Chapter Thirteen
The Warriors of Kyoshi

Zuko sits within his meditation chamber inside his sailing ship. The only glow from within the chamber was from four candles sitting on the table in front of him. As he worked to keep himself calm, by breathing slowly in and out, the flames of the candles seem to breathe with him. During his meditation chamber door creaked open and his uncle stepped one foot inside. The sound of the door broke the prince's concentration.

"The only reason you should be interrupting me," he said slowly opening his eyes, "is if you have news about the Avatar." His uncle opened the door rest of the way and came into the room holding a map.

"Well there is news prince Zuko, but I don't think you'll like it," he said staring down at the map. "Please do not get too upset." Zuko remained unmoved.

"Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head was a sign of a great leader," Zuko's voice remained smooth as he spoke, "now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it."

"All right then," Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully, "we have no idea where he is."

"WHAT!" Zuko yelled and the fire from the candles exploded in front of his face. The embers cascaded over them and the old general flinched away. Still from his seated position Zuko stared angrily up at his uncle. Iroh remove a fan from his sleeve and waved it in front of his face.

"You should really open a window in here." Zuko got to his feet and snatched the map away from him. While Zuko opened the parchment, general Iroh continued to fan himself. "There have been multiple sightings of him, but he is impossible to track down."

"How am I going to catch him, Uncle?" The map showed the sightings of the Avatar bouncing from island to island in a zigzag pattern. "He is obvious a master of evasive maneuvering."

After a few moments of looking over the map, Kitsumi stepped through the door. "Who's the master of evasive maneuvering?" Iroh looked over and smiled as she entered the room.

"The Avatar, of course!" Zuko looked at her exasperated. She nodded in acknowledgement. "You're supposed to be my tracker," he handed her the map, "what do you make of his movement?" She glanced at the map in his hand and looked back at him.

"It looks as if he doesn't know where he's going," she shrugged, then turned to leave the room. Zuko looked hard at the map again. "By the way, you two should get ready dinner will be any minute now." General Iroh followed her out and left Zuko in the meditation room to contemplate the map alone.

"You have no idea where we're going do you?" Sokka asked as he gazed at the map.

"Well I know it's near water," Aang replied looking sheepish. Koumi glared over at him, they were surrounded by nothing but water.

"I guess we're getting close then," Sokka replied sarcastically.

"Koumi knows where it is," Aang smiled up at his guardian.

"Not by air I don't. And with how you're flying I don't even know what direction we're going." Koumi grumbled. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm getting off this flying nightmare before I get sick." She leapt from the saddle and dove head first into the clear water below.

"Shut up flipper-girl!" Appa growled.

"What do you expect us to do, swim there?" Sokka screamed down at her.

Koumi jumped out of the water now sporting a black fin where her legs had previously been. "Well duh," she replied before diving back into the water.

Sokka sat back from the edge of the saddle, "she grew a fish tail." He looked at Aang his eyes wide with questions. "Is that normal?"

"Sokka, this is the Avatar's guardian. What were you expecting to be normal?" Katara asked looking up from her sewing. "I mean yesterday she was a giant tiger, and you were perfectly fine with that."

"Yeah well I got used to that!"

Katara shook her head and continued to work on patching a hole in her brother's pants. Koumi continued jumping alongside them keeping pace easily.

"Momo, marbles please," Aang asked his lemur. Momo crawled into Aang's shirt digging around inside his pockets until he reemerged with two marbles. "Hey Katara, check out this cool air bending trick." He held both marbles in his left hand and covered them with his right. Swirling the air around the marbles he managed to create a circle with the marble spinning wildly around.

"That's great Aang," Katara replied still concentrating on sewing.

"But you didn't even look," Aang whined.

Katara looked over at him. "That's great."

"But I'm not doing it now," Aang frowned.

"Stop bugging her airhead. You should give girls space when they're doing their sewing stuff." Sokka leaned back against the packs.

"What does being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara asked getting angry.

"Yeah, Koumi doesn't know how to sew," Aang put in.

"Yeah well she's not much of a girl now is she?" Sokka shrugged.

"I heard that," Koumi growled. She had grabbed hold of the side of the saddle and was hanging there glaring at Sokka.

"I'm just saying that girls are better at fixing things than guys. And guys are better at hunting, fighting, and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."

Koumi and Katara shared a sidelong glance. "All done with your pants and look at what a great job I've done." Katara threw her brother's pants back at him hitting him full in the face.

"Wait I was just kidding. I can't wear these Katara please." Koumi began laughing heartily as Sokka stuck his hand through the bottom of his pants revealing the remaining hole. "Stop laughing Koumi. If it weren't for you and your claws I wouldn't have any holes!" Still laughing Koumi allowed herself to fall back into the water.

"Relax Sokka, where we're going you won't need pants," Aang smiled happily and urged Appa to move faster. Below them Koumi sped through the water keeping the bison's shadow above her.

They flew for another hour before coming across a small island. Aang steered Appa towards the ground preparing to land.

"We just made a pit stop yesterday shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out," Sokka asked climbing down from Appa's back.

"He's right; at this rate we won't get to the North Pole until spring," Katara reasoned calmly.

"But Appa's tired already…aren't you boy…" Aang nudged Appa's shoulder trying to get him to cooperate. "I said aren't ya boy."

Appa faked a loud yawn. "Yeah that was real convincing," Sokka replied rolling his eyes. "Still hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster."

"I could argue with him," Koumi grinned. She had just emerged from the water her hair dripping. With a flick of her wrist the water whisked itself off her and landed on the ground leaving her completely dry. "After all I'm a ten ton magical monster too."

Aang gasped with excitement as he spotted something in the water. "Look!" A gigantic orange and white koi jumped out of the water. Both Sokka and Katara were wide eyed at the sheer size of the fish. Koumi was still standing beside Appa and appeared to have no interest in what her ward was doing.

"That's why we're here elephant koi and I'm gonna ride them," Aang explained as he stripped to his underclothing. "Katara you've gotta watch me." He took a running start then dove into the waves. Within seconds he leaped back out of the water a look of shock on his face "COLD!" However the temperature didn't seem to have too much of an affect as Aang continued to swim after the koi. He dove under the water and emerged on the back of one of the koi holding onto its dorsal fin.

He grinned and waved wildly back at Katara and Sokka as they watched him ride the elephant koi. On either side of the koi that Aang was riding two others were jumping alongside as if joining in on the Avatar's fun.

Back on the shore Momo was jumping up and down in excitement. "He looks pretty good out there," Katara admitted.

"Are you kidding the fish is doing all the work," Sokka pointed out blandly. He continued to watch Aang when a dark shadow in the water caught his attention. "There's something in the water!" He watched helplessly as a koi tried to leap out of harm's way but was dragged back down by an unseen attacker.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked having turned around briefly to check on Koumi and Appa.

"Aang's in trouble. AANG!"

"Get out of there!" Katara yelled trying to catch his attention.

Aang looked at them confused when suddenly the koi he was riding was yanked out from under him. With a yell he landed head first into the icy waters. Behind him a monstrous fin had emerged from the waters depths. He screamed in terror and ran across the water trying to reach the safety of the shore before whatever was behind him could catch up.

He managed to reach the shore but in doing so plowed Sokka over. Katara came up to the fallen boys. "What was that thing?"

"I don't know," Aang replied pulling his top on.

"Elephant koi ever thought that there might be something bigger to eat the fish," Koumi growled as she stalked towards them. Her eyes almost seemed to glow with rage. "Don't you understand that you have to take better care of yourself?"

"Take it easy Koumi he's still just a kid," Sokka tried reasoning with the angry guardian. With a deep snarl she stormed off. "I'd say give her some time to calm down before trying to talk." Before he was even finished speaking five people jumped out of the cover of the trees and attacked them. Taken by surprise they were easily pulled off balance and tied up. Then unceremoniously blinded and thrown to the ground. "Or not."

As the other were dragged towards the village, Koumi watched with interest. The way the five girls dressed and how they attacked tickled her memory. She shifted and continued to follow the girls. They walked a short distance to a village and began tying Aang and the others to a large statue whose features were worn with time.

The entire village seemed to have turned out for their capture. Koumi slowly approached the village not wishing to startle anyone. When she got within listening distance, she stopped, hiding just out of sight, but close enough to be ready in case of any danger.

"This island is named for Kyoshi! I know Kyoshi!" Aang exclaimed.

"Ha, how could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago; she's been dead for centuries." The village elder replied.

"I know her because I'm the Avatar." His statement was greeted with shock and disbelief.

"That's impossible. The last Avatar was an air bender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

"That's me!"

"Don't sound so cheerful about it!" Koumi hissed from her hiding spot.

"Throw the imposter to the unagi!"

"Aang do some air bending," Katara pleaded slightly exasperated. Just as he prepared to air bend, Koumi stepped forward.

"He truly is the Avatar, citizens of Kyoshi. I am his guardian, and as such will be forced to fight you should you attempt to throw him anywhere."

"It's true," The town leader gasped. "See there," he pointed to the base of the statue. Curled around the figure's feet was a large cat, an exact replica of Koumi as a tigress. "He is the Avatar."

Aang beamed at them as they began to cut everyone loose. "Hey you gotta check this out." He reached into his shirt and pulled out his marbles again demonstrating his air bending technique. This time however his crowd was a little more excited about his feat. One guy even began foaming at the mouth in his excitement.

With the arrival of the avatar Kyoshi island gained new life. The townspeople worked to clean up the statue of Kyoshi adding a fresh coat of paint to make the statue look new again. The wolf and tiger at her feet were also being repainted. Koumi oversaw the repairs after the painter made the mistake of painting her white with black stripes.

When he was finished painting she yawned widely and announced that she was going to rest up for a bit.

Koumi walked to the edge of the village looking for a quiet place to take a nap. She spotted a bridge with just enough space for her to curl up on the water's edge. Just as she was drifting off, the sound of footsteps on the wood woke her. They were followed by a stampede of footsteps.

Koumi glared up at the bridge. "Aang so help me take your fan club elsewhere."

When the footsteps receded she grumbled quietly and resettled her head on her paws. She was nearly fully asleep when Aang's distinctive footsteps ran across the bridge again. And sure enough his screaming fans were close behind.

"That's it, no more nice tiger!" When the thundering horde approached for a third time, Koumi crawled out from under the bridge. What she saw irritated her to no end. Aang was holding an air ball trying to keep away from his adoring fans. As the ball slowly dissipated, Aang began to fall. Unfortunately, Koumi caught him just before he fell into the girls arms.

With a meaningful glare she set the avatar down and proceeded to curl up with him nestled inside the circle of her paws. The girls all groaned in disappointment at the loss of their Aangy.

"Koumi you know this isn't exactly comfortable," Aang grumbled.

Koumi opened one eye and glared down at the young airbender. If looks could kill this one would've been ranked at the top.

Several hours later after she had finally attained enough sleep, Koumi released the young avatar. With his newfound freedom, Aang returned to his fans much to his guardian's dismay. She started to walk away back towards the center of town when Sokka passed her still muttering about his "unfair defeat".

Koumi followed the disgruntled warrior as he muttered quietly to himself. He approached a building in the back of the village where the Kyoshi warriors trained. With a smirk he walked inside. "Sorry ladies didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson. I was just looking for somewhere to get a little work out." He stretched as he talked making himself look like a complete idiot. Koumi stopped in the doorway waiting for him to be thrown out.

"Well you're in the right place," Suki replied calmly a smirk of her own forming. "Sorry about yesterday I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar."

"It's alright…I mean normally I'd hold a grudge but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls I'll make an exception."

"I should hope so…a big strong man like you…we wouldn't stand a chance." Suki baited. Koumi was practically banging her head against the door frame wishing Sokka would keep his mouth shut.

"True but don't feel bad after all I'm the best warrior in my village." It seemed Koumi wasn't going to get her wish.

"You're the only warrior in your village," Koumi muttered sourly.

Suki pretended to not hear her remark and continued talking to Sokka. "Oh best warrior huh? In your whole village maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a demonstration."

Sokka had quite literally walked into the trap. He couldn't say no, but saying yes would be a big mistake. "Oh…well I mean I…"

"Come on girls wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?" Suki turned to the other warriors who giggled and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well if that's what you want I'd be happy to," Sokka straightened. "Alright you stand over there," Sokka directed to Suki. "Now this may be a little tough but try to block me." He went to strike her with a reverse punch, which she easily deflected with a shoulder block using the tip of her fan.

"Good, but of course I was going easy on you," Sokka stated as he massaged his shoulder. "Now let's see if you can handle this!" Sokka lunged forward attempting a roundhouse kick to Suki's head but she ducked under his leg and threw him backwards.

"That does it!" His voice cracked as he leapt to his feet and ran at her. Suki stopped his attack by grabbing his right arm in placing him into an arm bar. She then began swinging him around in circles first clockwise then counterclockwise. While he was off balance she tore his belt from his waist looped it around his right leg and then around his left wrist tying the two together. Sokka tried desperately to stay upright, but failed and landed face first to the amusement of the watching warriors.

"You may think you've taught him a lesson, but in laughing at his suffering, you are no better," Koumi stepped forward preparing to untie Sokka. As she turned her attention to the knot, she noticed a flicker of movement to her left. One of the Kyoshi warriors had been severely insulted by her words and was preparing to retaliate.

Just as the girl's attack was about to make contact, Koumi moved. She grabbed the girl mirroring Suki's previous arm bar and forced the girl to her knees in a single fluid motion. The girl gasped in pain before Koumi finally released her.

The warrior looked to Suki for help, but her leader just shook her head in disappointment. "That's what you get for challenging the avatar's guardian."

She looked over her shoulder at Koumi in disbelieving awe. "What's the avatar's Guardian doing protecting a commoner?"

"As guardian it is my duty to not only protect the avatar but to protect the world as well. And he is part of this world, mostly." She continued working on the knot until it finally came free allowing Sokka to stand on his own. Sokka slumped from the building in defeat followed closely by Koumi.

Outside the two found Aang staring up at the statue of Kyoshi surrounded by eight girls one of who was carrying a sleeping Momo. The statue had been completely repainted including both the wolf and tiger at the avatar's feet.

Aang left the girls standing beside the statue and approached Katara, who was shopping at the market for supplies. As the conversation drew on the two seemed to begin arguing until finally Katara storm away.

"Thanks for sticking up for me Koumi. It means a lot."

"Well they did have a slight point. Just because they're girls doesn't mean that they're any less capable of fighting that you. My sister and I didn't have an older brother or anybody to help us from the time that we were four." She leaned up beside a tree that was just outside the Kyoshi warrior's dojo.

"Well yeah but you and your sister aren't like normal girls," Sokka shrugged not knowing what else to say.

"We used to be. Before we became the avatar's guardians, we had real lives. So you might want to show a little more respect because the next person that teaches you a lesson may not let you off so easily."

Sokka looked thoughtful at Koumi's words he paced around a bit before returning to the dojo. Inside the warriors had resumed their training.

"Hey Suki," Sokka sighed.

"Come back for another dance lesson?" Suki teased with a cautious look towards Koumi.

"No let me explain."

"Spit it out," Suki exclaimed.

Sokka stared at her for a moment before lowering himself to his knees, "I would be honored if you would teach me."

"Even if I'm a girl?"

"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier I was wrong." He bowed respectfully his voice truly sincere.

"We normally don't teach outsiders let alone boys," Suki looked down at him for arms crossed.

"Please make an exception I won't let you down."

"All right, but you have to follow all of our traditions." Suki smirked.

"Of course," Sokka looked up noting Suki's smile.

"And I mean all of them."

"Sokka, I think you might want to ask what those traditions are before you leap," Koumi cautioned. But like a typical Sokka, he ignored her, and ended up following through with all the Kyoshi warrior traditions. Including the warriors' attire.

Much to Sokka's surprise, he was equipped with a full Kyoshi warrior uniform complete with make-up. "Do I really have to wear this it feels a little girly?" Sokka asked feeling a little disgraced. To his right Koumi was dressed the same, but being a girl it didn't look half bad on her.

"It the warriors uniform you should be proud. The silk threads symbolize the brave blood that flows through our veins, and the gold insignia represents the honor of a warrior's heart."

Sokka stood a little taller thinking that "bravery and honor".

Unfortunately, Aang just happened to be walking by noticed Sokka's clothing and had to comment, "hey Sokka nice dress." This left Sokka feeling very uncomfortable and slightly mortified that someone had seen him other than Suki and Koumi.

Koumi ran to the door and yelled after the young avatar, "be careful what you say, Aang, you never know what you'll have to wear in the future."

"You're not gonna master in one day even I'm not that good," Suki stated watching Sokka go through his stances for the eighth time.

"I think I'm starting to get," Sokka replied still going through his steps. In the end he used too much force and threw the fan straight out the door into the tree knocking snow to the ground. Suki and Koumi covered a smile.

"It's not about strength; our technique is about using your opponent's force against them. Loosen up and think of the fan as an extension of your arm. Wait for an opening and then…" Suki attacked the Sokka's left. Sokka stepped back, grabbing Suki's wrist with his left hand sending the fan flying, with his remaining momentum he pushed Suki down with his shoulder.

Suki looked up at him stunned. Even Koumi looked surprised. Sokka on the other hand looked thoughtful, as if he had no idea that that would have worked.

Suki jumped up from the floor, "I only fell to make you feel better."

"I so got you! Admit I got you," Sokka exclaimed pointing at Suki in triumph. Giggling Suki grabbed his finger and bent towards him, bringing him to his knees with pain.

"Next time celebrate when you know your opponent is going to stay down," Koumi suggested trying to keep a straight face.

"Okay and was a lucky shot," Suki admitted. She released his finger and clasped her hands behind her back smiling innocently as Sokka stared at his finger in agony. "Let's see if you can do it again."

"Well, while you to duke it out, you will find Aang and see what trouble he's causing," Koumi sidled out the door still trying to cover her smile. She wandered through the village searching for her ward. Instead she found a flustered Katara headed towards the beach. "Katara, have you seen Aang anywhere?"

"Yeah he's entertaining some girls down at the beach. He said he was gonna 'ride the unagi' so I'm on my way to discourage them," Katara huffed. "Do you think that between the two of us we'll be able to talk some sense into him?"

"Talk some sense or drag his butt out, either way is better than where he is at," Koumi stormed off with Katara following closely at her heels. They arrived in time to watch the other girls walk away while Aang was out in open water.

"Katara you showed up," Aang smiled. "And you brought Koumi with you," his smile faltered.

"I wanted to make sure you're okay you really had me worried," Katara replied.

"But back there you acted like you didn't care."

"I'm sorry," Katara sighed.

"Me too; I did let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk," Aang apologized.

"We'll get out of the water before you catch a cold you big jerk!"

Aang grinned knowing that their fight was over. "On my way!" As he made his way back to shore the unagi finally made its appearance. The water around Aang began to grow rough until he finally was lifted up and found himself on the unagi's back.

The great eel sprayed Aang with a powerful jet of water from its mouth trying to knock him loose. When that failed it snapped at him. Aang dodged the unagi and managed to grab hold of one of its whiskers. It tried relentlessly to make him release his grip until finally Aang was thrown free. He landed about hundred yards out, but the force of his fall had knocked him unconscious.

Katara and Koumi wasted no time, the two dove into the water determined to reach the young avatar before the unagi. They'd just reached him when the unagi resurfaced. "Hold on to him tightly," Koumi ordered the girl and attacked the unagi with a water slice across its long neck leaving an open wound.

Katara meanwhile had used her bending to push them to shore. Safely out of the water, they watched the unagi release several jets of water in pure frustration before it dove into the water and out of sight.

With the unagi no longer a threat, Katara was able to see beyond the harbor out into the ocean. What she saw made her wish the giant eel was back, it was Zuko's warship, and it was coming straight towards the island.

(Hi there! Thank you for reading another chapter! Don't ya just hate it when we break it up into two chapters!? Sorry about that, we just love cliffhangers! Anyway, my sister and I would love to hear your comments on each chapter, in fact, we heard a rumor that you guys and girls might like to see your names on the next chapter! So starting now we are gonna do just that! If you leave a review with your; questions, comments, issues, or concerns, we will post it on the next chapter and try our best to answer and/or reply! THANKS AGAIN!)

Bonewing :

Thank you for wrighting such a great story. I hop you all keep it up. Its fun. And it has also an insperation to read. So thanks agen. It has hepled me figer out a dretion of a story of my own. So thanks agen.

(You are very welcome Bonewing and thank you for your support! Good luck on your story, we look forward to reading it!)

(Some older but still very important reviews!)

Your Nightmare's Nightmare :

omg I love this story so please update soon the Plot is amazing and so is your writing !

(THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I don't know what else to say here... 3)

Wolfsbane-Nin :

Okay...that was cool :3
and so full of drama (thats what I say when I get too attatched to something. example: manga & tv shows)
So far so good...
Well thats my review! bye bye

(Thanks! Dramatic is a good description for it! Thanks again!)

KawaiiShortcake :

Wow! I just LOVE this story! I feel bad for Kit though. But I don't blame Zuko for bein' afraid since she's a beast. Anyway, please continue! Otherwise I'll cry. And you won't want that, would you? Q . Q . . . . :D

(Thank you very much! And, no, I don't want you to cry! T_T)

Spirit-of-the-Rain :

Wow, that was amazing! Please post the next one really soon, I need to see Kitsumi get her revenge, okay, yeah I know Koumi was the one who was actually doing her duty and whatnot, but she sort of acted cruel.

(Thank you! And so, if not already, you'll understand why Koumi's so cruel!)

procrastinating artist :

i really like this! i like the idea of the Avatar having guardians. it really makes sense, i mean he's this all-powerful dude/chick, people are gonna wanna kill them. (wow, that last sentence i typed just slandered grammar...)

(Thank you! I'm glad someone shares my opinion.)

MiniHorseGirl :

Very good story. It got more interesting and humorous as I read it. I like this story alot, so far.
Oh, and taking a bath in a chamber pot, I doubt would get you very clean but have just the opposite effect. Better look up what a chamber pot is.
But real good story, keep writing on it.

(This was my momma's review. She passed away last year so she won't be able to read this reply, but I wanted to put it out here anyway. R.I.P. Momma) (Ps. I promise the chamber pot was clean! It was just the only thing I could think of that could be in the room!)

iwatchyousleep :

I really like this, and can't wait for the next chapter!
You're doing great with Iroh, the things he says in this seem just like something he'd actually say on the series, and you really captured his personality, especially in the last few chapters.
Zuko is good too, but I think you should have him and Kit share a really personal moment, to show Zuko's softer side, and strengthen their relationship.

(Thanks! Iroh is one of my favorites so telling me I captured his personality makes me very happy! Thank you for that! Zuko on the other hand, I'm trying to show his softer side without changing his character, it's hard than it sounds sometimes. ;))

(I hope ya'll enjoyed this! Please remember to review! Thanks!)