Long time no see guys. Thanks so much to those of you that keep sticking around despite my horrible updates. I'm currently trying to plan how I will end this thing. I don't know why I thought I would have more time once college was over. It's even harder to find time for this now. I'll do the best I can to see this through to a finish. I did have ideas for season 2 and 3, but now I'm thinking I should end this on Season 1 and then publish another story with the rest should I want to. Part of me does want to spend what little time I have for writing focusing on original stories.

Reply to anon review:

Irony: You make a good point, but I put Zuko there because I wanted to focus on his point of view in this story a lot too. I've been debating whether I even want to pair Jessica up with anyone. My story is not one focusing on romance and it's not happening unless it feels natural in the story. Love happens in many ways and I find strong friendships, etc. to be just as entertaining to build up and read about. Not that a pairing 100% won't happen, but it's not my priority in this story. (I really hope I didn't just lose half of you guys in saying that. I just don't want to force anything you know?)

"Come on, knife, gimme a knife please," muttered the avatar upon entering the empty tree house.

The floor and bed top were bare. Jessica reached her arm under a handmade mattress stuffed with dry leaves, blindly feeling for forgotten items. She had spent the last few hours sneaking into the many uninhabited tents scattered in the Freedom Fighter's tree camp. A leather pack was slowly filling up with forgotten cooking supplies and tools. With the tents so recently abandoned, she even managed to come across some nuts and jerky. Now all she needed was a knife, which was proving hard to find. It was not something a kid living in the woods was about to leave behind.

Her ring finger poked a leather fold. She carefully felt past and wrapped her hand around a smooth hilt. With a quiet cheer she pulled out a hunting knife stored in a chocolatey brown leather hilt. It had a polished wooden handle and sharpened blade with one serrated edge. The knife must have come from the child's parents, or been stolen off a soldier. No one just found a knife this nice laying in the woods.

Placing the knife in her bag Jessica quietly walked out to the nearest pulley. After resting in the clinic for a day she could get around without the crutches if she was careful. She glanced over her shoulder to see the morning sun start to peek through the trees. The light cast a mosaic of shadows through the leaves against the walking platforms and tree trunks. It wouldn't be long before someone came to offer her breakfast. Luckily, she wouldn't look suspicious if she was with the bobcat.

She found the feline curled in a crescent by some lumpy roots. A bush of perfect hiding thickness sat just a few feet away from him.

"I need you to keep watch over this for me ok?" she said to him, the rustle of leaves as she hid the bag causing his eyes to open slightly and look at her.

"None of the kids here want to get anywhere near you, so that should keep anyone from accidentally finding this."

The bobcat just put his head back down and fell back to sleep.

The avatar breathed easier knowing that she had an escape plan. Jet was a ticking time bomb of crazy and she knew it would go off eventually, especially if she accidentally made some fire. Jessica needed to know she was ready to run for it when the time came. It shouldn't take too long, she predicted. She just had to wait until Jet and his Freedom Fighters ambushed the Fire Nation army camp and stole their blasting jelly.

Then it was simple! Jessica had to either prevent the Freedom Fighters from blowing up a dam or convince an entire village to evacuate without their soldiers arresting her.

Jessica's head fell into her hands and she groaned loudly.

Yeah. Simple.

"What, are you crying?" came a scratchy female voice. The voice sounded more annoyed than sympathetic.

Jessica quickly brought her head out of her hands to find Smellerbee before her holding a steaming bowl of barley and oats. With the dark eyelines and the blue headband sitting right over her eyelashes, Smellerbee managed to always have an annoyed glare on her face.

"No!" she said defensively and grabbed the bowl. "I was groaning in exasperation over the thought of leaving."

The short warrior had on her usual mismatched armor. Black underclothes with a single white shoulder pad, red ribbon tied around the other bicep, white gloves, and blue tunic. Jessica wanted to ask what the armor Smellerbee wore over her chest was supposed to be, but that kid's withering glare made her afraid to.

"So, you want to stay?"

Jessica almost spit out her oats at that horrible idea. She managed to swallow before responding.

"Uh no, of course not."

You couldn't bribe me with a mountain of chocolate and coffee cream eclairs to stay here, she thought. Smellerbee raised an eyebrow at the rapid response. Jessica realized how weird it was to not want to be around the people who had saved her from starving in the woods. She waved her spoon frantically.

"I'm don't have anything against you guys of course! I'm just trying to travel somewhere important and find my friends and I don't know how to find my way around or even get my own food," she blabbered. The first sentence was a lie. The second was the truth. It was not just Jet that had been willing to drown a village in that episode. The other Freedom Fighters had followed him willingly and that knowledge did not sit well with her.

Smellerbee accepted the response. She didn't care whether or not Jessica liked them anyway. It would be one less mouth to feed when she left.

"Well I can help you with some of your problems then," she said. "We have plenty of maps stolen from the troops that came through here. I can show you where we are and how to get to the nearest un-occupied village.

"We'll get to that later today though. Right now, Jet wants me to teach you how to hunt."

Jessica's eyes glittered in excitement and she punched the air with her spoon fist.

"Yeah let's do it! Can I get a bow and arrow like Longshot?"

Smellerbee shot down her dreams instantly.

"No. Learning how to use a bow and arrow alone would take weeks. Then learning to hunt with it would take months. I'm just going to show you the traps we have set up in these woods and have you make them yourself."

"Thaaaaat…sounds less fun," Jessica popped another spoonful of breakfast in her mouth and pouted.

Later that day when the sun had started its descent and warm hues started to bleed into the sky, Smellerbee heard a bird call. Jessica was crouched on the ground, setting up the same trap for the fifth time.

"Finish that trap. Then destroy it and do it again. I'm going to take a leak," Smellerbee called as she ran off. She heard Jessica give a loud protest before disappearing up the branches of a younger tree. The branches quickly thinned out and she hopped to a tree whose branches were as thick as the trunk of her previous tree. Thirty feet of ascension later she was next to her leader. He stood with one hand against the trunk while his gaze focused ahead. His expression stayed completely neutral, but she swore his eyes showed suspicion. Smellerbee looked in his direction and saw that between the leaves and branches he had a view on Jessica. She really had to squint to recognize any of the girl's features from here.

"So, what do you think of her?" he asked, not averting his gaze.

Smellerbee crossed her arms and huffed.

"She seems harmless. I don't even know if she is capable of harming someone. Or an animal even."

"Are you sure? She came here with burn marks from what I'm sure is a fight. Did you ask her anything about where she came from?"

"I don't like asking people questions Jet. I barely like people. Why don't you go asking her these questions? You usually love talking to the new people."

Jet sighed and finally turned to look at his comrade. His back leaned against the trunk. His long angled eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"I tried. She acts so tense when I talk to her, like she was to watch every word that comes out of her mouth or something bad will happen. I thought she might be more comfortable around you because...you know."

"Because I'm a girl?" she finished for him.

He shrugged.

"Well, yeah."

Smellerbee frowned and adjusted her headband closer over her eyes.

"I doubt your gender is making her uncomfortable Jet. Maybe she's picking up on everyone's bad mood. The Freedom Fighters aren't in the best place right now. We had two people leave again yesterday," she pointed out.

She stared at him from beneath the headband until he got the question she was silently asking him. What's the point of all this?

"I know she doesn't look like much, but that girl survived a fight against a firebender. She might have some real potential for the Freedom Fighters. We could really use some new people you know."

Smellerbee felt her face grow red. It took everything not to shout so that Jessica couldn't hear them. This was what he was thinking about?!

"That is the last thing we should be concerned about right now Jet! You know exactly why so many people are leaving us right now. I don't blame them. We need to be thinking about how we can fix what we have, or the Freedom Fighters are going to disappear for good."

Guilt flashed over Jet's face. He turned his head to hide it and pulled his swords from his back. He opened his mouth to say something. A few leaves gently fell to their feet. The wind came through twirled them away. Smellerbee waited, fingers tapping her thigh. When he finally met her gaze again Jessica's voice cut through the tense silence.

"Smellerbee! How long a bathroom break do you need? Please tell me you're not leaving me out here alone to train me. I'm pretty sure I will get lost and die!"

Jet's half-open mouth shut tight. He hooked his sword to a branch and swung off through the trees.

That night Jessica finally joined the Freedom Fighters for their nightly feast. She had spent her first 2 nights in the clinic treehouse resting. A large assortment of 'forest cuisine' sat upon a massive table in a platform between the trees. Fresh-caught meats, hard breads, and forest fruits were the primary staples of the meal. Over twenty lanterns carefully placed around them lit up the scene. Above them a mosaic of stars framed by the tree canopy's silhouette took Jessica's breathe away.

Although the table was large it could not fit everyone, so children could be seen sitting on surrounding smaller platforms or thick branches. All Jessica could think about was how much of a safety hazard this all was. The babysitter inside her wanted to tell all the children to get down from there and sit somewhere with chairs and a railing. Luckily, she was given a seat at the main table between Jet and Smellerbee. She honestly considered not attending to avoid Jet, but that would have looked suspicious now that she had recovered. She had even given back the crutches.

The first half of dinner was not so bad. While Jet did have a seat beside her, he actually spent most of his time walking around and talking to various children. Growing less anxious Jessica allowed herself to pile a plate high with food and stuff her face. She had a mouth full of sauce covered meat when she noticed Longshot staring at her from Smellerbee's left. Jessica swallowed and wiped the sauce off her lips to the back of her hand. The sauce was then transferred to her pant leg.

"Uh Smellerbee? Can you translate?"

The short girl looked at her annoyed and stuffed down one last piece of bread.

"He's curious where you came from. There aren't any villages nearby so finding a person in the woods is pretty unlikely," she glanced back at Longshot. "Yeah I agree with you. It's especially weird to find someone clearly too stupid to survive alone."

The silent boy touched Smellerbee's shoulder.

"Yeah I know you didn't call her stupid. That was all me."

Jessica didn't know whether to get angry or worried. She decided to say nothing and hope the question went away.

"I'm curious too," came Jet's voice from behind.

When had he returned? Jessica wondered if she was visibly sweating.

"I wasn't alone until recently. I got separated from my friends a couple weeks ago."

"And where were you going?"

"North," Jessica clipped, making it clear that was all she wanted to say about her destination. Her hands started to fidget and she squished them between her legs and the wooden platform.

"You must have a reason for traveling so far. What is so important that you were willing to leave your family for it?" Jet asked, prodding for more information.

Jessica was caught off guard at that question. Thoughts and memories flooded her brain and she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. The topic of family had not been brought up since the incident in the spirit world on the Winter Solstice. Where she had almost ditched her friends when her 'mom' had appeared before her.

A hand placed itself on her shoulder and she stiffened at the touch.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Everyone here has lost their family to the war. We understand what it means not to have a home to return to," Jet said apologetically.

She shook her head.

"I didn't lose my family. I mean I did, but they aren't dead," Jessica struggled to find the words without revealing too much. Her voice shook a bit. "It's complicated but I have to play my part in this war. I can't return."

The three Freedom Fighters seemed unsure what to think of that. It didn't make much sense.

"Not sure how big a part you can play if you can't even survive in the woods on your own," Smellerbee pointed out.

The last word barely exited her mouth before Jet cut in. "If you want to help make a difference in this war you are welcome to join the Freedom Fighters."

His squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. Jessica really wished his hand would stop touching her shoulder. It took everything not to flinch away from it. She felt guilty because Jet had been nothing but kind since her arrival. Still, she could not relax around him. Especially not with his hand on her shoulder.

"The Freedom Fighters do not need any new members right now. Fighters are leaving daily and we need to fix things first," said Smellerbee.

Jet's kind face hardened. That statement had clearly not been welcome. He removed his hand from Jessica's shoulder and glared at his second in command. Beneath her headband, a pair of dark eyes pierced back at him.

"I'm only speaking the truth Jet. Something you should try more often."

An expression of pure rage flashed across Jet's face. A blink-and-you-miss-it moment.

Warning bells rang in the Jessica's head. The conversation was no longer on her and yet she felt no relief. That was not fully true, she was relieved for the removal of Jet's hand from her shoulder.

A palpable tension filled the cool night air. Those sitting nearby stopped talking and watched Jet stand up over Smellerbee. She rose to face him, not looking the least bit intimidated. Although Smellerbee did not match his height, her fierce attitude and unwavering stance made her size unimportant. Like a marble sculpture she was not someone who you could push over. Silence spread as the children nudged each other. Soon the entire company was drenched in an uncomfortable quiet. An audience of statues waited while their leader and his next in command stared each other down.

Jet was the first to speak.

"I am the leader here. I expect you to trust me even if you don't agree with me," he said with a level voice.

Smellerbee tilted her head up a little more and pointed at his chest.

"You're not going to get everything right Jet. I see that now. The Freedom Fighters won't last much longer if you continue like this."

"You are supposed to be my most loyal friend."

She grit her teeth. It was a small action, but a stampede of emotions lay behind it.

"I am. You know I will follow you anywhere," Smellerbee broke eye contact and walked away. "Come on Longshot."

Dinner was over.

"I swear I am missing something," Jessica muttered aloud, walking in circles around the bobcat. "What is Jet hiding?"

The bobcat turned on its paws to follow her, but quickly gave up and lay down, his head facing in her direction every time she walked in front of him. It was early and he hadn't even hunted down breakfast yet.

"Do you think Aang and the others came by already? I can't really ask. If they did he probably hates their guts. He's being nice to me now, but he would roast me faster than Zhao if he found out. Then again if they didn't come by asking would be harmless and I'd be no closer to finding my friends and—" The avatar threw her hands up and started to ramble at lightning speed. "Because let's face it I'm still in the middle of the woods with no idea where I am in comparison to the North Pole I just know it's the second half of season 1 here but it's not like I actually looked at a map when I watched these episodes I mean I suppose I could have picked up a map these past few months but Aang had that taken care of and the writing was never in English it had all these weird symbol swirls whatnot so I didn't bother and now I'm the idiot who can't do anything by herself!"

Jessica stopped to catch her breath and looked down at the bobcat. He gazed up at her with wide eyes and tilted his head, unaware of her worries. She titled her head in sync with him.

"I should really give you a name."

But she didn't. Not yet. She was still afraid he would leave. He was a wild animal after all. Getting too close was a bad idea.

Still, this creature had kept her from being truly alone after separating from the gang. For that she was eternally thankful.

"Come one, let's see if I can swipe a little breakfast meat for you. This place seems to have a decreasing population so maybe there are extras," said Jessica, walking back towards the rope pulleys.

The cat seemed to consider this for a moment when a pair of baby deer boars charged through the woods not fifty feet away. No contest. The bobcat disappeared after its prey without hesitation.

This is nature. It's normal. Predator and prey is a relationship that defines the order of things, without which there would be chaos and—but those poor little babies how could he kill them!

Jessica pushed away the image of dead baby deer boars and reached for a rope pulley. The handle rose out of reach when her fingers brushed it. She spun her arms in circles to keep from falling over. Before she could start cursing about fudge, voices descending from the tree tops made her stay silent.

"You can't just leave, we need you two. You have been with us almost since the beginning of all this!" Smellerbee's rough voice floated down and steadily grew louder, the whir of the pulleys accompanying it.

The avatar dove behind the nearest tree. Luckily this was an old forest full of thick trunks wider than her kitchen fridge. Perfect for hiding.

She expected to see two strangers come down with Smellerbee.

"I know. Jet gave me a home even though I stole your food. This is the first and only home I remember."

A little boy, shorter and younger than Aang, landed first. His large eyes peeked out from under a helmet two sizes two big. He was the one doing the talking. Jessica instantly recognized him as The Duke. In fact she had seen him at dinner last night, though he had seemed very distant. She couldn't recall him talking at all.

Despite the helmet, she spotted the dark bags under The Duke's eyes. He looked tired, guilty, sad, and angry all at the same time. Smellerbee must have realized the inner agony he was in. Even though she was asking him to stay she did not become forceful. She understood exactly what he was going through. Pipsqueak came down last. He towered over the two short kids and held two bags on his giant shoulders. He didn't look like he was sleeping well either.

"I can't stay Smellerbee. You shouldn't either," The Duke said.

Smellerbee froze.

"You don't mean that," she said.

The Duke's gaze darkened with a look no eight-year-old should be capable of giving.

"I followed him. Even when it didn't feel right. Jet does that to people. He makes you feel important, makes you want to be a part of what he is doing. But—LOOK WHAT HE MADE US DO!" he suddenly yelled, shocking Jessica as tears ran down his cheeks.

Pipsqueak picked up the little boy and placed him on top of the bag on his shoulders like he weighed nothing. The Duke was done talking. He gave a hiccup and wiped his eyes, refusing to look at Smellerbee anymore. Pipsqueak was less of a talker, but he still had one more thing to say before leaving.

"I don't hate Jet. We did a lot of good."

Smellerbee gave him a hopeful smile. The giant frowned in return.

"But I hate what he made us do. Goodbye friend."

Jessica stood rooted the spot, careful not to make noise as the two children walked away. What had she just witnessed? This was all wrong. She needed answers now.

The leader's right hand girl, loyal to a fault it seemed, stood defeatedly. Smellerbee watched the spot where her friends had walked away long after they were gone. Her friends were leaving and as each one left the weight on her shoulders felt heavier. Meanwhile, Jessica's mind was reeling and all she could do was stay hidden. Eventually Longshot came down and stood by his teammate. He must have asked a mute question because Smellerbee gave an answer.

"I don't know what to do. Jet is delusional. We are going to lose everyone and he won't accept that."

Silence.

"But I don't want to let what will happen happen," Smellerbee replied to Longshot. "The Freedom Fighters were doing so much. There has to be a way to go back to that. It can't be the end. Drowning that village cannot be our final act."

Jessica's heart stopped. There it was. The statement that explained everything over the past two days. The decreasing number of children. The distance Jet kept from Smellerbee and the others. The look of guilt in the eyes of the few who had performed an unspeakable act, and the anger or confusion of the rest who knew about it.

It can't be true. There's no way. Jessica stumbled away in shock, forgetting all about the two children by the ropes. She had to see for herself if it was true. Sokka was supposed to prevent this.

Voices came from behind and she broke into a run, a healed ankle fully supporting her for the first time in two weeks since she crashed landed on the mountain. She did not need to know where the village was. There was a large path, wide enough for carts, they had shown her. She got to it and ran left because it was downhill.

But the two Freedom Fighters were faster and knew the way better. It wasn't long before the two blocked her path, weapons in hand. Jessica stopped and panted a bit, brushing some frizzy hair from her face.

"Let me pass. I need to see this."

Longshot pulled back the bowstring.

"No you don't," said Smellerbee, obviously speaking for him.

The avatar hadn't planned on revealing herself, but she was no longer thinking clearly. Her minded narrowed in on the goal of reaching that village. Her arms moved and Longshot fired, but a blast of wind knocked the two Freedom Fighters to the ground. The arrow dug itself into the thick bark of a tree on the roadside. Jessica sprinted past before the two could stop her. That time the sprint was faster and accompanied by large clouds of dirt.

The two sat up and stared after her in shock before meeting each other's gazes. Smellerbee sputtered for a second, searching for words. The dehydrated girl they had taken in just airbended. That could only mean—

"Get Jet!" she yelled and scrambled up to chase after what could only be-

The avatar, Smellerbee realized in disbelief.

Now I was positive that I was going in the right direction. The wind blew against me, as if begging me to turn around. But I could not stop. Everything was wrong.

It might have been because of the wind, but the smell hit me first. A putrid stench of rot saturated the air when the road ceased descending. My hand slapped over my nose to prevent my gag reflex from acting up. Soon enough I saw the tall village walls half covered in green muck. A large entrance in the wall stood eerily open, as if people still might use it to enter. The flood waters were gone, leaving only dense mud and rotting piles of debris in its place to litter the small streets.

Slowly I inched closer, careful to keep my nose covered. I noticed oddly shaped mud piles dotting the area outside the entrance. They were more numerous by the doors and fanned out more sparsely farther away. Not paying attention to where I walked, my foot almost tripped over one. I looked down and screamed at the top of my lungs. These were not just piles of mud.

They were people. Village people and soldiers who had tried in vain to escape the flood waters.

The pale muddy face burned itself into my retinas until I finally forced myself to look away. But this only caused me to recognize the figures in the other mud piles. In the shock my hand had lowered and when I took a breath through my nose the overwhelming odor of rotting flesh hit me like a sledgehammer. Bile rose up my throat and I sprinted away. I managed to make it to a bush before I lost my breakfast.

One hand over my nose and one digging its nails into my stomach, I dashed uphill to escape the scent.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. It's not supposed to be like this," I muttered. I was in too much shock to cry.

I collided into an orange and brown body, whose hand caught my arm before I could hit the ground.

"What are you—Jessica? Why are you running?" Jet asked, putting away his swords. "Are you ok?"

He was sweating too, his face slightly red from the effort. An indescribable expression slipped away from his eyes as he regained his outer composure.

Still shaking and out of breath, I could only manage to point behind me. No doubt my face still held a bit of the horror I had just witnessed, for when our eyes met he froze.

"No," I finally managed to pant out. I was not ok.

Before Jet could speak Smellerbee came crashing through, clearly as exhausted as I was from chasing me.

Her hands clasped her knees. She bent over and breathed heavily.

"Jet? Longshot went to find you. Why are you out here?"

Then she saw me, took in my state, and ran her hands through her thick bushy hair. Her palms smudged the red lines that decorated her cheeks but she didn't seem to notice.

"Why didn't you listen?" she groaned. Her hair was pulled back and for a moment I could see the shape of the small head underneath.

"Oh you mean like you did to Jet?!"

Smellerbee's eyes widened.

"Do not judge me! I've never regretted anything more in my life!" she shouted angrily, hands balled into tight fists.

I felt terrible. My heart ached for the guilt Smellerbee must be feeling, but logic told me she had done this of her own free will. I wanted to hate her and pity her all at the same time.

Then there was Jet. He had stayed silent, unsure of what was going on. Well he should have a pretty good idea by now.

"Do you regret it?" I asked him. Honestly, I don't think I wanted to hear his answer.

"It had to be done. The Fire Nation needed to be expelled from this land."

The sentence sounded rehearsed, as if he had explained his actions multiple times before. My mind started to go red.

"You murdered an entire village!"

I let emotion and power flood my body. In my height of emotion it felt good to let it take over. Flames poured from my fists to the ground and the two Freedom Fighters fell into defensive stances. I stopped instantly when I realized what I just let happen.

Jet's face morphed monstrously with rage. It was an all too familiar expression he reserved for the Fire Nation that I was now witnessing firsthand.

"Fire Nation! I should have known."

He drew his swords and lunged at me. My consciousness wavered due to the pure hatred I felt for him then. How dare he get angry at me after what he had just done. How dare he! White creeped into the edges of my vision.

Before he could approach Jessica, Smellerbee dove in from the side and tackled him to the ground.

"Are you crazy?" she yelled in his face, trying to prevent chaos.

"You're crazy for stopping me! She is Fire Nation. She infiltrated our camp," he shot back.

Smellerbee hated when Jet turned like this. He was a different person and it terrified her. This was not the boy she wanted to call her leader. This was not the real Jet.

"What are you saying Jet? What do you plan to do?" she asked, desperate to knock sense into him. "Are you going to kill her Jet? Right now, in cold blood? Don't you think you have enough blood on your hands!"

He didn't look so sure anymore. A war rattled through his head so hard he grit his teeth. Forcing out the guilt and voices he turned to what he knew was right. What had to be right in order for him to not face the horrors he had committed. How else could he live with himself?

"The Fire Nation is evil. We are good. We get rid of evil," he forced out.

The air started to stir violently.

"That village was full of innocent people!" Jessica yelled, her voice changing at the end of the sentence. It got deeper and echoed around them.

Smellerbee turned to see a Jessica with glowing white eyes. The avatar's expression was enough to turn one to stone. She opened a glowing mouth and stepped forward, striking at them. Smellerbee saw that she was finally being punished for her actions and waited for death to come. Instead a razor thin crescent of air sliced through the hundred-year-old tree behind Smellerbee and Jet. The wood soundlessly slipped apart until the colossal trunk crashed into the ground and shook the earth so hard Smellerbee's teeth rattled. The fall brought down dozens of neighboring branches. The trunk left a dent in the earth. Both teenagers sat in frozen awe at the awesome display of power. That single tree was merely an example. A warning of the power Jessica wielded.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, Jessica's normal face returned. She stumbled but managed to stay standing. The avatar was momentarily confused before recognizing what had happened. A brief look of horror and regret passed over her face. She switched to glaring threateningly at the two while they stood. Jet was in shock.

"You're the-"

"Avatar, but that's not the point." Jessica crossed her arms. "The chance that I was Fire Nation was much higher."

"He didn't mean to."

"Stop defending him! He has no excuse for this," the avatar shook her head, mentally exhausted. This was too much for her to handle. She had to get out of here. But when she walked away Jet blocked her path.

"I live with it every day," He confessed, eyes no longer angry, just ashamed. "I took those who followed me, the few who trusted me most, and burdened them for life. Then I lied about it to all the other Freedom Fighters to spare them the guilt, but Smellerbee told them the truth right away. I wasn't surprised when they started to leave. I don't blame them, but as a leader I have to stand behind my actions. I cannot regret them."

"You can. You should."

Her position as the avatar suddenly made her feel like she had the right to judge people for their bad actions. She did not like this power.

"I do," Jet looked defeated. "I just want to find a way to justify it all. I can't live with this for the rest of my life."

Jessica finally took in the surrounding trees. The reason Jet was out here alone finally dawned on her when she saw the scars that decorated the trunks. Some had so many that there were bare patches without any bark left. On one tree the dark red and brown splotches matched the scabs on his knuckles. Jet looked at her like she might fix all this. Even Smellerbee seemed to be waiting for something from her. Jessica dropped her head in her hands, overwhelmed at it all.

"I don't know what to do. I don't have the right answer for you Jet. I only became the avatar a few months ago," she said helplessly. "But you can't possibly think you did the right thing here. One day you won't be able to recognize yourself."

The three of them headed back for camp, slowly following the dirt road back up the hill that Jessica had run down in a panic less than an hour earlier. Images of the bodies floated around her head and she fought the urge to hurl again. Jet noticed her disturbed state and picked some leaves off a small green plant. He ripped them up before dropping them into Jessica's palm.

"Hold them to your nose," he explained. "The scent soothes upset stomachs."

Jessica did as she was told. Her nostrils filled with a fresh minty odor that calmed her.

Longshot came jogging up to them. His hat had flown off his head and hung on his back from a ribbon around his neck. Although not a very expressive kid, he actually looked a little worried. Smellerbee didn't explain, but just hooked her arm around his and continued on towards camp. He accepted the action. She looked like she needed the support. Jessica suddenly found herself desperately missing Aang. He would probably know what to say in this situation too.

They made it back to the camp before lunch. Funny how it felt like a whole day had passed. Jessica found her bobcat waiting patiently for her in the shade. The avatar walked to the cat, grabbed her bag from the bushes, then headed back for the road with him trailing behind her. Smellerbee had said there was larger village less than two days away if Jessica walked in the opposite direction. And this time Jessica had two canteens full of water tied to her waist.

She meant to walk away without another word, but instead she tugged nervously at her tangled hair and spoke up.

"Look Jet. Y-you know what happened here can't be justified. Ever."

He frowned first, but Smellerbee nudged him and he nodded.

"But you can come back from it. You have the rest of your life to be better than you were here and actually help people," Jessica sucked in a breadth and walked up to him. Before she could think over it enough to back out, she grabbed both his hands and squeezed them together hard between hers. It was a pleading for him to understand what she said next. "I know this is the corniest line in the book, but listen anyway. You're doing things out of hatred and it will only turn you into a monster. Do things out of kindness instead."

Jessica hoped these words actually stuck with him. She wanted so badly to actually see him change for the better.

The position growing awkward, she dropped his hands and poked him hard in the chest.

"That's an order," she said. She quickly turned to leave, too afraid to see his reaction. Would he really change? What else could she do?

Smellerbee escorted Jessica back to the main road and pointed her in the right direction. The avatar watched the light that filtered through the fall leaves create an orange glow upon the Freedom Fighter's face. A strong, determined teenager said goodbye to her. Jessica felt a strong respect for this young girl with smudged red paint decorating her cheeks. Pity too over the guilt she had to deal with, but after all that had been expressed it was mainly respect.

In the end, she could not hate them, not even Jet. Yes, they had done something unspeakably terrible. No, Jessica could not find it in herself to forgive them. It did not matter to her whether the avatar was supposed to forgive or not. She could not.

Sokka, I would give anything to go back and have us be here a week earlier.

"I'll keep an eye on Jet," Smellerbee said. "This is my burden too and I will do what it takes to atone for the part I played. We'll do better."

Atone seemed like such a strong word for a rebel kid living in a treehouse to use. Jessica squeezed her shoulder as a thank you, then thought 'damn it all' and pulled her into a strong hug. Smellerbee awkwardly patted her back. Freedom Fighters did not hug; they punched each other in the arm. Deep down she enjoyed it though, not remembering the last time someone truly hugged her. She was quite sure her mom was the last person to have done so.

You know when I first started this fanfic I never intended for the story to go this dark. This is meant to be more of a funny story after all. But when I saw the changes I made to the timeline this felt unavoidable and I decided to explore what would have happened if the Freedom Fighters had been able to go through with their horrible plan. This episode on the show was actually pretty dark if you think about what a group of kids almost did. Sokka was the only thing that stopped them.

I tried my best to handle this kind of topic well. Hopefully I did it some justice. Did anyone see this coming before the chapter came out? Just curious.

Please review! I was super nervous about publishing this chapter, I couldn't stop reading over it.