Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Chapter 7: Meetings and Reunions

I froze and raised my hands to try to show I didn't mean them any harm. They stood their ground however, and held their positions. The blade that was pointed straight at my chest was held by a water tribe boy. He had his hair tied back in a small ponytail and wore an angry expression like someone prepared for a fight. I searched my memory. His name had something to do with socks I think.

The rest of the Avatar's gang stood in a semicircle around me. They obviously knew I had been coming. Then I remembered something Azula had said before. She had talked about a young, blind earthbender who could see farther then seeing eyes could. That must have been her on the right of the watertribe boy.

Next to the blind girl was the watertribe boy's sister. She held spikes of ice in the air pointed at me. The Avatar was next to her, staff in hand which was also pointed my direction. A watertribe man stood next to him. He was obviously the father of the siblings and was clad in the uniform for the prisoners of the Boiling Rock. So the rumor of the breakout was true.

On the other side of the sock guy stood a girl also wearing the Boiling Rock uniform. Next to her was an earthbender with long hair and a moustache which looked odd together. Zuko was on his left and next to Zuko was another escapee from the Boiling Rock.

They all were in fighting stances ready to attack if I did anything dangerous. I figured I had better let them know that I hadn't come to hurt them sooner rather then later because that sword looked pretty sharp.

"Hi," I said as friendly as I could, "Look I'm not here to hurt you. Um, I come in peace?"

"Who are you?" the watertribe boy demanded not dropping his stance. "Why are you here?"

Before I could even open my mouth Zuko spoke up. "She's a skilled firebender and one of my family's personal assassins. She's probably here on my sister's orders." Well that was helpful. Thanks Zuko. Now it was going to be even harder to convince them I was on their side.

"I was an assassin," I said, "I left the Fire Nation because I didn't believe in what they were doing. The Fire Nation was holding my family hostage and unless I did what they said they'd kill me." It hurt to remember all that I had done for the Fire Nation. "I really want to help you overthrow Ozi. I don't think a man like him deserves the power he has. I want to help put a stop to the deaths of so many innocent people. Please, you have to believe me."

Everybody looked at the blind girl who relaxed her pose.

"She's telling the truth," she said. "I can feel how much she wants to help. There is no way she could have faked that kind of emotion." The rest of the group relaxed and the watertribe boy sheathed his sword.

"Well then, welcome aboard," he said. "My name is Sokka." He then proceeded to name the rest of the group members. There were two kids behind the circle that I hadn't seen before. One was in a wheel chair and the other one looked to be about six.

"So what's your name newbie?" the blind girl, Toph, asked.

"My name's Kimi," I said, "nice to meet you." At the sound of this Sokka doubled over and burst into laughter. We all looked at him in confusion.

"What's so funny?" his sister demanded. Through his laughter he was able to choke out, "Kimi, an assassin named Kimi!" Katara smacked her brother on the back of the head as everyone else shook their heads. "What? Have you ever heard of an assassin named Kimi? Come on! The combination is just plain funny!"

I chuckled into my hand. It was a small little chuckle but it felt great. I couldn't remember the last time I had smiled let alone laughed.

"Oh my gosh, what happened to your arm?!" Katara had just noticed my badly burned left arm hanging limply at my side.

"When I escaped from the palace, Azula caught me." That was all I had to say and the rest of the group understood immediately. Katara pulled out some water from a pouch she had on her back and rapped it around my sore arm. The water began to glow and the pain subsided. I had heard that certain waterbenders had the ability to heal but I had never seen a healer before.

"So how did you find us?" Sokka inquired while his sister worked on my arm.

"Azula knows where you guys are hiding. The only reason she hasn't done anything is because she knows you'll come back. She knows you guys will keep trying to overthrow the Fire Lord until your dead. She doesn't think there is any reason to waste energy hunting you down." My voice fell into my normal business like tone that I used whenever I discussed my work with Azula.

The group looked at each other. It was obvious they felt a false sense of safety in this temple. They probably felt they could hide here as long as they wanted.

"Then we have to leave here at once," Sokka said looking around at all the surrounding faces. Everyone nodded. "Gather your things. We leave tonight."

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That night we ate a quick dinner. It was great to have real food in my stomach again and even better to be able to use my arm. After Katara was done all that was left of my injury was a blotchy scar from my elbow to my wrist. The scar looked years old. No one would have guessed that I had received it about three days ago.

After dinner I climbed onto Appa along with Toph, Sokka, Suki, Katara, Zuko, and Aang. We also carried a small food bag. The rest of the group climbed into a stolen Fire Navy balloon along with all our cargo.

Because Aang could control clouds we had the advantage of disguise. Because of the circumstances we had decided to fly separately and meet up at Ember Island. Zuko's family owned a house up there and he assured us that that would be the last place Azula would look for them. After a long fight between Katara and Zuko about whether his word was credible we set off for Ember Island.

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The ride was long and uneventful. However it was my first time flying and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the feeling of the wind whipping through my hair. I felt so free in the sky. I guess it was the Air Nomad in me. A few of the other passengers didn't enjoy the ride however. It was clear that Toph and Zuko preferred having their feet firmly planted on the ground.

We arrived at Ember Island a few days later. The royal family's beach house was big and luxurious. The girls boarded on the second floor and the boys got the third. Everyone fell asleep right away. Whether it was because of the long flight or the soft beds I don't know. That night was the first night in a long time where I didn't have any nightmares.

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I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and recharged. As the sun rose I meditated, focusing on my inner flame. I went downstairs when I heard the majority of the people moving around. I found Katara in the kitchen preparing and serving breakfast to everyone except Sokka who apparently was still asleep. The royal family must have kept the pantry well stocked because Katara had found plenty of food and supplies to work with.

She tried to offer me some sausage which I politely turned down. In the end my plate ended up looking a lot like Aang's.

"Why aren't you eating any meat?" the young airbender asked.

"I was raised a vegetarian before I started working for Azula," I explained, "and I didn't stop when I moved to the palace."

"Really?! I thought the Air Nomads were the only ones who didn't eat meat!" The twelve year old seemed overly excited to meet a fellow vegetarian wich I thought was rather odd.

"So, who were your biological parents?" Zuko joined in our conversation clearly trying to get away from Katara who was boring holes in his head with her glare. "I've always wondered, but I never had the chance to ask."

I took a deep breath. Should I tell them? I had never told anybody where I came from before, but I felt I could trust them. They were working against the man who had condemned my people to living underground and maybe I'd give Aang a little hope. I knew he was probably upset about being the last airbender, but what if I told him that he wasn't?

"Okay, so you see my father was a traveling firebender. He met my mother while he was traveling. My mom was in hiding from the Fire Nation with the rest of her people, because the Fire Nation thinks they're dead. I couldn't tell anyone about them because I didn't want the Fire Nation to start looking for them. You see, my mom was an airbender."

"WHAT!!" Aang dropped his plate which clattered to the floor. "You mean I'm not the last one?!"

"No, the nomads that survived Sozan's attack have lived underground for a hundred years. They have decided to wait out this war and reappear when it is safe to do so."

"That's wonderful news Aang!" Katara said as she and Suki joined the conversation. It felt really good to bring joy to someone for once. All I had done before was administer pain and suffering to people and their families. I smiled at everyone's happy faces. This is why I was fighting; to bring joy to people who had suffered so long. It was time to stop living in fear of the Fire Nation and start enjoying life. If I could do that for all the people who had suffered in this war then maybe I could finally forgive myself for the things I had done.

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Later in the day I found myself in the beach house's court yard practicing. I had to keep myself strong and sharp. They had told me the plan and the date of our attack. I was surprised to hear about bloodbending, but I agreed that it helped our chances.

I moved through the firebending moves with ease seeing just how much force I could create. Footsteps behind me alerted myself to someone else's presence. When I looked behind me I saw Zuko approaching wearing nothing but his training pants. I raised my eyebrows at this but continued to practice.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked. I nodded and we practiced for a while in silence.

"How do you do it?" he asked after awhile.

"Do what?"

"Get her to trust you. No matter what I do she still treats me like the enemy, but she treats you just like anyone else. Why is that?" By the way he was talking and the behavior I had observed earlier today I assumed he meant Katara.

"Well she knows you. She fought you for so long that she is probably used to you as the enemy now. She never met me, and she doesn't know much about what I've done. It's easier to forgive someone you don't know that has done bad thing to people you don't know then it is to forgive someone who has done something to you personally."

"I guess that makes sense, but she did forgive me before. Back in Ba Sing Se before I joined Azula again. She even offered to heal my scar." Wow. I had no idea that that had happened. No wonder she hates his guts.

"Well there's your answer. She trusted you once and you turned your back on her. She feels hurt and stupid that she trusted you and she doesn't want to feel that way again. Sorry to tell you this but you messed up big time Zuko, and I don't know if you're ever going to be able to fix it."

We stopped practicing and he looked at me. Apparently what I said had hit a nerve. He looked upset and crestfallen. Sure what I said was harsh but it was true. He had to hear it from somewhere and I just happened to be here.

"Look, I'm sorry but if you really care about this girl you are going to have to work your but off to make it up to her. Maybe after the war she'll understand. I wish you luck."

What makes you think I care so much for her?" Zuko asked clearly mortified that I saw through him. The truth was we had grown up together and I could tell how much Katara meant to him.

Before I could say that however, something hit me hard in the chest. I toppled over banging my head sharply on the concrete. As I quickly got to my feet I saw figures coming at us from all sides. They had obviously snuck up on us while we had been talking. I couldn't believe I had been so stupid as to let my guard down.

Zuko and I took our stances and got ready to fight.

A/N: BUM BUM BUM!!!!!!! Wow this one came out longer then I expected. So Kimi has finally joined the gaang! Yay! The two parts are tied up now. Please review!