Thanks for all the reviews.

Disclaimer – I don't own Avatar.

Starshinesoldier – I'm not turning this into an epic where Li and Zuko meet up again because (a) I'm not patient enough to write it (b) I have no idea how to get them back together (c) It would defeat the point of my story and you will find out what the point of the story is in the next chapter. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked my retelling of Zuko Alone. (I too would like to read an epic about Li and Zuko but alas, I'm too lazy to write it.)

oxoxoxo

Dad left a few hours after the Stranger. He promised he would be back soon and that when he came; Shen-Shu would be with him. I prayed that he would keep it.

Mum kept a falsely cheerful face throughout the goodbyes but I couldn't hide my sorrow. We watched him walk away until he was nothing more than a tiny pinprick of black in the immense wasteland. Mum broke into another fresh wave of tears and hugged me so tight that I'd thought she would never let got. I didn't know how to react. It was like our positions had been reversed. Rather than her comforting me, it was the other way around.

I felt like the day had been shattered into a million pieces and could never be fixed. The Stranger had left, Dad had left, Shen-Shu had been captured by the Fire nation and Mum had become a shell of grief. Everything was falling apart around me and nothing could be worse. We had hit rock bottom. I hoped that we'd be able to break back up to the surface soon.

Ironically things did get worse. Gal and his thugs came galloping back. Apparently, we had hit rock bottom and started digging. He demanded food from us, 'army supplies' he had called it. Mum went into the barn to get some, too broken to protest.

I clenched my fists but held back, fury bubbling through my veins. Gal had no right to torment me and my family. I hated him almost as much as I hated the Fire Nation.

Gal sneered at me, his mean eyes taunting me to retaliate. I flinched from the cruel look and stumbled backwards and almost dripped over a pothole. The soldiers let out a menacing cackle and my face flushed with anger and embarrassment. As I regained my balance I felt something dig into my side. It was the knife the Stranger had given me which I had tucked into my belt. An image of the Stranger flashed into my mind. He would never let anyone push him around. Especially not Gal. I remembered his final message to me, 'never give in without a fight.' I wasn't going to let Gal and his men walk all over Mum and me. I wasn't going to lie down like a miserable old dog and let him have his way. I wasn't going to let Gal get away with his cruelty anymore.

With a cry of rage I unsheathed my knife and charged towards the Soldiers. I brought it in a slashing motion above my head only to be caught by the wrist by Gal. He lifted me bodily of the ground, still mounted on his ostrich-horse, his thick hand crushing my forearm. My shoulder burned with the pain of baring my entire body weight but I ignored it. I kicked and flailed trying to get free, screaming at Gal to release me. He only taunted me, tightening his grip making my hand grow numb. The other soldiers guffawed loudly with him.

Mum appeared out of the barn horror painted on her face but then switching to a look of utmost outrage.

"Gal, let him go," she demanded. The defeated demeanor she had greeted Gal with had vanished. Now it was replaced by a look of an enraged platypus-bear. A pitchfork was lent up by the side of the barn which she armed herself with. She thundered towards the Gal, pitchfork at the ready held like a jousting spear.

Gal seemed to be a shocked by her actions as me. I had never seen her so mad. Gal didn't manage to steer himself out of the way as mum impaled the pitch fork into his mount. The animal collapsed shrieking in pain, blood spilling everywhere. Gal dropped me as he was thrown off. I landed on the ground unceremoniously with a heavy thud, dropping my knife. Scrambling to my feet I saw a fleeting glimpse of Mum being struck by one of Gal's heavy war hammers.

"No!" I screamed, grabbing the fallen knife. Adrenalin pumped through my body as wrath fueled me on. I lunged towards Gal, every part of me wanting to shred his arrogant face into pieces. Gal backhanded me across the face sending me flying backwards into a heap on the battered ground. My cheek pulsed in agony and I could feel a trail of blood from a split lip. One of the soldiers pinned me to the ground, his bony elbow digging uncomfortably in my back. I struggled but to no avail. I was too weak.

Gal advanced slowly like a cat approaching a mouse. He leered at me looking far bigger and more menacing than I had ever remembered him. My ire dissolved into fear and apprehension. He bent down snatching my knife from the ground. He read the engraving and smirked before pocketing it in his belt. Another flash of anger rippled through me. He had no right to take my knife. It was all I had left of the Stranger.

"If you're old enough to fight, you're old enough to join the army," he hissed, spit spraying in my face.

I felt my stomach contract with dread. I didn't want to leave my home, my friends and my parents. I didn't want to go to war. I didn't want to die at the hands of the Fire Nation.

My hands were wrenched behind my back and someone bound them with a rough cord. I was bundled onto an ostrich-horse unable to resist because I was so numbed with terror. I hoped I wouldn't end up like the ostrich horse that Mum and skewered. I took a last look at my fallen parent feeling tears prick my eyes. I prayed it wasn't the last time I'd see her.

oxoxoxo

That was short I know but hey, next chapter we have Zuko vs Gal! So stayed tune.

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