Previously…on Salilah's Story…

"Don't come back for me. I'll find you guys. And tell Katara good job on stealing the scroll for the people who really deserve it."

I let go of him and into the waiting arms of the temporary enemy.

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I was led onto Zuko's ship not as a prisoner, but as a guest as Iroh put it. I loved being a girl. It meant special treatment, even if I was the enemy.

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"I'm not one to betray…" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I never betrayed you. I did nothing to make you safe or comfortable around me."

"You did everything you said you didn't do Zuko. You and your uncle showed me hospitality."

"I think you're the single most naïve person I've ever met in my entire life," he said gently, taking hold of my chin gingerly. "And I pity you for that."

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"But you can't promise me that Salilah. You can't promise me that he won't try. And you definitely can't promise me that he won't somehow fool you in any way. He can't be trusted."

"I know that Sokka."

"Good."

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"Where's Momo?" Aang's question snapped me back into attention from the daydream that was playing in my head.

I shrugged, although knowing he wasn't paying any attention to me whatsoever. Katara and Sokka neither one reply.

I could hear Momo's screech not too far off. Aang looked around until he spotted him. He then whipped out his glider to help the creature.

I slipped back into my daydream, still confused and hurt over the events that took place only days before.

I was still on the boat, with Zuko, in the room I had been temporarily given. I hadn't called him out on his bullshit yet, and he was stroking my cheek gingerly. Closer, and closer his face came to mine… Utterly breathless, my lips yearned for the touch of his.

"Sal?" Sokka asks, and once again, ruining my fantasy.

"Hmm?"

"You coming with us to save Momo?"

"Yeah I guess so…"

We headed toward the cage that was suspended from the tree branches. I didn't pay any attention when they freed both Momo, and two other helpless creatures.

"These are Fire Nation traps," sneered Sokka.

I snapped back into focus with those two little words.

"You can tell by the metal work. We better pack up camp and keep moving."

We all moved to start gathering our things and loading them onto Appa. After taking care of my own things, I helped Aang with the rest of his.

As we all boarded Appa, Sokka spoke out, "Uh uh. No flying this time."

Aang looked confused. "Why wouldn't we?"

"Think about it," Sokka grabbed a sleeping bag from Aang, "Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa. He's just too noticeable."

I shuddered. Katara's hand appeared on my arm. "You alright Sal?" she asked me.

I nodded to her, smiling, and removed her hand.

"Appa's not too noticeable Sokka. I think you're crazy," she turned to her brother.

Sokka raised an eyebrow and pointed toward Appa condescendingly. "He's a giant fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!"

Aang patted the bison's head while it yawned. "It's ok Appa. Sokka's just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow on his head."

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk."

I groaned. "Which one of us decided that you're the boss?"

Sokka walked over to me. "For your information Sal, I'm not the boss, I'm the leader."

Katara smirked. "You're the leader? You're voice still cracks!"

She and I both giggled.

As his voice was cracking, Sokka replied, "I'm the oldest, and I'm a warrior so," realizing his voice, he deepened it, "I'm the leader."

"If anyone's the leader it should be Aang," Katara fired back.

"Yeah Sok. He is the Avatar you know…" I trailed teasingly.

"Are you kidding?" His question exclaimed. "He's just a goofy kid!"

We all looked at Aang as he was hanging upside down from Appa's horns. "He's right."

"Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?" I asked him.

"I bet he wouldn't be so bossy if he kissed a girl," Katara rolled her eyes.

Sokka's expression was defensive. "I've kissed a girl. You just haven't met her…"

"Who?" Katara asked, a smug look on her pretty face. "Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran."

Sokka threw his arms up in exasperation. "No! Besides Gran-Gran."

This was met with a giggle from us other three.

"Look," Sokka returned to serious, "my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts."

I groaned. We are never getting to the Northern Water Tribe…

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"This sucks," I said dryly as I glared at our new "leader."

"How do people get anywhere without flying bison?" Aang asked innocently.

"Well, I don't know Aang," Katara's tone was mocking, "Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts?"

"Yeah, they seem to know everything," I added.

Sokka shot us a look. "Ha ha. Very funny."

Aang was dragging his feet now. "I'm so tired, and this pack is so heavy." He was whining now.

"Maybe you should ask Sokka's instincts to carry it for a while," I teased Aang.

Aang's face instantly lit up in amusement. "That's a great idea! Sokka's instincts? Will you-"

"Ok ok, I get it guys. I'm tired too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the Fire… Nation…"

We all looked to find a camp of Fire Nation soldiers behind the bush Sokka just walked through. They all started to stand up.

"Run!" I yelled, turning around right into burning bushes and a guard.

"We're cut off!" Sokka panicked.

"We promise not to hurt you if you let us pass," I told the guard, not completely sure of myself.

"What is she doing?" Katara whispered to Sokka.

He shrugged. "Bluffing?"

The man laughed. "You promise not to hurt us?"

By some way, he was knocked out. He fell to the ground.

"Nice work guys! How did you do it?" Aang asked Sokka.

"Instincts?" Sokka replied.

"No, look!" Katara pointed to the trees.

The boy there jumped down and took out some more guard with his hooked swords. "Down you go," he stated casually as he brought the last one down.

We looked around to see the camp now devoid of all life but our own.

"You just took out a whole army single-handed," Aang told the boy in astonishment.

"There were only twenty guys…" Sokka muttered to me.

"My name is Jet," the boy introduced us. "And these are my Freedom Fighters." He introduced us to them.

"Pipsqueak is a funny name." Aang crowded around a small boy.

"You think my name is funny?" the giant man replied instead.

"It's hilarious!"

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Soon, we all started rummaging through the camp, trying to score anything that we could use on our trip.

"Stupid swords, stupid guy, stupid instincts…" a murmuring Sokka glared at the teen, who was chatting it up with Katara.

I placed my hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Hey…" I said gently, "We were all just teasing you earlier you know. We all love and adore you Sokka. You really are our leader."

He looked at me. "Thanks Sal. That means a lot to me."

"Come on guys!" Aang yelled to us. "Jet's taking us to their hideout."

We followed them a ways before Jet stopped.

"We're here," Jet said proudly.

"There's nothing here," Sokka pointed out.

Jet gave Sokka a rope. "Here."

Sokka screamed as he was whisked into the air.

I did the same and Jet handed me a rope and I too was pulled up.

"That was awful," I said to Sokka as we waited on the others.

"No kidding…"

"Nice place you got!" Aang flew around over our heads on his glider.

I could tell Katara was filled with wonder by the look in her big blue eyes. "It's beautiful up here!"

"It's beautiful," Jet responded, "and more importantly the Fire Nation can't find us."

"They would love to find you. Wouldn't they Jet?" the girl, Smellerbee, smirked.

"It's not gonna happen, Smellerbee."

"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" I asked.

"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble," Jet joked. "See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back."

"We've been ambushin' their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with 'em," Pipsqueak piped in.

"One day," Jet said longingly, "we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town."

"That's so brave…" Katara swooned.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house," Sokka rolled his eyes.

Katara dismissed his comment. "Don't pay any attention to my brother."

"No problem," Jet shrugged it off. "He probably had a rough day."

"I'll say," I muttered.

"So, you all live here?" Katara asked, and they started to walk away, so I walked with them.

"That's right," Jet answered. "Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found The Duke trying to steal our food. I don't think he ever really had a home."

"What about you?"

"The Fire Nation killed my parents. I was only eight years old. That day changed me forever."

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation," stated Katara with grief.

"I'm so sorry, Katara," Jet pitied her.

I rolled my eyes in disgust. I already didn't trust Jet.

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"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Everyone cheered at Jet's opening line of his speech that night at supper. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face, when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey. Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees," he paused, preparing to drink from his cup. "Maybe they're right… Or maybe ...they're dead wrong." Another long and loud cheer erupted from the Freedom Fighters.

"Hey Jet. Nice speech," Katara flirted shyly.

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today."

"Thanks for the compliment," I told Jet sarcastically.

"Oh. You too Salilah," he replied insincerely.

Katara blushed. "Well, he's great. He's the Avatar. I could use some more training."

"Avatar huh?" Jet asked in a way I didn't really like. "Very nice."

"Thanks Jet!" Aang said happily.

Jet didn't acknowledge this as he was still talking to Katara. "So I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle."

Sokka intruded on the conversation to my relief. "Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight." He started to leave.

"Sokka, you're kidding me!" This made Sokka turn around. "I needed you on an important mission tomorrow." Jet's smug look made me uneasy.

"What mission?"

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"Sokka!" Aang's happy tone made my head snap up. "Look what the Duke gave me!"

Aang was wearing a bag, and he pulled a small pellet from it. He grinned slyly and tossed it in Momo's direction. The lemur hissed as it exploded with a pop and lunged for Aang's bag. Momo reached inside and tossed several at the Avatar's feet.

I giggled.

"Ow! Quit it!"

Sokka didn't seem to notice any of it at all. That worried me.

Katara walked into the hut, her face all aglow.

"Hey Sokka, is Jet back?" she asked her brother.

"Yeah he's back," Sokka wasn't thrilled. "But we're leaving."

I sighed in relief.

"What?" Aang as in disappointment.

Katara showed a hat made out of leaves with a flower on top. "But I made him this hat…" she pouted.

"Your boyfriend Jet's a thug," Sokka grumbled at his younger sibling.

"What?" Katara was shocked. "No he's not."

"He's messed up Katara!"

"He's not messed up," Aang stood up for the Freedom Fighter, "he's just got a different way of life. A really fun way of life."

"He beat and robbed a harmless old man!" Sokka exclaimed, and my eyes widened with horror.

"I wanna hear Jet's side of the story," Katara crossed her arms.

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"Sokka, you told them what happened, but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?" Jet was playing, and I could tell that Sokka and I were the only ones who saw it.

"No," Katara replied instead, "he conveniently left that part out.

"Fine!" Sokka admitted. "But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian!"

"I believe Sokka," I spoke out. Unsurprisingly, my comment was dismissed with glares from everyone else.

"He was an assassin Sokka." Jet pulled out a knife and thrusted it into a nearby stump. It had a sinister looking curved blade and there were four spikes evenly spaced along the grip, with enough space for fingers to go between them. There was also a ring on the butt of the knife. "See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife." He pulled on the ring and removed a small glass tube filled with red liquid. "He was sent to eliminate me. You helped save my life, Sokka."

"I knew there was an explanation," Katara said to us all in an almost mocking tone.

"I didn't see any knife!" Sokka defended.

"That's because he was concealing it," Jet explained.

"See Sokka?" Katara was a little too smug now, "I'm sure you just didn't notice the knife."

"There was no knife! I'm going back to the hut and packing my things." Sokka stomped out of the room.

I followed him back to the hut.

"I'm with you all the way Sokka." I told him as I watched him pack up.

"I know you are. Thank you for defending me in there Salilah. It's nice to know that someone else trusts me around here.

"We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" Katara stormed into the hut.

"I'm sorry Katara." Sokka was finised by now. "Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him."

"You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader!" I was shocked at her sudden change of allegiance.

"Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet. It's just that my instinct-"

"Well my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet. Come on Aang." Katara left the hut, leaving both Sokka and I gaping.

"Sorry Sokka," Aang said apologetically as he left too.

"If you go, so will I."

Sokka glanced at me. "We have to stay. We can't just take Appa and go to the Northern Water Tribe without Aang. We have no choice Sal. I'm sorry."

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I woke that night to find Sokka shaking me awake.

"Come on," he whispered, motioning to follow him.

He pulled the door flap aside enough to see some of Jet's followers descending on the rope lines. Sokka grabbed us a rope line and we took it down to a lower branch. On the ground below us, the Freedom Fighters were quietly pushing a loaded wagon and Jet was leading them out of camp. Sokka and I stealthily followed.

In the dark valley, upstream, and up toward the wall of the valley there was a waterfall, and beyond that a man-made dam. A bare cliff off to the reservoir's left provided the view we needed to spy on what they were doing. Jet and his boys emerged from the forest. He went to the edge and looked down on the dam below. The reservoir behind him was low and he turned back to the wagon.

"Now listen, you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation troops could survive," Jet told them as the Duke jumped off the wagon.

"But what about the people in the town, won't they get wiped out too?" the boy asked as innocent as could be, and Jet placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Look Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation." Jet looked at Longshot, "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal—got it?

Longshot nodded.

We watched incredulously from the bushes. Suddenly, we were pulled from behind.

"Where do you think you're going ponytail?" Smellerbee sneered at us.

Jet appeared suddenly. "Sokka, Salilah, I'm glad you decided to join us."

"We actually heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town," I glared at Jet.

"Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation." He "corrected" me.

"There are people live there Jet, mothers and fathers and children," Sokka pleaded.

"We can't win without making some sacrifices." Jet shrugged.

Sokka pointed a finger at Jet's chest. "You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!"

"Because they don't understand the demands of war. Not like you and I do."

"I do understand. I understand there's nothing you won't do to get what you want."

"I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice." Jet grabbed us both. "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang." He shoved us into Pipsqueak and Smellerbee's direction. "Take them for a walk. A long walk."

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"Come on! Move along!" Smellerbee shoved me.

"How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" I asked her in disbelief.

"Hey kid. Jet's a great leader," Pipsqueak replied. "We follow what he says, and things always turn out ok."

"If that's how Jet leads, then he's got a lot to learn," Sokka nodded at me and we both broke free, taking off in a sprint.

We heard a yell behind us but kept going. The two of us leapt over the trap that had been set out. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak weren't so lucky.

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"I think that's everyone," Sokka told me as we ushered everyone out of town.

"I think so," I looked at him.

"Now we wait."

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"All those people…" Sokka and I walked in on Katara, Jet, and Aang near the dam. "Jet, you monster!"

"This was a victory Katara," Jet was trying to console her. "Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe."

"It will be safe," Sokka started.

"Without you," I finished.

"Sokka! Salilah!" Katara looked happy to see us.

"We warned the villagers of your plan," Sokka glared at Jet.

"Yeah. Just in time too," I added.

"What?!" Jet's question was strained.

"At first they didn't believe us. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy. But one man vouched for me, the old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time." Sokka was finally calmer.

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!"

"Who would be free?" I asked Jet. "If everything went according to your plan, everyone would be dead."

"You both are traitors!"

"No Jet," Sokka shook his head. "You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

"Katara. Please. Help me."

"Goodbye Jet," Katara was close to tears as she walked away. We all followed behind her.

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"We thought you were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?" Aang asked Sokka, who was at the reigns.

"Let me guess," Katara spoke before her brother had the chance, "your instincts told you?"

Sokka shrugged playfully. "Hey. Sometimes they're right."

"Sokka? You're going the wrong way," I teased.

"And sometimes they're wrong."

We all laughed as he turned around.