A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, especially MastaDrummer22! Please, R&R, I can use any and all suggestions for ideas, better writing, ect. Also, if you think I have too much fluff going on, please let me know. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.

Chapter 4

Katara barely held her ground as the wind tore through the corridor, blowing the dust and the strange girl away. The waterbender let out her breath as she fell to her knees, gasping for air.

"Lean on me," Aang's voice said as she saw his feet come next to her.

Strong hands reached under her arms and lifted her gently until she was standing. A shoulder came under hers as her arm was draped around a strong neck and held in a hand. She looked up and saw Aang grinning at her.

"Some storm, huh?"

Katara let out a weak laugh. "Yeah," she said as she smiled at him.

They started walking and Katara felt her strength returning quickly.

"The others?" she asked him.

"Up ahead, on Appa. We were worried when you didn't follow. And then their bubbles fell apart."

Katara nodded as they ducked through the engineer door. Zuko jumped back to the platform from the saddle once they were through and shut the door, pressing his palm against the locking mechanism. Katara saw him frown as he turned to Appa.

"Toph, I could use some help."

Aang airbended himself and Katara onto the saddle as Toph jumped past them back onto the metal platform as an alarm started sounding. She felt a thrill as she hung in the air for a second, Aang supporting her before they landed.

"What happened Hothead? Can't you finagle it somehow?" Toph's sarcastic voice said from behind Katara.

She smiled as she sank into a sitting position in the saddle and heard an exasperated sigh come from Zuko. She was sure he was either rubbing the bridge of his nose or running a hand through his hair as the creak of metal bending came to her.

"Done, let's go," Toph said.

Katara scooted towards the front of the saddle so that Toph and Zuko would have room to jump back on as Aang jumped onto Appa's head. She saw Sokka laying down, holding his stomach on the far side and scooted closer to him as the earthbender and the prince landed on the saddle.

"Yip yip," Aang said from Appa's head and the bison took off, heading back towards Omashu through the clouds.

"Sokka?" Katara said. "What's wrong?"

Sokka just moaned as Zuko spoke up.

"He's feeling the aftereffects of the poison. He'll be fine in an hour."

"Poison?!" Aang cried, turning his head back to see them. "What happened?"

Katara motioned to Zuko and he frowned at her. It seemed they were always passing explanations off to each other, for someone was always out of the loop.

"You know more about it," she told him. "I'll explain the end. I just need to rest a second."

Zuko's frown grew, but he nodded and turned to face Aang.

"We found the armory and the new weapon. It's a poison that comes from a plant called forkroot or goldeneye for the yellow flower. The plant is crushed and the powder paralyzes a person, and prevents bending."

Zuko paused, opening his palm and concentrating. He frowned but continued. Katara felt a moment of sorrow for the firebender. She paused as she recognized the emotion. A few weeks ago, she would have been ecstatic that his bending had been removed, but now that was a hindrance.

"How can it be stopped?" Aang asked, worried, as he jumped back into the saddle.

"Fire," Zuko said. "It can be either inhaled or ingested and will affect a person. They had a ton of it. I was able to set fire to the first rack before it took hold of me. Katara was able to get us out."

He nodded his head in thanks to her and she smiled back at him. Her smile grew as his face fell in shock for a moment at her smile, but he quickly recovered and continued.

"She healed us as much as she could, but it was already in our system. Sokka suggested destroying the balloon, so we headed to the engine room as Toph felt two soldiers coming."

Zuko smirked at Katara and waved to her. She sighed as Aang looked to her. He smiled at her and she felt herself smiling back.

"Ok, now I'm gonna start saying 'no funny stuff,'" Toph said as she sighed and leaned back against the saddle rail.

Zuko smiled and poked Toph in the side.

"Hey!" she cried as she sat straight up and shied away from him. "What was that for?!"

Zuko continued to smile. "That was funny stuff."

Toph smiled back at him and Zuko nodded to Katara.

She nodded back and started, keeping her gaze on Aang.

"I had 'healed' the boys by pulling some of the powder out of their lungs with water, and had created a ball of the solid inside the water."

She smiled as Aang's jaw dropped in admiration and continued before he started asking how.

"Toph felt two soldiers coming our way, so I volunteered to take them while she got the boys to the engine room."

She saw Zuko frown at being labeled a boy again.

"I threw the solid at them and it exploded on them. It had the same effect on them as on Sokka, starting to incapacitate them immediately. I used water whips to knock them down, and then froze water over their mouths."

"Don't worry," she said as Sokka turned to look at her with horror on his face. "I left their noses free. They could still breathe."

"I hurried after the others and came upon two more soldiers, one in a firebender mask. They started to sound the alarm. I was able to knock them out, but I found out that the firebender was a girl a little older than me, with black hair and bright green eyes. I hurried to the engine room and found the others."

She waved to Zuko again and but he shook his head.

"C'mon, Katara, please continue," Aang said.

She was about to continue when a large explosion sounded behind them. Appa let out a startled bellow as everyone, including Toph, looked behind them. The balloon was on fire and falling. Katara saw many people who looked like ants from the distance they were scurrying about and gliders heading away from the balloon.

"I guess that did the trick," Toph said, smirking.

Katara tried to smile back, but felt uneasy. They had left several unconscious inside. Zuko saw her frown and tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Not everyone in the fire nation is heartless," he said. "Someone will have made sure that those men got out."

Katara nodded and smiled at Aang when he took her hand in his.

"Zuko's right," he said. "What happened next?"

"Oh," Katara said as she felt a giggle rise up in her throat at Aang's curiosity. "I told Zuko about the girl and he asked Toph to close the pipes to the furnaces, and to hurry. She did and we raced back to the door where there were five standing guard."

She smiled at her brother, and he gave her a weak smile.

"Sokka came up with the idea of using the powder against them off our clothes and then creating bubbles so we could breathe. Toph shook the floor as I sent the powder at them and then we hurried through. Sokka was still weak from the poison, so I helped him through. A hand grabbed me before Sokka and I were through, so I pushed him ahead to deal with the soldier."

She paused as she took a deep breath, remembering the strange girl and the small hand.

"The girl in the mask had grabbed me. I took a breath as I bent the water around me into a whip and struck the girl's head. She was able to grab my shoulder like Ty Lee and my bending disappeared. She attacked again and I kicked her. That's when you showed up, Aang. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Aang replied, blushing.

She took his hand in hers and gave it a quick squeeze.

"Arrgh," Sokka said as he turned his head away from them.

Aang and Katara broke into giggles as Toph and Zuko smiled at the warrior. Aang turned to Zuko, questions on his face.

"So who was that girl?"

"I don't know her real name, I don't think anyone does anymore," the prince replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka asked, turning back.

Zuko glanced at the warrior before turning his gaze to Aang again.

"She's an assassin, called the Green Dragon by some. She's trained in all techniques; poison, firebending, weapons, and martial arts. She's not as young as she appears, probably closer to 20, though no one knows her age anymore. If she's here, we're in deep trouble."

"Is that why you said she's like Azula and Ty Lee combined?" Toph asked.

Zuko frowned and nodded.

"Yes. She's not a good firebender. But what she lacks in power, she makes up for in diversity. Her teacher taught Ty Lee, but what he didn't teach Ty Lee were the deadly pressure points, which this girl knows."

Aang nodded, looking grave. Before he could ask more, Appa started descending. Katara stared as they landed in the courtyard of the palace of Omashu. King Bumi and a handful of others rushed out to meet them as Toph jumped to the ground and earthbended a platform up to Appa's saddle.

"What happened? Is everyone all right?" Bumi asked as Katara helped Sokka onto the platform.

"We're ok," Aang said. "We need to talk to everyone. Right away."

Bumi nodded and turned to usher everyone back in. Sokka leaned on Katara as Toph lowered the platform back down. Zuko followed Aang as Katara led Sokka in trailed by Toph.

"Is he all right?" the fire nation governor asked when he saw Sokka enter the room.

"Yes," Katara answered as Sokka sat in one of the chairs.

Everyone took their seats and looked expectantly at Aang, occasionally sending worried glances at Sokka and Zuko who looked exhausted.

Aang remained standing and waited until all took their seats. A couple of the men in uniform were missing, but King Bumi assured the Avatar that it would be all right to start without them.

"We found the new weapon, a poison from the plant forkroot, or goldeneye. It paralyzes and disables bending. They and the balloon were destroyed. Several gliders made it out, but the worst is yet to come."

Aang remained silent and let the information sink in. He glanced at Katara and she smiled at him, trying to reassure him. He gave a slight smile back and turned back to the elders.

"There was an assassin on the balloon. Katara faced her. Zuko told us she is known as the Green Dragon."

Several people turned blank stares to the Avatar, but the oldest men and the fire nation governor's wife drew in sharp breaths, looking shocked.

"You faced her? And lived?" the lady asked Katara.

Katara nodded. "Yes, Lady Hu. She was dressed as a firebending soldier, mask and all. It wasn't until I unmasked her that I noticed her. When I told Zuko about her, he became worried."

"And rightly so," King Bumi stated. "This is good news and bad. We are still under siege, though it is less likely we will be overrun. This assassin will be trouble. Lady Katara, if you would be so good as to give a detailed description to the artists and the word will be spread in case she tries to infiltrate our people."

Katara nodded her assent, feeling incredibly exhausted.

"Yes, my dear," Lady Hu said to the waterbender. "And be on guard. If a target lives, it is said the Green Dragon will hunt them down to the ends of the earth to get their revenge."

Katara swallowed, and nodded to the lady. "I will, thank you for the warning."

"Well, you've all had a long night," King Bumi said as he waved and attendants entered the room. "It's time for bed, for all of you."

A kind looking middle aged woman approached Katara and Toph as a man approached the boys.

"This way, Lady Katara, Lady Toph," she said. "I will show you to your room."

Katara rose sleepily and followed the woman out of the room. Toph came alongside her, looking exhausted as well. Katara was glad they were finally going to sleep, though part of her secretly wished she could share a room with Aang.

"If there's anything you need, my name is Hina," the woman said as they walked down an empty corridor. "I will be on call for you at all times. Ah, here it is. This is yours for as long as you wish. To call me, just pull the cord."

Hina opened a door and Katara stepped into the room, followed by Toph. The earthbender immediately went to one of the two beds and fell onto it, hugging the pillow. Katara surveyed the room, and saw a large window, along with many elaborate wood furnishings. It was much better than her first stay at the palace.

"Thank you Hina," Katara said. "Is there perhaps any place I can get some clothes in the morning?"

Hina looked affronted for a second, before a motherly smile came upon the slightly wrinkled face. "Oh my dear, I'll get them for you. They'll be here in the morning for you. And your friends are just down the hall, third door on the left side."

"Thank you," Katara said as she made her way to the other bed as soft, even breathing came from Toph.

She fell onto the bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.