Chapter 8

"Where are we even going to go," I asked after we were flying for over two hours.

"We're going to Chameleon Bay, our dad and some troops are out there. They can help us keep Aang safe for now," Sokka said and looked back to where Aang was passed out on Kataras lap. I nodded and looked off in the distance at the pitch black night sky. The sun would begin to rise soon, and I prayed that we would be able to dismount the large flying bison soon.

I pulled my backpack off of my back and pulled out the pink flower pin I was given by Zuko a few nights ago. I bit my lip and held back the angry, painful tears I had already spilled and didn't want to continue shedding. I opened my hand and watched as the pink blossom flew out of my hand and floated through the night air down into the waters below.

I had known from the beginning that things would never work out well if I stuck around with Zuko and Iroh, but I never imagined I would have involved myself in this war physically or emotionally. I should have known better than to let myself grow attached to someone like that. There was a reason why I couldn't remember my family that well, why I keep getting taken away from my friends. There was a reason why I was forced to always be on the run. I was destined to live my life alone jumping from place to place; even in a new world I couldn't stay somewhere longer than a few weeks. I felt as if there was someone chasing me with a magnet with an opposite polarity. I could stay still for a little until the magnet could come closer and push me with the invisible force.

The night turned to day and we arrived at the bay. A very exhausted Appah landed with a groan. The Earth King and his bear decided to not stay with us and left to go travel the world in disguise. Sokka, Katara, and Toph invited me to come with them in their travels.

"Listen, I know we got off on an odd start, but I think when Aang wakes up that it would really give him some hope to have an air bender with us," Katara asked after her father took a limp Aang into his arms.

"I'm not very knowledgeable yet of how to use it, I don't want to drag you guys down," I felt like I shouldn't be messing with the group since it wasn't how the story was meant to go.

"You held your own pretty well for a new bender, I think if we could put our knowledge of what we've seen Aang do, and our own bending, we might be able to help." Katara placed her hand on my shoulder. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright, I accept," I smirked and was wrapped in an embrace by Katara who then left to go tend to Aang. I felt a sudden pain in my arm as my body was shoved to the ground.

"Lesson number one," Tophs voice rang out as I got my bearings. Once I stood back up and looked at her she continued, "learn who to trust." I nodded.

"I won't make that mistake again," I clenched my fist. She seemed to think about it for a moment then smirked.

"Then welcome to the clan, shall we begin with the training," she bended a few rocks to twirl in the air above her hand.

"Um… sure," I held a defensive stance. I was knocked down without much warning by one of the small rocks she threw at me.

"Gonna have to do better than that butterfly," Toph mocked and threw another small rock at my thigh as I stood up. I smirked and trapped the next rock in a ball of air. Toph returned the smirk and upped her ante. I may not have learned the proper technique, but by the end of the week I was starting to discover new ways of moving that would allow me to more efficiently more around and block attacks. Katara was able to help with some of the technique since water bending held some of the same grace that was required for airbending.

Sokka and I had some issues getting along. He had issues trusting me since I had been so close to Zuko. Katara had witnessed my choice to help the Avatar first hand, and Toph could tell that I wasn't lying. Sokka would take some time to convince since he had nothing but words to go by.

"Put the fire out!" A soldier of Hakoda's fleet, Arrluk, came running up with a bucket of water to put the fire out. When the fire was extinguished I collected the smoke in a small tornado motion and slowly let the smoke go so that it wouldn't leave a trail through the sky.

"Fire nation ships are docked," the other soldiers came running back to the camp where some of us had been enjoying dinner. Sokka came in last out of breath. That's the fifth time we've had to hide this week. We need to leave the area.

"They are coming off the ship and are scouting the surrounding area of the bay, we need to get out of here now," Sokka started to throw Aang over his shoulder.

"Appah can't carry all of us," Toph pointed out.

"And our boat isn't fast enough to outrun a Firenation ship with all the damage it took from that storm last week." Hakoda stomped on a piece of an ember that was threatening to catch the grass on fire.

"Well we at least have to get Aang to safety, he can't be seen." Sokka struggled to pull Aang up the beast. Halfway up he dropped the adolescent.

"Well if all their men are beached and searching for us, then that means that their ship is unoccupied," I pointed out to Sokka who was trying to pull Aang up onto Appah again this time by his feet.

"Yeah, so we better get out of here before they find him," Sokka let out an annoyed, high-pitched groan still struggling to pull Aang up.

"Or, they better move fast before we steal their ship," I smirked and watched Sokkas eyes light up they way that they normally do when he has an idea. He looked at me and nodded. Katara ran up and grabbed Aang from Sokka and glared at him as she laid him back down on a cot.

Sokka immediately jumped off of Appah and started throwing out ideas to Hakoda and the rest of us.

"Dad, you take your soldiers and Toph and take over the ship and any remaining men still on board. Katara and Arrluk can sink your ship so that they won't have any proof we were here. We can put Aang on Appah while Lily and I distract the Firenation troops away from both their ship and Aang. Then when we are done we will catch up with you guys on the ship." Hakoda nodded and ran off directing his men with the plan that Sokka had set up. Katara got to gently tucking Aang in a sleeping bag. Before Sokka and I took off I helped Katara get Aang up onto Appah.

We could see a faint glimmer of light through the woods. I turned to Sokka and pointed in the direction. He nodded then pulled me close to whisper so that we wouldn't be heard.

"Remember, we have get them away from both Aang and their ship. You go on their left and I'll be on their right. We'll lure them away and then run back to Appah after we get them far enough."

"What if we cant outrun them," I asked knowing that Sokka and I were not the fastest runners out there. He thought for a moment then ran and grabbed something off of Appah. He ran back to me with a long wooden staff.

"Do you think you can use this," he asked holding it out to me. I pressed a button on it and jumped back when orange wings popped out of it.

"Let's hope so," I shrugged and collapsed the wings back into the staff.

"Let's go." He said and we took off in separate directions. I took to the trees jumping from branch to branch until I saw the group of nine men heading straight for where Katara and Aang were stationed. I looked down and saw Sokka positions on their right. He looked up to me and nodded signaling to begin. I jumped down from the tree and blew out their fire with a quick swipe of the staff.

There was a quick outburst of the fire benders confusion through the darkness. The leader in the front quickly lit up a flame in his hands again before barking out.

"Who's there," the harsh, strong voice rang through the trees. I was hiding behind a tree to his left when Sokka boomeranged him from his position in the trees above on the leaders right. The men all started to throw fire towards the area Sokka was positioned. I ran forward from my position and purposely blew the men off their feet. They began to attack my position on the ground. I jumped up into the trees and ran forward again. Sokka and I went back and forth tricking the Firenation men. After about fifteen minutes and a mile and a half later Sokka gave me the signal to fall back. I nodded and was about to take off with the staff. Just as the staff opened up one of the firemen threw a fireball up towards Sokka, which threw him off balance.

I jumped out of the tree and swooped down and caught him with my right hand just as he was about to fall off. He screamed for a few minutes with his eyes clenched tight.

"What the hell is that," one of the men pointed towards us as we flew away.

"Follow that glider, it's the air bender girl!"

I flew off in the direction that we were directing the men until we were out of sight so that they would continue running in that direction. When we reached Appah, I hadn't thought about how to land the glider and instead of landing as gracefully as I'm sure Aang had, Sokka and I crashed into Appahs tail.

A loud groan was given to us by Appah and two more pain filled groans were released from Sokka and myself as we slid down the curve of Appahs tail. Sokka grabbed a hold of my hand and helped me to my feet.

I went to jump up onto Appah but was stopped by Sokka grabbing a hold of my forearm.

"Hey," Sokka stopped me. "Thanks." He looked up at me with a genuine appreciation. I smiled feeling better knowing that Sokka trusted me a little better now.

"Anytime, now lets go before those troops come back." I jumped up onto Appah's neck and picked up the reigns. "Throw a blanket over Aang and hold onto him tight." I yelled back at Sokka who had just finished crawling up Appah's tail. I sat down and flicked the reigns, "Yip yip." Appah took off and I steered him towards the coast.

We arrived at the ship not even three minutes later, Sokka was able to give me directions since he had seen it earlier with the other water tribe men. We landed on the deck and quickly threw a tarp on top of Appah and dragged Aang down into the lower decks.

"Is everyone safe," I asked accepting the deep red robe that Katara handed me and tied it around my shoulders.

"Yeah, everyone is on board and accounted for now that you three are back," Katara handed Sokka a Firenation uniform.

"What did you guys do with the rest of the crew that was on board? Only about half was out scouting, the rest must have been on the ship," Sokka asked exchanging his water tribe shirt for the Firenation.

"Let's just hope they're good swimmers," Toph smirked leaning back against the railing. I shook my head. Katara approached me again and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Lily, come with me. I have another lesson that I know Aang would want you to know." Katara grabbed my hand and led me to the front of the ship where two throw pillows were placed at the bow. She kneeled down on one so I followed suit. The night air that was rushing against my face from the ships movement forward was easy to breath in.

"Meditation is an essential part of Aangs bending. He uses it to focus his mind and to bring peace to any situations he is having trouble with." Katara stopped for a moment, I could see that she was having some sort of internal battle.

"He can also meditate to go into the spirit world, but sometimes other people are also able to travel to the spirit world, not just the Avatar." She stared at me as if she was trying to ask me some obvious question with her eyes.

"Okay, so meditation is good," I asked. She huffed at my answer.

"Yes, it is good. Look, Aang has been asleep for a really long time and I think that there might be a chance that he is in the spirit world. So if you can go into the spirit world and maybe try to find him, then he might wake up." Katara had grabbed a hold of my forearm and was pleading at me with her eyes. I didn't like the idea but I figured I would do it. I might be able to figure out how and why I passed through from my world to theirs.

"Alright, how do I do this," I cracked my knuckles and my neck. Katara was so overjoyed that she giddily threw her arms around me.

"That's great, so to meditate you can either sit or kneel, whichever is more comfortable for you." I staid in my kneeling position and nodded to signal her to continue. "Alright and then you can hold your arms and hands like this," she put her hands into fists and pressed them together. I placed my hands in the same position she had.

"The idea is that you want to relax your body and allow your spirit to transcend into the spirit world," she was watching me as I closed my eyes and tried to relax my body. "Use the breathing techniques we have already taught you to maximize your intake of air." I obeyed her suggestion and began the breathing technique.

I cleared my mind and focused on relaxing every muscle in my body while keeping the breathing technique. I spent a long time trying to focus on this, it must have been a half hour before I decided to open my eyes being frustrated by the long attempt.

"Uh, Katara, I don't think this is…" I opened my eyes and immediately was confused. I was not opening my eyes to the vast seas ahead of us, instead there was the same large black wolf I had dreamt of before was staring at me with her silver eyes was staring at me. I stood up from my kneeling position and walked forward to the wolf.

"Hey, I'm looking for Aang, the Avatar. Could you bring me to him?" I placed my hand on the wolfs snout and pet the silky smooth fur above her mouth. She leaned her head down and let out a whine.

"Is that a 'no'," I asked bringing my right hand up to pat behind her ear. She let out a little bark.

"Okay, do you know anyone that could help me then," I asked scratching the spot behind her ear that she seemed to like. This wolf seemed so much more familiar than the one dream I had shared with her. She stared at me for a moment out of the corner of her silver eyes.

"Please," I pressed and felt the urge to speak out a random word that had popped into my head, "Aneko." The name came out of my mouth before I could think and the wolf popped her head up and licked my face.

"Is that your name, Aneko," I asked and the wolf responded with a single puppy like bark. The wolf happily danced around me and nudged me with her snout until I climbed up onto her back. She took off quickly. I grabbed a hold of her thick black fur so that I wouldn't fall off.

After making sure I had a good grip on Aneko, I took the time to take in my surroundings. We were in the middle of a lush field filled with bright red and orang lilies like the ones that had surrounded the oasis I had visited with the wolf beforehand. The sky was lit brightly in shades of purple and pink, however the longer we rode the more the sky turned to a dark purple and black and the more the bright red flowers turned into glistening white snow. I felt as if our travel wasn't natural, it was as if we were skipping over the land from one place to the next.

Only a few moments later, I noticed a circle of grass in the center of the frozen tundra. Aneko slowed then laid down for me to jump off of her back. I looked down at my summer appropriate clothing and wondered just how long it would take for me to freeze but was surprised when I jumped off of Aneko that the impact with the snow had no affect on my body's temperature. I looked back at Aneko who was watching me with big happy eyes. She danced with her front paws like an excited dog would.

"There's no one here," I shrugged. She pushed me forward into the circle of lush green grass. I felt a wave of dizziness as body passed the line into the circle. Small glowing orbs of light grew out of the grass up into the air around me, and reached far up into the sky until it almost made a bridge with the moon.

I stood with my mouth agape until I notices a little bit of movement in the light. I squinted my eyes when I thought I saw a ribbon. There was a translucent figure that was forming in the beem of light. Slowly the figure grew into clear view. I recognized her from the television show.

"Yue," I whispered as her bright grey blue eyes lit up in the moonlight. Her kind face looked down to me with a smile.

"I've been waiting," her voice sounded like a majestic ghost. It echoed through the air and rang in your ears for a blessed moment.

"My friend, the avatar, has been asleep for a long time and myself and his friends need to know if he is here so we can get him back into his body." I said looking up to her getting to the point.

"The avatar will awake when he is ready. His body must heal after the great toll it has taken." She continued to hover in the open air. I nodded understanding and knowing that he would be okay.

"Thank you," I bowed in appreciation toward her.

"You need not thank me for that. I have been watching you and your friends, you have and will do so much for my people that I must thank you Lily Summerton." Her statement surprised me.

"Me? I haven't really done anything. I'm just learning how to use my bending ability." I shrugged and watched a wise and knowing glance be cast down towards me.

"You have done more than you know. You have helped to take the heart of a man who was on the verge of becoming a man much like his father and have guided him to a path on which he can achieve the destiny he was born to fulfill." I shook my head in rejection.

"Zuko hasn't changed, he is continuing on a path that he has been taking the entire time. All he wants is to live in honor of the Firenation." I bit the inside of my cheeks angrily and turned my head away with my fists clenched.

"I cannot sway the minds of humans, however I must give you a piece of advice." I turned my head back towards her. "Just because you have witnessed events taking the same course as they have with your previous knowledge, do not assume that what you knew to be true before will continue to be truth. A single grain of rice can tip the scale." With that last statement she retreated back towards the moon, fading into the night sky illuminated by the bright light of the moon.

I felt as if I had only blinked; however upon opening my eyes again I was staring out into the vast bay. I took a deep breath in, surprised by what I was seeing. I felt like my head was spinning until I felt Katara's warm hand firmly grasp my shoulder.

"Lily," she called out my name. I looked over at her and was able to focus again.

"He'll be fine, he's not in the spirit world though." I stood up and walked away needing to be alone for the time being. I walked down below and found a room that no one was sleeping in already. I shut and locked the door and leaned my head against the cool metal that made up nearly the entire ship.

Yue's words were ringing through my head. A single grain of rice can tip the scale. I felt as if she was giving me insight to what the future would hold if I wasn't careful. Could spirits see the future? Did she know that I was going to change something? I could deal with the pressure that I could possibly ruin the entire war and that the Firelord could possibly succeed at his plan just because of my presence. Only time would tell if this intense chess game would end in my favor.

A/N: Sorry I've been gone for so long! I have absolutely no excuse, just writers block and a busy life. This is by far not my best chapter, I may come back at some point and fix it up a bit. Also the quote "a single grain of rice can tip the scale," belongs to Disney. It was from Mulan in case you wanted to know the source.