The next day, Leiko awoke in the familiar room that was given to her. She yawned and sat up. After getting dressed she walked out and to the main building in the village. The leader of the village smiled when he saw her. He bowed and she did the same. "Leiko Sikari, you have led us to victory and a firebender free and safe village."

"You're not firebender less yet." Leiko said, inferring to herself. The man chuckled.

"Of course, and a deal is a deal." And he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote on it with a feather pen. Leiko watched as he wrote from over his shoulder. He handed it to her after rolling it up. "Here you are, your pass onto the ship."

"Thank you." Leiko said as she took it. He nodded and smiled.

"To reach the ships, you will have to travel over the mountains. The mountains are covered in snow, and there's hardly any life there because it is so cold. Are you still sure that you want to go? You are welcome to stay here if you please. We could certainly use you to help defend the island. We'll pay you richly."

"Thanks, but I seek revenge, not money." She explained. "I promise my husband I would avenge his death and that's my mission."

"Very well then. Have a safe trip, and be careful. The mountains are treacherous."

"I can handle it." And she bowed, "Thank you, for everything."

"Thank you, Leiko Sikari." And Leiko walked out of the room and outside. The same group of little girls stood outside with tears in their eyes.

"Don't go Leiko. Stay here." One of the girls said. Leiko knelt down and touched the girl on her head.

"I must go." And she stood back up, "I don't belong here. Good bye."

"Good bye." The girls said to Leiko as she turned and made her way out of the village.

Leiko walked on, not looking back at the village, but stopped when she felt a strange feeling inside of her gut. It felt like a tickle, or a twinge, and she touched her gut, asking it to stop, and it went away. Was it a longing to stay? But she pressed on and made her way along the path through the woods. She walked for an hour before she reached the mountains. There was no path up the mountain, so she tied her bag to her back tighter and reached up to grasp the first rock on that was on the mountain. She pulled herself up and found her footing to push herself up higher. She repeated the step over and over again until she reached a ledge and stood up on it. She turned and looked at the village below. It was yet another great accomplishment of hers. She had lead another army and succeeded, and was now a step closer to her revenge.

Leiko continued to climb the mountain, one step at a time. As she got higher the air got colder, and it nipped at her nose and ears. The snow got deeper, and she found herself digging her hands into snow, trying to find a place to grip onto some rock. She breathed heavily as her arms and legs began to ache from being overworked. And just as she stopped to rest, she saw snowflakes falling from the sky. The came down easily first, and then more began to fall, harder and harder. Leiko grunted and pulled herself up onto another ledge and laid down on her back, gazing up at the sky. It turned white as the snow began to come down harder. It was beginning to blizzard. "Shit" she muttered. And she stood up and pressed on, but before she gripped the next rock she felt the same weird feeling return in her gut. She gripped it and then commenced her journey again.

The journey up the mountain only got harder and harder. The snow came down harder, and it was joined by balls of ice and rain. It beat down on her mercilessly, and she grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Yet snowflakes still found a way into her eyes. Her skin burned from the cold and her body ached terribly. She pulled with all her might until she was half way onto another ledge, and then she lifted her legs up and rolled onto the rock. She sighed of relief and laid back down. She stayed there until a full two inches of snow covered her, not wanting to move. Finally, she got to her hands and knees and peered through the snow, trying to look beyond the white sheet that seemed to cover everything, but she saw nothing. She got to her feet and began to walk along the edge.

Leiko lost her footing and fell! She hadn't seen the edge of the ridge she was on. But she grabbed onto the ledge just as she fell, and she dangled at least a few hundred feet above the ground! She grunted and growled as she clung on for dear life! She looked down and saw nothing but a clump of snow from next to her plummeted down and it looked like there was no end to the drop. Leiko reached her other hand up and gripped onto the rock, and then she used all her strength to pull herself up onto the ledge until she was safe again. She gasped and let her breath out slowly. There was no way she was going to die before she got her revenge. "That was too close." She muttered and she began to scale the ledge with her back pressed tightly against the wall of rock. She found solid and wider ground and walked regularly again, looking for shelter. It was a small cave, with a small opening. She rushed over, trudging her way through the snow until she was at the mouth. She called into it, and heard nothing but her own echo. So she walked right in and set down her bag.

There was no snow in the cave, and she gladly shook off all the snow that was on her. She walked deeper inside, trying to escape the whistling wind. And as she went, she was shocked to discover a pile of bones! Someone had died in that cave. And maybe she was next…no, she couldn't die. Not yet. She was going to make it through this! So she ran back outside and trudged through the snow again, until she found a single small tree growing out of the snow. She used her sword to chop it down and brought it back inside the cave. Using her firebending, she started a small fire. She took out a blanket that was given to her by the villagers from her bag and wrapped it around herself. She scooted closer to the fire and snuggled up in a ball, closing her eyes and trying to go to sleep. "I won't give up." She told herself, "Nothing will keep me from getting my revenge. Not even this goddamn blizzard and mountain can stop me." And she soon fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.