Enjoy and Review! It really motivates me. Thank you!

A messenger hawk flies through the air emitting a cry. When Appa overshadows the bear and roars, it shrieks again and stoops down, swiveling out of view. Appa is soaring along with Aang, Katara, Lance, and Sokka in his saddle.

Katara then said somewhat dreamily, "Those clouds look so soft," Aang is sitting lazily atop Appa's head, a twig in his mouth; Sokka is carving something with an uninterested look on his face, Katara lying on her stomach, popped up on her elbows, staring dreamingly over the rim of Appa's saddle, and Momo sleeping on the luggage. "don't they? Like you just jump down and land on a big, soft cottony heap?"

Sokka turns to Katara and suggests mockingly with a smile, "Maybe you should give it a try."

Katara looks at Sokka with annoyance and says sarcastically as she looks away from him, "You're hilarious."

Lance then muttered, "You know, I've never tested out what would happen if you touched a cloud as a bender. I tried at one point and the others stopped me. Said that since clouds were made of water that it would be bad to try."

Aang decides excitedly "I'll try it!" Carrying his staff, he jumps off Appa with a big smile on his face. As he begins to fall, he turns once around his axis, winking as he passes. He falls down spreadeagled, laughing joyously "Yeah!"

Katara, Lance and Sokka pop their heads over the rim, looking down in the direction Aang went. Aang falls down, still smiling broadly. He tilts down, following him as he vanishes in a cloud. Cut back to the siblings; Katara looks somewhat worried, while Sokka gazes wide-eyed at the point where Aang vanished. When he leans over to search the sky, Aang comes back up from behind them on his glider. The siblings turn around as they hear the snapping noise of Aang's glider being closed, and they watch how the airbender plops down on the saddle, his legs spread apart and a big smile on his face. Sokka,looks unimpressed as Aang is dripping wet.

Aang Looks at himself and says, "Turns out, clouds are made of water."

He breaths in deeply and slams his balled, right fist against his stretched left hand, creating an expanding air ball around him in the process, drying himself off.

"Well, looks like you only get wet if you touch a cloud as a bender. Good to know," Lance muttered.

As Aang leans back to rest on both his hands, he contently looks at Momo, whose fur got all fluffed by Aang's airbending. Sokka is still looking at Aang unimpressed. Katara glances at her brother, but her attention is drawn to something over his shoulder. "Hey, what is that?" Katara asks.

Sokka looks over his right shoulder in the direction Katara is looking as well. Katara gets up and walks to the front of Appa's saddle. The landscape in front of them is a large, dark patch of burned land standing out among the lush green of the forest. The group are now all looking over the front rim of Appa's saddle, surprised looks on their faces.

"It's like a scar …" Sokka are many burned trees, and Team Avatar standing in the middle of a gray, barren patch. "It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere."

"Aang? Lance? Are you okay?"Katara asks her friend.

Sokka notices footprints and angrily says, "Fire Nation! Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for -"

"Shhh!" Katara shushed.

"What? I'm not allowed to be angry?" Sokka whispers angrily.

Katara points to Aang and Lance with a somewhat concerned look on her face as they slump over, downcast at the sight.

Kneels down and sighs. Aang picks up some ash as it slowly seeps through his hand and drops to the ground and sadly says, "Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you."

"Yes, it does. It's the Avatar's job to protect nature. But I don't know how to do my job." Aang replied sadly.

"That's why we're going to the North Pole." Katara smiling softly then says, "To find you a teacher."

"Yeah. A waterbending teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me," Aang said.

"The Avatar before you? He died over one hundred years ago; how are you supposed to talk to him?" Sokka reminded.

"I don't know." Momo comes up to Aang and settles in his lap.

Lance placed a hand on Aang's shoulder and said, "Hey don't worry. Things will likely change for the better soon enough. If I remember correctly, the Avatar can talk to spirits in the right circumstances. How we can get Roku to talk to you is the real question."

Aang was still sad at the circumstances, but was feeling a bit better after what Lance said. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Lance then said to himself, "At least I did something right."

In another area, Zuko comes looking for Iroh.

"Uncle! It's time to leave! Where are you? Uncle Iroh!" Zuko calls out.

Iroh relaxing in a hot spring yells, "Over here!"

"Uncle? We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him," Zuko explains.

"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Iroh offers.

"My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!"

"You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself." Iroh breathes steam through his nose.

"Enough! We need to leave now. Get out of the water!"

"Very well!" He gets up, exposing himself.

Zuko shielding his eyes says, "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in a half-hour or I'm leaving without you!"

Iroh sighs as he slumps back into the water.

Back in the forest.

Katara approaches Aang and says, "Hey, Aang! You ready to be cheered up?"

"No."Aang says sadly. An acorn is thrown at him. "Ow! Hey, how is that cheering me up?"

Sokka Chuckles and says, "Cheered me up." An acorn gets thrown at him. "Ow. Yeah, I probably deserved that."

"Aang has a point. I don't see how an acorn can cheer us up," Lance said.

"These acorns are everywhere, Aang and Lance. That means the forest will grow back! Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back." She places the acorn in his hand and closes it.

"Thanks, Katara," Aang thanks her.

"Yeah. I guess I needed that reminder that life will return to the world," Lance agreed.

Katara smiles at them before gasping at the sight of an old man approaching.

"Hey, who are you?" Sokka asked.

"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible!" The man approaches Aang. "But, those markings ... are you the Avatar, child?" Aang look to Katara, who nods. He nods himself. "My village desperately needs your help!"

The gang arrive at Senlin Village at sunset. The village has been partially destroyed. The wanderer leads them into the center building.

"This young person is the Avatar!" the old man introduced.

"So, the rumors of your return are true! It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence," the Senlin Village leader said.

"Nice to meet you too! So ... is there something I can help you with?" Aang asked the leader.

"I'd also be willing to help out," Lance added on.

"I'm not sure …" The leader muttered.

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" the old man says to Aang. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah. Most spirits don't attack for no reason," Lance said.

"We do not know, but each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own. We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near," the leader was wary.

"What happens then?" Katara asked.

"As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the Spirit World grow closer and closer until the line between them is blurred completely," the old man revealed.

"Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction. Once the solstice is here, there's no telling what will happen," the village leader said.

"So, what do you want me to do, exactly?" Aang asked.

"Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the Spirit World than the Avatar himself? You are the great bridge between man and spirits." the old man explained.

"Right ... that's me," Aang answered uncertainly.

"Hey great bridge guy, could I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara leads him toward a window. "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all of this."

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the Spirit World. It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff! If only I could talk to Roku or anybody about this stuff."

"So ... can you help these people?"

"I have to try, don't I? Maybe whatever I have to do will just ... come to me." Momo lands on his shoulder.

With a kind and reassuring smile Katara says, "I think you can do it, Aang."

"Hey, I think I can also be of help too," Lance said.

"Thanks a lot, Lance," Aang thanked the lion.

With a similar expression Sokka says, "Yeah." He had a brief pause before saying. "We're all going to get eaten by a spirit monster."

Back at the hot spring. A sleeping Iroh is awoken by nearby stirring in the trees.

"Who's there?" He sees a rat-like animal. "A meadow vole! I should have known." He takes the creature into the palm of his hand. "You startled me, little one." Sighs. "It seems I dozed off and missed my nephew's deadline, but it was a very sweet nap."

The meadow vole leaps up and down. This is followed by shaking and the ground moving toward Iroh. Suddenly, the rock at the bottom of the spring jumps up, capturing him. Three Earth Kingdom soldiers surround him.

One soldier Picks up Iroh's clothes. "He's a Fire Nation soldier."

"He's no ordinary soldier. This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West. The once-great General Iroh, but now, he's our prisoner."

Iroh gives the captain a stern look.

Back at Senlin, near sunset. Aang steps outside the center building and awaits the Hei Bai.

Aang Walks toward the village entrance with Lance following. "Hello, Spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking. I'm here to try to help stuff."

"And I'm one of the spirit lions! I'm here to help as well," Lance said.

Sokka and Katara watch from inside the building.

"This isn't right. We can't sit here and cower while Aang and Lance wait for some monster to show up," Sokka said.

"If anyone can save us, he can," the old wanderer said.

"They still shouldn't have to face this alone," Sokka disagreed.

The sun sets and night falls. Aang stands with Lance waiting.

"The sun has set. Where are you, Hei Bai? Well ... spirit ... uhhh ... I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace." He spins his staff and sticks it down, in apparent authority. "Okay ... well ... I guess that's settled, then."

He walks away. Behind him, however, the Hei Bai fades into the real world. He walks right behind Aang, who turns to see him, with Lance also noticing the Hei Bai. "Oh, hello there, big fella," Lance said nervously.

"You must be the Hei Bai spirit. My name is–"

The spirit releases a burst of energy at him. It moves past him.

"My name's Aang! I'm the Avatar and I would like to help. Hey, wait up!" Hei Bai wreaks havoc, smashing buildings and destroying a tower with energy. "Uhhh."

"The Avatar's methods are ... unusual," the village leader noted.

"It doesn't seem too interested in what they're saying. Maybe we should go help them," Sokka said in concern.

"No. Only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai," the old wanderer disagreed.

"Aang will figure out the right thing to do, Sokka. Remember, he still has Lance to help him," Katara reassured.

Hei Bai smashes another building.

"Please, would you stop destroying things and listen? I'm trying to do my job as spirit bridge! Excuse me, would please turn around? I command you to turn around now!" Aang pleaded.

"He's right! Can't you just somehow show us why you're upset rather than destroy?" Lance pleaded as well.

The spirit hits Aang and sends him flying to the roof of another building.

"That's it. He needs help." Sokka says as he exits the building.

"Sokka, wait!" Katara yells as she starts to follow him.

The village leader stops her and says, "It's not safe!"

"Hei Bai, over here!" Sokka throws his boomerang at him, but it barely affects the monster. He runs toward it.

"Sokka, go back!"

"We'll fight him together, Aang."

"I don't want to fight him unless I–" Sokka is taken by the Hei Bai, and the spirit flees. Aang chases it.

Aang Runs to the village entrance. "Sokka!" The villagers go the entrance as well. Katara is left standing fearful.

Back near the hot spring. Two soldiers, Keith, and Zuko look for Iroh.

"Uncle! Uncle, where are you?"

"Sir, maybe he thought you left without him."

"Maybe, but I have a strange feeling it was something else instead," Keith said.

"Something's not right here. That pile of rocks."

"It looks like there's been a landslide, sir."

"Land doesn't slide uphill. Those rocks didn't move naturally." Zuko stands up straight. "My Uncle's been captured by earthbenders!"

Back at the forest. Aang and Lance continue to pursue the Hei Bai, looking for Sokka.

"Aang! Over here! Help!"

"Hang on, Sokka!"

Aang pulls out his hand, trying to free Sokka. However, before he can grab him, the spirit fades away, taking Sokka with it. Aang falls in front of a bear-like statue, knocked out. In addition, Lance collapses not that far from Aang.

A couple of hours later, Aang and Lance awaken.

"Sokka!" Aang realizes Sokka is nowhere to be seen. "I failed."

"Hey, you're not the one who messed up. I should have tried to do more to help Sokka and stop Hei Bai," Lance tried to comfort Aang.

Back with the soldiers who captured Iroh. They are riding ostrich horses. One soldier carries a torch with him for light.

"Where are you taking me?"

"We're taking you to face justice."

"Right, but where, specifically?"

"A place you're quite familiar with, actually. You once laid siege to it for 600 days, but it would not yield to you."

"Ah, the great city of Ba Sing Se."

"It was greater than you were, apparently."

"I acknowledge my defeat at Ba Sing Se. After 600 days away from home, my men were tired, and I was tired." Yawns. "And I'm still tired." Iroh falls off one of the horses. He is quickly picked back up. However, he leaves one of his sandals behind and smiles cleverly.

Back at Senlin Village. Katara awaits at the village entrance for Sokka, Lance, and Aang. The Old wanderer approaches her.

"I'm sure they'll be back."

"I know."

The village leader laces a blanket around her. "You should get some rest."

"Everything's going to be okay …"

"Your brother is in good hands. I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without him." As he is speaking, Aang and Lance approach.

"Katara? Katara, I lost him."

"We tried our best, but we couldn't do anything to fix things," Lance solemnly said.

The sun rises.

"The sun is rising. Perhaps he will return soon."

Aang's appearance is blue. "What? No, I'm right here!" He waves his hand in the Wanderer's face, only to notice his own appearance. "I'm in the Spirit World!"

Lance took a moment to look at himself, realizing the same thing. "I should have noticed sooner! No one else but fellow spirits can see us in this state," Lance explained.

Back at the forest. Zuko and Keith comes up on Iroh's sandal.

Zuko sniffs and gets a disgusted look. "Yeah, that's Uncle Iroh." He re-mounts his rhino.

"He must have left it behind for us to help track him. He really is a clever man," Keith commented as he and Zuko started to look for Iroh again.

Back at the Village.

"I'll figure this out, Katara. I promise. Like they said, I'm the bridge between the worlds, right? All I have to do is ... figure out what I have to do. But once I do that, no problem." Appa approaches. "Appa! Hey buddy, I'm right here!" He breathes on Katara. "But, I guess you can't see me either."

"No, he can't," Lance responded.

"It's okay, Appa, don't worry. I'm sure they're on their way back. I bet they even found you a bunch of moon peaches for a treat." The two return to the village.

"What am I supposed to do? Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?" Aang hears something. "Sokka?" He notices a dragon coming toward him. "That's definitely not Sokka." He tries to fly away but cannot. He notices his airbending is not working at all."What? I can't airbend in the Spirit World."

"Yeah. That's one of the problems with being in the Spirit World. Bending is turned off. The lions are the exception to this rule," Lance revealed. "As for the dragon, maybe he's friendly. After all, he seems familiar to me somehow."

The dragon lands just before him. "You don't know where Sokka is, do you?" The dragon touches him. He sees a vision of Roku flying on this dragon. "You're Avatar Roku's animal guide! Like Appa is to me! I need to save my friend and I don't know how! Is there some way for me to talk to Roku?" The dragon curls around him, and he and Lance get on him. "I'll be back, Katara." It gets up. "Take me to Roku!" The dragon flies away.

On a mountain the earthbenders are leading Iroh through. Iroh looks at the skies and notices the dragon and Aang. He gasps in wonder.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing." Pauses. "Actually, there is a bit of a problem. My old joints are sore and aching, and these shackles are too loose."

"Too loose?"

"That's right. The cuffs move and jangle around and bump my wrists. It would help me if you tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much."

"Very well. Corporal, tighten the prisoner's handcuffs."

They all stop. The corporal dismounts and moves to Iroh. As he touches his handcuffs, Iroh breathes deeply and heats them up. He pushes the corporal's hand to the cuffs, causing him to scream in pain. Iroh jumps free and blasts fire at the soldiers. He rolls down the hill as the soldiers try to get control of their ostrich horses.

Back to Aang and Fang. Fang takes him to a temple on an unknown island. He flies into the temple and toward the roof.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Aang screams.
"Don't worry. We're spirits. We can phase through the roof," Lance reassured.

Fortunately, they fly right through the roof and into a mysterious room. Within is a celestial calendar and a statue of Roku. "I don't understand, this is just a statue of Roku." Fang presses one of his feelers to Aang's forehead. A vision of a comet appears to him. "Is that what Roku wants to talk to me about? A comet? When can I talk to him?"

"Sozin's Comet," Lance muttered to himself.

Fang moves his head, allowing a light beam to appear. This is just to the right of Roku's statue. With another feeler press, he sees a vision of the sun setting and rising repeatedly, and the light closing in on Roku. "It's a calendar, and the light will reach Roku on the solstice! So, that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?" The dragon breathes an apparent yes. "But I can't wait that long! I need to save Sokka now!"

Before they left, Lance heard a familiar roar. "Adam! He's here! We can save him!"

"Lance, I understand wanting to help Adam, but right now we still have to help the village and Sokka," Aang argued.

"W-Well… alright, but we still will try and find Adam when we get back," Lance agreed reluctantly.

The dragon takes Aang and Lance from the temple.

Back to Iroh rolling down the hill. One of the soldiers hits him with a rockslide. All of the soldiers chase after him, reaching him at the bottom of the hill.

"He's too dangerous, Captain! We just can't just carry him to the Capital! We have to do something now!"

"I agree. He must be dealt with immediately and severely."

Iroh spits a rock out.

Meanwhile, Katara is flying on Appa over the forest.

"It's no use, Appa. I don't see them anywhere. Our best hope is to go back to the village and wait." She re-directs Appa to the village's direction.

While following the ostrich horse footprints, Zuko notices Appa.

"The Avatar!" He turns slightly, but looks back at the footprints.

"Personally, I'm for saving your uncle," Keith suggested. "However, I'll leave the decision to you."

Fang takes Aang back to the statue at fast speed. Aang notices his body is there and also prepares for impact. Suddenly, Fang disappears into the statue and Aang is returned to his body. He looks around at the statue, opens his glider, and flies back to the village.

Cut to the village, sunset. Katara stands outside the center building and notices Aang's return. Aang lands and Katara runs to him.

"You're back!" She embraces Aang. "Where's Sokka?"

"I'm not sure …"

The evening gives way to night.

Back to Iroh, who is surrounded by the soldiers.

"These dangerous hands must be crushed." He brings up a large rock and prepares to drop it. However, Zuko jumps in and kicks the rock away before breaking Iroh's chain with his boot.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko."

"You taught me well."

"Surrender yourselves. It's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered."

"Yeah, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched."

The soldiers fire rocks, but Iroh destroys them with the chains. Zuko takes out two soldiers with fire. A rock is fired at him, but Iroh catches it and throws it back at the soldiers, knocking them down. The Captain fires three rocks at Zuko, which he dodges. Zuko counters with fire blasts that are dodged. The captain brings up a large mass of rock, however, Iroh throws his chains around his ankles, knocking him and causing the rocks to fall on top of him. The soldiers are heard groaning underneath the rocks.

"Now would you please put on some clothes?"

"Same here," Keith said as he looked away.

Back at Senlin. Aang awaits at the entrance for the Hei Bai. After some time, he gives up and returns to the center building. Just as he exits, however, the spirit appears to his left. He throws up an air shield to stop its attack.

"Aang, what are you doing?! Run!"

"Hold on! I think that Aang can handle this," Lance said.

The spirit prepares to resume its attack when Aang jumps in front of it. He feels its forehead and notices that a panda lurks below it.

"You're the spirit of this forest! Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down. When I saw the forest had burned, I was sad and upset, but my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back." He shows it the acorn and leaves it at his feet. The spirit picks it up and reverts to the panda form. It walks away peacefully. As it exits, a series of branches grow, and three villagers and Sokka emerge from it.

"Sokka!" She runs to him and embraces him, while other villagers embrace their loved ones.

"What happened?" Sokka asked.

"You were trapped in the Spirit World for 24 hours! How are you feeling?"

"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom." Katara gives Sokka a somewhat disgusted look.

"Thank you, Avatar. If only there were a way to repay you for what you've done," the village leader asked.

"You could give us some supplies, and some money," Sokka suggested.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled out in disagreement.

"What? We need stuff."

"To be fair, he has a point," Lance agreed.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey," the village leader was happy to help.

"I'm so proud of you, Aang. You figured out what to do, all on your own," Katara gleefully congratulated.

"Actually, I did have a little help and there's something else," Aang began.

"What is it?" Sokka asked.

"I need to talk to Roku and I think I found a way to contact his spirit."

"That's great!"

"Creepy, but great," Sokka commented.

"There's a temple on a crescent-shaped island and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him," Aang explained.

"In addition, Adam is there, meaning we can save him and be reunited," Lance also revealed.

"That all sounds really good. But the solstice is tomorrow!" Katara pointed out.

"Yeah, and there's one more problem. The island is in the Fire Nation."

The siblings grow fearful. The shot slowly moves up to the moon over the hills.