CHAPTER TWELVE
( WISDOM, BRAVERY & TRUST )

"–OH! I DON'T REMEMBER this but Dad tells it to anyone who will listen. Anyway, waterbending is really close to my emotions, right? So there was this one time when Sokka and I were kids, Dad says I was around age three, and he was annoying me – y'know, as brothers usually do – and also taking a bath at the time – don't make that face, it's important to the story – and, yeah, he was just being really annoying. So, of course, I was really annoyed. Mom came over to take him out but she couldn't! I froze him in a block of ice!" Katara finished the story while laughing with tears in her eyes, and Flo couldn't help but chuckle as well. Meanwhile, Sokka sulked ahead of them – Aang was already somewhere down the hill.

"I'm still mad at you for that," Sokka said. "I couldn't feel my toes for hours!"

"And who's fault is that?"

"Yours!"

Katara hummed and pulled an all too innocent face. "But I was just a toddler, Sokka, I didn't know what I was doing," she said.

The teenage boy groaned dramatically. "Flo, help me out here!"

The aforementioned girl glanced between them. She then crossed her arms. "I'm with Katara. Sorry." Though she wasn't sorry at all. Sokka groaned once again and grumbled about 'stupid baby sister' and 'girls pitting against him' and hurried his pace to catch up with Aang. When he was out of earshot, Flo looked at Katara again. "You knew what you were doing, didn't you?" she asked.

Katara smirked. "Oh, yeah. I remember it clear as day. Dad and Sokka don't need to know that, though. It's funnier that way." The girls hi-fived, and Katara laughed some more. "You have any stories like that?" she asked after a moment of silence.

Flo shrugged, but then nodded. "Me and my older sisters locked our brothers out of the house – boarded the windows and everything so they couldn't get in. When our dad got home Kuron and Hachi got in trouble for being outside past curfew, and they didn't get any of the cake he bought from the market but we did. I was six at the time."

"Evil," Katara stated, but she was grinning. "Did he ever find out?"

"Happened two more times before he finally did. He hired a babysitter after that." She wasn't going to mention how the babysitter made money extra tight, though.

Katara laughed and Flo let herself smile freely. The archer honestly thought that, at first, talking about her family would hurt. And it did, a little, but she also felt a little bit of relief. It was nice being able to talk about her family, to tell funny stories, without the conversation ending up with Flo too upset to function. Besides, as they talked and shared stories, Flo and Katara got closer; the waterbender wasn't as nearly as annoying as Flo first believed her to be all those weeks ago.

Together the two girls walked down the hill. They shared a small look when they saw the boys rummaging through the bushes.

"Did someone lose something?" Katara asked.

Aang paused his search to answer her. "No, we found something."

"What was it?" Flo asked. She looked to Sokka, expecting him to answer, but he was too focused as he looked through another bush. Her brows lowered slightly and she quickly looked at Aang again when he once again answered.

"A watertribe weapon – a sword made from a whale's tooth."

Katara gasped. "Really?"

"There was a battle," Sokka said and stood from behind the bushes. He tossed a burnt arrow to the ground and walked over to one of the trees. A couple of burn marks were on it. "Water Tribe Warriors ambushed a group of firebenders." He looked to the ground and followed the trail of more burn marks in the grass. "The firebenders fought back but the warriors drove them down this hill..." He trailed off, and then bolted, following the scorch marks that lead downhill. Flo, Katara and Aang had no choice but to follow him. They climbed over some large rocks and boulders at the bottom, and found themselves at a beach.

"So then what happened?" Aang asked when they caught up to Sokka at the shore.

"I don't know," he said, sounding a bit disappointed. "The trail ends here."

"Wait! Look!" Katara shouted. She pointed to their right, and they followed her line of sight. A boat sat beached in the sand, far enough from the waves to keep it from being washed away. Even though she's never seen one before, Flo could tell it was a Water Tribe boat.

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka exclaimed.

The siblings ran for it, and Aang and Flo raced after them. They all stop near it, staring. "Is it... Dad's boat?" Katara hesitantly asked.

Sokka stood at the front of the boat and touched the wood with a smile. "No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here."

+++

They decided to make camp near the boat on the beach. It was more or less Katara and Sokka's decision, and Aang and Flo guessed that it was best they didn't disagree about it – not that they wanted to in the first place. The sun started to go down and, after having supper, everyone went to bed around the fire. Well, Katara and Aang did; she huddled in her sleeping roll and Aang curled up on one of Appa's legs with Momo. Flo stayed awake. Not because she wanted to, but because it was once again one of those nights where sleep evaded her. Shockingly, Sokka stayed up as well. He sat by the fire, one arm propped on his bent knee as he poked the fire with a stick in his other hand. Flo laid a foot or so away on her back, staring at the starlit sky as Sleemo slept on her stomach.

"Is your dad, like...a General, or something?" Flo asked suddenly.

Sokka jumped. "You're awake?" he asked in surprise, head swiveling in her direction.

She didn't look at him. Just kept her eyes on the stars. "Yeah? I'm always the last one to sleep," Flo said honestly. "You're usually the first one to zonk out."

He gave a little laugh at her word choice, but it stopped quickly. "Ah. But, uh, no he's not a general. He's the Chief of the Tribe."

Flo hummed. "That's cool." When he didn't start rambling on about something related to the topic, Flo turned her head to look at him. He stared at the fire intently, obviously deep in thought. If Sleemo wasn't using her as a bed, Flo would sit up and attempt to keep the conversation going. She looked back to the stars eventually, a bit worried about how subdued Sokka was, and gently petted the hawk-cat's head absentmindedly.

Abruptly, Sleemo's ears twitched and she lifted her head. Her eyes were wide and the pupils were large to help her see in the dark better, ears pointed forward. Sleemo's feathers were slightly ruffled and when she hopped off of Flo to stand between her and Sokka, the girl noticed the fur standing up on Sleemo's back; her tail was puffy as well. Flo sat up and grabbed her bow and arrow beside her the same moment she and Sokka both heard a noise. It caused Sleemo to growl quietly.

Sokka stood up. "Who's there?"

Flo stood as well and turned just in time to see a man walking their way. He had bandages over most of his chest and one of his arms. In the dark, she could tell he had dark, shoulder length hair and light eyes. She didn't bother to ready her bow and arrow since he was wounded.

"Sokka?"

The boy's response was immediate. "Bato?"

"Who the what now?" Aang asked as he woke up.

Katara woke up too, ecstatic at seeing someone she knew. "Bato!" she exclaimed.

"Sokka! Katara!" The man – Bato – hugged them tightly. They all wore large smiles. "It's so good to see you two! Oh, you've grown so much."

When their group hug was done, Aang bowed to Bato politely. "I'm Aang," he introduced himself.

Before Flo could introduce herself, Sokka impatiently asked, "Where's Dad?"

"Is he here?" Katara questioned right after.

Bato shook his head. "No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now." A harsh gust of wind breezed by and the group shivered from the cold; Flo wrapped her cloak around her more. "This is no place for a reunion. Let's go inside." He settled his arms around their shoulders, and as they started to walk Bato motioned for Aang and Flo to come as well. "I don't believe I got your name," Bato said suddenly as he looked over his shoulder to Flo.

"Flo," she introduced herself. "I'm Flo."

Katara smirked. She leaned closer to Bato as if she had a secret to tell, yet she didn't whisper. "She's Sokka's cru–."

Sokka suddenly yelled and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Friend! She's my friend – our friend!" He yelled again, but this time in disgust when Katara licked his hand. He jumped away from her dramatically and hurriedly wiped his hand off on his tunic.

Bato chuckled at them. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Flo. You as well, Aang."

"Aang is the Avatar," Katara explained.

The conversation continued on from there – from Aang being the Avatar, to what happened to Bato, and other minuscule things – as they walked to the abbey. All the while, Flo couldn't get the word 'reunion' out of her head, mind reeling back to Aunt Wu and what the woman had told her. She looked to Bato, Katara and Sokka, and had a sinking feeling that her so-called 'reunion' with her family was going to be very different. At that thought, she started to mess with her gloves again, an action she noticed that happened more often when her mind got to her too much, whether it be anxiousness or depressing thoughts. She pulled her hands away from one another and clenched them into fists before crossing her arms over her chest, face set carefully neutral when Aang glanced her way.

She kept to herself the entire way to the abbey. Bato seemed nice, and she learned through some context clues that were spoken by the others that he was close friends with Sokka and Katara's dad, so therefore close to them as well. After they got to the abbey, and after a poor joke from Sokka involving perfume and Appa, Bato led the kids to the room he'd been staying in. The siblings' faces lit up instantly at the sight.

"Bato! It looks just like home!" Katara walked in and immediately looked around.

"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka knelt down on one of them and ran his hands over the fur.

Aang, unsettled, eyed the pelts that were hung on the wall. "Yeah. Nothings cozier than dead animal skins," he said. Momo jumped out of his arms and went to a bear rug. He pawed at the mouth. Sleemo, who stood behind the head, suddenly jumped on the head and purposefully startled Momo so bad that the lemur made a sound of fear and climbed onto Aang again.

Flo gave her hawk-cat a short look of disapproval and then looked at Aang again. "It would be worse if they wasted parts they can use – that's what my dad used to say." Specifically, he said that to Ju-Li, time and time again.

"Your father sounds like a very intelligent man," Bato told her when he overheard.

She avoided his gaze when he looked down at her with a smile. Her arms crossed defensively over her chest. Katara noticed from where she sat, and lifted the lid of the pot that sat above a small fire. "No way! Stewed sea prunes?" She looked over at Flo and Aang, and beckoned them over with a wave of her hand and a grin on her face.

"Help yourself," Bato said. He walked over and sat down with the brother and sister.

"Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things," Sokka said.

Katara handed Aang a bowl, and then Flo, and then finally fixed one for herself. As they stayed standing, Aang sniffed it and made a sound of disgust. Flo adamantly did not breathe in the smell and took a bite, and waved away Sleemo when she got too close. The stewed sea prunes definitely weren't the best thing in the world, but they definitely weren't the worst either. Still, she had trouble deciding if she actually liked them or not.

While they talked, Flo ate and looked around. Absentmindedly, she walked around, and peered at the different furs and what she guessed to be typical Water Tribe things. Aang started to finally speak and she looked over her shoulder to see what he got excited about, only to watch as Sokka interrupted him. Flo's brows lowered and she turned back around. Dark eyes instantly landed on a weapon. It looked similar to a spear, though the tip was barbed and it was attached to a bunch of rope. She turned, feeling eyes on her, and straightened up when she made eye contact with Bato. Flo looked away just as quickly and stepped away from the weapon. Taking another bite of the food, she sat a little ways away from the three Water Tribe members, not wanting to disrupt their reunion.

+++

"There's something I want to tell you kids," Bato started. "I'm expecting a message from your father."

Flo and Aang paused their game of thumb war – she was bored and he seemed down, especially after Sokka brushed him off and Bato got onto him for touching a ceremonial animal headdress, so the little game was her attempt to cheer him up – and looked over to the trio. Aang removed his hand from hers and sat up from his slouched position.

"Really?"

"When?"

"Any day now," Bato replied to Sokka's and Katara's excitement. "Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives you can come with me and see your father again."

At the man's words, Flo did her best to keep herself from frowning. Her jaw clenched and she eyed her hands, hating the half a dozen situations that popped into her mind, all of them ending with Flo being alone again. Her eyes eventually traveled to Aang, and she couldn't stop herself from frowning then. Because she knew that look he wore as he watched Bato, Sokka and Katara. When Aang stood and left, she waited half a second before she followed.

"Hey, Aang," she called out as quietly as possible. "You okay?"

He stopped and turned to her. "Yeah. I just need some air. I'll be back soon," he said. At her suspicious look, he made a motion to shoo her back inside. "I'm going on a walk, don't worry!"

The look stayed, but she nodded. Her frown deepened as she watched him walk away, and she stayed there for a few minutes before she headed back inside.

+++

"It's a harpoon."

Flo jolted and looked up from where she sat against the wall, and did her best not to look too sheepish at being caught staring at the weapon again – she just couldn't figure it out. Bato stood a few feet away as he looked at her. "What?"

He motioned to the spear-like weapon. "A harpoon. We use it to hunt larger marine life at sea," Bato explained.

Her mouth formed a small 'o' shape. "Cool," she said, genuine. She eyed the harpoon one last time, and then stood with her empty bowl that formerly held her breakfast and set it with the other dirty dishes that had yet to be cleaned.

"If you kids stay long enough I wouldn't be opposed to showing you how to use it," Bato said suddenly.

Flo spun around to face him in an instant. She tried to not show her excitement too much. "Really?"

"Yeah, why not? You seem interested in it, plus Sokka and Katara need to learn too if they haven't already" he said.

"It's- I've just never seen anything like it."

Bato went to explain more about the harpoon, but Sokka and Katara both poked their heads into the room, light from the late morning sun filtering in. "Hurry up! Are we going to the ship or not?" Sokka urged, grin wide and bright; Katara wore a similar expression.

The man chuckled, amused. "Alright, alright. Relax, Sokka, we're coming."

+++

The walk down the Bato's ship was nice. Flo felt a bit awkward without Sleemo – the animals all stayed back at the abbey – and without her cloak and weapon – she simply forgot to grab them with Sokka and Katara rushing everyone, though it wasn't like she needed the bow and arrows at the moment anyway – but she made do and for the most part kept her awkward feelings to herself. She kept her arms crossed as she walked, listening to whatever Bato had to say to them.

"This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father," Bato said as they walked up to it. He touched the ship fondly, while Flo peered up at it.

The sound of whooshing air caught her attention though, and she quickly turned her head to see Aang start whistling as he walked back over. She raised a suspicious brow when he noticed that she was looking at him, but all Aang did was smile innocently, hands folded behind his back.

"Is this the boat he took you ice dodging in?" Sokka asked.

"Yep, and it's got the scar to prove it." He let out a short chuckle. "What about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice dodging."

As he shrugged with a frown, Katara answered for him, "He never got to go. Dad left before he was old enough."

"Oh, I forgot. You were too young," Bato said.

"What's ice dodging?" Aang verbalized the question that has started to run across her slightly confused brain.

Bato looked at them both. "It's a rite of passage for young Water Tribe members. When you turn fourteen, your dad takes you–." He cut himself off, eyes landing on the fallen expression on Sokka. Flo watched as Bato laid a hand on his shoulder with a smile. "You know what? You're about to find out."

+++

"Huh, you were right – this is very different from a pirate ship," Flo said as they sailed. Her eyes traveled across the blue sails and all of the lines of ropes that were tied to different necessary places, and then over to where Bato stood where he currently steered at the tiller.

Sokka turned to her. "What, did you doubt me?"

She quickly shook her head. "No, I just didn't know what to expect." She opted to leave out how she was gradually starting to think that she could ever doubt him, or even Aang and Katara. And to think she had told herself she wouldn't get attached to them.

"Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs," Bato told them after a few seconds.

Sokka turned to him. "How are we supposed to ice dodge without ice?"

"You will be dodging," Flo was pretty sure he paused for dramatic effect, "those." Bato pointed, and they all looked ahead to a field of jagged, pointy rocks, the waters rougher in that area than the one they were currently in. She sucked in a sharp breath of air and shared a somewhat concerned look with Katara before they focused back on Bato. "Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely. Katara, you secure the mainsail and Flo do the same with the foresail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. Aang, you control the jib, without your steady hand we all go down. Your position is about trust."

Aang stared at him nervously. "I know that! Why wouldn't I know that? I'm the Avatar! I know about trust!" He crossed his arms and looked away.

Flo's lips curled down a bit as she got to where she needed to be. "Relax, Aang," she said. She motioned to the jib. "Get over there."

"For this to be done right I cannot help. You either pass or fail on your own." Bato then sat down at the bow of the ship, facing their way. The four all shared quick nervous glances for a split second from their respective positions.

Then, they got to the rocks.

Sokka quickly started telling them what to do, and they followed through. The harsh winds and rough waters caused ocean spray to get on everyone, and Flo was suddenly extremely glad that she left her cloak back at the abbey as some of her hair got in her face. She didn't bother to really focus on what the others were doing, and just loosened and tightened the foresail when told, pulling on the line. It wasn't easy, but they did it. They all stopped when larger rocks appeared in front of the ship, the space between them too tight.

"There's no way through!" Katara shouted.

"We can make it!"

"Sokka, you've already proven yourself, maybe we should–."

Sokka ignored Bato and interrupted him. "Aang! I'm gonna need wind in those sails! Katara, I want you to bend as much water as you can between us and those rocks! Flo, go make sure all the sails are in the right positions!"

Once again, they all did as told. When Flo saw fit that the sails were good, she signed an okay to Sokka, who instantly shouted, "Now!" as they got closer to the rocks. Aang and Katara bended their respective elements, while the others watched and waited for the plan to either fail or succeed. The large wave of water Katara made easily took them over the tops of the jagged rocks with the help of Aang's airbending. When they got to the other side, Sokka slouched next to the tiller in relief. Aang and Flo shared a hi-five as Katara smiled at everyone.

After that, Bato took over. He sailed them back to the same beach they started off at, congratulating the kids and complimenting their team work. Sokka rambled on excitedly, and Katara even complimented him as well, as much as a little sister would let herself do so. Aang went on and on about how cool it was, too. Flo watched, biting back a smile. They pulled the boat back to shore, beaching it once again once they got there, and it wasn't long before Bato made them line up not too far from the shore. A minute or so later, Bato held a small bowl with black paint.

"The spirits of the water bear witness to these marks," he started. As Bato went down the line, he painted marks on their foreheads. "For Sokka, the mark of the wise; the same mark your father earned. For Katara, the mark of the brave. For Flo, as well, the mark of the brave. Your courage inspires us. And for Aang, the mark of the trusted." He looked at both the young boy and the archer. "You are now both honorary members of the Water Tribe."

Flo couldn't hide her shock. "Wha- really?"

"Heck yeah!" Sokka exclaimed with a grin.

"I can't," Aang suddenly blurted out. Everyone looked at him. His eyes were downcast as he wiped away the mark and took a step away from them.

"Of course you can," Katara said.

"No. You can't trust me."

Flo frowned. She hesitantly stepped forward. Was it about last night? "Aang," she started only to trail off, not knowing what to say.

"What are you saying?" Katara asked him.

He looked away and closed his eyes as he reached into the orange part of his clothes. He pulled out a crumpled piece of balled up paper, holding it out to Katara. "A messenger gave this to me for Bato," he admitted. Katara took the paper and uncrumpled it as Aang continued; Flo sneaked a glance, and it took all of one second for her to figure out why he kept it. "You have to understand, I was afraid you'd–."

"This is the map to our father! You've had it this whole time?! How could you?" Sokka erupted in anger, causing Aang to shrink back. Flo subtly moved closer to the younger boy. "Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own. I'm going to find Dad."

"Now, Sokka, I think you should–."

"Katara, are you with me?" Sokka asked as he briefly turned around, once again interrupting Bato.

The younger girl looked at Aang. Then, lowered her head and turned around. "I'm with you, Sokka."

"Flo–."

"Screw you," she blurted. Flo, in the simplest terms, was pissed. It sucked, really; she understood Sokka and Katara's hurt and why Aang did what he did. But she was also mad at all of them. At Aang, for hiding something so important to the siblings, though her anger was also mixed with disappointment; then at the Water Tribe siblings, for decidedly leaving without too much second guessing. She stomped over to Sokka and shoved him harshly. He stumbled back, shocked. "Just– fuck you! And you, too!" She turned and pointed at Katara. Anger boiled over, and her mind was too much of a mess to currently get a good argument out.

Katara reached out for her. "Flo..."

Flo jerked back with a heated glare. "Do not touch me," she hissed. She shifted the glare to Sokka. "Sure, go ahead and leave the kid who thinks of you as family. Real fucking nice of you." As she stalked back to Aang, she practically ignored Bato's presence. A second later, the trio from the Water Tribe were leaving

Aang looked up at her. "You can go with them," he said quietly.

Flo gave him an incredulous look. She then shook her head. "No. You need me. That- This doesn't mean what you did was okay, by the way. I just... Look, I was worried too, after Bato mentioned going to their dad, but- but..." She trailed off, at a loss for words at the moment.

He sniffled and rubbed at one eye. "I'm sorry, I was just scared."

Flo wondered what Ju-Li would say about this. From what Flo remembered, her big sister used to always be good at talking to the others about what they did wrong. That's probably an older sibling thing, though; Flo wasn't one. She sighed heavily instead and said, "I'm not the one who needs the apology, Aang. C'mon. Let's pack our things."

+++

After a trip to the abbey where Flo did her best to ignore Katara and Sokka (and after she washed the Water Tribe mark off of her forehead), Aang and Flo were back on the beach – this time with Appa, Momo, and Sleemo. While Aang tightened the reins on one horn, Flo did the same to the other, their things in the saddle on Appa's back. Once she was done, she settled herself where Aang usually sat.

"You know the way, right?" Flo asked him, referencing the route to the North Pole, voicing her question to get herself to stop thinking angrily about what had happened.

Aang nodded as he tightened the reins some more. "Yep," he replied, lacking his usual enthusiasm.

"Avatar! You must leave!" shouted a voice as the person got closer. Flo looked up to see the Superior nun running frantically after them.

The boy scowled. "Okay, I get it. Everybody wants me gone," he snapped.

The woman ignored his attitude. Instead, she continued forward and didn't stop until she got right beside Appa. "A group of people came to the abbey looking for you." Immediately, Flo's worried about Katara and Sokka and hoped they were safe with Bato.

Aang stopped messing with the reins, confused yet mostly alarmed by the news. "Who?"

"Two fierce looking women with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar."

The two spoke in unison, only recognizing one description the nun provided. "Zuko."

"The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you."

"A necklace?" Flo asked, one brow lifting in confusion.

Not even a second later, Aang gasped as he connected the dots. "Katara!" He looked up and over his shoulder when a second or two went by. "I think I have an idea."

Flo immediately narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

+++

Above in the air, Aang flew in circles while Flo stayed low on a roof. His idea was simple: wait until Zuko came back to the abbey in search for him. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the people the nun described to them to show up. The animal, following Aang's scent, went in circle after circle, angrily confusing the Fire Prince. Her eyes instantly spotted Katara and Sokka on the back of the animal, and waited until Aang swooped down to jump into action. Aang's move caused the animal to stand on it's hind legs, and the riders all fell off of the saddle. While the pale dark haired woman snapped her whip to get her animal back up, Flo jumped down from the roof and raced over to the siblings. She stood in front of them, bow and arrow raised at the other woman, though she faltered.

"Leiko?"

The dark skinned woman smirked widely and slackened her defensive stance. "Flo! Well if it isn't my baby sister's former crush!"

Flo stared, dumbfounded. She didn't expect to see Captain Takumi's oldest ever again. Yet, here she was – teamed up with the guy who's hunting down her friend. She glanced behind her for a half a second as some nuns came by and moved Katara and Sokka to a safer place. Flo then snapped her attention back to Leiko. "Wait. Crush?"

Leiko blinked. "...You two literally went on a date."

Her jaw dropped. That certainly explained that one night Denji took her to shore to eat dinner and gave her a flower. "That's what that was?"

"Oh my Spirits, Flo, sweetheart. Seriously?"

"I was twelve!" she shouted in defense. Twelve and seriously lacking some social clues, obviously – if Denji were here, the other teen would be teasing the hell out of Flo.

Leiko exasperatedly sighed. "Okay, look, I don't have time to go over relationship revelations," she said and moved over. She settled an arm around the younger one's shoulders and moved them around to face a different direction. "Besides, if you still feel the same hate from three years ago, I believe I brought you some sort of dreadful present." Leiko smirked and motioned to General Iroh bear some perfumes. Flo felt herself immediately tense, and the bounty hunter at her side continued on. "Depending on how these years have gone by, I don't know how you feel about the old man anymore. Kill him, don't kill him. Don't know how you roll and I don't care, either. As long as one of 'em stay alive, I'm sure my girlfriend and I will still get the gold they promised."

And, well. It would be easy to aim the already nocked arrow and shoot it without a second's thought, but the teen didn't do that. Despite the shock of seeing Leiko again, her anger was still there from earlier and that only added to the anger that was already there beforehand. The anger that was constantly there in some way about the unfair losses of her family members.

General Iroh. The Dragon of the West. The man who led the siege of Ba Sing Se that lasted 600 days. Her sister left to take their father's place, being the only other bender in the family. She disguised herself as a man. Kuron went after her to bring her home. Neither came back. Then General Gang was needed – demanded – to join at the front lines a year later. He didn't come home, either. Three members of her family were gone because of that seige. Because of him.

Before she knew it, Flo's feet carried her over to the aging, unarmed man. Leiko might have said something, but it didn't matter. Flo didn't hear it, if she did. She barely took in the fight between Aang and the prince, or even Appa and the other large animal fighting. When she got to him, she swiftly held up her bow and arrow, and pulled back on the string. They were merely a couple feet apart in one corner of the abbey.

It pissed her off how unfazed he was. "I was beginning to wonder when you would confront me," General Iroh said to her, inspecting a bottle of perfume. "Of course, I do not know you, but you certainly seem to know me." He finally faced her, and Flo wanted to start crying right then and there.

"You took my family away from me," she gritted out.

"I can assure you, the Water Tribe kids are unharmed and the Avatar–."

"No!" Flo shouted. "No, they aren't my– the siege," she corrected. If she saw right, his expression fell, saddened and guilty. "The stupid fucking six hundred day siege of Ba Sing Se led by General Iroh. That's you. And they're gone, because of you." Her hands shook, and her eyes burned, and a hard lump formed in her throat. The arrow stayed trained between his eyes. "They were all I had left." Her voice cracked. They both ignored it.

"I can assure you that who I was back then is not the same person I am now," he told her. "I understand your pain–."

"Bullshit," she seethed. "Like hell you do! I lost my big sister and brother and my father!"

"And I lost my son," he replied calmly.

"Then that's your fault," she said without hesitation.

General Iroh looked at her thoughtfully. He nodded. "It is," he said evenly. "I agree with you, young Fire Hunter." Flo was too angry and hurt to wonder how he knew who she was. "I take full responsibility for my actions those years ago, and for whoever's lives were lost."

The sincerity in his eyes and in his tone were making it really hard to keep the arrow on him. It didn't help that her eyes were starting to blur from the tears, and that her nose started to run. (Though, those details could also very well be because of the onslaught of spilt perfume in the middle of the abbey). "I hate you," Flo trembled out in a whisper.

"I know." He didn't give her a chance to respond. "I know it is very unlikely for you to forgive me, and I do not expect you to. If you shoot that arrow, I will not even blame you. Do what you wish, but take a lesson from an old man and let go of that anger alongside whatever path you choose."

Oh, Flo really hated this old man. He made the current situation extremely hard, and somehow his words caused the emotions in her to swell and grow even more. She blinked, and tears fell as her lips trembled. A sob tried to make its way to the surface but she silenced it as quickly as it came. With pursed lips as an attempt to stop their trembling, Flo abruptly lowered her weapon. She put the arrow alongside the others in the quiver and gripped the bow tightly. She nodded once to the old man. She opened her mouth, closed it, then sucked in a breath of perfume ridden air. "I... I'm sorry about what happened to your son," the archer said quietly.

He returned the nod. "And I am gravely sorry for what happened to your family."

Flo was torn between saying that he should be, and nothing at all. In the end, she didn't have to choose.

"Flo?" The voice was hesitant. Aang slowly reached over and gripped her elbow. When she realized he was there, Flo straightened up even more and situated herself protectively in front of Aang and General Iroh, glassy and red rimmed eyes forming a glare. "C'mon," Aang said and gently pulled her away. "It's time to head out."

She backed up, forcing Aang to as well, and it wasn't until they were a good distance away when she turned around and walked beside the boy. They made it to Appa without any trouble. Flo looked at both Katara and Sokka, now not paralized. "...You're coming with us?"

They both nodded. "Yeah, we realized–."

"Don't care." Harsh, yes; but she wasn't feeling particularly mind in the current moment. Flo climbed into the saddle. "Let's just leave before they get another chance."

+++

The sun set and nighttime fell over the group as they traveled through the sky. Flo sat at Appa's head, reins in her hands; she made Aang go to bed an hour ago and took over once he made sure she knew which way to go. Sokka and Katara were also still awake, though they were silent. The quiet loomed over them. Tense and heavy. The brother and sister had talked with Aang, though because Flo had still been reeling from what happened with General Iroh, the conversation went right over her head. Now, Flo was much calmer, although emotions still swirled inside of her and she refused to let any of them out.

"Hey," Katara said quietly to get her attention. "Flo?" When she didn't respond, the girl frowned and shared a look with her brother as they leaned over the saddle.

"Are you still mad at us?" Sokka asked. It was hard to see her expression with Flo facing forward, sitting ramrod straight, and the hood of her cloak over her head.

Katara let out a soft sigh. "We didn't mean to hurt you by leaving. You have to understand."

Flo twisted the reins around her hands. "That's the thing," she finally spoke up, eyes trained on the few clouds ahead of them. "I do. But you guys just up and leaving after a fight, it... It reminded me of Jet." It of course went differently, both instances, but the main points were the same: a disagreement and then someone leaving the other without a chance to talk things through.

"We shouldn't have left like that," Sokka admitted. "It wasn't right of us."

"Aang needs us. And so do you," Katara said.

Flo tensed. "I don't need anyone," she forced out. The argument sounded weak even in her own ears.

"Flo–."

"No, just shut up," she interrupted. "To answer your question, yeah, I'm still mad. Now leave me alone."

Silence fell over them once again. Flo's grip on the reins loosened a bit, but not much. As Katara and Sokka stopped leaning against the saddle to talk to her, Flo ran a hand through Appa's fur. Whatever emotions that tried to surface, she shoved them down, and focused on one particular one to keep herself from breaking.

***

A/N— This chapter started out so nice and ended in so much angst, I'm so sorry. Honestly at this point tho Flo does know a little bit that she cares a lot for Aang, Katara & Sokka; it's just that it's kinda confusing/overwhelming for her, then add in what Aunt Wu said about her family & Flo facing Iroh this chapter (and everything else that happened)...she has so many things to work through lmao.

Speaking of, I really hope you guys are liking this so far! I'm doing my best to make sure everything about Flo and this story happens realistically and flows naturally and consistently. Hopefully you guys caught on, but she does have depression & anxiety (also insomnia), and I'm doing my absolute best to not romanticize either of those things. If I accidentally ever do that please tell me because I swear it wouldn't be on purpose.

But yeah, that's all! Thanks for reading!! x