Thank you all so much for continuing to read this story! I know I haven't been updating as much as I would have liked too, but it really means a lot to me that there are still people who would read this, especially since this story has been going on for several months now. So thank you so much! Please enjoy

I woke up to see Nori leaning over me, gently shaking my shoulder. Her typically calm and collected face and changed, and now her gaze was hard and urgent. "You need to get changed now," She said, and I sat up in bed, yawning. Yesterday's memories began to slowly trickle back, and I felt dejected.

"Where is Etka?"

"Don't worry, he's with Au Ro," Nori explained, holding up a set of dark green robes. "This is for you. It's been arranged for you to leave for the Earth Kingdom today, with Au Ro and Saeron."

My stomach rolled at the thought, and I got out of bed, fully awake now. I began to change out of my Fire Nation clothes, putting them neatly aside and sliding the green robes over my shoulders. They were bordered in a pale green swirling pattern, and I crossed the garment over my chest before tying a brown wrap around my waist to hold it in place. Nori looked me over, her eyes finding the dagger at my throat.

"The dagger has to go," She said sternly, and I instinctively wrapped my hand around the blade.

"No," I retorted, sliding it beneath my robes. "I won't part with this."

"It could easily betray you and your whole group if you were to be searched," She retorted, as I slid on my shoes. "It's dangerous."

"It's the only thing that I have of my mother," I said, although deep down, I didn't want to admit that she had a point. I stared her down, my eyes firm. "It stays."

Nori gave me a hard look and pressed her lips together. Thankfully, she dropped the matter, and escorted silently me from my room and down to the common area.

Naheel and Kateri were already there, dressed in typical Earth Kingdom clothing like I was. Kateri wore a pair of robes nearly identical to mine, while Naheel wore a green tunic and trousers. If I hadn't known them to be otherwise, they would have looked indistinguishable from any Earth Kingdom commoner to me. I sat down beside my brother as Au Ro entered the room, dressed in green robes and followed by Etka, who looked shockingly different.

He had bathed and shaved his face, which was now smooth and clean. His hair was cut so that it was now one even length, and he looked handsome in a short sleeved tunic and knee high boots. He gave me a small smile before taking his seat beside me, and I couldn't stop staring at him.

"Etka," I whispered. "You look great!" He passed a shy smile back at me in return, and I reached for his hand. Even in the present danger, I suddenly felt a massive surge of hope. We were all pulling ourselves together. We were going to get ourselves out of this.

Au Ro took the floor at the center of the room, and I saw that many of the same people who had originally found us had gathered around in the room as well. "Good morning, everyone," He began, looking around the room. He had a paper map in his hands, which he unrolled and tacked to the wall.

"This afternoon, we will be embarking on a covert operation to transport Anahi, Etka, Naheel, and Kateri to the Earth Kingdom. We will sail from here," He pointed at a section of the Fire Nation, and traced his finger across the ocean to the Earth Kingdom. "And land here. During this time, we will be passing a ship, containing members from our western Earth Kingdom stronghold, and we will stop halfway. Our refugees will board the Earth Kingdom ship, and both ships will subsequently turn around and head back into their original territories. You will be brought to the Earth Kingdom stronghold, and from there, you will be given what you need to successfully go undercover and disperse amongst the Earth Kingdom."

"This other ship..." Naheel muzed. "How can I know we'll be safe there?"

"This ship belongs to an affiliate group of ours," Au Ro explained, but Naheel cut him off, shaking his head.

"But how do we know that this ship won't just cart us straight into Fire Nation Prison?" Naheel persisted.

"We've already sent word to them, it's not like they won't know you're coming," Saeron said coldly, speaking up from her spot in the corner behind Naheel. "And if we wanted to hand you over to the Fire Nation, we would have done it by now. It would have been easy enough to do it while you were all sleeping."

Kateri gave her a hard look before turning towards Naheel. "We don't really have another option," She told us in a low murmur. "We can't stay in this compound...at least at sea, we have a chance of hijacking a boat and getting away from there."

I nodded and looked over at Etka, who nodded in turn. "Alright," He said, his voice low, and stood to face Au Ro. "What do we have to do?"

"You'll wear cloaks out of the compound, and we'll take you to the ship," He explained, as four long, crimson cloaks were handed out to each of us. I put mine on and pulled the hood over my head immediately. I liked it. I was anonymous.

"We've prepared provisions and supplies that you might need," Nori spoke up, handing us each a small satchel. "In case of an emergency."

"That should be everything," Au Ro said quietly, glancing around at all of us. "Is everyone ready?"

I glanced at Etka, who nodded firmly, and then at Naheel and Kateri, who nodded with the same resolute faces.

"Yes," I said, getting up to face him. "We're ready."

"We're going to be fine," Kateri said, staring hard at the door.

We had been hiding inside a tiny storage room, which was barely large enough to hold the four of us, for several long hours now. Thin streams of light filtered in between the boards composing the door, casting ribbons of color on everyone's faces. Each of us had taken a corner, and were as pressed up against it as much as possible. Even still, I could feel Naheel's breaths, standing parallel to me.

We had made the trip to the docks easily enough. My heart palpitated in terror as we passed the few Fire Nation soldiers posted near the docks. I was almost certain that we would be stopped, that we would be captured, but Saeron passed a small parcel of coins with a wink into one of the soldier's hands, and we were allowed through without inspection.

And now we were hiding in the dark, in case we were stopped for an inspection. Kateri had urged all of us to eat a little and drink something, but I was so nervous that I could barely stomach a few of the tasteless biscuits that were in my satchel.

"Yes," Naheel replied, his voice flat. He looked to Etka and I for approval, and Etka slowly nodded.

"It's just a little further we have to go," Etka said, and gave a small smile. "What's the first thing you all want to do when we get to the Earth Kingdom?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, I think we're going to go straight to the stronghold - " Kateri began, but Etka shook his head.

"After that," He said optimistically. "We won't be there for long, at least, I don't plan to be. Kateri, what's the first thing you're going to do once we're in the Earth Kingdom?"

Kateri pressed her lips together in thought, trying to find a suitable answer. "I want to find a house," She said, then shook her head. "No, it doesn't even have to be a house. Just somewhere with a real bed, a warm, soft, safe bed. I'm going to take a long nap, and not have to worry about soldiers springing in on me while I sleep. That's what I want, just a good night's sleep, and not to wake up and feel exhausted all over again."

"That's a good plan," I grinned at her, and it was Naheel's turn next.

"I want to go back home," He said, sounding slightly remorseful, and I realized that I was homesick too. I hadn't seen my parents in over a year, and I was worried about them. "I miss my parents, and I miss my homeland. It's too hot for me up here." He chuckled, and I smiled.

"That's what I would do too," I said quietly. "I need to see my family again. It's been too long." There was a stagnant silence, and I felt suddenly that Naheel and I had said something too serious for the conversation's intent.

"What would you do, Etka?" Naheel asked him, breaking the stillness between us.

Etka opened his mouth to speak, his eyes finding mine, when a blast rocked the ship, and I instinctively grabbed onto the front of Etka's robes as the ship rolled against the force that stuck it. He reached around me and pressed one hand against the door, and the other around my waist, bracing himself against it. We all looked at each other, our faces conveying our sudden fear and panic.

"Stay behind me," Etka said darkly, and I slithered around him to stand next to Kateri. Naheel took my place and pressed his back against the door, digging his feet into the ground.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "You're a waterbender. You won't be able to bend unless we get outside near the ocean."

"I'm bigger than you and Kateri," Naheel said darkly. "I can at least try to hold down the door."

Another blast threw Kateri practically to the floor, and I reached out and grabbed her by the arm just in time before she face planted into the floor.

"We're going to have to go out and fight," I said, half to myself. Already, my body was gearing up for battle, adrenaline flooding my veins and my breathing becoming shallow. Naheel reached out in the small space and laid a hand on my shoulder.

"You're going to stay here," He said gently. "I know you don't want to fire bend anymore, and I respect that. But against benders, Anahi...it's too risky. You're not even armed."

"Naheel is right," Kateri said, and we all heard shouts coming from the deck of the ship. There was no mistaking it, they were here for us. "You should stay here. We can handle it."

A protest lodged in my throat before I realized they were right. If I wanted to remain true to my vow, and I did, I would have to stay behind.

"Alright," I acquiesced, and Kateri sighed in resolve, looking at Etka and Naheel.

"Let's go," She said darkly, and kissed my brother on the cheek before shoving the door open herself and charging out. Naheel quickly followed her, and Etka paused in the doorway, looking hard at me.

"I love you," He said, leaning over and kissing my forehead. Abruptly, I grabbed him and kissed hard him on the lips, suddenly very afraid for his life. I hated not being able to be with him, and I feared for the worst.

"Come back to me," I told him, touching his face as I pulled away. Etka nodded, and ran towards the fight. I shut the door behind him and leaned against the back, sighing hard.

I would never fire bend again. Not after what I had done after Etka's rescue. That power inside me could only cause pain, it's only purpose was destruction. I lost control too easily, and what was to say that I wouldn't do that again? I could kill someone again without meaning too, and I could hurt someone that I loved if I lost my control.

But was I wrong to send my friends off into battle and stay back here to wait? Was I wrong to let them go off to die without me beside them?

I was the reason that the soldiers were here. Every one of the others were only wanted because they were helping me, and I was practically sacrificing my friends so that I could still live.

I heard a loud cry from above, undoubtedly from a young man, and I immediately thought of Naheel and Etka. They could be dying, and I would be sitting in safety down here.

"This is wrong," I breathed, shaking my head. I stared through the cracks in the door, and swallowed. I braced myself, exhaling hard, and a small wispy burst of flame emerged from my lips. I had to go.

Breaking through the door, I bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reached the deck. At least forty soldiers had swarmed the deck, and I saw their ship nearby. My heart sank when I realized what had happened. Someone had betrayed us.

I spotted my friends and Au Ro fighting off a swarm of soldiers, who were beginning to corner them. The soldiers had their backs to me, and with a loud cry, I leapt up into the air, executing a roundhouse kick of fire that whipped across a row of soldiers and knocked them down.

They had spotted what they had come to see now, and half of them began to turn towards me. Kateri took their distraction as an opportunity to fire bolts of lightning at the soldiers, knocking some overboard.

"I'm what you want!" I yelled, smacking my chest, taunting them. "Come on!"

It came to me then that we had been betrayed. How could we have been found out any other way? The ship hadn't been searched after we had left, and there was no way someone would have known we were here without an insider's betrayal. Anger and pain filled up inside me, and I grit my teeth, preparing to fully unleash my power.

I shot a bolt of flame at the nearest soldier, spotting Etka in an intense hand to hand combat with what appeared to be the Captain. "Etka, let go!" I screamed, and raced towards him. Startled, Etka did exactly as I asked, and I seized the Captain by the back of his robes and threw him down on the deck in a burst of strength.

Not wasting any time, I jumped onto his chest and dug my knees into his lungs. I drew back my arm, a burst of flame appearing around my fist.

"Who told you we were here?" I demanded, and when the Captain struggled out a response, the flame flared up larger.

"It was the girl you were with!" He cried out in panic, his eyes wide. "S - Saeron! She left a note in the bag of coins she paid the officers at the docks!"

"Where is she?" I cried, my blood boiling in rage. Beside me, Etka knocked back a soldier making her way towards me, flipping her over his shoulder and tossing her into the sea.

"On the ship...our ship!" The Captain struggled, gasping for breath under my weight. I looked up at Etka, my eyes wild.

"Saeron betrayed us," I said vehemently, but the minute I took my concentration off of the Captain, he kicked up at me, throwing me off of him. I landed hard against the wall of the ship, teetering dangerously close to the edge. I cried out in pain, my back aching with a powerful ache. Etka sprung to my defense, and blasted the Captain from behind as I picked myself up.

"Go!" He shouted, and my eyes flickered over towards the Fire Nation ship. "You can take them, Anahi! Go and find Saeron!"

I nodded at him, and began to run down the length of the ship, my heart racing with adrenaline and rage. It occurred to me that my fire bending was the strongest at this point, when I was full of pain and rage, and I remembered Etka saying a long time ago that my anger was the source of my power. What could I say? I was my father's daughter.

The warship's hull was still embedded in our side, and I did a running leap, shooting bolts of fire from my hands to project me onto the deck. I landed running, and soldiers raced at me instantly. With twin blasts, I knocked them back. "Saeron!" I screamed, my voice hoarse and raw as I ran across the ship's deck, combating the few soldiers still left aboard. I grabbed one by the collar and demanded to know where she was, and when he didn't answer, I threw him back against the others.

"Where is she!?" I screamed at them, my voice ragged with the threat of tears. I couldn't believe this. We had all been so close. We had all been so full of hope.

I saw the eyes of the soldier who I had thrown against the deck widen too late at the sight behind me, and I was struck hard in the back by a massive bolt of lightning.

I was thrown to the ground, my body convulsing as Saeron appeared over me, blue lightning pulsing from her fingertips. It felt as though every nerve, every atom inside me had been split open, and my body was burning up from the inside. Unable to speak, I stared up at her, my eyes wide in pain and something else... Fear.

I was utterly powerless. I couldn't even stand, much less do anything to defend myself. My mouth was open in a harrowed, guttural scream of pain, and my eyes pleaded with her to stop.

"Not so tough now?" Saeron smirked, as I twitched on the ground before her, every breath, every stretch of my lungs, painful. "You can take out the soldiers on my ship, but you're weak to my lightning. What, did Etka not teach you about this? A true bender would know how to redirect it."

Rage stirred in my heart, and I grit my teeth, struggling to compose myself. "Release...me..." I forced the words out, my whole body shaking.

Saeron laughed, mocking me. "Pitiful."

"And I'll...show you...a true...bender," I finished, and Saeron's eyes flared. Suddenly, she stopped, and the lightning that had trapped my body in convulsions began to fade. It took me a solid thirty seconds before I realized that it was gone, but the pain still stayed.

"Show me, Anahi," Saeron snarled. "Show me how great you are."

I cried out, trying to blast a burst of flame at her, but I was so weak, nothing at all came from my clenched fist. "No..." I breathed, trying to strike again, but it was fruitless. I couldn't fight her. Saeron's lightning had taken all of my strength.

She grabbed me by the front of my robes and dragged me up from the ground. I wanted to knock the triumphant smile from her face. "You know, this was almost too easy," She leered. "Your pride is too great not to come after me. I'll collect an even greater reward from the Fire Lord when I bring you back to the Capitol."

I opened my mouth to spit an insult back in her face, but instead, my brother's voice filled the deck of the ship.

"Get your hands off my sister, you bitch!" Naheel roared, catching Saeron by surprise. Saeron dropped me, and I hit the deck as my brother hit Saeron full force with a blast to the chest. She was thrown against the wall of the cabin with a loud thud, and snarled, recovering fast enough to send a bolt flying Naheel's way.

"Kateri!" He yelled, beginning to duel Saeron. His arms were concealed by huge vessels of water, and he was using them like twin swords to combat Saeron. "Get her out of here!"

Kateri rushed to my side, picking me up. "Can you walk?" She cried. She was bleeding from her forehead, and she was breathing hard.

I looked up to see a third ship come up towards us, and collide directly into the side of the warship. The impact knocked me out of Kateri's arms, and before I could answer, I began was thrown off the deck of the ship, which was nearly on its side. My fingers clawed at the metal of the ship, and unable to find the strength nor surface to pull myself up, I fell into the sea.

I hit the water and was plunged underneath. I had no strength to push myself back up to the surface again. I watched the hull of the ship rise past my vision as I sank deeper into the water, as my lungs screamed for air and my vision began to blur.

My friends were fighting up there, and dying up there. Frantically, I tried to swim upwards, but I was choking on the water in my lungs, and with each frenzied push, my vision blurred even more and more. My reserves were gone, and I was sinking fast.

This was how it ended. A betrayal that would cost my life. Part of me felt angry and hurt, but a tiny voice whispered in the back of my mind as my blood vessels constricted, lack of oxygen shutting my body down. Let it go.

I closed my eyes.

"It's - It's not working!"

"Try harder!"

"I am!" I heard an agonized shout, and felt a breath of air rush through my lungs, filling my chest, followed by another.

My eyes snapped open, and I felt seawater rise up my throat. "Turn her on her side," I heard a gentle voice, and felt hands push and turn me over before I vomited seawater onto the wooden deck.

"Anahi!" Etka cried out, and before I even got a few decent breaths in, water running from my chin, I felt him pick me up and crush me into his chest.

"Don't hurt her!" Came a weak protest, but Etka clung to me like a child would a beloved doll, burying his face in my neck.

"I thought you had died," He breathed, his face wet with tears. I pulled away from him to see a distraught face transform. "I thought that I had lost you."

"Can't get rid of me that easily," I said drily, and he kissed me, holding my face as if it were made of glass.

When we broke apart, I saw that we were surrounded by people. Kateri was hugging Naheel, who looked exhausted and relieved. I was offered a blanket, and only when I wrapped it around my shoulders did I realize how frigidly cold I was. "Naheel tried to resuscitate you for five minutes after he pulled you out of the water," Etka said, curling me tightly in his arms. I clung to him for warmth and safety. Was he saying that I had been dead?

"Thank you," I reached across and took my brother's hand, meeting his eyes. He smiled at me, squeezing my hand hard in return.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around at the ship. Across from ours, the warship had disappeared, and the ship we had fled the Fire Nation from was turned over on its side, drifting away as we sailed off into the open ocean. "Where is Saeron?"

"Naheel and Kateri defeated her," Etka said quietly. "The ship from the Earth Kingdom met us and they saved us. We won't have to worry about them again."

I wanted to pry more, but by Etka's face, I knew that it was not something that he further wanted to discuss.

"We still have a ways to go before we reach the Earth Kingdom," Kateri said, meeting Naheel's and Etka's gaze. "But, ah, Anahi, there's something that you need to see."

"What is it?" I asked, alarmed by her tone, and Etka helped me to stand, turning me around so I faced the crew of the Earth Kingdom. I clutched his arm for stability, as Naheel and Kateri stood up beside me.

A woman stepped out of the crowd, wearing a belted green tunic. A steel greatsword hung from her back, and her black hair was streaked with grey in the single braid that ran down her back. She wore knee-high boots that were flecked with blood, and sported a cut on her arm that had been wrapped with cloth through the sleeve of her tunic. The resemblance to an Earth Kingdom native ended there. Her eyes were gold, like mine and Etka's, and I was hit was a realization so powerful, my knees buckled under me, and Naheel had to grab my other arm to keep me standing. I grabbed Etka's hand in a crushing grip.

It was as if I had looked into a mirror of the future, and saw myself aged around twenty years. I breathed in sharply, my hand going right to the dagger around my throat and pulling it out from my robes.

"Anahi," The woman said gently. I felt tears come to my eyes, and my throat was choked up. I couldn't speak. This couldn't be real. "My name is Kita, and I'm your birth mother."

I stared at her in complete shock. I had thought about this moment for months and months. All sorts of fantasies about my real mother had played out in my mind but I had never imagined this moment playing out in this way. My mother...the warrior...had been a part of our rescue, she had helped save us.

"Mom..." I breathed, still holding onto Etka's hand as I took a shaky step towards her, and then another.

"I-I never thought that I would see you again," She breathed, and I let go of Etka's hand, and ran into her arms.