"Today's the day! Can you believe it? After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending! And this place... i-it's perfect! Don't you think, Sokka?"

Sokka rolled over, giving Aang an angry sleepy look.

"Oh, you're still sleeping, huh?"

Sokka groaned again and rolled back over.

"Sorry!" Aang whispered

"You know, you can be enthusiastic and a little quieter too." Iris smiled, folding her sleeping bag.

"Right." Aang gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head

The ground began to inexplicably shake and Toph's tent suddenly exploded, revealing Toph with a fist in the air.

"Good morning, earthbending student!"

"That is the exact opposite of what I meant," Iris grumbled

Aang bowed as Toph made her way to him, "Good morning, sifu Toph."

Next to her, Katara roused from her sleeping bag

"Hey... you never call me sifu Katara."

Iris looked at Aang, amused, awaiting his answer.

"Well, if you think I should..."

Suddenly Sokka sat up and grumbled angrily.

"Sorry, snoozles. We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can."

And then she kicked the ground and a crack traveled towards Sokka. But as soon as it passed Iris, it stopped. Iris looked at Toph.

"Do not toss people or attack them with earthbending, Toph."

She got up and stretched.

"Are you sure isn't an earthbender?" Toph asked Aang

"Iris? No, she can't earthbend."

"I've seen her do that twice, now."

"Well, she can earthbend in a way." Aang thought for a while, "In that way she can bend all the elements."

"How?"

"That is something you have to ask her." Aang shrugged and then beamed, "So what move are you going to teach me first? Rockalanche? The trembler? Oh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!"

"Or you can start with something small." Iris piped in

"Sugar Mama is right. Let's start with "move a rock"."

Across the camp, Iris sputtered, almost choking on the water she was drinking.

She started coughing and Katara patted her back.

Once she felt fine, she wiped her mouth and looked at Toph, "Did you just call me Sugar Mama?"

Toph grinned, "Sure did."

that made Katara laugh. Sokka joined in soon. Even Aang cracked up.

"Sugar Mama." Katara wheezed

"you are not a lot better, Sugar Queen."

Iris laughed at Katara frowned

"Alright." Iris interrupted with a smile, "Alright. That's it." she looked at the two youngest, "You guys get started with your training." she then turned to siblings, "I'm gonna catch up with Duova."

"Alright."

"Uncle!"

That was what Iroh woke up to. His nephew's worried face looking down at him.

"You were unconscious. Azula did this to you."

Iroh attempted to get up but winced in pain.

"It was a surprise attack."

"Somehow, that's not so surprising," he grunted in a little pain and moved to lean up against the wall. Zuko then picked a steaming cup of tea and handed it to Iroh. He had remembered the instructions and had followed them.

"I hope it is made in the way you like it."

Iroh took a sip from the cup and his eyes widen. He looked down at the cup.

"Hmm. There's a tangy taste and I haven't had before. But it is good. Quite good." He then looked at Zuko, "Did you brew it?"

Zuko pressed his lips and then shook his head.

"Who did?"

"It was that girl. The one who travels with the Avatar."

"The white-haired girl?"

Zuko nodded.

"Well, she certainly knows how to make a good cup of tea." He smiled, "Do remind me to thank her the next time we happen to see her."

"She also asked me to tell you that you both are even now. What was she talking about?"

Iroh looked confused for a moment, thinking about it. When it finally dawned on him. "I believe she was talking about my help against Zhao's attack in the Northern Tribe. she didn't have to. But this was nice of her to do."

Zuko took a breath.

"Did she tell her name?"

And it was at that moment Zuko realized it. He had never asked for her name.

"Did you ask her name?" Iroh took another sip of the good tea, "Did you thank her?"

Of course, he didn't. She had helped him out of her way and neither did he ask her name nor did he thank her.

"So uncle," he began changing the topic, "I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

Iroh raised a brow, "No, she's crazy and she needs to go down."

Zuko nodded. Iroh grunted as he stood up. The pain was a lot less than he had expected.

"Did she heal me? the girl?"

Zuko nodded.

"Well, that was awfully nice of her." he then looked at Zuko, "It's time to resume your training."

"...and then I went back to heal Iroh and save him from drinking that poison Zuko tried to call tea."

Duova chuckled, "That was quite noble of you."

Iris shrugged, "I didn't do it because it was a noble thing to do. I did it because that's who I am. Kinda."

Duova hummed and then opened her eyes, "Shall we begin with today's training?"

Iris nodded, "What are you gonna teach me today?"

"Your powers have grown and skills improved. I believe it is time, you learn how to astral project yourself."

Iris took a deep breath, "Just a query. when am I gonna learn to bend another person's energy?"

'There is still time for that. Your skills are not at that level yet, I'm afraid."

Iris took a deep breath, "Got it. Let's start."

"I don't understand what went wrong." Katara glanced at Toph, pointing at Aang, "He did it exactly the way you did."

"Maybe there's another way." He took up a fighting stance and began to walk towards the boulder. "What if I came at the boulder from a different angle?"

Suddenly he got grabbed by his collar and turned around. It was Toph.

"No, that's the problem. You've got to stop thinking like an Airbender." She knocked her fist lightly against the side of his head, making him wince. "There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickity trick that's going to move that rock."

And she shoved him, "You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this!"

She ran forward. She jumped into the air and crashed into the rock that he tried to move head-first, shattering it.

"Whoa!"

He looks down, suddenly unsure of himself. How could he do that? That much power and strength. did he have it in him?

Katara looked at Aang and then raced to Toph.

"I've been training Aang for a while now. He really responds well to a positive teaching experience. Lots of encouragement and praise. Kind words. If he's doing something wrong, maybe a gentle nudge in the right direction."

"Thanks, Katara. A gentle nudge. I'll try that." Toph smiled and then she looked at Aang, "Keep your knees high, twinkle toes!"

Sokka was so done. She had his machete and wouldn't give it to him. She then shoved him backward.

"She's so mean," Katara muttered next to him

"Yeah. But she's the only one who can teach Aang Earthbending."

"You know, Toph wouldn't do it if Iris was still around and not in Spirit World."

The duo looked at Iris, who sat at some distance, deep in meditating. Not once was she hurt or disturbed by Toph, unlike them all.

Sokka just shrugged. "I'm going to look for some dinner."

"Astral projection is the ability to bend the energy within themself to create an astral projection of the spirit. When done properly, the astral projection can also bend elements and sustain damage."

"Okay," Iris exhaled

"There is another technique similar to Astral projection. It is of the lesser form and easier. Spiritual bending is an out of body experience. Do you know what that means?"

"Vaguely..."

Duova nodded, "This technique consists of projecting one's spirit out of the body to travel to another location. Through projection, an energybennder is able to explore places that would otherwise be physically inaccessible, such as moving around freely underwater or to sealed locations by passing through solid matter, while also being capable to normally talk with other people. Furthermore, this technique can also be used to find individuals with whom they have a strong bond by focusing on their spiritual energy. It is a very advanced technique that requires a strong spiritual connection and understanding of one's own energy."

Okay. Iris nodded. Next level bending.

"This is also a technique that Airbenders borrowed from us. For them, spiritual bending is one of the highest levels of bending."

"Only airbenders?"

"Yes. Airbenders were nomads and just like Energy Clan had minimum earthly attachments. Which is important for a non-energybender to achieve Spiritual bending."

Iris took a deep breath.

"We'll start with Spiritual bending."

A small baby mooselion walked up to a small patch of grass and began to eat.

And it caught Sokka's eye.

"You're awfully cute, but unfortunately for you, you're made of meat. Just a bit closer..."

Sokka yelled as he jumped down towards the baby moose lion. Unfortunately, he missed and worsening the situation, landed in a crevice. The baby mooselion looked at him questioningly. It walked up to him and wagged its tail.

Sokka brought back his sword to strike it. "Gotcha!"

Only to fall deeper into the crevice and drop his sword. He was stuck up to his shoulders. He struggled to free himself but doesn't budge.

"You are a lucky little meat creature."

He pointed at the mooselion and it wagged its tail.

"Uh...Duova, I kinda feel weird." Iris muttered

"Speaking disrupts your concentration."

"right," she muttered and took a deep breath. She had no idea how long it would take, but she wanted to get done with it today.

Inhale. Exhale. Concentrate. Inhale. Exhale. Concentrate.

"Do not pressurize yourself. Just let it happen. Let spirit energy flow through you. Project yourself. Try to see without opening your eyes."

That was too much and quite contradictory to 'don't pressure yourself.

"Just concentrate and you'll know what to do."

Alright.

The boulder continued to roll down the hill toward Aang.

Aang looked at it frantic.

Toph looked down with her arms folded.

Katara buried her face in her hands and Momo cowered down on her head.

And just before the boulder neared him, Aang jumped over as it almost hit him. The boulder rolls past Katara and slammed into the side of the canyon. He landed on the ground.

Toph rushed to Aang, who removed his blindfold to see her frown with disapproval.

"I guess I just panicked. I don't know what to say." he reasoned

"There's nothing to say. You blew it. You had a perfect stance and perfect form but when it came right down to it, you didn't have the guts."

She lightly punched him to the chest that knocked him down. He sat near her feet with his legs crossed.)

"I know. I'm sorry."

Suddenly Toph leaned down, getting right into his face.

"Yeah, you are sorry. If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, then you could at least give it the pleasure of smushing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp! Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?!"

He looked down, dejected.

"No. I don't think I do."

Toph straightened up and crossed her arms as Katara walked over. She put her hands on his shoulders.

"Aang, it's no big deal. You'll take a break and try earthbending again when you're ready. Besides, you still have a lot of waterbending to work on, okay?"

"Yeah... that sounds good."

She helped him up and led him away

"Yeah, whatever, go splash around until you feel better." Toph called after them

Aang took a deep breath.

"Don't listen to her." Katara said

Aang sighed, "Where's Iris?"

"Still in the spirit world"

"Oh"

"You probably think I deserve this, don't you? Look, I'm sorry I hunted you, but that's just the natural order of things! Big things eat smaller things, nothing personal. But this time it didn't work out that way."

the baby mooselion yawned, walked in circles before lying down on Sokka's head and closed his eyes

"I admit it. You're cute. Okay, you've convinced me. If I get out of this alive, it's a comically correct vegetarian existence for me. No meat. Even though meat is so tasty."

The baby jumped off of Sokka's head and exited the screen. A bug flew on from the left and began to buzz around Sokka's face. Sokka made a groaning noise as he struggles to swat it away with his trapped hands. The bug landed on his head, and Sokka grunted in defeat.

He perked up suddenly and the bug flew away when he saw the baby mooselion run towards him with an apple in his mouth. The baby stopped and rolled the apple towards Sokka.

"Hey, it looks like my karma is already paying off!"

Unfortunately, the apple stopped still way out of his reach.

"That's okay! I got it!" he struggled to reach into his backpack and then tossed his boomerang at the apple. It fell down next to it.

"Now come back, boomerang."

"You know this block you're having is only temporary, right?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Katara looked at Aang concerned.

"You do know that's the problem, don't you? If you face this issue instead of avoiding it..."

Suddenly Aang's expression changed into that of frustration.

"I know I know I know I know, I get it, alright!" He let the ball of water fall back into the pond. "I need to face it head-on, like a rock. But I just can't do it! I don't know why I can't, but I can't."

Katara took a deep breath, "Aang, if fire and water are opposites, then what's the opposite of air?"

"I guess it's earth."

"That's why it's so hard for you to get this. You're working with your natural opposite. But you'll figure it out. I know you will."

Katara reached behind her and broke off a reed. She hurled it at Aang without warning. "Think fast!"

Aang, looked up in surprise before causing a wave of water to shoot up and slice the reed in half. The two halves sailed harmlessly by him.

"Excellent. You have the reflexes of a waterbending master."

That made him smile, "Thanks, Katara. Sifu Katara."

Iris felt lighter. Not in an 'I'm about to black out' way but in a more...traditional way, if it made sense.

"You are doing good. Keep it up."

Duova's voice echoed.

Okay. She must be doing something right, then.

Aang made his way to Iris, who was still deep in meditating. He sat down next to her and started meditating. He felt her energy thrumming. And that surprised him. It had never happened before. He could guess that it meant that she was getting stronger.

"Aang!"

...and hence he was disrupted.

"I found these nuts in your bag." Toph continued but he didn't look at her, "I figured you wouldn't mind. And besides, even if you did, you're too much of a pushover to do anything about it."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, now annoyed.

"As a matter of fact, I don't mind. I'm happy to share anything I have."

He then closed his eyes and began to meditate again. Maybe he could go to Spirit World and check out Iris training. Duova won't be happy about it but at least she won't kick him out.

"You know, I'm really glad you feel that way because I also have this great new nutcracker."

That irritated him further. He opened his eyes and looked at her over his shoulder. She picked his staffed and then smashed it down on the nut, which made him cringe.

"Actually," he began, "I'd prefer if you didn't..."

Another nut smashed making him cringe again.

"That's an antique, handcrafted by the monks..."

Another crack and Aang cringed again, growing more frustrated.

"It's a delicate instrument!"

"It's not the only delicate instrument around here." Toph mocked him

Toph got up and walked off with Momo, carrying his staff. She hit it along the rocks. He just glared at her. Then he tured around and began to meditate, using some of Iris' energy to calm him and help him.

"Hey Aang, have you seen..."

"Meditating here!" Aang snapped

"It's important. It's almost sundown and Sokka isn't back yet. I think we should search for him."

That got his attention. He got up.

"We'll find him faster if we split up."

"I think that is enough for today, Iris."

Iris didn't reply. Her complete concentration was on her and spirit energy. She slowly composed her, composed her energy and once she was sure she was all done, she opened her eyes.

"I don't think I did much today."

"Despite being a lesser form, Spiritual bending takes time."

"How much time?"

Duova hummed in thought, "Depends on you."

"Give me a rough idea here."

"A week. Could be two. I want you to practice regularly. We will meet each other in three days."

"Three days. Got it." she started unwinding a little.

"Anything else you wish to say?"

"I just had a thought in my head for a while." Iris exhaled, "Iroh and Zuko are technically Fire Nation outcasts. I was wondering if I should approach them."

"And what are your intentions of doing so?"

"That would give us, and Aang, an edge over Ozai. I mean who would know more about that sick son of a bitch than his own brother and son?"

Duova hummed, "Be careful if that is the strategy you wish to apply."

"I will be." Iris paused, "Is that a good idea, by the way?"

"I suppose it depends on how you tread. If done correctly, you might gain a massive advantage on Fire Lord Ozai. If done wrongly..."

"Yeah, not gonna divulge there," she muttered, "Thanks, Duova."

Duova just nodded with a smile.

Iris exhaled loudly as she came back to the world of the living. She stretched and leaned back.

"wow. I spent quite a lotta time there," she muttered. The sun was setting. She was gone since morning. She was basically gone the entire fuckin' day.

Neva chirped, landing on her lap, and began preening herself.

"Hey, baby girl." Iris smiled and got up, perching Neva on her forearm. She looked around. The camp pretty much looked devoid of human presence.

"Where are the kids?" she asked

Neva trilled and took off. Iris followed her.

She was met with a...weird sight. Aang had an arm wrapped around Sokka. Toph was next to the boys. And Katara was with them.

...

What happened?

She looked over all four, trying to make some sense or picture only to be startled by,

"Iris! Iris! I can earthbend now! The key is being completely rooted! Physically and mentally unmovable!"

Iris blinked, not getting anything.

"I...okay?" she shrugged, "Good job?" she looked over all four, "I'm sorry but exactly did happen while I was gone?"

Instead of a reply, Sokka began to laugh. Aang joined him and soon so did the girls.

"Uh...still not making sense here. Guys?"

Nope. Just laughter.

Wonderful.

"Alright. I don't know about you guys, but I'm way too tired and gonna sleep it off. Good night!"

"What's out here?"

"A lot actually. There's hundreds of little-"

"Shhhhhhh! I know you can see underground, but don't ruin the surprise. Just watch."

Iris raised a brow at Aang's antics.

"Kid, there better be a good reason why you are making us stand in the middle of the desert for no apparent reason." she crossed her arms

"Trust me, Iris. There is a reason."

Aang then turned ahead and placed the flute to his lips and started playing.

Suddenly a prairie dog emerged from the hole in front of him and sang the very same note before disappearing underground.

Aang giggled before playing another note causing another prairie dog to appear from another hole and reply in the same note. Aang then raised his hands and the flute above his head.

"I'm putting an orchestra together."

"Orchestra, huh?" Sokka deadpanned, "Well la dee da."

Sokka gestured from side to side with his hands as he said the last few words. One after the other, a prairie dog emerged from a hole and each sang a note in descending order. They all descended back down their burrows as Momo and Neva leaped down the hole to catch the praise dog. A moment later, the head emerged from the middle hole.

Aang played more notes, and each time a different prairie dog emerged from one of the burrows and matched it.

Iris chuckled a laugh as both Neva and Momo tried to catch the prairie dog. But those little buggers were quite evasive.

And then the music stopped. Iris looked at Aang, to see Sokka plugging his finger on the other end of the flute.

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We should be making plans."

Sokka unplugged his finger and stood up straight, gesturing to his sides with open palms.

"We did make plans. We're all picking mini-vacations." Toph replied

"There's no time for vacations," Sokka exclaimed

"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrows off."

Sokka grunted and looked at Iris, "Aren't you gonna say something?"

Iris took a breath, "Sokka, he's doing his best. A little time off once in a while isn't gonna hurt anyone."

"Yeah. What's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" Katara asked

Sokka crossed his arms, "Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the fire nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house?" he then turned a little and mimicked knocking on the door, "Knock, knock! Hello, Fire Lord? Anybody home?"

He dropped his charade and leaned towards Aang, closing his fists and dropping them to his sides, "I don't think so. We need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war."

Aang frowned and played a note on the flute. As a result, a prairie dog emerged right underneath Sokka and sang, which startled him, causing him to jump. Which made others laugh.

"Alright, we'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence," Katara said and they all cracked a laugh.

Iris took a breath, straightening herself and crossing her arms, "I'm working on that, actually,"

Everyone looked at her, surprised, "You are?" Katara asked

"Uh...yeah. yeah. Yeah, I'm."

"And what is the intelligence?" Sokka asked

"I'll let you know if it works out. Just...don't keep your hopes high." she shrugged. She reached and pulled out the map she had tucked in her legging's waistband and spread it on the ground.

"Well, where next?" she asked

Aang leaned over, "Your turn, Katara. Where would you like to go on your mini-vacation?"

Katara leaned towards the map and studied it, placing her hand on her chin.

"How about the Misty Palms Oasis? That sounds refreshing."

"I've never been to an oasis," Iris muttered

"Oh yeah, I've been there. It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders." Aang excitedly spoke up.

"Uh...correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this place supposed to be a 'pristine natural ice spring'?" Iris asked and looked at Aang, who looked confused.

In front of them was a small village made of mud houses with no palm trees and a bare minimum of an ice spring.

"Must have changed ownership since I was here." he laughed nervously and then walked in. Iris sighed and they followed him. They were suddenly startled by a loud crash. When they turned around to see, it was an old sign shattered on the ground.

"I'll be honest. I don't like it here." Iris said. They walked past the dying ice spring.

Iris looked around and spotted a house with a green cloth for a door. And a smell of liquor.

She could use a drink or two. But then she turned and looked at the kids. Maybe later.

She started heading for the place and noticed the kids following her.

It wasn't as bad...

It appeared to be a restaurant, illuminated by dim lamps hanging from patrons, the majority of them, looked shady. Like thieves or something.

she got a weird feeling and turned to see a man, more of a neanderthal than a man actually, was leering at her. Iris had an urge of covering her already covered body.

Despite the hot and dry air, she lowered the shirt sleeves to cover herself and lowered her top. Men could be such disgusting pigs.

She took a breath and took the place into account once again. If this place was making her uncomfortable, she doesn't want Katara and Toph to be subjected to that as well. And then she turned to the kids.

"We are leaving."

"What? We ju-"

"Kid," she shut him up with a single glare, "Trust me. We shouldn't be here."

The look on her face told the three that she was super serious.

Iris reached and kept her hand on Toph's back and guided the four out.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked

"nothing. It's just..." she wrapped her arms around her body, "If we have seen the Oasis enough, I think we should get going."

"Is everything okay?" Aang asked

"Kid, trust me. It's fine. Just, had enough of the supposed oasis." she chuckled nervously, "So... ideas?"

Aang pulled out the map and started searching with the rest of them. Iris took a deep breath and looked around. This place was making her shifty. She exhaled and reached to put her braid in an updo. The heat was increasing day by day.

Suddenly she heard a gasp behind her. She turned around, the kids looked up, to see a man gaping at them.

"You're a living relic!"

The four exchanged looks. The man kept gaping at Aang, specifically.

"Thanks. I try." Aang replied and kept the map away.

The man took a few steps, keeping a hand to his chin. "An Air Nomad, right in front of me."

He bowed. Aang bowed in return.

"Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." and in an instant, he was next to Aang, holding his hand, "Tell me, which of the Air temples do you hail from?"

"The southern temple."

And in another second, took out a pair of calipers and began measuring Aang's head, "Oh, splendid! Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"

"Uh, are fruit pies an-"

A hand grabbed Zei's shoulder. Iris tightened her grip and turned him so he could face her.

"If you are done harassing him, we must be on our way."

"I wasn't harassing him. I was recording observations for the journal."

"Right. Ever heard of consent, Professor?" she asked in quite a condescending tone. The man flushed. Though whether it was due to the heat or her statement, she couldn't tell. She'd like to think it was the latter.

"Of course." he looked at Aang, "Apologies."

"It's alright." Aang smiled

Zei smiled, "Now, as you were telling me about the primary agricultural product of your people..."

"Fruit pies and agricultural product?"

"Oh, truly fascinating. That is one for the journal."

Iris just sighed and let go.

"So professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy. Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated." Sokka asked and Iris looked at him. Smart.

"Certainly." he paused, "My bag is inside."

"Great," Iris muttered

Iris furrowed her brows.

"Hey, where's Fire Nation supposed to be?" she asked Sokka, who was examining the map with her.

Sokka too looked at it carefully.

"What, no Fire Nation?" he exclaimed straightening his back, "Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?"

Katara placed her hand on the map and turned it a little, "You've made a lot of trips into the desert."

"All in vain, I'm afraid." Zei answered, "I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel... Wan Shi Tong's Library."

"You spent years walking through the desert to find some guy's library?" Toph asked, her legs propped on the table

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady. It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge... is priceless."

"Mm, sounds like good times."

That piqued Iris's interest.

"Oh, it is. According to legend, it was built by the great knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers."

"Oh, so this spirit has attractive assistants, huh?" Sokka asked

"I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka," Katara replied, shoving him a little

"You're both right. Handsome little creatures." Zei reached into his pouch and pulled out and unrolled a large parchment, "Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read so that we might better ourselves."

"Say, Professor," Iris began, "Would this place have knowledge on something well over 100 centuries prior?"

"I suppose it would."

That was good for her.

Iris looked down at the unrolled parchment. On it is an architectural drawing of a building with many domes and spires.

"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map maybe?"

"Or maybe something more," Iris added

"I wouldn't know, but if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's Library."

If this library was the real deal, they could get some real dirt on Fire Nation. The dirt they could exploit.

"Then it's settled."

Iris broke out of her thoughts and looked at Sokka.

"I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!"

Iris blinked. that was not exactly a bad idea.

Then her attention was grabbed by Toph who waved her arms high. "Uh, hey? What about me? When do I get to pick?"

"You gotta work here a little longer before you qualify for vacation time."

In response, Toph slammed her bowl on the table before crossing her arms and pouting.

"Toph..." Iris chided

"Of course there's the matter of finding it. I've made several trips into the Si Wong Desert and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross."

That made her skeptical.

Iris was suddenly subjugated to the glances of the boys, begging for her approval. They literally pulled puppy-dog eyes on her. Both of them.

finding the library could prove to be useful.

She sighed.

"Fine." she exclaimed, "but don't make a habit of this."

Sokka and Aang exchanged huge grins before they looked at Zei.

"Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?"

"A sky bison? You actually have one?" Zei asked, excited like a five-year-old.

Iris was trying her best to ignore the over-zealous Professor talking non-stop while she went through the journals of the Energybenders, hoping to find something about the library. She had a deep gut feeling about at least one of the energybender knew about this library. And she really hoped that the person had told this to the guy who maintained the journals.

Flipping through the pages, she finally found an entry. It spoke about a place in the Si Wong region with a lot of knowledge that would not be found anywhere else on Earth. Unparalleled and priceless knowledge.

That was it. Just a couple of lines. And nothing else. No location. No way to find it.

"Aw, does this place even exist?"

"Some say it doesn't."

"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?"

"It exists, alright," she muttered loud enough for them all to hear, and then she turned around.

"Do the journals say where it is?" Katara asked

Iris shook her head, "Just the general Si Wong Desert."

"Is there a possibility that they may have used it in the past?"

Iris looked at Sokka, "I guess. They knew about the library. so maybe..." she muttered, her gears moving before she dove back into the journals, alternating between the two to find another entry.

"May I know what sources you are referring to?" Zei asked

"You may not," Iris replied and then glanced at him, "I'm afraid."

"Oh, alright. May I ask about your hair? How did you get such beautiful white hair?"

Iris sighed. This guy was asking too many questions. She grunted and looked at him with a mock-sweet smile.

"Professor, I was under the impression that we are here for the library. Can we focus on that?"

And then went back to the books.

"Excuse her, please. she can be a bit...grumpy sometimes."

Iris glared at Sokka, who just nervously smiled.

Going back to the books, she couldn't find anything. With a low grunt, she was about to close it when a certain word caught her eye. 'Enchantments'

Benders didn't use enchantments. Duova had never mentioned Energybenders being able to enchant anything.

"There it is!"

Everyone looked out to where Toph was pointing. It was just a regular boring-arse desert.

And then they all looked at Toph, glaring at her.

"That's what it will sound like when one of you spots it." she gave them all a blank grin, waving her hand in front of her eyes to remind them of the fact that she is blind. She quickly went back to clutching the saddle.

"It shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant ornate building from the air," Katara muttered

"It would be if they concealed it with enchantments," Iris muttered

"Enchantments?" Zei asked

Iris nodded, "That's all it says. It doesn't say what kind of enchantments. Or how many are there." she looked at them, "That would explain why people have had a hard time finding it."

She wet her drying lips, deep in thought before she looked at Aang.

"Maybe I can find it," she looked at others

"How?" Aang asked

She looked down, "Appa, can you go down a little?"

Appa grunted but closed down onto the ground and hovered. She jumped down and landed on the sand.

"Let's see if you can find it, Potter," she muttered and crouched, hand buried in the sand. She let out waves of energy to act like sonar, waiting and expecting to hit a major source of spiritual energy.

"What is she doing?" Zei asked, looking at her.

"Trying to find the library," Aang answered

"How?"

The three exchanged looks. Iris being an energybender was supposed to be a big secret. One tat even Toph didn't know for now. They can't just tell him that she was the one and only energybender.

"She's an earthbender," Sokka replied. It seemed the most plausible lie.

"I see," he muttered

It took Iris about a minute before she felt something huge and resonated with spirit energy. She opened her eyes, locking at the place.

"Found it," she called and started walking. Quick note, change into boots. The sand was starting to get in her shoes and it made her super uncomfortable.

Appa and others followed her, Neva flying overhead.

She stopped in front of a big spire sticking out the sand like a sore thumb.

"This is it?" Aang asked

"Yup," Iris replied

"The building in this drawing is enormous. Are you sure Iris?"

Iris nodded. "It is one of the spires. The whole thing is buried underground." she dusted off some sand around the spire with her foot.

"What kind of animal is that?" Sokka asked

Iris looked to her left to see a weird and quite attractive fox. It was looking at them, with something clutched in its mouth. And then it started galloping and jumped and began running up the spire at ninety degrees angle. Once it reached the top, it jumped in via a hole or something.

"I think that was one of the knowledge seekers," Zei noted

Iris hummed and looked up, "Hey, can one of you pass my boots?"

while Appa landed and others got off him, Katara approached her with her black boots. She quickly removed her shoes and pulled the knee-length black boots. This would be counterproductive when it came to the heat, but at least she won't have sand grains poking her foot sole. She then quickly placed her shoes back in her bag on Appa. And then made her way to the spire.

"The library is buried," Zei slumped and fell on his hands and knees, "My life's ambition is now full of sand."

Iris shared a look with others.

"Well, time to start excavating."

Iris looked at Zei as if he had lost his mind.

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked, "To dig an enormous building, you must be."

"Actually, that won't be necessary. The inside seems to be completely intact, and it's huge." Toph said, walking to the spire.

"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look." Sokka suggested

"Sounds good to me," Iris muttered, measuring the window's height.

"I say you guys go ahead without me."

Iris looked at the little earth bender, "Everything alright, Toph?"

"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine. I've held books before, and I gotta tell you, they don't exactly do it for me." Toph said

Iris shrugged while Katara nervously laughed.

"Let me know if they have something you can listen to."

"will do," Iris muttered and looked at Sokka, "Give me your machete,"

She tied a thick rope to the machete and handed it to Neva, who threw it inside the window.

"Good job." She preened her phoenix, "Stay here with Toph and Appa."

Neva trilled and perched on top of Appa's head.

Iris began climbing first and then climbed down the window with the same rope.

"Oh, it's breathtaking. The spirits spared no expense designing this place." Zei muttered

The large room was supported by many pillars and archways. The visage of an owl was carved into the arcs.

"Look at those beautiful buttresses!"

That made the four chuckle.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing. We just like architecture." Aang answered

"As do I."

As they neared the floor, she jumped down. Zei, Aang, Sokka and Katara followed.

The land on a wide had a cross-shaped bridge that connected to each side of the room. Past the archways were long rows of bookshelves. The area was dimly lit by green lamps hanging from the walls.

Iris just walked around. The walls were lined with books.

"The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol... Eh, nice...owl."

It was the rustling of feathers that caught her attention. She was trying her best to ignore Zei's rambling but the feather sound was so different. She spun around and almost jumped, startled. She quickly slid behind a bookshelf and looked for the kids They were all hidden behind the pillars.

There was a huge black owl with a white face walking through an archway and onto the bridge. She slowly peeked out of her hiding spot and saw the owl examining the rope. It began to turn its head to the left and she pressed herself to the bookshelf.

"I know you're back there," It called out in a deep grungy voice.

Iris slightly peeked and looked at Aang, who looked at her in confusion and she just shrugged before telling him to stay where he was.

Unfortunately, Zei did not get that memo, because he stepped out and made his way to the owl.

"Hello! I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University."

The owl-faced him, easily towering him.

"You should leave the way you came unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology."

The kids looked at her and she slowly stepped out. The rope was their only way out anyway. Might as well face the music.

She walked towards Zei and the owl, the kids quickly following her.

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked

"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things. And you are obviously humans, which by the way are no longer permitted in my study."

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked

"Hmm, humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy."

"Firebender? What firebender?" she asked. Did one of them have knowledge about energybenders? It better not be the case.

But the owl spirit just glared at her and she shut up.

"So," the owl quickly brought his face close to Iris's and tried her best to not get startled, "who are you trying to destroy?"

Suddenly her throat felt dry and she gulped. She could only stare into its big beady eyes. she could easily see her reflection in its eyes. uh...

"What? Oh, no, no, no destroying, we're not into that." Sokka answered from behind her, that broke whatever stupor she was in because of the owl.

"Then why have you come here?"

Iris gulped. Well, in all honesty, they were here for dirt on Fire Nation. But by the looks of it, they couldn't tell it to the owl, could they?

Time to bend the truth.

"I'm an energybender. The first to resurface after 100 centuries. The last of my kind. I was hoping to find some information about the energybenders."

"That!" Sokka said, pointing at her

The owl neared its face to her and she tried her best not to turn away. Its gaze made her uncomfortable to enormous proportions.

She gulped again.

"I see," it muttered

But Iris had this urge to prove herself. "I'm traveling with the Avatar. He'll vouch for me."

They all looked at him. Aang looked suddenly uncomfortable at being thrown under the spotlight.

"Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word."

He bowed and others followed.

"Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection, on one condition. To prove your worth as a scholar, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

Zei stepped forward, kneeled ad presented a thick tome. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library."

"First edition, very nice."

Wan Shi Tong passed his wing over the tome, causing it to vanish from Zei's hands. Zei stepped back and Katara stepped forward. She had some waterbending scrolls that Pakku had given her; scrolls she had she had memorized. She was quite sure that those were not unique nor rare, but they had knowledge.

"I have an authentic waterbending scroll," she said

"Oh... these illustrations are quite stylish."

Wan Shi Tong took the scroll. Katara bowed her head to the spirit.

"Uh, oh, I know!" Aang pulled a scroll from his shirt collar and presented it, revealing it to be a Fire Nation wanted poster of the Avatar.

Wan Shi Tong examined the poster, "I suppose that counts."

Sokka stepped forward holding a piece of string between his fingers, "Oh, great spirit, check this out!"

Quickly tied the string into a butterfly-shaped knot and held it out, accompanied by the sound of chimes

"Ta-da!"

It stared in silence.

"It's a special knot! That counts as knowledge." Sokka protested

"You're not very bright, are you?"

Sokka frowned and groaned at the spirit's comment. The knot was quickly snatched by Wan Shi Tong's wing.

Iris swallowed again and stepped forward. She had apparated a book from her backpack and presented it to the Spirit.

"It's a book on History of Magic," she said

Wan Shi Tong studied it for a solid minute, "This is a knowledge I do not possess yet." he said and took the book. Well, she could always ask Andromeda to buy her a new one. They weren't exactly expensive.

"Enjoy the library." with that, it jumped off the bridge.

"Come on." she patted Sokka's shoulder, "We got work to do,"

She had always had an inkling that Duova was not telling her everything. While her mentor did tell her a lot and teach her more, there were certain secrets she had been hiding. Iris was not an idiot enough to call her out. Considering the fact that she had hidden about energybenders being able to enchant for some reason crossed her. She was told that modern magic was not something energybenders could do. Then why was there a mention of enchantments in the journals?

"I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising. The information on the Fire Nation should be right up here."

"Be careful." She told him

"You aren't coming?" Aang asked

"I'm here. Might as well actually look for energybending stuff. Will you guys be fine on your own?"

He nodded and walked down the hall with Katara and Aang. Knowing that the kids will be fine, she went back to looking for energybending sources. Nothing.

"Come on. Energybending. Energy Clan. Energy benders. Something must be here."

Wish she had spent more time with Hermione in the library.

She heard a soft whimper and found a fox near her. They were supposed to be knowledge seekers so they must where knowledge is supposed to be, right?

"Hey," she crouched and smiled, "Do you know where I can find anything on energybenders or energybending?"

The fox perked up, tilting its head before it took off.

"Hey, wait!" she quickly got up and chased it.

It led her to a small door with a symbol carved on it. Iris hesitantly reached for the symbol. The symbol looked familiar. Wait a second.

She reached under her top and pulled out her pendant. The shape of the pendant was the same as the symbol on the door, without the gemstones, of course. In fact, the door symbol had a swirling pattern right in the middle.

She took a deep breath, let go of her pendant, and opened the door.

The room was extremely dark and dusty, making her cough. There was no lighting. Absolute pitch black. So she conjured a Lumos ball. Boy, was it covered in dust.

"When was the last time it was cleaned?" she muttered, entering.

She walked around. Everything, the books, scrolls, artifacts, everything was covered in a layer of dust. Her years of working as a free servant for the Dursleys had made her very OCD to cleanliness. and the state of the room was making her highly uncomfortable.

"Merlin!" she coughed and took a stance before casting a Scourgify around the room. It took about five minutes for things to be at least presentable.

"Just because Energybenders went extinct, doesn't mean you'd abandon their resources," she grumbled.

She walked around. There was a stack of scrolls. She rolled one open and found it to be on the basics of energybending, the stances, and practices. Another was on the methods of meditation.

Most of the stuff was pretty basic. Things she had already covered.

She walked around more and happened upon a stack of books. They looked ancient. She picked one with a delicate touch, blew it over once, force of habit, and softly flipped the pages.

The book was about Astral Projection. That would be helpful.

She looked at the door. Something told her that the Owl won't be too pleased about making her a library card for her to borrow this book. And a couple more.

She took a breath, "Geminio"

And the book got replicated. She kept the original back at its spot and miniaturizing the copy, she put in the dagger sheath of her boot. Her dagger was tucked under her shirt, so was that place was empty anyway.

Walking around whatever topics she hadn't heard of yet or had incomplete knowledge of, she duplicated them all and placed them all in her boot. She must have gotten, like 7-8 books when she felt the entire place shake. It felt like an earthquake. She almost lost her balance and had to hold onto a table.

"What in the ever-loving fuck?" she asked. She looked at all the books she had yet to look at but bit her tongue and ran out.

She started running around the long winding hallways as she used a point me spell. Running along, she almost collided with Sokka who was also running, with others in tow.

They paused for a second, looking at each other, breathing hard, and they all saw the Owl spirit chasing them, looking pissed, and resumed running.

"Great knowledge spirit, I beg you. Do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes."

The four stopped running to look at Zei, who was holding a stack of books. And he didn't seem too concerned that they were being chased by a pissed-off Owl spirit.

Suddenly Zei was pulled back just as the owl attacked the spot he was standing on by Aang.

"Go! Go! Go! GO!" Iris yelled

Aang, who was at the front, stopped, turned around, twisted in the air, and swung his staff in an upward arc as he landed, bending a strong gust of air. The gust collided with the Owl, causing the spirit to be knocked over the side of the bridge. The spirit fell down to the lower levels of the library.

"We've gotta get back to the surface," Aang said

"Yeah, seconded," Iris muttered as they started to run, but then stopped. Sokka stood behind.

"Sokka, now's not the time." she urged

"Sokka, let's go!" Katara urged

"But we still don't know when the next eclipse is gonna happen." Sokka protested

"Don't be stupid, we'll find out later." Katara snapped

"No, we won't. If we leave this place we'll never get the information."

Iris had no idea what they were talking about.

"I can tell you when the next eclipse is!" she snapped, impatient.

"what? You can?!"

"Yes, you dumbass! I took astronomy in school. Now can we please leave before we all are buried alive?!"

Sokka blinked.

"Sokka!"

"right." Sokka started running, "Let's go."

Iris started leading the group and then took a sharp turn only to pull back and press against the bookshelf. She gestured to others to follow as well.

Panting hard, she peeked over. The Owl was still there. She looked at the farthest corner of the library and used her magic to push a few books on the floor. That got the owl's attention and then she gestured them to run.

The five quickly made it to the rope."Go! Come on! We don't have time!"

Sokka started climbing first, Katara after him. Aang opened his glider

"Professor, let's go!" she called only to find him surrounded by several dozen stacks of books on the floor. The sand was starting to pour in here was Zei reading a scroll.

Zei looked at her, "I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on Earth. I could spend an eternity in here."

"That's suicide and stupidity!"

"thank you for helping me."

Iris rolled her eyes and began climbing. If this was the hill he was willing to die on, then what exactly can she do?

Sokka pretty much made it out of the spire when she heard a loud shriek and looked down to see the owl aiming for her.

"Oh shit!"

she started climbing faster.

"Katara! go!"

She looked down. The owl was just a few feet from her. So when he neared her, she cast an exploding charm right on his face, which caused him to lose balance and fall down.

"Iris!"

She looked up. Sokka was helping Katara out. She quickly climbed up as the sand continued to pour and grabbed the window. Sokka grabbed her hand and together the two got out.

The moment she made it to the surface, she exhaled in relief. It was too much adrenaline for her.

But it was the grunts that got her attention.

She looked up to see Aang, Katara, and Toph fighting off what looked like bandits who had Appa in their grasp.

"Really?" she asked and stood up. She walked upfront.

"Let go of the bison," she called

No movement.

"Kid," she muttered and looked at all the bindings.

"Diffindo," she whispered, and one by one all the ropes that held Appa snapped.

Knowing the cue, Aang tossed a ton of sand over them while Appa took off.

"Leave or there will be more damage!" she called.

At first, they didn't move. but then they did.

she felt a change of energy next to her and saw Aang in Avatar State, looking just as pissed.

"They are gone, kid," she said

He returned to his normal state. And soon went to hug Appa, who landed.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't protect Appa."

She looked down at Toph. She smiled and crouched down, keeping a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure you were doing your best. Appa's fine. Don't beat yourself for that."

Toph nodded

"We got it. It's the solar eclipse!"

Iris looked down before she stood up, facing Katara, Sokka, and Aang.

"One of you is going to tell me what the fuck did you do that made that owl try to bury us alive!"

The three exchanged looks.

And then Sokka began to tell her.

"...so that's why you wanted to find out about the solar eclipse."

Sokka nodded.

She frowned a little. Why hadn't Duova told her about the solar eclipse thing?

"Can you tell when the next solar eclipse is?" Katara asked

"I'll need some time, but I can tell. I had to find a spell and then do some calculations. Give me a few days."

"We could found the date out when we were dow-" Sokka shut up at the glare Iris shot him with.

"Well, I'd say we had our share of fun for the next month or so. Let's find someplace to camp because I just wanna sleep."

Here y'all go.

You know the drill.

Ciao.