A/N: HI! I'm hungry! LOL Don't ask, I'm so bored. Anyway... On with chapter nine- after the reviews.

Reviews-

Fire Blazing Chan S.E.: Thanks! Actually, yeah, I did! I just thought it would be funny D LOL

sanriochica333: Thanks! Lol and I gotta say, I kinda (DEFINETLY X.x) agree with ya there. I promise, NO MORE OF THAT! (Well, maybe a little itty bitty tiny bit every once in a while... but not enough to make anyone BARF! LOL ) but like I said earlier, this is mostly a Sokka centered story, so... more of him! LOL! It wasn't exactly my fave either, lol!

Zephyrage: Sounded like a flame to me. I'm not exactly trying to be rude or anything... but FYI, I already know what a Mary Sue is. I'm not that stupid. So you think she's "Freakishly Perfect", huh? No, I didn't take it as a personal insult. BTW, romance stories are always sappy and kinda Mary Sue-ish. I like this story, and if you don't, then, well, that's your opinion, I guess. I like where it's going so far. Go ahead, think what you want. I think Jaeda's cool, and I plan to keep her like this. Hey, she can't do everything, ya know. Not even close. (And the whole reason I stayed up until 3AM was because I had like no time to write anything all day, with me being so busy all the time.) I already know about Distant Horizon, I took the test like a week ago, and it's not a Mary Sue (I got like a score of 16). Srry, but I don't need your criticism. Long story short, if ya don't like it, then don't read it. Anyway, thank you for at least being honest.

Disclaimer: Does it look like I own it? URGH! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE, SOKKA! Lol!

Chapter 9

Sokka and Jaeda were sitting side-by-side, in front of the ocean. "Is your burn feeling any better?" Sokka asked.

Jaeda had almost forgotten about the burn on her waist. "Actually, it hasn't been bothering me at all!" She removed the bandage, too see that her burn was almost completely healed.

"Looks good!" Sokka said happily. "You can probably keep that bandage off."

Jaeda smiled. "I just hope it doesn't happen again!"

Me too, Sokka thought. Then the two of them stayed quiet for a while, just gazing out toward the cleurean-colored ocean. Sokka put his arm around Jaeda and she layed her head on his shoulder.

After quite a while of silence, Sokka finally spoke up. "How much you wanna bet that Aang and Katara are flirting with eachother?" he asked with a weird, disgusted look on his face.

Jaeda giggled. "They'll probably be holding hands when they get back," she managed to say. Sokka also started laughing, but quickly stopped. "But if he hurts my sister..."

Jaeda finished his sentence for him. "You'll knock his lights out, won't you?" she asked.

Sokka nodded. "Yup. She's the only family I have now..."

"But at least you have family left," Jaeda added, suddenly sounding upset.

Oh man... Sokka thought, feeling extremely guilty for some reason. And then he noticed that Jaeda suddenly had tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Jaeda..." he said softly, taking her in his arms to comfort her. "I's gonna be alright. You're here with us now. You, me, Aang, and Katara... we're all friends here. But I do sorta know how you feel..."

Jaeda wiped away her tears and looked Sokka straight in the eye. "What happened to your mom, exactly...?" she asked quietly, almost a whisper.

Sokka sighed. "Well..."

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Eleven-year-old Sokka and his ten-year-old sister, Katara, were sitting in a tent, listening to all the loud commotion that was going on outside. Their mother and father told them to stay in there for saftey.

"What's going on out there, Sokka?" Katara asked shakily, her little hands starting to tremble.

"I dunno," Sokka replied, "but I'm gonna find out." He stood up to leave the tent, but his sister grabbed his leg. "Wait!" she cried, tears suddenly pouring over her face. "Don't go!" she pleaded. "Please!"

Ignoring Katara's cries, Sokka shook his leg to get the little girl's hand off of it, and slowly peaked out of the tent. He gasped when he saw these men in dark red uniforms throwing fire balls and attacking the Water Tribe warriors. "Fire Nation," he murmered to himself in disgust. The young boy walked outside, hiding behind a rock, trying to spot his parents.

He couldn't believe what he saw. Practically the whole village was burning, and was wasn't caught on fire was either destroyed completely or melting. "Bastards..." he muttered to himself sadly.

Then Sokka heard a loud shriek. He noticed this woman was catching on fire, from being attacked by at least four or five fire balls. But he suddenly realized that it wasn't just any woman.

"MOM!" he cried, running up to his burning mother. The only good thing was all the Firebenders had cleared out, so he wouldn't get hurt as well. "Mom, no... Please don't die," he begged. "Please..." He burried his head in his hands as a tear was forming in the back of his eye.

Katara poked her head out of the tent. "Sokka, wha- MOM!" Katara scurried over to where her mother was literally burning to death and sat down beside her brother. "But- why?" she asked, now sobbing uncontrollably over her dead mother's ashes.

Sokka asked himself the same question. "Why would they do this?" He hugged his younger sister and cried onto her shoulder.

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Jaeda looked shocked. "I am so sorry, Sokka," she said, hugging him close.

"It's ok," Sokka said. He then realized that he hadn't really talked about that story to anyone but Katara. And since he wasn't exactly used to telling other people, tear (believe it or not) was swelling up in his eye. He just blinked and shook his head, hoping Jaeda wouldn't notice. Being the warrior that he is, he didn't want to look like a weakling, especially in front of his girlfriend. What would she think of him then? But Jaeda did see, on account of the tear fell down Sokka's cheek. Then the two of them sat there for a while, holding eachother for comfort.

"Uh, did we miss something?" someone asked. Jaeda and Sokka looked up to see Aang and Katara standing behind them, concerned looks on their faces.

"Um... No, we were just talking," Sokka replied, wiping his eyes as if nothing happened. Then he noticed Aang and Katara were holding hands, just like Jaeda said.

"What did I tell ya?" Jaeda whispered in Sokka's ear. He snickered slightly.

"Are you guys alright?" Katara asked. "You don't look all that happy to see us..." She smiled, hoping it would cheer them up.

Sokka and Jaeda looked at eachother, point-blank, like they didn't know what the heck to say, or what was even going on.

"Well," Jaeda started, "something's been... bugging me lately."

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"...my family..." was Jaeda's quick and quiet reply.

"What happened to your family?" Aang wondered.

Jaeda sighed and told them the same story she'd told Sokka a few days before.

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"Wow," Katara said, putting her hand on Jaeda's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know how you feel."

"I already told the story, Katara," Sokka said sternly, as if he didn't want to hear it again.

"So you have no family at all?" Aang asked curiously.

Jaeda nodded in disapointment. "None."

"Well... we're your family now!" Aang mentioned happily. That made Jaeda smile. "Thanks, you guys."

"Hey, that's what friends are for!" Katara added.

"Can we eat something now?" asked Sokka. "I'm STARVING!"

"Why doesn't that surprise me..." Katara wondered aloud, rolling her eyes. They all started laughing as they ate whatever they could find until they were satisfied.

A/N: MUSHY FLUFFY BLEH! Lol! Oh well, I really don't care. Kind of a short chapter, and srry 'bout the wait, guys. I've been busy. Lol I know, terrible excuse. And I really have no clue if that's what really happened to Katara's and Sokka's mom... I just made something up. (hey, it's possible!) I don't even think that's how old they were... but this is my story, so what I say (or type) goes! LOLOL! PLEASE REVIEW! And please, NO FLAMES! o.O Thanks!

Britt (I love Sokka!)