Katara stood at the water's edge overlooking the ice field that surrounded the Southern Water Tribe. Sokka walked back and forth behind her, arms piled high with supplies.

"We have to go after that ship, Sokka. Aang and Jing saved our tribe; now we have to save them." Katara stated, determined.

"Katara, I—" Sokka tried.

"Why can't you realize that they're on our side?" She rambled, ignoring him. "If we don't help them, no one will. I know you don't like them, but we owe them and I—"

"Katara!" Sokka interrupted loudly. "Are you gonna talk all day or are you comin' with me?" He asked, motioning to his left where a canoe filled with the aforementioned supplies was ready to go.

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, grateful as she quickly grabbed him in a bear hug.

"Get in. We're going to save Jing." Sokka froze. Katara raised an eyebrow. "And your boyfriend too, I guess! We're going to save both of them! Obviously. I meant… both of them… not just... Ahaha." Sokka pulled at the collar of his parka awkwardly.

"First off, he's not my—" Katara crossed her arms, annoyed.

"Whatever." He quickly interrupted, waving her off with his hand as he pretended to busy himself with the supplies in the canoe.

A sly smile crept onto Katara's face. "Well, that's fine I guess. If we're going to save my boyfriend, we might as well save your girlfriend too." She remarked nonchalantly.

Sokka whipped around and spluttered, his face turning bright red. "SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" he shouted, his voice cracking.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Katara's muffled giggling and Sokka's stuttering abruptly stopped. They turned at the sight of their Gran Gran and tried to look innocent.

Gran Gran stared at them severely, but the look melted as she smiled and held out a blue bundle towards Katara. "You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you. It's been so long since I've had hope. But you brought it back to life, my little waterbender." Katara smiled as her grandmother pulled her into a hug. Gran Gran turned to Sokka. "And you, my brave warrior, be nice to your sister." She finished, pulling Sokka into his own hug.

"Yeah... okay, Gran." Sokka muttered, a small smile on his face.

"Aang is the Avatar. He's the world's only chance. And Jing is the last true airbender. You both found them for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with theirs."

Katara turned toward their transportation, "There's no way we're gonna catch a war ship with a canoe."

A low rumble interrupted them.

"Appa!" Katara cried, running toward the sky bison as he appeared from behind a small hill.

Sokka blanched. "You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?" he asked wryly.

"Come on, Sokka!" Katara called. She paused for a moment before smirking. "Your girlfriend's waiting!"

"NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Meanwhile, Aang and Jing stood with their hands bound behind their backs on the deck of the Fire Navy ship.

"These staffs will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko stated, running a hand along the gliders. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."

Both airbenders shot the older boy a look at the comment. Zuko looked towards the soldiers surrounding them, "Take the Avatar and the girl to the prison hold." He shoved the gliders into his uncle's arms. "And take these to my quarters," he ordered as he walked off.

The old man fumbled slightly with them before he turned and gave them to a soldier, "Hey, you mind taking these to his quarters for me?"

Two guards escorted the airbenders down the stairs into the ship, one in front and the other behind them. While they were led down the stairs, Aang strained his neck to watch where the guard who held their gliders was headed.

Jing shot a glance over her shoulder at Aang. If they were on the same wavelength, and they usually were, then they already knew how they were going to escape. A knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Jing's mouth.

If airbenders truly hadn't been seen in a hundred years, then that would mean no one had fought against one in a long time. Airbenders didn't fight directly like the other nations. They fought mostly by not fighting as contradictory as that sounds. If words couldn't deescalate a situation, then they used evasion and misdirection to defeat their attackers. They used their bending to enhance their agility to tire out and defeat their enemies as easily as any water whip or fire blast.

"So…" Aang started. "I guess you never fought an airbender before." He said conversationally as if he had read her mind.

"Silence!" A guard ordered.

Jing slapped a fake smile on her face. "You know Aang, I might be going out on a limb here but I'm going to guess that means they haven't fought any." She drawled.

Aang nodded sagely in agreement, "I bet I could take both of them with my hands tied behind my back." He said as he wiggled the fingers of his tied hands behind him.

"Pffft, I know better than to take that bet." Jing rambled. If there was one thing she was good at, it was distraction. "Seriously boys, you do not want to bet against him. Last time I did, I had to clean the air bison stables for a month-"

"Last warning!" The guard interrupted, voice rough.

The group slowed to a stop in front of a door. As the guard in front moved to open it, Aang took a deep breath in. Jing ducked to the ground quickly. Her knees hit the metal flooring just in time as Aang blew a large gust of air from his mouth, slamming the front guard into the metal door and propelling himself and the guard behind him all the way back down the hallway. The guard's body cushioned his fall as they landed on the stairs back to the upper deck.

Jing hopped back up and raced toward Aang. They ignored the stairs and jumped back onto the main deck.

"This way!" Jing called out as she blew the door at the end of the deck open with bending. The two of them ran deeper into the ship. One of their former guards emerged from the stairs to the prison hold. He called out to another guard in warning.

"The Avatar and the girl have escaped!"

Appa swam gently through the frigid water. Katara sat at his reigns while Sokka leaned back on the saddle lazily.

"Go. Fly. Soar." Sokka drawled.

"Please, Appa. We need your help. Aang and Jing need your help." Katara pleaded.

"Up. Ascend. Elevate." Sokka continued, voice deadpan.

"Sokka doesn't believe you can fly, but I do, Appa." She coaxed. "Come on. Don't you wanna save Aang?" Appa rumbled. Katara paused. She remembered Jing saying something about Appa and belly rubs. "Don't you want one of Jing's belly rubs?" Appa rumbled again but still didn't pick up speed.

"What was it that kid said?" Sokka asked. "Yee-ha? Hup hup? Wahoo? Uh... yip yip?"

Appa rumbled again, louder this time, as his massive beaver-like tail began to flap. He began to almost hop along the surface of the water as he picked up speed. Finally with one last wave of his tail, he leapt into the sky.

"You did it, Sokka!" Katara yelled, ecstatic.

"He's flying! He's flying! Katara, he's—!" Sokka shouted with excitement as he turned towards his sister. Katara stared at him with a smug smile. "I mean, big deal, he's flying." He finished nonchalantly.

"Why do they all look the same?!" Jing cried out as they screeched to a halt at what felt like the hundredth intersection. They had passed what looked like the same corridor three times now. "How many hallways can this ship possibly have?!"

"Uhh…" Aang's head swiveled from left to right and back again. "Eenie meenie miney moe- THIS WAY!" He yelled as he pointed dramatically to the left before taking off again. Jing spluttered loudly in disbelief as she raced after him.

"DID YOU JUST USE EENIE MEENIE MINEY MOE?!" Jing screeched. She didn't know whether to laugh or smack him upside his bald head. "This is why Monk Gyatso always left me in charge!"

They quickly skid to a stop as three Fire Nation soldiers stood in front of them, blocking their way forward with their weapons drawn. Both airbenders panted for breath.

"You haven't seen our staffs around, have you?" Aang asked.

"Long, wooden things," Jing described awkwardly as she mimed a glider with her hands. "Very, uhh... staff-like?"

When the guards didn't answer and made to attack them, they quickly used bending to race along the walls and ceiling in a corkscrew. The soldiers turned to watch their retreating forms in shock. "Guess not!" Jing called out.

"Thanks anyway!" Aang called back.

They turned into another hallway, this time only blocked by a single guard. He wasted no time in blasting a fireball at them. Aang avoided it by launching himself above the guard's head as Jing dropped to the ground and slid by his legs. Aang cut the rope binding his wrists on the guard's spiked helmet; the force knocked the guard to the ground. Aang quickly shot a small air funnel at Jing's wrists to break her bindings. "Thanks!" She breathed out gratefully as she rubbed at her wrists.

As they turned down yet another hallway (Jing really wasn't kidding. The whole place felt like a metal maze), they stopped when they saw rows of doors lining each wall.

They looked at each other seriously. Jing's expression was grim as she extended her fist toward Aang in an unspoken question. He nodded in response as he extended his own hand, his normally happy face grim at the severity of what they were about to do.

Silence.

"Water! Earth! Fire! Air!" They whispered in unison as they shook their right fists. Jing wiggled her fingers in an imitation of flames while Aang kept his hand clenched in a fist. Jing wilted dramatically as he threw his hands up and silently cheered.

Jing stepped forward first with a mock pout and began to open doors randomly while Aang shadowed her. She stuck her head in and looked back and forth briefly in each room before pulling out to check another. "Nope."

Another door. "Nada."

Another door. "Negative."

Another door. "No-," She paused in surprise. The old man from earlier on the deck was snoring in his bed. Aang snuck his head in below her arm to see why she stopped. "Sorry…" They whispered as they slowly pulled the door shut.

They ran by another door before they stopped and turned back towards it. The door was already open. Sharing a look, Jing shrugged and pushed lightly on Aang's shoulder. "Your turn!" She whispered.

Aang walked to the open door and looked into the room. Dual dao swords hung on the wall above a low table where his glider sat innocently out in the open.

"My staff!" Aang cheered. He rushed in as Jing ran in behind him. She glanced around quickly, ducking her head to look below the table. Her brow furrowed in confusion. Her glider was nowhere to be seen. "Wait, where's mine?"

"Oh, you mean this?" They whirled around as the door suddenly shut behind them. Zuko stepped forward, the familiar dark wood of her glide hung from his fingers.

"Looks like I underestimated the two of you." He said seriously, before he tossed her glider roughly against the door behind him. Jing's face flushed in anger; hands tightened into fists. She had always had a hard time controlling her anger.

Zuko looked between the two airbenders for a moment before he quickly shot fire from his fists at them. They nimbly dodged the blasts, jumping and ducking to avoid the burning flames. Aang rolled underneath Zuko to get behind him. He copied Zuko's movements as he stayed in his shadow where the Fire Prince couldn't attack him. Zuko shot a burst of fire at Jing who squeaked in surprise as she bended a ball of air beneath her like a scooter and raced up the wall and onto the ceiling to avoid it. Zuko whipped around and fired more blasts at Aang.

Aang dissipated each fireball with airbending before he formed his own air scooter. He joined Jing as she raced along the walls and ceiling above Zuko. They barely avoided the lick of flames.

Aang shot Jing a panicked glance before he looked purposefully at the tapestry that hung on the wall.

'Brilliant!' Jing thought as her eyes brightened. 'He'll need an opening though.' At the thought, she dropped down behind the prince and tapped him on the shoulder. "I think we got off on the wrong foot!" The teenager whipped around and shot out a flame from his fist towards her. "Woah!" Jing leaned back onto her hands as Zuko's arm sailed harmlessly over her. "Was it something I said?" She mocked. Zuko yelled out in frustration.

Aang took the moment of distraction to grab the tapestry and wrap it around Zuko, trapping him. The Fire Prince struggled against the mass of fabric but he managed to free himself quickly. The three of them squared off for a moment before Aang unceremoniously airbended a mattress from the corner of the room and slammed Zuko into the opposite wall with it. Despite her anxiety, Jing couldn't help the amused snort that left her at seeing Zuko get taken out by bedding. The prince grunted as he hit the ground before the mattress slammed him into the ceiling. Before he could get back up, Jing snatched her glider and the two airbenders made a run for it.

"You just took him out with a mattress!" Echoed down the metal hallway followed by adrenaline-fueled laughter that grew fainter as they gained more distance.

Fire left Zuko's mouth as he shot up and took off after them.

They managed to find a hatch that led out to the observation deck. They opened their gliders with a snap, threw them into the air and jumped after them. Catching their respective gliders, they grinned cheekily at each other. Their freedom was short-lived though as Zuko appeared and jumped after them, managing to grab a hold of Aang's foot.

"Don't you know when to give up?!" Jing shouted in frustration at the Fire Prince. The added weight of Zuko caused Aang to lose control and crash onto the main deck.

Jing flew down to meet them and rushed to help Aang to his feet. They both turned back to Zuko, ready to fight again. A large figure in the sky gaining on the ship drew the airbender's eyes.

Zuko paused as he stopped to see what had grabbed their attention in the middle of a confrontation. "What is that?" He asked in astonishment.

Appa, with Sokka and Katara riding him, flew toward the ship.

"Appa!" They called out, smiling.

Heat dragged Jing back into the present as Aang blocked a blast from Zuko with his staff. Her moment of distraction cost her as a powerful kick of flames sent her sliding across the deck on her back. She slammed into the side of the ship head first with a yelp of pain.

"Jing!" Aang called out in worry as he was steadily pushed back toward the handrail on the opposite side of the ship. He could hear cries of Jing's name that came from on top of Appa as he used his staff as a helicopter to lift himself onto the railing.

He grimaced as he almost lost his balance as he dodged more flames. A lucky hit sent him overboard with a yell.

"Aang! No!" Katara cried out, leaning dangerously over the side of Appa's saddle. She looked desperately over to where Jing had slammed into the metal railing. Sokka was yelling her name to try to get her attention as she held her hands to her head in a pained daze, her body slumped on the metal deck. She was in no condition to help let alone fight the soldiers that made their way toward her fallen form. In a matter of moments, everything had taken a turn for the worst.

They didn't come this far to save them just to fail.

"Aang! Aang!" She screamed louder. "AANG!"

As if he heard her cries, a tornado of water suddenly burst from the ocean's surface at an incredible speed. Aang towered over the ship at the center of the tornado, his eyes and tattoos glowed a bright luminescent white. He landed on the deck, his eyes still aglow as he bent the water from the tornado around him into a circle. He released the water outwards in a massive shockwave that knocked Zuko and his men overboard while it passed harmlessly over Jing's prone form.

"Did you see what he just did?" Katara breathed out, incredulous.

"Now that was some waterbending!" Sokka exclaimed.

Aang fell to his knees on the deck as the glow from his tattoos faded. As soon as Appa landed on the deck, Katara launched herself towards Aang to hold him up.

"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara asked, worriedly.

"Hey Katara. Thanks for coming." Aang replied, drained. He weakly glanced around. "Where's Jing? And Sokka?"

Katara glanced over her shoulder where Jing was talking quietly to a worried Sokka. "Sokka's with Jing. She got hurt."

Aang's eyes suddenly widened as he scrambled to sit up. "What?!"

"Woah woah woah, slow down!" Katara cautioned.

"I have to make sure she's ok-!" Aang protested as he struggled against her grip.

"SOKKA!" Jing screeched. "Put. Me. Down!" A loud smack and an offended squawk that came from behind them cut Aang off. He paused before he fell bonelessly back into Katara's lap. "On second thought, I'm sure she's fine." He rescinded weakly with laughter in his voice.

Sokka ran up to them with Jing held in his arms like a bride, her glider slung across his back. His face was beet red as she struggled halfheartedly. The shoe in her hand was the obvious culprit for the red mark that slowly grew on Sokka's forehead. "Stop hitting me with that!" He whined as he rushed to join Katara and Aang.

"Hi Sokka. Thanks for coming." Aang repeated once he came to a stop next to him.

"I couldn't let you guys have all the glory." Sokka replied cheekily as he readjusted his grip on Jing who had resigned herself to pouting darkly.

"I dropped my staff." Aang said as he looked towards his fallen glider. Sokka glanced over at it and then back down at the girl in his arms reluctantly. He sighed and moved to put Jing gently back on her feet. "I got it." He replied. "Are you sure you can stand?" He asked as Jing stumbled slightly to pull her shoe back on.

Jing waved him off and shot him a look that spoke of both fond annoyance and reluctant amusement. "I'm fine, Ponytail, I promise. I'm just sore. Go grab Aang's staff so we can get out of here."

He nodded and ran over to pick up the staff. Just as his hand gripped the wood, another hand from over the side of the ship grabbed the other end. Sokka bonked Zuko's head with the end of the staff three times. The fire prince let go with a yell, but managed to grab onto the anchor of the ship in time to avoid hitting the frigid water.

"Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" Sokka laughed.

The guards who had been hit by Aang's waterbending started to get up and make their way toward them. Katara bent a stream of water from the deck causing the guards to recoil slightly. She tried to whip the guards with the water, but ended up freezing the water around Sokka's feet.

"Katara!" Sokka complained loudly as he started to chip away at the ice with his boomerang.

The soldiers moved forward again, this time more confidently. Katara lifted another stream of water and threw it in the soldier's direction with her eyes closed. She chanced a look and grinned when she saw the soldiers now encased in a layer of ice. She quickly turned and climbed onto Appa.

"Hurry up, Sokka!" She called out.

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and magic." Sokka mumbled to himself as he continued to chip away at the ice.

"No time!" Jing called out hurriedly as she rushed to break the ice with a quick gust of wind. Sokka ran up Appa's tail as Jing hopped gingerly onto the saddle.

"Yip yip! Yip yip!" Sokka yelled out in a rush.

Appa rumbled and took off.

Iroh rubbed his eyes as he emerged from his nap. "Huh?" He mumbled in confusion as he watched the creature fly away before he rushed to help Zuko to his feet.

"Shoot them down!" Zuko commanded angrily.

The quartet on Appa's back stared in horror at the massive bolt of fire heading towards them. Aang and Jing quickly hopped onto the back of the saddle and swung their staffs. Their combined bending created a powerful gale that sent the fireball away from them and into an icy cliff. The fireball caused an explosion which started an avalanche of ice and snow to bury the ship's deck as well as the narrow channel of water they were sailing through. The four laughed loudly as they flew away.

"Good news for the Fire Lord. The nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." Iroh commented.

"That kid, Uncle, just did this." Zuko motioned to the deck buried in ice. "I won't underestimate him again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" He commanded. Some of the soldiers looked up from where they were thawing out the others still encased in ice. "As soon as you're done with that." He trailed off.

"How did you do that? With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Katara exclaimed.

Aang sat, legs crossed, on the bridge of the saddle. "I don't know. I just sort of... did it." He said, uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" Katara asked gently.

"Because... I never wanted to be." He answered sadly. Jing grimaced in understanding. She knew more than anyone how much the revelation of his status as the Avatar was unwanted. So far, in Aang's eyes, all it had done was alienate him from most of his friends.

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." She continued.

Aang's expression became troubled. "And how am I going to do that?"

"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?" She asked.

"That's what the monks told me." He affirmed.

"Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending."

"We can learn it together!" Aang smiled brightly.

"And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way." Katara bribed slyly.

"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka said dreamily.

Katara looked toward Jing. "You don't even have to ask. Where my little brother goes, I go." She answered as she shared an affectionate smile with Aang.

"Then we're in this together." Katara declared.

Aang produced a map from seemingly nowhere and airbended closer to them. "All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to here, here, and here." He said while he pointed to three different spots.

Jing held back a laugh. She knew exactly where Aang wanted to go. They had originally planned to visit them with Bumi and Kuzon but, for obvious reasons, they couldn't do that anymore.

"What's there?" Katara asked, curious.

"Here," He pointed to the spot in the Eastern Earth Kingdom, "We'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here," He moved his finger to the Southern Air Nomad Islands. "We'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish." He pointed to the last spot on the map. "Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" He exclaimed.

Sokka and Katara blinked in astonishment.

Jing let out an amused chuckle, "Aang, I hope you never change."

Aang grinned brightly in response.

Author's Note:

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE! The poll for this story about who Jing may end up with is on my profile. Just click on my username and at the top of my profile page should be a poll. Thank you!

Hey guys! Sorry it took a bit on this chapter, I had to keep rewriting some parts to make sure that any changes I made to canon flowed as naturally as possible. At the moment, it's looking like I'll be updating new chapters on Wednesdays. As the COVID19 pandemic starts to calm down, it may be more often as I'm currently stuck working six days a week and crazy hours. I just love working in a grocery store right now, lemme tell yah, though I should be grateful I even have work at all right now. I know a lot of people are out of work or have lost their jobs, so my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by this pandemic. I hope my writing can take you minds off of current events if only for a moment, and anyone who needs someone to talk to should know I'm only a PM away.

Fun Fact - ATLA does canonically have Rock, Paper, Scissors though they use the elements instead. To win, they use the Avatar cycle. So fire beats air, air beats water, water beats earth, and earth beats fire.

Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorite, and/or reviewed! It gives me the warm fuzzies whenever I get an alert.

Here are the responses for the reviews!

UmiNight Angel Neko - THANKS LOVE xox

LinIsSleepy - Thank you so much! I worry about making everything flow so I appreciate your review! I hope I continue to give you and the other readers a good read! xox

NightsBlackRose13 - Thank you so much for your review! I love to hear how readers feel about the character dynamics, and yes, Jing does love to tease Sokka lol. He just makes it so easy. And you're right! She will definitely come to view him differently as the story continues and they all mature. Right now, she sees him as a new friend and a very easy target. Does Sokka view her that way? ;) Maybe, maybe not. Absolutely you can vote for Sokka! Just head to my profile page and click the poll on the top and cast your vote! xox

Happy Reading!