Sakura02: Lol. Yes, the scary, pissed off whales were going to eat them XD. Oh Supernatural…

AvatarCat11: I'm going to be doing all the episodes from Book 3.

Thanks: Melody Sparrow, Moonlitdaze, and Miss Luny for reviewing!


"Oh! There's a cave down there! I see a cave!" Lan cried out excitedly, pointing below them to a small island. She hadn't noticed it at first, as it was sometimes hard to see through the clouds that Aang was keeping pulled close to Appa so that no one could see them. She beamed proudly over at the others.

Sokka frantically waved his hands and shushed her as they began to descend to towards the cave. As soon as they landed and Aang dispersed the clouds, they all dismounted off of Appa. Sokka helped Lan hop down from the saddle and patted her head. "Great job with the cloud disguise, guys! Next time, though, let's be a cloud that doesn't speak. Those are kind of rare you know."

Toph rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, it would be horrible if a bird heard us talking up there."

"Hey, we're in enemy territory!" Sokka protested. "Those are enemy birds."

Lan blinked. "We don't talk to birds…" She couldn't help giggling as one bird landed on Sokka's shoulder and squawked in his ear. Her giggles were soon joined in by the others laughter. She took a step forward to start walking into the cave, but Sokka held a hand up and ran into the cave, looking around frantically before he allowed the others to follow him in.

Sokka turned to the others as they followed him in. "Well, this is how we're going to be living until the invasion. In cave…after cave…after cave…"

"Excuse me, Sokka." Lan raised her hand up high in the air and waved it around. "I don't like caves. Can we find somewhere else to live until the invasion?"

Katara nodded her head. "I agree with Lan. We don't have to become cave people. We just need some new clothes."

"Yeah! We'll be just as safe by blending in as we will be hiding in caves." Aang chimed in. He really didn't want to spend the next few weeks in caves.

Toph punched the wall beside her, making several cave hoppers fall to the ground. "It's real food out there, or caves hoppers in here."

Sokka looked at the revolted faces of Katara and Aang. He hesitated before looking down at Lan. "You're making the face, aren't you? The one where make your eyes all big and you look like a helpless puppy."

"Yup." Lan answered. "I'm also pouting." She grinned triumphantly as Sokka's shoulders slouched. "Yay! No cave hoppers!"

They left the cave and walked a couple miles until they came across the town's laundry. Multiple clothes lines filled with various styles of clothing hung over steam vents. Lan's eyes lit up when she saw a simple, but pretty dress. She looked over to her side where Aang was and frowned. "What's wrong, Aang?"

"I don't know about this." Aang muttered. "These clothes belong to other people."

Katara ignored Aang's worries and leapt out from their hiding spot. "I call the silk robes!"

Aang hesitated for another moment as the others rushed off to find clothes. Only Lan remained at his side. He looked at her curious amber eyes and grinned. "If it's essential for our survival…I call the suit!" He grabbed Lan's hand and the two rushed off to grab their new clothing.

Lan stifled her giggles as they ran right by the sleeping attendant, the poor man oblivious to what was going on. Lan yanked the dress off the line that she had spied earlier. Once they had their clothes, the group rushed off to a nearby beach to change.

"Lan, let me fix your hair." Katara said as Toph finished dressing and waltzed out from behind the rock cropping and over to the beach area where Aang and Sokka were. She smiled as Lan obediently sat in front of her. She pulled a brush from her small bag and began gently running it through Lan's tangled hair. "You've been sleeping better now."

"Yeah." Lan said quietly. She hadn't had anymore dreams with the masked lady in them and she was relieved about that. "Katara, do you think my grandpa is okay?"

Katara's hands stilled from braiding Lan's hair. She quickly resumed her work and tied off the end with a silk red ribbon. "I'm sure he is. There, all done." She smiled again as Lan stood up and twirled around. "You don't think anyone will recognize you, do you?"

Lan quickly shook her head. She watched as Katara finished doing her own hair. "I don't think so. With these clothes, I look like an ordinary Fire Nation kid." She grinned at Katara and rushed out from behind the rock with Katara close behind her. She ran over to Sokka and twirled around. "Good disguise, right?" Her grin widened as Sokka nodded approvingly.

"Um, Katara, your mother's necklace…" Aang pointed out after he'd gotten over seeing Katara in Fire Nation clothing.

Katara's smile faltered as she placed a hand over her mother's necklace. "Right…I guess it's pretty obvious this is from the Water Tribe."

"We can go to the town market." Lan piped up helpfully. "They always sell really pretty accessories. Grandpa would always give me money and Zuko…" Lan trailed off suddenly, remembering how Zuko would always follow her around and make sure she didn't waste all her money on what he deemed 'useless junk'. She knew he'd always really followed her around because he was worried she'd get lost or kidnapped. She blinked as Sokka place a hand on her head. She grinned up at him. "Come on! Let's go!"

The group made their way to the town and quickly found a stall that sold accessories. Lan lingered back beside Aang while Katara, Toph, and Sokka picked out accessories for their new outfits. Once that was finished, Sokka began leading the group towards a butcher shop.

Aang hung back. "You guys go on ahead. I'll just find some lettuce or something."

"I'll go with you." Lan volunteered. She never really cared much for going into the butcher shops. She grabbed Aang's hand as they continued walking around the market while Sokka and the others went into the butcher shop. She blinked as three rather scary looking officials approached them. "Um, Aang, I think we're in trouble." She whispered nervously as the two men and woman stopped before them.

The oldest of the two men and clearly the one in charge glared down at the two, his arms crossed disapprovingly over his chest. "It's over. We've caught the both of you."

Aang looked around, trying to appear as innocent as possible while Lan cowered behind him. "Who? Us?"

"It couldn't be more obvious to anyone that you don't belong here." The man snarled. "The next time you play hooky, you may want to take off your uniform." The man blinked as Lan suddenly began crying. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm sorry, sir." Lan sniffled out, still clinging to Aang's hand and rubbing at her eyes with her other. "It's my fault. I got a really bad tear in my uniform and everyone was laughing at me. I asked my brother to take me home so I could change. I'm really, really sorry."

The man looked nervously at the other two before shrugging. "Take them back to the school."

Lan continued her act of sniffling all the way to the school. She glanced at Aang with wide, terrified eyes as the two were led off to different classrooms. Lan was stuck with the older man while the other two took Aang to his classroom.

The teacher looked up in disdain when she saw the man bring Lan in. "Where is your uniform?" She snapped angrily as the man walked off, leaving Lan at the mercy of the teacher.

"It got ripped." Lan said quietly, quickly bowing to the teacher to show her respect. She hoped none of them recognized her. She held her breath as the teacher circled her and looked her up and down suspiciously.

"Name?" The teacher finally asked.

"Shu." Lan answered automatically, using the name she had used when she, Iroh, and Zuko had been in hiding. She breathed out as the teacher finally allowed her to take her seat. The day passed fairly quickly. Lan did her best to keep a low profile and didn't interact much with her classmates. When the bell finally rang, she ran out of the classroom and out into the yard at the entrance of the school. She looked around until she finally spotted Aang. "Big Brother!"

Aang glanced up and grinned as Lan ran over to him. "Hi, Sis." He said as she stopped in front of him. "How was school?"

"Boring." Lan said offhandedly. "How's Momo doing?"

Aang peeked into his shirt to check on the flying lemur. "He's good."

"Don't let the headmaster catch you with that monkey, Kuzon." A girl said from behind them. She smiled at both Lan and Aang as they whipped around.

"Uh, what monkey?" Aang asked innocently.

The girl giggled. "Don't worry; I won't tell on you." She smiled at Lan whom was clinging to Aang's hand and trying to hide behind him. "Is this your little sister? She's really cute."

"Yeah, this is my little sister…" Aang looked over at Lan when he realized he didn't know her codename.

"Shu." Lan piped up.

The girl smiled. "My name is On Ji. I like your headband, Kuzon." She giggled at the silly grin on Aang's face.

Lan let out a yelp as a boy walked up behind them and roughly shoved them to the side. Lan glowered at him and was seriously debated on shooting a fire ball in his face. The only thing that stopped her was Aang squeezing her hand tightly and the smile on his face never wavering.

Aang bowed politely to the boy. "You must be one of those popular kids I've always heard so much about."

The boy sneered at the two of them. "That's right. Look, I get that you two hicks are from the colonies so let me make one thing clear to you, Kuzon. On Ji…is…my…girlfriend. You better remember that."

Lan rolled her eyes, but stayed quiet as the boy walked off with his arm around On Ji. "Loser. I bet he can't even firebend…" She raised an eyebrow as three boys and a girl approached them. She recognized the boy leading the group as one from her class that sat next to her and kept trying to talk to her all day. "Oh, you're Shoji."

Shoji's grin widened. "You remember me! I was worried that I was annoying you, Shu. I can't believe your brother stood up to Hide without getting beat up."

"My brother is just lucky like that." Lan shrugged casually, trying to ignore Aang's grin.

"We were going to play hide-and-explode. Wanna come?" Shoji asked.

"I love hide-and-explode!" Lan blurted out excitedly. She blushed as Shoji and Aang laughed. "Shut up, both of you!"

Aang and Lan didn't get back to the cave until late that night. Both were laughing and covered in soot and burn marks. Katara glared at them both, her hands on her hips. "Where have you two been? We've been worried sick!"

"We were playing with some kids from our school." Aang answered brightly. "We enrolled in a Fire Nation school and we're going back tomorrow. Right, Lan?"

"Yup!" Lan said excitedly, ignoring Sokka's shout of protest. She had had so much fun playing with Shoji and the others. She hadn't gotten to play with children her own age in so long. She'd forgotten how much she loved hide-and-explode.

Sokka took a deep breath as he looked at the bright grins on Lan and Aang's faces. "I'm trying really hard no to immediately think this is a bad idea, but…it's a bad idea."

"We've got our outfits." Toph pointed out. "Why do you need to go to school?"

"Every minute we spend in school, the more we learn. Lan hasn't ever gone to a Fire Nation school so all she's ever learned is from Iroh and Zuko. I've already got a picture of Fire Lord Ozai. Besides, we're learning about the secret river that runs right to the Fire Lord's palace." Aang said casually.

Lan looked at him dubiously. "I don't think there's…" She stopped when Aang gave her a look. "Oh, right. It's really secret and really…river…y…"

Sokka nodded thoughtfully. "I do love secret rivers." He sighed at the hopeful looks on Lan and Aang's faces. "Fine. We'll stay for a few more days."

"Yes!" Aang said, giving Lan a high-five. "Shoji will be so happy to see you in class tomorrow."

"Who's Shoji?" Sokka asked immediately. "Is he a bully?"

Lan rolled her eyes as Aang laughed. "I'm going to bed."

The next day at school was fairly uneventful until music class. Lan was surprised to see that her class had music with Aang's class. She smiled and sat by him with On Ji on his other side. Lan gave Shoji a smile when he sat down beside her. As the teacher began conducting, Lan brought the flute to her lips and played. It had been so long since she'd been able to play, that she got completely lost in the music. She stopped when she heard the music teacher speaking.

"Kuzon, what are you doing with your feet?" The teacher asked.

Aang blinked. "Oh, I was just dancing."

The teacher frowned. "Dancing is not conductive to the learning environment. You people must have rigid discipline and order so that they may prosper. Now, I know that we are sometimes so moved by love for our nation, that we just can't control ourselves. If you must, you may march in place should the desire strike you again."

"You guys really don't dance?" Aang asked Lan incredulously as they walked out for recess.

Lan shook her head, ignoring the students whispering around them. "Not really. Grandpa taught me how, but he always told me that the schools are way too strict. I don't like dancing that much, though. I prefer singing." Lan blushed and bit her lip as Aang looked at her.

"You sing?" He asked excitedly.

Lan was saved from answering by On Ji walking over to them. On Ji smiled at both of them. "I really liked your dancing, Kuzon."

Aang grinned sheepishly. "I can show you again, if you'd like."

"What are you going to show my girl?" Hide hissed as he stormed over.

Lan rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "He was just going to show her how to dance. Could you cut the alpha male thing down a little? It's really annoying."

Hide glared at Lan. "Be quiet, brat."

Lan yelped as On Ji pulled her away as Hide began lunging at Aang. Lan wasn't worried about Aang. He slipped and slid away from Hide with grace and ease, never laying a hand on the bigger boy. Lan laughed loudly when Hide fell to floor when he lunged at Aang and missed again. Her laughter stopped as the Headmaster suddenly appeared.

"Picking fights on your second day of school?" The Headmaster spoke quietly to Aang. Have your parents come to my office after school. Don't be late."

"What are we going to do?" Lan hissed at Aang as the Headmaster and everyone else walked away.

Aang thought for a minute before a bright grin split across his face. "I've got an idea."


Lan slouched in her seat between Aang and her 'mother'. She glanced first at Katara who was disguised as her and Aang's pregnant mother and then down at Sokka who was disguised as their bearded father. This was ridiculous. There was no way this was going to work. Nevertheless, Lan made herself sniffle and look very distraught to be in the Headmaster's office.

"Your son has been enrolled here for two days and already he has argued with his history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil." The Headmaster said sternly.

Katara gasped dramatically. "That doesn't sound like our Kuzon at all."

The Headmaster nodded knowingly. "That is what any mother would say, ma'am. However, this is the only warning he will receive. If he acts up again, I'll have him sent to the coal mines."

"Don't worry, sir. I'll straighten this boy out." He turned to Aang and began shouting. "You just wait until we get home! You're going to get the punishment of a lifetime!"

The Headmaster smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

"What about Shu?" Katara asked, wrapping protective arms around the sniffling Lan. "I hope she hasn't been causing any problems. She's such a sweet little thing and she looks up to her brother so much..."

The Headmaster smiled indulgently at Lan. "No, ma'am. You're daughter is a fine student. She is especially excelling in her music classes. We've never had a student sing the Fire Nation anthem so beautifully."

"That's my girl!" Sokka stood up and the rest rose to follow him. "Shu, you get extra meat tonight."

"Thank you, Daddy!" Lan had to stifle a giggle as they walked out. That had gone better than she thought it would.

When they got back to the cave, Aang spoke up quickly. "I wanna throw a secret dance party for the kids at that school!"

Everyone stared at him in complete shock. "You want to do what?" Lan finally managed out.

"Think about it; those kids are the Fire Nation's future. If we want to change this place for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom." Aang reasoned. It took a good while to convince the others, but Aang eventually did it. They would have the dance party that night. Aang slipped away to tell the other children while Lan and the others stayed behind to prepare.

Lan was busy lighting dozens of candles at a time when Aang finally came back. "Did you tell everyone?"

"Yup." Aang said with a wide grin.

Sokka sighed. "I still think hosting a dance party for a bunch of Fire Nation kids is dumb."

Lan perked up as soon as the kids showed up. She lingered along the wall with Katara and the others while the band of students set up and began playing. Lan wasn't surprised at all when the kids didn't begin dancing. They weren't used to being able to express themselves.

"Shu, you know how to dance." Aang beckoned Lan over to him. "Do you know the Phoenix Flight?"

Lan rolled her eyes. "Of course." She couldn't help giggling as she and Aang began dancing around. It had been so long since she'd gotten to dance. She giggled as Aang began flipping around. Eventually, all the kids were dancing and having fun. Lan noticed Shoji staring at her. She grabbed his hand and began dancing with him, both laughing loudly. She blinked when Aang came over and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "I can't!"

"Please?" Aang asked quietly, giving Lan his best puppy eyes.

Lan hesitated. "You owe me." Lan smiled apologetically over at Shoji before making her way to the bandstand. She whispered quickly to them and then cleared her throat. She looked down at the floor where Aang and Katara were beginning to dance together. As the band started back up, Lan began singing. It was a quick and happy tune, one that Iroh had taught her to play on the flute. Her voice rose and fell with the notes and soon she forgot where she was and everything that was wrong. She began dancing around on the bandstand as she continued singing. She stopped when she heard the band gasp.

"That's not good." She muttered when she saw the Headmaster, two truant officers, and Hide standing at the entrance to the cave. She leapt down from the bandstand and landed beside Shoji.

"That's the one we want." The Headmaster said, pointing at Aang who had finally stopped dancing. "The one with the headband."

"You guys go." Shoji whispered to Lan as Aang rushed over to them.

Lan frowned. "But, you guys will get in trouble…" She blinked in shock as Shoji gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She barely registered Sokka grabbing her hand and running towards the back of the cave. She stopped and looked back once last time at Shoji. She gave him a quick smile and wave when he turned to look at her. She didn't feel so bad about the blush on her cheeks when she saw him blushing as well.

"What's wrong with you?" Sokka asked when they were on Appa and flying off to safety.

Lan blinked and looked up from where she had been staring idly at the passing clouds. "Oh, nothing."

"Someone got their first kiss." Katara sang knowingly.

Lan blushed as Sokka let out a furious yell. She smiled over at Aang and scooted to sit next to him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Aang asked.

Lan thought for a moment on how to best express her gratitude to Aang for getting her to sing. She had never sang in front of others before and it had been so exhilarating. Finally, she simply grinned at him. "For being a good big brother."

Aang blinked, but then grinned back at her. He gave Lan a big hug. "Anytime, Lan. Anytime."