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"Only the brave and the broken are kind in this world."

-Nikita Gill

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KIDA DECIDES TO GO BACK TO KYOSHI ISLAND. She could finish her training, join the warriors, and reconnect with Suki. Whatever love was between them in the past seemed like the forever kind, whether romantic or not, so Suki would welcome Kida back in a heartbeat. The question was how Suki would react when Kida told her the truth about who she is, and frankly, Kida didn't have an answer.

What she did have was plenty of time to think of a solution. Kida was (literally) sick of travelling by sea, so she asked the captain to drop her off at the North edge of the Earth Kingdom. Her destination was at the opposite end of the continent, and it would take Kida a few weeks at least to get there on foot, but she always felt more confident on solid ground, which made it worthwhile.

Time moves differently now that Kida is alone.The hours seem slow, yet the days fly by, melding together so much so that Kida almost believes that she's living the same day, over and over.

Before, Kida had spent two years fending for herself — hunting, foraging, camping. She had gotten used to a certain routine and eventually found comfort in it.

After spending all that time with the team, though, things felt different. Her body is trained for this type of survival, but her brain keeps wandering to what she's missing. Kida misses the energy and the laughter, the endless stories shared over dinner and the security of knowing that there are people around who have her back. She misses the exhilaration of flying on Appa, and frankly, the practicality. Walking seems so boring now; Kida climbs the tallest tree, but even then, she doesn't feel that rush. Kida definitely misses Katara and Aang, even Momo and Appa, but it's Sokka who she thinks about the most. Maybe that has to do with the fact that Sokka hates her now, so all the memories they shared, all the feelings they had for each other, all the possibilities of what they could have been, are reduced to nothing because Kida is just a worthless firebender in Sokka's eyes. Still, she misses training with him. She misses his voice, his dumb jokes, his sarcasm. She misses the way he braided her hair; she found one of the blue strings Sokka uses to tie his hair, and she braided it into her own, the white stripe of hair now intertwined with blue, but it wasn't the same. None of it was; and Kida was left alone with her thoughts, which made it worse. Well, technically, Yue was with Kida every night as she looked up to the moon, though Kida wasn't sure if that offered comfort, or made her even more sad about all she's lost.

Weirdly, though, there was something familiar and calming about wandering alone across Earth Kingdom territory. There were so many places to explore: forests and rivers, valleys and mountain ranges. In a sense, Kida didn't feel the same weight on her shoulders that she did the first time around, the pressure to save the world and honor her family's memory; she knew that Aang and the team were out there doing the former, without her. Which was okay, but it wasn't, but it had to be.

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AFTER A WHILE, Kida stops in a town to sell some extra fish she caught at the river, hoping to find some other food. The town is familiar, but she doesn't remember the Fire Nation having occupied it. That must have happened recently. She notices that some smaller buildings are crumbling or have scorch marks on them, while others, larger buildings, appear to be brand-new. On her way to the market, Kida passes the largest house, with a red door detailed with intricate gold patterns and guards stationed out front.

Kida approaches what looks like a market stall selling seafood, although there's barely any left. She trades in three fish for two copper pieces.

"I'm sorry that's all I can offer," the woman behind the counter says as she hands Kida the money. She looks a few years older than Kida. Kida places the coins in her pocket.

"It's alright," Kida assures before saying goodbye. As she walks away, Kida overhears the start of a conversation between the saleswoman and a Fire Nation soldier who approached her market stall and is being rather aggressive. Kida stops to lean against a nearby building, watching as the scene unfolds.

"By request of the mayor, taxes have been doubled," the soldier insists once more.

"But, my father is sick," the woman pleads. "We've been saving this money to afford some medicine. I won't be able to afford —"

"You can't afford to lose your market stall, either," the soldier threatens. To demonstrate her power, she lights a small fire in her palm and allows it to grow until some flames brush against the wood of the stall.

"Fine!" the woman interrupts. Reluctantly, she hands the soldier the rest of the coins she has.

"That wasn't so hard, wasn't it?" The soldier smirks.

After the soldier leaves, Kida goes back and gives the lady back her money. She looks back at Kida, confused.

"Take it," Kida urges. "I don't need it."

"Thank you." The woman smiles softly.

"I wish I could do more."

"It's alright," the woman reassures. Kida starts to walk away again, but the woman stops her. "Wait!" Kida turns around. "Would you like to come to dinner tonight? As a thank you."

"But, you've already thanked me," Kida points out.

"Please," the woman insists. "The market will be closed in two hours, and you can meet me there after." She points to a small building on the corner of the block.

Finally, Kida nods.

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HALFWAY THROUGH DINNER, Kida is certain that she knows every detail of Lily's (that was her name, even though her mother's favourite flower was a jasmine) life, while Kida has shared next to nothing. Lily doesn't seem to mind, though, being perfectly happy to fill any awkward silences with anecdotes from her childhood or stories she had heard in the market.

"So, what are you doing travelling around alone?" Lily whispers, keeping her voice low because her father is sleeping in the other room.

"I..." Kida falters. There was no easy way to explain, and she wasn't even sure that she wanted to.

"You must have visited so many cool places! And met so many cool people."

"Yeah," Kida replies, looking down at her empty bowl of rice. "I have."

"Sometimes, I hate it here. I mean, I used to love it, but it's different now. Ever since the Fire Nation invaded our town, they've been trying to keep us down."

This piques Kida's interest. She tilts her towards Lily. "What do you mean?"

"Well." Lily looks behind her before leaning in. "When the Fire Nation took control of our town, they elected a retired general as mayor. Some Fire Nation citizens migrated here and soldiers were brought in to help keep order, but really it's to show that they're the ones who dominate our city now."

"Like what I saw earlier?"

Lily nods. "Exactly. And this isn't the first time that taxes have been raised. The mayor claims that the money is for rebuilding our town, but that only applies to areas where the Fire Nation people live. I even heard that whatever is left over goes to funding the Fire Nation military. Since they have more money than those of us who were here before, they can buy all the food, medicine, clothing ...whatever they want, really. Which leaves everyone else with much less, if we can even afford it."

"That's terrible," Kida remarks.

Lily nods again, this time a bit more solemnly. "It really is. My father is getting worse by the day and if I don't get the medicine soon...spirits, I don't even want to think about it. I just wish that I could do something."

"For your father or for the town?"

"Well...for both I guess, but I'm not brave enough to do either."

Kida leans back into her chair and eats her rice. As Lily moves on to another story, Kida starts to form a plan.

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BREAKING INTO THE MAYOR'S HOUSE IS EASIER THAN EXPECTED.  There were no soldiers guarding the South-West corner of the house near the garden, and a window was left open, just waiting for Kida to climb through. She does.

Even in the dark, Kida can tell that this house is larger and much more decorated than Lily's. There were intricate vases on every table, and there was a table on every corner.

As silently as she can, Kida looks around to find wherever the mayor keeps his money. Sure enough, it has its own room, right next to what is probably the mayor's bedroom. Kida isn't sure how much medicine would cost, so she grabs three pouches of coins for good measure and stuffs them in her shoulder bag. She adjusts her bow and quiver around her shoulders as well, thinking that her weapon would not be needed for now.

Feeling confident than before, Kida strolls out of the room, paying a little less attention to her surroundings. That was her mistake; she accidentally bumps into a table, and a vase comes crashing down to the ground.

"Who's there?" someone, most likely the mayor, demands. "Guards! Guards!"

Shit. It was time to run.

Kida jumps out of the same window she came in. From inside the house, she hears a shuffling and voices talking over each other. She notices a certain flower growing in the garden and picks it before running off. Thankfully, Kida wore her hood, with a bandana to cover her face, so it was easy to blend into her surroundings, especially since it was pitch black outside. The soldiers still try to chase her for a bit, though. Kida races to the market and crouches behind one of the stalls for cover. Eventually, it seems like the soldiers have given up, so Kida stops hiding.

She walks over to Lily's stall. For some reason, Lily had told Kida at dinner that she kept a box behind the counter, under a loose stone in the ground, to put her earnings for the day, and right now that information seems exceptionally useful. Kida finds the box and places the three pouches of money inside. She also the flower — a jasmine flower — she picked from the mayor's garden, hoping that Lily would understand.

After putting the box back in its hiding place, Kida adjusts the hood back on her head since it had fallen off while she was running, then leaves the market and the town, leaving to wander out on her own.

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author's note: i miss the gAang/sokka :/ 

but i did enjoy writing this chapter,, get ready for kida to give off some serious robin hood vibes

thanks for reading :)