Secrets are Never Kept

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all that is Nick and the producers of the Avatar.

But, I do own the characters that you will meet that are not from the Avatar show.

This is a rewrite of the original story. The main plot is the same but it has been revised for grammar and content reasons.

This is a brand new chapter for the rewrite version of this story! I hope you enjoy the new and improved Secrets are Never Kept!

Secrets are Never Kept

Chapter 12

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After several meetings over the past few weeks with the generals and admirals, both General Iroh and Prince Zuko were pleased with the progression that they have made. Price Zuko sent word to his father of his plans a few weeks ago to get any input that he may have and his letter should be arriving today. Zuko was truly happy for once in his life knowing that this plan could actually work. They have already begun the infiltration of a battalion of firebenders within the city walls and another battalion was supposed to infiltrate the walls by the end of the week. The admirals and generals knew that for this to work and not seem suspicious is that they had to one go incognito and two by smaller groups over a longer time period. And so it was decided that every month a battalion worth of soldiers would take the ferries to Bai Sing Sei that the Earth Kingdom thought was so cleverly hidden from them. The men laughed at that notion, nothing was a secret from the Fire Nation.

"Your Grace, a letter from Fire Lord Ozai." A soldier said where Zuko resided in the war room.

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Crown Prince Zuko,

I am very pleased to hear all the progress that you have making. You are truly your father's son. When the day does come, I will be pleased to have you as my successor. As for your plan with Bai Sing Sei, I am pleased to hear that our forces have already taken root among the mongrels soon to be wiped out. As for your distraction, I have informed Princess Azula of the plan, she will be meeting with you within two months' time for the final preparations. As you can imagine she was not happy with your plan, complaining how this was her project. Insolent child, she does not realize the importance of this plan. She still has much to learn and I pray that some of your sense and skills will rub off on her while under your care. She has not been informed about the trap for the Avatar and the Princess, DO NOT TELL HER. I want this to be kept within the inner circle of our advisors. If this gets out, we will have lost before it even begins. Also you may want to use the Wan archers under Captain Jia, they are renowned for their digression.

I have already made special plans for the Avatar and will look forward to meeting him in person in our very special place that I have designated for him. As for the Princess, the Fire Sages have determined that if you marry her when of age all her property will be ours. Do not worry about breeding with her, it will be just for show until we can deal with her after Sozin's Comet. I will rejoice in your return home with both of our prizes yet to be won.

Fire Lord Ozai

Son of Agni

.Zuko read the letter and couldn't help but smile at it. Though he wasn't happy with the news of his sister's arrival, he knew that it was important for their plans. The thing that did surprise him was of the marriage to the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. He understood the necessity of it for the time being, though he guess it could be worse, it should only be until the comet came once more to finish this war and rain glory for all of the Fire Nation once and for all. In just in two years' time everything will be accomplished. They have been planning for the comet now for the last five three years. The day that Sozin's Comet comes everything that they have prepared for and wanting will finally come.

Zuko read the letter and couldn't help but smile at it. Though he wasn't happy with the news of his sister's arrival, he knew that it was important for their plans. The thing that did surprise him was of the marriage to the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. He understood the necessity of it for the time being, though he guess it could be worse, it should only be until the comet came once more to finish this war and rain glory for all of the Fire Nation once and for all. In just in two years' time everything will be accomplished. They have been planning for the comet now for the last five three years. The day that Sozin's Comet comes everything that they have prepared for and wanting will finally come.

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"Alright Twinkle-toes, let's begin with your training." Toph said to Aang after everyone finished their breakfast.

"Sounds good Sifu Toph." Aang airbended himself up and the two left their campsite to a few hundred meters away to start their training.

Katara smiled as she watched the two young teenagers leave the camp. She grabbed all the dishes and started to head over to the small stream that lay next to their camp. She began her chores with the dishes and laundry which she quickly finished. She returned the dishes and laundry to the campsite and then went back out to begin her training again. She needed to come up with a plan later this afternoon for her training time with Aang.

"Katara, we need to talk." Sokka finally said who was unusually quiet this morning a few hours into her training.

"Yeah Sokka?" Katara said continuing her work on the dishes, waterbending them clean.

"I was thinking that it might be time to go our separate ways with Aang."

"Sokka—" She was cut off though with Sokka's hand coming to her mouth.

"Look I know what you are going to say: that we need to be with Aang and help him fulfill his destiny to defeat the Fire Lord. But Katara, you are due to go back to the Northern Water Tribe here in just a few short months. You are supposed to be engaged to some man from the North and help your father, my uncle lead the Northern Water Tribe. You coming to the Southern Water Tribe was supposed to be temporary for your safety until you came of age. Your birthday is just in four months and they will be expecting you there. Your duty it to your people Katara, not the Avatar. Aang when he finishes his training with Toph, I am sure he will be happy to go to the Northern Water Tribe and continue his training with you." Sokka just looked at her. Katara's eyes started to swell as silent tears started to come down her face. Sokka got on the ground and wrapped his arms around his cousin. "Look I am sorry for saying all that. But as the one in charge of your safety I just can lose you too. And I have become far more concerned with it ever since you lost your necklace."

The two just stayed where they were for a bit until Katara was starting to calm down. Sokka let go of her but still had his arms on her shoulders looking into her earnest eyes. "You are right." It was all she could say. Her mind had been reeling the last several minutes with everything that Sokka just said. She knew she had her obligations to her people and that is the most important thing to her, but she also felt like she had a duty to Aang as his teacher. Being able to say that she is the Avatar's Waterbending teacher is a great honor. But she knew that she could not be selfish, she could not let her personal feelings get in the way.

"Ok." Was all Sokka said. "I will start preparing our departure. If we can find where my dad is and his men, they could take you back to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Sokka I will go, but only after my birthday in four months. I know I am being selfish but I want to stay these last few months with everyone. I want to teach Aang at least the basics to get him started. Sokka once I go, I will never have an opportunity to see the world like this, if ever. You know that once I am married I will hardly be able to leave the icy tundra."

Sokka let out a sigh, put his head down for a moment and then looked back up at Katara. "Oh alright, but just until it is your birthday. We will need to find a way to send a letter to Dad and state that we will meet them after your birthday to take you home."

"You really will let me stay?"

After a moment's pause, "Yes…"

Katara jumped up on top of Sokka with a great big bear hug, "Thank you Sokka, you are the best!"

"I know." Sokka let out a small laugh.

"What will we tell Aang and Toph?"

"Nothing for right now. Let's not upset Aang just yet. He has more important things to worry about. I suggest that you train him as much as you can in the next four months before your birthday. I would say we could find a nice spot with both earth and water and stay there but with the Prince always on our tail we will need somewhere safe."

"What about Bai Sing Sei? I am sure that there is a place for the Avatar there."

"That is a brilliant idea Katara!" Katara could see the reels turning in Sokka's head with a plan to get them there without anyone's notice.

"If this is going to work, we will need to stay covered while we fly…" He paused for a moment bruising over his ideas on how to accomplish everything. "Yes…yes…yes I think that would work. Right!" He made a fist and slammed it down on his other hand in triumph.

"What is it Sokka?" Katara was now curious.

Sokka made a move and starting running towards where Aang and Toph left hours ago. "I'll tell the group once I bring Aang and Toph back!" He yelled back at her as he kept moving.

Katara just shook her head and walked back to the fire in the middle of the camp ground near where both Appa and Momo resided. It was almost lunchtime anyways when Sokka got this big plan of his. Katara began to make lunch for everyone and by the time that the three arrived it was finished.

"So Sokka what is this idea of yours?" Aang asked as he took a towel to his head to wipe the sweat off.

"Yeah Snoozles, what is this grand plan of yours?" Toph asked planting herself down next to the fire. Katara hands out lunch to the group before taking her seat around the fire for Sokka to begin. Sokka's eyes went wide at the sight of meat and happily grabbed his plate and took a huge bite of it before telling his plan.

"Well Katara and I were talking about how we needed a safe place for you to practice Aang. It is too risky for us to stay in one spot for too long and if we are constantly moving every few days, you will lose valuable time to be training. So I think we should go to the one place in the world that it would be safe for you to learn earthbending and waterbending."

"Where is that Sokka?" Aang asked in-between bits of his fruit and nuts.

"We should go to Bai Sing Sei. It is the perfect place for you to learn. As the Avatar I am sure that we will be welcome to the King himself and from there we can properly train you. The only thing though is we have to get there in secret."

"That is impossible Sokka. It's not like we can hide a two-ton bison." Aang commented.

"That is where you are wrong. You and Katara are the perfect people for the job."

"What job?" Katara asked, now curious as to what Sokka was thinking about.

"Cloud bending. I mean think about it clouds are just made from water and air. If you and Aang bend the water and air around Appa while I fly him in the direction of Bai Sing Sei, we will just look like another floating cloud in the sky. No one will suspect anything. And by the time that we arrived to Bai Sing Sei, the Fire Nation will be so far behind the curb that they won't know what to do. It's not like they are going to break through the wall anytime soon. Once we are within the wall of Bai Sing Sei we will be safe from harm and you can train in peace." Sokka all said at once that the group was stun to silence.

"That is genius Sokka!" Aang finally said a few moments later. "Who knew you had it in you!"

"Yeah Snoozles that is actually a good plan." Toph said in-between eating her lunch.

Katara just sat there silent knowing full well the real reason for going to Bai Sing Sei. True it would keep the Avatar safe, but more importantly it would keep her safe from the Fire Nation and give them a chance to get in contact with Sokka's father for their plan to take her back to the Northern Water Tribe.

When lunch finally finished, the group put their plates down. "Come on Aang, it is time to continue our training." Katara said.

"Alright!" Aang beamed. He airbended himself onto an air scooter and headed towards to the river. Katara just let out a small laugh and followed the young teenager.

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Again please review! This was a brand new chapter and I will update the again next week!