Special Thanks to jliljj, Chun119, MastaDrumma22 (My main man :), and a friendly welcome to ruby710, Alex, & Cato5

Author's note:
Gao: Pronunciation-Gow

Chapter 14

Being off the boat was nice. The air was fresh much to Mai's delight as well as Tien Hou's. Mai had lost track of how long she had been off the miserable boat now. She was now sitting on a bench under the shade of a tree. She was reading Zuko's letter once again the only thing she had left of him. Her spot happened to be very close to a restaurant. The smell of fresh food was like poetry to her senses. She would have loved to go in & purchase some food but unfortunately she had no money. Tien-hou rolled happily in a patch of nearby grass. Then something happened. Something good. Mai wasn't sure if it could even be real, nothing good happened to her lately. Out of the restaurant came a group of men, they were all very excited about something, as they pushed through the busy crowd on the street, Mai waited to see what they were doing. Finally one of the smaller men jumped up & stood on the bench next to her.

He announced in a loud booming voice, "Taking challengers, all challengers! Dare to go against the great Gao, in a game of darts. Winner receives this bag of gold pieces. He pointed to one of his larger friends, who then held up a rather large bag of gold.

Mai, couldn't even try to stop the smirk from forming on her face. A few men from the crowd came up right away, drooling over the money. Mai was more patient though, she simply waited & watched. Once, they had their list of contenders & their entry fees, they set up five white targets. Each target had a small red circle, on each target the red spot was in a different place not simply in the middle. This was beyond easy for Mai. Maybe her luck was changing. The first person to go was of course Gao. He was an older man who looked very intense & serious. He wasted no time in drawing a line in the dirt about ten feet or so away from the targets & picking up five decorative darts & throwing them quickly at the targets. Each dart hitting the red circles perfectly.

Once more the announcer spoke. "Rules are, if you can get all the targets just like Gao has demonstrated, you'll go head to head with him in a more difficult dart throwing challenge. If you can beat him then you'll receive the prize."

One after one the men attempted. Not only did each man fail, but hardly any of them could actually make it onto the target at all. It was like a scam, they took money from the men added it to their already large bag, & moved along from town to town, making people think it's so easy. After all when Gao does it, it takes almost no effort. Overly confident men would jump at the chance to do something so seemingly easy for that amount of money. It was pathetic. Finally the last man walked away head hung low. Now was Mai's turn.

The announcer spoke once again. "I guess that's all for today, unless someone else would dare attempt, to challenge Gao."

"I will." Mai stood up & walked towards the line on the ground. She couldn't help but notice the large crowd gathering. She pulled her hood on.

"Now now, young lady are you sure you want to do something so dangerous." The announcer gave a hint of sarcasm.

"I'll take my chances, unless Gao is too afraid to go up against a girl." Mai struck.

"I assure you I fear no woman." Gao spoke for the first time.

"Good." Mai said picking up the darts.

"Not so fast." It was the announcer again. "You need an entry fee?"

Mai hoped he wouldn't say anything but she had a back up plan incase he did ask her. "I don't have any money-"

"Can't play unless you give an entry fee." He said.

"I have something better."assume Mai had no throwing skills what so ever, because she's a girl.

The announcer ran over to the group of men & Gao & started whispering rapidly. He finally popped his head up & spoke. "Deal."

"Good," She said triumphantly. Mai had no doubt of her skill, otherwise she would never have risked Tien-hou. She placed the darts between her fingers & within seconds the darts flew through the air with incredible speed. With a small thud each dart hit it's respective target. "next," she said nonchalantly.

The group of men including Gao looked in astonishment. "How did you do that?" Gao asked.

"Luck. Can we get the next challenge over with already?" Mai said looking at her nails carelessly as she spoke. Even Tien-hou knew that there was nothing to worry about. It seemed that they didn't even have a second challenge, because they all sat there wide eyed. "Maybe hitting the targets from a farther distance?" Mai suggested.

"Right." The announcer said pushing one of the men up to create a new line.

Mai looked around, it wasn't just a crowd of people watching anymore, it was more like an audience. There were men, women, children, the restaurant owners, & a questionable looking group of teens. Everyone seemed to be enthralled in the competition. Mai then watched Gao step up & throw first, this time from seventeen feet away. Gao looked nervous, but he still managed to hit all the targets. Mai stepped up taking the darts in her hands she once again hit the small red circles easily. The crowd started applauding, at first Mai wasn't sure why but she looked around to see everyone looking at her. This kind of attention was exactly what she didn't need. I better get this over with quick & get out of here.

"Even farther away." The announcer said.

"No, the darts are too light, they won't make it from farther." Mai said.

"Well,..." The announcer looked to each of the members of his group stumped.

"Spin them." Mai said.

"What?" The announcer said confused.

"Spin the targets." Mai said annoyed.

"Impossible." Gao said.

"Sounds like your scared to me." Mai taunted.

Gao growled. "Spin them." He ordered.

The announcer looked like he might have a heart attack. Five of the men from the group each stood behind a target. Gao picked up his darts. They spun each of them & ran away from them. Gao took his time in aiming. One at a time he threw the darts. The first hit, the second hit, the third hit, & the fourth hit. The crowd became insanely quiet. The pressure was built. Gao looked at the announcer with exasperation. Finally he threw the last dart. It missed. The crowd gasped.

"That doesn't mean you win, you still have to get all five." The announcer was noticeably shaken as he spoke to Mai.

Mai stepped up confidently, she picked up the darts & waited, as the men spun the targets again. Now all she had to do was wait for the red circles to align. Now. She threw the darts, they flew so fast they were no more than a blur to the human eye. They hit creating a perfect row of darts. The crowd actually began cheering. Even Tien-hou gave a roar of success for her human counterpart. Mai couldn't help but smile victoriously. However her inner celebration, came to a quick halt when she heard the loud fog horn of the ship. Not again. Mai quickly walked to the bag of gold & picked it up.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Mai said to Gao, as she & Tien-hou exited through the crowd of people. They had just squeezed through the huddle of adoring fans (who patted her back & congratulated her), when the announcer called to her.

"Not so fast." He shouted. "I'm no idiot, young lady. You hustled us. No one hustles us."

Mai started running then looked back. "Sorry, we'll have to settle this later."

"I don't think so." Said a deep voice. Mai looked forward to late, she had crashed right into one of the larger men in Gao's group.

Before she could even stand up she was surrounded by the angry men including Gao himself, they all held knives pointed at her. Tien-hou didn't waste time in attacking the men threatening Mai. Her claws lashed out viciously, her hind legs kicked out powerfully, & her horns threw the men flying into the air with ease. This gave Mai a second to tie the bag of gold to her waist before joining the battle. Since the assailants were only inches away from her she had no choice but to use the Kyoshi fans. Though she wasn't fluent with the fans she was still a more skilled fighter then any of the men. Flicking them open she lashed out quickly, swiping hard & fast. The slow bumbling men didn't stand a chance against Tien-hou & her. They took them out one after one.

Finally Mai turned to face Gao. He threw the game darts at her quickly. She raised her fans as a shield, deflecting the darts off. Pulling them down once more Mai could see Gao had pulled out a knife of his own. He rushed at her furiously. Mai closed the fan & prepared to throw it at his head, when he suddenly fell down face first. Mai looked up to see a boy. She'd seen him with the group of questionable teens. He had tripped him with a sword. Mai stood still unsure if he was trying to help her or if he was trying to get the money for himself. Mai was snapped out of her thoughts, by Tien-hou. The Bull-lioness had roared, causing Mai to turn around. At first all Mai could see was the discarded bodies of Gao's men scattered all over, then Tien-hou looked at the docks. Mai followed her gaze to see her ship to Omashu start smoking, meaning it was going to start sailing. She grunted out of intense frustration & began running. Someone grabbed her arm stopping her. It was the boy.

"Wait?" he said.

"Let me go." Mai yelled before punching the boy in the face causing him to release her.

Once again she was running. She reached the docks in record speed. As the ship came clearly into her sight Mai saw that the ramp had just closed. "NO! Wait!" The ship started moving. "Wait!" she shouted. It was too late. The ship was too far out now. Mai reached the end of the dock forcing her to stop. She was breathing hard. "Why is this happening to me?" Mai said to no one. She fell to her knees. Tien-hou pressed her head gently on Mai's arm as an attempt to console her. Had it been anyone else they might have cried, but instead Mai was silent & motionless.

She didn't know what to do or where to go. That was her only way to get to Omashu & now it was gone, as well as Shan who probably thought that Mai had abandoned her. Her own family was going to end up in Omashu before she did, & they would wonder where she was. And Mai would be alone fighting every second of her life just to survive. "Why is this happening to me?" Mai asked once more. She then heard footsteps approaching. She had a pretty good idea of who it was so she spoke. "What do you want from me?"

Confirming her thoughts the boy from before spoke. "I'm sorry if I scared you before. I was trying to help you. I still can help you I think." He waited for a moment when Mai said nothing he went on. "You look like you could use some."

Mai stood up & turned around to face the boy. "You think so?"

The boy hesitated for a moment. "Um...Let me introduce myself." He extended a hand. "I'm Jet."

---

Sokka pulled Katara by her arm as he ran through the halls. "What are we doing Sokka?" Katara asked sleepily.

"We have to go to dad's room, I have something I've got show you guys." Sokka whispered frantically. It was early morning before the sun had even come out. Katara was half asleep & Sokka was anything but asleep. As they turned a corner they bumped into the mechanist.

"Oh Sokka, Katara I didn't expect to see you two up this early." He smiled widely.

"Well, we usually aren't up this early." Katara said bitterly, looking at Sokka.

"I wanted to talk to you Sokka." He said.

Sokka looked antsy. "Sure what is it?"

"Well, I've built a bunch of new gliders for everyone to use, since everyone lost them I thought it would be helpful." The mechanist seemed rather cheery considering the early hours. "Would you like to come & take a look?"

"I would but I'm really busy at the moment, I'll come by & see them later." Sokka waved at the mechanist & was running once more. Finally they came to their fathers room. Sokka busted in. Hakoda shot up sword in hand.

"Who is that?" Their father asked.

"It's us dad." Sokka said running to his bed.

"What's wrong." He yawned.

"Nothing I have something to tell you." Sokka said plopping Katara next to him.

"What is so important that you have to wake me up at this hour?" Hakoda put his sword down next to his bed.

"Yue just came to me in my sleep. She told me about my destiny & Suki. She was telling me I had something to do-"

"You mean you woke us up to tell us about a dream?" Katara asked slightly annoyed.

"No-"

"Sokka I know that you miss Yue but," Katara said "it's not uncommon to have dreams about someone you want to see."

"No, it wasn't a dream. She told me that it wasn't a dream." Sokka protested.

"Sokka I'm not sure what your saying." His father said.

"Yue used her lunar powers to tell me about Suki & to tell me that I need rescue her. She brought me to the moon. I was with her & she brought mom." Sokka went on. "I didn't get to talk to her, but I saw her. It was amazing. Yue brought her just to let me see her."

"Wait your saying that Yue brought you & mom to the moon?" Katara said somewhat skeptically.

"Sokka I think this was just some sort of dream." Hakoda added gently. "Sometimes when we want them to, a dream can feel so real. I mean I dream about your mother all the time. Sometimes I wake up & I'll think that it was real, but then I realize it wasn't."

"No, you don't understand." Sokka pulled out the necklace. "Look at this." He threw it in his father's face. "Look closely."

Hakoda held it up into the light from his window. "Oh my..."

"What?" Katara said, "Let me see." She took it & looked at it. "Where did you get this Sokka?"

"Yue gave it to me. Right after she showed me mom. Well, it wasn't exactly mom, it was like mom in her spirit form." Sokka remembered.

"Dad what does it mean?" Katara looked at her dumbfounded father.

"I'm not sure, but that carving of a wolf face, in the crescent of the moon, I haven't seen anything like that since the days when Cai was the White Wolf." He took the necklace back once more. "She wore a belt buckle exactly like that."

"Wow." Katara said wide eyed. "Sokka this is amazing."

"I know that's why I had to show you guys, & to tell you that mom is watching over us." Sokka said taking his necklace back.

Katara's face softened, "Sokka your so lucky."

"It was unbelievable. I wish you could have seen her too." Sokka then turned to his father "And you too dad."

"I see her everyday in you two." He then pulled his children into a hug. "You two make me so proud just as I know you are making your mother proud." They all stayed in each others arms for a moment. Then someone burst through the door. The three all looked up to see Toph. Aang & Zuko could be seen running down the hall behind her. She spoke.

"Guys we've got trouble." She said seriously. "And lot's of it."

Author's Note: Do you guys think I use any cliff hangers, personally I think I could use more, lol. Hope you all liked it. Let me know, it's really helpful.