Burning island...

The soft summer breeze whistled at the boats rushing in to the ember island docks, the smell of sea salt and burning wood was carried in it's grasp. As usual, the dock were full of people. Young and old. Earth kingdom and Water tribe. Male and female. They all had a place to go, things to do.

Children run around in excitement, a boy of about five chased his older siblings, gently brushing against Meiya as he bolted away. Among the busy atmosphere of ember island, Meiya found the docks oddly calming. It was just something about the sea.

A shiver run down her shine like a drop of water as the wind tenderly tickled her face, blowing back her long dark hair. She sighed, a tiny smile lingering on her lips.

"Ah! Meiya! Stop your day dreaming! Mama said apples! remember?" A squeaky voice broke her thoughts as a hand tugged on her shirt. Meiya looked down at her youngest brother, Zalo, his big eyes staring up at her. If it had been anyone else, she would have looked at them with cold eyes and snapped. But instead she nodded.

"You're right Zu, I was just...thinking." She said, picking the little boy up. "Lets go find the boat with the apples on it. First pick of the day!" She said in a slightly more cheery tone. She was only ever this soft and gentle with him.

She knew what the people on this island thought of her, and she wasn't going to let it bother her.

Soon enough she would be gone.

"You weren't tinkin' 'bout lefin' again...wight?" Zulo said.

Damn that kid was smarter then he should be.

Meiya simply ignored the question, holding him close as she made her way through the crowd untill...

"Well...if it isn't my lil' dancer..." A cold voice sneered, his words coated in a mix of lust and venom.

Mei's time off had turned out to be nothing more than another chore. Go to Ember Island, enjoy yourself. He was damn sure he'd get to this time, but he wasn't that lucky. He found a nice spot, settled down, sipped at an alchoholic beverage out of a fancy coconut, and then a man walked up and demanded Mei tell him about some girl.

The General smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about." The man sneered angrily, and flung a scoop of sand at Mei as he turned to leave. 'Not worth the time, don't do it Mei.', he thought to himself as he stood and followed after the man. Mei stuck his feet in his sandals as he walked, wearing only pants, he looked like any other person on the island, aside from his obvious military demeanor.

The man made his way to the docks, obviously worried the girl might try something, maybe she was some kind of slave in his eyes? Mei frowned, he hoped not, he'd hate to get into trouble for beating the living hell out of a slave owner, such a disgusting practice.

He picked up on what the man said, just as a girl came into view.

Mei stepped out of the crowd behind the man, standing at a height of 6'3", Mei had no qualms about what he did next.

He wrapped an arm around the back of the man's neck, "Hey, now, big guy, remember me? You kicked sand on me when I didn't tell you about a girl, yeah, you remember. This her? No wonder you were so worried, but, you know what's funny?", he asked rhetorically, tightening his grip on the man's neck, "She doesn't look like she wants to be found, pal. How about you run along before I have to do something really bad to you, huh? How does that sound?"

Mei's voice was so calm, and cold that it was clear he would relish the idea of pounding the guy into nothingness, but he sincerely wanted to give him a headstart.

Meiya sighed, mumbling something into little Zulo's ear as she was about to put him down, so she could burn the snarky man to the ground. She knew him.

She knew that face.

He had attended one of her shows, one from a few nights ago. She knew the hungry look in his eyes. She had seen it to much to stand it any more. Just as she opened her mouth to retort, a tall man out of no where grabbed her watcher by the neck.

He staggered back in surprise, a look of fear replaced the greed in his eyes. The docks stood still. The people who had been minding their own business before now had their round eyes on Meiya, and the two men in front of her.

Meiya felt little nails sink into her skin as Zulo held her hand, gripping her palm tightly.

"Mei-Mei...w-who are dey?" He asked, his little voice shaky.

Meiya's eyebrows furrowed.

Who did this guy think he is? He is causing a scene and freaking out my brother!

"Hey, Look, you two, wanna get a move on? There is a nice allyway near here were you two and punch each other into the ground in private." Meiya hissed, her frustration boiling over.

She didn't need some stranger to barge in. What did the world take her for? some damsel in distress? No, she had been protecting her family by herself for too long. She certainly didn't need someone to fight for her.

"Don't get me wrong, but I don't have the time for either of you today, got it?" She said, her beautiful yet cold eyes stared at them both harshly, her hair dancing wildly in the breeze.

Her pretty face completely softened as she looked down at Zulo, still clinging to her fiercely. "S'okay Zu, You want to go get those apples now?" She said sweetly, and the little boy nodded feverishly in responce.

Mei wasn't even half surprised, but his other arm appeared, "That drink was quite a lot of money." The creep drew a handful of coins, and dropped them into Mei's hand, which shot close, and disappeared from view.

He didn't even acknowledge the girl, please, she wanted to act all high and mighty, he'd take her down a few pegs too. As for the man, he abruptly flung him away, and falling down a few feet away, "You're the reason the Fire Nation still has a bad reputation.", Mei said, the words bearing more weight than any of his previous threats, "You'd better change your ways, because if news of you reaches me, I'm going to track you down, and, PERSONALLY, bring you in."

He turned back around, ignoring the man, and squatting down, "Sorry for that, coulda been a whole lot worse, though.", he said, ignoring the kid's frightened look. Mei, afterall, did not have kids, and had no prospects for it. He was a General, no time for such nonsense. "And as for you..." He looked around, "Does this concern any of you?", he asked the crowd, who suddenly lost interest in them. "As for you, young lady...I'd expect you to be a little more grateful considering it wouldn't have take much for this situation to have gone a COMPLETELY different direction."

He folded his arms behind his back calmly, standing at his full height, looking down at you with a surprisingly friendly smile on his face.

Meiya was on the verge of bursting into flames.

The reason why the fire nation had a bad reputation...?

Meiya took the opportunity to study the man, Her harsh eyes lingering on him for a few brief seconds. He was tall, with dark hair like most people of the fire nation were. He was well built and had extremely good posture. The way he spoke indicated he had been taught to speck clearly and loudly.

Gotta be a military man.

Poor little Zulo was still clinging to Meiya, the meek little boy never really liked big voices. Meiya was still wondering why on earth that man stood in. She was a fire bender and a skilled martial artist. Not that he knew that...but...it still frustrated her to the point of yelling.

I don't need anyone's help...

Once the man turned, she scooped Zulo up into her arms again. "It was a situation I had under control, FOR YOUR INFORMATION." She spat, looking right back up at the stranger, no fear in her eyes.

"I could of handled it myself..." She muttered, blowing a loose strand of her silk like hair out of her face.

Mei smiled lightly, "Don't kid yourself.", he said harshly. Mei was a realist, he could see a sizable difference between the man who was seeking to take her, and her, she could do whatever she wanted to try to stop him, but when a man that size wants something from a girl her size, there aren't many things that will disuade him, besides, she had a kid with her, if the crook were half as intelligent as Mei was he would have thought of using the kid to get what he wanted.

"You have a child with you, and he wasn't a small man...put two and two together."

He lowered his voice to a level he'd once used only a few times, once when he'd watched his aunt die, when he met Shula, and when talking to Zulera.

"Not to be mean...but you must not have much going on upstairs if you think making the man who just lent you a hand angry is a good idea. Especially when his first day on vacation was ruined..."

Oh how she wanted to give him a high five.

In the face.

with a chair.

MADE. OF. STEEL.

"Look buddy, I don't know anything about you, and you don't know anything about me. What is done is done. Now you can go back to your vacation which you are LUCKY to have, and I am going to pretend this never happened." She said quickly, her voice dripping with venom.

She had just about had it with him.

She had had it with this dock.

She had had it with this ISLAND.

Oh how she wanted out of this place...

Mei nodded slowly, "Alright...fine." Her anger had been, despite her age, sexy, in a way. And, he couldn't help chuckling at it. He then reached into his pocket, and removed enough gold pieces to feed a starving household of twenty. "Get yourself out of here. If guys like that actively seek you out, then you don't belong here.", he said, dropping the nearly endless handful of gold into a small bag.

"Both of you.", Mei said, turning and walking away. He bought another one of his drinks, it was technically a mix of coconut milk, and Fire Nation brandy, it reminded him of home.