Disclaimer: Don't own avatar. Never have, never will.

So, here I am. Sitting at my computer. I've already checked all my mail. I've looked at livejournal. I've updated myspace. I read my comics. I have bought new ring tones for my phone. (Ding dong, the witch is dead. Batman. The Muppet theme some, and the Munsters. WOOO) I'm all out of ice cream. I've got a glass of water right here at an arms reach away.

And I still have homework to do.

What do I do, you ask?

I'll tell you.

I procrastinate.

OH YA.

11

"Jet…nice to meet you." Kila said, stepping out of his arm. "Wait…I think I've heard of you before…somewhere…" Kila scratched her head and thought for a second.

"I hope what you heard was good." Jet said as he stuck a twig into his mouth and started chewing on it.

"I can't remember…" Kila said, racking her brains. "I know that Uncle was talking about it…but that's it." She looked up at him, and then scowled. Lifting up her arm, she plucked the twig out of Jet's mouth and said "That's gross man." She dropped the twig on the ground "and unsanitary."

Jet chuckled. "I never thought of it like, that. It's just a habit for me I guess."

"Habits are meant to be broken." Kila said, turning towards him again. "And with that said, I bid you 'adieu." Turning back around, she started walking in the opposite direction. But she could hear Jet following her. "I said adieu."

"Then adieu already." Jet answered back.

Kila turned towards him and smiled. "You don't know what that means do you?"

"Not really, no. But if it means 'goodbye', then I don't think it's really the safest thing for you right now."

"And why is that?"

"Because you were just being chased by Fire Nation. They are ruthless, and are probably still looking for you now."

"I can handle myself fine, thanks."

"And running at top speed away from them is handling yourself?"

"I was trying to distract them. But I can actually fight pretty well."

"I don't believe you."

"Well you don't know me very well; you don't even know my name."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "You told me: Kila."

Kila cursed to herself inside. What was she thinking giving him her real name like that, when she had known that Iroh had said something about him? Well, ok she didn't know it was Jet at first, but she was so stupid to give him a real name. What had Iroh and Zuko said about Jet? What was it?

Lying quickly, Kila responded "That's actually not my name, it's a false one."

"Well then, why don't you tell me your real name?" Jet said, a sly grin creeping onto his face.

"I don't think so." Kila said, also smiling.

"Well, I still think that you shouldn't go off by yourself. The fire nation is out there, and it isn't safe. They are quite dangerous."

"Oh, screw them."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I can take them all."

Jet raised his eyebrows and blinked a couple times, then folded his arms. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Like I said, I can fight."

"Can you bend?"

"Of coarse I can bend."

"What element?"

Oh dear. Kila thought. What element do I tell him? He seems to already hate the fire nation, so probably telling him I'm a firebender won't really work. Air? No, they're extinct aren't they? Crap. Earth? Nope, I can't bend that one too well. WATER! Lets just hope he doesn't ask me to bend that much…seeing as I can't.

"Water." She answered after a pause.

"Water."

"Yes, water."

"Water"

"Is there an echo in here?"

"Well, I'm just wondering where your water canteen is. Most water benders carry one filled with it."

"I…lost it." Kila said, looking towards the ground.

"Ah. I see." Jet looked as though he really didn't believe her, and it was making Kila uneasy.

"Look, if you don't believe me, fine. Then leave me alone." She said, turning back around and stalking away.

"OK ok, I believe you." Jet said, jogging in front of Kila to block her path. She still didn't think that he was telling the truth, but, come to think of it, neither was she. "But I still think that you shouldn't go out on your own. At least stay the night in my hideout or something."

"Eh?" Kila said, cocking her head to the side.

"My hideout. It's full of people who are oppressed by the fire nation scum." He folded his arms again and looked at her straight in the eyes. "It would be fun to have you there. Permitting that you tell me your real name."

Kila looked downward and took a deep breath. "Kiana." She said slowly, making up the name as she went.

"I beg your pardon?" Jet said moving closer.

"My name is Kiana." Kila lied.

Jet bent over to Kila height and looked her right in the eyes. "Say that again."

"My name is Kiana." Kila repeated, looking right into Jets eyes.

This seemed to suit him, because he straightened up smiling. "Well come on then" he said, turning around. "The twilight is deepening."

Kila looked around and noticed that he was right. The sky was churning from its rich blue color to a deep black quickly, and she wanted to get out of harms way if Zhao was still looking for her.

Thinking quietly to herself, she realized how long this day had been. Actually, it seemed like a long day, but it in fact was two. She had slept last night on Appa's saddle as they were still flying far away from Zuko's ship, and they had landed this afternoon. The day's seemed to now blur together into one long dream that made no sense, and Kila wished she could wake up.

"You're awfully quiet back there; a few minutes ago you wouldn't shut up." Jets voice said, shattering Kila out of her dreams.

"Oh, sorry." She replied. "Just thinking."

"Well, keep up. I don't want you lagging behind." Jet said, a smirk tracing across his lips. Kila quickly jogged up to catch Jet and walked beside him.

"How much farther is it?" She asked uncertainly.

"Oh, not much farther."

Kila nodded and looked down as she walked. "So, is Jet your real name?" she asked.

"Maybe" he replied coyly. "It could be a real name, or a nickname. It doesn't matter really though. Mostly everyone at the hideout has a nickname."

"Why is that?"

Jet shrugged. "Cause we mostly consist of a bunch of kids. At least, that's how the fire nation perceives us. We're kids, so we're not a threat. They are dead wrong."

"Don't let age blind you…" Kila half muttered to herself, remembering what Iroh had said. Bits and pieces were becoming to filter back into her brain from their conversation, but what else had Zuko and Iroh said?

"That's a great way of putting it!" Jet said, smiling at Kila. "Anyway, like I said, most of the kids in the hideout were oppressed by the fire nation. Most of them lost their families, or their villages."

"What did the fire nation do to you?" Kila asked, intrigued.

"Those bastards killed my parents when I was eight." Jet stopped walking and hung his head.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Kila said, stopping and putting a consoling hand on his back.

"That's why I've dedicated my life to ridding the world of the fire nation!" Even though it was dark, Kila thought she saw his eyes shine with hatred. Her own eyes widened from shock as she finally remembered what Iroh had said. Their leader, I believe his name was 'Jet'…he apparently is quite a fighter. Yet he holds quite a grudge against our nation. Another troop near the Kuzo region has suddenly 'disappeared'.

"Oh dear…" Kila said slowly, letting her arm drop. If Jet ever found out she was a firebender, because she doubted he would believe that she was from the future, then he would kill her as well. She knew she was a good fighter, but if Jet could get rid of a whole troop of trained soldiers, she would just be like a fly to him! Perhaps it WAS a good thing she told him a false name, even though she went the wrong way about doing it.

Jet lifted his head and looked at Kila. She tried to hide her terror, but she could feel herself shaking. He looked her up and down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry." He said an evil smile now on his face. "If you're with me, then you won't have to worry about them again."

Kila looked up at him and starred in disbelief. Thankfully, he took this as a sign of approval and thankfulness, and his evil smiled was replaced with a normal one. "That's a good girl." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and continuing to walk. Kila now felt quite numb. But remembering her escapade, she shook that feeling out of her head and remembered she was a water bender. If she practiced secretly in her room, maybe she could pull it off.

"So Kiana," Jet began. "Where are you from?"

"Oh…a water tribe village." Kila said nonchalantly. "Are we there yet?"

Jet looked around gathering his bearing and replied "Yup." He reached up with one arm and tightened his grip on Kila with the other. "Grab on." Kila raised an eyebrow, and then wrapped her arms around Jet. Within an instant, she felt the same feeling of being lifted up off the ground like the first time he grabbed her.

Kila mistakenly looked down and yelped; because it had gotten so dark, she couldn't see the ground anymore. Tightening her grip around Jet, she squished her eyes shut and prayed that the 'ride' would be over soon.

Thankfully, only a few more minutes passed, and then Kila felt Jet placing her carefully onto solid ground. "You can open your eyes now." He whispered in her ear. Kila opened one eye, peeking around to make sure she was safe. Then she opened the other one and took a great big sigh.

"Afraid of heights?" Jet asked nonchalantly.

"Well…" Kila said, looking downward. It was true that she was afraid of heights, but when she was in an airplane, it didn't bother her. Perhaps that was why she was ok flying on Appa.

"It's ok; you'll get over it eventually." He consoled.

Kila looked up at him in disbelief. "What do you mean, eventually? You said I'd stay only a night here."

Jet opened his mouth to reply, but at that point something small jumped onto his back screaming "JET JET! YOU'RE BACK!"

"Hey Duke." Jet chuckled, grabbing the little boy by the scruff of the neck and peeling him off. He looked like he was only about seven years old, but Kila could tell he was probably a bit more mature than his years. He wore an iron helmet on his head and a scratchy vest, and was actually quite dirty.

Duke looked like he was about to bombard Jet with millions of questions about why he was so late, but then he saw Kila and furrowed his eyebrows. "Who's she?" he asked.

"Hi, I'm Kiana." Kila replied before Jet could answer. She wanted to prove to him that Kiana was her real name. Plus, the more she would say it and hear it, the better she could play along.

"Found her running from soldiers." Jet answered, putting Duke down in front of Kila. Kila was strongly reminded of her younger brother who was also seven, and patted the top of Duke's helmet. He twitched away from her and grabbed Jet's hand. "COME ON!" He whined, pulling. "We've been waiting for you to start dinner! I'm HUNGRY!"

"I guess I'll give you a tour later." Jet said to Kila shrugging. Kila smiled and followed Jet and Duke towards a large room with a long table. Sitting around the table were more kids, some also quite dirty, some clean. Most were in crude, or scruffy clothes, like they had either made them themselves, or had them sense the fire nation had taken over their village. All eyes turned towards Jet as he entered the room, and then they all fell on Kila as she followed behind. Some of the glares were piercing, some welcoming, and some were just looks of curiosity. Kila gulped and sat down quickly next to Jet, trying to get the attention averted from her.

But she didn't have to wait for long; sense the last member in their party had arrived, the group attacked their dinner like a bunch of buzzards on a warthog carcass. Kila grimaced at the feeding frenzy and then looked down at the main bowl full of food. Grabbing some and plopping it on her plate, she began to eat as delicately as she could without the use of utensils.

Jet watched her intently. "You're part of a rich family aren't you?" he asked.

Kila looked up at him. "What ever gave you that idea?"

Jet pointed to her fingers saying "You don't like to get dirty."

Kila looked at her fingers and smiled. "Well, yeah, I don't like to get dirty. But I'm not exactly from a rich family. In fact, I haven't seen my family in awhile. I was just a cook recently, and we used chopsticks at least." Kila again realized how much she missed forks, and tried to pick up some mashed substance with her fingernails.

"Who were you a cook for?" Jet asked. His food was lying untouched, and was getting greedy stares from the children sitting around him.

Kila grabbed his plate, wrenching it away from the prying eyes and handed it to Jet. "Fire nation army." She replied truthfully. She had expected this to come eventually. Not the question if she was a cook or not, but why she was running from Zhao and his men. And she had concocted an idea that was half truth.

Jet almost dropped his plate out of surprise. "FIRE NATION ARMY?" He gasped out, and Kila nodded calmly. "They kidnapped me from my tribe and forced me to cook and clean. The reason I was running from them is because I was trying to get away."

Jet was dumbfounded. "How did you stand living with them for so long?"

"I got used to them, in a way." Kila said shrugging. Trying unsuccessfully for the tenth time to get food without getting dirty, she gave up and just scooped it off her plate with her hand.

"How could you get used to their barbaric behavior?"

"You ignore them." Kila said, sucking up the mashed food. "Ug. I feel like a barbarian."

Jet smiled. "You'll get used to it."

After dinner, Jet stood up and helped Kila to her feet. "There's a water jug over there you can wash your hands with." He said, pointing.

Kila sighed from relief and sprinted over to the water. Tipping over the jug, she let the cool sensation pour over her filthy hands for a few seconds, then rubbed them vigorously to get the food off.

When she was completely satisfied, she walked back over to Jet who was now talking to a girl that looked the same age as Kila. She was taller than Kila, and had blonde curly hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Kila was surprised, because she hadn't seen blonde hair around yet.

"Kiana, meet Curly." Jet said, indicating the girl standing next to him. She smiled and waved politely.

"Hi." Kila answered.

"Curly has kindly agreed to let you stay in her room." Jet explained. Kila nodded.

"Thanks." She said.

"Aw shucks, it gets lonely in their all by myself anyway." Curly replied, shrugging and rolling her eyes.

"Ok, well. I'm going to go to my room. I'll see you tomorrow Kiana." Jet said, then without another word, he turned around and strode out of the room.

Kila turned to Curly and asked "Do you like being called Curly?"

Curly shrugged again. "I've gotten used to it. The only reason for it is because my hair is curly. I'm surprised it's not something worse like 'fuzzball' or 'blondy.'" Curly turned around and motioned for her to follow.

"I haven't seen blonde hair around much though." Kila replied, trying to strike up a conversation. "Where do you come from?"

"A village up North…it's a kinda touchy subject, I don't like to talk about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kila replied.

"Don't worry. Mostly everyone here is touchy with that subject. Don't ask, and you'll be fine."

"Ok." Kila said nodding. "I'm sorry, I can't resist. What's your real name?"

Curly chuckled. "You're a tad nosy, aren't you?"

"Just a bit" Kila said sarcastically, holding up two fingers to indicate how little she was.

Curly laughed. "Melia."

"That is so pretty! Can I call you Melina instead of Curly?"

Melia turned to Kila, smiling. "I would like that. Your name is pretty too…Kiana…it just kinda rolls off the tongue."

"You have no idea…" Kila muttered to herself.

TA-DA! Another chapter! This one is eight pages long, so you better be happy. It's not really a cliffhanger at the end, so it's all good.

I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything. My next week is very busy. Curse school.

Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed. I love them, and I love you.

SeethingxShadows