A/N : Here's Part 3! Please remember to review!

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After a few days of favorable weather they arrived at Kyoshi Island. There were workers on top of the roofs, fixing past war damage. One of the workers looked up and saw the ship approaching. He cried out to the others and heads turned. There was a flurry of activity and by the time the ship docked and the gangplank was secured the whole of Kyoshi stood at the shore. Looming over them was the statue of Avatar Kyoshi, welcoming her children back.

Ty Lee had spent the majority of the trip trying to cheer Suki up but with little success. The Kyoshi warrior leader felt hollow and numb, her eyes were sore from crying and she felt dehydrated. She attempted to smile at her people as she exited the boat but it was hard. It all felt so fake and forced. The villagers cheered and hollered and congratulated them for their success at Ba Sing Se.

They eventually made it through the throng of people to where the chief was waiting for them, a warm smile on his wrinkled face.

"Welcome home." he said as they approached.

"Thank you chief Oyaji." Suki bowed her head respectfully, trying to hide her face behind her hair.

"You two must be weary from your travels. Come, let us go sit and talk." He suggested, noticing the droop in Suki's shoulders.

They walked to the last building in town, passing the dojo on the way. Suki noted that it had a new roof and door panels. They finally made it up to Oyaji's home and Suki immediately went to one of the oversized cushions that surrounded the platform table and sat down, back stiff and head down, her hair still hiding her features and her hands on her lap. Oyaji eyes settled on Suki and he motioned to Ty Lee.

"How about you prepare some tea for us all?"

The acrobat nodded, understanding, and walked to the next room.

Oyaji made his way over to the other side of the table and took his seat, his eyes studying her.

"I've received word from Makiko. She and the other warriors seem to be doing well in Ba Sing Se." His voice was level and business like.

Suki nodded, "We are trained as warriors and guardians. We were made for this kind of work. It's our element, so the work comes second-nature." Her voice sounded strange to her, displaced, and rehearsed.

Oyaji grunted his agreement, folding his hands and resting his chin on them. "Dear child," his voice was softer this time, "I sense a great uneasiness within you."

She looked up at him surprised at the sudden change in the old man's voice, "It's…. nothing important." She could tell from the look on his face that he did not believe her in the least.

Ty Lee came back into the room with a platter donning a steaming pot and three cups. She approached the table and wordlessly served the tea.

"Suki," Oyaji said, lifting his cup and taking a sip. Ty Lee moved to sit next to Suki, "If there is anything wrong you know you can come to me."

"I know. " She sighed, taking her cup lightly in her hands and spinning it so that a small whirlpool formed in the center, "Something…happened at the South Pole. I'd just rather not talk about it right now."

Ty Lee shifted uneasily, worry written across her face.

Oyaji sighed, "You are so much like your mother. She did not care much to tell other people of things that bothered her either." He took a sip of tea, "But you are also a lot like your father, so strong and full of spirit. After they passed and I knew I was supposed to take you in. I knew that you would become a strong leader, and a strong woman. As you have become."

Suki looked up. Oyaji had rarely mentioned her parents before. She had hardly been old enough known them when the sickness had taken them from her.

"I'm sure you will work out whatever happened at the South Pole. You and your ancestors have a knack for solving misfortunes." he glanced over at the portrait of Avatar Kyoshi then winked at her.

Suki nodded again, picking up her tea and taking a sip.

It was cold.

********

Suki retired early that night, her mind racing. She walked into her room but realized how alien it looked compared to the places she had been over the past year. Had it really been that long since she had come home? Her things had been unloaded from the ship and put in a neat pile at the foot of her bed. Hanging on the wall was her Kyoshi garb, still torn and singed in places from her battle with Azula. However, draped across the foot board of her bed was the water tribe coat. Again her stomach rose to her throat and her heart felt like a lead weight in her chest. Tears crept up again and fell silently down her cheeks. She reached for it and held it to her face. It smelled like him still. Feeling her heart breaking again she climbed into her bed and curled up.

The next few days that passed, Suki had refused to get out of bed. Ty Lee had tried all she could to get her to come out but realized that it was no use. After the fourth day, Ty Lee just sighed and told her that if she needed anything just to call her.

After a week of barely leaving her room Suki decided that she needed to start practicing her routines again. She got up and began putting on her Kyoshi attire. Looking into the mirror she could see the dark circles that shined underneath her eyes, there due to her inability to sleep for more then a few hours at a time. Opening a drawer she pulled out her face paint and began applying it.

No one stopped her as she exited her house and walked to the dojo. They actually gave her quite a wide berth, whispering to each other as she passed. Upon entering the familiar building she went to the storage room to retrieve a pair of training fans. While her clothes had been returned to her from the Fire Nation, her fans had been lost. She walked to the center of the large, empty room, turned and bowed to the portrait of Avatar Kyoshi and began her routine.

Step. Arm forward. Step. Slash with the left. Turn. Step. Jab.

She continued this, over and over, focusing on keeping her breathing even and her thoughts in check. But she felt it. In every step and every arch of her arms and spin of her body she felt her composure begin to deteriorate. Memories flashed thorough her mind's eye. The first time she met him. They sparred and he fell, humiliated. How he had come back the next day, humbly asking her to train him. How the fire benders attacked and Sokka had saved her from Zuko's fire blast. She remembered their last moment together, behind the dojo....

At this last thought she swung her arm in a large wide arch, the fan she held flew from her grasp and embedded itself in a wooden beam 100 yards away.

"How could you?!" She screamed, arching her other arm and chucking the other fan across the room and through one of the paper panels of a door. She let her body fall forward so she landed on her stomach, her arms crossed and her forehead resting on them. Her entire body shook as she sobbed. She hardly heard the door slide open and the two people come in.

"Oh my," Oyaji began.

"Don't worry." It was Ty Lee's voice, "I've got her." Suki could feel Ty Lee coming closer through vibrations in the tatami mats but she refused to look up. Oyaji said something in return that she did not catch and he left, closing the door with a quiet click.

There was a sound of shifting fabric as Ty Lee kneeled down next to her fellow warrior.

"Suki," She pleaded with her friend, "Please sit up."

Suki lay there for a moment, half thinking of not getting up. But she remembered her friends 'talents' and thought better. She tucked her arms underneath her and pushed herself up so that she was sitting on her feet, knees forward. She looked down at her arms; her bracers were covered in pink makeup, the red and white mixed with her tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ty Lee asked, moving closer and wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. She was wearing her Kyoshi garb as well, sans the face paint.

Suki shook her head but her lips parted, "I just…. don't understand, Ty Lee." Suki looked at her friend through blurred eyes, "How could he do this?"

Ty Lee was looking straight at her, obviously struggling to come up with a good answer or explanation.

"I went there for him." Suki looked away from Ty Lee and at her now clenched fists that rested on her knees, "Just to see him. And nearly every day I spent there he was off with her, fishing or hunting or whatever they were doing!" She choked back a sob, "And then he just….just…they.." her lip trembled as she tried to hold back.

"I…I don't know Suki." Ty lee's voice sound strained, "I wish I did, but I don't."

Suki was silent for a minute, "I should have seen this coming." The words came out quietly.

Ty Lee started, "What? But how could you possibly-"

Suki cut her off, "They get along so well. And I've seen how she acts around him. And that time I saved her from drowning at the Serpent's Pass." She turned to her friend, "I told you about that."

"Oh…" Ty Lee looked away shamefully.

Suki nodded, "It hurts. More then anything I've ever felt before. Some unbelievable pain I didn't think I'd ever feel." her voice began to shake but she steeled herself, bringing a clenched hand to her chest, "But I saw what I saw." Tears began to fall from her grey-blue eyes, "Maybe, it would have been better if I had stayed at Boiling Rock."

Ty Lee breathed in sharply, "You can't really mean that!"

"I think..I really do." She replied.

"Suki…." Ty Lee hugged her, "I'm sorry."

The Kyoshi warrior leader just nodded, "We should get ready and start for Ba Sing Se tomorrow. We still have some work to do."