So here's a really long chapter for you guys! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! I really, really appreciate everyone sticking around and reading every chapter and those of you that review. To those of you that don't review, I appreciate you too! I really love knowing that there are real people out there who actually read my work and like it enough to keep going. It's a great motivator, and without you guys, I probably wouldn't finish this at all, so thank you. All sappiness aside, please enjoy this chapter!


The South Pole was large, nearly empty and made of ice. Sokka had known this ever since he was old enough to think. His village consisted of nothing but a few tattered huts and its inhabitants were old people, women, children and Sokka himself. As the oldest male in the village, it fell onto Sokka to do all of the hunting and protecting of the village. It was a hard and thankless job, but it was one Sokka loved. As the son of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and Acting-Chief-in-Charge, Sokka had a lot of responsibility and the admiration of those who were left in the village. His Gran-Gran and the women would make hearty stew out of the fish and polar hares he caught. The children looked up to him as their protector and leader. But, there was nothing Sokka liked more than being a teacher. That's why he was out in the middle of nowhere in a canoe.

"It's not getting away from me this time," Sokka said softly, holding his sharpened whale-bone spear over the dark silhouette of a big and juicy looking fish. "Watch and learn, Touya. This is how you catch a fish." Sokka peered at the water's surface intently as he felt Touya's eyes on him. The fish was so close; he could already smell it cooking. His arm tensed, spear raised, ready to strike the water when—"Sokka, look!" The fish swam away and Sokka scowled. He turned to see Touya waving his arm around, making the water move.

"How come whenever you play with your magic water, I'm always the one who ends up suffering?" Sokka cried. He was so close to catching the fish, so so so close. Sokka sighed and hung his head. Touya looked at Sokka with big eyes, before grinning. "Did you look Sokka? Did you see that!? That's the most water I made move yet!"

Sokka looked at his little brother in barely veiled annoyance. Everybody said that Touya was the spitting image of Sokka, but he didn't think so. Sure, they had the same blue-grey eyes, same light brown hair, they even had the same hairstyle. Or almost did anyway. Touya had tried to shave his own head so he could have an impressive warrior's wolf tail too. His hair came out all crooked and now the sides of his head were fuzzy with soft hair that Sokka did not enjoy rubbing, no matter how much he rubbed it.

"Impressive," Sokka said dryly. "Maybe you can use your waterbending to feed the village while I sit here in awe!"

Touya smiled, extremely excited to be given such a large responsibility. "Wow, really!? I can help you hunt? I'll be a great hunter! I've been watching you very closely! I've learned a lot!" Touya chattered. Sokka sighed again. His brother just didn't understand the finer points of sarcasm.

"That was sarcasm Touya," Sokka sighed. The wide smile fell off Touya's face immediately, leaving a dejected look on his face akin to a kicked polar dog. "Listen, I—" Sokka started before he felt the canoe lurch. For a spilt second, Sokka thought that Touya managed to make the entire ocean move, but Touya looked just as surprised as Sokka felt. Sokka looked around and noticed that the canoe had gotten stuck in a current. Sokka grabbed the only paddle and furiously tried to paddle his way out of the current. Large ice floes rose from either side of the canoe and Sokka paddled furiously to avoid them. "Sokka! Go left!" Touya yelled. Sokka paddled left. "Left! Left!" Touya screamed as the floes got closer and closer.

"Waterbend!" Sokka screamed.

"I don't know how! Watch out!"

The ice was closing in from both sides. In a spilt second decision, Sokka grabbed Touya and jumped out of the canoe just before the small wooden canoe burst into tiny splinters. Great. Now how were they going to get home? Maybe when it was Nulia's turn to hunt, she would find them. Or they would end up freezing, starving or being eaten to death. "You didn't go left Sokka," Touya mumbled.

"You don't like my steering? Maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice," Sokka retorted. "I knew I should have left you home! Leave it to a kid to screw things up."

"What!? I wasn't the one who steered us right into a current!" Touya cried.

"I didn't steer us into the current! We got sucked in. Maybe if you had stayed home, we could be eating some fish right now!"

Touya's bottom lip trembled and his eyes watered. Sokka rolled his eyes. "Cry all you want, I don't care. It's still your fault," Sokka scoffed. Touya's eyes dried up and the boy frowned.

"It's NOT my fault! I was only showing you what I could do! Why do you always blame ME for stuff? You're always yelling at me! WHY? I didn't DO anything!" While Touya was yelling, his arms were wildly, disturbing the water around their ice floe, and Sokka heard some very foreboding cracks.

"Touya," Sokka tried to interrupt his brother, but Touya was having none of it. He continued his rant, waving his arm around and causing more cracks. Sokka didn't know a lot about waterbending (and all of his knowledge came from Nulia, who found out from her grand uncle who was there when the waterbenders were taken), but what he did know was that it had a lot to do with arm movements and emotions. And Touya was moving his arms a whole lot and he was being very emotional.

"No! Stop blaming me! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!" Touya screamed, before a large crack of ice drowned him out. Unbeknownst to Touya, his unconscious waterbending disturbed an underwater iceberg, which decided that the middle of Touya's tantrum was a good time to surface.

"Touya, watch out!" Sokka cried. He grabbed his brother before the boy could slip into the freezing water and watched as the iceberg hit the light. Sokka thought he saw something in the ice, something vaguely human shaped. Touya apparently thought the same thing because he ran to the iceberg excitedly.

"There's somebody in there Sokka! Let's help!" Touya said, previous temper tantrum all but forgotten. Sokka looked at the iceberg suspiciously, but followed his brother anyway. He had to protect Touya from anything released from that iceberg. "Sokka, give me Dad's club!"

"Why don't you waterbend the thing out of there?" Sokka said sarcastically. Touya frowned and held out his hand. Sokka looked at the outstretched hand impassively. Touya's expectant expression never changed and with a sigh, Sokka handed Touya the club. "Thanks," Touya said. He tightly held the club and smashed it into the iceberg repeatedly. Ice shards flew into the air and cracks shot through the iceberg. A loud crack reverberated through the air and Sokka snatched Touya away from the iceberg as it split in half. A bright beam of light filled the air, hurting Sokka's eyes. Once the light subsided, he saw a person with glowing eyes climb out of the iceberg, only to fall over almost immediately. For reasons Sokka would never understand, he rushed to stop the person's fall. Up close, Sokka noticed the person was dressed in colors that Sokka had never seen before. There was not a single hair on his head and a blue tattoo rested right on his forehead. He looked young, definitely younger than Sokka. He looked like he was around Touya's age, maybe a little younger. Sokka wondered how such a young kid could have all that power. What about the tattoos and the strange clothes? Was he a bender? And where did that light—

"Stop it!" Sokka hissed. Touya stopped, whale bone spear still suspended mere inches from the tattooed boy's head. Sokka gave his brother a glare and Touya let the spear fall to the snow. "I was only poking him…" the younger boy mumbled. Sokka was about to give Touya a lecture about poking strange people in the head, when a small groan reached Sokka's ears. He turned to see a pair of hazy grey eyes looking at him. "I need…to ask you something," the boy asked in a scratchy voice.

"What?" Sokka asked, mind running through everything the boy would need once they get back to the village. He needed a parka, some water, a pair of mittens and seal-hide boots….

"Please," the boy pleaded. "Come closer."

Sokka moved closer, close enough that their noses were touching. "What is it?"

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" The boy's hazy eyes and tired face brightened to childish exuberance, leaving Sokka momentarily confused.

"Um," he said as he recovered. "I'm too old to go penguin sledding, but I'm sure Touya would want to—"

"Penguin sledding!?" Touya cried out, apparently having missed the rest of the conversation. "I want to go penguin sledding! Are we going now?" The boy nodded with a bright smile on his face, before standing up and looking around. The smile on his face slowly dissolved into a contemplative look.

"What's going on here?" The boy asked. Sokka shrugged his shoulders and stood up himself. "You tell me," he said.

"How'd you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" Touya asked, poking the boy with Sokka's whale bone spear. The boy idly waved the spear point off of his body and continued to look around, as if he was just noticing the icebergs rising out of the sea. A deep rumbling filled the air and shook the ice floe they were in. Sokka grabbed Touya and pushed his brother behind him. Sokka tried to grab the new kid, but he jumped up the ruined remains of the iceberg. The groaning stopped and Sokka thought he heard something about an "Appa". What in the world was an "Appa"?

Touya wiggled out from behind Sokka and peeked around to the other side of the iceberg. With a loud gasp, he ran out of his brother's sight. Sokka panicked and ran towards the other side, jaw dropping and eyes bugging out once he saw what exactly an 'Appa' was. It was large, with arrows just like the boy's, wicked sharp horns and beady brown eyes. Its mouth looked wider than Sokka was tall and it growled with the ferocity of a dozen wolf-sharks. It had even licked the strange boy, proving it had a taste for human flesh! "What is that thing?" Sokka asked, trying very hard to keep the edge of panic out of his voice. What if that thing went for Touya? Compared to the strange boy, Touya must have looked like a five course feast for the beast! Sokka was a good huntsman, but even he couldn't fight off such a huge monstrous creature. Touya, however, didn't seem afraid at all. He was looking at the boy and the 'Appa' curiously and even seemed a little excited. Sokka scowled.

"This is Appa, my flying bison."

Sokka did not expect that. "Right. And this is Touya," he pointed to Touya. "My flying brother." In response to that, the boy gave Sokka an incredulous look. Even the Appa looked confused. It started to bare its teeth and growled softly, before letting out a loud sneeze. In slow motion, Sokka watched the bright green spittle fly in the air. He distantly heard the boy scream out a warning, but it was too late. He felt the warm gunk, sticky and gooey on his face and the rest of his body. Sokka stood there, letting the full impact of what happened to him sink in. He took a deep breath and started wiping the snot from his face. "Ewwwwww," Touya gagged with a giggle.

"Don't worry, it'll wash right out," the boy said, as if he were being helpful. Sokka just stared. The boy frowned, unnerved, but bounced right back with a question. "So, do you guys live around here?"

Touya opened his mouth to talk, but Sokka cut him off, yanking the spear from Touya's hands and pointing it at the boy. "Don't answer that," he said to Touya, who pouted. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy."

Touya rolled his eyes and shoved Sokka out of the way. "I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by the evil look in his eye." The boy gave Sokka the most innocent look he had ever seen, and Sokka sighed. He couldn't ever win.

"The paranoid one is my brother Sokka," Touya said. "And I'm Touya. You never told us your name." Sokka rolled his eyes. He was not paranoid, he just was very healthily cautious. Touya was naïve, he didn't see what the Fire Nation was like, and he hadn't seen the fringes of the war on his doorstep. And by the looks of it, neither did this kid.

"I'm A-aaaaaCHOOOO!" Sokka did not expect the burst of wind that accompanied the boy's sneeze. Sokka did not expect to see him fly thirty feet into the air. Sokka also did not expect to see the boy land safely on the ice, no worse for the wear. "I'm Aang."

"You just sneezed! And you flew ten feet in the air!" Touya cried.

"Really?" Aang asked. "It felt higher than that." Sokka thought so too, but he couldn't think of anything coherent, except that he was seeing an airbender, in the flesh.

"You're an airbender!" Touya gasped. Aang nodded with a smile and Sokka was finally snapped out of his stupor. And he responded to all of this madness the only way he knew how, with bitter sarcasm.

"Giant light beams, flying bison, airbenders, I think I got midnight sun madness," he said. "I'm going home where things make sense." Then he remembered where he was. "I would go home if our canoe didn't split into a million tiny pieces," he rectified.

"Canoe? Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a lift," Aang said, spinning and using his airbending to fly to the top of Appa's head. Sokka was about to respectfully say no, when he realized just what he was saying no to. If Appa really was a flying bison, they'd be at the village in no time, and even if Appa was not a flying bison, Sokka was sure the thing could swim and still be warm with all that fur. He had no idea if anybody would come for them. They'd be looking of course, but the current had swept them farther out than Sokka expected. None of the women would go out this far, not even Hanna, and she was crazy intense. Sokka didn't want to go on the creature that had assaulted him so, but there was no way he'd let Touya freeze to death.

"We'd love a ride, wouldn't we Touya?" Sokka said. Touya looked confused, like he expected Sokka to vehemently protest. The eleven year old grinned and nodded. "Yeah I want to ride Appa!" he said, running to the side of the bison and trying to climb on. Rolling his eyes, Sokka grabbed Touya's waist and lifted him onto the saddle. After scrambling on, Touya turned and held his hand out for Sokka, who took it and half climbed onto Appa's back. Once both siblings were sitting on the saddle upright, Aang looked back and gave them all a grin.

"First-time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!" Aang cried, snapping Appa's reins. The creature groaned, snapped his wide tail and jumped into the air. Sokka had to admit, for such a large and heavy thing, Appa could sure jump high. For a blissful moment, they were in the air, wind whipping Sokka's warrior wolf-tail and even moving the fuzz on Touya's head. Then Appa belly-flopped the ocean. Sokka sighed. He should have known. "Come on Appa, yip-yip!" Aang tried again.

"Wow," Sokka said dryly. "That was truly amazing."

"Appa's just tired," Aang explained. "A little rest and then he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see."

"Yeah Sokka, you'll see," Touya agreed. Sokka rolled his eyes and made a huge show of groaning. This was going to be a long swim.


A small black ship in the icy waters of the South was slowly plowing its way through the ice. A figure in red stood at the helm, watching the iceberg-littered ocean pass by. Another figure, this one in bright pink stood behind the imposing person in red, looking bored. "Well I'm going to sleep," she said, yawning very widely, much more widely and loudly than necessary, as if she were trying to give someone a hint. "Yep, a girl needs her rest." She stretched, joints cracking loudly, but the figure continued to stare into the ocean. The girl groaned and slumped over. "Come on, Princess, you need to sleep." Another figure, dressed in a dark maroon color, came from behind the girl in pink.

"She's right you know. Even if you're right and the Avatar is alive, how do you know you're going to find him?" the maroon-clad girl asked. The princess scowled, but she kept her back to her two advisors. "Your father, your grandfather and great-grandfather all tried and failed. How do you—"

"Because their dignity and honor didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture," the princess said. "Mine does. This coward's hundred years of hiding are over. Now leave."

The girl in pink immediately turned around to go, but the maroon-clad girl stayed where she was. "Azula—"

"I said leave!" the princess said. This time her orders were not to be disobeyed and both girls left Princess Azula staring at the ocean.


Touya poked his brother in the face. Sokka's nose wiggled and his face furrowed, but soon his face relaxed and he let out a loud snore. Satisfied with his brother's state of sleep, Touya crawled to the front of the saddle, where he could look over and see Aang staring at the sky. "Hey," Touya tried to be nonchalant.

"Hey," Aang said, eyes half-lidded in either relaxation or sleepiness. "Whatchu thinking about?" Touya inwardly cursed, he was trying to be nonchalant.

"I guess I was wondering… you being an airbender and all…if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar," Touya said. Aang's eyes grew wide and he started fiddling with his fingers.

"Um no. I didn't know him. I mean, I knew people who knew him, but I didn't. Sorry," Aang replied, offering Touya a weak smile. "Okay, just curious," Touya said in return. "Goodnight!" He crawled back to where Sokka was and snuggled his brother. He heard Aang say something behind him, but Touya wasn't paying attention. He was too busy wondering why Aang lied. He didn't know the boy for very long, but Touya could tell one thing, the airbender sucked at lying. He looked at Sokka and marveled at how peaceful he looked. Sokka always had a scowl on his face or some sort of frown and now he looked so at ease. Touya wrapped his arms around his brother, but before he fell asleep, he wondered. Would Aang be lonely up there on Appa's head?

By morning, Appa had reached the village. The woman looked at the huge beast in fear, except for Hanna, who brandished a spear and held it threateningly towards Appa. Touya peeked over from the saddle and frowned. What was Hanna gonna do with that spear? Pick Appa's toes? That was a good idea, he looked like the kind of bison that got gunk in his toes often. "Hey Mom! Hey Gran-Gran!" Touya waved. Sokka, who had also woken up, was busy trying to untangle Aang from Appa's reins. Apparently the boy had fallen asleep in the middle of steering, leaving Appa to find his way on his own. Sokka thought Appa was pretty smart for a creature that was supposed to be extinct. At Touya's outburst, Sokka turned, saw the wide-eyed stare of his mother and grandmother and turned his attention back to Aang.

Touya jumped down and landed hard on the snow, causing Appa to chidingly groan. Touya walked to the women and grinned, but noticed how frightened they looked. He turned to see them all staring at Appa. Touya started at Appa too, who stared back. Their eyes locked, grey-blue meeting brown, boy meeting beast, waterbender meeting alleged flying bison. Appa groaned, startling the women, and opened his mouth wide, frightening them even more. They all took a collective step back and Kya tried to grab her son's arm. She didn't know how Sokka could be so nonchalantly on top of that thing, but spirits be damned, she would not let that thing eat her Touya! Before she could reach him, the creature's long tongue darted out and attached itself to her son. Appa gave Touya a long lick, covering Touya in spit. "Oh ewww Appa," Touya giggled. He hugged Appa's face and gave him a little kiss on the fur.

"I'm glad you're bonding with Appa, Touya, really I am. I am so incredibly deliriously happy but maybe you can help your poor big brother with something really important, " Sokka said. Touya wiped the globbiest of Appa's spit off his face and peeked up to where Sokka was. "What do you need Sokka?" Touya asked.

"Set up your sleeping furs okay? Aang needs some sleep," Sokka said, managing to climb down Appa with Aang in his arms. Touya nodded and ran towards the hut he shared with his mother and brother. Once Sokka was safely on the snow, he looked at the blue and grey eyed stares directed at Appa. The bison looked somewhat bashful, if a bison could look bashful. "This here is Appa. He's harmless. Just watch out when he sneezes," Sokka told the still terrified women. He turned to follow Touya when his mother stopped him.

"Sokka, what is going on? Where were you two? We looked everywhere but we couldn't find you! You promised you wouldn't run off again!" Kya cried. He turned, shifting Aang so that his limbs weren't waving about. Normally Sokka would have ignored his mother or dismissed her fears with a wave of his hand, but she sounded so upset. Her eyes were shining and her face looked anguished. Maybe she really was worried. Or maybe she just didn't want her precious Touya to be hurt. Either way, Sokka felt like had to assuage his mother's fears.

"We got swept out in the ocean, but Aang and Appa helped us back."

"Aang? Appa?"

Sokka raised the body in his arms slightly. "This is Aang and the huge bison is Appa. He's huge, but he's a sweetheart. Just watch out for when he sneezes," Sokka repeated. "I'm going to put Aang to bed." Kya didn't look any more appeased, but some of the worry had left her face. Sokka sighed and gave his mom a weak smile. "Don't worry," he said. Kya nodded and let her son take the airbender to their hut. She would trust Sokka, he was dependable and so mature. But she couldn't help but feel sad, like he was growing up too fast and he didn't need her anymore. But if she were truly honest with herself, Kya would admit that Sokka hadn't needed her for a long time.


"Aang."

"Aang."

"Aang, wake up!" Touya watched Aang shoot up in a cold sweat. The airbender kept writhing and moaning while he was sleeping, as if he was having a bad dream. Sometimes, when Touya had a bad dream, Sokka would wake him up and give him a big hug. Aang looked like he needed a big hug, but manly men didn't give big hugs to people who weren't their brothers. "It's okay, we're in the village now," Touya said soothingly. "Come on, get ready. Everyone wants to meet you."

Aang nodded, still a little shaken up from his nightmare. Touya wanted to ask about it, but the look on Aang's face made it clear that he just wanted to forget. For some strange reason, Aang slept with his clothes off and Touya noticed, not that he was staring or anything, that Aang was covered in blue arrows. They were on his head, his arms, hands, feet, back and legs. Touya had never seen such a thing. Once Aang was finished dressing, Touya grabbed his arm and yanked him out to the middle of the village, which was right outside their hut. All the women were wearing various shades of blue and so were their offspring. They all stared at Aang with blank expressions, as if they weren't sure what to expect from the tattooed stranger. "Aang, meet the… entire village… Entire village, Aang," Touya introduced. Sokka always told him just how small the village was, but Touya never noticed until he introduced them all to Aang. His whole village consisted of women, children, himself, Sokka and his friend Senka. There were a few men who had been left behind when the warriors left, but they had passed years ago.

Aang bowed to the women, causing some of them to grab their children and noticeably take a few steps back. Hanna crossed her arms, scowling, while Kya and Kanna exchanged a look. The only woman who returned Aang's bow was Nulia. "Hello Aang," she said with a smile. "My name is Nulia, welcome to the Southern Water Tribe."

"You mean what's left of it," Sokka said bitterly. Touya whipped around and saw Sokka sharpening his machete next to a small tent. Nulia rolled her eyes and ruffled the small strip of hair on Sokka's head. "Hey! That's my warrior's wolf tail!" he cried, swatting her hand away and smoothing his hair.

"Hi Nulia," Aang said. "But…why is everyone else looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?"

Kanna stepped up, her short frame radiating with authority. "Well no one has seen an airbender in over a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my grandsons found you. "

Aang stared at Kanna with a look of disbelief. "Extinct? I-"

"Aang," Sokka interrupted, approaching his brother and the airbender. "This is my grandmother, Kanna."

"Call me Gran-Gran," Kanna said flatly. Sokka smacked his forehead and groaned.

"What is this? A weapon?" Touya asked, brandishing a long wooden staff. "You can't stab anything with this! Except for snow." Touya repeatedly poked the staff into the snowy ground and Sokka wondered where in the world he got that staff from.

"That's not for stabbing!" Aang said, grabbing the staff from Touya and twirling it in his hands. "It's for airbending." Aang opened it, revealing sunset-colored paper wings. The children laughed and clapped and a little girl pointed at Aang. "Magic trick! Do it again!"

"Not magic, airbending," Aang stressed. He frowned, but hid it quickly with a wan smile. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly."

Just to play devil's advocate, Sokka said "Last time I checked, humans can't fly."

"Check again!" Aang said, jumping into the air and staying there. Touya's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. Everyone watched in awe as Aang flew around their heads. Sokka saw a wide smile on Aang's face as he passed them by in a gust of wind. Aang watched his spectators watch him and started twirling and doing tricks. Sokka's eyes widened as he saw what Aang did not. "Aang, watch—out…"

Sokka sighed as Aang plowed head-first into the watchtower Sokka toiled and slaved to make. Aang pulled his head out of the tower and tumbled out of the snow, glider and all. Touya ran towards where Aang's limbs were sticking out of the snow and held out his hand. "That was amazing!" he gushed while pulling Aang out of the snow. "Can you do it again? Can you teach others how to bend? Like maybe a —"

"Touya," Sokka said warningly. Touya's bright chattering stopped abruptly and the bright look in his eyes dulled. Aang looked confused and looked around to gauge the reactions of the other tribespeople. Nobody seemed to notice how quickly Sokka shut his brother down. "Bending is a spiritual art, so I can't teach it, but maybe you're a waterbender?" Aang asked innocently. Despite his brown skin, Aang saw Touya's face turn ashen. Sokka walked up and lightly shoved Aang away from Touya.

"There aren't any waterbenders in the South Pole," Sokka said sternly, bluish grey eyes like two blocks of ice.

"But the monks said that the Southern Water Tribe was full of waterbending warriors deadlier than even the ones from the Northern Water Tribe!" Aang insisted. He met Sokka's eyes boldly, but was confused at the anger, protectiveness and fear he saw there.

"All right, no more playing," Kanna said, breaking up the staredown between Aang and Sokka. "Come on, let's get you a parka boy." The old woman grabbed Aang's arm with a grip that was stronger than her age suggested. Aang made to protest, but the look on Kanna's face left no room for arguing. He let himself be dragged away and as he left, the crowd of women and children dispersed as well. After a few minutes, the only people left at the ruins of Sokka's watchtower were Sokka, Touya and Kya.

"Touya, what did you mean by what you said?" Kya asked hesitantly. Her face had a look of careful worry, as if she was trying very hard not to look bothered.

"Nothing Mom," Touya said nervously. "I just thought that once the avatar returns, Aang could teach him airbending." Kya looked at her son with a gaze that said she didn't believe him. With an ease he was used to, Sokka came in and saved his brother.

"You know Touya, Mom. Always trying to save the world," Sokka said. Kya wasn't convinced.

"Is there something you two aren't telling me?" Kya asked while looking at both her sons in turn. With wide eyes, Touya shook his head. Sokka steadily met his mother's gaze with an impassive stare. Kya sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She wanted to say more, Sokka could see it in her face, so he took Touya and left her there in the snow.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sokka turned on Touya. "What the hell were you thinking!? Now Mom's on to us! I told you to never say anything about your waterbending Touya!"

"I know but," Touya trailed off. "But, I wanted to learn. And I thought maybe Aang could teach me."

"You thought Aang could teach you," Sokka restated, rubbing his temples. "You thought a ten year old airbender could teach you how to waterbend. Wow, Touya."

"Why not? Didn't you see him fly? Aang's a master!" Touya cried. Sokka shook his head and sighed.

"Okay, let's say that Aang could teach you how to waterbend. What are you going to do then?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do after you learn!? If you use it, the Fire Nation's going to wash up on our shores and take you away! They might even raze the whole village this time!"

"Why must I keep my waterbending a secret? Mom and Senka aren't gonna tell the Fire Nation about me, and neither will Gran-Gran or Nulia or anyone else!" Touya huffed. "Why can't you just let me learn? I'm not helpless like Katara!" As soon as he said those words, Touya knew he had gone too far. Sokka's face was blank as he processed what Touya said. Flashes of anger and pain showed on Sokka's face, before his features smoothed over.

"You're right Touya," Sokka said lightly. "You aren't Katara. She was much more talented than you are." Sokka stomped off, leaving Touya hurt and feeling like everything was his fault.


"Again."

Azula punched fire into the faces of the soldiers in front of her, dodged their fire blasts and sent a few fire kicks towards them. She flipped out of the way and sent more fire blasts towards the two soldiers. They were at a stalemate and Princess Azula was ready. She settled into a fighting pose.p

"Stop, stop! Firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles! Do it again!"

She repeated the set again, replicating her previous moves perfectly. When her instructor made no move to interrupt, the soldiers attacked again with powerful fire punches. Azula blocked the first three, but the fourth fire blast took her by surprise. She raised her arms to block the blast, but cried out once the fire hit her right arm. She crumbled and cradled her hurt arm against her chest.

"You aren't breathing, Princess Azula! The breath becomes energy in the body and that energy extends beyond your limbs and becomes fire," he said, taking a deep breath and releasing a strong lick of fire from his hands. "Do it again, and get it right this time."

"Argh, shut up!" Azula yelled. "I've been doing this sequence all day, teach me the advanced moves."

"You're being impatient. You haven't mastered the basics yet and without those, you cannot advance. I've told you this," her instructor sighed. Azula turned and glared at man overseeing her ship. Commander Wei Taizong met her glare with cool confidence, his expression never changing. The wind ruffled his hair slightly, but he was steady in his decorated outfit.

"Teach me the advanced sets now," Azula growled. However Wei shook his head.

"Drill it again," he said coolly.

"The Fire Sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender," Azula said as she stalked up to Wei. "He must be over a hundred years old by now." She pointed her finger into his chest, their faces mere inches apart. "He's had a century to learn the four elements and I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You iwill/i teach me the advanced set."

"Princess," Wei said, expression still calm and collected despite the irate princess in his face. "I am only here because I owed your family a favor and your uncle convinced me that overseeing your ship would be worthwhile. So far, I have been stuck babysitting teenage girls and nursing your ego. Now do the set again."


Early the next morning, Touya snuck into the tent that was set aside for Aang. The airbender seemed to be having peaceful dreams this time, but Touya hesitated on waking the boy. He was ashamed about dinner the previous night. Not only was Aang vegetarian, and their dinner of seal jerky and whale blubber wasn't exactly edible for him, but Sokka didn't show up. Touya should have realized that his comment about their missing sister would hurt Sokka's feelings, especially since he took her kidnapping so personally, but Touya thought everything would be alright by dinner time. Sokka held grudges, but never against him. They were always against their mother, or even their Gran-Gran sometimes, but never Touya. Sokka could never stay mad at him, or so Touya thought.

So Touya decided he was going to cheer up Aang and take the airbender penguin sledding. Although, the trip was more to cheer himself up. He never got to go penguin sledding, Sokka thought it was too dangerous, leaving Touya to sneak off and sled with Senka. Hanging out with Senka was fun, but sometimes Touya got the feeling that Senka didn't like him too much. Not as much as Aang seemed to like him. "Aang, wake up," he said while shaking Aang. The tattooed boy groaned and rolled over. "Aang, wake up!"

"Monk Gyasto, five more minutes please," Aang muttered. Touya frowned and yanked the blanket off. Aang groaned and huddled up in a ball. Touya noted that Aang was shirtless again. How could he stay warm like that? Touya needed his parka, some blankets and a lot of furs to keep him warm. Kya always said that it was really easy to get frostbite in the South Pole and frostbite meant losing toes. Touya rather liked all his toes. "Aang, come on! Don't you want to go penguin sledding?"

Aang shot up and looked at Touya with bright eyes. "We're going penguin sledding? Now?" he asked excitedly. Touya nodded. "Come on Aang, get dressed so we can go!" The airbender spun into his clothes, grabbed his glider and followed Touya out of the small tent. The sun was just rising, illuminating the snow and ice with golden light. It made Touya think that he lived in a large golden palace with a huge skylight. The color also reminded Touya of Aang's strange clothes. Maybe all airbenders wore clothes like that before they died. They reached the far outskirts of the village, where the otter penguins lived.

"PENGUIN!" Aang shouted. Touya turned and saw Aang speed off after a small speck of black and white on the horizon. Touya looked at Aang's snow trail in astonishment. He was so fast. Touya blinked. "Hey wait! Don't leave me! Aang!"

Despite his best attempts, Touya lost Aang, but following the upturned snow did lead Touya to the penguin resting grounds. He looked around until he heard laughter and an orange figure chasing some penguins. "Hey, come on little guy, want to go sledding?" Aang asked as he leapt after a penguin. The bird deftly jumped away, leaving Aang with a face full of snow. Aang used his airbending to float upright and gave Touya a grin. "I have a way with animals," Aang said before he started waddling like the penguins and quacking. Touya giggled and then joined in the fun. As the boys waddled after the penguins and scared them off with their obnoxious quacking, Touya felt a peace he had never felt before. Though he didn't have any doubts, it was that moment that he knew that he had made the right decision in bringing Aang penguin sledding. "I wish we would actually catch one though," Aang said as soon as he was done quacking.

"Aang, I'll teach you how to catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending," Touya said. Aang leaped and grabbed the tail of a penguin, but the feathers proved too slippery to get a good grip on.

"You have a deal!" Aang said, but then frowned. "But I thought there weren't any waterbenders in the South Pole. "

Touya fidgeted with his fingers and looked at his feet squirming in his boots. "That was a lie. We have to keep my waterbending a secret or else the Fire Nation is gonna come back and take me away."

"Why would the Fire Nation care if you can waterbend or not?" Aang asked.

Touya rolled his eyes. He asked Sokka the same thing and the answer was always the same. "It's so we won't be able to fight back in the war, that's what Sokka says anyway."

"War? What war?"

Touya's eyes grew wide. He looked at Aang, who genuinely looked puzzled. How could Aang not know about the war? Touya had never seen anybody from the Fire Nation before, but he knew about the war, Sokka wouldn't let him forget it. "You're kidding, right?" Touya asked.

Aang shrugged and changed the subject. "I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe that can teach you?"

"You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole," Touya said sadly.

"This whole thing isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water…" he trailed off with a thoughtful look on his face. He paused for a minute, before brightening up. "How about the North Pole? They must have waterbenders to teach you."

Touya crossed his arms and pouted. "Maybe they do, but they haven't talked to us in a long time. We can't exactly go left at the next glacier. The Northern Water Tribe is too far!"

Aang's bright look never wavered. "But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa and I can fly you to the North Pole! We're gonna find you a master!"

"Really?" Touya's arms and jaw dropped. Aang nodded with a grin. "Yeah! Let's do it! I've never left home before!"

"Okay! But first, can you teach me how to get a penguin?" Aang asked. Touya nodded and gave Aang a cheeky smile. "Watch this," he said, rifling through his parka. Finding what he was looking for, Touya threw a small fish at Aang. As soon as the fish was released from its confines of fur and wool, the penguins were captivated. They jumped and waddled towards Aang and his fish, swarming him. Aang laughed and his laughter made Touya laugh too. They grabbed the two biggest penguins and dragged them towards a large decline.

"Are you ready?" Touya said, readying himself.

The airbender climbed onto his penguin without any difficulty at all. "I was born ready."

They pushed off and the world rushed past them in a blur of sun, sky and ice. It has been such a long time since Touya had been penguin sledding, he had forgotten just how exhilarating it was. Aang's laughter rung through the tundra and Touya could hardly stop himself from whooping too. They sled over hills, through ice caverns and onto another part of the tundra. They slowed down to a stop and the penguins wiggled from underneath the two boys and waddled off. Aang was captivated by the sight in front of them. "Whoa, what is that?" he asked while taking small steps towards the object of his curiosity. Touya frowned. Senka had brought him out there once and tried to get him to explore, but Touya refused. He looked at the large Fire Nation ship suspended about the icy ground. His Gran-Gran said that the waterbenders captured that ship and trapped it in its icy prison, but that was a long time ago.

"It's a Fire Navy ship," Touya said simply.

"Let's go inside!" Aang said after taking three steps towards the ship. Touya reached out and yanked Aang back.

"We're not supposed to go near it! The ship could be booby trapped! Plus Sokka would be really mad at me if I went on the ship."

Aang rolled his eyes. "If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of your fear."

Touya looked at Aang, then looked at the ship worriedly. Aang gave Touya a bright smile and Touya followed Aang onto the ship. The closer they got to the ship, the more worried Touya got. Senka told Touya that he worried too much, but Touya thought he was just healthily cautious. On the side of the ship was a gaping hole; Aang climbed into it with ease and with a little difficulty, Touya did the same. The young waterbender clutched the back of Aang's tunic as they explored the ship. "This ship has haunted my tribe ever since Gran-Gran was young," Touya said. Aang didn't seem to hear him. Instead, Aang was focused on a collection of maces, spears and swords hanging on the walls. Touya couldn't see, but Aang's face was troubled.

"It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks."

"Okay, back up," Aang said, shaking his head. "I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. Why would they attack here?"

Touya looked at Aang incredulously. "I've never been out of the tribe but even I know about the war!"

"What war? I've never seen any war!"

Touya paused. He was kidding, right? "Aang…just how long were you in that iceberg?"

"I dunno, a few days maybe?" Aang said, but he seemed unsure.

"You must have been in there for a hundred years!" Touya said.

"What!?" Aang cried. "That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred and twelve year old man to you?"

Touya shook his head. "You being in there for a few days doesn't make any sense. The war is a century old. You don't know about it, which means you were stuck in there for a hundred years."

"A hundred years?" Aang crossed his arms. "You're the one not making any sense. That means everybody I know—" Abruptly Aang cut off and fell to the ground. "Everybody I know is…"

Touya walked towards Aang and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry Aang, but look on the bright side. You got to meet me and Sokka!"

Aang looked at the steel interior on the ship and gave Touya a small smile. "Yeah, you aren't that bad, though Sokka's kind of a jerk."

Touya giggled. "Yeah, he kinda is. But come on, let's get out of here. This place is creepy."

Aang nodded and let Touya help him to his feet. They tried going back the way they came, but neither boy remembered where the entrance was. Touya ended up following Aang, yet again, as the airbender led them into a small cabin. Or something like that. Touya didn't know much about Fire Nation ships, since the only seafaring vessels he had ever been on were small fishing boats and canoes. Suddenly, Aang tripped and the doorway was being blocked by bars. Touya ran to the door and pushed, hoping the old age of the metal would cause it to break. It didn't work.

"What's that you said about booby traps?" Aang sighed. Touya opened his mouth to retort, but the smell of smoke and the creak of rusty machinery stopped him. Touya looked wildly around as the cabin filled with smoke and gauges started whistling. "Uh-oh…." Aang said from his spot near the window. Touya looked and saw a bright light explode in the sky.

"Was that a flare!?" Touya cried. "Did you signal the Fire Nation!?"

"Hold on!" Aang said. Touya, too busy in hysterics about the impending Fire Nation attack and his subsequent death, was taken aback when Aang grabbed him and flew out of the ship. Each hop down the side of the hull was accentuated by airbending and despite his upcoming doom and being carried by someone slightly shorter than he was, Touya was having a little fun.


"Did you see that?"

"See what, Princess Azula?"

"The flare and—" Princess Azula cut herself off as she squinted into the telescope. "I see him, the last airbender."

"What!?" the girl in pink squawked. "Let me see!" She pushed Azula out of the way and peered through the eyeglass herself. "Wow, for an old man, he's quite agile."

Her sister huffed and pushed her out of the way. "You guys must have midnight sun madness, the Avatar—oh my Agni," the girl in maroon said. "Someone wake up Wei! The Princess has found the Avatar!" The girl peered through the telescope again. The Avatar, along with a figure in blue, were running towards a small walled village. A stab of pity went through her, but it quickly passed. "We've found his hiding spot too."

"Stop hogging the view Yu Lee!" the girl in pink cried while shoving her sister into Princess Azula, who had just managed to stand back up. The two went tumbling back down in a mess of limbs. Azula opened her mouth to say something, anything, but she didn't and she closed her eyes as the two sisters argued.


"Aang what are you doing!? We can't go back to the village!" Touya huffed after a sprinting Aang.

"Why not?" Aang called back.

"If the Fire Nation is coming, we can't let them find us! You're an airbender and I'm the last waterbender! They'll take us to the Fire Nation and kill us like they did with my sister!"

At that, Aang slowed down and stopped running. "Your sister?"

"Yeah," Touya panted as he caught up. "My older sister was a waterbender and she was taken away during a raid. That's why my bending is a secret. Sokka doesn't want me to be taken away either. He wants to go rescue her, but I think she's dead." Although Touya knew he should be sad or at least a little hurt, he wasn't. His sister was taken before he was born and he never knew her. He didn't even know what she looked like and Touya had the sneaking suspicion that Sokka had forgotten too.

"Come on, you stay here while I get Appa," Touya said.

"But what if the Fire Nation comes after me?"

"Hide under the snow, Aang!" Touya said. Aang gave Touya an incredulous look, but the younger boy just gave him a grin. Touya ran towards the outskirts of the village, where Appa was lounging in the snow. "Come on boy," Touya said. The bison yawned and clambered to his feet. Touya led the large bison towards where Aang… was not hiding under the snow. Touya pouted.


When Sokka saw the first flake of black snow, he couldn't believe his eyes. He saw the flare and he had an inkling as to who set it off, especially considering neither Aang nor Touya had returned to the village. Sokka's eyes followed the small flake of ash until it landed on a soft mound of snow, it a gritty black against the stark white of the snow. Though he wanted to send out a search party for Touya and Aang, in reality, they were safer away from the village. Sokka would protect the young ones and the old women as much as he could and hopefully once the Fire Nation deemed that they weren't holding an errant soldier hostage, they'd leave. Sokka was not going to fail this time. The pushed past the throng of frightened women and headed to his hut. He strode past his confused mother and took out his father's old war paint. He tried to recreate the frightening mask he'd only seen a few times. Kya looked on with an immense sadness in her eyes. Once Sokka was finished, she could hardly recognize him. Over the three years the men had been gone, she watched her son grow into a man. But once she thought about it, he had always been a man, she just hadn't seen it until now. "You look just like your father," she told him. And he did. He looked like a warrior, the only warrior left all the South Pole. She looked underneath her pallet and took out a boomerang. "This belonged to your father. He wanted to give it to you after your ice-dodging, but…"

"That didn't happen," Sokka said simply and without any malice. Kya nodded. She handed it to him and Sokka took it and tucked it away. With his machete in his left hand and his whale-bone spear in his right, Sokka left his mother and the hut she shared with his family. The black ship loomed in the horizon, breaking through the ice shore. The wall surrounding the village crumbled and his watchtower along with it. Sokka heard screaming and looked back to see his grandmother staring at the ship in shock. The ice around them cracked and Sokka ran to push his grandmother out of the way. "Gran-Gran get inside!" he yelled at her, but his cry fell on deaf ears. She kept staring and once Sokka turned to see what she was looking at, he saw a long metal walkway shoved into the ice and the ship was belching smoke. Someone in deep red clothes and bright red armor was walking down the walkway, along with two skull faced soldiers. As the person came closer and closer, Sokka saw that the figure in front was a lot shorter than the two soldiers. The figure stepped onto the snow and Sokka saw that it was a girl around his age, or maybe younger, with golden eyes and black hair piled on top of her head. On her face was a look of pure arrogance that filled Sokka with an unexpected fury. Her eyes were like his.

Sokka rushed at her before she could say anything. He wasn't going to go easy on her because she was a girl. His father and the men said that fighting was a man's job, but he had seen Hanna hunt and Nulia train the other women. They were fierce and Sokka was not going to underestimate them. If this Fire Nation girl wanted to fight like a man, then she would get beat like one. The girl's eyes widened as she saw the machete gleaming in the light. At the last possible second, she sidestepped, but Sokka saw a few strands of black hair fly through the air. She lashed out with a left hook, surprising Sokka since he was on her right. He was hit, but he recovered and swiped out with the machete again. This time, the girl was ready. With her left hand, the girl hit his arm with several quick jabs, causing it to fall limp, the machete falling onto the snow. Sokka looked at his limp arm in shock, only regaining his senses in time to evade a flaming fist. Using his good arm, Sokka took out the spear and jabbed, but with a smirk, the girl lit the wooden base of the spear on fire. Sokka dropped it and readied his arm to give her a good punch, but she sent an arc of fire his way. With a yelp, Sokka fell backwards to avoid the flame, harshly landing on the snow.

The girl laughed and it rung in Sokka's ears. "Is this all the Southern Water Tribe has to offer? A boy in makeup?" Those words stung. It wasn't his fault he didn't know much about fighting. The men left and what little he knew came from a fisherman and a spinster. Masako was no warrior. Nulia did not know how to fight traditionally. The girl stepped over him and approached the women and children. She looked up and down the small collection of people impassively. "Where are you hiding the Avatar?"

When nobody said anything, the girl turned back to her ship and made to leave, causing the tribe to collectively let out a sigh. However, the girl turned back again at the beginning of the metal walkway. "If none of you tell me where you are hiding him, I will take my ship and ram your village," she said coolly. The tribe let out a gasp and Sokka narrowed his eyes. There was no way he'd let that happen. Unhooking his boomerang from his waistband, Sokka threw the boomerang with all his might. With relish, he noticed that the girl flinched away, eyes wide and uncertain as the boomerang whizzed by her head.

"Ha!" she exclaimed, eyes lit with childish smugness. "You missed! You weren't even—" Sokka smirked as the girl abruptly stopped. Boomy always came back when he needed it to. The girl clutched her head and squeezed her eyes tightly against tears that threatened to fall. "Just find the Avatar!" she screeched to the skull faced soldiers. The men looked at each other, then back at the girl.

"Um, what does the Avatar look like?" the braver of the two asked. Furiously, the girl pointed to Gran-Gran.

"He must be a hundred years old, like that woman over there!"

Sokka gaped. "Hey! That's my grandmother!" The girl's eyes flickered to where he was sprawled on the ground and scowled.

"He's the master of all four elements," she continued, ignoring Sokka. "I know you're hiding him!"

At least now Sokka knew the Fire Nation was after Aang and not Touya. Sokka would have sighed, but worry had a tight vice-grip on his heart. In the short time Aang was here, Sokka started to like the flighty little airbender.

"Hey!" cried a voice that Sokka recognized in a heartbeat. "What do you think you're doing!?" Touya had his hands on hips in a position their mother liked to use when she was upset. "Leave our tribe alone!" he cried, scooping up slush to make a snowball. Sokka's blood ran cold. If Touya threw that snowball at the girl, who knows what would happen. Sokka ran and positioned himself in front of his brother, boomerang in hand. The soldiers made to surround them, but a wall of snow fell into their skulled faces.

"Looking for me?" said another voice that Sokka recognized. Aang pointed his glider towards the girl.

"You're the airbender?" she asked, clearly confused. "You're the Avatar?" Aang nodded to her and Sokka saw Touya's eyes widen from the corner of his eye. "I've been training for this moment for years. Firebending, meditating, doing stupid breathing exercises and you're just a child!"

Aang stopped and gave the girl a wide eyed stare. "Well you're just a teenager," he retorted. The girl seethed and she sent out a flurry of flames from her fists. Though he didn't notice it before, Sokka saw that her right hand was bandaged and her movements on the right were slightly stiffer. Suddenly, the fact that she only attacked him with her left hand made more sense.

Aang yelped and used his staff to redirect the flames. Some got too close to the gaggle of villagers and the screams of children filled the air. Aang stopped and looked at the kids who were so enraptured with him. "If I go, will you promise to leave the villagers alone?" he asked the girl. She nodded and the skull-faced men grabbed each of the airbender's arms.

"But Aang!" Touya cried. "You can't do this! Don't do this!"

"Don't worry Touya," Aang said with a wan smile. "It'll be okay." In that moment, Sokka thought Aang seemed a lot older than his years. He watched the soldiers roughly push Aang onto the metal ship, the girl trailing behind them.

"Set a course for the Fire Nation," she said and Sokka felt his heart drop. Once again the Fire Nation came and once again, he failed to protect the village.


"This staff would make an excellent gift for my uncle. I suppose you wouldn't know much of uncles would you? Since you were raised by monks and all," the girl said while admiring Aang's glider. Yu Lee and her sister eyed the staff warily.

"Are you sure it's a staff?" the girl in pink asked before her sister jabbed her in the side.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Of course it is," Yu Lee said with a smile. "Ty Lee's just upset that we missed all the fun. iSomeone/i wanted us to help him find his Pai Sho pieces." Yu Lee sent a pointed glare at Wei, who grinned sheepishly.

Aang watched the exchange in confusion, his eyes torn between glancing at Yu Lee and Ty Lee and staring at Wei's impressive hair. Out of the three newcomers, Aang could only see Wei clearly. The girl in pink had her face clutched in her hands and was hunched over, while her sister was patting her back.

"Ugh, take the Avatar into the prison hold and take this to my quarters, I have a headache," Azula said, handing the staff to Wei before stalking off. Wei looked at the staff in his hand blankly.

"Hey," he said to a soldier nearby. "You mind taking this to her quarters for me? Thanks." The soldier stared blankly at the staff as Wei followed Azula deeper into the ship. The soldiers pushed Aang into another direction, leaving the two sisters on deck. Aang glanced at them one more time and the one in maroon met his gaze. Then black filled his vision as her was forced under the ship's hull.

"I bet you've never fought an airbender before," Aang taunted his two guards. "I bet I could take you on with my hands tied behind my back!"

"Silence," the one in front said with a metallic clang to his voice. The man took out a key to what was to be Aang's prison, when a gust of wind suddenly pressed the soldier against the door. Aang and the second guard were pushed back and with a blast of air, Aang propelled himself upwards and onto the deck. The two girls were gone, leaving Aang a clear view of the door leading deeper into the ship. He kicked a gust of wind to it, opening the door and running into it. He had to find his glider.


"We have to go after that ship, Sokka!"

"Touya…"

"Aang saved our tribe and now we have to save him! I know you don't like him and he called you a jerk, but he's on our side! If we don't help him, no-one will! We owe him and—"

"Touya!"

Touya turned and saw Sokka with two travel packs. He looked a little beyond his brother and saw Appa stretching his legs. "Yes Sokka?"

"Are you going to talk all day or are you coming with me?" the seventeen year old asked. He pointed to Appa, who seemed all packed and ready to go. Touya ran and gave Sokka a hug, before pushing him away and coughing.

"Manly men don't hug," Touya explained as Sokka looked confused. His older brother rolled his eyes.

"Get on Appa. We're going to save your boyfriend."

Touya's face turned a deep scarlet as all the blood in his body rushed to his face. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Whatever," Sokka said, climbing onto Appa's head. "Just get our stuff and put it on Appa."

"What about the village and Mom and Gran-Gran?" Touya asked, looking out and seeing the village repair the damage that the Fire Nation ship inflicted upon it.

Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "I told Gran-Gran and she said a lot of mumbo jumbo about destiny and fate and intertwining and blah blah. Now let's go before we lose that ship."

Touya threw the packs over and climbed onto Appa. The bison groaned and jumped into the water, using its tail to leisurely float in the water. After a half hour of this, Sokka was coping the only way he knew how, with dry sarcasm.

"Go. Fly. Soar."

"I don't think you're doing it right Sokka," Touya said.

"Stop being a backseat bison steer-er Touya!" Sokka said. "I don't see you doing anything." Touya looked up from his comfortable perch in Appa's saddle.

"Maybe you should try going left."

Sokka slapped his forehead, leaving a bright red palm mark on his face. He sighed and leaned over Appa's head so he was staring eye to eye with the bison. "You want to find Aang don't you? So go up. Ascend. Elevate." The bison groaned in response.

"Maybe it's a special word or something," Touya said. "What did Aang say…Yahoo? Hup-Hup? Yee-Ha?"

Suddenly, everything fell together in Sokka's head. "Yip-Yip!" he cried, and in response Appa groaned and splashed his tail. Appa bounced up and down, as if he was jumping and with another mighty splash of his tail, Appa was in the air.

"You did it Sokka!" Touya cried.

"He's flying! He's flying! Touya, he's—" Sokka looked back and saw a smug look on Touya's face. Sokka quickly reigned in his excitement and sat back down on Appa's head, taking the reins in hand. "Big deal, he can fly. Whoo hoo."


Every door Aang went to was a dead end. He had soldiers catching up behind him and soldiers in front of him. How did such a small ship carry so many people? "You haven't seen my staff have you?" Aang asked the soldiers. They only unsheathed their swords in reply. Aang sighed and ran towards them at full speed, using his airbending to walk on the walls and ceiling in turn, before dropping to the ground behind them. In midair, he managed to untie his hands and used blasts of air to open each new door he saw. Each one was just as empty as the last, except for one. He saw the girl in maroon hunched over a paper-covered desk, head drooping and softly snoring. A pink-clad body was in the bed beside the sleeping girl, snoring loudly and with her back towards Aang. "Sorry," Aang whispered and softly closed the door.

In a room with the door already open, Aang saw his staff. He grinned and bounded into the room, only to hear the door close with a loud clank. "It seems like I underestimated you," Princess Azula said. She glared at Aang, before dropping into a firebending pose and sending out a flurry of fireballs. Aang yelled and dodged a fireball, only to narrowly miss another. Aang noticed, in the part of his brain that wasn't freaking out at the close proximity of the fire, that the girl was really fond of sending out flurries of fire.

Aang created an air scooter and scooted across the room, dodging each fireball and grabbing his glider. He flew out the door, leaving a very frustrated and dizzy Azula in his wake. Aang sped through the halls of the ship until he was at the navigational chamber. His eyes briefly met the eyes of the guy steering the ship, before Aang threw out his glider and jumped onto it. A cry met Aang's ears but he paid it no mind as he tried to fly away from his captors. However, his glider tumbled down to the ground as Azula managed to grab Aang's leg and pull the airbender down. They quickly stood up and faced each other off when a groan reached their ears. Azula looked up and with confusion clearly etched upon her face, she asked "What is that?"

Aang turned and cried out, "Appa!" but was nearly pushed overboard by a flame. He caught his balance, but Azula would not let him recover. She sent out one stream of flame after the next until Aang finally fell overboard, staff clattering onto the deck. The icy waters of the South Pole sucked all the heat out of Aang's body and he felt his organs start to shut down. Distantly, he thought he could hear Touya calling his name, but Aang was just so cold. He heard a familiar voice telling him that everything was going to be alright and then everything became bright.


Azula watched as the Avatar rushed out of the water in a torrent of waterbending. His eyes and tattoos were glowing in a blinding light and with ease, the Avatar pushed her and all of her soldiers off the ship and into the icy waters. Luckily she and her men were all firebenders and could stave off frostbite, but Azula was not going down without a fight. She grabbed a chain off the side of her ship and slowly climbed as her teeth chattered in the icy wind.

"Aang! Are you okay?" she heard the ponytailed boy ask and a rush of indignant anger filled her. How dare that filthy peasant attack her on the head with that primitive weapon? Once she got up there, she'd show him who the princess of the Fire Nation was.

"Thanks for coming," the Avatar said weakly. "I dropped my staff over there."

"I'll get it!" said a younger voice that wasn't the Avatar or the ponytailed peasant. Perhaps it was that child who tried to throw a snowball at her. Her deduction was proven correct as the smaller peasant bounced into her view. Azula's hand shot out and grabbed the staff just as the boy grabbed it. The boy met her eyes and screamed loudly. He tried to shake her off the staff, but her grip was too strong. Panicked, the boy thrust the staff into her forehead, catching her off guard. He poked her again and again and she slipped and fell back into the cold ocean. Or she would have if she didn't grab the chain attaching the anchor to the ship.

"That's from the Southern Water Tribe!" the boy laughed. With a growl, Azula used her right hand to send a blast of fire into his face. He yelped and jumped back, causing Azula to regain some of her shattered pride. Slowly, she climbed back up onto the deck, ignoring the commotion and the loud voice of the older peasant. She heard a groan from the large creature and saw it fly off from her vantage point on the side of the ship. Suddenly a pale hand entered her field of vision and she let Wei pull her onto the ship. "We have to shoot it down!" she cried and the two of them created a large fireball and blasted it towards the bison. She ignored the trails of ice on the ground and the fact that three of her best soldiers had been frozen in their place. She only had eyes for the airbender who had redirected the fireball and hurled it into a large iceberg. With a long suffering sigh, Azula watched the snow dislodge itself from the iceberg and fall over her and the deck of her ship. She blankly started at the large wall of snow that had buried her ship.

"Good news," Wei said cheerfully. "The greatest threat to the Fire Nation is just a little boy."

"Commander…" Azula said. "That child did all of this." She waved her bandaged hand at her buried ship. "I won't underestimate him again." She turned to the firebenders who were thawing out the frozen men. "As soon as you are finished with that, I want you to dig out the ship!"

"Dig out the ship?" Ty Lee yawned, stretching her legs and managing to rub at her eyes with her feet. She flipped back into an upright position and saw the damage. "What happened while I was sleep!?"


"I thought you said you couldn't waterbend!" Touya accused, jabbing a finger into Aang's chest. "But you did that cool thing with the water! It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen!"

Aang held his head down and looked at his hands sadly. "I don't know, I just….did it, I guess."

"I have a better question," Sokka said. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

"Because…because I never wanted to be." Aang turned his head away and Sokka shivered as a cloud passed over the setting sun.

"Aang," Touya said. "The world has been waiting for the Avatar to return and end this war."

"But how am I gonna do that?"

"Well, first you have to learn all the elements." Sokka crossed his arms and leaned back in Appa's saddle. "Since you already know air, you need to learn water, earth and fire, in that order."

Touya looked at Sokka as if to ask how in the world did his brother know all of that, but he was too busy focusing on what Aang needed to learn next. "We can go to the North Pole and learn waterbending together!" Touya said excitedly. At that, Aang perked up.

"And they could teach you how to fight better Sokka! And you could knock some firebender heads!" Aang added.

Sokka smiled. "I'd like that. I'd really like that."

"Then it's settled!" Touya affirmed. "To the Northern Water Tribe!"

"But first," Aang said, taking out a map. "We have to go here, here and here." He pointed to several small islands surrounding the South Pole. "We have to ride the Hopping Llamas here and then go here to surf on the backs of elephant koi fish and back over here, we'll ride the Hog Monkeys."

Sokka looked at the giant grin on Aang's face and the identical grin forming on Touya's. He sighed and slapped his hand onto his forehead. This was going to be an incredibly long journey.