Hello! It's been so very long, hasn't it? I am so sorry. Life is my excuse. Life and the fact that whenever I got a break from life, I just wanted to slack off...what's wrong with me? So, here it is! The next chapter! Review responses will be next chapter, along with reviews for this chapter! Enjoy, because something awful happens this chapter...DON'T HATE ME PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I don't own A:TLA, and after this chapter, I don't know if you guys will want me anywhere near it.

Katara's mind was somewhere else, and it was getting on her friends' nerves.

She knew she should be helping to come up with an escape plan, knew she should be trying to find a way to get out of this cell and off this island, but at the moment, her mind had left her, preferring instead the company of a certain young monk.

Indeed, Katara could not stop think about Aang, not that she would want to push the boy from her thoughts if she could. All Katara wanted was for Aang to be within her line of view. Was that too much to ask? After so long of Aang being either with the Rebels or Azula, Katara just needed him to be close to her for once.

What had gotten Katara through those three months of Aang being with the Rebels was the knowledge that he was most likely safe. Now, she didn't even have that to rely on! Katara swore to herself that as a long as she lived, Aang was never taking another trip again. He was about to quit that nomad lifestyle.

That is, if they all got out of this alive.

Azula and Khon were still talking, but they had finished discussing the plan, and so Aang had stopped focusing on them altogether. Like his friends, he was trying to think of an escape plan. Unlike his friends, he had to do so while recovering from severe beating.

The one advantage, a very small one, mind, was that Azula and Khon still believed him to be comatose, so they weren't watching him at all. If Aang wasn't in some serious trouble, he might have stopped to chuckle slightly to himself over how arrogant and overconfident his two enemies were. As it was, he had more important things on his mind.

Aang needed to be able to see Khon and Azula, but if he peeked open an eye, he ran the the risk of Khon or Azula noticing his not-quite-asleep self, thus ruining his one chance at escape.

Aang decided that the best way to come up with an escape plan was through reverse engineering. First, he would decide where he needed to go, and then he would decide how he would get there.

The airbender pictured his ideal scenario. That was pretty easy. He and his friends would all be on Appa's back, leaving Uchiwake behind, and having successfully stopped Khon from commencing his sinister plot. So, how would he make that happen?

What was one thing that his enemies didn't know about? They seemed to have every single advantage. Where could Team Avatar gain the upperhand? Aang would have groaned if he wasn't trying to pretend he was unconscious. He just wanted to be safely back on Appa...

Appa!

That was it! Everyone seemed to have forgotten about good ol' Appa, waiting faithfully on the shores of Uchiwake! If Aang could somehow get to Appa, then Appa could help break into his friends' cells, and then they could find a way to stop Khon and Azula, because no matter what, Khon and Azula needed to be stopped. Of all the things Aang was confused about in his life, that he was certain of. He would not let the "Plan of Revival" come to pass. He just wouldn't.

Now, how to get to Appa? The bison was back on the beach, and Aang hadn't a clue as to how to contact the creature, much less how to do so without anyone else noticing. Despite how little Azula and Khon were paying attention to him, he was positive they would notice if he just disappeared. Aang wished there was someone to call his bison. Huh, look at that, "his" bison. Aang had never thought of Appa in that way before, but now, it sounded good to him.

The monk thought about how easy it would be if he could just whistle to Appa, like one would to a polar bear-dog.

And then, very suddenly, the image of a small, bison-shaped whistle flashed across the vision of his mind's eye. Aang remembered it. He had seen it on a page in one of the many books and scrolls he'd read back at Zuko's palace. All those hours alone, Aang had had plenty of time to read, and he had certainly read a lot about sky bison after his birthday, eager to know more about the lovable, furry creature that was Appa. Aang had scanned page after page, wanting to know more and more about his fuzzy friend, and now, he recalled learning of a small whistle used to summon animals. It was a whistle that humans could not hear - perfect for avoiding Azula and Khon's detection!

Alas, he had no such whistle, but it was a start. Aang now had the beginnings of a plan. He had always been rather clever, preferring to think his way out of a fight, and that combined with actually picking up a scroll or book was coming into play here.

Aang didn't have a whistle, but, he realized, he didn't need one. People whistled all the time without an actual whistle, and he could do here. If he could somehow whistle at a high enough pitch, he could get Appa's attention, and Khon and Azula would be none-the-wiser.

Aang felt freezing and overheated at the same time, and this cold and heat collided in the pit of his stomach, swirling together and making him feel queasy. How could he possibly whistle at such a high pitch? That had to be impossible for a human. There was no way he could ever do such a thing.

But, as Aang wracked his brain for any other ideas, he realized there were none. This was his one shot. It was either attempt to contact his bison and fail, or remain trapped here with two deadly foes. These were the cards he was dealt, and he would find a way to make it work. Sure, his friends might come, but there was the very likely possibility that those friends were trapped in their cells with no way of escape.

The choice was obvious. Aang, feeling sick, readied himself, and finally, he whistled.

Nothing.

Aang knitted his eyebrows together. Why couldn't he hear anything? Confused, he tried again.

Again, nothing.

Yet another attempt.

Even more silence.

Aang was baffled. Why could he hear nothing? Why was there no sound? He tried, again and again, to whistle, and again again, nothing came. Why wasn't he making any noise? Shouldn't he be able to hear something?

Wait, no, he did near something, but it wasn't whistling. What was that...? It - it sounded like….it sounded like….wait, Aang knew that noise! He'd know it anywhere! It was the distant groaning of a sky bison. So he had managed to get Appa's attention, but how could he? Aang couldn't even hear himself!

And then, Aang suddenly felt like facepalming. Of course he hadn't heard the whistle. The whistle was supposed to be at such a high pitch that, while animals could hear it, humans could not, and Aang was human.

Aang grinned. To think in the midst of all this hopelessness, he could manage to find a bit of humor.

Katara had tried breaking out of her cell with her own sweat, but it wasn't quite as easy to slice through as a wooden one. It was a solid metal door, that just couldn't be cut all the way through. If only she'd been placed in a wooden cell, like Toph had. Then she could slice through it, rescue the others, and then she could focus on finding Aang. After that, they could leave. They had to get out of here. Katara needed to leave behind this hopeless atmosphere, and there was no other reason for them to stay. Coming here had been a mistake. They needed to leave. Katara was sure of it. It was just that Katara didn't quite know how to leave.

I've got nothing, Katara thought to herself with a sigh, absolutely nothing.

It was slightly strange that Katara, after all she had been through during the war, could not escape from one measly little cell. This was the girl who had escaped from a cell with her own sweat, yet she couldn't break out of here! Yes, this was maddening. The fact that she was separated from Aang did not help at all.

At the thought of Aang, a knot formed in Katara's stomach. Poor Aang. Poor Aang, who had absolutely no way of escaping from his tormentor. If Katara, who was in perfectly fine health, couldn't escape, there was no chance that Aang could escape. He was most certainly trapped with Khon right now, and it was all up to Katara to save hi-

CRASH!

"Ah!" Katara shouted, startled. Something, something that sounded enormous, had just crashed right into the door of her cell.

CRASH! CRASH!

Small indents were beginning to form on her door, and Katara yanked ferociously at her chains, but they remained adamantly cemented to the ground. It was to no avail, no matter how hard the girl pulled.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

It was strange and rather ironic that the door that had been irritating her ever since she'd been locked behind it was the one thing that was shielding her from whatever terror awaited outside. Katara was nothing but a helpless witness as her one source of protection crumpled before her. Her eyes remained trained on the door, not glancing away for a second. One more hit, and it was over. Katara held her breath, and….

CRASH!

Her door slammed to the ground, and Katara was fighting off the terror that was threatening to block out all of her senses. She took in deep, hasty breaths in a rather feeble attempt to calm herself.

Katara couldn't help it. Her eyes snapped shut. She didn't want to look…

…and then she heard it.

That sound. That wonderful sound. The sound that she had all but forgotten about. The sound that had never sounded more comforting than it did now. The sound that filled one up with a sense of security and sereneness like no other, as though she were about to leap into a steep canyon, but she knew for sure that there was a net at the bottom, a net she would trust with the lives of all her loved ones. This sound brought Katara her favorite emotion of all, hope.

It was the sound of Appa's growlish groan.

Katara hesitantly opened one eye, and then, beaming uncontrollably, she opened her other eye, taking in the shaggy white head of Appa, compete with horns and a delicately brown arrow.

"APPA!" she made a beeline for the bison, surging forward and wrapping her hands as far as they could go around his head. She pulled back, and Appa licked her happily. She didn't mind at all, and she bended the saliva off herself.

"Good boy!" Katara praised the bison, as Momo flapped down from Appa and flew in circles over her head, chattering happily, "Very very very good boy! Now we go get Aang!"

"Um…right here!"

It was surprising that Katara's neck didn't snap considering how quickly she reared it back, fighting to see the source of the voice. Sure enough, the jolly face of Aang was looking right at her, and at that moment, he reminded her of the old Aang, the happy Aang, more than ever. His face was filled with such jubilance, such ecstasy! The expression he wore wasn't something she'd seen on him in a long while. Katara stepped back from Appa to get a better view.

"Aang," she breathed, "you're okay…"

Aang laughed. He actually laughed, "Come on, Katara, do you really think that after all I've been through, I was gonna die on some tiny little island in the middle of nowhere? I hope to have a death with a little more dignity than that."

Katara let out some slightly hysterical laughter of her own, and that's when she was reminded that she had come to this island with people other than Aang.

"Hey, break it up you two! You can spend hours catching up later, but right now there are some friends of yours who are trapped in cells!"

Katara blushed in embarrassment at Toph's words, even though they had been in good nature, "Er, right, let's get you guys out of there!"

It didn't take too long to break the others out of their cells, and soon everyone was standing before Katara and Aang. Feng took in Aang's appearance, shocked at the boy's happiness. Had the boy once been as joyful as he was at present? Feng tried not to focus on the guilt that continued to plague him, and probably always would. Instead, he opted to focus on how great it was to see Aang so…so young again. What had made the boy so happy?

Everyone climbed their way onto Appa, Momo landing from his hyperactive flight onto Appa's horn.

"Okay," said Aang, "Azula and Khon should be here soon. Thing is, they don't know what cell you guys were thrown in, so it'll take them awhile to find us. I mean, I didn't even know where I was going. Still, we should probably get going."

"Right," Katara nodded, "We should get off this island while we still can."

Aang's head whipped in her direction faster than an eel hound, eyes shocked and stern at the same time.

"We can't leave!" he objected, "We have to stay! These people are in trouble!"

"Aang," Sokka sighed, "these are the hopeless cases. We can't save them."

Aang, so joyful mere seconds ago, was now deadly serious, "We can save them from something worse than this."

Everyone could tell from his tone that whatever was going on in this island, it was something so monstrous, so despicable, that if affected Aang at his very core. Aang stared into the eyes of each one of them in turn, as if trying to convey all of his thoughts and emotions in one single look. That dark, somber look in his eyes sent chills down each of their spines, and they knew that there would be no convincing Aang to leave. They wouldn't want to, anyway.

"Okay," said Katara, "what's going on, and how do we need to help?"

Aang allowed a grin to slip on his face, "I need to talk to the Contaminated."

They were in the middle of the camp. All of Team Avatar, along with Feng, were there on Appa's back, Aang standing up on the saddle. In order to attract the attention of those who hadn't already noticed the enormous flying bison, Appa slammed his tail on the ground and groaned as loud as he could.

Quite suddenly, Aang found that all the haunted, lost-looking eyes were now fixated on him. They were all piercing his very being, sifting through his thoughts like pages in a book. Aang took a breath to steady his nerves, but his heart was still beating rapidly.

Can I do this? Aang wondered, Can I really convince them to help? How can I when they don't seem to care about anything anymore?

Aang felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He looked over said shoulder, and there was Feng, gazing at him with warmth and affection.

All of a sudden, Aang's task didn't seem as daunting.

"Citizens of Uchiwake!" Aang shouted to the mass, "I am -"

Aang faltered already. Who was he? Aside from his name, he really hadn't a clue. How should he introduce himself to these people? What did he know about himself? All he knew for sure was what happened after his Contamination.

And gazing into each of these people's eyes, Aang realized that this was exactly what they needed to hear.

` "I," Aang stated resolutely, "am Aang, and that's all I know. I don't know who I used to be, and I don't know who I will be, but who I am now is Aang. I don't know much about myself. I don't know my favorite food, when I was born, or even what my element is. I don't - I don't know anything like that."

Aang most certainly had the crowd's attention by now. They were soaking up every word he uttered, thirstily lapping his words up like a polar-bear dog with a puddle. He was speaking to each of them. He was speaking to every individual within the crowd, for every single one of them had something they needed to take away from this.

"I haven't got a clue about Aang, all I know is that I am him," Aang continued, "and I want to learn all I can about him. Still, there is so much I don't know, so much I'm confused about."

"You're not the only one!" shouted one of the Contaminated.

"Yeah!" another yelled, "What makes you so special? You're just like the rest of us!"

Aang replied calmly but firmly, "I might be similar to you, but I am not 'just like' you. We have many things in common. None of us have a clue about ourselves. We don't know about who we were, or who we will become. But! There is one difference between me and all of you."

The crowd was completely silent, all waiting to see what this boy had to say.

"I know who I don't want to become," Aang said, and he gave the crowd a moment to let that sink in, before pressing on in his speech, "I know that I don't want to be a cruel, twisted villain. I don't want to be a coward, and I don't want to be uncaring! I don't want be eternally angry, and -" Aang glanced at his friends for a brief second before looking back at the crowd, "- I don't want to fill any expectations. I want to be me! I may not know who that is yet, but if I don't get the chance to stop being other people, then I'll never find out!"

Aang was getting louder and more invested in his speech with every word, "I refuse to be someone's mindless puppet! I am not anyone else's to control!"

The boy's voice suddenly got quieter, "That's what they want to turn you into, you know. Azula and Khon - they want to turn you all into their dull, mindless slaves, their own personal army! Then again, if you don't fight them when they come to brainwash you, then maybe you already are slaves!"

Aang's fists were balled, nails digging into his palms, "So don't be like that. Fight! Fight so that you can have the right to be who you are, and not who someone else says you are!"

"Fight," Aang said, his voice ringing out, "and you are someone."

Nothing could be heard in the camp. Not a sound was made. Except for the clapping.

"Bravo, my apprentice," came the snide voice of Khon, "your speech was quite impactful, I'd say. You know, I'm inspired! I think I shall now embrace who I really am!"

A stream of orange flames was now shooting straight for Aang's heart.

The boy was too shocked to do anything about it, Feng noticed. And so, someone else would have to.

Feng pushed Aang out of harm's way, toward the back of Appa's saddle…

…thus, putting himself in harm's way. Feng turned around just in time for the flames to strike him straight in the heart.

Feng looked around at all the Contaminated, all the people he'd made suffer, before finally speaking, "I'm…sorry…"

Feng's world faded to blackness.