Aang jerked out of the spirit world like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. It seemed he was still in the oasis, but things had changed.

The atmosphere was different, he noted that fact before he had even opened his eyes. The previously peaceful air had been overturned with swirling emotions and the smell of fire and blood.

When he did look around himself, he found that Yue was gone. This was odd, both because Sokka -her assigned protection- was still here, but also because Aang thought he could still feel her presence. He took a good look at Sokka. His friend had red eyes and tear stained cheeks, but wore a determined expression; his jaw was set and his eyebrows were knitted together. As he watched, the water tribe boy collected his rucksack and called Appa.

He'd been in his spirit state for a while now, and knew what he had to do to help these people, but what had gone on whilst he was absent? One of the generals of the Water Tribe was sobbing on his knees nearby, and the Dragon of the West stood quietly to the side, surrounded by collapsed Fire Nation soldiers.

He stood up, woozily, "Sokka, what happened?" Swaying as he spoke.

Sokka glanced at him with an empty expression, "Zhao murdered the spirit of Tui." He pointed toward the pond, where two koi fish swam in unison.

He realised then who the spirits of Tui and La were. "But... They're both okay.."

"Thank Yue for that." Sokka spat as his voice cracked. A foreboding came over Aang then, as he looked toward the silver glowing moon.

As he mulled over that feeling, he heard the crying of the man on the floor again, "Wh-who is that?" He pointed to Hahn.

"Her husband." Sokka replied, meaningfully.

Aang saw that he had jumped to conclusions about the Yue and Sokka, and he felt shame wash over him as well as grief.

"Sokka. I'm so sorry about what I said. It wasn't your fault that Swift disappeared. I was too quick to judge you. Have.. Have you found her?"

"She's been captured, Aang. I'm going to go find her."

"What?!" Aang exclaimed, "How did you find out?"

"Yue's spirit told me." He cringed at the sight Hahn's sobbing form.

Aang took a deep, significant breath. Both absorbing the definitive death of his friend, and the danger that his twin was in. "No. No I will not lose her again! I will get her back." Almost on cue, the Avatar brought himself together, and his eyes glowed a magnificent blue. The man rose into the air, taking form of a giant beast of water and vengeance. Sokka didn't even have time to explain that it was Zuko, not the siege army that had captured his sister before he began his defence of the city.


Swift's eyes began to glow, and Zuko was afraid. She wasn't the Avatar, but her brother was. She seemed to have some sort of deep connection with him, and by association, his Avatar State. Her tattoos lit up in an ethereal way, and she stood up automatically, standing on the spot, as if she were held up by strings, a puppet. He was afraid for her. Her condition seemed an almost hypnotic state, and it dawned upon him that he should probably be more afraid for himself that else wise, if she thought him a threat.

With that in mind, he went to her feet, slicing open the ropes, and then to her wrists. He gasped in a sharp intake of breath, she wasn't kidding when she said her ropes were tight; her hands were almost purple with lack of oxygen, he immediately released them and she began to walk slowly toward the cave entrance.

Zuko wasn't sure what to do, he didn't want her to get hurt, but he also didn't want her to kill him without even thinking about it; he'd seen what the Avatar State could do. She slowly exited the cave and stood for a moment in the harsh blizzard, before raising her hands out in front of her in two directions. As if she possessed all the knowledge and power of past Air-benders, she twitched her fingers, and in the directions that she pointed, she drew out two wide and silent tunnels.

The air around them and down the tunnels stilled, warmed, even. The blizzard was still going on outside, but they were protected as if by glass. It was then that Zuko came to realise that one tunnel led to the Water Tribe, to the siege and to her brother, whereas the other led across the plain to his boat that rocked in the rough waters. He didn't realise how close they were, and probably would have over shot it by miles if he'd hadn't the guidance- and killed himself in the process.

He reeled. This woman was forever suprising him, even in a semi state of the Avatar, Swift took his safety into account; and saved him from a very cold and painful death.

She began walking away, and he took his cue to run his own route, watching the most inspiring person he'd ever met walk steadily to her destiny.


Aang was demolishing the fire nation in the city. Sokka actually worried that he might actually kill every soldier in their fleet, something that would haunt him for the rest of his days. He knew he had to get Swift before he did something he'd regret.

Climbing Appa, Sokka yipped him into the air, flying above the city to give him a sweeping view of the city and battle field. Turning away, he looked toward the snowy planes, where something odd caught his eye. A path in the snow, a path of apparent emptiness led toward the city from the sea. Nearer to him, he saw a dim blue glow. At the other end of a spectrum, he caught sight of a small figure going into the water- onto a boat, he presumed. As soon as the figure left the plain, the path fell and the blizzard resumed as if no obstruction were ever there. As it fell, the glowing blue figure rose in the air, a ball of calm in the hazardous conditions, it shot like a bullet toward the city, getting bigger and bigger until Sokka realised that it was Swift.

She blew in like a hurricane in her own right, within a minute she was at her brother's side, assisting him in their defensive positions. The fire nation was retreating, and Sokka noticed Aang's violence significantly drop after noticing her presence, they were now fending off the horde in a purely defensive stance, and they had the army on the run.

Aang raised the sea in the move that Katara had once shown him, around the time they were chased by pirates. He repeated the move now, but a thousandth-fold, the ships rocked and crashed in the sea, and at the same time, he saw Swift gather herself, and strike at the air so that every person in the tribe would have felt the chill, despite her being a hundred feet above them all, the direct hit onto her target tore into the sails of the fire nation, forcing them on a one way trip south.