A/N- *pokes head into fic* *gets pelted with rotten tomatoes* *cowers, but takes it like a lady*

Sorry. The world decided that my summer "vacation" (LOL people with real jobs don't have those) was irrelevant and that what my life really needed was a nasty bout of flu, compounded with a sudden and unexpected move to a new apartment (still pending) and a whole slew of other superfun things. If "superfun" means "not superfun," that is. I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the delay (it didn't help matters that this chapter is essentially filler, albeit badass filler, and I don't really like writing filler/rehash that much). Just look at it this way- between the hiatus and this relatively light chapter, you guys get a break before I resume my attempts to break your hearts repeatedly.

Now to reply to my "anonymous" reviewers...

Phooka- Endless thanks for your high praise! I doubt it's entirely warranted, but I certainly appreciate it... and yes, if I have my say, we will be seeing more of Zuko's crew (if for no other reason than that I have an unlikely soft spot for Lieutenant Jee).

corporal cactus- You may have a point. I do heavily favor Katara, especially in the first several chapters. This stems from a couple of different sources, the primary being that the series did so and I take my cue from the source material. Secondary reasons for this bias may include the simple fact that I do write heavily from Katara's POV, and use her internal dialogue as a vehicle for examining the narrative from a somewhat less omniscient perspective. Whether this is a mistake on my part remains to be seen, but I hope my tendency to utilize her perspective won't hinder your further enjoyment of this story!

GibbytheSecond- I know technically you left your comment on Katara & the Avatar, but since this is getting updated sooner, and you indicated that you do read this, I thought I'd take a gamble and respond to you here. I'm sorry my slowness is torturing you, dear! I promise I'll do my best not to keep you hanging quite this long again! That being said... if you want to get regular updates on my writing (among other fun fandom stuff), feel free to check out my ATLA/LoK blog on Tumblr. There's a link on my profile, and I do use it to keep people up to date on where I'm at with this story. *shameless self-promotion GO!*

Guest: Same as Gibby here, you left a review on a different story, but since it's a oneshot and won't be updated, I'm replying here. Yes, I do plan on continuing Almost Airbenders! I certainly haven't forgotten it, and I know exactly what's going to happen in that story. I just haven't had motivation to write it. (Pssst, if someone else wants to write some beautiful Teo Lee or make fanart for them... you totally should, because it would totally re-inspire me to write for them.) I'm so glad, though, that you like my writing so much!

Thank you all for your continued support and feedback. It really motivates me to keep going, knowing that I'm not the only one having a good time here.

~*Book 1: Wind & Water*~

Chapter 12: Kindling

"Your number has been called
Fights and battles have begun
Revenge will surely come
Your hard times are ahead."
-Muse

Somehow or other, it had all gone terribly wrong. Katara held her breath, trying to keep her teeth from chattering even as a chill wind off the water swept across her soaked clothing, raising gooseflesh on her skin. But it wasn't the cold and damp that had her huddling closer to the unconscious airbender in her arms. No, that honor went to the ominous noise of stamping feet and the clank of armor that sounded from just beyond their shamefully spare hiding place.

She shrank down against the boulder she lay upon, smelling the stink of seaweed all around them and almost afraid to breathe for fear that they would be found. And all the while, she couldn't help the stirrings of panic every time her eyes fell on Aang because he still wasn't moving...!

Five minutes ago...

The second he walked out the door, Aang had known he'd made a stupid, stupid mistake. This appeared to be turning into a disturbing trend in his life lately. He had been a complete jerk to Katara for no good reason, and Aang was pretty sure if Gyatso could have seen it, he'd have swatted him. He'd had half a mind to go right back inside and apologize to her, but before he could commit to it, he'd been ambushed by his new friends. With Saio tugging on one arm and Koko on the other, he didn't have much choice but to let them drag him down to ride the unagi as planned.

And that was how he had ended up spending the last ten minutes neck deep in the bay, contemplating the fact that the water seemed a great deal colder than it had felt only a few days earlier. Even worse, he could see that his audience was starting to lose interest. The longer the unagi failed to appear, the less inclined his new friends were to stick around without any action. Some of the girls had already wandered off, and the attention of the rest was beginning to drift. Even Koko, who had been nothing but enthusiastic about all their plans up until now, was sitting glumly in the sand with her chin propped on her fist.

"What's taking so long, Aangy?" she called plaintively.

"Any second now!" he shouted back, but there wasn't any real conviction behind the words.

He didn't particularly care about the unagi. He hadn't cared that much when the plan was devised. If he was totally honest with himself, the reason he had suggested it was all down to Katara. She'd been distant the last few days, and a part of him had needed to know she still cared enough to worry. It was a very confusing feeling, because he also didn't want to see her looking at him like he might break if she said the wrong thing the way she had those first few days after their visit to the temple, but he couldn't help it. He was baffled by his own internal chaos. He couldn't seem to make up his mind what he actually wanted- all he knew was that somewhere along the line, he had screwed up.

He sank despondently into the water, watching passively as the girls trailed off one by one, until even Koko gave up on him. "Sorry, Aang," she called out to him. "We're gonna go check out the new tree fort Chen's brother built." And then they were all gone.

Well, maybe he deserved that. He was such an idiot! Hadn't he screwed up enough for one lifetime?

A sudden flash of blue on the shore caught his eye. He raised his head for a better view over the swell of the waves and, to his astonishment, saw Katara standing on the shore.

"Katara? What are you doing here?" he called to her.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she said. "I was worried."

She was?

"But earlier... it seemed like you didn't care."

Katara's expression slipped sadly, and she nodded. "You and your fangirls were annoying me and I said some things I didn't mean. I'm sorry."

Was that what her cool attitude the last couple days had been about? She'd been upset that he was spending so much time with other people? It did explain a lot of things.

Well, Aang had learned a valuable lesson from the experience. Sweet as they were, Koko and the other girls were fair-weather friends as Gyatso would have said. But Katara... Katara was still here long after they'd left. Even disregarding the inherent Water Tribe color-pun, Katara was true blue. And he had questioned that, and tried to test her.

If he hadn't felt like scum before, he sure did now.

"I'm sorry, too," he said. "I was a real jerk to you."

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!"

The forgiveness was implicit in her tone, but the sparkling warmth in her expression as their eyes met across the water confirmed it. All would be forgotten, and they would go back to being friends without stupid paranoia and jealousy getting in the way.

Even from so far away, Katara's smile was still visible. Aang felt warmed by it, and he grinned back at her. She really was amazing, he thought, and he was extremely grateful she had decided to forgive him. As he started pulling for the shore, eager to get out of the freezing water, he was so caught up in appreciating Katara's wonderfully unconditional friendship that he utterly failed to notice the large razored fin cutting silently through the water behind him...

The unagi had tossed Aang about like a ragdoll right before Katara's horrified eyes. He had clung valiantly to its slipper barbel, narrowly avoiding its vicious snapping jaws in the process, but the force of its thrashing was too violent and he had been flung clear. He had slammed into the water so hard it would be a miracle if he didn't have any broken ribs, and he had been unconscious ever since.

Katara herself had dived into the water and pulled him out before the unagi could make an easy meal of him. Its wild splashing as she deprived it of its chosen dinner had created huge waves which had in turn deposited the two sodden benders in a narrow crevice in the rocky shore. They had been further driven back when the creature blasted an enormous jet of water straight from it's jaws. Despite the discomfort, though, this proved to be a blessing in disguise. No sooner had Katara poked her head over their bare shelter than a squadron of Fire Nation soldiers, mounted on fierce creatures the likes of which she'd never seen before disembarked from a ship docked just out of sight in the bay.

Katara had caught sight of the unmistakable visage of Prince Zuko before she ducked back into concealment, and she felt an abrupt swell of anger. He was undoubtedly here for Aang. It was bad enough that Zuko had already kidnapped him once before; that he was still pursuing them, still intent on his goal to deliver Aang to the Fire Lord, made her want to punch him right in his disfigured face. What business did he have, attacking a kind, innocent boy whose only crime was being born?

Once the soldiers had filed past and continued their march to the village, Katara turned her worried gaze back to the airbender in her arms. To her horror, he was turning blue about the lips. She thought fast and, on a gamble swept her hand across his chest. Sure enough, there was water in his lungs, and in the most technical and precise waterbending she had ever performed, she drew it carefully back through his windpipe. It only took a few seconds to complete, but by the time she had finished she was sweating despite the freezing temperatures.

Aang coughed, sputtered, and opened his eyes. Katara had to resist the urge to suffocate him all over again in a hug, she was so relieved. As it was, she restrained herself simply to a relieved, affectionate smile.

"Katara?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't ride the unagi," he said solemnly.

She laughed. She had discovered, much to her surprise, that she had missed him while he was running around with all those girls; it was good to have him back to something like himself. Her mood quickly sobered, though, when she recalled that they had another pressing problem to deal with. She was reluctant to throw another crisis at him after he'd just been half-drowned, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Aang, can you move?"

In answer to her question he sat up, though not without wincing a little. "Yeah, why?"

"Because the Fire Nation is attacking the island," she informed him.

"What?" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet with surprising grace for a boy who had been unconscious not even a minute earlier.

She grimaced. "Prince Zuko and a bunch of soldiers just went past a few minutes ago. They're headed for the village now."

"Oh no," Aang said. "This is bad."

Without waiting on her to say anything else, he vaulted up out of their little shelter and down over the large granite boulders to the sandy ground on the other side with the grace and speed only an airbender can achieve. Katara followed him more slowly, chasing after him as he ran for the treeline. By the time she caught up to him, he was pulling on his clothes and had his staff firmly in hand.

"What are you gonna do?" she asked.

He looked over at the warship at anchor in the bay, then back in the direction of the village, where smoke could already be seen rising into the clear afternoon sky. His expression was grim, and it looked strange on a face that she was used to seeing full of laughter and excitement.

"Whatever I can," he said. "I mean... he's here for me, right? I can't let him hurt them. These people helped us."

Katara nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Suki sprinted down the path from the dojo with long graceful strides that reminded Sokka forcibly of a tundra wolf. He kept stride with her only by virtue of his longer legs. "Who is it?" he asked. "The Fire Nation?"

"Who else would it be?" she said tersely, eyes fixed on the bend in the track that would bring them in sight of the village proper.

As they approached the curve, a small squad of warriors emerged from the trees on silent feet. They were all in uniform, brightly painted faces grim. Suki skidded to a stop to confer with them. "What are we up against?" she asked.

"Twenty men," one girl confirmed. "Eight of them mounted, twelve on foot. They made landing in the rocky cove, and they'll reach the village in three minutes. Most of them appear to be armed, but there are at least four that appear to rely on firebending alone."

Suki nodded, expression unreadable. "We can't bank on the rest of them being non-benders, though," she said.

The other warriors made soft noises of agreement.

"What are they here for?" Ayoki asked.

Suki pursed her lips. "I can only think of one thing that would bring them here now," she said, and her eyes flickered to Sokka meaningfully.

"They're after us?" he asked incredulously.

"It's too much of a coincidence," one of the older girls confirmed. "The Fire Nation hasn't come to our shores in thirty years, and then they show up just days after you do?"

Sokka glowered in the direction of the village, as if he could cut down the approaching soldiers with only the power of his baleful gaze. "That just figures," he muttered. "Alright, so what's out strategy?"

"You and your friends need to get out of here. We have to locate your sister and Avatar Aang, but our primary objective is protecting the village." Suki raised her head high, her tone commanding and her striking indigo eyes determined. "Ayoki, I need you to run back to your grandfather's house and gather the Avatar's belongings. His bison needs to be ready to fly at a moment's notice. The rest of you, divide up and spread out through the village. Take to the rooftops. We may have an advantage if we can catch them from above. Attack pattern four, just like we've practiced. Sokka, you're with me!"

And then they were running again, veering off the path and into the forest. They had only gone a few yards when Suki whipped around to glare at him and hissed, "You're making more noise than an elephant-leopard with honey on it's toes! Didn't anybody ever teach you how to move quietly in the undergrowth?"

"I grew up in the South Pole," he shot back in a sardonic whisper. "We don't have undergrowth!"

"Yeah, well, try to keep quiet!"

He growled at her in annoyance, but did his best to copy her movements and the noise of his footsteps decreased noticeably as a result.

When they reached the village just scant minutes later, a skirmish had already broken out between the first squad of warriors and the invading soldiers. In the first moments of the battle, it abruptly appeared to be raining girls as Kyoshi warriors leaped from every accessible rooftop onto the backs of soldiers, wrestling many of them to the ground. The ringing and scrape of struck metal filled the air as fans deflected sword thrusts and quick fists struck out at helmeted heads.

Sokka dove into the chaos, quickly engaging the nearest soldier, a pike-wielding infantryman of intimidating height. Using the techniques he had so recently been taught by Suki, he used a twist of the fans he still bore to redirect his opponent's attempt to run him through. He seized the end of his pike before the soldier could draw his weapon back. Using his shorter stature and greater speed to his advantage, Sokka darted past his opponent, still holding onto the end of the pike. As he ran around behind him, the end of the long shaft became tangled up in it's wielder's legs, tripping him up and sending him crashing to the ground. Before the tall man could recover, Sokka drove his elbow hard into the man's sternum, leaving him gasping for air and rendered entirely ineffective for combat.

He jumped back into a defensive stance, his eyes darting around as he assessed the ongoing battle. It became apparent immediately that despite the Kyoshi warriors' superior strategy and training, the element of surprise had given the Fire Nation troops a significant advantage. Fire blasts were flying everywhere and several buildings around the main square were already ablaze.

Suki, for her part, had engaged the leader of the squadron- none other than Prince Zuko himself. She ran at him, fans spread and face determined. She looked fierce and magnificent and every inch the skilled warrior she was, but just as Sokka caught sight of her, a lash from the tail of Zuko's scaly mount sent her flying. She let out a loud cry as she collided heavily with the front porch of a house. Zuko advanced on her, a callous look on his face.

Something in Sokka bubbled up with white hot panic, and he ran at top speed to intercept Zuko before he could do something worse to her. He hurled himself between the two combatants, his stance defensive and his expression determined, his fans spread in the defensive pattern she had taught him.

"Go back where you came from, Zuko!" he shouted.

The sound of his name gave the scarred prince pause. "How do you-?" He studied Sokka closely, trying to place him beneath the heavy makeup he wore. After a moment's blank confusion, recognition dawned. "I don't believe it! You're that Water Tribe peasant. You mean the Avatar actually let you keep traveling with him?"

Sokka glared at him but before he could bite out the sharp retort on his tongue, another voice, high and clear, rang out over the din of the fight.

"Zuko! Are you looking for me?"

Both prince and warrior turned to look and sure enough, standing beneath the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, stood Aang. He held his staff in hand and face fixed in a fierce scowl.

Sokka's first reaction upon seeing him there was to place himself between Aang and the Fire Prince. His protective instinct was sudden and intense, because Zuko was powerful and mounted and armed and Aang was just a kid... but Sokka remembered the incredible display of power he had witnessed high in the Patola Mountains only a few days before and realized that he was much more likely to get his butt kicked by Zuko than Aang was. He tamped down on that immediate, instinctive reaction and left Aang to it, turning his attention to Suki instead.

She was out of breath and obviously hurting, but she was still determinedly getting to her feet nonetheless. Sokka quickly grabbed her arm and helped her up, then pulled her quickly around the back wall of the building.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as they both crouched low, out of the immediate path of the pitched battle raging on the main street.

She nodded, wincing slightly. "Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me. It's my own stupid fault, I should have expected their mounts to be battle-trained."

"You couldn't have known."

"But I should have been careful," she said. "In battle, mistakes like that can get you killed."

Sokka marveled at her discipline and readiness. He was warrior-trained. No Southern Water Tribe boy wasn't these days, and especially not the chief's son. But Suki had attained a level of clear-headedness and strategic wisdom that he still lacked. He had been trained to fight like a warrior, but she had been trained to think like one.

"We have to get back out there," she said. "My warriors will be counting on me to lead them, and you need to get your friends out of here."

Sokka nodded. "Have you seen Katara?"

"I think she was helping get civilians out of the way of the battle," Suki informed him. "Last I saw of her she was a few houses north of here. Now go, we don't have time to say goodbye!" She got to her feet and was preparing to run back into the fray, but Sokka caught her wrist and stopped her.

"Is there time for me to say I'm sorry?" he asked. "I was a real jerk to you at first, and I want to apologize. I didn't respect you, and that was wrong of me. I treated you like a girl when I should have treated you like a warrior."

Suki gave him a look then that was hard to decipher, somewhere between a smile and a dumbfounded stare. Sokka found himself abruptly captivated by the sparkle in her striking eyes, frozen to the spot before she leaned in and kissed his cheek softly. "I am a warrior," she said, "but don't forget that I'm a girl, too." Her lips ticked upward in a grin for just a moment before she stepped away from him. "Now go! Get the Avatar to safety! And don't forget to keep your center of gravity low!"

And just like that, she was gone. Sokka was left with a blush so fierce he was sure it was showing through his face paint, and the disconcerting feeling that Suki had just been telling him something important.

Zuko's first fire-blast was easily avoided, as was the second. But the young prince was determined, and having met him in a fight once before, Aang knew not to underestimate him. And he was right- the next attack, as Zuko swept an arm in a fierce diagonal motion and unleashed a trail of fire like a whip, forced Aang to dive out of the way. He tucked his body under and rolled, coming back to his feet in a crouched, defensive position well out of the way of the line of fire.

He needed to end this, fast. There were people around, and wooden houses everywhere. This was worse than the Southern Water Tribe, all surrounded by snow and ice and mostly comprised of igloos that were far less susceptible to burning. That had been bad enough, but here, too?

Maybe if he took Zuko out, the other soldiers would be more concerned with helping their leader than attacking the villagers. He hoped so, anyway. But how was he going to do that? Zuko was doing a very good job of making sure Aang couldn't get near him.

Spying a pair of fans that Sokka had dropped before he disappeared off to somewhere, inspiration struck. Some of the monks had used fans like these to strengthen their airbending. He had never tried the technique himself, but he'd seen it done and he was pretty sure he could imitate it.

Snatching the fans up, he spread them to their fullest capacity, taking a moment to test their weight and durability even as he dodged yet another blast of fire from Zuko. Then he turned in a circle once, aligning his chi in preparation, then with a coordinated sweeping motion he used the fans to conduct a powerful blast of air directly into the face of the Fire Nation prince.

Aang couldn't help but be impressed with the result. Zuko's mount staggered backward, groaning in discomfort, and Zuko himself was hurled from it's back and slammed across the street and into the front door of a shop, which collapsed inward from the force of his impact.

The young airbender didn't stick around to admire his handiwork, however. He had to find Katara and Sokka. Dropping the fans, he opened his glider and launched himself into the sky. As he soared over the village and saw flames rising from what seemed like every building, his heart sank and his stomach felt full of lead. The sight of the village children huddled and crying out of the line of fire, girls he had been playing with only an hour ago desperate and sobbing with fear... roofs quickly being reduced to ashes and wounded civilians and warriors alike fleeing for their lives... was this what it had been like when the Fire Nation attacked his people? Had they cried out in fear and tried to run before they all died? Had they cried out for someone, anyone to save them, and...?

But that thought was like a sword straight through his heart, and he couldn't think about it right now or he wasn't going to be able to function. He needed his head clear right now, and so he forced the unwanted images out of his mind.

He spied Katara, who was using her waterbending to try to put out one of the fires using water from a rain barrel.

"Aang, there you are!" she exclaimed.

He landed beside her and snapped his glider shut. "This is all my fault," he said numbly. "I brought this here."

"You couldn't have known Zuko would follow us here," Katara objected. "It's not your fault, it's his."

Aang shook his head. "But they wouldn't have come if it weren't for me. They're going to burn this place to the ground!"

Katara nodded. "Okay, then we need to leave."

Leave? He didn't want to leave. He didn't want to abandon these people to their fate, the way he'd abandoned- That was another thought he didn't want to have. The point was, how could he just run when people were fighting for their lives, for their homes?

She must have seen the conflict in his face, because she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and said, "I know it feels wrong to run, but that might be the only way we can give them a chance. Zuko will follow us, and we can draw him off."

Aang nodded sadly. As much as he hated it, she was right. "I'll call Appa," he said, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"One step ahead of you, buddy," Sokka said suddenly.

Aang and Katara whipped around to peer between two buildings. Sokka was waiting in the back street beside Appa, and Ayoki was holding the reins. "I've gathered your supplies together," she told them. "Suki thought you three might need to make a hasty departure under the circumstances, and had me prepare your bison, Avatar Aang."

"Thank you, Ayoki," Aang said, bowing to her.

He was touched deeply by what these people had done for him. They had taken him in, given him shelter and the warmest welcome he had ever received in all his years of traveling the world, and even now, with their lives and homes in danger, they were still thinking of him first and foremost. It only made him feel all the worse about abandoning them like this. There had to be a way to help them...

The warmth of Suki's lips was still glowing on Sokka's cheek as they took flight. But all the kisses from all the pretty girls in the world couldn't have counteracted the cold, nauseous feeling in his gut when he looked down and saw the village in flames. Zuko's soldiers had done their job well- too well- and it seemed as if every building in the little town was afire. Even the statue of Kyoshi was smoldering. The sight conjured to mind an image of the Southern Water Tribe so many years ago, and the smell of burned flesh rose up sharp in his nose...

Sokka shook the memories away; he needed to be here in the present. He looked across the saddle at the other two. Katara was watching Aang intently. And Aang, for his part, was looking back at the burning village. He looked every bit as pensive and upset as Sokka felt; his body language was dejected and his sadness and reluctance to leave Kyoshi Island to its fate was written all over his face.

Then, suddenly, Aang's eyes darted down to the water beneath them, and a hard determined expression crossed his face. Before Sokka or Katara had a chance to question it, he had hurled himself from his post on Appa's head and was falling toward the water. Katara cried out in alarm, but Aang had already aligned his body and entered the water so smoothly he barely made a splash.

Sokka heard Katara yelling something, but his eyes were riveted on the suddenly churning water beneath them.

Moments later Aang rose up from the water, riding high on the back of the unagi and holding tight to it's enormous barbels. To Sokka's complete astonishment, he wrestled with the giant creature and turned it in the direction of the village. He gave a mighty tug on the creature's nose and prompted it to open it's mouth. Still squirming and thrashing against Aang's direction, the unagi let out a mighty screech and blasted a jet of water from it's open jaws.

The spray fell on the village and soaked it through, and before their eyes many of the worst of the fires were controlled or put out entirely. The unagi screeched and thrashed again and this time the force of it's writhing was too great, and Aang was thrown free, but Appa had swooped down and caught him in his enormous paws. Sokka stared back at the now gently smoldering village, then down to where Aang was pulling himself up Appa's leg by clinging to his thick fur.

At last he thought he was beginning to understand why Aang was the Avatar, why it was that the great spirit Katara claimed lived within their strange little friend had chosen him in the first place. Aang was a goofball and quite possibly the most bizarre person Sokka had ever met, but there was something noble about him, too. There was a good heart hidden behind that dopey grin of his, and Sokka was beginning to suspect that Aang might just be brave to the point of stupidity as well.

Aang himself confirmed this a moment later when he hauled himself back over the edge of the saddle. "I know, I know," he said with a roll of his eyes, clearly expecting a lecture from Katara, "that was stupid and dangerous."

Katara, for her part, was beaming. "Yes, it was," she confirmed, before engulfing Aang in an enormous hug.

Sokka wasn't really the touchy-feely kind of guy, but he privately thought that he was kind of tempted to hug Aang, too.

The light cloud cover that had hung over the sea toward sunset had rolled away by midnight, leaving the sky clear. A gibbous moon lay low in the sky and cast a golden shimmer over the waves, and the air was cold and clear.

When Iroh came above board for an evening constitutional, he was unsurprised to see another figure on deck. He was startled, however, when he realized that the other man was Lieutenant Jee and not his nephew, as he had initially assumed. The young officer was leaning on the railing, his amber eyes trained on the rolling waves and his bushy eyebrows drawn together thoughtfully. He was clearly pondering something of significance.

"A very nice night for a stroll on deck," Iroh remarked.

Jee nodded, tossing him a courteous smile.

"But something tells me, Lieutenant," he added knowingly, "that you are not out here all alone during game night because you wanted to enjoy the nice weather."

This earned him a look of genuine surprise, tempered with respect. "You're very insightful, General," Jee said.

Iroh considered urging Jee to address him more informally (how many years had they been on this ship together, after all?), but let it slide. He had learned through long experience that it was hard to train a soldier out of a habit. "May I ask what's on your mind?" he said, instead.

Jee looked back out to sea, his look still thoughtful. "Just thinking about what we're doing out here. Chasing the Avatar, I mean."

"And this troubles you?"

Jee considered the question for a moment before replying. When he spoke, his tone was ponderous and he chose his words carefully. "Maybe. I'm as patriotic as the next man, and I understand that stopping the Avatar is important to the Fire Lord's destiny to share our nation's glory with the world, but..." He sighed heavily. "I don't know. I wonder, sometimes."

Iroh nodded with a long, slow blink. It was clear that Jee was struggling to make the connection between his own disjointed thoughts. "What do you wonder?" he asked, guiding him gently.

"It's probably not important," he said. "Actually, it's probably not even worth overthinking. I've seen the Avatar in action and I know what he's capable of, so I understand why capturing him is important. Don't think that's what I'm saying. I just have to wonder... I mean, you saw him, General. How old do you think he is? Thirteen? Fourteen at the most? He's just a kid."

"War makes soldiers of children and corpses of men," Iroh replied.

Jee let out a bark of bitter laughter. "Don't I know it, General."

The empathetic quiet that only exists between two soldiers fell between them, and they stood together watching the silent sea slip past beneath the setting moon.

It was already late afternoon when they left Kyoshi Island, and the sun had nearly set by the time they reached the shore of the Earth Kingdom an hour or so later. They set up camp quickly, and Sokka got a little fire going to warm them against the chilly evening air and the wind blowing in off the sea. The three of them sat around the fire, all of them staring at the dancing flames and all lost in thought about the events that had driven them from their temporary safety on the island.

Katara was the first to break the silence.

"Aang, how did you know to use the unagi like that? To put out the fires?"

He grinned. "I paid attention in my lessons. Since my people are nomads, we have to know about the dangerous animals we might encounter when we're traveling to different parts of the world. Giant eels like the unagi tend to have a third stomach filled with water that they use to help them adapt to different pressures. I figured it couldn't hurt to try." As he spoke, he tried to shrug to brush the event off as no big deal, but as he did so, he winced.

Katara didn't miss the expression. "Hey, Aang, are you okay?" she asked. "You kind of got roughed up a lot today."

"I'm just a little sore," he said, waving a hand.

"Take off your shirt," Katara commanded.

Aang's eyes widened and he sputtered, "W-what?"

"I just want to make sure you haven't got any serious injuries," she said. "Sometimes you don't notice something until later."

Still a little startled by her request, Aang reluctantly removed his shirt. Katara studied his torso closely, failing to notice her patient turning scarlet under her inspection.

"Okay, turn around," she said.

Aang did as he was told, and Katara let out a gasp. "Oh, Aang, your back's black and blue!"

"It's nothing," he said dismissively. But both Sokka and Katara could see that he wasn't being sincere. His entire back seemed to be one massive purple bruise, and an ugly-looking one at that.

"It must be from where the unagi flung you into the water before Zuko showed up," Katara guessed.

Aang shrugged, wincing again as the motion stretched the damaged skin and sore muscles in his back. "It's fine," he said. "Really. I'm sure I had worse playing airball as a kid."

Katara ignored his protests completely. She had immediately started rooting around in one of her bags, and after a minute or two, produced a small earthen jar with a flourish. "Ah-ha! I knew I had it somewhere. Ayoki gave this to me," she explained. "It's a numbing salve the warriors make from local plants, and it should help keep the pain down for awhile. She thought it might come in handy."

"Katara, it's okay," Aang said. "It's really not that bad."

She fixed him with a pointed stare, her hands on her hips, and said, "Aang, that's clearly awful and I bet it hurts a lot. You probably won't sleep well tonight unless we numb it a little, so let me deal with this, okay?"

Aang nodded meekly and turned his back to her. "She's really stubborn, isn't she?" he asked Sokka.

"You have no idea," he replied.

"I'm going to pretend I can't hear you," Katara replied in a haughty tone.

Aang was about to say something in response, but at that precise moment she began applying the salve and he promptly forgot what he'd been planning to say. The sour-smelling paste was cool, but her hands were warm and extremely gentle. The numbing effect of the medicine went into effect almost immediately, leaving a sensation of blessed relief from the stinging in his skin in the wake of her touch. He wanted to tell her it felt nice, but he couldn't seem to find the words to do so.

"There," she said. "That should do it. At the least, you'll be able to get a decent night's sleep without constantly having to turn over."

He pulled his shirt back on, wondering why he still felt so exposed, and smiled at her. "Thank you, Katara," he said earnestly, and he didn't just mean for applying the salve.

A/N- Your continued support of this story is greatly appreciated. I apologize again for the long wait. The next chapter should be up much, much sooner than this one was.