They were resting by a stream. Aang was panicking about having to learn three forms of bending in a matter of months and Katara had offered to help with what she knew of Waterbending. Sokka had been put to work scrubbing out Appa's toes. Kyuri was lounging by the water, watching the lesson. So far, Aang had succeeded in pushing and pulling the water and streaming it.

"You could help."

"I can't! It's against tradition."

"Traditions can be bent in emergencies you know. I doubt they old Dragora would fault you for aiding the Avatar is saving the world."

"I can't," Kyuri sighed. "I want to, but… Perhaps I can just, sort of…"

Kyuri stood across from Aang and Katara and raised her hands, a gigantic wave of water rising from the river. Lowering her hands, it slipped softly back down.

"I thought you couldn't teach us?" Katara asked. Kyuri huffed.

"I can't, and I won't. But I can practice and you can watch. What you glean from that is none of my business." That said, Kyuri went into an easy version of the octopus, keeping her movements carefully slow. She ran through a series of taolu with Katara and Aang before Katara returned to her teaching with a wave. Kyuri watched as Katara returned to her own tutoring with the wave move she had demonstrated.

"Now I haven't totally figured this one out yet," she admitted. She raised her hands slowly, fingers trembling. A little lump of water rose up before splattering back down.

"So… like this?" Aang asked, swooping his arms up. Water rose high over head and rushed down river, drenching Appa and knocking Sokka off of him.

"That's enough practice for today," Katara huffed, irritation palpable.

"Yeah, nice going!" Sokka shouted. "You two just practiced our supplies down the river!" he raged.

"Oh, sorry," Aang apologized sheepishly. "But I bet there's somewhere nearby we can get some supplies."

"There's a village about a mile to the north," Kyuri filled in. "Sangilak saw it when he was hunting."

"Great!" Aang cheered.

"My life was difficult enough when he was just an Airbender," Sokka huffed, slipping back down into the water.

So the journey was made to the village. Sangilak and Appa stayed behind to rest. Kyuri, who without a doubt was right up there with Aang in terms of having a very unique look, took off her paint and replaced her swords at her hips, hiding them under her cloak.

"I don't think I've seen you without that stuff on your face," Katara said. She couldn't help looking at Kyuri. The shift was staggering. Whereas before she had looked truly fearsome, like some sort of vicious spirit, without the decoration her features seemed a bit softer, less harsh. Her cheeks and chin were softer, although that sharpness had most definitely been transferred to her eyes, which peered around intently.

"Because I prefer it," Kyuri said tensely. Her body was shaking with nervous energy. They'd been in cities and villages before, but she'd always been wearing her paint. Without the physical embodiment of her constant mask she felt vulnerable and exposed. It didn't help that the people in this market place were considerably less scrupulous than the people in, say, Omashu. That was clear by the glares and the knives present at every belt.

"Okay," Sokka said. "We have three copper pieces left from the money King Bumi gave us. We have to spent it carefully."

"Make that two copper pieces," Aang corrected. He pulled out a whistle shaped like a bison. "I couldn't say no to this whistle."

"You don't get to hold money anymore," Kyuri muttered, casting glances as a pair of men who were watching them from across the street. Katara held out her hand and Aang forked over the two coins they had left. Across the street, the eyes of the two men brightened with a greedy glint. Kyuri twitched back the side of her cloak, revealing the hilt of her sword and the coiled rope of her meteor hammer. They muttered and disappeared down an alleyway.

"We should try by the docks," Katara suggested. "We'll be more likely to find cheap food there."

"Okay," Sokka nodded. They made their way around homes and businesses, following the smell of the sea and the cry of gulls to the docks. There were several ships docked with men on the pier, hawking their wares and competing with the stalls on the other side of the wharf.

"Fresh fish! Get your fresh fish! Freshest on the dock! Some of it's still wiggling!"

"Vegetables! Vegetables! Vegetables from all over the world!"

"Exotic tropical fruit from the Fire Nation! You'll swear you've died and gone to heaven when you bite into it!"

"Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! So long as bargains are your inclination you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!"

They walked along the docks, ignoring the competition until a tanned man in green with lank, stringy hair raced up and stopped them.

"I can tell by your clothes you're world traveling types!" he said, getting in their faces. Sokka pushed him aside and Katara and Kyuri followed along. Aang stopped, listening interested. "Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?"

"Sure!" he chirped, then his face twisted in confusion. "What are curios?"

The man paused, seeming to contemplate that for a minute. "You know, I'm not quite sure. But we got 'em!" He wrapped an arm around Aang in a friendly way and steered him towards the ship, jabbering away about their good prices and some of the interesting things they had. With no choice left to them, they followed.

They were taken down to the hold, which was indeed filled with curios of all sort, and from many different places. Aang was interestedly combing through a collection of small jars and knick knacks. Katara was transfixed by a stone monkey with eyes and a necklace of rubies. Sokka looked through some of the more luxurious items, painted screens and urns.

"That's the finest specimen of lemur I've ever seen," a voice said. A man appeared form a doorway, his grey eyes fixed on Momo with the gleam of a man who knew his merchandise. "He'd fetch a handsome sum if you'd be interested in bartering." The reptile bird on his shoulder squawked loudly.

"Momo's not for sale," Aang said defensively as Momo took shelter in his arms, chattering fearfully.

Kyuri felt the edge of her cloak shift a bit and her hand immediately flew down to grip the hilt of her sword on that side. It was already partially free of its sheath, thanks to the tanned man who had a hand on the hilt as well.

"Pardon my curiosity, missy," he said with a wide, snaggle-toothed grin, "but what does a sweet little thing like you have such a very nice blade for?" he purred.

"Swords are typically used for fighting in some capacity or another," Kyuri said coldly, batting his hand away and sheathing the blade.

"Hey, look at this Aang!" Katara called. "It's a Waterbending scroll."

Kyuri took that as her excuse to turn her back on the man and went to Katara's side with Aang.

"Look at these crazy moves," she said, staring at the nicely-painted stances splayed across the page.

"Where did you get a Waterbending scroll?" Aang asked the man who had offered to buy Momo.

The captain swept it away from Katara and rolled it up smugly. "Let's just say I got it up North, and at a very reasonable price. Free."

"Wait a minute," Sokka said, turning away from his perusal of some brightly colored silks. "Sea-loving traders with suspiciously acquired merchandise and pet reptile birds?" He turned on the man in green. "You guys are pirates!"

"We prefer high-risk traders."

"So, how much for the traded scroll?" Katara asked delicately.

"It's not for sale," the man cut her off. "I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom. Unless, of course, you kids have three-hundred gold pieces on you right now."

"Katara, I know how to deal with these guys," Aang whispered, holding out his hand for their coins. "Pirates love to haggle."

Katara looked understandably skeptical, but she held out her hand. Aang scooped up the coins and walked over to the captain, leaning up against the table and walking the coin around his fingers.

"What say ye to the price of one copper pieces?" he asked. The captain laughed in his face before sobering quickly.

"The price is two hundred gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare."

"Okay, tow copper pieces!" Aang tried.

"It's not as funny the second time, boy," the captain said, his tone now leaning towards annoyed.

"Aang, let's go," Katara said nervously. "I feel like we're getting weird looks."

He turned and seized his staff with a cry of, "Aye, we be casting off now!"

"Come back if you ever want to trade off those swords of yours," the man in green called after Kyuri, who narrowed her eyes but otherwise ignored him as they left the boat

The captain turned to the man in green. "What was all that about the girl's blades?"

"Didn't you see them?" his first mate asked. "Fire Nation, at least a century old. Curved, slender, single-edged blades and a two-handed grip."

The captain whistled, before his eyes landed on the shelf of scrolls. One in particular was absent.

Outside, Aang was curiously asking Katara why they were leaving so abruptly.

"I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection," Sokka said regretfully.

"I'll just feel better when we get away from here," Katara said, crossing her arms.

"Hey you! Get back here!"

"Well well, look who came to their senses," Aang grinned. "Told you the haggling would pay off."

Six pirates swung over the side of the pirate ship, all bearing weapons, many of them exotic. Kyuri catalogued assorted polearms, a pair of butterfly blades, nunchuks, a chain meteor hammer, and a set of kama before her eyes were caught by a strange bulge in Katara's sleeve. Her eyes widened.

"You did not-"

Katara nodded helplessly.

"Run!" Sokka yelled.

"Sangilak, come! We need a fast escape!"

"Coming!"

They turned and sprinted down the streets. Katara, Sokka, and Aang raced along the ground, but Kyuri hopped onto a barrel and used the added height to swing onto the rooftops and get a better idea of where everyone was. Katara flipped water onto the street and created an ice slick that sent one pirate skidding, but it was Aang hurling a cart full of cabbages that took the cake with a grand total of three pirates left dazed.

"Incoming on the right!" Kyuri yelled. Sokka skidded to a stop and corrected his course just before a trio shot around the corner. Kyuri took a running start and leaped, dropping to the ground and rolling to absorb momentum before coming up next to Sokka and racing alongside him. They hit a dead end not a minute later and turned to see the end of the street blocked by the trio.

"Who gets to taste the steel of my blades first?" the tan man challenged.

"No thanks," Aang said, and sent them flying with a sweep of his staff. A roar split the air, followed by screams.

"Our escape," Kyuri offered as Sangilak's tail draped down the side of the building. She hit it and began to climb, using the spikes as a ladder. Sokka and Katara followed her lead and Aang took to the air.

"I really don't like riding this thing!" Sokka yelled, his endearment earning a growl from sang as they flew off, leaving a stunned and upset marketplace in their wake.

"You know, I used to kind of look up to pirates," Aang admitted as they landed. "But those guys are jerks!"

"I know," Katara said slyly, sliding a scroll out of her sleeve. "That's why I took this." Sokka's jaw dropped and Aang's face lit up. Kyuri scowled. It was a risk, a risk she wouldn't have taken. Stealing from a group of vicious and merciless pirates was not something she would have logically considered a good idea. But yet, it had paid off.

"Sometimes the greatest rewards come after the greatest risks."

One part of Yoshio's words had been proven true. Kyuri wasn't sure if she wanted anymore parts proven true or not.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up!" Sokka protested. "You stole their Waterbending scroll!"

"I prefer to think of it as high-risk trading," Katara grinned. Kyuri shook her head. High risk indeed.

"Nice one Katara," Aang praised.

"Sokka, where do you think they got it?" Katara demanded. "They stole it from a Waterbender."

"That doesn't matter. You put us all in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes!"

"These are actual Waterbending forms!" Katara said primly. "You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn Waterbending!"

"Pfft, whatever," Sokka huffed as he stomped off up the river. "Kyuri, maybe you can talk some sense into her."

"Are you going to yell at me too?" Katara demanded, whirling on Kyuri, who raised an eyebrow at the confrontation.

"I don't yell," she said. "And… It was a risk, Katara, one you shouldn't have taken without letting us all know. However, in this case it paid off. In the future though, let us decide on taking such risks as a group."

"What's done is done," Aang agreed. "We have it so we might as well learn from it."

"Okay," Katara said. She opened the scroll on a boulder and ran her finger across a diagram of a form. "I just want to try this one form first and then it's all yours," she promised Aang. "The single water whip. Looks easy enough. Hold it open for me?"

Aang obediently held open the scroll while Kyuri leaned against Sangilak and shook her head.

"She'd like to think that. She's took overconfident, then too self-conscious. It's the strangest mix I've ever seen."

"She's too easily frustrated," Kyuri agreed. "She doesn't have the competency yet to pull this off in a real fight. Beginners must stay calm and keep their heads or the water will refuse to listen. Once she's achieved mastery, she'll be allowed the luxury of emotion in her bending, but not until then."

"It's a bit like fire, but flames are more destructive when they get out of hand."

"Not necessarily," Kyuri disagreed as Katara's water whip turned on her, leaving a red mark on her forehead.

"What's so funny?" Katara demanded of the giggling Sokka.

"I'm sorry, but you deserved that." He turned to Aang. "You're been duped! She's only interested in teaching herself."

"Aang will get his turn after I figure out the water whip!" Katara snapped. She turned back to the water and raised it, going through the forms, but the whip cracked backwards, nailing Momo in the rear. The lemur jerked in surprise and chattered in pain.

"Ugh, why can't I get this stupid move right?" Katara raged.

"You'll get it," Aang assured her. He put down the scroll and moved to the water. Kyuri caught Katara's unamused expression and leaned forwards, sensing trouble. Aang moved through the form flawlessly. "You just have to shift your weight through the stances." The water whip worked perfectly. "See? The key to bending is-"

"Will you please shut your air hole?" Katara screamed, stomping over to him. "Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes. Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted?" She turned on Sokka and Kyuri, who both looks nonplussed. "What?" she snapped, before turning back to Aang. She saw his face. His jaw was shaking and his eyebrows were twisted up in surprise and hurt. He looked near tears. She realized what she had just done and Katara's face immediately cleared of rage, instead covered with shame and apology. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry Aang," she apologized. She walked over to the scroll and rolled it up, proffering it to Aang. "But you know what? It won't happen again. Here, it's yours. I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

"It's okay Katara," Aang said, forgiving her as he took the scroll.

"What about Momo?" Sokka protested. "He's the real victim here!"

Katara bent down and cuddled Momo. "I'm sorry Momo."

"And what about me? There was that time you-"

"No more apologies!"

As night fell, they went through the routine of putting camp together. They hadn't gotten any food at the market, but Sangilak brought back a few squirrels, pre-roasted, to supply some meat. Aang wasn't pleased, but Sokka was over the moon. After dinner they curled up to sleep. Kyuri sat next to Sangilak, who cocooned her in his wings, the crackling fire outside supplying a strange, blue-orange light flickering through the thin membrane. Kyuri stripped down to her black bodysuit, tucking her armor and weapons away in her bags, and took advantage of the meager light to count scales, an activity that usually sent her straight to sleep, when Sangilak sent her a message.

"Katara's sneaking out with the scroll."

Kyuri sighed and nodded, getting up. Sangilak let her out and curled his wings around his side as she trailed the girl into the woods.

"Katara," Kyuri hissed so as not to wake up the others. Katara whirled, shoving the scroll behind her back.

"Kyuri!" she said in surprise. "I-I was just-"

"Sneaking off to practice bending," Kyuri nodded. "I know."

Katara slumped. "I'm sorry. I know it shouldn't, but it keep annoying me that Aang is so much better than me, and he's never even tried Waterbending before today. Everything just comes so naturally to him, and I have to struggle along!"

"I understand," Kyuri nodded. Katara looked at her skeptically. "You've been surpassed by someone you anticipated being inferior, and it's annoyed you." Katara opened her mouth to protest but Kyuri held up her hand. "And yes, that is what your problem is, just without all the dressing-up."

"He's twelve and he knows so much more than me!" Katara raged.

"He's the Avatar."

"Yeah, but he's twelve."

"Irrelevant," Kyuri said, shaking her head. "Aang's spirit has mastered Waterbending thousands of times before. Of course he has a natural inclination towards it. But I guarantee you there will be an element he struggles with."

"How do you know?" Katara pouted.

"No one can be good at everything. That's not how the world works."

"You are," Katara said petulantly. "You can fight with anything-"

"After constant training for a decade."

"-and you always have some deep comment to make about whatever's going on-"

"After being mentally connected to a centuries old dragon for a decade."

"-and you always get us out of everything."

"With the help of Sangilak."

"Wow," Katara blinked. "I guess… Sometimes I forget you were on your own for so long, learning all these things from Sangilak. You were here then, and you're here now. It's easy to forget I thought you were…"

"Dead."

"Yeah," Katara nodded sheepishly. Kyuri allowed a small smile as she stepped forwards, settling into her usually stance.

"You know what your problem is?" she challenged. "Why the water whip won't work?"

"Why?" Katara ventured. "Because I don't shift my weight."

"Partly," Kyuri agreed. "But mainly it's confidence. You always have too much or not enough. Going in assured and getting frustrated when water doesn't obey will get you no results. The more frustrated you are the more mistakes you make. When you go in expecting to fail or expecting to do poorly then why should the water listen if you've already given in? Be confident, but not overly so. Respect your element, but treat it with caution."

"This sounds like Firebending," Katara said skeptically.

"It's the same for all bending," Kyuri explained. "Fire is simply a bit wilder. If it gets out of hand people can get hurt. And Firebenders are prone to rage, so it does frequently get out of control. Take my advice," she suggested. "Put the scroll back and get some sleep, or do some thinking about how you view your element."

"Thanks Kyuri," Katara said, wrapping the girl in a tight hug. Kyuri predictably stiffened.

If you never even try than how will you ever know Katara again?

Slowly, Kyuri's hands raised and she hugged Katara back. She didn't see the beam it inspired on the other girl's face as she felt a hand patting her back hesitantly. Katara pulled back with a grin and slipped back into the campsite.

Kyuri, however, now had no hope of returning to sleep. She'd pushed Yoshio's words from her mind in the face of the race to Roku's temple, but now they were swirling in her mind. She walked to the riverbank and sat calmly on the bank, staring up at the moon. She closed her eyes, thinking.

To let people in sounded easy enough… in theory. But the thought of actually doing it was terrifying. What if Katara turned against her when she found out how Kyuri had discovered her Waterbending? What if Sokka and Aang looked at her in disgust?

But no. They'd all suffered and lost. Katara and Sokka their mother and Aang his people. They would understand the emotions tied to it, the anger and grief and what it could inspire. Aang had nearly blown them off the mountain after all. They were good, forgiving people. They would understand what she had done, wouldn't they?

But would others. So perhaps she could be a bit more open with the group about what she'd done in her absence from the village, maybe loosen up and keep her face bare of paint, lower her mask more often. But other people? Letting a stranger in? That threw her for a loop. Could there really be people that naively trusting in the world?

That wasn't the question though. She knew for a fact people like that existed. You heard horror stories about them being killed horribly. The question was could she be one of them. The answer was an immediate and resounding no, but perhaps she could be similar. Be… selective. Get to know someone, keep her distance, then maybe display some trust, let them in.

But that left the matter of her guardedness. Again, in theory it sounded easy. Laugh and cry and scream whenever she felt like it. But she knew that she would never be quite that emotive of a person. Still, there could be balance there too, right? First she could let herself acknowledge her emotions. That was a step she could see as being possible. Once she could do that freely, then she would begin letting others see those emotions. Maybe doing this in steps was the key…

Grinding metal caught her attention and Kyuri's head jerked up. She crawled to the bushes, keeping low and in the shadows, and peered through. Her eyes narrowed as she saw Zuko's smaller ship making berth on the riverbank. She stepped back and stood, turning back to the woods only to be faced with one of the pirates. Her eyes narrowed further as she spun again, intent on taking to the trees if necessary to sound the warning.

Her eyes flew open as she ran into an armored chest and felt warm hands on her wrists. She looked up to meet golden eyes and an angry scar.

"I'll save you from the pirates," Zuko whispered threateningly. Kyuri's eyes were slits.

"I can handle myself," she said, raising her knee towards his stomach. Her eyes widened in pain as her knee connected with his armor and she realized something belatedly. She was caught with no armor, no weapons of any kind. The others were beyond shouting distance. She could wake Sangilak, but… no, that was excessive. Fire power this close to the forest would not be the best approach.

Of course, so long as she had an escape route…

"Sangilak!" she screamed, jostling the dragon out of sleep. She sent him a mental image of her predicament and a roar split the air. Trees trembled as a gigantic shape rose out of the trees about half a mile away.

"What is that thing?" demanded the pirate in green.

"I call him Sangilak," Kyuri said. "He calls me Dragora."

The pirates all stepped away from her in shock, eyes fixed on the dragon swooping towards them. Wind from his wings beat against the sand, throwing it up into their eyes. Kyuri found herself yanked around and pulled against Zuko's chest. A fiery dagger appeared, the heat tickling against her throat. She winced.

"Keep well back or your Dragora dies!" Zuko yelled up to Sangilak. Kyuri grabbed his wrist and yanked away, not so much to hold it back but to hold it in place and keep it away from her throat as Zuko jerked back when she kicked him in the face. She raised her foot up straight and her eyes widened in slight surprise when she connected with nothing.

"You can't trick me twice," he growled in her ear. Kyuri snarled in response and instead went limp. Zuko staggered, not expecting to suddenly be holding dead weight. His grip on her wrists wavered enough for her to break free. She raised her hands and doused the pair of them in water. This was no problem for her, but it kept him cooled off for the few precious seconds necessary for her to race two steps across the sand and jump.

"Can't I?" she challenged as Sangilak swooped and caught her in his talons, carrying her off over the forest.

"Down below. Your friends were coming to aid you."

Kyuri nodded and dropped into the tree tops below, scrambling down the trunk. Katara, Sokka, and Aang, waiting below, had seen her drop and were waiting.

"What happened?" Sokka demanded. "We woke up to Sang roaring and you gone with your armor and weapons still there."

"Are you okay?" Katara fretted. "We were so worried!"

"Zuko and the pirates are here hunting Aang and the scroll," Kyuri reeled off, ignoring Katara's question for the sake of time. "They'll have split up to comb the forest."

"Then we get your stuff and fly off," Aang reasoned.

"Normally I'd say yes, but we wouldn't get far before we were spotted and tracked. There's too many of them. No I say Appa and sang go off and lead them on a wild goose lizard chase in the opposite direction while we split up and hunker down here. As soon as Appa and Sangilak loose them they come back, pick us up, and we head to the North Pole."

"What if they can't lose them?" Katara asked. "And why do we need to split up?"

"It's harder to find one person than four," Sokka pointed out. "But they don't want us, they want Aang."

"Which is why we all take up positions within shouting distance. If anyone gets captured, they screams and we rush in from all directions in a surprise attack. Katara will stay down by the water, that's her only weapon. Sokka and I will stick in the trees around Aang for protection," Kyuri explained, squatting down and drawing a small map of the forest. "Does this work for everyone?"

"It sounds solid to me," Aang nodded.

"I don't like splitting up, but Kyuri's right, we're more visible in large numbers," Sokka nodded.

"I don't like the idea of sending Sangilak and Appa away," Katara said nervously. "That traps us here."

"Aang can fly and you and I can get Sokka underwater. We can go by way of the river and meet up a few miles upstream. I can get Sangilak here fast and we can get them back here within a reasonable amount of time," Kyuri said. "We don't have a lot of time to debate this. Everyone agreed?"

They all nodded.

"Good," Kyuri nodded. "Then scatter!"

The others ran to assume their positions and Kyuri went back to the clearing where Sangilak and Appa waited along with her weapons.

"Take Appa and go, draw them off," Kyuri said as she tied on her armor and buckled her weapons in place.

"I don't like leaving you and the others behind," Sangilak replied. "What if you need us?"

"If we need you I'll call. Immediately."

"Kyuri… Stay safe."

Kyuri nodded. "I will," she assured him before slipping off into the darkness. She pulled herself easily into the trees, knowing from experience people rarely looked up, and jumped from branch to branch, a feat that would have been impossible had the woods not been so thick. She moved like a shadow through the limbs, silent, wraith-like, and avoided several pirates who looked up a second too late to see anything but leaves disturbed by a passing gust of wind, or so they thought. She saw when one of them spotted Sangilak and Appa moving south and sent up the cry, rushing back to their boats.

Kyuri found Aang at the base of a tree she leapt into, hidden in a gnarled mass of roots. She saw Sokka several trees away, ducking behind a large boulder. Kyuri stationed herself in a tree several yards away, concealed by a low-hanging branch.

A scream went up from by the water, which was abruptly cut off. Kyuri's head snapped up and she saw Aang's and Sokka's do the same. They all met eyes and the same chilling thought went through all of their minds at the same time.

Katara.

Kyuri cursed as she tore through the trees, Sokka doing the same on the ground and Aang flying his glider, dipping through the trees effortlessly. They burst from the trees in a wave to find the soldiers and pirates clearly divided on the bank. Zuko had Katara bound to a tree and gagged, holding her mother's lost necklace in front of her. His eyes were wide with surprise, and quickly narrowed when Kyuri made straight for him.

Aang crashed through the ranks of soldiers, scattering them, and Sokka slammed into the pirates, fighting desperately. Kyuri detoured slightly and drew her blades, going low. She rolled, ham-stringing a pair of pirates in a single swipe as she passed. They dropped, clutching their severed tendons, and howled. Kyuri popped back up, slamming a surprised pirate in the face with a fist reinforced by the hilt of her sword. He screamed as his nose splattered across his face and swung at her wildly. She slipped to the ground and swung her leg around, dropping him.

She shot to her feet once more and threw her entire body into a kick at a pirate's shoulder. He yelled as it popped out of its socket and Kyuri shoved him to the ground as she barreled past, now closing in on Katara. Zuko bent his knees, taking a stance for bending, but Kyuri was too close for jets of fire. She jumped, one foot landing on his bent knee, and used it to propel herself up. Kyuri's other foot connected with his shoulder and she used it as a springboard, throwing herself to the side of the tree Katara was tied to and rolling behind it to avoid the fire blast that was shot at her. She slit Katara's bonds in one quick slice, sheathing her blades at the same moment before bolting from behind the tree and going for the water. She raised her hands and water slipped free of the river, coating the fingertips of both hands and freezing. She turned and faced Zuko.

Slowly, they circled each other as, Kyuri distracting him to give Katara the time to bolt for the battle and aid Aang and Sokka.

"Sangilak!" Kyuri screamed mentally as she paced, waiting for Zuko to line up correctly. When his back was to the tree, she raised her hands as if going for her swords. As soon as he fired she dropped to her knees and thrust her hands forwards, the ice daggers sliding off her fingers and slamming home in Zuko's clothes, pinning him to the tree Katara had escaped from.

It was only a temporary measure and Kyuri knew as much even as his body temperature increased and the ice began to melt. They were little more than darts, easy to get free from. It was a technique developed by assassins in all honestly, the tiny daggers used to pierce vulnerable areas like the eyes and throat. Had she wanted to, she could have killed him, but the very thought of using the tiny knives for such a purpose made her feel physically ill.

Zuko came at her with a snarl, leaping into a spinning kick aimed directly for her temple. Kyuri seized his foot and put the weight of her whole body into spinning him around her. She was strong for a girl, for anyone really, but she couldn't lift him and his armor without the aid of his own momentum. She could barely do it with that aid.

As he skidded she ran towards Katara who was struggling to hold her own against a pirate wielding a pair of meteor hammers. Kyuri was impressed despite herself. They were tricky weapons to wield singly. Wielding them doubly took years of training. She herself wasn't capable of it, even though she could wield one efficiently.

However, they had one main drawback. In truth they were just a weight attached to a rope, the force behind the metal ball generated by building momentum wrapping it around limbs. Kyuri proved the drawback by raising her hand and trapping the metal ends in a pillar of ice from the river. With a small dagger, she sliced through the ropes, leaving the man with nothing more than useless hemp.

"Thanks," Katara panted, turning to give Zuko a glare as he fought the pirate captain. Apparently in the fight the alliance between the two parties had gone up in smoke. "They started arguing. Kyuri, he has my mother's necklace and your father's carving!"

Kyuri's heart pounded. Zuko held the two objects she and Katara would nearly lay down their lives for, the one item of sentimental value they allowed themselves?

"Not for long," she growled, drawing her blades and jumping in the river. Katara blinked at the strange action, but was soon distracted as a knife-wielding pirate came at her. Meanwhile, Kyuri was using Waterbending to shuttle herself along underwater, parallel to the riverbed so that she could stay under in the shallows. When she was perpendicular to the fight and jerked around and kicked, shooting herself from the water. She hit the sand and batted the pirate's blade out of the way, trapping it between both swords and wrenching it from his hands, spinning it into the dark forest. In the same move, she reversed her momentum and turned into a kick that connected directly with the surprised captain's temple, sending him flying into the water, unconscious. To prevent him from drowning, she raised her hand and flicked her wrist, a wave shoving him back to shore, as she rotated to face Zuko, who looked surprised by her abrupt appearance and equally abrupt dispatching of his opponent.

"You have something that doesn't belong to you. Two things," Kyuri said calmly, her cool exterior slightly ruined by her heavy breathing. The exertion had her panting, the stress of the fight and the night had left her tired and shaky. If not for the adrenaline pounding through her veins she would have been slumped against a tree right now. Thankfully, Zuko seemed to be in a similar state.

"I didn't steal them. Unlike you and your friends, I'm not a thief," Zuko said, sliding into a bending stance, but neither of them moved to attack.

"No, but you haven't returned them. I'll give you a chance now," Kyuri allowed. She knew he wouldn't just hand over the leverage he had over her and Katara, but she felt better going into this is she gave him the opportunity.

"You mean this?" Zuko asked, slipping his fingers into his pocket and pulling out the carving. He watched as her eyes locked on it and nodded. So this was hers, not the boys as he'd originally thought. "This is what you really want, isn't it?" He held out his hand, the carving sitting there innocently. "Take it."

Kyuri could have quite cheerfully slapped herself as her body betrayed her and she took a step, her swords lowering slightly as she stretched out a hand. She doubled over, eyes widening in pain as his fist buried itself in her stomach. She wheezed, staggering slightly as he threw her back and came at her with a flaming kick. She tried to raise her swords to block, but her reflexes were slowed by the lack of oxygen; he had blasted all the breath out of her body and she knew without a doubt that was the most vicious hit she'd ever taken.

Zuko's kick caught her jaw and she felt it blister as her lip split. She staggered back and sheathed her swords. This was no time for trying to keep aloof and above it all. In truth, that was why she used her swords instead of bending, which she viewed as a more intimate way of fighting. Anyone could pick up a sword and learn to use it, not everyone could bend. In her experience, which was admittedly limited by a decade as a hermit, her opponents had been no challenge if she used her bending.

Zuko was a challenge. It was required.

Kyuri raised her hands and water came to her aid, sliding around her arms. She flicked her arm out, water flowing with it, and froze the whole thing just as Zuko's fist passed through it, effectively pinning him for a moment as she leaned back, drawing him closer by their connection and slamming her foot into his chest. He staggered back and the ice between them broke. Kyuri raised the shards and reshaped them and turned the liquid around her other arm into more daggers.

Zuko resumed his stance and turned to look at her, arms raised, an icy army behind her. Her jaw was burned and her lip was split, blood washing away some of the paint on her face. He had never seen her look so disheveled. In combat, she always looked calculating and unruffled, as if it was no more challenging than a stroll through the market. In truth, a small part of him was proud that it was he who had dealt the damage now marking her face, that he was the one who had managed to get through her seemingly impassable defense and blinding offense.

Kyuri raised her eyebrows at him. She held no such illusions that he was going to come at her again, but he would be facing a hail of deadly icicles. She paused to give him the chance to back down, to step away, because she knew that this was the technique people had the most trouble with, the dodging, and he was likely to be injured or possible even killed if she continued. But of course, he only came on with a growl. Kyuri threw her arms forwards in a sway and the ice sliced through the air. Her eyes went wide as he moved through it skillfully, ice shattering against armor he present in an effort to give himself time to move less protected limbs out of the way.

He was through in a matter of seconds and Kyuri raised her hands to form a wave just as a punch connected with her cheek. Her skin split over her cheekbone and more blood joined that trailing from her lip. Instead, she accepted the hit and let it throw her back into the water. She slid under willingly, the liquid glowing as she worked her will into it. It washed over her soothingly as it healed her and soothed sore muscles.

"Kyuri, Appa and I are at the edge of the waterfall. Katara, Aang, and Sokka are in the pirate's boat headed this way. Come on!" Sangilak said in her mind. Lips twitching, Kyuri surfaced long enough to gather air around her in a bubbled before going back down, blasting her way through the water along the riverbed. As she came closer to the waterfall, the current aided her.

With a gasp she exploded from the waterfall just in time to miss a falling boat. Appa swooped out of nowhere and caught Aang, Sokka, and Katara as they abandoned their vessel. Kyuri caught Sangilak's trailing tail and climbed his spikes to her seat as they flew north.

"Your plan didn't work," Sokka pointed out as she regained her seat.

"We're alive, aren't we?" Kyuri snapped. Now that she was out of battle she realized how stupid she'd been, putting Katara closest to the pirates and soldiers. She had no defense but water, true, but without her hands she had nothing at all. She had no experience fighting and no experience with a weapon, no acid powder, no knives in her sash. There was no one to blame but herself for Katara's capture.

"Did you get our things back from Zuko?" Katara asked eagerly. Kyuri's face said it all and she turned away, sighing sadly.

When they were a safe distance away and landed, daylight was breaking over the horizon. They collapsed into their sleeping bags tiredly, but Kyuri had business to attend before she would allow herself sleep. Kyuri reached into her sash and pulled out a dagger, the blade about as long as her hand. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

From the bags on Sangilak's shoulders, she pulled a mess of leather sheathes, the straps all tangled together. There were several kinds, for legs or arms or the waist. She selected one for the waist, knowing one for the arm or leg would impede Katara's bending, which was why she rarely wore blades anywhere but at her hips.

She slipped the dagger into the sheath with a hiss as she walked to Katara's sleeping bag. The girl was still awake, rubbing her wrists which were undoubtedly wore from the ropes.

"Kyuri?" she questioned tiredly when she saw the girl walking over. She flipped it in her hand and extended the hilt towards Katara. The other girl sat up, frowning at the blade in confusion.

"What's this?" she asked.

"This is your escape route if you're ever captured," Kyuri said gruffly.

"Huh?" Katara blinked. "You're giving me this?"

"I'll teach you to use it," Kyuri said, staring at a spot over her shoulder. She couldn't stand it if Katara saw how frightened she had been, how scared she was when she heard her scream, and then that scream be choked off. "We've been putting it off long enough, but you need to know how to defend yourself without bending. T'ai chi ch'uan is a good beginning, but it's not enough."

Katara saw Kyuri pointed stare, how she refused to meet her eyes, and understood. She'd seen it a thousand times when Sokka had defended her from a bully when they were younger and then resolutely insisted her had done nothing of the sort. Kyuri had been worried, but she didn't want her to know.

"Thanks. I'd like that," Katara said softly, reaching out and taking the hilt of the dagger. She turned it over in her hands, examining it. She gripped the hilt tighter and pulled the blade free, holding it up and staring at the metal. The blade shone in the rising sun and was engraved with a beautiful pattern or spiraling cherry blossoms down the flat. It was obviously expensive. It was gorgeous, and it was a gift from Kyuri that actually involved feeling. Kyuri wanted her safe and was willing to break her shell slightly to ensure it. That in itself was worth more than any monetary value it had.

Katara resheathed the blade and looked up at Kyuri with blue eyes swimming with thanks and understanding, only to see her gone. Sangilak's wings were forming the usually protective tent around her and Katara shook her head slightly. Kyuri was coming out of her shell slowly but surely, but it seemed she was still highly uncomfortable in the world of emotions, almost immediately retreating behind familiar walls.

Sorry for the long absence, but I've been busy with the holidays. Today's my birthday though, so I thought I'd finished this chapter up as a gift from me to you guys! Kind of long, I know, but I had a lot to get across, and this has always been one of my favorite episodes. Let me know what you think in a review! I want five before the next chapter gets put up.