I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I do own Markaia, Sam, and other characters that don't belong in the story. Let me know what you guys think about this chapter. I needed a little inspiration so I just took a small break and just chilled with my writing partner, Sam. This was beta'd by F1nal Front1er! :D Read and Review please!

Zuko abruptly released my hands and I saw his knees turn away from me. I kept my eyes glued to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard!" he shouted at me. I hoped someone would hear and calm him down for me. There was no way he would let me calm him down. "Are you trying to get yourself killed, Markaia?"

I sat quietly, looking to the ground, and just listened to what he had to say. Maybe what he had to say was the truth that I needed to hear. "I don't see why I tried so hard to get you back from my father's grasp and defended you from Mai if you were planning to go see them in the end!" He stood up and began to pace the room. "If you found Mai and Ty Lee, they would have no problem killing you!"

"I could reason-"

"There is no reasoning! You're just being stupid! Mai surely wants to kill you after you took me away from her!" Zuko seethed. I looked up quickly, hurting from being called stupid. "My father would most likely kill you for killing my sister, or send you away to years of torture!"

"Zuko, please calm down." I rubbed my hands together. "I don't want people to hear...you're yelling kind of loud." Zuko slammed his hand into the wall. I was surprised it didn't break a hole into the wall.

"Keep calm? How the hell can I keep calm when you are planning to be dumb and try to be the hero? Don't play hero, Markaia, because you are just going to be killed!" I looked down and heard Zuko open the shoji door and slam it shut.

"He's right," I whispered to myself. "Only an idiot would plan something like that." My hands felt hot and heavy. I tried to calm down, but the memory of Zuko's yelling just got my blood boiling. Was I not allowed to do what I want even if it was wrong? You learn from life by your own experiences, not by what people tell you will happen.

I heard a commotion coming from outside in the restaurant. Dishes crashed and I heard a scream. There was running going on, but I didn't want to look outside. Some shouting began from outside of the door. "Private police! We are looking for firebender Markaia Tymaine. She is a murderer who escaped the Fire Nation prison. There will be a reward for those who capture her and bring her in!" I gasped as I ran to the door to hold it in case someone tried checking the room.

"Shit, what am I going to do!?" I whispered. I looked around the room; there was Iroh's stuff and Zuko's stuff, and there was my bag leaning against the wall with a high, narrow window above it. Who could have tipped the police off that I was here? Was someone undercover, or did someone rat me out when they left the restaurant? I heard nearby doors slam open.

"She isn't in here." The voices got closer and I panicked. I ran over to the window and tried to reach it, but it was a little too high. Searching the room, I saw the table.

I pushed all the tableware off of the table, making a loud clattering noise as it crashed to the floor, and pulled the table to the wall and climbed up. "I heard something!" I opened the window and pulled myself up as the shoji door opened. "She's getting away! Grab her!"

Half of my body was out when I felt someone grab onto my legs and try to pull me back in. "I got her!" I turned my body so that I was facing the sky and I could look to see who was grabbing my leg. I held onto the frame of the window and violently thrashed my legs around to get him off.

"Get off of me!" I shouted, removing one of my hands from the window's frame to shoot a fireball at him. He let go of my legs and held his face as he screamed in pain. "Fuck!" I pushed myself out of the window and fell onto my back, hitting my head hard on the ground; the wind was temporarily knocked out of me.

I groaned, trying to roll over. My head hurt and everything was swaying. "There she is!" I heard someone shout from my side. Turning my head, I saw a few men, including the one I burned, running towards me. I slowly pushed myself off the ground, and tried not to fall over. I needed to run away. Zuko and Iroh could rendezvous with me at Ba Sing Se.

Someone's foot came in contact with my ribs as I was kicked back to the ground. I winced in pain as I fell onto the ground; my ribs were broken again. "Markaia Tymaine, looks like you are going back to jail," the man said smugly. "Didn't think you'd get caught, huh?" He laughed as he spat on me. My vision was slightly blurry as I saw him bend down to look me in the eye. "Sweet dreams, Markaia." He stood back up and tried to kick me in the head to knock me out, but I caught his foot. I pulled his leg out from under him and he fell to the ground.

"You may have cornered me and broken my ribs, but that doesn't mean you've caught me," I panted, catching my breath. I slowly got up, looking at the other two guards. "Anyone else?" I whispered as I turned my back away from the man to fully face the two other guards. I was aware that the man I had knocked over could sweep my feet, and I was ready for some backflips.

One of the other men rushed me with his sword, and then the man I knocked over swept my feet. I felt myself falling backwards before catching myself on my hands and pushing up and over in a backflip. The man got up from the ground and smirked. "A little light on your feet. Back away boys; I got this." He put up a stance before he lifted the ground and pushed several large boulders at me; he was an earthbender. I jumped out of the way and turned, pushing my hands forward, my right low below my belt and my left at chest level. A large red flame soared out of my hands, and the man guarded himself with a rock shield.

"This is useless," I muttered, breaking stance and preparing for defense. I observed my surroundings before noticing the trees that surrounded us and the restaurant. That could be my distraction as I make an escape. I stared at the earthbender and his crew before swishing my hands left like I was pushing past something. Large waves of fire flew to my left and engulfed everything in it, and I did the same with the right. I watched as the men looked at their surroundings, which were now on fire.

The restaurant soon caught fire, and the police began to back away. The trees were covered in red and yellow, being burned down and engulfed by the heat. I stood there in the fire, trying to keep calm and not cause more destruction than necessary. They backed away. "Block off all main roads after clearing the restaurant. She can't get away," I heard one of the men say over the blaze.

The heat felt welcoming as it grew around me, burning the grass, the trees, and now the restaurant. People fled from the building in fear of the fire, children running to safety while the adults worked together to put out the blaze. I sighed and made my way carefully around the fire through the trees; on occasion, I had to use my hands to bend the flames aside to get to safety.

Eventually, I made it to safety. I looked into the distance where I had traveled from, seeing the dark grey smoke rising from the place I had set fire to. I had traveled rather far from the site, and the fire was quickly catching onto other things like other nearby trees and homes. I watched the commotion that happened around the streets, with the police holding people back and women crying at the burning of their homes. I had to look away; I couldn't bear seeing my destruction.

I peered around the trees of the small forest near the main road. It probably led to Ba Sing Se, and hopefully, Iroh and Zuko made it out okay. I didn't mean to set fire to everything...well, I did...but it was for my own sake. I couldn't get caught by the police now, and because I had done this, security would be much tougher to pass. I didn't even have my bag with me, so I couldn't hide myself anymore.

Looking down the road, I saw the crowd of people surrounding their burning homes, and up the road towards Ba Sing Se was a blockade of guards. I was trapped both ways, and I didn't want to bring more destruction to innocents. I sighed and hid in the forest just in case the police could see me. The stench of burning trees and buildings burned the insides of my nose.

"Didn't think you'd get past those guards, Markaia," a voice behind me called out. I froze. After everything that had happened, I thought she was gone.