It took another couple of days to reach the coast again, so we had to camp out the nights, too broke to afford a hotel; you can blame mine and Kanon's forgetfulness for that. These days were relatively peaceful, everyone seemed to tolerate each other relatively well, except for Kanon to Sakeme, though he didn't seem to mind. I guess he just understood.

Anyway, I said the days were good, and they were, but the nights are where I saw things get rocky. I wasn't actually awake to tell the tales, but I'll do my best.

Alright, so for everyone the nights were smooth, everyone except Kuvira that is. She had been waking up repeatedly, always sweating and panting; a nightmare's symptoms. Around two or so in the morning, after about the third time she'd woken up in one night, a new record for her, she got up and left, wanting to walk off these feelings of uncertainty welling up inside her.

Finding that walking didn't help, she stopped at a nice hill about a hundred, maybe 150, feet from the campsite. She sat staring at the remaining stars, and especially the moon. During the Earth Empire's reign, she'd come to rely on the moon to calm her nerves. She felt it was the only solid thing in this world, never wavering, always there, even if she couldn't see it.

But now, staring at it, she resented it. It only reminded her of her mistakes, taunting her as a permanent reminder of all of those nights spent worrying over what would become the biggest failure of her entire life. She sighed, opting instead to focus on the dew forming on the grass.

Then, she heard footsteps. She didn't bother turning around, expecting to hear Yuuto's voice to try and talk to her. She'd come to realize that he was a good guy, but she also thought he was a bit arrogant in that he thought he could solve everything.

However instead, Sakeme simply walked up and sat next to her. He didn't say anything, but it was clear that that was more comforting than any words. He didn't have to know what was troubling her right now, he didn't have to know what the nightmare entailed, he just had to be there, to remind her that she wasn't alone in making mistakes. Even Yuuto couldn't give her that.

Hours past and the moon disappeared. Finally Sakeme asked "What gets you up so early?"

It took her a long time to answer. "…Just a nightmare," she replied. He nodded, not wishing for her to elaborate more. Sighing, she stood. "We should get back to the others. They'll be waking soon."

He nodded once again, following her back to the camp, where still nothing stirred. The fire that had burned the previous night was reduced to simple embers, slowly billowing into the atmosphere.

I woke about an hour after that. The two weren't talking, and the sun was high enough in the sky to light up everything. "So, how long were you two awake?" I asked while yawning.

"Not long," Kuvira lied.

"Got it. We should get moving," I said as I stood. I nudged Kanon a bit, who simply turned away from me. "Kanon, this is our last day. You can sleep all you want on the boat," I promised.

"Five more minutes…?" she mumbled. I sighed.

"The faster we get there, the faster we get to go back to bed. Come on," I tugged on her limp arm as the others chuckled. "Kanon."

She moaned a little and pulled her arm away. "Just carry me or something," she said quietly. I sighed once again as she offered her arms out to me. I pulled her to a standing position and turned around, kneeling down, allowing her to hop into a piggyback ride.

When I looked, Sakeme was stifling a laugh. "Let's just…get moving," I said, defeated by the woman's antics.

As I said, we made it back to the boat by dark, where all of our supplies were, which meant a feast that night, relatively anyway. We really should've packed heavier, but we weren't exactly taking that into account when we left.

And then, in another few days, we made it back to the Southern Water Tribe, and once we got there, we immediately left to go back to Air Temple Island to offer a more suitable climate for firebending. Now once we got there, we finally began our training. "So, what's our first lesson?" I asked, perhaps a bit too excited.

Sakeme raised an eyebrow. "Stop jumping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl," he ordered. "Then, we'll start with a little discussion."

"Huh?"

"The physical side of firebending is great and all, but there are more important things. You need to know why you're learning, what your drive is, that's how you get the fire to come out of your fist," he explained. "I learned firebending to be a hero; I wanted to save people. That was my goal when I first learned that I could firebend, and then I also got earthbending, which messed everything up and…Yuuto knows the rest. The point is that I always had a drive. Yuuto. You go next," he said, sitting down, with us following in suit.

"Well, I had devoted myself to Korra when I learned how to firebend. I guess that was my drive, but since then…I've just wanted to learn and become a master and be prepared for anything that might come along."

Sakeme nodded and then we looked to Kanon. She shook her head. "I could never firebend," she admitted. "I never had a 'drive' or whatever. The only time I really firebent is using a breath attack thing, and that was only on instinct to protect my friend," she gestured to me.

"I remember," Sakeme said. "It was at me. Anyway, what about since then? Have you picked it up at all?"

She shook her head once again, giving Sakeme as steely gaze, as if daring him to insult her. He simply scratched the back of his head. "Alright Yuuto, take five, or…more than that actually."

I frowned and furrowed my brow. "What?"

"You're ahead of her. It doesn't seem fair to have you showing off if she's struggling," he said, shooing me away. Kanon looked to me for comfort, but all I could offer was a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder before taking my leave to maybe practice earthbending or whatever.

"Listen, I don't deny that you're a great firebender and all, but I really…don't like you, and I've tried a lot of times to get a drive, so maybe we could just-"

"No, you listen," he interrupted. "I don't need to be an energybender to tell that there's still a lot of turmoil going through you. I don't know why it's there, but it can't be a distraction."

"But…what do you know?" she retorted, glaring at him. "You don't even know me!"

"Do I know you? No. Can I read you? Yes, quite easily. Listen to me; firebending is pure passion and drive forced out into the physical world as fire. The reason you can't firebend, and because you only firebent that one time, is because you only have passion about anything when it's your only option, like when firebending was your only option in saving Yuuto that time."

"Alright, I'll humor you, how do you suppose I become passionate?"

"That's up to you. I can't force you to become passionate and I can't teach you to become passionate; it has to come from within. Look at Yuuto, he is passionate about everything he does, even if it's…I don't know, eating the entire menu at a noodle joint in Republic City."

"…I think you're spouting bull."

Sakeme let out a frustrated sigh before considering a different option. "Yuuto!" he called over to me. I approached.

"Yeah, what is it? Do you need me to- whoa!" I ducked under an arc of fire shot by our teacher. Sakeme quickly sprang into action knocking me to the ground with another blast before I could react and pinned me there, holding a fire jet to my face. Instead of fighting back, I decided to let this play out.

"Get away from him! I knew you couldn't be trusted!" Kanon leapt to her feet.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Sakeme inquired. "You can't lightningbend fast enough to stop me from burning right through his windpipe."

Kanon lowered her gaze into a glare, shaking uncontrollably before bursting forward, jets of fire arcing behind her as she spewed a ray of flames from her mouth straight toward us.

I rolled out of the way before Sakeme diffused the blast. As I stood, he patted me on the shoulder. "Thanks, you can go back to whatever you were doing now."

"Jeez, psycho…" I muttered as I left.

"Ha! He kicked your ass once again," Ling, who'd come outside to watch, mocked me, to which I got into a small tussle which abruptly ended.

Sakeme approached Kanon who was still shaking.

He put his hand on his hip. "Well? Still think I'm spouting bull?" he asked as he raised his eyebrow. "Listen, Kanon, I know you don't trust me, but you're going to have to listen to me for the time being. I was taught that people grow either through inspiration or desperation. If I have to push you to desperation, then I will, because I can see in your eyes that you want to grow. Right now, at this very moment, you have a fire in your eyes, fire that's burning holes in me. Use it! Use Yuuto as your drive! Think of him at his weakest, at death's door, use it!"

"Shut up!" she yelled back.

"Do it, now!"

In a blind rage, she shot her fist forward and a potent stream of flames arced out from it. I was watching from the sidelines, and as I saw the light show, I clapped, smiling.

Kanon was exhausted, dropping to her hands and knees and panting. I went up to her and knelt beside her, patting her shoulder. "Very nicely done!" I congratulated her.

"It wasn't bad, for a first attempt," Sakeme admitted. "Just do what I told you, do exactly what you just did, and you'll be a great firebender."

"R-really?" she wondered. "That was so…tiring though…"

"Okay, well 'great' is a strong term; you'll at least be able to light a match. That's all I promise."

"Oh, piss off!" she snapped before both of them, strangely, cracked a smile.

"Alright, then we're ready to continue. Yuuto, I'm going to re-teach her the basics. You take a load."

"Actually, I'd like to have a few words with him," Tenzin seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind me and grabbed my ear.

"Wha-"

"Now," Tenzin pulled and dragged me into the kitchen.

"Hey! What gives?"

"Nothing really; dramatic effect," Tenzin joked. "In all seriousness though, I need to know something."

"What?"

"President Reiko has heard of your favors and your deals; having two terrorists this close to Republic City isn't a smooth political sign for him."

"So what? You're kicking us out?"

"No, I could never turn away anyone who needs a place to stay, however I will warn you. If they ever enter the city, President Reiko wants them in your sight at all times."

I nodded, understanding completely. "Got it," I said as I began to walk back out.

"And Yuuto, another thing, this time from me."

"What is it?"

"I'm curious as to what you're going to do."

"When?"

"When you're satisfied with your training. I'm only curious as to where you want to go next. You could travel the world; see its sights."

"I'd rather find some way to be useful. I mean," I gestured outside to the four people outside. "I've suddenly got myself a team, people I can trust to help me. We've got to be able to do something, right?"

"Yes, a band of misfits seems to be a powerful force should their bonds be strong enough, as was the case with Avatar Aang."

"I told Fire Lord Izumi that I'd hunt down the Red Lotus, but to be perfectly honest I haven't the slightest idea of where to start…" I admitted.

Tenzin put a hand on my shoulder. "Tell you what; don't worry about it yet. You'll find something else to put your passion and talent into. For now, focus on your training."

I nodded again, this time more confidently. "Thank you, Master Tenzin."

"Same to you, Master Yuuto."

Author's Note:

Hi there! So if you're really not into the whole philosophy thing or whatever you want to call this stuff, the next chapter will be the last. PRomise on my life I do.

Anyway, don't forget to review and stuff; it's always a welcome sight! See ya next time!