Hey Avatards! Been a while since I've said those words to you guys. First off I wanna say how sorry I am that this chapter has taken forever. It was a good portion of the way done until I decided to move and then everything was pretty much put on pause. I left my laptop at my old house for my Mom's sake because of Nursing School. By the time I got it back it was literally a piece of junk. I had SO many viruses and trojans that it was doing crazy crap to my computer. So when I got enough money I finally bought a MacBook and that was a few weeks ago when all of that went down. And then the holidays came and I ended up working double shifts. I pulled a 48 hour shift in less than a week, so that also made me procrastinate a lot more as well.

It's been a rough transaction to get everything back in order right now. I wanted to so desperately put this up before Thanksgiving so I can get another for Christmas but as I've looked at my schedule that won't be happening :/ You have all been patient and I have been getting a many messages from all of you! I'm sorry I have not replied to any of them once again! Can't do a lot on my iPhone unfortunately...Anywho, I am so happy that you guys are still sticking with me and believe that this is a good story. I will finish in due time. I have the ending already prepared and mentally solid in my head, it's just finding the perfect way to get there now.

For all of you KatAang fans out there, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there really isn't a whole lot of that in this chapter. There are others, but mostly this chapter is about Katara and Jet. And there I'm predicting some pissed off people maybe as well. P.S. when you read about the "Toph Twist" and still can't imagine it, YouTube Submission of the Week: Chang Sung Jung vs. Leonard Garcia to get a better picture of what I tried so hard to describe for all of you.

(Recap) Aang went to the tournament even though he was sick. But with a small window of opportunity, and the world hanging in balance, he ventures off on his own. His friends eventually follow after him to the underground tournament. Aang is getting worse, but he keeps fighting. Unfortunately, during one of the battles Aang kills not just one, but two people during his inner spirit fight with Ozai. All of his friends witness this horror as he is claimed Victor and meets Ryuu (an enemy to Aang, but in secret wishes to help him win against the Death Stalkers). Katara comes crashing in and saves Aang by bloodbending and escape with the D.S. trailing close behind them. When they finally "lose" them, we find out that the Avatar is indeed sick, but not in the right context. He has been poisoned. And Jet confessed to doing it to him. Enjoy!

"Grab her!" Sokka yelled out with terrorizing fear in his voice as he witnessed Katara's blue eyes go blood red. Crazy eyes.

With Toph still hanging on tightly to Aang, Zuko made the jump and wrapped his strong biceps around the girls waist and arms, in hopes of keeping her hands under control. Especially, with the full moon shining its menacing powers onto her naturally tan skin and feeling the muscles increase in strength.

"Let go of me!" Katara kicked and screamed at the Firebender as she tried to thrash her way out of the those ironclads of his. "Let me go, Zuko! I'm gonna kill him!"

"No!" He grunted, "we need him alive Katara."

Jet laughed in that evil voice he had been keeping cooped up for so long. "He's right doll face. Only I know how to save your boyfriend."

"You set this up you son of a—"

"I had to have some leverage on you," Jet interrupted her accusation. "It was only a matter of time before you or Aang would kill me." The ropes around the traitor's body began to burn into his skin while trying to reposition himself a bit more comfortable. "Funny how things work out isn't it? I think this is what they call the old switcheroo. Or is it irony that I'm thinking of?"

The Waterbender got one arm loose and elbowed her friend in the stomach and tackled the man that wasn't even human to her anymore. The ropes snapped, like the whips that were inflicted on Aang body, and the sound of knuckles and metal roamed the night skies. It took them all a second to comprehend what just happened. There was so much anger in every punch. Her knuckles hurt from his metal plate, but she didn't want to stop. She and Aang had been going back and forth between letting Jet go or to try and save him. Saving him now might be a problem. For so long Katara believed he had died at Ba Sing Se. The man she had a huge crush on, the leader of the Freedom Fighters, was no more. The Dai Li had gotten to him first. Jet had been brain washed. With a snap of few words, he could be turned into a weapon for Long Feng's doings. However, Aang was able to get through to him in the end and Jet died the honorably; or so they all thought. Katara wanted to save him at the time. After leaving him there she ran the scene through her head again, but her gut told her there was nothing else she could have done. He was dying on the inside. And Katara couldn't find a way to fix him. She wished that she had tried harder now. If she had healed him, maybe he wouldn't be in this position right now. Katara wondered how different he would have been if she had taken the time to actually heal him, but Aang needed her too when fighting to get Appa back. And now, here they were; Jet was hung up on her still and had the life of the Avatar, the one she loved, in Jets bloody hands.

Toph let go of her once student Earthbender and threw her body into Katara's from behind and sending her to the ground. She fought back hard and tried to stand up, but the blind girl was faster. Toph hopped on her back with her left arm over Katara's left shoulder, as she grips her own right wrist under the girls armpit, while her legs hung onto the Waterbender's thin waste. She pulled Katara's back on top of her chest with Katara's heels pushing into the ground, just like the blind bandit wanted. Toph hooked her right leg and threaded through the bottom of Katara's, laced in it with her ankle and it locked down. Causing the opponent to be on her side while Toph's ankles remained secured. The blue eyed girl grabbed for her friends wrist and pushed it down, hoping to get out of this trap but was in for a surprise. Toph used the 'free pass' and put Katara's arm behind her head. In a quick swiss the young teenager put her arm under the Waterbender head and lifted it up to feel her temple touching on the insider of her forearm. She then reached with her left arm and made a figure four while pulling the Katara's head into her; a "Death Con Four" as it is politically said.

"Take it easy sweet cheeks!" the Earthbender emphasized each her words slowly.

Katara felt tension in several body parts, as well as pain in her knees, abdominal and torso. But the real pressure was on her cervical spine and causing a crank in her neck. She couldn't even breathe without something hurting. But still she tried to resist. Inch by inch Toph pulled her neck even more into her body until she could feel the slow pace of her best friends own heart. Dark cloud began to swirl into her eyes.

Sokka looked over and saw his sister's body going limp. "Toph let her go! Last thing we need is someone else unconscious at this point."

The short raven haired girl nodded and released her companion at long last. Katara sucked the air back into her lungs, as if she had been drowning, and started coughed uncontrollably as she rolled to her side. Slowly but surely catching her breathe and feeling the blood rush quickly out of her head. Katara knew that she was going to be sore tomorrow after that little stunt. But still she lay still with eyes close.

"Sorry," Toph said very flat. She then stood up and stretched out her body, as if nothing had happened.

"Hey Toph," Sokka spoke ease the tension a little. "What move is that? I've never seen you pull that one before?"

The Earthbender shrugged as if it was nothing. "I call it The Blind Twist. Hence on the twisting part."

Zuko got up from his knees once he too caught his breath, after Katara gut-checked him, and went to go take the reins from his wife, who still remained calm through all of this. They were heading into a storm and needed to find cover. "Toph, think you can make a home for us on a mountain side?"

"Can otter penguins fly?"

"Ugh, no?" the Fire Lord questioned dumbfounded.

"Exactly. So how about you stop asking stupid questions and point me in the right direction."

He rolled his eyes and signaled Teo to come closer, gave an estimate of how far away she was and then she jumped out towards him. Zuko admired how much Toph had come to trusting people. He was proud of her. She had so much trust in her "secret" boyfriend that she was willing to jump into the air, willing to be blind for those few seconds, and knowing without a doubt that Teo would catch her. It was a remarkable change from meeting her almost two years ago when all her life she had been on her own and Teo was a big part of that. They were still a couple miles away from the next mountain top and the flying kid pulled the cork out from the back of his chair glider, and went even faster than Appa as they left a cloud of smoke behind.

After Suki put some ripped clothes onto Aang's skin to help with the bleeding on his back, she pulled out a small container from her pouch and popped the top off. The Kioshi Warrior put the smelling salts under Katara's nose and instantly she shook awake in a complete daze. "What just happened?" the Waterbender mumbled under her breath as she rubbed her neck.

Suki put the top back on the small container and said, "you mean the part about where you almost killed Jet with your bare hands, or that Toph kind of knocked you out?"

Katara pushed herself up and shook her head to try and wake up more. Her knuckles ached from hitting Jets metal face and causing her to bleed a bit more. It was a little hard to even squeeze her hands into a fist. "Is he alive still?" she asked looking at the back of her hand, not really caring about the traitors well being.

"He'll live, but Aang needs you. He is in a lot of pain. I'll do my best, but right now I need you to focus and help him. Can you do that without wanting to kill the guy who probably can save Aang?"

The Waterbender looked over at Jet and saw that many strips of the ropes were just lying on the still figure. Apparently they didn't mind him shutting up a bit longer. Katara's face dropped as her ocean pearls looked at Aang's back. So much skin had been torn off of him. There was a lot of dry blood and so much dirt piling into his wounds that she could easily tell that if the damage wasn't taken care of then it would get infected. Suki had torn off his Fire Nation shirt and even took off his shoes, revealing the lightning strike scar; a wound that would never truly heal. An absolute reminder that he is not invincible. Not even in the Avatar State. Azula proved that with her powerful lightning strike that day in Ba Sing Se. It was as if her whole world had shattered into a million pieces. Time seemed to suddenly go still as she watched him fall from the air in complete silence. Now she wanted nothing more than to protect him and yet he is the most stubborn airhead she had ever met and couldn't help but love him wholeheartedly, no matter how many times he put his life in danger.

The auburn hair woman helped her soon to be sister-in-law up and went back to her wounded boyfriend. Katara decided to leave the bandages on for now and take a look at at all of his other cuts and bruises. With Suki cradling his neck for support in her lap, Sokka slowly rolled Aang onto his back without causing any more pain. The frightened blue eye girl wanted to cover him up from the cold as his fever started spiking. The Airbender continued to shiver. Suki got rid of most of the dry blood on his face that he had been coughing up for the past thirty minutes, but it wasn't enough. Katara could hardly recognize the face of the one she loved. His face was many shades of red and dark purple, and those lips she loved to kiss were now cut and scabbed over. The monk had a very deep cut above his right eyebrow that would require some stitching, Katara was going to have to pop his perfect nose back into place, and Aang's eye lids were so swollen that she could have easily mistaken them as plumbs. Drops of water began dripping onto Aang's mutant face.

"Zuko keep us out of the rain!" Katara yelled over her shoulder, but he just gave her a confused look. A hand was placed on her shoulder and making the scared teenager looked up at her brother.

"Katara it's not raining." He spoke calmly and sincere to her. "You're crying."

Her hands went straight to her face and felt how wet it was, unaware that she had been causing the small shower on Aang's clothing and skin. She tried to wipe away the tears but every time she did that it was replaced by more dropping from her nose and chin. "Right…Sokka I need you to reach into my bag and get one of my sewing kit and bend it like a hook and also find me a razor." Her brother nodded and rummaged through the Waterbender's pack.

"What do you need the razor for?" Suki questioned.

"His eye lids are far too swollen."

"What does that have to do with the razor?"

Katara swallowed down her own shivering voice. "If I don't cut them it will take a lot longer for Aang to see anything that's two feet in front of him. After I open them, I need you to apply pressure as soon as I am done cutting." Suddenly, they heard a loud "bang" go echo off the mountains they were passing. It made them all jump as they looked over to find dust and crumbling rocks flying down the mountain side.

"Looks like Toph found us a place to crash," Zuko said to his wife who only nodded at him. She had been acting so strange ever since they had left the Fire Nation. It wasn't a big change for others to notice, but Zuko noticed everything about her; whenever she smiled it was actually for reasons that made her happy and not to please others, she never dances but instead taps her feet to the beat, or how she would rather have sweets than actual food. Mai had been craving sweets like a two-year old that just discovered rock candy and actually became big meat eater recently. Zuko brought Appa around the mountain once, in case someone was following them and landed the giant bison onto the landing strip that Toph was so kindly made. Remembering how much the fury bison hated being anywhere he couldn't see sky.

Once settled they each helped bring Aang down. Toph had also earthbended a stretcher to put the Monk on and make things a bit easier. With the Avatar's weight it required all of the boys and Toph's uncommon strength to help bring him down while Katara and Mai kept him from falling off the flat stern stone. Suki got the rest of the supplies off Appa and quickly went into the dome that the earthbender had made for them. Once her boyfriend was on the ground Sokka and Zuko simultaneously went back to get Jet, who had regrettably woken up, and tied him up around the bison's horn just in case he tried to escape. If anything, Appa could at least bite him and throw the traitor off the mountain and let him roll down to his death. It was something they were all wishing for at this moment.

After they tied his hand up towards the heavens, Sokka bent down and lifted Jet's head up by his hair and brought out the hidden knife tucked away in his dirty boots, and placed it against his neck where an artery sat snuggly into the piece of metal. "You better pray to whatever Spirit that there is a cure. And mark my words, if I have to watch Katara lose someone else in her life you and I are going to redefine the term "falling on your own sword."

Jet's eyes crinkled from smiling at the threat that Sokka embraced upon him. "And if you kill me you won't ever know how to save him. Now unless you plan to let me bleed out right here and now, I suggest you back off and start playing nice."

Sokka pushed the dagger into his skin and caused a line of red liquid to trinkle down the traitors neck. It took everything within him not to just slit it throat and watch him grovel on the floor as he lay dying. The dream was just within his grasp. But he couldn't do that to Katara nor Aang. He would regret it for the rest of his life. Still extremely tempting none the less.

"Come on Sokka," Zuko spoke while pulling him off Jet. "We gotta go man."

As much as Sokka wanted to kill that treacherous conniving jerk, Zuko was right. If Jet proclaimed to know the cure then he would live. For now. Sokka gave his friend a threatening look. "Go on without me."

"No," the man with the scar on his face ordered. "Appa's got this. Right now, Katara needs her older brother next to her. She's gonna have to have someone to lean on."

Even though his brother from the Fire Nation was right, Sokka didn't want to leave him unguarded. However, if things with the avatar got worse than his sister was going to need everyone, especially him. He nodded and took off with the Fire Lord. By the time they both got there Suki was sewing a cut on his eyebrow while Mai held his head very still.

"Zuko," Katara said handing him a razor. "I need you to sterilize this for me." He nodded and flicked his thumb up, and burnt the razor until the she asked for it back. Teo had just rolled in on the landing strip with big handful of sticks in his lap. Sokka took it from the kid and put the thin pieces of wood up like a tent, as Zuko made them a nice warm fire to see more clearly. With Mai ready to stop the bleeding, Katara took the sterile razor and cut only the swollen areas to allow the blood to flow out. She then gave the signal to the Fire Lords wife to apply pressure when he was in the clear. Unfortunately, Sokka had to take over after Mai excused herself from the cave. After they had taken care of parts of his face, they rolled the Avatar onto his stomach and removed all the clothes from Aang's back. Causing the his wound to reopen. The cloth had stuck to him like glue.

"Mai?" Zuko asked as he saw his wife walking back in and whipping her mouth. She looked a little flustered and it wasn't like her to be queasy around blood.

She smiled. "I'm fine. Just didn't eat enough."

The shaggy haired brunette kissed her on top of her forehead. "Can you help me get the pot over the fire?" She agreed and helped him.

Katara continued to dig out the dirt and clean it to her best ability without using her healing powers. Aang moaned and wiggled in pain, but she knew it wasn't just from his back side. So much of his skin had been torn off unwillingly. There were so many dark red lines that weren't even an inch apart as they crisscrossed one another vicariously. She could see his veins were beginning to turn a dark shade of maroon, indicating the poisons outbreak towards the heart. Suddenly, Katara's hands started to shake as her own cardiac system began to beat so loud that it was causing her breathing to be out of control. She was having a panic attack. Sokka looked over and grabbed hold of his fragile little sister in his arms and slowly walked her to the farthest corner. Away from Aang as the other tried to help with him. He sat her down and bent down in front of her, not wanting her to see anyone else but him when she curled up in a ball and started rocking.

Sokka took his sisters face into his leathery gloves and made Katara look at him. With his voice raspy he whispered, "calm down sis. Everything is going to be okay. You are going to fix Aang and you are going to save him, because that is who you are. This is what you do."

She shook her head as the tears began to build up on top of Sokka's hands. "I…I—can't do it without my hands shaking…Sokka, I can't lose him again. Not like this."

The Warrior took a glimpse behind him and saw all of them pouring whatever water was left in their canteens and into the pot. Mai was tearing strips of fresh clothes and putting them into the boiled water. Toph just sat there next to Teo who both didn't know what else to do, but Sokka knew that the earthbender was listening to his every heart beat. Suki was checking all of his other wounds and seeing what kind of damage was done on the inside of him. Zuko continued to make the fire stay lit longer as his wife stirred the hot wet clothes. He looked back at those mirroring ocean blue eyes and said, "ten seconds."

Katara brought her eyebrows together in disorientation. He repeated, "ten seconds. That's how long you are going to let every fear and doubt take over you. Ten seconds is all you get to let it all envelope your heart. And then you are going to help Aang. Can you count with me?"

The Waterbender could hardly catch her own breath and didn't know what else to do at this moment. But she trusted her brother when it came to the man she deeply loved and gave him a nod. "1…" they both said and she let it all in. The fear of him dying in her arms as she remained helpless to do nothing. "2…" watching Aang being whipped for those he refused to kill and now he was about to succumb to the enemy. "3…" all those years of looking for the Avatar and him never wanting her to seek. "4…" living in a world without him to hold her and watch the sun come up every morning. "5…" Ozai taking over Aang and losing him forever to the dark spirit. "6…" not knowing how to truly live life without him by her side. "7…" how they would both look like as they grow old together and always wonder what their kids would turn out. "8…" never being allowed to him smile or hear his laugh again. "9…" the idea of never getting that tingling feeling when the monk would gaze upon her when Aang thought she wasn't looking. "10…" not being able to kiss those lips that caused her to drown in his passion.

Katara snapped out of her pain as she looked up at her brother with the fire light touching the left side of his cheek. She removed any evidence of the tears and Sokka saw the determination she had now and pulled Katara up onto her feet. "Come on. Let's go save your boyfriend," he winked with the memory of when he spoke those same words the first time they went after Aang. Back then his sister would get pissed off whenever he would "joke" about her and the twelve year old getting together, but Sokka always knew there was something there. Especially, the way Aang gawked at her when Appa swam them back to the Southern Water Tribe. The Waterbender gave him a quick hug in thanks and ran back over towards the mutually injured young teenager. Suki had stitched him up really well, perhaps even better than she could've done.

After the water had boiled to the point of steam burning their skin, Mai used the long stick to pull up heavy piles of tan clothing. Katara reached and picked up the hot clothe that torched her finger tips, but she pushed through the pain and squeezed some of the water out. "Toph, do you think you can form cuffs around his wrist and ankles for me?"

"Why?"

The Waterbender sighed in frustration. "Try to imagine someone slicing you with a sword a couple of times. And now imagine that same person putting boiling strips of clothes on those fresh cuts." Katara let it sink in for a second, "if Aang isn't awake now, he will be screaming in a moment."

Toph nodded in a bit of stupidity, "yeah I think I can do that." She pounded the floors with both fists and just like that Aang was straddled to the ground.

Katara sighed with the hot clothing still resting in her hands. She knew this was going to hurt him, but she couldn't risk healing him so quickly with infection. Aang was already sick and if not careful she could easily make things a hell of a lot worse for him. The long haired brunette laid the first strip across his already sweaty back and he screamed out in horrendous pain. His agony carried out into the mountains and bouncing off into the lands. It was terrifying and caused Katara to jump back in surprise; even though she thought she had braced herself for it.

Sokka reached over and covered the Avatar's mouth, in which case his sister almost stopped him until he said, "if they are looking for us we need to make it as complicating as possible."

With regret she nodded in agreement. "Do you still have that old leather belt of yours?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Aang keeps grinding his teeth in irritation to the pain. We need to put something between them to preventing anymore breakage." She converted, and reached to get another sizzling strip of cloth. Sokka scoured through the pack, throwing out things while trying to find the old brown belt that he wore before the Eclipse. The Water Warrior loved it because his mother had made it especially for him, telling him that the belt had special powers to it to keep him safe. And like any little boy who loves and believes everything his mom told him, he wore that thing even in his sleep. But when she passed it didn't seem to protect him from the pain of losing her to those firebenders. Sokka still kept it though. It was pretty small to fit against his strong figure and always carried it around in hopes that one day he could give it to his son and watch him grow out of it. Suki wanted a girl so that she too could one day train with the Kyoshi Warriors, and Sokka of course wanted a boy, but at the end of the day he would be happy because he and Suki would finally be together and have a family. Sokka would forever hold onto that dream.

Toph and Teo remained distant to let her friends work on Aang. There really wasn't much else they could do but wait for the screaming to stop. She grabbed onto her boyfriend's hand and not caring if the others saw. With a reassuring glove hand over hers, Teo saw that she was afraid for Aang. The blind girl could feel the monks heart pounding all over the man-made-cave, and whenever he yelled again the blood pounded away. Even as Sokka tried to cover the pain roaring out of Aang it was nearly impossible for all of them to just sit there and watch in hopes of finding a cure. Katara knew Jet was capable of hurting people and manipulating their feelings, but he went too far with Aang. Now it was personal. And only one would still be left standing after tonight. That she promised to herself.

After what seemed like excruciating hours instead of several minutes, Katara had put the last strip on to his half naked body. She found beads of sweat above her eyebrows as did Sokka too. They connected eyes and her brother gave her an approving nod in her direction and then stood up to stretch out his tense muscles. After it became a steady noise with only the sound of the firing popping, all of the intensity and adrenaline rush was finally disappearing and each of them felt exhausted. Sokka, Zuko, and Toph decided to go and try to find some food around here since they never really got a chance to pack fresh supplies. King Bumi was kind enough to get them water and more money in case of an emergency before rushing off to find Aang. Katara felt parched and knew her boyfriend was too. With him lying there on his stomach and head turned towards the east she spun water from the air and sent it into his mouth. He coughed a lot of it out and quickly laid there with his slow breathing. Every few minutes his fists would close Aang would try to hold his agony in, but a whimper would always sneak out. Katara figured he could still hear them and was desperately trying to stay quiet for their safety.

After some time the hunters had not yet come back. She worried about them, but she knew they would send out a signal in case something did happen. Zuko would send a flare high into the sky and then it would somehow explode in midair to help find their coordinates. It was a very unique trick and it helped in the past. Teo was on look out while Mai continued to make the ointment for Aang's back. By now it had turned into a thick light vanilla color with green leafs crumbled mixed in.

"Are you ready?" Mai asked a little too quietly.

Katara nodded and started peeling the once tan cloth that had now turned into a dark red shade. With steady hands this time, she took the first layer off very delicately in hopes not to open up the wound again. But the blood did stick to it and made things difficult as it started to make Aang wake up to the pain once more. He tried to hold his tongue as she proceeded to peeling until all that remained was his naked back with the same colors as before, plus a little of pink on the untouched skin from the heat. The monk's cuts were deeper than she had anticipated and felt blessed by the Spirits that it didn't tear into any arteries, nerves, or show bone cleavage. Katara wiped away the salt water that had crept into her lips and just starred at Aangs back. He would be lucky if his sky blue tattoo would heal itself back to normal, but his scars would forever remain. Azula's mark remained but not as visible. She wanted to cry and yet refrained from doing it until all was done.

"I can do this," Mai suggested as she saw Katara's face turning paler than the full moon that was trying to peek its head into the cave.

"No…" she sniffled. "I need to do this."

Her friend placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "go get some fresh air then while I go ahead and get started on this. You look like you could take a break."

Katara pondered on it for a bit knowing that Mai was fully capable of lathering the ointment onto the opened cleavage. She was just being paranoid right now and she knew that if there was a problem, Mai would call out to her. With her stomach still a bit on edge she finally agreed with Zuko's wife and told her how to do it properly. The dull woman gave her a reassuring warm smile in compliance with her instructions.

The fresh air made Katara's mind clear a bit from the smell of opened skin and blood. The moon shined brightly onto her skin, as if it was only she it saw, and felt its surging energy trying to dig deep into her veins. It was exhilarating and refreshing. She also felt warmth and what seemed like someone hugging her. Katara could only think of it to be Yue. Ever since she gave up her life for the koi fish that were the spirits Ying and Yang, and even after Hama teaching her about the moons powers, the Waterbender felt close to her at its highest peak. Katara was saddened that she never really got to know her more personally, but she had always liked her. She was very sweet and kind to everyone that she talked to, and she was also willing to sacrifice herself for the balance of the world. Probably the hardest thing for her was letting go her family as well as Sokka. The brunette couldn't imagine the courage it took to do that. Sure it was for the good of mankind but there had to have been some kind of doubt in her or fear. However, she did not show it. Instead she welcomed whatever would come to her. And now she presides to be the Moon Spirit. She always felt Yue's presence near them as she continued to watch over and protect them.

Jet hadn't taken his eyes off the radiance of beauty that the envious moon light offered Katara. "How is Aang doing in there? Still alive?"

She bit her tongue for a second and crossed her arm. Forgetting for a split second that he was not around. "Go to hell."

He chuckled the same evil notion that made her skin crawl. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon enough. But in the mean time I figured you would want my help in saving your boyfriend."

Katara finally looked over at him. Even with a ten foot radius she still felt too close to him. "Why would you want to help? You're the one that did this to him."

"I'm not denying that, but I can't stand to see you in so much pain."

She rolled her eyes. "So all of the sudden you're compassionate?" Katara scoffed at him in anger and hatred.

Jet shrugged, "a lot can happen when tied up to a flying bison's horn."

Appa growled and caused him to jump a little. Katara wanted to smile but held it back as she faced him. "What would it take?"

"Well personally I would untie the rope, but a knife is just as good."

"I meant for Aang. What's the price for his life?"

Katara saw the intrigues dancing those black devil eyes. "Sweetheart, there are a lot of things I want and I know you won't give it to me. It was hard enough to convince you to kiss me once and after that kiss you can only imagine what I want now."

The young teenagers jaw clenched in rage, still hating that one piece of memory that would forever remain there. "Screw you!" she turned and started heading back into the cave.

"Or!" he called out to bring her attention back to him. "Or you could give me my freedom plus some spare change so I don't starve to death."

Katara wanted to laugh at his joke but refrained from doing so. It seemed redundant to let someone like Jet roam around free with the possibility to still follow them and try to kill Aang or any of them for that matter. But her boyfriend was dying slowly and painfully. Jet was the only one that could save him. He couldn't be trusted either. Katara didn't know how much longer the Avatar could keep fighting from his wounds, the poison, and Ozai's spirit. She heard Aang coughing and turned to see Mai on her knees and dabbing the blood that came out of his mouth. Panic seeped through the Waterbender and that same fear that she had faced only moments ago came surfacing up as tears began to reflect from the bright white light from above. Aang was dying and only one person knew how save him, and unfortunately it was the enemy.

"Can you really save him?"

"Would I still be alive if I didn't?"

The Waterbender considered this. "Tell me what it is, and where I can find it."

He shook his head with his greasy hair covering parts of his face. "It'll be faster if I come with you."

"I can handle it," she quickly declared.

Again he chuckled. "You're so stubborn when you want to be. It's kinda cute."

"This isn't funny anymore Jet! What do I need?!" her voice went into threatening mode as she walked over and grabbed a hold of his collar.

"Threaten me all you want doll face, but this is part of the deal. My freedom for his life and I am coming with you. I think that seems fair enough." He paused for a moment as he continued to look at her. "You know this really shouldn't be that hard of a decision for you. Especially since you claim to love the guy that's dying over there," Jet pointed with his stealthy eyes.

Katara let go of him and walked away from the tied up enemy and put a hand against the uneven wall to hold her balance. There was an aching pain in her stomach as she used the other hand to try and hold it all together. It really wasn't a tough decision. She already knew what the answer was but she tried to find another way. The Waterbender knew Jet wasn't going to give her the answers unless she agreed to his terms. His terms. Those words sent a cold shiver down her spine. She wondered if using Bloodbending could change things, but she shook off the idea. Katara swore she would never use it again. Unfortunately, she was seeing red whenever she saw the way Aang was being held captive by the rebels that were trying to interrogate him. That was the first time she had done it with multiple people and it was-terrifying. With a snap of her fingers she could have easily broken their bones in each place until they were paralyzed or having internal bleeding as they die with a series of agonizing breaths. That night they were all very lucky.

She sighed with a heavy burden. "Alright…" Katara whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

The fierce Waterbender turned around, "alright. You win, Jet." She whipped water from thin air and sliced the ropes as if they boiled noodles. The giant Bison growled ferociously. "That's enough Appa!" Katara yelled and saw that she had hurt him in those huge brown binoculars of his. She felt horrible for speaking to him like that when all he was doing was looking out for her best interest. Jet stood up and smiled under that armor on his face. Katara was pretty please about messing his face up. Still wasn't close to what Aang even remotely looked like.

"Thanks," he said gratefully and rubbed his wrists from the rope burns she had caused.

"Shut up!" she retaliated. "You don't say anything else to me unless we are going in the wrong direction or if we need to stop and pick up whatever is needed to help Aang. You got that?!"

He popped his knuckles. "Fair enough."

"So…" Katara said placing both hands on her hip. "Where do we go from here?"

"It's a day's journey on foot there and back, but if we took Appa—" he suggested.

"No!" she quickly said. It probably would be quicker with the bison flying them, but if something went wrong or this was a trap they would need to fly Aang somewhere else to try and save him. If this didn't work Appa was the only one that could save him. "I hope you got enough rest because you're going to need your strength."

OooooOooooOoooo

Mai continue to try and keep Aang as comfortable as possible. Teo decided to roll down the mountain side because he wanted to explore a few things, but mostly he wanted to test out the adjustments he had made on his wings and needed to pick up speed. Apparently, a steep mountainside was perfect for this new gadget of his. He was a real daredevil and it seemed like his disability never got in the way. She admired him for that and liked that he knew how to take care of himself. The monk started mumbling again as she dabbed the sweat glowing off his eyebrows while mumbling cryptic things and even yelling.

"Noooo!" Aang tried to roll over, but Mai held him down. "I told youuuuu!" he screamed passionately and began hyperventilating. "Nooooo!"

The raven haired girl tried to calm him and keep his face from touching the dirt, but it was impossible while he kept switch cheeks to lie on. She quickly put more of the ointment onto his sticky back which seemed to calm him, but his words never stopped pouring out. Aang said all of their names, leaving Katara's for last. The way he spoke each of them made it seem like he was losing them in some form or manner. Mai had tried to wake him but he would not budge. He was trapped in whatever monstrous nightmare he was having.

Minutes later, everyone came back carrying something. On Sokka's right shoulder was a rope wrapped around six small fox rabbits that were going to be used for their dinner. Zuko was able to find some dry sticks to keep the fire going. Toph was empty handed and Suki seemed to holding strange leaved tucked into a bag. Teo came flying back in with his hair all wet and parts of his hair had icicles on him as he quickly rolled towards the fire to warm up. The young boy took off his wet gloves and shirt so as to avoid the small breeze blowing in.

"Where'd you go?" Zuko asked confused with the hot fire brightening the side of his face.

"I j-j—just want—ted to seee how far my wu—wings could l-l-l-last in freezing temperatures," his teeth chattered. "B-b-b-but my theory was cut offfffff when I cc-couldn't bru-breathe anymore. I don't kno—know how Aang does it in that altitude," Teo confessed shaking off the melting ice in his hair.

Toph shook her head with a humorous laugh, "and that is exactly why I prefer being on the ground."

He sniffed back his snot, "well it was worth-th it."

"Says the guy with a stuffed up nose," she joked and knew that Teo grinned back.

Suki walked over towards Aang as her fiancé started skinning the fox rabbits for their dinner, and sat against her calves. "How is he?"

Mai shrugged, "don't know."

The redhead nodded, "well maybe these can help." She said and pulled out some fuzzy minty leaves from her bag. They looked so soft and had the touch of what a cloud could feel like. "They are called Lamb's Ear on Kioshi Island, but most refer to them as Big Ear. I figured we could use them to place on Aang's so that he can on his back instead. Perhaps make him a bit more comfortable."

The Fire Lords wife reached over and rubbed the long green-gray leaves in between her fingers. She agreed to her idea in hopes that Suki had a lot of them in the bag of hers. By the time they had finished, the Avatar's back was covered in the comfortable green leaves that stuck to the ointment. Toph released his wrist and ankles from the ground, and helped pushed him onto his back which proved to be difficult at first until the earthbender used the floor to help roll Aang over. Both of them gasped at what they saw. The whole gang quickly encircled around the now quiet monk to witness the horror. Aside from the broken ribs, and hundreds of yellow purple spots everyone on the Avatar's body, his veins were no longer the same color; both of his arms, part of his lower torso, and even his legs revealed a mixed red and black liquid racing into the once blue lines. Suki and Zuko examined it a bit more closely to try and understand what exactly was happening. They knew it was the poison but neither of them or the others had ever seen something like this before. Teo explained every detail to Toph and she no longer had her poker mask on as concern swarmed to overwhelm.

"How long does he have?" Zuko asked Suki who hadn't said another word to them. As a Kyoshi Warrior she prided herself on knowing the types of poison, how to prevent it. Going to help was dangerous enough if those Death Stalkers were lurking around every corner and turning ever stone.

She shook her head and removed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know…maybe eighteen hours, or twenty-four depending if all of our luck hasn't been wasted today."

"Can you slow it down perhaps?" Sokka suggested, not caring that his skinless meat was starting to attract flies and dirt.

Momo cam from no where and began nuzzling Aang to wake up. His purring became sadder as little one curled up into a ball next to cheeks. It broke all of their hearts that even the little lemur couldn't find happiness in a rough situation. Suki breathed heavily. "I'm not sure…I don't see any area where he could've been injected with it. But the one thing I do know that it has been pumping through his blood for days."

"Why haven't we noticed the side effects or seen the color of his skin?" Teo questioned too.

"Guys I do not know!" she yelled not at them but at the frustration of what she didn't understand. Suki rubbed her face and ran fingers through her hair. "Maybe we weren't paying attention, maybe something has to trigger it? It's a hunch more than anything…"

"What are you thinking?" Teo wondered.

She opened up Aang's eyes and saw that his pupils were still working, but he still looked to be in a gaze. "We all know how a sword is forged. It takes time, and patience to have a perfect balance. But in the end, after all of the heat, grinding, and hardening you put into it, we all know that the key ingredient to making a sword is dipping it cold ice water."

"So, we are comparing Aang's poison to forging sworda?" the Earthbender questioned her friends motive.

"It's a step by step process of heat and compounding, and without the ice cold water the sword can never be sturdy or strong to defend with. This was a series of events and someone just put Aang in the freezing water."

Everyone became silent in the dancing fire. Each of them trying to figure out if they too were in the same position, but quickly figured out that this was only meant for the one person they all loved. How could any of them have not seen it? Poisoning Aang seemed impossible to do. They always had their guards up. But when behind friendly walls it was very easy to take a breath and blink. These people were more capable to kill than they had imagined until now. These people, if they were in fact human, were far worse than ten Jet's running around. Perhaps more frightening that Ozai himself.

"Wait a second," Toph suddenly stopped their minds from spinning around. "Where's Katara at? And Jet?"

Everyone looked at each other and in an instant they all moved to the outer rim of the cave and saw just Appa there, sleeping. They had really pushed him again to catch up to Aang and he was exhausted. Each ran over to him in high hopes that Jet was somehow hanging on the other side of the cliff and found nothing. The moon was like a bright light to them and in an instant Zuko bent down and picked up the tied up rope that had been cut in half. He stood up and handed it over to Sokka so he could examine it a bit more.

"It's a clean cut," Sokka proclaimed. "There's no way he cut himself free. Someone else did it…"

"You guys don't think—" Toph suggested.

"No way! Katara is not that stupid to do that," the Warrior spoke before the earthbender even said his sisters name.

"This is Katara we are talking about though. This is the same girl who would go to the ends of the earth to ensure the Avatars safety, who just so happens her boyfriend. So, the real question is why were we stupid enough to leave her alone with him?"

OooooOooooOoooo

Since Katara had freed Jet they did nothing but nonstop running. He kept up with her, pointing which direction to go here and there. But after running for half a day with no food in their bellies they were tired to the bone. With her muscles screaming out for Katara to stop she pushed on and pressing Jet at the same time. All she could think about was Aang. Knowing that she should be there taking care of him and holding his hand while whispering that everything was going to be okay, but everything wasn't. The Avatar was dying sluggishly. She couldn't just stand by and watch him suffer any longer. Did she trust Jet? Absolutely not. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Katara believed this at all times when she was around Jet. As soon as this was over with the problem would be taken care of forever and none of the would ever have to deal with him again. Jet looked over and saw a giant bolder and started straying towards it and away from Katara, until he was leaning against it with both hands on his knees.

"Hey!" she could barely yell out at him and realized no words came out of her dry throat. "Wha—what are you doing?! We have to keep moving," Katara barely got the last sentence out.

Jet took his time to catch his breath before finally standing taller than she. "We need to take a break."

"No!" she said angrily. "We—we gotta keep going!" Katara was indeed exhausted and wasn't going to show weakness in front of him. Everything on her body was sore thanks to Toph's doing, even though it was a necessary evil none the less. The bright sphere was still high but it seemed that it wasn't helping her physically. Aang was in this because of Jet and she wasn't going to allow him any space to breath.

Jet rolled his eyes, "look I know you want to find the cure but we can't do it without our strength diminished. Ten minutes. That's all I ask," he pleaded and saw the sweat dripping off her delicate skin.

"I said no!" her face grew more and more red as precious seconds were being wasted.

He raised his hands up in defeat, "fine. You keep running and I'll stay here," Jet proclaimed and started to pick up sticks here and there and putting them into an upwards pile. And being the stubborn Waterbender, that he knew, Katara kicked his little masterpiece away. It didn't surprise him in the least bit

"Aang is dying because of you! We are in this mess because you poisoned him! Even after Aang tried to give you chance after chance and even defending you! I pray the Spirits will let you rot in hell."

Jet wasn't offended by her words. Hell was a place for evil people and he was way beyond that point. He was already living this Hell. Even the Underworld doesn't have a place for souls like his. "I deserve that, but again I am going to build a fire. If you'd like to keep running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off, then please be my guest, but if you want to save your precious Avatar then shut up and let's take a ten minute break. After that we can continue on our quest, got it?" Jet said picking up the sticks again and piling them.

It took everything in Katara to not grab a stick and stab where, she assumed, his heart would beat. Then again a man, or things like Jet, doesn't have a heart. Ten minutes could be all that stands between life and death for Aang and he wanted to take a break. No matter how much she pulled he was going to pull back. He knew how to push her buttons. If there was one thing she knew about, Jet was the fact he could manipulate anyone. Katara considered bloodbending these last few minutes. And as much as she wanted to hurt him, the Waterbender just couldn't. There was always consequences that came along with it. It was like dipping into the most deepest, darkest place inside of her and using it against others. Every time she would use it it felt like a part of her was being chipped away. And no matter what she could always hear Hama's voice echoing through her. Complimenting her and even sometimes it was as if that witch was still instructing her. Even when Katara saw those men holding Aang hostage, she flipped the switch. There was so much power. When she did it to those Death Stalkers, she liked it a lot. The idea to control people like them was beautiful poetic justice and they deserved it. But whether they deserved it or not, her greatest fear was to become like Hama. A bitter conniving old woman with so much hate and the pleasure of being a puppeteer. This was Jet's game and if she didn't play by his rules, Aang will never be saved. He had obviously been tortured and broken over and over, so there was no point in thinking about bloodbending right now.

"Fine," she finally spoke after standing there for what seemed like a very long time. "Ten minutes. That's it. And then we leave, got it?"

There was amusement on his face. "Aye, aye, Captain Katara." He quickly went back to work and before she knew it, Jet had a fire blazing. And for a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of little hoppers chirping to themselves. It was somewhat peaceful as she watched the red and yellow fight for a chance to touch her skin. But her guard was never down. Sitting there, she all of the sudden wanted to fall asleep until Jet opened his big mouth. A blessing in disguise, until she heard the words.

"You seem tense," he pointed out so vigorously while inching closer to her. "Do you need a massage?"

Katara gave him the most dirty look she could conjure. "Say something like that again and it will be the last thing you ever speak."

"Oohh kinky too. You know, I've been told that I have magical hands. And if you are lucky, I'll show you what I can do with my fingers." Jet smiled underneath as his eyes trailed from her chest, past her waist, and stayed locked between her legs. A very subtle hint.

The Waterbender's nails pierced into the earth and felt the water seep up from the ground and splashed it all into Jet's face, and freeze it. It was a deja vu of what she did to Combustion man just before he was about to use his brain to shoot fire in Aang's direction. The weight of the ice brought the half man to the floor. This caused her to smile and before she knew it, Katara was in tears from laughing so hard while Jet tried to bang his head against a tree. Even when he placed his head over the fire to try and melt it, he ended up falling into it. This was probably the greatest thing in the world to her. But after all her fun and watching him suffocate some, she pulled the water off his face and placed it back into the ground. After coughing and wheezing for a few minutes Katara was finally starting to calm her giggling.

"Okay, I suppose I deserved that one."

She raised an eyebrow, "you suppose?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, I deserved it. Can't blame me for trying though." Jet really wasn't mad at the feisty Waterbender in the least bit. "However, I did get something out of it."

"Oh really?" Katara questioned and removed a strand from her face, "and what is that?"

Jet shrugged. "I made you laugh didn't I?"

She rolled her eyes at the snake charmer. "Someday that mouth of yours is going to kill you."

"Why do you think they muzzled me?" he joked in reference to his metal plate.

But even through the joke she could see he was absolutely serious. They did something to him, worse than anything else. These Death Stalkers broke him. And once broken a person can never be the same. And Spirits only knows what else was done to him physically as well. As much as he probably deserved it, no human being should ever go through what he endured. No matter how horrible they may appear. In a small manner she too was beginning to believe that perhaps there was a small part of the real Jet still there. One thing she loved about Aang is that he tries to see the good in others. It's also the one thing that always got them into trouble and when they also had their greatest adventures.

"Jet why are you doing this?" Katara asked, still keeping up with the time. "This can't be about me, or Aang. There is something else."

"Now why in the world would you think that?" Jet seemed intrigued by this theory.

"Call it a hunch. More than anything I think you love the idea of being in love with me," Katara suggested. The fire was starting to dim down a little bit more as the blanket of cold started to creep back around her skin. Her heart had slowed down and time seemed to want to freeze.

Jet laughed and leaned to the right on his elbow and feet stretched out in a comfortable position. "Hmm, that is quite a theory. So tell me then, why would I stay around if I could've escaped at any time I wanted?"

"Well assuming that you could've escaped at any time, you obviously never did. Which means they have something on you. A person is never free when someone else has something you. They can release you and let you roam free, but just like a trained dog, you will always come back." And that was when she saw it. A tweak in the eye that gave away his bluff. "I'm right, aren't I?"

The shaggy brunette picked up a tiny rock and tossed it into the fire. "What else is left for me to go back to? Maybe I prefer screwing up your relationship with Aang. Maybe I like being her with you and enjoying your sweet presence, rather than the stench of slaves."

This ticked her off even more. "Is that what you really see them as? Slaves?"

He tsked his teeth, "that's exactly how I see them."

She shook her head. "The Jet I knew, a Freedom Fighter, would never have allowed this. He would've found a way to free them. Probably not in the right manner, but you would still try. You once fought and died to protect Aang...whatever happened to that guy?" Katara pushed it farther to maybe get him to see the light. "The guy I fell for, before finding out his true nature."

For the first time since the fire he looked up at her blue eyes and saw that what she had spoken was not a joke, but absolute sincerity. She wasn't lying. Jet always knew she had feeling towards him. The first time he held her in the arms while being pulled up into their hiding of the trees there was a connection. Katara was always nervous around him and there were times he caught the beautiful waterbender blushing around him. But the young man liked her bravery and he also quickly learned that this girl could hold a grudge for the longest of time. When Jet found Katara in Ba Sing Se, while searching for Appa after being brainwashed, that girl was so fired and ready to attack him. She had also gotten better at waterbending. The blue eyed heartthrob didn't have to blow wind to freeze the water like she before, but could summon crystal ices at will. Katara went from an amateur naive teenage waterbender and became a Master and more beautiful than any other woman he had recalled. And he too had had his fair share of woman; both exquisite and too drunk to care for looks.

"Took you long enough to admit those feelings you had for me," Jet said in a hollow voice that was no longer his own.

Katara nodded, "yes. I admit it. Once upon a time, I had a big crush on you and then I saw your true self. And when we left you with your friends at Lake Lao Gui, I realized how childish I was towards you. Even if they were for the right reasons."

"You had a right to be angry with me and I deserved what came afterwards..." He paused a moment and looked at the tiny smoke beginning to fade into the wind. "If things were different, if I hadn't messed up with everything, do you think that things could've been better between us?"

The Waterbender cleared her throat, "Jet-please no more. There is nothing you can say or play the 'if' game with me to change my heart. I know what I want, the question is what do you want?"

"I want you," he admitted.

The light on Katara's face grew more stern as she looked up to the stars that started winking back at her. "The wanting you have for me is a vail. An illusion you use. You want something far greater than my affactions. One thing I have learned about you, Jet is that it's never a one sided reason either. I will ask you one last time, why did they pick you? What are they holding against you?"

"...answer me a question and I will give you what you want."

Katara knew it was a trap and Aang was running out of time. She could deny it and waste more precious seconds arguing or the warrior could continue the game. "Ask what you will and make it fast."

He complied with the impatient woman. "If you had saved me that day at Lake Lou Gai, and I earned my stripes on your team, do you believe we could've worked out? And be honest. Aang's life depends on it."

There he went again, being the sinister man he was. Lesser of a man and more machines that was keeping him alive. Katara knew he could read her and vice versa. She was going to have to give him a real answer and admitting this would define everything tonight. If she lied he would let the Avatar die and if the truth was spoken, he may never let go of her. Bloodbending was out of the question. She would not become that monster t. As much as she wanted to lie, Katara couldn't risk Aang's life for a mistake.

She slowly nodded. "...yes. I believe it could've worked out between us..." Right then the Waterbender saw the real Jet peek from under his eyebrows. A glimpse of hope that they could still be.

"I knew I would win," he sighed in relief. Seeing that she was indeed telling the truth.

"It was never a competition, Jet. I still believe with my whole heart that even after you and I had out little thing, I would fall eve harder for Aang. When we first met I thought of him as nothing but a little sweet brother. He became my friend and not long after that he began to mature and even became wise for his age. He was there for me when I needed someone. And after all we went through I began to develop feelings when he died a few days after you."

Jet brought his eyebrows together, unaware that the Avatar had passed away. "He died? How?"

"Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, sent a bolt of lightning straight through him."

There was actually compassion in his composure. Even though Jet would never admit to it. "How-how did he come back to life?"

Katara didn't want anyone, especially a member of the Death Stalkers to know of her Northern family. She shrugged, "I saved him. That's all you need to know."

The fire had at long last died out to little flamed dots, but with the moons bright light he could still see her. He recalled the day he died. The way Katara looked at him. She had felt so helpless when her healing abilities couldn't save him. If the Death Stalkers knew about this, they would hold her value as to the Avatar's. Apparently, the waterbender had acquired some sorcery to bringing back the dead. Not even they knew how to do this. They have been seeking the power to posses this immortality. Even if they did find this weapon, the only person that could do something like that again would be Katara. He doubted anyone else possessed her gift. How can he keep such valuable information from those he was loyal to?

"Now it's my turn," Katara said breaking his deep thoughts. "Why are you really doing this?"

"...you once told me that Firebenders took the life of your mother. If you had the opportunity to find the killer, even if it means giving your soul, would you do it?" Jet asked and watched her careful to take account of every breath and muscle tension.

Even though he answered her with another question, Katara finally understood why he became what he is now. Jet never got closure on his past life. There was regret and shame that still lingered. Which also meant that his humanity could possibly be saved. They may have shattered him, but this was the only way he would cooperate with them. Aang was right after all. "I did find him...his name was Yon Rha, Commander of the Southern Raiders. But I did not kill him."

"Why ever not?"

"Because when I saw him offer his mothers life in exchange for my moms, so that we could be even. And as I watched him beg on his hands and knees I could not bring myself to kill a pathetic, miserable target. I no longer wanted to seek revenge...but that wasn't the only reason I didn't kill him. Before I set off on my mission, Aang," she grinned, "told me to find him and forgive him."

Jet laughed at how pathetic the words of the Avatar really was. "Aang. Always there to ruin the moment."

Katara's eyebrows arched down. "He was absolutely right, Jet. Even though I didn't kill him or forgive him, he was right. Revenge is like a two-headed rat-viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself."

He shook his head and got up. "Your boyfriend was wrong. Revenge is a gift that can be harnessed into a weapon. Forgiveness is for weak chumps."

The Waterbender got to her feet as well, "revenge can also be a burden. Even in death you still wanted it. It took everything in Aang to forgive the Firebenders who killed all of the Monks he loved so dearly, and to this day he doesn't hold a grudge against the woman who killed him. It's not weakness. I may not have forgiven the man who burned my mother, but I know I will someday. Can you say the same for yourself?"

Jet's hands formed a ball as every muscle tightened and even lung expansion seemed harder to do. "You can't save me. No one can," he finally said with the intensity in the air. He looked up at the moon, "time for honesty is up." And just like that, Jet started running fast again. Running away. He was good at that. When he was around Katara his emotions would come alive and his old self was fighting its way to see the outside world again. It was as if being in her presence was somehow tweaking him...and he could not allow that. "Stay on the path," Jet kept telling himself. "There is nothing left for you here. Only revenge." Nothing else was keeping him alive. And when enough blood was spilled, and justice found he will gladly take his own life.

OooooOooooOoooo

Finally, they arrived at the location. Nothing but a giant pond with tall grasses growing from it. The water reflected everything in it's path. From the suns highest peek, to the mountain tops, and every mount of dirt as well. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Everything was so steady, but the water was dirtier than the fishing village, Jang Hui. Luckily, it wasn't from littering. Suddenly, Jet started taking off all of his clothes.

"Whoa! What are you doing? Now is not the time to go swimming! You promised-"

"Relax darling," Jet interrupted her. "The answer that you seek is in that water." After taking off his boots he stripped off his pants as well as his underwear. Katara quickly turned around in embarrassment, happy to have looked away just in time.

"Is that really necessary for you to do?" Katara stated in discomfort.

"Come on. It probably isn't the first time you've imagined me taking off all my clothes."

Katara shook her head, "really charming, Jet."

He chuckled at her innocence. "Hey unless you wanna strip for me in this cold, then by all means please do. It'll entertain me more than anything. I bet even Aang hasn't gotten to see that side of you."

She put her hands on her hips, "you don't know anything."

"You're right. I wouldn't know what a virgin sounds like," he teased.

The Waterbender turned around and looked only at his eyebrows, "keep talking and I will freeze those grape nuts of yours. And you know I can make it painful," she threatened.

"HmMmm, alright Katara. Sorry for stealing your virtue," he winked.

The Waterbender sighed heavily, "what are we doing here? How is this going to help Aang?"

'I'm so very glad you asked," he said pointing a finger at her. "Every heard of a king cobra-leech?"

Katara shrugged, "yeah. I've heard stories of them growing to about three meters long, very poisonous. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Jet tipped his feet into the water and felt the warmth, realizing that this was the perfect spot. He bent down and examined the ripples of the water, wondering if they are asleep or on the prowl. "You see, one thing about the female reptiles is that they are very horny. Constantly, getting pregnant. And they mate in the water here for protection. The water is filthy and warm and the perfect camouflage for her babies."

"So-why would this venomous thing help with the situation you put us in?"

He removed the hair out of his eyes, "sometimes the only way to fight poison is to use poison. The thing most people don't know is that after the poison kills that person, they suck their blood dry. However, if we use it to our advantage, every drop of both poisons will be sucked clean. Too long and he dies."

It was a gamble. That's what he was trying to say. Time was running out with the sun getting higher quickly. "What do you need me to do?"

"Heres the plan: I jump into the water. I toss the reptile at you. And you catch it without getting bit. Easy, right?" Jet questioned rhetorically as he backed up, ready to sprint in.

"How am I suppose to catch something poisonous?!"

He ran past her and cannon balled in, but not without saying in a distance, "figure it out sweetie!"

Katara ran to the very edge of the lake and considered why she couldn't just waterbend them out, but that idea disappeared the moment he jumped it. At first there was no movement and all at once Jet was riding on the back of giant motherly cobra-leech like a he was riding a zebra-horse. It reminded her a great deal when Aang rode the Unagi. "Yeehah!" he yelled out before slamming him back into the water. Again it started fighting Jet in midair. Water was splashing everywhere and he was acting like a little kid.

"Any time would be great!" Katara yelled with both of her hands tunneling towards him.

"Im-kinda busy-right-now!" Jet screamed as it whipped him around like a rag doll. This giant reptile dipped him back into the water.

One minute would go by...two...two and half, and Katara began to freak out. The suspense was killing her. The Waterbender got into position and got control of the water, but not before she saw a big circle of tiny pointy jumping out at her. Katara's instincts took over as she began to descend towards the ground, and just inches before the slithering creature went for her neck a bowl of water caught hold of it. Her heart was pounding as the reptile tried to find another way out. This thing was easily the size of her leg. "This is a baby?" she thought to herself. Instantly, she began hearing a strange noise in the air. When Katara looked up she saw a dark shadow falling straight down towards her from the sky. The adrenaline kickstarted and she quickly rolled out of the way, still hanging on to the giant baby. Jet slammed into the ground, face first.

"Ohhh!" he moaned painfully, "that kinda hurt...yeah that definitely hurt."

Katara got up with the water floating in her right hand. "Karma sucks doesn't it," she hinted about the whole strip tease in front of her.

Jet smiled through his bloody teeth before getting up and spiting it out. "It was well worth it," he protested and slowly started to stand. Still a bit wobbly. Jet saw that she caught the cobra-leech. "See? I knew you would come up with something." The brunette laughed and went for his clothes.

"Give me one good reason why this is going to work for Aang? How do I know this isn't another sabotage to kill him?" Katara questioned with suspicion.

He sighed and shook his head, "did the whole speech of poison killing poison not help you? I just jumped into a friggin' pool of king cobra-leeches to save him!"

She lifted up her shoulders in response. "You didn't seem too scared of them. How do I know this isn't a fake?"

The traitor smiled mockingly as he placed both hands on his hips. "That's because I knew what I was doing. I've had experience with these things."

"Oh really? Please do tell." It took a hesitating moment before he finally looked her in the eye and began taking off his shirt again. "Please keep clothes on at all times!" Katara instantly spoke out.

"Haha, don't worry baby doll. I'm going to showing you my experience," he said and held out both of his arms in the sun rays. As the young teenager looked more closely at his arms, she saw third degree burn marks. His finger pointed at one and pointed at several of the same marks raging up past his biceps, and flipped his arm over to reveal a couple more. His left arms was much worse. How did she never even notice these? Had she been that cruel to him to not see past his? Never seeing the pain he had to gone through. Even when Jet was chained up like an animal, she never noticed much but the tattoo and the metal on his body.

She was speechless. "Wha-how-I mean..."

"The only way to get them to stop sucking is to burn them off. Poison was just one of the few trips I had to take to die slowly, and fight it off on my own. If I lived I got to eat, if I died then I didn't want to live." Jet put his shirt back on, but not before seeing more burn marks on his abdominals.

"Jet...I-I'm sorry..." Katara began but not before interrupted.

"Katara, just shut up. We got what was needed now lets go save your boyfriend," he suggested and started jogging back into the direction from whence they came. The Waterbender ran after him and keeping up. Unaware that Jet was keeping her from seeing him tear up. Those six months of torture was still fresh in his mind and continually had waking nightmares. Sometimes it really felt like he was living them all over again just by seeing something or smelling the stench of someone else's blood. He would never admit it, but the only family he has left are the ones that hate his guts. His loyalty was to the Death Stalkers, until they gave him what was promised.

Both had been running for hours and making excellent progress. They were halfway there when suddenly Jet stopped dead in his tracks and grabbing Katara's arm to stop her progress. Something was off about these trees they were crossing into so quickly. He bent down and put a hand to the ground. Feeling something vibrate a little. A leaf floated down in front of him. Slowly, like a turtle-snail, he rose up. Hearing both his knees pop in the silence. "Katara..." he said in a mellow and yet alarming tone in high hopes she was listening. "On the count of three, run. Don't ask just do," Jet ordered. "Three!" Together they took off his a dead sprint. Jumping over logs and brushing up against brushed that cut into her face repeatedly and her pulse racing.

"Jet! What are we running from?!" She tried to yell but was ignored. He kept running, until something wrapped around her legs and caused her to fall and hit her head onto something hard.

The ex-Freedom Fighter grabbed onto a thin branch that was strong enough to hold him as he swung around the tree, and still had enough momentum to keep the same pace. And there they were. Five Death Stalkers and one Yuyan Archer in the trees, aiming at Katara. He pulled a dagger from the bottom of his boot and threw it at the archer who leapt out of the way. Katara shook her head from the fog as she slowly got up and saw him fighting black shadows. The Waterbender grasped the water from midair and shot them from her nails. They each dodged them with much ease. Two of them came after her. Jet could take care of himself, but for now she had to focus on these goons. The only part of their skin that she could see were the hollow sky night eyes that stayed hidden under their dark clothes. Even with the sun out they seemed like mirages. But one thing was for certain. They were human. She could literally smell the sweat bouncing off of them. She wondered how long they had been on their trail, or if they were waiting on the two of them to come into this area. These Death Stalkers were patient and skilled beyond any natural person.

For a while Katara was placed in her firm stance. While Jet was off jumping around and kicking and punching, her thighs were burning from just squatting down. Both of these Death Stalkers were the same height as the Waterbender. They could both easily be older than her, but something told her that they were younger. Their eyes were that of a tired old man while their scrawny bodies made them appear to be young teens. There was no way of telling the color of their hair or the size of their hands that were covered in leather and wrap. What scared her the most about them was not knowing if they were benders or dangerous people like Jet. Together they waited for someone to make the first move. Unaware of the hand reaching behind one of their backs and reaching for his throwing stars, but Jet tackled him before penetrating Katara's heart. It surprised all three of them and that was when she attacked in her octopus form.

She grabbed for his feet to only see a wall of earth break her grasp. The dark Earthbender sent the wall straight towards her, but Katara was able to shoot water through it and create a hole big enough for her to dive through. She froze his right leg in attempt to stop his motion and watch him fall to his one free knee. The dark skinned girl send a whirlpool straight towards him. However, someone else shot fire and blocked it all; turning the entire forest into an entire cloud. She was blind and oblivious to the archer that had moved to a different position. Water was shot at every direction. Guessing where they were at and only hearing the sound tree's breaking and leafs falling gracefully. The only sound the long haired teen could hear was her panicking breathing. Suddenly, Toph's training voice popped into her head;

"Shut up and stand firm you, Airhead!" Toph would so kindly say to Aang. "Be blind and listen with your feet. You seem to aspire to them Twinkle Toes."

Then an idea popped into her head. Even though she couldn't see the way Toph or Aang did with the earth she could still monitor with her ears. And where there is dirt there is also water. Katara got back into her ninety degree squat, breathed, and lifted all of the water from the dark ground in a fifty yard radius around her. She stood straight and tried to relax everything in her body and tuned into the water sounds. Behind her was a lot of splashing and grunting which meant Jet was still dealing with his devil. None of them could make even the slightest movement without water trickling behind them. She drowned out Jet and his feeble comrades as she found her first victim at her three o'clock. Katara blasted him straight through a many trees with the occasional "agh!" across the distant skies. Something in front of her lifted off of the ground with water dripping from it. It was still foggy enough not to see anything five feet in front of her until a heavy bolder was heading straight to her face with another following right behind it. Katara sliced right through the smaller chunk of rock and then did a backwards flip, and got enough just enough height to push off the stone and give herself a better hang time. When she landed, she sent more icicle shots into the direction of the fire. Not sure if she hit anything until a body splashed into her pond. Once again dodging her every shot. The Waterbender sucked the life out of both trees near here and sent yet another whirl pool at the shadow before freezing him the wave up to his chin, just like her training in the Northern Tribe. Then running feet was coming from the left side of her. She was prepared for whatever came next until she heard a tunnel like voice hurling at her.

"Katara!" Jet jumped right on top of her. "Agh!" he bellowed in complete agony.

The surprised teenager quickly pushed him off of her, and saw the arrow sticking through his rib cage. "Jet!" Her fear escaped accidentally. When she looked up to see the enemy waiting for her all was quiet again. The fog disappeared and there were no dark shadows lurking around in the trees. The only remaining evidence were the sliced trees and dents in the ground from the Earthbender. She stood up and saw that the man she had froze was gone, and even the three guys Jet had beaten to a pulp had vanished. This frightened her even more. But after a few minutes of looking around time after time, Katara at long last looked back down at Jet who was moaning in pain, and bent down to examine his open wound.

"Jet! You stupid selfish idiot! Why the hell did you jump in front of me? I would've been fine." Katara said as she ripped part of his shirt to get a better look.

He tried to keep from laughing. "That is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me. And you're welcome by the way."

She rolled her eyes at Jet, "just shut your mouth and let me see what I can do." The arrow had both ends coming out of him. What she found interesting was that tip of the weapon was that there was some type of inscription on it, but that would have to come much later. The stick itself was was two feet long with what looked like a special oak tree as the stem. The tip of the arrow could was so sharp that it could easily slice a piece of her hair off. Blood was everywhere on her hands and the torn shirt.

"Just take out the damn arrow," he suggested through his teeth. "It can't that difficult to do."

Katara curled up her lips, pondered and nodded at his suggestion. "Hmm, you're right." she said and yanked it out of his ribs in one fluid motion. The sound of him groaning made her smile but not in the way of him being in pain. But the fact that he was alive, even though she would never admit it. He had saved her life. Now she owed him. Unfortunately.

"Wow, that was easy," the Waterbender laughed.

He put both his hands over the two holes and feeling the warm ooze seeping through his fingers. "I'm glad you find joy in my pain."

She tucked the arrow behind her and made her hands turn a bright neon blue before pressing both of this sides and scabbing it up. "I had to make sure it didn't pierced an organ or went through a bone before pulling it out. You're welcome by the way." Katara stood up and held her hand out to him. Jet smiled and grabbed a hold of it as she pulled him up and pain hit him hard.

"I thought you could heal people! This is total ostrich crap!"

"Did I also mention you're going to be a little sore? I mean after all you did have an arrow go right through you." Katara smiled at him with more sarcasm and not out of despite.

"Haha very funny. That happen to be my lucky shirt," he mentioned.

Katara sighed as she went looking through the bushes for something. "Yeah you may wanna reconsider the meaning of 'lucky'. 'Cause so far it's not working in your favor." The Waterbender kept looking through the brush and moving tiny branches around. "Please stop checking me out, Jet."

Jet smiled at her, "I can't help it when there is nothing else to look at. Besides, what are you looking for anyways?" Just when he asked, Katara picked up the bowl of water with the baby king cobra-leech still swimming around. Happy that it hand't escaped. "Wow," Jet sounded impressed. "Nice work. I didn't know you were multi-tasker. Can you also do this with guys?"

And just like that he was his old self. "No. And speaking of guys, Aang is waiting for us." Katara mentioned to him, knowing that he hadn't forgotten at all.

Jet agreed with her. "Tsk. Then we better get going if you want to still save your precious Avatar."

Katara looked down at his wound, "do you think you can keep up?"

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She nodded at him, looked down at his bloody shirt and got ready to run but quickly faced him again. "Thanks...for saving me, I mean." Katara quickly turned her back and ran before he could say anything else to ruin this strange moment between them. She didn't have to look behind to know the sound of feet kicking behind hers.

OoooooOoooooOooooo

Suki put a hand on Aang's sweaty brow and then on his cheek. She let out a big breath. "He is still burning up," the short auburn hair girl spoke as she dipped a cloth into some cooler water and tried to dab it away. "Hows his heartbeat, Toph?"

"Everything is slowing down. I don't know how much longer her can hold out," Toph said and then put her lips next to Aangs ear. "HEY TWINKLE TOES! DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT YOU STUPID AIRHEAD! Come back to the sound of my voice!"

"Yeah," Sokka said. "'Cause,the delicate sound of your voice will make him run even faster towards the light," he joked. But Toph bump his butt into the ceiling and possibly making a crack on the roof. "Oww!" Sokka said rubbing the top of his head.

"Oh sorry," Toph apologized. "I could've sworn the light was calling you too, so I thought I might help get you there faster."

Zuko stood up and punched fire int he middle of them before a war started. "Enough you two! We have been up for almost a full day with no sleep. Katara is somewhere out there with Jet! Spirits only knows that kind of trouble they are in! We can't look to Aang for help, and you guys are starting to pester me more than Azula ever did!"

"Hey!" Sokka and Toph both said at the same time in total offense to the comparison of his evil psycho sister.

Mai put a hand over her mouth so as not to show the smile that unexpectedly creeped out. However, Teo couldn't help snorting all of them. And before long everyone else started to laugh quietly. This was the first time any of them tried to make a joke, and it was nice to hear it all echo in the cave Toph made. But just like that everything was serious once again. The Earthbender and Warrior made up with an apologetic nod at one another and that was that. Toph sat back next to her secret boyfriend and leaned very close against him. He place a gentle hand on her tight shoulders and gave a gentle squeeze.

"Hey," the mechanic said lifting her chin up with his other hand. Making her look into his eyes even though he knew she couldn't see, Teo wanted her to know how serious her was. "Aang is going to be fine, Toph. I promise," he said and stole a kiss on her forehead before anyone else could see him do it. For some people, keeping a secret relationship is stupid or some may believe she was ashamed of him, but he knew the fact about Toph. The truth was she was different than most regular teenage girls and he was falling hard for her. Faster than his wheels could keep up. And even though they weren't public about it, he was willing to be patient with her. It took him a while to convince her to go out with him, even though she seemed to blush every time he rolled up next to the raven haired girl. Twenty-two times. That's how long it took for him to finally break through her stone armor and convince Toph to go on a date. It took a lot of help from the girls to get her ready and pushing the earthbender out the door was the hardest part. When Teo first tried to taker her hand she pulled away. The date seemed to have gone horrible in his opinion. He chose a horrible restaurant, lots of crying babies were there that day for some reason, the walk home was silent and kinds of awkward, and when they said their goodnight only rejection seemed to sting more. And then he heard it. The soft gentle voice of a nervous girl that said "thank you," before sliding the door closed. Since then, the teenage mechanice kept asking her out on little dates; both day and night.

Toph smiled up at him, "thanks. I hope he will be okay...because when he wakes I will personally beat the crap outta him."

The Inventor laughed, "that's my Earthbender. But I'm sure Katara has first dibs over him."

Suki lifted Aang up a little to see his that the leafs were still attached to his back with no signs dirt was getting into his slashes. Sokka rubbed his fiance's back and felt the intensity on each muscle. "Hey babe," he whispered. "Why don't you take a break and get some sleep?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine where I'm at."

Sokka kissed his compassionate soon-to-be wife on the head and took a spot next to her. Seeing that she was trying to be strong for the others. The same determination and courage his mom and Katara had. Aang was obviously getting worse. There hadn't been a single second of him coughing and wheezing. Even his lips were starting to go pale. Suki had hoped that the fire might break his fever, but it didn't seem to work. She couldn't get him to eat anything without it all coming back up. Water was difficult too. And he kept mumbling that he was sorry, and to keep running. Who was he saying sorry too and who was he making them run from?

"Suki?" Sokka said and she looked up from her eyebrows and saw his gentle face. "You're doing a good job."

She gave him a half smile, "I would hope Katara would do that same thing for you if you were ever poisoned."

"Of course she would! She's my little sister and I'm her older brother," he proclaimed. "Katara's supposed to take care of me!"

The Kyoshi Warrior shook her head. "You do see the problem with that, right?"

"Haha." Sokka mocked, "I'm sure she would make me suffer for all of the older brother stuff I pulled on her...okay maybe I would suffer a lot, but she would always have my back. Just like I know you will always be by my side when we get married." The mention of their marriage seemed to bring a bright glimmer to her sleepy face.

"Still wanting to marry me?" Suki joked.

"Sure you can handle being married to a stud like me?" the ponytail man said lifting up his sleeve and flexing his biceps at her.

It brought yet another grin on her face, "oh yeah. Trust me when I say that no other stud could outwit you."

"Wait, there were others studs beside me?!"

"Yeah, but I liked you more. Obviously," she winked. Two fingers were then put under Aang's neck to check his pulse. Alarm swept through her. Suki picked up his wrist and checked it again in case. "Toph?! Is his heart beating?"

Toph was startled from her ten second nap "Wha?"

"Please tell me my fingers have gone numb and you can feel his pulse!?" She shouted in a much higher tone than necessary.

The Earthbender suddenly understood why she had fallen asleep. His heartbeat had softened enough to absolute stillness. Everyone was on their feet now. Sokka grabbed his sword and placed it under the monks nose, and so no fog form. "Toph, we may need you to start yelling at him again," he finally said.

"I can do you one even better." She said and got on her knees and smacked the back of her hand against the Avatars face and again with her palm. Nothing. "Well I'm out of ideas. Anyone else?"

Suki lifted Aang's neck a little bit more and blew air into his lungs once, placed her ear over his lips, and breathed in them again. She started pounding the left center of his chest over and over. Doing the same repeated things in that order for a few minutes and yet he would lay very still. Mai pushed past all of them and got down on her knees, "you guys may wanna cover your ears."

"Why would we want to do that?" Zuko asked more confused than others.

"Just do it." The sighing girl spoke as they each hesitated to cover their ears. She cleared her throat a few times and did the one thing no one ever expect to happen. Mai screamed. She screamed like an actual girl in terror. It was the most surprising, frightful scream any of them had ever heard. The high pitched squealing Zuko had ever heard. It was loud enough with their ears covered, and anything within a mile would still go deaf. Aang's eyes popped open in complete shock as he breathed air into his lungs. Mai smiled, cleared her throat, dusted the dirt off her clothes and went back to sit in the same spot as if nothing ever happened.

"Holy crap," Teo said.

"What. Just. Happened?" Toph asked with her mouth still open.

Zuko blinked a few times, "beats the hell outta me."

"Well you know what they say about the quite ones," Sokka trailed off. "Is she like that in bed too?" Zuko gave him a look, but luckily Suki smacked his stomach. "Okay, yeah I deserved that one."

"Aang?" Suki said, "Aang can you hear me? He didn't answer, but he was at least breathing. This made them all calm down a bit more.

"What happened? Who is hurt?!"

Everyone turned around to see their long lost arch nemesis and sister, standing there in the entrance of the cave. With only part of the moon shining behind them, they looked like peasants with all of the mood all over their clothes and hair. In her right hand was circle of water with something swirling around in it. What really drew everyones attention were spots of blood splattered on her clothes. And the person next to her was in far worse conditions. Jet fell to his knees and finally passing out onto the rocks. Not caring how uncomfortable he was. It wasn't any worse than the pain of that arrow that Katara still had.

"What happened to you?" Her brother sighed with relief as she too wrapped her free arm around him. Never being so happy to see his face again.

Katara let go of him and put Sokka at arms length. "I'll explain everything later, I promise. But for now I think we found a way to help Aang," she said lifting up the bubble of water.

"What is that you have in your hand there?"

"It's a king cobra-leech, apparently." Sokka looked at it and began backing away from it until he was behind Suki.

"Suki," Toph spoke. "We won't blame you for breaking up with your stud of a fiance'."

He was about to protest, but Katara moved past all of them and fell to her knees to find Aang. His condition had deepened immensely. His veins were so dark that it made him appear inhuman. It was like looking at the masterpiece of a spiderweb and then getting it tattooed on him in what now appeared to be a dark purple. Was she too late? They were an hour behind schedule thanks to those Death Stalkers and stopping every once in a while to catch a breather. Running on no energy can really take a toll when adrenaline doesn't want to help. The Monk was covered in sweat. It literally looked like someone dragged him through a lake. Her eyes traveled back to the slithering creature and was about to let it bite Aang's arm, until Zuko grabbed her other wrist. Fully aware of what that thing could do to a person.

"What the hell are you doing?! Do you know what that thing can do to a person?!"

The aggravated and weary Waterbender swiped away his grip. "If I don't do this Aang will die!"

"According to who?" Sokka didn't have to ask. "Jet?! He can't be trusted! You know this better than anyone else here!"

"I have no choice!" she argued back. "We are beyond the reaches of help and this is the only thing that can possibly work! I-" Katara had to say it. "I have to believe Jet." she whispered. "I have come too far to watch Aang die again. Either you let me do this or you can start digging his grave. Because right now that's exactly what you are doing."

They all looked down at the Monk who was starting to breathe sluggishly again. He was in a lot of pain and obviously trying to hold it in for all of them. Aang knew they were afraid for him even when unconscious. He knew they were watching him and he was doing everything to keep them calm just by fidgeting with his fingers and squeezing his hands into the dirt. And seeing the soil that had been stuffed into his nails. If this didn't work, the Avatar, their friend and brother would be lost forever. Could they really risk trusting Jet? The man who purposely did this to their friend was now complying to save him. Something wasn't right. Everything inside them screamed no. But one thing was certain; they were about a day and a half's worth of travel to any town in every direction. They could not have picked a more secluded place. It just wasn't the right secluded cave. If they didn't trust Katara with this slimy thing, Aang would die anyways. No matter what they did, each of them would have to anxiously wait and hope and pray. They all remained silent in which case meant there were all in an accord. Katara knew they were only looking out for Aang's wellbeing, but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith in hopes that everything is going to be okay. Even with the enemy. Unfortunately, her faith was in the tortures of the Death Stalkers.

Whoooooo! So, right after I picked up on this story again, some months later, I realized that this was pretty serious and had to change things up. Had to add some comedy to balance things out, LOTS of sarcasm in this one (which I just couldn't help), and many unpleasant scenes. For example, Jet taking off all his clothes in front of Katara. We also learn that Jet went through a lot as well. But that's just the tip of the iceberg with him. Again, not a whole lot of KatAang. As big of a fan as I am about those two I had to take my focus off of them for this one chapter. As hard as it was. But I hope you all liked the other little romances here and there with the others.

Lotta stuff going on in this chapter. Lots of emotions, anger, pain, frustration, and are you all still hating Jet? Some of you might even loathe him, and were happy to see an arrow go through him, but at least we all know that there are other reasons for his doing. Or is that the only reason? Is it a good enough excuse? Probably not. Katara is beginning to see past all of his stuff though and perhaps getting through to him. She even caught him a few times in admitting things that were never intended. Some of you guys might even be mad at her for admitting to being a in relationship with him if things turned out different. Is he trustworthy? Will he tell the Death Stalkers about Katara bringing Aang back to life? Do you guys think he can be saved after all? Is he even worth saving?

You all know what to do! Please comment on this chapter. Good or critical, I don't care. Your opinions matter to me. I still have all of my comments from the last two chapters in my email lol. Sometimes I have to read over them and be reminded of my loyal fans out there. You guys are amazing to me and YOU ARE the reason I still write. I wish I could give you peek into the next chapter but my brain is so fried I can't think right now lol. You guys take care of yourselves! and if I don't put up the next chapter, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Peace and Love,

Sportie07