According to Aang, who had received a visit in a dream from his previous life, Avatar Roku, he had to go back to the beginning in order to learn the truth of how the war started or something. Basically that meant we had to traipse across most of the Fire Nation without being spotted to land on an island that looked like it hadn't had anything living on it for generations, completely barren and covered in rock. This was really the right place? "There it is. That's Roku's home." Guess so.

"But there's nothing here." It all became clear when Toph jumped down and landed on the rocky ground, her feet able to feel everything deep down below her.

"Yes, there is. An entire village. Hundreds of houses." She informed us all solemnly as we all started in alarm then saddened, wondering what exactly had happened here. "All completely buried in ash."

"The volcanic ash must have covered the entire island if everything's buried like this." Sokka said as we all started to look around. Aang found a place overlooking the ocean and sunset to meditate, staying quiet for a while until his tattoos began to glow, which was still something I hadn't quite gotten used to yet.

"So…what do we do now?"

"Wait for Aang to get back from his spirit adventure." Sokka shrugged, making himself comfortable.

"That's all there is to it?"

"Well, it's best not to move Aang's body, otherwise his spirit might become lost and we don't really know how that'll affect him, but it can't be good. That's why back at the North Pole, we were worried when Zuko kidnapped Aang whilst he was in the spirit world." Katara explained in a little more detail which was far more helpful than her brother. "By the way, how come you were there with Iroh but Zuko was alone?"

"Oh, that's a long story. You remember those pirates you stole the water bending scroll from? Well, Admiral Zhao hired them to kill Zuko after taking away our entire ship's crew to join his invasion force, the jerk. Uncle Iroh happened to go out for a walk and I was just hanging out on the bridge when Zuko came up talking about some noise he heard. Next thing I know, BOOM! Everything blew up and Zuko was grabbing me and the explosion threw us out the window and into the water. He was hurt pretty bad but we both lived. Anyway, we decided it would be better for everyone to think Zuko was dead so he could sneak on board the ship whilst Iroh and I joined Zhao for the journey north. Once we were there, Zuko left to go capture Aang, Iroh and I found out about Zhao's plans to kill the moon spirit, I got pissed, we followed him, and then the rest is history." I summed up as quickly and concisely as I could, lounging on a rock with my hands behind my head.

"No way! Those pirates really came back for you?!" Sokka panicked before gripping his face. "Are they still mad at us about the whole scroll thing and us being responsible for destroying their ship?" I looked at him as I opened one eye.

"I didn't get the chance to ask but I'm pretty sure the answer is yes." He dropped to the floor whilst Toph sat up with a grin of enthusiasm.

"You guys actually got to meet pirates?" Katara laughed and filled her in on the story which Toph appreciated a great deal, disappointed she hadn't joined up with them sooner so she could also have rumbled with some pirates. With nothing to do except wait until Aang returned from his spirit journey, we kept an eye on things until he stopped glowing and stood up, making Katara eagerly stand to meet him.

"I know how it all started. The war with the Fire Nation, it all started with Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku." Aang announced as he turned around.

"Well yeah, that part of history is pretty much covered. Even little kids as young as three know that story in the Fire Nation." I reasoned as I sat up, crossing my legs as I sat. "Fire Lord Sozin invaded the Earth Kingdom after attacking all the air temples and destroying all air benders." I winced slightly. "Which was totally wrong and he's a crazy maniac for doing it, by the way, as I totally do not condone such actions as mass genocide."

"It's okay, it's not something you need to apologise for Kayo, so don't feel guilty about it." Aang said to me rather kindly so I relaxed, smiling at him gratefully. "What I'm talking about is Sozin's history with Roku. They were friends, best friends and they grew up together until Roku was told by the Fire Sages that he was the Avatar." Now this I didn't know. Eagerly listening, Aang explained to us everything Roku had revealed to him, including the twelve years of training it took him to master the elements before he returned home to the Fire Nation. Roku got married to the girl he'd loved since he was young, but then Sozin tried to persuade Roku that the Fire Nation needed to expand its borders.

Even though Roku and Sozin fought and the old Fire Lord was defeated, Roku let him go because they were friends, leaving with just a warning. The story ended with Roku battling the very volcano that took out the village where he lived, the same one we were standing on right now, but after coming to help, Sozin left Roku for dead so that he could complete his plans to conquer the entire world. Everybody was silent when Aang finished the story, not expecting so much hidden depth to something that I thought I had already known like a fairy tale parents told their children to send them to sleep.

"You mean, after all Roku and Sozin went through together, even after Roku showed him mercy, Sozin betrayed him like that?" Katara asked in disbelief as Toph scoffed.

"It's like these people are born bad."

"No, that's wrong. I don't think that was the point of what Roku showed me at all." Aang shook his head as I sat in silence, processing it all. I mean, I knew Avatar Roku had been born Fire Nation and all, but I never really thought about it too much. I guess I should have realised sooner that the only reason the war started so late into Sozin's reign was because the Avatar wouldn't let him invade whilst he was still alive, because the Avatar back then knew that it was wrong.

"Then what was the point?"

"Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance, and I also think it was about friendships." Aang reasoned, taking everything Roku had told him and drawing his own conclusions from what he'd learned.

"Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?" Speaking quietly as she looked downwards, Aang smiled as he took hold of Toph's hand.

"I don't see why not." Katara reached out and held Toph's other hand whilst Aang stretched his out to me so I grabbed hold of it with warmth, letting him help pull me to my feet as well all stood together.

"Well, scientifically speaking, there's no way to prove that…"

"Oh, Sokka, just hold hands." Interrupting her brother before he could ruin the moment, Katara held out her hand which Sokka grabbed, linking all of us together.

"I hope I can be friends with you guys for all lifetimes. Who knows? Maybe if we all had kids one day, they can all be friends too." I said thoughtfully as we all looked out over the sunset whilst I then began to think about something else. If it really was true that a person had the potential for great good as much as great evil, then what about Zuko? He'd always struggled with the opposing forces inside him, did that mean there was still hope for him to change and do the right thing? He's not a killer or a monster, not by nature. In fact he's quite a gentle person, and I wanted nothing more than to see him become the best version of himself one day. I missed him. I missed him a lot, I never knew I could actually miss someone even more than I missed my own mother. It felt totally messed up.

"We should get going. This place isn't exactly comfy and snug to sleep on." Sokka eventually decided and we all agreed, heading back to Appa after breaking off hands. For a moment, I hung back to watch them all. Did they really consider me their friend now? Oddly, that made me very happy. Happy enough that I could forget about Zuko and continue walking forwards with my head held high, hoping for a better tomorrow and a peaceful today.