:D I'm waiting for you all to hate me, because this chapter has been a long way coming...SORRY!! Please don't blame my beta! Even if she had updated, I've been writing so many Transformers oneshots that I wouldn't have had the time or motivation to do this. Now I do, and I hope to keep the updates rather steady...to a point XD

Well, for those who still read this, enjoy and review!


"Ty Lee, I can't believe you!" Suki cried, tears running down her face. Ty Lee had waited for this moment — for the blame to shift to her. Of course Suki wouldn't think this was her perfect boyfriend's fault. It was the girl-who-he-was-with's fault. Which in this case was her.

But it wasn't her fault, it was Nikumu's! She had set her up! She had enticed her to be with Sokka. She had told her that she wasn't going to tell Suki. Or at least…she had made it sound like she wouldn't tell Suki. Now that Ty Lee thought about it Nikumu had never actually said anything about that, which only made it more evil and planned out. Nikumu lied. She didn't want Ty Lee's forgiveness or friendship. She wanted blood. It was an act worthy of Azula. The acrobat mentally shuddered at the thought.

And there was the perpetrator now, standing behind Suki, a grin as large as Appa on her face. And every second it kept getting wider. Of course, if Suki turned to look at her she quickly changed it to a stern 'How dare they!' expression. She was good at sudden facial changes. It was kind of scary.

Ty Lee's anger abated when she again looked at Suki's face. Her leader's make-up was completely ruined. Guilt washed over her momentarily.

"But Suki, I didn't… I didn't mean to k…" Ty Lee cut herself off when she found herself lying. But it wasn't a lie in the same way. She had completely meant to make out with Sokka, but she hadn't meant for Suki to find out or for Suki's feelings to be hurt. Seriously, if she had known what Sokka had done during the war, she wouldn't have been surprised at this. But that's right, Sokka probably hadn't told her yet. Trying to keep up a good image, or something. Ty Lee wanted to glare at Sokka but felt it wasn't the right time. Besides… she still had some of the ecstasy left in her chest from that kiss.

"You didn't mean to what, Ty Lee? We all know how you are," Suki spat. Ouch. What was Suki insinuating about her? Whatever it was, it wasn't good, and it wasn't true.

"Suki, it wasn't her fault."

Ty Lee's eyes widened as she identified the voice that has just spoken. Sokka!? Sure enough, he walked up in between Ty Lee and Suki. But why would Sokka speak up now? And why? Unless… he had been serious about what he had said earlier… but he couldn't have been…

"What?" Suki asked as if the idea that it wasn't Ty Lee's fault was incredulous.

"It was my fault, so stop attacking Ty Lee," Sokka restated his point with a serious look on his face. It looked totally misplaced with his hair undone and paint splattered all over him. Suki stepped back as her flow of tears increased, ruining her makeup.

"What are you talking about, Sokka? She obviously seduced you! Just like she did with all the bachelors on this island! We all see how they look at her when she passes by," Suki insisted. Ty Lee frowned. Since when had any bachelors been looking at her in that way? And were there even any bachelors on Kyoshi? She had always assumed they were married because of their age.

This made one thing obvious: Suki was losing her cool and it was showing.

"No, it was my fault. I encouraged her. Not the other way around." Now it was Ty Lee's turn to be incredulous. She had encouraged him, just as Suki had said. So Sokka was lying… to save her?

Suki bit her lip.

"Sokka…you couldn't have…" Suki protested feebly. Ty Lee felt bad for Suki, but at the same time she was relieved. Her perfect little world had finally revealed its true colors, and she had to face those facts.

"Ty Lee, go outside," Sokka ordered.

"What? No, I'm not going outside!" Ty Lee exclaimed. "This is as much about me as it is about you!" She didn't want Sokka to take the blame for her. It made her feel uncomfortable. Like she was running away from her problems.

"But you don't want it to be about you, do you?" Ty Lee thought about it. He was right. She nodded. "Then go, I'll take care of it."

Ty Lee knew she had no choice but to obey. She walked out of the room, not without receiving a dirty look from Suki and a look of sadistic pleasure from Nikumu. She ignored this. Once she had left the room Suki exploded. She couldn't hear everything as she continued out of the building, but she knew that Suki was not happy with Sokka. But Ty Lee was elated. She had never expected anything like this from him. It only made her like him even more.

As soon as she left the soon-to-be renovated building there was a quiet. She couldn't hear Suki's yelling anymore. It felt nice. But what we she supposed to do now? Her only job for the day was to help renovate the dormitory. And now she really couldn't. Maybe a stroll around the village would be okay. She hadn't had much time to relax lately.

Ty Lee slowly made her way into the heart of the village, many things on her mind. What would happen now? Would Suki ever be able to talk to her again? Would she be able to work with her again? She stopped, realizing what she was thinking. Suki was the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She could kick her out of the team. And that wouldn't be good. This was the only place where Ty Lee felt she belonged.

"Hey, Ty Lee! Whatcha doin'!?" Ty Lee turned to see Koko running up to her with her band of followers close behind. "Is it true you are rebuilding the dormitory?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"We heard Oyaji talking to the village about it. It sounds exciting," she frowned, "Too bad my parents said I couldn't help. I'm too little…"

"Ha!" a voice called from behind the group of girls, "I'm allowed to help because I'm not a wimpy girl like you."

"Shut up, Ototo!" Koko shouted as the boy made his way toward her.

"Make me!" Ototo put his fingers in his mouth and pulled them to the side, making a funny face. Then he noticed Ty Lee. Instantly, he dropped his fingers and kicked at the dirt absently, "…Mom said I had to apologize for ruining your first day here… so, I'm sorry…"

"That's okay, Ototo. I've already forgiven you," Ty Lee smiled. If it wasn't for him, she would have been keeping a secret from all these people that would eventually have been found. It was better to learn about her heritage and actions at the start and not later. She figured that it would seem like a betrayal or something of the like.

"Oh well, I don't really care about your forgiveness, I only said that because Mom made me," he explained with a rotten grin on his face. Ty Lee struggled to remain liking the boy.

"Ty Lee, can't girls do anything boys can do?" Koko asked. Her groupies nodded, expressing their will to know as well.

"Well, let's think about this…" Ty Lee put her finger to her mouth, "Do you see any boys on the Kyoshi Warriors?"

"No," all the girls said in unison. Ototo remained silent.

"And we have been recognized as one of the best fighting groups in the Earth Kingdom, right?"

"Yes!"

"So what do you think?" She winked.

"Girls are better than boys!" they exclaimed, squealing, and laughing, and pointing at Ototo. He stuck out his tongue and walked up to Koko.

"You only think you're so tough because you're friends with that airhead. That doesn't mean anything," he insisted, gesturing to Ty Lee. Ty Lee put her hands on her hips. How dare he call her 'airhead' again!?

"You think you're so tough because you're friends with that goof-off Sokka," Koko retorted. Ototo flushed, as did Ty Lee. She had momentarily forgotten about Sokka.

"Sokka is a brave and skillful warrior and was a critical part in ending the war!" Ototo rolled off the line like he had memorized it to use in comebacks.

"…and he has been beaten by Ty Lee on several occasions," Koko reminded him.

"Well, he beat me a few times too…" Ty Lee admitted. All the girls glared at her, though none as dark as Koko's.

"I thought you were on our side, Ty Lee!" she huffed, shoving her hands on her hips.

"Hey, I never said what side I was on, I only laid down the facts," Ty Lee explained, "Girls and boys are equally good. You two should know that, especially since I think it is clear you two like each other."

There was a silence that couldn't have been cut by the strongest knife. Both Koko and Ototo blushed so hard you could barely tell that their skin wasn't always that red. Then they broke it at the same time.

"I don't like her!"

"I don't like him!"

Their combined shouts almost made Ty Lee deaf and she covered her ears.

"Okay, okay, be in denial then," she sighed, her shoulders drooping as she looked up to the sky.

"If anyone was in denial, it was me…" Ty Lee felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

"Sokka?" She turned to see the boy she had been talking about earlier. His hair was back in a ponytail, though very messily done. He must have done it quickly. Most of the paint had been washed up. He looked tired. Suki must have taken it out of him.

"Sokka!" Ototo exclaimed at the sight of his idol, "Who's better: boys or girls!?"

"I'd have to say girls," Sokka announced, much to the dismay of his fan.

"But…why?" Ototo pouted.

"They usually know what's right in their heart without question," Sokka smiled, looking at Ty Lee. She figured there was a deeper meaning to this answer, but she didn't feel like asking. "Can I speak to Ty Lee alone?"

"Aww…but I want to hear your stories again!" Ototo objected.

"Later, Ototo. When its darker it sets the tone better," He wiggled his fingers in a scary fashion. The girls screeched and ran off in different directions, laughing as they did. Ototo sighed and walked off, knowing he couldn't argue with Sokka.

When all of the kids had left and the street was empty, Sokka opened his mouth to speak. Too bad Ty Lee beat him to it.

"How was….Suki?" she asked warily.

"…we've decided to spend some time apart…" He replied solemnly. "But she shouldn't be angry at you anymore…"

"You broke up!?" Ty Lee exclaimed, astonished. She hadn't exactly expected something like that so soon.

"No. We are just spending some time apart," he grinned, "Kinda like a vacation I guess."

"Oh…well that's good."

"We're going to evaluate how much we value our relationship and stuff. Most of that was her idea, I didn't really understand it," he waved his hand absently, showing how much he cared. "But it will give me time to think about you."

Ty Lee froze, her heart pounding. Could this…really be happening?

"What do you mean?"

"I… I think we should start dating," he began. "Not like, seriously, just to see if it would ever work…" He shrugged.

"O-okay! If that's what you want," Ty Lee said, trying to hide all of the excitement rising inside of her.

She couldn't believe it. Finally, something seemed to be going in her favor.