Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, the Last Airbender, or any of its characters. When I do, I'll send you all a post card with Aang's face on it.

Skya, Mika, Til, Skya's Aunt, and the OCs we will encounter in this chapter and chapters to come are MINE! Mwa ha ha ha ha!

Chapter 17: My Roads Forgotten

Before Zhao could even glance at the fallen man, more stones and flint rocks escaped from the dense forest trees. They rained like acid from the bark and hit the remaining soldiers, many of them fell and did not get up. The remainder of Zhao's army began to run to the steel Fire Nation ships, which were also dented from the flying flint. The soldiers filed one by one into the protection of the ships, and Zhao ordered them to sail down the river, where they would no longer be damaged.

He was ashamed at his defeat of an unseen enemy, but fighting invisible opponents would not end in his favor. To make matters worse, the Avatar, his friends, and his huge bison had disappeared, and none of Zhao's soldiers knew where they had went.

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"Uncle...do you..." Zuko couldn't word it. What was there to word, anyway? "Uncle...do you...have you noticed anything...wrong with me?" How could he ask his uncle for help? It was so out of character, so unlike him. But he knew something was wrong. Something had to be done.

"You are nervous, Prince Zuko. Something is bothering you?"

Zuko bit his lip. "Of course not." He turned and faced the fogged water of the Mire river. "Of course not, Uncle. Nothing is wrong."

Zuko was planning a course far away from Tenkay, up near Meekoh and Mire. These were areas where the Avatar had been spotted recently, by peasents and old merchants. Since he was unable to capture the mystical creature (the girl with the Shamer's eyes) his confidence in defeating the Avatar was starting to dwindle. He wouldn't let it run him down. No matter what, he'd be ready for the next attack. He'd be ready for Zhao and for the Avatar.

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Will you go penguin sledding with me?

I'll teach you to catch a penguin if you teach me how to Water Bend.

I'll take you to the North Pole.

Images of slurred meaning slid around Katara's mind and danced like black smoke in her eyes. Some how she could not wake up from an evolving dream. It seemed to breathe and become a reality, escaping her into an unknown truth. She had to admit it to herself at some point, but did she really have feelings for Aang?

I'm just a simple monk.

Images were becoming too vivid.

Sokka! Stop teasing him. Aang is just my little friend. Just like Momo. Right, Momo?

You're just jealous...

How do I look?

She clenched her teeth, but her mind would not stop. She couldn't feel anything around her, only darkness and heavy lids that would not open. Why wouldn't these images stop? Why wouldn't they become something she actually wanted, something like becoming a Master Water Bender, like going back in time and saving her mother. Only Aang's face was infront of her, seemingly getting closer and closer. Katara? Katara? Are you OK? Katara?

"Katara?" Her heavy lids became fogged as she struggled to control them. With all of her effort, she opened one eye, then the other, and focused on the image infront of her. Noticing it was Aang, she focused more on the blurred faces around him. Sokka, Mika...who were the rest of them?

"What...?"

Aang's face beamed as he helped Katara to her feet. She clutched her head and looked at the worried faces of her brother and Mika.

"Are you OK?" Sokka asked finally.

"What happened?" Katara demanded, looking at the young boys and girls surrounding them. "Where are we?"

A young boy came up to her and bowed. "We're sorry for your pain," he said in a hallow voice. "Forgive us, but it was the only way to save you. Are you feeling well?"

Katara wrinkled her nose and looked at the other children, dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes. There were about 10 or 12 of them, all with large, green eyes that stared at the much taller appearence of her and her friends. "It's fine. Where are we?"

"We're in Mire," Mika said in her regular, worried tone. Her eyes shifted to the dense forest behind them. "But we have to leave. According to these kids' and their fortune teller, some Prince named Zuko is coming. She said he wants to capture Aang, and he found Tenkay. I'm sure that if he's found it, he'll find Mire too. This is all my fault...I should leave, really. It isn't worth--"

"What happened to Zhao?" Katara asked, wondering why her brother and Aang were still fine. Had they known what happened already? Why was she still lost? Why was she having such vivid dreams before? Was this whole "city" made of children?

"My friend took care of it," Mika said, shyly smiling. "Zhao is gone for sure, Katara. We just have to leave as soon as possible."

Katara sighed and rubbed the pain on her head, shivering though the weather was warm. It was well past noon, but still it felt like morning. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at the children again. "Where's your fortune teller?"

"What!" Sokka moved past the children and looked angrily at Katara. "We aren't staying. If Zuko is coming, than we'll only make things worse by sitting here." Crossing his arms, he turned to Aang. "Come on Aang, let's go load Appa."

Aang and Sokka moved into the clearing to Appa. "Who saved us?" Katara asked Mika, noticing that the children were following Aang and Sokka. "We should thank them. Where are they?"

"In the forest, some of them. A lot of them were the kids we just saw."

Seeing Katara's reaction of a wrinkled face, Mika quickly added, "They're not all kids, a lot of them are older than us... Here, come with me."

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