I'm sorry for this lame chapter, but the next one should be better. I'm sick right now, so no promises when the next one will be up & if it will be good. enjoy ^^;

Chapter Thirteen

Breaking and Entering

"Aang, I don't know about this…" Katara whispered, her eyes wide as they flickered from him to me, to out from our hiding place, "This is insane."

Aang, who was crouched beside me, only smiled half-heartedly, "We have to," He said quietly, "The Earth Kingdom King doesn't know about the Fire Nation,"

"You don't know that!"

He frowned, "But why isn't he doing anything if he knows, Katara?"

My waterbending friend bit her lower lip in doubt, "It's not safe, though!" She argued, her ebony hair falling over her face, "We can get hurt. Toph and Sokka-"

"Are fine." Aang finished quickly. Katara shot him a confused look, but he only pointed across the way to another crook in the wall where the two others sat, hunched over, small smiles on there faces.

We were in an odd situation, if that is what you could call it. After Aang had explained his plan and Sokka had modified it, we all set out in the direction of the Earth King's palace, which was one of the biggest buildings I have ever seen. A wall surrounded it, not as tall nor as thick as the one surrounding the city, but it was still very, very large. I wondered why there was a wall, but didn't ask. We needed to get into the palace.

Sokka had reasoned that it would be guarded, and we all agreed. And they most likely would not let just anyone in, so that meant, well, that we had to sneak in. Somehow, someway.

So, here we were, Aang, Katara, and I, hidden in one of the many small yet wide holes in the crumbling wall around the palace, waiting. Toph and Sokka sat a little ways to the left in another one.

Aang's gray eyes scanned the area around where we were before resting on me. He was so tense, his brows furrowed together in concentration. "I'll go over the wall and see if it's clear. Then I'll come back."

We nodded. Aang went out of the crack, and I felt a gust of soft wind before he was gone.

Katara and I sat in silence. I felt her eyes on me and turned to face her.

"Vinca, do you like him?" Her question startled me, and I stared at her in bewilderment.

"What?"

"Do you like Aang?" Her light blue eyes looked at me, her voice even as she asked.

I felt flustered and dropped my eyes to my hands, picking at my nails subconsciously, "W-What do you mean?" I swallowed, "Of course I do. He's my friend." But I had a feeling she was asking more than that.

And she was. "Do you have feelings for him, though? You know what I mean." She stated, and when I looked back up a small smile was on her lips, her expression hard to read.

I thought this over. I liked Aang, of course. He was probably my first friend, my friend, best friend…My heart suddenly picked up a wild pace as I remembered the kiss, his eyes, his laugh, his smile, and realized that I did like him. More than a friend, more than I thought. I closed my eyes, exhaling softly, trying to regain my composure, trying to push the thoughts away that made my lips tingle uncontrollably and my heart pound so much that it hurt in a good way.

"Yes." Was all I could say, my voice quiet and breathy. I opened my eyes again, biting my lip.

Katara smiled more, "I thought so." She looked at me, "He likes you, too."

I looked down again, unsure of what to say, knawing on my lower lip. Luckily, I didn't have to time to say anything, as Aang suddenly appeared outside of the hole, followed by a gust of wind.

"All clear." He smiled, his eyes dancing under the reflection of the sun. Our gaze locked together, and I found myself smiling back at him.

Katara shifted beside me, "What now?"

Aang nodded towards where Toph and Sokka were hidden, "I'll help them over the wall. Vinca will get you both over." His smile became wider.

Wait. What? I stared at him, my mouth forming an 'o', "You mean…" I trailed off, blinking at him. He seemed so sure that I could safely airbend Katara and myself over this huge wall.

He nodded once again, laughing quietly, "You can do it!" He exclaimed, and before I could even get a voice out of me to protest, he was gone.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, shooting a confused look at Katara. She only shrugged before creeping out of the crack, stretching as we hit the sunlight. I let my eyes wander to where Aang was, and watched his movements. He spun in a semi-circle, surrounding my two other friends in a gust of air before aiming it at the ground at propelling themselves upward.

I huffed, frustrated as I replayed the movements in my mind. After I believed that I had memorized them, I did it, a little shakily, and suddenly we were in the air, flying over the wall that surrounded the palace.

It was an amazing feeling to be up in the air. Like on Appa. Yet this was different, something I had created and controlled. The familiar rush that I had become addicted to crashed into my body, my senses coming alive as the air pushed around us in an protective cocoon. I loved it.

And then we were falling. Almost on instinct, I moved my hands upwards and to the side, and Katara and I touched the ground softly.

And almost as soon as my eyes rested on Aang and I saw him smile, almost proudly, when we were attacked.

They advanced quickly, seemingly out of thin air. Their attacks were silent, their faces hidden and lowered, their bodies covered. They surrounded us swiftly, their movements thorough and done in a blink of an eye. Who where these people? I didn't know.

Two came at me at once, their hands outstretched as they stepped forward in a fluid motion, advancing. I sidestepped, more out of instinct, moving out of the way of the forthcoming warriors, jumping backwards, ducking under, almost in a graceful dance. More came forward, and then I felt a hard object hit my shin and I collapsed forward, a gasp escaping my lips.

This was happening fast. Way too fast. I could tell whoever these cloaked figures were, they were overpowering us. I kicked off the object which clutched to my leg and when it didn't move, I created a whip of air and broke it off. Before I could be surprised by the sudden move, there were more.

One came forward, hitting the ground. With that, rocks rose, flinging over my way. I flipped to the left, moving quicker than I ever have, my arms moving this way and that before kicking a gust of air, which contracted against the boulders and flung them back to the provider.

I swept my arms in a half circle, before moving them in a whip-like fashion, blowing the men backwards. Sweat glistened on my face as I struggled to dodge the oncoming attacks. I let my eyes wander quickly to see what my friends were doing.

Toph was fighting earth with earth, and it seemed to be going quite well for her. Katara must have found water somewhere, as she was bending it quickly and intricately, whipping the men away with fluid and graceful motions. Sokka was going after the attackers with his boomerang, while Aang was swiftly avoiding attacks and blowing people backwards.

I grunted as another object hit my back, causing me to tumble forward. What the hell? Who are these people? I hissed inwardly, airbending myself upwards only to feel two objects, almost like handcuffs, clutch around my wrists tightly. Looking down, I realized they were handcuffs, and feeling a sudden dread and a horrible sense of déjà vu. I struggled hard against the shackles, feeling my heart race painfully fast in my chest as I expected a flaring burning pain any second.

The shackles wouldn't budge, and two more hit me in the shins, which made me fall completely over onto my chest. No…I protested, struggling and grunting as I attempted to get them off. They dug hard into my scars on both my wrists and ankles, and I let out a little cry of pain. My eyes flickered around quickly, resting on Aang. The mysterious people advanced on him, and I felt my heart sink as I opened my mouth to yell for him, to warn him.

"Aang-" A sharp pain in my neck made me gasp before falling into darkness.

chapter 14 coming soon