Chapter 10

Vanessa Pov

We walked next to each other in silence. I had the automatic urge to search a topic to talk about, but then decided not to. Of all the people that they could send to pick me up, they had to send him. The jerk.

I nodded and smiled politely as we passed a group of nurses on our way out. From the corner of my eye I could see him do the same thing and it pissed me off. A lot of small things that he would do irritated me. And he had only been here for about 20 minutes.

I thought back at how when I was done packing (which didn't take long, considering I didn't really have that much belongings) he had insisted he'd carry my bag. This is how our conversation went…

*flashback *

I was packing my bag in silence and felt Aerrow's stare on me. Reaching for my book and pouch with crystals on my bedside table, I thought back at how I had snapped at every question he asked. Ok, so maybe I was overreacting A LITTLE… but he deserved it. Dropping my last two items in my duffel bag, I draped my cardigan over my right arm. "I'm ready", I announced as I threw my bag over my shoulder.

When I looked up, I was startled and took a small step back. Aerrow was standing a lot closer then before and was already reaching out towards my bag. I gave him a glare as I backed away a little more "What the hell are you doing?" I asked taking a step back with every step he took forward.

"Give me your bag, Vanessa", I cringed involuntarily as he said my name and gave him a distrusting look "Why?" He stood still and sighed as if he was handling a five year-old. "Because I wanna carry it, just give me your bag, V"

I held it protectively as I exclaimed "No! And don't call me V." He smirked and held his chin with his index finger and thumb as if pondering something "Then what about Nessa? Or maybe-"I cut him off with a strangled "Ugh!" he grinned his infuriating grin yet again. "We can stay this way for a long time, Nessa", he said, visibly positioning himself between me and the door, his grin present as always.

My gaze travelled from him to the door and back. "Forget it, Birdboy." I straightened my back, moved my bag to my left shoulder and clutched it so he couldn't reach it as I moved passed him. I didn't spare him a glance as I quickly made my way to the door. I was almost there and a small smile was already starting to form on my face, but then Aerrow swiftly moved behind me and slid my bag from my shoulder, throwing it over his own and said "After you, V."

I gaped at him and couldn't help but feel as if I had just lost a fight. My gaze travelled to my bag once more, but when Aerrow 'The Infuriating' chuckled and said "You are such a hot head, V, can't you just let it go?" I huffed, held my chin up high and walked out the door.

*end flashback*

…I sighed and huffed again at the memory. From the corner of my eye I saw Aerrow smirking at me, seemingly amused. I frowned, why was he enjoying this? He shouldn't be amused; he should be feeling guilty as hell!

I just quickened my pace and after only two seconds Aerrow fell back into step next to me. I got to the heavy double doors and placed both my hands on it, about to lean in all my weight to open it. Only to stumble forward and almost face plant to the floor. I incredulously looked back at Aerrow. "And what was that for?" Barely hiding his laughter, he answered "I was holding the door open for you." After only receiving a still shocked stare from me, he just shrugged and readjusted my bag on his shoulder.

When he started advancing forward, I got back to my senses and asked annoyed "Where are you going?" We were supposed to be heading for the Red Eagles' base. He was heading towards the side of the hospital. I stood still, refusing to follow him until I knew what he was doing.

Right when realization dawned on me, he came strolling from the parking lot with his skimmer, my bag deposited on Radarr's seat.' Ah crap, it's that thing again', I thought as a frown started forming on my face. Aerrow laughed as he noticed my unease "Unless you want to walk the full distance to the other side of the terra, I suggest you ride with me."

Truth is I secretly love riding his skimmer. The wind whipping through your hair, the feeling of freedom. Back on Earth I often used to dream I was flying,…nowadays my dreams have quite different themes. Aerrow had reached me by now and had already mounted his skimmer. After not make any attempts to get on it myself he sighed impatiently and asked "I'm starting to think they let you out of the hospital too soon. You want me to lift you onto my skimmer?", that snapped me out of it and reluctantly I moved forward and swung a leg over the vehicle.

I had enjoyed the drive (or was it flight?) and was slightly disappointed that it had to end so soon.

"So, enjoyed it?", Aerrow asked as he placed his skimmer next to others in front of the building that was also the base of the Red Eagles. I looked over at Aerrow and he smiled back, shaking my head I moved towards him. "Listen Aerrow, I don't know what is up with you, but don't think that I'll forgive you that easily." The smile slid off of his face " You have no idea what I had to go through after you kicked me out, but I assure they aren't happy memories.", I sobered up a bit "There was a moment I thought I was absolutely done for. Lost and no one would find me.", my glare got stronger again "If it weren't for Jessy, I don't know what would've happened to me.", I didn't give him a chance to respond. I grabbed my bag, spun on my heel and immediately saw a few guys already standing at the door, watching us with interest.

I stalked away from Aerrow and went to search Cameron. I passed Steven, Seth and a guy that I remembered as Finn and entered. I walked through a hallway and the first thing I saw was… well, chaos. It looked like a typical boy's bedroom, but in a living room edition. I walked in, careful not to step in empty pizza boxes or trip on random clothing. Suddenly Piper appeared from a door to my right, armed with all types of cleaning material. She had a bandana in her hair and an apron around her waist.

She marched in and behind her Junko and Radarr followed dressed in quite similar ways. Junko was tugging big buckets of water along and Radarr had a jumble of brooms and sticks in his small arms. She noticed me and stopped in her tracks which caused her two followers to stop short behind her. "Uhm,… Hi?", I half waved, suddenly feeling uneasy. After a few seconds a smile spread on her face "Vanessa! We-", Piper got cut off.

"Vanessa?", someone continued, Cameron appeared from the hallway behind me. He seemed shocked "You're back already? It's only been two days! We send Aerrow to check up on how you were doing, but didn't expect you to be up and running already", he smiled apologetically now "It's not that you're not welcome her, it's great that you decided to come, but" he gestured to the living room "yeah, sorry for the mess, we we're just starting to clean", he grinned. Piper continued after frowning at Cameron "As I was going to say, we didn't expect you so soon, I was just going to try and get these lazy asses to work", she gestured at the guys.

All the while glaring at Cameron, I said "It's very rude to keep interrupting people like that, you know? It's a really bad habit", I scolded and then turned towards Piper smiling "I don't mind, need a hand?" Junko and Radarr stared pleadingly at Piper, she hesitated, but then turned her attention and something behind me "Aerrow!", she exclaimed. I turned around and saw Aerrow observing his teammates amused. "How did you get them to do this?", he gestured at Junko and Radarr.

Piper shrugged as if it was no big deal "Blackmail, of course.", she suddenly thought of something "And can you please go and tell your blonde sharpshooter to get his ass in here and start cleaning?" He chuckled and said "I'll tell him if I see him, but where's Stork?" Radarr dropped the mess of sticks and ran over to Aerrow to take a seat on his shoulder. He received a fierce glare from Piper. "He couldn't take the mess, you know how he is. He said he'd stay on the Condor and something about disinfecting himself or something like that", Junko shrugged then brightened up "But if you want me to go get him, I will! I'll be right back!", he sprinted out of the room and left a baffled Piper standing there.

"O-kaaay.", I drawled, glancing around. Piper dropped down on the couch after clearing up a spot and mumbled "Men." I chuckled and nodded in agreement. Cameron stepped back into the living room-I hadn't even noticed he left- and announced "Your room's ready", I gave him a grateful smile. "Wow, thanks, it's really nice of you to let me stay here", I made a mental note to call Jessy again and to probably quit my job.

Cameron moved forward toward me and picked up my bag, next to me Aerrow tensed up. "Uhm, Vanessa? Can I talk to you later on? After you're settled in of course", I nodded and smiled up at Cameron, knowing what he wanted to talk to me about. After momentarily looking up at Aerrow and then frowning he lead the way towards the stairs. I didn't look back as I said a goodbye to Piper.

We had dinner together, which consisted of all of us (Red Eagled, Storm Hawks-minus Stork- and me) sharing an enormous amount of ordered pizza. It was fun, but for some reason Aerrow was awfully quiet. I refuse to believe I'm that reason. After dinner Cameron took me out for a walk so we could talk privately.

"So… What else do you know about me?", I questioned, stuffing my hand into my pockets.

"I told you about everything you need to know", he said. I pondered this for a while.

"But there is more?", I was curious as to how I could have something to do with events that happened here in the Atmos. I was positive of the fact that I wasn't adopted. I had the same dark brown/black hair like my mother and a mix of my father's and mother's eyes.

He nodded "There's much more…" Cameron stopped walking and I halted too looking up at a beautiful sunset. He sat down and patted the spot next to him. I sat down and asked "Can't you just, give me a book about it or something? Then I can read the full story." To my surprise he laughed and shook his head, I asked him what was so amusing "There aren't any books about it", dumbfounded, I stared at him. "Unlike other battles and fights, this one is known by many people", I still didn't get it. It's a war, how can you not know there's a war going on?

"The existence of the four crystals was kept quiet for obvious reasons, the lesser people that knew about it, the lesser danger it was in. Most people that lived on the terras didn't even know about it, they only knew that their terra held something special, but they could only guess at what.", I nodded, understanding why not many people knew about the crystals.

"So what are we going to do now?", I asked after a minute of silence.

He turned towards me "This is what I actually wanted to talk to you about. At first I just wanted to keep you with us for a while. Train you and maybe help you get your memory back", my stomach clenched as guilt shot through me at the lie "-, but now I think we should do this differently. I've asked Aerrow and-", I shot up and looked at him alarmed.

"You what?", I asked.

"I didn't tell him anything, I just asked if he wanted to go on a mission with my squadron and you. He said yes immediately, I didn't give him any specifics." I don't know why I didn't want him to know about the waterbending. I thought back to one of the first days I was with them. On that field when the Storm Hawks had taught me how to fight and I had to fight Aerrow as a test. He had seen me bend water, but still…

"A mission? Where to?", I wasn't so sure about going anywhere with the Storm Hawks. It just didn't feel right.

"I was getting to that. So I talked to an old..friend of mine. And I think we should visit the remaining terras.", my eyebrow shot up at this, he continued "Terra Terra got destroyed, nothing's left of that place, but terra Pyrus and terra Ventus still exist. Some people say terra Aquas still exists, but under a different name. I'm not sure about that, but who knows", he shrugs. "And maybe… Maybe we can start searching the Aqua-crystal?", he ask carefully, as if he was afraid of my reaction.

Victor really wanted that crystal, shouldn't we just keep it hidden? "I don't know where it is", I told Cameron.

He nodded "But with it you would be more powerful, powerful enough to defeat Victor and help us defeat Cyclonis too. I have a feeling only you can find it. Victor already has the Pyrus-crystal", my mind flashed back to the orange crystal Dark Ace was holding "So defeating him is really hard.." Wow, wow, wow, wait a second. Defeat Victor and Cyclonis? I don't even believe I can fight one of them, let alone two. I only feel obligated to do so because he's kinda after my life.

"But what are we going to tell the rest? I don't think we can go and tell them this entire story", weren't we supposed to stop Victor? What good would visits to some terras do?

"We'll tell them that we're searching Victor and that isn't even a lie, because we're going to do that too. Only we might make some stops along the way. That night at the fire, Dark Ace was there too, so maybe he's on Cyclonia, but I don't really think he is", he explained.

I nodded, did I have any other questions? I was too tired to think of any. "Okay" I yawned and he chuckled.

"I think we should be heading back. So, do you want to leave as soon as possible, or have some training first? You still have to learn how to drive a skimmer. Unless you already know that?"

My eyes nearly popped out of my sockets "You're going to teach me that?", that would be soo awesome! But wait a second… What if I suck? I don't think there's room for error when you're flying on a motorcycle with wings.

"Yeah and if you want to, we can go over your fighting techniques again? Aerrow told me he and his team had already taught you that, but if you want to..", he trailed off.

I abruptly shook my head "No, that's okay, let's just leave as soon as possible."

When we arrived back it was silent Cameron opened the door and I quietly trailed behind.

"I sent everyone to bed, I thought they should rest up a bit so they'll be ready when we leave", I jumped up when I suddenly heard a voice behind us. Aerrow had come from the living room and was now standing in the hallway.

"Aerrow?", Cameron exclaimed, he was already on the stairs "I thought you were going to stay on the Condor? You can stay here if you want", he offered. It was already dark outside, what was he still doing here?

Aerrow shook his head "Nah, thanks. I just uh.. Wanted to know when we'll be leaving and where we'll be heading to."

I was still lingering on the first step of the stairs, would it be rude to just go upstairs now? Cameron answered Aerrow's questions "I'll be giving Vanessa her first flying lesson tomorrow and maybe train a little, but we decided to leave as soon as possible so… Let's say we'll be leaving tomorrow evening. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that's ok. Goodnight, man", Aerrow said, it looked like he was trying-and failing- to hide a frown. Cameron didn't notice it, though.

"Night!", Cameron headed up the stairs, I was about to follow him when Aerrow called my name.

"Yeah?", I asked and turned around to face him. I really wasn't in the mood for this right now.

"Uhm, I… So what did you guys talk about?", I stared at him for a few seconds to see if he was joking. He wasn't.

I gave an incredulous laugh "What we were talking about is none of your business.", I crossed my arms over my chest. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. It was quiet for a few seconds, just as I was about to go to bed, he talked.

"Look, I really don't want to fight with you, Vanessa. I already said I'm sorry, what more do you want me to do?", his voice was strangled, quiet and full of regret. He was looking down at his feet and didn't meet my gaze, my heart crumbled at the sight and his voice. I was ready to forgive him when my mind flashed back to when he ordered me out and was about to take his blades. His cold words had cut like a knife through me. Another image flashed by, I was sitting on the cold forest ground with nowhere to go and no help or hope at all.

I shivered and I turned my head away from him "I want you to go to sleep", I said, my voice emotionless "And leave me alone."

I went up the stairs and to sleep, leaving Aerrow behind, alone.

Third person Pov

A person dressed fully in black slowly and quietly slid open the window. He peeked inside and saw the girl lying in bed, sleeping. He lowered his feet on the window frame and let go of his rope. After jumping into the room swiftly and soundless, he observed his surroundings. It was a plain, simple guestroom. There was a duffel bag in the corner and on the dresser lay a book and a small weird device. It was blue with a small screen and underneath that a white circle. He frowned at the weird little thing, he didn't dare to touch it though.

The girl stirred and he whipped around, the last thing he wanted was to be drowned by the waterbending girl or turned to ice. He shivered and went to work, placing small little chips on personal belongings. A purple armor was draped on a chair, it was laid ready for the next day. He put a chip on the collar. After that he put one on the inside of her shoe.

The girl mumbled once more and the guy frowned as he watched her. He didn't understand how such a young girl could be such a danger. So 'evil' as his leader had described her. He shook his head and stared at the girl from the shadows of the room. This girl's fate is already decided, she didn't have that much time anymore. She'd die.

The girl shivered involuntarily, mumbled and then quieted again.

AN: Hiya guys, first of all, sorry if Aerrow was too OOC in the last chapter also, if the chapter starts to get kind of crappy. It's 3:18 right now and I'm starting to act strangly due to my lack of sleep. This shows how much I love you guys. This chapter was kind of boring, but it was kind of a filler chapter. I decided to adjust my style of writing and stop writing everything in too much detail. If I would've done that, you guys would have been bored out of your mind!

I also thought I might add that I'm gonna start to get a move on in this story, it's already chapter ten and within 2 weeks school's gonna start =( I really want to finish this story, but as soon as school starts, these updates are going to be way less frequent. I already know where I'm going with this. I just need to get there xD

shadowjinx: Thanks =D I am amazed at the fact that I actually managed to make someone laugh with my story.

Kina Gray: I know what you mean, that happens in a lot of stories, but not in mine ;D They wont make up just like that, that would be too perfect. They'll have to prove themselves to each other and V might have to get over herself at some point. I don't think Aerrow has a lot of experience in these situations, so I'm gonna make him suffer a little too.

Niea-7: I know, Aerrow was a little *cough* much *cough* too nervous and OOC in the last chapter, but… blame my weird, over-active imagination for that.

Keep reviewing! It keeps me happy and motivated (and awake)