"It has been a couple of hours now," said Zuko. "Why hasn't the Ava – Aang returned yet?"

"Aw," said Katara mockingly. "You're cute when you care."

Zuko's ears turned faintly pink. "Am not," he denied.

"You're right," said Toph, snickering, "you could never be cute."

"What do you know anyway? You're blind!" Zuko shot at her. "Besides, I meant that I didn't care."

"Uh huh," said Katara, not sounding convinced. "Sure. Whatever you say, Your Royal Hotness."

"What did you call me?" Zuko demanded angrily.

"Good one Katara," exclaimed Toph. "Though one has to wonder...Did you mean that literally being that he's from the Fire Nation? Or..."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Katara sharply.

"Yeah, don't be ridiculous," Zuko echoed, glaring at the blind earthbender.

"Mmm, I don't know," sighed Toph dramatically. "I'm sensing all of these weird love vibrations..."

"Shut up!" Katara and Zuko chorused.

Jet and Sokka glanced at each other. They had been walking behind the others with Azula chained between them, listening to the pointless chatter between Zuko, Toph, and Katara. They had decided not to fly on Appa, not wanting to risk being seen by the Fire Nation. The sky bison lumbered slowly beside them, with Iroh and Earth King sitting on top. They were once again arguing about tea and various other silly topics as Momo flew in circles above Basco, making some sort of freakish halo in the sky.

"'Weird love vibrations'...," Sokka repeated, shaking his head. "Toph, I would appreciate that you not say something involving my sister that sounds vaguely wrong...Especially not with Princess Lisp."

"Hey!" Zuko exclaimed grumpily. "And I would appreciate that you people would stop coming up with stupid nicknames for me. My name is Zuko. You can either call me that or Prince Zuko or even My Prince on special occasions." He gave them a small smile at his weak crack for a joke.

"Prince?" Katara laughed. "Prince of what, exactly?" She sounded much like she did back at the North Pole when Sokka had lied about being such to Yue. "Last time I checked, you were an outcast of the Fire Nation."

Zuko sniffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"What, you don't like our nicknames?" Toph asked in mock-hurt. "Not even Fairy Princess?"

"No."

"Angry Boy?"

"No."

"Ooh, what about Zuzu?"

"Absolutely not!" Zuko roared. Toph and Katara snickered.

"Alright, Angsty Pants," said Toph, "I'll try my best to call you by your real name."

"That's not my name!" Zuko was glaring at Toph, his hands balled into fists.

"Uh oh, Toph," said Katara sarcastically. "Now I'm sensing all of these weird love vibrations..."

"That isn't funny," the earthbender replied dully, though she was laughing with her.

"Girls are so obnoxious," Zuko grumbled crossly, falling back to walk alongside Jet and Sokka. "Finally, I can have a real conversation."

"Hey, Zuko," Sokka whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think Toph totally digs you!"

Iroh snorted into his tea as Zuko's fists ignited in exasperation. They were all laughing now, except Zuko of course. He was too busy swearing and calling them all various insults.

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It was two hours later that Aang became conscious. He awoke to find that he was someplace dark, with a torch flickering over him. "Well, well, well," rasped a voice overhead. "I must say that I am surprised that you found this place." The speaker sounded horribly familiar, making Aang's insides crawl.

"Long Feng?" Aang demanded. "What are you doing here? Where is here? Why aren't you in prison? Why does my head hurt?"

Long Feng laughed harshly. "Enough questions, boy. They will be answered in good time. All you need to know is that you have found the resistance."

"What?" Aang asked in disbelief. "You joined the resistance?"

"I am leading the resistance. A Dai Li agent helped me escape Ba Sing Se. I fled to Omashu, where I met up with the resistance. They had lost their leader to the Fire Nation so I offered to help them. I want my revenge for the sacking of my city. I should be the rightful ruler!" He was angry, Aang could tell. "And it is your fault. If you hadn't meddled into my business with the Earth King, I would have never had to turn to the Fire Nation for help. It was your fault that Ba Sing Se crumbled. When countless people die, we will know who to blame."

Aang cringed at his words before retorting, "You weren't helping much either." After a few moments of silence Aang asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

"We both want the same thing, Avatar," said Long Feng. "You, admittedly, are very powerful and you can help me in my quest of regaining the Earth Kingdom..."

"I see this calls for a truce," said Aang slowly.

"Whatever you want to call it," said Long Feng indifferently.

"Fine. Where is the rest of the resistance?"

"All around you," said Long Feng. "We're all resting up for the march into Omashu that begins tomorrow. We need a base to fight the Fire Nation. After we get that, Ba Sing Se will be no different."

"I suggest you wait on that," said Aang, listening to the snores of possibly hundreds of men. He wondered on how big the area under the ground actually was.

"And why is that?" asked Long Feng unpleasantly.

"Because my friends are coming this way," said Aang smugly, "and with them they bring Princess Azula of the Fire Nation."

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"Can we stop and look for water? I'm thirsty." Toph had been complaining for the past ten minutes and she was getting on everyone's nerves.

"I told you; we can't stop until nightfall. Besides, our top priority is finding wherever the hell Aang is," Katara snapped, glancing at the sun on the horizon. It would be dark soon anyway.

"Well, then can I have some of your bending water? Please, I'm really thirsty," Toph begged, batting her large, misty eyes.

"Fine. But only one sip," Katara warned, holding up her index finger.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Toph, holding out her hand. "Give it over."

Katara tossed her the pouch. Toph uncorked it and squeezed every last drop down her throat.

"Toph!" Katara shouted. "What if we get attacked?"

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"Are you lying?" Long Feng demanded. "You have Princess Azula?"

"I swear it," said Aang, enjoying the look of disbelief on his face.

"That's...incredible. We can use her to get something back from the Fire Nation!" Long Feng clapped his hands in what looked like glee.

"That was my original plan, but Azula says it isn't going to work. She says that her father won't trade anything for her," said Aang uncertainly.

Long Feng waved the thought away. "They will come for her."

Aang touched his forehead. There was a large, twisted knot. "Who hit me?"

"That would be one of my men," said Long Feng with a smug smile. "We apologize for that." Aang narrowed his eyes at him, for he didn't look sorry at all. "Everyone has been tense and on high alert. We've heard Fire Nation troops passing through here for the last two days. One of my scouts claims they're looking for someone."

"Azula," Aang whispered. Long Feng nodded. "Oh no," Aang cried. "My friends! They don't know that Fire Nation are nearby. I have to warn them!"

"But you've only just arrived!" Long Feng said. "If you give me just a little longer to talk..."

"I'll talk when I come back with my friends," said Aang sharply. He felt around for his glider before jumping to his feet. "How do I get out?" Long Feng pointed him in the right direction and Aang took off at full speed.

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It was twilight when the gang decided to make camp. They were all tired of walking in circles, looking for Aang when they knew they wouldn't be able to find him anyway. They slept under the cover of the treetops and debated over whether they should start a fire or not.

"Aang might not be able to find us," said Katara, "so if we start a fire, he might be able to spot it."

"But if the Fire Nation in Omashu sees it, we're all toast," said Sokka, crossing his arms.

"Our main concern is finding Aang," said Katara. "I say we start a fire."

"I agree," added Toph, "though I have managed finding someone in the dark."

"Haha, very funny," said Sokka dryly. "Fine, Katara...you can go get firewood. I'm staying here."

"I'll help," Jet offered, standing up. "Sokka, watch the prisoner." They had reduced to calling Azula "the prisoner" after what she had done and they all refused to talk to her.

Jet followed Katara through the brush as they hunted for dry branches and twigs. They only had a little light left and they were worried that they would get lost, so they tried to stay as close as they could to camp. Unfortunately, there weren't many branches on the ground, so they had to drift further and further out into the growing darkness.

"What's this?" Katara asked, bending down to squint at something in the grass.

"What's what?" Jet asked in a monotonous tone, walking up to her. There was a doll lying on a blanket of leaves. Looking around, they realized that there were several dolls. Each one was large and made of cloth with button eyes and hair spun from black yarn. Katara bent down to pick one up.

"Wait! Katara no!" Jet cried. But it was too late; Katara already had it in her hands. Suddenly they found themselves soaring upwards. They were swinging in a roughly hewn net, the ropes groaning under their weight. "Great. Thanks a lot."

"Who set traps out here?" Katara demanded, finding herself very uncomfortable pressed up against Jet's chest.

"I don't know, Princess," said Jet grumpily. "These don't look like animal traps because if they were, they would be set by food, not toys."

Katara struggled in the net to make more room for herself. She only managed to have Jet lurch forward and land on top of her.

"Stop moving!" Jet commanded. "You're making it worse."

"You're crushing me!" Katara snapped at him. "Move!"

"Don't shout," he whispered. "They might hear us!"

"Who might hear us?" Katara asked, accidentally kicking him in the stomach.

"Just shut up, okay?" Jet gently rolled to the right of the net, pushing Katara away from him. "There," he whispered as they sat side-by-side. "Was that so hard?"

"Yes," Katara grumbled. She then stuck her face between the ropes to get a better look. "HELP!" she bellowed. "TOPH! SOKKA! ZUKO!"

Jet clamped a hand over her mouth. "What did I tell you about shouting?" he hissed. "The Fire Nation could be nearby."

"The Fire Nation aren't going to check their traps until morning," said Katara, "if these even are their traps."

"You don't know where their camp is though," said Jet, "so I suggest you be quiet."

After a few moments of silence, Jet asked, "What about your bending water? Cut us out!"

"Great idea!" she exclaimed, reaching for the pouch at her hip. "Oh no...," she whispered. "I forgot! Toph drank the last of it."

"Damn it!" Jet cursed. "Now, how are we going to get out?"

"They'll come looking for us," said Katara. "If they heard me, they'll be here in no time. Ugh, I'm so cramped up here."

"Just pretend your sitting in a hammock. A nice little hammock on a beach somewhere," said Jet, stretching his arms behind his head.

"If I were on a hammock," said Katara dully, "I wouldn't be sitting next to you."

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Aang searched frantically through the dark. He managed to ignite his hand, remembering Iroh's teachings, but it kept blowing out in the wind. He couldn't find them. He had been searching for an hour and he couldn't find any of them.

"KATARA!" he shouted. "SOKKA! TOPH! JET! ANYONE?"

His response was as soft as a whisper, but he heard it. Someone had shouted his name. He heard it again. "Aaaaaaang!" He followed the sound, dipping below the tree tops. It wasn't until several minutes later that he stumbled across Toph and Zuko.

"Aang!" Toph cried. "You're okay!"

"What's going on?" Aang demanded, looking between Zuko with his fiery hand, and Toph, who had been pressing her ear to the ground.

"It's Jet and Katara, we can't find them!" cried Toph. "Iroh and the Earth King are searching in the other direction."

"What about Sokka?" Aang asked in worry.

"He's back at camp with Azula. But I don't understand! I had been listening to their footsteps and suddenly I couldn't feel anything. They just disappeared! We've looked everywhere! They were just going out to get firewood so that you would be able to see us from the sky..." Toph was anxious. She pressed her ear to the ground again. Nothing.

"They couldn't have just disappeared!" Aang exclaimed in exasperation.

"Wait," said Toph suddenly, pushing her hand into the dirt. "What was that?"

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"Any moment now, they're going to burst out of the woods," said Katara anxiously. "This is all going to seem very funny when we're back at camp."

Jet opened one eye. He had been humming a song about two forbidden lovers over and over again to keep himself entertained. He had picked it up somewhere in Ba Sing Se and he couldn't remember all of the words. "No one's coming," said Jet, sounding surprisingly cheerful. "You might as well sit back and join in."

"'Secret lovers, forbidden from one another...'"

"Shut up!" Katara snapped. "You're driving me insane."

"'...A war divides their people...And a mountain divides them apart...'" Jet stopped to think. "I can't remember what goes next."

Katara sighed and sang, "'They built a path to be together...'"

"Ah, that's right!" Jet exclaimed. "'Secret tunnel! Through the mountains...'"

"'Secret tunnel, through the mountains...'"

"I'm glad you've decided to join in," said Jet, smiling at her.

"Uh, Jet...," said Katara nervously. "That wasn't me."

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Ty Lee grinned. "I love that song!" The guards escorting her merely grunted. "June, I'm glad we finally caught something!"

"Cut them down," was all June said as she dismounted from her starry-nosed anteater. The guards did as they were told and the net hurled towards the ground, emitting several curses. The guards pulled the prisoners to their feet.

"Look who we have here," said the bounty hunter in a sarcastic drawl. "If it isn't Angry Boy's girlfriend! You gave me quite a bit of trouble a while back."

"We didn't catch the Avatar?" Ty Lee asked, pouting.

"No," said June. "But it's just as well. She's a friend of the Avatar. I'm not sure who the boy is."

"Oh, I'd recognize a cute face anywhere!" said Ty Lee, giggling. "That's a fugitive from the Fire Nation. Jet, I believe his name was."

Jet and Katara stared up at them. Jet didn't recognize either one of them, but Katara did. The bounty hunter's sleek black hair and spiraling tattoo on her shoulder wasn't hard to mistake, not to mention the great beast that stood at her side.

"Shirshu, you know what to do," June whispered to the beast. With a quick lash of tongue, Jet and Katara fell to the ground...They were both paralyzed.

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A/N: I thought I would use June (that evil chick from "Bato of the Water Tribe") because she was said to be an awesome tracker with her mole/anteater beast thingy. I sort of hinted it in the previous chapter, I think, but I'm not sure if anyone caught on. Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed it. I know that Long Feng saying he joined the resistance is a little wacky and I doubt any of you trust him, but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep him a bad guy or not...Reviews please!