"Jin!" Katara's scream echoed throughout the empty coliseum. She glared menacingly at him and he stood, still clapping a slow rhythm.

"You're performance was stunning!" Jin called down to her, "with that level of skill, it's no wonder you're known as a master waterbender!" His condescending tone only served to fuel the anger she was feeling.

"What do you want Jin?" Katara's words were laced with an icy poison and the ice around her feet began to shift into liquid form, "What are you doing here?"

Jin began walking down the steps, towards the fighting ring where Katara waited. "I'm just here to see if we still had a deal. You're answer wasn't very clear the last time we talked." Katara's face instantly flushed red as she remembered yet again how their last encounter had ended. With an enraged yell, she thrust her hands forward and the ice around her feet flew through the air, forming a spike, heading straight for Jin's face.

While Katara was busy at the coliseum, Sokka had been having just as much trouble sleeping as she did. He was worried about his sister. After he had taken her home, she explained what had happened between her and Jin. When she got to the part about the kiss, Sokka could feel the blood vessels in his brain explode. But after an outraged outburst and a heated argument with his baby sister, he finally calmed down. And after another, smaller argument, he agreed that they should let Jin go for now, and wait to see what his next move would be. But even though he had agreed at the time, the decision still didn't sit right with him. He knew he had to do something to help his sister, but he also knew that there wasn't much he could do for her in this situation.

"Agh! Forget it!" he shot up off the bed, launching his pillow against the wall. He quickly changed into his warmer clothes, picked up his boomerang, and stalked out of his house. As he walked through the streets of the sleeping city he thought to himself, I can't do anything on my own right now. Maybe Pakku can help me think of something. He kept walking, counting side streets until he found the one he was looking for. Walking up to the third house down the street, he started pounding on the door, until it was quickly pulled open.

"Do you have any idea what time it is!?" the elderly man yelled in Sokka's face. He stood there with in a sleeping gown, holding a lit candle. Obviously, he didn't enjoy being woken up and strange hours of the night.

"I'm sorry Gramp Gramp, I just needed to-" but he was quickly cut off.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?! You can call me Pakku! None of this Gramp Gramp nonsense!" Pakku rubbed the sleep from his eyes and finally took a good look at his weary visitor. The look on Sokka's face instantly woke him up and softened his attitude toward the boy. With a sigh he said, "I'm sorry. Come in Sokka, you can tell me why you're here while a make some tea to warm us up." With a timid smile, Sokka walked in and sat at his Grandfather's table.

"I'm sorry to have woken you up, is Gran Gran still asleep?" Sokka asked quietly. Pakku smiled, brought the tea, and sat down at the table.

"No no, Kanna is still sleeping. That woman could sleep through a blizzard" Pakku chuckled as he handed Sokka his cup of tea. Then he continued, "But that's not what you came here to talk about is it?"

Sokka sighed, "Well have you been keeping up with this stupid tournament?"

Now it was Pakku's turn to sigh, "No, Kanna and I decided to stay out of the matter. We both feel that Hakoda is making a mistake by even thinking of this tournament."

"Well, that's something we can agree on." Sokka said with a grin. But that grin soon vanished as he explained the events of the tournament and the situation with Jin; although he didn't mention the kiss, no reason to give an old man a heart attack. Pakku sat quietly and listened, absorbing all the new information his grandson was feeding him. When he heard that Jin had offered info on the avatar's location, his eyes went wide with fear; something that didn't escape Sokka's attention. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

With a shudder, Pakku rose up from his chair and began walking towards the wall opposite of the table. "Sokka, do you remember anything about the organization I serve in?"

Sokka was obviously confused. "The White Lotus right? You're a master lotus along with Iroh, Bumi, and even my master Piandao."

Pakku paused and turned to look at him, "I'm impressed Sokka. You remember a lot about our secret society. Maybe a little too much..." Pakku's gaze turned sinister for a moment, sending chills down Sokka's spine. Suddenly Pakku's glare turned into a smile, "Just kidding!" and he laughed at his grandson's bewildered expression. Turning back to the wall, he continued, "Yes, the Order of the White Lotus is comprised of many powerful and wise benders, and nonbenders alike. However, one of our best gave something to me a few years ago, in preparation for this day." With a wave of his hand, part of the wall melted away, revealing a small hidden compartment. He reached in, pulled out a sealed scroll, and brought it back to the table.

Pakku sat down and his expression became serious. "Master Iroh himself gave this to me about four years ago. He told me that I was never to open this myself. He also said that one day; someone could appear, claiming to know what happened to the avatar."

Sokka sat there wide eyed, staring at his grandfather and the scroll, until he finally found his voice, "But Pakku, do you seriously believe that Aang is even still alive? I've never said this to Katara; but after seven years, I can't help but think he must be dead to not have returned to us. To her." His last two words had a tinge of sadness to them. But he was quickly knocked out of his sadness by his grandfather hitting him upside the head with the scroll.

"Idiot! Do you really believe that?" Pakku gave him a look that told that he was obviously missing something. "Sokka, think about it. If the avatar had died, he would've already been born into the next nation in the cycle?"

Sokka stopped rubbing his sore head for a moment to realize the truth in Pakku's words. "So Aang has to be alive then!" Sokka exclaimed.

Pakku grinned triumphantly, "Now you're catching on. The avatar is still alive somewhere in the world, and Iroh said that this scroll would be the key to finding him." Wide eyed again, Sokka began to reach for the scroll, only to have his hand smacked away with the scroll itself. "BUT!" Pakku stated, "Iroh also said that I could only reveal this scroll if the person's claims were considered serious, and that I could only reveal it to you or Katara." Then Pakku laid it on the table in front of him. "And now, I give it to you Sokka."

With shaking hands, Sokka picked up the scroll; turning it over in his hands, examining it. Although it had been given to Pakku only four years ago, it looked like it was easily over a hundred years old. The paper was aged and fragile, and it was sealed with a golden crest. Upon examining the crest, he saw that it had a symbol of an owl imprinted into the gold.

"I know I've seen this symbol… Somewhere…" Sokka was racking his brain, trying to remember why this crest looked so familiar.

Pakku smirked, "Well Sokka, if the stories you've told me are true, then yes you should know this crest very well." After a few more moments of Sokka's confused expression, Pakku continued, "It should look familiar, because it's the symbol of the legendary library of Wan Shi Tong."

With a gasp, the memories quickly came back to Sokka. All the memories. "But Pakku, Wan Shi Tong sank him library into the desert. Aang said he even took it back to the Spirit World. If this is from the library, then that means…"

"Yes Sokka," Pakku looked him dead in the eye, "This scroll comes straight from the Spirit World."

The coliseum was in shambles. Stairs were caved in, the bleachers were smashed apart, and even the foundation was cracked right down the middle. The fighting ring was even worse, there wasn't an inch of ice that hadn't been cracked or destroyed. Standing in the middle of the wreckage was Jin, sweating slightly despite the cold. His clothes had seen better days; they were torn and tattered with authentic battle damage; although he was otherwise undamaged. On one knee in front of him was Katara, breathing heavily and equally torn up. However she had taken a bit of damage from their fight, and was trying to suppress the pain shooting through her abdomen. She had one hand holding her left side, a small amount of blood trickling through her fingers.

She looked up at Jin, who was looking down at her, despite the blindfold. He smirked and asked her, "So, are you done with your little tantrum? Do you feel a little better now?" His words, still condescending, send fire through her veins. Struggling for balance, she stood up as straight as she could, still holding her side.

"Why are you doing this? Why do you insist on tormenting me? Just tell me where Aang is so I can end this stupid contest now?" She spat her words at him.

Shaking his head he replied, "I can't do that just yet. I need this tournament to continue for my own reasons. You'll get your avatar, after I get my prey." With that he took a step forward, "Now let me take a look at your wound, I can't have you injured for my victory tomorrow." He reached out to her, only for her to step back and slap his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" She screamed these words, afraid of what he might do to her.

But he pressed forward, "Please, just let me heal you." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, his other hand reaching down towards her side. However, she hadn't lost all of her fighting spirit yet. Pulling back as hard as she could, she swung her free hand up, clawing at his face. Surprised by her sudden momentum, he lost his balance and they both went tumbling to the ground. Landing solidly on her back, she hit her head on the ice and felt her head rattle, as she felt him land squarely on top of her.

After a moment of hesitation, she slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry at first. The first thing she noticed was the feeling of something cold in her hand. Turning her head a bit, she looked at it and saw that she held Jin's blindfold; ripped away in the fall. Turning her head back, her vision cleared as she looked up at the man pulling himself off of her. On his hands and knees, he shook his head for a moment and unconsciously opened his left eye. And for a brief moment, Katara's sapphire blue eyes looked directly into his stormy gray eye.

Gray… Was her last thought before slipping out of consciousness.

Ok…. So this is awkward. So, I was reading a fanfic and I was really getting into it. Suddenly the chapters cut off and when I checked the last update date it was like 2 years ago. So I said to myself, "What kind of jerk leaves such a good story unfinished like that?! How could they just stop… writing… oh crap…" Soooooo…. Here I am again :D I think I'll make sure not to go on any extended… "hiatuses" anymore. So whether or not I still have anyone actually reading this, I'm at least going to finish it for my own satisfaction. J