Earth … Fire … Air … Water …

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the fire nation attacked.

Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished.

A hundred years have passed and the Avatar has returned. However it's not as everyone thought.

Aiyoku is a waterbender. And even though her waterbending skills are great, she still has a lot to learn before she ready to save anyone.

But I believe, Aiyoku can save the world.

Introduced by Mokka

The Avatar Returns

Act I

(The episode opens with a repeat shot of the flare set off by Mokka in the prior episode falling from the sky. It is nearly sunset. The screen pans down to reveal a shot from behind Gran Gran and some other villagers. They look down the ice road out of their village to see Mokka and Aiyoku in the distance walking toward them. As they approach, the children run forward to greet them.)

Children: Yay! Their back!

(The children gather around Mokka as Shu comes forward angrily.)

Shu (pointing): You could've signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You'll be leading them straight to us!
Aiyoku: We didn't do anything. It was an accident.
Mokka: Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well... (putting her hand to her head as if trying to puzzle out the thought) ...we "boobied" right into it.
Gran Gran (shaking her head): Aiyoku, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!
Mokka: Don't blame Aiyoku! I brought her there. (Looking downcast) It's my fault.

(Cut to a shot of Shu he sighs then smiles slightly. The shot cuts and now Shu is directing everyone through the village gate. Martial music plays in the background.)

Shu: All right! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!

(A little boy stops, raising his head and dancing about suggestively.)

Little Boy: But, I gotta –
Shu (cutting him off forcefully and pointing to the fortifications): And no potty breaks!

(Cut to Shu putting on his war garb. Fingerless gloves, arm wraps, boots and face paint are all applied silently.

Cut to the other female teenage warriors putting their war garb on.

Cut to a quick exterior shot of Zuko's ship steaming ahead, then cut again to a parallel shot of Zuko being helped into his armor by some attendants. He guards himself with a breastplate, shoulder guard and helmet.

The scene shifts to Shu leaving his tent with his weapons, then cut to a silent overhead pan shot of the village. Shu and the other warriors, minus Aiyoku, stand atop the ice wall of the village, scanning the mist for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, a deep rumbling noise is heard and the ground begins to shake. Parts of the wall on which they stand begins to crumble. The villagers look around in alarm. Cut back to the warriors where the guard tower in the background collapses in a heap of snow and ice.)

Shu (disappointed at the tower's collapse): Oh man!

(Pandemonium breaks out in the village as people being to run every which way. Aiyoku is in their midst, but stops, seeing something in the mist. Cut to a shot from Aiyoku's P.O.V. Still atop the wall, Shu and the warriors look small. Suddenly a massive shadow emerges from the mist, dwarfing them. It is the bow of Prince Zuko's ship.

Cut to a zoom in close up of Shu.)

Shu: (shocked) Ohhh, man!

(The shot shifts to a profile view of the village and the encroaching ship. Prince Zuko's vessel has cut through the ice all the way to the village wall itself. As the ships continue to ice break towards the wall, Aiyoku puts Gran Gran into one of the tents in the rear, Mokka gets a little child out of harm's way as the ice floor of the village begins to crack all over the place under the stress.

As she puts the child in a tent, she turns to look back to Shu. Cut to a wide overhead shot of the ship reaching the wall, Shu poised both tragically and comically to the ships hull with his weapon.)

Mokka: Shu, get out of the way!

(As the ship reaches the wall, it collapses into a heap of ice and snow which tumbles back into the village, carrying Shu with it. Cut to a wide shot of the ship which has come to a halt. Steam wafts up from where the bow has split the ice. The villagers, Aiyoku and Mokka in front, have emerged from their shelters and stare in trepidation and amazement at the ship. Aiyoku draws a deep breath in anticipation. Cut to Shu looking up at the ship, who also draws breath.

Cut to a wide shot from behind Shu that pans up. With a noise of metal on metal the bowsprit of the ship opens and folds out and down onto the village's floor. The bowsprit has become a huge gangplank, similar to the Roman corvus, for disembarking Fire Nation troops. Shu falls backwards to avoid being crushed by the bowsprit.

As the steam clears from the top of the bowsprit, Zuko and a host of Fire Nation soldiers are revealed. A quick cut to Shu and the villagers is replaced by one of Zuko walking down the gangplank stairs followed by guards.

Cut back to one of the warriors , who gets up and charges Zuko with an adolescent war cry. As she runs up the steps to the Prince, Zuko casually and expertly kicks her weapon out of her hand and then kicks her in the face, sending her sprawling on the ice to the planks right. Her head gets stuck in the snow and she struggles comically to free herself. The villagers draw back in fright and the ease with which their newest warrior has been dispatched by the invaders. Cut to an overhead shot of the villagers and Fire Nation soldiers who have now reached them. Zuko walks forward to address the village. He looks over the crowd, then walks over to Aiyoku, Mokka and Gran Gran.)

Zuko: Where are you hiding him?

(He looks around the crowd as there is no immediate response. He grabs Gran Gran and shows her to the villagers.)

Zuko: He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?

(Again no one responds. After a brief pause, he throws Gran Gran roughly back to Aiyoku. With a cry of frustration he launches a gout of flame over the villager's heads. They cower in fear.)

Zuko: I know you're hiding him!

(Behind Zuko, another warrior runs at him. She retrieves her weapon and charges Zuko with a cry. Cut to girl's P.O.V., where Zuko turns to her in annoyance. He dodges the girl's charges and flips her over his head. Zuko fires a blast of flame at her, but she rolls out of the way. Yet another warrior appears throwing her boomerang at Zuko as she comes into the shot. Caught by surprise, Zuko barely avoids the boomerang. He turns to look back in anger at the girl over the near miss. Cut to another warrior, the villagers behind her. A little boy in the crowd throws her a spear.)

Little Boy: Show no fear!

(She catches the spear and charges Zuko, who, as she reaches him, breaks off pieces of the spear shaft with his wrist guards. After the head of the spear has been shorn off, Zuko grabs the spear, boinks her on the forehead with it several times, then breaks it in half and drops the pieces on the ground. The warrior, after getting bonked on the head, has also sunk to the ground, rubbing her head. A "down the tubes" sound effect plays for a comic effect. Cut to a shot from the girl's P.O.V., with Zuko standing sternly over her. In the sky in the background a small rock appears. It slams Zuko in the back of the head, knocking his helmet off kilter.)

Shu (seriously): Get out of our village.

(Furious, Zuko begins to spit fire out of his hands as he turns menacingly on Shu.

Cut to Aiyoku motioning her hand slightly causing a large pile of snow to fly forward right under Zuko, sweeping his legs out from under him. Zuko lands butt up. The helmet lands on his behind in a most suggestive manner. The children cheer as Aiyoku steps forward. Aiyoku looks over at the Firebenders. Cut to Zuko getting to his feet and assuming a firebending stance, then cut to an overhead shot of Aiyoku at the ready, surrounded by Zuko and his men. They begin to close in, but Aiyoku blows the men on either side of her backwards with blasts of air. She blasts Zuko as well, but he holds his ground, shielding his face from the wind.)

Aiyoku: Looking for me?
Zuko (incredulous): You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?
Mokka: Aiyoku?
Shu: No way.

(Cut to an overhead shot showing Zuko and Aiyoku maneuvering for position against each other in the middle of a village that has become an arena.)

Zuko: I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!
Aiyoku: Well, you're just a teenager.

(Zuko fires blast after blast. Aiyoku cries out. She is hard pressed, fear showing on her face. Aiyoku dissipates each blast as it strikes by lifting snow in front of her. The dissipation doesn't block the fire from reaching the villagers, though, and they cry out. Aiyoku looks behind to them and realizes she can't protect them all.)

Aiyoku: If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?

(Cut to wide shot of Zuko still in a firebending stance. After a brief pause he straightens up and nods stiffly. Cut back to Aiyoku, a soldier's hands entering the frame to lead her to the ship. Cut to a shot of the villagers where Mokka rushes forward.)

Mokka: No, Aiyoku! Don't do this!
Aiyoku: Don't worry, Mokka, it'll be okay. (They push her forward roughly) Take care of the village for me until I get back.
Zuko: Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home.

(They board the ship and the bowsprit rises back up. Aiyoku looks back hopefully at her friends as the ship closes. Mokka's eyes water as the prison closes around Aiyoku. Her smile drops as she sees her pain. The shadow of the closing bowsprit closes over her, then the bowsprit snaps into place.)

Act II

(The show returns with an overhead shot of the village. It is morning. The jagged path through the ice that Zuko's ship opened is plainly visible as is the shattered village wall. Life goes on, however, the fire at the center of the village smokes and villagers are visible going about their work. Several shots flip by of villagers tending the fire, digging out the watchtower and re-raising tents. They look sad. Cut to a long shot of Mokka at the water's edge looking out at the sun rising over the sea, then cut to a frontal view of her. Shu walks by in the background carrying some things.)

Mokka: We have to go after that ship, Shu. Aiyoku saved us; now we have to save her.
Shu: Mokka, I—
Mokka: If we don't help her, no one will. I know you think Aiyoku is a pain, but we owe her and I—
Shu: Mokka! Are you gonna talk all day or are you comin' with me?

(Shu motions to his left and the screen expands to show a canoe ready to go.)

Mokka (with a happy gasp): Shu!

(She gives him a bear hug.)

Gran Gran (entering the shot from behind them): What do you two think you're doing?

(They turn and try to look innocent. Cut to Gran Gran, who looks momentarily severe, but then smiles and offers them a blue bundle.)

Gran Gran: You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you. It's been so long since I've had hope. But you three brought it back to life. (She hugs Mokka) And you, my brave warrior, be nice to your sister.

(She hugs Shu.)

Shu: Yeah... okay, Gran.
Gran Gran: Aiyoku is the Avatar. She's the world's only chance. You three are friends for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with hers.
Mokka(turning to the canoe): There's no way we're gonna catch a war ship with a canoe.

(The shot expands to show Appa mounting the crest of hill in the background. He emits a low rumble as he approaches.)

Mokka: Appa!

(She runs offscreen towards Appa.)

Shu: You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?

(Fade to a shot of Zuko's ship's prow cutting through the ice packed water. Cut to the foredeck. Aiyoku, hands bound behind her, faces Zuko, Iroh and a bunch of guards.)

Zuko: You will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Take the Avatar to the prison hold.

(A quick shot of the ship steaming through a narrow strip of water between walls of ice is replaced by another of Aiyoku being escorted along one of the ship's hallways.)

Aiyoku: So... I guess you never fought an Avatar before. I bet I can take you both with my hands tied behind my back.
Guard 1: Silence!

(They stop in front of a door. As one of the guards moves to open the door with a key, Aiyoku draws a great breath and blows the guard with the key into the door, knocking him out. The breath also propels her backwards and into the guard behind her. They are blown all the way back down the hallway. They crash into the stairs they came down on. The guard is knocked out since Aiyoku used him to cushion her own impact. Aiyoku then airbends herself back up onto the deck and airbends the door at the end of the deck open. She enters the ship and runs down the hall. Cut to an overhead shot from the bridge looking down onto the foredeck. One of the guards Aiyoku just escaped from emerges and shouts up to a guard on the bridge deck in the foreground. The bridge guards turns and runs offscreen.)

Guard 2: The Avatar has escaped!

(Cut to an overhead shot of Appa swimming through the water, with Mokka at the reigns and Shu on his back in the saddle.)

Shu (drearily): Go. Fly. Soar.
Mokka: Please, Appa, we need your help. Aiyoku needs your help.
Shu: Up. Ascend. Elevate.
Mokka (Coaxingly): Come on. Don't you wanna save Aiyoku?

(Appa rumbles in response, but doesn't speed up or fly.)

Shu: What was it that you said? Yee-ha? Hup hup? Wahoo? Uh... yip yip?

(This last gets a response. Appa rumbles again and begins to flop his massive beaver tail. He begins to hop along the surface of the water as he picks up speed. Finally, with a mighty heave, he takes off into the sky.)

Mokka (ecstatic): You did it, Shu!
Shu: He's flying! He's flying! Mokka, I got him to—! (Mokka gives him a smug look. Then, nonchalantly) I mean, big deal, he's flying.

(Cut to a stationary shot as Appa flies by at high speed and into the horizon, then cut to Aiyoku running down one of the ship's hallways, looking behind her for pursuers. her hands are still bound behind her. She turns and starts to run forward – right into three Fire Nation soldiers blocking her way, weapons drawn.)

Aiyoku (panting): You haven't seen a way out of here, have you?

(Aiyoku runs forward and up and around the guards by running along the walls and ceiling in corkscrew circles. She gets by them with ease and they look at her retreating form with surprise.)

Aiyoku: Thanks anyway!

(She runs into another hallway, this time blocked by a single guard. He blasts a fireball at her, but she avoids it by launching herself over the guards head. The frame rate slows as Aiyoku passes, showing how Aiyoku is able to cut her restraints by catching them on the horn of the guard's helmet. The rope breaks and the guard is thrown off balance and onto the ground. Aiyoku, her hands now free, runs offscreen. Several shots of Aiyoku opening random doors goes by. The last door she opens reveals a snoring Iroh.)

Aiyoku (whispering): Sorry...

(Sight gag: Her lips linger behind the rest of her head to say it while she closes the door. She then runs by another open door, stops and turns back to it.)

Aiyoku: A window!

(She enters and the door shuts behind her. Cut to an interior shot of the room where it is clear that Zuko was hiding in wait for the Avatar.)

Zuko: Looks like I underestimated you.

(After a brief pause, Zuko begins blasting fire at Aiyoku, who barely dodges. She is terrified and she gasps and pants to catch her breath. After dodging a few more shots, Aiyoku rolls underneath Zuko to get behind him. By staying behind him, using a stance that Mokka taught her, Zuko is unable to blast her with fire.)

Aiyoku (jokingly): You know if you were facing the other way it would be like we were dancing.

(Cut to an exterior shot of the upper decks of the ship. The long window of the room where Aiyoku and Zuko are fighting lights up every other second each time Zuko releases a blast. Cut back to the fight, where Aiyoku now faces Zuko. She dissipates each fireball with a small air ball she forms with her hands. Aiyoku creates an air scooter and rides around the walls and ceiling of the room, all the time getting licked by the gouts of flame Zuko unleashes at her. Aiyoku loses the airball and grabs a tapestry off the wall. She wraps Zuko up in it as she passes. While Zuko struggles against the tapestry, Aiyoku readies herself in a fighting stance. Zuko breaks his restraint, causing Aiyoku to grimace and they once again square off against each other.)

Aiyoku: First of all, I'm sixteen, not a child.

(After a few seconds of maneuvering, Aiyoku airbends a mattress up off the floor and slams it into Zuko. The mattress propels Zuko into the opposite wall. He is smashed into it and he falls to the ground, onto the mattress. Aiyoku then airbends the mattress up with Zuko, smashing him into the ceiling. Both fall back down to the ground. Zuko looks up in anger to find Aiyoku gone.)

Aiyoku (as she airbends the mattress): Second of all, it's been fun dancing with you but I have to go. See ya later. (runs offscreen then calls back) Loser!

(Cut to the bridge, where a the wheel mechanism that opens a deck hatch on the floor begins to spin. The hatch opens and Aiyoku airbends herself on to the bridge from below. Aiyoku rushes forward out on to the bridge's observation deck. She jumps from the bridge prepared to land on the deck below. Unfortunately, behind her, Zuko has jumped after her in pursuit. With a fierce cry of desperation, he grabs Aiyoku. They plummet to the deck. Both get up and square off yet again. Aiyoku's look of trepidation is tempered as she turns over her left shoulder to see Appa up in the sky gaining on Zuko's ship.)

Zuko: What is that?

(Cut briefly to a shot from behind Mokka and Shu as they close in on the ship.)

Aiyoku: Appa!

(Aiyoku turns just in time to use water to block a fire blast from Zuko. She uses the water as a shield to escape the blasts. When her water evaporates she jumps to avoid the blasts and lands back down on the edge of the deck, almost falling overboard. She regains her balance and dodges a few more blasts before she is finally knocked overboard. Aiyoku falls into the water below.)

Mokka (hysterical): Aiyoku! No!

(Cut to an underwater shot as Aiyoku sinks.)

Mokka (voice-over as Aiyoku sinks): Aiyoku! Aiyoku! AIYOKU!

(At Mokka's final scream, Aiyoku's eyes glow white and tribal markings appear on her cheeks, chin, and the visible parts of her neck, chest, and biceps, an expression of determination forming on her face. She turns around in the water and begins to rise towards the surface. Around her, a mighty whirlpool of water begins to form. Cut to a wider underwater shot. Aiyoku, at the center of a now monstrous, inverted tornado of water is propelled toward the surface at amazing speed. She breaks the surface in front of the ship, towering high over the bridge atop her swirling maelstrom of water. Cut to Zuko, who looks up at the swirling column of water and the Avatar at its pinnacle with dismay and fear. Aiyoku lands on the deck, her eyes still aglow, and bends the water from the column around her in a circle. She releases it and it expands outward in a shockwave that blasts Zuko and his men overboard. Cut to Shu and Mokka witnessing the scene from Appa's back above.)

Mokka (incredulously): Did you see what she just did?
Shu: Now that was some waterbending!

(Cut to Aiyoku on the foredeck. She is on her knees, wobbling after the huge energy expenditure. She falls forward, the white energy fading from her eyes and her markings disappear. Appa lands and Mokka and Shu jump off to retrieve her.)

Mokka (worried): Aiyoku! Are you okay?

(Cut to Mokka kneeling and holding Aiyoku, Shu beside her.)

Aiyoku (drained): Hey Mokka. Hey Shu. Thanks for coming.
Shu: Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory.

(As the two friends try to lift Aiyoku to her feet and get her on Appa. They hear Zuko climbing back onto the ship. Shu uses Mokka's staff and butts Zuko in the head with it three times to the same "doink doink doink" sound effects that were heard when Zuko did the same to the warrior earlier. Zuko lets go and begins to fall to the water below, but grabs the anchor chain in time. He hangs by one hand.)

Shu: Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!

(Cut to a wide shot of Appa, Aiyoku and Mokka. Appa gets up, shaking off some water. Cut to some of the guards who had been washed way down the deck by Aiyoku's waterbending. They get up, preparing for combat. Aiyoku, weakly, picks up a stream of water from the deck and the guards pull back slightly in fear. She tries to whip the guards with the water, but instead freezes the water on the deck, including the water around Shu's feet in the background.)

Shu: Aiyoku!

(Shu starts to chip away at the ice holding his feet with Mokka's staff while the soldiers move forward once again. Aiyoku picks up another stream of water and throws it at the soldiers without looking. The camera then expands to show that they are now frozen in a thin sheet of ice.)

Mokka: Hurry up, Shu!

(Shu finally frees himself and runs up Appa's tail.)

Shu: Yip yip! Yip yip!

(Once he is onboard, Appa rumbles and takes off. Cut to Iroh who has just emerged onto the deck after his nap, looking up to the sky.)

Iroh (rubbing his eyes): Huh?

(Cut to Appa rapidly flying away from the ship, then to Iroh helping Zuko back up onto the ship.)

Zuko: Shoot them down!

(As Appa gains altitude, Zuko and Iroh in unison launch a massive bolt of fire at Appa. Aiyoku and Shu look behind them in horror at the approaching fireball.)

Aiyoku: Mokka hand me your staff!

(Aiyoku jumps up and, using the staff like a baseball bat, airbends a gale that sends the fireball at a right angle away from Appa and into the ice cliff nearby. The fireball explodes, releasing a huge amount of ice from the cliff wall which falls into the narrow channel that Zuko's ship is navigating. Zuko gasps in horror as the bow of the ship and indeed the entire channel is blocked up under an avalanche of ice. Cut to Aiyoku, Mokka and Shu laughing as they fly away. Cut back to Iroh and Zuko on the foredeck of the heavily damaged ship.)

Iroh: Good news for the Fire Lord. The nation's greatest threat is just a little girl.
Zuko: That girl, Uncle, just did this. (Shot widens to show the prow buried in ice) I won't underestimate her again. Dig this ship out and follow them! (In the background, some soldiers are using controlled firebending to thaw out their compatriots frozen by Aiyoku) As soon as you're done with that.

(Cut to a close up of Zuko's eyes that fades to a long shot, sunset scene of Appa flying through the clouds. Then cut to a closer, profile shot of Appa and the kids flying through the clouds.)

Mokka: How did you do that? With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
Aiyoku (sitting cross legged on the saddle, a slightly sad expression on her face): I don't know. I just sort of... did it.
Mokka: Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?
Aiyoku: Because... I never wanted to be.

(Overhead, a cloud passes over them, momentarily blocking the fading sunlight. After it passes, they enter a shaft of sunlight.)

Mokka: But Aiyoku, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war.
Aiyoku (looking down sadly): And how am I going to do that?
Mokka: According to legend, you need to first master air, then earth, then fire, right?
Aiyoku: That's what the sages told me.
Mokka: Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending.
Aiyoku (now smiling): And you can teach me airbending! And Shu, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way.
Shu (somewhat dreamily): I'd like that. I'd really like that.
Aiyoku: Then we're in this together.
Mokka (producing a scroll): All right, but before you learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to (she airbends herself over to them and opens the scroll to reveal a map) here, here, and here.

(She points to two spots in the Earth Kingdom, and one spot on the southern Air Nomad islands in quick succession.)

Aiyoku: What's there?
Mokka: Here (pointing to the eastern Earth Kingdom) we'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here (pointing to a spot on the southern Air Nomad islands) we'll surf on the backs of giant Koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!

(Cut to a long shot of Appa flying through the clouds at sunset, shafts of the suns fading light breaking through the clouds, then fade to white.)