disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Deserters True and True

Mariko chuckled at seeing Appa's attempt to hide behind a shrub that looked too small for him, smirking.

"Ready disguises," Aang signaled them, earning her attention; both Sokka and Katara pulled the hoods of their blue cloaks over their heads in a mock-elegant manner, whereas Aang pulled his shirt over his head to shield his arrows.

She sweatdropped, exhaling and pulling her hair up into a high ponytail, noting her hair had gotten longer.

"Hey, why aren't you getting disguised?" Sokka nudged her as they started down the slope to the valley town that was lit up with bright lantern-lights in the distance.

Mariko nudged him back, "You forget, O Observant One that I was born in the Fire Nation." She remarked simply.

"Oh, right."

"Yep."

It was quiet as they entered the outskirts, the noise of conglomerated Fire Nation citizens humming and then becoming an explosive noise around them that consisted of chatter and calls and laughter about the mundane topics that buzzed around.

It was almost like a festive version of the Fire Nation capital, Caldera.

Mariko smiled at the similarities, sweatdropping when seeing her friends hesitate to walk past a parading dragon-dog painted red and gold, walking ahead of them. "Come on, you lot," she urged, hearing them follow shortly at her heels.

"I think we need some new disguises…" Katara mused as she kept close to Aang, noticing they were underdressed, glancing at the various festive masquerade masks the citizens donned.

Locating a mask vendor not long afterward, the quartet –well moreso the three that weren't natives of the Fire Nation, that is—felt safer now that they were dressed properly.

The firebender adjusted the gray fox mask with crimson trim on the ears and snout, nodding to her friends' choice in mask-wear, following the boys alongside the waterbender as her brother made a beeline for the nearest food vendor, asking what he had to sell.

Both girls deadpanned behind the masks when Sokka inhaled at least two handfuls of Fire Flakes and then seemed to realize they were spicy, turning his head and spitting them out, coughing.

"Flaming Fire Flakes. Hot." Katara folded her arms.

Mariko shook her head, taking the pouch of snacks from his hand as he fanned his overheated maw, popping a few into her mouth. "They're pretty good to me." She shrugged, dipping her head briefly in a thankful nod to the vendor, ignoring the scowl from the boy who'd almost burned his mouth off.

Aang turned his attention to a puppet show nearby, letting his friends trail after him.

"Don't worry, loyal citizens; noone can surprise the Fire Lord!" The puppet of Fire Lord Ozai (which was a crude and accurate imitation, if she thought on it) exclaimed, before a second puppet of an Earth Kingdom soldier popped up to the side, earning a few warning cries from the audience of kids; the Ozai puppet turned and blasted a spout of fire from his mouth at the Earth Kingdom soldier, burning the puppet, earning applause from the audience.

Mariko wanted to slap her forehead but instead she shook her head and turned away with Katara, Aang and Sokka following shortly.

"Aang wait, where're you going?" Katara asked as he scurried off towards a large crowd near the center of the town, leaving the older teenagers to follow him.

"I dunno, but there's a big crowd, so it must be something good." Aang answered aimlessly as they got closer to the audience.

Sokka seemed to roll his eyes, "Knowing the Fire Nation, it's probably an execution."

Mariko hit the back of his head reproachfully. "Be glad it's not your execution."

They watched the firebender on stage make doves fly up from the trio of flaming fireballs with a flick of the wrist, prompting applause from the audience. "For my next trick, I'll need a volunteer from the audience!" The performer declared, looking over the faces of the crowd, sights resting on the girl with the lady mask on, "How about you, little lady?" He declared, extending a hand to her.

"Um, I dunno…" Katara shrank back a little.

Mariko sweatdropped when the performer requested some encouragement from the audience (which he got), letting him usher the younger girl onstage to be tied up for his next trick; she folded her arms and watched, knowing it was just a fake-out skit, judging by the dragon he'd forged from flames, but the fact that he was threatening to let it burn the girl set her the slightest bit on edge.

Sokka would be pissed beyond belief if anything like that happened to his sister.

"What're you doing!?" She growled when the airbender –who didn't think the performer would think twice to spare the tied-up Katara—hopped onstage to use a funnel of air to divert the dragon, making confetti rise up from the remains, ignoring the grumbled complaint from the performer. "Dammit."

The audience booed the obvious airbender that smiled sheepishly and tried to dance his way into their good graces as Sokka hopped onstage to untie his sister. "Hey, that kid's the Avatar!" One of the audience exclaimed in realization.

It couldn't get any worse than this…

Guards surrounded the stage then as Sokka mentioned something about bailing and Mariko hopped onstage with them, blinking when a stranger in a gray cloak gestured they follow him out; she grabbed his sleeve and sprinted to the stranger with both water- and airbender following shortly, the five hurrying away from the guards as fast as possible.

Well, she might as well get used to desertion when it came to the Fire Nation…

"This way! …Er, okay, not this way!" The stranger leading the group skidded to a halt as a group of guards had the end of one street blocked off.

"Head that way," the firebender ordered, grunting and swinging her right foot out, sending a flamethrower screaming at the guards, turning to sprint after her friends at top speed, grabbing onto the waterbender's arm in time as they dived down one alley and then skidding to a halt at the apparent dead-end of the alley they'd dived into.

Footsteps sounded behind, making the group turn to see another batch of guards had cornered them, brandishing their weapons.
Spears; no benders.

Mariko glared past the narrow eyeholes of the mask, body shifting into a stance as the stranger stood next to her, a smoke-ball ready to throw. Is this guy even a bender? Smoke-balls make for good escape, but real fire does better in a fight, she wondered.

"Appa, down here!" Aang was saying, perking her ears as she looked up to see the bison dropping down and landing between them and the guards; with a slap of his large tail, he sent them flying as a gust of wind followed.

The group piled onto the bison's saddle in no-time flat and were soon airborne.

Winding up the last smoke-ball, the stranger chucked it down onto the stored fireworks; Mariko flicked her wrist and sent a small fireball following shortly to create a bigger bang, watching them fizzle and then fly high into the sky as the fireworks covered their escape.

"That was a close one." Sokka muttered.

Katara turned to their firebender friend, "Quick thinking, Mari…" Her words trailed off as the older girl kept her eyes on the stranger.

"Don't give me all the credit; I'd think you owe us an explanation of why you helped us back there." Mariko was speaking to the stranger, pulling her mask off, amber eyes trained on the man. "Spill."

::::::::dOb::::::::

Jeong-Jeong the Deserter? She folded her arms at her chest, looking to the thick mist surrounding the swamp-barracks they were currently in. He might've known Father, or at least known General Iroh… I've heard stories about him, but up until today I thought they were just stories...

The quartet perked up when their guide (who'd called himself Chay) came forward from the hut farthest away from the shed they were huddled around, which had to belong to Jeong-Jeong.

"What happened? Can I see Jeong-Jeong now?" Aang was the first to speak, sitting upright from having tried to doze off.

"He says he won't see you; he's very upset because I brought you here. He wants you to leave now." Chay informed, crestfallen, as he plonked down against the barrack wall.

"Finally! Let's hit the road," Sokka said as he sat up as well.

Mariko rolled her eyes, finger-combing part of her black hair. "It doesn't surprise me; if he deserted the Fire Nation it's only right he want to keep to himself out here, especially so close to a town taken over by the very people he's stayed away from for a while." She noted. At seeing the odd looks she got from her friends, she sweatdropped and added –albeit a little defensively on her part, "I've only heard stories about Jeong-Jeong's desertion since I was a kid." She shrugged.

Aang, still determined, piped up, "but why won't he see me?" He turned to Chay.

"He says you're not ready, that you haven't mastered waterbending, or earthbending yet…" Chay began.

"How'd he figure that out?" Mariko couldn't help but ask, vaguely wondering if the old man had a sixth sense or something.

Chay answered them both, "He saw the way you walked into camp. He can tell!"

"I'm going in, anyway," Aang decided as he stood to go see the strange man.

Katara looked at Mariko, "Do you think he'll be okay; y'know, that Jeong-Jeong won't hurt him?" She dared wonder.

Mariko shrugged, watching the boy walk away, continuing to comb her fingers through her hair. "He's the Avatar; if Jeong-Jeong's as wise as I've heard he is, then the chances he'll try to burn Aang aren't very likely." She assured.

Sokka huffed, "Even so, if he tries anything, there wouldn't be many witnesses… Ow, hey!" He winced when she whacked him again.

"I've been traveling with you guys for weeks now, and I'm a firebender! Didja ever think once that not all firebenders are evil?" Mariko scolded, scowling pointedly at him as he rubbed his head gingerly.

Chay, who'd been observing the chat, chuckled a little, "Firebenders do have a temper, though…" He blinked when the girl sent him a death glare; he straightened quickly, laughing sheepishly. "Um, but they're nice people too!" Sometimes.

Sometimes.

::::::::dOb::::::::

"Aang, watch it, you'll hurt yourself!"

She broke her concentration to sigh and hop down from the roof of the hut they'd been staying in, coming over to where Aang was practicing, blinking and coming to a halt at seeing a ball of fire in his hands. "Whoa, Jeong-Jeong knew what he was doing after all." She mused aloud, slightly proud of the kid.

Aang beamed at the praise, looking down at the fire, "I wonder how that juggler did it…" He shifted his stance, bending slightly before extending his arms out, sending the flames to encircle the patch of pond in a wheel; life seemed to slow as he watched the flames dance and then connect with Katara's extended hands.

"Katara!" Mariko exclaimed, extinguishing the flames sharply with a flick of her right wrist, hurrying to the girl's side. "Crap, you're burnt…" She muttered an oath as she kneeled next to the waterbender that was trying to hold back the tears of pain at being burned; she looked up to see an expression caught between hurt and anguish written on Aang's face, amber eyes saddening as she realized that he didn't mean to burn Katara.

It was just an accident.

"Katara, what happened!?" As if things couldn't get worse, Sokka rushed forward, kneeling on the girl's other side, looking up at the boy as he had come closer to see if she was okay. "What'd you do!?" He demanded angrily, blue eyes tight.

"I-it was an accident! Katara, I'm sorry, I…" Aang tried to explain before Sokka tackled him and pinned him to the ground.

"This is your fault! I told you not to do it, and look what you did! You burned my sister!" Sokka exclaimed.

All three looked at the injured girl as she turned away to go tend to her burns.

Mariko straightened and glared stonily at Sokka before she cut her gaze away and hurried after the girl's trail, soon finding her by the shore of the river, holding her hands to her chest gingerly. "Katara," she said softly as she crouched at her side, meeting her puffy blue stare before the younger girl tentatively lowered her hands into the water, letting the older girl see the burns.

She bit her lip, looking down, "I should've warned you to not be so close to him when he was practicing; of course I didn't think he'd master creating a fireball so soon, but even so. Fire is difficult to master at an early stage; Jeong-Jeong was right when he said it was alive. I'm sorry you got burned, Kat…" Her words trailed off as a soft blue glow came from beneath the water, coming from her hands; her eyes widened in surprise, noting the same surprise on the waterbender's face towards the glow.

"You have healing abilities." Both girls looked to see Jeong-Jeong coming forward, seeming to have seen the glow as well, "The great benders of the Water Tribe sometimes have this ability. I've always wished I were blessed like you, free from this burning curse." He said the last bit darkly.

"But you're a great master; you have powers I'll never know." Katara argued in slight awe.

Jeong-Jeong countered quietly, "Water brings healing and life; fire only brings destruction and pain. It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor-edge line between humanity and savagery... Eventually we're torn apart."

Mariko quieted, nodding a little as his words sank in, perking up as she had the vaguest sensation that something was coming.
And coming fast…

A blast of fire hit the surface of the water infront of them, another trio hitting where they sat, the third having almost hit the two firebenders and one waterbender had the deserter not blocked it in time, leaving the two girls to scramble to their feet.

"Go get your friends and leave here; if you come back, we'll all be destroyed! Hurry!" Jeong-Jeong ordered the girls.

"Jeong-Jeong," Mariko began before Katara yanked on her wrist and dragged her with her at a sprint into the darkness of the trees.

Sokka seemed to tense slightly when they returned, Katara shrugging past him after asking where Aang was, leaving him with Mariko; she hadn't been too happy earlier when he'd knocked Aang over after he'd burned his sister on accident. "Hey."

"I'm sorry about earlier; I didn't warn her about staying back when he would be practicing. For now we've got trouble; Zhao's on his way here. I think he got Jeong-Jeong." Mariko offered a brief smile before her face turned serious and she looked over to the rest of the river.

He made to say something when Aang zipped past them in the direction the girls had come; "Aang wait!" She barked and began to follow when Sokka grabbed her wrist from behind.

"Let him handle it!" He declared, blue locking on amber.

She jerked her sleeve free, scowling determinedly. "Jeong-Jeong's helped us as best as possible; it'd be in poor taste to not return the favor." She turned to bolt after the boy into the trees, skidding to a halt short of his side as she made it in time.

"Jeong-Jeong!" The boy called; the deserter glanced over at the two teenagers and a knowing spark appeared in his gaze before he formed a ball of fire around himself as Zhao's soldiers sent at least five fire-blasts at where he stood, disappearing from sight.

"It's a trick; he's run off into the woods! Find him!" Zhao, an iron-jaw soldier donning the traditional Fire Nation red and topknot of brown hair, thick sideburns and brown eyes, commanded, sending his subordinates off as he turned to the two teenage witnesses. "Let's see what my old teacher has taught you." He drawled lowly.

Aang balked slightly, "You were Jeong-Jeong's student?" He asked.

Mariko huffed as she stood tall, amber eyes narrowed. "His teachings were wasted on you, then." She lunged and sent a bout of fire screaming at him; she'd heard of Zhao's strength through the grapevine when she was still in the Fire Nation, of course he was a captain then. By now he'd probably been promoted a few ranks.

He extinguished the bout with a flick of his wrist, sneering slightly at the spitfire teenager. "Admiral Khan's daughter. It's been a long time; last I remember, you were only half a foot shorter than you are now… You're turning into a lovely girl, Lady Mariko." A snarl of annoyance silenced him as she twisted on her heel, sending a flamethrower screaming at him, to which he blocked with his own blast of fire.

Mariko felt her teeth grit as her jaw tightened, fighting the nostalgia, "Leave my family out of this and go crawling back to Caldera like the spineless jerkoff you are." She sprinted forward, twisting on her right heel again and forming a ring of fire that sailed at him.

"You fight just as weak as that pathetic brat you were betrothed to, just as weak as Prince Zuko!" Zhao snarled as his stance shifted and he sent a cartwheel of orange flames at the girl.

A battle cry sounded as she leaped over the cartwheel, the edges barely touching the heels of her boots; she punched down at him, sending fierce bouts of flame down at his footing, anywhere she could hit, landing in a neat crouch yards infront of the admiral, panting slightly, her frame shaking with anger and the adrenaline she always felt when neck-deep in a fight.

"Mariko!" She looked to see the boy hurrying over; her eyes sharpened as Zhao turned to him. "Aang, run!" She ordered, watching a blast of fire be sent screaming at the airbender. "No!"

He dodged with ease, slightly surprising the girl, watching the flames having shot past him to set a brush aflame. "Whoa, wild shot!"

"I'll show you wild." Zhao bit out, sending another several blasts at the nimble-footed boy that zipped from the shore to one of his motorboats.

He's dodging on purpose! Amber eyes widened in surprise and slight admiration, watching the airbender sidestepping and bobbing and weaving around the blasts of fire aimed at him, now noticing the ships he was bouncing off of were catching fire. Mariko smiled slowly at his ingenious maneuvering, the admiration for her friend growing.

Aang was a wise kid.

"That was brilliant, Aang!" She embraced the boy once they were safely reunited with their friends, pulling back to grin at him.

The boy smiled back, shrugging. "You kinda wore him down for me, so it was a combined effort." He mused, seeing her blink and then her cheeks color slight pink.

Mariko smiled humbly, turning to climb onto the bison's saddle with the waterbender, Aang soon joining them as he took the reins from Sokka.

"Wait, where's Jeong-Jeong?" Aang asked once they were taking off, looking at the siblings.

Sokka looked down at the abandoned campsite, "He disappeared. They all did."

The firebender smiled a little, relaxing against the saddle once they were higher in the clouds, mildly glancing to see the airbender letting the bison fly as he joined them in the saddle.

"Aang, you're burned," Katara noted the burn on his right arm, gesturing for his hand; she pulled water from the leather sack, placing both water-coated hands over his burn and exhaling, watching the water glow blue before she removed her hands, healing the injury so it looked like there was none.

"Wow, that's some good water." Aang said in appreciation.

Sokka looked at his sister, "How'd you do that?"

"I guess I always knew," Katara shrugged, earning a look from the second girl.

Mariko smiled thoughtfully, sitting up and stretching her arms, rubbing her neck.

"Oh, well thanks for all the first-aid over the years. Like the time I was stuck in the grease-fire bramble, or the other time where I got two fish-hooks stuck in my thumb!" Sokka complained, showing his right thumb for emphasis.

"'Two'?" Aang looked at his sister.

Katara smiled amusedly, "he tried to get the first fish-hook out with another fish-hook."

Mariko deadpanned. "Why doesn't that surprise me…?"

"Oh, and that time the minx-snake bit me; that was great… that was really great…" He added sarcastically.

Both fire- and waterbender sweatdropped, "Give it a rest already!" They declared in chorus.

A/N: i was anxious to cover the Deserter episode because of Mariko. anyway, the next two chaps will cover the Northern Water Tribe episodes, just a head's up.