A.N. Sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter! But I'm so happy to see more people reading this story so please enjoy!

Azara sat leaning against Appa, playing with her hair when Aang walked over, looking concerned. "Have you seen Momo?" he asked, looking around for any sign of the lemur. Katara and Sokka shared a look before shaking their heads.

"Not since earlier this morning," Azara replied before standing up, brushing herself off. They walked through the forest, looking for Momo. The sound of screeching alerted the group to look up into the trees, where Momo and two howler monkeys were caged in traps.

"Hang on, Momo!" Aang called, jumping up to the tree tops. He gently lowered the trap into Katara and Azara's arms, who pulled the trap open to release the lemur. Azara stared at the trap, recognizing the metalwork.

"The metalwork is Fire Nation, there must be a group of soldiers nearby," she stated, rubbing her fingers along the cool metal. "We should leave soon." Aang landed next to her as the sound of screeching filled the air once again. The group looked up again to spot two howler monkeys, who were begging to be let out of their traps.

"Alright, you too," Aang smiled, moving to jump up and release them.

"This is going to take forever," Sokka huffed, pulling out his boomerang and throwing it to release the howler monkeys from their traps.

"That works," Aang shrugged, jumping back down to the ground.

"We better pack up camp and get moving," Sokka stated as the group reconvened. They walked back to camp, hurrying to pack and load all of their supplies. Azara moved to hand another bag of supplies up to Aang when Sokka ran over with flailing arms.

"No flying this time!" he shouted, grabbing the supplies from her hands, and putting it on the ground behind him.

"What do you mean no flying?" Azara asked, slightly peeved at him for ripping the supplies out of her hands.

"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable," Sokka suggested, as Katara and Azara shared unimpressed looks.

"What? Appa's not too noticeable!" Katara snapped, walking over.

"He's giant fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! He's hard to miss!" Sokka blabbered, gesturing up to the flying bison, who growled in complaint.

"Don't be mean to Appa," Azara shot back, rubbing Appa's side comfortingly.

"Sokka's just jealous because he doesn't have an arrow," Aang spoke to Appa, a joking smile on his face.

"I know you all want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk," Sokka stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Who made you the boss?" Katara scoffed as Sokka turned to his sister.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader," Sokka retorted, pointing at himself.

"You're the leader? But your voice still cracks!"

"She's got a point," Azara piped up, laughing as Sokka shook his head at the comment.

"I'm the oldest, and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" Sokka huffed, his voice getting deeper as he spoke, causing Azara to roll her eyes.

"Oh, big strong warrior. Thank the spirits we have you to guide us," Azara replied dryly, a deadpan expression on her face.

"If anyone should be the leader it should be Aang, I mean he is the Avatar," Katara pointed out, causing Sokka to huff.

"Are you kidding, he's just a goofy kid!" Sokka retaliated as Aang hung upside down from one of Appa's horns.

"He's right," Aang conceded sheepishly as he jumped down.

"Why do boys always feel like someone has to be the leader? I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl!" Katara sassed, resting her hands on her hips.

"I have kissed a girl; you just haven't met her!" Sokka shouted, a blush tinting his cheeks.

"Who Gran Gran? I've met Gran Gran," Katara taunted, smirking at her brother.

"Besides Gran Gran!" Sokka yelled, flinging his arms about in rapid motions.

"Regardless of if Sokka kissed a girl—" Azara started, being cut off immediately by a screech from the Water Tribe boy that he had, in fact, kissed a girl. She shot him an annoyed look before continuing. "—Regardless, we'll never reach the North Pole if we don't ride Appa."

"Just for now, until we're far enough away from any Fire Nation settlements. Look my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot. A leader has to trust his instincts," Sokka asserted, causing Azara to huff and rub her face tiredly.

"And my instincts are telling me that this is a bad idea. Even if the Fire Nation can spot us from Appa, at least we can get away," Azara remarked, but Sokka was set in his ways.

"Who knows? Walking might be fun," Aang smiled, standing with a pack on his back. Azara sighed and accepted one from Katara. "And we can see whose instincts are better—yours or Sokka's," Aang mentioned to Azara, who nodded and turned to Sokka.

"I bet you ten copper pieces on my instincts," Azara smirked, stepping towards Sokka, who looked confident despite the fact he didn't even have ten copper pieces to bet.

"I'll take that bet," Sokka nodded, before leading the group into the woods. Azara walked quietly, enjoying the calmness of the forest, but she knew that the peace was unlikely to last long. And she was proven right as Aang started to complain only ten minutes into their journey.

"Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?" Aang sighed dramatically, his expression glum.

"Well I don't know Aang. Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts? They seem to know everything," Katara joked, causing Azara to cover a laugh as a cough.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack," Aang continued to complain.

"You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka's instincts!"

"That's a great idea! Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind—" Aang shouted, causing Sokka to tense in frustration.

"--Okay, okay, I get it! Look guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe from . . . the . . . Fire . . . Nation," Sokka trailed off, as they pushed through a patch of brush, only to walk into a Fire Nation Army camp.

"Great instincts you got there, Sokka! What are your instincts saying now?" Azara asked sarcastically, her eyes narrowed.

"Run!" Sokka shouted, dropping his pack as the Fire Nation soldiers advanced. A firebender stepped forwards, setting the brush in front of them on fire, trapping them. "We're cut off!" Azara stepped in the front, ready to defend herself and her friends.

"Sokka, your shirt!" Katara warned, using water from her pouch to put the flame out from his sleeve. Azara sighed, staring at the Fire Nation soldiers.

"Anyone have any ideas?" she asked quietly, glancing between the soldiers.

"If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," Sokka stated confidently, stepping in front of the group.

"What are you doing?" Azara hissed, looking at him incredulously.

"Bluffing?" Sokka shrugged, looking back at her.

"You promise not to hurt us?" one of the soldiers scoffed, laughing at the absurd claim. Azara's eyes widened as he suddenly dropped to the ground, knocked out.

"Nice work, Sokka! How did you do that?" Aang praised as Sokka looked just as confused as everyone else.

"Uh, instinct?"

"Look!" Katara pointed out as a teenage boy jumped down from a tree, using his hook swords to swing onto the backs of two soldiers. He ran forwards, throwing another two to the ground.

"Down you go," he smirked as the group stared at him with a mix of confusion, surprise, and awe. More teenagers jumped down from the trees, battling with the Fire Nation soldiers with surprising agility. Moving to join the Freedom Fighters, the group split up, Aang and Katara utilizing their bending to knock the soldiers down.

Deciding to not firebend, as she was still suspicious of these teenagers that popped up out of nowhere, Azara glared at the soldier running towards her with a spear. Azara dodged a jab of the spear, using the momentum of the jab to throw the soldier away and grab the spear. Twirling the spear like Aang's staff, Azara started to fight the soldiers.

Stabbing the spear into the ground, Azara swung around and kicked a solider in the face. As she stood up, the sound of another soldier running at her caused Azara to turn around. As he ran towards her, the boy with the hook swords knocked him down.

"I had him," Azara protested, causing the boy to smirk and wink at her.

"I think the phrase you're looking for is thank you," the boy replied, before running off. Azara glared at his retreating figure muttering about stupid boys. She dodged a fire blast from a soldier, ducking under his arm and sending a swift kick to his side, sending him flying. As she straightened, she watched as the remaining Fire Nation soldiers fled, causing a cheer to arise from the teenage rouges.

Walking over to Sokka, who looked similarly frustrated, Azara grabbed his arm. "I don't trust these people," she whispered to him as the boy from earlier talked with Katara.

"I don't either," Sokka agreed as they walked over.

"You just took out a whole Fire Nation army single handedly!" Aang shouted ecstatically at the boy, allowing his smirk to widen.

"Army? There were only like twenty guys!" Sokka snapped indignantly as Azara sized the boy up.

"My name's Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters, Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, the Duke, and Pipsqueak," Jet introduced, gesturing to his fellow companions, who were busy ransacking the Fire Nation camp.

Aang walked over to Pipsqueak and the Duke as Azara stared at Jet with a calculating gaze. There was something off about him, she just didn't know what. One thing was for sure, she didn't trust arrogant pretty boys who chewed on a piece of grass just for the aesthetic. 

"My name's Katara. That's Aang. The grump back there is my older brother Sokka and standing next to him—" Katara began, but Azara cut her off, concerned what the Freedom Fighters would do if they discovered her true identity.

"—My name's Jin," she interrupted, forcing a smile. Katara looked at her weirdly for using a made up name but was quickly pulled into another conversation with Jet.

"Using a fake name?" Sokka asked quietly as Aang walked back over.

"The way they just battled the Fire Nation soldiers . . . I have to be cautious," Azara sighed as one of Jet's Freedom Fighters called out to him.

"Hey, Jet, these barrels are full of blasting jelly!"

"That's a great score," Jet nodded, walking over with Katara.

"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy!"

"Also good. Let's not get those mixed up," Jet commented as Azara stared at the barrels of blasting jelly. What would a bunch of freedom fighters need with blasting jelly?

"We'll take this stuff back to the hideout," the Duke stated as Aang turned to Jet.

"You guys have a hideout?"

"You want to see it?" Jet asked, smiling, and removing the piece of grass from his mouth.

"Yes, we want to see it!" Katara injected before anyone else could say anything.