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, and Appa in the background.

Skya, Mika, Til, Skya's Aunt, Bing, and the OCs we have encountered are MINE! Mwa ha ha ha ha! Mwa ha ha /cough/ ha /gag/ ha!

Chapter 19: Death's Garden

Walking away from Bing, Mika and Katara began light conversation. Really, it was hard for Mika to talk about anything except bending, or Bing. But Katara, with her friendly nature and cunning social genius, had been able to spark talk of the Fire Nation.

"If they've found it, they've burned it," Mika told Katara flatly, her eyes darting behind her to see how far Bing had walked.

"That's not always the case," Katara reasoned. "They might have left it alone if they saw Aang wasn't there."

Mika shook her head slowly and continued to clear the branches and shrub in their way. "All I know is that they've found Tenkay, I can feel it. It's like a sixth sense or something...me and Skya have always been like that, able to tell each other stuff without saying it. It's odd, but true. I know they've burnt it. I know Skya is very angry right now."Katara looked down in embarrassment after Mika's words. A thick silence fell between them, but it felt right, as if it was a moment of silence for those who had lost their homes in Tenkay.

The silence, though well placed, could not cover the loud blast from behind them.

Mika's throat dropped.

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

"Stand and fight!" Zuko called loudly to the boy he had just blasted. "Where is the Avatar?"

Turning to his back, the boy jumped to his feet, pieces of burnt and dry cloth falling from his shirt. "Who do you think you are?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed as he got into fighting position. "Answer my question first." With that, large balls of fire escaped his fists and landed only inches apart from the boy's chest. "Where is the Avatar!"

The boy bent over and coughed, his arms at his mouth. "You asked for this," he called to Zuko.

Instantly, the rocks and dirt around Zuko began to crumble, and Zuko felt himself moving into the Earth.

"I don't think so," Zuko yelled from his spot, and jumped up to the branches of a nearby tree, more fire coming from his hands to the boy. The last blast he let go sent the boy flying with a loud grunt.

"Bing! Bing!"

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

Mika felt her heart rip open and explode. Bing was on the floor, his head rolled back and the whites of his eyes showing, his face pale and his arms lying limp and useless at his sides. His chest, once broad and muscular, was now smoking with fire. Bing was doing nothing to stop it.

"BING!" She ran harder, and Katara's existence no longer mattered. All that mattered was saving the already dead Bing, her only real family left. The only friend that knew of her past was gone.

Running to Bing, the only thing she saw was his bright and pale face on the ground as she kneeled next to him. His shirt had ceased smoking and now his shirt was black with burnt flesh and cloth. He seemed so pained and angry inside, his heart was hurting as much as hers was.

It's going to be OK, Mika. Don't cry, it's going to be OK. Don't cry...

Bing's words flew threw her mind, in and out and in and out again, never stopping. Bing was like her older brother, now dead and limp on the floor.

She felt Katara's hand on her shoulder, the only thing she could feel. She heard nothing, only Bing's words when her family was gone. Don't cry.

Her body shivered, her wings spanned without her consent, her ears flew upward and unflattened, she stood up and looked at the teenager whom had killed Bing.

"You...you killed him. You killed him!" She spun around to Bing's body again. "You killed him!"

"I'll kill who ever I want to get to the Avatar," Zuko said flatly. "Where is he?"

Mika's voice darkened, she felt her dragon soul consume her until she could no longer see light, only Zuko's face. "And I'll kill who ever I want to avenge Bing, Princess Zuko. Stand and fight!"

Her voice deepened, and the only ounce of humanity left in her was swallowed into her throat and folded over again and again. Zuko killed Bing, she would kill Zuko. If Zuko killed her the process, she would join her family. Every one would win.

She couldn't really feel herself fight, it was as if she was living in a dream. All she could sense was Zuko's fear everytime a ball of fire would escape her lips, evertime her wings would levitate her higher in the sky. Was she flying? Or was it the joy of defeating such a horrible enemy? What it was, she was too blind to tell.

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

"Mika! Stop!" Katara moved forward, but fear blocked her path. Mika was made with power. Not only was she giving Zuko the fight of his life, but she was burning everything in her path. The trees, Zuko's ship, the shore, the ground, the shrubs. Katara's robe caught fire twice.

"Mika! Mika! Calm down!" Katara's words did nothing. Fire was erupting from every pore on Mika's body, burning everything in the process.