Chapter 5: Wake up Call

The sun was shining into my eyes when Leena decided to wake me up. She flung her small body across my stomach and giggled when I grunted. "Hestia, it's time to get up," she laughed. I wrapped an arm around the middle of her back and sat up. The blankets muffled the sound of her laughter. It had been a while since I had heard Leena laugh-with Raz's outbursts becoming more and more frequent, Leena had started acting more like an adult and less like the child she was.

I looked around the rooftop; most of my family was gone. Only Leena remained on the roof with me. The newcomers still slept in their borrowed blankets. They must have flown through the night. I thought that it was probably a coincidence that I had seen them land, but I didn't really believe in coincidence it was simply too dangerous to think like that. Coincidence was like chance, if you let the universe decide what would happen, it usually wasn't in your favor. Those lessons were ones that I learned on the street and I foolishly hoped Leena would never have to learn them. I wanted her to keep her childish trust and curiosity.

"So, who are they?" Leena asked. Her face lit up with all the possibilities new people brought.

I watched her try to decide which question to ask me about the newcomers before I spoke, "They're tired and a little scared. How about you go wake up that one and put her at ease," I pointed at Katara's sleeping form. "Gently," I called after Leena who had rushed over to where Katara was lying. The little girl grinned at me before she jumped on Katara. I snickered at the older girl's startled noise. Leena wasn't very heavy, but she could wake anyone up just by jumping on them. Katara seemed a little motherly, at least to Sokka, so she wouldn't get mad at Leena.

I stood up and picked up the other blankets while Leena introduced herself to Katara. Soon Leena was giggling and waking up the other sleepers. Aang woke up calmly, but Sokka was less than happy that he'd been woken up.

"Does he always wake up this grumpy?" I asked Katara as her brother walked to the other side of the roof.

"He's usually a lot worse," she said. Katara turned to watch Leena as she crept up on where Toph was sleeping. Her lips were quirked in a knowing smile, so I turned to see how the earth-bender would wake up. Toph actually caught Leena mid-jump and tickled the smaller girl for a few minutes until Leena kicked her hand and wiggled free.

"Wow, Toph, I didn't know you were so good with kids," Katara said. She was helping me fold the blankets and pile them up a few feet away from the fire pit.

"My parents threw a lot of parties. They thought that all of the people would scare me, so they left me and all of the other kids with a maid. I've had a lot of experience with little kids.

"I'm not little!" Leena protested.

"Oh I'm sorry. You're tiny. Thanks for helping me figure out how to describe you." Leena glared at Toph.

"How do you know? You're blind!"

"Leena enough," I cut in.

"But she is. Her eyes are just like Mr. Fire's," Leena protested. I looked back at Toph and noticed how fogged her irises were.

"Leena," I warned. There are two tones that every person who lives with children develops. One of the tones is the hushing tone, the one that I used to calm Aang and his friends down. The other is the warning tone. The trick to using this tone is to say as little as possible, one word is usually enough. I rarely used this voice with Leena, but she'd heard the voice enough to understand that if she didn't back off, bad things would start to happen. Leena looked down at the roof and kicked one foot across the hard surface.

Toph stepped in, "I'm blind, but I can still see."

"How?" Leena asked excitedly.

"It's complicated," Sokka jumped in. He seemed less angry now that he'd gotten some time to wake up. His bed head was impressive and the comical picture was finished by the fake beard which was still attached to his face and riddled with burrs. I asked Leena to bring me a small bowl of water. When she did I lit a small flame and held it under the bowl. When the water was hot I handed the steaming bowl to Katara.

She was looking at me with a shocked expression, "you're a fire-bender?" Her hands shook around the bowl.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"Not at all," Aang said. He waved his hands in a gesture which was probably supposed to put me at ease, but only made him look nervous.

"It's just," Katara paused, "we don't have the best experiences with fire-benders."

"Seeing as you're traveling through the Fire Nation with an earth-bender I wouldn't have guessed."

"Hestia come quick!" A voice shouted from the street.

"One moment," I said to Katara, "feel free to get rid of his beard now." I ran to the ladder and hastily climbed down. Kane stood at the bottom of the ladder; I was a little shocked that he had raised his voice. The boy was covered in dirt and his knees were dripping blood onto the floor beneath him. There were tears in his eyes and a small cut on his forehead. "What happened?" I asked. When both my feet were on the ground he ran to me and gripped my middle as he sobbed into my shirt.

Kane tried to speak, but every time he opened his mouth he only managed to say, "it's all my fault."

A/N: Hello again. I Hope everyone who is american had a wonderful fourth of July and that everyone else had a great week. Sorry this chapter was a little late, I didn't want to rush my Beta during the holidays. On the subject of being late, I forgot to thank both Googlegirl and LightningWolf603 for their reviews. Those made my week. I'll try to update by next Saturday, but this summer is a bit hectic. Anyway enjoy your week everybody!

-Ananimous