Burning Bright
Part XV
"This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force," Sokka proudly announced after examining the map one last time. They were flying over a small island, where koala sheep were dotted everywhere. It was green and grassy and a gentle breeze fluttered from behind. Behind him, everyone nodded sleepily, tired from the long trip they took in getting there. Only Toph showed any enthusiasm as she perked up and began to feel the breeze through her face. Jin, in particular, seemed to be in a very dour mood since she had attached herself to the back of Appa's saddle, curled in a very tight ball shuddering and shivering while her face paled and glistened with sweat despite the cold wind.
Suddenly, the peaceful silence was interrupted by a loud, dry cough. Katara cringed and patted Jin in the back while Sokka twisted around to face her. He said, "Hey Jin, are you sure you're okay?"
After Katara's little stint as the painted lady, Jin contracted some coughs and colds and a light fever. It subsided into momentary lapses however after Aang banned her from their little adventures and around-the-town excursions. But after she resumed her earthbending training under the tutelage of Toph and when the nights filled with sleeplessness and narrow escapes from Firebenders started to hit, her cough and cold started to rise back up again and for three nights in a row, her temperature rose.
"I—I'm fine…..the flight just made me feel a little woozy in the head—''
Her face suddenly turned green and she twisted to the side and started heaving chunks of food from her mouth. Sokka stared in total disgust while Katara rubbed Jin's shoulders as she continued to vomit, the sounds becoming more and more audible.
"There goes your dinner," Toph cringed.
"Wow. The fact that you just puked off of Appa's saddle is a very sure indication that you're fine," Sokka sarcastically said.
Katara shot him a pointed look as Jin gave a loud sigh and sat back, looking pale and tired.
"I would not want to be the receiving end of that," Toph whistled, pointing downwards.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Katara skeptically asked.
"Yeah….just a little….motion sick," Jin sputtered.
"Aang, I think we better speed up our landing," Katara called to Aang from the back.
Aang groggily nodded. Aang, tired and weary, chose the shoreline, overlooking the bay for the perfect place for Appa to land. Appa, slowly but surely landed with a heavy sigh and everyone, tired and worn-out immediately scrambled down from Appa's saddle.
"As soon as I get my sleeping bag, I'm hitting the covers," Katara yawned. They flew for the longest time without the intervals they were used to and that wore everyone down.
"Not me. I think I'm going to take a bath…then explore for awhile," Jin said as she rolled her shoulders.
"What?" Sokka gaped. He was very shocked about two things. The first being that Jin was actually going to take a bath. He had no idea what was up with people in the Earth Kingdom and their aversion to remaining gross and dirty. Jin only took a bath every two days but he supposed that was slightly better than Toph who only took a bath once a week. Still, Jin wasn't a big fan of baths (though for some reason she still smelled nice even though she hadn't taken a bath for days on) and she had just taken a bath this morning.
And the second was he could hardly believe that Jin would still want to explore considering the fact that she looked terrible and she was sick. These past few days because of her cough and fever, she had been sleeping less, often waking up in the middle of the night and when she did wake up she could no longer go back to sleep. And when she could no longer go back to sleep she practiced earthbending or read a few books (that Aang had bought her). Sokka could still remember the night he nearly got a heart attack after seeing Jin Earthbend in the middle of the night. He had tried to pry the reasons why she was sleeping less lately from her or tried to get her to admit that she was sick but as usual, in her constant state of optimistic denial, she pretended that everything was just peachy-fine with her and all she gave him was the cryptic response of "having bad dreams."
"I need to freshen up and….this place looks really interesting," Jin said trying to be enthusiastic though her eyes looked heavy with fatigue.
"Yeah…..and I don't suppose you feel tired?" Sokka demanded.
"No," Jin brightly said.
"Maybe you feel sick?"
"No, I feel perfectly fine."
"Not even in the least bit?" Sokka prodded.
"Not at all," Jin said keeping her happy tone up.
"Are you sure?" Sokka demanded, his eye twitching.
"Yes, I'm very sure—''
"What is wrong with you? You look terrible!" Sokka shot.
"Well thanks for telling me that I look ugly," Jin frowned.
"No, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant to say was…..how could anyone be so…so…so.."
"So what?" Jin demanded.
"Happy? We've been flying for six hours straight, you haven't slept properly in one whole week, even though you won't admit it I know you're sick and let's not forget…..Katara fed us nothing but mushroom soup for three days! How could you still want to explore!" Sokka gaped.
"I'm an adventurous person, okay?" Jin defensively said. Sokka blinked at her disbelievingly while Katara stared at her in concern.
"Are you sure you're okay Jin?" Katara piped up.
"I'm fine! Why is everybody thinking differently?" Jin demanded.
"Well….you have been acting really weird lately. Is something bothering you?" Katara asked as she neared Jin.
Jin stepped back and for the first time and she quickly said, "Look….I just want to check the whole place out okay? There's nothing wrong with being a little adventurous!"
And with that, she turned around and sprinted off before Katara or Sokka could say anything else.
"What's up with her?" Sokka said.
"Don't know. Maybe she's just a little nervous about the invasion," Katara shrugged.
"Speaking of the invasion, how did you pick this place ?" Toph asked Sokka pausing as she unpacked all the things from her bag. Aang had already collapsed into his sleeping bag and was barely paying attention to their conversation.
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited, and the harbor surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place," Sokka eagerly explained, always happy when he is explaining something.
"Nice choice Sokka. And we're here four days ahead of schedule," Katara drowsily said as she prepared to unpacked her pillow. It had become saggy and thin after being used on such harsh conditions for many days but it still provided comfort to Katara. Katara hugged it happily.
Suddenly Aang woke up from his drowsy stupor, and rose out from his sleeping bag shooting high into the air.
"Wait, four days! The invasion's in four days! " he cried in panic and horror.
Sokka ignored him and yawned saying nonchalantly, "Whatever."
He curled into his mat and said dismissively, "That's like…four days from now. Let's just calm down, and ..."
He lulled into a loud snore. His snore echoed and everyone turned to find that Toph was also sleeping already.
"Sokka's got the right idea Aang. We're here, we're ready…the best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest," Katara echoed as lied down and laid her head on her pillow.
"Uh…" Aang whirled around frantically but he saw that everyone had fallen asleep. He frowned and briefly considered finding Jin so he could have someone to talk to so that he may ease his tension but his fatigue got the better of him. He laid down back to his sleeping bag and murmured doubtfully, "I guess you're right…."
Jin sighed heavily as she waded in the cool water. Her skin felt unbearably hot and she felt as if rocks were glued to her eyelids. Her vision was blurry and her train of thought was always interrupted by a loud cough or a sudden sneeze. Jin fingers trembled slightly as she used a small, rough stone to scrape off the dirt from her body.
She was never a person who liked baths too much. Being covered in a fine layer of dirt always felt nice and snug—it made her feel as if the very earth that she earthbent was enveloping her in a warm embrace. Also, it provided a good source of Earthbending whenever she was stuck in a metal or wooden cage. However, she felt so hot and groggy and tired that she just had to have a refreshing bath.
And another thing she wasn't was a person who got sick. As far as Jin could remember, despite being put into numerous of uncomfortable and extremely stressful situations, she had never contracted a disease of any sort—until now. Jin, supposed, that all her fears, which she had tried so hard to push down, were slowly rising back up accompanied with the many preparations they had done for the invasion, had caused her sudden illness.
The invasion scared her more than she liked to admit. It was as if she was stepping back into the pages of her childhood. In her sleep she was plagued by dreams of everything in fire, masked soldiers grabbing women and children by the neck, tanks and komodo-rhinos stomping through ravaged-torn streets and the color of red overpowering the green. All her dreams always ended with her mother standing in front of her, just inches away from her. Suddenly her mother would erupt in a burst of fire, her screams propelling Jin into wakefulness before she and Jin herself, got swallowed by the darkness. Just by thinking of those, Jin shuddered.
Jin hated war.
She hated everything about it—the tanks, the battleships, the emu-horses against komodo-rhinos, what it stood for. And the invasion was basically war. They were going to attack the Fire Nation and though Jin knew that Aang would never mean for it to happen—she knew that civilians would be caught in the crossfire.
That was unavoidable.
And Jin was afraid.
She was very, very afraid.
She was afraid that she would be useless, that she would clam up at the wrong moment and be a hindrance to the army. She was afraid of the many things that she could do wrong.
The other reason why she couldn't sleep at night was because of Zuko. Jin scowled. She despised him, hated him for lying to her and making her look like a fool in front of the Resistance. As soon as she finished her argument with him, she met up with Hai and everybody else and much to her dismay, everyone knew the whole story: she had personally put her honor on the line and vouched for a traitor. By the end of the day, everyone only followed Jin's leadership in a grudging manner because of her brothers. Aside from Hai and Long everyone lost their faith that Jin is capable and strong enough to lead the Resistance. How could she handle the Resistance if she had just let a traitor ruin it and destroy their Headquarters completely?
Still, Jin was ashamed to admit that a tiny part of her still liked him. She would be lying if she said that she didn't think about him constantly. She often reminisced about those times wherein she was completely oblivious to the fact that he was a no-good traitor—the dates they had, the kisses they shared, the touches they exchanged. She often wondered of what had become of him after Ba Sing Se—did he miss her? Was he guilty? Had he found a new girl?
Jin sighed. One of the things she was most afraid about was encountering him in the invasion. Would she be strong enough to take him out?
Jin looked off into the distance, her thoughts clouded and chaotic.
Silently, she got out of the water, pulled all of her clothes back on, left her hair to hang loose since it was wet and she then began to move towards the cliffs.
Everyone was probably sleeping right now.
Jin felt extremely jealous.
What she wouldn't give for a good night's sleep.
But it was pointless sleeping anyway.
She would still wake-up and her nightmares would continue.
Zuko was going to be happy today no matter what.
He wasn't going to let his pessimism and often troubled thoughts get the best of him. He was going to enjoy the fact that he could boss people around and he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that. Not even Azula.
"Fresh fruit, Prince Zuko ?" one servant asked him as soon as two others finished fastening his robe unto him. The servant held the fruit bowl out of Zuko who declined.
"May I wash your feet, sir ?" one eagerly asked him. Zuko shook his head.
"Head massage ?" another asked. Zuko looked away.
"Hot towel ?" the first one asked again. Zuko looked at the steaming towels in contemplation before finally nodding, grabbing it with his hands and smoothing the nice, soft towels unto his face. When he finished, he fancied a nice stroll to the library. New military tactics had been sent into the Royal Library just yesterday. Zuko smiled peacefully as a horde of servants accompanied him to the library.
His tranquil morning however, was again ruined by Azula. Zuko couldn't stop the frown that was forming in his face.
"I've heard some very interesting things Zuzu," Azula smirked.
Zuko sighed and snapped, "What do you want? I'm going to the library to study some military tactics."
Azula yawned and said idly, "Just three minutes of your precious time. A little birdie told me that you've been to a bar."
Zuko's eye twitched and he struggled to keep his voice calm.
"Yeah?"
"You were looking for a certain someone," Azula continued to state.
Zuko spat, "I don't know what you are talking about."
Azula smiled in satisfaction that she had once again riled Zuko up.
"Oh really?"
"Yes."
"Okay," Azula simply said. She started to walk off.
"Was that all, Azula?" Zuko said through gritted teeth as Azula stalked off.
Azula smiled before turning to look at him, "Yes. That was it. Though a fair warning Zuzu, be careful of the places you go. You don't want news of an esteemed prince hanging around bars do you? Father doesn't want us to have any more bad rep especially since your little girlfriend and her brother is so evasive."
That was all it took before Zuko's day went completely sour.
"Hey, how long have you been up ?" Katara said. She didn't know who to address; Jin or Aang.
Jin and Aang were sparring with each other with extreme fervor though it looked slightly odd since both of them looked really haggard. Jin's hair looked like a rat's nest and there wasn't any sort of indication that she had actually taken a bath. Her cheeks were flushed and they were set against her pale, clammy skin. Dark circles rimmed the bottom of her eyes and coughs and sneezes would echo through as she sparred with Aang. Aang didn't look any different—his eyes had bags underneath them and he looked weary.
"A couple of hours," Aang absentmindedly said as he tried to hit Jin with an earth wall. Jin gave a dry cough before dogging it and trying to hit Aang with her left hand. Aang quickly blocked it and the two stared at each other, their wrists meeting, neither showing a sign of letting up. Katara decided that this was the perfect moment to get a word in.
"You know there is such a thing as over-training," Katara frowned.
"The invasion is getting nearer and I'm not getting any better at my earthbending!" Jin frantically wailed as managed to twist Aang away with her wrist.
Katara tried to calm her down. She said, "But that's only because you're sick—''
"I'm not sick!" Jin argued.
Katara sighed and said, "Of course not but—''
"I just don't want to be unprepared for the invasion. I haven't completed my earthbending training yet. I still need to master three more scrolls!" Jin said.
"But Jin, you're a good earthbender—''
"No I'm not! Lately, my form's weak, I don't' have power into my offensive attacks and I'm getting more and more absentminded! I don't want to be bad at earthbending and ruin the whole invasion plan!" Jin said as she ducked a water whip from Aang.
"But Jin, when the invasion happens they can't firebend so the chances of you being bad at earthbending and ruining the invasion are very slim—''
"You don't get it, do you ?" Aang scowled, pausing from his spar with Jin. He turned to face Katara, his eyes manic and bloodshot. He said, "My form is bad. I'm sloppy. And I still don't know any fire bending, not even the basics."
"That's okay Aang. The eclipse will block all firebending anyway, you don't need to know any!" Sokka said from his place in the grass. He looked up from his map and added, "Plus it's a stupid element."
"No it is not!" Jin suddenly said before she could stop herself. She automatically thought of Zuko and the night of their first date, when he had lit up the Firelight Fountain for her with his Firebending.
Sokka raised a brow at her questioningly. When Jin looked away, thoroughly embarrassed, Sokka simply shrugged and disregarded her as Katara said, "Don't you think that you two should be resting?"
Jin erratically shook her head and said, "There's no point in resting. I need to train for the invasion. I haven't resumed my training in a long time….that's probably why I've been doing so badly lately—''
"Jin, I've trained both you and Aang and so far you're learning quickly. You earthbend fine. You're pretty good actually," Toph interrupted.
Jin shook her head and said, "But still! I might forget the stances and forms….or…or freeze up at the last minute—''
"Jin, you could take out a whole army and still survive. You'll be fine," Toph said re-assuringly, her voice growing more and more concerned.
"And besides, I don't need to sleep or rest since it's all pointless really. I can't sleep anyway," Jin said quickly.
"Well, I still have to work on everything else. I'd better spend the whole day training," Aang declared.
"And I'll help you train. We could critique each other while we're at it," Jin said as Katara slapped her forehead.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Aang said nodding eagerly.
Katara sighed. There was no convincing these two.
Zuko was in a very bad mood after his encounter with Azula. He angrily dismissed all the servants telling them to get out of his way before stomping towards the turtle-duck pond wherein he then proceeded to angrily feed the turtle-ducks, throwing the bits of bread with such force that they splashed upon hitting the water.
Azula infuriated him to no ends. She was manipulative malicious and vindictive and he just wished that he could simply firebend the daylights out of her though he knew that it would be very pointless since Azula would probably win anyway.
What she all said was true.
He was looking for Jin.
After realizing that Azula had marked Jin's bounty up much higher than He Shen's he immediately knew that Azula was more interested in capturing Jin than her other brother for the sole reason of spiting him. He had to find Jin first, he decided. He knew that if Jin was ever captured then that would mean that Azula would be the one in charge for deciding her fate. He knew that Azula would subject Jin to unimaginable tortures just to get some sort of reaction from Zuko.
Zuko clenched his jaw.
He just had to find Jin. He already had the whole thing planned out. If he finds her than he would convince her to accept his help. He would find a remote village; pay a bunch of people to keep it quiet and let her stay there, away from Azula and any sort of harm, for the rest of her life. Now that he thought about it, the plan sounded ridiculous. He had just discovered that Jin was with a Waterbender and that could only mean one thing—she was travelling with the Avatar and to his annoyance that only re-affirmed his fear that the Avatar was indeed alive.
"You're going to kill the turtle-ducks if you keep feeding them like that," a flat voice commented.
Zuko looked up and was annoyed to see that it was one of Azula's cronies.
He snorted and said, "What do you want? Does Azula want you to tell me something?"
Mai shrugged and sat next to him.
"Don't let Azula get to you too much. If you act like this, it only gives her satisfaction. She likes to get a reaction out of people," Mai explained.
"Hmpf…" Zuko grumbled.
He continued to feed the turtle-ducks but in a gentler manner this time as he and Mai lapsed into silence. Finally Mai said, "Is it true?"
"Huh?" Zuko looked up from his turtle-duck feeding.
"Is it true?" Mai asked tonelessly.
"What's true?" Zuko incredulously asked.
"That you went to a bar to look for that Earth Kingdom Peasant," Mai stated.
"I did not!" Zuko defensively said. He then hotly added, "And she is not an Earth Kingdom Peasant!"
"You went to the bar," Mai sighed and simply stated.
Zuko growled and looked away from her. He started to hurry up his process of feeding the turtle-ducks. He didn't want to be around Mai any longer. It made him feel queasy. He was afraid that she was only here to get information out of him so she could go off and tell Azula.
"Did you know that I had a crush on you when we were younger?" Mai suddenly said.
Zuko felt his cheeks color as he remembered the fountain incident. Yes, he was perfectly aware that Mai had a crush on him before though he pretended to be oblivious. Actually, he didn't really know at first but he started understanding why Mai would suddenly blush and stutter when he tried to talk to her. He never returned her feelings because of two things—one: he couldn't imagine being with someone who was associated with Azula (yes, he hated her sister that much) and two: he just never saw Mai in that way. It was one of those things where you could not imagine your girl friend as your girlfriend.
He never knew how she felt about him after being gone for three years. He had thought that she didn't like him anymore since she was very indifferent towards him. However, he started thinking otherwise after Mai brought it up in the middle of nowhere while they were alone.
"Um….well….I was….sort of…." Zuko struggled to form a coherent answer.
"I liked you a lot because you were nice to me and whenever we hung out, you weren't pushy like Azula," Mai continued.
"Oh," Zuko said not sure what he was supposed to say or how he was supposed to react.
"You were also one of the few people who were genuinely nice to me," Mai said her voice never losing its flatness.
"Okay."
"I always thought that you would come around towards me. But I knew it would never happen. Especially since you got banished," Mai said.
Zuko mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Three years gave me lots of time to think about some things. It made me realized that the real reason why I liked you was because you were always sweet and kind and nice to me when most people weren't. And I guess I was just really attracted to that idea."
"…"
"I guess what I want to say is that I used to like you but not that much anymore. There's a part of me that still likes you but it isn't the same as before," Mai admitted, her cheeks finally coloring at the declaration.
"So…..um…I like you too. As a friend….I guess," Zuko stupidly said as he ran out of things to talk about.
"What I'm trying to say is that….times change and people change and sometimes they change so fast that you never have time to adjust or….erm….fix things before they change," Mai said.
Zuko listened intently, aware that what Mai was saying was making perfect sense.
"So…."
"So, I just want you to know that things are about change really fast and if you don't act know…I don't think that you will have time to fix things anymore," Mai said.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.
"I'm talking about the fact that the invasion is about to happen."
Zuko froze and he said dumbly, "What?"
"Azula didn't tell you." It was a statement, not a question.
"What invasion?" Zuko asked in panic.
"Back in Ba Sing Se, after we had done the coup, Azula discovered that the Avatar and his friends were planning an invasion during the Solar Eclipse. The day where all firebenders—''
"—would lose their firebending ability," Zuko finished.
"Yeah."
Zuko stared off into the distance. He might encounter Jin once again. That made him more nervous than excited. They could meet each other in the battlefield. Mai stared at him waiting for him to say something.
"Zuko—''
"Invasion….there was an invasion coming and nobody told me!" Zuko roared, blood rushing into his ears.
Mai stared at Zuko and said, "Well, yeah. There's even an all-day war meeting tomorrow—''
"What? What war meeting?" Zuko said.
"Azula mentioned something. I assumed you were going too," Mai hastily said.
Zuko scowled and snapped bitterly, "I guess I wasn't invited. I didn't even know about the invasion."
He stood up and stomped away completely forgetting any new insights and life lessons he learned from Mai.
After spending the whole day training, Katara finally managed to coax Jin and Aang to sleep. Jin edgily prepared her sleeping bag and snuggled inside it restlessly. She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to train some more so she would be more prepared for the war. So she wouldn't mess up or do something stupid. Aang said as he lulled into sleep, "Good night Katara. Good night Sokka. Good night Jin. Good night Toph. Good night Appa. Good night Momo. Good night Appa and Momo."
Everyone chorused good nights including Jin. After a few minutes of silence Aang said once again, "Good night Katara. Good night Sokka. Good night Jin. Good night Toph. Good night Appa. Good night Momo. Good night Appa and Momo."
Irritated (all except for Jin) everyone muttered good night once again.
Aang nodded, satisfied and closed his eyes. When it seemed as if they were finally going to get a few precious minutes of silence Aang once again said, "Good night Katara. Good night Sokka. Good night Jin. Good night Toph. Good night Appa. Good night Momo. Good night Appa and Momo—''
"Go to sleep already!" Toph yelled in annoyance.
Aang cringed and closed his eyes. Jin sighed and to her surprise, she was actually sleepy. Her eyes started dropping downwards and finally she went to sleep.
Jin snapped her eyes opened once again when she heard the faint sound of someone crying.
She was surprised to see that the camp was covered in darkness. It was so dark that she couldn't see the sleeping figures of Katara, Toph, Sokka and Aang. She couldn't even see the massive form of Appa. She looked around, confused when the cries grew louder.
She whirled around and her heart nearly stopped. It was her mother and tears were streaming down her face.
"Jin! Help me!" she cried out as held her hand towards Jin.
Jin ran forward and tried to grab it but her mother was suddenly swallowed in darkness. Jin gave a startled cry.
"Jin!"
Jin turned around and saw that her mother was now at the opposite side. Before Jin could make a move she disappeared once again.
"Jin! Help me!" her mother cried. Jin turned around.
Her mother disappeared again.
This continued on for quite some time until finally Jin couldn't take it anymore. She put her hands on her ears and said, "Stop it! Please!"
Suddenly, her mother appeared in front of her.
"Jin…..why didn't you help me?" she whispered.
And just like, her mother burst into flames, her screams erupting everywhere and slicing through Jin's ears.
Jin woke with a start. Her head throbbed and her vision was blurry. Her mother's scream danced in her ears. Her face felt wet and with utmost surprise, she realized that the reason why her vision was so blurry or why her face was so wet was because she was crying. Tears were streaming down her face. Jin hastily tried to wipe them away before anyone would notice but it was too late. Katara, after finding Aang among the koala-sheep and convincing him to go back to sleep, had returned.
"Jin! What's wrong?" Katara asked, concerned as she sped towards Jin.
"N-nothing…" Jin stammered as she tried to pull the covers over her to block her face from Katara's vision.
"Your eyes are red….and oh whoa! You're burning up!" Katara said as she pressed a palm against Jin's forehead.
"Katara—''
"No more training for you or Aang tomorrow. The two of you need rest," Katara declared.
"I'm fine Katara!" Jin scowled.
"No, you're not! You're sick Jin!" Katara stated.
"What?"
"You're sick. You're fever's rising! I'm going to have to start making some medicine—''
"What? Sick? I'm not sick!" Jin stubbornly said.
"But you are."
"But I can't be!"
"What?"
"But I can't be sick! I just can't!" Jin hysterically said.
"And why not?" Katara demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"You don't understand," Jin shortly said as she looked away.
"Jin, everyone gets sick. It's normal. Hey, me and Sokka even got sick at one time. Just be lucky that you don't need to suck on a frog—''
"How long do you think this might last?"
"Judging by the fact that you feel very hot, I'd say about a week—''
"A week? But….but then I'll miss the invasion!" Jin said in horror.
"Yes, maybe you'll miss the invasion. But don't worry about it—''
"I can't miss the invasion! I have to be there when it happens!" Jin said. She sat up.
"Jin, you're in no condition to do anything right now. I think that the invasion is the very least of your worries as of this moment," Katara said.
"But I have to!"
"But why? Jin—''
"If I'm sick then that means that I have to train twice as hard," Jin muttered.
Katara's jaw dropped.
"What?"
"Earth Kingdom soldiers have to fight whether they're starving or sick! I'm no exception!"
"Jin—''
"There's a special training tactile about that!"
"How would you know—''
"If I train really hard, then maybe I'll get used to fighting while being sick!" Jin muttered to herself, her eyes looking weary and tired but very manic at the same time. She stood up and started to walk off. Katara sighed. She had just gotten Aang back to bed and now Jin was going off somewhere. As her motherly instincts took over, Katara leaned forward and grabbed Jin's hand, "Jin, please. Go to sleep. Rest. That's the only way to cure your sickness…."
"Katara, you don't understand—''
"Yes! I don't understand Jin. I don't understand! I don't understand but I'm worried at the condition you and Aang are getting yourselves into! Please, go to sleep!" Katara pleaded.
"I can't," Jin's voice was barely a whisper.
"Why not? Is something bothering you?" Katara pried.
Jin didn't meet her eyes.
"Is something bothering you?" Katara asked once again.
Jin didn't answer.
"Jin—''
Jin sighed before saying in a somewhat irritated tone, "Look! If my sleep gets interrupted I can't go back to sleep anyway so there's really no point in me trying to get back to sleep!"
Katara opened her mouth but Jin cut her off.
Jin said flatly, "I'm going to the fields to master a drill."
And with that she spun on her heels and walked off.
"Hello Zu-zu. I've you've come for a royal hair combing, I'm afraid you'll have to wait," Azula easily said as she sat on the ornate chair. Two servants were combing her hair which was floating on a basin of water with a gold comb. Zuko scowled at her.
"So I guess there's a big war meeting coming up, huh? And apparently I'm not welcome there," Zuko snapped.
"What do you mean ? Of course you're welcome there," Azula said dismissively.
"Oh yeah I guess that's why no one bothered to tell me about it," Zuko said absolutely perturbed.
Azula finally eyed Zuko. She said, "Oh Zuko, don't be so dramatic. I'm certain Dad wants you there.
You probably weren't invited, because it's so obvious that you're supposed to be there."
"Well, were you invited ?" Zuko questioned.
"Of course. I'm the Princess," Azula smugly said.
"And I'm the Prince!" Zuko said, annoyed.
"Exactly, so stop acting like a paranoid child," Azula said.
"And what about the fact that no one told me about the invasion?" Zuko demanded.
"Oh? I didn't tell you about that?" Azula easily said. She flicked a lock of her wet hair away and began to idly look at her nails.
"No, you didn't," Zuko said through gritted teeth.
"Well, now you know," Azula simply said.
"That's not the point!" Zuko hotly said.
"I don't get what the problem is Zuko. So I forgot to tell you. It's not a big deal. You know anyway—''
"But I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation! I should be told about things like these!" Zuko snapped.
"Yes, Zuko I am fully aware that you are the prince of the fire Nation. Which is exactly why you should just go to the meeting," Azula serenely said.
Zuko scowled and snapped, "Forget it, I'm not going."
After nearly puking out her dinner for the third time, Jin decided to quit training and she returned to camp, completely exhausted. She was tired and unhappy after discovering that Katara was right. Training a lot more didn't help her to get used to the feeling of being sick—it made things worse. She coughed twice as loud and sneezed twice as hard and she felt extremely hot in the outside but for some reason she shivered shakily. She also felt like fainting a couple of times. Jin sighed and collapsed unto her sleeping bag ready to completely fall asleep when she was interrupted by Aang's loud voice, "Sokka get up! I need to know what day it is!"
"What! Who's talking!" she heard Sokka's voice say. Jin groggily sat up as she saw Sokka that Sokka had hit a rock-head and he had now fallen back unto his sleeping mat. She giggled slightly but stopped herself.
Oh no.
This was not good.
She was becoming light-headed.
Jin knew that it wouldn't be too long before she fell into a state of delirium. She gave a dry cough as she shakily tried to snap back into focus.
"Relax, it's still two days before the invasion," Toph said easily.
"Sokka, you've got to get up and drill your rock climbing exercises," Aang said as he tugged at Sokka's limbs.
"What?" Sokka said in disbelief.
"In one of my dreams, you were running from fire nation soldiers, trying to climb this cliff, but you were too slow and they got you!" Aang explained, making exaggerated and comedic gestures as he described what he had seen in his dream.
"But that was just a dream. I'm a great climber," Sokka scoffed.
But Aang wasn't having any of it. He immediately hauled Sokka up with his Airbending and chastened him to climb the cliff overlooking their campsite.
"Then climb that cliff. Climb it fast!" Aang said as he pointed upwards. Sokka scowled and began to climb the cliff, muttering under his breath as he said, "Stupid Avatar. Stupid cliff. Stupid dream! I can climb fast!"
If it weren't for the fact that her head throbbed, Jin would have laughed.
"Don't drink that!" Aang yelled as Toph started to drink from a satchel of water. Sokka, completely startled, yelped and fell down.
"Why? Is it poisoned ?" Toph asked in irritation.
Aang quickly scrambled towards the two of them and said, "In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion, and you had to stop to use the bathroom. We died because of your tiny bladder."
"Ouch," Toph said.
"And Jin!" Aang said as he spun around to face Jin wildly.
Jin groaned and said, "Huh?"
"You have to start feeling better!" Aang exclaimed.
"What?"
"I said you have to start feeling better! And also, learn how to swim! In my dream, you puked, the wind blew and your vomit circled right back to you. It hit your face, blinded your eyes and impaired your vision and because of that, we all died! All because of your vomit" Aang wailed.
"Ooohh….my head, "Jin groaned as Aang's voice cut through her ears.
"There's no time to think about your head! Come on! You have to start learning how to swim! Katara, teach Jin how to swim!" Aang hollered as she hauled Jin up by her armpits and started dragging her unwillingly towards the water.
Jin was too tired to argue or complain.
"Aang! Jin's not admitting it….but she's sick!" Katara protested.
"Then the water will cool her off! And besides in my dream, after being blinded by her own puke, Jin tried to wash it off but she felt into a cliff right into the ocean and since she couldn't swim she drowned!" Aang said manically as he managed to push a very groggy Jin into the water. That snapped Jin back to consciousness immediately since she gave a loud and startled cry.
Katara tried to say calmly, "Aang…please get Jin out of the water so I could start applying some salve I made unto her back—''
"And you!" Aang cried turning on Katara. Katara stepped back, startled. "You need to start wearing your hair up. In my dream, your hair got caught in a train, and—''
Katara sighed and held Aang's cheek saying, "Aang, I know you're just trying to help. But you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling."
"You're right. I'm losing my mind…." Aang said.
"Look…you and Jin really need to rest. Sokka will try to help you sort it all out while I'll start giving Jin some medicine…." Katara said as she patted Aang's back.
Aang sighed, dropped his shoulders and said dejectedly, "Yeah…I guess you're right…."
"AH!"
They were interrupted by the sound of Sokka's yell as he slid off the cliff again.
"Jin, are you sure that nothing's bothering you?" Katara asked as she laid a cool cloth over Jin's head. She spent most of the morning trying to coax Jin into drinking the medicine she made for her, while Sokka and Toph tried to help Aang to relax.
Jin was just as jittery as Aang, in fact perhaps she was even more so. She could barely hold still, often going on and on about training and being unprepared and losing. Katara guessed that Jin's fever coupled with the fact that she had been overtraining when she should have been resting had made her half-delusional. She had tried to get Jin to sleep and she had succeeded in doing so two times. Her success was short-lived however since Jin would often wake up, screaming. She slept restlessly as if nightmares plagued her. And her fever was not subsiding in the least bit.
"I'm fine!" Jin murmured.
"You're burning up! But you're shivering…..do you feel cold?" Katara asked.
"I'm fine," Jin murmured her voice hollow as she leaned back into her sleeping mat.
"Jin, are you sure that everything's fine with you? That nothing's bothering you?" Katara asked.
"I'm fine, Katara," Jin sighed, weary of that question. Then out of curiosity she said, "Why do you ask?"
"It's just that….it's just that….you've been having nightmares lately…" Katara hesitantly began.
"Everyone has nightmares," Jin snorted.
"But….but...I don't know. Yours just seems….different…" Katara faltered.
"How so?" Jin inquired.
"I'm not sure but…I think they're making your fever worse," Katara said. She had been toying with the theory for days now and seeing as she had just given Jin every single herb and medicine she could think of including her world-renowned water therapy and Jin's fever showed no signs of lighting up, she began to think that her theory was very plausible. With every bad dream, Jin's fever grew worse.
Jin opened her mouth and for a moment, she looked ready to tell Katara. However, she closed it and looked away.
"Maybe if you tell me what's bothering you…..I could help," Katara offered.
"Look, I'm just nervous about this whole invasion thing okay?" Jin sighed in apparent frustration.
"But why? We have plans….we know what to do….we're more than ready!" Katara said.
"You don't understand Katara!" Jin said as she sprang up.
"I don't see how I fail to understand—and sit down! You need to rest!" Katara said as she tried to pull Jin down. But as usual, Jin was being ridiculously stubborn.
"Katara….this is a war. No matter how prepared you are…..nothing ever goes as smoothly or as planned," Jin said her eyes looking cold and distant and sad.
"Jin—''
"Sleeping is not helping Katara!" Jin said in frustration.
"Jin, do you want to talk about it?" Katara said, with growing concern.
"For the last time, nothing's bothering me!" she said.
She whirled around and before Katara could stop her she said, "Look….I just need to be alone and figure some things out for myself, okay?"
And with that she left.
"Welcome Prince Zuko. We waited for you," Fire Lord Ozai said. Zuko stared at his father in pure confusion, not daring to believe that his father, the Fire Lord, had actually waited for him. He even wanted Zuko to sit at his right hand!
From her place Azula smiled smugly at him and mouthed "I told you so."
As soon as Zuko had settled into his place Ozai began with a few greetings, a short prayer to Agni and a small welcoming speech. He then turned to an old man to his left and said, "General Shinu, your report."
"Thank you, sir," General Shinu said, his head bowing in acknowledgement. He continued, "Ba Sing Se is still under our control. However, earthbender rebellions have prevented us from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom."
Ozai's left eye twitched and he said, "Rebellion? I thought that that problem has been eradicated after the destruction of their pathetic headquarters."
Everyone's attention immediately turned to Zuko.
Zuko, who did not want to disappoint his father, showed a façade of confidence. His insides were rumbling however, as he said, "Me and my sister have done our part with success. We have destroyed…destroyed their headquarters, captured a Resistance Leader and have prompted a nation-wide manhunt for the other two and so far….so far…we are making progress."
"Yes, I don't deny any of your achievements your highness but ah…er…" General Shinu hastily said only to lose his train of thought just as quickly.
"What is it?" Fire Lord Ozai demanded impatiently.
"Yes, it is true that they have all disbanded but their legacy…unfortunately, lives on. I'm afraid that little stunt the Resistance has pulled with the Dai Li only encouraged them more," General Shinu timidly said.
"What's your recommendation?" Fire Lord Ozai said.
"Our army is spread too thin but once the eclipse is over and the invasion defeated, we should transfer more domestic forces into the Earth Kingdom," General Shinu said. At the mention of the invasion, Zuko wrinkled his nose. They began to talk about more military tactics and Zuko found himself being more and more uninterested.
"Hmm…" Ozai mused thoughtfully. To Zuko's surprise, his father suddenly turned to him and said, "Prince Zuko."
Zuko stared at his father blankly, surprised at having been addressed and acknowledged.
"You've been among the Earth Kingdom commoners. Do you think that adding more troops will stop these rebellions ?" his father seriously inquired.
Zuko pondered on this and his mind automatically reverted back to Jin at the mention of the Earth Kingdom. He remembered how unbelievably persistent and stubborn she was. How she stood her ground, never changing her opinions to suit someone else's. How she always continued to forge on forward, never giving up, when she had hope burning inside of her.
He remembered her eyes, the most clearly. How they would become steely and determined when she started fighting for something she believed in.
"The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything as long as they have hope," Zuko honestly said.
His father stared at him, his lips curling into a smile. He said, "Yes, you're right."
He began to murmur in a lethal tone, "We need to destroy their hope."
Zuko stared at his father in shock, trying to regain his eloquence. He said, "Well, that's not exactly what I—''
Azula quickly interrupted him saying, "I think you should take their precious hope and the rest of their land, and burn it all to the ground."
Zuko stared at his sister in horror and watched as she crossed her arms and smiled, completely self-satisfied with her brilliant plan.
"Yes…Yes, you're right, Azula," Ozai said. Azula smiled smugly, happy that her father was satisfied with her plan. Ozai suddenly got up and walked towards the table.
"Sozin's Comet is almost upon us and on that day it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred Suns. No bender will stand a chance against us," Ozai said as he continued to walk on.
"What are you suggesting, sir ?" General Shinu asked.
"When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads. Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom," Ozai announced proudly.
Zuko's jaw dropped, shocked at his father's cruel intention.
"Permanently," Ozai added.
Ozai suddenly began to grin from ear to ear as he examined the map he was standing on, further. He said, "From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands. A fire that will destroy everything. And out of the ashes, a new World will be born. A World in which all the lands are Fire Nation and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"
The generals and Azula burst into deafening applause as Zuko blacked out, hearing nothing else but the screams of people dying.
Zuko was actually part of the meeting but to his annoyance he was still not satisfied. Being part of the meeting without anything bad happening and with his father praising him didn't feel like the way he expected himself to feel. He felt empty and meaningless and most of all—he didn't feel like himself.
Aside from his father's plans to completely burn the Earth Kingdom into the ground, Fire Lord Ozai declared that he refused to participate in an event as stupid as the invasion. Even with the solar eclipse, the Avatar was hardly worth his time. He announced that he and the Royal Family would hide in a small bunker, away from the palace. Azula agreed with him wholeheartedly though Zuko knew that his father was actually afraid that the Avatar would actually have a chance of winning with his Firebending gone.
Zuko sighed and wandered around the palace. He suddenly paused when he saw Jin's wanted poster in a nearby bulletin.
He missed Jin.
He missed her and he thought about her more than he cared to admit. He missed her smile, her warm hands, and her messy hair. He missed the fact that she would just laugh off all his temperamental outbursts. He missed her kisses, her fingers which would stroke his hair. He missed everything about her. And he was ill to admit that he missed Ba Sing Se. While he was there he felt a strange peace settle over him. He had never felt the presence of that peace since his banishment.
He vaguely wondered what she was doing right now. Did she miss him? Did she even think about him? Did she find someone else by now? Zuko couldn't help but wonder at times.
Then he began to think of his uncle. He missed his uncle. He missed the warm, caring man who stood by him through thick and thin. Zuko suddenly felt guilty.
Then and there, as the mental image of Ba Sing Se being burned to the ground, rolled through his head, he began to question everything he had ever believed in and everything he had once known and he wondered if they were truly right.
Jin wandered off into the east side of the cliffs, trying to desperately avoid Katara's loud voice calling her name out. She continued to run, not once stopping with her head pounding against her skull and with her knees groaning from under her weight. She felt numb and everything rolled and washed over her, making no complete sense. It was as if she had no idea what was happening, what was going on.
She just had to fix things.
She had another chance to fix things, to fix all of her mistakes with this invasion.
She can't fail or let anyone down.
Jin gave a loud groaned and weakly collapsed as wandered into the koala-sheep field. She keeled over and stopped herself with a nearby rock that jutted over a cliff. Her eyes felt heavy and dim.
She was being unfair to Katara, Jin realized. She was being unfair and right now, she needed to go back and rest and do everything that Katara told her to do.
Jin didn't mean to take off. She was just so frustrated with all the questions Katara was asking. She didn't need to talk to someone else right now. She just wanted to sort things out by herself.
But how could she with this infernal pounding in her head?
Jin scowled loudly.
"Hey, do you mind moving?" a loud, shaky voice said.
Jin looked up and was incredibly shocked to find a sheep, standing on its hind legs and staring at her with reproaching eyes.
"Who said that?" Jin demanded, not quite believing it.
"Me, of course. No get out of my way. You're standing in my shade," the sheep bleated indignantly.
"You're talking to me," Jin said breathlessly.
"Well, duh, genius. Now get out of my way!" the sheep said in a voice that sounded strangely like Sokka's.
"I can't believe this. I can't believe this. A koala-sheep is talking to me," Jin said her jaw dropping.
"Sheep? What are you talking about? What sheep?" the sheep bleated, its voice now sounding like Sokka's.
Jin blinked her eyes closed and when she opened them again, she saw the blurry form of Sokka staring at her inquisitively.
"Sokka?"
"Well, duh," Sokka scoffed, folding his arms. His movement blurred Jin's visions and suddenly Sokka was a sheep again, only his head retained his own face, looking down at Jin with concern and his trademark sarcastic face.
"But….but you're a sheep?" Jin sputtered blearily.
"I'm a what?"
"You look like a sheep."
"Huh?"
"You look like a sheep."
"Say that again."
"You look like a sheep."
"Are you kidding?"
"No."
"What kind of sheep do I look like?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"What kind of sheep did I look like? Did I look like a regular sheep or…something else?"
"Ugh! I don't know! A regular sheep!"
"Why sheep?"
"You're questions are making me dizzy!" Jin snapped as she started to stagger.
"Whoa," Sokka said, quickly grabbing her arm before she could fall. Sokka steadied her and said, "You look awful . Even worse than Aang. Did you puke again?"
"No," Jin groaned.
"Katara told me what happened," Sokka said as soon as Jin was back on her feet again.
"Aren't you supposed to be helping Aang?" Jin asked trying to changed the subject.
"Nah. It didn't work. Katara's with him now doing water yoga or therapy or something. Anyway, as I've said, Katara told me what happened between you two today—''
"If she's mad, I'm sorry okay. I'm not really in the mood for talking right now," Jin murmured as she rubbed her head.
"Well….actually, she's not mad at you. She's just worried," Sokka said.
"I know…I know. I'll go back to the campsite and eat her salve or something," Jin sighed.
"No…actually, I have an idea…" Sokka began.
"Oh no…." Jin groaned.
Whipping out his beard and plastering it on his face he declared, "I think it's time that you have a session with Dr. Wang Fire!"
Jin sat edgily as Sokka assembled himself in front of her, stroking a koala-sheep imperiously as he stared at her with a critical eye. He grandly said, "So, Jin. Let's get to the point. Why don't you get right down to business and tell me what's been bothering you?"
"Nothing's bothering me," Jin said wearily.
"Something obviously is, otherwise you wouldn't be having these nightmares," Sokka said.
"Nothing's bothering me!"
"Nothing's bother you or something is bothering you though you just don't want to tell us?" Sokka said leaning forward.
"I…um….I don't know," Jin said honestly as the aching in her head started to make her feel more and more confused.
"My extremely clever deductions tell me that the reason why you refuse to tell us is it's because it's something bad and being the weirdly optimistic person that you are, you try your very best to ignore everything bad that's around you," Sokka deduced.
"I guess you're right….wait—what? No! It's not because of that—''
"Don't deny the expert!" Sokka haughtily said, fully in the moment with his beard.
"Sokka, wouldn't it be easier if I just went back to Katara, apologized and did as she told me too?" Jin asked haplessly.
"No. Katara told me that your fears and all that mumbo-jumbo is the root cause of your fever and being the amazing critical thinker that I am, she told me to discover that root cause, weed it out so you could be better again!" Sokka explained.
Jin pouted and said, "You just want a chance to wear your beard!"
"I do not!" Sokka argued defensively.
He then leaned back and said with an air of majesty, "Anyway, back to where we started. Something's bothering you—''
"No—''
"You can deny it all you want—''
"I'm not denying anything—''
"Would you just stop it for one minute please?"
"Stop what?"
"Stop….stop…"
Jin put her hands on her hips.
"What?" she demanded.
"Stop…stop what you're doing right now! Stop being so overly-optimistic!"
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are! I'm fine….nothing's wrong with me…I'm a perfectly happy camper—''
"I'm scared okay!" Jin burst out loudly. Her cheeks flushed and her brows were drawn making her look very angry. Sokka stared at her, completely taken aback. He had never seen Jin looking like this before.
"Um…"
Realizing Sokka's scared expression, Jin's shoulders dropped, she bit her lip and she looked away. She was shivering and cold sweat beaded her forehead. She looked withdrawn and beaten.
"So…you want to talk about why you're scared?" Sokka asked, timidly.
Jin didn't answer him.
"Seriously, Jin what's up?" Sokka demanded sincerely, dropping his Wang Fire persona for the first time.
"Can I just go back to the campsite now?" Jin sighed.
"Why are you afraid? Did something happen before?" Sokka inquired.
"I don't want to talk about it Sokka," Jin firmly said.
"Oh. Okay. If you don't want to talk about it then I won't push….but maybe…heh…maybe you want to give me some sort of idea—''
"Let's just say I failed. I failed to protect someone I loved very much when she needed me the most. I failed hard and I don't want to fail this time," Jin said.
Sokka opened his mouth, ready to say something else but then he thought the better of it. He simply said, "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, okay. It's obviously a very painful topic for you and if you don't wanna say it now…then I won't push you. Someday, you'll be able to talk about it openly and be able to come to terms with it. But today's not that day and I respect that," Sokka said.
Jin smiled at him gratefully as Sokka helped her up and led her back to the campsite.
To her relief, he didn't mention a word about her strange behavior anymore.
And just like that she felt as if some of the weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
"Aang?" Jin said.
Jin had taken a long nap as soon as she and Sokka returned back to camp. Katara accepted her without much question and she was extremely grateful for that. Jin's nap lasted a good two hours and when she woke up, she felt thoroughly refreshed and she slightly felt better after airing a bit of her fears out.
Apparently, lots of things happened during her nap. Aang had gone into a full-blown hallucination and in the event of trying to stop him, Aang stormed away from Katara, Sokka and Toph. Jin decided that since she was the person, who understood most what he was going through, she would be the best person to go out and try to talk to him.
Her fever subsided slightly and she was feeling less lightheaded.
"I know what you're going to say to me Jin. Forget it," Aang said.
"Aang…"
"Look, you guys keep telling me I need to sleep, but I can't, the invasion's tomorrow.," Aang manically said.
"Actually, I was going to say something else—''
"No Jin, there's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need sleep. What I need is practice. Quick, hit me," Aang eagerly said.
"I'm not going to hit you," Jin calmly said.
"You don't understand Jin! I need to train harder because the whole world's counting on me! I. Can't. Fail!" Aang roared.
"But I do understand," Jin quietly said. Despite the quietness of Jin's face, it crashed around Aang's ears.
"Understand? Understand? You don't understand Jin! The weight of the world isn't on your shoulders!" Aang cried.
"I know that Aang. I know that. I don't know how it feels like to have the whole world's weight on your shoulders. But I do understand what you are going through," Jin quietly said.
"What?"
"You're not the only one who's afraid to fail," Jin said.
"Huh?"
"I'm scared too. I'm really, really scared because a few years back…I…I….someone died because I wasn't strong enough or brave enough and I'm really scared that it would…it would happen again with you guys," Jin said morosely.
Aang stared back at her, unsure of what to say.
"Listen to me, I've seen how you fight since the very first day I met you. And Aang…you're good. You're more than ready for this," Jin told him as she placed two hands on his shoulders.
"You really think so?" Aang asked hopefully.
"I know so. We can do this," Jin said, her voice gaining its usual brightness.
"And you're pretty good too Jin. Don't worry. You won't fail us this time. We have your back," Aang said.
Jin didn't look entirely convinced but she relaxed a little. She said, "Thanks,Aang. You're the man. You can do this."
And with that the two went to sleep with peaceful minds that night.
I realized something really important while re-reading through my previous posts and that's that I never wrote an update from Jin's perspective. This one sort of shows one side of Jin, a little background history of her.
Now, the Zuko and Mai conversation wasn't meant to imply any possible pairing between them in my fic. I just felt that it would be pure laziness on my part to completely disregard the Maiko ship so i felt that I needed to give it some closure.
Lots of thanks to those who added this to their favorites or to those who read this! Awesomeness:)
And thanks you so much to those who took their time to review:
daveshan: Thanks a lot! Don't worry, I'll try to keep the grammatical errors to a minimum.
Alana C. Jones: Thanks for the really awesome review! *foams in the mouth and passes out too*
ArrayePL and glamouraj: Thank you so much for the review!
Panther-Strife: A harem? Maybe in other fics but not in this one xD haha Thanks for the really awesome review! More awesomeness to you! :)
Panther-Freedom02: Aww, i don't hate Zuko! That dude's so awesome that it's beyond comparison. Sorry if I made it seem that way. But anyway, thanks for the review.
TheApocalypticTarantula: Thank you so much for both reviews! I really appreciate it! :)
Hivedragon: Thank you so much! Your review makes me want to write more.
Please guys.
Always R&R.
:)