Hey folks! Here's a nice chapter for you guys to read. Sorry it took so long to get out but I decided my left hand needed a bath in really hot soup and typing out a chapter one handed takes awhile. :P

About the comment that Mari is a mary sue. What's a mary sue and any recommendation on how to fix this?

This is the first fanfic I've allowed out of the safety of the notebooks so I'm lacking in knowing terms like this. :(

Anyways, help me out here folks! Don't want to ruin a perfectly good story:D

Chapter 5: Releasing the Red Dragon

"Can you teach me how to fly?
See I'm scared to die
We've only just begun to learn to crawl
Can you teach me how to fight?
Will you keep me up all night?
Will you be there on the ground if I should fall?
Fall for you"

From Learn to Crawl by Black Lab

The night before the rescue attempt was quiet. They had managed to get a few more days lead on Azula by flying over land again. She'd be forced to hunt up another ship before chasing them over the sea again.

Tension was still high among the group. Sokka was still openly hostile to Mari and Toph was distrustful of her. Katara and Aang were on the fence mostly but constantly tried to champion her. Mari took the attitudes of Toph and Sokka mostly in stride. Katara was thankful Mari had a long fuse on her temper or her and Aang would've been playing peacemaker alot more then they were. "I promised Zuko I would see that his uncle was freed. I'll leave after that." She assured them. "I'm not about to wedge myself between people."

So Mari would stay on the farthest end of camp and when they flew on Appa she stayed at one end of the saddle while Sokka and Toph sat on the other end, usually glaring at her. Katara was always in the middle.

"Doesn't it drive you insane?" Katara had asked at one point.

"Not really. I'm use to it." Mari had answered. "It's driving your brother insane that your talking to me though." She'd told her before Katara could ask more questions. Almost on cue Sokka had started yelling about Katara talking to Fire Nation scum.

When not breaking up fights and keeping the peace Katara's mind kept drifting to Zuko, much to her annoyance.

She kept replaying everything from that night, from the fight at the river to their talk later. Mari's outburst before about Zuko's past had made it quite clear that Katara didn't know him as well as she'd thought. It made her wonder about that moment he'd almost kissed her again. The thought made her insides feel funny which simply annoyed her more. He had no interest in her! Her feelings were simply refusing to listen to her logical mind. Much like her hands had refused to listen at the river.

It had occurred to Katara that Mari was actually a good person to ask about this. Not only was she older and probably more experienced in the situations that rated kissing she knew Zuko better then anyone Katara had met so far, aside from the actual boy that was.

The problem had been timing. Sokka kept staying up at night muttering about Mari murdering then in their sleep. This night though, Sokka had fallen asleep on his watch due to being so tired. Katara wasn't about to ask about kissing and Zuko in the same sentence with Sokka around to hear it or the others for that matter.

Once she heard Sokka snoring and enough time had passed for Toph and Aang to be asleep she creeped out of her sleeping bag and quietly stepped over to Mari's side of the camp.

Katara could've cursed in her frustration when she got to Mari's bag to find her lounging on top of it with her eyes closed. She wasn't about to wake Mari up over something as stupid as a kiss.

"Yes?" Mari asked suddenly.

Katara almost jumped out of her skin as Mari cracked one grey eye open and stared at her. "Did you need something?" Mari asked.

"Uh...well...I..." Now that she was here Katara suddenly felt embarassed. She could feel her face heating up.

Mari grinned. "One of those topics eh? I'm guessing you haven't had a female around to talk of such things for a bit eh?"

"Toph's a girl." Katara said defensively suddenly thinking of the mean girls from Ba Sing Se who'd made fun of Toph.

Mari held up her hands. "I didn't mean it offensively. Toph is a girl and I'm sure she'll be a beauty one day. I was meaning more she's not old enough for conversations that make everyone uncomfortable."

Katara had to agree with Mari on that point. Toph was more interested in fighting then kissing boys.

"So what's on your mind?" Mari asked.

"Well...you know Zuko right?" Katara started then mentally kicked herself. It was a stupid question.

"Known him most of my life." Mari stated as if the question hadn't been asked before.

"Is he...does he always play games with people?"

"Zuko?" Mari asked with a laugh. "Nah, Zuko can't play games. Not in the context you mean there. He's a horrible liar. Azula got all the manipulation genes on that side of the family. Zuko's more like a saber tooth moose-lion. He charges away. He'd probably be alot better off if he could lie."

"Zuko doesn't lie?" Katara said with a skeptical tone.

"I said he's a horrible liar not that he doesn't lie. One of the reasons he's not much of a politician. Fire Nation politics call for you to lie through your teeth convincingly on a constant basis. Zuko, for all his flaws, wears his heart on his sleeve. If he's mad, sad, happy, whatever, it'll show somewhere. Be it his face, his fire, or anywhere else."

Katara thought back. She hadn't seen any malicious look in Zuko's face. He'd looked...well he'd looked rather like someone had punched him in the stomach. She did however recall a twinkle in those gold eyes, she wanted to attribute it to something bad but it made her think more of a little boy who was about to get into mischief. The thought of Zuko as a little boy did something funny to her insides.

Mari kept silent herself. She had assumed Katara shared her brother's attitude towards Zuko. How she wished she could've heard all of their conversation from the other night. "Why are you asking anyways?"

Katara felt herself blush again. "Just trying to make some sense out of him. He's rather...confusing."

"Not really. Once you get to know him anyways." Mari said. "He values his honor, his home, his family..."

"Then why did he put his uncle in the postion he's in." Katara said angrily.

Mari blinked. "What did you expect him to do? Seriously Katara think of that situation from his perspective. He's got his uncle on one side telling him basically to join the one person he'd been raised to see as an enemy. Telling him to turn traitor, this goes against his concept of honor. Then you have his sister telling him to help her and gain what he wants more then anything in this world. Add to that the odds that are stacked heavily against his uncle's suggestion." She watched Katara frown and squirm a bit. "What would you do Katara? Would you fight your sibling or help Aang?"

It was like someone had pulled aside a curtain for Katara. She suddenly realized she'd been in Zuko's place twice. Both times she'd been torn. One time Aang had kept her from being forced to make a choice between him and her family. The second time she'd decided Sokka on her own, even though it had hurt her to do so. Her comprehension must have shown on her face because Mari grinned at her.

"You're rather..." Katara started.

"Insane?" Mari offered.

"I was thinking more along the lines of wise." She corrected with a grin.

Katara snuck back to her sleeping bag. Her talk with Mari had given her a lot to think about though and she layed on her back staring up at the stars. As she drifted off to sleep eventually she wondered if Zuko thought of her at all.

Ironically enough, Zuko was pondering Katara under the same sky.

He was restless. He told himself it was due to nerves. The group had a couple days on them now and Zuko hoped that would be enough time for them to rescue Uncle.

He stood with his arms crossed at the bow of the boat as three of them chugged up the river. Azula had originally wanted to take her tank but for some reason it had broken down. Zuko had thanked the spirits for the sudden streak of luck that wasn't on Azula's side. The boats kept them on the river and away from the handy trail of fur that rested in the forest. They had to constantly stop to make sure they were going the right way. Hence how the Avatar had managed to lose them

This did however give Zuko plenty of time to think. Mostly about honor at first, he came to understand that he'd never been hunting for his honor. He felt he still had that. He'd been hunting for his father's approval. That was one thing Mari would never be able to help him with. She hated her family. Hated her father for the beating she endured and her mother for not saving her. Although she spoke about her hate for her father, her hate for her mother was kept inside. It leaked out when she spoke of her though.

Zuko sighed. There was also the revelation that not everyone in the Fire Nation was happy about the war. He couldn't help but wonder how many common people were suffering because no one would bring the war to a halt. How many citizens were like Song or Lee, sporting wounds they shouldn't have and missing relatives who didn't want to fight in the first place? How many were like Katara or himself and had lost parents to war?

He wondered if Katara was thinking of him at all. If she was she'd be cursing his existance and probably going down a list of his short comings.

Zuko grinned. This would mean she was thinking of him though...

He was past trying to keep himself from thinking of the water girl. She seemed to invade any thought he had. Everything had a habit of circling back to her, which in turn made him think of his last encounter with her.

He would've kissed her again. Somewhere during his brooding he'd realized this. He still wanted to kiss her again too. This was even stranger. Sometimes if he wasn't careful he'd catch himself worrying about her. He always pushed these thoughts away. She was after all with the Avatar. She was probably as safe as any water tribe civilian could be. She had her brother and the blind earthbender too. She wasn't helpless like that time with the pirates.

She doesn't need me around. She doesn't want me around.

But he still worried and fretted mentally about her.

Zuko sighed and went back to his bed. He had to get some sleep tonight.

Mari stared down at the Fire Navy ship. She was oddly nervous about the rapidly approaching fight. Katara, Appa, and she would be keeping the deck clear for a quick getaway once Toph, Aang, and Sokka got Iroh.

It was Sokka's battle plan and Mari had to agree it was a good one. Katara would have an endless supply of water to keep the deck clear and Mari could handle any soldiers that might get close enough to Katara to do anything. Plus Appa would be pitching into the clearing. Sokka might be stupid about some things but tactics wasn't one of them.

A few fireballs whizzed part the bison. One was deflected by Aang and the rest dodged. When they were close enough Aang jumped from the bison and started clearing the deck for the great beast to land. As soon as they were close enough to land safely everyone else jumped.

"Toph?" Sokka asked. He was worried about the girl's ability to see.

Toph said nothing but simply stomped her foot. While she hadn't perfected seeing through metal quite yet it was better then her ability to see through sand. "I'm good." She said as she felt the vibrations in the metal.

Mari had her fans out and was already cutting through soldiers. Aang was glad to note that Mari stuck to disable as opposed to kill. Sokka had told Aang not to worry because Mari wouldn't kill her own people but Aang could sense the anger and rage Mari had towards the Fire Nation. It confused him partially but she seemed to have a good handle on it.

"Let's go!" Aang called.

When Iroh heard the commotion above he didn't think anything of it at first. There were plenty of reasons for sudden activity at sea. When the commotion started moving towards the prison cells Iroh took note though.

His captivity wasn't terrible, not as terrible as it could've been anyways. The soldiers still respected and loved their general, even though he constantly pushed his retirement. The guards would constantly offer to help him escape and Iroh was intending to take them up on their offer when he'd seen the spirit.

She'd stood over him one night telling him to wait. At first he thought he'd been delusional or dreaming. This spirit and he had a history however. He wasn't about to disobey her.

She appeared before him now. Her ancient eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief. Time to go Old Red.

Iroh puzzled for a second over the odd nickname she'd just used for him. He seriously wondered what she was up to. He couldn't ponder it too long though as he started hearing voices. "Hello?"

"Here he is guys!" Aang called out standing before Iroh's door.

"The Avatar?" Iroh said in a curious tone. "Might I inquire what you're doing here?"

"Saving my new firebending teacher." The boy told him cheerfully.

Iroh looked confused for a moment. "But I'm the only prisoner here…"

"Exactly." Sokka stated in a matter of fact tone.

Iroh simply smiled. "The key should be just down the hall on a hook."

"Key?" Toph asked.

"For the cell door." Iroh informed her.

Sokka got a cocky look on his face. "We don't need no stinking key. Toph?"

The blind girl popped her knuckles and put her hands on the door. "You might want to step back." She said to Iroh.

Not knowing what to expect Iroh took three steps back and watched in utter shock and fascination as Toph bent the metal and pulled the door off its hinges before throwing it to the side.

"Amazing." Iroh stated in awe.

"Come on." Sokka stated.

The deck was completely soaked when the four of them got up onto it. Mari was standing in front of Katara, delivering a nasty kick to a soldier head while the water girl was throwing soldiers left and right into the water with the tentacles of the octopus form. Appa was in the air snatching soldier away here and there to drop into the sea.

"Time to go!" Aang called out as Appa landed.

They all climbed up into Appa's saddle and hung on for dear life when Aang called a yip-yip that sent the bison shooting up into the sky at not only break neck speed but a dangerously steep angle. As Appa leveled off though another danger presented itself between the bison and the safety of land behind it, another Fire Navy ship sat waiting with fully loaded and flaming trebuchets.

"Azula! The Avatar is needed alive!" Zuko yelled. He hoped the desperate tone in his voice would be attributed to worry about the Avatar.

"Yes…he is." Azula stated. "The bison is not…FIRE!"

Fireballs shot into the air. Covering the sky with fire and shooting debris. Aang desperately blew things away. Katara tried to use what water she had to slap away more debris and put out fires before they got to Appa as he faithfully carried them forward.

Aang and Katara however were only two people.

As Aang pushed another fireball away Katara soaked another one. Neither she nor Aang could stop it from crashing into Appa's face. The bison was knocked unconscious and began to fall.

Everyone was screaming and holding on for dear life. Katara realized they were now too close to land, they would crash into the swallows and the bison would be dead. Everyone else might not die but they would definitely not be in any condition to run away from the ship that was following their decent.

Aang tied one of the reins to his ankle and started bending, or trying to. While the air pushed at Appa it wasn't helping. Aang thought of the Avatar state for but a moment. It wouldn't help them in this situation. While powerful, he was still one airbender, and this situation required two.

We're going to die. Aang thought as tears streamed up his head. Even knowing this he still tried. The people in front of him made him fight the inevitable. He could see them all clinging to the saddle. Katara had tears flying up into her hair. Sokka was screaming bloody murder while Toph had a hand clenched on his. Iroh looked like he was going to throw up any minute.

Mari was standing.

It struck Aang as odd at first but then he realized she's tied her ankle to the saddle with some rope somehow. Now she was staring at him.

No…it's more like she's studying me. He thought to himself.

Then Mari started moving. Copying Aang's movements quickly and carefully, the wind started moving.

Appa evened out slowly but was again flying through the air. It wasn't under the beast's own airbending but it worked. Everyone flopped painfully back onto him and simply stared at Mari with huge eyes that spoke their shock.

Katara managed to crawl forward and revive the flying bison enough to where he could fly under his own power. He couldn't fly too far though and the team quickly found a relatively safe place to rest a moment.

Katara quickly jumped off and started healing Appa's wounds. Her abilities on the beast were limited but it was better then nothing. Everyone was staring at Mari though.

She refused to look at anyone. She looked ashamed as she climbed down from Appa.

There were so many different things running through Aang at that moment. He tried to keep them all in as he leaped off Appa glared angrily at Mari. "Why didn't you tell us!? " He yelled at her.

Mari cringed away from him. "I…I'm sorry…I didn't…" She looked panicked and she put her hands in front of herself as if trying to ward off an attack.

"YOU'RE AN AIRBENDER!" Aang yelled at her at the top of his lungs. Saying it though seemed to break him. Tears poured down his face as he suddenly grabbed a very surprised Mari in a desperate hug. "You're an airbender…" He whispered.

I'm not alone!