Aang had not slept well for several days.

It was now one day until the invasion, meaning that he would have to fight the Firelord tomorrow.

The more optimistic part of Aang reminded him that with any luck that man wouldn't have his bending, meaning it would be as simple as strolling in there and doing what had to be done, but other memories kept surfacing; memories of lightning bolts, and Katara, and that night under the walls of Ba Sing Se. Ozai had already killed him once, and who was to say that he wouldn't do so again given half a chance?

The others had recognised his nervousness. They had now been in the Fire Nation for a little under a week, and had so far not been caught. There had been a close call involving Zuko, a military checkpoint, and the world's most unbelievable fake name, but aside from that they had successfully flown under the radar. Hopefully all Fire Nation attempts to find them were taking place in the Earth Kingdom, far away from here.

Katara had repeatedly come up to ask if he was alright, Sokka had tried "therapy" even if it was patently obvious that he had no idea what he was doing, and they had even staged a full-blown intervention to try to get him to sleep.

"Aang, we're really worried about you, you haven't been taking care of yourself these past few days."

"I've been trying, but every time I try to sleep I just get the nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Katara asked.

"Yes, there was one where I forgot to put my trousers on for the final battle, and one where I overslept and missed it, and one where you all died horribly in the flames, and I'm pretty sure there was one where I was a sausage roll."

Katara, knowing Aang's dietary preferences, put a hand on his shoulder. "That must have been horrible for you."

The rest looked at him with visible confusion and concern.

"We need to take your mind off the invasion," Sokka decided.

"I could knock you out," Toph suggested. "I'm sure a rock to the back of the head would get you to sleep."

"I think I'll pass, thanks," Aang rubbed the back of his head. "I don't want a headache on top of everything else tomorrow."

"Alright, we could go and scam some people," Toph suggested. "You always enjoy that."

"You're doing WHAT?" Zuko and Katara shouted at the same time.

"Don't you know how irresponsible-"

"-not to mention immoral-"

"-that is? You could be caught-"

"-and would probably deserve it!"

"I don't care," Toph said. "I find it funny."

"It is quite funny," Suki admitted.

"Plus it could make us a lot of money."

"Whatever, let's just go to the village and find something legal to do that takes Aang's mind off tomorrow."

"I should probably train," Aang tried to say.

"Rubbish. You are coming with us." Sokka said forcefully.

The latest Fire Nation village they had travelled to was about an hour away from the Caldera that housed the Fire Nation capital city by Sky-Bison; far enough away that they weren't right under the Firelord's nose but close enough that they could easily get there the next day to rendezvous with the invasion fleet.

It was quite a small village; it consisted of a marketplace, a few streets full of houses and that was about it. The seven of them walked through the main square, with Zuko keeping his head down to let his hat obscure his scar. Nobody gave them a second look.

"Well now what?" Aang asked.

Nobody else seemed to have an answer.

"I hadn't thought this far ahead. Not to worry though, trouble often has a way of finding us," Sokka replied.

"How is that something not to worry about?" asked Mai.

They kept walking. Eventually, Mai broke the silence.

"Was it always this boring before we joined you?"

"No." Aang replied. "First we had to deal with you-" he pointed at Zuko, "-and then we had to deal with you and your two friends-" he pointed at Mai "- and then when you got locked up by Suki there was a siege to contend with."

"It could be quite boring at times though," Sokka said.

"Not too boring though," added Katara. "We had each other for company and we could get through it even in the periods where things slowed down."

Just then, Aang saw movement in the corner of his eye, and turned his head to see someone running away in the opposite direction, seemingly having stolen something.

"Thief!" He shouted, and took off after them.

The others looked at each other, and ran after him.

Aang was fast, very fast, but his quarry was faster. He wondered how that was possible. Aang barely kept up as it barrelled around a corner with impossible agility. However, it turned out that the street the miscreant had turned into was a dead end; Aang would be able to ask them himself soon enough.

That was until the figure vanished through the wall at the end of the alley.

"That's no thief," Aang muttered to himself. He had left everyone else far behind, so he looked behind him to make sure there were no witnesses before using his airbending to propel himself up, up and over the wall, landing smoothly on the other side.

"Wait!" he shouted after the retreating figure. "I know what you are!" the figure slowed momentarily, before picking up speed.

"You're a spirit, aren't you!"

The spirit came screeching to a halt. Without looking back at him, it addressed him.

"How did you know?" An ethereal voice echoed through the alley.

Aang scratched his head awkwardly. "You gave the game away when you phased through that wall, I'm afraid."

"Oh. I was sure I was far enough ahead that you wouldn't see that. How are you so fast anyway?"

"Well, I'm an airbender, for one, and I'm also the Avatar, the bridge between the human and spirit worlds. I'm supposed to be quick."

"The Avatar," the Spirit said. "It is an honour to meet you again."

"Again?"

"The last time we met, your name and appearance was different. You were older. You were dressed in red, and had a different name."

"You must have met Roku," Aang said excitedly. "He was me in a previous life."

"No, it wasn't Roku. It was the Fire Avatar before him, if memory serves."

Aang was stuck. "I don't know then, I only know the Avatars names back to Yangchen, four Avatars ago."

"It was longer ago than that. There was a powerful Firebender who took power in this area, because there was no Royal authority to to stop him and you turned up to fight him."

"I did?"

"You did. He put up a good fight, but lost when you melted the ground under his feet."

"I lavabent to defeat him? Cool."

The rest of Team Avatar came clattering around the corner, entirely out of breath. Mai leant against a wall, panting, and raised one of her arms.

"...surrender," she said, too tired to throw the knife.

"It's alright!" Aang said brightly. "This is no thief, it's a spirit, and I've met it before apparently!"

"A spirit?" Sokka replied suspiciously. "How do you know?"

"It ran through a wall in front of me."

"That would do it."

"Oh great spirit, what do you want?" Katara asked.

"Szeto!" the spirit shouted.

"Pardon?"

"Szeto. That was the Avatar I met. Avatar Szeto."

"What is it you want?" Toph repeated Katara's question.

"Why is it Spirits are always assumed to want something?" the Spirit asked. "I don't want anything."

"Oh."

"What is it you want, Avatar?"

"Me?"

"I don't see any other Avatars here."

"I want to end the war," Aang said. "I want to defeat the Firelord. I want tomorrow's invasion to be successful. I want..."

He tailed off, and looked at Katara. Their eyes met, and an unspoken message passed between them.

"I want to build a better world, and I want to do it with those I love." Aang said.

"How predictable." The spirit said. "I had been hoping for something a bit more interesting."

The sound of footsteps approached. "Fire soldiers!" Toph whispered.

"How many?"

"Just the two."

I should be going then," the Spirit said. "But know this, Avatar. You are heir to a heritage going back ten thousand years, and much of that heritage involves victory in battle over those who deserve it. You'll be fine tomorrow, of that I am sure."

With that, he vanished.

After acting natural for the benefit of the guards, they deemed this to be enough excitement for one day and began walking back to their campsite. Aang and Katara walked next to each other.

"It's cool that we met another spirit!" Katara said.

"It's also cool that this one wasn't hostile," Aang said.

"When he asked what you wanted though..."

"What?"

"... was that all you want?" Katara asked.

Aang searched for the right words to say.

"Yes. I do want to do all that, and I do want to do it with those I love."

As he said that last part, he stopped and looked directly into Katara's eyes. Then he carried on walking, back to the campsite. There was work to be done for that better world.


It was the middle of the night, and the fisherman rowed through the gloom. Visibility was not great tonight, but it didn't matter. He knew these waters like the back of his hand. He had heard of how the world was supposed to be at war, but it had always seemed so far away.

It had always been the Fire Nation fighting everywhere else, and so it was often easy to forget that there was a war. He had only known the constant militarism, and so was used to it. However, out here in his little boat, with only his nets and the moon for company, even that felt so very far away. The world seemed... at peace.

And then the first dark shape loomed out of the fog.

The fisherman shouted in alarm. The Fire Navy was not supposed to sail here, this was a designated fishing zone! However, as the ship came closer, something seemed... wrong.

And then he pinpointed it.

Despite Fire Navy warships being steam-powered, he could not hear the engines running. There was only the splash of the waves against the hull of the ship as it drew closer. Soon, more and more of the ships appeared, so that there was a veritable armada of them. As the first one slid past him, the fisherman got a good look at the standard it was flying, and his heart dropped.

For instead of the flaming insignia of the Fire Nation, this ship flew a flag with the symbols of the land and the ocean, with the moon above them both. The fisherman realized that this was not the Fire Navy after all.

The war, it seemed, would come to the Fire Nation after all.