Chapter 6
Of Boys in Skirts and Simple Monks

"Again." Suki ordered. I lunged again, throwing my whole body behind the fan. The Kyoshi warrior nodded and ordered a different drill. I lashed out again.

"Stop." I stopped. Sweat covered my brow. I took a gasping breath, grinning like mad. The dark brunette Kyoshi warrior looked up at my fan from the ground. And grinned. The entire dojo broke into applause. I beamed. Finally after a week of working from dawn to dusk I had finally beaten a Kyoshi warrior without using any dirty tricks. Of course Suki had been calling out to me what moves to use, but that also meant that the other warrior knew what to block for so I supposed it was evened out. I took the fan back and reached down and helped the other warrior to her feet. Tan, was her name pronounced Tahn as she corrected me after I had called her Tan by accident. Tan was a year younger then me and ad been with the Kyoshi warriors for a year. Suki who was the same age as Tan was leader of the warriors simply because she was the best fighter in the group and had been training the longest, a daunting record of ten years.

"Good job," Suki beamed at me, grasping my shoulder, "you've been working hard."

"I've had five hour long practice sessions with you everyday." I grinned, "I didn't have a choice but learn quickly or be beaten into pulp." The girl's laughed. I tried to remember all their names. Jooda, Mae, Suki, Tan, Kai… I grimaced. I had always been bad at names and most of the Kyoshi warriors seemed determined that since I had 'learned' Suki's name so quickly I should at least make a good attempt at learning theirs. I really was trying and I was learning. I just didn't remember them all at once. Part of the issue was that the names heir were foreign to me. The other was that I was always bad at remembering names. Of course I 'learned' the names of the characters I knew quicker. I had known their names for years.

"Excuse me." I jumped and spun, quickly falling into the ranks of the Daughters of Kyoshi. I blinked, recognizing Sokka.

"Oh look who we got here girls." Suki mocked. I stared. I had forgotten about Sokka's apology to the warriors, to focused on my training to really remember that during this time Aang was being chased around by crazy fan girls. They had stopped coming to our borrowed 'house' after I had snapped and threatened to sic Suki on them. The girls had scattered. I learned several hours later that Coco, the ringleader of the fangirling was Suki's little sister and was supposed to be in beginner's training with Mae during that time. I sniggered remembering that little detail. Mae hadn't been pleased that Coco had been skipping training to ogle the avatar.

"I wanted to apologize." Sokka explained, getting into both knees so he was below Suki, a sign of great respect. It was used to signify that person stood above you and was common practice when giving a sincere apology.

"I thought I would be a better warrior simply because I am a guy. My only request is that you teach me as an acceptance of my apology." I frowned, I didn't remember Sokka being this formal or heartfelt in the series. But then again, I had noticed that Sokka was a lot more formal when it was called for so I shook it off as nothing big.

"We don't usually teach outsiders," Suki warned, "let alone boys." She turned and sent a cheeky grin in my direction which Sokka, who was still looking at the floor, didn't notice.

"Please teach me. I will not let you down." Sokka asked, head still directed at the floor.

"Well, you'll have to follow our traditions. And I mean, all of our traditions." I couldn't help but let a snigger slip through. I couldn't wait to see Sokka all dressed up. This was going to be good.

While the girl's dragged Sokka away, much to his confusion I watched Suki share a sky smile with the other girls. They were seriously going to make Sokka pay for those sexist comments. I sighed, Sokka would learn, after all if Suki didn't do the trick Toph or Katara would. I paused as I thought about Toph. Should I convince everyone to go to Toph's home? And if I did what would I say. I paused, how would I even know it was where Toph lived anyways. Besides I told myself, even if we did pick up Toph early she shouldn't teach Aang until he at least was semi-efficient with water. Plus, Toph saw with her feet because of earth. She would be miserable on the pole anyways. It was better to leave her as she was.

I was distracted by my thoughts at the sudden emergence of Sokka who was looking absolutely humiliated. The makeup was smudged and clashed with his warriors wolf tail badly, however the uniform itself didn't look that bad at all. Not that it made him look good either. To my surprise Suki called out, "Alright everyone you get today off, I'm doing a private lesson right now." I nodded and with the rest of the class walked out of the dojo.
While everyone else went off to do their own thing I headed up to our 'house'. Katara would be there. I hadn't spent a lot of time with my travelling companions while I tried to learn how to fight but now I was pleased with my performance. Maybe it was time to take a small break before beginning again. I snorted to myself, if I worked any harder I would end up like Zuko, so focused on one thing I would forget everything else. That boy had a bad case of tunnel vision. I jumped when my mind came to Zuko. I had forgotten about Zuko and Sokka's apology heralded his arrival. I took off towards the beach as fast as I could go.

When I arrived there the beach was deserted. I looked around and allowed myself time to think. I really needed to start using my brain. Time passed normally here which meant that Zuko wouldn't arrive right away. Neither would Aang go swimming with the Unagi. I was being ridiculous. Still… I took a seat on the cold sand and looked out over the bay. A elephant koi lept out of the water, its orange and white scales glittering with water droplets. I needed to plan out my actions to the best of my ability so I at least had a direction in which to go. First off I needed to know how I should approach the next biggest hurtle, facing Zuko. Since I was a part of the Kyoshi Warriors training I would undoubtedly end up joining in the fight. I could choose to avoid Zuko at all costs and let everyone else deal with him, fight him if it came to it or go head to head with him. The problem was that if I avoided him I might end up getting someone hurt because of my negligence. If I faced him head on I better prepare myself to be pummelled because I was nowhere near Zuko's level. Unless I had some way of distracting him. Mentally I thought of a couple of ways I could distract him easily. Insult Iroh? Na, besides I liked Iroh to much myself. Call him Zuzu? Sure, if I wanted to match his scar. I sighed, what could I do to get Zuko's attention?

Inspiration struck me hard. I gaped at the air, wondering why I hadn't thought of it sooner. The idea was pure genius, plus it could possibly help undermine his thought process and make him think outside the box. The only question was if I was brave or stupid enough to actually try it. There was also a risk that saying what I planned to say would change the story forever in ways I couldn't imagine. Still by the time it would start to effect all the other changes I would undoubtedly make would have caught up by then as well. I leaned back. I was screwing myself six ways to Sunday and then delivering myself to hell in a hand basket. Still I would do it, as long as my nerve didn't abandon me at the worst of times.


I returned to the house before hiding myself in my room to get together my mini speech. I spent several moments trying to imagine Zuko as he looked at the end of the series in all his Fire Lord Glory. If I wanted this to work then I needed to believe in it.

I must have fallen asleep because I was woken to a loud "FINE!" And the sound of a door slamming. I blinked blearily. The voice had sounded vaguely like Aang's. I sat up, I was still dressed in my Kyoshi Warrior's garb, makeup smeared over the bed from where I had fallen asleep. Sighing I stood and grabbed a cloth from the bowl which stood on the table beside my bed. I rubbed my face briskly, taking off a;l the residual makeup. Besides, whenever Zuko attacked I wanted him to identify who I was. A random Kyoshi Warrior talking to him wouldn't do my plan much good.

Once my face was clear of all the makeup I walked out into the main room. Katara was there, staring darkly into a puddle of water on the floor, a wooden bowl tipped over on its side.

"Katara?" I asked, slowly approaching, "are you okay?" I had never seen Katara look so angry. Her entire face seemed shrouded by shadow, a black fire burned in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she snapped, not moving to look at me, "it's not like I care." I looked at her, puzzled as to why she wouldn't care and what she didn't care about. Then I remembered the sound of Aang's voice which I had woken to.

"You and Aang got into a fight?" I asked, taking a seat next to her.

"So what? See if I care. He should get eaten, that would show him."

"Katara, I know you don't think that, you're worried for him which is why you're crying-"

"I'M NOT CRYING!" Katara bellowed. I jumped back as a large stream of water hit me in the face. I gasped as the cold liquid impacted like a slap. Katara jumped, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Oh my gosh Pala I am so sorry," she cried, staring at my smarting face. I winced from the pain but shook it off with a forced smile.

"No problem, but Katara, I already washed my face today." The witty comeback caught both Katara and I by surprise. Katara let out a chocked sob which might have also been a laugh, before burying her head in my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her, heart aching for this woman in a child's body. A young girl but with old eyes. So soon they would come to be that much older. As would Aang's. Fire Lord Sozin would never be able to compensate for all those children who had lost their childhoods because of him. I felt fury build up against the fire nation but I quickly directed it back where it belonged, with Ozai and Sozin. I could feel the wet spots on my shoulder, nose, eyes and mouth as Katara cried. I hadn't realized that Aang had effected her this badly in the show. She had seemed to get over it quickly. There had to be something else going on.

"Katara, it's okay… shhhh… is the fight with Aang the only thing bothering you?" She shook her head, not willing to surface yet.

"Can you tell me what is?" She shook her head again. I sighed and gently stroked the back of her head. She'd tell someone when she was ready.

After another few minutes Katara pulled out of my shoulder and hiccuped. I sighed then stood and picked up another cloth before returning to her and handing the damp cloth over. She wiped her eyes and cheeks, then her mouth and nose. I took the cloth again and put it with the other dirty clothes in a bucket. We would wash them later.

"Feeling better?" I asked softly. Katara nodded then waterbended the water on the floor back into its wooden bowl. She looked at the wooden dish blankly before dumping the water outside. She was still shaking despite not crying any more so I kept a close eye on her while I helped myself to some sort of porridge with fruit and milk. After a second Katara joined me, nibbling on a cheese biscuit.

"I'm sorry…" Katara apologized, "I ruined your uniform." I looked down at the top then shrugged, "Nah, you didn't ruin it. It will com out in a good wash. Do you think I could convince Zuko a monster was trying to maul me?"

"Who's Zuko?" I froze and mentally began berating myself. Seriously I had to start watching what I said or one day I was going to let something slip which couldn't be explained away as easily as Zuko's name.

"The guy who's been chasing after Aang, he's the prince of the fire nation." Katara paled but nodded. I quickly moved to calm her, "he won't have anyone else helping him besides his current crew. He's not exactly in his father's favour currently." Katara nodded absently.

"I need to go and see if Aang is okay."

"Go ahead," I agreed. While Katara walked off I allowed myself to grimace. I really needed to watch what I was saying. I shook my head. I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves and touching the necklace I had bought. I hadn't taken it off since buying it, not that anyone knew. Heck, no one even knew I had bought it. Personally I didn't mind either way. I walked back in my room and packed up my bag. Inside was my sleeping bag, parka and the two sets of Earth Kingdom clothes that I had been given. Once I was done with that I grabbed Sokka and Katara's stuff as well. Aang's staff was gone so I assumed he had taken it with him. I did another double check to make sure no one had forgotten anything then took the items down.

Appa was munching on hay in the back of the building, looking very pleased. Momo was sitting on the bison's horns watching me, big ears alert.
"Hey boys I need to leave this stuff with you okay?" I asked, clambering onto Appa via tail and securing all the items. Appa grumbled as turned his head to see what I was doing but quickly became disinterested and went back to munching hay. Momo on the other hand flew from his perch and landed on my shoulder to observe my activities. I laughed and petted his soft ears before shooing him off my shoulder. He chattered at me, annoyed before flying away. I chuckled, brushed a strand of loose hair out of my eyes then headed into town.


Zuko's ship was spotted during the early evening, I'd guess nearly five o'clock, not that I could accurately tell time anymore. All I could really guess was basic time periods, before noon", noon, after noon and of course morning, afternoon, evening, and night. I joined the other Kyoshi warriors who were standing under the statue of Kyoshi. To my surprise Suki and Sokka were there as well. Suki was handing out fans to everyone. I grabbed a pair, the metal fans were heavy but I had become accustomed to that. What I wasn't used to was the sharpened edge and the strange coating.

"What's on this?" I asked Suki touching the cool jell like substance covering the fan.

"It stops the fan from heating up and burning you if Firebenders grab it. It can also protect you from fire it's a natural fire repellant." I nodded and took both fans, trying to get used to their feel. Suki explained her plan of attack, keep hidden then engage on her cue. I pretty much ignored it. I would follow her plan to a point before breaking off into my own. Besides I had read somewhere that no plan survived initial contact with the enemy.

I took my position, choosing a place where I could see the firebenders as they came towards the village as well as most of the village itself while remaining on the front lines. If there was anytime that I was going to prove myself a capable fighter it was now. Now or never. I waited, crouched on the far side of the rooftop watching the slow progress to the village. I watched as the rhinos moved. They were slow, cumbersome beasts but built like tanks. I wouldn't be able to hurt them but I could out manoeuvre them. That was what I was counting on. No the rhinos would be fine as long as I stayed away from their horns, it was the benders who were the real threat.

It seemed like eons before Zuko and his men arrived, the quick pounding of my heart making every step take twice as long. It seemed like it should be night but it was only half an hour that the rhinos had been walking. It was infuriating since a normal walk would take five minutes and the most. I wondered why the firebenders didn't just leave the rhinos behind, the animals were giving their enemies lots of time to prepare. Finally though, Zuko and his cohorts were here. Suki made a motion and the signal was quickly passed around. I took my turn, as one of the people on the roofs anyone in my area would look for my signal. I quickly made the move, catching Sokka's eye. His eyes widened and he gestured at his face. I pretended to grimace silently pleased that I was so easily recognizable. Zuko would spot me right away.

Now that we were all ready we were simply waiting to strike. One Kyoshi warrior would rush out when they felt the time was right and the rest would follow. I waited until Zuko was well within my sights, but not close enough for his beast to attack me before I jumped off the roof. Dust and dirt puffed up in a cloud around me drawing all eyes to me. Just as I expected Zuko took one good look at me before glaring.

"You."
"Me." I replied, a cheeky grin on my face. Zuko growled. It was then the Kyoshi warriors attacked. I almost lost Zuko in the sudden onslaught. Almost. The prince of fire pushed through the crowd of girls(and only boy) to get to the only one without makeup. Me. I wasn't going to make it hard for him.

I charged forward and dodged to the side, attacking from the part of the rhino that didn't have goring horns of whip like tail. I smashed my fan against Zuko only to be parried away by a fist full of fire. Whatever the special coating on this fan did the trick worked and Zuko's flame never touched me. I closed my fan and swung it at him again. He used the metal gauntlet on his wrist to stop that particular blow. The fan rung with the sound of metal on metal.

I was dimly aware of everyone else fighting Zuko's hordes of soldiers. I heard shouts and screams and the distinctive sound of metal ringing upon metal. My fan got caught in a corner of Zuko's armour. I tugged in alarm but it didn't budge. Zuko liked at me, then tore the fan out of his shoulder armour where I had struck again. His armour was thick and I was beginning to doubt that I was leaving much more then bruises so I jumped ahead on my plan.

I leaned in close, startling Zuko. He brought his wrist up to his face, expecting another attack when I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Long live Fire Lord Zuko."


Oh boy Maddi is in trouble isn't she? So for those of you who may be confused, Pala/Maddi wants the attention of Zuko and really doesn't have to many options. She could mention his mother but then he would attack her point blank, she doesn't want to bring up Iroh because one she doesn't want to insult the dragon of the west and two, she has a lot of respect for his character (note I didn't say him because she doesn't actually know him yet). So she chooses to call him fire lord. If Zuko was normal he would take it one of three ways and possibly get confused, is she against me, for me or mocking me. Of course the Zuko we know and love currently is full of anger and angst so he instantly jumps to the worst possible conclusion. Pala/Maddi on the other hand hadn't realized this and is right now simply glad that she has Zuko's attention like she wanted. Of course she is aware of the danger, otherwise she wouldn't have said that she'd be screwed six ways to Sunday and sent to hell in a hand basket.

Next chapter involves a very angry fire prince, and Pala/Maddi getting a little carried away and by accident giving out some misinformation. I hope you liked this chapter. Please review to let me know if there is anyway I can improve.

Thank you, Princess Kassie Out.