It was another casual day in the world of the Avatar. I was getting washed up at a water fall, there was a cliff on top of it— the waterfall wasn't loud so I could hear anyone walking up or anyone talking above. "Zuko, I just wanted to ask you something." Katara said to him as they sat on the cliff.

"What about?" He asked in a casual tone.

"Zuko... ever since you joined I've looked at you differently than I have before." She began making me freeze in horror, was she saying what I thought?!

"How so?" Zuko asked, not having a clue.

"Well... Zuko I... mm I know it's been confusing.."

"Katara if you have something to say than say it." Zuko interrupted with what sounded like a smile.

My heart began to race, this couldn't be happen and I couldn't stop it.

"What I'm trying to say is I've come to care about you more than a friend." Katara shied away, I didn't know what Zuko's face was but I was hoping it was shock.

"Katara, I'm sorry but your not the one for me." He replied, after a bit of silence.

"What do you mean? Why?!" She asked.

"Because I'm with Mia! And I love her." He harshly replied.

"Mia?! She's so... so ugh!" She cringed in frustration.

"Well, that's my Mia." He stated before I heard some foot steps. "I'm sorry, Katara, but I'm not the one for you." He said, before walking off leaving her alone.

I sighed in relief and then I started thinking about what he said about me. Completely making me smile even if I was a noisy lady earlier. And yet I began to despise Katara, she knew we were together. She was trying to get Zuko to cheat on me, I thought she was a good person.

Later that day we decided to train Aang, while Toph and Katara were fighting, Sokka, me and Zuko were going to sneak up on Aang. "Arugh! Sneak attack!" Sokka yelled as he ran up getting caught.

"Sokka sneaks attacks don't work if you say it out loud." Aang said, before Zuko actually snuck up behind him and put his broadswords around his neck.

He gasped in shock, but I had my eye on someone I needed to teach a lesson to. As Toph threw mud at Katara I ran up behind Katara and hit her with the pommel of my sword.

As quick as I could I hit her on the ankle and when she turned around I kneed her in the throat. Not as hard as I could but she fell to the ground and I got her in a grapple.

"Huh guys I thought you were supposed to be training me?" Aang tried to remind three angry women.

"Very well, pupil, I believe we've had enough training for today." Katara bowed after I let her go.

As she started to walk away to turned back to see me point at my eyes and then her. She rolled her eyes as Toph walked up.

"While Katara cleans up, let's go have some fun!" We all cheered.

Toph was just so likable.

"Look at all those messenger hawks, you know I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I could just send them messages." Sokka said, as we walked through town.

"I had a hawk once and that's not how they work." Zuko remarked with his arms folded.

"I got to say I like the idea of not talking to you." Toph grinned making me laugh and Sokka glare at both of us.

"So guys what are you going to get with our last silver piece?" Aang asked, holding it out.

"We can get more money. Right there!" Toph replied pointing at a scammer. Toph explained everything and easily won against the scammer with a huge grin across her and my face.

"Flameyoh, Toph." Aang complemented to get a hiss form Zuko and Flamey-oh.

"I won!" Toph squealed before running off with the the money and sword.

As we began to run I hung back and gave the scammer the biggest middle finger in my life with a even wider grin.

"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" Katara asked as we put the food we just bought down as she was stirring something.

"Toph got us money. She scammed one of those guys in town and moved the shells around all sneaky like." Aang tried to explain as he sat down eating something.

"She used earth bending to win the game. Classic." Sokka sighed, I could tell Zuko was avoiding Katara as much as possible.

"Ah, so she cheated." She put a hand on her waist making me roll my eyes.

"Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating. I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?" Toph asked as she laid down.

"Yeah Katara, weren't you the one who stole from Pirates and said 'unless it's from pirates.'" I remarked as I sat next to Zuko.

Her eyes widened before huffing. "I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing." She continued trying to ignore me laying on Zuko's lap.

"Why? Because it's fun, and you hate fun." Toph scoffed after she bit into a apple.

"I don't hate fun! See, fun." She said putting Momo on her head and pointing at him.

"For a baby." I scoffed making Zuko snicker.

She narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her eyebrows at me, I gave her the eyes to come at me.

"Katara, I'll personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams." Aang said trying to keep the peace but we and Toph weren't done.

—————

"Guys I think these scams have gone to far. If you keep doing them something bad is going to happen." Katara tried to warm us as we came back one day.

The past few days we did a lot, I even fainted in front of a handsome looking man and made him feel bad so he gave me money. "I have a starving family and a two year old brother and sister who go to bed with empty stomachs." I whispered in his ear in the most cute helpless voice I could come up with.

He widened his dark brown eyes at me and gave me all he got. I stumbled away leaning on the wall making him carry me to a hut I didn't even know. It worked out in the end though.

"Could you for once stop being such a sour puss and just light up?" Toph asked as we lazed around.

"Oh I'm sorry you think I should be more like you? Like some wild child?!" Katara mocked.

"Yeah maybe, at least then you wouldn't be such a ugh, and disrespecting everyone!" I yelled at her as I stood up.

"Disrespectful?! Me?!" She gasped, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, you heard me! You have done nothing but disrespect me and Zuko's personal lives ever since we joined!" I snarled as I pointed at her.

She put her hands on her hip and gasped. "Oh I see what this is about. And now your just trying to get back at me." She explained like she knew everything, making me annoyed even more. "So it's me. You act like Zuko is your pet!" She shouted making my jaw drop.

"Hey we're all friends here." Aang tried to settle us.

"Keep out if this, Aang. Zuko, does Mia treat you like a pet?!" Katara asked with anger, to get a stunned Zuko.

"Leave him out of this! This is between me and you. I challenge you to a duel. Winner gets Zuko for life!" I ordered. Little did I know how ridiculous this was later in life.

"Fine!" She bickered.

"Wait, what?!" Aang asked, looking at two angry girls who wanted nothing better than to beat each other senseless.

We walked down to a cliff side, side by side but far apart. "Mia, stop this! It's ridiculous!" Zuko tried to convince me as Aang tried to convince Katara.

I ignored him and faced Katara. He didn't understand that Katara wouldn't quit until she learned not to mess with me.

"You ready?" She harshly asked.

"Katara, please." Aang shivered his teeth.

"Sure you don't need to splash around first?!" I bickered back.

"It's on!" She hissed before I ran at her with my sword drawn, her with a water whip.

And right when we were about to clash... "Enough!" Zuko yelled, blocking my sword with his and grabbing Katara's arm with his hand. "Katara, stop it! I don't like you!" He yelled at her, making her pout. "Mia, you need to stop it too! you are acting like I'm property!"

I stood there stunned about what he just said, I didn't realize it but I dropped my sword and left my mouth open.

"I'm done!" He growled before slowly walking away.

"Zuko." I cried after him but he kept walking, did he just break up with me? I wanted to chase him but I knew when he was mad you didn't want to get in the way. But I didn't know if that was it, if he just ended it between us. "Damn it!" I yelled in the air. "This is all your fault!" I growled as I pointed at Katara, she smiled like she just won. I immediately had to wipe that smile off her face and threw the hilt of a knife at her.

—————

Later at camp Zuko wasn't there and when he was he ignored me and Katara. It was the worst when I tried to reach out to him and he just walked by like I wasn't there.

I began to lose it, I couldn't have just mess it up. Everything was always so simple before, now I couldn't tell if he liked me anymore.

Katara took out her anger on Toph, and of course Toph fought back but at the moment I could careless. I was panicking if Zuko has rejected me forever.

"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some see you guys later." Sokka said getting up knocking me out of despair.

"I'm going with you." I said walking next to him, I needed to get out of there.

I looked back at Zuko who looked the other way with a huff, it made me sigh and hide behind my hands.

"Guy trouble?" Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! I don't get it. I was just trying to keep Katara in line and Zuko says I treat him like a pet! Your sister can be frustrating." I sighed as we walked to the town.

"I know, and she was probably out of line. But he's right, you are kinda treating him like that." Sokka said, making me glare at him. "I'm just saying," he put his hands up with a shrug. "You did fight over him, and you are overly protective."

"Ph, who's talking, you're protective." I defended.

"Yeah and Suki doesn't like that, I had to learn to let it go. You should too." He finished, making my mind stop and reboot.

Maybe he was right, maybe I was being overly protective. Maybe I did have to give Zuko a break.

When we went into town I got something to drink while he got a hawk. "Hawky, welcome to team Avatar, my names Sokka and I am your new owner, and as such to warn you that there's already a lemur in our group so I don't want to see any fighting." He said to the hawk listening to every word. "Good little messenger hawk, who's got pretty feathers." Sokka said, in a little whisper at him as he rubbed his feathers.

As we walked by we saw the the poster of Toph- The Runaway. "You're right hawky this is bad."

"Toph, when we were in town, we found something that your not going to like." Sokka said, showing the poster to Toph.

"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper but I guess your referring to what's on the sheet of paper." She replied as she sat on a rock.

"It's a wanted poster, of you! They've nicknamed you the Runaway." He continued.

"A wanted poster! That's so great! The Runaway, I love my new nickname. Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?!"

We both looked at it and shrugged. "Well, yeah actually it does look pretty good. But, Toph, your missing the point. Maybe Katara was right, these scams are drawing to much attention to us." Sokka tried to convince her.

"Don't be such a worry wort like your sister. Think of it this way; now you have plenty of money to help with the invasion plan." Toph said, completely working on him.

"Well, that is true, I had this idea of making armor for Appa." Appa groaned as he heard that.

"Here's a little extra so you can get yourself a nice map of the Fire Nation. You know what, make it an atlas." She put a bag of money in his hands and patted him on the back.

"I do like expensive atlases." He smiled.

"Of course you do. And that's why this wanted poster is going to stay our little secret." She quickly snatched the poster from him before we walked away.

"Sokka, tell me you didn't buy a bird." Katara sighed.

"Not just a bird, a messenger bird. Now we can send messages all over the world, even to Gran Gran." He grinned as hawky stood on his shoulder.

"Wow how does it work?" Aang asked.

"Mm-huh I never actually thought about that." Sokka replied before we all looked at Zuko.

"What don't look at me, I only had the bird for two days." He harshly stated, folding his arms.

"Hawky, Gran Gran, South Pole." Sokka orders to get Hawky to shrug and shake his head. "I think he gets it." Sokka shrugged before Momo decided he had a new nemesis, the two began to fight around Sokka's head. "Hawky make nice! Bad hawky!" Sokka tried to stop the bird fighting going on around his head.

—————

"We'll look who decided to join us. Where have you two been? Off scamming again?" Katara asked as me and Toph put our stuff down from town.

"Yes, we were." She bluntly replied.

"And I suppose you don't think what your doing is dangerous at all?" Katara asked, with an annoyed tone.

"No I don't."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Well then, what's this?!" She then pulled out the poster of the Runaway.

"I don't know! I mean seriously what's with you people, I'm blind!" Toph yelled as she ran her hand around her eyes.

"It's a wanted poster of you! The Runaway, is that what your called now?! Are you proud of this?!" She asked sounding like my mom when ever I did something she considered bad.

"Where did you get that?!" Toph quickly asked.

"It doesn't matter where I got it. The fact is-" she tried to continue.

"You went through my stuff! You had no right!" Toph yelled stomping on the earth.

"Your stuff was messy and I was just straightening up and I happened to stumble across it." Katara waved her arms around not looking at us.

"I don't even need to be a earth bender to know that's a lie Katara." I stated with a scoff and my hands on my waist.

"Fine! It's a lie! But you two have been so out of control lately I knew something was up." She pointed at both of us making me click.

"Me?!" I scoffed.

"Here we go." Toph sighed crossing her arms.

"You're so annoying!" Katara pouted as she looked to the side.

"I'm annoying?! You're the annoying one!" I barked as I pointed at her.

"Don't you walk away from me while I'm talking to you!" Katara yelled at me and Toph as we were walking away.

"Oh really mom? Or what are you going to do? Send us to our rooms?" Toph mocked.

"I wish I could." Katara rose her head high and mighty.

"We'll you can't! Because your not Mia's mom, your not my mom, and your not their mom!" Toph replied pointing at Aang, Sokka and Zuko.

"I never said I was!" Katara defended.

"No but you suddenly act like it. You think it's your job to boss everyone around but it's not! Your just a regular kid like the rest of us, so stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do what ever I want!" Toph yelled in the air.

"I don't act that way. Sokka do I act motherly?!" She suddenly asked harshly.

"Hey, I'm staying out of this one." He shrugged putting his arms up.

"What do you think, Aang, do I act like a Mom?!" She asked again.

"We'll I-"

"Huh-" him and Zuko muttered.

"Stop rubbing your eyes and speak clearly when you talk! And Zuko sit up straight and look at me!" She corrected them proving Toph's point.

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison.

"I can't be around you right now!" Toph harshly sighed.

"Well, I can't be around you!" Katara yelled back as we all stomped into our different places.

When Katara and Toph left to pull a scam after they got soft around each other it was just me and the others. Not Katara. Zuko was sitting on the cliff side when I sat beside him. As soon as he saw who it was he looked the other way.

"Zuko?" I asked, only to get nothing. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me. I was the one out of line and I'm sorry if I got you mad, I was being an idiot... I realized I never actually told you this but I love you and I always will. I'll try to do better and be less protective. That is if you'll have me back." I looked over to his gold eyes that were looking at my hand that was leaning of the rock.

He gently grabbed it and placed it on his. "Of course I will, because I never left you." He softly said before reaching in and our lips connected. "But don't ever do that again." He said, breaking the kiss as I gave him a skittish smile.

"Hey we're going into town to check out if everything all right. You two should come." Sokka said as he walked up. "You two behave, Appa's in charge." Hs said to hawky and Momo, who acted like they didn't know what he was talking about.

——————

"Where do you think they might be?" Sokka asked as we walked through an empty town.

"Where do you think anyone is?" Aang asked.

"Something's not right here." Zuko stated as I started to walk in the town center. "Mia, watch out!" Zuko yelled as he tackled me.

Soon enough a blast hit right where I used to stand. "Thanks." I smiled as he got off me.

"Don't thank me yet." He replied, dragging me behind cover.

"It's sparky sparky boom man!" Aang grunted, looking over the waterfall were we hidden behind to get him to burst again.

"You know I'm starting to think that name doesn't quite fit. This guy is to good, he shoots fire from his brain!" Sokka gasped, pointing at his head as he shot another blast.

"Mia, do what you did the other night!" Zuko ordered.

"That sounds dirty." I smirked.

"I'm serious!!" Zuko yelled, making me back off.

"I don't have a clear shot. He'll blast me if I stick my head out." I explained with my hands up.

"He does have a weakness, we need to use it." He growled back.

"We should split up, he can't chase us all." Aang said before we did just that.

As I ran down a street I looked back to see him running after me. "Oh God, he's following me." I sighed, before running even faster. He must have a thing against me because I did that whole thing to his third eye.

When I turned a corner I hid behind a few boxes, I just needed to get close. He slowed down when he didn't see me running away, he looked up at the roofs and the windows before turning his head the other way.

It was my time to strike, only when I tried he immediately turned and grabbed my throat. I held my sword and knife tight in my hands and he lifted me off my feet. I tried to lift myself off his arms as my neck was being tightly squeezed.

I tried to kick at him but they were too weak to have any effect. He squeezed more and I chocked for air unable to breath.

He was about to blast me away when Zuko began to run down the street. He turned and loosened his grip as he got ready to shoot at Zuko.

It was enough for me to kick and push combustion man to the side, he badly missed Zuko, while Zuko didn't hesitate to draw his broad sword.

Combustion man didn't know which one of us to fight more and turned to Zuko his real target. It was the mistake he made and I threw the hilt of my knife at his third eye. He stepped back stunned.

"Let's get out of here!" I warned, grabbing Zuko's hand.

We joined up with the rest of the Gaang as quick as we could. "Hey I got it! The perfect name for that guy, Combustion Man!" Sokka said as we kept running.

"Good job, Sokka, now let's get out of here before Combustion Man catches us." Toph said, using the name.

"See it fits so well." Sokka smiled.

We moved our camp sight, it was night time when we landed. "I'm exhausted, Hawky how about you buddy? Yeah you're such a lazy little bird." Sokka yawned before walking off with his new pet.

I looked back at the Water Tribe girl and I couldn't help but feel bad. Katara was a good person and I was being a dick. "Katara, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." I tried to apologize with my hands folded looking at the ground.

"Oh." She stated, sounding a little stunned.

"I was being a jerk, I hope we're still friends." I said looking back up at her.

"Of course we are, and I'm sorry too. I was out of line." She smiled, making me feel relieved. "Now come here and give me a hug." She hold out her arms and I leaned in for a soft warm hug.

I went to sleep in peace, knowing Katara won't kill me that night or any night.