A Wolf Girl and a Healer

So in this chapter we find out about Moro and Amaya's past. Like, how Moro can communicate with the wolves, and how Amaya came to the Freedom Fighters and all that stuff. Fun, right?

Last part of the episode Jet! I'm sad now. This is one of my favourite episodes.

Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar. If I did, I would have Jet live, and the Kyoshi Warriors would be in the Legend of Korra. Because they're awesome.

And I would make Irosami a reality. Because they are adorable. Don't even start with me, they're adorable and you know it. And Bolin would have a girlfriend, because I just love him so much.

Amaya's eyes fluttered open. She was immediately met with the sight of the sun breaking through the golden leaves of the trees.

If this is heaven, I would gladly spend eternity here. She thought.

She knew she wasn't dead when she felt her entire body ache.

"Amaya! You're up!"

Tora?

Amaya slowly sat up, immediately feeling a sharp pain in her side.

You shouldn't get up yet. You're still somewhat injured.Accalia too?

She finally opened her eyes all the way. What she saw was the best thing she could have ever seen.

Tora was sitting a few feet away from her, clearly alive. Her necklace was still on her neck, shining in the sunlight and the gems casting red shadows across her legs.

Moro was holding a stick with pieces of meat on it over a fire. Her markings were a little faded, but still very much there. She looked relieved to see her friend was okay.

The wolves, Kui, Accalia and Fenris, were resting in the shadows. The boy's ears would prick up slightly ever so often. Accalia had her head resting on her paws, staring directly at the waterbender.

"What happened?" Amaya groaned as she felt her head. She had a headache too, on top of everything else.

"Well, somehow after being hit with water bursting from a dam, you're all alive. You were unconscious for a few hours. Tora woke up a little before you did." Moro answered, concentrating on roasting their meat properly.

Amaya remembered.

Flashback

"GET BEHIND ME!" Tora yelled, her tone making it clear she didn't want an argument. Accalia quickly darted behind the firebender, but Amaya stood at her side.

The arrow hit the blasting jelly. Tora raised a wall of fire, shielding them all from the explosion and the large splinters of wood flying everywhere.

Amaya suddenly realized that her hand was in front of her, in a stop motion. She felt oddly calm when she was faced with certain death. She felt Tora take her other hand, before the firebender put her hand in front of her in the same stop motion.

The water spread over them, around them, and under them. But not through them. The water just passed right on by them, as if there was an invisibly bubble surrounding them.

The water stopped flowing at the fast rate it had been going. It started to slow, until it was moving comfortably at a reasonable pace.

The two girls felt exhausted, and the felt Accalia nudge them with her nose.

Then they collapsed, letting the water carry them away.

End flashback

"The water just flowed around us... like there was a force field." Amaya remembered. Tora nodded.

"I think it was our conjoined bending abilities that made it happen." She said thoughtfully. Moro shrugged.

"However it happened, I'm just glad you're all okay now." She pulled the meat from the flames and offered it to Tora, who inspected them carefully.

"They're good now." She said, and Moro tossed them to the wolves.

"Where'd you get the meat?" Amaya asked. She noticed Moro glance over at Fenris, who was cleaning his fangs. There was some sort of red stain around his mouth.

Amaya didn't ask for an explanation.

"So, where are we?" Amaya asked, sitting up.

Moro shrugged. "Someplace in the forest, far, far, far away from the Freedom Fighters. Fenris carried Accalia, and Kui carried you two. I walked."

Humans. Tora and Amaya both turned toward Fenris, who had spoken. He looked a little uncomfortable. I must thank you for saving my mate. I am forever in your debt. He lowered his head a little, and they both realized that he was doing the wolf version of bowing.

"You don't owe us anything." Tora said immediately. "But Moro does."

The girl in question jumped a little when her name was said. "What do I owe you, exactly?"

"We're talking to three wolves. I think this calls for an explanation on how this is possible." Tora said sarcastically.

Moro gave a small grin. "Even after having a near death experience, a person can manage sarcasm."

Tora grinned back. Then Moro's smile faltered. She sighed and started at the flames. "Where to begin...?"

"Start with your parents." Amaya offered. "That's a good place."

Moro looked up. "Fair warning, it's not a happy story."

"Would any of us be here right now if we had happy lives?" Amaya asked sarcastically, gesturing to their surroundings.

"I had an okay life." Tora shrugged. "Except my mother died when I was five, and my dad sent me away. Everything else was pretty good."

The other girls stared at the firebender for a moment, unreadable expressions on their faces. "Alright, then." Moro said finally. "I'll tell you." She took a deep breath, and started.

~~Water~~

I was born in a small Earth Kingdom town, Shuwa. It was pretty insignificant - like Gaipan, but a little bigger. My parents weren't exactly the perfect couple. They fought all the time, and my mother ignored me a lot. I was what you would call a "mistake". My dad never ignored me. He always made sure he had time to spend with me, no matter what he had to do for work. He was an earthbender, and he wanted another earthbender so he could teach his style of bending. He had a very old fashioned style, one that isn't around anymore. But I wasn't a bender, and I knew I had disappointed him. So I managed to work his earthbending style into my fighting style, so that even if I couldn't bend, I would know the style like any bender would.

My mother was someone completely different - she had been a former brothel girl, but she had ran away when she overheard her boss speaking to some vile man about buying her contract. Then she met my father, and they fell in love. But she didn't want children. So when it became obvious that she was pregnant with me, she became very depressed. When I was born, she held me and did everything that meant I would survive, but she didn't love me.

You expected me to say that as I got older, my parent's arguing got worse and worse, right? Well, instead it got better. When I turned six, the only time they argued was in the morning and at lunch. When I was seven, they only argued when I was asleep. And when I was eight, they stopped arguing all together!

Then, when I was eight, my mother got pregnant again. Now that she knew what to do with a child, she was happier over the nine months. Life was better than ever before. It was a boy. My parents named him Hai, after the sea. Hai and I became very close, despite the gap between our ages.

Then everything went wrong. My mother died from an illness a few years after Hai was born, leaving my brother and me to our father. My father wasn't the same after that. He loved us and everything, and he acted the same as he had before, but he wasn't the same. Sometimes, he would sit at the window and just stare into nothing, like he was a stranger. I used to watch him, completely silent, because I worried that if I made a noise, and he looked at me, he wouldn't recognize me. That thought scared me more than anything else.

Eventually, he joined the army. That was when I was fourteen. He left us, and he went off to fight.

For me and Hai, the war only meant one thing - waiting. Waiting for news from or of father, waiting for the end of the war, waiting for father to come home. Then... the news came. Father was dead. He had been killed in battle... viciously slaughtered by that dog, General Amal. This left me and Hai alone. The only things we had left of father was his sword, generously brought to us by the soldier that brought the news of his death.

But a poison grew inside me...

~~Water~~

"Don't follow me, Hai." Moro snapped. She looked different than she would when she became sixteen. Her hair was long and reached her waist, with a few strands here and there poking out. Her face was clear of any markings. She wore a dark red tunic with sleeves that reached her elbows, with a wrap around her waist, over a black tank top shirt. Wrapped around her arms from the elbow down to her wrists were white bandages. She wore black pants that reached her knees, and dark brown hiking boots that met the ends of her pants. "I have to do this."

"Do what? Moro, why are you taking father's things?" Hai asked, staring at her from the doorway. Moro walked over to a chest, pulled it open, and took out a long shining sword that gleamed in the moonlight showing through the curtains over the window.

"I'm going to find the man that killed him." Moro said coldly, sheathing the sword and tying it to her waist.

Hai gaped at her. "General Amal?"

Moro was silent. Hai ran forward and grabbed the bag that hung from her shoulder. "What will hunting him down accomplish? We already have to dig one grave! I don't want to dig a second!"

There was a flash of silver, and suddenly Moro had her sword pointed at Hai's chest. "Look at yourself, Moro."

"You can't stop me, Hai."

"You hold a sword to your own brother? Is revenge worth this?" Hai demanded, glaring at her. He saw something in her eyes... something he didn't like.

"I won't let father's death be in vain!" Moro yelled, not lowering the weapon. "He would have wanted this!"

"He would have wanted us to stay here, where it is safe!" Hai insisted.

Moro's eyes widened, but a scowl formed on her face. She pulled the sword back and sheathed it, but walked right past her brother toward the door. "Father gave his life... protecting us, and his Nation."

She stood in the doorframe, and looked back at him. "Imagine his shame if he knew he had raised a complete coward of a son!" She slammed the door behind her, making Hai wince.

~~Water~~

My mind was made up. I would kill General Amal. Nothing would stop me. I didn't even stop to look at myself in the mirror, or hug my brother one last time before I left. I wish I had.

After a few days of travelling, I reached the battlefield... only to find that the battle was over. The field was washed in blood, with stains of black, green, and red to show the fallen soldiers. Earth pillars stood up everywhere, and the landscape had been completely burned to ashes.

It was then that I realized that there were no winners in war. Only losers. Hatred is what set us on this path of destruction, and it would be hatred that destroyed the human race. If I allowed myself to be swallowed up by it, I would only destroy myself. I ran home immediately, not stopping even to sleep. I lived off of nuts and berries I found in the woods.

But when I reached home, it was too late. I was too late. The soldiers had reached home. They destroyed Shuwa.

Eventually, I found my brother's body.

~~Water~~

Moro found her house. It had been one of the first houses that had started burning when the soldiers attacked. She dug through the fallen wood, her heart pounding in her chest. She hoped she wouldn't find what she thought she would find.

But she found it. Hai was at the bottom of the wood pile, a long wooden beam resting on his chest.

"Brother..." She whimpered, attempting to shove the beam off her father. After a few attempts, it finally moved. She positioned her dad so that his head was in her lap. "Don't you worry, Hai. You'll be fine. Don't worry!" She didn't know who she was reassuring at this point. Tears had started leaking out of her eyes and down her cheeks, splattering against her brother's face.

"Moro..." Hai whispered. He managed to slowly raise his hand, and he stroked her face. He managed a smile. His eyes closed, and her brother died with a smile on his face.

Moro had felt a completely numb feeling. She found she couldn't even cry. Instead, she started to laugh.

She laughed because it was so unreal. Her mother had died long ago. Her father had died in war. Now her brother was dead, and so were the friends she had grown up with. It was so unreal, so unbelievable, that she started laughing so hard she started crying.

~~Water~~

That was when I was found by Kui.

~~Water~~

She suddenly felt something nuzzle her. She looked up and saw a large white wolf. She should have been scared. But this wolf had been her neighbour's guard dog, so she knew him. His name was Kui.

"Where now, Kui?" She asked him softly. "Where do we have to go?" He was like her. The only living thing left of Shuwa.

That was the first time Kui ever spoke to her.

I know where we can go.

Moro jumped and gave a small scream.

Don't be frightened. It's just me.

"You... can speak?" Moro finally blurted out, staring at the white wolf with wide eyes.

Obviously.

"How is this possible? You... you shouldn't..." Moro stuttered, still staring.

I've made you a part of my clan. Kui stated calmly. Wolves can communicate with anyone within their clan, or any other wolf. And… he met her eyes. You've lost your family, and I've lost my home. It's only natural we take care of each other. And because of this, you're a part of my clan now. And now we may speak to each other.

~~Water~~

Kui took me to a place I had never been before. It was the deepest part of the forest. Nobody in the village had ever had the courage to travel that far. Not even me.

It was there that I made my markings.

~~Water~~

Kui watched from a short distance as Moro sobbed on the ground again. Her hair was falling over her face, so he couldn't see her very well. He hated it when she cried.

He hadn't been paying very close attention, so when Moro suddenly got up, he was startled. He noticed that she was holding a small dagger in her hands.

He quickly leapt to his feet when he saw her raise the dagger up to her hand.

What are you doing?! He demanded.

Moro just looked at him, then her eyes went back to her hand. In one quick motion, she had made a long cut in the center of her palm, and it quickly started to bleed. She hissed at the pain.

What are you doing? Kui asked again, less sure this time that she was trying to kill herself.

"I'm the only survivor of that massacre." She said calmly. "I'm the only survivor of my family. I'm going to show that." She wiped some blood from her cut hand using her pointer finger, placed it against her cheek, and made a long wolf fang shaped mark on her cheek. It started just below her eye and curved down to her jawbone. She got some more blood and did the same on her other cheek.

Is that it? Kui asked, sounding like he hoped it was.

"No." Moro then raised her hand to her forehead, and made a long flat horizontal line that curved downward between her eyebrows, then lifted in a curve over her eyebrows. "There. One for my brother. One for my mother. One for my father. If I lose you, I'll add a fourth."

You won't lose me so easily. Kui said. Wolves are more careful than humans are.

"Something I am very grateful for." Moro smiled. It had been days since she had last smiled.

~~Water~~

After that, Kui and I lived in the forest. I became what you would call a "wild child". Any Fire Nation soldiers that saw me started telling people about "The Wolf Girl", an angry Spirit that lived deep in the forest with her wolf Spirit companion. Then at least two years ago, the Fire Nation took over the village in the forest I was living in at the time. So Kui and I decided to give them... a little visit.

~~Water~~

"Ready, Kui?" The girl whispered in the wolf's ear. She had changed over the past two years. Her markings stood out more than ever. Her hair had been cut so now it was uneven - long in the front and short in the back. She was wearing a dark green shirt had the sleeves ripped off, entirely exposing her arms, without a breastplate or the bandages. She was wearing a torn black pair of pants that reached her knees, with slits up the legs so she could crouch down and not feel confined in her clothes. Her mask was covering her face from the forehead down. Her feet were completely bare, not to mention covered in dirt.

So, in other words, everything except for her skirt, shirt, and the lack of a breastplate or shoes were the same as they were in the present.

Of course I am. Kui scoffed. When am I not ready?

"Arrogance leads to failure. You know who taught me that? You." Moro countered.

Shut up.

"Love you too, buddy. Now, let's go!"

Without a second order, Kui started sprinting through the trees, practically flying across the ground. Moro kept one hand gripping the fur on the back of his neck, while in the other she held a spear. Her knife was attached to her belt.

They soon reached the Earth Kingdom colony. The shouting could be heard from kilometres away. "IT'S THE WOLF PRINCESS!" The firebenders started blasting fist fulls of fire at her, a few of them shooting so close they could have burned off the skin of her teeth if they had been any closer.

Kui raced along the forest floor, with his rider raising her spear into the air. Kui then skidded to a halt, making Moro fly off his back, through the air, over the wall of the colony, and land directly in front of a few soldiers. They wasted no time in attacking her, and Moro swung her spear at them like a bat. That knocked them off their feet and slamming into the wall. She smirked, and sprinted off into the other direction, leaping gracefully from roof to roof. She heard shouts from beneath her, but ignored them. She leapt from the roof down to the ground, whipping out her knife and abandoning her spear. She noticed a boy - probably her age, maybe a year older - with a twig in his mouth standing in front of her. She wasted no time lunging for him, and he looked startled, quickly raising his own weapons. They were hook swords. Useful, but not always the best.

"I don't want to fight you!" He yelled, blocking her attacks. He didn't make any blows himself, and Moro realized that he was telling the truth. She stopped her attack, slashed her knife back and forth, and leapt backwards. Then she darted down another alleyway.

~~Water~~

Of course, what I failed to know until later was that the boy had been Jet. He had been attacking the village as well, trying to get rid of the soldiers head on. Not like he does now.

Anyway, I don't feel like going into the entire fight. I'll give you the short version - I lost, and I ended up burned. Kui found me, and we ran off. Only to find that our little home - a meadow not to far away from the village - had been burned to ashes.

The Fire Nation didn't care who they hurt. All they knew was that they had to win, or they would be destroyed. It makes sense when you think about it. If they did win, they would be the rulers of the world, but with subjects that didn't love them. If they lost, the other Nations would destroy them, to take revenge for the Air Nomads and their losses in the war. Either way, they would lose. Who would want to rule the world if their people didn't love them?

So Kui and I ended up just wandering through the forest, no place to go. We could have stayed anywhere, but the soldiers were all over the place. They would have found us.

Eventually, I passed out because of my burns. When I woke up, I was... somewhere else.

~~Water~~

Moro's eyes snapped open. First, she made sure she had her knife. Then, she tried to figure out where the hell she was.

Her instincts took over when she saw a pair of big green eyes staring at her. Her knife slashed up, nearly cutting the person across the eye. Moro leapt to her feet, and started slashing her knife back and forth, pushing the person back. It was a girl, she realized. A very green girl.

"Wait!" The girl yelled. "Stop!"

Moro didn't stop, and she darted past the girl and out the door. She pushed past the curtain... and came face to face with the boy from earlier.

"Looks like she finally decided to grace us with her presence, huh, Amaya." He said, grinning at the girl behind Moro.

'Amaya' shot him a dirty look. "She nearly took my eye out, Jet. Thanks so much for coming now."

"Stop exaggerating." Jet said dismissively, waving his hand.

Moro stood, not moving a muscle. It seemed like her courage decided to fail her at that moment, and she couldn't find the will to move.

Twig-boy, what Moro had decided to call him - Jet was a stupid name - suddenly smiled down at her. "Hey." He said calmly. If Moro had been another teenage girl, she would have swooned at his smile and the sound of his voice.

Too bad for him, Moro wasn't another teenage girl.

"Where the hell am I?!" She demanded, breaking out of her stiffness and putting the edge of her knife against Twig-boy's neck. He looked startled, and she heard Amaya give a panicked squeak from behind her.

"You're in our hideout." He said, losing all of his coolness and replacing it with a small sense of fear. Smart boy. "With the Freedom Fighters. I saw you pass out last night, so I brought you here. Amaya's been healing all your injuries all night."

It was then Moro realized all her burns were gone. She looked at the green eyed girl, not removing her knife from Twig-boy's neck. "Really?"

Amaya nodded. Moro realized that she - Moro, the never smiling one - had started to smile. "I - thank you. I am in your debt."

Amaya smiled back. "Your wolf has been going crazy. Sneers wanted to lock him in a cage or something. But we didn't do that." She added, seeing Moro's furious expression. "We just let him be. I can't blame him for being worried. I thought I was going to lose you about a hundred times last night."

Moro glanced back at Jet - she still had her knife at his neck, by the way - and he nodded as much as he could, so he wouldn't cut his own throat.

"So, what's your name?" Amaya said. She came forward, and without Moro realizing it, she lowered the knife.

Moro didn't say a word for a moment. When was the last time she had told a human her name? "Moro."

~~Water~~

"And ever since, I've been with the Freedom Fighters. Until now, of course." Moro finished her tale. The fire was dying out slowly.

The two waterbenders stared at Moro for a long time. "So… the reason we can understand the wolves…" Amaya began slowly.

"Is because you've made us both apart of your clan?" Tora finished.

Moro wordlessly nodded. "I thought it would be a good decision."

Tora was silent for a moment, before she turned to Amaya. "So, what's your story?"

"You're taking this all oddly well." Moro remarked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh." Tora shrugged. "When you're a person who can bend two opposite elements, travelling with a boy your friends found frozen in ice for a hundred years, on top of a flying bison that was supposed to be extinct, you learn to stop questioning things. So what's your story, Amaya?"

"It isn't as…" Amaya paused, searching for a word to use. "Exciting as Moro's was."

"I still want to know!" Tora exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm curious! Can you blame me?!"

"Well, first of all you should know that I'm not from the Water Tribe. The real ones, anyway." Amaya explained. "I'm from a... swamp." She said the last word with an air of embarrassment. "The Foggy Swamp Tribe is my home. It's a very large swamp. Hardly any humans dare to enter it, because in the swamp... things aren't normal."

"What is normal?" Tora countered.

"No, I mean, really not normal. Like, creepy not normal."

"Give us an example." Moro said.

"Well, half the time you feel like you're being watched. Then, you start seeing these weird visions. And there are all these weird glow in the dark flies and stuff, and there's this bird that migrates down there every spring, but it makes a noise like a cat is being strangled, but magnified at least a million times. And-"

"Okay, we get it."

"Anyway, I grew up there until I was seven. Then, my parents moved to a small colony in the Earth Kingdom. That was where I met Jet."

~~Water~~

"You're such a baby, Jet!" Amaya teased. She didn't look that different from how she looked as a sixteen year old. As a seven year old, her curly hair was in pigtails, with a few curls breaking free from her ribbons, and she was wearing a white dress that reached her knees and was normal looking.

"Am not!" Jet yelled at her.

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Am not!"

"Am not!"

"Are so! Wait..."

"HA! I WIN!"

"Oh, shut up." Jet grumbled, but he was smiling. "C'mon, let's go exploring!" He grabbed the girl's hand, not noticing her faint blush, and dragged her toward the river.

"Bet I can find a snake-frog." Jet said to her.

"Bet I can find a bigger one!"

"Bet I can find one faster!"

"Can not!"

"Can so!"

And the race was on. Amaya quickly got down on her knees and started searching through the mud and the water for the creature they desired. Jet walked farther down, so if there was one, Amaya wouldn't see it.

He soon found one. It was mating season, after all, and there were more snake-frogs than usual. Jet decided not to say anything, but he walked toward Amaya, holding the creature behind his back. Amaya wasn't looking at him.

"Did you find one yet?" He asked, attempting to sound innocent. He was a good liar, even then.

"No." Amaya sighed, sounding disappointed. "But it wasn't a total loss! I found something!"

"What?" Jet asked, confused. This time he wasn't acting.

"THIS!" Amaya whirled around and held... something up to his face. It had large glassy eyes, with warts spread around it. It was sort of the color of vomit, and Jet had absolutely no idea what is was.

So, he freaked out. His hands flew into the air, he let out a girlish scream, the snake-frog flew from his hands and landed near Amaya, and he fell backwards. He wasn't the only one who had freaked out though. As soon as the snake-frog hit the ground, Amaya realized how scary they looked up close. She stared at it in terror for a moment. It finally let out a "croak", and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She fell on the ground near Jet, but the thing she had caught was still in her hands. Jet started screaming even louder as Amaya attempted to grab him to protect her from the snake-frog, which in turn was making Amaya scream louder as the snake-frog hopped toward her.

It was soon a vicious cycle of screaming. The snake-frog would hop closer to Amaya, making her scream, and she would attempt to grab hold of Jet, only succeeding in making the thing her hands closer to him, and he would scream even louder than her. Eventually, Amaya realized this, and threw the thing in her hands back into the river, while Jet kicked the snake-frog away from them.

Crazy humans. The snake-frog thought as he flew through the air, before it hit the water and swam as far away from the kids as possible.

"... What was that thing?" Jet gasped out, staring at where the Thing had disappeared into the water.

"I don't know! I just found it!" Amaya squeaked out, not releasing her grip on Jet's wrist.

It would be a small event that they would both remember for the rest of their life.

~~Water~~

That is so adorable!

Shut up, Tora!

You're blushing.

Shut up, Moro! Anyway, as you know, the Fire Nation attacked when Jet and I were eight. That was the day that Jet changed for the worse.

~~Water~~

The flames were everywhere. Nowhere to escape. Jet clung to Amaya, and Amaya clung to Jet as they watched their houses go up in flames. The only thing Amaya had managed to grab before the soldiers had reached them was a small little teddy platypus bear. She was clutching it against her chest with one hand, while the other hand clutched Jet's hand.

Just barely half an hour before, this group of warriors had stormed into the village on komodo-rhinos. They were all really scary looking, something Amaya had noticed the first second she had seen them. Then, when everyone had attempted to get out the village, the firebender of the group had caused flames to go up all around the village, saying, "We claim this village for Fire Lord Ozai." No one could escape.

Then, one of them had come into Jet's house, where Jet, his parents, and Amaya and her parents were all hiding. When the parents had attempted to shield the kids from the guy, he had simply stabbed them using his Guan Dao. Then, he attempted to do the same to the kids, but Jet had quickly picked up his father's hook swords, attacked the guy, giving Amaya time to escape.

But Amaya refused to move. Instead, she quickly pulled a dagger from her father's hands, lunged forward toward the guy, and stabbed him in the leg. He fell to the ground, both from the surprise that a girl that was a quarter of his size had managed to attack him, and from the dagger that was now embedded in his leg.

Amaya grabbed Jet's hand and pulled him out the door, using her other hand to grab her teddy platypus bear.

"You... stabbed him... in the leg..." Jet sounded so shocked, it would have made Amaya laugh if they had been anywhere but where they currently were.

"Yeah, don't talk, we're surrounded by smoke!" She yelled at him, yanking him along.

~~Water~~

An hour later, we had escaped from the village... but our families were dead. Jet and my teddy bear were the only things I had left. The only things Jet had left was me and his hook swords. That's why he loves them so much. They were his father's.

~~Water~~

Jet held onto Amaya, her body shaking with her hard sobs. A mixture of tears and snot was streaming down her face and staining his clothes. He was crying too, despite his attempts not too. He had to stay strong - for her. For Amaya. For the only friend he had left in the world.

That was the day Jet changed.

~~Water~~

"After that, Jet and I became inseparable. More inseparable than we had been before. If anyone messed with me, they messed with Jet. I learned how to heal when my hands were wet and I had my hands over a cut that Jet had gotten from some jerk who tried to grab me. I became the best healer to ever come from the Foggy Swamp. Eventually, we met Smellerbee and Longshot, and they joined our family. Then, as we started meeting more people like us - people whose lives had been destroyed by the Fire Nation - and we created the Freedom Fighters. We made the hideout, and the rest is history." Amaya finished softly.

She looked up at them with a look of sadness on her face. "That's why I have to go back - to Jet."

"What?!" Tora yelled, jumping to her feet. Moro looked shocked as well. "He tried to kill you!"

"Moro said that he didn't know I was with you when he made the signal." Amaya said stubbornly. "If I don't go back - if I don't show Jet that I'm still alive - he'll think he's lost the only person that he truly had left because of his own actions." She looked at them. "Maybe this can change Jet for the better. I can make him into the person he was before."

The other girls stared at the healer for a long time, before Tora finally sat back down. "Fine. That doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." She said, crossing her arms.

Amaya cracked a grin. She realized that she was crying a little, and quickly wiped the tears away from her face. "I should go now." She got to her feet. "I'll miss you both. I hope we can meet again."

"We will." Tora said, getting up as well. Moro followed her. "I'm sure of it."

Amaya grinned, and hugged both of the girls. They all were completely silent as they hugged, Amaya because she didn't want to ruin the moment, Moro because of the awkwardness of being in the middle of the hug, and Tora because of the memories of it all.

Just like with dad. Hugged me and walked away. Just like him...

When they all finally let go, Amaya gave them a smile, waved and walked off. This left Tora and Moro alone.

"I should go too." Tora said, turning to the Wolf Girl. "The gang think I'm dead. I have to get to them fast."

Moro nodded. "I understand. You can ride on Kui until you get to the edge of the forest. Cut two days of walking in half."

Tora smiled. "Thanks." She turned to the white wolf, who was on his feet. The other two wolves were watching her.

Let's go.

Tora got onto Kui, gave a goodbye signal to Moro, and she disappeared into the forest.

Moro sighed and sat back down. "Things are going to be boring now, aren't they?"

~~Water~~

Everyone understood: Jet needed to be left alone. If the aura he was giving off wasn't enough, the look on his face told everyone clearly that if they didn't want to have their heads bitten off, they should leave Jet alone. Even the ones who wanted their heads bitten off left Jet alone.

So there he was, sitting on the long branch of a tree, the twig finally absent from his mouth.

Amaya was dead. He couldn't believe it. She was dead because of him. If he hadn't been so obsessed with killing the soldiers, she'd still be alive. He didn't really care about Tora. She deserved to die.

Stop thinking that! It's that kind of thinking that killed Amaya! His mind screamed at him. He agreed. It was that kind of thinking that killed his best friend... the only real person he had left from his old life. When he had been Jet, not a shell of himself - albeit a much older one. He didn't feel like himself anymore. He felt like a murderer.

That was what he was, essentially.

He was snapped out of his brooding when he heard someone call his name. "Jet?"

He was insane. Because for a moment, he thought it had been Amaya who said his name.

He heard it again. "Jet..."

Okay, Spirits, I get it, I'm a bastard, now cut it out. I feel bad enough already.

"Jet, I can see your swords through the leaves."

"Okay, now it's not funny." Jet declared, finally jumping off the branch and onto the ground below. He came face to face with "Amaya". She smiled when she saw him.

"I've had enough."

Her face fell, and she gave him a confused look.

"It's bad enough to realize that I've been complete bastard for the past couple of years. But now the Spirits are rubbing it in my face that I killed my best friend?" He continued.

"Amaya"'s face became a look of realization. "Jet, I'm not-"

"I killed her. I get it. I don't need to be reminded. Okay, Spirits? Now make her go away. Erase my memory, or something, because I can't deal with this right now!" He yelled, his voice cracking on the last word.

"Jet, I'm not dead." She said gently. She reached out and tried to take his hand, but he pulled away at the last second and turned away from her.

"Don't lie! I saw it - she couldn't possibly have survived that. I'm going to turn around now, and you'll be gone." He waited for a second, before he finally did turn around. He was surprised when he saw her still standing there, smiling at him. "What are you waiting for? Disappear!" He yelled.

"Jet, I'm not dead." "Amaya" repeated, walking over to him. "I survived. And I came back."

"Why?" Jet demanded, not understanding. "Why did you come back? You didn't have too. I nearly killed you. I wouldn't blame you if you hadn't come back."

Amaya rolled her eyes. "Because, Jetty, other than the fact that you're a moron that wouldn't survive without me, you're my best friend. Through thick and thin." She took his hand, and he realized that she was telling the truth. She was solid.

She was real.

Several different emotions burst into him all at once. He decided to channel them out through a hug. Amaya tensed up for a moment, startled at his display of affection, but finally returned the hug.

"I'm sorry." He said, not letting her go. "It's all my fault. You were right - I'm so sorry."

"Jetty..." She whispered, rubbing his back, like she always did.

"I'll change." He promised, finally letting go. He held her by her shoulders at arms length. "I promise. I'll change. Just... stay."

Amaya looked at him sternly. "Promise?"

Jet nodded. "I promise."

She held out her hand, extending her pinky finger. "Pinky swear?"

They locked pinkies. "Pinkie swear."

Not the best chapter ending, I know. Tora will become the main character again next chapter.

Mwahahaha. Out of character Jet.

Sorry, I just had to show you what happened between Amaya and Jet at the end.

So, now everything goes back to normal. No talking wolves, no references, no nothing like that. Sort of. Okay?

Please review. Reviews are good for self confidence. Pwetty pwetty pwease?