*Bee*

Okay, I'm used to living in a forest.

Big. Open.

Not made of metal.

The submarine was making me kind of claustrophobic. Well, at least I was doing better than Toph.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, son," the Chief said.

"Yeah," Toph groaned. "Congratulations, Sokka. You've managed to invent a worse way of travel than flying." She looked like she was about to puke.

The Duke took off his helmet and held it out to her. "Helmet?"

She took it.

Have fun cleaning that out, I thought.

I looked over at Katara, steering with her bending. I wondered what it was like to be a bender. In the group there was Cinnamon and Honey, and a few earthbenders, but not many, and none of them were even close to being masters.

I missed the girls. I didn't even get to say goodbye before Jet dragged us off. Most of the group was older than me, and whoever wasn't was closer to the Duke's age. There was Jewels and Granyt, but even they were usually off in their own little world.

Longshot walked over and sat down next to me. (What's up?)

"I miss Cinnamon and Honey."

"So do I," the Duke broke in.

"Remember that time they wrote on Sneers's face while he was asleep?" I asked.

"And then he chased them around the hideout for an hour," the Duke said.

(What do you mean 'them'? You helped, too.)

The three of us laughed.

"Hey, Smellerbee?" the Duke asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the story of how you found them."

"Again?"

"Yes, again. I like it."

"You know, Honey's only two years older than you…" I loved teasing him about it.

He blushed and muttered something under his breath.

I smiled, leaned back, and sighed. "Okay, here we go.

"It was… I think five years ago. A couple of years before we found you. We'd just started to really build up the group. There were about… twelve of us?" I looked over at Longshot. He nodded.

"I was on patrol. Which was weird, considering I was the second youngest, but whatever. I heard something and went to go check it out, jumping from tree to tree. There were two girls, younger than me, by the stream. The younger one was blonde, the older one's hair was reddish-brown. The younger one was holding her hand over the water and looked like she was concentrating. The older one was standing next to her, holding her hand like the younger one was, and saying something to her, but I was too far away to hear.

"They moved their hands up at the same time. Nothing happened for the younger one, but the water under the older one's hand started to move. Not a lot, but enough for me to be able to tell she was a waterbender.

"I climbed down and walked over. At this point I'd already started wearing the paint and kohl, so I imagine I didn't look that welcoming. I said 'Hey.' The two of them turned around quickly, the older stepping in front of the younger. I noticed they both had scars. The younger had a gash running from the corner of her right eye almost to her jaw. The older had a burn under her jaw that spread to the left side of her neck.

"I raised my hands and said, 'I'm not gonna hurt you.' The older one relaxed a little bit, but didn't move. I said they were a long way from home. She asked who I was. I said, 'Someone who knows what it's like to feel alone.' She said, 'I'm not alone, I have my sister.' I said, 'But it's just the two of you.' She hesitated, then nodded. I told her I knew a place they could stay.

"She asked what I meant, I told her about what had happened to all of us. How each of us was found, the naming thing, our "job". To stop the Fire Nation. I asked how she'd gotten from the Northern Water Tribe – at this point no one knew there were any benders in the Southern – to the Southern Earth Kingdom. She said she didn't know. Neither of them remembered anything before waking up on the side of the road about a year ago. They'd kinda just wandered around since then, trying to find… somewhere. She was seven, her sister was five. They needed someone to take care of them.

"I asked if they wanted to come back to the Freedom Fighters with me. She said yes. So did her sister. I asked if they had names, she said no. They didn't remember theirs. I asked if she wanted me to come up with one, she said yes, so did her sister. I asked if they could fight. She said she could waterbend a little, so could her sister, but barely. And they didn't know how to use weapons. So I tried to think of anything else I could use. I didn't know much about the Water Tribe. Honestly, I still don't. I knew they had two gods, for the ocean and the moon, but I couldn't remember their names and I wasn't about to call them Ocean and Moon. Or ask them. That would just be embarrassing.

"So I studied them. There was nothing really distinguishing about them except the scars – and I wasn't about to name them after those – and… their hair. I knew most people in the Water Tribe had black or dark brown hair, and, for that matter, dark skin. But they were both pretty pale, and the younger was blonde, the older almost a redhead. So I tried to think of a name that wouldn't sound ridiculous. Or at least, no more ridiculous than Bee, or Jet, or Longshot. I tried to think of what the color reminded me of. Something golden, something reddish brown. And then I thought of honey and cinnamon."

I shrugged. "And that how I found them and how they got their names."

The Duke smiled, then seemed to realize something. "You found most of us, didn't you?" he asked.

He was right. I'd found him, Longshot, the girls… most of the group, actually.

"Huh. I guess I did." I smiled. "Call me the finder."

(You know what's weird?) Longshot asked.

I turned to him. "What?"

(You get along so well with random kids you meet in the forest – me, the Duke, Jet, the girls – but you can't get along with people you meet, say, on a ferry. Or kids that have families. Homes.)

I shrugged. "Guess I'm just picky like that. Besides, I'm getting along with Toph. Right?"

She looked up, looking even paler than usual. "What? Oh, yeah, I guess. But I'm not so sure I'm an exception."

"Waddaya mean?" I asked.

"I have a family, but we're not all that close. My parents kept me hidden from the world and treated me like some helpless little girl for twelve years."

"What'd they do when they found out you wanted to go with the Avatar?" I asked.

"Said they'd given me too much freedom in the past. That from then on I'd be watched 24/7."

"So how'd you end up here?"

"I ran away."

I knew what that was like. I'd been captured before. Barely escaped with my life most of the time. But running away from people who cared about her…

"Why?" I asked.

"They wouldn't let me do anything. I was supposed to sit at home all day and act like I was helpless. I'm the most powerful earthbender in the world. I'm not the little blind girl I was before I learned to bend."

Before I met Jet I was some little village girl. I was different. I can't even remember my old name. "I know the feeling."