Kai sat up high in the tree line, her back resting against the bark as she bit into a ripe red apple. She was taking a break from traveling. After all, it'd been well over a week since she'd left the warm confines of the barn loft walls. She tried not to think about that night, pushed the memory of it to the very back of her mind as she read a book.
She could still see the scene in front of her though. The room that she'd left dark and empty for Zuko to find when he got back. She kept telling herself that it was better that way, sneaking off into the night. Believing that if she hadn't left by morning she might've not left at all, and neither would he. They both had different missions to complete and couldn't let minuscule things like loneliness slow them down.
Her reading was interrupted though, Kai could hear a voice coming from a nearby canyon. She stuck her book back in her satchel and swung on the limb, nimbly landing on another nearby — and then another, and another. Over and over until she reached the wood line. There it was, a ponytail sticking up out of the dry ground.
"I admit it, you're cute." Sokka was stuck up right in a crevice with his clever prey sitting on top of his head. The adorable baby moose lion licked its paws, "Okay, you've convinced me. If I get out of this alive, it's a comically correct vegetarian existence for me. No meat!"
The group had finally decided to take a break. Between running from Zuko and fighting Azula, looking for Kai and constantly searching for their next meal, they were all beat. And Aang needed to train, he had to get the hang of earth bending soon if he wanted to stand a chance against the Fire Lord.
Kai giggled as she watched the boy from afar, hopping down from the tree. She made a low whistle that only the baby moose lion heard, it hopped off of Sokka's head and dashed over toward her, out of his narrow line of sight. She leaned down and scratched under his chin, handing him an apple that he took in his mouth. The adorable creature carried it over to the trapped boy and dropped it in front of him.
"Hey, looks like my karma is already paying off!"
Sokka struggled, unable to reach the fruit in his new stance as a lone head sticking out of the ground. Kai sighed at her failed attempt to help him without being noticed. She sighed and stepped out of the woods, walking quietly over to the new stranger. He couldn't hear her light footsteps until she stepped into his field of vision — that was one element of being the perfect assassin that'd come easiest for her.
"Aren't you a pretty little thing?" Kai said to the cub and she crouched down on one knee, stroking its ear. Sokka might've been startled had he not taken a good look at her face. Instead he took a deep breath and was ready to lay on the charm.
"Most women call me handsome, but thank you!" He said with a charismatic smile while lowering his voice.
Kai rolled her eyes and grabbed the apple from the ground, dusting it off and holding it close to Sokka's mouth, "Eat."
Without thinking, he took a huge bite of the mouthwatering apple in front of him. Chewing it quickly before chomping down again, unable to get enough of its sweet juices. Kai grabbed a handful of nuts out of her satchel and let her legs fall out from under her, deciding that now was as good a time as ever for a snack. When the apple was reduced to just a core Kai tossed the remains into the woods.
"How long ya been stuck here?" She asked the stranger.
"Long enough. Do you mind?" Sokka replied while continuing his pointless writhing for freedom, asking for her help.
Kai shook her head, "No can do, friend. You're in there deep, let's just hope a flash flood or this little guy's mama doesn't come through." She lied, pretending she had no bending abilities under her belt, "But until one or the other happens, I'd be happy to keep you company."
Sokka felt his insides warming and feared he might melt further into the ground. He may die here, but at least he'd die looking at a pretty face.
"Introduce yourself, stranger." Kai said as she dropped a few sunflower seeds into his mouth. And if Sokka had been upright on his feet, he'd be puffing up his chest right about then to make himself look taller. He spoke firmly and with more pride than anyone she'd ever met, "Sokka, warrior from the Southern Water Tribe!"
He coughed from pressing too hard against the earth and continued, "Nice to meet you, uh..." he cued for her to introduce herself as well but she didn't.
"Southern Water Tribe, eh? Shouldn't you be at war with the rest of their fleet?"
Sokka shifted his gaze down at the ground, "Yeah, I should be.. I was too young to go with them when they set sail." He looked back up to find her listening intently, genuinely interested in what he had to say, "But I'll find them. I'm closer and closer to my dad every day, I can just feel it!"
"Your dad's fighting in the war?" Kai remembered when she sat in that palace made of stone in the Beifong Estate. When she heard Long Feng mention that the Southern Water Tribe had been attacked by the Fire Nation. Sokka nodded in response and she fed him another few sunflower seeds.
"Mine too." Kai had just started to feel sorry for the boy. She was considering giving up the facade and freeing him from his earthly prison when they both heard a soft panting in the distance. Kai glanced over her shoulder and Sokka looked past her.
"Aang! Thank goodness! Do you have any meat?!"
Aang stopped short of running into Kai, "Sokka! Are you okay??" He looked over at Sokka's new friend, "Hello! I'm Aang."
"Nice to meet you, Aang." Once again, she avoided introducing herself at the appropriate time but continued speaking, "Hm, I never thought that this would be how I'd meet the avatar."
Sokka cleared his throat, "'Scuse me, I hate to interrupt. But do you mind?"
"Oh, right! I bet I could air bend you out of there!" Aang stood over Sokka and sent a blast of air through the crevice, effectively sending a cloud of debris in all of their faces. The trio coughed as the dust cleared, Sokka's wolf tail had been blown out of his hair that now stood as a mohawk.
"Seriously, Aang, I know you're new at it, but I could use a little earthbending here. How about it?"
Aang looked down at his feet, kicking the rocks that he'd stirred, "I can't. I can't do it.."
Kai scoffed from the sidelines, "What? You're the avatar, of course you can earth bend!"
Aang grew angry and his brow furrowed, "Yeah, what would you know?!" She chuckled to herself at the poor boy's ignorance, knowing that he was just conflicted. He'd learn, but she felt it wasn't her place to interfere with his training.
The cub scuffled back over to them, flopping down at Aang's feet, "Aang, this is my friend Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. Foo Foo Cuddlypoops, Aang." Aang picked up the animal and held it out in front of him, "Aww, what a cute name for a little baby sabertooth mooselion cub. Where's your mama, little guy?"
An earthquake like force shook the ground beneath them. Kai recognized the feeling. She'd been in the presence of a mama moose lion before and didn't wish to be there again.
"I hate to excuse myself prematurely, but I personally prefer to not die an untimely death." Kai backed up from the two boys and took a front row seat on the other side of the canyon. Ready to watch the show and step in only if needed.
The angry mother made her appearance. She was larger than the one Kai had met before, much larger. Aang offered her her cub, but that wasn't enough. He tried to distract the moose lion, but she'd long set her sights on Sokka. She wanted him dead. She kicked back her feet and started toward him.
Aang took his stance and waited for the right moment, blowing the moose lion over Sokka's head and into the brush in front of him. Kai breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't have to reveal herself.
But as the dust settled, Kai heard a clapping from across the canyon followed by Aang's voice, "What are you doing here??"
The air cleared and she could see straight ahead of her. And what she saw made her heart both pound out of her chest and drop into the pit of her stomach. Her oldest friend, her only friend. Toph. She hopped down the canyon and did her best to contain her excitement, walking softly across the cracked earth so she wouldn't be detected, hopefully her heart rate wouldn't give her away. When she got close enough, she spoke, "Yeah, what are you doing here?"
She stood just feet away from the group when she said it and Toph looked right at her, like she was actually seeing her. It was the first time that Aang and Sokka had witnessed their new friend shaken.
"K.. Kai?"
Kai held out her hand and Toph stroked it gently, feeling the same hands that had taught her to see a few years ago, she burst with excitement, "KAI!"
"Toph!"
Kai gripped the girl's hand and Toph wrapped her steel like arms around Kai's waist, squeezing her so hard she almost broke her ribs. She could hear the tears threatening Toph's voice when she spoke, "I.. I can't believe it's you.. You were taken away, I saw them, I-"
"You didn't see what happened, Toph." Kai pulled back and held her at arm's length, "But we can talk about that later. Are you training the avatar??"
"Yeah!" She smiled wide, "Under the condition that they help me look for you!"
Aang cut in, "Barely! You could've helped us! Sokka was in trouble, I was in trouble!" Toph ignored his tantrum and dropped a walnut onto the ground, lifting up his staff to crack it. But before it could meet the ground, Aang snatched it back, "Enough! I want my staff back!"
Toph got in Aang's face and screamed, "Do it now! Earthbend, twinkletoes. You just stood your ground against a crazy beast, and even more impressive, you stood your ground against me. You've got the stuff!"
Aang looked at her in confusion but took her advice. He stomped down the canyon and shoved his fist forward, a large boulder racing into the side of the ridge.
"You did it! You're an earth bender!" Toph's excitement reminded you of how proud you'd been the first time she moved a rock. It was like watching your baby take their first steps.
Aang grinned and moved onto Sokka, freeing him from the ground. The four of them walked back toward camp, Toph and Kai in between the two boys.
"I don't recall being that harsh on you when you were learning how to bend, Toph."
"That's because I didn't need it. Wonder boy here benefited from a little bit of tough love." She responded as they reached Katara, Momo and Appa.
"You found him!" Katara yelled as she slid down the beast's back, "Who's this?"
"Katara, meet Kai."
Kai waved to the girl who was obviously confused by her appearance. She didn't dress like she was from the Earth Kingdom. Or from any kingdom, for that matter. Nonetheless, Katara responded, "Kai, we've heard so much about you."
Kai smiled at her and then shifted her eyes down at her friend, "Not anything too revealing, I hope."
Toph just shook her head. She knew a little of what her friend's mission had been, just not how things played out. Maybe Kai was still working on completing it. Either way, she'd be a valuable addition to their team.
Aang moved beside Katara and spoke to Kai, "Toph says that you're the greatest earth bender in the world — even better than her and Bumi. Are you gonna teach me some cool tricks??"
She laughed, "I think Toph is on top of it, but I'm down to spar when you need a challenge." A crack of thunder boomed in the distance, "For now, I think a storm is rolling in. We should find shelter for the night."
***
The group scouted out a deep canyon cave and built a fire toward the front. As Sokka, Katara and Aang slept against Appa's fur, Toph and Kai snuck around behind him just like they used to the palace guards.
"Where did you go?? After that day you were never mentioned again, I thought you'd never come back."
Kai had always felt ashamed of not being able to say goodbye to her only friend, telling herself that it was better that way. From then on out, she'd never said goodbye to anyone. Not the generous families that'd taken her in, not the friends that she'd made on all of her travels, not the few boys that she'd allowed to love her over the past few years. It was always simpler to just disappear into the night, leaving them to wonder if she'd ever really existed at all.
"I couldn't do it, Toph." Kai looked at her through the small torch they'd brought with them, expecting to see the same disappointment in her face that she'd seen in her father's and all of his men, "They told me that it was time to go and I didn't feel ready. I asked for more time and that just wasn't an option and they-"
Kai stopped herself. Realizing that Toph too was still only a child, younger than she had been when she was cast out on her own. She didn't need to worry herself with the past, the things Kai had seemingly brought on herself.
"Tell me." Toph pleaded, "I've waited three years, Kai. I deserve to know."
Kai let out a sigh, unsure if what she was about to do was the right thing. She handed Toph the torch and turned around, pulling her shirt over her shoulders and taking Toph's hand. She guided it to her thickest, deepest mark.
Toph gasped, her face turning red with anger. She moved her fingers over Kai's back and felt every scar, every permanent branding, "We can't let them get away with this! Someone has to — WE have to—"
"I know. I've already thought about it." Kai interrupted while pulling her shirt back over her head.
"What are you going to do?" Toph hesitated to ask, knowing exactly what her friend was capable of.
She sighed, coming to terms with the only suitable form of revenge that made sense in her mind, "I think I'm gonna kill my dad.. and the Grand Secretarian. And everyone else that had a hand in my being."