Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar yadda yadda yadda. [You know the drill

This chapter is dedicated to Tylerthewaterbender2892, my first reviewer. Thank you, Tyler.

Restoration

Chapter 3

The rain was still pouring hard enough to make it through the dense tree branches to feel like a shower to the fugitives below. As Hana was walking along, she noticed an unusually tall shrub with large sturdy leaves. Hana paused by this tall shrub growing along a tree trunk. Lee stopped and turned around wondering why Hana stopped suddenly. What he saw was Hana positioning the leaves to catch the rain and channel it down from leaf to leaf forming a steady stream of water. Hana cocked her head backwards slightly to catch the rain water in her mouth.

After swallowing several mouthfuls, Hana turned to Lee saying, "Are you thirsty?" Lee hesitated knowing that if he was going to drink the water, then he would have to remove his mask and arouse questions about his scar.

Hana noticed Lee's hesitation and said, "Are you worried about me seeing your face? If so, I can turn around if it makes you feel comfortable. I know you must be thirsty after…all that."

After a short pause, Lee finally replied, "Actually it would be better if you did not see my face right now."

"Alright." Hana replied taking a few steps back from the shrub and turned around.

Lee took the mask off and walked up to the shrub taking a few mouthfuls of water. Lee remarked, "That's a neat trick. Where did you learn it?" He went to take a few more mouthfuls of water.

Hana replied, "I just thought of it right now, out of necessity, I guess."

After replacing his mask, Lee said, "You can turn around now." Hana turned around and walked up to the shrub taking a few more mouthfuls of water before continuing after Lee down the deer path.

After what seemed like hours, the unrelenting rain had turned into a soft drizzle, and the clouds started to thin out. Making their way along the deer path through the sea of giant trees, Lee and Hana finally came to a large field hemmed in by the forest.

"The quickest way to shelter is across this field." Lee said as he stopped at the edge of the forest. Hana did not seem to notice that Lee had stopped, and she kept walking parting the tall grass as she entered the meadow. Lee starred at Hana's back in shock. There was a large tare, which ran down the middle of the back of her olive green dress, and Lee was even more shocked by both the multitude of wounds, some of which were bleeding, and the bruises on the exposed part of her back.

"We can rest for a short time if you need to." Lee said in a soft manner.

Hana paused and turned saying, "If I stop now, I know that I won't be able to get back up. It's best that I keep moving. We need to get to a dry place." Hana turned back around and resumed walking steadily through the grassy ocean. Lee silently followed Hana walking at a quicker pace to catch up with her, which did not take long.

The drizzle finally dissipated, and the clouds parted revealing a bright, full moon. The soft light from the moon illuminated the landscape revealing the two travelers, who were half way across the meadow with the masked warrior leading.

Lee noticed that Hana was starting to walk slower. Suddenly, Lee heard a sneeze come from behind followed by coughing. Hana stopped and was hunched over trying to catch her breath. Once she had recovered from her coughing fit, Hana resumed walking, but shortly, another coughing fit consumed her. Lee turned around with a concerned expression, but Hana could not see it because he was still wearing his mask. Hana once again began to breathe steadily while rubbing her arms trying to keep warm.

Lee walked up to Hana and turned with her on his right so that she could not see the scar. Hana looked at Lee with a blank expression not knowing what he wanted or what he was going to do. Without saying a word, Lee took Hana's left arm and placed it across his shoulders. Lee then put his right arm around her waist so as to not aggravate any of Hana's wounds on her upper and mid-lower back. Hana turned away blushing slightly by this close contact with a guy, whom she had only known for maybe a few hours. However, Hana did not mind the unusual warmth that emanated off of Lee, because it was helping her to keep warm.

Lee didn't take notice of Hana blushing and said, "There is some shelter just ahead. It won't be too long before we get there." They continued to walk together parting the grass as they went. Lee would help Hana as a support when she periodically had coughing fits.

As the sky began to lighten with warm hues of yellow and red, Lee and Hana finally made their way across the meadow and entered the darkness of the trees once again.

Looking around at the enormous trunks of countless red oak trees, Hana wearily said, "Wow, déjà vu." in a joking manner. Lee let a soft chuckle escape.

"Ah, the masked mystery laughs." Hana said with a smirk. At that moment Hana caught sight of a bush with large, blue berries hanging on its branches. Pointing to it, Hana asked, "Are those edible?"

After getting over how sporadic this girl was. Lee inspected the plant in question more closely and replied, "No, those are poisonous gooseberries." They walked a little further into the woods. Lee halted suddenly, and Hana turned her gaze and was taken aback realizing that they were in front of a large cave with numerous, long vines covering the entrance.

"I didn't even notice this cave until you stopped in front of it." Hana said surprised.

"Ya, that's why it's perfect for us to stay here until you are ready to travel again," Lee replied. Lee lifted some of the vines as they passed into the cave. Hana looked around finding the cave to be shallow but roomy enough for two people, but most importantly it was dry. Lee led Hana over to a smooth boulder and set her down. Hana placed her right hand on the boulder as a support as she sat on the boulder. Lee walked over to one corner of the cave and picked up a large bundle, which was tightly wrapped in dark cloth and tide with a leather cord. Lee untied the knot and unwrapped the bundle revealing two sets of dry clothes and two blankets. Taking one set of dry clothes, Lee walked over to Hana handing it to her saying, "Here put these on while I go gather wood for the fire."

"Thank you." was all Hana could say before Lee vanished through the wall of vines. Hana looked down inspecting the clothing further. She could tell it was native Earth Kingdom clothes. A simple long-sleeved, forest-green robe, which was lined with a wide, yellow band, accompanied with a pair of dark brown pants. Hana carefully took off her dress and leather shoes trying not to move her back too much. Hana's dress was still damp so she waterbended the water out of the dress. She then ripped strips of dry, olive green fabric off her old dress. Using these strips of cloth, Hana replaced the loose wrappings about her chest and put extra wrappings on to cover the rest of her torn skin on her back. Once Hana had finished doing that, she took off her muddy black pants and slipped on the dark brown pants and tied the string about her waist. Next, Hana put on the new robe and fitted the frog button closures[the kind you see on Chinese clothing which stretched from the collar down to her waist. The robe was a little big for her since she had to roll up the sleeves, otherwise, they would cover her hands completely. Lastly, Hana tied a brown sash about her waist overtop the robe, which had slits on either side that ran up to the middle of her thighs. 'Well he got the pants right, but the robe is a little big.' Hana said to herself as she felt a little warmer with dry clothes on. But she shivered as cold chills ran throughout her body from the cold, damp early morning air. Hana draped her damp black pants and the remains of her old dress over a boulder and bended the water out of her old pants and shoes. Lee had not returned yet, so Hana thought it best to keep moving to keep warm until a fire was built. Hana started looking about the cave for some nice sized stones to make a fire pit. She found a few scattered about the cave, but she needed a few more to finish the circle. The airbender stuck her head out of the cave checking to see if Lee was returning. Not seeing Lee anywhere in sight, Hana walked about the cave easily finding the rest of the stones she needed since the cave was surrounded by moss covered stones and large boulders. Hana finished making the fire pit. Running her fingers through her hair lost in thought, Hana remembered that she had not brushed her hair in a few days. Hana sat down on the same boulder as before and ran her fingers through her dark auburn hair trying to get most of the knots out. Hana began to get worried since Lee had not returned yet, so she walked over to the entrance of the cave. As Hana lifted the vines to leave, she came face to face with the blue and white devil face of her warrior companion.

Hana gasped and said, "Geez don't scare me like that." Lee wordlessly walked around her carrying firewood and started to build the fire. Hana stood looking at Lee puzzled at why he was acting so distant even for a stranger. Hana shrugged off the thought with 'maybe that's just how he is, mind as well not pry.'

"Well, since your busy doing that, I am going to get some bedding for us." Hana said from the entrance of the cave.

"There's some moss growing behind the cave." Lee replied. "Alright, thanks." Hana said.

While Hana left to gather some moss to use as bedding, Lee quickly got the fire going by using a small fire blast. Hana returned shortly with two bundles of moss.

"Wow, that did not take you long to get a roaring fire going." Hana said in amazement. Hana walked over to Lee to hand him his bundle of moss. But, before Lee took the moss from her, Hana noticed that Lee had burn marks on the palms of his outstretched hands and along the middle of his fingers.

"Your hands are burned. Did you firebend those bars in the water tunnel?" Hana asked.

"Yes, but my hands will be fine, so don't worry about it." Lee replied curtly. Hana was taken aback a little by Lee's defensive stance towards her, and she set up her bed of moss on the other side of the fire across from Lee.

"If you're a firebender, then why did you help me to escape from a Fire Nation prison? Are you against the war?" Hana asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. It's complicated." Lee replied harshly. Hana grew frustrated at Lee's stubbornness and decided to go take a walk before she said something she would regret later.

"Well, if you don't mind, I am going to find some herbs and water." Hana said leaving the cave before Lee could respond.

Lee sighed thinking to himself 'I shouldn't have taken it out on her. It's not her fault that she was not the person I was looking for. I just need some rest.' Lee unrolled the moss, changed into dry clothes, and laid out his black outfit to dry. Lee placed the mask on the ground next to his mossy bed. Sitting on the moss bedding, Lee added more wood to the fire and grabbed his blanket before lying down to rest. Lee did not close his eyes but merely starred at the roof of the cave, lost in thought about what he was going to do next.

A short time passed, and Hana returned bearing a bundle, consisting of yellow flowers and a plant with large leaves and small purple flowers, and a medium-sized, round stone. Hana avoided Lee's gaze and went over to a boulder that was flat and fairly level. She placed the flowers on the boulder and began crushing the flowers and large leaves from the one plant. Hana then took the salve formed and transferred some to a leaf. Hana walked over to her torn dress and ripped two long strips of cloth. By now Lee was sitting up, taking interest in what she was doing while seeming to be preoccupied with tending the fire. Hana took the leaf with the salve on it and the strips of cloth and walked around the fire, finally, sitting down beside Lee.

"This is crushed comfrey and calendula flower. It will help disinfect and heal your burned hands. Here, give me your hand." Hana said.

Lee stopped what he was doing and turned to Hana. "I told you. I'm fine." Lee replied giving Hana a hard gaze so she would leave him alone. Hana softly gasped as she finally noticed the large burn mark on the left side of his face, since Lee had turned to face her. Hana thought better then to ask probing questions and so continued to try and get Lee to let her help him.

"Stop trying to be a tough guy and give me your damn hand." Hana said loudly. When Lee stayed silent starring at the fire, Hana reached out and grabbed Lee's right hand. This got Lee's full attention.

"What do you think your doing?!" Lee shouted.

"Helping you. What's it look like." Hana replied sarcastically. Lee jerked his hand out of Hana's grasp, narrowing his eyes at her in warning to leave him alone.

"If you don't treat those burns soon, then their going to leave scars like the one on your…" Hana abruptly stopped realizing her mistake. Lee quickly got up close to Hana's face and spoke in a dark tone, "Don't talk about something you know nothing about." Hana's expression was one caught between showing shock and hurt.

Hana placed the leaf with the salve on it and the strips of cloth beside Lee and walked away saying in a slightly pleading tone, "If you don't want someone else's help, then please, at least, help yourself." Hana walked over to her side of the fire and gathered up the moss bedding taking it to the back of the cave away from the fire. Lee followed her movement while retaining the hard expression on his face. Hana grabbed the blanket Lee had given her off a boulder and draped the blanket around her before lying on her stomach. Resting the side of her head on her arms, which were crossed in front of her on the moss, Hana tried to relax and fall asleep. But she could still feel the tension in the air. Lee looked over to the strips of cloth and the salve lying next to him softening his angry expression but returned his gaze back to the fire feeling annoyed and angry.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Yumika: I hope that you liked this chapter. As always, please review. I appreciate your feedback. I got the idea of using plant leaves to form sort of a water channel from the movie "First Knight". If you have seen this movie then you know what I am talking about. From the previous chapter, I got the idea of the water channel under the fortress from "The Hobbit". Just thought I would put that in here as fun info. Well, anyways, I will try to update soon [probably in two weeks. Critiquing the chapters does take up most of my time so sorry if the updates are far and few between, but that's how I write. I ask you to please bear with me.