Second chapter! I hope things get a little more interesting. Chapter three should be coming soon. Once school starts up in August, so I won't come out with more stories so often, but they won't stop completely.

As the fireball flew past them, Sokka got in front of Kaki, making sure it didn't hit her. Her eyes had gotten wide and she was shaking. He turned and looked at her with a concerned look, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, but kept her eyes fixed on the fire spiraling up into the sky. It was a mixture of pumpkin orange, yellow and amber. She swallowed and kept the urge to start crying again.

Katara finally woke up when she felt the huge wave of heat barely miss them. She sat up in a jolt. Her gaze instantly went to the extra person on the furry animal. She turned to Aang, "Who is she?"

"We'll explain later, Katara. Right now we have bigger problems!" She looked down to the ground to see a firebender. She had expected it to be Zuko, but it was someone different.

"Is it a bounty hunter?" She asked with her brow furrowed. Kaki also looked down at the ground below. She felt herself gasp before she could catch herself. She felt Sokka put his hand on her shoulder.

"Is something the matter?" He looked down at the man below. You couldn't really make out his features. You would only know who he was from that height if you knew him well.

"We better land," Aang stated, looking to the others for support. "That blast just barely missed us. If he hits any closer, we'll be in trouble." Sokka and Katara nodded. Kaki had her back to them.

Soon, Appa was on the ground, only a few feet away from the man. Everyone jumped off. Kaki pulled the hood of the jacket on and made sure it shadowed over her face. She stood back as the others charged toward the attacker.

"Who are you?" Aang insisted, pointing his closed glider threateningly toward him.

The man who stood before them didn't seem intimidated by Aang's actions. He had shoulder length brown hair with a touch of amber tied up in a ponytail. He had a deep gash on his right cheek. He wore a long black tunic and blood red baggy pants. A combination of black and red combat boots finished the look. He was in a fighting stance with a taunting smirk on his face.

"That's strange," he said looking at the hooded girl standing behind the others, "I was told there were only three of you. Two water tribe idiots and the Avatar." The girl's arms instantly clutched each other around her stomach. She kept her head down. He sent a bolt of fire toward Katara. She brought up a sheet of ice to douse it before it could hit her.

Frustrated that his attack did nothing, he charged up to them. He threw a fire covered fist toward fist at Aang. He was just able to get out of the way, but fell to the ground. Katara rushed over when he was about to strike again. He grabbed her by the hood and flung her a good distance in the opposite direction. "My name is Rokujou, by the way."

Sokka was about to try his luck. Before he could, Kaki found herself running up to Rokujou and standing in front of him. She had her arms out on either side of her. "Stop!"

Rokujou just laughed. "You are very foolish, little girl. I will crush you, unless you do as you are told and step aside." When she didn't move, he frowned and shrugged. "Have it your way." He got in a stance that suggested he was about to send another fire ball.

Kaki's mind was racing, and so was her heart. If I defend myself, then they will see who I really am, but if I don't then they'll… She had no time left to think. She took a deep breath and got in a fighting stance as well.

He grinned maliciously and sent a blast of fire toward her. She was able to block it, but the rush of wind that came along with it blew her hood down. Rokujou froze in surprise. Kaki took this opportunity to send a kick his way, knocking him over with a huge surge of fire.

There was no telling who was more shocked, Aang and his companions, or Rokujou. Kaki slowly returned to standing normally. Her face had become flushed. She looked back to the snow, as if begging for some kind of support from it, but all the snow about a foot around her was melting.

Rokujou scrambled to his feet and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "Kaki! What are you doing here, and with the Avatar?" She closed her eyes and faced away from him. He gave her a rough shake, the anger in his face was evident, "Answer me you bitch!"

Kaki's eyes flew open in astonishment and her face whipped around to his direction. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Rokujou was being knocked to the ground. She looked to see Sokka towering over him. "Don't call her that," he barked.

Rokujou looked at Kaki, "I will let you four go, but only because of her. I will let you know though, when I see you again, I won't let you slip away." He got up and walked over to his rhino. He climbed on and rode away, without looking back at them.

Kaki looked back at Sokka, who now had his back facing her. "You can't come with us, I am sorry." His voice sounded cold and bitter. Aang looked at his friend in surprise. Katara just looked at the ground, silent.

Kaki removed the coat that had been given to her and held it out in her arms as if he could see her. "Here's your jacket." Her expression looked pain. Her face had never been so pale.

Sokka still didn't turn around. His voice was near silent, "Keep it." He walked over to Appa and climbed on. Katara followed, sneaking a small look at the girl they were leaving. Aang was the only one to look her straight in the face. He gave her a sad smile before turning around and getting on the giant animal like the other to had just done.

Soon the bison slapped his tail on the ground and they were being lifted up into the sky. Sokka dared a hurt glance down at Kaki. She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face. She slight raised her hand and gave a weak wave. Sokka closed his eyes and turned away.

Kaki was left standing there, hurt and alone.

"Why did we leave her?" Aang was sitting on the thick tough neck of his bison. He had his eyes fixed on the skies ahead of them. If they had seen his face, they would have seen one of guilt. He hated leaving people behind.

He stared down at his feet, "She is from the fire nation. We can't trust her." His eyes looked empty.

Aang whipped his entire body around to face his two friends. "She helped us. She got that Rokujou guy to go away." Sokka didn't look up, so he fixed his gaze on Katara. She instantly looked down and began picking at the threading on her jacket. Aang sighed, giving up, he turned back around.

Sokka closed his eyes and lay down. I need to get to sleep. After tossing around for about thirty minutes, he was finally able to drift into a light sleep.

Kaki was standing in front of him in the snow. Tears were gently falling from her face and hitting the ground. The word 'why' was flying around like a bunch of birds. Sokka had his mouth going like he was talking, but no words came out. Suddenly Katara's voice floated through the air. Soon everything dissolved.

Sokka opened his eyes to see it was night. Katara was knelt over him with his hand on his shoulder. She smiled, "Finally awake I see. We found a place to camp for the night." He just stood up and climbed off of Appa. The camp was already set up.

Kaki sat in another cave. This seemed to be becoming a pattern. She stared into the fire. There was a puddle of water near her where some snow had melted. She looked at her reflection. She hadn't really noticed before, but her hair had a touch of amber in it.

She looked back to the fire and closed her eyes. It was near impossible to hear anything. Air whipped around the cave making a loud howling sound. She let out a small sigh and hugged her knees tightly to her chest. Her shoulders felt heavy and her eyes felt dry.

Suddenly a hand clutched her shoulder. She screamed and jumped to her feet. A pair of brown eyes glistened in the fire. "Rokujou!"