The afternoon was quiet, save for the rustling of the autumn leaves in the cold wind. Aang was leading the way with Katara, talking to each other in low voices, their glances occasionally peeking back at their two other companions. Meili could hear their whispers, their hushed tones of concern, but found herself too annoyed to care.

It was the Water Tribe boy beside her causing her irritation: Since seeing her face and resuming their path north, he had barely spoken one word to her. Usually she wouldn't mind it if the boy was ignoring her, but for some reason, his face was set differently than normal. It was the subtle glances when he thought she couldn't see him, watching her — studying her. It was unnerving.

Aang and Katara didn't press on the topic, but seemed to be oddly interested in the lack of interaction between the two sarcastic teens.

Since the attack in the abbey and the kidnapping of Katara, the group of kids had stayed in the skies to avoid detection. All their traveling on foot must have led those men to them. And Aang didn't want to risk having any of his friends be put in danger again. So for the first time in three days, the group was traveling on foot. They were close to a conglomerate of Fire Nation colonies and didn't want to risk being seen and hunted down.

Meili found herself focused on the crunching of fallen leaves beneath her feet, watching the golden red foliage crackle and snap under her weight. Momo was perched on her shoulder, eating some kind of nut he had found from one of the forest trees. However, he seemed to be having a hard time opening up the shell. The cold air was making Meili's nose run, more than it had before, and so she sniffled futilely, knowing her sinuses would continue to drip regardless.

The group continued on for a few more hours in their unsettling silence, just until the day started to fade into scarlets and ambers. By then, the forest path had begun to taper into a small clearing. They were on the edge of a hillside overlooking a small Fire Nation town. The warm lights of the lanterns could be seen glowing in the distance, and the group found themselves stopping at a small roadside kiosk posted in the middle of the crossroads.

"Hm, this might help us figure out what's around here," Katara spoke, inspecting a few of the posters attached to the board.

"Or maybe where we even are," Sokka muttered.

Meili glanced over at the posters, seeing the intricate calligraphy painting the parchment. She had always thought that writing was beautiful: the way it looked on paper — the way the characters curved and twisted. She wished she understood it.

"Singhai," Meili replied hoarsely, pointing at one of the posters. "They're having a Fire Day's Festival."

Aang peered over her shoulder. "Wow! It says here that they have Fire Nation cultural exhibits, flame jugglers, magicians, and more... This would be a great place for me to study some real firebenders!"

"How did you know this place, Meili?" Katara questioned.

"Singhai is one of the most well-known Fire Nation Colonies here in the Earth Kingdom," Meili stated, grabbing the poster from the kiosk with both hands. "They've made it a priority for Earth Kingdom villages occupied by the Fire Nation to experience the Fire Day's Festival. They made us have one every year when I lived in Gaipan, and these posters were always plastered everywhere."

"So, would it help me learn firebending?" Aang questioned exuberantly.

"Maybe not learn, but it would help you look at firebending forms and techniques."

Sokka scoffed, "Fire, shmire. This isn't a good idea regardless, Aang. Look."

Then, the Water Tribe boy pointed toward another parchment. In faded ink, a wanted poster of the boy was etched into the paper.

Katara stared at the wanted poster, and beside Aang's were two more wanted posters: One they called the Blue Spirit, and the other one was Jet. "I think we better keep moving. Odds are if Jet is wanted, someone may know who Meili is too. Not to mention that we also have the Avatar with us."

"Katara," Aang pleaded, "I have to learn firebending at some point, and this could be my only chance to watch a master up close."

"At least without getting your head blown off," Meili quipped jokingly with a cough.

"What?" Sokka screeched. "You wanna walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired-up with their ... you know, fire? When you're a wanted criminal? This is what we've been trying to avoid ever since that run-in with those soldiers."

"If it looks like trouble, we can always leave," Katara stated. "Right, Aang?"

"And we can wear disguises!" the monk replied easily, pulling his orange shawl over his head with a grin.

"Very convincing," Sokka said dully. "But I hope you know that trouble always seems to find us. And it's usually an angry prince with a receding hairline."

Katara stared at her brother pointedly. "C'mon, Sokka, Aang just wants to look. He might even get to meet a master!"

Meili's head perked up at that.

No one had ever taught her how to firebend. Everything she learned had been self-taught over the course of several years. Even when she did bend, it wasn't something she liked to do. Meili would rather use daggers and knives than flames and fireballs.

Being from the Earth Kingdom, she was always taught to fear fire. It was destructive, harmful, and dangerous. Fire was a symbol of oppression; it was a symbol of the war. Meili, ever since she could remember, hated herself for being able to bend fire.

It had to do with... that day.

Meili shook her head. No, she couldn't think about that. Not now.

But, her gaze was still drawn back down to the village, down to the lanterns and the fireworks and the warm rich reds of the Fire Nation flags. She was saddened to hate such a large part of who she was. She was sad to know that if Aang, Katara, and Sokka knew who she really was, they would leave.

Meili resumed her attention to her three companions beside her. There, the three of them were now adorning black cloaks, though Aang still wore a dorky grin.

"Hey, now we all look like Meili!"

"Ha ha," the black-haired girl replied back dully, beginning her decent down the clearing's path. "Let's hurry up before it gets too dark."

"Who made you the leader?" Sokka questioned.

"No one," Meili said pointedly. "But you guys are having a good ol' time over there doing nothing. Someone needs to lead the way."

And besides, she couldn't wait to see the festival. It was something that reminded her of home, a small glimpse back to Gaipan where her and Jai were still orphans. They used to love the festivals because it was the only time they were allowed to leave the orphanage.

But the anticipation was ruined by the burn in her throat and the warmth of her skin, both signs of her unresolved sickness. The symptoms had been dormant for a while, but Meili speculated that the strain of using her bending against Jiayi and Cheng may have halted her recovery.

She shook her head, hearing her three companions trekking on behind her. The town was located at the base of the mountain pass they had been traveling down previously. Meili noted that Singhai was a well-established Fire Nation colony — much more impressive in person than on parchment. It was one of the oldest pieces of land occupied by the Fire Nation, taken over just a few years after the fall of the Air Nomads.

Meili looked over to her right at the smiling monk, and she briefly wondered how he was so happy and joyous all the time. Surely he ached inside knowing that he was alone. They were similar in that regard. They both had no family, no home, no one to turn to... well, except for the two Water Tribe siblings.

But if Sokka was reacting this adversely just by merely knowing what she looked like, Meili knew the repercussions of the boy knowing her abilities as a firebender would be far graver.

They arrived at the town with, thankfully, no difficulties. Appa and Momo took refuge in the outskirts of the forest, told by Aang to stay out of sight. Walking toward the town, the guards positioned at the entrance of Singhai gave them no trouble, most likely expecting Earth Kingdom travelers to stop by and enjoy the heritage of the Fire Nation.

The town was bustling with people: Kids ran with streamers and sparklers, wearing strange masks adorned with rich colors and patterns; adult citizens were draped in red and mahogany cloth robes with gold trimming, most holding signature Fire Nation snacks and sweets; and the richer townspeople, characterized by their high buns and silken robes that gleamed orange from the illumination of the lanterns, stood on the outskirts in close knit circles. The group of travelers noted that their attire didn't quite match the theme of the function.

"We should purchase some masks," Meili stated monotonously, looking toward a group of revelers that were parading around in a giant dragon costume.

"I agree; we don't really look the part," Katara said softly, her gaze falling on the children just slightly younger than them. Their happy, grinning faces were hidden behind the masks.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Yeah, everyone here looks stupid."

"Well, I want one of those stupid masks!" Aang said gleefully, comically running toward a vendor selling fire festival garments.

Katara followed behind him, reaching into the bag on her back before pulling out some change. She exchanged her coins with the vendor and purchased four masks of different colors. Aang grabbed the blue mask from Katara, strapping it over his head within his hood as to not reveal his arrows. The face on the mask was contorted into an exaggerated smile and was powdered with pink chalk to make the cheeks rosy.

The girl lightly giggled into her cloak's sleeve before distributing out the rest of the masks. Meili's was green with golden swirls surrounding the border, and the face remained passive and unmoving like a statue. Sokka's mask was red with a scowl and frown while Katara's was yellow with an inviting smile.

"Why do I get the grumpy-looking one?" Sokka questioned with a voice crack. His companions looked at him pointedly.

The group walked slowly around the town, looking at all the various vendors and pop-up stands there for the festival. Some sold trinkets and clothes, others were selling Fire Nation foods and treats.

"They have fire flakes over there, Ponytail," Meili pointed out, her finger falling on an older man with traditional sideburns and robes.

"Finally!" he shouted, his mouth watering at the thought of food. He quickly lifted up the mask and shoveled the food into his mouth, spitting it out a few moments later. "They're so hot!"

"They're flakes of jerky that have been cooked until its almost char; of course it's going to be hot," Meili said with an eyeroll, grabbing the bag from his hands before lifting up slightly her mask and plopping the flakes in her mouth. The taste was similar to the flakes she had tasted back in Gaipan; however, the taste was smokier.

Being a firebender, Meili found that her chi was a crucial source of power and energy. She always felt stronger, livelier, in the sun and around fires. The warmth would enhance her own chi, drawing in the natural energy excreting from the power sources. Anything hot would have a similar, but smaller, impact. So Meili wasn't sure if it was her hunger being satiated, her chi growing stronger, or merely a remembrance of her home in Gaipan, but the fire flakes made her feelings of sickness dim and replaced it with a feeling of contentedness.

"Hey, there's a big crowd over there," Katara pointed out, her slender finger pointing towards a conglomerate of people huddled around a stage

"We should go check it out!" Aang shouted.

"Hold on," Sokka spoke, pulling on the back of Aang's cloak to stop him from speeding off. "Maybe we should stay farther back. Knowing the Fire Nation, this could be an execution."

Katara rolled her eyes, "Oh, lighten up, Sokka! Everyone is laughing over there."

"He's a fire performer," Meili said, jutting her head to the side as she snuck a few more flakes into her mouth. "See?"

Everyone's gaze moved toward the stage where a man was holding a ring of fire. He twirled the hoop around his hand, swirling the flames in a circle before throwing the ring up high into the air; the flames suddenly turned blue, illuminating the stage and the faces in the crowd with a pale sapphire glow.

"Wow, his fire must be really hot!" Aang smiled largely, his eyes glistening in amazement.

"He's using a colored powder to dye the flames," Meili stated. "You can tell from the smell."

The monk wormed his way out of Sokka's grip. "Well, either way, it's super cool! I want to get a closer look!"

The small airbender pushed his way through the crowd, giving his companions no other choice except to follow.

The performer bowed towards his audience, reveling in the applause and the excitement. Holding up his hands, he signaled everyone to grow quiet.

"Thank you all for your gracious cheers! For this next trick, I'm going to need a volunteer from the audience!"

Aang's head immediately popped up, and his hand moved instantly into the air. "Oh! Me, me! Pick me!"

"What are you doing?" Sokka questioned in a hushed voice, yanking Aang's arm down.

"I want to go up there."

"Aang, we need to keep a low profile," Katara warned. "We agreed on this before we came in here."

"—How about you!" the performer suddenly announced pointing an outstretched finger forward. "You're just looking to be noticed wearing such a vibrant, white cloak!"

The group turned to look at Meili, who had paused mid lift of her mask to eat another bite of the fire flakes.

"Sorry, I don't wanna."

"Oh, a stubborn one! Let's give the girl some encouragement folks!" the performer shouted, lifting his arms up high as he pranced on the stage.

Meili felt someone begin to push her forward, and turning around, she saw that it was a performance helper.

She rolled her shoulder back to stop the man. "Hey, knock it off. I said no."

"Meili," Katara's voice warned through clenched teeth. "We don't want to cause a scene. Just go with it."

The black-haired girl took a long, deep breath before nodding her head, moving forward toward the stage to let the performer grab ahold of her hand. The man lifted her up onto the stage, positioning her in front of a red cushioned chair. "My next trick is called 'Taming the Dragon.'"

He quickly sat her down into the seat, grabbing a red sash to tie around her waist and hold her to the chair. "You are my captured princess," he grinned, grabbing her hood and tugging the cowl down to reveal her hair. "A beautiful fair maiden!"

Meili instinctually moved her hands up to put her hood back on, but forgot that she had been restricted. She was glad, at that moment, that the group had chosen to buy masks.

The stage was square with four large columns set on either corner. They were lit at the top, and the flames wavered in the nighttime sky. The performer drew the columns of fire together, assembling them into one long stream of fire to resemble a dragon. He curved the flames in quick, controlled movements, remaining flashy and flamboyant throughout the act.

"I'll protect you, my lady!" he shouted, conjuring up a second stream of fire acting as a rope. He pretended to capture the dragon, and tried to hold it steady from its turns and twists.

"This dragon is too strong! I don't know how much longer I can hold it for," the performer exaggerated, pretending that the fire beast was escaping his grasp.

Meili almost laughed. Almost.

But as payback for being called up to the stage, she decided to have a little fun.

She focused on the heat of the dragon — the warmth, the energy, the power. She felt it course through her chi, like a spark igniting a flame. With her hands still tied behind her back, where no one would be able to see, she lightly flexed her fingers, taking control of the dragon waving in the sky.

The performer faltered, having noticed the dragon stop following his movements; however, when he looked at his captured prisoner, he merely met a green mask with an even glare.

"The-the dragon! It has a mind of its own! I don't know if I can tame it!" the man attempted to play along.

Meili smirked, feeling the man try to win back over the stream of fire by force. Their chis were fighting for dominance, and if Meili was smart, she wouldn't have been exerting herself in her sickened state. But she found herself not listening to logic, and so she clenched her jaw tightly with one final push of energy, manipulating the dragon out of the performer's grasp and toward the crowd.

Nodding her head up, the dragon followed the movements, and everyone's eyes watched as the dragon of fire made its way down a long alley way toward a giant box of explosives. The dragon made contact with the fireworks, making Meili grin.

"Boom."

And the explosives soared toward the sky. While everyone was distracted, Meili quickly untied herself from the chair, moving amidst the chaos toward her companions offstage.

"Wow, that trick was great!" Aang marveled, looking up into the sky in awe.

"I think we should leave," Sokka warned, "that didn't look planned."

"I agree," Meili spoke. "And this performer guy definitely didn't like being upstaged."

"Let's get out of here," Katara nodded her head.

The group backtracked while the firework commotion was going on and headed back out of the village. Before they left, though, Sokka purchased a few snacks to take with them to camp.

The mountain pass was darker at night, and so the group remained close as to not be led astray from one another. They soon traveled back to where they had left Appa and Momo, and sure enough, the two animals came parading out from behind a few trees.

The large bison let out a small grumble of glee, and Aang zoomed over to the animal with his arms outstretched. Almost comically, the airbender hugged the bison and in return, received a giant lick from the large, rough tongue.

"Well, that was exciting," Aang concluded, rubbing a hand through Appa's fur.

"It was alright," Meili said grumpily, taking a seat on the ground. Momo circled around her head, gliding down onto her shoulder moments later. She cracked her neck as the group got settled in the shadows, creating a low campfire in order to keep warm. With the temperatures dropping as they moved northward, the group found that fires and layers had become a necessity.

Not that Meili was really ever bothered. Firebenders were lucky in that regard; their natural body temperature was higher than the average person, with only extremely low temperatures affecting them adversely. However, when body temperatures began to rise, like with a fever, a firebender's warmer disposition could accelerate these adverse effects.

She took a deep breath, feeling the flames of the camp fire warm her body even more. Her sickness was coming in waves, and she knew if her companions could see her face, they would be worried. She felt gaunt and weary, and the skin on her hands was lackluster and sallow.

The cool grass seemed to ease her fast beating heart and the bile building in her throat. She would be fine if she didn't let the sickness get to her. She slowed down her breathing, trying to make it easier to inhale through her closed airways and raspy esophagus. With each passing of the air through her lungs, expelling through her mouth, a low wheeze ensued.

"I never knew your hair was that long, Meili!" Katara grinned. "I can braid it for you sometime if you want."

"No thanks," Meili grimaced. "You're lucky you got to see my hair at all. That performer guy was an imbecile."

"You guys sure are cozy out here, aren't ya?" a voice suddenly spoke, making everyone turn in their spots. Aang was immediately on the move, airbending himself out of his cot he had been snuggled into and lifting his hands up in front of him in a defensive state. Katara got up from her knees and instinctively grabbed the canteen holstered on her hip. Both Meili and Sokka tensed and reached for their weapons while Appa let a low rumble of a growl leave his lips.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Aang spoke authoritatively, his tone lowering an octave.

"Woah, hey, I'm not your enemy. I'm a friend. You're the Avatar, right? I saw you at that festival."

Aang's eyes widened ever so slightly with trust.

"You're a Fire Nation soldier?" Sokka accused, lifting his boomerang up high above his head.

"Was," the man corrected. "My name's Chey. I'm with the resistance."

Everyone's guard slowly relaxed once they saw that the man was not moving to strike, though Sokka and Meili were more wary than their companions.

"Once I saw your crazy disguises, I knew it had to be you. In a town of Fire Nation civilians and admirals, your yellow clothes sure stood out. Not to mention that no one here wears white, I knew you guys had to be special. So I followed you. The commotion from the festival made it pretty hard but-"

"Why are you here," Meili demanded, her voice remaining powerful and defensive even through the rasps.

"I serve a man. More than a man really, he's a myth; but he's real - a living legend. He's known as Jeong Jeong the Deserter. He was a Fire Nation general... or wait, was he an admiral?"

Sokka's face pulled downward, clearly not amused. "He was very highly ranked; we get it."

Chey clapped. "Yeah! Way up there! But he couldn't take the madness anymore. He's the first person ever to leave the army and live. I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that. That's okay though. Jeong Jeong's a firebending genius. Some say he's mad - but he's not! He's enlightened."

"Deserter or not, he was still with the Fire Nation army. Why should we trust you?" Katara questioned.

Chey's face looked slightly disappointed. "We're not all bad you know. Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe - I mean, we don't all want war. I had a family. A wife ... kids. But, she left me because she hated the army and what it stood for. I thought war was a necessity back then. But Jeong Jeong changed my mind. When he left, he showed me there's other ways to fight. You can fight for change!"

"You say that," Meili noted. "But how do we know that you're being honest? You say you followed us here — based off of a whim that this little boy was the Avatar. What if this is all a ploy to have us let down our guard? What if you're really a soldier working with the Crowned Prince?"

"What if I'm a turtle duck?" Chey questioned with a shrug. "I mean - I first saw you guys around this area before the festival. I saw you guys put your cloaks on and go in. If I was working with someone higher, wouldn't I make sure you all are captured and expose you guys while you're in a town full of Fire Nation soldiers and admirals? But I'm not like that - because, we in the resistance want change; and our leader, Jeong Jeong, is the perfect person to train the Avatar! That's why I followed you here."

"Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning," Sokka stated pointedly. "We're already on a time crunch as it is. We don't need any more distractions."

Aang's face looked sad. "But, Sokka, this could be my only chance to meet a firebending master who would actually be willing to teach me."

"I don't know, Aang," Katara trailed off. "Meili's right. We've walked into traps like this before with Prince Zuko."

"At least talk to him," Chey pleaded. "If not for me, then do it for the world, Avatar. You must master all four elements if this war is to be stopped."

Sokka lifted up a finger, probably to make an undignified remark, but was stopped by a sudden rustle of a bush to his left. His face looked immediately over to Chey, the Water Tribe boy's facial features holding a suspicious glare.

"What was that?"

Suddenly, a spear was pressed against the back of the boys head, the tip threateningly pushing into the stubble covering the nape of his neck.

"Don't move," a low, hushed voice bit out, and almost immediately after, the entire clearing was surrounded by men. They were wearing straw hats and light armor, signaling that they were on the defense. And immediately Aang wondered if Chey really was setting them up. But one look at the men's tribal makeup and wood-carved spears instantly made the monk relax. They weren't Fire Nation.

"Oh, hey guys! I didn't know you were following me," Chey sweatdropped, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know these guys?" Katara questioned.

"Oh yeah!" Chey said with a grin, waving to the leader of the tribal men. "Lin Yee's an old buddy. Right, Lin Yee?"

"Shut up," the man in questioned snarled. "Jeong Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar. He told you specifically."

"I thought it was a suggestion," Chey said nervously.

"Just start moving," Lin Yee spoke with authority, and soon, the tribal men began escorting the group east.

"Where are you taking us?" Sokka all but yelled, angry by the sudden intrusion. "We need to reach the North Pole by the end of this week. We don't have time for you guys to perform some tribal voodoo on us."

"We're taking you to Jeong Jeong," one of the tribal men spoke. "He will tell us what to do with you."

Meili wanted to fight back, argue maybe, tell them that they were on a schedule, but she found her energy weak. Like a sedative, her fever coursed through her veins like an acid, draining the strength from each muscle and every breath. Her ribs felt like steel traps, closing in her chest so tight that her breaths came out in short shallow bursts.

Her legs faltered ever so slightly, making her fumble in front of the man leading her. The toe of her foot crashed down onto Katara's ankle, causing the girl's furry boot to slide down her foot.

"Meili!" the waterbender shrieked. "Watch where you're walking!"

When Katara was met with no response, she noticed that Meili appeared sluggish.

"Hey, are you okay?" Aang questioned.

Meili tried to answer; she didn't want them to worry. But her lungs felt like they were slowly filling with water, inhibiting her from taking in the breaths she desperately needed. Her head became lighter, more disorienting, as the forest trail she was walking down became a kaleidoscope of trees and bushes.

Her eyes were tired. Her knees weak. Her head light. And then, she was falling.

"Someone catch her!" Meili could hear the monk shout.

Instead of bracing the harsh impact of the ground, the girl was met instead with the feeling of broad arms and a hard chest. But she didn't have time to think about any of that now. Or rather, she had no strength to. Her consciousness flickered like a light — on and off— until it slowly faded out to black. The last thing she remembered was Sokka asking Chey what he had done to her before she slipped into the darkness.

A/N: Hi guys! Here's the next update :) thank you for the continuous follows and favorites, it means so much. See you all soon!