The next morning as the sun shone brightly over the base, Ryoko felt more aware and ready for the day. Ryoko faced Katara who sat in her bed while the boys were off on their own. After hearing that Katara wasn't joining them for another day of General Fong's idiotic antics, Ryoko was determined to not be left alone in the idiocy. "Are you sure you don't want to come today?" Ryoko asks Katara. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she looks quizzically at the waterbender. 

For a moment, Ryoko was reminded of Zuko, how she would ask him time and time again to join her to music night as she chuckles slightly at the memory. It was only not so long ago things were simpler. Now she was asking a new friend to accompany her for something much more important.

"I'm sure." Ryoko wanted to say more once again, but she didn't know what to say anymore. Instead she nods and waves at her to say goodbye. As Ryoko walks up to the two boys she notices the ansy features on the Avatar. "What's wrong?" Aang looks up at Ryoko and gazes into her kind eyes.

"I'm going to tell the General I can't continue." Ryoko succeeds in fighting the smile that wanted to come onto her face. Even if Katara wasn't coming, he was making the right choice. 

"What made you change your mind?" 

Aang thought back to his dream. The dream that showed the danger of the state he goes into and how those see him. What he could do to others. "Nothing, just changed my mind." He walks a bit faster as Ryoko turns to Sokka. 

"Is he okay?" 

Sokka nods with a relaxed expression. "Yeah he's fine." 

The three teens go into the main room where General Fong sat high above. Ryoko felt proud watching as Aang spoke to General Fong but the way he looked still made the firebender cautious. 

"The thing is, I don't think we'll ever be able to trigger it on purpose. So I guess that's it." 

"Sure I can't change your mind?" General Fong asks Aang. 

"I'm sure. I can only reach the Avatar state when I'm in genuine danger." 

"I see." The expression on the general's face was filled with disappointment. "I was afraid you'd say that." Ryoko furrows her brows as she takes a step forward but she gasps as she was too late. 

The general slides his foot and the large desk flies towards Aang as Ryoko and Sokka yell for him. The soldiers behind them hold them by the arms causing the two to struggle against their grips. Ryoko growls to herself in anger as she thrashes against the two soldiers. "Aang!" They continue to yell. 

The general moves forward towards the large hole in the wall of the building and looks down at his men. "Men! Attack the Avatar!" Ryoko clenches her jaw as she feels her hands start to burn hotter. Flames erupt from her hands, burning the soldiers who held both of them. They yell in pain and one of them stomps into the ground. A rock pole flies up under Ryoko, sending Ryoko into a large pole at the other end of the room.

"Ryoko!" Sokka yells for her as she groans getting up.

"I'm fine!" She gets up and glares at the soldiers who stood between her and protecting the Avatar. Smoke pours out as she then mutters, "but I'm getting really tired of getting hit with rocks." The two soldiers widen their stances from across the room while the other two soldiers who held onto Sokka gave the other an insecure glance. The fiery girl may have not gotten the first hit but she would get the last it seemed to them. 

Ryoko moves forward in a rush as the soldiers prepared to fight. All Ryoko could think about though was the fact that Aang was outside, alone, and being attacked by the General and his men. 

Both the men threw rocks at her as she jumps in the air, evading their rocks and shooting out fire from her fist. She keeps stepping closer, a rock or two hitting her in the side until she gets close enough that she lets the fire release from her palm and doesn't let it stop. The roaring flames reach the soldiers but both jump out of the way, as it barely misses them. 

Sokka, out of the grasp from the two soldiers, rushes forward without thought towards Ryoko who was being surrounded by the two men. One of the soldiers stomps into the ground causing a rock to come up from the floor.

Ryoko brings up her hands and she feels the fire escape her with ease and without any restriction going towards the two soldiers blasting them back. Sokka stands next to the fallen unconscious soldier and looks back up to Ryoko.

"Come on! We have to get to Aang!" Sokka tells her as the two then run to the hole in the wall. Down below, Aang was dodging the stone pieces from the soldiers who surrounded him. Sokka and Ryoko glance to the other in worry and nod. They run from the large hole made from the general and go to the exit. The building shook violently as they descended to the lower levels. Each shake made Ryoko more nervous. They were using all their power against Aang, how much longer could he take? 

As the two get outside, they rush down the stairs, their eyes meeting Katara's blue eyes. "What's going on?" Katara asks in worry. 

"The general's gone crazy," Sokka replies. "He's trying to force Aang into the Avatar state." 

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!" Ryoko says in anger. Aang runs across the grounds as Sokka throws his boomerang towards the soldier who had the stone piece aimed at the Avatar. Katara, Sokka, and Ryoko make their way down to the main grounds to help Aang. Sokka continues throwing the boomerang towards the soldiers as Katara hits them with water. 

Ryoko throws large fireballs towards numerous soldiers that line the grounds. Some of them were able to evade her flames while others were thrown back or had to cover themselves by earth. As they backed away, only the round rock pieces surrounded Katara and Ryoko.

She turns to face the general, a glare covering her features. With her light golden eyes, she glowered at the man in front of her and Katara who dared to attack her friends. It takes her a second to find Aang in the crowd of Earth benders as he manages to run past them and up the stairs.

"Aang's not going into the Avatar state, General Fong! No matter what you do or say!" Ryoko yells at the man.

General Fong smirks at Ryoko for a moment while he stands still as confident as ever. Then his face hardens. Aang stops out of breath at the top of the stairs as General Fong turns to the boy. "Maybe you can avoid me," Fong says to Aang, "but she can't." The other soldiers surround them carefully.

Ryoko huffs out as she brings up her fists and punches larges flames towards the general. The earth rises to block the fire from reaching the general, the flames dying out once they rise above the wall he created. At the same time the older man blocks the line of water from Katara, making the liquid useless as it collides with the dirt and touches the earth. His hands stay firm in front of him.

Ryoko turns back as she hears the earth behind her move. Katara sinks into the ground, her hands flying up by the movement to catch herself on the ground. "Katara!" Ryoko yells out as she rushes over to aid her. She latches onto the waterbenders hands, trying to pull her from the earth but without General Fong or another earth bender there was no use. "Hold on," Ryoko mutters to Katara. 

"Ryoko, I can't move!", Katara yells in a panic.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang jumps down to the same level as Fong to push an air funnel towards him. Fong turns to face the airbender and brings up another wall of earth. Ryoko stands up in front of Katara and picks up her leg to hit him with fire and swings her arm towards him. He blocks himself with a second wall and groans at her. 

"You couldn't stay down," he mutters.

"Ryoko!" Katara's alarming voice makes Ryoko turn her head to see her own foot submerged into the ground. She tries to shake her leg, move her foot in anyway but all she felt was the solid earth surrounding her foot up to her ankle. She couldn't feel her toes as she flounces under the pressure.

Katara is pushed into the ground more as she yelps out. Sokka turns the corner with the ostrich horse he took, seeing his sister sink further into the ground while she was losing one of her last defenders in Ryoko. "Katara, no!" He rides towards the general with speed but just as the general rid Ryoko of her feet, he did the same to the ostrich horse causing Sokka to be flung off and land into one of the circular rocks. 

"Stop this! You have to let her go!" Aang begs coming up next to him. Ryoko glares and brings her palm up to let out a stream of fire but she sinks further, not as much as the waterbender who was left defenseless. She lets out a gasp as the she stops herself from letting out fire. 

"You could save her if you were in the Avatar state. You could save both of them!" 

Tears build up in his widened eyes and pour out onto his cheeks. "I'm trying. I'm trying," he repeats. 

"Aang, I'm sinking!" Katara sinks further into the ground while Ryoko glances back at the waterbender. Her expression scrunches up as she tries to free herself from the ground still, the earth up to both of her thighs. 

The General stares down at Aang while Aang holds on to him. "I don't see glowing."

"Stop this," Ryoko screams. The general brings his fingers closer to a fist making Katara sink even further. She drops down leaving only her head and neck out in the open. 

Katara screams. "Please!" 

"You don't need to do this." Aang drops to his knees, his countenance filled with desperation. 

"Apparently, I do." 

"No," Ryoko cries out as she swings her fire filled hand erratically towards the General.  Anything to distract him from the target he made of Katara. Ryoko was not prepared to use the power Fang gave her again without fainting and Aang could not control the Avatar state.

General Fong's hand slowly closes to a fist as Ryoko turns her head to see Katara sink into the ground without leaving a trace. Aang jumps forward past Ryoko but couldn't catch Katara. He faces the ground, his eyes not leaving the spot she disappeared. 

"Aang... Aang please," Ryoko's voice came out as a whisper. Nothing could faze the Avatar though. Aang's blue tattoos shine brighter into a bright white, almost blinding in Aang's rage. The General smiles at his own victory while Ryoko shields herself. Aang moves forward in front of Ryoko who still was stuck in the ground and was begging for Aang to snap out of it. 

"It worked. It worked!" He smiled brightly until he noticed that he was the target for the Avatar's anger. Strong gusts of wind circle Aang and brush against Ryoko in her permanent spot. 

Aang swipes through the air, the air thrown into General Fong causing the man to fall back. 

---

Zuko leaps up to the top of the ship's deck where he faces Azula. The two soldiers he pushed aside were out of the way and all that was left for him was his sister. His sister who lied about being wanted home, his sister who he hadn't seen in years, and now the one who he wanted to take his anger out on. His hands heat up as fire daggers form. He ignores his uncle's yelling to leave but focuses on Azula in front of him. He thrashes towards her with the fire, swiping them.

Azula avoids his hits and his yells easily without a care. When she pushes him away she smirks. "You know, Father blames Uncle for the loss of the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar." Zuko adjusts himself, standing tall in the face of her insults and words but still out of breath. "Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?" Zuko doesn't reply to her question. It was a question that confirmed any doubts he had for himself and all he was left with was rage and loneliness. He yells out at her and rushes forward, the daggers of fire in his hands even brighter. He tries to make a hit but each time he gets close, Azula's swift hands and reflexes block him. Finally, her sharp nails make a hit to his forehead. He backs up for a second, feeling the stinging come from the cuts. Azula smirks once more. "Even as a traitor herself, Ryoko isn't here, is she, Zuzu? Even she did not want to be with you. She saw how much of a failure you were."

Zuko's eyes slightly widen, but he tries to hide the reaction from his sister. Ryoko was known as a traitor just as Iroh but neither of the siblings knew where she was now. She could have been anywhere in the world and yet she was not there with Zuko. Why couldn't she be there with him to prove his sister wrong now? That was one of the questions running in Zuko's mind. 

A harsh yell comes from him once more as he more eagerly attacks his sharp-witted sister with even sharper skills. She continues backing up and blocking his hits with her wrists, sending a kick as they ascend the ramp. But Zuko would not give up. He would prove her wrong. He tries to hit her again but this time her hand catches his wrist and he looks down and up at her with widened eyes. Big mistake. 

Azula shoots fire from her outstretched hand and causes Zuko to fall onto the deck. Zuko wearily looks around while disoriented, looking for Azula. As he looks up, Azula was in the process of bending lightning around her. Her fingertips close in on Zuko but just as they do, Iroh rushes in and grabs her hand, redirecting the lightning towards the sky. Iroh runs back and holds onto Zuko, the two escaping from the ship and onto land with no chance of returning home again.

---

As Aang rises from the ground with the dust and air below him circling in a twister, Ryoko stares in awe of the Avatar state. With no way to move, her next option was the men around her. 

"Get me out of here!" Ryoko yells at any Earthbender in her vicinity. One of the soldiers glances around at the General and his other soldiers and his hand moves roughly towards her. Ryoko feels the pressure come off of her thigh all the way down to her feet and rubs them briefly. She runs forward towards the General who caused the mess in the first place. Her eyes meet the Avatar's only once before she glares down at the General, her fist heating up and the other one grabbing his neck roughly. "Get Katara out! Now!" The General looks up at the young girl and sees her strange golden and slitted eyes. 

The General gets up stumbling as he tries to contact Aang through his state. "Avatar Aang, can you hear me?! Your friend is safe!" He brings his hand up next to him towards Ryoko. Katara is brought up from the underground and collapses onto the ground coughing. Ryoko drops to her knees next to Katara and holds onto her. 

"Katara! Are you okay?!" Katara looks up at Ryoko who didn't look like herself but was still her. She was Ryoko, her friend. Just as much as Aang. 

"It was just a trick to trigger the Avatar state!" Ryoko grimaces at the man beside them while Katara stares in worry at Aang. "And it worked!" Aang turns around, his glaring face being the last that was seen before he drops down to the ground, leveling the stone below them with the large gust of wind following. General Fong flies back from the girls as the soldiers fall back around them. 

The air circles Aang in his own shelter. The air around him dissipates in seconds and Aang falls to the ground lightly. Katara and Ryoko run to Aang after the dust settles and Aang was able to survey the damage that was caused. Katara bends down to Aang and hugs him in their reunion. "I'm sorry, Katara," Aang says while he sits on the floor. "I hope you never have to see me like that again."

The General walks up, over his previous shock and fear. "Ha! Are you joking? That was almost perfect. We just have to find a way to control you when you're like that." Aang and Katara looks up at the General at his large size as Ryoko stands in front of them with her arms crossed stubbornly. His size did not affect her as she dealt with men of his size before when she was even smaller. Her father instilled fear into her that now men like General Fong did nothing but irk her. 

Ryoko's hands light up with fire daggers as she approaches him while Aang speaks up, "you're out of your mind." 

"I was just about to say the same thing, Aang." 

Ryoko's eyes glance up at Sokka who rode slowly on the ostrich horse and smirks at the man who was just not a threat to worry about. The fire softens in her grip and she crosses her arms once more as the General continues speaking. "I guess we'll figure it out on the way to the fire nation." Sokka brings up his club above his head and hits the General on top, leaving the man unconscious and on the ground in front of the firebender. 

"Anybody got a problem with that?" Sokka asks the soldiers. All of them stare at the group and shake their heads violently. 

Three of the men step up and bow before them. "Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" 

The four of them glance at the other with unsure looks but also amused. Ryoko smiles to Sokka with a chuckle. "I think we're all set," Katara answers the soldiers. 

Heading off to Omashu now without the escort of General Fong and his men wasn't expected or wanted yet there they were setting off on Appa, leaving the base that filled with truth and damage. 

Ryoko looks down at the base as she thinks back to Fang. They knew Aang had no control over the Avatar state and he was only able to learn minimal information from Roku while in the spirit world. Ryoko was something quite different, something not seen. 

Ryoko didn't know that at that same moment she was being called a traitor and wanted by the fire nation along with Zuko and Iroh. She didn't know that at the same moment her best friend was now becoming her biggest enemy. Ryoko didn't know how to control her newfound power and how much there was still to overcome in her abilities and those she left behind. 

___

A/N pls read below in bold: 

Not me being stuck at one scene in this chapter making me not update for how long LMFAO. But in all seriousness school has been beating me down and I wished I could update faster for you guys!

Also I was wondering if you guys would want some like updates that are fast while you wait for the next chapters when it takes me a while to bring the next chapter. They'd probably be up and temporary until the new chapter update would be published. 

they would be like 

- Q and A's

- what if's (what if Ryoko stayed behind after Zuko's banishment, what if Ryoko went with Jeong Jeong as a child)

- past scenes I wrote that were written out or changed as I kept writing

- other things (ex. Ryoko and the gaang playing among us)

So let me know in the comments maybe about some things you might want to see temporarily if I don't update for a bit sometimes