The storm is now approaching and you can actually see it in the sky but of course that's not going to stop the stubborn man and the insane fisherman.


"It's coming," Brianna said as she looked up at the sky and saw dark storm clouds coming toward us. I could sense the amount of wind and rain that was being held inside of the storm as well as hear the roaring thunder. Which made me wonder if Brianna could sense the lightning from the storm too?

"Then we better get ready," I said as I looked over at Aang, knowing that he too would have a storm cloud hovering over his heart soon.

"Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky," Aang said trying to convince the working member of the group to consider the possibility of a storm.

"I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather," Sokka said his mind made up.

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense. You should listen to him!" the old woman shouted before stomping off somewhere.

"Boy with tattoos?" the older man repeated in interest. He turned around and spotted Aang. "Air bender tattoos well I'll be a hog-monkey's uncle! You're the Avatar, ain't ya?" he said to Aang.

"That's right," Katara said proudly to the old man as Aang gave a small smile.

"Well, don't be so smiley about it" the old man's expression suddenly changed from shock to anger. "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world!" I heard Brianna let out a low growl as she glared at the old man, obviously not too happy with his choice of words.

"Aang needs this," I told her as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know," Brianna admitted as she calmed down.

"Believe me I don't like it either, but it can't be helped. Aang needs this in order to become stronger." Brianna nodded her head but continued to glare at the ranting senior citizen.

"Don't yell at him," Katara shouted as she stepped in between the two "Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

"Oh, he wouldn't uh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering." I knew that he must have hit a vital cord as I saw Aang's expression change from sadness to guilt. He began slowly stepping away from the scene, not wanting to hear anymore as Katara continued to defend him.

"Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" Katara said looking for the young boy to back her up. "Aang, what's wrong?" she asked when there was no response. Almost immediately after they made eye contact, Aang took out his glider and flew off toward mountain.

"Gin," I called his name just as Aang took off to the sky.

"On it," he replied as he transported out of the charm and into the physical world. I quickly jumped onto him and flew off after Aang with Brianna and Nyoko by our side.

"There," I shouted as I pointed to a cave carved inside the center of a mountain. Gin and Nyoko flew us over toward where our lost master had entered. Brianna was about to step inside but I held her shoulder. "I think I should go in first."

"But I want to help too," Brianna protested. I nodded my head but kept a serious face.

"I know, and you will." I felt my eyes soften. "But I think I should go first." I made a fist and subconsciously gripped at her shoulder harder. "I know what Aang is going though, at least, more than anyone else here." I release my grip on her shoulder as I stared at the ground "To have everything taken away that you once loved…having everything change without your consent. Having to deal with confused and conflicted emotions. And if that wasn't enough having realized that your mistake caused others around you to suffer." I placed a hand over my face as I pushed my bangs away from my face and tried to hide my wet eyes. "I can relate."

"Rebecca," Brianna said not knowing what to say. There was a long silence before I heard sniffling inside the cave. "Aang," Brianna whispered when she recognized the sniffles.

"I better go," I said after remembering the reason why I had brought up unwanted memories.

"Yeah okay," Brianna said as she looked at me "I'll wait out here." I nodded, happy that she understood that this was for the best. I knew that she wanted to help and that she probably felt that she was useless, but that wasn't the fact. It's just a sad truth that I have experienced unhappy memories that I could somewhat relate with Aang. Although I know that her life wasn't a walk in the park either, but I knew from our different personalities and families that I probably had more problems I had to deal with alone.

"Aang," I called his name when I spotted his bright outfit. He didn't move and continued to cry with his knees against his chest. "Aang," I whispered his name again as I gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He continued to ignore my presence and allowed his tears to fall. "I know what you're going through."

"No you don't," Aang said a bit angry "you have no idea."

"Yes I do," I said not affected at his harsh tone. "You feel guilty because you ran away that day." Aang's body froze as he slowly turned his head toward me. I gently wiped away his tears. "I understand more than you think."

"How," Aang asked as he allowed me to hold him in my arms.

"Because I have a sad past as well," I said in an even tone. "When I was seven my mother caught my dad cheating on her. After that my life became a nightmare. Each day was filled with adults yelling and people crying. And that was only if I was lucky. I had never experienced so much bloodshed in my life, but the memory is still a bit hazy. Since I was so young I didn't understand what was going on, but I tried to be strong for my younger brother who was only four at the time. I told myself that I had to support him and be able to care for him since no one around me was going to, but that didn't help me at all." I felt tears beginning to fall down my cheeks and onto Aang's head. "I was afraid and confused. Each day the feelings grew more and more unstable. It finally snapped when I witnessed my mom trying to kill herself. She shouted and screamed while my grandmother tried to restrain her and take the knife from her hands. Watching as the red blood dripped down her wrist and onto the wooden floor." I bite my lips knowing that I was starting to choke on my own words, but I knew I had to finish my story no matter how much I hated thinking back to my past. "After that I could no longer fight it. I felt powerless and I wanted to run away and I did, mentally that is. Even after everything settled down I locked my heart away. I never wanted to be hurt again and so I pushed everyone away, even my brother. At the time all I cared about was protecting myself and as a result he also became unstable and suffered. If I had just paid more attention to him then maybe he didn't have to suffer like I had, but by the time I realized it, it was already far too late." I knew very well that my tears weren't going to stop now. I had never revealed my past to anyone and now having recalled them I knew that I was going to cry nine years worth of tears. "Regretting the past, and knowing that you can't change it. I know how you feel," I whispered to Aang as I let my tears fall onto his face. Aang allowed new tears to flow from his eyes as he looked up at me. He must have felt that it was safe to cry in front of me since we both shared a similar pain. He hugged me tightly as he buried his face in my chest. I felt the sadness consume me as I too tightened my grip on his back and rested my head on his shoulder. We both stayed like this until our eyes had completely dried. I slowly let go of Aang's back and lifted my head up from his shoulder. Aang, however, continued to hold onto my hips and rested his head on my chest. I then heard footsteps coming in as Brianna, Nyoko, and Gin walked inside.

"Sorry," Brianna apologized "but it started raining."

"I know you heard us," I said not bothering to look her in the face. "You can cry if you want," I told her as Gin walked over to me and took a seat behind me, placing his chin on my right shoulder.

"Damn," Brianna cursed as tears began flowing from her face and she fell to her knees. "I know I shouldn't be the one crying, but..."

"It's okay I understand," I said knowing that she was upset, from hearing about how I had suffered in the past. "Come and join our sad circle," I said half joking. Brianna forced a smile as she crawled over to us with Nyoko by her side and entered our group hug. Aang stayed in his position and continued cling onto me but allowed the rest of them to hug him.

"Aang looks like a koala-otter," Brianna said trying to find something for us to laugh about.

"More like a baby in his mother's arms," I said as I patted him on the head. Brianna forced out a laugh as I sat up straighter. "Aang," I called his name "Katara will be coming here soon and she's probably worried about you. If you want you can share your past with her just like I did with you, but you need to be ready."

"Okay," Aang said not releasing me from his grip. I let out a small sigh and looked down at the young boy clinging onto me.

"Until then," I placed a hand over his head "you can stay like this."

"Thanks," he said in a soft whisper. I gently stoked his back as he slowly began to calm down.

"Anytime Aang," I said with a gentle smile. I felt the heavy feeling in my chest lighten just a bit. I wasn't sure if it was because I was able to help him or it was because of the fact that I had finally consulted someone about these harbored memories. I felt relieved but not enough to help completely rid my guilty conscience, and I knew Aang must have felt the same way because the war would still continue even if he could clear his conscience.


'Sniffle sniffle' cries 'runs to hug Rebecca'