KIDA REMEMBERS WHEN SHE FOUND OUT THAT SHE WAS A FIREBENDER.

Her father had told her the truth about his heritage when she was young; although, it wasn't until later that she realized he hadn't revealed the whole truth, but that's another issue, for another time.

Even so, Kida never quite believed that she was part Fire Nation. Or, she didn't want to. Then, one day, she almost burned down their house when her brother, Hiro, told her there were some kids in the village who were teasing him.

That was a pretty clear sign that what she never wanted to accept was, in fact, true:

Not only did she have Fire Nation blood running through her veins, but the spirits had bestowed upon Kida a fire inside her, threatening to burst out at any minute.

In a way, things in Kida's life started to make sense, like the way she felt the air grow hotter whenever she was angry or how her skin was always warmer than normal, even when she didn't have a fever. Her mother did always say that Kida was hot-headed, but Kida never thought she meant it literally.

Maybe there was a little part of Kida that was excited by the idea of creating and controlling fire. She felt powerful, and energized, and relieved that she would always have a way to protect the people she loved. No one else in her family was a firebender (at least, Hiro was too young to show signs of carrying that trait), so there wasn't much she could be taught. The one thing her father wanted Kida to know was that fire was unpredictable.

That's what makes it dangerous, he said during her first 'lesson.' Don't let negative emotions control your bending because you'll only cause destruction and pain — for others, and for yourself.

Kida hadn't seen who killed her parents, but the scorch marks and scent of ashes was enough for her to guess that it was a group of firebenders; probably the same ones who ambushed her and Hiro a month or so after the fact.

Anyone with blood ties to the Avatar can be extremely powerful, especially if they're a bender. The Fire Sages predicted that a descendent of Avatar Roku will help the new Avatar restore balance to the world.

Her bow had been burnt, her mother's sword thrown somewhere far away. The only weapon Kida had was the fire inside her, and it was her only hope of saving Hiro. In a fit of panic and anger, Kida shot out as many flames as she could, not caring where they went, until she realized she had hit her own brother. He fell to his knees, clutching his freshly burnt arm.

While she was in shock, one of the soldiers sent a blast towards Kida. The fire reached her chest, and Kida was knocked off her feet. Her head crashed to the ground with enough force to render her unconscious. Fighting the urge to pass out, Kida looked beside her to see Hiro reeling in pain. He was crying and screaming, and Kida willed every muscle in her body to move so that she could do something, anything, but it was no use; and it was too late.

The Fire Nation soldiers dragged Hiro away while he called out Kida's name over and over and over.

Flames were burning through her clothing and finally reached her skin, causing an unbearable pain to spread through Kida's body. The last thing Kida registered before she finally passed out was a pair of soulless golden eyes and a stern voice telling the others to leave Kida behind because she would die from her wounds anyways.

The Fire Nation doesn't want balance. They want power, and they will get rid of anything — or anyone — who stands in their way.

Kida hated fire. She resented it, and everyone who had the power to wield it, including herself.

Especially herself.

»»---------------------►

IT SEEMED LIKE AANG HAD LEARNED A THING OR TWO ABOUT THE DANGERS OF FIREBENDING, because he managed to single handedly fight off Commander Zhao and burn down his entire fleet of navy ships.

Sokka, who had already picked up Katara and Kida, swoops in with Appa so that the group can make a quick getaway.

"Aang, you're burned," Katara notices, pointing to the boy's arm. "Let me help you."

From the corner of her eye, Kida sees how Katara uses water to heal Aang's wound, but she doesn't particularly feel like talking to anyone at the moment, so she stays silent, even if she's pretty sure she's just seen magic happen.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Sokka wonders, probably in the same amount of awe as Kida.

"I guess I always knew," Katara replies.

"Oh, well thanks for all the first aid over the years!" Sokka exclaims, frustrated. "Like, when I fell into the grease berry bramble and that time I had two fishhooks in my thumb."

"Two?" Aang asks in disbelief.

"He tried to get the first fishhook out with another fishhook," Katara explains. She and Aang laugh, while Sokka shoots a confused glance at Kida.

"Seriously? Not even a chuckle?"

Kida glances at him briefly. "Why? Was that a joke?"

"Well, no..."

"That's what I thought," Kida says. She turns back to gaze at the clouds. "And even if it was one of your jokes, I probably wouldn't laugh anyways." Sokka is about to defend himself, but his sister interrupts him with another fir of laughter:

"Sorry, Sokka!" Katara exclaims as her giggles intensify. "I can't help you with that burn!"

"Nice one, Katara," Aang compliments, laughing harder as well.

»»---------------------►

KATARA'S HEALING ABILITIES TURN OUT TO BE EXTREMELY USEFUL. She manages to heal Kida's bruised ribs, so much so that Kida practically forgets that the event even happened. If she could help Kida forget some other things from her past....now that would truly be a feat of magic.

As the team continues their journey north, they stop to camp out for a night, and join in as a villager tells a story. At the mention of airbenders, Aang perks up. He talks to the man afterwards, who explains that the story wasn't from a hundred years or so; it was recently. So, the group journeys to the Northern Air Temple.

Kida sits next to Aang at Appa's reins, while Katara and Sokka lounge in the saddle.

"We're almost there!" Aang says excitedly.

Kida smiles cautiously. "You know it's possible that there's no one there, right?"

"I know," he admits. "But, still, I want to revisit a place I remember from my past to remember the good times, you know?" Kida nods, even though she doesn't. "Hey guys, check it out!" Aang exclaims suddenly.

To Kida's amazement, there really were people flying in the air.

"They really are airbenders!" Katara says.

Unlike the rest of the group, Aang looks disappointed. He crosses his arms and leans back. "No, they're not."

"What do you mean they're not?" Sokka demands. "Those guys are flying."

"Gliding maybe, but not flying," Aang counters. "You can tell by the way they move. They're not airbending. Those people have no spirit."

Suddenly, someone flies, or glides, past the group, laughing along the way.

"That kid seemed pretty spirited," Katara points out.

Without another word, Aang jumps off Appa with his glider to prove everyone wrong, leaving Kida alone to fly Appa. When Appa almost stumbles off balance, Sokka climbs next to Kida.

"We better find solid ground before it finds us."

"Working on it!" Kida assures.

»»---------------------►

IT TURNS OUT THAT THE NORTHERN AIR TEMPLE IS INHABITED BY PEOPLE — JUST NOT AIRBENDERS.

Teo, the kid who was flying before, gives the team a tour after gushing with excitement about meeting the Avatar.

At first, Kida was amazed by the inventions and ingenuity Teo's dad displayed all over the temple; until she noticed Aang's face fall.

The temple became a home to refugees, whose home had been destroyed by a flood, but in the process, everything that made it sacred, every trace of airbenders, had practically been erased. When Teo's father meets the team and explains their story and his vision, Katara and Sokka are moved to tears, but Kida understands why Aang was upset: his entire people were wiped out by the Fire Nation, and now, one of the only places where his culture still lives is being modified, or improved as Teo's father puts it.

Teo notices how Aang reacts and brings him and Kida down to the one part of the temple that remains the same. It's a room that can only be opened by airbending. Aang refuses to open it.

»»---------------------►

FLYING ON APPA IS MUCH, MUCH DIFFERENT THAN GLIDING IN THE AIR. Kida is pretty sure she prefers the former.

After Teo takes Kida and Katara flying, along with Aang, Aang muses that Teo has the spirit of an airbender and has a change of heart.

"If you want to see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you," Aang offers.

Teo smiles. The group goes back down to the untouched room and Aang uses airbending to open the door.

Kida isn't sure what she was expecting to find, but it definitely wasn't a bunch of Fire Nation weapons.

"This is a nightmare," Aang whispers, and Kida completely agrees.

"You don't understand!" Teo's father pleads. Kida whips her head around to face him, Sokka is standing right behind.

"You're making weapons for the Fire Nation!" she yells.

"Explain all this, now!" Teo shouts.

"It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this, Teo. They were going to destroy everything! Burn it to the ground! I pleaded with them, I begged them to spare us! They asked what I had to offer. I offered ... my services. You must understand. I did this for you!"

Teo simply looks away in shame, causing his father to walk away.

»»---------------------►

THEY MADE A PLAN TO STOP THE FIRE NATION SOLDIERS FROM GETTING THE WEAPONS, BUT IT BACKFIRED; Aang only made them angrier, and they threatened to destroy the temple.

Kida knew that it wasn't a lie.

Desperately, the team came up with a plan to fend them off, using some of Teo's dad's inventions, which included a hot air balloon Sokka had helped design. For a while, it seemed like they were successful in protecting the temple, until the Fire Nation strikes with tanks.

An army was more prepared for a battle than a group of people trying to live peacefully; go figure. Kida recalls her father's words once again:

The Fire Nation doesn't want balance. They want power, and they will get rid of anything — or anyone — who stands in their way.

So many people have lost their lives, and their loved ones because of this war. People have manipulated, displaced, wounded, killed — all because of the Fire Nation.

Where does it end? Kida wonders. She knows the answer, though: It doesn't. The thought gives Kida the urge to shoot flames out of her hands. But, she takes a deep breath. Kida remembers her father's wisdom during their training sessions, and the warmth he always emanated; not because he was a firebender, but because he was kind and caring. She thought about her mother's proud smile after she finally wielded a sword properly, and her vivid storytelling of the adventures she had as a Kyoshi Warrior. Kida imagines her and Hiro laying in the grass on a sunny day while Kida tells him stories she creates from shapes in the clouds, and she hears Hiro's laughter.

Then, she hears Aang laughing and sees him smiling as he glides through the clouds. Kida thinks about how much Katara wanted to help heal Kida, something Kida stopped caring about a long time ago because, deep down, she felt like she deserved the pain, but Katara actually cared about her. Kida remembers the rush she has when she trains with Sokka, and thinks back to all his lame jokes that she actually thinks are a little funny, and feels his cold hands on her warm skin, and it brings her back to reality.

I'm not losing anyone else I love, she decides.

The sound of a giant explosion going off brings Kida out of her daze.

"What was —" she starts to ask.

"We're going down!" Sokka screams, the hot air balloon falling to the ground. And fast. Without thinking, Kida almost throws herself off the edge of the cliff to go after him, but Aang stops her. Instead, he flies down. Kida's heart stops when neither of them return for a few seconds. But, then, Sokka and Teo's father are hanging on by a rope that Sokka must have tethered with his boomerang. As their feet touch the ground, Sokka stumbles, but is caught by Kida.

"You're okay," Kida breathes, holding his arms steady.

Sokka smirks. "Aw, have you started to care about me?" Kida rolls her eyes and removes her hands.

"You wish," she says, but releases a sigh of relief. As Kida walks away and sees the damage done by the Fire Nation attack, she starts to reconsider:

How dangerous is it for me to start caring about people, if I know that the past will inevitably repeat itself?

»»---------------------►

author's note: so....i meant to update yesterday, but i got so caught up in making aesthetics that i was too distracted. it also made me want to reformat this fic but that will probably come later. anyways, thanks for reading!