So here's the first Chapter. If you are first finding my stories then the prequel to this is Burning Flame. Hope you enjoy this work. I am in the process of revisions. Thanks to everyone who's reading my story. It means a lot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender

But I do own Kale and Amber ;)

A cold breeze hit my skin as I stood by the railing of the water tribe vessel we were traveling on. It had been two days since the water tribe celebration, as well as since my first kiss. My face burned at the memory of Kale's lips on my own. Sokka had quickly pulled us apart after a second of our affectionate touch, saying something like, "Alright love birds... That's enough sucking face." Then he forced me to the other side of the room so he could distance me from Kale. Sokka was really protective of me, and at times I appreciated it. At other times though, it was very annoying.

That kiss though... I could never forget that kiss...

"Hey... There you are," Katara said, stepping up beside me by the railing. We both stared out toward the setting sun taking in the streaks of fire red rays that shot across the horizon. "We were all looking for you. Kale told us since we started this voyage your minds been someplace else. Aang even said you seem out of it whenever he talks to you. What's on your mind?"

Looking at my gloved hands, I shut my eyes as those same words shot through my head. "Agony… pain… blue fire… death." The fortune tellers reading kept rolling through my head like a wave. I kept having dreams about it... I kept having a feeling in my gut that unsettled me...

Even if Katara and Sokka constantly reassured me the fortune teller Aunt Wu was a phony who only cared about publicity, I feared they were wrong. Aunt Wu wouldn't have told me I was going to die if she didn't believe it to be true.

"Nothing," I finally answered, opening my eyes and staring back at the descending sun. "I'm fine."

My sister sighed. "Yeah right... You honestly think I can't read you Amber? I've been with you for nine years. It's easy to see when you're lying."

Tightening my fists as I realized I'd been caught, I decided to tell her just to get it off my chest. "It's just... There's something that won't escape my mind, and it causes me to wake up every night screaming from the nightmares it gives me."

Katara looked surprised, but she stayed silent letting me continue.

"Aunt Wu's fortune keeps repeating in my head. Maybe it's because at the North Pole I was close to death already. I think deep inside... I'm scared that I truly will die. It was terrifying being trapped inside that dark fog unable to come out for so long. If what she said is true, and I do die, I'm scared I'll be in that dark fog forever."

Tears slid down my cheeks at the thought of death. My spine shivered as I pictured blue fire shooting toward me and consuming me. "Hey... Calm down," Katara said, taking my shaking hands in her own and forcing me to turn toward her. "Even if you believe what Aunt Wu said, just think about it Amber... We don't know anyone in this world who can shoot blue fire. And even if we do meet someone with this ability, we will all protect you. We we're bad at it in the past, but this time we'll make sure no one hurts you again."

Smiling weakly at my sisters words, I felt my pained heart ease slowly. Nodding, I threw my arms around Katara giving her a hug.

"Thanks sis... Thanks for always being there for me."

She hugged me back. "Same to you... Now come on." She pulled away from me. "Let's go get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." She then turned and started to head back to the hatch that led below deck. Staying where I was, I looked over at the sunset once more with a weak smile. Guess it's better to live and stop dwelling on a future that may or may not happen.

That night as I crawled onto the cot beside Katara (who was already asleep), I closed my eyes and tried to sleep/ I hoped no nightmares would come... I was hoping too hard...

"Mommy!" my six year old self cried desperately, as I ran over to my mom who was walking down the fire nation palace hallway. "Mommy! I need help!" My mother kept walking, her feet only moving faster as I tried to run for her. "No! Please wait mommy!"

The ground underneath me gave way and I screamed as I fell into a dark abyss. When I landed, I found I was now in a dark cold cell with a chain clamped around my wrist, and I also found I was my present age. "Your mommy won't save you this time," a cold voice hissed, and I looked up in terror to see Zhao. "You're mine!" His eyes were deeply filled with hate, and he raised his fist to strike.

"No! You're dead!"

He smirked. "You can't kill me! I'm Zhao the invincible!"

I screamed as hot red fire shot at me. As bright light filled my vision, I found my body was immediately overcome by blue. Surfacing in what appeared to be an ocean, I coughed out as water filled my lungs.

"What's this?" a hard voice hissed from somewhere above.

Turning from where I swam in the water with horror, I saw Fire Lord Ozai standing on a giant black vessel looking down at me. "No!" I cried again, and then turned to swim. As I turned, I found I was now on the steel of the ship, and my father stood over me. He looked so tall beside me. I felt intimidated... I felt weak... I felt scared...

"You should have died when you were a kid... Now your death will only be more painful for you," he hissed, and then lunged forward with blue fire shining in his eyes. As he reached for my neck, I screamed and shut my eyes not ready to die.

"No! Leave me alone! I don't want to die!"

My eyes shot open and it was then I had sat up in my cot with tears falling down my cheeks. My mouth hung open from the scream that had just escaped me. I saw on the cot beside me Katara had sat up as well and looked over at me with deep worry. Quickly, I slammed my mouth shut but my breathing was heavy from the terror I felt.

"Hey!" Sokka suddenly shouted, running into the room with Kale and Aang following at his heel. "We heard screaming. What's wrong?"

Calming my ragged breaths, I tried to grasp that it was just a nightmare and I was awake. Katara had quickly come over to my cot, and hugged me tightly trying to calm me some more.

"Hey... It was just a dream." She tried to calm me down. "You're safe."

Shaking my head, I whispered softly, "It wasn't a dream... It was a nightmare." Katara seemed like she wanted to pry, but she could see I didn't really want to talk about it. "I- I need some air." Prying from her arms, I stumbled off the cot and maneuvered my way around the others.

As I headed down the wooden hall toward the stairs, I heard Sokka say from behind, "Let her go... She just needs to calm down..."

Stumbling up onto deck, I was quickly hit by the chilly ocean wind. Walking barefoot across the wood, I didn't care if I got splinters. I just wanted to get to the railing. When I got to the side of the ship, I grabbed onto the wooden rail feeling sick to my stomach.

I was tired of these nightmares... I was tired of being scared all the time...

Footsteps approached me, and I wasn't surprised to see it was Kale. Even though he looked disheveled in the light of the moon from sleep, he was still as handsome as the day I found him at the Fire Nation colony. Seeing him beside me, I couldn't help but calm more.

We stood in silence for a moment, both of us trying to decide what to say. Finally, Kale said softly, "The moon's big tonight. I think its been brighter ever since Yue's sacrifice."

We both stood at the railing together, and I looked down at the moonlit waters with sad eyes. Then I looked up at the moon with a frown. Yue had been the first person at the North Pole who actually treated me like an equal. Hey Yue...

"Yeah," I finally said. "Looks like her beauty is showing through the moon." My face fell as I felt my heart ache. "She died for her people... She was so brave..."

"Agony... pain... blue fire... death... You will die to save another."

I cringed... Would I suffer the same way Yue had...?

A hand took mine comfortingly and I looked at Kale with question. He looked concerned, and I hated his worry.

"Do you want to talk about it..." he began. "About the nightmare?"

Shaking my head, I said softly, "There's not much to tell... It was just because I'm scared of dying... I just can't get this stupid fortune out of my head..."

He sighed, his hand tightening as if he didn't want to let me go. "Sokka told me about that... You shouldn't let a fortune get you so worked up. Fortune tellers have a one in a million chance of being correct. You should've seen the ones that would come to the palace... The Fire Lord would throw each of them in the capital prison for being frauds. I really don't think you're going to die just because some woman said you will."

We stood there for a few moments in silence. I finally finally found my voice. "I know I should think that way... but I've already almost died once. It was so fast... and it was so real. That wasn't even the fortune, Kale. If I almost died at the hand of Zhao, there's a high chance I'll-"

"Stop talking like that!" Kale begged. He suddenly turned me so that I was facing him. "You will not die. No matter what I won't allow it. No one's taking you away from me again. I will protect you."

He surprised me by how serious he was, and I had no choice but to relax my tense body and believe him. "Okay," I whispered, deciding he was right. Worrying would get me nowhere.

Kale sighed, and then pulled me to him and hugged me in his warm embrace. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, so stop worrying." He spoke softly in my ear, and I closed my eyes as he kissed me gently on the forehead. He made me feel so secure in his arms. Pulling away, I saw his eyes were tired and I knew he needed to go back to sleep. I was keeping him up. He needed his strength for tomorrow.

"You should head back to bed... I'll go too," I said. He didn't believe me, so he ended up walking me back below deck and back into the small room I was staying in with Katara. She was asleep again. Getting on the small cot, I lied down and closed my eyes so he'd think I'd fallen asleep too.

His hand brushed against my cheek, and I smiled at his kind warm touch. Then I heard him leave the room and I waited a few minutes until I was certain he was in bed. When I was positive he was asleep, I got back up and walked back out on deck. The night crewmen were surprised to see me a second time, but I ignored them walking over to the end of the boat where Appa was floating behind. His eyes were shut and he was dreaming too.

Using the rope that connected both sides of Appa's saddle to the ship to pull him along, I managed to hop onto it and make my way down like a tightrope walker. This was one skill no one, not even my family, knew I could do. The ability came back to me one night a few weeks ago, when I started to remember Mai and Ty Lee.

"Come on Amber! You can do it!" Ty Lee encouraged, standing in the middle of the rope like it was the easiest thing in the world. We were both five, and Ty Lee was a shorter but prettier girl with her long brown hair in a braid. "It's all about shifting your weight!"

Gulping, I held on tightly to the tree I was standing on, staring at the rope that stretched from my tree to one that was a good five yards away. "Mommy will kill me," I muttered under my breath, and then I looked down at Zuko who watched from below with worry. Mai stood beside him worried as well. I was at least twenty feet in the air.

Taking a step onto the rope, I saw Ty Lee beam. "Yeah! That's it! Now slowly ease your way!"

Taking a foot forward, I stepped completely on the rope and gasped as I felt gravity try to pull me down. Turning, I rushed back to the tree and grabbed it for dear life. "I can't do it Ty Lee! I'm scared!"

Ty Lee walked back over to me as if she were walking on leveled ground. "Come on... Just don't look down. Look straight ahead and think of it as walking on a stair rail. You've done that many times!"

Looking into her soft brown eyes, I weakly nodded and took a step forward again. She grinned and somersaulted back to the middle of the rope. "Okay! Come on!"

Closing my eyes, I felt for the three inch rope and pictured I was stepping on the stair rail that went downward. One step at a time, I found myself balanced and walking across the rope with my bare feet. "You're doing it!" Ty Lee cried, and I opened my eyes to see she was on the other tree and I was already in the middle of the rope. My eyes widened at her words, and I grinned.

After another minute of walking across the rope, I finally found the surface of the tree limb and stepped off. When I no longer felt gravity was pulling me down, I grinned. "I did it!" I looked over at Ty Lee who was as excited as me. "Now I can go into the circus with you!"

She laughed and hugged me to her, saying, "You're a natural!"

Hopping from the rope onto Appa's saddle, I looked back to see the ship about ten yards in front of me. Appa must've been lonely this far from everyone. "Hey boy," I said, and he groaned to let me know he was glad I'd come. With a sigh I plopped down and leaned against the side of the saddle staring up at the stars. As I did I began to think about some things.

One thing I thought of was if my father ever regretted sending me away to die. Did he sometimes think about it and feel guilty for trying to kill his daughter? Probably not, but I could dream...

Then I thought about my birth mom... Was she really alive out there somewhere, and if so would I ever get to see her again? The chances were very low, and I knew it was probably not ever going to happen, but I could dream about that one too.

My mind then took me to Uncle Iroh and Zuko. They'd disappeared after the whole battle at the North Pole, so I hoped they were okay. Kale told me when I was awake enough to comprehend, that Zuko was the one who carried me to Katara so she could heal me. Zuko truly did care about me, and I loved him for it. Deep down I hoped that in the future after this war we could be family again. Zuko was my brother, and though we were worlds apart seemed, I still loved him.

My mind wandered again and took me to the gold bracelet around my wrist. Lighting a purple glowing fire in my hand, I pulled my knees to my chest as I stared at the supernatural flames. It had only been a month or two ago that my fire changed suddenly. Every time I would fire bend, I always felt something inside me warm as well. It was almost like the fire was coming from some other source that wasn't me. Why was I granted these strange abilities...? I wondered if mom had known this was what I'd receive as a result of wearing the bracelet...?

"The bracelet did not give you these abilities Amber... You were born with them. You are discovering them now because you are accepting them more than you had in the past. The bracelet is to link me to you so I can protect and guide you, but your power is yours alone." Roku said to me, making me jump slightly as his voice came out of nowhere. Our connection had grown stronger over the last few weeks. The bracelet was warm, and I clutched it trying to calm my pounding heart.

But what about at the North Pole! I cried in my head. When I was at my weakest you gave me the strength to fight more!

"Is that what you really believe...? You truly don't see your worth my dear. It was you, and only you alone that gathered up the power inside you to defeat Zhao. You found the strength when you were at your weakest. Even when you were with king Bumi at the time, or fighting off Zhao's men at the Temple, I never gave you that strength. It was always you... You are powerful."

My eyes shot to the bracelet amazed. "You mean everything I did in the past... The glow around my whole body, and the sudden bending of purple fire... It was never you or any of the spirits? It was always me?"

"Now you understand."

"How though? It can't be because your blood runs through my veins."

There was a pause, and I waited impatiently for him to answer. He answered after a long pause. "You'll know more soon. I'm sorry, but I have to keep you in the dark for now."

"What! Why!" I cried, but the warmth of the bracelet disappeared and Roku left me.

Sighing, I dropped on my back and lay on the saddle bitterly, muttering, "Thanks for nothing Roku." Then I stared up at the moon once more, watching clouds pass and create shadows in the light. As I stared up above, I thought of Yue again and frowned deeply. She'd sacrificed herself for the people she loved... If she did so, then my possibility of doing the same was very probable. I hated Aunt Wu and her stupid fortune!

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to escape everything, but my dreams wouldn't carry me away this time. That night, I went sleepless once more, and I knew it would bite me in the butt in the morning when exhaustion would hit me.

It was around sunrise when people started to wake up. At that time I'd used the rope to walk easily back onto the ship. Tightrope walking was probably my favorite memory so far. Ty Lee would be proud of me. When I got on deck, I saw two warriors look at me with amazement from where I'd hopped on the ship. They'd seen me on the rope, and I blushed, quickly walking past them. Wonder if that's how Katara and Sokka would react if they found out?

Going over to the ship rail, I stared down at the waters which were now lit by the rising sun.

"Good Morning, Amber!" Katara exclaimed, and I turned in surprise to see her walking toward me, Aang behind her. Aang looked as tired as I did, and I wondered if he hadn't slept like me. Katara must've noticed the dark circles under my eyes. "You okay? You look like you didn't get any sleep last night."

Nodding, I leaned against the ship railing. "Yep… Couldn't be better." She stared at me suspiciously, and at one point she looked like she wanted to say something else. Instead she sighed and walked away. Aang followed at her heel.

Kale and Sokka soon emerged from below deck as well, and I quickly tried to cover the fact that I was tired by smiling widely. "Hey guys. Sleep well?"

Kale came over and leaned against the rail beside me. "Yeah… But your brother snores."

"I do not!" Sokka defended. "Aang was the one screaming this morning. You should be blaming him!"

My eyes widened. "Why was Aang screaming?"

Sokka shrugged. "He had a nightmare I guess. You didn't hear him?"

Shaking my head, I looked out toward the rising sun. "No. I came up here a while ago."

Kale looked at me with worry.

Sokka sighed. "Let me guess… You couldn't sleep."

Rolling my eyes, I looked away from his penetrating gaze. "I'm fine Sokka. Stop worrying so much. We'll probably be flying on Appa most of the day anyway so I can sleep then."

As I spoke this, I saw Chief Arnook and Master Pakku come out on deck. We all then had a nice breakfast of seal jerky and some moon peaches, and I heard Katara excitedly speak to Master Pakku about how glad she was she got to learn water bending from him. Kale, Sokka, and Aang were blabbering on about starting Aang's earth bending training, and I was glad to see Aang was a bit happier than before with his whole nightmare and all. I assumed it must've been a bad one to scream like that.

When it was time to leave, we all stood and untied Appa's reins so he could fly up on deck. He landed on the small water tribe vessel and we placed the supplies Chief Arnook was providing us in Appa's saddle. It was a bag of water tribe money, a few bags of food, and some new water tribe clothes as well as sleeping bags.

Before we left, Master Pakku granted us with gifts. For Katara he gave her some water from the spirit oasis, for Aang some scrolls to help him master water bending, for Kale a water tribe sword made from a very big sharpened whale tooth, and for me a knife with water tribe symbols on it. Kale and I also both received a sheath for our weapons which I was very thankful for. Poor Sokka got nothing though, and I patted his back as he moped.

"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There you'll be safe to begin your earth bending training with King Bumi," Master Pakku said. "I wish you all well. The water tribe thanks you for your strength and courage."

We all thanked him and then Aang sent Appa into the sky. As we flew east, I closed my eyes enjoying the breeze that caressed my face. It was peaceful up in the sky, and I think I loved flying the most.

We flew for a while, and conversation wasn't very exciting. Eventually Kale got bored and asked, "Are you sure the general won't attack Amber and I? I mean we are fire nation."

Sokka waved his hand to brush Kale's worries. "Nah. You'll be fine. Chief Arnook sent him a message and told him you guys were good, so he shouldn't hurt you."

Crossing my arms, I muttered, "You guys also said Jet wouldn't hurt me, but we see how that went."

Everyone looked over at me, and I saw Sokka, Katara, and Aang nod with guilt. Kale looked confused. "Who's Jet?"

"An annoying pain in the butt who tried to have me killed," I muttered, remembering the guy with the hook swords who really hated my guts. "He drugged me and tied me to a dam he tried to blow up."

Kale shook his head in disbelief. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes."

Smiling weakly, I pulled my knees close to my chest. "That's me... always prone to danger."

When we eventually got to the Earth Kingdom base it was about four hours of flying and we were ready to get off Appa. The base was huge, with enormous walls surrounding it to keep the fire benders out. Landing in the middle of a large entrance to a huge stone building, we found General Fong's soldiers were already waiting for us. They guided us from the fort-yard into the enormous building at the center of the base. Walking through the massive stone building, we made our way down a number of halls until we arrived in the meeting room. We approached the general who sat on a chair with excited green eyes. He was barefoot, probably in his late forties, with a brown beard that stretched down to his chest, and he wore this ugly green cape.

"I am General Fong. And welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka, the mighty Katara, the strong Kale, and the powerful Amber." At the general's words I knew he was just trying to butter us up. Narrowing my eyes at him, I knew this was just his way of saying he wanted something. What that was... I wasn't sure...

"Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you single-handedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility," he said.

Now I knew something was definitely going on. Roku suddenly said in my mind, General Fong plans to trigger Aang's avatar state. You can't allow him to use Aang like this. I could not only harm you all but Aang as well. I assumed since Roku didn't like this it was a very bad thing. Walking over to Aang, I said, "We're only here for an escort General Fong. What you want of Aang won't happen."

The General looked utterly taken back by what I'd spoken. "How do you know what I'm planning?"

"Avatar Roku told me. He also says it's a terrible idea."

Sokka, Katara, Kale, and Aang were looking at me with utter bewilderment. General Fong looked aggravated by my getting in the way of his plans. "Yes… I've heard stories about your mysterious connection with Avatar Roku. Let me assure you though, that he can't control what our young avatar Aang wants to do. His days of being the Avatar are long passed. With that being said," the general turned to Aang, "Avatar… You're ready to face the Fire Lord now."

Aang was completely taken back by this. "What? No I'm not!"

Stepping protectively in front of him, I said, "Are you crazy! Aang just learned water bending and he still needs to learn earth and fire bending! He's definitely not ready to face the Fire Lord."

The General smirked. "And you'd say that wouldn't you. You probably don't want him hurting your father, right princess?"

Glaring with hatred, I snapped, "My father can rot in his grave for all I care! I'm only concerned for Aang!"

The General scoffed. "I've had enough of you. Guards, take the avatar's loud mouth friend to the room they'll be staying at."

The guards came forward to grab me. My brow twitched with aggravation. "Wait! You can't just take my friend!" Aang complained. It was his turn to step in front of me. The General's eyes narrowed when he saw the avatar defend me. "And besides, I have no clue what any of you are talking about. Why would I face the Fire Lord now?"

"Why? Because with the kind of power you possess—power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes—you could defeat the Fire Lord now!"

Sokka stepped up and finally spoke. "But sir, the thing is Aang can only do those things when he's in the avatar state."

Aang added, "See, it's this special state where-"

Fong cut him off. "I'm well aware. Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power. Without you we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation."

"Are you crazy? Aang could get himself killed!" I cried. "He's not ready for that kind of fight!"

Kale suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me back slightly, probably because he saw my fists begin to steam. "Calm down," he whispered. At once I calmed and tried to let my anger leave. This general was getting on my last nerves though.

After more arguing, in the end Aang went against my warnings and decided to try and go freely into the avatar state. As he went off to go practice with the general, Kale and I decided to not get in anyone's way and just hang out in our large earth kingdom room the general gave us all to share. Sokka and Katara decided to stay with Aang to make sure he'd be okay.

Lying on a pile of pillows, I sighed trying to calm my rage.

"That man is insane," Kale muttered. He sat beside me, his back leaning against the wall and his eyes closed as he too was irritated.

"Yeah. But he's not the craziest person I've ever met... Zhao was ten times worse, and I think Jet can be placed in second place. Then there was that terrible prison warden. I'd place General Fong in fourth place for worst person ever," I muttered. Then I thought of Turk and my father and thought in my head, "Maybe I should start my list from scratch again."

Kale looked at me with shock. "Warden? You never mentioned anything about a warden."

My hand went to my arm which held the burn the warden had inflicted. If you looked at my arm you could see scars decorated all over the skin. Kale noticed and frowned with deep pain. He felt terrible for everything that happened to me, and I didn't want him to feel bad for me. I hated when he saw my scars. I hated when anyone saw my scars.

"It's okay, Kale. It's all in the past," I said, trying to reassure him. He looked ready to argue, but I quickly changed the subject. "You never told me… Why did my father send you to that fire nation colony? Why not let you stay at the palace?"

Kale closed his eyes as memories came back to him. He frowned and I saw his fists clench. "It was kind of my fault... Your father had known of our friendship. As years passed I think he could tell I was growing suspicious of him. I'd always known he had something to do with your disappearance, because he always changed the subject at meetings whenever your name came up. At times I'd be serving tea at the meetings, and I'd see something flash in your father's eyes whenever they spoke of your death. Almost pleasure it seemed. At some point he knew I was suspicious and sent me away so I wouldn't start spreading rumors in the palace. He wanted everyone to believe he loved you and missed you, not loathed and had you killed."

Nodding, I felt my heart ache. "He really hated me that much, huh? My father was happy with the thought of me being dead."

Kale suddenly scooted beside me and I felt him pull me in his arms. "I'm so sorry Amber… I can't imagine how you feel."

"I guess I'm not surprised. Zhao told me the same thing in the past... it should be expected. But... I still wish it wasn't true. I can't fathom why he would hate me so much. At least I have one father who loves me though," I whispered, thinking of Hakoda. He had treated me so much like his daughter, even when he knew my true identity.

"I'm glad the water tribe found you. If not you would've surely died," Kale said. "I owe them all for saving you."

Silence passed between the two of us as we both went deep in thought. Later that night, after dinner, Katara forced me into a room with warm tubs of water. "The general said we are free to wash up. Sokka, Aang, and Kale are in another one so we have some privacy. There's a woman soldier positioned outside to keep everyone out."

Staring at the water, I almost laughed. "It's been ages since we've both had a good bath."

Katara immediately stripped to her bindings and stepped into the warm water. Following her I did the same, and we both stepped in. The water was really warm, and it was nice to get the dirt and grime off my skin. As I washed my hair out and ducked under, I came back up to see Katara staring at my arms. Immediately I self-consciously turned from her. It was probably the first time she'd seen just how bad all my scars were since my last healing session at the North Pole. "There's a lot more than before," she said, and I could just picture her frowning.

"Yeah… A lots happened these last few weeks," I muttered, rubbing my hand over my many scars.

Katara sighed. "Yeah. A lot has."

Later that night after we'd dried off and put our water tribe clothing back on, we got back to the room to find the others were all on their cots chilling. Aang looked away when he and Katara met eyes, and I shot her a questioning look. She turned away and I assumed it had something to do with this whole avatar state thing. Not wanting to pry to make things worse, I just went straight to bed.

Luckily I had no nightmares or dreams that night. I did however wake up to something very unpleasant... something was being placed over my mouth. Shooting my eyes open wide, I saw an earth nation soldier above me with a look of determination. As I started to struggle, I felt his other hand punch me hard in the side of my head causing me to black out.

When I came to I was tied up and my mouth was gagged. Groaning from the sharp pain in the side of my head, I opened my eyes only to see blurred vision. After a moment, everything became clear. I saw the General Fong guy pacing back and forth with determined eyes. We were in the meeting room where I'd first met the man. When he heard me awake he turned to face me, and I saw a grin on his expression.

"Well well… Our little Princess returns to present." The general walked over and grabbed my chin hard. Trying to yank from him, I growled through my gag at him wanting nothing more than to burn his grin off his face. "Glad to see my soldier didn't knock you out for days."

Lighting a flame, I managed to burn the ropes behind my back. I felt after only a few second my ropes break, and I quickly hid it from him. My back was against a wall, so I don't think the general noticed. "I was debating on whom I should take. The avatar seems to like the water tribe girl, but he also cares for you as well... the way he defended you from me when I tried to send you away was clear of his care for you. If I use you to bait the avatar then there's no doubt that he'll go into the avatar state."

Use me? My eyes widened at his words. He was going to threaten my own life so he could tick Aang off and get him to go into the avatar state.

"Now we just wait till the avatar wakes up, and we'll pull our plans into action." The general had turned to direct his words to his men in the room. They saluted the general, then turned and left probably to go to their post. As the general's back was turned, I immediately removed my gag and lit a purple flame in my hand. My insides boiled with rage. This guy was completely off his rockers, and I was about to teach him a lesson.

Shooting a blast of fire, the general must've felt the heat behind him, because he quickly darted to the right to get out of the way. He turned back to me with wide eyes. Then he gritted his teeth. "How dare you attack me!"

Walking toward him, I hissed, "Your plans won't be going anywhere! I will not let you use me to hurt Aang!" Running forward, I went to shoot fire at the general but he turned quickly and thrust his hand down. To my terror the earth below me shot up and I was encased in a rock made prison. Light seeped in from the top of my four wall cage, but it was narrow at the top and my body wouldn't be able to squeeze through.

"General Fong! Let me out right now!" I screamed, kicking my strong earth prison. Then I shot a flame only to cry out as the fire shot back at me and made me cough from the smoke.

"That's right girl! Better not fire bend in there! It will only make your situation worse!" This general was insane, and though he didn't match Zhao, my father, or that crazy warden, he was moving his way up my list. As of now he was the fourth person I truly despised.

Slamming my fist against the stone wall, I screamed, "Let me out! Let me out right now!"

General Fong shouted back, "Not until the avatar unlocks his power!"

Growling, I slammed my body into the rocky wall only to fall back and hit my head on the wall behind me. Falling dazedly to the ground, I shut my eyes trying not to let my claustrophobia get to me. This place was smaller than my past prisons, and it was harder to breath. Why does this crap always happen to me?

Sighing, I sat against my very small prison and tried to picture I was somewhere else. As I did I felt the bracelet warm up around my wrist.

"You can escape", Roku said in my head.

"Oh… You're talking to me again,"I muttered under my breath.

"You have to understand Amber. There are some things you must learn on your own."

"I thought you were supposed to be my guide," I hissed through my teeth.

"I can only encourage you and tell you what I can. The spirits do not think you are ready for more."

"Ready for what?" I cried, begging for answers.

"Just break out Amber!" Roku practically yelled, then the bracelet around my wrist cooled.

Growling with frustration, I slammed my fist on the wall again. My knuckles protested and I saw I'd scratched the skin and it was turning red. Seething from fury at Roku's awful assistance, I tried to calm down. He's only trying to help. He's helped you through so much... Don't be mad.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and breathed in and out calmly. As I did so I felt warmth flow through my blood. Tightening my fists, I breathed in hard and then opened my eyes. Thrusting my glowing hands forward I shot fire at the giant wall with all the power I could muster. The purple fire caused the wall to blast apart easily and stone pieces to fly everywhere. There was smoke from the blast, and I heard the men in the room coughing. Running out of my damaged prison, I found General Fong's soldiers had turned at the sound and looked at me with terror.

"She's glowing! It's almost like she's a spirit!" One soldier cried, dropping his weapon in fear.

Another soldier shouted, "Don't just stand there, stop her!" He then stepped forward thrusting his hand upward to bend the earth. With a quick jerk of my body I dodged the oncoming stalagmite and then jumped in the air shooting a volley of fire at the soldiers. They jumped out of the way, but as they were on their knees distracted I took off toward the entrance of the giant war room I'd been trapped in.

"Hey! Stop!"

Running outside, I saw with terror a battle had already begun.

"Where is she?!" Aang cried from below in the massive yard. He shot a harsh blast of air at General Fong. Aang was surrounded by earth benders, as were Kale, my brother and sister. Each of the earth benders were on and ostrich horse and had weird circular stone shapes in front of each of them. The stones could be used to crush my family in a heart beat. It was then I knew that the men were the general's backup.

The General caught himself from the blast of air, and then straightened up. "You'd want to know, wouldn't you? Maybe if you went into the avatar state I could tell you."

"This is dumb! You can't just kidnap her! Give her back you monster!" Kale ordered, unsheathing his water tribe sword. Two soldiers beside General Fong took a step forward as if to warn him to back off. Kale held his ground.

Running down the steps that would take me to the very large yard, I shouted when I reached the massive area, "General Fong! You've officially made my list of the top five men I hate more than anything." Lighting a flame, I saw the General's eyes stare in horror at my purple fire. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't burn you now?"

The General composed himself, then smirked, "As if I'd give you the chance!"

The ground beneath me started to shake, but I was ready. Jumping up, I shot a blast toward the General which smacked into his armor and sent him flying back. The earth stilled by the time I landed, and I lit another flame ready to attack again. As the General started to get back to his feet, I stepped away from him with a smirk. "I won't go down that easily!"

General Fong sneered. "We'll see about that!"

Suddenly, the ground sunk down and I screamed as I was pulled into the dirt of the earth. "Amber! Let her go!" Aang cried, and I could just make out from above the dirt Aang was grabbing on to the General's arm with terror.

"You could save her if you'd go into the avatar state!" the General shouted.

"I'm trying!" Aang cried, then looked over at me as I struggled to break out of my stone prison again. "She has nothing to do with this!"

The dirt tightened around me. My body was trapped. I realized as I struggled to escape just how weak I still was. I needed to train more; if I couldn't beat a stupid Earth Kingdom general then how would I ever defeat my father?

"I don't see glowing!"

The ground opened up and I fell deeper inside immediately being overcome by earth.

My body was trapped in a small stone sort of tomb, with very little air. Trying to breathe, I realized there wasn't enough air to do so, so instead I shut my mouth and held my breath. Being under that pitch black earth it was completely quiet and cold. As my air began to leave me, that same fog from before clouded my mind. Now I'd die from suffocation. Maybe the fortune teller needed to get her facts straight.

I guessed I was under the ground for two minutes. When I felt like my lungs would burst, the ground suddenly opened and the dirt below shot me up. I gasped as my body was forced from its earth prison into the daylight air. Coughing for much needed oxygen, I heard a voice shout, "Look avatar! Your friend is safe! I've done no harm to her." It was as the General spoke these words that I felt the hard winds and heard the sound of stone breaking around me. Opening my eyes, I saw Aang was floating a good thirty feet above, and his eyes and tattoos were glowing. He'd gone into the avatar state, and I knew it was my doing.

"Hey! Come on!" A voice shouted in my ear suddenly, but my body and mind were still very fuzzy from my stone confinement. "Come on, Amber! We have to get to safety!"

"She's in shock! I'd be too if I was trapped inside the earth!" The second voice I began to comprehend. It was Kale. After he shouted his words, I felt someone try to pull me off the quaking stone ground. Opening my eyes wide, I made out that it was Sokka, and he was trying to block my body from the vicious winds behind him.

"Come on Amber! We have to get out of here," Sokka encouraged. I nodded slowly, somehow stumbling to my feet. Somehow, we managed to get over to the large steps of the stairs that led up to the main meeting room. Half the time we ran over Sokka was holding me up. When we got to the stairs, I heard Sokka over the roaring wind say something about going to help. Kale stayed with me and his brown eyes met my shaking gold.

He suddenly pulled me into his arms and I immediately relaxed my trembling body. "Are you okay?" he asked in my ear, loud enough for me to hear.

Nodding, I pressed my face into Kale's shirt just wanting to block out everything. Aang was in the avatar state because of me. If I fought harder and wasn't so weak, I wouldn't have let the General use me as bait. Everything would've been fine if I was stronger.

No… He would've probably gone for Katara, my mind shouted. You were taken in Katara's place!

My mind was right... If I wasn't the bait, Katara would've been. Guess it was better this way.

The wind began to die down suddenly, and I felt the ground below me no longer shake. Pulling from Kale I looked over to see Aang had stopped glowing and my sister was hugging him to her. She had managed to calm his spirit and bring him out of the Avatar state. Sighing in relief, I stood and Kale followed. The court yard that had once been intact was completely destroyed. Earth was unevenly distributed and there were cracks and unconscious soldiers in the area. There were no serious injuries, but I could tell Aang had done his damage. Running over to Aang and my sister, I was surprised when I saw Sokka riding over on an ostrich horse. General Fong was standing over my sister and Aang grinning.

"That was almost perfect! We just have to find a way to control you when you're like that," General Fong beamed. Sokka scowled, came over, then wacked the guy on the head knocking him unconscious. The soldiers around us looked unsure of what to do.

"Anybody got a problem with that?" Sokka snapped.

The soldiers all shook their heads not wanting to fight my brother or any of us.

After we all helped Aang up and Aang hugged me glad I was okay, we decided to find Appa and get away from General Fong before he woke up. A soldier tried to offer an escort to Omashu but we turned him down. "We've had enough help from you today," I muttered bitterly, and I saw the soldier nod almost looking sorry.

We eventually got to Appa and clambered on the saddle. As we got settled and Katara got Appa to fly in the sky, I looked out toward the clouds in deep thought. The whole event of being trapped inside the earth and suffocated had left my mind. I suppose I was used to being in life threatening situations by now. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that I knew the general wasn't going to kill me. Either way my whole kidnap and imprisonment wasn't the thing on my mind any longer. It was Roku.

Roku was making me furious, not answering my questions. When I actually needed him to answer my questions, he bailed on me because the "spirits" said I wasn't ready to know. Know what? He was aggravating me with his silent treatment, and even now he remained silent. So much for being my guide!

Annoyed, angry, and also hurt by Roku's avoidance, I yanked the gold bracelet off my wrist. At this action I noticed everyone's eyes shoot toward me with question.

Katara opened her mouth to ask what I was doing.

I cut her off. "I need a break from Roku, okay! How would you all feel if you had a guy in your head twenty four seven?!"

I was irritated and hurt with Roku, and I honestly had no desire to talk to him. Until he or some other spirit answered me I wouldn't be happy. Grabbing the blue bag my brother got from the Northern Water Tribe, I shoved the bracelet in.

"Amber…Are you sure your-"

Cutting Kale off, I muttered, "I'm fine... I just don't feel like Roku invading my personal space anymore... I need some time to be on my own."

"Did he do something to upset you?" Aang asked. "He seemed fine when I spoke to him today."

My eyes widened. What?! So he would have a full blown conversation with Aang! He probably answered all of Aang's questions. He obviously couldn't care less about me, or he wouldn't have left me in the dark. "Oh... So he talks to you," I said softly, and then crossed my arms annoyed. "He probably answers all your questions..."

Katara and Sokka were surprised by my words, while Aang seemed unsure of how to answer. Kale seemed really worried.

"What are you talking about?" Katara asked. "Questions?"

A deep frown took over my face. I tightened my hands into fists. "Nothing. Forget about it." Then I turned and looked out toward the sky, not wanting to see the four sets of eyes staring bewildered at me.

Later that night we made camp by a pond and everyone went to sleep except for Kale and I. We both sat by the pond in silence and at the moment I was glad I had someone by my side. I'd already been abandoned by one spirit, so being abandoned by Kale wouldn't cheer me up one bit either.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Kale asked, staring at the moon's reflection in the water. "You seemed really upset earlier."

Shaking my head, I answered, "It's nothing Kale. I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. It's just such a pain that the one time I need Roku the most he isn't there. It's not what I expected from the man who claims to be my guide." Pulling my knees to my chest I pressed my face into my blue water tribe trousers as my heart ached with pain. All I wanted was answers. Was that too much to ask?

His hand brushed through my hair in a comforting touch. "I'm sure there's an explanation to it all. You just have to be patient."

I sighed heavily. Pulling my face from my knees I said softly, "Yeah… I guess you're right." I stared at the water wishing I could just float away.

"I'm always right," he joked, nudging me in the shoulder making me smile slightly.

With a small smile I looked up at the moon. To my shock I saw from the moon's light Yue was suddenly hovering right in front of me; her spirit that is. Opening my mouth, I was about to shout in surprise but she quickly placed a finger over her pale glowing lips to stop me. I shut my mouth tightly, and my body tensed.

"Amber? Are you okay?" Kale asked, noticing how terrified I'd become and how my body began to tremble. He looked to where my eyes were staring at Yue but didn't see her. Yue was showing herself only to me it seemed.

Yue's spirit pointed toward the forest on the other side of the pond, then put her finger back to her lips. "I need to talk to you… You must come alone and quickly. I don't have much time." She then turned and hovered over the pond, the moons light seeming to follow her as she headed toward the forest.

My eyes watched her glowing spirit go with horror while at the same time awe. I was seeing spirits. I just saw Yue's spirit.

"Um… I got to go!" I said, jumping up suddenly.

Kale looked at me in surprise and grabbed my arm to stop me as I began to walk. "Go where?"

"Um… Bathroom!" I shouted, and then turned yanking my arm away and running from Kale.

"Amber!" he shouted after me, but I was already running around the pond, toward the dark slightly moonlit forest.