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!

A note for Guardiangirl1, there were 10 or 12 children, the childrens' ages were not 10 and 12, so they aren't midgets. If you want to know how old they are...well, I guess they're probably 6 or something. On with the chapter...

Chapter 18: Zuko's Scroll

"His name is Bing Hsu," Mika told her excitedly. Katara couldn't help but notice the sudden spark in Mika's eyes, the rush of happiness and she told her about Bing.

"I've known him for most of my life, a good friend of my mother, he was. I think he's 15 now, or 16...I can't really remember..." Moving another branch down with her hand, Mika pushed herself through the thickness of the trees and held the branch out of the way for Katara to come through. "He's quite a legend, if I remember correctly. A great swordsman and Bender, an even better friend...he was like a brother to me for a while after...um..."

Noticing that she was bringing up the deaths of her family, Mika stopped talking, hoping Katara wouldn't question her, and she didn't. Katara had been much too busy focusing on the shooting pain in her ankles and knees that wouldn't go away. It was as if she had fallen off a cliff, over and over and over again.

Finally, they came to a clearing, a large space of land at least 25 feet in diameter. The only trees and shrubs existed on the edge of the circular area.

"Bing! Bing!" Mika cupped her hands to her mouth and called for Bing, and within a few seconds, he appeared.

Much taller than Katara expected, Bing rose a good 5 foot 9 off the ground. He was thin, but muscular, with a dimpled chin and light, chisled hair that came down over his forehead. His eyes were emerald green, much like those of the children they had seen earlier, but they seemed glazed over, as if he was thinking about something deep and angry. With and thin and narrow face and square knuckles, Bing seemed to be more like a man instead of a boy.

Mika's face lit up when she saw him, as if she hadn't seen him in years, though she had just spoke to him moments before Katara awoke. "Bing, this is Katara, from the Southern Water Tribe. The one you and Chuan saved...she wanted to meet you...to thank you, for your help."

Katara bowed her head gracefully as Bing held out his hand. She placed her soft and fragile hand in his, and she swore that it was the strangest image of a friendly shake that she had ever seen. Bing's knuckles were rigid and scarred in many places. Shyly, Katara took her hand away.

"Thank you, Bing," she said as formally as possible. "I admit we had little chance of making it back there..."

"No need for thanks," Bing said. "It's our duty to protect Mire and Shan-Yu, and that push over that calls himself an Admiral didn't stand a chance against our Bending. Sad to say that you didn't either...I'm sorry we had to pull you down and hurt you...but it was the only way to get you away from his army without being seen--"

"Wait, what did you do?" Images of Bing's army beating Katara and pulling her into the forest flooded her thoughts, and anger shot up through her blood vessles.

"No, Katara...Bing doesn't mean it like that," Mika explained. "It's called grave-visiting. Bing and his brothers used Bending to pull us underneth the soil and back up again...that's all."

"You're body just reacted differently, because you are a Water Bender, and water tends to absorb the earth and soil around it...it just took us a little longer to pull you back up...that's why you're feeling a bit dizzy..." Bing shifted uncomfortably in his spot. "It may feel that some of you is back down there, but it's not...so don't worry...you should be fine in a couple of days, I promise." He forced a tattered smile, a pinch of guilt tracing his voice.

"Who were all of those children?" Katara asked.

"I call them my brothers and sisters," Bing said happily. "They're the children of my village. After their parents left, they didn't have anyone to protect them...A lot of them didn't have any known relatives, just feral children of the Earth Kingdom." He smiled. "Don't worry, they're harmless."

The group laughed lightly, each with something else in mind.

"I should go check out the river," Bing said to Mika. "Just in case..."

"Right, better safe than sorry."

Nodding to Katara and Mika, Bing and the girls parted ways.

--------xXx------

"There is no way in hell I'm taking that to the Fire Lord," the taller guard stated, shaking his hands at the gray scroll.

"It's a favor, please--"

"No way in hell," he repeated. "You know how much he hates his son. If he figures out that he burned Tenkay without his permission, he'll go crazy. I'm not going to be in the way when that happens."

"Please...you're my older brother...you're braver than I am." With a hallow sigh, he placed the scroll in his belt pocket and shoke his head. "You're right...I'll get someone else to do it."

"How long ago did you get that?"

"About a day," he answered. "But I know that it's late." Another sigh escaped him. "I'll do it."

"Good luck then. I only hope that you don't get killed in the process."

"That isn't funny."

Smiling, his older brother placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. He can't get that angry. Just be careful and watch your step, blame it on the Avatar or something."

Bowing slightly, the guard began the short walk to the Fire Lord's chamber.

-------xXx-------

"WHAT!" Flames burned from the chair in the center, each flame licking at the high ceiling and marble pilars. "WHAT!"

"A thousand apologies, my lord. I'm sure your son only had your interests in mind--"

"I banish him, and he burns down the only source of Shaming left in the whole damn world!" The Fire Lord's breath was jagged and uneasy, his voice was deep and unwelcoming. More flames flashed before him.

"He probably didn't know--"

"I don't need your comfort!" He scowled. "Go! Get out of my chamber and leave the scroll here! My son will kill himself if he knows what's good for him!" Darkened fire shot at the guards face as he pulled his arms infront of him to protect himself. It didn't do any good. When he left the chamber, he was one scroll and one eye less.