An Avatar:The Last Airbender Story

A Tale of Two Nations

The Clash Between Fire and Earth

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. That awesome show is copyright to its creators.

But my characters are (c) to me.

Chapter 1

An eighteen year old boy trudged through some sort of woods. The kind of woods with thick tall pines, many shadows, and a sun-speckled ground. His chocolate brown hair is the same color as his anxious eyes and pale skin; typical for people of the Fire Nation. In fact, he was Fire Nation, a scout patrolling this forest. But, this wasn't any typical forest. It was one that bordered with the Earth Kingdom that Fire Nation forces had just occupied and were struggling to maintain a firm grip of control over it. He eyed the path ahead wearily. Then unsheathing his long handcrafted sword, he admired it; the steel blade catching the sunlight that filtered through the trees towering above him. His father had bestowed it to him before he had been killed when Shiya was only fourteen. He had pulled it out in advance so he could be ready for attack. On his other hand, his fingers fumbled with the supple leather on the pouch attached to his belt; it contained the signal flares necessary for alerting the troops of his division. In the back of his mind, Shiya knew how dangerous it was here.

Amongst the labyrinth of trees, he was well aware that he was in Earth Kingdom territory, in full Fire Nation uniform. The black and dulled red color scheme of his nation on the uniform would make him easy to spot and identify. It was crafted of strong red-burgundy leather, complete with shoulder pads, a belt, and any other protection that he would need; on his feet were two dark brownish boots with the ends pointed up. As much as he admired his uniform, he cursed it right now, knowing that he was vulnerable, all the crimson hues he was wearing popped out against all the greenish forest foliage. This was treacherous territory, and guessed it was probably teeming with Earth Rebels, determined to kill him.

"Stupid solo assignments," he grumbled. He was supposed to be checking out the woods for anything suspicious. "I never should've volunteered."

Crouched in the overgrown shrubbery, a girl the same age as Shiya named Lanna anticipated for someone to pass by. However, she was not of his nation and instead was with the Earth Kingdom. But, she was not a just a warrior, she was an earthbender. Lanna could lure the earth to her, have it jump up in jagged peaks, hover boulders, make quicksand, all kinds of things. As much as she hated the Fire Nation, and how they ruined her life, she was not part of the Earth Kingdom Army. Instead, she joined a more covert band of people: the Earth Rebels. The rebels hated the Fire Nation with a passion that was unrivaled by any other typical Earth Kingdomer. But, it was a life of solitude, were one would spend hours on steak outs and retreating to a simple shelter as "home". In addition, those in this organization were bred to be ruthless killers so that they may compete with the fierceness and aggressiveness of their enemy.

Lanna's outfit was quite different from Shiya's in many ways. For one thing it was not a uniform, but more an assortment of mismatched green, gold, and brown garments that she had acquired. She wore a dark green shirt and a lighter green slit skirt with pants under, both outlined in gold and fastened with golden clasps. Slung over her shoulder was a canteen with a colorful strap, and on her hips was a brown leather belt, and on her arms were numerous bracelets and arm wrappings. Another thing was that her earth-toned clothes were better suited for camouflage in the woods. She was attired in her Kingdom's own signature colors of green and gold and her feet were bare so that she could earthbend. Her eyes managed to get a view between the gaps of the bush she was hiding behind. A glimpse of red caught her eye and Lanna could almost taste the sweet vengeance on her lips. The longing to strike had her greedily observe her target, but her mind willed the girl in her place, heels digging in the soft dirt. Lanna with her dark brownish-auburn hair and slightly short stature, continued to lurk until she fully saw her prey: a lone Fire Nation soldier. Her eyes carefully followed each of Shiya's moves.

Still shuffling along the semi-made forest path, to Shiya it seemed pointless to be scouting out these parts of then woods. It wasn't like anything ever happened anyway. And this was where he was utterly wrong. For today would be different. A day so important that if would change the lives of not just these two people but everyone around them as well. Shiya began to ponder over why the Earth Kingdom harbored such detestation towards him and everyone else who was Fire Nation. It's not fair, the Earth Kingdom pretty much do the same crimes as us. Yet, they and everyone else in the world hates our guts! Why? I think that maybe it's because we're committing the greatest crime of all: we're winning. Yeah, that's it. His eyes wandered absentmindedly over the dirt in boredom. In the corner of his eye he saw a flicker of movement, but shrugged it off.

As she observed this boy, Lanna readied her stance. One hand was placed on the soil below her, fingers fanned out and she could feel all the faint pulsing vibrations of movement all around her-another skill of earthbenders. The Earth Rebel girl anticipated the right moment, her hazel eyes hungry for attack, and when the right came and the Fire Troop got close enough…

"Hyyyyyyaaaa!"Lanna cried and in what seemed like one quick motion, leapt out of her hiding place, raised a wall of earth in from of him, and tried to slam it down on him. It did work, and Lanna grinned in satisfaction in seeing him lie there with his eyes wide. "The Earth Nation prevails!" she hollered while punching a triumphant fist in the air.

Shiya started at this girl, this wild out-of-nowhere girl. How dare she jump up on him when he wasn't looking! Shiya managed to get the slab of earth and push her off him and jumped backwards in surprise. Lanna landed on the ground with a thud and a flurry of dead leaves was kicked up. She narrowed her eyes at him and was quick to get to her feet. "Oh great. I always have to get into situations like this. At least no one's dead yet…" he trailed off as he swung his sword at his attacker, the sound of the blade whooshing through the air. But, Lanna did a low sweeping kick at his feet which had him falter and fall back; having him on the ground once again.

"So Fire Soldier, not used to having your butt kicked by a girl, eh?"Lanna chuckled, hands wrapping in bindings on her hips. It was her personal mission to bring this guy down. Like many in the Earth Kingdom, she was been personally affected by the wrath of the Fire Nation, his nation. How they tortured Earth Soldiers to the point of death or insanity so that they wished they were dead, demolished towns so that they were reduced to a graveyard of broken structures and uprooted lives, forced her people to labor in mines that would fuel their metal monsters of machinery, constantly conquering land that was not their own and infecting it with their hatred, pain, and suffering. She had witnessed such accounts all too with vivid detail and frequency that Lanna dare not allow it to happen one time more and getting rid of this scout would benefit her kingdom. Shiya blinked.

"Eh, no actually I am. Let's just say my sister has a bad temper," he replied from where he was. Meanwhile, Lanna took time to observe him. Shaggy brown hair, not a firebender, looked the same age. He would be easy to kill, she decided. She had seen and fought more intimidating and challenging opponents.

"Really? I think I should try harder then. Well can you get up? Because if you can, well you're mine now…" she said, adding a smirk. Then Shiya stood up with ease and glared back at her, almost giving her a challenge.

"What do you mean 'You're mine now'? You're just a girl. If I wanted to, I could have my whole unit here in seconds," he commented coolly. He knew his unit couldn't get there in seconds, but he hoped that saying it might be enough to scare her away. Unfortunately, to his surprise it didn't scare her at all. Instead, Lanna extended her hand towards Shiya. Numerous golden bracelets clanked as they slid down her arm.

"Come on, shake it. It's not going to kill you," she cooed. Then adding a warm smile she said, "I'm Lanna." Lanna wanted to lure him into her friendliness, trying to see how he would react. Shiya swung his sword at her hand and she was quick to have it retreat.

"I don't really associate with vermin such as yourself…"he growled.

"Well, let's just say this: you're in Earthbender territory. This place is brimming with Earth Rebels. So I don't think you want to swing that sword of yours at me silly boy…"Lanna hissed back. The boy looked like he had had enough of her.

"And I," Shiya began, reaching into a small leather pouch fastened onto his belt, "am here with a unit of Fire Nation troops." He plucked out a red flare. "And I can summon them if you really want to see." Shiya poked his sword into the small of Lanna's back. "Don't move," he hissed. Lanna narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw in vexation.

"Well, boy, where are your troops?" she asked, rotating around in a half turn to face the boy. Raising an eyebrow, she wanted to annoy him.

"I told you not to move," Shiya spat, irritated that she kept calling him "boy". But, then as he pondered on the matter, he wasn't exactly a man either and he didn't want her to know his name. He looked her up and down. A topknot rested atop her head with the front parts of her hair pulled back and the rest of her hair flowed down to her shoulder blades. Noticing her clothing style and fact that she was alone he came to a conclusion on her. Definitely an Earth Rebel. He was told that Earth Rebels were an unofficial group of Earth Kingdom forces separate from the Earth Army. They were usually cruel in their practice, lived sometimes in small groups or even solitary, had no official uniform or tactics, and although they all joined for different reasons they all shared a common goal: to eliminate the Fire Nation at any cost. Their loathing of the Fire Nation fueled all of their missions. Missions ranged from ridding of scouts, destroying entire units, cutting off trade routes, taking in prisoners for questioning, or even just torturing and messing with Fire Troops just for the spite of it. Lanna looked at Shiya, in the eyes. What's his problem? She thought. But, still…Do I resent him solely for the fact that he is Fire Nation or for the person he is?

"Fine if you really want to know…"he said and threw the flare to ground and it came to life as it was set to life. Shooting skywards and above the trees and into the burning afternoon sky the fire exploded from it with a shining brilliance. In an attempt to do something, Lanna tried to make a run for it. Shiya was swift to grab Lanna's arm in a firm grip. "You're not going anywhere," he hissed. "I'm sure you have some information to provide."

She swiveled to Soldier Boy and thought, what information? Then she boldly grabbed him by the armor and drew her face close to his. "Do you really love your nation? Are you willing to kill innocent people to have pride?"Lanna whispered roughly.

Shiya met her eyes, her hazel ones penetrating his brown ones. Taken aback by her closeness and statement, he noticed her lips were slightly parted and her eyebrows were still raised. She was waiting for answer. Gulping, he regained his coolness. "You think the Fire Nation is the only one killing innocent people?"

"No, but I think…you that…um…"Lanna stuttered, trailing off. She had been hoping that he wouldn't speak on behalf of his nation. Frankly, she thought for a moment there, he gazed past her earthbending and Earth Kingdom ways. But, there was something about the way he spoke to her that reminded her that she was not always like this. That she was not always wasting her earthbending on killing Fire Nationers.

"Exactly. Besides, these are my orders. I am loyal to my nation. I would die for the Fire Nation," he continued to hiss.

"At least you have some morals," she retorted, making a face.

"Unlike the Earth Kingdom," Shiya went on. "I've seen what you do to your prisoners. I've seen the senseless destruction you've caused my nation." There was something peculiar about the boy to Lanna. Part of her faintly admired the fact that he was loyal and would do anything for his nation. Truly he seemed like a good person. But, another side of her remained stubborn and hated him just for the fact that he was Fire Nation.

Meanwhile…

"Sir! Sir! Look a flare!" One of the troops frantically informed. He jabbed his finger into the sky where the signal flare was now fading. Everyone the Fire Nation's 121st unit turned their attention to the spot and murmured amongst themselves. The general looked to see the thin dying smoke trails of the flare.

"It's the scout!" General Kenzai declared. "Send up an answering flare and prepare yourselves for march!" Instantly, people buzzed around in an organized and synchronized way, readying for his orders.

"So how long is it going to take for you to kill me?"Lanna breathed. Shiya looked up instantly as he caught sight of the flash of an answering flare.

"Looks like I don't have to. My unit will be here momentarily," he answered frostily. Suddenly, there was the rush of footsteps and a glimpse of movement and a fifteen year old kid jumped down nimbly from the trees and to where Lanna and Shiya were. He had strikingly green eyes and sandy brown hair that looked very tousled with a few small leaves and brambles stuck to him. Lanna saw him as a novice rebel; which meant he would probably be eager, reckless, and stupid. He hovered a few boulders nearby, revealing his bending ability of earth.

"I'm Orin," he simply stated, advancing towards Shiya with the intentions of attacking. "And I'm here to liberate a fellow Earth Rebel." Shiya's eyes fell upon Orin. He could barely manage one of these earth menaces. Another one would make things all too difficult to the point where the power would no longer be his.

"Don't move, or she dies," Shiya told him. Bringing Lanna closer to his body so that he would be able to have more control over her, he wrapped one of his arms tightly around her abdomen and the other held his sword dangerously close to her neck.

"Now that's not how you treat a lady is it?" Orin said briskly. Lanna's eyes traveled to where Shiya's hand was right under her bosom.

"Your hand," she whispered sharply. Shiya ignored her complaint. It's not like I put it there on purpose you earth wench, he thought. But, then he gave in and ended up putting his hand lower. Then she took this as an opportunity to escape his clutches and slipped out. Shiya instantly cursed himself for allowing this to happen. I should've just disregarded being courteous to a woman. Then Orin snuck up on Shiya and knocked him on the head with a large rock. Shiya fell to the ground, and immediately rose to his feet again. Grabbing his sword hastily, he charged at Orin.

"What's your problem?"Lanna demanded from the Earth Kingdom warrior. "You're acting no better than the Fire Nation!" For some reason that she could not place, she had no desire to attack the Fire scout. Something inside herself was stopping her. Conscious or divine intervention, Lanna could not figure it out. Orin looked at her, looking amused by her statements.

"Oh we have a temper," Orin stated breezily and side stepped Shiya's attack. "Shin get her out of here. " He gestured to a comrade of his. The one called Shin with a long black haired braided ponytail quickly grabbed hold of the girl and moved both of them out of the way.

"We're supposed to serve justice against the Fire Nation! Not to be unjust to them!" Lanna said loudly. She knew saying this meant contradicting her years of her detestation against the Fire Nation. Struggling against Shin with just her limbs, she kicked him angrily and broke free.

"Orin isn't a bad guy. He's one of us. This is just his way of handling the Fire Nation," Shin cried out to Lanna.

"Oh quiet you idiot! If I needed your help I would've asked for it," Lanna muttered, walking away. His phrase of "one of us" made her cringe. To be considered like them offended her. This Orin kid and his friend made her more upset than Soldier Boy. She could see the Fire Soldier and Orin battling it out. The clank of sword metal and rock was a sound repeated between them. Shiya skidded to a halt, turned and charged again. Orin then put up a wall of earth between him and his opponent.

"I have to admit, you're a good warrior…for a fire nationer," he said atop his wall. Shiya backed up before hitting the wall and stared up at Orin, waiting for him to make a move. In her mind, she remembered the troops. They would be here any minute now, or seconds, as Soldier Boy put it. In her mind, she wanted earth to win, for her nation would prevail. But, in her heart fire fought back with such intensity that she was almost kind of rooting for the Fire Nation boy. It wasn't the boy's fault that the Fire Nation was the way it was right? Or was it people like the boy that made up the Fire Nation; their leaders using its people's loyalty to the Fire Nation to drive them to do whatever they want? In the end, Lanna almost wished there was no such thing as separate nations.

"I like you so I won't make this wall come down on you," Orin laughed at Shiya. "But, I will do this." Suddenly, Orin bended a wave of dirt into Shiya's face, which caused him to cry out in pain. He backed up blindly, kicking up a flurry of dead leaves. "Now I have to go," he added quickly and he and Shin retreated back into the trees.

"Go ahead and run coward!" Shiya shouted after him, finishing up on rubbing his eyes. "When my unit gets here I'll be sure to tell them where you went!"

"Oh don't worry, I'm just going to watch the show," he said from the some spot in the trees, not visible. It was then that General Kenzai led his troops through the trees, towards the direction where the source of the flare was thought to be. In no time, he reached the clearing where the scout was and observed that he was not alone.

"Well? Why did you set the flare?" Kenzai demanded. Lanna stared back at the scout. Shiya gazed at her coolly before turning to the general. He did want to get caught up in gawking at her face again.

"I was attacked sir. Twice. Once by this girl. There was another boy here, but he jumped into the trees," he replied automatically in a flat voice.

"Yep, sure did," Orin taunted. Lanna looked back up into the trees, seeing them rustle slightly. At least someone was on her side, sort of. Then glancing at the Fire Soldier she felt her mind reeling. Of course he's going to turn me in. Why did I even hope that he would come through for me? He's Fire Nation and I'm Earth Kingdom. We were destined to hate each other. General Kenzai approached Lanna with confidence.

"Such a young girl. Why don't you return home? You shouldn't be causing this much trouble," he said smoothly.

"What about him?" Lanna inquired, pointing to the scout. "He's young, barely a man. And I am of marrying age, hardly considered a child at all. Although you treat me like one. And I'm not causing trouble. I saw him in my territory and I attacked. I mean, if I was wandering through your place you would attack me too wouldn't you? Assuming I would cause harm?" She glared back hardly and unflinchingly. Besides she didn't have a "home". Her "home" was a dank cave in these woods with a few measly supplies in it. Your nation destroyed my home four years ago, she remembered bitterly.

Kenzai looked up. "I doubt that," he said bluntly. Lanna let a small, secret smile break upon her face. Oh yes you would.

"You know, I could kill you all right now if I wanted," Orin warbled.

"I doubt you could do that," Kenzai called to the voice, losing his patience. "As for you," he said addressing Lanna," you should go home. Now."

"Oh, you would be surprised. I have thirty earthbenders awaiting my orders to fire so…" Orin continued, trailing off. Lanna rolled her eyes, knowing that new Earth Rebels like Orin always wanted to show off their strength.

"That's all?" Kenzai commented, clearly not impressed. "Men spread out and search the area. Shiya, you stay here and make sure the girl goes. Alert me if you find anyone else."

"Yes sir," Shiya replied. Lanna was glad she now knew his name, "Shiya". Then she bolted off down the road like she was supposed to. "Well, she's gone. Now what? She's gone…"Shiya said to himself. He watched her go until he could no longer see her, but still feeling a private sense of yearning more of this strange and frustrating Lanna girl.

"Fine if you want to play that way, fire!" the Orin boy shouted and dozens of spikes made of earth appeared, generated by his thirty other earthbending comrades. No one had any idea when or when all of these other rebels had come into the treetops. The spikes rushed forth everywhere and shot through all of the unit's soldiers, killing them. However, he was careful to make sure none went through Lanna. Diving down onto the ground, Shiya was quick to duck. Lanna continued to sprint off, but ran in a big circle around the clearing which was now littered with bodies. Her circle ended just a few yards behind where the Fire Troops had just been standing. Kenzai's eyes went ablaze with anger. He shouted,

"That's it! Burn this place to the ground!" He began to wildly throw a barrage of fire at the trees, bushes, anything was flammable. Lanna decided that she could sneak up if she was careful. Then again I'm not very careful on being quiet am I? She thought as she wiggled her way around and hid in a nearby bush. That was a bad idea. Everything got really hot to an intolerable degree. Fire! The forest was on fire!

"Comrades, hop out of the trees and take the one soldier left as our prisoner," Orin directed calmly, his men nodding. The atmosphere was getting thick and stuffing with the growing billows of smoke. Heat was radiating everywhere from everything as the flames spread rapidly, licking and infecting every leaf and branch.

"Take the scout!" Lanna managed to yell. Shiya coughed as smoke entered his lungs. He kneeled on the ground, trying to avoid the smoke. Orin's comrades began furiously working on putting out the fires. "Take him!" she continued to scream and cough. Frantically, pointing at Shiya, she tried to get Orin's attention. By now, Kenzai had stormed off in fury after he continued to light things on fire. Annoyed by no one's attempts to help her get the scout out of the growing mass of thick smoke and embers Lanna declared, "Fine, I'll do it myself!" And with that she bounded into the abyss of the burning woods. Lanna was coughing heavily as the burning air got to her, and she was constantly trying to gain some steady ground for the dizziness in her head was having her sway slightly. She approached the kneeling boy.

"You're going to die if you stay here any longer," she managed to say. He didn't respond and Lanna guessed that he was already unconscious. The next thing she knew, Orin was present and grabbed a hold of Shiya and took him out of the flames and into a cage. Lanna clumsily followed. "You don't need to lock him up! Okay, maybe you do, but he needs treatment," she said while waving the smoke away from her face.

"Don't worry I treat my prisoners of war well," Orin replied nonchalantly. His comrades chuckled, knowing he meant the exact opposite. Lanna also knew all too well what their intentions were to do with this scout.

"Sure, that's good to know," Lanna said sarcastically, "but how are we going to get out of here?"

"Same way that I do everything: teamwork," he replied in a cocky voice.

"Go on," she hacked. Orin went on babbling and explained how all the earthbenders lifted the cage and themselves through bending, and she pretended to listen to all of this. Through this type of cooperation, they would not only be able to transport themselves but their captive as well. Lanna reluctantly agreed to help out on this ordeal, but only because she wanted to get away from all the dead bodies. Secretly, it was starting to bother her, even if they were Fire Nation. Then in unison they initiated the task of transporting the cage through earthbending; it rolled over the ground in some sort of earth mound train. Behind the bars of the cage, it looked like the boy was still unconscious as the cage moved with ease. Then after some time, Shiya's eyelids fluttered open and with his eyes wide open, staring up in sudden confusion. He was coughing heavily and his vision was still blurry.

How could Kenzai do that? Burning everything and just leaving me to die, he thought bitterly, I'm probably going to die. His sight cleared slightly and he realized that his was in a cage. Fear and panic shot through him and he began groping the area around him blindly. A million possibilities of what was going to happen to him flooded into his mind, none of them good. Lanna stared at Shiya from the outside of his confinements when she noticed that he had just woken up. She gave a reassuring smile.

"I'm not going to let them kill you. I'm not even going to kill you…."she whispered to herself. Shiya coughed again. He was taken prisoner by the Earth Kingdom. He had heard stories about what they did to their prisoners. Curling up in a ball, he closed his eyes and wished it all away. Curiously, Lanna examined the boy through secret glances. He definitely looked different now, in an almost human way to her. That bothered her. For to her, Fire Nationers were supposed to be evil cold-blooded hate-spreading fiery tyrant demons. But, the air of well-defined fear surrounding this Shiya boy was forcing her to see him in a light of purely human being.

The boy earthbender looked at Shiya in his imprisonment in a condescending fashion. "So how does it fell to have been beaten by a fifteen year old kid," Orin mocked.

Shiya opened his eyes and replied, "You didn't beat me. You just captured me while I was…incapacitated by smoke."

"You're not going to die, you're not going to starve, and you're not going to be tortured. So why are you scared? Think of this more as a trip, a journey?"Shin asked Shiya in a slick voice. Lanna didn't blame Shiya for being scared. Earth rebels like herself and Orin and his band of renegades always said stuff like that to calm their victims. She trotted up to side of the cage and whispered to Shiya,

"I'm going to get you out of here."

"How can I trust you? A while ago you were trying to attack me. Besides they said the same thing to my brother Desmond…"Shiya said and closed his eyes for a moment as hi thought about his older brother. His brother had once been captured and they had said similar things, but he was tortured almost to the point of insanity. Desmond still jumped at every moving shadow. Shiya continued his coughing; the smoke had taken a toll on him. A sticky red substance landed on his hand, and he stared at the droplets of blood.

"Don't you think that it's kind of ironic how an Earth Kingdomer is willing to try trusting a Fire Nationer, but not the other way around? I can't really give you a reason except to just trust me," Lanna replied. Shiya closed his eyes. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. I'm the one who's Fire Nation; I shouldn't be the one in a cage. Then Lanna slammed a foot on the ground forcefully which sent a high jab of earth to shoot up under Orin and sling him in the air. As expected, a very frightened Orin disappeared into the trees as mysteriously as he had arrived. His gang also retreated into the treetops as well, leaving Lanna and Shiya alone once again.

"So, what's your name? I told you mine," Lanna said, turning to the boy in the cages. She already knew it was Shiya, but she hoped that by them properly introducing themselves that would get him to trust her more.

"Why should I tell you?"Shiya spat, not evening bothering to open his eyes to look at her. He wondered what she was going to him. Maybe save him to be tortured, he thought. Then unexpectedly, Lanna unlocked the cage and swung the door wide open for him. He stared out in disbelief.

"That's why you should tell me. I'm letting you out," she told him with almost a note of satisfaction. Shiya squeezed himself into a tighter ball. They probably going to torture everything that they possibly could out of him. His thoughts turned to Desmond, when they found him, on a road in the Earth Kingdom, bleeding and unconscious. Desmond was muttering in his sleep about what they had done to him, and it wasn't pleasant. Lanna put out her hand again. "This hand still isn't going to kill you," she said and this time smiled with genuine friendliness. "Look, I know it's probably hard for you to trust me right? I'm just some total stranger, I'm this girl earthbender, and I kind of attacked you earlier, but just listen to me."

"You...told them to …take me…"Shiya said weakly, feeling sick to his stomach.

"I actually…sort of understand by what you meant earlier. You know, when you said that the Fire Nation wasn't the only nation that kills the innocent. And maybe I am guilty of that crime too. My family is dead because of the Fire Nation, yet here I am trying to help you. People want something to blame all of their problems on, which is the Fire Nation. Yet…they never realize their own evil. I told them to take you so that you could have a chance to live," Lanna confessed. Why am I saying all these personal thoughts and my stupid life story to some random Fire Soldier? I barely even know him, she thought.

Shiya's head was spinning. Spinning from the smoke, spinning from the situation, spinning from what this girl was telling him. He was so dizzy. "Just…leave…me alone." But Lanna's persistent nature withheld, and she stayed.

"The rebels will come back and hurt you. Come with me," she pleaded in a pushy manner. "Just come with me. I don't want to lose someone."

"No," Shiya said coldly. "Besides, the others…they wouldn't let us leave and-"

"Oh don't make excuses. What's it going to take to prove to you that I won't hurt you or lead you into some sort of trap. What is it going to take so that you can trust me?"Lanna said firmly.

"I'll never trust you," he hissed. "You should have left me there. A soldier would've found me and taken me home."

"You can't make guesses at what would've happened. But, I'm pretty sure that you would've died if I had left you there," she responded, getting irritated. "And why are you having all these issues with me? Don't do this just because of your brother. You know what I don't even care about your brother. Is that how you got this way? Is that why you hate me so much?" Lanna failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice on her last few sentences. Shiya's eyes narrowed and he said,

"Yes…that and every other soldier your nation hurt without needing to. My brother was just a sergeant; he didn't have any information to give. But, did that matter? NO." I shouldn't have said that. I'm really going to get it now, Lanna mused. "Then they left him there. To die. The Earth Kingdom captain, Anko, she said…said they didn't need the burden of a prisoner," Shiya said, his voice breaking off. Lanna winced, and felt a small pang of sympathy swell for him and his brother. There was nothing that she could do now. He was obviously upset and on a roll. "She was the one who betrayed him and took him prisoner!" His voice grew higher and unshed tears burned his eyes.

"I…I am not proud of what my nation has done. But, if it makes you feel so much better why haven't you killed me yet!"She countered, beginning to choke.

"I lost my sword in that stupid fire," Shiya growled. "Besides, did you forget that the others took me prisoner? They'd slaughter me before I'd have the pleasure of killing you first." If you hadn't scared them off that is, Shiya thought to himself. But, he'd rather keep that thought pushed away. He didn't want to believe that this Lanna girl was actually trying to help him. "For two weeks we didn't know if he'd live or die! Do you know what that feels like?"

"Yes, in some way. I do know…"she managed. It was four years ago really. Four years ago that his nation did best: destroy people's lives. Memories of destruction, flames licking up her home, the massacre of countless innocent, pain, suffering, that were burned into her mind came to her. Anger forced its way up into Lanna's throat and she could feel herself clenching her so tightly that it hurt. "That doesn't matter! You're saying you won't trust me because of what other people have done! What about me?" Lanna cried out.

Shiya smirked. "I'm glad. I'm glad. I wish everyone in your whole nation knew what it felt like! I wish everyone in your nation would jump at every shadow or something you saw out of the corner of your eye! I wish your whole nation would suffer as my brother is now, always thinking that an enemy will strike, that an enemy will take him prisoner again!"He cursed loudly.

"I can't believe I haven't killed you yet. But, I'm urging you to just trust me Shiya," she told him, putting an extra biting emphasis on his name.

"Trust? Trust is wasted. Do know how my brother was captured?" Shiya spat, slightly taken back by her use of his name. She had probably heard the general say it, he figured. Lanna knew that she was just being plain stubborn about this issue, but that was her nature. Her nature as an earthbender.

"I'm just asking you to make peace with me. Only me. Just…me. I can get you back to where you want, for I know the land. And even if I have to kill some other earthbender just to prove to you I'm not going to hurt you, then fine," Lanna explained. For once, she felt fine about her words. She would have no regrets. Even though she would be betraying her entire nation, just to earn the trust of a boy that she had just met.

"No," Shiya said. "My family is never going to trust another Earthbender again. Not after what she did to him." Lanna decided that this guy wasn't worth it. He's a pathetic soldier who wallows in his brother's past, she thought.

"I don't know why I though I ever even considered saving you! Or tried to be nice to you! Errr! I am so stupid!"She cried out in anger. "And this, this trust issue is your problem, not mine! I tried so hard too…" Shiya blinked in confusion before blurting out,

"What?! You just don't understand. How would you feel if someone you cared about betrayed you?" Lanna's face hardened and her jaw clenched noticeably before replying,

"You are only here to insult and hurt me. I should just walk away. In fact, I know what it feels, when you know someone who betrays you, and it looks like you're becoming one of them." The last part came out in stammers, and she blushed slightly and stared at the ground. With that she slowly began to walk away. My sister is one of those people who betrayed me, Lanna remembered.

"What?" Shiya muttered. She turned back to face him thinking that she might have gotten herself involved in things that she shouldn't have. "I didn't betray you!" He shouted at her. "I didn't to anything! Did I lead you away from your garrison? Did I lead you into an ambush? Did I torture you with my own hand?"

"You didn't betray me physically," she snapped and sighed. "Okay I thought that I might actually liked to have you around or something until you don't trust me even when I save you. Even though someone supposedly could've come along and saved you just as well. But, I care and you don't. So it's best for me to try to forget this ever happened…"Lanna said coldly.

"Fine. Go ahead and leave! I don't care. I barely even know you," Shiya replied, turning away. "I'll find …m-my own way home. T-trusting people…trusting people only gets yourself hurt…" He finally broke down. Waves of emotion swept over him. Falling to his knees crying, he covered his face. He almost never cried about anything, but this thing about his brother, was too much.

Lanna stood there, motionless. Wanting to be unsympathetic and cruel, she wanted to leave him there. She wanted to make him pay for refusing to trust her and being nothing more than a cold jerk to her. After all, his nation was the one in which war and bloodshed was spread like wildfire across the world. Lanna thought she at least deserved to make this one Fire Soldier suffer. But, the longing to revenge against this Fire Nationer quickly faded. Lanna tried to resist the temptation to go to Shiya, but she couldn't, it was her nature to comfort a hurting soul. She couldn't just ignore him. It pained her heart to hear what happened to Shiya's brother, regardless of what nation he was. Her eyes began to water at seeing this guy fall apart in front of her, but she angrily swiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand. An inner turmoil of how to react to this reeled inside of her, for she had to decide on to treat him like any other person or treat him based on his nation.

Then she dashed to his side, and sobbed softly, "I know you don't trust me but…I…I…" She trailed off not exactly sure of what her reason was anymore. Eyes giving a steady flow of tears, Lanna wasn't even certain why she was crying. The tears simply forced their way out due to some sort of induced sympathy that she had no control over. Perhaps she never had a time to be sad about the life-wrenching incidents that happened to her and her family, just time to be mad. "Trusting people can heal too," Lanna weakly whispered to him.

"I was there too. I should've stopped him from leaving…but…but I knew he loved Anko. I didn't know she would betray him. I didn't know someone could betray someone like that. It wasn't only Desmond who trusted her. I trusted her," he sobbed ruefully, a great amount of hurt in his voice. Shiya looked up at her with his brown eyes, not knowing what to say.

"I…I feel horrible now. I, trying to have you trust me…"she sniveled slowly. Shiya sighed, closed his eyes, and finally asked,

"Do you…want to know what happened?" A few more silent tears slid out and down involuntarily. She just gazed back at him, eyes too full of sadness. She wasn't even sure if she could even say anything that would sound right.

"Yes...If you want to," Lanna answered in a small voice. Shiya swallowed hard and nodded.

"It was in an Earth Nation town that we had just occupied. My brother, Desmond, was the sergeant, just promoted. He met Anko in a tavern. She said she was just an ordinary farmer. They got to talking, for a while. That's when he fell in love with her, even though she was Earth Kingdom. They continued seeing each other for a month, when she said she wanted to show him one of her favorite spot," he began, and then paused for a moment. "Normally townspeople aren't allowed out at night, but Desmond ordered the guards to stand aside. I did so without question, for he told me his feelings for her. I never saw him again, until they brought him back to town, in a stretcher. He was muttering, 'No! Please stop! I don't know anything about that! How could you betray me!' I can never forget that sight." Shiya closed his eyes.

Lanna covered her own face with her hands. She couldn't bear to look at hi face. Then he continued, "For two weeks the healers worked on him. I visited him whenever I could. I was afraid that he wouldn't live, but he did. They brought him home, and allowed me to come. At every unexpected noi8ce or movement he would jump. He told me what they did to him. Horrible things that I dare not describe. He was discharged from the army, but they drafted me again. And here we are now."

She breathed in ragged breaths, over come with the guilt of the horrible memories she had awaken in someone. "I get your point," Lanna choked. "You are right. There is nothing I can do to gain your trust." Surprisingly, Shiya put a hand on her shoulder and whispered,

"I never told anyone that before and I tr…trust you not to repeat the story to anyone." Lanna looked up at him as well, her greenish eyes wide.

"I won't tell anyone," she promised, in a voice that seemed lost. Then she added a small feeble smile. At least he trusted her with something.

"I don't know what to do now," Shiya confessed. "Without the rest of my unit…there's no way to get home."

"The truth is, I don't have anywhere to really go. I wander," Lanna told him. Now she just felt weird, like being too exposed. Too vulnerable. An earthbender should never let their guard down, but she dismissed that thought.

"You could…come to the Fire Nation with me…If I find my way back," Shiya suggested awkwardly. Lanna made a face of pure dumbstruck. This Shiya guy, a Fire Nationer, was offering her a chance to come into a land that was like forbidden to most of the world. It was a rare opportunity to start a life over again, to be free from the black hole of a life of an Earth Rebel. Instead of slaughtering the people of the Fire Nation, she could become one of them.

"Sure, I, that sounds…nice. But, before we go anywhere : I want to promise you something. Whenever or wherever you want to just walk away from me, go ahead. If you really don't want to trust me, then don't," Lanna said. Shiya hesitated then replied,

"I tr- I trust you."

"I'll also need some new clothes though," she explained, looking at her own tattered green garments. " I might need to exchange these for something more red."

"My unit. We had a camp. I could find you a uniform there. There were some women in our unit," Shiya said. The biggest smile ever split Lanna's face. She was so happy that she embraced him. Shiya look surprised.

"Do you think you could find your way back if I raised us up high enough?"

"Probably," Shiya answered. Lanna raised both of them on a high pillar of earth, high enough so that they were above the treetops. Then Shiya spotted the read tents of his deceased unit immediately. "I see it!" he said.

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Well now that this is officially the first chapter, I would especially like all your comments and feedback regarding the story. I need to know so I can continue. :D