Present timeline...
Y/n POV
Well that was a lie. Here I am, alone, no family to speak of. At least I'm making a difference.
"Y/n, why are you spacing out? Your trap is going to turn out horrible," a voice said, snapping me out of my reminiscing. I turned to the voice and noticed it was Jet, the boy I had been hanging out with in the forest. He was in the tree branch opposite of mine, and he was smiling at me.
Jet led a group of other orphans called the Freedom Fighters, and they helped stop as many Fire Nation plots as they could.
I joined up with them because I was looking for something to distract me, but it was kind of fun helping out. The Fire Nation's soldiers have taken a lot from me, it feels nice to take something from them.
"Jet, my traps are always flawless. I bet I could make a better one than you with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back," I said and Jet frowned before he looked to the side and smirked.
"I have a better bet: whoever takes out more soldiers from that Fire Nation platoon is the winner," he said and I noticed the camp he was talking about. I returned his smirk and opened up my water bag.
"You're on," I said and I pulled up a cloth mask to cover my face before flipping off the tree branch to the one below it and then down to the ground. I landed lightly on my feet in the bushes on the edges of the camp. Acrobatics with Ty Lee paid off.
I noticed a trio of three kids stumble into the camp, drawing the soldiers attention. There was a boy and a girl there in water tribe clothing, and I assumed they were siblings by their similar features. The third boy was paler than the two siblings and the blue tattoo he had on his head and hands gave him away immediately. The Avatar...
The kids tried to run, but the soldiers fire bent at them, blocking their exit.
"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," the older water tribe boy said. He's got to be bluffing.
The captain seemed to call him on his bluff, but before he could step forward, Jet hit him the back of the head with a rock. I turned to glare at him for getting a head start but jumped out of the bushes and split my water to hit four soldiers in the back, tumbling them.
Jet jumped down from his tree and flipped two soldiers over his shoulder, smirking at the group of kids he landed in front of. I scoffed and blasted the soldier that was sneaking up behind him.
"Stop showing off or you'll lose the bet," I said, turning to take down the others. I didn't have the chance because the other Freedom Fighters descended from the trees and started their own attacks.
The water tribe girl and the Avatar were holding their own with bending, and the boy had the ability to do the same if Jet didn't steal his thunder. He attacked the soldier before he could run at the boy who was waiting for the attack.
The fight wrapped up pretty quickly after I flooded the remaining soldiers out of the camp. I returned my water to the bag on my back and pulled down my mask. Jet was standing next to the water tribe girl.
"You just took out a whole army almost single-handed," the Avatar said in awe. I went over to the water tribe boy on his butt, offering him a hand up. He pouted but took it, letting me help him up. He scoffed.
"Army? There were only like 20 guys?" He said and then he grumbled when a lemur jumped on his head, knocking him back down. "Ughh, Momo! Not the time." I chuckled and took the animal off him, enjoying the way it snuggled in my arms.
"And I took down about 15 of them. I win the bet," I said to Jet and he rolled his eyes before smirking at the trio.
"My name is Jet, and these are my freedom fighters. That's Y/n," he started, gesturing to me, and then he did the others. "Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak."
"Since you guys were technically here first, you can help us raid this camp's resources," I offered. The trio nodded and split up to start digging around. I turned to go towards the tents, and was stopped by a voice.
"Hey, you're really a waterbender?" I looked back and noticed it was the water tribe boy. I smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"No, I'm a magician. Did you like my magic act?"
Sokka POV
Ok, she gets points for sarcasm. Of course I wasn't really asking if she was a waterbender, I was just having a hard time believing there would be one all the way out here. Especially not one as pretty as her—woah, woah. Moving on.
"Yeah, it was pretty cool. I'm Sokka, my sister and I are from the Southern Water Tribe. She's a waterbender too. We—" I turned to introduce my sister but then noticed she was with Jet. Probably flirting. Jet looked up as I was glaring at him and waved, not at me but at Y/n.
"Y/n, we're going back to the hideout," he yelled. She nodded and turned back to me.
"You're gonna wanna see this," she said and she gestured for me to follow her. My instincts tell me I can trust her.
We all walked through the forest for what felt like forever until Jet stopped.
"We're here," he said and I looked around suspiciously.
"Where? There's nothing here," I pointed out. Jet pulled a rope and gave it to me. "What's this do?"
"Sokka, careful—" I didn't hear all of what Y/n said before I was yanked up into the trees. I landed on a wood platform in the trees, and moved to the edge to look around. The trees were filled with multiple wood platforms with makeshift buildings on them, with zip lines connecting everything.
Y/n appeared on a rope next to me and knelt down beside me.
"Sokka, are you ok? Sorry, Jet pulled that stunt on me too when I first got here, I know that must've been a surprise," she said and once again she helped me up. I grumbled.
"He's not very nice to newcomers is he?" I asked, dusting the leaves off me. Y/n giggled and picked a leaf off my head.
"It's not that. He doesn't like being challenged and that's what I did when I first met him. He probably got the vibe that you could beat him in a fight or something. Which makes sense," she explained.
I felt my ego flutter. She thinks I'm strong, huh? Well I am, but it's nice that she can tell just by looking at me.
Y/n took me down the zipline to meet up with the others, just in time to hear Jet boasting about messing with the Fire Nation, and to hear my sister fawning over him.
"That's so brave of you, Jet," Katara swooned. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house," I said and Katara told Jet to ignore me. I heard a laugh to the side of me but turned to see Y/n whistling nonchalantly.
"So, you all live here?" Katara asked.
"That's right. We're all orphans whose lives have been taken by the fire nation," Jet said and then he and Katara stayed behind to talk about his life.
"What about you?" Aang asked Y/n, and I turned too in curiosity. She sighed.
"Fire Nation soldiers killed my mother right in front of me. I was 12. I did my best to fight back, but it wasn't enough," she told us. I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Y/n. Katara and I lost our mother too when we were younger," I told her, hoping our mutual pain would make her pain less painful. She put her hand on top of mine on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry too, Sokka. But hey, at least you still have your sister. Some part of your family is still together," she said and I noticed the sadness in her eyes before she covered it up with a smile. I returned it and then Jet and Katara came back, ushering us to a wood platform for dinner.
We sat around a large table, mostly berries being served as food, while Jet recapped the day's events. The rest of the kids responded with appropriate jeers and cheers, really solidifying the fact that he was in charge.
Ugh, he infuriates me.
Y/n POV
Jet finished his little speech and came to sit between Katara and I.
"By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending, I saw out there today," he said to Katara. Katara shook her head.
"Well, he's great. He's the avatar. Y/n did a lot better than me. I could use some more training," she said bashfully. I smiled at her and was going to say something, but Jet interrupted me.
"I might know a way that you and Aang can help in our struggle," he said, already trying to use the newbies. Sokka stood up quickly.
"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight," he said, already marching off. Aww already?
"But Sokka, I needed you on an important mission tomorrow," Jet said. Oh he's got him now.
Indeed, Sokka turned around and asked about the mission. Jet gave a vague description before dismissing everyone to go to sleep. I volunteered to show everyone their bunks. I dropped Aang and Katara off at theirs before taking Sokka to his.
"I'm going on Jet's 'special mission' tomorrow too, so I'll probably come grab you in the morning. Goodnight Sokka," I said and I smiled as I waved and walked away. As I was leaving, I got a small glance of what I thought was a blush on his face, but I wasn't sure.
Oh well. Let's just see what this mission of Jet's is...
The next day...
Sokka POV
"Sokka, time to go," a voice said and I opened my eyes to be met with e/c ones. I gasped and sat up quickly, my forehead hitting Y/n's. She fell backwards and we both groaned while rubbing our heads.
"Sorry, Y/n, I didn't mean to do that," I said leaning over to check her head for a bump. She pushed her h/t h/c hair out of her face and shook her head.
"No, to be honest, I would've done the same thing. I was just coming to tell you that Jet's ready for the mission," she explained and I nodded.
"Sure, yeah, just let me put on my shoes, and I'll meet you down there," I said hurriedly, pushing her out of my tent. Once she was gone, I exhaled in embarrassment. Smooth move Sokka. Real cool.
After composing myself and getting my shoes and weapons, I came out of my tent and took the zipline down, finding Y/n at the base of my tree. She smiled at me and gestured for me to follow her, Jet, and some other Freedom Fighters through the forest.
We walked for a little before climbing the trees. Jet and the others were using bird calls to communicate, but I had a different way of doing things. I stuck my knife in the tree trunk to the side of me, listening closely.
"What are you doing?" Jet asked me.
"Shh. It amplifies vibrations," I told him. Y/n watched me until I gasped. "Someone's approaching. I think there's just one," I told everyone.
Jet relayed the message and Y/n and I readied our weapons: my knife and her water. But when she put her water away, I followed her line of sight to see it was just an old man.
"False alarm, Jet. It's just an old man," Y/n said to Jet, but he jumped down anyway, his swords ready. The other fighters jumped down with him, and they cornered and knocked down the old man.
Y/n and I jumped down behind Jet, who was towering over the old man.
"Please, let me go. Have mercy," the old man begged.
"Does the Fire Nation let people go? Does the Fire Nation have mercy?" Jet screamed. He was about to kick the man, but I grabbed his foot with my club. At the same time, Y/n froze his other foot in place.
"Jet, he's just an old man. He's not hurting anyone," I told him. Jet turned on me, anger burning behind his head.
"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!" He yelled back. Y/n stepped forward.
"Jet, you know this isn't right," she said, her voice even more threatening than his. He glared at her.
"It's what has to be done. Now let's get out of here," he said and he used the back of his sword handle to break out of Y/n's ice prison. He pushed past me and stalked away. Y/n sighed and turned towards the old man.
"Here," she said and she froze a new cane for him out of her water. She helped him stand up and steady himself before sending him on his way.
"Y/n, Sokka, let's go," Jet yelled back to us. I looked at Y/n and she sighed before walking back towards the group. She walked right up to Jet and spoke to him.
"That wasn't right, Jet," she said again, and Jet turned to her.
"Y/n, he was Fire Nation. He could've been posing as a helpless man to be a spy. He saw your face, Y/n. What if he went back to his camp and told others about your waterbending? You know what would happen to you, don't you?" He said and Y/n paused in her step. She exhaled frustratedly.
We went back to camp and Y/n was quiet the whole time. I followed her back to her tent because the look on her face made me worried.
"Y/n, what did Jet mean? What will happen if a soldier finds out you're a water bender?" I asked and she took a shaky inhale.
"I'll be taken away, and those who are taken away don't come back. That's why I started hanging around the Freedom Fighters. I thought I could blend in as another rogue kid. Most of our work is anonymous, and if not, I always wear my mask. I didn't in front of the old man, but that's because I knew he wasn't a threat," she explained.
"But you still seem scared," I pointed out and she shrugged, her calm persona coming back into place.
"What he said just made me think of my past. It's fine Sokka, and I apologize on Jet's behalf. He's never pulled a stunt like that, and I don't condone that at all," she clarified. I placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to apologize for him. He should own up and do that himself. I'm going to go talk to Aang and Katara. We need to leave and I think you should come with us."
To be continued...
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