Me: Obviously my little pep talk didn't work although I did get someone new to review.

Gidget: Obviously.

Sokka: Get on with it already!

Me and Gidget: Fine!

Disclaimer: I just found out I don't even own that nickel I found under the couch. How the hell am I going to own A:TLA?

Sapphire's Secret

"Princess Sapphire? She was a princess?" Katara asked, not believing what Sarah had told her.

"Yes, Sapphire was a princess. I was just as shocked as you. We had been best friends for three years but she never felt comfortable telling us." Sarah told her, a hint of regret in her voice like she had done something to lose Sapphire's trust.

"What happened after you found out?"

Flashback

"What are you talking about Kinjo?" Sarah questioned, sure that it was a mistake. Sapphire wasn't a princess. She would have told them if she was, wouldn't she?

"She's the missing Southern Water Tribe Princess. She has been missing for three years. I would recognize Princess Sapphire anywhere." Kinjo explained.

"Is this true Sapphire? Are you the missing princess?" Sarah demanded. James, Ruby, and Emerald just stared at Sapphire, the friend they thought they knew.

"Yes, it's true." Sapphire admitted. Seeing the hurt look in the nine year old queen's eyes she added, "I would have told you but I was afraid of being found. I thought that if you didn't know the truth I could start over. You were so kind to me. I wanted to tell you but…" Sapphire trailed off.

"You lied to us all these years. How could you Sapphire?" Ruby said.

"I'm so sorry. I would never do anything to hurt any of you." Tears streamed down Sapphire's rosy cheeks as she ran from the room into the hallway, not quite out of earshot.

"I'm sorry to bring so much trouble to your court, Queen Sarah. I'll just take the young princess and go." Kinjo said. He turned to leave. Sapphire cried harder when she heard this. The last thing she wanted was to go back.

"No." Kinjo turned back to when the queen spoke. "She is an apprentice to a healer. She can't leave until the terms of her agreement are up. That won't be for another four years. Until then she is in healer's care." Sapphire couldn't believe her ears. Sarah was finding a way to keep her there after she had lied to all of them.

"My Lady, surely you cannot expect a princess to work as an assistant." Kinjo argued.

"Yes, I do expect and so does the healer that has taken care of her for all these years. I will not allow Sapphire to break her contract with the healer. That means that until Sapphire's 13th birthday she is bound to the healer. Now, why did you want to see me?" Sapphire flinched at the sound of her friend's voice. She had never heard the young queen yell before.

"I wanted to know if you had seen the princess and if so where she was." Kinjo said meekly.

"Well, you have found her. Dismissed."

"But, what abo-"

"I said dismissed!" Sarah shouted.

Kinjo gathered his courage and said, "I'm not leaving without Princess Sapphire."

"I have told you what will happen. Sapphire is to stay here until she is thirteen. Then she will decide if she wants to go home or not."

"She will come home now. Her tribe needs her."

"The healer needs her too. Guards! Remove this man from my sight until he can decide to leave without Princess Sapphire." Sarah ordered as Sapphire quietly left her hiding spot to go find a new one.

The guards bowed and led Kinjo away from the throne room. When they were gone Sarah, Ruby, Emerald, and James went to find Sapphire. They found her in the palace garden in the same spot they had been earlier.

"Why did you stick up for me Sarah? I lied to you about who I was for three years. I thought you would hate me."

"We could never hate you Sapphire." Ruby said, smiling at her friend's stupidity.

"We'll always love you Sapp. No matter what, we'll always love you." Sarah said, giving Sapphire a hug.

"I don't want to go back to the Water Tribe."

"We know Sapp. We're not going to let him take you back." Emerald told her.

"You will have to go back to the Southern Water Tribe eventually. Just as I'm queen here you're princess there. Your people need you." Sarah told her. "Why didn't you tell us the truth?"

"I was afraid that you would send me back Sarah. I had met your mother but not you. I didn't know what you would be like and whether you would let me stay. I wanted to tell you but whenever I worked up the courage to do so, I chickened out. There were so many times that I almost told you but…" Sapphire sobbed even harder.

"You were afraid I would send you back and stop being your friend." Sarah finished for the crying girl.

End Flashback

"Sapphire was the princess of my tribe?" Katara asked.

"Yes, she was."

"What happened next?"

"I went to talk to Kinjo and try to negotiate terms for Sapphire to stay with us."

"What did he say?"

"Listen and you'll find out."

Flashback

Sarah waited in her room while one of her guards went to fetch Kinjo.

"Have you calmed down yet?" Sarah asked when the door opened and Kinjo appeared.

"Yes, I have Queen Sarah." Kinjo paused and then added, "I will not leave without her. Her people need her. They need their princess-"

"As I have told you before the healer needs her as well. You have no right to take her from my nation without my permission. Now, I have a deal for you. If you allow her to stay she will go home once every two months for a week. I will accompany her as well as our friends, Princess Ruby, Prince James, and Princess Emerald."

"I guess I have no choice in the matter." Kinjo said bitterly.

"You are correct, but you might want to hear the rest of the proposal. When Sapphire is thirteen and she is released from the apprenticeship with the healer she will decide whether or not to continue living here. Do we have an agreement?"

"Yes. I must request that Princess Sapphire come home immediately for the people need to know that she is alive."

"I will inform her of this. When do you leave?"

"I will leave in two days."

"We will go with you. Dismissed." Kinjo bowed and exited.

End Flashback

"So he allowed her to stay?" Katara was sure that Kinjo would have been unreasonable and surprised that he agreed to the terms.

"Yes, but we had to go to the Southern Water Tribe since I promised Kinjo. Sapphire wasn't to happy although later she told me that she enjoyed being back." Sarah laughed as she spoke.

All of a sudden the door opened and there stood a very angry Zhao.

Me: You all must hate me for the cliffie.

Gidget: I do.

Me: You hated me anyway.

Gidget: How true!

Katara: What is Zhao going to do to us?

Me: You have to wait.

Sarah: If you have anything bad happen to us…

Me: Of course something bad is going to happen. It's Zhao we're talking about here. Don't worry, neither of you is going to be killed.

Sarah: Wow, that's a relief. –speaks sarcastically–

Me: Anyway, on to important things. REVIEW PEOPLE! I have 714 hits and that's great but I want reviews. It doesn't take that long to review. I don't even care if it's just, "Great story." Is that so hard?

Gidget: It's sad that she only has 10 reviews.

Me: Read my bio for more info about how I feel about reviews.