Disclaimer: I don't Avatar or any of the characters.

It was very, very hot. Suki was glad that she had decided against wearing her Kyoshi uniform. It was so hot she thought that even though she was wearing a pair of casual shorts and shirt she felt as if she was going to melt.

"Sokka," she asked to the warrior that was walking in front of her. "Do you have any more water?"

He stopped and handed back a canister to her. She took a drink and realized that all the water was gone. There wasn't a drop left.

"Sokka," she said again. He stopped and turned back once more. "There's no more water. We just filled it up yesterday! Did you drink it all again? Sokka…"

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice rising a bit in pitch. "It's hot out here! I was just thirsty! You're really complaining, you know?"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "Did I take your job?"

He frowned.

……

Later on that night, Sokka and Suki stayed up very late to figure out once more what they were going to do.

"How far are we from the first town?" she asked leaning over the map so Sokka smelled a bit of her hair. She smelt like lilacs and rain, and for some reason, he thought that really harmonized her.

"Well," he replied, "we're going to this town"—he pointed to a town just outside the wall of Ba Sing Se—"and then we'll go to this other town and then we'll by then we'll meet Aang, Toph, Katara, and Iroh in front of the wall."

Suki nodded.

"So," she said conversationally. "I talked to Yue last night."

This struck Sokka as odd to say the least. He turned his head toward the Kyoshi girl. "What?" he asked.

"I talked to Princess Yue last night," she repeated. "I know that it sounds strange, but yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep. So, I went for a walk, and when I did I had this—vibration.

"I looked up and I felt like she was talking to me. She was saying that I needed to be strong for the times ahead and that I needed to protect you. She said that you were the one that needed protection after all."

He smiled. "Did she say anything else?"

"Nothing much, just the fact that she still misses you and she's glad you moved on."

Suki finished while staring into the fire.

"Mmm," Sokka said suddenly. Suki tore her eyes away from the fire to look at the warrior that was sitting next to her. "Sometimes I can feel her talking to me. I'm not sure how it works but I know when I'm really glad that I can, when I'm lonely."

Suki smiled.

……

The next day, the gang was just a couple hours away from the first town that they were supposed to go too.

And it was raining.

That made it even hotter because of the humidity that was in the air. Sokka just walked. He had his arms crossed and he was walking.

Suki was walking under an umbrella with the Earth King and Basco was right behind them. "Sokka?" Suki called, "Sokka, would you like to come under the umbrella?"

The warrior turned around and just frowned. "No," he replied.

She shrugged.

They walked awhile in silence until they heard something or someone running toward them. Whoever it was was just over the hill that the group was walking on.

And when it ran over the hillside, Sokka, Suki, and the Earth King were ready to fight whoever it may be.

But as soon as they saw it they stopped. It was a woman. She was wearing a black dress with a black cape. Her face was soft and her eyes were hazel. Her hair was long and black. She was terrified.

She ran to the group and behind them. Her breath was heavy and tears were threatening to go down her cheeks.

"…Help," she managed to say.

"What's wrong," Suki said touching the woman's shoulders. The woman hid behind Suki holding on to her waist like a child. "Ma'm, please tell me what's wrong?"

"I—I was just hungry," she said. "I—I just didn't want to die."

"What did you do?"

"I—I stole this." She put her hand inside her cloak and she pulled out a loaf of bread. "And the man at the—the place is after me. Please you have to help…please."

"Okay—okay," Suki replied. "It's okay. Don't worry. I'll help you."

The man that the woman had said was chasing her came over the hill at that moment. Sokka was behind Suki a bit, not sure what to do. But the Kyoshi Warrior was up front, her arms crossed across her chest.

The man was very short and very fat. His shirt was white and was stained from sweat. He looked like he had never taken a bath in his life.

And when he reached Suki, Suki thought that he smelled like he never had taken a bath in his life.

He walked right up to Suki and put an accusing finger in her face. "What do you think you're doin' protecting a girl like her?"

"She's my mom," Suki replied a dead expression across her face. "She was just coming to give me the bread and I would pay you." She pulled out a golden coin from one of her pockets and handed it to the man. "Here, now go."

"Well," he said, "alright. But I've never seen you around here before and frankly I don't trust it."

And then he was gone. Suki turned around and helped the woman to her feet. The woman bowed at the Kyoshi Warrior's presence. "Thank you," she said. "Oh, thank you so much. If there was anything that I could to repay you"—

"Well, could you tell us where this town is?" Suki asked pointing to a map that she had pulled out of her pocket.

"It's right over that hill," the woman said. "I could escort you there if you like. But if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to go there in the first place? It's not the nicest town in the world…"

"We're looking for rebels to fight in the war against the Fire Nation," Suki replied. "We need soldiers to help us and the Avatar to penetrate the walls of Ba Sing Se and then the Fire Nation."

"The Avatar?" the woman asked.

Suki nodded.

The woman sat down on the ground. "I thought he was just a legend, a myth that had been proclaimed to be alive. Can I help?"

Suki shrugged. "We need all the help we can get."

The woman clasped her hands together and gave Suki a big hug thanking her once more. "Let me lead you there," the woman said.

"Wait," Sokka said, speaking up. "We don't even know your name. How do we know that we can trust you?"

"My name is Au," the woman said. "There. Now do you trust me?"

And before Suki, Sokka, or Kuei could object, the woman had already taken the Kyoshi Warrior by her arm, leading her to the town.

Jenling was a quiet town. There were carriages going through the streets, and citizens buying food from the street vendors. All the houses were made with straws of hay and sticks put together with mud.

Sokka, Suki, Kuei, and Au reached the town, and when they did, several vendors ran up to them, yelling their curses to the woman in the black cape.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Suki yelled. "Here." She pulled out a small coin purse and dumped the money that she had brought with her in her hand. She had two gold coins, three copper coins, and one silver coin.

"Umm," she murmured. "Here." She gave out all of her coins to each of the vendors that surrounded her.

Sokka stood behind her in awe. What! That was the only money they had! Why would she waste it away on this woman!?

"Uh, Suki," Sokka said, taking a hold of her left arm. He pulled her so her ear was right by his mouth. "Why did you just give all of our money away?"

"First of all," she whispered, "it's my money. And second of all, I have another pouch in your bag. Don't worry, Sokka. I can take care of myself."

She grinned and turned back around to the gathering crowd around the Avatar's companions. "Go get em," Suki told him.

Sokka smiled and turned toward the people. "People of Jenling!" he yelled. "We have to talk to you."

People gathered around the small group of rebels. Sokka spoke as if he was a preacher speaking to a congregation. "I am Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. And I'm here with Suki of the Kyoshi Island and the Earth King and we're here to tell you that the Avatar is planning an attack on the Fire Nation and we need your help!"

The people looked at Sokka and waited for him to continue.

"There will be a solar eclipse in just a few short weeks and that's the time to end this war. The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes victorious!"

Sokka raised a fist in the air and the people responded with a cheer so loud it deafened the Water Tribe Warrior, the Kyoshi girl, and the Earth King.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," Sokka whispered to Suki. She nodded and smiled in response.

To the people he said, "Now we need rebels that would be willing to spend the next few weeks traveling to Ba Sing Se to take it back from the Fire Nation"—

"It was taken' over?" someone yelled in the back of the group.

"Yes," Sokka replied sadly, "by Princess Azula of the Fire Nation."

Au gasped.

"Au," Suki said walking over to the woman in the black cape. "Au, are you okay?" The woman nodded, incapable of words.

Sokka looked back to the people. "We have to stop Azula from whatever she's planning and save Ba Sing Se. Then, we need to head to the Fire Nation and defeat the Fire Nation soldiers and the Fire Lord.

"It's time we defeat the Fire Lord! It's time to win! Are you ready!?"

Sokka finished and the people cheered with delight. His headed bobbed up and down as he looked around his newly formed rebel group.

"Then we'll leave tomorrow," he said. "Pack everything that you'll need for the next four or five weeks. But let me tell you that this will not be easy. Some of you might be killed."

The people stopped cheering and looked dead serious. "Are we ready?" he asked making eye contact with every person that was close to him.

In response, the people lifted their arms and waved their fists. And they were silent.

……

Later on that night, Sokka, Suki, Kuei, and Au sat around a campfire that Sokka had made.

They hadn't for quite a long time. Au hadn't said anything since Sokka had spoken in the city. It was very strange. Why had she been so surprised when Sokka had mentioned Azula's name?

Suki broke the silence. "Sokka," she said, "I never knew you had such a good speaking voice." She sipped her tea and shot a glance at the fifteen year old.

"Well, I did have the best speaking voice in my village," he replied, puffing his chest out a bit.

"Really?" she replied. "The best in your whole village, huh?"

They both smiled.

"Do you guys know Prince Zuko?" Au asked suddenly.

The warriors looked away from each other to look over the mysterious woman that had come into their lives so fast.

"Yes," Sokka replied. "He's our enemy. He had chance to join and he…joined his sister…"

The woman nodded and looked back toward the ground, messing with her hands. "Oh," was her reply. She looked as if she was about to cry.

"Au," Suki said, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," Au replied. "I just…I'm going to go to bed." The woman got up from the ground. But before she went over to the patch of dirt that she called home, she asked, "And what happened to General Iroh?"

"He's traveling with my sister, and he's teaching Aang firebending," Sokka replied, his eyes locked with Au's.

She nodded once more and hurried off to bed.

Suki and Sokka exchanged glances before going back to their original conversation.

And after they had gone to bed that night, Sokka couldn't sleep. He continued thinking about Au. Why was she so interested in Prince Zuko, General Iroh and Azula? Why would she care?

And that made Sokka a little nervous that she did care so much. And so, Sokka fell asleep that night his trust of the woman in the black cape just a little dimmer than it had been.

Ohhhh….So review! Hey the long chapters are coming up! I feel like a fry cook. Yikes.

FYI: I won't be updating for a couple of weeks I'm really busy. Thanks so much for your patience. And I promise the story will speed up in the next chapter.

Bye!!