I'm still amazed that so many people liked the old version of this story- it really was horribly written. I hope you guys like this version better! I like to write it- I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this story plot. If you all like it enough, maybe I'll sit down and write the sequel to it! But like always…what am I waiting for? Lets start writing! (well, for me writing, for you reading- oh you know what I meant)

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Chapter Four : Nightmares

Kaori laughed, throwing her hands up in the air, flour falling everywhere. Her mother, a strong and beautiful woman, laughed loudly, her eyes shining. "Kaori!" she exclaimed, "You're making a mess!"

Kaori shook her head, a young girl of five. "No, mommy, I'm making it snow!" she explained, making her mother laugh.

"Well…in that case…" Kaori watched her mother dip her hand into the flour, and before she knew it, she had wiped it across Kaori's forehead. "I guess that makes you a snowman!"

Kaori burst out into giggles, reaching out to try and touch her mother's cheek.

"What are my girl's laughing at so loudly?" Kaori smiled widely, seeing her father enter their home. She stepped off of the stool and away from the table where she was helping her mother cook and danced into her father's arms. She touched the tip of his nose with her flour covered fingers and laughed. "Look, daddy, now you're a snowman too,"

Her father laughed, smiling over at his wife. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door- a loud and unfamiliar knock that had both her parents freezing. Quietly, her mother came over to them, taking Kaori from her father and holding her tightly. Her father reached over and put a hand against her mother's cheek, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Don't…" her mother whispered, her face torn. Kaori thought she was about to break, but she said nothing, simply filled with confusion.

"It'll be okay…" Her father whispered, glancing down at his daughter before turning for the door. He looked back at his wife and daughter. "Now go."

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Zuko sat up in bed, running his hands across his eyes, rubbing out the sleep from them. From what he could tell out the window, today was a dull day. The sky held a gray tint to it and clouds were settled in for some rest of their own. It would not be a normal sunny day today, but that was alright with him. He never quite took the time to appreciate the weather anyway.

Stepping out of bed and out of the large building, he was greeted not with the normal scenery. Normally, the village people were going along in their business, chatting with friends here and there, cooking, playing music, games, all sorts of things. There was usually life in the village and today there was…panic? People were going from house to house, their eyes filled with fear.

The young girl, Sori, came up to Zuko quickly. "Mister, mister," she exclaimed. "Where's P- uh, Kaori, where's Kaori?"

Zuko stared at the young girl, his own confusion in his eyes. How would he know where Kaori was- he had just woken up. "I don't know,"

"But…but she's always with you- you were the last idea I had!" Sori exclaimed, close to tears. Zuko blinked and looked over the village again. Is that what they were doing- looking for someone? And by the sounds of it, that someone was Kaori. He looked back at Sori.

"She's missing?" He asked.

Sori nodded quickly, her brown hair bouncing and her eyes wild. "She was supposed to see the council this morning but she ran away from them after just a moment! They've checked her room but she's not there!

"Is this…not normal of her?" Zuko asked slowly. He couldn't imagine that anything was normal for this girl- not being in her room included. But for some reason, the people of the village were making this a huge deal.

Sori shook her head. "No, no it's not! P-… Kaori is always where she needs to be!"

Zuko frowned and nodded slightly. "We'll find her." He said, and Sori nodded, taking off back towards where a group of people were searching. It didn't really matter to him, at least, it shouldn't have. What did he care that this insane girl was missing- but he paused. She had saved his life, he owed her that much, so he would help find her. It was the least he could do.

Something struck him though. What if she didn't want to be found? Surely there was some reasoning behind this madness. He shook his head and took off towards the village- he would help, but he would also find out some answers.

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Kaori's mother ran fast, clutching onto her daughter. Suddenly there was a loud bang and Kaori's mother spun around, staring in the direction of their home where smoke was now rising into the sky. Her mother's face crumbled and she let out a quiet whimper before turning back around and running. Kaori's eyes were wide- smoke? Their home was on fire? But her father was there- he was at home, he had gone to answer the door and now there was smoke. If there was an accident, why weren't they going back to help?

Her mother came to a stop, gently placing Kaori on the ground and bending down. She looked over her shoulder quickly and then back at her daughter.

"Kaori, my love, you've got to do exactly as I say now," she whispered quickly and sternly, and Kaori nodded slowly, trembling. "You've got to run,"

Kaori let out a yelp and jumped towards her mother, holding onto her. "No! I want to stay with you, mommy!"

Her mother shook her loose, trembling as well. "No. Listen to me, you've got to run right now. You've got to run faster than you've ever run before, do you understand me? There are monsters in these woods now, monsters that will get you, and you can't let them get you, love, do you understand that?"

Kaori nodded, "B-but…what about you?" she stammered and her mother smiled at her.

"Don't you worry about me, love, just do as I've told you." She stood up, brushing the tears off of Kaori's cheeks. "On the count of three, love. One…two…three! Go now!"

Kaori turned and ran, her eyes brimming with more tears. Why did she have to run- why did she have to leave her mother? She could hear things in the forest; smell the increasing smoke in the air. These monsters- she had heard her father speak of them in whispers to her mother before. How had they come here? The bushes cut into her skin but she kept running, rocks buried into her feet. In the distance she thought she heard a scream and it made her heart clench. Surely this was all a dream, that's all it could be.

Slowly she came to a stop. There was no where left to run- she had come to a cliff in a giant opening. Frantically she glanced around- below her was a river, but there was no land to reach. There was land on the other side of the river, but it was so far away…

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"We've searched all of the houses- all of the stores!" A man exclaimed. A group of villagers- those who had taken a pause from their searching, had gathered to discuss possible places that Kaori could have vanished to. "She's no where to be found!"

"What about the woods?" A woman called out. "Has anyone searched there?"

An older man nodded solemnly. "We've searched the outer perimeter and far into the trees, she is nowhere."

"Well, she must be somewhere!"

"Has someone checked the beach?"

The voices continued and Zuko stood there, glancing around. All of these ideas…none of them were working out- everywhere they searched, she was not found. She was no where anyone looked- something struck him and he almost let out a gasp. Of course. She was no where anyone looked. She was somewhere that she knew.

But he knew it too.

Turning on his heel, Zuko slipped away from the crowd unnoticed- they were all to consumed in their argument to bother realizing that he was gone. Without slowing, he stepped into the forest and continued on his way.

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Kaori's breath was coming in faster, her heart racing. No where to go, no where to run. She heard footsteps approach from behind her- a whole large set of them. They stopped suddenly and she turned around, her little fists clenched.

A man stood before her, large men behind him. This man…he looked like a monster, exactly as her mother had said. He wore armor, armor that had splashes of red on it. She knew without hesitation that it was blood. Her heart clenched as her small mind realized who's blood it most likely was.

"Little girl…" the man said softly, smiling gently at her. He was trying to appear friendly to her, but she knew. She knew that it was a lie and all a mask. This man was a monster. He caused the smoke, the scream, the blood. Him and the men that were with him, the men in strange looking helmets.

The wind blew softly, blowing her hair around her face but she did not make any motion to brush it away. The man stared at her, his thin eyes burning. His black hair was brought together on the top of his head, awful sideburns running down his jaw line.

"I mean no harm to you, little girl… Truly I do not… But if you are wise, you will come with us. We have toys for you to play with, would you like to see them?" He stretched out his hand to her, offering for her to take it.

Kaori shook her head wildly. "No!" she screamed. "I don't want to go! I won't go with you!"

The man scowled at her, his frame tensing. "You have a gift, little girl, a gift that I'm afraid the Fire Lord has deemed unacceptable. If you do not come with me by your own will, I'm afraid I will have to make you come with us by force,"

Tears streamed down Kaori's face- this monster, this hideous monster. She would not go with him, her mother had told her not to. Something about him was all wrong- he was evil, even at a young age she knew that.

"Do not resist," the man said, his eyes glaring into her.

Kaori glanced back at the river and the gap of space between her and land. She looked back at the man, her eyes defiant.

It took a second for the man to figure out what she was thinking, and when he did, he let out a yell and ran towards her. "NO!" he shouted, his men following after him, all ready to grab the girl.

But he couldn't. By the time the man reached her, she was across the river and running. The man let out a ferocious yell, filling the trees with fire that escaped from his hands. He stared in the spot where the girl had vanished into the trees, his breathing fast and his eyes deadly.

"I will find you. I will destroy you…" he whispered.

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Zuko pushed heavy brush away and stepped out into the small clearing. The waterfall roared in front of him, the birds sang their song. Even on such an ugly day, this place was still stunning. His eyes skimmed around the area, taking in the bright colors of the flowers and the thin frames of the birds until they settled on a small mass that lay on the ground.

He slowly made his way over to it, getting down on his knees. Kaori- she was lying on her side, her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were open, staring out at the scenery before them but she made no movement.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible. She didn't ask who was there, Zuko knew she simply had already known that it was him. "I know they're all worried…" She paused. "…Right?"

He nodded. "Yes. Everyone's looking for you," He was silent for a moment. "Let's go back,"

Kaori shook her head slowly, pulling her knees closer to her chest. "Not yet," she whispered. "I can't…not yet.."

Zuko sat down, settling himself down in the grass- it didn't appear that they'd be leaving any time soon. He glanced at her- there was a pained look in her eyes that didn't seem familiar on her face. He wanted to ask her what was wrong- he wanted to comfort her somehow but he wasn't sure how he could do that. He wasn't even sure he was even capable of doing such a thing- it was to foreign to him. He wouldn't even know how to begin.

"I had…a nightmare," Kaori whispered, sitting up slowly and looking at him. She closed her eyes and a tear fell from the corner of one eye. "I'm sorry, I just…I had to get away from that place…just for a little… I just…"

Zuko reached out slowly, almost pulling his hand back, and touched her knee softly, then took his hand away. "I…understand," he said, and he did. How many times had he dreamt of his own mother, of the time when his father had put a scar upon his face.

It was the scar that Kaori glanced at now. She nodded once. "I think you do," she whispered. She leaned towards him suddenly, resting just her forehead against his shoulder. She was not close to him, but she leaned on him, and it was close enough for Zuko- he wasn't used to this. Kaori took one of his hands in hers and held onto it tightly.

Zuko held onto her hand, unsure of what else he could possibly do. He knew that other people would take her into their arms and hold on tightly, rub her back even, but he couldn't. He just couldn't even if he knew that was how a person would console another.

"Kaori," Zuko began slowly. "Sori told me you ran away from the council- is it because of this nightmare?"

She sat up, staring off into the distance and shook her head. Another tear fell from her eye and she didn't bother to wipe it away. Zuko felt his hand twitch but he kept it in place.

"No," she whispered. "No, the nightmare was just…just on my mind." She was silent for a long moment before her body shuddered and she held her head in her hands, closing her eyes. "The council…they…they wanted to talk to me… They told me…they told me news of the outside world."

Zuko stared at her- news of the outside world? He wasn't sure why the council would be discussing the outside world with her, but he let that pass because she was visibly trembling.

Her face contorted into a look of grief and she closed her eyes tightly, tears slipping through them and down her cheeks. "My cousin…she's the only person I had left…the only living relative of mine… She…she lived on Kyoshi Island…she…she promised that I could visit her one day…she would teach me their unique way of fighting…"

A cold chill spread through Zuko. Kyoshi Island- hadn't he been there recently? It was the place with the female warriors- he remembered that because he had found it strange. It had been yet another place where the avatar had managed to escape him.

"They…they were attacked," Kaori continued, her jaw clenched. Her voice was rising. "Damn fire benders! They attacked the village! They set fire to homes and stores, to everything! She was…she was trying to help people and a building collapsed on top of her!"

The tears were flowing freely now, but her face was one of rage. She turned to look at Zuko and the look in her eyes shocked him. He had never seen someone look so broken. "She's dead, Teken, the only family I have left is gone. Those damn fire benders killed all I had left! Now I'm all alone in the world! To hell with them, they'll burn for what they've done- they'll suffer so much worse! To hell with them! To hell with the whole Fire Nation!"

She buried her head in her hands and sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking. Zuko stared at her, trying to keep any emotion out of his face. It shouldn't have hurt like that, the words she spoke, but for some reason they did. It had been his fault that her cousin was dead- his troops had set those buildings on fire. Still, he had simply been trying to capture the avatar- he hadn't thought about the people around him or what he was doing, his mind had been focused on one thing. But the words hurt, they struck him and he was not sure why.

As she sobbed, he sat there, trying to figure out what he could do, and why it felt like she was speaking directly to him.

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I know you're probably all confused about how she got across that gap, but don't worry. Everything gets explained- patience. Don't go reading the old story to find out what happens- that would spoil everything and there's no fun in that. Later people!