ready.' Slowly, she reached with her right hand and dipped it into the water. She could feel the current lightly brushing against it. For the first time, she considered water as something else than an enemy.

Refreshing and fluid. Strong and always flowing. In a way, so similar to fire, yet so different. She started to transfer that same fluidity to the rivers of chi coursing through her body. She was starting to feel relaxed. More relaxed that she had ever been. Finally, one of the rivers made its way to her pool of molten chi, in her centre. She hissed as the initial shock. Her eyes flew open. And to her surprise and wonder, a small glove of water had encased her lily-white hand. It felt…indescriptable.

Her chi was still flowing strongly into the pool that was the very heart of her soul. The pull of water intensified as she gained more confidence. She was actually bending water. The pool of fire in her soul was almost completely transformed. With each passing second, the power of her waterbending grew. She smiled. This was working better than she could have ever imagined. There was only one drop of fire left unchanged. As it was being utterly reprogrammed, something inside her shifted. The little drop of fire was rebelling, refusing to change.

Suddenly, she was ablaze in pain. Every single chi point in her body had suddenly exploded. Fire was rushing through her, blocking and burning everything in its path. She was on her knees, clutching her head with both hands. Agni, it hurt! She didn't even realize that she was shaking. And then, as quickly as it had all started, the fire stopped. All that was left was the searing pain that one felt when one burnt oneself. Even that was fading incredibly quickly.

She sat there, curled up, for a seemingly endless period of time. Her shaking slowly subsided. She realised, after a while, that she couldn't sense any chi going through her body. None at all. Even the pool in her centre had vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there. 'But that doesn't make sense! Every living body has chi, no matter how little! … Does that mean that…that I'm dead?'

She gradually uncurled herself, not wanting to admit that it was a definitive possibility. Shaking, she tried to stand up. Her knees buckled as soon as she put her weight on them. Regardless, she tried again, only to come up with the same result. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm the rising panic inside her mind. 'I'm going to be okay. Everything…everything will be okay.' She could almost feel her inner-self shaking with fear and with doubt. But, like on any other day, she completely ignored it.

She managed to "stand" up on four limbs, still teetering and tottering from side to side. 'Now, if I can only make it back to the camp before anyone notices that I'm gone… Fat chance that they will, but still, I can't afford to appear this weak in front of anyone. I sure hope that I'll be able to stand up by the time I reach the camp…' She started to crawl back through the path that she had made that morning. That time already seemed so far away… When she stopped for one of her many rests, something splattered on her arm. Taking a close look, she realized that it was blood.

She lifted a hand to her forehead, and was sincerely surprised when it came back covered in blood. She examined herself more carefully. And finally took notice of the fact that she was completely covered in small cuts and scratches. She blinked twice. When had those appeared? The strangest thing was that she couldn't even feel them. And she hadn't noticed them before. When she was supposed to be completely and entirely alert at all times. Getting back into her crawling position, she started to move again. The worst part was that she was getting extremely hungry, not having eaten breakfast, and thirsty. Her knees were bloody from all of the sharp rocks. And most importantly, she was exhausted. Having lost almost all sense of direction and distance, she had no idea as to how far she had to go to reach her safe haven…

It was then that it hit her. The fact that it had taken her so long to deduct it was only proof as to how tired she was. If she was bleeding and sore, that meant that she was alive. A feeling of warmth was coursing through her used body. She was alive. And hat meant that she truly had to finish crawling all the way to the camp. Newly invigorated, she started to progress again, at a respectable pace. However, it didn't take long for her tiredness to catch up. She was bone-weary, as worn out as an old woman near the end of her age-long life.

She sat down heavily. Instinctively, her eyes went to the sky. Sunset. She had spent the whole day away. Hopefully that she wasn't important enough to be missed… Once, such a thought would have sent her into a dark rage. But now, it merely made her smile slightly. A thought hit her. Soon, the sun would set, and she wouldn't be able to see the path anymore. She would get even more lost if she continued. Normally, a flame was the obvious way to keep on going, but Azula wasn't sure what her previous experiment had done to her bending, and didn't want to risk setting the whole forest on fire when she was too tired to run away from the flames.

Azula started to move with a new desperation. The thought of the night in the forest without her bending or chi shield scared her more than she wanted to admit. Her arms kept on faltering, but each time she got up again, forcing her unwilling body to go on. After a while, she realised that the ground was slowly tilting up. Searching her memories, she remembered a hill just a few minutes away from the camp. It had taken a couple of seconds for her to assimilate the thought that if it had been a downhill on the way there, it would be an uphill on the way back. She reached the top, and tumbled down the other side. Dark, velvety sleep had taken its hold on her.

Azula's exhausted body tumbled down the slight slope on the other side of the hill. She was too tired to feel even the slightest bump. After a few seconds, she stopped rolling, and turned to a dead stop. All around her was quiet as the soft blanket of darkness slowly took its place on the sleeping princess.

0o0o0o0o0o0 Flashback Tomaku's P.O.V. 0o0o0o0o0o0

Tomaku had woken up as Azula had crept out of the camp. He had hesitated before deciding that she could use some time alone to mull over the enormity of their plan, and all that it entailed. And what she would be required to do to accomplish her part in said plan. He sighed. Even if he was getting through to the darker side of her, he was still worried about her. Worried about a girl that he had only really known for a bit over two weeks. Yet he wanted to save her…He wanted to succeed so badly.

He ate a quick breakfast then looked around to see if Chong, was awake yet. The latter was sitting at the edge of the clearing, seemingly staring into empty space. But as soon as Tomaku took a step towards him, he jumped onto his feet. "You need to come with me. There are…things that we need to talk about. Now. Not here. With no delay. Now follow. If you want to know something, of course."

With those words, he stepped away and turned to make his way into the deep forest. Tomaku hesitated for less than a second before he followed the middle-aged man. Knowledge, in this world, was worth more than bending. They walked for a nearly unending amount of time, Chong leading and Tomaku following. They ended up in a clearing, leading right to the side of the river. And, to his surprise, Tomaku could see Azula sitting at the edge of the water. He made as if to take a step towards her, but Chong stopped him. And dragged him as quickly and as silently as possible towards the nearest bush.

"I am here to prove to you that you do – Hey! What a pretty butterfly! Anyways, you care about what happens to this girl. And I'm going to prove it to you! And then we'll dance and we'll prance all the way through! We'll just watch her for as long as we have to. And while we're watching, I'll braid your hair! Now be quiet."

Tomaku had tried to back away. But Chong was too fast and had grabbed his hair and started to braid it. He added flowers and all. Tomaku just ended giving up. After all, what would it hurt to have some decoration in his hair? 'As long as Azula doesn't see it… I have a feeling that it would give her ammunition to blackmail me…' After a while, Tomaku started to see her chi flow grow in intensity. Something was happening. It was then that he saw it: water crawling up her arm. His eyes widened as he realized what she was trying to do. A cry tore him away from his frantic thoughts. Azula was crouched on the ground, and was shaking badly.

He slowly took in just how powerfully he felt for the for the little girl. And how much he cared about what could and might happen to her. It was taking all of his willpower to not go out and hug her. And say that he would heal her. Chong had grabbed his shoulders to stop him from rushing out. Tomaku didn't understand. It was obvious that Zula needed help… Why couldn't he go and heal her? Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she started to crawl away from the river.

Tomaku had stopped fighting and was now staring wide-eyed at the worn girl. It was a miracle that she was still moving at all. She had tried to change her core, but she still had enough energy to move on her own. It was an extremely painful experience, as he had already found out when he had first learned chi control. Chong signalled to him that they were going to follow her from a certain distance. Tomaku glared at him, but did it anyways. He was actually surprised at his own want to help her. 'I guess that it's a way for my conscience to make up for that day –' He shook himself. 'Don't think about that day, it's ancient history now. Ancient history.'

They advanced at a snail's pace, matching Azula inch per agonizing inch, remaining at an invariable distance behind her. As the day progressed, the girl started to falter more and more often, until the night had almost fallen. The hill just before the camp had just come into sight. Azula, surprisingly enough, picked up the pace. Tomaku followed suit, refusing to let her out of hi sight. When she reached the top, he saw her teeter and fall. She then disappeared. Regardless of the man beside him, Tomaku ran up the hill.

When he finally reached the top, he saw that her body had rolled down and was just lying there, unmoving. He was ready to start to sprint towards the still body when Chong grabbed his arm. "Do you believe me now?" Tomaku looked at him, confused. Chong sighed and spoke again. "Don't you like your braids? Even if they did fall a bit short…and have you finally realised that you care more for her than a soldier has for his charge?" The younger man barely nodded. He had understood that a while ago, but it was not to this man that he wanted to admit that. Chong smiled and let go of Tomaku's shoulder. "Go bring her back to the camp. I'll accompany you.

Tomaku sprinted down the hill, followed by Chong, who was walking in a posed fashion. 'Youngsters theses days… Always in such a hurry. Can't really blame them, though. In these dangerous times, one never knows what the next day will bring… Joy or pain, suffering or ecstasy, love or hate.'

By this time, Tomaku had reached Azula. Almost tenderly, he turned her over, brushing her hair out of her face. 'She's…asleep!' He smiled, unconsciously softening his expression. He picked the slumbering girl up in his arms, and followed by a silent Chong, he made his way across the few hundred meters that separated him from an uncomfortable, but most desired bed, made out of a blanket and whatever he could find on the ground to make his sleep more comfortable.

He entered the clearing to see a fire burning joyously in the middle. The Nomads were clustered around it, singing softly. They had a kind of togetherness that shone brighter than the fire they sat before. Tomaku couldn't help but smile. The whole thing made an adorable portrait. Suddenly, it made him feel like an outsider. Him, and the girl in his arms. The Nomads weren't dabbling in stories of treason and Armageddon… 'The two of us aren't really even worthy to be here: we're ruining their peaceful selves. This isn't fair to them… They don't need to be tainted by our lives of violence and anger.'

Unknowingly, he had taken a step back, as if to separate himself from the merry group sitting around the crackling flames. Chong got up promptly and dragged Tomaku and Azula's blanket towards the ring of merry Nomads. Smiling mysteriously, as if he knew exactly what was going through Tomaku's head, he dropped Tomaku's blanket on the ground then sat down a few feet away, completing the circle. Tomaku chuckled lightly. 'These Nomads know a lot more than they let on…' He spread out his blankets on the ground and gently laid the sleeping princess on them. 'She looks so peaceful when she sleeps…All the anger, all the plotting, all the confusion disappears. It's like it's the only time that she can not worry. She lets all of her defences down. She looks almost … innocent. As if she is recuperating her childhood through her sleep and dreams. If only she could allow herself to be like this, even for a few minutes, when she's awake…'

It was then that he realised that he had been staring at without really seeing her for some time. His cheeks reddened slightly. And he immediately busied himself with her cover, draping it over her sleeping form. Once he was finished, he noticed that Chong was still staring insistently at him. He could detect a certain smugness in the elder man's expression. And was that pride shining through? Tomaku bowed his head slightly in thanks, then lay down on the ground, slowly immersing himself in the wonderful world of dreams. Unknowingly, his chi reached out to the younger girl and started to heal her.

I know, this chapter was waaaaaaaaay over-due. And I don't use that term lightly. Yet I can console myself by saying that I am finally out of crisis mode, and having time to write!! An enormously huge hug to anyone who bothered to read this through without killing me!!! hugs

Not much of the Gaang in this one, but believe me, the Zutaraness is nice and fluffy in the next chapter!! XD

Iolar-chan (who is presently begging your forgiveness)