CHAPTER SEVEN
( DEALING WITH PIRATES )

SHE WOKE UP SLOWLY at first. Her brows wrinkled together, forming lines between them, and her lips pursed into a thin line. Her head hurt where the guy had hit her. The guy... Was it the banished prince or a soldier? Flo couldn't remember at first. For a second, all she could conjure up were a group of pissed off, hate-filled Fire Nation soldiers ambushing her, attacking her, and panic started to rise but she kept it at bay – until her hand touched the dirt and earth ground. She sat up abruptly despite her injury, because she was on the ground, unconscious, for who knew how long.

The proper memories came back, then. The banished prince attacked her from behind and attempted to knock her out; it only resulted with a bad head wound and concussion and a pissed off Flo. He tried to capture Aang, but the boy somehow got inside. There were soldiers and Fire Sages, and the Commander and some other guy looked related – Zhao and...Mizu? Did she remember that right? Mizu and the prince spoke to one another but not for long. Then... Another soldier bandaged her head...? Yeah,  no, that had to be some sort of weird hallucination. After that, she remembered an old guy with glowing eyes dressed as Fire Nation. Then, nothing.

Her panic went away at those memories, but not completely. Her breaths were uneven because of said panic, though she steadily got a grip on it, and finally noticed Sleemo curled at her feet. She also finally noticed that she was in one of the bedrolls. She couldn't see any of the others though, and although she knew they had to be somewhere close by, it still brought some panic back.

"So, like this?" Flo heard Aang ask in the distance.

A beat of silence, the sound of water moving, a large splash, and then, "Aang!"

Flo didn't listen to whatever conversation happened after that; hearing their voices made her calm down some. Instead, she crawled out of the bed roll and sat criss-cross in the dirt, and winced slightly at vague memories of having nightmares. She wasn't sure what they were about, but she was pretty positive that it had some Fire Nation soldiers and then maybe one of one or both of her parents. Finally, she stood up, and after Sleemo stretched, she picked up the hawk-cat gently and held the animal securely. Sleemo didn't protest at all. In fact, she settled in Flo's arms, content. Suddenly, Momo was on her shoulders, chittering quickly, and then he settled with perching on one shoulder like Sleemo often did. His tail went loosely around her neck. As he sat there, he munched on a nut he found in the dirt.

"How long was I out?"

Katara and Aang jumped in surprise. The Water Tribe girl yelped slightly, and the airbender spun around with a wide grin. "You're awake!" Aang exclaimed. He moved to hug her but Flo stepped away and glared. He quickly dropped his arms.

"You were out for just the night, actually," Katara said. "It must not be as bad as we thought."

"Yeah, there was a lot of blood," Aang said, subdued.

"Just a deep cut, that's why," Katara said. It sounded like a reminder, and Flo pieced things together quickly. Innocent Aang had been worried for her.

"Flo!" Sokka ran over, completely drenched. He stopped himself before he got too close and forced his arms at his sides. "You're awake!" The grin on his face was large, somehow bigger than Aang's.

Flo blinked. "Yeah," she said slowly as Momo jumped off of her shoulder and went over to Aang, who scratched the lemur's head affectionately. She shifted on her feet, slightly uncomfortable with how excited everyone looked at seeing her awake. She looked away from Sokka but glanced at him again quickly. Her brows knitted together. "Why are you smiling like that?"

Katara quietly scoffed, amused, and Aang looked between the two oldest teens in poorly masked interest.

"Like what?" Sokka asked, forcing the smile down. His voice cracked half-way through, and he winced. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. "I'm not- I'm not smiling like anything. You're the one smiling weird, if anything. So. There." His cheeks were gradually turning darker.

One of her brows lifted. "Right..." she muttered.

Katara rolled her eyes. An amused smirk upturned her lips. "Alright, come on, Flo. I need to make sure the cut isn't getting infected."

Before Flo even had the time to argue that she could do that herself, Katara was dragging the girl away, and only barely missed Aang's teases at Sokka's blush.

Teenage boys, Flo concluded, were weird.

+++

"We need to be sure not to run into any pirates," Flo spoke as they walked through the market. It was a couple hours later and, because Aang accidentally washed their supplies downstream while practicing water bending with Katara, they had to go shopping. Her dark eyes surveyed the area, and the various ships on the dock. Sailors and a few pirates loitered around, and sketchy looking men and women wandered around near the shops. Her eyes eventually settled on Aang and Katara up ahead. Occasionally they stopped to look through some windows before moving on. They had to prioritize, so none of them could exactly buy what they wanted.

"Pirates?" Sokka echoed. From beside her, he gave her a questioning look.

She nodded. "There's one crew, Captain Takumi's, that's fine. They don't con everyone they meet. They just want to sail and live on the ocean, but every other pirate crew hates them because Takumi's crew is way better off than most – there's a reason he's called the mightiest pirate. He's like, I guess, the most well known, most popular, and people are scared of them because of that, but they really just like to stay in the waters. They don't dock on land unless absolutely necessary." Normally, Flo wouldn't speak much, but she wanted to be sure Sokka and the others knew what to look out for. Besides, it was slowly starting to get easier to just...speak around the trio. She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, at the moment.

"How do you know this?" He sounded completely baffled and utterly confused.

"I met the Captain's daughter when I was twelve," Flo easily explained, almost as if it was the most normal thing ever. "She tried to convince me to join them."

"And you didn't?"

Flo shook her head. "I wanted to be alone."

Neither of them spoke as they entered one of the small stores in the market. The other two waited outside with Momo and Sleemo. "Do you still want to?" Sokka asked eventually. "Be alone, I mean."

Flo didn't answer. She stopped in her tracks. She acted as if she were interested in whatever weird food was displayed on a table against one of the walls, because Sokka's question suddenly threw her for a loop. It truly became clear to her, in that moment, that she willingly spoke and told them about the pirates without so much as thinking. She could feel the attachments settle in; hell, she felt them settle in the first time she met Aang. As much as she hated to admit it, if she were to consider herself a friend to any of them, it would be him. Now, the attachments were growing to not only the boy, but the siblings as well. Flo suddenly realized that, and couldn't think straight for a moment.

She didn't need to form any friendships or bonds with these kids. Remembering how she acted when Sokka got captured by Hei-Bai, Flo wanted to bolt right then and there because she hardly considered him a friend then. Now, it was only what? Three days later, and she had started to act as if they were close. She didn't need these friendships, because there was no doubt in her mind that one day Sokka won't come back, and neither will Katara, and Flo admittedly didn't even want to think about something like that happening to Aang.

The answer to Sokka's question was an, "I don't know," but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to admit that she was already having second guesses about being alone. That happened once before with the Freedom Fighters, and it ended in being left behind and a broken heart. And sure, Katara, Sokka and Aang stressed her, and none of them were exactly on the mature side, but Flo, surprisingly, didn't mind that part. She was glad to see that some around her age had yet been drastically hardened by the war.

"Flo?"

Right. She never answered. Flo didn't look at Sokka, and instead turned to leave. "I'm going to walk around more," she said. Then, stepped out and didn't look back as Aang and Katara yelled out to her.

Knowing that the other three had obviously formed attachments for her, didn't help her situation. Her inner turmoil just got worse at that.

+++

She didn't know how long she walked around the market, thinking and silently freaking out. But soon enough she made it back to the camp. She wanted some proper alone time, and maybe take a nap because she hadn't slept really at all in the past few days. Being knocked out didn't count as sleeping, unfortunately, and she was extremely tired. As she walked along the riverbank, Flo planned on sleeping in Appa's saddle or a tree for an hour or so, desperate for some good sleep. Her planning got cut off abruptly as Aang landed a few feet away, Katara and Sokka getting off of the glider as well. Their two winged creatures appeared a split second later. Flo quickly noticed how frazzled they looked.

"I used to look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible," she heard Aang say.

Flo blinked. Then, "I thought I told you to stay away from the pirates!" she yelled, hurrying up and standing by Sokka, glaring.

Sokka held up his hands. "It was too late by the time I realized! We left right after, I swear. They're crazy."

"No, I never noticed," Flo snapped sarcastically right when Katara held up a scroll.

"That's why I took this!" Katara looked proud of herself, meanwhile Flo was ready to scram. The older girl didn't know the story but she was able to easily piece it together. She really could never leave these idiots behind again, huh?

"No way," Aang said.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up," Sokka said accusingly. "You stole their waterbending scroll."

Katara smirked. Clearly she was satisfied with herself. "I prefer to think of it as 'high-risk trading'," she told her brother.

"I think the right thing to call it is 'being an idiot'. You don't steal from the pirates! That's the number one rule of stealing!" Flo exclaimed.

They stared at her, vaguely shocked.

Flo rolled her eyes. "I was only for five years with no money, am I going to have to mention that every time I say something about myself?"

Katara frowned. "Calm down, Flo. Guys, where do you think they got it? They stole it from a waterbender."

"It doesn't matter. You put all of our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid, fancy splashes!" Sokka yelled.

Katara quickly got defensive. "These are real waterbending forms. You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending," she said.

He turned and walked away with a mumbled, "Whatever."

Katara then turned to Flo. She expected a similar reaction, or something along those lines. All she got though, was Flo's harsh gaze. It wasn't a glare, per se, but Katara could easily tell that the other wasn't happy in the slightest.

"Look," Katara started but Flo cut her off.

"I know it's important," Flo said about the scroll. "But pirates don't give up easily. They will be after you, so just...be careful. And smart, for once." She didn't wait for a response, and turned and walked away too.

+++

When she got to camp, she tried to do what she planned to earlier: take a nap. Unfortunately for her, sleep wouldn't take her. She laid in the saddle, because she didn't want to lay on the ground and didn't feel like climbing a tree. Paranoia gripped at her. Curled up, with her back turned, Flo's ears picked up the slightest bits of sounds, causing her to flinch if they got too loud or too close. She tried falling asleep on her back but the sun stayed in her eyes, forcing her to stay awake. She tried it on her side one more time. Slowly, she finally started to drift off, but anxiety churned in her gut. Phantom feelings of being grabbed and knocked in the head made her curl up tighter. The wound throbbed. A twig snapped harshly nearby, and her eyes were opened within a split second and she sat up abruptly, her bow and arrow aimed at the intruder.

The intruder was Momo, a couple feet away, holding three sticks. The two stared at one another. Then, Flo lowered her weapon, gave the lemur a sorry smile, and slouched after she put away the bow and arrow. As Momo scurried off, she leaned against the lip of the saddle with a deep frown.

Two seconds later, Flo pushed herself into a standing position and walked to where everyone else was. Katara stood beside the river, doing her best to waterbend, while Sokka watched from where he sat on a rock. Sleemo sat on one of his legs, attententative to everything, and Aang was a little ways away with Katara, holding the scroll for her. Flo slowed as she walked closer but eventually stood beside Sokka. The boys watched her as she walked up, and if either of them noticed her death grip on her bow, they didn't mention it.

"I thought you were taking a nap?" Aang asked.

Flo just shrugged. She glanced over her shoulder before back at Katara, just in time to see her waterbending move backfire. It hit her in the forehead and Sokka laughed.

"What's so funny?" Katara asked dryly.

"I'm sorry, but you deserve that," he said. He then looked to Aang. "You've been duped. She's only interested in teaching herself."

"Aang will get his turn once I figure out the water whip," Katara said.

Flo watched as Katara tried again, only to whip Momo. The lemur made a sound of protest at the girl, and Flo involuntarily winced. She stopped watching after that, having a bit of secondhand embarrassment, and looked over her shoulder again. She didn't feel safe. Not after getting attacked from behind twice. Katara stealing from pirates didn't help; Flo knew they were coming, at one point or another. It was just a matter of when. Also, Sokka's question from earlier was stilling eating at her, and she wanted it to stop.

All in all, she was very confused and paranoid, and very much sleep deprived, and–.

"Will you please shut your air hole?! Believe it or not, your infinite wisdom gets a little old sometimes," Katara's shouts at Aang cut off Flo's train of thought, "Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so naturally gifted!"

Flo stared at the other girl, gobsmacked, then at Aang, and then she felt complete anger toward Katara. So far, it's been just annoyance and frustration. Watching the scene, she was more shocked than anything, but one look at Aang's face – slightly teary eyed and hurt – Flo was ready to threaten the other girl with her bow and arrows.

(And with that, Flo was slightly less confused about her emotions. Aang was another The Duke, simply put. That, she could deal with. Maybe; hopefully).

"What?" Katara snapped out as she noticed her brother and Flo looking over. She looked back at Aang, and immediately looked guilty. "Oh my gosh, Aang, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. But, you know what, it won't happen again." She walked over to where Aang set down the scroll and rolled it back up. She handed it to Aang. "Here, this is yours. I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore."

"It's okay, Katara," Aang said quietly.

"And I'm sorry to you too, Flo," Katara turned to her, surprising the other girl. "I don't know about what exactly, but I know I haven't made anything easy for you."

Flo didn't say anything. At least, not at first; there was a tiny, awkward beat of silence before Flo said, "You're right."

There was no, "It's okay," because it wasn't, really, and there was no accepting the apology because, quite frankly, she didn't appreciate Katara shouting at Aang like that, or stealing from pirates of all people.

"What about Momo?" Sokka asked, probably to diffuse the tension. "He's the real victim here."

Katara got on her knees and petted the lemur. "I'm sorry, Momo."

"And... what about me? There was that time you–."

"No more apologies!"

Flo rolled her eyes. She walked over to Aang. Though as she stopped beside him, she suddenly realized that she had no idea what to say. She was going to check up on him, but he seemed okay, but she also didn't want to assume anything. "Hey," she muttered.

Aang gave her a small smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "Hey, Flo."

"Uh... Everything okay?"

He nodded, still subdued. "Yeah."

"Okay. Need anything?"

He shook his head. Then, he smiled again, but it was a bit bigger than before, as if he was realizing something. "I'm okay, Flo. You don't need to worry," he assured her.

She nodded jerkily. "I know. Um, but, Sleemo... She's a good cuddler, 'specially when you're sad, or... Yeah, so if you need to, take her whenever, she'll love it," Flo explained. Then, quickly, she added, "Except at night. I need her." She tried not to wince at the last part, because it sounded so stupid out loud.

Thankfully, he didn't say anything about it. His smile just continued to grow. "Does this mean we're friends?"

Flo went to respond but quickly clamped her mouth shut. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Still undecided," she lied. She still didn't want to get too attached, despite knowing that it was too late. Maybe not outwardly admitting anything will change things, she thought.

+++

"...make your arm a little steadier," the woman spoke slowly. A gentle hand touched the four year old's elbow and carefully positioned it better. She then reached over and fixed the grip on the bow. "And then, you let you go."

Flo's chubby fingers released the string and it snapped back into place. Nothing went flying through the air, though. Fen was simply teaching her youngest the simplest things about a bow, like how to hold it and such; they'd get to the actual shooting with a real arrow part when the girl was older. Besides, the bow wasn't a real one; Fen just found a curved, little stick, tied a string to it, and then proceeded to use it as a teaching tool. Flo grinned up at her mom. "Like that?"

Fen grinned back, proud. "Exactly like that."

Suddenly, screams and yells were heard, and the two looked toward their house. Immediately after, fourteen year old Kuron and twelve year old Hachi came running out. Hachi was the one screaming as if his life depended on it, Kuron was right behind his younger brother as he tossed small rocks behind them, and then there was Ju-Li. The fifteen year old looked furious as she ran after her brothers, shouting at them. Eleven year old Lei and five year old Biming poked their heads out of the door, and their father could be seen through the window rubbing his temples.

Ju-Li grabbed Fen's bow off the ground and pointed the end at them. She left the arrows alone; she would never harm her siblings in any way, but she needed to threaten them with something. "You two are the most annoying species in the entire Earth Kingdom!"

The boys stopped by Flo and their mom. "It was an accident," Kuron tried to explain.

Hachi glanced down at Flo before back at their big sister. Then, his face lit up slightly, and he bent down and grabbed the four year old. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. "Truce!" he yelled. "Truce, okay? You set down the bow, or else... Or else I'll tickle Flo."

Flo's eyes widened, Kuron snorted, and Ju-Li looked even more annoyed.

When no one answered, Hachi shrugged. "Suit yourself." He then started tickling the girl on her sides, and she squirmed and laughed.

"P- Put me down! Let me go! Hachi, no–."

"No, let me go!"

Flo's eyes snapped open. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, which caused Sleemo to tumble off of her chest, making a disgruntled sound. The hawk-cat picked herself up and flattened her ears at Flo, and then walked over to one of the boys. Flo couldn't tell which one. It was dark and the fire went out. Still, she could tell Katara wasn't in her bed roll. As quietly as possible, Flo left the pathetic excuse of her own bedroll and grabbed her bow and arrows, and her dagger. Instead of putting it on her belt, she sheathed it in her right boot and quickly left, shushing Momo as she went.

After a few minutes of walking, Flo got into one of the trees. She climbed until she knew she was hidden from anyone on the ground, and then continued to silently go from tree to tree. When she got to the edge of the woods, Flo crouched and stayed behind the trunk, peering through the pine needles and branches down the ground. She noticed the pirates first, then the banished prince and his men, and then finally Katara tied to a tree trunk.

"—restore something I've lost. My honor," Zuko was talking to Katara, "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He held something up but Flo couldn't see.

"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"

Flo's brows pinched together. She remembered Katara losing it, and being heartbroken over it, but honestly Flo barely listened. She was too focused on Haru and his father knowing how she was the archer the Fire Nation wanted captured.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering." He got closer to Katara again. "Tell me where he is."

Aang. Oh shit.

"No!"

The pirate captain stepped closer as well, but he was still a good distance from Katara. His crew stood behind him. "Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!"

Zuko took out the scroll and lifted it up with one hand. His other hand held a large flame of fire in the palm, nearly close enough to burn the scroll. "I wonder how much money this is worth," he said. The pirates gasped and few protested. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

"...Fine."

Flo followed the pirates. She waited until they were a good distance into the woods before climbing down the tree. She bent down and used some built up momentum to swing on the branch, palms burning against the bark, and kicked one of the pirates in the back. He went down – knocked out. The others then noticed and it quickly turned into a fight. She shot a couple arrows – one guy went down, only to never come back up again – and threw some punches and kicks, dodged blades of swords and knives, and did her best to keep them away from the boys.

Unfortunately they bested her. One knocked her to the ground and as she stood up, he hit the uninjured side of her head with the butt of his blade. It disoriented her enough for them to take her. (She was beginning to think that there was a universe mindset of "hit Flo in the head" whenever a fight occurred). They tied her hands together with some rope, so tight that it almost hurt, and walked her back with a blade at her neck as an act of security. They didn't want her running off. One took her bow and arrows, and the others went after Aang.

Katara gasped when the pirates brought her to the river. "Flo! Are you okay?"

Flo sent her a dry look. The pirate shifted the blade on her neck. "Peachy," she gritted out. Her eyes then settled on the prince. She glared at him, he glared back, and then she noticed the old man beside him and Flo's stomach dropped. Her entire body tensed up at the sight of General Iroh. She knew he retired, but he was still a General. He was still the reason her father had to fight in a war he didn't want to fight in, a battle he died in.

She struggled slightly. The sword was pushed closer to her skin, and she froze.

By the time Aang and Sokka were brought back, the sun had risen and Flo had, once again, stayed up during most of the night when all she wanted to do was sleep. She scowled, mostly at nothing, but every so often her gaze would go to General Iroh. Occasionally he looked back with a thoughtful look and well hidden confusion.

"Give me the boy," the prince ordered once they took the boys out of the nets the dragged them in.

"You give us the scroll," the pirate captain responded.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!?" Sokka yelled.

Zuko glared and pointed at him. "Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other."

The captain looked at their prisoners. "Your friend is the Avatar?"

Sokka suddenly appeared at the Captain's side. "Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll." Flo quickly caught on to what he was doing.

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!"

"Yeah, Sokka, you really should shut your mouth..." Aang trailed off, almost in a warning tone.

He didn't listen. He looked at the pirates with a sweet expression. "I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense," he told them. "Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

"And you know the archer that hunts soldiers?" Flo asked. Katara's blue eyes widened a little, but not enough to where everyone else noticed. Flo ignored her and focused on the pirates.

The captain looked at her, curious. "The Fire Hunter? What about her?"

"I know where she is," Flo blurted. "She's got a bounty on her head, yeah? Lots?" He nodded. "I know where she is. She helped me out a little over a month ago and taught me everything I know. If you trade off my friend, I won't take you to her, but if you don't..." she trailed off, letting the silence speak for itself.

"If she helped you, then why...?" one pirate started to ask, confused.

Flo shrugged as if she didn't have a single care in the world. "Gotta stay alive somehow." In actuality, she was silently thanking her twelve year old self for staying with pirates for a couple of weeks, enough time to learn how to act around them.

They seemed to like that answer. They even agreed with it. The blade on her neck slackened significantly, and Flo bit back a smirk as the captain told the prince to keep the scroll and that he would keep the kids. They started to walk off. The pirate keeping her captive removed the sword but kept a hand on her shoulder to lead her in the right direction.

Then, everything erupted into chaos.

The Fire Nation soldiers attacked. They tried to get to Flo, Aang, and Sokka but the pirates jumped between them. Flo elbowed the one still holding her and the man quickly retaliated. He brought his sword up, then down, and Flo held up her arms. She smirked after the blade went through the rope that tied her wrists together, and round kicked him in the face. She grabbed his sword and threw it in a random direction.

The other pirate that took her bow and arrows quickly went after her. He swung his own sword. Flo was quick to duck, and she grabbed her dagger from her boot as she did so. She stabbed the guy in the thigh, knocked his sword away with her hands, and kneed him in the gut. She grabbed her bow and quiver of arrows just as she realized that smoke bombs had gone off and that she got separated from Aang and Sokka. She didn't even have an idea of if Katara was okay.

Flo cursed under her breath and decided to just run out of the smoke cloud. Miraculously, at the same exact time, Sokka crawled out and Aang jumped over the smoke and their heads. "Run!" After sheathing the dagger back in her boot, Flo helped Sokka to his feet and they ran with Aang over to the pirate ship where they spotted Katara.

"Katara! You're okay!" Aang exclaimed.

"Help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here," Katara said to them. None of the three hesitated to help, all four now pushing on the boat. It didn't budge at all.

"We need a team of rhinos to budge this ship," Sokka said.

"A team of rhinos or," Aang started and smiled at Katara, "two waterbenders."

While Aang and Katara started to pull the water back and forth to raise the water around the ship, Flo went into the water and climbed up the ladder. Sokka was quick to follow. Soon enough, Aang and Katara pulled enough water onto the shore and then they got on the ship as well. She stood at the wheel as they sailed down the river but Sokka quickly pushed her aside.

"Hey."

"Sokka! Can't you make it go any faster?" Aang asked from where he stood.

"I don't know how. This thing wasn't made by the water tribe," Sokka said.

Flo glowered and shoved Sokka out of the way. "Why do you think I was standing there in the first place?" she asked. "Captain Takumi's daughter didn't offer me to join their crew for nothing, idiot. The sails needs to be moved so the wind catches them better!"

Sokka looked startled and then confused and then completely baffled. "How do you know these things?!"

"I was stuck with them for two weeks, I learned a few things. Now go fix the sails!"

"It's not a water tribe boat!"

"You're smart, figure it out," Flo told him. She shoved him away again, but this time much gentler than before. "We don't have time–." She cut herself off and ducked when she heard feet behind her and noticed how Sokka's eyes widened when he looked over he shoulder. A skinny pirate went right over her head and instead of tackling Flo, he tackled Sokka. Flo quickly got back to her feet and turned, ready to fight, but the large, buff pirate had her stepping back from surprise.

Somehow, after a short fight broke out, the four got into a tangled mess. The skinny guy had Flo in a headlock, and her dagger was threateningly close to one of his eyes; Sokka was on his shoulders, but the buff pirate was attempting to pull him off. Flo watched for a split second as Aang sent a wave that washed some other pirates overboard and then as Katara did the water whip.

"Hey, you did the water whip!" Aang shouted happily.

"I couldn't have done it without your help," Katara said.

"Will you two quit congratulating each other and help us out?" Sokka shouted just as Momo, the pirate's parrot, and Sleemo flew by in that order. Flo was pretty sure she saw Momo carrying the water tribe scroll.

The buff pirate finally got Sokka off the skinnier one, and tossed him into the orange sails. Flo sheathed her dagger in it's usual spot on her belt and elbowed the other in the face. She jumped away when his grip loosened just as Aang came over. He used his airbending to throw both pirates before jumping down to the lower deck where Sokka landed.

Flo went to follow but froze when she noticed what was up ahead. Katara quickly noticed as well, and pointed. "Aang, look!"

Aang looked at the upcoming waterfall and turned to the girls, but stopped as the skinny pirate made a reappearance, holding a knife. Instead of fighting, Aang blew a whistle in the shape of a bison while Sokka got up and disarmed the pirate, kicking him overboard.

"Where did he get a whistle?" Flo asked.

"The market," Katara replied.

Flo mumbled, "Does it even work?" and ran to the lower deck with Katara.

The two waterbenders quickly started to push and pull the water of the river to keep the pirate ship from going down the waterfall. It worked up until Zuko's boat, filled with the rest of the pirates, came crashing into the side of their own. Both boats and everyone on board went down. Flo expected a harsh land in water, but then Appa came flying by and caught them all in his saddle. Appa quickly left, flying away.

"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy," Aang said proudly as he lifted it up, and everyone else got situated. "Thanks, Appa."

"Yeah, we owe ya own," Sokka said to the bison.

Appa grunted back. Flo, who now sat against the side of the saddle, let one corner of her mouth twitch up.

"Aang," Katara said as they broke through some clouds. Flo made a face at the slight dampness that settled on them. "I still owe you an apology. You were just so good at waterbending without really trying. I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Katara," Aang said.

"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway," she said with a bitter tone.

Sokka pulled the scroll out and showed it to them. "Is that really how you feel?" he asked.

Katara's face lit up. "The scroll!" She reached for it. Sokka quickly pulled it out of her reach.

"First, what did you learn?" he asked.

"Stealing is wrong," she said. As he relaxed, she took it from him and smirked. "Unless it's from pirates."

Aang laughed. "Good one, Katara!"

Flo rolled her eyes and tried not to scowl. "I mean, if you wanna go through that every time, sure go ahead."

The airbender gasped suddenly, startling the fifteen year old so much that she sat up. "Flo!"

She gave him a cautious glance, and leaned away from him as he grinned too wide. "...What?"

"You lied last night!"

"I... What?" She blinked rapidly. Her caution went away, and instead confusion settled on her features.

Aang didn't waste any time in explaining. "You said it was undecided if we're friends or not, but you called me your friend when bargaining with the pirates!"

Flo stared for a moment or two. After a bit, she frowned and crossed her arms once she realized what he was talking about. "I did no such thing," she denied.

Katara nodded, smiling. "You kinda did."

"No, I didn't!"

Sokka smirked. "Heard with my own two ears, Flo."

Aang lunged forward and wrapped the girl in a hug with no warning whatsoever. "You do have a heart!" he teased.

Flo groaned and pushed him off, though gently, and ignored the amused chuckles. She went back to crossing her arms. The corners of her lips barely twitched; other than that, she remained looking slightly annoyed and indifferent. "You're annoying. All of you. Go rest, we had a long few days."

Shockingly enough, they listened; they easily agreed, and were more than happy to do as told. Even more shocking, was that Flo did so as well, and for once didn't have trouble falling asleep.

***

A/N— I feel like it's somewhat obvious but Flo has the biggest soft spot for Aang & I absolutely love it. Anyway! Next two chapters deal with Jet, so that's going to be interesting lmao. Get ready for some seriously angry Flo