Happy Juneteenth to all my American readers!

Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: I don't know, none of them seem to have had especially good lives up to the time of the series with the exception of Suki; who spends half of the show in the worst prison in the Fire Nation.

Zigzagdoublezee: They're both there, but yes, Zhao would probably not have reacted so well to Yue's arguments. And there's absolutely no way that she's going to get out of this one, surely!

As Always, Please Review!

"How far away is it?"

Sokka trudged through the forest behind Suki, nervously looking around.

"Not far. Don't worry," Suki reassured him. "Closer than the last three times you asked, anyway".

"Sorry for being wary of the Fire Nation attacking," Sokka held his hands up. The warrior rolled her eyes and they marched on in silence.

"Don't worry. Don't you think we can handle them?" She asked pointedly.

"There is a lot of them," Sokka pointed out.

"There's a lot of us," Suki said. "And we don't have to worry, not now we have a big strong southern man here."

Sokka noted the intense sarcasm in her voice. He didn't much like it.

"Hey, I'm not doubting your ability to fight," he said. "I have eyes, I saw what you did to those soldiers. I just think we need to choose our battles very carefully."

"The battle chose us," Suki replied briskly, her tone softening a bit with Sokka's reassurance. "So now we're all in this whether we like it or not."

"I know," Sokka nodded.

Behind them, the other warriors were following, along with Rinzen, Katara, and Gembul, the sky-bison plodding along on foot to be able to hide in the trees and avoid detection. Nobody spoke except in hushed tones.

Finally, Suki stopped. Sokka was so busy looking off to the side that he nearly crashed into her, but managed to swerve out of the way just in time. Suki looked into the undergrowth and whistled a distinctive tune.

Nothing happened for a moment, and then the vegetation seemed to shift and a white face appeared. The warrior looked at them, nodded, and then began pushing the rest of the branches and leaves out of the way. Sokka found himself staring at a very, very well disguised cave mouth.

"Come on!" Suki gestured. "Don't worry, it's big enough for all of us. Including him."

Then she walked in. Sokka followed her a moment later. It took a moment for his eyes to get used to the gloom. A fire burned in the middle of the cave, throwing shadows which danced over the walls. A few chests were piled up in one corner, and sleeping bags were spread out across the floor. Screens of cloth were set up all along the back of the cave.

Behind him, he heard a nervous grunt as Rinzen coaxed Gembul into the cave. The nomad hugged his bison tightly, whispering words of encouragement into his ear. Behind them, the leafy disguise was dropped back down across the entrance.

"This is incredible!" Katara said to nobody in particular.

"Shhh!" Suki put a finger to her lips. "We've camouflaged the entrance to the cave so they can't see us, but they'll certainly hear us if we talk too loudly."

But a gratified smile was spreading across her face.

"I'm glad you like it though."

Sokka looked around.

"It's very clever," he said. "Did you make that cover in just a couple of days?"

"We made it in a couple of hours," Suki told him. "This is our base from which we will liberate this island."

At the mention of the war with the Fire Nation, Sokka's attention was drawn away from the ingenuity of Suki's improvised secret base.

"How far away is the town?" He asked.

Suki's smile vanished.

"Not far," Suki pointed. "About half an hour's walk that way. Our island is not big."

"And that's where Yue will be?"

"Most likely."

"Great," Sokka strode towards the entrance. "I'm going to scout it out."

"Wait," Suki stepped in front of him. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Maybe not," Sokka shrugged. "But the Avatar needs me, so I have to do it anyway."

Suki stared him down.

"You're an outsider. You'll be recognised."

"I can go in disguise."

"We know the land better. It'll be safer for one of us to go," Suki replied smoothly.

"You don't know the Avatar by sight. I do," Sokka pointed out.

"Yes I do, we saw her at the beach!"

"You didn't know it was her though, did you?"

"I do now!"

Suki gestured to her face.

"Do you know why my face is painted like this? Why we dress like this? Why we use these fans? Because this order was created by an Avatar."

She put the fans away, having pulled them out and waved them at him as she spoke.

"It is my obligation, my duty as a Warrior of Kyoshi to help her. And that is what I am going to do."

"Be quiet! The Fire Nation will hear us, remember!" Katara hissed. Then she paused. "Why don't you both go?"

Both of them turned to look at her. Then they looked at each other.

"You know what, fair enough," Suki nodded grudgingly. "You can come with me."

"But we should go in disguise," Sokka agreed. "Your uniform is very distinctive."

Suki looked around.

"I know," she said. "I've been trained in the art of stealth since I was a young girl. I think I can come up with something. Can you give me a few minutes?"

With that, she turned and vanished into the darkness at the back of the cave.

"You should find some disguise too!" She called. "They know you by sight now!"

"What about you?" Sokka asked, addressing both his sister and Rinzen.

"I think I have to stay here. Gembul needs me," Rinzen shook his head.

"I... don't know," Katara hesitated. "I think you'll do better travelling in a smaller group. And, between you and me, you two need to have a chat in private."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka asked.

Katara grinned.

"No clues!" She said. "But there are definitely issues you need to work through."

"How can there be issues?" Sokka was now confused. "I've literally known her for fifteen minutes."

"Like I say, no clues," Katara smirked as she ushered him towards the bison. "Now, you have a disguise you need to create."