Disclaimer: I still do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author's Note: As I was writing this, I realized that I totally forgot about Momo last chapter. Let's just assume he found his way to Appa and mostly stayed out of the battle.

The Return

Mai stood on the black ridge, watching the flying bison ascend into the clouds. Assuming that Azula would follow and probably want to pursue them, she walked down to the airship. It was odd that the balloon had so quickly deflated. Mai didn't know a lot about these machines, but she assumed that it would take time for that much air to escape. On closer inspection, she identified the massive damage to the vehicle and indulged in a smile, the only expression of mirth she ever expressed.

When Azula arrived a few minutes later, disheveled and still in the process of steaming water off of herself, she predictably gave the order to ready the airship.

"We can't," Mai told her. "See for yourself." As Azula made the same discoveries Mai already had, her temper began to rise.

"How could you let this happen?" Azula shrieked to everyone generally. The guards present drew back.

"It was like that when we got here," Mai said defiantly. "The Avatar must have done it before he swooped in to the rescue." Azula now advanced on her, eyes wild.

"And you. Why did you abandon us like that?"

"I can't fight close in like Ty Lee," Mai reminded her patiently, although she was privately beginning to get angry. "There wasn't room for me to do anything else. I thought I could get a better shot from above."

"You're a traitor, just like Zuko," Azula accused then. "You still care about him. You helped him escape!" The two girls faced off against each other for a moment. Mai decided to not even acknowledge the allegation.

"I'm done," she announced, turning her back. "I'm going to have my uncle get me out on the next ship available. You can find the Avatar and your brother on your own."

"Nobody leaves me until I tell them to!" Azula snarled. Then, for added emphasis, she shouted, "NOBODY!"

"Mai!" Ty Lee cried, giving Mai her only warning. Mai whipped around with her one remaining weapon, a tiny, needle-sharp device useful for puncturing sensitive areas. Azula was going into a massive firebending maneuver, but she never finished it. Surprising both of them, Ty Lee jumped in, giving two quick strikes to the shoulders and effectively blocking Azula's bending. The now-powerless princess glared at the two other girls in a mixture of shock and outrage as two of the guards came to her aid.

"Take them away," Azula ordered the remaining guards, who took hold of the girls. Neither of them resisted – Ty Lee because she was probably still too astonished that she'd taken such action, and Mai because she just didn't care what happened to her anymore. "Lock them up where I'll never have to see them again."

As she was escorted to a cell inside the prison and searched for any other weapons or equipment, it occurred to Mai that what had just occurred was sort of a smaller version of what Zuko had been trying to tell her. Azula had always tried to manipulate everyone around her, including her "friends", through fear, just as the Fire Nation was trying to control the world. However, such a strategy must always fail, as it had today. Eventually, people got pushed beyond their fear and acted in unpredictable ways. Mai looked upward, guessing at the direction the bison had gone.

"Good luck, Zuko," she whispered into the empty room. "I love you."

--

The journey back was uneventful, which was a relief after the efforts made in the escape. Although there were now two extra people, Appa wasn't carrying his armor or much equipment, so Aang didn't think it would be a problem to fly all the way back to the temple. He tuned out the conversation, aided by the wind blowing in his ears, and allowed himself to unwind from the tension of the battle. He was free to simply concentrate on flying and how happy he was to have everyone back together again.

Their triumphant team was greeted at the Western Air Temple by Haru, Teo, and The Duke as the sun touched the water. There were many questions and answers, and Suki was introduced around. While this was going on, Aang occupied himself with removing Appa's saddle, and he noticed Toph approaching Zuko on the outskirts of the group.

"Um, Zuko?" she began, uncharacteristically timid. This caught Aang's attention, so he listened while trying to be unobtrusive.

"Hm?" Zuko grunted distractedly.

"Thanks. For…earlier."

"Oh. Don't mention it."

This little exchange confused Aang, and he wondered what he had missed. Toph thanking anyone was really unusual, and to hear her thanking Zuko was stranger yet. He would really need to get with Katara and the others to catch up. Maybe they would re-tell their story over dinner. Aang was starving and eager for some fresh food after eating trail rations for several days.

Once everything had settled down and they were preparing the evening meal, Hakoda surprised Aang by seeking him out.

"Avatar Aang, I really wanted to thank you for everything you've done to help me and my children," he said.

"That's okay," Aang responded, a little embarrassed. "And you can just call me Aang."

"Thank you, Aang." Hakoda shook his head wonderingly. "I never thought I would owe so much to a 12-year-old."

"13," Aang corrected absently. "You don't owe me anything." He was going to say more, but he became suddenly aware that the camp had gone quiet, and all eyes had turned curiously toward him. He could feel the color rising to his face as he wondered what it was all about.

"Did you say you were 13?" Sokka broke the silence.

"Well, yeah," admitted Aang. "My birthday passed while I was unconscious." Katara abruptly broke from the group to rush over and hug him.

"Aang, why didn't you tell us?" she demanded.

"There was just so much going on, I didn't realize for a while," he tried to explain. "By the time I did, it just didn't seem like a big deal, and we were in the Fire Nation. Besides, I was actually in the iceberg for about two months longer than 100 years, so physically, I guess I was 13 about two weeks ago."

"Well, whenever it was, we should celebrate it!" offered Katara, seeming almost giddy.

"Slow down, Katara," suggested Toph.

"What?" Katara whirled toward her, clearly ready to fight to get her way. "This is an important occasion!"

"First things first," Sokka soothed. "We can't plan a party right now because we need to leave first thing tomorrow."

"What?" that was Suki, amid similar exclamations from the others. "We just got here!"

"Sokka's right," Zuko added his voice. "We have a head start, but Azula's going to try to follow us. It won't take her long to decide to try here."

"Where can we go?" The Duke asked. "I mean, the Fire Nation's almost everywhere now."

"I think we should head to the Eastern Air Temple for now," suggested Aang. "No one's there – unless the Guru decided to stay—"

"The who?" Haru interrupted.

"Never mind," Aang advised. "It's a long story. Anyway, it's big, and it should only take a few days to get there."

"I remember seeing some uninhabited islands on our way to the Fire Nation," Teo contributed. "We can stop at those along the way."

"Even in the Fire Nation, there are some empty islands," Katara added.

"We have another problem, though," Sokka put in. "Appa can't possibly carry all of us and our gear that far. He got tired getting us to this island, and we've got two extra people now."

"My balloon can carry three people and some supplies," Zuko offered. "It'll be tight, but we can do it."

"That's very generous, Sifu Zuko," said Aang, giving his firebending teacher a little bow. "Hey, that could be a tongue-twister. Bet you can't say it five times fast: Sifu Zuko, Sifu Zuku, Siku Zufo—"

"Okay, Twinkle-toes, we get it," Toph broke in exasperatedly, and everyone laughed. There was still a long, hard road ahead of them, but they were putting a team together again, and that was enough for now. Meanwhile, Katara turned back to Aang and gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Happy birthday, Aang," she murmured. She withdrew from him and began serving food, but she cast him a glance over her shoulder. Unless his imagination was playing tricks on him, there seemed to be a sort of promise in her eyes. It might just have been her determination to throw him a party, but he liked to believe it was a little something more.

Aang had never been so happy to have a birthday.

--

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16

Author's Note: Just a short, little ending, more of an epilogue, I guess. I thought it was stupid of them to stay at the temple for so long. Since Zuko and Combustion Man found them there, it was only a matter of time before somebody else caught up. The birthday stuff was just based on my figuring of when Aang's would be. I really wanted to highlight his turning 13. It's kind of a milestone.

Review responses:

Avatar Wolf: Yeah, Aang plus boredom is a dangerous combination.

nutshak: Thank you, although I seem to have mixed responses to the action.

ell25: That was probably the longest fight scene I've ever written, and certainly the most complicated, although I had some significant action in Destiny's Call. For other things I've written, just click on my name at the top of the page and scroll down to see the list of fics I have posted.

shiro-wolfman-k: I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the action scene as much as other readers seem to have. I intend to write a private message to address your specific comments.

Satyuros: I decided to respond to you, even though you reviewed the wrong story. It's too bad you didn't like the action scene, but I'd say it succeeded. It was supposed to be chaotic and confusing. Real battles usually are, especially when they involve that many people.