Because going on an unexpected hiatus seemed like a good idea at the time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

If Sokka had told Katara where he was going, she would have done one of two things. She would have demanded to know what exactly he was going to do and she would invite herself, or she would have did everything in her power to stop him. Or perhaps, he thought, she would have done both. His sister was a strange child when he thought about it. Creepier than most girls he had met, and he had met some pretty creepy females.

He hadn't told anyone where he was going, really. He had snuck away when he had the chance, when Katara had been occupied by Hama. Katara adored the woman, almost to the point of making Sokka gag. Really, he couldn't stand the old crone. She gave him the heebie jibbies sometimes.

The prince of the Southern Water Tribe shouldered his pack and looked down at his booted feet. The ground under him was Earth Kingdom soil, but it felt no different from the land in the Water Tribes. Well, except at the poles, because that was made of ice. He was in the Earth Kingdom now, no one would protect him. But he was a warrior, he didn't need protecting. Besides, he had information to gather and piece together and then relay.

It would have been different if he was doing this for the Water Tribes, but he wasn't. It would have been different if he had been leaving his home and wandering around in a foreign country to find information for his homeland. But he wasn't doing this for the Water Tribes. He wasn't doing this for his father or his mother-was he? He definitely wasn't doing it for Katara or Yue, and not for Aang, either.

Then again, he wasn't sure who he was doing this for. It certainly wasn't for himself.

Walking through an Earth Kingdom town by himself wasn't exactly exciting, but it was better than being surrounded by guards even when he didn't need help. The town was quiet and located on the very edge of a forest. It had taken a while to get here, but it had been a nice adventure. He had separated from the Water Tribe soldiers on the docks and had moved quickly, there hadn't been time to waste. He wasn't used to be this alone, though, and he kind of missed his friends.

Yue. Aang. But mostly Yue.

Knowing her, Sokka thought, she was probably trying to stay mad at him. Most of the time, she couldn't stay angry for long. But after what had gone down under Ba Sing Se, he had a feeling that it would take her a little longer to forgive him, if they ever saw each other again.

He would cross that bridge when he got there.

The Southern Water Tribe prince moved further down the street towards what looked like an Earth Kingdom inn. There was a sign hanging above the entrance arch, but Sokka couldn't read it from where he was standing. He hoped that staying there was cheap, because he was a deserting prince and he was sure that his family wouldn't send any funds to help him. Well, maybe his mother, but they didn't know what had happened yet.

Besides, he wanted to have enough money to go shopping. He needed supplies, now that he was traveling on his own. Sokka was good at managing money; he was good at calculating things, and he liked doing it. He would be able to take care of himself when he was on his own. He wasn't in Ba Sing Se anymore.

He was glad for that!

The scholars of the university in Ba Sing Se had trusted him enough to give him this task, had trusted him enough to send him across the Earth Kingdom to deliver the information that they had discovered. Part of Sokka didn't like being a simple messenger, but part of him didn't mind. He was doing something that he believed in.

Did Katara believe so strongly in the war effort that she would exile Yue, the Northern Water Tribe princess, and Aang, the Avatar, just because they didn't fit into her grand scheme of things? Sokka wasn't quite sure, when he thought about, but part of him knew the answer.

Yes.

Katara put more passion in the war than their father and Sokka knew that if Katara was to become chief after their dad, the war would be won. There would be no chance of the other nations fighting back, because they would be crushed. That was why Sokka couldn't let his sister become heir. He loved his sister, but he didn't love her enough to stand back and watch her take over the world in the name of all things "good". But, his chances of being the official heir were slim to none right about now. He wasn't exactly the perfect son. That wasn't important at the moment.

With his club and boomerang on one shoulder and his pack on the other, the Southern Water Tribe prince approached the Earth Kingdom inn. It looked shabby and simple as he drew closer, but he supposed that was alright for now.

Sokka turned slowly and looked up at the sun, shining brightly above him, and he wondered what the world would be like if it winked out. Like a candle. The scientist in him questioned if it was possible for the sun to simply die. If the sun died, everything else would as well.

He wondered how the world would react if the sun went black, if just for a little while. His fists tightened and he cleared his throat. There wasn't much time to speculate. Not yet, not now. He would face the now of the world and think about the later when it was time.

He had some work to do.

Yue learned several things about Toph in just the little while that she had known her. For instance, she didn't like having her feet off the ground. This caused her to dislike Appa and Sanjiv, Azula's dragon. Yue didn't half blame the girl, because she was an earthbender and she felt safe amongst the dirt and the rocks. Toph also had no sense of tact. She was blunt, Yue noticed, and bordered on rude with her comments. Cleanliness was nonexistent to the girl and she was almost always wore a thin coating of dirt.

Which Yue so desperately wanted to wash off, but she didn't want to be rude.

The Northern Water Tribe princess crouched beside Mai, the pale Fire Nation girl, and Azula, the firebender who bent blue flames. They were situated in Appa's saddle, along with Zuko, Ty Lee, Aang, and Toph. It was rather crowded, Yue thought when she looked around, but she decided that was alright. They were gathered around Azula's map, looking over each other's shoulders to get a good glance at the paper. Except for Toph, because she was blind, but she had been included in the meeting anyway, because she was a part of the group now.

"The fastest way to reach Garsai would be to cut straight through this line of uncharted land." Azula said and jabbed her finger on the map, tracing a diagonal line from their current location to the coastal city of Garsai, all the way on the opposite side of the Earth Kingdom. "There's a small mountain system here, but that can easily be flown over. We'll skirt Taku and continue on to the coast."

To Yue, Azula was a warrior with a plan. She sounded very sure of herself and determination resonated in her voice. Azula and her friends had a destination to get to. They had somewhere to go and a goal to accomplish. Yue and Aang, however, had nowhere important to go, when Yue thought about it. They had escaped the Water Tribes for now and Aang had to master all the elements before summer. They had no one waiting for them on the other side of the Earth Kingdom.

Then again, they had no one waiting for them at all.

Azula's amber eyes rose to meet Yue's and the Water Tribe princess was snapped from her thoughts. "We'll also have to stop to teach the Avatar what he needs to know." The Fire Nation girl said and her gaze swiveled over to the child Avatar before flickering back to Yue. "Then we'll separate."

If Azula had looked at the old Yue like that, she would have flinched. But the new Yue, this Yue simply stared back at the female firebender and sniffed quietly. "That sounds like a good plan," The Northern Water Tribe princess said and nodded. She wasn't scared of Azula, at least not like she had been. Not like she had been during that night in Ba Sing Se, when everything was going so wrong but so right at the same time.

"Shouldn't I start my earthbending lessons?" Aang quipped and Yue turned towards her Air Nomad friend. He had a point, she thought, because he did have to master all of the elements before summer's end. He already had waterbending and airbending covered, but Yue had a feeling that firebending and earthbending would be the hardest.

"I think that sounds like a good idea." Ty Lee chimed in, her knees pulled up to her chest. "I want to watch." Her gray eyes, almost like Aang's, lit up and part of Yue couldn't quite believe that she was Fire Nation. "Sometimes I wonder what it's like being a bender. Any type of bender. I just noticed something!" The acrobatic girl said and pointed at Azula and Zuko, "You're firebenders." She turned to Yue, "You're a waterbender. Toph's an earthbender-"

The blind girl cleared her throat, "The world's greatest earthbender, not just an earthbender." She said and went back to picking at her bare toes, which caused Yue to flinch and look away. The Northern Water Tribe princess could already tell that it was one of Toph's disgusting habits and her stomach churned a bit at the thought of watching her.

Ty Lee looked at Aang, "And Aang's an airbender!" She said and clasped her hands together, looking at their ragtag groups of benders. "Isn't it wonderful, don't you think, that our countries are at war with each other, but we're friends? Don't you think that's funny?"

Yue wouldn't say they were friends yet, but then again, she had only a few real friends in the past. One of them was Sokka, but she wasn't sure if he qualified as a real friend or not. Part of her felt that she should simply let it go, because it was unlikely that they would ever see each other again except in battle, but part of her couldn't. It was almost like grabbing onto a prickly cactus- It hurt to hold on, but it would hurt even worse to let go.

Azula looked at Ty Lee and Yue thought she saw the firebender roll her eyes. She rolled the map back up and tucked it neatly back into her bag before leaping off of Appa's saddle, landing elegantly on her feet before moving away from Appa. Yue followed her with her eyes, knowing that she was heading back to her own pet, Sanjiv. Across from the clearing, the dragon was stretched out with half of his body in the trees and the other half extended almost like a feline.

"Come on, Toph," Aang said and turned to the earthbending girl, "How about you teach me the beginning basics of earthbending?" He asked and leaped from his place on Appa's saddle. Yue was almost envious of Aang's natural light-footedness and his ability to stay optimistic and passive. Perhaps, she thought, it would rub off on her one day.

The tribal princess moved towards Toph and put her hand on her arm, intending to help the little blind girl down from the flying bison's back. To her surprise, though, Toph smacked her hand away roughly, leaving a brief, but angry red mark on the waterbender's forearm.

"Let me help you, Toph," Yue said and moved to try again. "I'm going to help you get down," She said softly and took Toph's hand once more. Her arm stung from Toph's slap, but she had surprised the girl and she really didn't half blame the earthbender. "I'm going to help you."

Toph slapped Yue's hand away again, scowling dangerously. "Look, I don't need your help!" She snapped and Yue shrunk back, surprised and alarmed at the same time. "I don't want your help!" If Toph could see, Yue was sure she would have glared at her. The blind earthbender scrambled over the edge of the saddle and slid to the ground unceremoniously, her frown still apparent on her face.

Yue could feel heat spreading her neck up to her face, flushing her skin a shade of deep red. She could feel Mai and Zuko's eyes on her, causing her skin to grow even hotter. She hadn't meant any harm; she had just wanted to help. But part of her knew it was foolish, trying to force help on Toph that the girl obvious didn't need. Or want. She had just wanted to help her.

"And I thought Azula was bad tempered," Zuko said quietly and Yue looked at the male firebender, shrugging. Toph's words had stung-no, they had hurt-and if this had been the old Yue, she probably would have cried. The old Yue would have stammered apologies until she was blue, but the new Yue hadn't. She was embarrassed, embarrassed and a little hurt, but she wouldn't apologize. She hadn't done anything wrong; she had just wanted to help.

The princess of the Northern Water Tribe cleared her throat and heaved herself over the side of the saddle, turning to watch Azula. The firebender stood near her pet dragon, her hand on its side as she looked back at Yue with a look that almost hinted disgust. And perhaps, underneath that, was disappointment. Yue pursed her lips and her brow twitched. She despised the look that Azula gave her, as if she had thought her as a weakling.

Yue reached for the amulet that hung around her neck and traced the outline of it with her finger. For once, though, she was not reminded of Kya and her promise to the Southern Water Tribe queen when she touched the cool vessel. She was reminded of a time when she was very young, when she had still been too young to travel alone to the South Pole. Her mother had accompanied her and it was one of her earliest memories with Sokka and Katara. It was good one, she thought.

She remembered sitting on her mother's lap as she talked with Kya, who held Sokka on one knee and Katara on the other so they wouldn't wrestle and fight. It was then, she thought, that she decided Kya had much warmer skin than her mother.

Yue was reminded of a time when the Water Tribes had once been considered her family, and when the Northern Water Tribe had once been considered her home. It seemed so long ago. Yue looked at Azula and she wondered if the firebender missed her family and home. Did she even have one, except for her friends and brother? Something told her that there was a lot more about the girl that she didn't know.

Her skin cooled and her fretful thoughts smoothed, Yue turned her attention towards Aang. The child airbender and Toph had moved to the middle of the clearing, standing feet away from each other. Curious, Yue crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back on her heels as she watched.

Toph stood in a stout, squat position with her feet a shoulder's width apart. Yue couldn't help but smile as Aang tried to copy the earthbender's gesture. It didn't come naturally to him, she noticed. Earthbending, she remembered, was the exact opposite of airbending, like waterbending was different from firebending.

"I can tell already that he's going to be horrible at this." Yue jumped as Azula appeared next to her. She hadn't noticed the firebending girl, but she turned at her words. "I feel bad for him, having a teacher like that." The dislike in her voice was palpable and Yue was surprised that Azula would be so blunt. "Something tells me you weren't a very harsh teacher. You gave too many incentives, didn't you?" She smirked when she said this and Yue looked over at the younger girl.

Yue shrugged, but she knew it was true. She hadn't been a particularly good teacher, but she hadn't been a bad one, either. She had never mentored anyone before and she had only become a master herself a year ago. But she had tried and she had succeeded, for the most part. Aang knew enough waterbending to hold his own against an amateur waterbender, but she had to give most of the credit to Katara, as much as she didn't want to.

Earthbending, Yue thought, as Toph pushed Aang out of his stance, was a much more complicated matter. She winced as the earthbender stomped her foot and ordered the young Avatar to his feet, shaking her head with annoyance. It would take quite a bit of work for Aang to master earthbending, and he would have to do it before summer's end.

Toph bent the earth into palm sized rocks, juggling them calmly. "Dodge these," She said and Yue covered her eyes. This wouldn't end well, she thought. There was no way this would end well.

"Ow…" The Northern Water Tribe princess heard the Air Nomad yelp as Toph bent the earth under his feet, throwing off his balance. Yue, alarmed, moved forward with her arms outstretched, ready to call off the earthbender's hard training. Beside her, Azula shook her head and frowned, halting the older girl in her tracks.

Yue bit her bottom lip and sat down a safe distance away from the earthbender and her pupil, knitting her hand together. She didn't want Aang to get hurt, or to overwork himself, but she realized that he had to learn somehow. Azula sank down next to her, narrowing her eyes. "He's trying," She said. "But…he needs a lot of work."

Aang was a bad earthbender, to put it lightly and Yue resisted the urge to cover her eyes as the young Air Nomad dodged yet another of Toph's assaults. A verbal battering followed the rocks as Toph screeched her displeasure at the Avatar. He was too light on his feet, according to Toph, and Yue supposed that it was at least a little true. Aang was an airbender, he moved with a natural grace and eloquence that Yue doubted could be matched.

"He's your Avatar." The firebender said in reply and smirked at the waterbender.

Yue shook her head, "He's the world's Avatar. One day, he'll be our hero. I know he will. Just…not yet."

But soon.

Even though she was a waterbender, Katara had never been gladder to be on land. She had grown restless after being on the ship for so long and she had been grateful when they finally landed in a tiny, neutral port deep in an Earth Kingdom inlet. All kinds of ships docked there, Katara had noted, and when they had reached the ground, she had noticed that there were a variety of colors in the port town. Some were Fire Nation colors, like red and gold, and green and brown from the Earth Kingdom, but there was blue, purple, and white from the Water Tribes as well.

There was no yellow or orange.

"Do you think Sokka landed here, Katara?" Suki asked as she walked beside the Southern Water Tribe princess. She looked at the dark haired waterbender with eyes cleared of all face-paint. They didn't want to draw attention to themselves with the gaudy makeup of the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, but Suki hadn't gone unarmed. At her hips, her iron war fans hung against her hips and tucked up her sleeve was a sheathed blade, in case they were surprised. Katara could protect herself, though, should the need ever arise.

Katara shrugged, at ease with her thoughts. Hama's waterbending treatment had calmed her, as she had learned not to tense up when the woman's cool hands brushed over her temple. The elderly waterbender had left Katara and Suki to their own devices, but part of Katara wished that Hama had come along with them, just so she could have her company. "It seems like a place he would come to."

Suki nodded and was silent for a moment as they walked. "Do you think Yue and the Avatar boy came this way, too?" She asked, glancing quickly over at the waterbending princess. Katara had paused mid-step, looking sharply at the auburn haired Kyoshi Warrior. She glared at Suki and to her surprise, the older girl stared levelly back at her.

It was Katara who blinked first and she narrowed her eyes. "I don't care what Yue did or is doing. She's an enemy of the Water Tribes now. She's a traitor and a liar, and deserves whatever comes to her." The waterbender snapped. "She and the Avatar are fugitives and need to be imprisoned." She didn't think Yue would last very long in prison before she went mad. The white haired waterbender was quiet and delicate; she would never stand up for herself.

But she had, under Ba Sing Se. Things had been different under Ba Sing Se, though.

If things had gone as planned, the Dai Li would have succeeded in correcting the Air Nomad Avatar's memory. They would have made him believe he was a real Water Tribe citizen and then the war would over in months. But the boy was a wildcard now, and would need to be eliminated before he formed an army against the Water Tribes. He would ruin everything.

Everything.

Back home, Katara knew, they were now aware of Yue's betrayal. They would hate her, too, because she had been fooling them all. Except Katara. Katara had seen right through the girl's façade, she wasn't blind to Yue's tricks. She thought she could win them all over with her kind smile and quiet demeanor, but Katara knew that underneath that white hair and soft smile, there was a cunning liar and master of deception. She knew it and she saw it.

If she did ever find Yue again, Katara knew there would be a battle. She would fight Yue and the traitor of the Northern Water Tribe would pay for what she had done. The world was so full of liars and traitors like her, and it needed to be made anew so that it would be clean and free of people like Yue. Katara wondered if Ujariq and Taquik had ever faced someone like Yue during their time. She wondered if they had expected their dreams to be so close to coming true.

Maybe things would have been different, Katara thought if Sokka hadn't deserted them. They could have put their heads together and worked on ensuring victory. She missed her brother, even though she would never allow him to become chief. She missed him, and she wanted him back.

"Come on, Suki," Katara said and turned towards the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. "I think we need some time to relax before we get ready to leave again. I want to see if there's anything good in this place." Despite there being a wide assortment of colors in the port town, nothing really caught Katara's eye. Then again, her mind hadn't exactly been on exploring an Earth Kingdom town. There were other things she had to do, like find Sokka. Like win the war. Like become her father's heir and become chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

The young warrior woman trailed after Katara, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Katara flexed her fingers and lifted her head. The sun, she suddenly noticed, was warm and comforting against her skin, and a smile crossed her lips. Sometimes the dark haired tribal princess liked to admire nature, for there wasn't much color outside of the capital city in the South Pole.

Once the war was over, Katara thought, and the world was recreated without pain and sadness and war, she would have all the time in the world to stand in the sunshine and admire the view. Maybe she would be able to stand on a mountain-maybe from the pinnacle of an Air Temple-and look down at the vast world surrounding her. Once she found Sokka, and then everything else would fall into place.

She would find Sokka and bring him back home. If he was with Yue, she would make sure she would pay for stealing her brother away from her. Blood came before water. Family before friends. Sokka knew this, but it seemed as though Sokka had forgotten this.

Blood is thicker than water.

Katara could bend both.

The earthbender was blind, Azula noted, but that didn't mean she was weak. And Azula was sure she would have liked the girl if things had been different. But things weren't different, and Azula certainly did not like the earthbender at the moment.

She was dirty.

Azula didn't like Toph and sometimes she wondered if she even liked Yue, but at least the white haired girl liked to be quiet and clean. Azula couldn't exactly say the same for the earthbender, who was dirty and loud, and rude. Azula was used to order-her father had demanded it-and neatness. She had been raised to be polite-it was the one thing her mother had taught her. The earthbender girl did not seem to understand what quiet was, as if she was hearing impaired instead of blind.

The princess of the Fire Nation watched as the Earth Kingdom girl bent the earth into a great block of rock. Azula couldn't deny that she was powerful and she would hate to be against her in a battle. Firebenders moved first, targeting their opponent's weak point with a barrage of devastating attacks. The earthbender waited and listened with deadly accuracy. Her fighting style intrigued Azula.

"Earthbending is blunt and straightforward. You don't avoid an attack. You go straight towards it." Azula heard Toph say for what seemed like the hundredth time, but it seemed as if the Air Nomad boy still couldn't grasp the concept of her words. She had launched a boulder at him moments before, but he had avoided it.

The Air Nomads had been pacifists and watching Aang "fight", Azula could understand how they were so easily defeated by the waterbenders. Instead of fighting, Aang fled. Azula wrinkled her nose and shook her head, turning her head towards her companions. Mai and Ty Lee had taken the time to spar against each other, while Zuko had come to sit next to Azula and watch the atrocity that was Aang's earthbending training.

"He's not very good at this," Zuko whispered and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "And we're supposed to believe he'll save the world? He can barely save himself!" The golden eyed Fire Nation prince looked at his younger sister, leaning forward so that only she could hear him. "How long have they been at this?"

Azula shrugged, but she was rather surprised that Zuko had dared comment about Aang's less-than-passable grasp of earthbending. "It is only his first day," Azula said, though she wasn't defending the boy. "Maybe he'll catch on, eventually. The Fire Nation wasn't created in a day," She said and smirked. "He's not my savior, and I strongly doubt he's yours."

Zuko nodded slowly and his amber gaze slithered over to where Yue was sitting, her hands placed neatly in her lap. "Yue believes in him, though. I think Ty Lee does, too." The firebender said and Azula was not surprised to hear those words. Ty Lee and Aang were similar in a way and it didn't surprise Azula that the optimistic acrobat had already put her faith in the child Avatar.

"Of course, I have faith in Aang." Yue suddenly said and Azula turned quickly towards the waterbender, not realizing that she had been listening. "Why wouldn't I? He was found in an iceberg-I found him in an iceberg. The world needs him. We have to have faith in Aang, or he won't have faith in himself."

"You found the Avatar, in an iceberg?" Azula asked skeptically and Yue nodded her cerulean eyes dark and glittering. "The last time I checked, being buried in an iceberg mostly results in death. That's like being buried in a volcano." It just doesn't happen, she wanted to add, but she didn't.

Yue narrowed her eyes at Azula, anger flashing in her blue gaze. "It's true. I wouldn't lie. For all we know, all the Air Nomads are dead. Where would Aang come from?" She asked and Azula had never seen the girl act so aggressive and defensive. And part of her realized that Yue really was telling the truth.

Azula suddenly realized why the boy shadowed Yue like a lost puppy. He was. Yue had pulled him free of an iceberg-Azula wasn't sure if she believed that-and the child clung to her as though she was a rope that kept him from drowning. Azula couldn't bear someone holding onto her all the time-she barely tolerated people touching her-but Yue obviously didn't mind it. One would think that a belligerent people like the waterbenders would be personal and independent, but Yue was open and gentle.

The white haired girl was strange, Azula thought, and perhaps she wasn't as weak as she looked. Either Yue was very clever, or Azula's time away from civilization had caused her ability to see through people to become dull. Azula liked to think it was the latter, because the former meant she had underestimated the meek little waterbender.

Yue pushed herself to her feet and dusted off her clothes. Azula looked up at the pale haired waterbender, watching her as she moved towards the great flying bison, Appa. Azula made a gesture for Zuko to stay and watch Aang, not because she thought Toph would hurt the boy, but because she wanted to see what had made Yue rise so suddenly.

Azula smirked as she heaved herself onto the bison's saddle after Yue, scrambling rather unceremoniously into a sitting position. The waterbender had pulled her pack out of its corner on the saddle and was rummaging through it. "I was thinking just a moment ago." She said to Azula, "I know you have to get to Garsai and Aang and I are going to continue his training, but what are we going to do now? How are we going to get enough supplies to take care of seven people, a dragon, and a bison? We're still far away from the nearest city. There has to be something out here, a town or something."

Yue worried, too much, Azula thought, but at least her worries were logical.

"Perhaps," Azula said and crossed her arms in front of her chest as Yue unrolled a wrinkled scroll of paper. It revealed a map, one that Azula had seen the girl with before, but she had never paid much attention to it. "What do you see?"

Yue turned towards Azula and the firebending princess snatched the map from the waterbender's hands, holding it up. Yue had meticulously marked off the areas they had explored and traveled, including Gaoling and the lands between the city and their present location. It made it easier to focus on things, Azula thought, and she looked at the distance to Garsai. It was getting closer.

"Look here," Azula said and set the map down so Yue could see it. "There's a little circle scribbled in here. It has to be a village or small town. It has to take on a few minutes to fly the distance." The firebender said and leaned back comfortably against the bison's saddle. Flying on Sanjiv was exhilarating and fast, but from the bison's back, one could see everything around them and not worry about the wind stinging her eyes.

"Maybe we can go investigate it," Yue said to Azula and the firebender was a little surprised. Yue was willing to leave her puppy Avatar alone with his earthbender teacher and a group of Fire Nation warriors? Azula narrowed her eyes at the whited haired Water Tribe princess and laced her fingers together, studying the older girl. There had to be some motive that Azula didn't see. She wouldn't leave the Air Nomad boy alone to go investigate a village; she was too dependent on the boy.

Azula pursed her lips in the beginning on a sneer. "Of course, Yue." The golden eyed Fire Nation princess said, "I never knew you had an adventurous streak." She hadn't known she had one as well, but she would never say such a thing. There were a lot of things that Azula was discovering about herself now, most of which she would keep to herself. She wouldn't dare tell Yue that she had thought herself to be a killer that night under Ba Sing Se, when Yue had fallen through the floorboards of the old house. She had hated the waterbender back then and while she wasn't friends with the girl, they weren't enemies either. "Ty Lee and Mai are coming with us."

For a moment, the waterbender was silent, and then she nodded. "A-alright," she said and rolled her map up once more, placing it beside her pack. Azula watched the girl and took note of her short white hair. It was cut rather unevenly, as if it had been hastily sheared, and Azula remembered that the first time she had seen Yue, her hair had been thick and long. In the Fire Nation, shearing one's hair into a short style was a sign of leaving the past behind and was in some cases, a sign of dishonor. Had Yue been banished?

"Ty Lee! Mai! Get over here!" Azula called as she climbed down onto the ground. "We're going somewhere." She could see the acrobat and the markswoman moving towards her, away from their little corner. Azula had almost forgotten that the two non-benders were with them, but only almost. She would never forget.

Ty Lee smiled as she approached their group leader. "What is it, Azula?" She asked, her bright eyes shining. "Where are we going?" Beside her, Mai had tucked her arms into her sleeves and hid her eyes behind her glossy black bangs, her lips pressed into a hard, straight line.

Azula smirked, "We're going on a …girl's day out." Except for Toph, she thought, but it seemed that Yue had already thought about this. The waterbender had moved towards the earthbender girl, skirting the edge of the now rock strewn clearing. "I know you would like that, wouldn't you, Ty Lee?" Of course the girl would, Azula knew this. She knew Ty Lee well.

Turning her attention back to Yue, Azula saw that Aang had fleeted back to his waterbender's side, drenched in sweat with his gray eyes even wider than their already were. She hadn't paid much attention to him, but when she looked at the boy again, she could also see a glow of accomplishment in his eyes. He had made some progress. Not much, but at least he wasn't a complete failure.

"Would you like to come with the other girls and me, Toph?" Azula heard Yue ask the blind girl and she wondered how she could still smile at the girl even though she had treated her so rudely and hurt her feelings. Azula would have never allowed anyone to hurt her feelings, especially not a little blind girl, earthbending master or not. Then again, no one had ever tried to hurt her feelings before, except for Zuko and he had failed. So he didn't count. "Aang and Zuko can come, too, if they want."

Azula looked towards her brother, who shook his head. Someone had stay behind to protect their supplies, even though they didn't have that much anyway. Aang looked at Zuko and then at Yue before shaking his head. "I'll stay with Zuko this time. You girls deserve some time without us."

"Yeah, Twinkle Toes, you just don't want to look like a pansy." Toph said and smirked. Azula couldn't help but snicker at that. Aang's face flushed a bright shade of red and Ty Lee giggled at the boy's discomfort. "You already walk like you're on a cloud, you don't want it to seem like you dance on them, too!" The blind earthbender sheered and nodded, even though she couldn't see any of the people around her. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" It was only then that Azula saw that the girl was barefoot.

Toph, Azula thought, was dirty and loud, and rude. But she had a fine sense of humor and a good amount of enthusiasm, so that made up for part of it. At least a little bit.

It would have been much easier to hop on Appa and fly until they found the town, but Yue wasn't quite comfortable stirring Appa on her own. Sanjiv would not have allowed so many people on his back, and Yue didn't really want to ride on the dragon's back, anyway. She wasn't quite ready for such an endeavor. She winced as a sharp tree branch caught her sleeve and scratched her skin. She took a sharp intake of breath before sighing, looking at her arm. It wasn't bleeding or very sore, but it had stung. She would survive, though.

Beside her walked Mai, who seemed able to avoid dirt. The dark haired Fire Nation girl's pale eyes glittered as she followed Ty Lee and Azula, who were walking in front of them. On Azula's onther side was Toph, who picked her away over the sharp ovject in the ground to avoid harming her bare feet. Yue wished she was as skilled at dodging things as Mai or Azula, or even Toph.

The ground underneath her feet was turning to dirt and hard rock, though, so that was good. It meant they were nearing the village or town, and they were finally getting closer to their destination. There were definitely people somewhere close by, according to Toph, who claimed to be able to feel the vibrations of the approaching town. Yue didn't know what to make of that, but the earthbender had seemed very sure of this.

"I hope there was a point in coming all the way out here on foot." Mai said, directing her hard yellow gaze to Yue's face. She frowned at the girl, as if she was blaming Yue for her discomfort. Maybe she was. "If there's nothing in this place, I'll scream."

Yue didn't think Mai could scream. The girl as too quiet, too apathetic, too monotonous to do something as wild and vivid as screaming. Yue had never heard the lanky Fire Nation girl raise her voice and she wondered why and how the girl could be so quiet. Perhaps it was just in her nature to be quiet and subtle. She wouldn't question it.

When they had entered Gaoling, the first time Yue had smelled was food. The first thing she had seen had been the sign that marked the entrance to the Earth Kingdom city, but entering this small town was almost the exact opposite. There was no sign that divided it from the forest, not protective walls or gates, no smells of hot food. But there was noise. There was a lot of noise and Yue almost flinched as the sound of a thousand voices rose to meet her. It reminded her of the Earth Rumble in Gaoling, when they had met Toph, and Yue craned her neck to see Toph's expression.

The girl had a slight smile on her small face, obviously reminded of the competition in which she had remained victorious, before she had chosen to leave her city and join the ragtag group of journeying teenagers. "I told you there were people, didn't I?" She said to Azula and Yue thought she saw the taller girl shrug.

If anyone noticed them enter the town, they didn't speak out. There were people on the street, but they seemed too absorbed into their own activities to notice the five girls. Yue looked around and to her, it wasn't much. It wasn't like Gaoling, where everything was neat and orderly, almost disturbingly so. It wasn't like Ba Sing Se, divided into poverty and wealth, and it wasn't like either of the Water Tribe cities. It was almost like the village that she and Aang had visited, where they had met Adanna, who had been kind enough to help them.

Something in Yue's chest leaped at that and the waterbender closed her eyes before opening them slowly. "What do we do now?" She asked, because really she had just intended to investigate the village before she got ready to leave the area. They needed supplies, but she hadn't wanted to lead their steeds into a trap. It was hard to trust people now, she thought, especially in a strange land like this. It was a new world, outside everything she had known.

Then again, she hadn't known much.

"Let's look for something fun to do!" Ty Lee said and grabbed onto Toph and Mai's arms, pulling them towards her. "This is our girl's day out, and we need something to do while the boys are back at camp. Come on, guys, let's do something." She began to tug on their sleeves, always the childish and cheerful one. Ty Lee was always optimistic, Yue thought, and her behavior reminded her of Aang. Just like Azula reminded her of Azula, but that was different. Azula was different. She could almost trust Azula.

Aforementioned firebender looked at her pink clad companion. "You go ahead, Ty Lee. Yue and I will check the other side of the town and we'll meet back up here if we find something." The girl said and Ty Lee nodded before darting off, dragging her companions after her. Azula turned to Yue. "What did you really come here for?"

Yue rolled her eyes. "I told you, I came here to investigate. We're going to need supplies when we leave, and I didn't want to walk into a trap." She began to walk in the direction opposite of Ty Lee, knowing that Azula was following her. "Besides, I was curious."

Azula raised her eyebrow and Yue shrugged her shoulders, turning her head as something bright glinted in the corner of her eye. She turned her head and caught the sight of a small stand holding several items of jewelry. Beside it was a merchant, hawk-eyed and intimidating. "That's worthless jewelry," Azula told Yue, "Fire Natiion gems are much more sophisticated. I'm sure Water Tribe decorations have more value than that."

They did, Yue thought, and touched the amulet at her throat. The jewelry was pretty, but it wasn't quite her type.

Behind her, there was the sound of hurried footsteps. Azula froze and Yue raised her eyebrow. "Yue?" Someone asked and Yue turned at the sound of her name, narrowing her eyes in surprise. There was no one in the Earth Kingdom who knew her personally. But then she gasped. She knew that voice. She knew that voice all too well.

"Sokka." She said and looked at the younger boy. She didn't want to look at him; she didn't want to speak to him. Just seeing him again had made her angry and while she had so many questions, she didn't want to ask them. "What a surprise to see you here."

He looked like the old Sokka, but he was alone. He looked sharper and stronger than when she had seen him last, all that time ago under Ba Sing Se. When he had betrayed her and sided with Katara. Blood before water. She hated those words. She remembered Sokka, speaking them, and she remembered katara clinging to him while smirking evilly at her. And she glared.

"What are you doing here, Yue?" Sokka asked, as if nothing had ever been wrong between them. He acted as if everything was normal between them. "Where's Aang?" The Southern Water Tribe prince inquired and Yue glared at him.

"Why do you care?" She retorted, "You made your choice when you left us under Ba Sing Se. Where's your sister, Sokka? Where's Katara, or did you leave her, too? What about blood before water? Family before friends?" She sniffed.

Sokka looked hard at her before looking away. "I don't think you would understand, if I told you. You're angry at me. Which you have every right to be, but you don't have to be so rude." He said and Yue turned away from him. She was more than angry. She was furious and she wished that she hadn't entered the town. She wished that she had never seen Sokka, because now she was sad and scared that her anger had gotten the best of her.

"Am I missing something?" Azula asked and Yue had forgotten the girl was there. Sokka looked at her and Azula narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Yeah, actually you are," Yue said spitefully and she had meant to. What were the odds of this, she thought, that Sokka would be in the same town as her, at the same time, on the same street? What were the odds that he was alone and Katara was nowhere in sight? How had he gotten all the way across Water Tribe territory before them? It was almost unbelievable. Maybe it was. "You're missing a lot."

Azula had never thought that Yue could ever be so cold-hearted. She had never seen such fury in anyone else's eyes, not even in her father's when he was angry. The white haired girl glared at the boy, whom she had obviously known before. He was Water Tribe, like her, and had the vibrant blue eyes that almost matched the color of the ocean. He had wronged Yue in some way, and she hadn't forgiven him.

"Look, Yue, I'm sorry!" The boy, Sokka, said and then focused on Azula with his blue eyes wide. "She's a firebender, Yue!" He cried and moved in front of the waterbender, but Yue stepped away from him. "Don't trust her; she's going to burn you alive!"

The darkness that had shadowed Yue's eyes deepened and she moved towards Azula. "Oh, don't trust her? You betrayed not only me, Sokka, but you betrayed Aang. You betrayed the Avatar! We're trying to stop the war and you're only instigating it." She looked away. "I trust Azula, and all the others, too."

Azula knew Yue didn't exactly trust her, but she caught on. Apparently, something had happened with the two in Ba Sing Se. She watched the exchange, raising an intrigued eyebrow. It was interesting in a twisted sort of way, she thought, to see the normally level headed Yue livid with anger and hurt.

"You trust firebenders?" The boy's voice raised an octave. "But they kidnapped you!" He pointed at Azula and Yue pursed her lips, crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaned back on her heels. "Yue, we're in a war with the Fire Nation!"

Yue sighed and looked away, though her voice was still thick with anger. "Of course I trust them. I think it's sad that I trust firebender more than I trust my own best friend. I'm rather sure of their motives. Yours, Sokka…not so much." She closed her eyes.

The boy, Sokka, winced. That stung, Azula could tell. He looked at Yue and then at Azula before turning back to the white haired princess. "Yue, what happened?" He fell silent for a moment and reached by Azula to take Yue's hand. "I'm not with them anymore. I'm doing what I should have done all along."

The pulsing rage around Yue dimmed but didn't die and she looked down at her hand, still held by the Water Tribe boy. "I don't think I can believe you right now, Sokka." She said. "But if you really are what you say, then you'll come and at least tell Aang the truth. He misses you." She pulled her hand away from Sokka and stepped back. "Come on, Azula, let's find Ty Lee."

Azula raised her brow at the Water Tribe boy and smirked slightly at his surprised look. She hadn't thought that Yue could be so blunt. Then again, there were several things she hadn't thought Yue could do. She was discovering more and more about the quiet, Water Tribe princess, and she wondered what exactly the relationship between her and Sokka was. Were they brother and sister? She could see a distant relation between the two, as though they were cousins, but Yue seemed much softer and had a different build. She turned away from the boy and moved in front of Yue, heading in the direction which she had last seen Ty Lee.

She could feel the Water Tribe boy's eyes on her back and part of her knew that he was a warrior. She had known from his stance, from his keen gaze. She also knew that he wouldn't have hesitated to have driven a blade into her. She wouldn't have hesitated to burn him alive, either, so she supposed they would have been even.

Something told her that the boy wasn't a bender. But she knew that non-benders were not to be underestimated. She had seen Ty Lee and Mai fight, they were a force to be reckoned with, and she was glad that they were on the Fire Nation's side. On her side.

Ty Lee had disappeared quickly and Azula wasn't exactly sure where to start looking. The acrobatic girl had a tendency to dart from one place to another if one thing didn't suit her interest, or something shiny had caught her eye. Ty Lee was peculiar, but that was part of the reason why Azula enjoyed her so much. She had probably pulled Mai by the sleeve and Toph by the hand, even though they had just met the girl not too long ago. Azula wondered if she was tired of Ty Lee, yet.

Behind them, Azula could hear the sound of hurried boots once again. She recognized the footfalls this time and she could see Yue tense, her footsteps becoming heavier as she continued to walk. Azula found the girl's anger almost humorous, in a twisted sort of a way. She had never seen such a cool-headed person change so quickly, but Azula thought that it was in her nature. Yue was a waterbender, she adapted to change and moved accordingly.

"Yue, wait." Sokka said and Yue paused but didn't turn. Azula did, though, and she saw that the boy was standing several feet away from them, his eyes shadowed. He was just as hurt as Yue, Azula saw, and she thought that the Water Tribe people were very emotional. They wore their hearts on their sleeves and their hopes on their faces, even though they were the aggressors in a war that had lasted for nearly a century. The boy smiled hopefully. "Wait. Where's Aang?"

From the angle at which she was standing, Azula thought she saw Yue's lips twitch in the beginnings of a smile, but then it fell into a frown, which Azula decided was very unbecoming of the girl. She didn't speak and she didn't turn to face Sokka, but it was almost something in the air changed. Yue hadn't forgiven him for whatever his transgression was, but she was willing to push it aside to work with him.

Azula looked at Yue and a tiny smile crossed her lips. Perhaps, she thought, Yue wasn't as weak as she had originally thought.

It was a start.

I feel like I should really work on subtle re-entrances.