As the fleet of Fire Nation airships cruised towards their target, a lone sky-bison soared into the crimson skies to confront them.
On it were eight teenagers, and on them lay the fate of the world.
Aang clutched his glider-staff with grim determination as their targets drew nearer.
"Do we all know what we're supposed to do?" Sokka asked. Everyone else merely nodded. Now was not the time for conversation.
Aang's job he knew well; it was the same task he had been given since the beginning. Find the Firelord and defeat him in single combat.
This was complicated by the fact he had already fought Ozai in single combat, at the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and that encounter had ended with a clinically dead avatar being carried through an underground tunnel by his friends.
That could not be allowed to happen a second time.
Aang stood up in the saddle, and took one last look back at his friends. They wished him good luck, he made eye contact with Katara for a second, and then he jumped.
In mid-air he opened his glider-staff's wings, and soon he was soaring high above the ocean, towards the lead airship. Ozai was probably on that ship, and so Aang needed to get his attention.
He steered straight for the bridge, swooping towards it like a falcon-hawk diving on its prey. He took one hand off his glider and blasted a jet of flame at the glass, and then pulled out of the way just before he would have collided with it. The challenge issued, he then flew to the top of the airship and waited.
He didn't have to wait long.
Atop a plume of flame of his own, Firelord Ozai rocketed into view from below. He landed opposite Aang and regarded him with a sneer.
"Firelord!" Aang began. He was not stupid enough to think that there was any chance that Ozai might see sense now, but it was worth a try.
"You have to understand, what you're doing is wrong! Your ancestors wiped out an entire nation, you've already razed one city and are trying to raze another. It's not too late to stop!"
Ozai only laughed. "It is you who needs to understand, there is no right or wrong apart from what the Firelord decides. I shall make you a counteroffer. My wrath is great, but so is my mercy. Surrender now, and I shall let you live."
Aang snorted. He knew that Ozai probably would let him live- if existing in the sorts of conditions he would be kept in counted as living.
"Yeah, no thanks."
Ozai settled into a fighting stance. "So be it."
And then the Firelord and the Avatar came together with flames in their hands.
The rest of Team Avatar watched as Aang's glider receded into the distance, and then turned their attention on to the other airships in the formation.
Sokka opened his satchel and pulled out a small sack, which had been securely shut with rope.
"He has his job to do, we have ours."
As Appa soared next to one of the airships, Sokka began to position the bison at the top of the smoke stack. He looked down to find his aim, and then took his sack and dropped it down the hole.
Nothing happened for ten seconds, and then an explosion could be heard ripping through the internals of the ship. The sack evidently had found its way into one of the furnaces that powered the ship, and that had ignited its contents.
Reaching for another sack, he moved along to the next smokestack, and repeated the process. The charges were comparatively small, so multiple were needed to bring down an airship. After the second explosion, the ship began to slow noticeably and began swinging to port; only the engines on one side were now working. It also began to descend, slowly at first, but picking up speed.
"I think we got one!" Sokka shouted in triumph.
"Great, but one isn't going to be enough!" Zuko replied. Appa flew onwards towards the next airship.
Unfortunately, by this time their presence had been noted. Sokka could see firebenders beginning to take position on walkways extending out from the sides of the other ships in the formation, and they were looking at them. It seemed they were going to have to be a lot more careful with their next target.
What happened next happened far too quickly to be reacted to. Sokka saw a sudden flash of blue coming from the top of the airship, which was followed by a much closer flash of blue. Sokka barely had time to register it as a blast of lightning before it hit Appa.
The Sky-bison gave a terrible pained sound and lurched alarmingly, before going into an uncontrolled dive. Sokka saw that Azula was standing on top of the closest airship, and it was she who had fired the lightning at them. Zuko had seen it too.
He pushed off from Appa and then used his fire to propel himself towards his sister. Sokka did his best to aim for that airship. Appa passed close to the top of the gas-bag and and Mai took the opportunity to jump off after Zuko.
With a cry of "wait!" Ty Lee followed her, and then there were only four people on the injured bison. The sudden weight reduction allowed Appa to level out somewhat, but Sokka knew that it was best they land somewhere quickly.
He steered for the top of the nearest airship.
Zuko landed on the top of the gas-bag opposite his sister, and stared at her.
"Hello brother!" She greeted him. "Have you come to stop me?"
"No. I've come to ask you to join me."
A look of genuine surprise passed over Azula's face.
"You've seen yourself how fickle father's love is. He's moulded you into his perfect weapon without giving any consideration to letting you have a life. He had absolutely no sympathy when you were imprisoned! It's not too late for you. You're not a monster, no matter how much you may consider yourself one. You don't have to behave like one anymore."
Azula listened to his speech, and for a moment Zuko had hope that he might have got through to her. And then her expression hardened. Zuko turned to see Mai and Ty Lee approaching them.
"It's been too late for a long time, brother. And what makes you think I would want to throw in my lot with your miserable band of peasants and traitors? Besides, it wasn't father who took my friends, my freedom, my very honour away from me. That was you."
Zuko sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."
Appa crash-landed on the top of one of the airships, and immediately slumped. Sokka, Suki, Toph and Katara sprang off and ran to investigate the wound. Appa now had a nasty burn along his stomach.
"Do you think you can heal him?" Suki asked Katara, as the waterbender opened one of her pouches and brought the water to the sky-bison's chest.
"I hope so."
Aang traded blows with Ozai, as the two circled each other looking for any opening. Ozai threw a fireball at Aang, and the Avatar dissipated it by spinning his glider staff in front of him to airbend it away. He then went on the offensive, launching a gust at the Firelord that blew him back several feet. Ozai came back at him, propelling himself forward with his flames to hit much harder than he could normally. Aang dodged around his blow and jumped off the side of the airship, flying away with his glider.
He turned to see Ozai in pursuit.
Ozai's method of flight was not as elegant as Aang's. While Aang bent air around the wings of his glider to provide lift, Ozai just put out enough fiery energy behind him to keep himself aloft.
And it worked, although Aang didn't know if he was capable of doing it without the comet. Ozai followed Aang down, blasting at him, forcing Aang to dodge and roll and take evasive manoeuvres. However, just as Aang had rolled out of the way of one of Ozai's fireballs, he looked over to find one of his wings on fire.
Without any other options, he dived for the surface of the ocean, hoping to extinguish the flames by dipping the wing into the sea. He supposed he could have extinguished it using his firebending, but he couldn't really do that and maintain control over the glider at the same time.
Aang pulled up just before he hit the surface, and found himself with his nose just above the waves. He put himself into a slow turn to the left, and began to lean his wing downwards, slowly, carefully.
It did no good.
The instant the wingtip touched the water, it decelerated violently and the glider spun. Aang lost his grip and was thrown clear, the shock of the impact into cold water paralysing him.
The Avatar and one of the last relics of his culture sank beneath the waves together.
