Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Chapter 10: Confrontations

I whirled around, all my senses suddenly on red alert. Zuko ran out of the other cell followed by Mai. Our little group took a split second to look at each other in shock before we ran towards the stairs. We reached them within seconds and charged down the staircase. I didn't even turn around when I heard the awful crunching sound from the unconscious guard's arm when I stepped on it.

The guards feet sounded above us, but I highly doubted that ours was the only staircase in the building. Sure enough, when we reached the bottom of the stairs guards were already rushing toward the staircase.

I pushed to the front of our group and jumped over the remaining five stairs kicking flames at the guards below. Taken by surprise most of the guards were thrown backwards but about five remained. The five simultaneously shot waves of fire towards us. Suddenly Zuko was beside me and the two of us made a wall of fire to block the guard's blasts. Before they had a chance to attack again I sent a blast of white fire at the guard in the middle. It hit him straight in the chest and he was knocked into the unlit corridor that we had originally arrived through.

The remaining guards filled his place and the guards that I had knocked back were charging back. Ty Lee flipped over me and towards the four guards who sent blasts of fire at her. She nimbly dodged them, flipping and jumping closer and closer. She landed behind them and before they could turn around she poked and prodded the two middle ones until they lay unmoving on the ground. The remaining two sent more fire at her which she jumped over at the last second.

Being so focused on the young acrobat they didn't notice me until I was behind the one on the left. I blasted fire at him before he could turn around. The close proximity had sent him flying towards the other man. The guard I hit knocked over the guard behind him. Blood seeped from the wound that I had dealt the unfortunate man as the last of the five guards pushed his comrade off of him and jumped to his feet. Before he could do anything, however, he was stopped by a jab from Ty Lee and fell to the floor, paralyzed.

Meanwhile Ashi had thrown his last four sleep bomb at the guards approaching from the right and the rest of our team was fighting the guards approaching from the left.

"Let's go!" I yelled to let them know that Ty Lee and I had cleared a path. We all knew that we couldn't fight off all the guards by ourselves so we ran out through the way we came in. Zuko and I brought up the rear, deflecting the fire that continued to be thrown at us. We passed the guard I had killed but the other three had gone. They were probably the ones who sounded the alarm, I thought.

When we were all out of the building Ashi threw a bomb through the doorway. It exploded on impact and the walls of the dark corridor collapsed on itself making it impossible for the guards to follow us. We ran back into the surrounding wilderness and made our way back to the Fire Lord's vacation house.

The sun was just coming up as we snuck through town. The streets were empty and free of any drunken men this time, but we were still carful to keep quiet and out of sight. We arrived at the beach house right when the sun cleared the mountains. Taz had fallen asleep and Mimi was carrying her on her back. I stifled a yawn myself and was looking forward to lying down and maybe getting a little of the sleep I had lost that night.

When we opened the door, Sokka was waiting for us with his arms folded and his foot tapping. I heard Zuko clear his throat guiltily behind me as we all stopped walking.

"So," said Sokka, "I thought we had agreed that it was too risky to try to break Ty Lee and Mai out of jail? Yet, here they are free and in our house. Care to explain?" Sokka said to all of us but his eyes were mainly on Zuko.

"Well, while you guys talk I'm going to get Taz up to bed." Mimi said. She headed up the stairs and with a quick look at Sokka and Zuko the rest of the Tempest Troup went with her. With a sigh I made my way over to the closest chair and plopped myself into it. Mai and Ty Lee joined me while the two boys remained standing staring each other down.

"You do realize that you have put this whole mission in jeopardy right?" Sokka was the first to break the angry silence that filled the room.

"I know full well the consequences of my actions," Zuko responded, crossing his arms over his chest to mirror his opponent. "Just like you knew when we went to save your father."

"That was different," Sokka said defensively. His arms fell to his sides and his hands balled into fists.

"How?" Zuko's question pierced the air like a sword.

"Because… back then we didn't have a plan. Now we do and it involves staying bellow the radar and keeping the size of our group a secret. The Fire Nation knows that you've joined us and now they know that Kimi and her sister's group have joined as well. Not to mention-"

"If it was Katara or Suki would you have done the same?" I cut him off. His lecturing was starting to get on my nerves and the fact that I just wanted to sleep added to my annoyance.

"Well, yes but-" Sokka started again.

"Well nothing," I stood up and stared at him looked straight at him, "Mai and Ty Lee are our friends, they are just like family so they are just as worth saving as your sister or girlfriend." I left and climbed the stairs frustrated and tired. I may have been used to working at night but I would always get time to sleep in the morning and until I got that I was cranky.

When I entered my room Mimi was already asleep in the extra mattress we had found in the storage room. I kicked off my boots, put my glasses on the bedside table, and collapsed onto the overly adorned canopy bed.

A flickering candle was the only light in the room. It illuminated an old mirror that was rested atop the desk I was seated at. The only thing I could really see in the dim light was the mirror and the reflection of my face. I squinted at the mirror, trying to see as much as I could. I had always hated the dark. You could never tell where everything was and who was looking just out of eyesight. It made me feel week and vulnerable, and those were two emotions that I couldn't stand.

As I was squinting at the mirror someone came out of the darkness. She was standing right behind me, but I didn't look over my shoulder. I knew it was impossible for her to be here, and I was afraid if I saw her without the protection of the glass between us she would fall to pieces.

"Kimi," said my dead mother, "what has become of you?"

"Mom?" my voice cracked and I could feel my heart soar. "Is that really you?" I clutched the edge of the desk in anticipation. This was so impossible, but the one thing I wanted right now was for my mother to hold me and tell me everything would be okay. Unfortunately, I didn't get my wish.

"I am so disappointed in you Kimi." My mother's voice cut my cold and untouchable heart. "You have become the monster that I had always denied. I should have listened to the elders. They were right about you. There is nothing that can come out of fire besides death and destruction."

"Mom!" my voice was week and pleading. How could this happen? I had guarded my heart so well, so I could never feel like this again. And yet, I could feel my heart breaking more with every word out of my mother's disapproving mouth. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped in surprise and looked quickly over my shoulder. There was my mom again, with a sad smile on her face.

"It's okay dear," she said, "you were faced with some hard choices, but you fought through, and in the end you showed who you truly are. And that is all that matters." I looked at her in confusion. How had she changed her mood so quickly?

"Yes, you showed who you truly are, a monster and a murderer." I looked back at the mirror to see the reflection of my mother glaring at me with cold indifference.

"You had no choice honey, but you found yourself in the end." I looked back at the mother that was holding my shoulder.

"You should have found some other way. You're smart. You didn't have to kill all those people, but you did."

"Everyone goes through some rough times in their life, but you made it through without giving yourself up."

"You wanted to kill those people didn't you? Why wouldn't you? You're a firebender that's what they do right? The burn and they take. That is all you can do."

"You are my daughter and I'm proud of you. Firebending is more than burning and destruction. It's heat and light."

"You are nothing, but a monster. The sooner you admit that the sooner you can get rid of these absurd fantasies of being worth anything."

"STOP!" I shrieked and then I found myself sweating and gripping my bed covers in fear.

"What's wrong?" asked a worried and very groggy Mimi. I looked around the room, closed my eyes, and let out a long breath.

"Nothing," I said calmly, "just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?" Mimi asked, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. "If you want to talk about it-"

"No, no I'm fine. I just need to get some fresh air. I'll be fine." I swung my legs over my bed as I said this and began to walk out of our room.

"Okay, but I'm here if you need me," she said stifling a yawn. She turned back over and fell back to sleep almost immediately. I smiled at my sister then stepped into the hallway. I leaned against the wall and let out a sigh. That dream had really shaken me, but I needed to pull myself together if I was going to get through the day. I couldn't afford to waist time feeling sorry for myself or to be distracted by my conscience. We were attacking the palace in a few days and would have to kill more people if we were ever going to win this war. War was about sacrificing your own piece of mind for your cause and I had to remember that.

Everyone seemed quite surprised to see Mai and Ty Lee, but they all accepted them pretty easily. The biggest problem had been Sokka's disapproval when we had first come back, but he got over himself and quickly filled them in on our plan. Kori and Mai hit it off right away. They were always together talking about the uselessness of the world and how boring life was. Ty Lee and Yasa also seemed to get along quite well and could be seen talking about makeup and boys in the room they shared.

I was glad that everyone seemed to be getting along great, except of course Katara and Zuko. You could count on a loud fight from then first thing in the morning and a few other times throughout the rest of the day. I felt bad for Zuko, but I knew he had to work it out on his own, and from what I had heard, he didn't have much of a chance to make up with her. I hoped they would be able to put their differences aside for one day when we attacked to palace.

I was going to my room to look for Mimi. Katara had just made lunch and we couldn't find my sister and one of the twins, Yaku I think. I walked into my room, took one look, and walked right out. I had found Mimi and Yaku, but they didn't look like they wanted to be disturbed right then. They were kind of busy making out, and I didn't want to make it awkward by announcing lunch.

I smiled to myself. I was glad that Mimi had found someone, and Yaku seemed nice. Of course he and his brother had been some of the kids that had tormented me when I was younger, but people change. I was walking back down to tell the others that Mimi and Yaku would be down when they were ready when I ran into Yaku's twin.

"Oh," he said, "it's you. Did you find them?" There was bitterness in his voice that I hadn't been expecting.

"Yes, I did but they were a little busy so I though I'd leave them alone for now." I responded. He nodded, gave me a look of disgust then turned to leave.

"What's your problem?" I asked postponing his exit.

"You are," he responded. He turned around and gave me a look of pure loathing before continuing. "You really are just what the elders said you are. You are a no good murderer with no regard to human life what so ever." He spat at my feet. "You just killed that guard without a second thought. He had no chance to fight back or defend himself. You just killed him!"

"Of course I killed him," I said. "He was the enemy and this is a war. In war you can't afford to spare lives. You have to kill them if you don't want them to kill you."

"I know this is a war, but that doesn't mean everyone has to die. You can just knock them out or incapacitate them. You don't have to take their life!" His hands were balled up at his side, and I could see the anger and disappointment in his eyes that reminded me all to well of my recent dream. Anger bubbled up inside of me as I glared back into his blue eyes. How dare he; how dare he judge me like that when he knew nothing. He thought he was so wonderful and good, because he had kept his hands cleaned, well what did he know? What did he know about me and what I had gone through?!

"Do you want to win this war?" I asked. My voice was dangerously low and I could feel my hands shaking at my side. I had had too many people judging me today. I couldn't argue with my mother in my dream, but I could yell at this naïve moron. So before he could respond to my previous question I fired another question his way. "Do you want the Fire Nation to keep killing people? Do you want your people to stay in hiding forever?" My voice began to rise as I continued. "No, I don't think you do. So what are you going to do about it?! Are you going to keep messing with their food and supplies? Oh that's a wonderful way to annoy them and keep your conscience clean. What are you five?! This is war not play time! You can't win without getting your hands dirty and if that is too hard for you then you better leave now before you mess up your perfect life!"

"You think you're so great?! You just go around with your firebending killing people and calling it justice! Well, what about you mom?!" He cut into my rant and marched closer to me until he was inches in front of my face.

"What did you say?!" I shrieked at him, feeling my anger beginning to boil over.

"I said what about your mom?" His voice lowered to the level mine had started in. "You killed her; what do you call that?" And that was it. I couldn't take it anymore. My fist flew up almost of its own accord and I hit Soku across the face with all my strength and anger. He fell to the ground, clutching his nose. He looked shocked for a split second, and then he jumped up and pulled out his sword. I brought up my fist again, this time planning to shoot a nasty blast of fire at him when my arms grabbed by someone behind.

"STOP!" Mimi pulled me back from Soku just as his brother jumped in front of him.

A/N: Sorry it's so late, but I've been veeeeeeeeeeeeery busy. I tried to work on this as much as possible but when ever I sat down I had like two seconds before I had to do something else. So sorry and I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, but I'm still really busy and can't make any promises. Please review! Also if you're curious about how some of the characters look I have links on my profile of pictures that I've drawn.