It had been a week since Tara joined the crew and she had grown to love the adventure. Leiko and Tara were still really close and were growing even closer. They enjoyed conversation with the crew and the captain. They even had arm wrestling competitions with each other. Usually Tara won. See, Tara was stronger than Leiko, but Leiko was faster. This meant that their sparring matches were inspirational, and the crew was always delighted to watch.

"Are you ready, Leiko?" Tara asked Leiko as she struck a fighting pose. Leiko did the same and smiled.

"Always ready, Tara." She replied and then they ran towards each other!

They met up in the middle of the deck and began to spar! Tara took a swing but Leiko dodged it and threw one back, but Tara would do the same and respond with a kick. It would go over Leiko's head and Leiko would spin and trip Tara, but she'd do a jack knife up and trip Leiko in return. This went on for a good few minutes, the two girls kicking and punching each other until they were out of breath! The crew watched a cheered and whistled as the moves got more complicated.

Tara went to punch Leiko but Leiko grabbed her by the arm and kicked off of her chest! Both girls did a back handspring away from each other and then ignited their fists! They charged at each other again and Leiko did a fire wheel, spinning and sending flames in around her in a circle! Tara dodged it and then shot fire at Leiko, who deflected it and then tumbled forward and sent a flame out of her own. Tara did a flip out of the way and kicked flames out towards Leiko! Leiko fell over but did a spin back up and then threw another flame at Tara that sent her back into the wall.

A crewman tossed Leiko her katana and Leiko stuck it out in front of her. Another crewman tossed Tara hers and she did the same! Leiko and Tara clashed swords and continued to clank their swords together in fury! They both did a back flip and lunged forward and held their blades just an inch away from each other's throats! The crew cheered again. Leiko and Tara lowered their swords and smiled at each other. They shook hands and put their swords away.

"That was pretty good…for an amateur." Leiko teased. Tara threw her a look.

"Like you could do better."

"I was going easy on you."

"Sure Leiko." And she scoffed. "Whatever."

Later, as the sun was setting, Leiko was sitting up in the crow's nest with a bowl of rice and dumplings. She had just gotten finished vomiting again an hour ago, and yet was starved. She didn't know why, but she saw it as a sign of weakness. She began to talk to herself. "Look at yourself Leiko." She started, and then she stuffed a dumpling into her mouth. "You're eating like a pig. I know food is comforting but, dmn. You're a monster." And then she swallowed. "You're weak. That's the problem. You're fcking weak." And she felt tears come to her eyes. "I mean, so what if you lost your husband…and your child…and your whole entire family. You shouldn't be this weak."

"You're not weak." Said Tara out of nowhere. She climbed up to the crow's nest with a smile and took a seat next to Leiko. She too had a bowl of rice and dumplings in her hand.

"How did you know I was up here?" Leiko asked as she turned away in shame.

"I'm your friend, I know everything." Tara said and took a bite of her dinner. There was a moment of silent between the two benders. Leiko decided to break it was a conversation.

"So…you never told me why you left the fire nation." Leiko started.

"Awe, I hate home. I have no home. I'm never going back there as long as I live."

"How come?"

"Because of what they did to me."

"What did they do?" Leiko grew interested.

"Well, I was accused of being a witch. It got really bad, until the point where my sister was kidnapped one night while my house was lit on fire. I had to get everybody out of there myself, but I never found Cera. I got word that she had been kidnapped and that there was nothing I could do. I got a scar from the fire that night." And Tara rolled up her sleeve to show a scar on her arm.

"That's a beauty." Leiko joked. Tara chuckled.

"I know you have many battle wound to be proud of." Leiko just nodded and ate more. "And that husband of yours certainly had a beauty of his own." Leiko swallowed hard and felt the same unusual feeling in her gut. "Oh, and I traveled with the avatar."

"What?" Leiko was shocked.

"Yeah, he's the one who helped me escape from the fire nation. I joined him on his giant flying bison, he and two others from the water tribe. Sokka and Katara were their names, they were good hearted."

"What has become of them now?" Leiko asked, and Tara sighed.

"I don't know." And then she looked at Leiko's face. "Prince Zuko was trying to capture the avatar for years."

"I told him how stupid it was. I would never pick up where he left off." Tara smiled.

"We had great adventures together."

"I can only imagine. Constantly running from…the opposing force in your life."

"I suppose you know what that's like." Tara sympathized.

"My father is a monster."

"Do you think, he was the one who blew up Zuko's ship."

"No, I was told the King of Omashu was responsible. And after we head to the North Pole, I assure you, he will be held responsible. I know he did it."

"There's always that chance, Leiko." Leiko thought for a moment and agreed with a nod.

"I know. But I want to be sure. I'll get to the bottom of this, and the culprit will pay."

More silence.

"Leiko, there's something I have to tell you." Tara spoke up softly. "I'm just afraid that, you'll get mad if I tell you…and I'll lose my friend." Leiko turned and looked at her.

"What is it?"

"I," and she sighed and bowed her head, "I was engaged to Zuko."

"What…"

"I know. I know it sounds weird but it's true."

"When?" was all she could squeak out.

"Back when we were younger, long before Zuko was banished. It was to be an arranged marriage. We weren't even 10 years old."

"How come I never knew about this?"

"Because, we never wanted to get married. We even told each other that. There was no interest in each other. And do you know why?" Leiko shook her head. "Because Zuko was in love with you. He even told me. He said, 'Tara, you're a nice person and a great friend. But I don't want to marry you. My heart belongs to someone else. I love Leiko.' And you know what? I didn't doubt it for a second. And then all three of us left the fire nation. Our triangle of friendship was broken, but here we are today…at least two of us…and you're the one who married him. That's the way it should have been. And I'm happy for you." Leiko smiled and tears came to her eyes. She hugged Tara.

"Thanks Tara."

"I'm just glad to get it off my chest." And then as the girls backed away, they noticed that it began to snow! One by one little snowflakes began to fall from the sky.

"We're getting close." Leiko stated with a smile. "Closer to victory."