"But Mr. Pakku, I've never spoken in front of the entire school before!"

Signs of stress wrinkles were beginning to show under Katara's tranquil blue eyes, almost as if they were mimicking her elderly teacher's.

"Child, you're over-reacting," Pakku did not bother looking up towards the girl as her arms hung desperately at her side. It seemed like this sort of thing happened quite often between them, and today... he was much more interested in grading his pop quizzes.

"That's exactly what I said," Zuko added from the doorway, tapping the wall with a drumstick. "But it's like talking to a brick wall with her."

Katara scowled at him, even though she knew he meant well. Zuko just shrugged teasingly, hiding his eyes under his messy dark hair.

"Are you telling me this mission of yours is crumbling down to dust... all for a simple speech you have to make?" Mr. Pakku raised an eyebrow to her, judgmentally. "That's the most pathetic nonsense I've ever heard. Waterbenders don't give up so easily."

The girl shook her head with her hands, frazzled.

"But Azula. She's... I mean, you know how she speaks to people," Katara glanced over to Zuko for a second, before turning back to her grandfather. "It's spellbinding!"

"Are you afraid to face her?" the math teacher started gathering some papers from his desk, speaking almost second-handedly to Katara, now. "I remember that tidal wave quite well... how it took me a good lunch break to convince Zhao that my granddaughter wouldn't attack the Fire Nation princess in that extremity again. I hope you're happy."

Zuko fought a grin, seeing how Katara's arms crossed uncomfortably to their Math teacher.

"Gra– Mr. Pakku, I'm not scared of Azula," the girl asserted, with bite. "I'm just scared that people will side with her after she makes her speech. That stuff comes so naturally for her."

The waterbending master brought his attention away from his papers, looking at the distraught young girl who had inherited her grandmother's eyes and short temper. He knew it wasn't in his job description to empathize with students... but in this case, Pakku had to make an exception. She was part of his family, after all.

"She is a public-speaking prodigy, Katara..." he said in a gentler tone, "but that's because the podium is like her sanctuary."

Katara frowned involuntarily, picturing the Azula from the campaign posters coming to life. She glancing involuntarily back at Zuko for support, and Mr. Pakku felt his eyes narrow sternly at Zuko without warning.

"Just find the place you've felt most at home this year," Pakku then said, bringing her attention back to him, "where in spite of anything... you'll feel the most comfortable to make the speech. That way, not even Azula could distract you."

And Katara smiled, feeling like a bit of that headache was leaving her system.

"Thanks, Mr. Pakku," and without hesitating, she ran over to give her grandfather a meaningful hug.

"Take care," he replied, watching the girl leave with Zuko at the doorway. It was right before the two of them had left the classroom, that Zuko glanced back to their teacher... and he saw how sternly the man was looking at him.

Like the overbearing lion-hawks, when they protected their young from vicious predators.

And the boy quickly followed Katara out the door, feeling goosebumps sprout behind his neck.


"How did my mom's history test go for you?"

Katara shrugged as a response to Zuko's raspy voice, meeting up with him as he left Ms. Wu's classroom towards the end of the day. "I feel like I could've written more, but I managed to get through everthing fine. It's Jeong Jeong's test I'm stressing over, and that's next period!"

Zuko chuckled, ignoring the over-dramatic tendency of her voice.

They headed towards Zuko's locker on the far end of the hallway, and Katara ignored the blank stares from the students that passed them by. They had a few minutes before the next class, so the last thing on their mind was the ridiculous rumors regarding a torn prince and a talented waterbender. It had been a while since the two had agreed to ignore them.

As Zuko opened his locker, Katara noticed the maroon insignia of the Fire Nation hanging as a small flag on the door. A small, very worn picture of his immediate family... Lord Ozai, Lady Ursa, Azula, and himself at least from ten years ago... was posted on it. She had seen it countless times... but something about the way each person had broken smiles in the portrait made her hesitate to ask why he kept it there.

"Are you still going to compete for the Shaolin Nationals?"

It took a second's pause before Zuko finally decided to reply. "I don't think so; the competition's in a few weeks, and I'm nowhere near ready."

"If it's because of all these changes in my campaign, I can understand. You don't have to help me that much, I know it's a lot of work."

"No, I... I want to do this," Zuko explained humbly, but staring at the girl square in the eye. "If Aang wants to demonstrate his bending ability, he still needs a lot of work... and I'll do what it takes to keep my sister from beating you."

Katara smiled, but not without that small bit of guilt. "I just hope this all goes according to plan... I'm supposed to help Teo with the air-gliding demonstrations after school... but all I can think about is this place where I can call home and say my speech."

"Unbelievable," and the boy just grunted, knowing that any more talk about this speech would fry Katara's brain cells. Her simple grin then appeared, and as she shook her head in her own absentminded way... Zuko reached and pulled on one of her hairloops to kill the awkward mood.

"Ow!" she then hit him rightfully back on the tugging arm. The boy just returned to rummaging in his locker, giving them a few quiet seconds before deciding to bring up another subject.

"How's the play coming?"

The girl nervously caved in her frame from the books she held. "We're doing the kissing scene again tomorrow."

"I know," Zuko took out a couple of his notebooks, then eyed Katara for a second. "Aang couldn't stop talking about it yesterday, during his training."

Katara blinked, and she couldn't tell if a bit of color had left her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. He's a funny kid," he added as an afterthought, closing his locker with one swing. One glance at Katara's distraught look made his say, "Something wrong?"

"Oh... no, I'm fine," she stalled in her own voice, so clearly she couldn't help but blush in front of Zuko. "I just feel like... like I've been ignoring him, lately."

The boy's copper eyes searched to meet her deep blue, taking a second's pause. "Are you?"

"I don't know!" Katara said, exasperated. "I told you what happened at our last waterbending session..."

"Right, and you stayed with him the whole time," Zuko pointed out. "So why is it so hard to talk to him, now?"

"Because it's weird, Zuko! I don't know if he was hallucinating, or if he really does feel that way about me." She lowered her eyes, sadly, to the only person she seemed to confide her thoughts to at the moment. "I mean... Aang's just a kid, right?"

Zuko stared at his friend appallingly for the first time, as if he hardly recognized her.

"No, he's not," Zuko responded, with such a low tone that didn't suit him at all. "If you saw him Firebend, you would understand."

The girl made a small sound, like a sigh, already feeling a bit of pink appear on her cheeks.

"Katara, look at me." Zuko stared at the dark-haired girl square in the eye, unafraid of the glimmering blue that was reflecting from them. "I think you're being a real coward right now."

"Coward?"

"Yes," Zuko responded with firm ease. "There's a lot of passion and energy coming from that kid's soul... and I think he gets it from you. When I ask him why he's working so hard, he says it's because he wants the next Avatar to be a positive influence here. He believes in your mission, Katara, and he doesn't want to let you down… because he feels he'll be letting everyone else down, too."

The girl didn't even feel her mouth drop slightly from the heaviness in her jaw. But Zuko looked away for a second, wondering if he'd said enough. But as it was his best friend, he felt the whole truth should come out like open water.

"And when a kid pours his heart out like that... you sure as hell shouldn't leave him hanging."

"Zuko, I'm not trying to be a bad person here."

"I know, but you're being awfully inconsiderate," Zuko relinquished that memory of Mai, and the many weeks that had passed without knowing why she had decided to walk out on him. He knew Katara would probably hate him for saying so, but it wouldn't be forever. "He's a great kid. Don't take him for granted."

She pursed her lips through habit. "You're starting to sound like your Uncle, you know that?"

The boy grunted harshly, shaking his head in disgust. "I'm meeting with him after school, to talk about post-graduation plans. I'd rather drink tea with Zhao."

Katara laughed, letting a few seconds of quietness filter in before speaking again.

"Hey, maybe I'll ask Aang to the Year-End dance," her voice rose from the idea, feeling herself blush in color almost instantly. "That's going on a week after the OmaShu play."

"Yeah," suddenly Zuko became very interested in the wall (that coincidentally exhibited Mai's artwork).

"You should go, too." Katara nudged him encouragingly. "It's your last chance, and you don't have to bring a date unless you want to."

Zuko gave a slight chuckle, in the way that brought ease to his dry throat, "Actually... my mom's been trying to set me up with someone."

"What?" her blue eyes doubled in size. "Why didn't you–"

"It's embarrassing, okay?"

He blankly stared at his Fire Nation crest, using all his might to keep his face from turning pink.

"No, Zuko, that's wonderful. Your mom's just trying to help!" Katara gleamed happily. With one quick close of his locker, Zuko and Katara walked down the hallway together quietly, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes beneath her hairloops. "So, who is this lucky lady?"

The boy hesitated, unable to remember the last time he felt this foolish and out of his own skin. He brought a hand to brush his scalp nervously, before speaking in a raspy whisper.

"She's the student intern at Nurse Yugoda's clinic, and she loves my mom to death."

"Song?" Katara beamed. "Oh Zuko, she's the sweetest girl in the whole school! You should ask her to the dance."

Zuko frowned and looked at the passing students, recognizing a few of their faces along the way. He saw the water-tennis girl, Yue, talking to Sokka (who looked as gloomy as ever) while they strolled out to Mr. Mechanist's lab. And then a group of chit-chatting Kyoshi dancers passed by, and then... without even preparing himself for it, he saw the familiar Oak Tree kids.

He saw Jet.

That charismatic, hip-hop-loving troublemaker who'd stolen a certain girl's heart, who walked with such a calm smile on his face... it was making Zuko's face sour.

Katara did all she could to bring him back into the conversation, realizing who had caught his attention. A tiny butterfly then jumped in her throat.

"Zuko, I know it's hard... but if I can have the guts to talk to Aang, that means you can put in the effort to...," she said it so assertively, Zuko raised his eyebrows as she firmly continued. "... to move on. That's what's holding you back, isn't it?"

"Katara, please," he rasped, as images of Mai with Jet were suddenly churning his stomach. "Not now."

She sighed, realizing she had gone a bit too far for even the early morning.

Katara didn't want to press on the matter further, knowing it wasn't any more of her business, but Zuko's eyes finally fell to hers... in the way a friend would always confide in the other with their secrets. It took the loud ring of the 'warning' gong to get the noisy students scrambling to their next classes, leaving Katara and Zuko to establish this awkward conversation over.

"Will you at least think about it?" she said, trying to speak over the incoming voices of students.

Zuko shut his mouth as a way of answering her question, and waved a solid goodbye. "Good luck with that Jeong Jeong exam."

"Thanks," she grunted and waved a quick hand back to him. "See you!"


"Azula... where's Hide?"

Ty Lee tugged at her braid hesitantly from atop the tall redwood tree, trying to build up the same confidence she had so much admired about the Fire Nation princess. Rion Jon and Chan were also hiding their forms within the branches, but Azula was gazing outwards, maintaining her sharp eye towards the Praying Mantis rooftop that currently bore at least two dozen of its students... most of them with brilliantly-handcrafted air-gliders.

Not only was the ruthless princess surveying those innocent faces... but her copper eyes also thinned onto the shadowed boy sitting just a few trees ahead of her. It was the archer, who was reluctantly about to fulfill his oath with bow at hand.

"You said he was going to help save the non-bending kids," Ty Lee continued about Hide, looking up to Azula as though she was unable to hear her.

"I gave him permission to stay behind," Azula responded without even looking at Ty Lee. "He said he had some important personal business to attend to."

The perky smile from the acrobat nearly faded at those words, suddenly feeling like she'd eaten another rotten sea prune by accident. Ty Lee held an hand to her stomach, already getting a good idea about what business Hide was getting himself into. And it involved a lanky, rather clumsy young non-bender she'd sometimes run into during her cheerleading practice.

It wasn't part of the plan at all. Azula, and the others... they were just trying to scare the airbenders, right? It was a game. Right? Just a way to encourage them to vote for the coolest Fire Nation girl for president... the most powerful bender Praying Mantis has ever seen!

Right???

"Listen, Azula... I..." Ty Lee blinked, feeling her high-pitched voice quivering embarrassingly. "We've been friends since kindergarten, and I know you wouldn't tell anyone about my... whatever... but you're not going to really hurt the airbenders, are you?"

Ever since that falling-out with Mai, Ty Lee had grown more and more confused over Azula's actions. It was like she didn't know what to expect from her anymore. Part of her believed that at some point within these months... Mai would approach her, or Azula take her back as a friend again. But Ty Lee saw that relentless look in the princess's eye, as she firmly looked towards the innocent crowd of non-benders. That entrusting aura in Azula's smile had practically faded.

"That is not so much my concern, Ty Lee" Azula replied coolly, "as it should be yours. It all depends on whether or not you will catch them. My fight is with the Avatar."

Was it actually coming down to this? That the only reason she was going on with Azula's schemes was because... so many years ago... she had promised to keep a little cheerful girl's awkward bending ability a secret?

Ty Lee's hands shivered as if cold, while she clung onto the tall RedWood branches. She glanced over to the archer kid... who was probably weighing something very personal to his heart all for the sake of fulfilling a campaign duty to the mission.

The girl's brilliantly-shimmering eyes shut tightly, finally understanding why Mai wasn't speaking to Azula anymore.

"I'll be right back," Ty Lee said with her voice shaking, swinging herself off the branches before Rion Jon, Chan or even Azula could turn their heads. "I'm gonna go help Hide."

And the Fire Nation princess rolled her eyes, muttering 'lovesick puppy' under her breath. Only a few minutes from now... she would signal the Oak Tree boy to draw his first arrow.


"Teo... if I fall out of this thing... I'm gonna crush you!"

Toph's voice shuddered by the open air that passed her on the rooftoops, holding onto the custom wheelchair plane by the handles. She looked like a five year old girl, sitting on her boyfriend's lap with a pair of seatbelts strapped across her shoulders diagonally. Mr. Mechanist laughed, chaperoning his son's special event while sporting a new visor, keeping the sun away from his sensitive eyes.

On Ji was there, too examining a red shell-fish airglider Aang had happily handed to her. Suganya was twirling the light green stick-bug glider on her own, and Loung... the lone Watertribe airbender, was already flying freely over the roof on a dark blue crescent-moon glider. The non-benders looked both impressed and terrified by the simple nature of air-gliding.

A few non-benders were already holding the extra airgliders available, swishing them and pretending like they could naturally open them. Smellerbee and Pipsqueak were absentmindedly watching from the rooftop. They had no idea where Longshot had run off to that afternoon, and Jet and Mai seemed to be quite okay with just sitting under the Oak Tree. It seemed natural to just call their dance practice off for the day, but at least Smellerbee looked skeptical about trying this whole flying business.

Aang was thrilled to see so many familiar faces up on the rooftop, ready to try out this ancient art of the Air Temples... but his heart was beating like a drum, seeing Katara stand there proudly next to Mr. Mechanist! This was all her idea, and Aang knew this excitement about airbending culture would greatly benefit the school. While his mind tended to wander off about the lovely waterbender's smile... Aang tried to stay in the moment.

He laughed as Toph remained clung to her boyfriend's arm.

Teo just chuckled and secured an arm around Toph's stomach affectionately. Everyone watched as the kid in the wheelchair-plane slowly backed from the roof's ledge, a good fifteen feet away..

"Don't worry," Teo explained to the non-bending kids, and he took out his piloting glasses to wear. "When you take off... the key is to run and never look down!"

He gave Toph one last hug with his arm, before securing his hands to the wheels in a hard grip. Without even counting down numbers... the boy drove his wheelchair clearly off the ledge of the roof, and all the students hustled over to hear Toph shrieking voice that had followed. As Aang expected... the wheelchair plane immediately showed up in the air, and a chorus of whoa!s and holy crap!s came from the spectator students.

Loung happily flew from the safe rooftop over to his classmate, Teo, as the wheelchair kid demonstrated his mastery of non-bending flight.

Right when Aang thought Toph had given her shrieking a rest, she exclaimed, "Teo, don't you DARE try the loop-thing on me--AAAHHH!"

Students were laughing and clapping their hands all the same, while Aang, Sokka, Katara and the other airbenders seemed to just watch peacefully. The waterbender laughed her beautiful, musical laugh... as if feeling fully rejuvenated by this amount of fun people seemed to be having.

"Air Gliding's not as scary as it looks," the young boy reassured the overtly-fascinated students, immediately clicking open his own orange clamshell-glider and making Momo flinch awake on his shoulder. As Momo spanned its wings and flew off happily over to the other students, Aang said, "You tighten your body against the glider, but it's really about trusting the air."

Suganya and On Ji followed along with Aang's formality with the gliders, taking position to try and take off themselves. Aang had been instructing them all week about the simple maneuvers with air-gliding... and Suganya already master the upside-down loop! They happily took to the air, showing a few non-benders how to successfully do it themselves.

On Ji smiled. She thought about how Brei An's singing lesson was going, and crinkled her nose at the convenience that Xai had put himself in detention for this special day. The little girl wondered about taking out her new pair of air-skates to see if they'd bring further fascination over their element. Mr. Mechanist gave her a 'thumbs up' in the background as she took them out of her bag... but then... Kuzon came to mind.

Where was he? On Ji thought, her heart starting to ache. He said he wouldn't miss this.

Her mind was beginning to sink, amongst all the clapping and laughter that ensued from the air-gliding demonstrations... sinking back to the memories of when Hide once pretended to be so fascinated about her airbending talents. She started remembering Hide's words... his promises... hating herself to think that Kuzon was betraying her, too.

No... On Ji argued within herself... he's not. Kuzon's not like that. He wouldn't make fun of me, the way Hide would. Oh... Oh my god. HIDE?

The Listening came in fragments. In pieces. On Ji felt her hands shaking inside the schoolbag, closing her eyes... determined to concentrate on the one person she had consistently been worried about placing in danger.

She heard a loud crushing sound. A boy getting violently shoved against a row of lockers by a muscular hand the girl unfortunately knew too well. She could see this boy's memories jump in her mind, like the enjoyment of watching his little theatre-partner dance. All On Ji could see in the boy's jumping web of memories... was that he was only thinking about one thing. One person he had such a pleasure teasing and tickling during all of their moments together.

On Ji knew something was wrong, and one exchanging look with Aang told him everything he needed to know.

But that was when the swift sound of an arrow cut through Teo's glider like tissue paper.


"Dude, what the hell is your problem?" Kuzon could feel the dents in the metallic locker he was pinned up against, as Hide's brown eyes glared at him angrily. "We're JUST FRIENDS!"

Papers were scattered on the ground, mostly pages of OmaShu script that Kuzon had sloppily been holding on his way to the airbending demonstration. But Hide had ultimately decided to pay the lowly boy a visit in the remote hallway in the locker rooms... shouting obscene things about On Ji.

"It doesn't make sense," Hide practically spat to Kuzon's face, "Why would she go for a scrawny little Non-Bender like you?"

Kuzon felt the clutch on his shoulder get tighter and tighter, like his whole arm was becoming numb. Hide was growling and letting his breath almost choke the kid against the locker.

"Dude... did you brush your teeth this morning?" Kuzon coughed out, and kicked one of Hide's knees roughly to get out of the guy's grasp. "I don't know what mushrooms that girl must've been eating last year, to date some bad-breathy jerk. She deserved better."

Hide rammed his fists into a locker, denting it only in the smallest amount but showing a significant sound of pain. Just as the dented locker echoed along his ears... Kuzon felt the sudden kicking of a vent from above him. Before he knew it, part of a ventilation filter was metallically hitting the ground, and the legs of a gymnast flew over him. The legs kicked Hide's frame square to the ground, and Kuzon faintly recognized that cheerleading grace.

Ty Lee then ran to hold the guy back, using her flexible legs to acrobatically lock him down by the arms and legs.

"Hide, honey, that's enough," the girl shouted to her sweetheart, her big silver eyes glimmering by the many times she'd heard On Ji's name in their argument.

"SHUT UP, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee went pale white, not expecting to be yelled at by her own boyfriend. Defensively, she jumped off of Hide and jabbed the muscles on the back of his legs, leaving him paralyzed from from the waist-down. "I think somebody needs to cool down."

Immediately, the girl turned her head to acknowledge the frightened, lanky boy who was picking up the few papers he could get from the ground.

"I'm sorry... we weren't supposed to scare you!" Ty Lee looked helplessly at Hide as he struggled to awake his legs again. "Azula wants to show how protective the Fire Nation could be for Non-Benders! Please don't take it personally."

Kuzon strained the muscle on his shoulder with his hand, looking at Ty Lee's cheery smile like she had three serpents' heads.

"Honey, I gotta go save the air-gliding kids... they should be falling and crying for help any moment now," Ty Lee patted her boyfriend on the head.

"F–falling...?" Kuzon gathered his thoughts about the air-gliding demonstration, remembering that On Ji was supposed to be helping. But neither Ty Lee nor Hide read Kuzon's confused face at that moment. He was practically invisible, and he felt worse when all the perky cheerleading girl said was 'one of the air-kids are on the way!' and just ran down the deserted locker-room hallway.

"Ty Lee, get back here!" Hide attempted as he tried to hold his upper body up.

"Bye, sweetie! I'll help you as soon as I'm done saving the blind girl!"

Kuzon was about to head out to follow Ty Lee, immediately recognizing who she was talking about... but Hide's fireball fist blocked him from going any further. His legs were shaking, but Hide had managed to hold himself up against the non-bending Kuzon.

And then an ethereal echo of singing came into existence from the very distant corners of the locker room. It made Hide blink, and Kuzon was almost too afraid to look over his shoulder and see where this new sound had come from. It was like hearing the voice of an angel filter through the walls... the sound so powerful that it seemed to outdo everything else.


"TEO, WHAT'S GOING ON!?!?!"

"It's okay, Toph! I– it's okay! It's just a small tear on the glider...!"

Toph couldn't even hear the sound of her own shrieking voice, as a chorus of numerous yelps of panic overtook the sky. She felt a jumping of turbulence on Teo's wheelchair as she clung onto him for dear life... hearing her voice shudder like an earthquake. She heard her boyfriend's heartbeat skyrocket rapidly, as he tried to maneuver his glider like a hiccupping hummingbird.

Aang had taken off into the sky just a few seconds before... trying to dodge the handful of arrows that had pierced almost all the others in the air. Mr. Mechanist was running around the rooftop with his hands on his head, flabbergasted and shouting some kind of physics terminology out to his son, that only Sokka seemed to understand fully.

"HOLD ON to the LEVER as FIRMLY as YOU CAN, TEO!" Sokka translated in his loud voice, while Teo's jumping glider headed into the forest. The boy thinned his eyes and promptly drew out his boomerang, to try and cut some of the incoming arrows out of course.

On Ji was panting frightfully under her breath, concluding that this must've been a trap. She thought about Aang... about how she must've told her all of her previous worries when she had the chance. Or how they should've made more safety precautions about Azula's schemes.

But that didn't matter, now. Her mind was such a maelstrom up there in the sky, she couldn't Speak to any of the airbenders around her, nor did she blame them. Loung's excitement had drained from his face, and Suganya was gritting her teeth in concentration as they all tried to prevent their gliders from tearing.

"JIN!" Pipsqueak suddenly belted out, seeing his fellow non-bending friend shriek and hold on to dear life on a rickety airglider. It had at least three holes in it, and all Pipsqueak could do was clutch Smellerbee tightly like a platypus-bear and pray that she could land on one of the forest trees it was headed to.

Katara brought a hand over her eyes for shade, trying to locate the closest airgliders around her while at the same time opening her water pouch. She ran over to the ledge of the rooftop... whipping out the water immediately to the closest air-glider she saw, and exhaling a cold breath to freeze the torn hole in place.

"Everyone, STAY CALM! Uh... Loung! On Ji!" Aang noticed them still riding the air with graceful luck. "Grab hold of people's gliders by the base, and guide them back to the rooftop. BE CAREFUL!"

The young airbender overlooked the entire sky, realizing that the arrows had spontaneously stopped coming after a matter of minutes. A dozen of the brave non-benders were helpless keeping themselves up in the sky, and Aang watched while Suganya bravely led a damaged airglider (as well as her own) safely towards a forest branch.

Aang clutched his glider nervously, as he suddenly noticed the number of students who had emerged from the ground below... gathering around and pointing up at the panicking activity that was occurring above them. He saw the familiar faces of Jet and Mai, running out from the Oak Tree... already approaching the redwood trees like professional climbers to help receive the panicking riders as best they could.

Aang couldn't have felt more grateful... but then, he also recognized one of the faculty members: Vice Principal Zhao.

This didn't look good.


As tranquil as it was making Kuzon, the angelic aria in the voice did not seem to bother Hide. His frowning eyes were still staring at the kid, now with a fresh fireball flaming in his hand. At the very moment when Hide was approaching Kuzon like a predator, crouching in his numb legs... the kid looked past the threatening Fire Nation guy, and found another faint figure running towards them in the distance.

"I'm not done with you, kid," Hide rasped holding his fireball with rage at Kuzon.

"Oh yes, you are."

Brei An's voice no longer sounded ethereal and delicate, but especially loud. It came almost as strongly as the gush of wind that travelled along the hallway, bringing Hide's form into an outraged mess as he hit the locker with a "DAMMIT!". Brei An remained at the distance, keeping herself as calm as possible... but trembling with fright on the inside.

Her eyes didn't leave Hide as he tried to regain himself. Kuzon stammered away from Hide's reach, raising an eyebrow as that slender, usually-quiet girl began to sing her aria again. And when Hide decided to lance two loud fire discs over to the girl's directions, Kuzon easily understood why she was singing throughout her defensive block moves.

The airbender's operatic voice was bouncing off the walls. Nobody was allowed to bend inside the school. Not even this shy girl who'd decided to sing out of no where. Her voice had not only tuned out the noise of Hide's fireblasts, but also her harsh gusts of wind... and nobody except Kuzon was able to know what was really going on in the deserted locker rooms.

"Leave yourself out of this, girl."

"I– I'm sorry," Brei An said in her nervous, high-pitched voice, wishing she had another airbender to back her up. "Principal Roku said I have to protect the students from... I guess from people like you."

"You mean fire-benders?"

Hide jolted off the locker wall, attempting to scare Brei An with a small torpedo of flame ... but the girl blocked it defensively with her hands. Kuzon ran over to the tall girl's side, pantingly hoping to find some security there. While Brei An still watched Hide's out-of-breath stance, she kept herself very calm, letting her mind wander peacefully to attempt to reach out to the main airbender.

Aang!!! She then Spoke in her mind. Aang... Hide attacked a boy down here in the locker-rooms. I need help to get him out of here!

A few seconds passed, and while her eyes were still open and aware of Hide's movements, Brei An felt completely helpless to the boy she was supposed to rescue. Her palms were almost sweating, ready for whatever Hide would throw at her, and desperate to reach another airbender for help. While she and Kuzon slowly started to step back along the locker room, another voice suddenly made itself clear in her mind.

Brei An? You there?

The voice was indistinguishably Xai's. And he sounded pissed.

Kuzon was ultimately getting more confused by the startled, twitchy look of the girl's face. All he wanted to do was make it to the air-gliding show, and that certainly wasn't going to happen now. And he really needed to pee...

Look... Xai's voice continued to fill Brei An's calm, but terrified mind... Aang and the others are dealing with some crazy air-gliding shit up on the roof, and I'm in detention.

What? Oh no.

Brei An's eyes began to glimmer, continuing to Listen to Xai's voice as she fought not to imagine what was happening to the air-gliding demonstration. She blinked and returned her attention to Hide, who was slowly walking towards her and Kuzon.

I can't get out of it, long story, Xai declared rather shamelessly, so I'm gonna Speak you through this Hide-hellz-fest, okay? Stay calm.

Um, okay... Brei An could feel her throat getting drier by the moment, quickly gesturing for Kuzon to stay behind her.

Now Hide's the suspense type. He thinks he's the shit with his bending, so I'll bet he's coming at you very slowly, to get you all terrified... am I right?

Y–yes...

Brei An took a breath, noticing Hide's hands drawing out what looked like a pair of fire-daggers.

Fucker... Xai's voice murmured, but the girl knew it regarded somebody else... So what you're gonna do, is you're gonna keep one hand at your center, and one hand near the kid!

Brei An did precisely what she Listened to, bringing a hand out to protect Kuzon (who's lower body was shaking, for some odd reason).

Keep your eyes on him and start walking away slowly. The MOMENT he looks like he's gonna come at you... you airbend the shit outta his face and keep backing away slowly. Tell the kid to look behind so you two don't trip over anything. Okay?

I... um... Brei An didn't know if her trembling voice could be read through Speaking. Okay.

Don't forget to sing. Xai also added like a attempt for humor, but serious all the same. You can do this. Go kick that crazy fire-bender's ass.

Brei An nodded, as if to nothing. In another small breath, with her heart beating rapidly, she asked Kuzon to stay behind her, keeping his eyes to the distant hallway. She tightened her stomach and began to sing again, waiting for that dangerous-looking student to come at her with the fire-daggers in his hands. As the sound of her aria echoed along the walls... Brei An felt so incredibly foolish, somehow... waiting there for what seemed a full minute without any aggressive action from Hide.

She noticed him, standing, still panting in breath with his clenched fists. But his eyes were not frowning or enraged anymore... like he was taking in the sounds of her singing... or perhaps debating in his mind why he was attacking in the first place.

Kuzon turned over to look at Hide again, wondering why nothing was happening and holding his legs together tightly. Brei An kept walking them down the hallway, feeling one of Kuzon's hands tug at her long braid securatively. The girl couldn't help but study Hide's exasperated, almost sad-looking face... wondering why it had become that way.

As she and Kuzon continued to step back, Brei An felt the sound of her aria... cleared her mind towards the guy in front of her... and commenced her airbending duty as she saw fit.


Jet and Mai climbed towards the redwood trees in their respective hooked swords and natural leaping agility... with their firm eyes watching out for the places these air-gliders would land. Suganya's glider had already crashed like a limp kite... and even before a few of the Kyoshi dancers could call out her name from below, a dark figure suddenly jumped onto her.

Mai caught sight of who that must've been, even by the faint darkness in the forest.

"What– What are you doing?" Suganya said, out of breath as the darkly-clothed student grabbed hold of her waist and started to help her down the tree's many branches. "I'm okay!"

Even as they were both busy trying to help the crashed victims, Jet and Mai knew what this was all about. And Mai was the one who noticed that small glint of copper eyes hidden within the trees, perhaps smiling along for the spectacle.

Mai found herself between the covered faces of Rion Jon and Chan, as the two quietly helped down Suganya and a few other traumatized non-benders out of the trees.

Jet took notice of the heavy wheelchair glider that Teo was slowly still controlling with his hands... holding onto what seemed to be a kicking and screaming baby from his lap. The glider's huge wingspan had only gotten two tears on a side, so it managed to float and jump the longest out of all the others.

The brave Earth-dweller prepared himself in his mind, to cut off Teo's belts with his hookswords and grab hold of the two kids before the weight of the wheelchair had them crashing down to a sixty-foot drop. All he could hear were the murmurs of the watchers below them, and the shrieking of a little blind Earthbender still in the air.

But apparently, a graceful young acrobat that ran swiftly towards the trees had a few different plans herself.

"Hang on, kids!" Ty Lee's voice appeared like a tiny floating butterfly as she tumbled and swung onto the trees. She sounded out of breath, but still desperate to rescue whoever still needed rescuing.

Aang and the other airbenders were doing all they could to calm the non-benders that had safely landed back on the rooftop, and the boy was just about take off and help Teo, but Katara's amazed voice caught his ear from the corner.

"Is that Ty Lee, over there?"

Aang saw how swiftly the young cheerleading girl was making herself up the trees, one unbelievable swing and jump after another. It almost didn't look humanely possible for a girl to move that quickly in the air. He looked over at On Ji, who had just landed from her own glider, and they each exchanged an overwhelmed look. They remembered what Suganya had mentioned about Listening to Ty Lee's distraught mind, one week ago... how it had all of a sudden become so simple to hear the girl's feelings about tumbling and flying, for fear that a deep secret might be revealed.

Whoa. Aang's silver eyes widened, still watching Ty Lee's maneuvers take her up to the very top of the tree in record time. Could... could she be a...!

Toph and Teo crashed nearly at the very top of a red wood tree in a loud snapping sound of lumber. Many people from below had gasped, and quite a few more had appeared outside by the time they heard the final crash within the trees. Jet and Ty Lee had caught up to the young Earth kids... with Jet gripping his hooked swords tightly as he saw Teo weakly holding on to a branch with both arms. It was clear that the weight of the wheelchair and Toph wouldn't be able to hang for very long.

"Kid!" Jet called out as he extended one of his swords to him. "Grab hold of this. Ty Lee can get the little girl."

"I'm not a little GIRL!" Came Toph's exasperated voice as she helplessly clung onto Teo, frightened tears swelling in her eyes.

In a panting breath, as he watched Ty Lee swing upside-down and extend her arms like a monkey, Teo knew what he had to do.

"It's okay, Toph, you're gonna be fine..." he said as calmly as he could, carefully unbuckling the straps that held Toph to his stomach.

"Teo...?" the little Earthbender raised her brows, almost breathless by this point. She heard the branch above her snapping, making her heard pound like a drum. The boy was caressing her back tenderly with one hand, still holding onto a tree branch with the other. "...TEO!?"

Right when she'd been broken free, Ty Lee launched herself off of the branch she was hanging from like a trapeze artist and immediately grabbed hold of the little girl before she could fall off the wheelchair. And Ty Lee held Toph tightly to her frame as she leapt towards branch after branch, bringing herself closer to the ground. As Jet carefully cut the straps off of Teo with his swords, all they heard were the thrilled and frightened shrieks of a little girl in the distance.

"You got it?" Jet asked as he extended his arm towards Teo.

Carefully, the young boy placed both his hands tightly to Jet's arm, and the Earth-dweller swung him over and carried the boy off of the broken wheelchair. It wasn't a few seconds later when the wheelchair and the branch, now free of the weight, decided to make their way down to the very bottom of the redwood tree. All that was left hanging was the torn glider.

Jet had been too distracted by the falling wheelchair, he was not at all prepared for the sudden kick that came directly to his stomach... as if the unknown feet had swung in by the dark forest.

It made the Earthdweller grunt in pain, losing his grip on Teo as the young boy desperately tried to cling onto a free branch. Before he knew it, the darkly-clothed woman had left Jet cowering in a tree branch, easily grabbing hold of a reluctant Teo and swinging herself down to safety.

"Wh– What did you do to him?" Teo's eyes rose beneath his flying goggles at the stealth woman with copper eyes. All he could do was hold on tightly to the swinger... knowing that one slip would leave him falling to the abyss.

But the woman said nothing. Teo could faintly recognize those copper eyes that glinted among the filtering sunlight... and he already knew she wasn't going to come back for Jet.


A/N - Merry Holidays to all! I actually got Avatar Book I for Christmas, and the special features got me all giddy yesterday. Aw, what a great show. On a sidenote, I always thought Song was a water-downed version of Katara (you know, without the quick temper thing?) so I figured I'd try matching her up with Zuko and see if it would work! Who knows how this will end? Hehe... I'll be posting the next chapter as soon as I can, before my break is over! --MM