I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling later that night, which was apparently becoming my favorite pastime. Sokka and Katara were both in their beds, but they seemed to be awake as well. Aang wasn't in the room, presumably thinking about General Fong's offer.

After fleeing the infirmary, I had run back to the houses where we were staying and locked myself in the room. I had sat on the floor and stared disbelievingly at my hands for over an hour, so many questions running through my head. I had even taken a leaf off one of the plants sitting around and tried to extract it's energy again, but nothing. No glow, no orbs of energy. The leaf didn't even quiver.

Eventually, I gave up and just had to accept that something really, really weird had happened.

The door opened and closed as Aang walked in and sat down on his bed. I sat up in my bed along with Katara, watching him curiously.

"I told the General I'd help him by going into the Avatar State," Aang said, hanging his head slightly.

"Aang, no!" Katara cried, getting up. "This is not the right way!"

"Why not?" Sokka asked from his bed, arms behind his head. "Remember when he took out the Fire Navy? He was incredible!"

"There's a right way to do this," Katara insisted. "Practice, study, and discipline."

"Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord!" Sokka supplied helpfully.

"If you two meatheads want to throw away everything we've worked for, then fine!" Katara said, getting angry. "Go ahead and glow it up!"

"Katara, I'm just being realistic!" Aang defended. "I don't have time to do this the right way!" I saw his shoulders slump and his face fall into one of resigned misery. With a start, I realized how much pressure Aang had on him.

"Hey, Aang, it's okay," I said, getting up and walking over to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Whatever you decide, we're here for you."

"Do you think this is the wrong way to do things?" Aang asked me, looking up with wide gray eyes. I hesitated.

"I think Katara has a point..." I began carefully. "But I also think this war has been going on too long. It's been a hundred years. People are tired." I remembered the dozens of wounded soldiers in the infirmary. I remembered the weary faces of Zuko's crew. I remembered the destruction caused at the Northern Water Tribe. I remembered the day I learned my parents had died. "If I had the option to end the war right now, I would go for it."

Aang gave me a tired smile. "Thanks, Kioni."

"No problem, little man," I rubbed his head playfully. "You should probably go get some rest. I have a feeling inducing the Avatar State isn't going to be easy." Aang nodded, flopping back down onto his bed and curling up under the blankets. I walked back to my own bed and lay down, suddenly feeling even more exhausted. Every time I tried to close my eyes, I pictured my hands, glowing an eerie green.

Eventually, I fell into an uneasy sleep.

General Fong tried all sorts of ridiculous methods to try to get Aang to enter the Avatar State. He gave him some chi-enhancing tea (which did nothing but make Aang extremely hyper), tried to get Sokka to startle him (which did nothing but make him yell), and tried some ceremonial four-elements ritual (which did nothing but cover us all in mud).

Eventually, tired frustrated and disgruntled, the general called it a day and said we'd try again in the morning.

As I headed up to my room, I nearly ran into Katara. "Whoa!" I cried, stumbling back and bracing my hands on her shoulders to keep myself from falling backwards. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Sorry," she choked out. I looked up, shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, concerned, leading her over to one of the benches.

"It's nothing," she said, wiping at her eyes. "I just told Aang I couldn't make it to training tomorrow." I watched her sniff and rub her eyes for a moment.

"You really don't like seeing him the Avatar State, do you?" I asked quietly.

"It's terrifying," she whispered, looking down at her lap. "He's not himself."

"But, Katara, that's who he is," I tried to explain. "He's the Avatar, he has a responsibility to the world. But he's still Aang."

"Not when he's like that, he's not!" she cried, turning to glare at me. "And doesn't he have a responsibility to us too? We're his friends! Doesn't he have a responsibility to me?" Katara looked briefly embarrassed for a moment, but then her eyes flashed again. "You've never seen him like that, you don't understand!"

"Hey, calm down," I put an arm around her shoulder. "I didn't say I did." She turned away from me, but I could feel her shoulders shaking. "If you want, I can stay with you tomorrow." I offered.

"Really?" she asked, turning to face me again.

"Yeah," I shrugged. I suddenly remembered that Katara was a healer too. "There's actually something I wanted to talk to you about..."

The next day as we tidied up our room while Aang and Sokka were out training. Well, Katara tidied. I mostly dawdled around carving pictures in the stone walls with my finger.

""So, what did you want to ask me?" Katara said.

"Oh... that," I hedged, pausing in my detailed drawing of Sokka with a Momo head. "Uh..." I swung around to face Katara fully. She paused in her sweeping and regarded me curiously.

"You're a healer, right? I mean, like, you can heal people with your waterbending?" Katara nodded, still looking confused. "Um... is that ability exclusive to waterbenders?"

Katara raised an eyebrow. "As far as I know," she replied. "I've never heard of another form of bending used for healing."

"When you heal someone with water... what does it feel like?" I asked. "I know your hands and water glows blue, but where do you draw the healing power from?"

Katara sat down on the edge of her bend with a contemplative look on her face. "There's always a certain energy flowing in the water," she said finally. "When I'm fighting, I don't pay much attention it, but I can feel it there, flowing along with the water. But when I heal someone, I basically draw that energy and let it flow into the wound. I let the energy from the water repair and replace the damaged energy surrounding the person's wound."

I looked down at my hands, twisting them together. What she had described was exactly what I had felt back in the infirmary.

"Is it like... little orbs of energy?" I asked. "Do you feel them in the her- I mean, water, and just let them flow up into your fingertips and then down into the injury?"

"Yeah, exactly like that," Katara said, looking surprised. "Why do you ask?"

I bit my lip before speaking. "Is it possible for earthbenders to be healers?" I explained what had happened at the infirmary with the healing herbs. When I had finished, Katara stared at me wide-eyed.

"Wow..." she breathed, looking utterly bewildered. "Wow, yeah, that definitely sounds like healing. And the wound, it just... stopped bleeding?"

"Yeah... I haven't been able to feel energy like that again," I told her. "I tried with these plants, with the rock, but nothing. I don't know if it's just with those special plants, or..."

"I don't know," Katara pursed her lips. "That's really... wow, that's really strange."

"Tell me about it," I muttered. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I've never heard of anything like that before," she said. "Maybe when we get to Omashu, you can ask your grandf-"

BOOM!

Katara and I jumped as the floor shook slightly from a loud explosion from outside. We looked at each other with identical startled expressions.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Beats me," I replied. "Must be some new training technique." I glanced curiously towards towards the window. The floor shook again and a serious of loud rumbling noises seemed to be coming from outside.

"I wonder what crazy thing they're trying now," Katara said uncertainly as the room shook once more. I glanced uneasily at the outside again before meeting Katara's worried stare. "Maybe we should just make sure Aang's okay."

I nodded, and together we went to look outside the window. I gasped as I took in the scene. Aang was running as the earthbender soldiers tried to hit him with earthen disks. He slid out of the way and leapt into the air as they pursued him on their ostrich horses. I looked over at Katara, who mirrored my shocked expression.

"It looks like they're trying to attack him," I said, dumbfounded. "But why..." Katara's face turned white.

"Oh, no, they wouldn't..." she said, horrified. "Would he?" Without another word, Katara turned and dashed out of the room.

"Katara, wait!" I cried, following her. We ran down the flights of stairs towards the commotion, and I saw Sokka running down on the side opposite from us. "What's going on?" I asked as we met up with him.

"The general's gone crazy!" Sokka cried. "He's trying to force Aang into the Avatar State!"

"What!?" I yelled. "That's incredibly dangerous!"

"I know!" Sokka yelled back frantically. I swung myself over the railing and plummeted towards the earth, tucking my body into a ball and somersaulting as I hit the ground so that I landed standing up, my hands in the fighting position. The ground rippled with the effect of my fall, causing the General to turn around.

"General Fong, what are you doing?" I shouted as Katara and Sokka continued running down the stairs. "This is so dangerous! There's no telling what Aang will do if you force him into the Avatar State!"

"I believe we are about to see results!" he replied, a maniacal gleam in his eye. I stared at him, speechless.

"You're insane!" I yelled. Aang ran towards my direction, followed by half a dozen soldiers on ostrich horses. I readied my stance and sent a wave rippling through the earth, causing the animals to stumble and the men to fall off with a yell.

"Do not trifle with me, princess!" the general growled, looking angry now. He summoned a disk and sent it spinning towards me but I held out a fist and punched it into dust, sending chunks flying everywhere. "Men, stop her!"

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the soldiers, who all pointed the disks towards me. I narrowed my eyes, unsure of how I would be able to stop all of them at once. Suddenly, a boomerang whizzed through the air and clonked one of the soldiers in the head, causing his disk to fall. I turned and saw that Sokka and Katara had finally descended the stairs.

"Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka cried, leaping into the air and catching his boomerang as it returned to him.

In the brief moment of relief I had gotten by seeing Sokka and Katara, I'd lost concentration. An earth disk slammed into me, catching me by surprise, and sent me skidding backwards. I used the earth to slow myself down and prevent myself from being smashed against the wall, but I stopped right in front of two burly soldiers, who immediately grabbed my arms and legs and pinned them behind my back.

"Let me go!" I cried, struggling furiously, but it was no use. These guys were serious body builders, because trying to budge them was even harder than trying to budge a mountain. And believe me, I know.

I watched helplessly as Aang was nearly sliced in half by one soldier, but a stream of water sliced the tip off his spear. General Fong turned his glare towards Katara as Aang dashed up the stairs, trying to make an escape. He stamped his foot and caused a legion of disks to surround Katara. My eyes widened and I struggled harder. I might have been able to stop those disks, but there was no way Katara could!

"Maybe you can avoid me," General Fong boomed, looking up at Aang, who paused on the stairs in horror. "But she can't!" With a flick of the general's hand, all the stones turned towards Katara.

Katara seemed to finally realize that she was in trouble. A steely look crossing her face, she bended some water from her pouch and sent it flying towards the general, but he merely bended some earth up to turn the water into mud. Then, to everyone's horror, the earth twisted and Katara sank a few feet into the ground.

"I can't move!" she cried, struggling.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang shouted, flying back towards the ground. He sent a funnel of air towards the general, but he blocked it with a wall of stone, and caused Katara to sink a few inches further. I struggled desperately, thrashing against my guards, but they didn't even blink.

"Katara, no!" Sokka yelled, rushing towards her on his ostrich horse. I blinked, confused at how he got one of those, but the general merely flicked his hand and send Sokka flying into one of the disks.

"Stop this!" Aang cried, rushing up to the general and grabbing him by the arm. "You have to let her go!"

"You could save her if you were in the Avatar state!" the general roared.

"I'm trying!" Aang said desperately, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm trying!"

"Aang, I'm sinking!" Katara wailed, now up to her chest.

"Let her go!" I shrieked, twisting and trying to break free. "She'll suffocate if she goes under!"

"I don't see glowing!" the general glared, looking down at Aang without pity.

"Aah!" Katara cried as she sank up to her neck. "Please!"

"You don't have to do this!" Aang begged, sinking to his knees.

"Apparently, I do," the general said without mercy.

"No!" I cried as he closed his fist. Aang leapt forward and tried to grab at Katara as she went completely under. To my horror, he began to shake, and his eyes and tattoos glowed an unearthly blue. "No..." I repeated, whispering this time.

"It worked!" the general yelled triumphantly. "It worked!" His maniac smile faded as Aang rose above the ground in a whirlwind and slashed at him with air, causing him to go flying backwards.

I watched, horrified, as Aang rose fifty feet in the air on a funnel of dust and glared down on the scene below. My captors' arms loosed in surprise, and with a grunt, I elbowed them both hard and then kneed them in their groins, causing them to fall over groaning in pain.

"Avatar Aang, can you hear me?" the general called as Aang stared at him from above. "Your friend is safe!" He lifted his arms and Katara emerged from the earth, her mouth still frozen in a scream. She landed on her hands and knees and gasped for breath. "It was just a trick to trigger the Avatar state! And it worked!"

I started to run towards Aang, but suddenly Sokka was there, grabbing my arm and tugging me the other direction. "We have to get away from here!" he cried. "There's no telling what Aang will do now!"

I looked at the expression of pure fury on Aang's face, a face that didn't look anything like Aang, and realized Sokka was right. Together, we ran towards the main tower. "Katara!" I cried as we approached her. She looked up at Aang with so much anguish that my heart broke. "Katara, come on!" Sokka lifted her by the arms and dragged her along with us.

I turned just in time to see Aang rocket towards the ground. On instinct, I turned my back to him and lifted my arms to create a rock cave that enclosed me, Sokka, and Katara. I could feel the intense vibrations as Aang hit the ground, causing all the earth around him to uproot itself in a devastating earthquake. I closed my eyes and concentrated on keeping the roof from caving in as it was hit with chunks of rock, earth disks, and other debris.

As the chaos faded, I brought down the cave and took in the scene around me. The arena was completely devastated, with the buildings in ruins, cracks and rocks jutting out of the previously smooth earth, and several earthen disks broken and lying around, while others were stuck in the wall. Katara immediately ran over to Aang, who was sitting in the middle of the wreckage with his head bowed. I ran after her.

"I hope you never have to see me like that again," Aang said as I approached.

"Ha! Are you joking?" My shoulders tensed as I turned around to see General Fong striding towards us. I cursed in my head; I had been slightly hoping he had at least been knocked out in the explosion.

"That was almost perfect!" he crowed. "Now we just have to find out a way to control you when you're like that."

Aang glared at him with an expression of utmost hatred. "You're out of your mind." he said flatly.

"I guess we'll figure it out on the way to the Fire Nation," the general continued, ignoring the dirty looks we were all giving him. He opened his mouth to speak again, but then closed it and fell forward with a stunned expression as Sokka came up behind him on the ostrich horse and clonked him over the head with a club.

"Anybody got a problem with that?" he challenged. We turned towards the soldiers, smirking, but they shook their heads, looking terrified.

"Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" one of them asked, bowing as we approached. I gloated a little at the ashamed tone of his voice.

"I think we're all set," Katara said snarkily, and they nodded, backing away with their heads still bowed.

As soon as we'd gathered our belongings, Aang whistled for Appa and we prepared for departure, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. As Sokka and Katara climbed onto Appa's back, I heard a shout behind me.

"Kioni, wait!" I turned to see Jian running towards me. He stopped in front of me, panting slightly. I flushed with embarrassment, the details of my strange experience flooding back as I looked at him.

"Jian, I'm sorry, I-" I stuttered, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"No, listen," he interrupted me, thrusting a small pot into my hands. "I don't know what happened back and the infirmary, but take these." I opened the lid to find the rest of the herbs I had used to heal the soldier.

I returned his smile tentatively. "Thank you Jian," I replied, truly grateful. I thought for a second before throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. He hugged me back, arms wrapping around my waist.

"I hope you figure out what it all means," he murmured in my ear.

"Me too," I whispered in return. Finally, we broke away and he smiled gently at me as I climbed upon Appa where Sokka, Katara and Aang were watching with curious eyes.

"We're truly sorry for General Fong's behavior, Avatar," one of the soldiers apologized again. "We hope someday you can forgive us."

"I hope so too," Aang said, gracious but stern. "Appa, yip yip!" Soon, we were flying high in the sky over the mountain ranges. I leaned back against the saddle and closed my eyes, feeling exhausted.

"So, what was going on with you and that earthbending doctor dude?" Sokka asked nonchalantly I cracked one eye open, seeing him munching on some jerky. "I thought you had a thing with Zuko."

"What?!" I yelled at the same time as Katara and Aang; I bolted upright, instantly awake. Katara and Aang stared at me, horrified and at the same time, looking curious.

"I don't have a thing with Zuko!" I cried after a moment of awkward silence. To my horror, my face was turning red.

"Yeesh, I was just teasing," Sokka rolled his eyes, nonplussed.

"Jian was just a friend," I insisted. "But, uh, something strange happened when I was helping him the infirmary." I glanced at Katara, who looked thoughtful again. She caught my eye and nodded, indicating that I should tell them. Aang and Sokka were both looking at me inquisitively.

"I may have one more thing I need to explain to you," I admitted.

Sorry it's been so long since an update! I've been extremely busy with school.

This episode didn't have any Zuko... I'll be focusing more on Kioni's relationships with the Gaang until they meet again. Which they will, never fear!

Please let me know what you thought in the reviews. :)

Up next: The Cave of Two Lovers.