Author's Note : Yay! Another chapter! About time? I thought so, too. I used 's transcript for the episode "The Warriors of Kyoshi" as a basic guide for this chapter. And I added on to it because Zuko has such a minimal part in that entire episode and Kaida needs lines, too!

Anyway, read and review, please. I appreciate it greatly and it'll help me get motivated for actually working on the story and getting some of your great feedback! I'll give the people who are special to me keeping motivation with this story in the next chapter or two. Promise!

Disclaimer : I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender nor any of it's characters. Those belong to Mike & Bryan as well as Viacom, Nick, etc. I can only lay claim to the stories I write and the characters I create of my own volitionlike Kaida.

Fire in the Skies

-- The One Who Got Away --

It had been three days since Iroh had came with the news that they had no idea where the Avatar was. Zuko had been meditating - calm, cool, and collected he had been. But since then, he had been tense and grumpy. Kaida had steered clear of the teenager since then, choosing to spend her days on the deck of the ship or in her quarters. Currently, they sat on the deck of their ship, sitting around a low table and enjoying their lunch of fresh fish. Well, except for Kaida. She was one of those odd balls that didn't like fish. She instead had a plate of fruit sitting in front of her. She smiled softly as she picked through the different berries native to the village that they had recently stopped at. Zuko looked up and his ears shot back as he picked up something about the Avatar.

"The Avatar is on Kyoshi!" Zuko stood, ready to turn on his heels and head back to the ship to get everything ready to capture the Avatar.

"Prince Zuko. Are you going to eat that?" Iroh piped in as he pointed to the unfinished food. Zuko turned around and stole his plate of fish back, Kaida snickered softly.

"I was saving it for later. Now come on. We have to get going. Didn't you hear? The Avatar is on Kyoshi island. We cannot let him escape!" He stormed off, his food in hand. Kaida smiled and began laughing despite however hard she wanted to just shut up and not make Zuko's temper any worse than it already was. But his defensiveness over his food and the face that Iroh was giving right now was really too much.

--

They landed in Kyoshi two days later. And though Kaida was ordered to stay on the ship, she told Zuko that he owed her for saying that she couldn't defend herself. And so, here she was, dressed in a silver kimono with Sais hidden in her sleeves. She didn't expect to fight…she was sure that Zuko was going to keep her sitting pretty on that war rhino they had her on right now. Not that they weren't already sitting on mounts of their own, but Zuko was just extra paranoid about her safety. Kaida sighed as she leaned back in the saddle, arms crossed in front of her chest as the light of the day reached her eyes while the prow of the ship continued to open. As soon as she heard that incredibly loud "clink" she urged the animal beneath her to move forward. She rode alongside Zuko in the little mini brigade. Iroh was back on the ship, probably playing Pai Sho with the remaining men on the ship. That or enjoying the quiet with tea.

Everyone was ready for the attack against the avatar this time. Zuko sure as hell was not going to underestimate the twelve year old boy. Even if that was what the Avatar was. A boy. But, he had eluded and beaten Zuko before. He could do it again.

"Avatar! Come out, you cannot hide forever!" He shouted before he turned to his men and told them to find him.

"Really, Zuko. Do you have to be so dramatic?" Kaida sighed, leaning back in her saddle with her arms crossed over her chest again.

"What do you -" The fire prince was cut off, however, as a green clothed…person attacked him and knocked him out of the saddle. Was it a woman? Kaida wasn't entirely sure, but she hopped off her war rhinoceros before she could get knocked off like Zuko had. She grabbed the pair of Sais from the sleeves of her kimono and jumped as Zuko sent flames flying from his feet. Tucking her legs beneath her as she jumped, she readied to roll and attack the nearest warrior.

"Nice try, Avatar! These girls can't save you!" Zuko shouted, standing up in the middle of the street. Kaida was busy attacking one of the girls, dodging and jabbing when she got the chance. And then his voice reached their ears and Kaida watched out of the corner of her eye as she watched the Avatar fly towards Zuko and knock him into a building. Her heart raced with worry as the warrior she was fighting with jabbed at her with her fans. She very nearly missed.

One of the men fell pray to the girls with the fans. He fell unconscious a few feet from Kaida and she knew that they were in some serious trouble here. They were outmatched. Looking for an opening, Kaida quickly rolled over to the side, dodging another attack before standing and running towards where she had last seen Zuko fly through a wall. However, the Kyoshi Warrior did not give up. The other girl threw a fan after her and the edge sliced through the top of her arm.

Kaida gasped and paused, panicked eyes staring at the hole in her kimono that was slowly spreading with blood. Biting down on her lip, the teenager placed her other hand over the wound and continued after Zuko. She found him lying in heap on top of a pile of shattered wood. "Zuko, we have to get out of here." The prince read the panic in her eyes and nodded, groaning as he pulled himself to his feet. Standing unsteadily, he could see Kaida's kimono slowly changing color beneath her fingertips. "But your arm!"

"I'm fine! We have to get out of here! The avatar is leaving!" She stated and followed him as they ran back towards the war rhinos, dodging attacks with Zuko flinging fireballs at many of the others.

"Back to the ship!" He caught sight of the Avatar leaving on his flying bison as he helped Kaida mount. He then mounted himself and tugged his rhino towards the ship. "Don't loose sight of him!" They made it to the ship in no time, though the village behind them was slowly burning up. A smirk slowly grew on Kaida's face as they entered the prow of the ship.

"Always the melodramatic one, aren't you, Zuko." She stated, smiling softly as he dismounted and began helping her do the same.

"I'll be mad about that later. Let's get you to the infirmary." His voice was soft as he lifted her down, holding her still as the other guards that had gotten onto the ship raced past. He carried her to the infirmary, leaving her in the capable hands of the healers before racing onto deck. Just in time to get drenched by that giant sea serpent that the Avatar was currently riding. He glared at the boy as he jumped onto the back of his bison once more.

"Damn…" He muttered, now drenched with a large scowl upon his face.

--

About an hour later, Zuko was sitting outside the infirmary in dry clothes. The healers had told him that his friend had passed out from the shock of the blood loss. They told him she was fine. However, the fire prince was still nervously sitting outside in a chair that was brought to him by the healers. His uncle stood next to him, looking at the door thoughtfully. "Kaida will be fine, Prince Zuko. Why do you worry?"

"…Because. It was my duty to protect her and I didn't." He stated sourly, glaring at his uncle quietly. It was quiet for a few seconds while Iroh kept that thoughtful look upon his face.

"No it wasn't, Prince Zuko. Lady Kaida went willingly out there and fought willingly. She can protect herself, never forget that." Zuko turned and glared after the old man quietly, ignoring the comment the best he could. The sound of a door opening reached his ears and his head snapped back to stare at the head healer.

"Lady Kaida is awake now, Prince Zuko and General Iroh. You can see her if you like." The elderly woman said, moving aside as the boy stood rapidly and went inside. Iroh followed a few seconds behind.