.: Chapter 9: One Day After :.

The sun rose, and as it peaked in the sky the last of the ice melted. I pulled away from the tree, completely dry and utterly empty. I had failed. I never failed. But I had. Somehow, those three had stopped me.

How can I call myself a warrior if I can't stop three teenagers?

I trudged through the woods, away from the tributary. The leaves swirled in the air around me, but I couldn't have cared less. The Fire Nation still lurked in that valley. They still poisoned the minds of kids like Rina. They still lived.

I failed my parents.

I let my swords fall and I stood, rooted to the ground.

How could I have failed my parents?

I saw it again—my father disappearing into the house, chasing after my mother, the house collapsing… Tears blurred my vision and I blinked them away. Slowly, I brought my hands in front of my eyes. I flexed them—they still worked. My toes still bent, my arms still circled, my legs still moved… so why couldn't I stop them? Why could they stop me? What had I done wrong?

I pushed further on, growing closer and closer to the camp. A rope fluttered down to hang in front of me. I grabbed onto it and it pulled me up through the trees. I leapt off automatically, landing right in front of Smellerbee.

"Jet, you're okay."

"Yeah," I answered hollowly.

"Where were you? You missed the celebration! I tried to get them to wait for you but—"

"I'm not going to a pointless celebration."

"It's not pointless, Jet. You saved the valley. Your plan worked."

"No it didn't."

"What are you talking about? We all saw the wave—well, I didn't see it, but I heard about it. Was it really higher than the trees?"

"No," I responded. "The town was empty."

"The town was… What?" she gasped.

"Yeah," I continued, my voice getting louder. "The town was empty! And d'you know why, Smellerbee? Because the idiot you were supposed to take care of got away, and warned everyone. Why didn't you come and tell me?" The entire tree house was dead silent now. I felt the eyes digging into my back.

Now they all know I'm a failure…

"Jet, I couldn't—"

"Do you know what you've done to me? You pushed the only people I ever loved away from me." Her eyes narrowed at that, like she was hurt by my words. But I was beyond the point of caring. "Aang was incredible. He was the Avatar. Do you understand what he could have done for us? And Sokka would have come around eventually! He was a really great warrior, and once he saw what the Fire Nation did, he would have been second in fighting only to me. And Katara… she could Waterbend. And she made me happy. And you drove her away! What is your problem?"

"I didn't drive them away," she protested. Somewhere, back in my mind, I knew she was right. That only made me angrier. Am I always wrong?

"Yes, you did. You messed everything up. Because of you, this whole operation was ruined. I became a failure. I failed my parents because you couldn't do the simplest of tasks." Smellerbee drew back as though I'd slapped her.

"Why are you blaming me, Jet?" she snapped. "I stuck by you and did my best. What about the others? What did I ever do to deserve all the blame?" Smellerbee turned and ran away into the trees.

"You weren't me," I sighed to myself. The Freedom Fighters all returned to their tasks, and I returned to my room. I sat there and stared at the roof, my mind completely blank except for one thought.

No one will ever get away from me again.

A/N: I'm back! The March For Life was fun and DC was great, but as a side effect I am totally exhausted. Wheeeeeee!