KIDA WOULDN'T CONSIDER HERSELF A NIGHT OWL, BUT SHE SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT BY NOW. Though, for Kida, "night owl" is just a euphemism for insomniac.

Every single time she tries to close her eyes, Kida remembers the vision of her father, and hears his voice telling her she's not doing enough.

Because of this, Kida spends her days making sure that the team is training, and, more importantly, training herself to the brink of exhaustion. Suggesting that they make frequent stops so that Katara and Toph can practice bending as much as possible. Sparring and sword-fighting with Sokka until they're both out of breath. Reviewing firebending forms and drills, not only alone, but with Aang, too.

After a morning of training, the team meets back at camp. Katara, Toph, Aang, and Sokka settle down, but Kida drops her sword and stays standing.

"Aang, you coming?" Kida turns to Aang, who's busy playing with Momo.

"Firebending?" Aang sighs when Kida nods. "Do we have to?"

"Why are you guys even practicing firebending?" Sokka asks. "We're attacking during the eclipse. Neither of you will have the ability to firebend."

Kida crosses her arms. "The eclipse is only what, 8 minutes? Well, there's a before, and there's an after. We need to be ready for anything and everything."

"But don't you think Aang's time is better spent practicing his waterbending?" Katara counters. "And, you know, taking breaks in between."

"Plus, Twinkle Toes should really keep focusing on his earthbending, too," Toph adds, though she seems uninterested, leaning back against the ground.

"I'm just saying, any chance the Fire Lord has to take out Aang, even if it's one second, he'll take it. Aang, come on. I'll teach you one more firebending move, and we're done for the day."

"Do you really think that the Fire Lord would shoot a kid with lightning?" Sokka wonders.

"What kind of question is that!" Kida shouts. When everyone, other than Toph, turns her attention to Kida, their brows furrowed, Kida takes a deep breath. "Sorry," she offers before continuing. "First of all, Aang isn't just some kid, he's the Avatar. He's a threat to the dynasty that is the Fire Nation. Second of all, this is the same Fire Lord who has no remorse for sending in troops to attack defenseless villages all over the world. And, third of all," Kida pauses. "Third of all, the Fire Lord isn't above attacking a kid."

Katara tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

"How do you think Zuko got his scar?" Kida lowers her voice as she says this. She knows that Zuko shared the story with her in confidence, but he betrayed her trust by switching sides in Ba Sing Se. She doesn't owe him anything. "So, yes, I really think that the Fire Lord isn't above attacking, or killing, a kid by shooting him with lightning." She turns to Aang, almost pleading. He looks back at her, his eyes wide. Kida doesn't want to scare him, but she needs him to know that there are stakes. "Please, Aang. I'll teach you how to redirect lightning, and then we'll be done with firebending, if you want. Okay, kid? Please."

That was Aang's last firebending lesson; at least, for now.

Kida, however, keeps going. Her muscles ache down to her bones, there are blisters on her hands, and minor scrapes and bruises and burns all over her body, but still, she keeps going. She's going to do whatever it takes to keep the world safe; to keep her family safe.

Every single time Kida tries to sleep, she gets flashbacks of her past, or visions of what might happen next. The nightmares vary from time to time, but they don't get better. Kida sees the team in battle, during the eclipse, almost winning. Kida sees a faceless swordsman beside her, about to attack Sokka. Kida tries to protect him, but she's frozen in place. Sokka is slashed by a sword. Kida is still frozen in place, looking around at the rest of her friends. Katara drowns in a tsunami. Toph gets swallowed by the earth itself. Aang is shot by lightning. Fire engulfs her vision, as Kida jolts awake.

It gets to the point where she doesn't even bother sleeping. After telling the team about their relationship, Kida and Sokka had gotten out of the habit of sneaking away from camp in the middle of the night; at least, together. Instead, while Sokka sleeps soundly along with the rest of the team, Kida goes off to make some arrows, or sharpen her blades, or just train some more.

Kida goes to the woods and practices archery. The bow feels unusually heavy in her hands.

A shadow emerges from the trees as she lets another arrow fly.

"Whoa!"

Kida lowers her bow. "Spirits, Sokka! You scared me!"

"Well, you almost shot me," Sokka laughs. "I'd say we're even."

Although it's the middle of the night, the half moon offers a dim light. Kida hopes it's enough for Sokka to see her eyes roll. She walks over to retrieve her arrows. None have hit the bullseye on the makeshift target Kida had fashioned earlier.

"What's up with you?" Sokka asks, gently. He starts picking up some missed arrows and handing them to Kida. "You're usually a perfect shot, every time."

"I'm just off my game today," Kida sighs.

"Kida...."

When she notices Sokka frown, Kida offers a small smile. "I'm okay, Wolftail," she promises, though she's sure to remain focused on retrieving arrows. "Don't worry about me."

Needless to say, the team might not know that Kida's having nightmares again or any clue about what's bothering her, but they definitely notice that something's up.

"I'm fine," Kida answers in the morning, when Katara asks if she's okay. The two are sitting around last night's fire pit, eating breakfast. Aang is with Appa, and Toph is still asleep. Sokka is staring intently at his schedule.

"You don't seem fine," Katara counters, scooting over to place her hand on Kida's forehead. "You're warm. You should lie down. When's the last time you ate?"

"I....I don't know," Kida admits. She picks up a banana, but puts it back down. "I've just been feeling.... nauseous, I guess."

Sokka looks up at this. "Oh no!" He walks over to Kida, kneels down, and places a hand on her stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

Kida pushes his hand away, but can't help but laugh. "I....do you even know how someone gets pregnant?"

Sokka starts to say something, then stops himself. "As a matter of fact, I do not."

"Okay, so I don't want to have that conversation with you, especially not in front of the kids." Kida gestures pointedly to the group.

"Hey!" Aang slides down Appa's tail and takes a seat next to Katara. "What are you guys talking about?"

"About how I'm definitely, 100% not pregnant," Kida declares. She grabs the banana again, peels it open, and takes a bite, if anything to prove her point. Even with that, she can feel her muscles silently thank her.

"Thanks Spirits." Sokka backs away and sits cross-legged across from Kida. "I'm not ready to be a dad."

"Yeah, I'm not ready for you to be a dad either."

"No one is," Toph adds with a yawn, finally joining the group.

"And I'm not ready to be a great-great-grandfather," Aang sighs in relief. Then, he tilts his head. "Wait, is that enough 'greats'?"

Kida smiles as she finishes her banana. "I promise, I'm fine."

"Well, you have been training more than usual," Katara points out.

Sokka rubs his chin like he's solving a puzzle. "I did catch her sneaking away to practice archery last night."

Toph shrugs. "She's been doing that most nights." Kida glares at Toph, before realizing that she wouldn't even be able to notice.

"What! Without me?"

"Sokka!" Katara glares at Sokka, which he definitely does notice.

"Right, not the point," Sokka mumbles. "The point is that it sounds like you're training more than you're sleeping."

Kida sighs in frustration. "It's like you with the maps and the planning and everything," Kida counters. "Except with me it's swords and bows and arrows and knife throwing and firebending." As Sokka takes a second to think about it, Kida adds: "Like I said, I'm fine. I just want to be ready. I feel like...." she trails off before she reveals too much. Kida just needs to feel like she's doing everything she can.

"Kida, as much as we all appreciate the hard work you're doing, if you're not letting yourself rest, it's not going to mean anything," Katara says. "You have to take care of yourself."

Aang nods. "Katara's right. And, if you don't believe her, take it from me, your great grandfather!

"Would you stop saying that? We get it! You've lived a thousand lifetimes," Toph states. "Bottom line is that Kida needs to sleep. Or, at least, chill out a bit."

A silence falls upon the group as Kida considers how to respond. She glances at them, each showing varying degrees of concern, but all clearly caring about her well-being. Even Momo flies over and hands her a lychee nut, while Appa nods his head towards her and groans softly.

Kida sighs. "Fine," she concedes. "I'll chill out a bit."

"Great!" Katara exclaims, placing a hand on Kida's shoulder, then turning to Aang, Sokka, and Toph. "Why don't you three go into town and get us some more food? We'll stay here.

»»---------------------►

KIDA ENDS UP HAVE A RESTFUL NAP. Katara did some water healing magic before, which definitely worked to soothe Kida's mind.

When Kida gets up, she sees Katara boiling a pot of water.

"Hey. How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well, actually, thanks to you." Kida, feeling both refreshed and energized, sits down opposite Katara.

Katara smiles. "I'm glad. The others should be back soon."

"I was thinking about Combustion Man the other day," Kida mentions.

"Should I warn Sokka?" Katara teases.

Kida scoffs, waving her hand, but smiles nonetheless. "No, I mean about the last time we fought him, when you used waterbending to deflect one of his blasts and it created this mist?"

"What about it?"

"Well, I thought that we could do a similar fire and water combination move or something to get that same effect. It'll distract the enemy and give us time to either get out of there or regroup and think of another way to attack them."

"You know, I think Sokka's found his soulmate," Katara muses. "Or, I've found my future sister."

Kida feels her cheeks warm up. "What?"

"I'm kidding," Katara assures, though they both know she's not. "I just mean you're both good at the whole strategy thing. That really is a good idea, Kida. We should practice it sometime."

After she says this, Kida notices that Toph, Aang, and Sokka, are approaching, all laughing and carrying baskets.

"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" Katara wonders.

As the trio recounts their afternoon of manipulating street games to their advantage, in most cases, Toph using her earthbending, Kida starts to feel torn. On one hand, the whole "cheating a cheater," thing makes sense to Kida. It definitely did during her days as the Hood; but, these are different circumstances.

Katara huffs in frustration, having just reprimanded them for their questionable money making methods. She glances to Kida for support.

Kida looks at all the stuff, then back at the group and shrugs. "Honestly, I don't have the moral high ground here. Frankly, you all know I'm not above stealing."

"See?" Toph nods her head triumphantly. "Even Hothead agrees."

"Wait, actually, there's more...."

"Okay, but before that," Sokka interrupts. He pulls out a sheath from his shoulder bag and hands it to Kida. The sheath holds a small dagger, the hilt decorated with amber. "It's a backup weapon. If you lose your sword, and your other knife, and run out of arrows and you can't firebend, you'll have this. Plus, I, um, thought it matched your eyes."

Kida bites back a smile. "That's really sweet." Kida clears her throat when she notices Katara glaring at her. "I still have to agree with Katara on this one, though. Take it from me, these scams might feel good at first, but....but they can go wrong. Really wrong, really fast. Plus, we don't even need that much stuff! We just need money for food." Kida pauses, looking down at the dagger in her hand. "I will be keeping this, though." Sokka smiles at this.

"Exactly!" Katara exclaims. "I'm just saying, we shouldn't make a habit of doing these scams. It might be fun, but these scams put us all at risk."

"I guess you're right," Aang admits. "I'll personally make both of you an Avatar Promise that we won't make a habit of these scams."

»»---------------------►

KIDA SOON REALIZES THAT AANG'S AVATAR PROMISE DOESN'T HOLD UP. A few days, and multiple scams, later, she walks up to Sokka and Toph, who are in the middle of a debate.

"Is this a wanted poster?" Kida asks, ripping the paper out of Sokka's hand. From the corner of her eye, Kida notices something else. "Is that a bird on your shoulder?"

Sokka scratches the bird affectionately. "Meet the newest member of Team Avatar: Hawky! I just hope he gets along with Momo."

"I'm sure he will," Kida assures. She turns her attention back to the wanted poster, looking between it and Toph. "The Runaway. Cool name, actually."

"I know, right!" Toph exclaims.

"And, awesome job with the wanted poster too. It means you're really pissing the Fire Nation off, which I truly admire." She offers Toph a high five, which the girl happily accepts.

"I knew you'd come around!"

"I haven't really, though," Kida adds. She hands the poster back to Sokka. "There's a lot at stake here. Our identities, mostly. If we get caught, or the Fire Nation figures out that Aang is alive, the whole invasion plan will be ruined."

"But all this money will help the invasion plan," Toph points out. "Sokka, didn't you want to make armor for Appa?"

"I did, but —"

"So, how about we don't tell Katara about this, huh?"

"Toph, we need to leave so they don't find you," Kida asserts and Sokka nods. "So, we need to also tell Katara."

"Tell me what?" Katara asks, walking back with Aang from their waterbending training. Before anyone can answer, she notices the wanted poster in Sokka's hand. "I knew it!" Katara exclaims. She points at Toph. "You're completely out of control."

"I'm not out of control, I'm having fun! Not that you would know what that is."

"Sorry if I don't think scamming people is fun, that I'm trying to be responsible for all of us!"

"You always have to be so responsible, don't you," Toph scoffs. "Don't blame me for seizing the moment! We're traveling around the world! Making easy money! Having fun! With no parents to tell us what to do!"

Katara pauses. "Ah. I see. You're acting like this because of your parents."

"Whatever," Toph mumbles.

"They were controlling over you, so you ran away, and now you act like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty."

"I do hate them!"

"I don't think so. I think you miss them, but you just don't wanna deal with that, so instead you act like this crazy person."

"Look, I ran away to help Aang! I didn't ask for you to be my mom!" Toph yells. "I can't be around you right now!"

"Well, I can't be around you!"

"What...what just happened?" Aang wonders.

»»---------------------►

EVERYONE FEELS THE TENSION BETWEEN TOPH AND KATARA. The two sit on opposite ends of the camp, while Sokka and Aang sit together in the middle. Beside them, Kida is fashioning more arrows to pass the time. Clearly, the team wouldn't be leaving any time soon, and Toph and Katara needed some time apart.

"I got it!" Sokka exclaims excitedly. "I'm going use Hawky to send a note to Katara and say it's from Toph, who wants to apologize. Then everyone will be friends again."

Aang nods. "I gotta say, Sokka, you continue to impress me with your ideas."

"It's a gift."

"No, it's stupid." Kida drops what she's doing and turns to them. "I love you both, but you're idiots. You're smart, but you're idiots. Toph is blind, remember? She can't write!"

"Oh," Aang sighs. "Right."

"Okay, Plan B." Sokka turns to Kida. "You take Katara, I take Toph?"

Kida nods.

"Wait, what should I do?" Aang asks as Kida and Sokka get up to leave.

Sokka hands Hawky over to Aang. "Watch Hawky for me!" He gives Kida one more look. "Good luck."

"You too, Wolftail."

When Kida reaches Katara, she sits down beside her. Kida can't tell if she's been crying, but she definitely seems upset.

"Are you here to tell me how unreasonable I'm being?" Katara snaps. "That I need to let loose and have fun?"

"Not at all," Kida replies. "Katara, I've never met someone as kind and compassionate as you. You look out for the people you love and you protect them at all cost. You care about all of us, so much, and it shows in everything you do. "

Katara is quiet for a second. "My mom was like that," she whispers. She continues to look ahead at the sunset. "Caring and compassionate, I mean. And when she died, our family was a mess. I felt like it was up to me to step up and fill that void. If anything, to honor her memory."

Gently, Kida shifts closer to bring Katara into a hug. She sobs into Kida's chest.

"I think your mom would be so proud of you," Kida murmurs. At this, Katara cries harder. Kida takes a deep breath. "At the same time, you had to grow up too fast. You never really got to be...."

"A kid," Katara finishes. "I'm so used to being responsible for everything. For everyone."

Kida is hit with a sense of deja vu. Having to grow up too soon, trying to honor someone's memory, feeling responsible for everything and everyone; it was all too familiar. "That weight of responsibility is hard to get rid of."

"I....yeah. It is." Katara removes herself from Kida's embrace. Kida wipes away some of her tears.

"And the last thing I want to do is tell you to stop being who you are," Kida mentions. "But, you need to let yourself have fun sometimes. Let loose. We appreciate everything you do for us, but it won't mean anything if you don't take care of yourself, too."

Katara laughs softly. "Where'd you hear that one?"

"From my future sister," Kida quips. "She gives really good advice."

Katara smiles. "Thanks, Kida."

Kida smiles back, getting up to let Katara have some alone time. Before she leaves, Kida squeezes Katara's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Katara looks up at Kida and nods.

As Kida walks back to the center camp, Sokka is doing the same. They end up walking side by side, so close that their hands are practically touching.

"How'd it go?" he asks.

"Pretty good, I think. You?"

"Same," Sokka replies.

They fall into a comfortable silence, until Kida laces her fingers with Sokka's, using her other hand to stop him by placing a gentle hand on his cheek. She leans in and kisses him, just as the sun is going down.

"Thank you for the dagger," she whispers.

Sokka hums, happily. They walk back in silence, darkness starting to set in.

»»---------------------►

author's note!

thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed this chapter.

please remember to rest and take care of yourselves <3