The Southern Raiders!

The Southern Raiders!

The Southern Raiders!

The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The Southern Raiders! The-!

Toph: Ehem… Please excuse Dave's outbursts and continued screaming. He is excited that we have come to the conclusion of the Zuko Field Trips mini arc and thus, there's only one more chapter between where we are now and-.

SOZIN'S COMET!

Woo woo woo woo woo woo!

Toph: … the finale. So we'd like for all of you to hang on tight and sit back as we bring you the last of the episodes in which Princy-Pie gets one-on-one time with the other members of GAang. Well, almost all of them.

What SHOULD have Happened in Avatar the Last Airbender: Book 3: Chapter 16

As the Fire Nation war balloons laid siege to the Western Air Temple, Zuko stared at the stone blast doors that shielded him and his new friends from the bombs. Just then, he heard Aang shouting at him.

"What are you doing?" The monk loosened his grip on his bison's reins

The prince turned his head to the boy. "Go ahead! I'll hold them off!" The scarred teen then turned back towards the enemy air vessels. "I think this is a family visit." He dashed forward.

Aang stretched out his arm. "Zuko! No!" Suddenly, Sokka and his sister grabbed him.

"Come on! We've gotta get out of here!"

The Avatar's fire bending teacher hurried through an exploded gap in the storm walls and made it onto the terrace just as a bomb erupted. The prince leapt through the smoke of the blast and launched several fire balls at the air ships.

Just then, the attacking stopped and Ozai's son watched as another large war balloon rose up the canyon. At the top of a lookout post on the large blimp, the scarred fire bender saw the fierce grin of his sister as she stared back at him. "What are you doing up there?"

Azula laughed, but then stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's the first question you ask? Not 'what did you do to my girlfriend who committed treason and personally betrayed you at a maximum security prison that's surrounded by scorching-hot water'?"

Zuko scratched his head. "Well, I suppose I should ask that. But I was more curious as to why you were lobbing bombs, which aren't doing that much damage to the temple, when you could be using your highly accurate, much more powerful, and no real strain on you to use lightening to take this place down."

Ursa's daughter stood still for a few moments and then narrowed her eyes. "Touché, Zuzu."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Aang felt the Western Air Temple collapsing around him as he and his Water Tribe friends tugged on his sky bison's reins towards Toph and Haru's tunnel. However, the six-legged beast pulled back and away from the underground passage. "I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!"

Toph snarled. "Then tell Appa to shut up and deal with it for three minutes!"


[[The Fire Nation has a special division for the South Pole. This scene has a special division for how dumb it is.]]


Aang felt the Western Air Temple collapsing around him as he and his Water Tribe friends tugged on his sky bison's reins towards Toph and Haru's tunnel. However, the six-legged beast pulled back and away from the underground passage. "I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!"

From beside the monk, Katara tugged on the bison's rope as her eyes turned to the boy. "Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here!"

The Avatar relaxed his grip and lowered his head. "We'll have to find a way."

On the opposite side of his sister, Sokka furrowed his brow. "We need to split up." He turned around and rushed towards the tunnel entrance where all the others stood. "Get to the stolen airship."

Katara spun her head. "No!" She walked towards her father. "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!"

The young Water Tribe Warrior put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "That's not going to happen."

"It won't?"

"No. We'll just set up a rendezvous point right now before we separate."

The water bender's face beamed. "Wow! That's a great idea!"

Hakoda cringed. "Uh… actually… no we can't."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at his father. "Why not? There's time. We just name a location right now."

"Well… uh… the Fire Nation could follow one group and catch the other."

Katara scratched her head. "But if the Fire Nation was going to catch one group, they'd either have Aang and not bother with you guys or announce that they have hostages for us to go after as bait."

"Um… Yeah… but…" The Water Tribe chief put a hand on this daughter's shoulder. "Don't worry! Won't be forever!" He then quickly dashed down through the tunnel with Chit Sang running alongside him.

As the two rushed through the corridor, the middle-aged fire bender glanced at the elder Water Tribe warrior. "Were you just trying to get away from your kids?"

"Yes."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


The princess of the Fire Nation saw the Avatar's bison burst out of the collapsing Western Air Temple with a small rock barricade in front of his head. She immediately launched several blue fire balls at the flying beast, but the stone shield easily absorbed the blasts and the Avatar's pet flew straight past her. The female fire bender smirked as she watched the Avatar and his friends drop the rock barricade and began flying towards the other war balloons.

A moment later, Ozai's daughter raised an eyebrow and turned around to see her brother standing on the top of another airship that rose up above her own. The two siblings glared at one another for a few seconds until Azula put her hands on her hips. "Regardless of how you happened to land on that war balloon, since all of mine should be up here with me and if that was the one you stole from me, I'd have seen it when my ships were climbing up the canyon and destroyed it or taken it back, aren't you going to call out to the Avatar to come help you? Having the sky bison could really help in an aerial fight and they will have to come around to save you anyway!"

Ursa's son crossed his arms. "Disregarding why you aren't either shooting this war balloon down 'cause it's the one I stole or shouting at the people on board to make a sharp turn to cause me to fall, why aren't you shooting the Avatar's bison with lightening? Even if they dodge, you know how to aim so that you won't hit any of your airships and I know you're fast enough that you could have made and shot a lightening bolt when they were escaping from the temple."

Azula narrowed her eyes at her brother. Then she lowered herself into a fighting stance and wore a small grin. "It might actually be fun this time, Zuzu."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Atop a Fire Nation airship, Zuko and his sister's punches collided and exploded, sending both siblings rocketing away in opposite directions. Both he and the princess pressed their hands against the blimp's surface, but both continued to skid until the force flung them from the side of the air craft.

The prince's eyes widened in shock as he and the princess began to freefall. However, Appa, carrying the Avatar and his friends, flew underneath Zuko. He reached out his hands and took Katara's as she pulled him into the saddle. Then, he turned around and watched his sister drop down the canyon. "So, Aang? Just so I'm clear, you don't care that she's dying, right? I mean, I just wanna know where you stand on this. 'Cause you could easily turn around right now and I don't think she'd attack, since, as far as we know, we're her only means of survival. Just wanna know."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Aang, his three teachers, and the two young warriors sat around a small fire under a twilight sky while his bison and lemur sat some distance away and slept. With all of their tents set up around their circle, the young monk chuckled. "Wow… camping! It really seems like old times again doesn't it?"

Zuko fiddled with a piece of bread and broke it. "If you really want it to feel like old times I could… uh…" He smirked. "…chase you around a while and try to capture you."

Katara glared into the fire as the others laughed. "Ha… ha…"

Sokka's laugh quieted down and he picked up his cup. "To Zuko! Who knew that after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today, he'd be our hero?"

Aang, Toph, and Suki raised their cups. "Hear! Hear!"

The prince simpered as the Avatar and the blind girl lightly knocked his arms. "I'm touched. I don't deserve this."

The water bender kept her eyes narrowed as she stared at the scarred boy. "Yeah. No kidding." She then stood up and walked away from the campsite.

The Water Tribe warrior raised an eyebrow at his sister. "What's with her?"

Zuko pushed himself to his feet. "I wish I knew." He then followed after Katara as her brother's eyes widened.

"What's with him?"

A few moments later, under a near-full moon, Zuko approached the Water Tribe girl as she sat on a large rock close to a cliff. As he moved closer, he saw her take her eyes away from the ocean and glance at him before scowling and walking a few feet away. "This isn't fair!" The prince flailed his arms open. "Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you? You should be just as accepting by now!"

Katara spun around and glared at the scarred teen. "Oh, everyone trusts you now?"

"Yes. And-."

"I was the fist person to trust you, remember? Back in Ba Sing Se?"

"I remember that, Katara. But I also-."

"And you turned around and betrayed me! Betrayed all of us!"

The fire bender held out his arms. "Whoa. Whoa. I didn't betra-!"

"But if you really wanna make it right…!" The water bender began strutting forward. "…maybe you could re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth king!" She stopped right in front of the prince's face. "Or, I know,…" Her face contorted as a twisted smile formed. "You could bring my mother-!"

"You ratted me out to my sister!"

Katara's face turned blank as she blinked twice. The young man in front of her narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Oh, didn't think Azula would tell me how she knew my uncle and I were in Ba Sing Se? Or that I wouldn't ask her about it?"

The Water Tribe girl cringed and took a step back.

"And you have the gall to constantly accuse me. Constantly berate me. And constantly forget that I didn't swear loyalty to you and your friends after you never went ahead with the thing you offered to do! Was I supposed to just betray everyone in the Fire Nation who had bowed down to me since I was born just so I could have my pretty face back? I joined you guys now 'cause I see that balance is best for everyone, including my people."

Zuko scoffed as the water bender continued to shrink back. "Do you remember what happened the last time our paths crossed before Ba Sing Se? You were offering to heal my uncle! How did 'Oh, I guess I can trust him enough to heal his mentor' turn into 'By the spirits! He's serving tea! Teaaaaaaa!'"

The Fire Nation boy dropped his arms. "Seriously, Katara, even the name was designed to attract attention! 'The Jasmine Dragon' is probably the worst name to give a store that you want to use as a base of operations to infiltrate an enemy city! It's not like it was called 'Evil Zuko and Evil Iroh's Evil Tea Shop… of Evil'! That would've been a less attention-grabbing name!

"So how's about you drop the self-righteous act. Drop the accusations. And drop this weird mentality you have, which says that everything you and your little friends do is right and everyone else is wrong and evil because they couldn't possibly just be fighting for the cause they believe in instead of the one you believe in!"

The prince then turned and walked away.


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Sokka lay down on his stomach, propped up by his elbows, within his candle-lit tent as he heard the entryway being opened. Clasping a rose between his teeth, the Water Tribe warrior slowly turned his head. "Well hellooooo…" His eyes bulged and his jaw crushed the flower when he saw the Fire Nation prince standing in front of him. "Uhhh… Zuko! Yes! Why would I be expecting anyone different?" He sat up and cringed as he swallowed the rose stem. "Ack… So what's on your mind?"

The fire bender sat on the small rug in his friend's tent. "Your sister. She hates me. And I don't know why! But I do care what she thinks of me."

The Water Tribe boy raised an eyebrow. "Really? You don't know? 'Cause I seem to recall her shouting at you about trust and falling for tricks and Ba Sing Se. And, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I could pretty clearly hear my sister yelling at you about how she was pissed about what happened back in Ba Sing Se. So, if I were to wager my life to a copper piece, I'd say she's mad about whatever happened in Ba Sing Se."

The scarred teen blinked twice. "Wow… I can't believe I missed that. Thanks, Sokka."

The male warrior smiled. "Noooo problem!" He scooted closer to Zuko and put his arm around the other boy's shoulder. "Thanks for stopping by!" He then opened up the tent flap and pushed his friend out.


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


The morning sun shined over the tiny island the Avatar and his friends used as a camp as Katara marched towards the monk and his bison with the traitor prince in tow. "I need to borrow Appa."

Aang chuckled. "Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?"

"Yes. It is."

The tattooed youth heard the tone in her voice and spun around with wide eyes. "Oh. What's going on?"

The water bender kept her brow furrowed as she spoke. "We're going to find the man who took my mother from me."

Zuko adjusted the bag over his shoulder. "Sokka told me the story of what happened." He saw the Water Tribe boy approaching. "I know who did it. And I know how to find him."

The Avatar tensed. "Um… And what, exactly, do you think this will accomplish?"

Katara glared at her student for a moment. Then she scoffed and shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't understand." She began walking away.

The nomad took a few steps after his water bending teacher. "Wait! Stop! I do understand! You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sand benders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?"

The Fire Nation teen gestured out with his free arm. "She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure… and justice."

Aang stared back at his newest teacher. "I don't think so. I think this is about getting revenge."

With her back to her friends, the water bender tightened her fists. "Fine! Maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves."

The monk slowly shook his head. "Katara, I'm pleading with you. The spirits who determine our fates and the fates of everyone in this world don't feel this is right." He then lightly shrugged. "I mean, it's not like this person said your make-up looked ugly, then those same spirits would be fine with you beating him up and even damaging public property to do so. Or he kicked you out of a party he invited you to because you assaulted his friend. I have a feeling the spirits would be ok with you attacking him for that."

Katara spun around and raised an eyebrow. "What?"


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


A very young Katara as well as everyone around her watched snow mixed with soot fall onto their small village in the South Pole. The tiny water bender immediately looked at her brother. "I'm going to find mom." She then dashed past him, several igloos and a few brown tents as she ran towards the large igloo in the center of the village. Several people hurried past her as sulfur bombs struck the village's outer wall.

After a few moments, the small Water Tribe girl reached the central igloo and whipped away the cloth that covered the entrance. "Mom!" She burst in but then stopped. Her eyes widened and her body began to shake as a man in a dark and crimson armor stood in front of a Water Tribe woman who wore a bright blue parka and stood on one knee.

The woman turned her eyes to the young Katara and then back to the man. "Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want."

The man glared at the child. "You heard your mother. Get out of here!"

Katara clutched her hands in front of her chest. "Mom… I'm confused…"

Kya stared softly into her daughter's eyes. "Go find your dad, Sweetie."

"But I don't understand…"

The Fire Nation soldier created flames around his fist. "You'd better start understanding real fast or I'll-!"

"Mommy, how did he get in here?"

Both Kya and the man blinked twice. "What? He snuck in, Honey. Now, hurry and-!"

"Ok, but how? The three colors in this village are blue parkas, white snow, and thin brown tents." Katara pointed at the man. "This guy's wearing imposing black and red armor. He's not covered up by any of our clothes that he could have taken from other prisoners. He's not wearing camouflage gear. It's big. It's showy. And it's the opposite of every color around here."

The small girl scratched her head. "I mean, it's clear that he came here before the people that are attacking us now, probably on a small row boat that, I suppose, he could have used to avoid our lookouts. But still, I just ran past at least half-a-dozen neighbors and friends. How could everyone in the village, even if he came in during the attack, did this guy evade everyone and sneak in?"

Kya and the man stared at her daughter, then at one another.

The Fire Nation soldier then motioned his head towards the young water bender. "Your daughter has quite a large vocabulary for someone her age."

Katara's mother shrugged. "All from good parenting."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Under a dark sky and in the middle of the ocean, several Fire Nation soldiers sat or stood in a small circle and casually ate their meals on the deck of the Southern Raiders' lead ship as one of them talked to the others. "So there I was, and I was like, you know how-." Suddenly, a large tentacle made of water emerged from the waves and yanked into the sea as he screamed.

The other soldiers raced over to side their comrade fell off of and peered over the ledge. At that moment, the soldier at the end closest to the front of the ship glanced at the others.

"Just a thought. I know we haven't come up against water benders in a while, but don't you think that, as a special division that's charged with attacking the South Pole to catch water benders, we should be well-conditioned to react to a water bending attack, shouldn't we?"

All rest of the soldiers looked at one another and then nodded just as an enormous wave struck their boat and flung them off the poop deck.


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Under a grey sky in a mountain village, Yon Rha tended to his small garden. With a deep frown on his face, he looked up at the ashen sky that hung over the house he shared with his mother. "You know, after being in the Fire Nation navy for so long that I was in command of a specialized division for at least 6 years, one would think I'd get a pension that would let me live a better life than this after retirement."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Years ago, inside the central igloo of the Southern Water Tribe, Yon Rha glared at a small girl in a blue parka as her mother pleaded to him.

"Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want."

The Fire Nation soldier kept his eyes glued on the little girl. "You heard your mother. Get out of here!"

The small child clutched her hands in front of her chest. "Mom… I'm scared."

The mother continued to stare softly at her child. "Go find your dad, Sweetie. I'll handle this."

Once the little girl left the house of snow, Yon Rha turned back towards the woman. "Now, tell me, who is it? Who's the water bender?"

The woman stared him right in the eye. "There are no water benders here." She narrowed her eyes. "The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago!"

"You're lying! My source says there's one water bender left in the Southern Water Tribe. We aren't leaving until we find the water bender!"

The mother's gaze weakened. "If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?" She lowered her head.

The Fire Nation soldier nodded.

"It's me." The Water Tribe woman looked up. "Take me as your prisoner."

Yon Rha clicked his tongue. "Oh. Well, then I guess what happened makes perfect sense."

The woman blinked twice. "What do you mean?"

"When I came in here, you were naturally frightened and, seeing how there are four exits in this igloo, it would've been the smart and painfully obvious move to rush out or call for help. Seeing as you are the water bender I'm looking for, though, you reasoned that I might be looking for him or her so you chose not to call anyone in or flee for fear that anyone who comes to your aid might reveal who you are. But, again, the fact that you are the water bender makes so much sense."

Yon Rha chuckled and thumbed towards the exit behind him. "But, shucks, if it were anyone else, even that little girl. Your first reaction really should have been to just run out of here and scream for help, since you had no idea that little girl would be coming in here. You may have gotten injured, but the wound would heal on its own and it would alert the real water bender, even if it was that little girl, not to come in here. Especially when I first came in and my comrades were just beginning the attack, which you couldn't have known about since you couldn't see the soot-snow falling from in here, your much, much, much smarter option would be to try to grab any one of the numerous objects lying around the room and throw at me, use the distraction to run, and proceed to get help."

Kya's eyes widened and then she smacked her forehead.

The fire bender raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"In a few moments, nothing and everything."


0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


Rain poured down from the sky as the water bender melted the large ice blades that nearly impaled Yon Rha. Immediately, the old fire bender dropped to his hands and knees and frantically shook his head. "I did a bad thing! I know I did! And you deserve revenge! So why don't you take my mother? That would be fair!"

Katara stood tall as she kept her eyes lowered to the ground. "I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing." She raised her head and glared at her mother's killer. "But now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you. Nothing at all! You're pathetic and sad and empty!"

The former naval officer remained on his knees. "Please, spare me." He then began to cry.

"As much as I hate you…" The water bender's body began to tense. "… I just can't do it!" She lowered her head.

A small smile formed on the former Fire Nation soldier's face as he began to hysterically chuckle. However, his eyes widened when he saw the boy beside her with his mask lowered. He watched the scarred teenager glance at the girl and then at him. The old fire bender immediately lowered his head, but then he thought, Wait a minute, I know who that is…

The former soldier raised his head just as the boy turned around and began walking away with the water bender. At that moment, Yon Rha stopped crying and his hands clenched into fists as he bared his teeth and glared at Ozai's son. "You deserve that scar, you pathetic excuse for a prince!"

Zuko and Katara spun around as the young fire bender snarled. "Do you want to die today?"

Yon Rha pushed himself up and narrowed his eyes. "No! But I do want you to realize something! Do you know how many years I gave of my life to the Fire Nation military? How many times I pushed myself and risked life and limb for the glory and honor of my nation? Do you think you get to be the head of a specialized division that's responsible for neutralizing threats from an entire part of the world by not doing that?"

The retired leader of the Southern Raiders pointed at the water bender. "Now you're willing to kill me, a dedicated, sacrificing soldier, just to gain some kind of victory with her! Any of that sounding familiar? And don't think I don't know how you got that mark on your face! Old-nobodies in the middle of the Earth Kingdom know it!"

The traitor prince's legs began to shake as and Katara quickly ran next to him.

The water bender braced him against her body. "Wh… what's wrong? What is it?"

The ex-naval officer kept his gaze on the traitor prince. "Now, I don't know what she told you about what I did or what happened between me, her, and her mother, so I'll forgive you for hunting me down. But the second! The literal second that you heard my side of the story! My side that told you that I was following orders to take out a credible threat! My side that told you that I was deep in enemy territory and that taking the bender out alive would've been near impossible and the time it would have taken would've endangered my troops! The second you heard that, you should have stopped this girl and tried to make sure you knew what really happened that day so that you could make the right decision!

"But you didn't. You did exactly what that general in that war room did on that day. I can see it in your eyes: Winning a measure of respect from this girl was a near-impossible obstacle in your path so you decided to sacrifice a man who loved and defended the Fire Nation to overcome it! So, yes, you deserve that scar. But there's something else you deserve. You deserve a message, one single message from the hearts, minds, and memories of the entire 41st division."

Yon Rha glared at the boy. "Fuck you, Zuko."


A/N: And with that, we conclude Zuko's field trips. You know, I have to say, the thing that disappointed me the most about this mini-arc was the fact that we really didn't see Aang firebend at all. I mean, there are so many fan fics that got made during the six-month hiatus that had cool plans for infiltrating the Boiling Rock and attacking the killer of Katara's mom. All of them included Aang using firebending and bringing the whole GAang along.

Toph: Interesting that you let the flashback go the way you did. Usually you just vaguely describe them.

Yeah, usually I just breeze through flashbacks, but with Yon Rha's the jokes just work better when I explained the whole thing. It makes for a longer read, but I think it works better this way.

Toph: I'm glad you down-played his 'horrible monster' status. Mostly 'cause Mike and Bryan did too. I mean, every time Kya was talked about before TSR, it made the murder sound like it was committed by either this fierce warrior or a cold-blooded monster. But when Yon Rha finally shows up, he's just affably evil at most. In truth, when they first showed him in that village, I felt sorry for him.

I know what you mean and it's a big problem Mike and Bryan have. In flashbacks, lots of people are seen as horrible monsters who don't deserve the air they breathe. But when you see them in the present, they're semi-decent people.

That's all for today, folks. Hope you enjoyed it and be sure to join us next week for

The Deleted Scenes

What, you're surprised? Was I supposed to make fun of the Ember Island Players?