Kali mopped her way down the dark, red lit corridor. She was accustomed to working odd jobs in the different villages she and Masami wandered through, but it had been a while since she'd been kept this busy this consistently. She couldn't decide if the asshat, bastard, cranky jerkface (she was trying to restrain herself from calling the prince too terrible of names for fear she might speak them aloud one day) kept her this busy just out of spite or because he didn't want her snooping around his ship. Probably a combination (although it hardly prevented her snooping, since her work essentially required her to go everywhere, including the crew and prince's rooms). Thankfully, Uncle absolutely loved her cooking and the rest of the crew seemed to enjoy it as well. Many even seemed relieved to have a steady cook once more. Zuko, of course, didn't really express an opinion when it came to her cooking, which was good as far as she was concerned.

She worked her way into the main cabin where the helmsman was doing his job, a few members of the crew were playing Pai Sho against Uncle, and Zuko was glowering. As she mopped around the table the crew sat at, she made a strange connection in her head.

"Fire Nation shoes look just like Fire Nation ships."

It took her a moment to register that she'd said this aloud. She was, after all, very tired, which was probably why she'd unwittingly lowered her guard. She'd tried to keep relatively quiet during her time with Zuko's crew, speaking just enough to establish a friendly and polite persona with the crew in hopes that they might not be too anxious to get rid of her. The crew stopped their game to stare at her now, their looks a mix of confusion and surprise. Even the helmsman turned to look at her. Zuko took a quick break from his glowering to make a face at her like she was an idiot. Then Uncle laughed.

"Ba ha ha! You're right! I'd never even thought of that! Our ships DO look a lot like our shoes."

Kali felt a wave of relief sweep over her as everyone resumed their previous positions and stopped staring at her. She hastened to finish mopping in the room. She actually liked the crew a lot. Total, there were five regular soldiers and four fire-benders (aside from Zuko and Uncle) aboard the ship who doubled as the crew.

There was Lieutenant Jee, the tall fire-bending senior officer in charge (after Zuko and Uncle, of course). So far, he'd been polite enough to her, which was more than could be said for a lot of people she'd met in her travels.

Salvatore, or Sal as the others all called him, was also a fire-bender and seemed relatively young but clearly experienced (a long thin scar on his right arm and a few thick cuts on his left shoulder seemed to confirm that). He spoke very seldom so she knew little more of him than what was visible.

There was Hadji, a small, wiry man missing several teeth who looked like he'd fit in well with the pirate crew. In contrast to Sal, Hadji could barely restrain himself from speaking constantly and since Kali was the only person on the crew whom he outranked, he often spent his time (when he wasn't doing his job) in the kitchen telling her a myriad of stories.

Then there was Balbo, a seemingly perpetual optimist who was slightly chubby, and bald on top with a long white beard. He was a soldier and had actually been under Iroh (Zuko's uncle) back when he was a general leading the siege on Ba Sing Se. Kali often burned to question him about Uncle's military past and Ba Sing Se, but she was still trying to keep a relatively low profile on the ship.

The two other firebenders, aside from Jee and Sal, were brothers who were definitely new to this, named Garron and Obi. Garron could be a bit of a problem, as he loved to play pranks on his underlings. His sense of humor, however inconvenient it could be for her, was a great relief in contrast with the otherwise glum atmosphere of the ship (due primarily to the shabby state of the old ship and the driving, abrasive behavior of the prince in charge of it). Obi, in contrast to his brother, was soft-spoken and seemed far too tender-hearted to be a real soldier. He'd even managed to sneak a stray cat he'd found in the rain one day into the ship. She, Garron, and Hadji knew about it, but everyone else seemed mystified by the strange sounds they sometimes heard randomly around the ship (except for Uncle, who probably knew about the cat but insisted it was just the old pipes of the ship causing all the noise).

The helmsman, Garrow (not to be confused with Garron), was an older man who spent virtually all his time behind the wheel of the ship, which Kali imagined might be even more exhausting than her own job. At least she got some variety in her work. Garrow didn't speak much normally but occasionally shared some interesting conversations with Kali when it was just the two of them in the room. She suspected it was rather lonely at the helm.

Then there was Kahn, a soldier who'd taken a heavy blow to the head from an Earth soldier's hammer at some point. The trauma to his head had made him unpredictable, easily confused, and sometimes very ill-tempered. One of the random tasks Zuko often assigned Kali was to help keep Kahn out of trouble.

Lastly, there was Adar, who was probably only a couple of years older than herself and Zuko. He was impulsive and moody, but to a much, much lesser degree than Zuko (especially since he couldn't afford to act out too much when around the prince). When she'd asked, he'd said that when he'd joined the military, he'd hoped to be doing something more exciting and rewarding than constantly riding around on a ship, getting seasick, and failing to capture the Avatar.

As a general rule, Zuko's crew was a motley one, composed primarily of people who were either older and worn from previous duties, very inexperienced, or potential problem causers. They had been good to Kali so far, though, as had Uncle, welcoming her into the crew with very little protest in spite of the fact she wasn't a Fire Nation citizen, seaman, or soldier. They acted politely towards her as a general rule (some even seemed to treat her as one of their own as this point) and seemed to genuinely appreciate what help she had to offer. Uncle especially seemed to be fond of her, occasionally delaying her work with an engaging conversation. Only Zuko seemed stubborn to treat her as inferior and unnecessary. But then, everyone got treated as inferior by Zuko.

The group decided on a place to land, a dense forest they found that seemed as thought it would provide ample cover to conceal Appa so they could all rest. As they dismounted, Aang taught Masami a little about how the saddle they kept on Appa worked while the siblings set up a small camp. As Aang lifted the saddle off to the side with Airbending, Masami marveled at how different the places they were seeing were from what she was used to. Her home had been Kyoshi Island, and no where she'd seen outside of the town she'd met these kids in had been like that. The world was a vastly more beautiful place then she had given it credit for, she wondered if Kali was seeing some of the same things she was. She hoped so.

As they settled down to have some relax time, the little white monkey skittered off after a bug. Aang turned as he noticed the creature never came back.

"Where's Momo?" He asked. Sokka, Masami and Katara shrugged. They soon heard evidence of the animals distress echoing throughout the trees. They ran in the direction of the cries and came to a group of baskets hanging high in the trees. Traps, by the look of it.

"Hang on, Momo!" Aang cried as he leaped most of the trunk of the tree. He held onto the pulley that had taken the monkey into the tree and lowered the basket down so the others could free him. After seeing a hole, the creature hopped out of the basket, clutching the bug he'd caught for himself. Aang lowered himself to the ground only to take off again after the two trapped apes still in the tree.

"Alright, you guys too." He said as he started to free them.

"This is going to take forever." Sokka added, raising his boomerang. He tossed it, cut the ropes and sent the baskets crashing to the earth. Masami winced, but the animals seemed unphased. They skittered off back into the trees. Aang slide down the trunk of the tree, approaching the traps that Sokka had knocked down. Upon closer inspection, Masami realized they weren't baskets at all; they were made of metal.

"These are Fire Nation traps, you can tell by the metal work." Masami looked closer, she hadn't really ever had run ins with people from the Fire Nation, so all of this was new to her. "We better pack up camp, and get moving." Sokka said, his tone rather ominous. They moved back towards Appa, and started to pack the bison.

"Uh-huh. No flying this time." Sokka said, taking a bag from his sister.

"What? Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang questioned, his brow furrowed.

"Think about it, some how Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable." Sokka reasoned. He made a valid point.

"What? Appa's not too noticeable!" Katara countered.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!" Sokka shot back. Masami was more or less with Sokka on this one, but she kept herself out of it. She hadn't been here long enough to have an opinion. Appa opened his mouth for the first time, making a rather angry sort of noise. Masami shuffled backwards a little. Aang patted the Bison's head, "Sokka's just jealous cuz he doesn't have an arrow." Aang assured him.

"I know you all wanna fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and we should walk." Sokka tried again, cooling his temper some.

"Who made you the boss?" Katara snorted. Masami swallowed, she hoped this wasn't another fight. She didn't really care for fighting. She decided that maybe she could prevent one if she tried to make a point,

"I think Sokka's right, if they're looking for us like he thinks then they will probably be looking for Appa, right?" She asked. She kept her shoulders low so her body language didn't seem like she was trying to pull rank or make herself out to be right. She was just trying to help. Her adage seemed to fall on deaf ears as the siblings continued to bicker about the validity of Sokka being in charge.

"If anyone is the leader, it's Aang. I mean, he is the Avatar." Katara said, looking up at Aang with an expression that made Masami's stomach tighten, why was that? Jealousy was an ugly thing, apparently. But she wasn't jealous, nope. Not her. Though, despite the look on Katara's face, Aang seemed oblivious. He pushed the Leader comment off with a shrug while he hung upside down from the horn of his bison. Masami smiled lightly at him, and he swung off, landing with a flourish in front of her once he saw her looking. His face held a smile, and he seemed to wonder if she was impressed or not. She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as he seemed to be showing off, and she ducked her head. He might not have noticed the last few times she did this, but there was no way he missed that. He moved closer to her as the siblings kept fighting,

"Are they always like this?" Masami questioned as she picked her head up.

"It's been worse the last few days." Aang admitted, it seemed he didn't know what to do anymore than she did.

"Okay, we'll try it your way, oh wise leader!" Katara finally said, Aang slipped a bag over his shoulders, and handed Masami hers.

"Who knows, walking might be fun!" He said to the group. Masami nodded, keeping her head low still. She wasn't sure about this, but who was she to knock something before she tried it? She and Kali walked everywhere before this, this wasn't so different.

Kali looked around uncertainly, then walked into the room. She hadn't actually mopped in here before because the last time she'd been mopping he'd been in here and yelled at her for breaking his concentration with her knocking. She knew he wasn't here this time though and it was one of the last places she had left to mop today.

Zuko's room was about half the size as the room which housed the entire crew's beds. Its decorations were a bit more elaborate though. To one side sat a little desk with candles on it, which she knew he used for meditating purposes (which she found to be a big ridiculous, considering he was probably the least tranquil person she'd ever met). Above it hung a beautifully carved dragon face. On the opposite wall from her, a shield with dual swords not unlike her own hung. To her left, his bed sat with a huge fire nation emblem draped above it.

She glanced behind her and went back to mopping. She had a feeling her ears would be ringing for days if he discovered her in here, but he had told her to mop the WHOLE ship. Eventually curiosity got the better of her and she looked back at the swords, curious to compare them to her own (which had been confiscated on Zuko's orders when she'd first joined the crew). She had just begun to examine them when she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. She grabbed her mop and acted as if she hadn't finished. Good thing he had the tendency to stomp everywhere he went.

"What are you doing in here?" growled Zuko, standing in the doorway. She looked down at the mop, which seemed like it should be the one to offer the explanation, then said, "I'm finishing mopping. Yours was one of the last rooms I had left, and since you were in the main cabin, I knew I didn't have to worry about interrupting your concentration this time..." she paused, "Prince Zuko."

Addressing someone like that all the time, so formally, was really annoying. Especially when it was him.

"Well, now that you're done, get out!" He started to step in. Too late she tried to warn him it was still slippery. Bam! He slipped and fell, landing hard on his back. She looked down at him awkwardly, then decided she'd better at least offer to help him up. She held out her hand to him and, of course, he refused it and began to get up on his own, only to start slipping again. She grabbed his arm to help hold him upright, but his own weight combined with his armor pulled her off balance too and they fell in a loud clatter of armor, mop, bucket, and bodies to the floor. The bucket flipped over, spilling water all over her butt and around them. She looked down at his indignant face and said weakly,

"Maybe you should let me dry the floor first...your highness…"

Walking turned into not being a great idea apparently. The group got more and more fed up, but the good thing about walking was it gave the group a little more time to get to know each other. Masami spent most of the time walking with Katara. She found out she and her brother were from the Southern Water Tribe, and that she was the youngest and had been the last Bender in her home. The Fire Nation killed their mother, and they found Aang in an iceberg. She sort of knew that last part but not completely. She learned the unfortunate looking boy was actually a Prince, and his name was Zuko. She also told her about where they had been before this. They were heading towards the North Pole, and that was just about the time Aang started to complain about being tired.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang groused, pouting.

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's instincts!" Katara responded, with a snarky tone.

"That's a great idea! Hey! Sokka's instincts, would you mind-?" Aang's retort was cut off by Sokka.

"Okay, okay. Look, I get it. I'm tired too, but the important thing is is that we're safe from the Fire Nation..." He trailed off as they cleared through a bit of brush, and walked right into a Fire Nation camp.

"Run!" Sokka cried, throwing their things on the ground so they could move. Momo flew off Aang's shoulders as they shrugged off their packs. Masami scrambled to untangle herself from her bag in time to keep up with the group. She scrambled after Katara, and skidded to a stop as the group stopped short of being set on fire by one of the Benders in the camp. Sokka's shirt didn't escape the blaze though. Katara extinguished the flames, and the group all took up stances to fight as they were surrounded. Masami was quickly learning that this did in fact happen to them a lot. Maybe she never should have split off from Kali to go look at the pirate ship.

Sokka stepped in front of the group, and tried to lie his way out of them getting hurt. She admired his courage, though she wasn't optimistic it would work. But from the sound of his "bluffing" comment, neither was he. As the assumed leader of the group started for them, he was brought to his knees by some unseen force.

"Great work, Sokka! How'd you do that?!" Aang cheered. Before the group could really do anything, more soldiers were taken out by a boy who came from the trees above. Wielding what looked like swords but with some sort of curve, he threw two soldiers into each other, and tossed them into the pile of growing bodies before him. As soon as he'd appeared, more of them did the same. They came from the trees shooting arrows, throwing knives and using their weight to their advantage as they ambushed the troop.

As the others defended them, Aang moved and started to make the soldiers around them join the pile of bodies. Katara followed suit, and Sokka drew his boomerang. Masami hesitated only for a moment, before she brought up water from her own canteen to help Katara, she was thankful Katara had shared this idea with her, she hadn't thought of it before. She used the whip technique she had practiced with Aang a few days prior, moving her feet and arms to dispel a soldier on her own. It was only one, but it was still more than standing around and fretting. She noticed as she pulled herself up that she had managed to use less movement in the move and it felt more natural to her. That was a good thing, she was pretty sure.

As the fight drew to what felt like an abrupt stop, the boy with the curved swords made a move towards herself and Katara.

"Hey." He said with a smirk, and a composed pose, as if he hadn't just taken out many soldiers on his own. Masami returned her water to the canteen, and she pulled herself up as Aang joined them.

"You just took out a whole Army!" He mused, his voice impressed. Sokka scoffed, apparently not impressed. The boy continued, despite Sokka's outburst.

"My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters." He tossed his hair a little, Katara seemed entranced. Masami was unsure, Aang was impressed and Sokka was not.

After further introductions, Jet's group moved around and started to loot the camp. Masami stood off to the side, unsure of how she felt about all this. Sokka was making no moves to talk to the group, while Katara was moving off to talk to Jet privately. Masami kicked dirt around, looking from those she knew to the group she didn't. Every so often, she stepped aside so someone could get by but she remained silent. Before she knew what was happening, the creature named Momo sailed from behind her and took perch on her head. She glanced up at him, while he looked down over her bangs at her. His feet felt strange on her head, his eyes peered at her from an upside down angle, she smiled lightly, and he made a strange clicking sound she'd heard him make at Aang. He pulled himself back up, but kept himself on her head. She felt accepted, oddly enough.

As the group started to collect their finds to leave, they offered the group a place to stay. Katara spoke for all of them, and soon enough they were off walking again. They didn't go far till they came to an opening in the trees.

"Here we are." Jet said, Sokka looked skeptical.

"There's nothing here." He said, crossing his arms. Jet offered him a small rope made into a loop. Sokka took it, and soon was sent flying into the trees. Masami made an alarmed expression, and as the rope came back he offered it to her. She looked at Aang, then to Katara, and pulled the ape from her head so she would have something to do with her hands. Aang seemed to sense her distress,

"I'll take her up with me." He said happily, offering his hand to Masami. Masami smiled, releasing the lemur from her grasp. Momo flew up before them, and Aang pulled Masami to his side with the hand she held. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and soon they were sailing up into the trees.

She worked especially hard on dinner that night. She wanted it to be great. Awesome. Stupendous even. Not that Zuko would notice, but she figured that it wouldn't hurt to please Uncle even more than usual. She had decided to make roast duck (one of his favorites) and to brew gin seng tea (his favorite kind). He'd actually taught her one day some secrets to making exceptionally tasty tea (he ought to know, since he was, without question, a complete tea addict). Zuko's mood was even fouler than usual due to their little spill in his room earlier. Some support from his crew and especially his uncle would be nice, just in case he was planning on dropping her off at the next port or (she shuddered) throwing her over the side of the ship.

She carefully walked into Uncle's cabin. Since Zuko'd decided to spend the rest of the day sulking in his cabin, Uncle (or General Iroh, as she'd learned to call him) was taking his meal in his room. He greeted her with his usual smile,

"Ahh! Excellent! My favorites! Gin seng tea and roast duck! Is there an occasion I was unaware of?" he looked up at her, his smile widening. She smiled back,

"Nothing special, General Iroh. It's just nice to have someone who appreciates my cooking so much. Masami always seemed to like it fine, but she was never a really big eater."

She set it down on the little table in front of him and started to leave.

"I am sure your sister is doing well," he said abruptly and she turned, surprised. "The Avatar and his friends do not strike me as unkind people. In fact, from what we've seen of them, I'd venture to say they're quite nice really, at least when they're not being attacked."

She nodded slightly and glanced down. She hoped he was right. They'd seemed alright but that had been in the middle of a battle between pirates, fire-benders, and kids so she'd been a little distracted at the time. She looked back up at him and smiled slightly,

"Thank you," she hesitated, "I just hope we find them soon. I miss her a lot."

He nodded and gave her a kind look,

"I do not doubt we will locate them soon. Prince Zuko is very persistent in his quest and we already know that we are catching up to them, based on reported sitings."

Kali pondered what she would do once they found her sister. On the one hand, she would, of course, immediately reunite with her sister but after that, what then? The prince and his crew would be working to capture the people whom Masami appeared to have made friends with. Naturally, Masami would want to help them and so would Kali. She had very clearly stated her position when joining the crew. But, in spite of her efforts to keep from becoming too integrated into the crew, it was becoming harder not to care about them at least a little now that she'd spent a couple of weeks working alongside them almost constantly. They weren't just spike-topped masks and spears anymore. She frowned down at the roast duck as she carried it to Zuko's room. Stopping outside his door, she paused, then tentatively knocked.

"What is it?"

"Dinner."

"Leave it outside and go."

She scowled. At least there was one person on this ship she could count on having an easy time not caring about.

Aang seemed right at home among the trees once they reached the top, and into the village the kids had made for themselves. Masami would admit it was gorgeous up here, but getting close to the edge didn't sit well with her. As the group was moved to their temporary housing, she sat against the the window, looking outside as Aang buzzed around on zip-lines with Momo. She smiled, moving herself out of the cover of the house to go sit next to the Bison outside. If she was going to be traveling with the group, she wanted to get to know all the parts of it.

"Hi, Appa." She said gently, as she approached the large creature. He opened his mouth, and made a deep gurgling sound, but it wasn't threatening. He looked at her as she approached him, and he swiveled his large head around to press against her lightly. She smiled, and stroked his head. As his nudge ended, he went back to eating, and allowed her to sit next to him while he did so. As she sat, enjoying the quiet, she didn't hear Aang land near her.

"Appa likes you!" He announced suddenly, startling her. She sat straight up, but relaxed once she saw who it was.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said with a smile as he sank to the ground near her. As they chatted amongst themselves, Sokka climbed the ladder and sank down beside them.

"Katara said we have to go to dinner, but I don't want to." He groused, pulling his knees up and resting his chin there.

"We get food though, that's good right?" Aang tried, Sokka made a noncommittal noise, and they started down the ladders for food. Masami noticed Aang must have still seen apprehension in her, because his hand never left her back as he helped her off each ladder.

As they sat down at the head of the table, they listened as Jet gave a speech. It seemed they were no fonder of the Fire Nation then their group was. Masami twiddled her thumbs lightly, Aang catching onto it as Jet spoke,

"What's wrong?" He whispered, she looked at him, shaking her head for a moment before she decided to speak.

"My sister's a firebender." She said after a moment. Aang seemed surprised,

"But you're a waterbender." She nodded,

"And our father was an earthbender. He fathered Kali while he was a soldier occupying a fire nation prison, so she's a firebender." She admitted, scratching her thumb.

"But, she's still your sister, so that's what counts." He smiled, and she returned it, they looked up as Jet came to sit down. Katara slide closer to Jet and they started to talk quietly. Sokka blew up at his sister, announced they were leaving, and started off towards the ladders. Jet countered his attentions with the promise of taking Sokka on a mission the next morning, so Sokka permitted them to stay.

As the group retired to their room back in the highest tree, Aang and Masami were the first ones in the room, Sokka and Katara were exchanging words over by Appa. The room had a bed, and two hammocks hanging from the ceiling, Masami eyed them, tugging on one to make it unfurl. As she let go, it rolled up again. She wasn't sure how you were supposed to sleep in that, but before she could say anything, Sokka tore into the room, unintentionally knocked her out of the way and got in the hammock. She pulled her hand back to her side. Aang made a face at Sokka's back, but said nothing. Katara came in, and sank into the other one, turning herself to the wall. Aang and Masami looked at each other, and then at the bed. He motioned towards it,

"You take it, I can sleep on Appa." He said with a smile, she considered for a moment,

"It's plenty of space, you don't have to sleep out there if you don't want to." She said as she moved towards the right side. She took off her shoes, and she pulled the blankets back. He seemed to be considering as well, but he didn't go outside, he moved to the left and sank into the bed behind her. She laid on her side, facing the window.

"Goodnight, Aang." She said quietly. She felt movement as he shifted on the bed, "Goodnight, Masami!" He echoed, rolling once more before the movement ceased. The next morning she woke when sun started to filter through the windows. She made a move to get up, but there was a weight on her back. She looked over her shoulder to see Aang's head buried in her shoulders and his arms over her side. As she stirred though, she seemed to wake him up too. He blinked a few times, and then realized what he was doing. He blushed, and sluggishly pulled himself away.

"Sorry." He said with a glance at his hands, and a sheepish expression.

"Don't be, you weren't bothering me." She said with a smile, truth be told that was the best she'd slept in a while.

As the day progressed, she spent time with Aang and Appa mostly. Katara was here and there, helping around the camp and being productive. Sokka was with Jet, running a mission for food. They went into a nearby town and took some food from a rather wealthy man who refused to help anyone but himself. Masami wasn't about stealing, but this didn't bother her overmuch. The next day was spent much the same way. Katara helping the group, Masami and Aang flying around on the zip-lines she'd learned to not be scared of, and Sokka with Jet getting supplies for his group.

Having finished the tasks for the day FINALLY, Kali collapsed on her bunk, only to find herself restless. For a while she gazed at the soft red light emanating from the open doorway and listened to the sounds of the mostly sleeping crew. This wasn't her first sleepless night aboard the ship. Even after getting over her initial seasickness, she'd had difficulty sleeping. Always she'd stayed in her bunk anyway, concerned she'd meet with trouble if she ventured out at an unacceptable hour. This, time she decided to walk it off and slipped out the doorway quietly. So long as she didn't act suspicious, what harm could there be in a little stroll to the deck?

She padded softly down the long corridor. She paused briefly as she walked up the stairs and encountered Obi, who put a finger to his lips. He had been cuddling his ginger kitten, whom he'd named Fireball, but had hastily tried to hide him in his night clothes upon hearing someone coming. The kitten popped its head out of his shirt to look at her. She continued on until she came to Zuko's room. The dinner plate had been left untouched, the tea undrunk, and, to her surprise, the door stood ajar slightly. She glanced inside. He wasn't there. She looked down at the food, then glanced up and down the hallway. Picking it up, she used a small amount of firebending quickly to heat it back up (which felt refreshing, since she hadn't had a secure moment to practice since the day Masami'd joined the Avatar), then placed it on the desk inside his room. Even jerkfaces needed to eat.

Having finished her tour of the Shoeboat, as she was now calling it in her head, she headed up to the main cabin to see how Garrow was holding up. She supposed he must be exhausted at this point and swung by the kitchen to fix him a quick drink. She was surprised, therefore, to find Garrow missing upon reaching the cabin. In his place, Zuko leaned against the wheel. He seemed too preoccupied to notice her quiet entrance, his attention focused intently on the course that lay in front of him. He also seemed to be holding a conversation with himself (either that or some invisible entity present in the room). She stood just inside the doorway, unsure of what to do exactly and listened.

One morning a week or so after they ended up in the trees, Katara grabbed Masami's elbow while she was helping Aang brush Appa.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked. Masami cocked her head to the side, and she nodded. Tossing the brush back up to Aang, she started to walk with Katara.

"Can I be honest with you?" Katara asked, tentatively. Masami nodded, she considered her a friend, she wanted her to be honest. Katara hesitated,

"I...don't think I want to be part of the group anymore." She sighed, "I know it sounds dumb, and I know I promised Aang I would help him learn waterbending, but then we found you. And Aang really seems to like you. And you're a waterbender too! Then we met Jet, and I feel like I found something else that matters to me." She was talking fast and it was a bit jumbled as she seemed to be talking faster then she was thinking, but Masami assumed she knew where she was headed.

"I just don't know how to tell Aang and Sokka. Do you think they will be mad?" Katara's brow was furrowed, Masami wasn't sure what to say but she tried anyhow.

"I think they will be upset, but I think Sokka has come around to Jet. He speaks pretty well of him now, since he sees how they do things here. And I know you're made a difference here. The kids seem to really like you, and I think that helps Jet out a lot. And, Aang..well I think he'll be sad but I think he would understand too, he's reasonable." She didn't want to say the wrong things but she was honest. Katara was making a difference here, and Jet had a lot of people to take care of. She figured if she wanted to stay here and help Jet then the boys would see where Katara was coming from. Katara nodded, and they continued their walk along the pathways above the trees.

Katara broached the subject with Sokka while they were all in their room that night.

"I think it would be better, Sokka. We aren't getting along, and it's slowing the group down. You see how good Jet is here, and I'm a big help! He wants me to stay, and I want to stay." She said, crossing her arms.

"What about teaching Aang to waterbend and going to the North Pole?!" Sokka argued.

"He has Masami now, he doesn't need me!" She shot back, turning her head.

"We don't even know if she's planning on staying with us!" Sokka cried, Katara looked at Masami with a question in her eyes.

"I do plan to stay." She said with an awkward smile, and an equally awkward tone. Sokka didn't seem impressed, and he and his sister moved off as they continued to argue. Aang looked at her, his hand finding her leg as he used it as leverage to turn his body.

"You really wanna stay?" He said with a smile, as though she'd given some indication she didn't plan on staying. If she had done that, it was an accident.

"Yeah, if you'll have me, I'd love to stay." She'd sort of lost her sister, and didn't have many other friends. It's not like she had anywhere else to go. But beyond that, she liked this group, and she was being able to see the world. What was better then that?

After the exchange, Aang and Masami crawled into what had turned into their bed and settled into sleep. Aang started out sleeping closer to her then he normally did, and for once they slept facing each other. They were woken a while later by Sokka coming back into the room.

"We can leave tomorrow, all of us." His words seemed final, and Masami felt bad for Katara, but said nothing.

Kali stood motionless just inside the door, listening to Zuko and wondering whether to leave or not. She knew she should leave now before he noticed her but curiosity seemed to be getting the best of her as she remained frozen on the spot. He was speaking very quietly to himself in a low voice so she could only just barely make out some of what he was saying. There was mention of making someone proud and (of course) the Avatar and ...and...obtaining mustard? What?! That couldn't be right. If he wanted mustard so badly, why wouldn't he just say so? It was a bit easier to obtain mustard than the Avatar after all. They could stop at the next decent market and she could probably find some mustard seeds...

She concentrated a little harder, eventually coming to the conclusion that what he'd really said was something more like "regaining honor," which made much more sense. At any rate, she eventually decided once and for all that she couldn't just stand there eavesdropping on his one-on-no-one conversation. Quietly closing the door, she turned to leave, then stopped abruptly. Her usual feelings toward the prince could be summarized as an overwhelming desire to slap him. But, in certain brief moments, like this one, she was more inclined to wonder why he was the way he was. He had a chip on his shoulder the size of a flying bison (a creature which she still couldn't believe actually existed in the world) and a scar the size of a giant fist smeared across his face that she got the distinct feeling hadn't been put there by accident ("Oops, my mistake! Lost control of my fist while I was fire-bending and...yeah, sorry..."). In all her time aboard this ship, he'd been nothing but rude, obnoxious, reckless, and at times even a bit cruel. Yet surely there was something in him that kept his kind, loyal uncle by his side. What was it he was hiding?

She turned to face the door, pondering this, only to suddenly be face to face with Zuko, who ran headlong into her. For the second time that day, she found herself knocked to the floor, only this time, he was the one landing on top.

"Oooff!"

"Ohh!"

He gave her an especially sour, slightly crooked scowl that he seemed to be cultivating just for situations such as this with her and said, in his usual cheerful voice,

"WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!"

Picking himself up, he stomped off down the corridor, leaving her on the ground.

Some day, she really was going to slap him across the face, she told herself. She might regret it the moment after, but at the time, it would feel fantastic and, right now, she hoped there would be lots of people to witness it.

The group rose with the sun the next morning. Outside their cabin, Appa sat eating. Katara had brought food up for him. Aang and Masami saddled him up as Sokka collected the rest of their things. Masami stood off to the side as Jet said his goodbyes to Katara. Sokka seemed troubled as he moved around the camp but he didn't speak to anyone. The group all got into the saddle, and as they started to fly off, Sokka stopped. He spoke for the first time that day,

"Wait." He said. Everyone did, all just staring at him. "Jet...how would you feel about coming with us?" He said suddenly, surprising everyone.

Jet's rather oddly shaped eyebrows rose up his forehead, "Why the sudden change of heart?" He asked suspiciously.

"When I said I didn't want her staying here, it wasn't anything personal. But then I decided maybe I was wrong. But I didn't want to leave her here all the same. So I was being selfish. But then I had this idea, and thought just maybe if you came with us, she could be happy. And so could I." Sokka admitted, shrugged slightly. "I know you have your group, but they have Smellerbee and Longshot so I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it but I think they could make it without you. If you wanted to come." He continued, scratching the back of his neck. "And the more hands we have to help Aang get to the North Pole, the better I think." Jet was a good fighter, Sokka was making a valid point.

All eyes were on Jet as he seemed to contemplate what the right answer was. He looked at Smellerbee, and Longshot. They nodded, not having to speak. "Alright." He said simply after a moment. Katara's face lit up, Masami smiled slightly. Aang was as excited as he always was. Sokka smiled too, a bit. Little else was said as Aang and Sokka went to help Jet get the few things he planned to bring with him. After a hushed exchange between the rest of the kids, and Jet the boys climbed into the saddle and the group was ready to go.

"Yip yip!"Aang called, flapping the reins lightly as the bison rose above the trees into the sky. As the group got farther and farther away, Masami wondered where her sister was right then.