"I'm telling you, they misnamed this place."

"Wow. When was the last time we did not hear you say that, Sokka?"

Sokka scowled at the remark of the diminutive girl in green and light yellow outfit before straightening his blue tunic. His limbs below the waist were sore and he had been sweating for the good of the past three hours under the sun.

A huff escaped the Southern Water Tribesman's mouth. Initially, he and his group – consisting of his sister Katara, earthbender Toph, and Aang the Avatar – were supposed to take the afternoon ferry from Full Moon Bay to Ba Sing Se. They had successfully gotten four tickets using Toph's only passport – according to the crabby passport lady it is 'so official' with the seal of the flying boar on it – and were set to board until a family of refugees who followed them to Full Moon Bay lost all their items, including tickets and passports, at the hidden ferry station and got in touch with the Avatar for help. 'Crabby Lady' had outright rejected the Avatars request for a new set of tickets for the family.

"No passports? No Tickets!"

The crabby passport lady's words still rang in Sokka's ears, and he was certain they rang in Aang's too. Even his friend's kind offer of giving the group's tickets to the family was outright denied, resulting in the already dejected and unusually-emotionless Aang – despite Sokka's constant complaints after – to give up the group's own tickets to lead the refugee family through the infamous narrow path to Ba Sing Se instead. No doubt the Pass was narrow and looked treacherous to anyone's eye, the signboard at its gate which displayed the words 'Abandon Hope' was somewhat of an ill omen to anyone who wished to cross the path. Sure, there were some twist and turn along the path, and if it weren't for Toph and Aang earthbending away the occasional miniature rock-a-lanches they'd be crushed into a pulp early on. The fifteen-year-old Sokka was still sceptical about it.

"I mean seriously," He tried justifying his argument. "It's not windy enough. And where are the 'serpents' in 'Serpent's Pass'?"

"Sokka!"

Katara snapped at him, and he responded by creating a thin line with his lips as they entered a tunnel. Silence befell the large group as they exited the tunnel to find themselves walking by the Lake to their left, rather than to their right before they entered the tunnel. All eyes landed on the large metal ship sailing the waters, and everyone stiffened when they recognized the black insignia on the hull of the vessel.

"Fire Nation," Sokka heard Suki growling under her breath. "They control the West Lake. Rumour has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is."

He kept his eyes on the warship, unwilling to turn to look at the Kyoshi Warrior walking in front of him. She had decided to join them at crossing the Serpent's Pass, much to Sokka's unspoken uneasiness about the matter, and help make sure the pregnant lady had not hurt herself or her unborn baby throughout the treacherous journey.

For a while, they were able to sneak across the Pass without ship noticing them. That was until the sound of the ground splitting caught everyone's attention. It didn't take long to realize that the father of the refugee family - Than - lost his footing as part of the rock under him gave out, but it took the man longer than a second to react, falling towards the lake. Sokka and Suki extended their hands to reach him, but their arms were not long enough to cover the distance between them and Than as he plunged from gravity's pull.

Toph twisted around and slammed her left foot on the ground, feeling the earth under her feet obey her command to create a platform and caught Than before he plunges in the water below. The platform then slowly levitates upwards until Sokka and Suki grabbed Than by his hands and pulled him back to safety. The man embraced his wife and daughter as soon as he touched solid ground.

"I'm okay!"

Sokka was about to turn and thank Toph for saving the man with earthbending, but was interrupted when the makeshift platform dropped into the water and created a large splash. Blue eyes darted from the impact towards the warship which earlier failed to notice the group had just fired a fireball at them.

"They spotted us! Let's go! Let's go!"

Aang literally jumped into action while the others scrambled ahead. His grip on the glider tightened as he pulled it behind his shoulder and waited for the fireball to reach him before swinging his glider hard. The arc of wind created by his airbending deflected the fireball back to the ship, lighting part of the vessel on fire as it exploded on impact.

The explosion only served as an indication to the Fire Nation army onboard that they met retaliation, and more shots were fired in kind. As the airbender deflected a shot away, another slipped past his defence. He turned his head around only to watch helplessly as the fireball hit the mountain, causing pieces of rock fall towards Suki.

Sokka was the fastest to react, pushing the Kyoshi Warrior who froze in her place out of the way. He raised his head up only to realize that Toph had bent a part of the earth above him into a makeshift slope to send the rocks into the waters instead of crushing him.

Seeing his friends temporarily out of harm's way, Aang turned his attention back to the warship, only to witness the deck drowned in chaos. Fire was thrown around, and he heard panicked screams in the distance as he saw several figures being thrown overboard by someone engaging the Fire Nation Navy. His grey eyes widened as he saw a wave rising just in front of the ship before collapsing right above it. The water calmed, leaving no trace of the ship's presence apart from soldiers who manned the warship struggling to stay afloat. Another wave, much smaller than the previous one appeared to wash the soldiers seemingly towards the shore, leaving a bewildered Avatar to glide back and join his friends.

"Nice waterbending, Aang!" Sokka cheered with a fist pump.

"I didn't do that," the airbender explained, confusion lacing his words.

Sokka heard his friend's denial and turned to his sister instead. "Nice work Katara!"

"It wasn't me either, Sokka," the waterbender replied.

"Nice joke, you two," Sokka's eyes darted between both benders, certain they were being too modest. But the looks on both his sister and his friend clearly says that they were honest, leaving the young warrior puzzled as he dropped his hand to his side.

As far as he remembered, his group only had two waterbenders. Katara was the last of her tribe, and their sister Tribe in the North Pole did not send any military support to the war as they continued to recover from the Fire Nation Siege a few months ago.

"So, who created the large wave and swallowed the ship for lunch? The 'Lake Spirit'? The 'Serpent'? Or did Aang's airbending created a wave wind so strong a large wave was formed?"

As if on cue, the surface of the water below them exploded where a shadow shot into the air and landed right near the group, blocking their path ahead. Everyone bar the family entered their fighting stances. Aang aimed an end of his staff at the figure, Sokka grabbed his boomerang, Katara kept a finger on the cap of her water skin, Suki unfolded her warfans, while Toph pointed her right foot in the direction the figure landed.

"You guys okay?" The figure spoke as he stood up. Suki studied the stranger as she realized that he wore a faded green tunic, its lack of sleeves his firm arm muscles thrice the size of his own to be displayed. He had black hair and green eyes which somehow reminded her of the ocean.

"Who are you?" Sokka asked, ignoring the question while aiming his boomerang at the stranger. The man appeared to be unarmed, but it didn't prompt anyone to lower their weapons or their guard. Green eyes scanned every member in the group who took a fighting stance – pausing longer at Katara and Toph – before putting on a smile.

"I come in peace?" The stranger tried, albeit lazily. "I mean I'm not with Skeleton Faces who tried to shoot you down."

Suki's blue eyes narrowed at the stranger. There was something about this stranger that felt familiar to the Kyoshi Warrior. The tone in his voice was genuine but had a hint of amusement and drips of sarcasm coming with it. His smile had some resemblances to Aang's, with a twist. While the Avatar's smile had similarities to a mischievous child – broad and crooked but always filled with joy and the curiosity for life, the smile this stranger wears on his face was that of a rebellious teenager. Lopsided and crooked, yes, but smirkish in all the wrong ways. It reminded the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors of the boys in the same age group back in her home island – always up to no good. Like throwing turtle-duck eggs at the Kyoshi Statue or setting the Kyoshi Shrine on fire just because they can.

"You mean you're not Fire Nation?" Suki heard Sokka asked, his curiosity piqued but not enough to mask the suspicion in his voice. "You're not with those monsters who jumped off the ship that just sank?"

Stranger-man raised an eyebrow at the two new questions sent at him, his smile still intact. Though there was more amusement than sarcasm compared to a few seconds ago. "I jumped off the ship, yes, but –"

He didn't get to complete his reply as Sokka alarmed his friends. "He's with them! Get back!"

As if on cue, Suki shielded Than and his family as they took steps back in retreat while Toph, Aang and Katara stood in front of her. Sokka called out a battle cry and charged the stranger with his boomerang, which caused the stranger to let out a sigh – much to Suki's confusion. When the Water Tribesman swung his boomerang like a makeshift sword, the stranger took a step back and dodged it. More swings came from Sokka, and the Kyoshi Warrior noted that the boy had improved his form. His attacks were less wild but still clumsy considering the stranger was able to dodge all of it by rolling backwards, sidestepping and stepping back with the small space available from the narrow path. Or he's an experienced fighter. Or both.

"Look, I don't want to – whoa!"

The stranger spoke up but once again found his words cut short when Sokka threw his boomerang at him, forcing the man to leapt backwards or get hit in the head from the spinning projectile. Katara and Aang soon joined in launching their own attacks at their foe, forcing him further back in retreat while Toph and Suki remained behind guarding the family of refugees. As the fight wore on, Suki realized something was wrong. The man did nothing to fight back, and his movements as he dodged balls of wind, streams of water and a flying boomerang felt familiar to her. The voice. The wild look in his eyes. The sporadic movements he made.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned their head towards Suki, including Sokka who had charged forward, overlooking a rock which his left foot hooked onto.

Time seemed to slow down. Sokka tripped over the rock and stumbled forward past the stranger, failing to find his footing, only succeeding at falling off the path as he let out a high-pitched scream. Aang, Katara and Suki cried out to Sokka – though his screech drowned out their collective call – while Toph tried to bend a platform for Sokka similar to the one she made for Than earlier.

Then time returned to normal for everyone to see Sokka dangling just at the edge of the path, tiptoeing as he tried to keep his feet on the ground, while the stranger had grabbed the Water Tribesman by his tunic.

Katara's eyes burned angrily. Her brother was in danger because of the man. Summoning the water from her waterskin once again, she willed it into a water whip and lashed at the stranger.

"Let my brother go!"

The whip did not deal any damage whatsoever. Instead, Katara felt her control over the water slip as the water coated the stranger's back upon contact, creating a thin layer of liquefied skin around him. What?

While the waterbender remained glued to her spot trying to comprehend the turn of events, the rest of the group had caught up and watched with awe as the stranger pulled Sokka from the edge.

"Sure. Attack the guy who saved your butts from that fiery ship of doom," the stranger grumbled as he helped Sokka to his feet. "Then hit the guy who's trying to keep Captain Boomerang Jr from dropping. It's not like the grip will loosen and he can fall into the water and die from impact. You okay, buddy?"

In the midst of his rant, the stranger checked on Sokka whose hands were on his knees as he tried to keep them from giving way. The teen took a few seconds to gather himself, steadying his breath before replying with a quick nod.

"I'm good," Sokka breathed out between pants as he looked at his saviour. "Thanks. Didn't want to become Flattened Sokka so soon, anyway."

The stranger nodded at the response, the tips of his lips lifting slightly. Then he turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Aang called out, halting the stranger in his tracks, who sighed in response.

"What?" He asked as he turned again to face them. "Am I going to get an airball to my face as a thank you? Because I could do without those. Thank you very much."

There it was. The same tone Suki had heard earlier during the day. She knew she had heard it somewhere.

"You!" She exclaimed, her voice without any trace of accusation. "You're the troublemaker!"

"Wait!" Sokka's jaw dropped as he pointed accusingly at Troublemaker. "You know this guy?!"

"'This guy' can still throw you off the cliff," Troublemaker-Stranger glared at Sokka before turning his attention to Suki. He cocked an eyebrow at the Kyoshi Warrior. "I'm sorry, Make-Ups, have we met?"

"I believe we have."

His eyebrows knitted together as he studied Suki from her headdress to her shoes. He was about to shake his head when sea-green eyes met Suki's blue, and his face lightened up as realization dawned upon him. The same sarcastic, troublemaker smile returned to his face.

"Security Girl."

Suki felt a small smile crept up her face, while still aware of the confused glances the others shared. Sokka looked like his eyes were about to fall off while jaw about to touch the ground.

"Suki, you know this guy?!"

She turned to look at Sokka and realized he had an incredulous look plastered on his face. Her smile didn't wane as she answered.

"Not really, Sokka. I do know he saved a girl from trouble though."

"I'm honestly unable to see how he's capable of saving a girl while you called him a 'troublemaker'," Sokka made finger quotes to prove his point.

"What your girlfriend's trying to say is that I got in trouble getting a little girl out of trouble. And I can still decide to un-save you."

Suki felt blood rushing to her cheeks at Troublemaker's label of her as Sokka's girlfriend. Somehow, Sokka didn't notice the term that was used. Instead, he inhaled sharply at the offer to be 'unsaved' before sputtering out incoherence.

"Yea, t-that makes m-more sense. I-I think."

Troublemaker's eyes darted between Suki and Sokka. His eyes do look like the ocean. Then he pointed a finger at the teenage boy.

"Sokka."

The Water Tribesman took his turn to give Troublemaker a quick once over, then he nodded. Troublemaker turned towards Suki.

"Suki."

The girl also acknowledged with her own nod. The stranger then turned his attention towards Aang and the others who were walking over to join the trio.

"So what does that make you, Arrowhead? Or is that your real name?"

"This is Aang," Katara answered in Aang's place, though Suki heard her uneasiness from her tone that carried less friendliness than her Water Tribe friend usually would. "He's the last Airbender. He's also the Avatar."

Suki noticed the stranger's eyes widening slightly before studying Aang, who she noted still wore the same indifferent expression on his face since leaving Full Moon Bay. Katara must have taken the stranger's silence to continue introducing the others.

"I'm Katara, and this is Toph. This is Ying, Than and their daughter."

Troublemaker's eyes narrowed when he looked at Katara and Toph before his expression softened as he turned to the refugee family, who greeted him with smiles and waves despite the initial encounter.

"So, mind telling me what are you all doing on the treacherous Serpent' Pass? Are you kids on a quest?"

The group shared uneasy glances among each other at the term 'kids'. It sounded condescending like the stranger didn't trust them to be able to take care of themselves. Indeed they were still considered young, but not that young to be travelling out on their own. The trials and tribulations they've undergone during their journey had forced them to grow. Katara improved her water bending tremendously, Sokka was no longer an immature sexist, Aang started to take his responsibilities seriously, and Toph is more cooperative as the days go by.

Aang narrowed his eyes. No one knows this stranger, somehow but he had correctly guessed they were on a 'quest'. Suki knows him to a small extent but as Troublemaker, which didn't sound like a trustworthy person. And he appeared after 'coming from a Fire Nation ship'. Then again, Suki vouched that this Troublemaker-Stranger 'saved a little girl' which should mean something, and he saved Sokka just now. Even his complexion looks nothing like anyone from the Fire Nation, he looked more like an Earth Kingdom resident. How much should be disclosed to him?

There was a small nagging thought at the back of the airbender's mind, persuading to give him the benefit of the doubt. He did not retaliate when we attacked. Also, he was curious about the part that the stranger had claimed to have 'saved their butts'.

He had to make a call.

"We're on our way to Ba Sing Se. Do you happen to be going that way too, Mr...?"

Everyone watched Troublemaker-Stranger's face twisted slightly as if he was internally arguing on how he should answer the question. The few seconds which past felt like an eternity as they waited on his answer.