KIDA WAKES UP THREE DAYS LATER in a small hospital room. For a fleeting moment, she hopes that everything that happened was a nightmare. She would get up and eat breakfast with Sokka, Katara and Aang, who would go to waterbending lessons afterwards. Kida and Sokka would make their way to training and spend the day together, their biggest worry either being Hahn acting like a jerk or accidentally running into Yue. Maybe Sokka would convince Kida to leave training earlier so they could sneak into an alleyway and make out like teenagers in love, because that's what they could be. It all seems so simple, and Kida wants nothing more than that for her life.

The dull ache in Kida's chest and the white stripe of hair, like Yue's, is what tells her that none of it was a nightmare; it was all very, very real and somehow that was scarier.

"She's awake." His voice sounds raw. Sokka's been yelling or crying, Kida realizes, maybe both. But, it was his stillness that made Kida uneasy, like the cracks that had already been forming are about to reach their breaking point, and everything they built would shatter. He sits on the far end of the room, across from Kida's bed, while Katara and Aang are by her side on separate chairs, dozing off. Kida notices that dark shadows have formed beneath Sokka's eyes.

"Oh..what?" Aang mumbles, eyes still closed. His head starts to tilt and he almost falls off his chair, which jolts him awake. He rubs his eyes and looks at Kida, then smiles widely. "Kida!" he exclaims, bringing her into a hug.

Surprisingly, Katara smiles sincerely as well and says: "I'm glad you're okay. You scared us there for a second."

Sokka doesn't add anything. He just stares at the icy floor and, when he thinks Kida isn't noticing, he looks at her with eyes just as cold.

Aang and Katara recount everything that Kida had missed while she was asleep. After Kida jumped in front of Yue, her chest was burnt so badly that she almost died. Zhao used the opportunity as a distraction and killed the moon spirit. Aang entered the Avatar State and temporarily became the ocean spirit, using its power to destroy the remaining Fire Nation army. To save the moon spirit, Yue sacrificed herself. The last thing she did before leaving was kiss Kida goodbye, which pushed Kida back to life when she was on the brink of death.

"Seems like I missed a lot," Kida mumbles sadly. She'd never see Yue again, or get to thank her for what she did. Kida didn't know where the bracelet Yue made her was, so her only reminder of Yue would be the white stripe in her hair, and it would be a constant one.

"You owe us an explanation," Sokka suddenly states, locking eyes with Kida.

"Can't we talk about this later?" Aang defends, sounding a little annoyed.

Katara sighs and her sympathetic expression fades, as if she just remembered what Zhao revealed at the oasis; or maybe, she was trying to forget. Whatever the case, she steps away from Kida and moves beside Sokka, her arms crossed in frustration. "No, Sokka's right. She needs to tell us everything. Now."

Instantly, a tender reunion turns into a full-on interrogation. Kida sits up in her bed before starting.

She tells them how her father was a Fire Nation soldier who ran away and how her great-great-grandfather was Avatar Roku and the Fire Sages predicted that one of his descendants would help the new Avatar restore balance to the world, which made their family a target so they had to lay low. She explains how she was the only firebender in her family, so she didn't have much training and stopped altogether after she couldn't save Hiro. Maybe it was the fact that Kida has never recounted her past to anyone or that she just woke up from a three day coma, but the story comes out all jumbled and Kida's sure that she repeated some things.

A nurse brings in some hot soup for Kida, so the group pauses their discussion temporarily. Kida thanks the nurse as she leaves, but lets the soup rest on her bedside table. She waits for someone to say something, anything.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Aang asks, just as Sokka demands:

"You really expect us to believe all that?"

Kida decides to ignore Sokka in favor of Aang, who seems to actually want to understand where Kida is coming from. "For so long, I survived by hiding who I really am," Kida answers. "I thought that if you knew, you wouldn't let me join the team and then...and then my family would have died for nothing. And then, I got to know you guys and I felt like I had a family again." Kida pauses to hold back tears. "I was scared that if you found out, I would lose you. I swear I thought about telling you. I also thought about leaving, but..."

"Again, you expect us to believe you?" Sokka snaps. He looks Kida directly in the eye and she notices that he looks on the verge of tears, as well. Instead of crying though, he starts raising his voice. "Why did you stay, huh? You could have left!"

"Because I love you, idiot!" Kida exclaims. Sokka's expression shifts briefly. "I love all of you. That's why I stayed. And, I should have told you guys, but you need to know: I hate that I was born a Fire bender. I hate that there's Fire Nation blood in me. I want to help restore balance to the world. Not because of some prophecy, but because it's the destiny I choose for myself: fighting beside you guys to end this war. And I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but...I hope you'll still have me as part of the team."

Whatever anger Katara held against Kida seems to fall then and there. There's a moment of tense silence before Katara says:

"I'm not saying what you did was right, but you have a point. If we had known who you were, we probably wouldn't have given you the time of day, so, in a sense, I understand why you did what you did. It gave us a chance to get to know you and, honestly, now, I can't imagine the team without you. Firebender or not."

Aang smiles at Katara, then at Kida. "I can't imagine the team without you, either."

The group waits expectantly for Sokka to cast his vote. Kida's heart flutters with hope, but that's quickly smothered.

"No," Sokka answers. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just another worthless firebender."

At this, Kida feels a wave of anger wash over her. "You don't mean that. After everything we've been through. Seriously?" She looks into his eyes and thinks that she sees a flash of sympathy, of forgiveness, but it's quickly replaced with rage.

"Everything we've been through is a lie. So, yes, I really mean that."

"Whatever, Ponytail," Kida scoffs. If Sokka can pretend not to care, if he can ignore what's between them, then maybe she can, too. "But we both know that right now, I'm not the only liar in the room."

Sokka closes his eyes and turns away. "I can't be around you," he declares. He starts to leave, but turns around, giving Kida an icy stare. "I don't care where you go, or what you do," he states bitterly before walking out the door. "Leave!" he shouts from the hallway. "Or stay! Adopt a polar bear dog! Cut all your hair off! The point is, whatever you do, I couldn't care less!" Sokka sticks his head back through the doorway. "I'll give you this : you were right, it was easier when we hated each other. So let's just go back to that. Better yet, let's pretend we never met." And this time, Sokka leaves for good.

"He'll come around, eventually," Katara offers. "I'll talk to him in the morning and if not, well, we'll figure something out." Her tone sounds hopeful, but Kida knows better now than to hope for Sokka's forgiveness. Katara gives Kida a sad smile before leaving the room, as well.

The only people left in the room are Kida and Aang.

"I screwed up, Aang," Kida whispers. "I screwed up, and there's no one to blame but myself."

"Well, you could blame Zhao a little," Aang points out. At this, Kida laughs, although it's hollow. "It's late and these past few days have been...something, so I'm going to go, okay? Not because I'm mad, but because I'm tired."

Kida nods. She tries to sleep, but all she can do is replay Sokka's words, over and over.

»»---------------------►

"SOKKA, YOU HEARD HER," Katara says. "She had a reason for not telling us who she was. Remember, Aang didn't tell us he was the Avatar when we first met him."

Aang went to the hospital to check on Kida, so the two siblings were left alone to eat breakfast.

"But he told us the truth a few days after," Sokka points out. He rips a piece of bread from his roll and stuffs it in his mouth. "She waited for months. And Aang wasn't hiding that he had some evil, firebending blood in him. Obviously, she was."

Katara rolls her eyes and plays with the papaya on her plate. "Sokka, be reasonable."

"Oh, so you're on her side now?" he demands between bites of bread.

"I'm not on anyone's side," Katara defends, but when Sokka shoots her a look of disbelief, she elaborates: "If anything, I'm on our side. Frankly, the team is better with Kida. And, I see the way you look at her. And what you two have. She definitely didn't lie about loving us. About loving you. And everything you said to her yesterday was a total lie because you love Kida, too."

Groaning, Sokka grabs another roll. Katara raises an eyebrow at him. "What? You know I stress eat." He pauses, then adds: "She's everything we're fighting against, Katara," he whispers. "She's Fire Nation. She's a firebender." He drops his roll, gets up and starts pacing back and forth across the room.

"Yet she fought by our side against other firebenders," Katara offers, pointing her fork at him to solidify her argument. "She risked her life for us, she trained with you. Yes, I'm mad at her too, but I also realize that Kida has a good heart."

Sokka thinks about it for a second. "I don't care, Katara. She lied. She broke my — our — trust," Sokka states definitely. He stops pacing and looks to Aang, who is standing at the doorway.

"Guys," Aang interrupts, tears in his eyes. He holds up an opened scroll; Katara can't read it, but it looks like it was written recently because the ink is smudged and the handwriting barely legible. Sokka grabs the scroll from Aang to examine it. Once he's done, he drops his arms in disbelief, holding the scroll limply at his side.

"What?" Katara asks, moving to examine the scroll for herself. A tear streams down Aang's face.

"Kida is gone," he says.

END OF BOOK ONE

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author's note! what did you guys think of book one? i honestly can't believe it's over! 

i'd like to thank everyone for continuing to read this story and for commenting , you guys are so sweet and encouraging. it makes me really happy and want to write more. so thank you so much!

book two will be out soon (hopefully!) but im also starting a marvel story so i might have to make a schedule so im more organised/consistent with updates.

~blue