Chapter 62

(Daisuke's POV)

You were waiting up for Kana. Smellerbee and Longshot went to sleep about two hours ago. Kaito and Jet were still arguing. At this point you didn't see the point, none of you would change your minds, you'd still trust Kana's judgment, Kaito would still hate Zuko for abandoning Kana, and Jet would still hate Zuko out of jealously.

Suddenly the door opened and Kana walked in, her eyes were red and puffy and she was covered in scrapes and bruises, she had been crying and fighting? Kaito and Jet exchanged looks while you ran over to her.

"Kana, what's wrong, what happened?" you asked frantically as you led her to a chair. Kaito closed the door. And Jet walked over to Kana.

"Jet was right," she mumbled coldly.

"Kana we can't help you, if you don't tell us what's wrong" Kaito said.

She stayed silent.

"It was Zuko" Jet said.

At the sound of his name Kana couldn't help but cry.

"Shut up Jet, you're making it worse" You snapped. "Kana when you're ready tell us, for now we're here for you"

"We need to leave, Azula knows we're on the island" Kana said as she wiped her tears away, refusing to cry any longer.

You frowned, Kana never cries, and the fact that she's trying to cover her emotions just made you worry even more. But you couldn't think about that for now, you need to think of a way to get off the island fast.

"Kana you get cleaned up" kaito said, taking charge, "Jet wake up Longshot and Smellerbee" Kana began tending to her wounds, Kaito turned to you "Daisuke…. got any ideas?" he asked as he began to panic.

"And here I thought you were going to start acting your age" you said with a smile.

"You're the mature one, I'm the bear-like one," he said with a grin.

You thought for a moment, you remembered that Chan has a boat; you saw it when you were at the party. "We can steal Chan's boat, we'll leave now, run there. You can probably figure out how to sail it"

"Just because I'm a waterbender doesn't mean I know how to drive a boat"

"Its hopeless, that's not even the right terminology"

"Its hopeless but its our only chance" Kaito said.

(Kana's POV)

Daisuke explained his plan, it wasn't very thought out but it's all you have so you're just going to wing it. Within minutes the six of you had all of you stuff packed, not that there was much to pack, and left for Chan's. By now the party should be over and hopefully you could steal with boat unnoticed.

"We shouldn't go through the woods," you announced.

"That's stupid, we can't be tracked if we go through the woods," Jet said in a smug tone.

"You're not as great as you think you are," you snapped. Jet gave you a look but you ignored it, you were in no mood to deal with him, you've had enough with guys being assholes today. "Besides Mei and Ty Lee are looking for me in the woods"

"Kana what happened to you?" Kaito asked in a quiet voice, you could tell he was worried about you.

"We'll talk when we're safe," you told him, he wasn't happy about that but he nodded in agreement.

The six of you silently ran across the island, mostly sticking to residential areas so you wouldn't run into Azula, Mei or Ty Lee. You noticed that Smellerbee and Longshot were falling behind, so you slowed down to her pace.

"Is something wrong?" you asked concerned.

"I wish we didn't have to run" Smellerbee said and you knew she didn't mean physically run. She was so young, sometimes you forgot how young she really is. You looked at Longshot he couldn't be any older than 12. They're just kids. You're just a kid.

"I promise one day we'll be able to stay in one place, we'll have a home" you told them. Longshot smiled at you. "I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind a few more kids around." You added with a smile

"Thanks kana" Smellerbee said out of breath. She was falling behind. Jet was almost out of site and Kaito and Daisuke were a good hundred feet away. Longshot seemed to just be hanging back so Smellerbee wouldn't be alone.

"Come on, get on my back," you told her as you slowed down.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah its fine, it will be faster this way," you told her with a smile

Once Smellerbee was on your back, you sped up again; Longshot was able to keep up pretty well. Once you reached Kaito and Daisuke you stayed at their pace. Jet was trying to showoff; he almost created a scene several times.

Once you got to Chan's you noticed most of the partygoers were gone, it seemed like only a few people were left. As long as you're quiet you shouldn't have any issues stealing the boat. You put Smellerbee down and the six of you swiftly and quietly went to the dock. The boat was about the same size as the dingy Zuko had.

Jet jumped on board and instantly tried to figure out how it worked. He obviously had no idea. Kaito tried to figure it out. Once you made sure that Smellerbee and Longshot were safely onboard you walked over to Kaito, Daisuke and Jet.

"This is nothing like a water tribe boat" Kaito commented.

"The damn thing won't work, we'll be here all night" Jet complained in a harsh whisper.

"I'll try to think of another plan" Daisuke said obviously irritated by Jet.

You calmly walked over, pulled a lever, and turned a dial; you heard the fuel start to burn. It was a bit louder than you thought but it shouldn't be a problem. The three boys were looking at you in shock.

"How did you do that?" Jet asked.

"Since when you can operate a boat, you couldn't even sail with me," Kaito said.

"I never said I could operate it, I just know how to turn it on," you clarified. "Besides, you all seem to forget that I lived on a fire navy ship for a few months"

"Kaito you steer it, Jet look for a map" Daisuke ordered. "And kana you should go rest" he glanced at Smellerbee and Longshot who found some blankets and were getting ready for bed "they have the right idea" he commented.

You sighed, "I just wish my mind was as tired as my body is"

Daisuke frowned, "go relax, we'll talk once we figure out where we're going"

You nodded and walked over to Smellerbee and Longshot. You sat on the bench and closed your eyes as you ran your finders through your hair. You opened your eyes to find Smellerbee curled up in your lap and Longshot sat in the floor, resting against your legs. You smiled at them, it was pretty adorable. It kind of reminded you when you and Daisuke were little.

"Kana?" Smellerbee asked. You looked at her. "What's it like to have a family?"

The questioned shocked you; you couldn't help but wonder how long she'd been with the freedom fighters. Longshot gave you a questioning look, wanting you to answer Smellerbee's question.

"All families are different, you already have a family" they looked at you in confusion so you continued. "Jet is your family, and now you have me, Kaito and Daisuke too. Family doesn't have to be related by blood, families just care about each other and take care of each other," you explained.

"So you're like the mom of our little group" Smellerbee said, Longshot nodded in agreement.

You laughed, "I guess you could say that"

Smellerbee continued to ask you questions until she fell asleep, still curled up on your lap. Longshot fell asleep soon after. You smiled at them, they really were just kids. You couldn't help but think about how lucky you are, your mom and dad love you so much. You missed your parents.

'This war needs to end' you looked at Smellerbee and Longshot, 'kids shouldn't grow up without their parents, its not right' you frowned.

You were so distracted. Your thoughts eventually went back to Zuko, part of you wanted to believe him but you couldn't help but feel guilty that you wanted to believe him.

"So if you're the mom of our group, does that make me the dad" Jet said as he chewed on a long piece of grass. Sometimes you wondered how he always seemed to find those.

"Jet just stop, I don't want to hear it," you said trying not to wake up the sleepy kids.

"They won't wake up" Jet assured you. He sat near you; thankfully he couldn't get close to you because of Longshot and Smellerbee.

Daisuke joined you, you assumed that Kaito was steering the boat.

"Kana what happened?" Daisuke asked.

You sighed, you knew this was coming. 'I wish Jet wasn't here' you thought bitterly, if it was just Daisuke you'd be able to tell him everything. "I went to that Cherry Blossom tree so I could think, it reminded me of home, I was crying, I guess I was just so overcome with emotion, I couldn't help it" you felt pretty embarrassed about crying, its not like you.

"Kana, its ok to cry" Daisuke said. Jet just gave you a look, you had no idea what it meant and to honest you really didn't care at this point.

You ignored Daisuke statement and continued, "After a while, Zuko found me. He got me to stop crying, we talked, and just enjoyed each other's company. He wanted me to run away with him…" you looked away, Daisuke is a hopeless romantic and totally would have been ok with you running away with Zuko. Jet was probably glaring into the distance hoping Zuko could feel his jealousy.

"My baby sister is not allowed to run away with assholes!" Kaito yelled, apparently he could hear you.

"But I convinced him to come with us. When we were about to leave, Azula came out of nowhere, said that their plan worked and that Zuko captured me. Then Mei and Ty Lee ran at me, Mei throw needles at me but they hit Zuko, I fought Ty Lee but she kept hitting pressure points, I eventually was able to get away."

Everyone stayed silent, not knowing how to react. Jet looked like he wanted to say something that would insult Zuko, but he held back, it was as if he knew you were going to hit him if he said anything.

Daisuke put his hand on your shoulder, "at least you're ok," he said softly.

You looked down, "actually I'm not…what ever Ty Lee did to me," you looked up "I can't firebend"

(Zuko's POV)

After fighting with Azula, you stormed off. Now Kana thinks you were trying to capture her.

"She probably hates me now" you mumbled to yourself.

You needed to talk to Uncle, he probably won't answer you, he's ignored you the last few times you visited. You can't wait to get off this dumb island. You were so lost in your thoughts of Kana that you didn't realize you were at the docks until you almost fell into the bay. Thankfully no one was around, you really didn't need anyone to see you make a fool out of yourself.

Then you noticed a small boat, it was fairly close to you. Kana was sitting out on the deck she looked upset. You fought back the urge to call out to her, it wouldn't matter, and she probably hates you anyway. You silently watched the boat get further and further away. You clenched your fists in anger when you saw Jet sit close to her.

'I need to figure out how to fix this,' you thought. "Kana I promise I'll make it up to you" you whispered.

"Hey! My boat! Come back here!" Chan yelled from his balcony. "My dad is so going to kill me"