Haruki's vision blurred as he slowly gained consciousness. He groaned when he felt his head throb painfully.
"My head." he groaned. He tried to raise a hand to rub the big bump from where the rock hit but realized he was tied up. His vision became more clear and he found himself tied to a tree. He struggled to free himself but he was bound tight. He looked around to see where he was. He was in a forest and was near a camp filled with people in dark armor. He began to remember what had happened before he was knocked out and kicked himself mentally.
Idiot! How could you have gotten yourself captured like that? He mentally berated himself, You should have trained more!
"Don't bother struggling." said a voice, "It won't work."
Haruki looked to the right and saw a man leaning against a tree. The man wore the black Chikara Army armor. He had a pair of hookswords for weapons. His face was hidden in the shadows but Haruki could tell he was chewing on a piece of wheat.
"Funny," said the man, "You look so much like him."
The man stepped out of the shadows and the airbender was able to see what he looked like. The man looked to be around his Uncle Sokka's age, if not a year or two more, and had shaggy brown hair that had bits of gray in it. The man started walking towards Haruki but the airbender just blew air at him. The blast of air knocked the man off his feet and sent him sprawling on the ground. The man stood up and raised his hands in surrender.
"Take it easy, kid." said the man, "I'm a friend."
"Chikara Army soldiers aren't my friends!" growled Haruki.
"Listen, I'm gonna get you outta here."
Haruki scoffed
"Yeah. Right."
"No. Really." The man cautiously walked back over to Haruki in case he would airbend at him again. "I'm gonna help you."
"How do I know I can trust you."
The man chuckled softly.
"You remind me of Katara." said the man.
"How do you know my mom?" asked Haruki, both shocked and still suspicious.
"Now's not the right time-"
"Looks like our little guest is finally awake."
Haruki and the man named Jet both looked at an approaching young woman. Behind her was the man who tied Haruki up.
"This kid giving you any trouble Jet?" asked the young woman
The name sounded familiar to Haruki. He couldn't recall where he had heard the name before.
"Nah," Jet answered, "It looks like our little guest knows some manners."
"Nothing like hitting a kid on the head to teach him about respect." said the man behind the woman.
Haruki glared daggers at him and he smirked back.
"You know, I'm surprised no one has come to rescue you yet." The woman approached Haruki. She bent over slightly so her gold eyes were level with Haruki's blue ones.
"I know you're traveling with the Avatar," said the woman, "And you are going to tell me where he is."
Haruki spat in the woman's face and she staggered backwards. She wiped the spit out of her eye with a look of disgust on her face mixed with fury. Haruki had noticed Jet trying to suppress a smile before getting punched in the face by the man that tied him up. His head hurt even worse now because of the second hit. The man pulled back his fist to hit Haruki again but the woman grabbed his arm.
"He's not worth it Cari." said the woman. She took a few steps toward Haruki, grabbed him by his hair, and hit his head back against the tree. She raised a warning finger at him.
"Be grateful that I'm letting you live, kid." she told Haruki in a deadly whisper, "You're lucky I need you alive or I would have let him do far worse than a punch in the face." She released Haruki and walked back to camp, Cari followed.
Jet waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.
"You okay, kid?" he asked.
Haruki didn't answer. His head hurt so much and his eyes were watering.
"Don't fall asleep, you might get a concussion." Jet looked at the camp behind him and back at Haruki.
"I need to get back to camp, my shift's over. Don't let the next guy provoke you, he'll just want you to give him a reason to hit you." He looked back and saw a man walking over to the two and spoke in an undertone, "I've got the first watch tonight, when everyone's sleeping I'll come back and get you out of here."
"Hang on, how do I know I can trust you?" Haruki asked again.
"You don't." answered Jet. "Do you have a choice?" He smirked when Haruki didn't answer and left.

Despite getting hit in the head three times that day and not getting much sleep, Haruki felt wide awake. His eyes scanned the dark forest for Jet. When he was about to give up waiting around for the man and think of a different way out of there, he heard footsteps and looked up to see a man sneaking over to the airbender.
"Jet?" whispered Haruki.
The man brought his finger to his lips and shushed Haruki. He cupped his hands and made a whistle like a birdcall. There was a short silence then there was a reply birdcall. Haruki couldn't help but be impressed. Jet hurried over to Haruki and pulled out a knife. The knife sliced through the bonds easily and Haruki was free. Haruki rubbed where the ropes chafed his skin.
"I got some friends that can help you out of here." whispered Jet. He handed Haruki a package and a water pouch. "Here's some rations that will last you a few days. By then maybe you'll be with your friends again."
"Why are you helping me?" asked Haruki.
"I'm actually a spy against the Chikara Army. This is Longshot and Smellerbee." He added, gesturing at two people that appeared behind Haruki.
One of the people, a man, wore blue clothes and a paddy-hat. He had a bow and some arrows with him. The other person, a woman, had face paint and had a headband around her head. A sword was slung across her back. Her brown hair was long and shaggy. Haruki recognized those names too.
"You don't know some guys named Pipsqueak and The Duke, do you?" he asked Jet.
Jet chuckled.
"No doubt your mom told you about me and my Freedom Fighters." said Jet.
"She said that you died in Lake Laogai."
"Nah. I got hurt pretty bad but now's not the time for stories. Now's the time for you to get out of here. The others are waiting for you."
The woman grabbed Haruki's arm and she and the man started leading Haruki deeper into the forest. They stopped when Jet started talking again.
"Hey kid..." Haruki looked back at Jet, "Next time you see your mom, tell her Jet said 'Hey.'"
Haruki nodded and followed Smellerbee and Longshot again.

The team searched the forest and the skies for Haruki but they couln't find him. While searching from above they saw a Chikara Army camp but they couldn't see any sign of Haruki with the soldiers.
"We'll find him." Kya assured the others the night after they found out he was gone. They were grouped around a fire in a small clearing. "Let's just get a few hours of sleep and start looking again. I'll do the first watch."
The others agreed and took out their sleeping bags. They all grouped around Appa and began to fall asleep. Kya climbed a tree and sat down on a thick branch that had a good view over the forest. She watched for any movement and her ears strained for any sound. After a while she started nodding off.
"Shift's over."
Kya nearly fell off the branch when Xiu spoke. The youngest acrobat sibling had climbed up the tree and was sitting on a thick branch near Kya on the other side of the tree.
"You scared me." said Kya. She put her hand over her heart which was beating fast.
"Sorry." said Xiu with a guilty smile. "I've been known to sneak up on people, even when I don't mean to."
"When did you wake up?"
"I've been awake. I couldn't sleep."
"You're worried about Haruki, aren't you?"
Xiu fiddled with her necklace.
"I-I know I've only known him for a few weeks but... I don't think I can deal with losing someone again. Especially someone I've been getting to know."
Kya hesitated then asked, "What happened to your father?"
Xiu didn't answer. She just stayed silent and continued fiddling with her necklace.
"If you don't want to answer, it's fine." said Kya quickly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked-"
"No, it's fine. I've never actually told anyone this before." Xiu sighed. "My father fought in the Fire Nation army. One day when he and some soldiers were on their way home on leave, they were ambushed and were either captured or killed. My father was one of the unlucky ones." She looked at Kya and the older girl saw that the acrobat was fighting back tears. "He died the day I was born. He knew my mom was due soon and was coming home to surprise the family."
"I'm so sorry, Xiu." whispered Kya.
"My mom and sisters didn't even know what happened until a few weeks later when Fire Lord Zuko told us."
She fiddled with her necklace some more then spoke again.
"See this necklace?" she pointed at her necklace which was a red ribbon with a charm hanging off it in the shape of a flame. Kya nodded.
"It's beautiful." commented Kya.
"My father made it for me while my mother was pregnant. It was tradition in his family that the father of the baby would make something for the baby. If it was a boy that something would be a weapon. If it was a girl, that something would be a necklace. Since all his children were girls, my dad had a feeling that I would be a girl and got started making the necklace right away. When Fire Lord Zuko told my family what happened to my father, he told us that my necklace was found tied to my father's wrist."
Xiu wiped a tear from her eye and cleared her throat. She chuckled a little. "Listen to me, talking about the past when I should be watching for soldiers and you should be getting some sleep."
Kya hesitated again and climbed down from her branch. Xiu pulled out her knife and rammed it into the trunk of the tree. She cupped her hands over the handle, put her ear to it, and waited. She suddenly sensed someone coming.
"Kya!" she silently called the oldest girl.
"What is it?" asked Kya. She was almost at the bottom of the tree.
"There's someone coming."
"How many?"
"I think there's five."
"Get down here, we have to tell the others."
Xiu yanked her knife out of the tree and jumped down the branches of the tree. She landed catlike on the ground next to Kya and they ran back to the others. Before they made it back, however, an arrow whizzed past them, causing them to stop and look back. A man not too far away let two more arrows fly. The girls dodged the arrows. Kya pulled out her fans but Xiu was already running towards the man. She pulled out her knife and threw it at the man but he jumped to the side to avoid the blade. Xiu used the distraction to somersault over the man and land behind him. She jabbed at his arm which hung limply at his side. She made to jab at him again when a woman swung a sword downward between Xiu and the man. Xiu jumped back to avoid the attack. The woman swung at Xiu again. Kya jumped in front of Xiu and parried the blade with her katana. Kya and the woman engaged in a fight while Xiu delt with the man. She jabbed at other parts of the man's body and he fell to the ground, paralyzed. Xiu searched the ground for her knife so she could help Kya but two large hands grabbed her and picked her up. Her arms were pinned to her side so the most she could do was kick at the man holding her and hope it made contact. Kya saw Xiu get caught by a large man and ran over to him to help her but another man wearing a helmet blocked the attack with his quarterstaff.
"Kya? Xiu?"
Xiu stopped struggling and Kya, the man, and the woman stopped fighting and looked at the owner of the voice; it was Haruki.
"Haruki!" screamed Kya. She dropped her katana and ran to her cousin and held him in a tight embrace, crying. "I'm so glad you're safe." she said in between sobs.
The large man set Xiu down and she ran to Haruki and hugged him too. She was also sobbing.
"I was so worried." she told him.
"Really?" asked Haruki.
Xiu released him and wiped away her tears, frowning. She scoffed.
"Yeah, right. Get over yourself, airhead."
Haruki was taken aback at her attitude. She smiled to show that she was joking and hugged him again.