Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 6 – Travel to Ba Sing Se

After Keisha had saved their village from the Fire Nation rebels, they welcomed her into the village with open arms, some apologised for the death of Avatar Aang and some just happy to have the new Avatar in their village. They fed her dinner and a place to stay free of charge, which she insisted wasn't right, Avatar or not. She insisted on paying them for their trouble, but they kept saying that it was their way of thanking her for saving their village.

The next morning, while Keisha was having breakfast with the people who took her in to their home, she decided to ask the question that had been bugging her for quite some time since yesterday. "So, I heard you didn't know that the previous Avatar had passed since I declared it yesterday, it happened 5 years ago, how come you didn't know?"

"Because dear, we are isolated from the rest of the Earth Kingdom, the only thing we get from the mainland is supplies we can't get out here. That's really only rare fruits that only grow on the mainland and not here," replied Hina, the old women who lives here with her husband, Aleki.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me."

"So, my dear, how is it that you got out here, all we know is that you are running from ex-princess Azula?" asked Hina.

"Oh, she came and attacked my village and I asked her if I went with her, would she leave my village alone. She said she would, so I went with her, after a few days with her, I overheard a conversation she had with two of her guards. They were planning on killing me that night, so I escaped, of course she expected that I would and was waiting for me on the deck. I controlled her and her guards with my blood-bending and asked one of them to lower the boat into the water, after I was about fifteen minutes away; I released them and turned in a different direction. I traveled for a few days before I found your island," replied Keisha.

"Oh, my how awful my dear, but if you don't mind me asking, what is blood-bending?" asks the kind old woman.

"It sounds kind of horrible, but I assure you I only use it in dire situations. I can control the blood inside of my enemy, but I can only use it on a full moon, and only a select few water-benders can use it."

"Oh my, that is awful," says Hina with a repulsed look on her face. "But anyway, my dear, where is it that you plan to go?"

"Well, I can't head home, Azula will look for me there, but then I suppose she knows I'm smart enough not to go there, so hopefully she'll leave my village alone. With that said, I was thinking of heading to Ba Sing Se, I can meat up with Iroh at the Jasmine Dragon. Yes, I'm taking about the Dragon of the West; he is my best friend's great-uncle. Then after that I think I should visit Toph and have her teach me earth-bending," replies Keisha.

"Are you talking about Queen Toph, she wouldn't be able to teach you earth-bending, she's blind," says a somewhat appalled Hina.

"Don't let her hear you say that, she may be blind, but she is one of the best earth-benders in the world if not the best earth-bender in the world. Her parents made the mistake of hiding her from the world and treating her like a fragile little girl, she was rather annoyed when they kept treating her like a fragile little girl after she showed them that she was an extremely good earth-bender who could look after herself," says Keisha with pity for her friend.

"How do you know all this?" asks a now speaking, suspicious Aleki.

Keisha smiles. "Because she was my father's earth-bending teacher and one of his closest friends."

Aleki and Hina look into each other's eyes as they contemplate what the young Avatar just told them. Keisha can tell that they're thinking whether or not the young Avatar eating in their house is telling the truth or lying though her teeth. They realise that Keisha must be telling the truth and look at her again. Aleki speaks up again. "Then we shall give you a map and supplies and show the best way to get to the mainland and from there, Ba Sing Se."

"Thank-you very much Aleki, Hina, this means a lot to me. It may be awhile before I get to Ba Sing Se, but I promise that when I do, I'll send you a letter informing you of my safe passage," thanks Keisha.

"You are welcome, whatever we can do for you dear, as the new Avatar, is the best gift you can give us upon your leaving," replies Hina sincerely. "But you have to promise you leave with a smile on you face and that you really do have a safe passage to Ba Sing Se."

"I promise," says a now very cheery Keisha.

After the next few days, Hina and Aleki help Keisha prepare for her long journey to Ba Sing Se. They prepare a map with the best places to stop and restock her supplies, and the fastest route to take to reach Ba Sing Se. They start packing one night as Keisha plans to leave the following morning, and Hina makes sure she has enough clothes, food, traveling gear and any other necessities.

The morning for Keisha's departure is finally here, a few days ago, the villagers carried her boat to the other side of the island so she can leave on that side, away from Azula's ship. On the beach, Keisha is standing there with Hina, Aleki and the other villagers as they say farewell to their villages' savior. "Keisha dear, remember to stop and restock at the places we marked on the map for you," reminds a teary-eyed Hina.

"Oh Hina, I promised that I would smile when I left, but if you cry, you're going to make me cry. I promise to stop at the locations on the map," replies Keisha.

"I hope you make it to Kyoshi Island safely and that they will be kind to you," remarks Aleki.

"Oh, I have no worries about Kyoshi Island, not only is it named after one of my previous lives, but my aunt is the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors," says a confident Keisha.

"Do you mean Sukie?" asks Hina.

"Yes, Sukie is married to my mother's brother, Sokka is my uncle, and her and his children are my cousins."

"Oh, then you'll have no trouble there," says Aleki with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, no problem what so ever, the only time you should worry is when I get further into the Earth Kingdom," says Keisha. "Well, I better go now, bye everyone."

"Bye, Avatar Keisha," yell the villagers.

With that, Keisha pushes the boat further into the water and sails off into the ocean, heading directly for Kyoshi Island. "This is going to be a long trip," Keisha whispers to herself.

Please review. I had it up a little later than usual because I was at my Nan's house for Easter dinner, so yeah. Anyway, I couldn't think of a name for the island so I just didn't give it a name and didn't make her stay there long. I have a map of the Avatar World, so I'm going to use that throughout my story to help it along. Aleki is pronounced Uh-le-ki and Hina is pronounced Hi-na, obviously.

I had to throw in Kyoshi Island for Keisha's trip to Ba Sing Se and a few other places that the previous Team Avatar went. He he.