Prologue
The tsunami was coming... they could feel it. In a small hot air balloon hovering above the island of Kyoshi, seven young warriors awaited in the basket to face the threat that, if not stopped, could sweep away all the life on the island and sink it below the sea.
The inhabitants of the balloon included Suki, the leader of the island's valiant Kyoshi Warriors, her boyfriend: Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe who would toss anything aside to assist the girl he loved, his sister, the master waterbender Katara, Fire Lord Zuko, head of the Fire Nation, who insisted on coming to help to redeem himself to the Kyoshi dwellers for his wrongs toward them in the past, Mai, the Fire Lord's girlfriend and, both hoped, eventual fiancé, Ty Lee, the graceful acrobat and Suki's second in command for the Kyoshi Warriors, and Toph Bei Fong, the 'greatest Earthbender in the world!' She claimed that the only reason she came along was because she needed some major action after the 100 Year War ended over half a year ago.
As the old Gaang looked off in the distance to see the hundred-foot wave coming towards the island at an alarming rate, they realized how dire the situation was. They weren't sure if they would be able to control a wave of that strength and height! The only person that probably had the slightest chance was their friend: Avatar Aang. Unfortunately, he was on a long journey to the Eastern Air Temple to investigate 'supposed' sightings of Air Nomads that survived Sozin's Comet over a hundred years ago. When news of the tsunami finally made it to the young avatar, he despaired knowing that he would never make it in time to stop it.
Being on the island for a small visit, that they managed to convince Mai to talk Zuko into taking a small break from his Fire Nation duties, the remaining Gaang didn't hesitate to spring into action to protect everyone! With Zuko piloting the balloon, Katara looking determinedly down at the water, knowing it was up to her to stop the killer wave.
"Katara!" shouted Zuko as he threw another flame into the 'engine' of the balloon to keep them aloft, "Are sure you can handle this?!"
"Of course she can Sparky!" exclaimed Toph, obviously annoyed the Fire Lord doubted the waterbender's abilities, 'And besides if Sugar Queen here can take down that psycho you call a sister, then she can totally take on a giant wave! How hard can it be?"
The rest of the Gaang looked at the Blind Bandit like she was insane. Taking down Azula had been quite an accomplishment, but compared to a hundred foot or so tsunami, Azula looked like a harmless catdeer!
"Toph this serious! If Katara can't take apart the wave, tons of people are going to die!" Suki scolded the Bei Fong heiress severely. Her own homeland could wipe off the face of the Earth for crying out loud!
"I know it's serious Face Paint! Can't you tell I'm worried too?!"
"Uh... no I can-"
"Would you two stop acting like a couple of angry Polar Bear Dogs!" shouted Sokka suddenly, startling the two girls. It had been a while since they had seen Sokka yell like that.
"All three of you need to knock it off!" shouted Mai moments later, "Katara probably can't concentrate with all four of us fooling around in here!"
Katara gave Mai a look that said 'Thanks' she turned to Zuko, "Zuko get us closer to the water!"
Surprised by this sudden order, the Fire Lord glanced at her as if to ask 'Are you sure?' before he saw the look on the waterbender's face, as she stared at the full moon. Nodding, Zuko shrunk the fire until the Gaang was right over the wave.
"Yue, please help us!" Sokka called to his ex-girlfriend in the sky. Katara smiled at her brother's determination too, trying to ask for assistance as the wave came within fifty feet of the balloon.
"You can do this Katara!" Ty Lee encouraged in her usual bubbly attitude.
"Alright," breathed Katara as she felt the moon's power invigorating her as if it were an answer to Sokka's prayer, "here we go!"
As the wave neared, Katara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the energy of the full moon's light fill her. Her eyes snapped open and brought her arm down into an arm chop. The wave lurched as part of it was knocked away from the rest of it, causing it to lose some power. More arm movements followed, causing more water to be sent away from the rest, making the wave smaller and smaller. Katara brought her hands up and made another wave that crashed into the now smaller wave. As both waves met, they sent a tower of water skyward, soaking the hot air balloon and the seven passengers.
"Katara! You did it!" cheered Sokka and Ty Lee simultaneously as they did a small victory dance in the minimum space provided in the basket. Toph shot her fist into the air in victory, and Zuko smiled proudly in relief. Even the corners of Mai's mouth turned upward slightly.
Katara was breathing hard, she sat down, closed her eyes, and looked ready to pass out. "I don't want to do that again."
"Are you okay?" asked Suki.
Katara nodded and said, "Just need to rest, I don't think I can waterbend anymore right now."
"Don't worry, you can rest on the island Sugar Queen!" said Toph encouragingly, "Sparky! Get us to shore!"
"I don't think I can!" Zuko suddenly shouted in a panic as he tried to light a fire under the now soaked balloon. It took a split second longer for the remainder of the Gaang to see the problem. The water from the two colliding waves had completely soaked the balloon in such a way that the wood was now too wet to burn anymore! As a result the balloon started to plummet toward the ocean, the seven teens in tow!
"Hold on!" shouted Sokka as the wind whipped against his face. Within the chaos Toph was able to crawl her way to Katara and tried to shake her awake to save them.
Succeeding, Katara saw that she and her friends were zooming toward the water. Sokka was holding Suki while Zuko held Mai and Toph and Ty Lee struggled to hang on to the remaining metal railing. Acting on reflex, Katara quickly protected herself and her friends by encasing them in an ice dome, but she was so tired she did not have time to think and in her haste she accidentally froze the inside solid as well!
The next morning, as the sun rose in the sky, the hot air balloon was gone, with not even a single speck of debris floating on the water, and the seven warriors were never seen again.