-Zuko's Point of View-

"You're kidding. You mean to tell me that she's my sister?!" I shouted at my uncle after he told me that Maya was an illegitimate daughter of my father and Master Anika.

"Half-sister, but technically, yes she is. She is your father's daughter. You are blood relatives," uncle answered. 

"This has to be a joke uncle. This is a big disgrace to the Royal family name! Father would not do that to Mom!" I argued.

"Your mother and father's relationship is much more complicated than you think. It's a story for a different time," Uncle said as he slowly stood up. 

"Where are you going?" I asked him. 

"It's past sundown; I need to sleep, and so should you. Good night my nephew," he said, and then he left my room.

I'd like to think that my uncle was joking, but he doesn't look like he is. No wonder why I saw a little bit of resemblance of father in her.

Now everything is more complicated than before. If this gets any more complicated than it is, then I'm gonna go crazy.

But wait, does she know that she's the Fire Lord's daughter? Does the Avatar know that they are traveling with the Fire Lord's daughter?

A thought suddenly came inside my head as I raised the corner of my mouth.

I think I just discovered Maya's kryptonite. Maybe I can use this information to my own advantage.

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-Maya's Point of View-

We arrived at the other side of the canyon in the middle of the night. One by one, I helped all the other passengers get down safely from Appa's saddle. 

"Hey, young lady! Where are they?" one old woman asked. 

"I don't know... It's probably going to take longer for them to reach the other side of the canyon since they're only walking," I answered.

"It's probably those lazy Zhangs slowing them down," one old man said. "Or it could be those meticulous Gan Jins who don't want to get their robes dirty!" another old man argued.

A small commotion started building up between the two tribes and before it could even escalate to something big, I jumped in between their fight and shouted, "Alright guys that's enough! I know we're all tired and weary from travelling so why don't we all just rest for the night? Let's just wait for all of them by tomorrow morning," 

"I'm not sleeping anywhere near those pesky slobs!" an old woman shouts. "We don't want to even breathe the same suffocating air as you Gan Jins!" a middle-aged woman shouted back.

"Okay then... The Zhangs can go to my left side, and the Gan Jins will sleep on my right. Appa and I will sleep in the middle so that you guys will not see each other. Would that be fair?" I suggested to them and they all agreed. 

Everyone started unpacking and setting up camp. Both tribes lit their own campfire and ate their dinner. I grabbed a bunch of leaves from the forest near us to give to Appa and it took him a while before he started eating. 

"Sorry buddy, this is the only food I can find for you in the forest," I told him. He snorted at me and then he groaned, "I owe you a bunch of fresh hay," I replied, and then he ate the leaves. 

I saw some bread from our stuff and that's what I ate. After a few hours, everyone was already asleep. I stayed awake just in case Aang and the rest would arrive at dawn, but tiredness got the best of me and even before I realized it, I was already in a deep sleep.

The next thing I knew, I was woken up by the sound of the ground rumbling. I hurriedly stood up and ran to the canyon's edge to see what was going on when a large animal appeared all of a sudden.

"AAH!" I shouted as I fell back. I saw Aang jump off of the animal and then he helped me stand up. More of those insect-like animals appeared from the canyon, and every single one of them had people riding on it. 

"EVERYONE! GET OFF!" Aang shouted and then he held to my wrist to run away from the canyon's edge. I noticed the canyon guide, who fell off of the insect because he was not able to jump for his arms are in a cast. 

I rushed towards the old man to help him stand up and get to safety. 

"Let me help you!" I shouted and then I placed his good arm over my shoulders. Maybe this was the reason why they all took a while to get out of the canyon because the canyon guide got injured.

Once everyone was off of the insects, Aang threw the sack filled with food back down to the canyon and all the insects followed the food's scent.

"We made it," Aang said in a whisper, followed by that was a sigh of relief. Appa suddenly growled from behind him and licked his owner. "Appa! Good to see you, buddy!" Aang greeted. 

"You can sit here for the meantime," I told the canyon guide as I placed him down by a rock.

"Thank you, young lady," he said. 

I hurriedly ran toward Aang, Katara, and Sokka to hug them. "You guys! Thank goodness you're all okay!" I said. They all hugged me back as well.

"I never thought a Gan Jin could get his hands dirty like that," I heard the Zhang matriarch say. "And I never knew you Zhangs were so reliable in a pinch," the Gan Jin patriarch complimented. 

"Perhaps we're not so different after all," the Zhang matriarch agreed. All four of us sighed in complete relief thinking that this could finally be the end of their tribal conflict.

"Too bad we can't rewrite history. You, thieves, stole our sacred orb from Jin Wei." the Gan Jin patriarch said as he pointed his sword toward the Zhangs. 

"You tyrants unjustly imprisoned Wei Jin for 20 long years!" the Zhang matriarch replied with her sword pointing towards them as well.

Just when we thought things were finally getting good, they just suddenly had to bring something up from the past. I mean, who even are they talking about?

"Wait a second, Jin Wei, Wei Jin? I know those guys!" Aang suddenly exclaimed. 

"Yes, yes... We're all aware of the story." the Gan Jin man replied. 

Wait, what story? Why am I not aware of it?

"No! I mean, I really knew them. I may not look it but I'm a hundred and twelve years old. I was there 100 years ago on the day you are talking about. There seems to be a lot of confusion on what happened." Aang continued. 

Everyone looked at him as he delved into the story. 

"First of all, Jin Wei and Wei Jin weren't enemies. They were brothers—twins, in fact! And they were eight. And most importantly, they were just playing a game! The sacred orb from the legend was the ball, and the eastern and western gates were the goalposts. Jin Wei had the ball and was running toward the post when he fell down and fumbled in. Wei Jin didn't steal the ball, he picked it up and started running back towards the other goal. But he stepped out of bounds, so the official put him in the penalty box—not for twenty long years, but for two short minutes."

Aang earnestly told the story and everyone eagerly listened even though it kind of does not make sense. 

"There was no stealing or putting anyone in prison—just a game." He said ending the narrative. 

"You're saying the sacred orb was actually a sacred ball?" the Zhang matriarch asked. 

"Nope! Just a regular ball!" Aang answered.

"What about our tribe's redemption ritual?" the Gan Jin man asked. 

"That's what the game was called—'redemption'! As soon as someone got the ball from one goal to the other, everyone would yell—redemption!" he answered.

Both the Gan Jins and the Zhangs looked confused at what Aang was saying. 

"Don't get me wrong, Wei Jin was kind of a slob and Jin Wei was a little stuffy; that much is true! But they respected each other's differences enough to share the same playing field," Aang continued. 

The Zhang matriarch and the Gan Jin patriarch then looked at each other. "I suppose it's time we forget the past," the Zhang matriarch suggested. "And look to the future," the Gan Jin man continued as he bowed down in front of her—so did she.

"Finally! All's well that ends well!" Sokka exclaimed. 

"You know, I never really get the story and what happened, but I'm glad it's over." I said to Katara and Sokka. 

Appa suddenly walked closer to Aang and started licking him once again. "I missed you too buddy!" Aang exclaimed. 

"I can't thank you enough, Avatar." the Gan Jin patriarch approached Aang. 

"Well, you know... I try," Aang said as he faced the stuffy man, all drenched in bison saliva. The old man then let out a disgusted reaction as he slowly backed away. 

He went back to the two tribes that are now gathered as one. "Let us travel to the Earth Kingdom capital as one tribe!" the Zhang matriarch declared and they all shouted in agreement. 

"I'm going too! I'm sick of this place!" the injured canyon guide shouted as he followed behind. 

Well, that was a great ending for them. I'm just glad that the tribe rivalry is over. 

"That's some luck you knew Jin Wei and Wei Jin." Sokka suddenly said to Aang. 

"You could call it luck—or you could call it lying," Aang replied. All of us were shocked by what he said. 

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed. 

"I made the whole thing up," Aang answered. 

"You did not..." I said unbelievably. 

"That is so wrong..." Katara said mischievously said. 

"Now where is that custard tart? I'm starving!" Aang said—changing the subject.

"You mean to tell me you just changed two tribes' historical backgrounds with a lie?" Sokka pursued. 

"Hey, nobody really knew what happened 100 years ago right? Just like what they said, it's time we forget the past and look to the future!" Aang answered while eating a handful of the custard tart he hid. 

"Well, some lies are indeed helpful. There are things much better lied about than being said out in the open, right Maya?" Katara suddenly asked. 

"Huh? Y-yeah, right! Some things are better off lied about—for the greater good," I replied.

Guess there are two liars in this group now.

"So what now?" Sokka asked. 

"Well, what's next in your journey map Aang?" Katara asked. 

"Hmm, we've basically already covered all the things I want to go to so, let's just continue heading north," Aang replied. 

"Okay then! Northward it is!" Sokka exclaimed and then all four of us packed up our stuff and headed north. 

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-Zuko's Point of View-

It has already been days since we last encountered the Avatar on the river with pirates. I haven't seen them since and it's getting on my nerves. What if anyone from the Fire Nation gets to him first?! What would that become of me?

"ARRGH!!!" I yelled as I threw the map to the ground. 

"Prince Zuko...Why don't you take it easy and rest for a bit," My uncle said as he entered the room. 

"I can't rest knowing that my honor can be easily snatched away from me at any minute. We have to find the Avatar before anyone else," I answered. 

"Prince Zuko, your crew are doing the best they can to navigate the ship and search for information regarding the Avatar's whereabouts, but we can't just seem to find him. All we know is that he is heading north, that is it." Uncle said. 

"That's it... He's heading north," I said as soon as I realized the mistake we were doing. I picked up the map I'd thrown and then I laid it out on the table. "If we can't find him right now, then we'll just beat him to where he's planning to go—the Northern Water Tribe," I said as I point towards the ice lands on the map.

"Prince Zuko, the Northern Water Tribe has stood firm since the beginning of the war. There is a reason why the Fire Nation was not able to penetrate those ice walls. Going there without an army is suicide," Uncle contradicted. 

"Then what other plan do you have in mind so that we can catch the avatar?" I asked him angrily. He didn't answer and just remained silent. "This is the only way, we can catch him by surprise. Tell the crew to head north—and no stops until we get there," I commanded and Uncle followed without a word. 

I will capture the avatar; I will get my honor back. Even if I have to use my half of a sister to my own advantage.

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-Maya's Point of View-

"Huh!" I gasped as I hurriedly sat up when I felt something heavy jump on me. Apparently, it was Momo who got scared of Aang suddenly waking up.

"What's going on? Did we get captured again?" Sokka asked while still half asleep. 

"It's nothing... I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep," Aang answered and then he laid down all curled up. 

"You don't have to tell me twice," Sokka replied and then he laid back down.

"Are you alright Aang?" I asked. 

"I'm okay..." Aang answered without looking at me. 

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately, you wanna tell us about it?" Katara asked as well. 

"I think I just need some rest," Aang answered—still without looking. 

"You guys wanna hear about my dream?" Sokka suddenly sprung up again. Both Katara and I looked at him with crossed brows. "That's okay, I didn't wanna talk about it anyway..." he said and then he laid back down to continue his sleeping.

"Let me handle this Katara, you go ahead and sleep," I said, and then she laid back down too. I faced Aang who was beside me and then I gently placed my hand on his shoulder. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. 

"I'm fine. It's nothing," he answered firmly. 

"I'm not going to force it out of you if you don't want to tell, but I want you to know that we're here to listen—I'm here to listen," I replied. 

Aang faced me as he sat up, "Thank you Maya, but it's really nothing to worry about. Go back to sleep," he said as he nudged my shoulder to lay back down. 

"All right, I'll go to sleep. Good night Aang," I told him. 

"Good night," he replied.

I closed my eyes, went back to sleep, and before I knew it—It was already daytime and the sun was already up.

"Look at those clear skies buddy! Should be some smooth flying," Aang said towards Appa as he was preparing him for take off. 

It's already noon and we are packing up our stuff after camping out for a bit to continue heading north. 

"Well, we better smoothly fly ourselves to the market, 'cause we're out of food," Katara said as she was climbing up on Appa's saddle.

"Guys wait! This was in my dream! We shouldn't go to the market!" Sokka suddenly exclaimed. 

"What happened in your dream?" I worriedly asked. 

"FOOD EATS PEOPLE!" he answered. And here I thought it was actually a serious matter. None of us paid attention to what he said afterward. 

"Let's just head out and search for a marketplace," I said to Katara and Aang and then we went flying. 

"I can't believe how clear the skies are. It's like a very calm and peaceful day," Katara said as we were soaring in the sky. I looked ahead at the vast cloudless sky and felt a strong gust of humid air. I don't know about them but I feel like this is not some ordinary weather. It's like the calm, before the storm.

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-Zuko's Point of View-

"There's a storm coming— a big one," Uncle suddenly said as we were watching the view of the clear skies ahead of us. 

"You're out of your mind uncle! The weather's perfect! There's not a cloud in sight!" I yelled at his ridiculous statement. 

"A storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest," he suddenly suggested. 

"We've already talked about this uncle. We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same," I firmly countered. 

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew!" Uncle pleaded. 

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" As soon as I shouted those words the ship captain appeared from below the deck. He looked at me and raised one brow. "Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety," I said while walking closer to him. After that, I walked away toward my chamber. 

How dare they question my leadership? They must be starting to forget that I am the one with the higher position here! I am the prince of the fire nation, who will bring upon the Avatar's downfall. I don't care if it requires sacrifices...

I don't care at all...

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-Maya's Point of View-

We were able to spot a small market port a few miles away from where we camped out. Katara was arguing with a saleslady regarding the quality of fruits that it sells when I suddenly remembered that we had already used up our money and there was none left. 

"Out of food and out of money, now what are we supposed to do?!" Sokka complained. 

"You could get a job smart guy," Katara answered with sarcasm. 

"We shouldn't go out there! Please! The fish can wait! There's gonna be a terrible storm!" we heard an old lady shout from not so far away. 

"Ah, you're crazy! It's a nice day! No clouds, no wind, no nothin'! So quit your naggin woman!" the old man argued back. 

I knew it, it was a storm that I felt back then.

"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang suddenly suggested. 

"Are you kidding? Shelter from what?" Sokka questioned. I was about to agree with Aang but I got cut off by the old lady's shouting. 

"My joints say there's going to be a storm! A bad one!" she said.

"Well, it's your joints against my brain!" the old man argued. 

"Well, I hope your brain gets to find someone to haul that fish 'cause I ain't comin'!" the old lady argued back.

 "Then I'll find a new fish hauler and pay him double what you get! How ya like that?" the old man taunted. 

Sokka suddenly stepped forward and raised his hand, "I'll go!" he said to the old man. "You're hired!" the old man said as he pointed at Sokka.

"You're seriously going to do that Sokka?" Katara asked. 

"What? You said to get a job—and he's paying double!" Sokka answered. 

"Double?! Who told you that nonsense?" the old man said to Sokka. 

"But you just said you were gonna—" Sokka was about to explain when the old man stopped him. 

"You heard wrong. Now go help with the packin'. We're heading out in a few minutes," the old guy said.

The three of us decided to help out with the packing and after just a few minutes of getting ready to sail, a big wave of grey storm clouds appeared and it was creeping throughout the vast sky. 

Well what do you know, the old woman was right after all.

"I don't think that's a good sign," I said to them. 

"Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky!" Aang said trying to convince Sokka out of the job. 

"No Aang, I said I was gonna do this job. I can't back out just because of some bad weather," Sokka answered firmly as he disappeared to the ship's below deck. I saw Aang become sad about Sokka's answer that's why I ran towards Sokka to try and convince him still. 

"Sokka, this isn't just some bad weather. I think this is a big storm. It's not safe to be out on the waters during a storm," I pleaded. 

"I know Maya, and I understand where you're coming from but if I backed out now, we will have no money to buy food," Sokka replied. 

"We'll just find another way," I told him. 

"It's not every day I get to have an offer like this. Trust me, Maya, I'll be safe. Don't worry too much," Sokka said and then he started fixing other stuff. 

I just let out a sigh and then I went back outside to where Aang and Katara were. If I knew Sokka any better, it's that he's a man who never backs out on his word. 

"Don't yell at him! Aang would never turn his back on anyone!" I suddenly heard Katara shouting and then I saw the old guy pointing at Aang with his finger. 

I rushed towards where the commotion was going on. "What's going on here?" I asked them but I didn't get a reply.

"Oh, he wouldn't huh? Then I guess I must've imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering," the old guy pressed onto Aang. 

"Excuse me? First of all that is rude of you! And second of all, Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared! Right Aang?—Aang?" I turned to Aang and then I saw him slowly backing away from all of us. 

"Aang what's wrong?" Katara asked. I was about to walk closer to him when he suddenly opened his glider and flew away. 

"That's right! Keep flying!" the old man shouted. I looked at him furiously and so did Katara.

"You're a horrible old man!" I shouted. 

"Maya, you need to go after Aang," Katara told me. 

"But what about Sokka?" I asked. 

"I'll stay here and keep an eye on him and, I might as well just go fishing with them, even if I hate the old guy," she answered. 

"Katara, there's a storm! It's not safe!" I disagreed. 

"It doesn't matter. Just go find Aang. We'll be fine here," she persisted and so I nodded my head. 

I jumped up on Appa and then I flew away searching for Aang. Wherever did he run away to?