to avoid confusion: italics scenes describe the past - they are taken directly from legend of korra, season 2, episodes 7-8 themselves. if you've seen legend of korra, then you should know who it is immediately. if not, you'll see soon enough.

"Are you strong? Are you fearless? Do you have what it takes to battle the spirits? Then join the hunt."

He had joined the hunt for his stupid plan, and left for it all the same. After being gifted with fire by the lion turtle, he uses it only to take out the Chou brothers and steal their food and money. He was a fool to spare them, and now here is, in the Spirit Wilds, banished from his own city.

"No! Wait! Great lion turtle, I am sorry for stealing the fire from you, and I accept my punishment. But please, I need to be able to protect myself in the wilds."

"Never again may you return to this city. But I will allow you to keep the power of the element."

Some spirits are kind and some are ruthless. In all honesty, one of the spirits is right for calling every human ugly, destructive, and lacking in respect. But when he saves an animal from being captured and eaten and in return a spirit saves him as well, he starts to forget why his people, and even the lion turtles, seemed to fear and hate them so much.

"But I think I've had enough of humans for a while. I've decided to stay here and learn the ways of the spirits."

With the spirits' help he learns to make firebending an extension of himself, to become one with the spirits while staying true to his human self all the same. He feels happier than he ever has in a very long time. As the years go by his fire becomes stronger, and his will nearly unbreakable. Humans come by again and again but he defends his friends, the spirits, and fights back. Every time, without fail.

But eventually, the time comes to leave.

He travels across the lands of the Spirit Wilds for days, weeks, months. Until something comes along. Or rather, someone.

"The all-powerful spirits are battling!"

"They're gonna wipe out the entire valley!"

Two gigantic spirits, one black and one white, are locked in battle and destroying everything as they go. He bends fire to make them stop but they only engage further, more and more and more. Tricked by the dark spirit's words he ends up releasing him and letting chaos into the world.

"My name is Raava. That spirit you freed is Vaatu. He is the force of darkness and chaos. I am the force of light and peace. Since the beginning of time, we have battled over the fate of this world. And for the past ten thousand years, I have kept darkness under control and the world in balance... until you came along."

"So, by freeing Vaatu... I let chaos into the world?"

"Precisely. The human and spirit realms are headed toward annihilation, and it's all your fault."

"No one can make tea like Uncle," says Zuko as he fills up a few empty cups, "but hopefully I learned a thing or two. Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?"

Ka wonders just where Iroh could be. He had been imprisoned following Ba Sing Se—that much was evident from the way Zuko had led her to his broken cell—but where did he escape to? Was he alright?

"Sure."

"I like jokes."

"Bring it!"

"Okay." Zuko smiles as he serves tea to Haru and The Duke. "Well, I can't remember how it starts, but the punch line is Leaf me alone, I'm bushed! " There is no response. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it."

"Right..." Katara says slowly. "Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing."

Everyone laughs. Instead of becoming angry or embarrassed Zuko smiles. Ka finds herself studying his face, then looks away when he passes her a cup.

He walks over to Sokka with the last cup, but the latter only mumbles out a Hey, can I talk to you for a second? then stands and walks away. Ka watches the two of them go to a small corner, away from the rest of the group, and furrows her eyebrows before shrugging and letting it be. Her head hurts too much to think about it, anyway.

(Flashbacks from a simpler time speed past her.)

"Not up to anything, huh?"

Sokka promptly slides off Appa, his bag spilling to the ground and its contents scattering out. He turns to glare at him.

"Fine, you caught me," he relents. "I'm gonna rescue my dad. You happy now?"

"I'm never happy," he replies. It's a lie.

"Look," Sokka starts, picking up the fallen items and shoving them back into his bag, "I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea, it was my decision to stay when things were going wrong. It's my mistake, and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me, Zuko."

Like he was going to stop him in the first place. "You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."

"No. I have to do this alone."

Stubborn. Zuko is beginning to think there's a common trait between everyone in the Avatar-Minder crew. "How are you going to get there? On Appa? Last time I checked, prisons don't have bison daycares." When Sokka stops climbing, Zuko nudges his head to the side. "C'mon, I found stuff we can turn into some kind of balloon. Let's go."

When the sunrises, Ka lifts her head from her place on the ground just in time to see Katara take a note from Momo's hands.

"What does it say?" Toph asks, hearing the flutter of paper.

"'Need meat'," Katara reads, "'Gone fishing. Back in a few days. Sokka and Zuko'." She raises her eyebrows. "One more thing. 'Aang, Ka, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badgerfrog croak. Zuko'."

As if on cue, a badgerfrog croaks. Aang groans as he rises from his rest.

"Nobody else has homework," he complains, before beginning his hot squats.

Ka lets the sun sizzle over her skin for a bit longer, muttering curses under her breath before getting back up.

He sees a fruit tree with shaking branches, and only realizes that they do not shake themselves until he sees bald, robed humans harvesting with some sort of wind ability. One monk brings their left hand toward their chest, fingers stretched, and creates a cloud underneath themselves. They use that cloud to propel themselves up further, to reach the higher fruit. They all seem to have tattoos that scale across their entire bodies.

"More humans!" he shouts to his companion, Mula, and rides up to them. "I found you!" Instead of greeting him back the strange new humans are startled and run away in fright. "Wait! I'm friendly!"

Following the strange humans leads him to another lion turtle city—one that floats in the sky. He watches one of the humans return their wind abilities to the lion turtle before finding a way up himself. The village is surrounded by spirits and people meditating and the sun bathes it in such a quiet, calm glow. The entire village seems to be built from one long tree and its branches.

"Wow," he breathes, and walks over to one of the meditating monks. "Hi, how are you? I'm Wan." The monk slowly opens his eyes and stares at him. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but it's been a while since I've seen other humans."

The monk blinks. "Where did you come from?" he asks.

"Another lion turtle city far away," he replies. "For the last two years I've been living among the spirits and exploring the wilds."

The monk's eyes go wide and he jumps to his feet, and—oh. Oh. It's a girl. "Amazing!" she exclaims, throwing her arms in the air. "That's so cool! Can you tell me all about your travels?" Her voice is low when bored but high when excited. Now that Wan looks at her more closely he sees the shape of her body underneath her robe, the femininity of her features and the sharpness of her jawline. She is very pretty, but very boyish. "My name is Nam-kha!" she goes on. "I've never left the village."

She has a frown, but it's quickly replaced with a look of surprise when a spirit climbs up the back of her shoulder and suddenly becomes dark and horrifying. It flies off, but more dark spirits start to cut through walls and trees and destroy the village. Looking up, Vaatu floats in the sky, looking larger, and triumphant.

"Vaatu," Wan says, furrowing his eyebrows.

"So, we meet again, human."

Nam-kha frowns. "Why is the great spirit of darkness here? Where's the spirit of light?"

Wan flinches. "Uh. I'll explain later." He runs up closer and looks up at the great spirit. "Leave these people in peace. They've done nothing to harm you."

He turns to firebend at a dark spirit who attacks a woman and her child, and sees as Nam-kha begins to follow. Even without bending, her form is graceful and she kicks every spirit that comes at her away. He does the same, and the people marvel at his display. Every spirit has turned dark and terrifying, and he feels regret when he pushes them away.

Raava suddenly appears and knocks Vaatu away. The collision results in a rumble and a gush of wind blowing over them. "Begone!" She spins around him and Nam-kha to shield them from more oncoming spirits.

Unaffected, Vaatu turns. "How are you feeling since our split, Raava?" There is an implication of a smile in his voice. "I've never been better. When Harmonic Convergence comes, I will destroy you forever."

And with that, he disappears, as so the spirits. Wan sighs.

"I told you not interfere," Raava snaps at hm.

"I had to do something!" Wan protests. "These people were in danger."

"Great spirit of light," says Nam-kha, stepping forward, "thank you for your help. But how did you split from Vaatu?"

Raava turns to Wan, angered. "Ask him."

"It—It wasn't my fault," Wan tries lamely. "Vaatu tricked me into freeing him. I'd take it all back if I could.

"It's too late for that," Raava says. "Now that Vaatu is free, he is turning other spirits dark. The more spirits he turns, the stronger he becomes."

"He's getting bigger," Nam-kha realizes, "and you're getting smaller."

"As darkness grows... light fades."

Wan lowers his head in shame. "I'm sorry for endangering your village," he apologizes to Nam-kha, "but I promise to set things right."

She pauses for a moment. "I'll forgive you, on one condition." Both Raava and Wan look to her, and she grins. "You take me with you."

She takes them to the lion turtle, where she is granted the power of air by it. Then Wan is next, but the lion turtle is more than hesitant.

"You already carry the power of fire. No human has ever held two elements at the same time."

"I'm not like other humans," Wan urges. "I can learn to do it."

"Hmm, perhaps," the air lion turtle muses. "But to do so, Raava must hold the power for you until you master it."

"Ancient one, why would I do that for a human?" Raava implores. "Especially one who's caused so much trouble?"

"Raava, please," Wan begs, "I can't let the world fall into chaos because of my mistake. Neither of us can defeat Vaatu alone, but together we have a chance." He looks at Nam-kha and smiles. "All of us."

Raava hesitates. "You may be right. Very well. I will help you to master the power of air."

"Thank you," Wan says. "And in return I will help you restore balance to the world."

"... Pretty clouds."

"Yeah... fluffy." When Sokka begins whistling, Zuko turns to him. "What?"

"What? Oh, I didn't say anything." There's another moment of silence. "You know, a friend of mine designed war balloons."

"No kidding."

"Yep, a balloon... but for war."

"If there's one thing my dad's good at, it's war." Zuko frowns as he blasts more fire into the tank. His father may be good at war but he is awfully terrible at small talk. Or any talk for that matter.

"Yeah, it seems to run in the family.

Pause. "Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that."

"I know, I know, you've changed."

Not me, he thinks, and looks down. "I meant my uncle," he murmurs. "He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down." Even in the beginning Uncle was always there for him, never left him even when he should have.

"I think your uncle would be proud of you," Sokka says sincerely. "Leaving your home to come help us? That's hard."

"It wasn't that hard." It really wasn't.

"Really?" Sokka asks in disbelief. "You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?"

"Well, I did have a girlfriend. Mai."

Sokka raises his eyebrows in obvious surprise. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?"

"Yeah," Zuko says wistfully. "Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it. She even helped me leave."

Sokka is quiet for a moment. Zuko knows the impending question is coming. "What about Ka?"

He hesitates, then sighs. "I care about Mai," he says, because it's true, "but I love Ka." It feels odd to admit this out loud, and he blushes. "I... I have for a while. So it wasn't hard to come back."

"I see," Sokka mumbles, looking very intrigued. Zuko definitely doesn't like the look on his face. "Does Ka know?"

"Yeah," he replies, "but I already know she doesn't love me back. I messed that up in Ba Sing Se."

Sokka shrugs with one shoulder. "I dunno, man. She was very adamant about you joining, eventually, at least. And she went on that trip with you. She talks to you. I'm sure you still have a chance."

His face goes redder, and he only turns away. "... I doubt it."

There's a pause. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon."

"That's rough, buddy."

"What's this harmonic thing Vaatu was talking about?" Nam-kha asks curiously.

"Harmonic Convergence," replies Raava. "That is when Vaatu and I must battle for the fate of the world."

"How long do we have until then?"

"About a year in your time."

"Then we better start training."

They travel to a leaking volcano, craters of lava all around. No spirits to accidentally hurt in the process. Wan punches a ball of fire into existence. Nam-kha politely takes a few steps back. "Alright, I'm ready to try air. How's this gonna work?"

"The only way for me to give you the other element is to pass through your body and combine our energies."

"Great! So you've done this before."

"No," Raava replies shortly. "This has never even been attempted. It is very dangerous."

Nam-kha raises an eyebrow. Wan snorts, "That's what they said about living in the Spirit Wilds, and I survived that. I'm ready. Give me the air."

Raava rises into the sky and back, speeding towards Wan and flying through his body. The light created is so bright that Nam-kha has to look away, shielding her eyes with her arms, only hearing the strained groan of the man in front of her. When it is done, he hunches over, then takes a deep breath, and punches out a burst of air into existence.

He grins, and looks over at Nam-kha. "It feels completely different."

"Air is the element of freedom," she says, spinning around herself and creating a small tornado for her to whirl around in. "The most passive, and the most calm."

Wan's grin grows impossibly wider, but then, with a sudden thought in mind, it falls, and he turns to Raava, curious palms open.

"If you and Vaatu have the same fight every ten thousand years, why hasn't one of you destroyed the other?"

"He cannot destroy light any more than I can destroy darkness," she replies. "One cannot exist without the other. Even if I defeat Vaatu, darkness will grow inside me until he emerges again. The same will hold true if Vaatu defeats me."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Wan says "Even if Vaatu wins, you'll come back."

"At what cost..." Nam-kha murmurs, her air tornado disappearing under her feet.

"Nam-kha is right," Raava says, and the girl mentioned seems to marvel at the idea of even being mentioned by the great spirit, despite the fact that they are now traveling together. "I will return, but you will probably not survive to see it. Vaatu will destroy the world as you know it. Darkness will cover the earth for ten thousand years."

Wan frowns. "If we're gonna help you battle Vaatu, then I should visit more lion turtles."

Nam-kha widens her eyes. "More elements?" she questions. "But the strain could kill you!"

Wan shrugs. "First time for everything, right?"

There's a twinkle in his eye that she absolutely adores, and motivates her to no end.

So, she grins. "Let's kick some spirit butt."

Zuko bends fire into the tank in time with Sokka's snoring, to avoid unnecessarily waking him up with the sound. But when he looks out into the distance and sees the boiling lake, he turns and gently shakes Sokka's shoulder, urging him awake.

"There it is!" he whisper-yells. "There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we're quiet, we should be able to navigate through it without being caught."

All goes well until they actually enter the volcano's steam, and their balloon quickly begins to lose altitude.

"We're going down!" Zuko shouts, frantically blasting fire into the tank. "The balloon's not working anymore!" He makes a last-ditch attempt to blast fire up into the balloon itself, but it does nothing.

"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside," Sokka exclaims, "so we can't fly!"

The balloon tips. Zuko falls to the side of the basket and grunts. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"I dunno! Crash-landing?"

The balloon skids across the boiling water that surrounds the prison, and the impact splashes some up towards Sokka's hand. He covers his mouth as he screams, leaving his voice muffled as he shakes his burnt hand. The balloon then hits the base of the rock, and they fly out from it onto the beach.

There's a moment of silence as the two boys stare at their wrecked war balloon.

"How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?" Zuko deadpans.

"We'll figure something out!" Sokka replies, as if it were that easy. "I suspected it might be a one-way ticket."

"You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway? "

Sokka wanders over to the destroyed balloon, tilting his head. "My dad might be here. I had to come and see!"

"Uncle always said I never thought things through..." he groans, putting a hand over his forehead. "But this... this is just crazy!"

Sokka starts to gather fallen parts from their war balloon that had been scattered all across the beach. "Hey, I never wanted you to come along in the first place!" he argues. "And for the record, I always think things through. But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time, I'm playing it by ear. So there." He throws the parts into the basket of the balloon and kicks it into the water.

"What are you doing!?"

"It doesn't work anyway," Sokka says, watching as it sinks, "and we don't want anyone to find it."

Zuko grimaces. He wish Ka were here. "I hope you know what you're doing. There's no turning back now."

Nam-kha watches in awe as one person forms such a bond with spirits, and such a bond with themselves, that they can hold multiple elements inside their body at once (admittedly, with some strain on their body).

Fire, air, water, earth. Different elements combined in one person. It's astounding.

(She almost feels jealous. But it's okay. Air is more than enough for her.)

"Why is there so much conflict between humans and spirits in the first place?"

"This physical world is where humans come from. Spirits come from another realm. At the north and south poles, the two realms intersect. Over time, more and more spirits have drifted into this world. Humans have been forced apart, settling on the lion turtles who protect them and losing touch with each other."

"Most people think they live in the only human city in the world."

"Most humans think only of themselves, no matter how many others are around."

As the year goes on they practice their bending more and more. Nam-kha sees a sort of strong connection between Wan and Raava, and as days go by, her connection with the two of them forms as well.

"When you pass through me, I feel an incredible rush of power. I feel like I'm changing. The more we practice, the stronger I become."

All goes well. Then, one day, they find a group of humans burning down the forest for wood. It pains Nam-kha, both physically and emotionally, as she watches the flames ripple across the trees and branches. She holds a hand to her chest and groans.

Raava flies into the humans' camp. As soon as one spots her, they cry, "A spirit!" and move to attack. Wan and Nam-kha jump in front of her, dissipating the flames with a wave of their arms.

"Easy there, fellas," Wan says. "We're friendly."

"I can't believe it," comes a familiar voice, walking up. "Wan?" It's Jaya, Wan's friend from the fire lion turtle city.

Wan beams, rushing up to him and embracing him. "What are you doing out here?"

"You inspired us," Jaya laughs. "Once we heard that you survived out in the wilds, we decided to try it too." He glances behind Wan's head towards his companion. "Who's she?"

Nam-kha waves. "Hi. I'm Nam-kha."

Jaya waves back, smiling.

"Where's Yao?" Wan asks. "Did he come with you?"

Jaya's smile falls. "Yes," he replies sorrowfully, "but sadly... he didn't make it. We... we lost a lot of good men along the way. So why were you protecting this spirit?"

"This is Raava," Nam-kha scoffs, "the spirit of light. She is not like the other dark spirits."

Jaya frowns at her. "Dark spirits?" he echoes. "What's the difference? We throw fire at any spirit we see around here. Just like they attack any man."

Nam-kha's eyes widen, putting her hands behind Raava. "You monsters!"

"You have no idea what you're doing," Raava says angrily. "You're only making things worse!"

One of the settlers points in a different direction. "The spirits are coming back!"

"Let's wipe 'em out this time! We'll burn down this whole forest if we have to!"

"No!" Nam-kha shouts, sending a blast of air towards the settlers and knocking them down.

"What happened to you?" Wan asks in disbelief. "When did you become so violent?"

Jaya frowns at him. "You showed me we could change the world if we just stopped being so afraid. Now we're doing it."

They run off. Wan turns to Nam-kha and Raava and says, "This isn't what I had in mind."

A group of spirits meet up with the settlers.

"Get out of the forest, humans."

Wan and Nam-kha rush between them, Wan facing the spirits and Nam-kha facing the humans. "Wait!" he shouts. "We can resolve this peacefully."

"Stinky? You came back! You and Raava are just in time to help us clear these tree-killing fire-lovers out of here, just like the old days." His old caretaker, the aye-aye spirit, grins at him.

"You are the ones who's getting cleared out!" Jaya argues.

"There is no need for violence," Nam-kha urges.

"I know there must be a way to work out a compromise," continues Wan.

"You have a good heart, Stinky. You too, airbender. But these fire tossers aren't like you!"

"Spirits like him killed our friends!" shouts Jaya. "I can't let them get away with that."

Clouds roll in overhead and thunder shakes the ground. A lightning bolt splits the sky and Vaatu's form is suddenly illuminated in the clouds. He laughs, and the spirits behind Wan begin to turn dark.

The aye-aye spirit, in a deep voice, says, "We are protectors of the forest. We won't let you burn it down."

"It's Vaatu," Raava says. "He's growing stronger, using their anger to turn them to his side."

"Wipe them out!"

The two groups charge at each other, but the efforts of the three manage to keep them apart for a short period of time. Nam-kha encircles the settlers in a spout of air before one can manage a fireball at one of the spirits.

"Raava, we need to combine our energies!" Wan says, and reaches out to pull Nam-kha to him when she is about to be trampled by a flame. "Maybe then we'll have enough power to stop this!"

Raava flies into Wan and they merge, and Nam-kha shrieks at the rush of energy that passes by her. Her hand falls from Wan's grip and she collapses to the ground, shaking. Wan shoots himself into the air on an air spout, the other elements circling around him. His eyes are white and glowing and his entire body radiates with pure energy.

"Enough!" he shouts. "You need to stop fighting now, before you destroy each other!"

The spirits begin to revert back to normal. They groan and watch as the man before them spins each element around his body with seemingly the greatest of ease.

"He's controlling all four elements..."

But then that ease fails. "Wan," Raava says, her voice echoing through Wan's mind, "I have to leave your body, or I'll destroy you."

"No! It's working! If you leave, the fighting will start again!"

He groans under the pressure until he falls out of the sky, fainting. Raava leaves his body and catches him before he falls, carrying him and the fallen Nam-kha away.

When they awaken, the battle is done, and the battlefield is empty and burned. Wan can feel death all around him.

"We have to go back," Wan says.

Vaatu suddenly flies in front of him. "Don't bother. Your human friends have already been annihilated."

"No!"

"Enjoy your final days," a gigantic Vaatu says, then looks over at his friend. "Your friend here seems to not have many of hers, left. See you at the end o the world!"

When he flies away Wan rises to his feet and rushes over to Nam-kha. Her entire body is still and cold but her eyes are wide open and terrified.

He shouts her name, but no response. So he decides to go looking for Raava. Finding her severely shrunken behind a rock, he picks up the weak spirit and holds her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Wan," she says softly.

Wan slides her into a teapot and moves to settle next to Nam-kha. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"When we combined energies, her energy was sucked into yours through physical contact. She does not have much of her own left. The strain of all four elements was too much on her body, without practice."

Wan frowns. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know."

He hops onto Mula and settles Nam-kha in front of him, so he can hold onto her and the reins at the same time. They set a course for the southern spirit portal.

"We're almost there," Raava eventually says, and Wan glances into the teapot. "I was wrong about you, Wan. I had no idea that humans were capable of such nobility and courage. I'm sorry that we do not have much more time together."

"Let's not give up before the battle's even begun. Who knows what will happen? After all, this is my first Harmonic Convergence."

They find a rather convenient supply room filled with reserve guard uniforms, and sneak into one of the halls with helmets placed firmly over their heads, hiding their appearances. Zuko has the most to worry about. He's a fugitive of his country, after all.

"I hope these disguises work," he mutters, his shoulders tense.

"We just need to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible."

As soon as Sokka's words leave his mouth a series of guards run by. One of them turns, looks at the two of them, then says, "Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard. C'mon!"

Well. Their disguises work, but so much for laying low. The two boys follow the group of guards out into the yard, past a gathering of prisoners, who surround a prisoner and another guard.

"I didn't do anything!" argues the prisoner in the center. "I'm going back to my cell."

He turns on his heel and starts to walk away, but the guard confronting him forms a whip of fire and smacks it at his feet.

"Stop right there, Chit Sang."

Zuko takes a step forward, angry, reminded of something bad, but Sokka grabs him arm and pulls him back. We can't blow our cover, he murmurs, and he's right, but Zuko still feels awful, feels guilty. He knows how his country treats their prisoners, and even their own people.

(Their own queens.)

"I've had it with your unruly behavior!" shouts the bully guard.

"What did I do?"

"He wants to know what he did," laughs the guard, then turns to Zuko and Sokka. "Isn't that cute?" When they fail to reply he gives them a look.

"Uh," Zuko says quickly, "very cute, sir."

"Super cute."

Sated, the bully guard nods and walks over to Chit Sang. "You didn't bow down when I walked by, Chit Sang!"

Zuko clenches his teeth. He really hates his nation sometimes.

"What?" Chit Sang questions. "That's not a prison rule!"

"Do it!"

"Make me."

The bully guard starts to walk away but he suddenly turns and whips fire at the prisoner. Chit Sang blocks it and redirects it at him, but the guard only breaks the blast with a kick. It was all intentional.

"Tsk, tsk," says the guard. "Firebending is prohibited. You're going in the cooler." He points at the nearest guard, who happens to be Sokka. "You! Help me take him in."

Sokka leans over into Zuko, "Meet me back here in an hour." Then he walks up to the guard and the prisoner and takes one of his arms, leading him away.

Zuko frowns as the prisoners scatter. This is an awful place to be.

They pass through the portal into the Spirit World. Their scene, their battlefield, is barren with the exception of a single hollow tree, several streams, and two portals across from one another.

From the northern portal, Vaatu emerges. Wan jumps from Mula and picks up Nam-kha, gently resting her against the tree, away from harm.

"Are you ready for our final battle, Raava?" calls Vaatu, giant and terrifying. "Thanks to our friend separating us, I think this time I may be rid of you once and for all."

Wan frowns. "Before you get to her, you'll have to go through me!"

Vaatu chuckles. "No human can stand against me."

"Haven't you heard the legends?" Wan grins. "I'm not a regular human anymore."

He shoots a blast of fire. Vaatu only flies away to avoid the blasts. He spins around and knocks Wan away with one of his tentacles. Wan slams into the ground, groaning, pain rushing through his body.

"I lived ten thousand lifetimes before the first of your kind crawled out of the mud!"

Purple energy beams from his face. Wan screams. The pain is so awful.

"It was I who broke through the divide that separated the plane of spirits from the material world!" Vaatu continues firing over and over. "To hate me is to give me breath. To fight me is to give me strength. Now prepare to face oblivion!"

Wan propels himself in the air with fire to avoid another blast. He turns to Raava desperately and says, "The only way to win is together!" She flies from his teapot and merges with him, creating a bright white energy that blinds everything in sight.

Vaatu attacks with whipping tentacles. Wan flies onto a cloud and into the air, exchanging blows. He manages to make a decent stand, even sending Vaatu back a few inches with one blast. But Vaatu is still winning, and the two elements on Wan's body is becoming rougher and more uncontrollable.

"I have to leave you," Raava urges. "If I stay any longer, you will die."

"It doesn't matter. If you leave me now, Vaatu will destroy everything. We have to finish this together!"

They fight, and they fight, and they fight. Wan's body starts to become literal static as he loses ground. A blast of fire and a purple beam meet in the middle, and the resulting blast knocks Wan to the ground, landing on his back, moaning in pain.

"You put up a good fight," says Vaatu, "but what about your friend?" No. "She seems a little lonely over there."

Nam-kha is half awake, batting at Vaatu's tentacles with weak limbs as he tries to reach for her. She manages one powerful blast of air to knock him back, but he only rushes into her body. She shouts in agony, her back snapping upwards, and she pauses for a moment before slowly turning to Wan, eyes glowing orange.

Wan's eyes widen in shock. Nam-kha takes one step, but immediately falters, one of her legs giving out underneath her. Vaatu's energy inside her is what is keeping her alive, but she fights, and she fights hard. Her eyes flicker as she screams, climbing back to her feet and squirming, struggling, punching the air as if tentacles were pulling her apart from all ends. Despite the struggle, her feet move on their own, by Vaatu's will, and he stomps closer and closer until he (she) pins Wan's head by the southern portal with her hand.

One of her eyes is orange, the other the normal brown. She is crying, and she is gritting her teeth against it.

"Kill me," she whispers.

"I can't," Wan says back.

"It'll stop him." Her voice starts to mix with Vaatu's. She is losing. She is losing. She grunts and then both of her eyes are glowing orange. Vaatu's voice escapes her mouth, "The Harmonic Convergence is about to begin. The era of Raava is over!"

The two beams from the spirit portals bend over to connect over their heads. Nam-kha's chest begins to glow deep violet, and Wan's white. Her right eye glitches until it turns brown, and she smiles shakily at him before extending her arm, borrowing Vaatu's power to turn it into a black tentacle.

But before she can do anything rash, Wan grabs onto her hand, laces their fingers together, and shoves his right hand into the portal. The energy from the Harmonic Convergence flows into him and into Nam-kha, and they are basked in a blue and orange light. There is a sudden, sort of explosion between them, and they are forced together, back to back. Wan cries out, his eyes glowing white, and white light shoots from his mouth and eyes. Nam-kha, orange.

They take each other's hand once more, and merge into one,

Inside, they fight. An internal struggle against light and darkness. But in the end Vaatu is secured by light, by the force inside both Wan and Nam-kha, and the portals are closed, to prevent anyone from coming to disturb the peace.

"We are bonded forever."

The spirit of darkness inside Nam-kha, locked away, hidden. Shrouded by her light and her peace. The spirit of light inside Wan, flourishing, cherished. Guided by his selflessness and purging his old ways.

"We will be the bridge between our two worlds."

The world begins to enter a new age. Lion turtles leave their cities, no longer protecting mankind and no longer gifting the power of the elements. Instead, they learn themselves.

"Different groups of people must learn to live together. This is our mission: to use Raava's light spirit and Vaatu's dark spirit to guide the world towards peace and balance."

But in the end, the very end, when an aged Nam-kha lies motionlessly on the ground, a spear in her abdomen, and a weary Wan clumps against an earth coin, Raava and Vaatu promise to be there for all their lifetimes. Together.

Because they are bonded. They will always be together.

So when their last breath escapes them, it fills the cry of two newborn babies.

Zuko is not very good at blending in and hiding. It didn't work in Ba Sing Se, and it does not work here.

The other guards don't seem to suspect him but they do think he is strange. He asks about war prisoners, and finds no useful information.

So he finds Sokka, reports back to him, he does the next worse thing: try to make him feel better.

"Ah, what would Uncle say? Sometimes... clouds have two sides, a dark and light, and a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich! So... when life seems hard... take a bite out of the silver sandwich!"

After a moment, Sokka's eyes go wide and his expression bright, running up to grab the railing and excitedly looking down into the yard. "Maybe we haven't failed after all!"

"That's the spirit!" Zuko crosses his arms confidently. "I can't believe that worked. I didn't even know what I was saying."

"No, what you said made me sense at all. But look!" He points into the yard, down towards a rather familiar and sad-looking girl. "It's Suki!"

The prisoners are led back to their cells, and Sokka very literally flashes heart eyes, lowers the visor on his helmet, and dashes away in a flash.

Zuko just sighs, and goes after him.

Once he finds him, he stands outside of the girl's cell while Sokka enters to go get his girl. He feels somewhat jealous, and the realization embarrasses him. He hears commotion inside the cell followed by angry yelling, but then heartfelt joy. After a few moments, Zuko sees a guard ascending the nearby stairs. He taps on the door to get their attention, and the female guard walks up to him with her arms crosses.

"Excuse me," she says. "I need to get into that cell."

"No, you can't go in there!" Alright, Zuko, think of a good excuse. Something believable. "Uh... the lights are out. The prisoner could sneak up on you." Nice.

"Step aside, fool." Not nice. The guard raises her arm to push him out of the way but he grabs hold of her and slams her face-first against the door. "Hey, hey, what are you doing!?"

She fights back, slamming him against the door and beating him in a battle of strength. Sokka slides out of the door and tries to sneak away but the female guard calls after him and demands Get him off me and arrest him!

So he is taken away, Don't worry, I'll figure it out, and shoved into prison garb and locked in an isolated room.

He wishes, not for the first time, that Ka were here.

(Or course the warden is Mai's uncle.)

He meets Suki later while mopping floors. Turns out she was the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, and he sort of burned down her village. Whoops. He apologizes as such.

A few minutes later, they hide behind a staircase and discuss a plan.

"So, listen, I think I have an escape plan," says Sokka. "I checked out the coolers again, and the point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"

"Yeah..."

"So, they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well, to keep the cold in, it also has to keep the heat out, right?"

"Just get to the point, Sokka."

"It's a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water!"

Zuko and Suki exchange a look. "The cooler as a boat? Are you sure?"

"I'm telling you, it'll work," Sokka assures, nodding. "I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. It'll take us straight across. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice. And bing-bang-boom, we're home free."

"But how are you going to get the cooler out?" Suki asks.

"Yeah," says Chit Sang suddenly, from the staircase, "how are you going to get the cooler out?"

Sokka covers up. "What? We didn't—we didn't say that."

"Yeah, you heard wrong."

Chit Sang grins. "I heard you hatching an escape plan, and I want in."

They start a fight in the prison area. Zuko blasts fire at Chit Sang for show and is brought to the cooler. The wrench in his pocket comes in handy, and he removes all the bolts and screws, using his breath of fire to keep himself warm.

But then they hear about new arrivals. War prisoners. They give up their only chance of escaping on the off chance it might be Sokka's father. Chit Sang, his girl, and his friend take the cooler instead, but get caught when the burning water splashes his hand and he screams.

Wincing at the rushing guards and fleeing prisoners, they turn their attention to the approaching gondola.

"This is it," Sokka sighs. "If my dad's not there, we've risked everything for nothing."

Suki turns to hold his hand. They watch as one by one different men step off the gondola, none of them even looking remotely Water Tribe.

The last prisoner exits, and his father is not there.

"That's it?" Sokka breathes. "That can't be it."

"I'm sorry, Sokka."

"Oh, no..."

"Hey, you! Get off the gondola!"

So they look up, hopeful, and watch as a Water Tribe man steps out, angered, his mouth pitched in a frown.

Then Sokka's eyes fill with tears, and he breathes, "Dad..."

In her dreams she sees a large black spirit towering over her small body.

"The new Minder is another spirit..." he breathes, then grins. "Welcome back to our origins, little one. "

An airbending woman with brown eyes takes her place.

She has a bad feeling about this.

whoops. i meant to do both boiling rock parts this chapter but i got very caught up in the origin of the avatar and the minder.

anyway.

next chapter: boiling rock part 2 and the southern raiders. we're getting very close to the end, here. stick around.