Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the people you don't recognize. Except…if you've been reading this story…then you should recognize my people by now…so…I guess that really doesn't work then….Ok, so I don't own anything except for Kila and Melia. And they aren't for sale, so stop asking.

Oh my, I'm SOOOOOOOO SORRY about the wait.

No, I really am.

I truly am sorry.

Fine, don't believe me.

See if I care.

Cause I DON'T!

Ok, so anyway, going back to sane SeethingxShadows. Thank you everyone for all your reviews.

I have been consumed by the all evil AP Bio. My friend Stacy says that it's now the owner of my life and soul. But that's mainly because I can't go off campus for lunch anymore with her cause I spend lunchtime studying Bio in my classroom. Needless to say, I have lost weight. YES.

Also, I don't know how many of you heard about the fires and such in So Cal…but those were in my general vicinity. (AKA, they started in my city, and then hopped one city over.) So…there ya go. We're all gonna die. YAY.

Khazia- Hey…are you not getting the alerts anymore? Or is it just cause you can't get online at your house anymore? Or did you just die? Cause I'm worried about you my dear Stalker Minor.

ElvenArcher0310- Wait…you WANTED Zuko to find her? WHY?

Weirdo.

But, ok, here it is. He finds her…I guess you could say he finds her at least…I mean, oh, just read the story. You'll get it.

o-dragon- Yea, it is harsh about Melia and everything…but I had to think of a good reason why she hated the fire nation, when she was part of it. Cause there's something else about her that would make everyone think "Ah, your dad is dead. Oh well." if she wasn't raped. It's explained in this chapter, because that right there didn't make any sense whatsoever.

I actually love it when you ramble. It just gives me a window I can peek into to see what you are really like…not a stalker. –hides-.

Aanglover- Perfect? –blushes- Well thank you! That makes me super happy, cause I thought it was farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from perfect. (The extra 'r's show how far away it is. I am SO clever.). If you are lazy with reviews, then thank you very much for finally reviewing, cause it really does mean a lot to me.

Petitio Principii-Thank you about the using Melia to her full potential comment. I am JUST getting started with her –evil grin-.

Nice metaphor, I love metaphors.

Yes, May it Be/ Enya rocks. You should listen to "Celtic Woman". It's basically four Irish ladies who sing the same songs, very Purdy.

Zulaya- When I read that "Dear Friend" comment, I went on iTunes to look it up and listen to it, but I couldn't find it. –cries- Who sings it? I believe you and everything, but I want to hear it also…cause I'm weird like that.

Haha, -dances in a very non-angsty way-. That part made me laugh SO MUCH. Ahhhhh, I love you. –Hugs Zulaya in a very non-angsty way-.

Melia is gonna get even more interesting –evil smile-. And thanks about how you think Jet is in character.

Holly N.- Good gracious, you've read this story 4 times? o-O. Ooooooooooook. Doesn't it get boring? I get bored reading the chapters over for references…but whatev. I suggest you read Khazia's stories –points to first name mentioned- because she updates MUCH QUICKER than I do…and she has better plot lines.

But I am glad that you love this story so much. That is really quite a complement.

And again, to everyone that reviewed "This is great/I love it/ update!" thank you! And if you want your name mentioned…write a bigger review! No, just kidding.

13

Kila awoke the next morning by her stomach grumbling at the lack of food inside her. Groaning, she pulled herself off her pad and stood up. Out of habit, she looked over towards Melia's pad while yawning. Melia of coarse wasn't there, just like every other morning Kila had woken up to. Melia was the complete opposite of Kila; she was a total morning person, while Kila was a creature of the night.

Staggering towards the mess hall to make herself sometime to eat, Kila scratched her head sleepily. It had only been about two weeks sense Jet had grabbed her, yet it felt like an eternity. She still had no idea how she was going to get home, or if she ever was for that matter. She had no idea if Zhao was still looking for her, or had called off the search. She had no idea what she was going to do if she ever saw Zuko again, or what would happen if she had to continue living with Jet.

Before she knew it, she was inside the small kitchen, rooting around for something to eat. There was very little usually stocked inside the kitchen, because the group usually picked it or caught it the day of. But Kila found a few stray pears that she had picked about a day ago, and started cutting them up.

Suddenly she felt two strong arms wrap around her stomach and squeeze. Kila croaked a tiny yelp from surprise, and she heard a hearty chuckle coming from the owner of the arms.

"JET!" Kila cried. "I was using a knife. I could have hurt you, or worse, me."

"Sorry" He said, placing his head on the crook of her neck. Kila rolled her shoulder blade to get him to move, but he stayed put. "So…" he said smoothly into her ear. "When do I get to really learn why you were running from those soldiers, hmm?"

"I told you why: I was trying to be a distraction for my friends to get away." Kila said exasperated. "Now please remove your head from my shoulder."

"Does my head bother you?" he asked, nuzzling it closer.

"Yes actually, it does. Plus, it's very hard to cut with it there." Kila said, putting a tone of warning in her voice. "And I'm hungry."

"Oh, well if you're hungry," Jet replied, and moved his head, leaving his arms still snaked around her waist.

"Take your hands off also."

"You didn't say my hands, only my head."

"I thought it was obvious what I meant."

"Maybe if you tell me exactly what you mean, I will."

"You sly devil." Kila said shaking her head. "Take your hands off me, and no I'm not telling you about the soldiers, because I have told you everything."

"Except whom it was you were trying to distract the soldiers from."

"My friends."

"Well, I'm glad to know that you knew the people. But who were they?"

"You don't know them."

"I may, it's a small world."

"Jet…..I'm still holding this knife, and it is quite sharp."

Jet sighed and dropped his arms from Kila's waist reluctantly. "You play dirty." He replied with a slick tone.

"My dear child." Kila said raising an eyebrow. "I hate being dirty. I play fairly."

"Fairly equals dirty sometimes." Jet said bringing his head in close to Kila's. "And I am about your age."

"Then act like it." Kila said saucily. Returning to cutting her pear, she asked "Did you come in here for any other reason, or just to annoy me?"

"Actually, I came in wondering if you would like to accompany me to pick some fruit." He asked leaning against a table.

Kila furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Tilting her head to the end of the room, she noticed a full basket of apples. "Jet, there's a basket of fruit over there."

"Well, we can go pick some more."

"And there's another basket over there. In fact, I think that's all the baskets we have." Kila then wished she wasn't allergic to apples for the hundredth time, and returned to slicing her breakfast.

"Well then we're just going to have to go buy a basket."

"And when you say buy, you really mean…?"

Jet shrugged. "Steal."

Kila shook her head. "No." Placing the knife down, she grabbed a pear slice and bit into it.

"Oh come on, it's really not that bad."

"That's what Germany thought when Hitler ran for office." Kila muttered.

"…who?"

Kila cursed in her head. "Nothing." Taking another bite of pear, she leaned up against the counter.

Jet stared at her, and then blurted out "You sure eat a lot, don't you?"

Kila stopped chewing and blinked. Swallowing her mouthful, she asked "are you saying I'm fat?"

"No, just that you eat a lot." Jet replied shrugging.

"You called me fat."

"I didn't call you fat."

"Gadzooks I'm fat!" Kila placed her third pear slice back onto the counter in horror.

"When did I say you were fat?"

"I have to go work out. Let's go for a walk. I need to burn my calories." Kila said walking briskly out of the room.

"You're not fat! And what are calories?" Jet asked following her.

"So, in the end, you did come walking with me after all?" Jet asked with a new swagger in his step.

"Yes, the irony irks me as well." Kila said, walking normally.

"Oh, I'm not at all irked by it." Jet replied, a devilish smirk playing across his lips.

"That's only because you're a-" Kila began, but was quickly pushed down into the dirt by Jet. "Ow. First Zhao, now you…Jet you are so going to pay for that."

"Quiet for a second." Jet hissed, lying on the ground as well. "I heard something."

"Yea, me complaining." Kila said, rolling her eyes.

"Kiana, please. Shut up." Jet whined, and then started crawling forward silently.

Kila kept her mouth shut and watched Jet warily, wondering what he heard. Slowly he worked his way into a crouched position, and then back into a standing one. Moving behind a conveniently placed tree, he slithered up it like a snake, and crouched in one of the many braches. Peeking around the tree, Kila thought she saw the flicker of hate in his eyes.

And then she heard what Jet had earlier: voices. Voices that she recognized.

Kila lay frozen on the ground, not daring to move. She didn't know how long she stayed there, but finally Jet was content with what he was seeing and jumped from his branch, landing silently on the forest floor. Picking up the petrified Kila, he bolted back to the hideout, not slowing down once.

Once they had gotten back inside the hideout, Jet let Kila go and ran off to let his main men know about the close proximity of the firebending troops. Kila ran back to her room and sat still on her mat, trying to process everything. Maybe that wasn't him; after all, she didn't see his face. And she would have definitely known if it was him if she saw his face. You can't miss a face like that, yet how she wished she would be able to.

Melia walked in a few minutes later whistling. "Hey, I was just looking for you. Where have you been?"

Kila looked up from her fetal position at Melia. "Walking with Jet." She replied, lowering her head.

Melia cocked her head to the side. "And…walking with him is…bad?"

Kila shook her head. "No, not really. I mean, he can be sort of a pain…"

"Don't I know it." Melia sighed, walking over towards Kila and sitting down next to her. "So…if it wasn't Jet, then what was it?"

"Fire benders."

Melia's eyes widened. "They attacked?"

"Oh no, I never saw them. I heard them."

"Um…" Melia looked off to the side. "Ok, I'm still not quite getting it."

"I recognized one of their voices." Kila said shivering.

"…oh. Now I get it." Melia said, putting her arm around Kilas shoulders. "Who was it?"

Kila shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it was Z-"

"KIANA! MELIA!" Pipsqueak cried, poking his overly large head into their room. "Jet wants to see both of you."

"Right." Kila said standing up. "I need something to do to get my mind off this."

"Good idea." Melia said, following suit.

"Right now we have a scout keeping watch, and giving me up to date reports." Jet informed both Kila and Melia inside his room. "It was a small number of soldiers, so we shouldn't have to worry too much."

If it's who I think it is, we have more to worry about than you seem to think. Kila though to herself, biting her nails.

"If push comes to shove, you two are the oldest in this camp that will not be leaving to fight." Jet said, pointing to both of them. "And you are by far the most mature. So, I will be leaving you two in charge of everyone else."

Melia nodded. "You can count on us Jet."

Jet smiled. "That's my girl." Melia blushed at this statement. If Kila wasn't so nervous, she would have gagged.

"JET!" The Duke cried as he ran into the room.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Jet said, turning to the Duke. Kila forgot her nervousness for a second and asked "This was your lookout?"

"Duke is very reliable." Jet replied, nodding

"Yeah, but he's…well…short."

"I wouldn't be talking missy." The Duke replied, narrowing his eyes at her.

"It's just that Duke is about as old as my little brother, and he really isn't that mature." Kila said shrugging.

"It's The Duke." Duke corrected, jumping up onto Jets table to look Kila in the eyes. "Only Jet can call me Duke."

"What, do you think third person makes you seem more intimidating?" Kila asked.

"Ok ok, knock it off." Jet said, pushing The Duke back onto the floor. "Duke, did you see anything?"

"Yea, the soldiers you were talking about."

"Did they have any special characteristics?" Jet asked, placing his chin in his hand.

"Well, they all looked like scum-bag firebenders." Duke replied. "But one of them was really old, and another looked kinda young, and had a wicked scar on his face."

Both Kila and Melia drew in sharp intakes of air at this description and Kila fell to the ground in shock.

Jet looked at them both in surprise. "You know about these firebenders?"

"Know about them?" Melia replied haughtily. "Everyone knows about that one! It's Prince Zuko of the fire nation!" She rubbed her temples and paced around the room. Then stopping suddenly, she turned to Kila and asked "Kiana, how did you recognize his voice?"

"Wait, you know this Prince Zako guy?" Jet asked Kila.

"Oh my God…" Kila said shaking. Then turning towards the Duke she questioned "What were they talking about?"

"Oh, NOW you want to know? But I'm SUCH a bad lookout!" He replied, folding his arms.

"Tell me before I broil you for dinner." Kila said standing up.

"Eh, that one prince guy was just saying something like 'I heard the singing from this direction.' If you ask me he's loosing it." The Duke replied mildly.

"Oh my God." Kila repeated, falling back towards the floor.

"Thank you Duke, can you go get Smeller-bee, Pipsqueak and Long-shot together and get them prepared for battle?" Jet asked The Duke. Duke nodded and hopped out of the room.

Getting out of his chair, Jet walked over to Kila and knelt down beside her. "Kiana, how do you know this prince?"

Kila shook her head. "It's a long story."

Melia turned towards Jet and placed her hand on his shoulder. "He's a very powerful bender; you're going to have to be careful."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I've taken down benders before." Jet replied.

"But he's different." Melia said cautiously.

"Isn't that the truth." Kila muttered to herself.

"We'll be back soon." Jet said, grabbing a rope so he could slide towards the ground. "Don't worry about us."

"Don't worry, we trust you." Melia replied.

"You know, you can just leave him alone." Kila blurted out. "It would save the trouble of fighting."

"You are so strange" Jet said laughing. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Leaning over, he kissed Kilas cheek, before sliding down the rope without another word.

"Lucky." Melia hissed.

"Not really…" Kila sighed. Then an idea struck her. "Come on." Grabbing Melia's wrist, she dragged her back to Jets room. "Does he have a knife in here, or a dagger or something?"

"Yea…right there." Melia said, pointing to a small dagger lying on Jets table. "But what for…?"

Kila grabbed the dagger and pulled her hair out of the way of her neck, and placed the blade close to her skin.

"Oh, ok Kiana, put the dagger down. There is no reason to get drastic here. Kiana…put it down…"

Kila gave Melia an evil wink, and then slashed all of her hair.

"See, there you go. And it was such pretty hair too." Melia said, dropping her hands down to her sides.

Kila's hair no longer reached lower than her shoulder blades, but now just below her ears. Placing the dagger back down on the desk, she took her free hand and parted the hair on her right side. Now, she had a large amount of bangs hanging down in front of her right eye, and only the left side of her face was visible. "What do you think?"

"You look ridiculous."

"But do I look like me?"

"Well…not really no. But why would you have to disguise yourself in front of Prince Zuko?"

"Because we are going down there to watch." Kila said, grabbing Melia's wrist again and dragging her out the door and to a rope.

"But we have to watch the younger children!" Melia protested.

"Oh please, they're fine. Let's go."

"Why were you suddenly so frightened and now so alright with it?"

Kila paused for a second and thought. "Because…deep down…" she slowly explained. "I'm really not afraid of him. In fact…I sort of…oh never mind let's get going!" And with no more said, Kila slid down the rope.

"But, we…it's…KIANA! Oh honestly!" Stamping her foot from frustration, Melia grabbed the rope and followed Kila.

They didn't have long to search, because about ten minutes straight into the woods, they could hear the roars of a fight breaking out. Following the noise, they found the rebels and the soldiers fighting each other in quite an evenly matched battle. The soldiers seemed to be faring pretty well, and same with the rebels. Iroh actually looked bored in his fight, like he was just working out his old techniques to get back in shape. The only fight worth watching was the one between Jet and Prince Zuko, who were both equally good fighters.

Kila watched Zuko with quite some interest. She had never seen him this angered before. She herself had gotten him frustrated, but never this angry. Then dread filled her body again at the thought of when he would set eyes on her. She quickly took back her idea, because he would probably be quite furious with her after Aang had pulled her off his ship.

The fighting seemed to pause for a moment when someone cried out "MELIA! KIANA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Kila had no idea who screamed this out, but it seemed to grasp Irohs' attention. Pushing the rebel he was battling with out of the way easily, he stared at the two girls. Then his eyes widened in surprise. Kilas pulse began to rush at what she knew was coming.

But then, what Iroh did confused Kila. Instead of yelling out her name, he cried out "Sozen's Comet, it can't be! MADAM MELIA?"

As he began to run over towards them, Kila turned towards Melia confused and asked "MADAM? What's he talking about?"

"Oh no…" Melia uttered.

Iroh reached the two girls and stared at Melia like he was seeing a ghost. "Madam Melia? Is that really you?"

"Erm…Hello General Iroh." Melia said kindly.

"PRINCE ZUKO! Stop that ridiculous fight at once and come over here!" Iroh yelled towards the prince.

"I'm quite busy at the moment uncle!" Zuko grunted as he blocked two of Jet's advances. Iroh waved his hand and suddenly another soldier was grabbing Jets arms from behind, constricting him.

Zuko took a few seconds to gather his breath, and then calmly walked over towards his uncle. "What is it." He asked dryly.

"I just thought you would want to say hello to this nice young lady. You haven't seen her in so many years." Iroh said shrugging.

Zuko turned towards Melia and, to Kila's great surprise, bowed. "How do you do Madam Melia. It has been too long." Turning back to his uncle, he asked "May I continue with my fight now? I have lots of pent up anger from that damn-"

"Don't speak of her here in front of your fiancé." Iroh said waving his hand again.

Kila's eyes widened from shock. Melia…and Zuko…fiancés? It couldn't be. She slowly turned her head towards Melia's for a confirmation.

Melia nodded; It was true.

Wow…by a show of hands, who saw that one coming?

Ok, well this will be explained in the next chapter. Why not now? Because it's 12:22 am, this is 11 pages long, and my fingers are cramping up. So, you just get to wait.

Yes, another cliffhanger, but what can you do? If it's not a cliffhanger, how will I keep your interest and keep you reading?

So…I'll try and update soon.

Please review!

SeethingxShadows