And here is the next chapter in this story of adventure and sacrifice. This chapter happens to be (expertly) written by my good friend Tsukikage1213. The character, Shandrey, is in fact originally her's so it only seems natural. Anyway I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. Enjoy! Now!

Chapter Eleven

The Innocent Life

The sky darkened as the sun dipped lower and lower into the rolling mountains in the east, night soon followed

The sky darkened as the sun dipped lower and lower into the rolling mountains in the east, night soon followed. In the Kitsune Valley, the farmers left their fields, and people left the streets to take refuge in their homes from the cold. Bright lights flickered in the windows.

People were still weary of the night, as only a few years ago the world had been plagued by dark creatures that revelled in the dark shadows of the night. The darkness still petrified most people.

In a house built along the hillside overlooking the valley, mirthful laughter broke the peaceful silence of the valley. Three people, two adults and one teenager sat around a dining table in, which one would guess it to be, a dining room.

"Are you serious?" Elm demanded between fits of laughter, his eyes starting to water. They were strange eyes; one was blue while the other was a forest green.

The other young man sitting across from him, nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am being perfectly serious," he replied as he took a sip from his cup of steaming tea.

The flame-haired man wiped his eyes. "I always knew there was a fiery spirit under her cool, calm, demure."

Lee nodded, his striking blue eyes cast down to his tea. "She does not like that side of her, so she tries to cover it up with her demure side." He lifted his gaze to the door where excited talking could be heard. "That part of her reminds her to much of what she could have been, and it frightens her."

Elm's mirthful smile vanished. "I can imagine, but I've always wondered what… well… she did to her." He took a sip of his tea. "Ya know, while she was in captivity. Must have been quite awful, awful enough to make her afraid of one of her own emotions." He glanced up at Lee again. "Sorry… if I spoke out of context, Lee."

Lee shook his head. "No, it is fine. She and I have just never spoken of it, and I do not really expect her to. She will tell me in her own time."

A silence followed, one that made even Katara, all but forgotten in the background, feel uncomfortable even if she was not included in their conversation. A number of things made her feel uncomfortable. One being that she had been allowed to join in on their dinner; and another being the loose-fitting over-sized T-shirt Shandrey gave her to borrow that reached only an inch past her knees, and the baggy black trousers she had found in one of the draws of the dresser that was in her temporary room.

Elm finally broke the silence. "I just wonder, what would Shandrey have been like if what could she have been… have been?"

Lee shut his eyes. "I shudder to think."

A smile formed over Elm's lips. "Would it have made any difference to that poor pick-pocket?"

Once again, laughter penetrated the valley's silence. Katara found it wondrous, as she had never seen either of them laugh like they did. In fact, it was the first time she had heard anyone laugh in that era. The hefty sadness was obvious to Katara when she entered their era, and to hear laughter from even one soul was music to her ears.

The door Lee had glanced at opened and two women stepped through carrying plates with them. Their ages were an obvious two decades apart, but the likeness between them was uncanny to a stranger's eye.

The younger one glanced between the two men with a smile, and she settled her gaze on the one with unruly dark-brown that settled halfway down his neck. "Reminiscing on old times, are we, Lee?" she teased.

He gave her a smile that revealed everything. "No, not really. I was just mentioning the incident with the pick-pocket when we were in India."

Shandrey sighed. "Nayia never let me forget it afterwards; I'm sure she still laughs when she dreams about it."

"Well, you did give him quite an earful of your opinion on his 'unconventional ways of living'."

Shandrey playfully punched his shoulder. "Don't you start."

Elm and Lee chuckled again somewhat as she took a seat next to Lee. The older woman placed the remaining dish down on the table and headed back into the kitchen.

Katara noticed Shandrey had finally changed out of her evening gown and had put on a simple, long-sleeved, pale blue top over a pair of dark blue trousers made from a stiff-looking material she could not name.

"Who was she?" asked Katara, who had been all but forgotten in the background, startled them with her voice. It was as if she had been invisible up until that moment.

"Who was who, Katara?" Shandrey questioned.

"That woman," Katara replied, pointing to the door where she had vanished through only a moment ago.

"Oh, that was my mother," Shandrey answered, taking a few pieces of potatoes and boiled vegetables on to her plate.

"Then why doesn't she sit and eat with us?" Using the tongs (which she eyed curiously), she picked off a few chunks of meat from the roast chicken.

Shandrey raised and lowered her shoulders. "We don't know, but she just likes to eat alone. We tried to get her to eat with us once before, but she blatantly refused." She shoved a spoonful of boiled vegetables into her mouth. "Her loss, really," she said.

Katara picked up her fork (which she also eyed curiously), and stabbed one of her pieces of chicken. "So, what does she do all day?"

Shandrey swallowed before replying. "She helps keep things in the valley running smoothly. She's gone when Lee and I wake up, but she's always back in time to cook dinner."

Katara eyed Shandrey strangely. "You didn't cook any of this food?"

A snorting chuckle caught their attention. Lee ducked his head to hide his chuckling smile, but it did not fool Shandrey. She lifted her hand and smacked his shoulder again. "My cooking isn't that bad," she protested.

He placed his fork down and faced her with a smile. "Shandrey, need I remind you of the last time you tried to cook."

Shandrey sighed, knowing that she had been beaten. "Okay, okay, so I can't cook to save my life, happy now?" She turned back to Katara. "Does that answer you question?"

The young Water Tribe teen smiled. She had a pretty smile, Shandrey realised. "Yes, I suppose it does."

The rest of dinner was spent eating, and sharing small stories of their past few years. But even though none revealed it, they all felt the heaviness of their task. They all knew that a great danger was looming ahead, and ancient powers were being evoked. The fate of the whole world was resting on their shoulders. Again.

After dinner, Elm volunteered to help Shandrey carry the dishes into the kitchen. It was Shandrey's turn to wash and dry the dishes that night. They decided that she would wash the dishes and he would dry and put them away.

"Hey, Shan," he said using the nickname most of the original gang used, "Where does this plate go?"

She lifted a gloved hand from the boiling hot water and pointed to a row of cupboards behind her. "The one on the far left, that's where we keep most of the plates… that's if Niang has moved them again. She does that when she feels she has nothing to do."

Elm moved over to the cupboard and opened the door. "She hasn't, by the looks of it," he said and placed the plate on the top of the stack. "So tell me, how's Nayia these days? I thought she was living with you and Lee?"

Shandrey paused with the dishes. She sighed and turned around to face him, pulling the rubber gloves off her hands. "She isn't," she replied sadly.

Elm narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why not?" He always thought of her and Nayia like sisters. He knew they were the best of friends, and were overjoyed when they were going to be sister-in-laws.

Shandrey sighed again. "It was mostly all her decision. A year ago when we moved back into this house, she, like Lee, was glad to be settling down at last in one place." She smiled coyly at Elm. "I wasn't ecstatic about it, I liked the travelling life, but they endured it all for me, so I decided to return the favour and try and make the best of it." She lowered her gaze again. "The main reason why Nayia left was… because…" her voice trailed off.

Elm took a step closer. "What's the reason?"

A tint of red blossomed on Shandrey's pale cheeks. "It's because…" she fidgeted with her fingers. "… It's kinda embarrassing…" she mumbled.

He raised and lowered his shoulders. "You can tell me, I'm your friend, remember?"

"Yeah, but…" the red on her pale cheeks darkened.

"Come on, I'm curious now-"

"She walked in on Lee and me, okay!" she snapped, and lowered her head in a futile attempt to hide her scarlet face.

Elm had to cover his mouth in order to hold laughter in. "Doing what?" his grin was wide enough o crack his face in two, reminding her of a school boys expression.

"Use your imagination, idiot," the Waterbender mumbled darkly, giving him the iciest glare she could muster.

He couldn't hold it in any longer; he doubled over and let it all out. His cracking laughter echoed around the kitchen area. Shandrey simply leaned against the edge of the bench with her arms crossed over her chest. She rolled her eyes, wondering if it had been a good idea to tell him.

After a while, he straightened up and took a deep breath.

"Are you quite finished?" Shandrey demanded, eyeing him icily.

His grin remained intact. "I might be," he replied.

She rolled her eyes again. "Anyway, when she did that…" Shandrey chose to ignore his snicker. "We were more embarrassed then anything, so we were irrational about what we said. Nayia felt then that she was… intruding on Lee's married life. I tried to insist to her that that was not true, and that we loved having her around, but she wouldn't hear any of it. Next thing we knew, she had packed and left."

"So, you don't know where she is?"

"Oh, yes we do. We send her letters sometimes, but the post is quite slow, so we send her only a few a year." Suddenly, she lowered her voice and stepped closer to him. "But, Lee feels something has changed, like she's in danger."

"What do you mean?" he asked, lowering his voice as well.

Shandrey shook her head. "I'm not too sure, but Lee suddenly got some kind of message while we were in Paris. He insists that it was from her, asking for help."

"And you believe him?"

She nodded. "I've never doubted him with his telepathy."

Another smile spread across his face, not the usual boyish smile, but a genuine one. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, by the sounds of things, our paths cross once again. We're all in this together."

Darkness was one of the only things that Shandrey considered to be one of the worst things than death itself. Not the darkness that one sees every time they turn the light out at nighttimes, but the kind of darkness that is so thick that one cannot see their own hand. To Shandrey, the darkness was like a shroud, chocking her and drowning her.

Suddenly, she saw a figure emerge from the darkness. Immediately, Shandrey felt a twinge of resentment. She had never seen this person before in her life, but a part of her felt that this person was to be feared.

As the figure came closer, Shandrey saw that it was a young woman not much older than herself. The woman had jet black hair that was tied up in a top knot, and was dressed in scarlet robes. The strangest thing about her was her eyes, they were gold.

She halted when she was a few feet away from her. For a while, she simply just stared, as if she were sizing her up. Shandrey mentally prepared herself for combat.

Finally, a chilling smile spread across the strange woman's face. "Hello, Yue," she said.

Shock pulsed through Shandrey as she heard what the woman called her. Only one person had ever called had that, was this woman connected to Katara in any way at all?

"Who – who are you?" Shandrey stuttered. She tired to muster a demanding tone, but her attempt was painstakingly futile.

The woman stepped closer, her gaze blazing with fiery confidence. "Why, you should know who I am. We go way back."

The way she emphasised 'way' sent cold shivers down Shandrey's spine. She took a step back. "I'm – I'm really sorry, but you have the wrong girl! I…" Shandrey turned run, but a wall of flame spontaneously combusted before her. She turned, and the flames spread out to form a ring around the two of them. Realization settled in. She was trapped. Trapped in a ring of fire with this woman who was clearly three different types of crazy.

"I assure you, I do not have the wrong woman. You are who I say you are, Princess Yue of the Water Tribe," the woman purred.

Shandrey gulped at her tone, she could not remember that last time she felt this scared. She winced as she finally felt the searing heat from the wall of flames radiate through the flimsy material of her nightgown. She stepped away promptly.

"What do you want with me?" Shandrey demanded, though her tone of voice still betrayed her wishes.

The woman glanced at her sharp fingernails as though uninterested. "Nothing much, I just wanted to talk is all." She shifted her piercing gaze to Shandrey. "We haven't seen each other in over a thousand years, and that is quite a long time, right?"

Shandrey gulped down her fear. "Who are you? Tell me!" She hoped that attempt was better executed than the last few.

A strange smile spread across her face, and she stepped up closer to Shandrey. She did not stop until their noses were virtually touching. "But my dear old friend," she whispered. A small flicker sparked in her eyes. "Surely you noticed…"

All at once, her eyes started to glow, and her hair fell out of its top knot to flout around her in shimmering colours of blue, silver, and crimson. The fire surrounding them started to close in on them, and the flames started to build themselves higher and higher. The woman's eyes then went from gold to an icy blue, and her hair settled on crimson. The darkest crimson Shandrey had ever seen. Darker then dried blood.

The fire did not stop closing in on them. The woman seemed unfazed by it. Her grin turned malicious, and her mouth opened to let out a full throttled laugh. The fire surrounded her, and engulfed Shandrey in its murderous rampage...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Her scream woke herself up, making her shoot up into a seating position on her bed. She was still shivering from fright when she realized she was awake and safe in her bedroom, soft, spring moonlight streaming in from the windows. She couldn't stop another scream when she felt hands being placed on her shoulders, even though she knew who they belonged to. A click from beside her told her that the lamp on the bedside table switched on, letting off a small ray of light. Her heart was still beating rapidly in her chest.

"Sh, sh, it's oaky," Lee whispered to her. He placed a hand on her cheek, making her face him. "It is only me, you're safe."

Despite her strongest efforts, tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her pale, moonlit cheek. "Oh God, Lee, it was horrible. Just horrible beyond belief," she whispered.

Her hands clutched her head, trying to steady herself. Lee wrapped his arms around her, placing her head gently in the crock of his neck. His hand gently brushed her back. "It's okay; it was just a bad dream."

Shandrey shook her head. "No, Lee, you don't understand! It wasn't just a bad dream, it was… it was…" she could not speak of it any more. She buried her face in his neck, letting out muffled sobs.

Lee's hold on her tightened somewhat, his hand brushed over her head. Shandrey's muffled sobs softened when he placed his lips softly on her forehead. She, in return, placed a slender hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. Her ebony hair shone in the dim light and her dark eyes focused on him with uneasy intensity. Every inch of her never failed to take his breath away.

His lips moved from her forehead, to her face, to the smooth skin of her cheek, then finally to her lips. All the while he gently eased her down until her head lay comfortably on the pillow. Her thick, wavy hair was spread out like a fan. She let out a sigh as his feather-light kisses moved down to her neck. She then felt an over-powering yearning posses her, an ignited flame spreading through her. It was nothing new to her, but the feeling was the same every time, and she was glad it was.

"Lee?" she mumbled.

"Hmm?" he replied, moving down to her collarbone.

"Turn the light out."

She felt his lips twist into a knowing smile against her skin as his bare arm stretched out and switched the small lamp off. The room was instantly dark, but she did not mind. It was a different kind of darkness, a darkness she always felt perfectly safe in.

Morning came too quickly as Shandrey frowned. She peeked out from under her eyelids at the soft, morning rays. Since it was mid-spring, the morning was contently warm. When she moved to slip out of the warm arms wrapped protectively around her, she was pulled back and the arms tightened.

She smiled blissfully. "I have to get up this morning, my dear. Our little guest needs to be checked up on," she said.

She heard him grunt, and he released her from his arms. She giggled as she took a dressing gown from the wardrobe, slipped into it, and left the bedroom closing the door softly behind her.

Shandrey judged that it was no later than half past eight in the morning. She usually arose much earlier than that time, but that morning was an exception to that tradition. The house was silent telling her that everyone was either awake already and outside, or still asleep.

Halting outside the first guest room, she quietly slid the door open and peered in. It was empty, aside from the dresser and vanity, and an unmade bed in the corner. She is awake, Shandrey realized. But where is she?

After a short moment's contemplation, she decided she would resume her search after a quick shower. She quietly headed back to the bedroom she shared with Lee; she slipped inside to find some clothes. Lee still lay in bed as though asleep, his body half under the covers. He looked peaceful, magnificent, Shandrey realised. He had not changed much over the past few years, physically. But Shandrey did not mind. He cared for her in a genuine manner, loved her for all her flaws, listened to her when she needed a caring ear. Yes, that was all she really cared about. But, perhaps physical attraction did somehow find it's self in the mix as well…

She brushed the thoughts aside, she had someone to find. Opening the wardrobe, she grabbed a content fitting lilac top and a pair of dark grey trousers which reached down to her mid-shins. She grabbed the rest and left the room.

In a daze, she headed to the bathroom on the other side of the house. She opened the door and saw a figure gazing at the shower oddly. It was Katara, but she appeared so suddenly, Shandrey could not help but let out a shriek.

Katara jumped slightly as well, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was only Shandrey.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," Shandrey said, setting her clothes aside.

"Sorry," Katara replied, raising and lowering her shoulders.

"It's alright," Shandrey told her. "What's wrong?"

Katara pointed to the shower head and taps. "What is this?" she asked.

Shandrey smiled and placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. She was still wearing the over-sized T-shirt and baggy trousers she had given her to borrow. "It's a shower," Shandrey told her.

The Water Tribe teenager glanced up at her with a confused expression. "A what?"

"A shower," Shandrey explained. "You use it to wash yourself with, like a bath."

Katara nodded, starting to get the picture.

Shandrey reached over and turned the cold tap. Katara jumped back as a spray or water similar to rain came showering down from the showerhead, or in Katara's prospective, 'The odd-looking metal pipe thing coming out from the wall'.

"Of course, this water's cold," Shandrey continued. "You want warm water."

Katara gasped and stepped back over to her. She remembered all the trouble she and her friends had to go through to get washing water even the slightest bit lukewarm until they decided to just be happy with the water cold.

"It's fine!" Katara protested. "I'll be perfectly happy with the water being cold-"

"Nonsense," Shandrey replied. "You're our guest, so you shouldn't have to settle with the satisfactory." She reached over and turned the hot tap slightly. "That should warm the water up for you. There's shampoo over there if you want to wash your hair, and this is a bottle of shower gel to wash yourself with." She pointed to each bottle as she mentioned them. "I'll go and get you some proper clothes, what you're wearing now'll only pass off as pajamas."

Before Katara could question her further, Shandrey stalked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Katara glanced at the raining water. She raised and lowered her shoulders, deciding that Shandrey was telling the truth.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Shandrey got another shock when she was heading down the hallways back to her bedroom. She found both Lee and Elm standing in the hallway holding their weapons. She guessed they did not have time to dress properly as Lee only had time to pull on trousers of his gi and grab his katana, and Elm had quickly pulled on a pair of jeans before grabbing his staff and rushing out of his room to meet Lee.

Shandrey gazed at them wondrously, wondering what had possessed them to do such a thing. "What is going on?" she asked with an amazed smile on her face.

"We heard you scream," Elm replied sheepishly. "Wasn't like the one I heard last night from your room, but you did scream."

Lee chose to ignore Elm's last statement. He was better at that kind of this than Shandrey. "We thought you were being attacked."

Shandrey smiled, happy that they both cared about her safety. "Well, I wasn't being attacked. Katara just gave me a fright, that's all," she replied, and walked through them to her room.

As she sorted through her clothing collection, she wondered what size Katara was. She guessed Katara would fit her clothes, as she was quite small as well. But, given that she was a few inches taller than her, she decided to be safe and choose a plain blue sleeveless top and a cream-colored skirt that reached her knees. She also grabbed a few undergarments as well.

Heading back to the bathroom, she saw that the door was still closed and the water was still running. Shandrey knocked on the door and asked, "Are you okay in there?"

Katara's reply took a few moments. "How do you turn the… thing off?"

"Turn both taps to your left simultaneously!" Shandrey replied.

Her next reply took a few moments. "Okay!"

Almost immediately afterward, the water stopped running. A few seconds after that, the door opened revealing Katara wrapped in a blue towel and her hair dripping wet.

"Did you use the shampoo?" Shandrey asked.

Katara nodded warily. "I used that bottle you pointed to when you mentioned 'shampoo'," she replied hesitantly.

"How much did you use?"

Katara thought for a moment. "About as much as I could fit into my palm. Is that okay?"

Shandrey nodded. "Yeah, that's fine, Here are some clothes I picked out for you," she said handing her the pile in her arms which Katara took.

"Thank you," she replied, closing the door.

She took longer than anyone normally would, but Shandrey understood why. Katara was from another era, so she would have a bit of trouble with modern day clothes. When Katara did emerge, however, she had the top and skirt on correctly, but she was picking at the area on her upper back with a frown on her face.

"I don't know what that thing was that you gave me, but it's irritating me," she grumbled.

Shandrey placed a finger on her chin, and tilted her head to one side. "Do you have it on properly?" she enquired.

Katara raised and lowered her shoulders. "I wouldn't know! I've never seen a… garment like it!" she replied irritably.

Shandrey sighed. "Turn around, let me see what's wrong," she instructed Katara.

She did as she was instructed, and Shandrey lifted up the back of her T-shirt. She saw what was probably making Katara uncomfortable. "No wonder you feel uncomfortable, the straps are twisted." Undoing the back, she untwisted the straps and did it up again. "Feel better?"

Katara thought for a moment. "A bit better, but it may take me little while to get used to it."

"You would," Shandrey replied, and turned to the bathroom door. "Now if you excuse me, I desperately need a shower."

The Water Tribe teenager tilted her head to one side. "Desperately? Why?"

Shandrey halted in her tracks and turned back to Katara. She chuckled and smiled at her before closing the door behind her. Katara saw, when she chuckled, a familiar glimmer in her eyes. The same glimmer she saw in her eyes when they escaped from Paris.

Katara turned and headed to the kitchen with raised eyebrows.

Nayia sat on a chair in her assigned room. Just that morning, she had to instruct a class of young girls on the art in Ninjitsu. They had been willing, eager students, but teaching them the art had brought back painful memories to her. She did not want the girls to go through what she had to, but there was something about Hotaru that frightened her. Nayia sighed; at least the girls' teacher would not be as brutal as hers had been.

A knock on the door pulled Nayia from her thoughts. She stood up from the chair and stepped over to the door, and answered it. A rather handsome young man with dark brown hair stood in the threshold, it was Julian.

He smiled. "Hello, Miss Nayia," he said.

Nayia didn't know whether to smile or frown. "Hi… Mr. Julian," she replied uncertainly.

He chuckled. "Just call me Julian, Miss Nayia."

"Okay…" Nayia said. He was a strange one. "What's with the whole 'Miss Nayia' thing?"

"I said I wished to court you, I should show you some respect, correct?"

Nayia ran her tongue over her teeth. "I… guess so… how old are you, Julian?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Twenty-seven," he replied. "And you, Miss Nayia?"

"Same as you," she replied. "My older brother is two years older, and my sister-in-law just turned twenty-eight."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Sister-in-law? Your older brother is married?"

Nayia nodded. "Yep, and it took him over ten years to admit he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. I knew there was something between them from the start."

They moved over the sofas and took a seat.

"So, is that why you do not live with them anymore?" he asked.

Nayia eyed him suspiciously. "Yes and how do you know that?"

Julian raised and lowered his shoulders. "Secret's can't be kept in this place, so tell me why you do not live with your older brother and his wife anymore?"

Nayia sighed, and wondered how to explain it. "Well… I kind of did something that made me realise that… well… I do not belong in my brother's world anymore," she explained melancholy.

"And why is that?"

Nayia shut her eyes. "My brother, he has his wife pretty much sussed, and there was no more reason for me to be around. You see, growing up, I was the one who he confided to when something bothered him. Most of the household chores fell to me because he was too young to marry. We were more than just brother and sister, we were best friends. When Shandrey came along, she and I became quick friends, and when I noticed the feelings that were growing between them, I thought how cool it would be to have a sister. Someone I could hang out with. But now that I see what… I see that it's different to how I imagined it. Now that he is married, it's like…" she found she could not go on.

"It's like he no longer needs you around, and you feel like he has, in a way, replaced you," Julian finished for her.

Nayia stared at his wondrously, and nodded. "Yes, that's exactly how I feel! How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"I suppose you could say I have been in a similar position as you are in at this present time," he replied. He sounded like he was deep in thought.

"I guess you can also add that I'm a little jealous as well," Nayia admitted.

"Jealous? How?"

Once again, Nayia had to think about how she could reply. "Well, they say that there is someone for everyone. My brother found his someone at the mere age of sixteen. Me, I'm twenty-seven, and I haven't found my Someone." Nayia paused before continuing. "My brother, growing up, got all the luck because he was our father's only and favourite adopted son. But he never did have a lot of luck with girls."

Julian leaned in a bit, interested. "And why would that be?"

Nayia raised and lowered her shoulders. "He just never knew what to say, I guess. Shandrey was always different. I could sense there was something about her that set her apart from other girls. It's not just because she's strikingly beautiful."

Julian smiled somewhat and raised an eyebrow. "Strikingly beautiful, you say?"

The ninja frowned at him. "Shandrey and my brother are very much in love and are happily married. She is taken, so don't even think about it."

His smile turned teasing. "Think about what?"

"What do you mean 'think about what?'?" Nayia demanded. She jumped to her feet, and jabbed an accusing finger at Julian. "I may be a tad jealous of their happiness, but that doesn't mean I want to destroy it!"

Julian leaned back and held his arms up as if surrendering. "I was just joking; I would never want to break up a perfectly happy couple just because the woman was beautiful. You are too serious."

Nayia shook her head. "Just when it comes to that sort of stuff. Shandrey is way more serious than me."

Julian nodded. "Well then," he began, as he rose to his feet, "How would you like to walk with me around the garden later?"

Nayia thought for a moment. Was it really right? They had just spent the later half an hour talking and she had talked about things she had not even mentioned to her most trusted monk. Did it really seem right to accept his offer, and perhaps giving him the wrong idea about her feelings for him? It was not that he wasn't a seemingly nice person, or that he wasn't good looking. He was, in fact, quite a handsome young man.

But, despite her conflicting thoughts, she did not want to be rude. She nodded. "Alright, later on."

The valley was quite a peaceful utopia, Katara decided as she and Shandrey strolled past modest looking houses, and farmland. They seemed to all know Shandrey, as most of the people waved and/or smiled as she walked by them. Shandrey, being a genuinely polite person, would wave back and cry: "Good morning!"

"So," Katara began. "Everyone knows you."

Shandrey nodded. "Well, they should. As my friends and I saved the valley a few years ago."

Katara raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Shandrey nodded. "Really, really."

They soon passed the last farming field and found themselves on a grassy ridge over-looking a beautiful gully. Growing by the edge was a large tree, its large roots kept the small cliff together. Its branches grew over the edge of the cliff leading down into the gully. It was obvious the tree was many thousands of years old.

Shandrey dropped herself down on the grassy ground, and leaned against the ancient roots. "Ahhh… I love this place," she sighed and breathed in deeply.

Katara gazed over the tree with awe. "This tree is beautiful. It must be very, very old."

Shandrey nodded. "Most trees are ancient. This one was around when you were born." She breathed in again. "Just listen, all sounds die out here and all you can hear is the sound of the stream in the gully. Just shut your eyes… and listen."

Katara shut her eyes, and drowned out all other thoughts. She heard the trickling of the water in the gully. The sound was natural, riveting, and peaceful. She sighed, and felt all guilt and sadness fade away.

The Water Tribe teenager turned back to Shandrey with a smile. "I could hear it, and it is peaceful."

Shandrey chuckled, and starched out her arms. "I thought you would."

Katara lifted her head, preparing herself. "I also figured out something else."

"Oh, what?"

Katara stepped over to Shandrey, and sat down beside her. "You're paler than usual, and your hair is thicker than before."

Shandrey's smile faded. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

Katara took Shandrey's hand in hers. "Shandrey… you're pregnant."

She expected an explosive rant, denying every word from her, or maybe a holler of questions asking 'how', and 'why'. But she did none of those; she just sighed and laced her fingers together on her lap. "I knew someone would figure it out," she said.

Katara frowned. "How long have you known?"

"I suspected it about a month ago, so I visited the doctor on my own, and my suspicions were right. I was expectant. Doctor said I was three months along the line, so now… I'm nearly four months," Shandrey explained.

"You know, you start showing around that time," Katara pointed out.

Shandrey nodded. "I know that, so Lee would figure it out then."

Katara gasped, and placed her hand on Shandrey's shoulder. "You haven't told him?!"

Shandrey shook her head. "No. I've been meaning to tell him for a while, but whenever I do, I just don't know how to tell him. I don't even know if he wants children."

"All husbands what a family, I'm sure Lee would be no different."

Shandrey sighed and rubbed her belly. "In your day maybe, but this is a different time, and if you knew what most of us went through, you'd understand why I am feeling so weary about this."

"I'm… sure I would if you told me," Katara said.

Shandrey shook her head again. "It's a tremendously long story, and you wouldn't understand it even if I told you."

They were then silent for a moment, the only sound came from the stream in the gully. Its usual soothing sounds did nothing for their anxieties.

Katara breathed in. "So… are you going to have the baby?" she asked.

Shandrey nodded. "It's an innocent child, it's done nothing wrong. Why would I punish it for simply being conceived?"

Katara raised and lowered her shoulders. "Some women deliberately cause miscarriages simply because they don't want a child."

Shandrey sniffed, wondering how many innocent, young lives were brought to such an end. "Well, that's cruel and barbaric. If Lee loves me the way I love him, he'll love the child as well."

"So you're goning to tell him?"

Shandrey bit her lower lip. "I'll… get around to it…" She went over the words in her head, wondering if they were the right ones, because she certainly didn't think they were.

And there you have it! Let's give Tsukikage1213 a big hand, she did an excellent job on this. More soon to come, don't go away! I mean it.