The sun is rising over a sparkling blue lake. The group had made camp on the lake shore the night before. One of the members is apparently asleep in a Water Tribe sleeping bag on the ground. Appa is standing, grazing slowly, while a small fire casts a plume of smoke. Aang is sitting in Appa's "driver's seat." Katara is up in the passenger section doing some kind of work. While adjusting Appa's reins, Aang rambles on, "Wait till you see it, Katara. The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world." Cautiously, Katara responds, "Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home." "That's why I'm so excited!" Aang beams. Katara's finding it harder to stay as composed as she is. "It's just… it's just that… a lot can change in all that time." Aang lowers his head, "I know," he picks his head up and stares out towards the rising sun, "But I need to see it for myself." He picks his arm up and starts rubbing the back of his bald head, "besides, I still have a room to clean." he said as he beamed. Katara, after hearing the comment about cleaning his room, just smacks the middle of her forehead with her hand. Thus, inventing the facepalm.

Aang floats down from Appa's back and walks over to Sokka, who is snoring peacefully in his sleeping bag on the ground. Aang gets closer, and squats down, practically yelling, "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple here we come!" Sokka groggily responds "sleep now… temple later…" while rolling around in his sleeping bag. He rolls over and begins to snore again.

Aang is clearly not pleased. A mischievous grin spreads over his face as he gets an idea. Aang picks up a stick as Katara watches from atop Appa's back. "Sokka! Wake up!" He begins to run the stick up and down Sokka's sleeping bag, "There's a prickle-snake in your sleeping bag!" Sokka wakes up startled. "AAAAHHHHHH! Get it off! Get it off!" Sokka hops around in his sleeping bag until he loses his balance and falls flat on his face. Katara laughs at him. Sokka looks very irritated. Aang pokes his head out from behind Sokka, "Great! You're awake. Let's go."

After a few days of slow travel due to the ship being damaged they finally arrived at the Fire Nation naval yard. Tents and buildings line the right side of the screen, ships line the left and what looks like a railroad line runs down the middle. To the left of that, is Zuko's damaged ship. It is much smaller than the other Fire Nation ships. The prow of Zuko's ship has been opened, its spout lying on the floor of the navy yard. Two figures have walked down the spout and are entering the naval yard itself. "Uncle," Zuko said, "I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail." Uncle very calmly asks, "You mean the Avatar?" Zuko, turned angrily on his heels, "Don't mention his name on these docks! Once word gets out that he's alive, every Fire Nation Soldier will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way." a stranger approaches and asks, "Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" his hands are clasped behind his back authoritatively. "Captain Zhao." Zuko said with distaste. "It's Commander now." Zhao said. "And General Iroh," He bows respectfully to Iroh, "Great hero of our nation." "Retired General." Iroh corrected, in the same condescending tone Zhao used to talk to his nephew. Zhao, making a grand sweeping motion with his left arm, said, "The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?" Iroh gestures at the heavily damaged bow of Zuko's ship. Zhao takes a quick glance over, "That's quite a bit of damage." Zuko, stammers but answers. "Yes… you wouldn't believe what happened." he gives his uncle a sideways glance and immediately passes the buck. "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened." Iroh's eyes go wide and he blinks in response to the burden Zuko has just placed upon him. "Yes. I will do that. It was incredible." he leans over and whispers to Zuko, "What… Did we crash or something?" Zuko, straightening up, because whispering hunched over wreaks of made up story, "Uh, yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship." "Really?" Zhao squints his eyes. "You MUST regale me with all the thrilling details." He smiles and puts his face right up to Zuko's in an obvious challenge. "Join me for a drink?" Zuko turns to leave, saying "Sorry, but we have to go." But Iroh places a hand on his shoulder and stops him. "Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." turning to Zhao, he adds, "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite." Zuko growls in frustration and releases fire from his fists angrily as he turns to follow Zhao and Iroh down the dock.

After they took a bit to pack up camp they all gathered on to Appa's back, Aang and Katara up front, Sokka in the passenger saddle. Sokka's stomach growls. Annoyed, he demands, "Hey, stomach! Be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food." He searches the food bag and dumps it out onto his glove. Only a few crumbs come out. "Hey, who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?" Aang innocently answered, "Oh, that was food?" which makes Sokka's jaw drop. "I used it to start the campfire last night." Aang continues. "Sorry." Sokka's close to tears now, and incredulously asked, "You WHAT? Awweh… No wonder the flames smelled so good."

Appa is swooping towards the now much closer mountains. Aang is the first to see them, as he announces where they are. "The Batola Mountain Range! We're almost there!" Katara looks over at the mountain range uneasily, "Aang? Before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the Airbenders. I… I just. I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people." Aang, ever the optimist, pipes in, "Just because no one has seen an Airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped." Katara, speaking softly, as to not shatter the kids soul, "I know it's hard to accept." Aang refused to accept it. "You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an Airbender Temple is on a Flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any Flying bison. Right, Appa?" Aang rubs the big animal's head, who grunts an affirmative. "Yip yip!" Appa flies them up higher, turning tightly around a mountain face. Katara and Sokka are straining against the wind shear the faster they move. Appa flies up and over a rocky outcropping and treetops to reveal the tall spires of the Southern Air Temple behind it. As everyone oogles and gasps, Aang turns to Appa and says, "We're home, buddy. We're home."

The Fire Nation navy yard, away from the ships, reveals a wooden stockade and many Fire Nation tents behind it. One is particularly large, with a prominent Fire Nation symbol on it. Two guards, flanked by large standing fire pots, stand at the ready in front of this tent. Commander Zhao stands with his back to the entrance, inspecting a large map of the world upon the wall. "And by year's end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule."

Iroh is inspecting a stand of weapons on the left and Zuko sits in one of two chairs in front of Zhao. Zhao turns to Zuko. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." Zuko, slightly shaking, whether it's in laughter or anger is undetermined, "If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him blindly, willingly, then he's a fool." Zhao sits in the chair next to Zuko. "Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue." he leans forward in his chair with a sneer, "So, how IS your search for the Avatar going?" Iroh tips over the stand of weapons he has been examining in the background. The commotion brings the conversation to a halt. Iroh cringes at the mess he has just made. Embarrassed, he apologizes, "My fault entirely," and backs as far away from anything he can tip over, which is easy for a plump man such as him. Zuko looks Zhao directly in the face, and lies. "We haven't found him yet." Zhao leans back in his chair now. "Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago. Along with the rest of the Airbenders." Zuko averts his eyes guiltily, and Zhao looks at Zuko eagerly. "Unless you found some EVIDENCE that the Avatar is still alive." Zuko, refusing to meet his gaze, says, "No. nothing." Zhao rises from his chair. "Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war!" He walks over to Zuko's chair. "If you have one ounce," he leans his face into Zuko's, "of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found." Zuko defiantly told him, "I haven't found anything. It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago. Come on, Uncle. We're going." Zuko gets up and tries to exit, but he is blocked by the guards as they cross their spears in front of him. Another guard approaches Zhao to deliver his report. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape." "Now remind me," Zhao started as he walked up behind Zuko, "How exactly was your ship damaged?" Zuko looks down in defeat.

Coming across a beautiful temple that was once full of life from all kinds of birds and other animals and even people. These temples are over a hundred years old and are not even falling apart. There's hundreds of feet of winding path curving back and forth across the rock face of the temple's mountain. Three little figures can be seen walking up toward the temple. One of these is racing ahead of the others. Aang is the one ahead and he races off as Katara and Sokka round the bend. As Sokka rounds the bend, he grumbles "So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka has a very cross look on his face and he's clutching his stomach to illustrate his hunger. Katara scoffs, "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple and all you can think about is food?" Sokka shrugs. "I'm just a simple guy with simple needs."

Aang is at the edge of the path where he has stopped to let the others catch up. They do, and he points below them. "That's where my friends and I would play airball!" Aang gestures at a small parapet cut into the rock face below the path. It is populated with a thicket of densely packed sticks of varying heights that have been stuck in the ground. A goal with a backboard occupies either end of the field. "And… over there would be where the bison would sleep… and" his voice trails off and he sighs. Katara asks what's wrong. "This place used to be full of monks, lemurs, and bison." "OH MY!" Sokka interjected. Aang continued, "Now, there's just a bunch of weeds. I can't believe how much things have changed." Sokka and Katara looked at each other, then changed the subject, hurrying up to him. "So, uh, this airball game? How do you play?" Sokka asked. Aang smiles.

Sokka, a goalie, is at one end of the field, backboard behind him. Aang with the opposite backboard behind him. He is bending air around a rapidly spinning ball to keep it floating above his outstretched right hand. Suddenly, Aang starts manipulating the ball like a Harlem Globetrotter. Then, he throws it up in the air over his head. Sokka follows it with his eyes. Aang puts his hands behind his back, closes his eyes and smiles, waiting for the ball to come back down. He cracks one eye open and bends the air at the precise moment to send the ball bouncing through the field of sticks like a pinball in an arcade game. Sokka watches the ball ricochet toward him at amazing speed. The ball hits him in the stomach and he is propelled backward through a rotating door in the backboard behind him. He hits the ground nearby. As he gets up, Sokka mentions, "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt." Sokka sees something that makes him stop and move forward. It is a Fire Nation helmet lying on the ground. Sokka crawls over to it. "Katara, check this out. Fire Nation. We should tell him." Katara sighs and turns to call Aang. "Aang, there's something you need to see." Katara looks back and forth between the helmet and the happy boy rapidly approaching, unsure whether to show him the horrible discovery. Making her choice, she waterbends the snow on the nearby bank down onto both the helmet and Sokka. Aang asks what it is. Katara answers, uncertainly, "Uh, just a new waterbending move I learned." Aang laughs. "Haha. Nice one. But enough practice. We have a whole temple to see!"

Aang leads his friends down a smaller path, close by where he pointed out that the bison slept, here was a building that was narrower than the others, but taller. Aang said these are where the monks' bedrooms were. He leads them to his room, third entrance to the left. There are no doors anywhere, but the doors that lead to various sanctuaries in the temple. There are windows in every room, except for enter Aang's room and it's caked with dust. Aang takes a deep breath and blows, blowing the dust and cobwebs out of the window. Before the two spiders he knocked out the window hit the ground, Aang ran to the window and caught them. "Sorry, little guys. Forgot my own strength." and he put them on the windowsill. Sokka starred in confoundment, while Katara looked on with astonishment. "Well, all clean." Aang said, standing in the middle of his room, arms spread open as if to say Tadaa! "How do you guys like it?"

"Well," Said Katara, "We weren't expecting a palace, but I guess we were expec-" "WHERE ARE YOUR WEAPONS?" Sokka screamed in bewilderment. "You can't tell me you had NO WEAPONS AT ALL!" Katara gave him a disdainful glance, and jammed her elbow into her brother's rib. "Sokka SHUT UP! Monks don't fight! Don't judge his way of living."

Aang perks up. "We don't have any weapons. We have staffs, fans, and something Sokka might like… Follow me." He leads them to a small room off the main staircase leading to the temple. "This is the Armory." As the gang walked into the room, they saw piles and piles of metal and leather saddles as far as the eye could see. Sokka at that moment just from seeing the metal and leather felt like he was in heaven. Katara had covered her nose at the scent of musty leather and rusty molded metal. She wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible. Some of the piles of leather seemed to be padded gear that first time Airbenders would put on not to hurt themselves when they fell on the concrete grounds from their failed attempt of flying because they became scared. "Hey Aang, what do you think about taking some of the padded Leather? Maybe, if we need to, we can sell it or turn it into some battle armor?" Sokka asked "We could do that, it could help so we have money for food." Aang replied as he thought only about the selling part. They take a piece or two they think will fit Appa and take it outside, leaving it on the grass to sunbathe, and get rid of the stench of a hundred year storage. As they find pieces with no rust and tears to take out, Sokka can only think of food, because the smell of musty game usually means dinner. "Hey Aang. If you guys don't eat meat and are all pacy-fists," Sokka starts to drool at the thought of meat, "Then how come there's so much hide and leather and armor?" Aang explained "Well first it is pronounced pacifist. The armor is for the flying bison. We don't want them to get hurt if we accidentally fly into anything dangerous. The leather and hide are because when they die we don't want to waste anything. So we would sell the meat in local villages but then use their hide to make the leather armor and some of our clothes." "What about the bones then?" Katara asked curiously since he hadn't mentioned those yet. "Oh yeah! Well from some of them we make jewelry that we would sell. Others would be used for some traditional rituals that everyone would attend. Some of the bones were turned into gardening tools too." Aang explained excitedly. "Gardening tools?" Sokka said skeptically. "Yeah to help plant the seeds we would get with the money we earned from selling things." Aang said as if it was just a known fact. Aang then made one more stop that was more of a storage room for things they were planning to sell and where the gardening tools were kept. Katara followed along just to get away from the scent of mold and must. Sokka was hoping to find food on their searches through rooms. In the storage room there were three crates that had jewelry in it that had yet to be sold. The gardening tools were under the shelves that the crates were on lined up along the walls. And the unused bones and crude materials that were used for such tools were on shelves under those. "Wow this stuff should have been sold years ago. I wonder why they weren't." Aang said, confused. Sokka gave Katara a pointed look that said we really need to tell him before he finds out on his own. "Well maybe they just forgot them here when they left." Katara said making up a quick lie. "Who in their right mind would leave things they can SELL?" Sokka asked pointedly mainly at Katara who just ignored him. "Well maybe we can take them and sell them now then?" Aang suggested. As Katara and Aang grabbed crates of jewelry and started sorting by length and color, Sokka saw an opportunity. Sokka takes a pile of raw bone and his boomerang and sets to work. It takes a couple hours for the group to be done with their projects. Katara has all the necklaces separated by color. Aang has all the earrings separated by how much they dangle. And Sokka has TWO boomerangs! "Umm. Sokka. I know I told you that we didn't have any weapons. Sooooo… where did you get that?" Sokka held up his two almost identical boomerangs, proud of his craftsmanship, "I MADE IT!" he beams at the two. Katara just facepalms at her brother's comment. She couldn't believe him of all people would take a bone and make a new boomerang that he would most likely just lose in the end. "Okay then." Aang said as he looked at the necklaces and saw one that looked familiar to him. It was small with orange dyed wrap that he made a hundred years ago. It had a bone pendant in the center with the Air Nomad symbol. "Oh, wow! I thought that was sold already!" Aang said, picking it up. "Why, what is it?" Katara asked. "It was a necklace I made for a friend whose name was Ty Shi (Ty Lee's Air Nomad ancestor). I never got to give it to her. It was in my room the day I left. I guess Monk Gyatso found it and brought it back here." Aang replied, looking at the necklace. "Don't sell it then Aang, keep that, maybe you will meet her descendant and you would know by how they look if they are related anyway." Katara suggested. "Yeah well that is a huge maybe." Sokka said strapping the two boomerangs on his back, then went to start gathering the other things they were going to sell and get them out so they wouldn't forget them there. But he was going to keep some of the crude bones to make more weapons later.

At the entrance gate of the Air Temple itself, Aang runs in alone, leaving Sokka and Katara a moment to speak alone. "Katara, Firebenders were here and you can't pretend they weren't. They might have left the monk's quarters alone, but who knows how much of this place they ransacked, touched, hurt." Katara starts walking a little faster, to run away from the negativity her brother is spewing. "I can and I will. For Aang's sake." Sokka walks up to catch up with her, and they walk together now. "If he finds out that the Fire Nation invaded his home, he'll be devastated."

Aang calls out for the duo, and motions toward a statue of an Airbender monk. "I want you to meet somebody. This is Monk Gyatso, the greatest Airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know." Aang bows to the statue.

flashback sequence. A live version of the man whose statue Aang bowed to begins to speak. "But the true secret…" Gyatso is holding a long spatula with a cake at the end of it. He appears to have just pulled out the cake from the mouth of the large oven in the background. He Airbends the colorful filling into an attractive pile in the middle of it. "Is in the gooey center!" Aang is in the foreground, sitting on the wall of the parapet, not paying attention. "Hmm…" Aang absently noised. "My ancient cake making technique isn't the only thing on your mind," Monk Gyatso asked, "Is it, Aang?" Aang wishes he had hair to pull right now, and settles for rubbing his temples. "This whole Avatar thing… maybe the monks made a mistake."

"The only mistake they made was telling you before you turned sixteen." Monk Gyatso said with a hint of fatherly love, "But we can't concern ourselves with what was. We must act on what is." Gyatso gestures ceremoniously to the world around them. The air around the temple is full of flying bison and other inhabitants. The beautiful, dreamlike surroundings are full of life. "But Gyatso," Aang started, "How do I know if I'm ready for this?" Gyatso didn't hesitate for a moment, like he's been preparing himself for Aang to have these questions for a while. "Your questions will be answered when you are old enough to enter the Air Temple Sanctuary. Inside, you will meet someone who will guide you on your journey." Upon hearing the news that he may finally have a guide, someone to help him figure out the 'Avatar thing' Aang excitedly jumps up and around to face Gyatso fully. "Who is it? Do you know them? Have I met them?" Gyatso just giggled, and said "When you are ready, he will reveal himself to you." Aang sighs heavily in frustration. "Now" Gyatso says, "Are you going to help me with these cakes, or not?" Aang and Gyatso assume airbending stances, with the four cakes sitting on the wall. They both cock back, creating balls of wind with their airbending skill as Gyatso counts. "One… Two… Three!"

Both release their airballs on the count of three, propelling the cakes high into the air. They make a distinctive whizzing noise as they come down. Four meditating monks find themselves each wearing one of the four cakes, and the monks are soon surrounded by winged lemurs who begin feasting on the cakes. Both Aang and Gyatso lose it in a fit of laughter. Aang and Gyatso bow to each other respectfully. Gyatso pats his young student's head affectionately. "Your aim has improved greatly, my young pupil." The flashback ends, with Aang bowing to the statue of Gyatso, just as he had bowed to the real Gyatso at the end of the flashback.

Katara comes forward and places a hand on Aang's shoulder. "You must miss him." nodding his head yes, Aang silently moves forward to go into the temple. "Where are you going?" Katara asks him. As Aang climbs the steps, he cocks his head back far enough to answer. "The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet."

Katara looks at Sokka, who shrugs. View shifts to an overhead shot of the three as they approach the entrance to the Air Temple Sanctuary. It is a huge wooden door that is dominated by an enormous woodcut composed of three air symbols protruding from its surface. They are arranged in a triangular pattern. The symbols are attached to tubes that end in two horns near the bottom of the woodcut. "But Aang," Katara said as she gained speed to catch up to Aang, "No one could have survived in there for a hundred years." Aang shrugged, as this thought never really crossed his mind, because "It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg that long. Besides, whoever's in there might be able to help me figure out this Avatar thing!" Sokka pops out from behind Aang eagerly to add, "And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious, cured meats!" Sokka rubs his hands together in fevered anticipation of the food that might await him. He rushes forward and runs straight into the door with a 'thunk.' He strains against the big door to no avail and slides down to the floor in defeat. "I don't suppose you have a key?"

"The key, Sokka, is airbending." Aang composes himself and draws in his breath. He raises both his arms perpendicular to his body, then suddenly pushes forward with his arms and steps forward with his right leg. He airbends two jets of air, one from each arm, into the horns at the bottom of the woodcut. The air runs through the tubes and one by one flips the air symbols from the blue sides which had been showing to the maroon sides, which had been facing the interior of the temple. As each turns, it flips another mechanism on the outside of the door to unlock it. The two leaves of the door open to reveal the dark, cavernous interior of the Air Temple Sanctuary. "Hello? Anyone home?" He called inside.

Aang walks into the dark room, and Katara and Sokka follow.

Zhao crosses in front of a seated and clearly unhappy Prince Zuko. A pair of guards stand behind the young prince. "So a twelve-year-old boy bested you and your soldiers? You're more pathetic than I thought." Zuko feels a surge of rage at this, "I underestimated him once, but it will not happen again!" Zhao stands directly in front of only Zuko's chair, "No. It won't. Because you won't have a second chance." This alarms Zuko, who objects, flabbergasted, and alarmed, "Commander Zhao. I've been hunting the Avatar for two years and I…" Zhao turns on him angrily, flames erupting from his hand as he sweeps it in an arc from left to right. "And you failed!" he bellowed back. "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in a teenager's hands. He's mine now." Zuko launches himself at Zhao in frustration and anger, but he is restrained by the two guards standing behind his chair. Zhao tells the guards as he leaves to "Keep them here." Zuko in a further act of frustration kicks over a small table that had been sitting near Iroh. It breaks into pieces. Iroh watches the scene calmly and asks, "More tea, please?"

Aang, Sokka, and Katara walk into the sanctuary and see many statues arrayed in a pattern. The pattern is tied to a swirl pattern on the floor, a bluish version of the Yellow Brick Road, with the statues arrayed along it. The three walk among the statues, heading to the center of the room. Sokka has no problem showing his disdain, "Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?" Aang looks over at Sokka and giggles a little, "WE are the meat." Katara giggles at the joke too. "Hey, Aang. Who are all these people?"" Uncertainly, Aang says, "I'm not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow. Look!" He points to a statue. "This one's an airbender!" Katara, standing next to the statue closest to him, points "And this one's a waterbender. Look! They're lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth, and fire." Aang points out that "That's the Avatar cycle." Katara snaps her fingers, "of course! They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang. And there's so many." They all take a moment to take it all in. There's statues lined up on the walls as high as the ceiling, showing the many tiers of lives Aang has had before him.

Sokka scoffs and asks Katara skeptically, "Past lives? You really believe the re-incar-crap?" Katara replied very patiently, as if explaining to a small child the history and lore of the Water Tribe. "It's true. When the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. Aang has stopped in front of a statue of a Firebender Avatar. A light passes over its eyes, marking its importance. Katara appears behind Aang and shakes him by the shoulders. "Aang, snap out of it. Who is that?" without missing a beat, batting an eye, or looking anywhere for any clues, Aang replied, "That's Avatar Roku. the Avatar before me." Sokka twirls on his heels to face Aang, "YOU WERE A FIREBENDER? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met." Katara straightened up from searching for tags, "There's no writing. How do you know his name?" Aang just shrugs. "I'm not sure… I just know it somehow." Sokka growls, whether it's from anger or frustration would be anyone's guess. "You just couldn't GET any weirder!"

The three sense the presence of another being and turn to look at the entrance. A long-eared shadow advances toward them. They huddled behind two of the statues, Aang and Katara behind one on the left, Sokka behind one on the right. Sokka whispers to the group, "Firebender. Nobody make a sound." and Katara facepalms at the sheer stupidity. "You're making a sound!" She exasperatedly whispers back. Both Aang and Sokka, in unison, Shush her. Sokka readies both his weapons, "That Firebender won't know what hit him." The long eared shadow is now right on top of them. Sokka jumps out from behind the statue of a Waterbender, weapon at the ready, while Katara and Aang peek from behind their statue of an Earthbender, ready to bend whoever this was into a pretzel. Each gaze upon the one making the shadow, and each registers the diminutive stature of the adorable intruder. A winged lemur looks at them with wide eyes, long ears flopping down on his back as he sees the people staring at him. Aang twirls out from behind the statue, a face of pure joy, and screams out "LEMUR!" Sokka sees the same thing Aang sees and drools a little, "DINNER!" Aang starts flailing his arms as if to shield the lemur from the words physically hanging in the air. "Don't listen to him! You're gonna be my new pet!" Sokka leaves his fighting stance and takes off at a sprint, both weapons still in hand, shouting, "Not if I get him first!" over his shoulder. Aang airbends himself from where he is. Both lunge at the small animal. Their arms are visibly outstretched towards the lemur as they rapidly close in on him. He bristles like a cat and dashes away from them, screaming. They are now both running after the lemur who is now bolting out of the temple, calling for him to, "Come back!" Sokka in between bouts of come back, also states, "I wanna eat you!" Aang and Sokka run back down the hallway from the Temple Sanctuary, chasing after the lemur-bat. Both take turns leading the other. Sokka takes a swipe at Aang's legs with his weapon, but Aang uses his airbending skills in a Matrix-style move to run along the wall beside Sokka and pass him, laughing as he does. Once far enough ahead, Aang stops, turns, and launches an airball spinning back toward Sokka. It hits him in the stomach and knocks him off his feet, like a bowling ball hitting one lone pin. He falls flat on his face, his hood falling over his head.

The hallway ends at a balcony. The lemur-bat jumps up onto the guardrail of the balcony, looks back as Aang approaches, and then jumps off. Aang jumps off after him, laughing as he falls, bouncing off the rocks beneath him as he continues to chase the lemur. Sokka, finally reaching the balcony, looks down at Aang, and all of his parkour tricks, "Hey! No fair!" He screams, shaking his fist. Aang's eyes water from the tremendous speed his body is falling and he smiles widely. Upon hearing Sokka's words, he laughs widely.

Zhao approaches the exterior of the large tent, opens the flaps and enters. Two guards standing ready inside the entrance draw their spears back. "My search party is ready." Iroh and Zuko are sitting in chairs, facing each other, listening to Zhao. "Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship and you'll be free to go." Zuko scoffs. "Why? Are you worried I'm going to try and stop you?" Zhao starts laughing at this comment, he brings his hand to his face to cover his laughter. It does minimal to stop the explosion of laughter that escaped Zhao's throat. "You? Stop me? Impossible. Don't make me laugh… Oh. you just did. And it wasn't your face this time." he sneered, getting closer and closer to Zuko with each insult. Zuko stands in defiance, closing the gap between him and Zhao, and they are now chest to chest. "Don't underestimate me, Zhao. I WILL capture the Avatar before you." Iroh stands up upon seeing this confrontation, he's about half the room's distance from it, but can still feel the heat radiating from their sheer hatred. "Prince Zuko. That's ENOUGH!" Zhao takes this as Iroh taking his side, and continues, "You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command, and you... you're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you." At that, Zuko looks stung, hurt almost. "You're wrong," he says, "Once I deliver the Avatar to my father he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne."Zhao shoves Zuko back into his chair, and yells where he stands, "If your father really wanted you home, he'd have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar, but in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation." Zuko sat and stared for a second, balling his fists so tightly that the flesh on his hands were changing color, telling him, "That's not true!" Zhao noticed that he finally hit the nerve he wanted. "You have the scar to prove it." He said smugly.

Zuko, with a cry of indignation, launches himself to his feet, fire at his heels, his face within inches of Zhao's. "Maybe you'd like one to match!" Zhao looks distempered, but otherwise unbothered, "I challenge you to an Agni Kai at sunset. It's a real shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I suppose your uncle will suffice." Zhao turns and walks back out of the tent, leaving Iroh and Zuko alone. "Prince Zuko," Iroh starts worried, "have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?" Zuko reaches up to his face to acknowledge his scar, "Never."

The lemur-bat that Aang has been chasing lands on the ground. Aang pounces on him and misses. The lemur-bat runs through a curtain made of decaying tent material or drapery. Aang follows the lemur-bat to the other side of the curtain. "Come on out, little lemur. That hungry guy won't bother you anymore." Aang approaches another drape, parts it, and walks through. He draws a sharp breath, startled at what he sees. "Firebenders? They were here?" At the back of the grotto lies the skeletal remains of an airbender monk, bathed in sunlight coming from above, who had apparently fallen in combat fighting against great odds. "GYATSO!" Aang falls to his knees, devastated. Sokka catches up, and pulls back the curtain, simultaneously and enthusiastically saying, "Hey Aang, found my dinner yet?" Sokka sees Aang, crying with his head in his hands, and his heart drops at the scene. In a much calmer, more sincere tone, Sokka added, "Aang. I wasn't really going to eat the lemur, okay? You can have him as a pet. I'll even help you look." Sokka glances around the room and his eyes finally fall on the skeleton and he does a double take. "Oh, man… Come on, Aang. Everything'll be alright. Let's get out of here." Sokka puts his hand on Aang's shoulder as the arrow on Aang's head begins to glow incandescent blue and his eyes are glowing brightly in an angry expression as he lifts his head. Sokka gasps as he looks on in alarm.

Katara walking among the statues in the Temple Sanctuary. She stops in front of Roku, whose eyes light up with the same incandescent blue light as Aang's. The eyes of all the other statues light up in order around the room. She might not know what's going on, but she knows one thing, Aang is in trouble. Katara races from the room.

Earth, water, and fire temples scattered across the globe start lighting a large flash in response to the awakening of Aang's avatar spirit. In the Fire Temple, an old fire sage leans out to say something to another sage outside of the room where the signal is emanating from. "Send word to the Fire Lord immediately. The Avatar has returned!" he frantically runs off to deliver the news.

At Aang's feet, a whirlwind begins to form, air swirling fast around the bones lying on the ground. Aang, crouched, his hands balled into fists and his eyes and arrow glowing, has the wind picking up terrible speed around him. Sokka is the closest to him, so he screams out, "AANG! Come on! Snap out of it!" A light blue sphere of energy surrounds Aang and begins to expand, knocking Sokka back out of the building. The energy sphere expands to the point where it blows most of the building apart, sending smoke and debris high into the air. Sokka lands outside the building, close to the pile of armor they set outside to sunbathe.

Katara makes it to where Aang is, and hides behind some rubble, shielding her face from the energy sphere and the maelstrom. Sokka comes up to Katara with padding and a metal saddle for a breastplate for protection. Katara asks him, "What happened?" Sokka fills her in on what she missed. "He found out that the Fire Nation killed Gyatso." "Oh no!" Katara gasped, "It's his Avatar spirit! He must've triggered it. I'll try to calm him down." Sokka looks at his sister like she just said she wanted to wrestle a tiger-seal all on her own. "I TRIED! And look what happened to me." Katara giggles, and says "well, it looks like what happened is that you've been flying with Appa." Katara slowly approaches Aang, struggling against the wind, as Aang and his energy sphere slowly rise into the air.

Commander Zhao had ordered his soldiers to prepare the arena, a simple four-walled structure with watch fires on the four towers at each corner. There is one large open gate. The sunset is a glorious mixture of Fire Nation hues: red, orange, and yellow. Zhao and Zuko kneel, preparing for battle, Zhao with four of his men in attendance, Zuko with his uncle. Iroh stands very calmly and serienly and out of place with the rest of the angry, vicious looking firebenders. "Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons." Zuko stands up, turning to his uncle, "I refuse to let him win." His shoulder wrap falls to the ground ceremoniously. Zhao stands and turns, his shoulder wrap falling to the ground, as well. "This will be over quickly." he said with a sneer.

Atop the gate a gong sounds. Both men face each other and assume firebending stances. Prince Zuko fires the first shot which passes harmlessly to Zhao's left. He fires again; this time it passes without effect to Zhao's right. Zuko fires several more, the last of which Zhao blocks, satisfaction evident on his face. Frustrated and losing control of his breath, Zuko moves towards his opponent, unleashing more fire from both his hands and feet. Zhao dodges or blocks them all. Zhao then crouches forward and shoots flame at a point on the ground close in front of him. Iroh is watching anxiously. "Basics, Zuko! Break his root!" Zhao fires many volleys of flame, alternating between his fists. Zuko blocks each, but is slowly forced back. On the last volley Zhao uses both hands, knocking Zuko over and sending him skidding backwards in the dirt. Zhao takes a flying jump at him. Zhao lands as Zuko tries to get up, but he isn't fast enough. Zhao fires right at him. Zuko rolls out of the way just in time, and as he is getting up sweeps Zhao's feet out from under him. Zuko lands on his feet, a slight smile appearing across his face. Zuko is advancing towards Zhao, using his feet to produce small waves of flame that rush toward his opponent. Zhao is caught off balance and wobbles slowly backward. Iroh has his fists clenched in an expression of hope, a smile beginning to spread over his face. Zuko finally lays Zhao out flat on the ground with a blast of fire. Zuko rushes up to him, prepared to deal the final blow. Zhao looks Zuko in the eyes, "Do it!" Zuko releases a blast, stands erect, dropping his fighting stance and puts his robes back on, still facing Zhao. Zhao then spoke. "That's it? Your father raised a coward!" Zuko shrugged his robes on, tying them, "Next time you get in my way, I promise I won't hold back." Zuko turns his back and begins to walk away. Zhao gets up and, with a howl of anger, unleashes a whip of flame at Zuko. Zhao and his outstretched foot, wreathed in the fire it has just released. The flame is extinguished, however, as a hand closes over the foot. Iroh has moved between them to stop the dishonorable attack. They remain frozen for a moment before Iroh hurls Zhao back into the dirt with little effort. Zuko rushes to avenge the insult, but is stopped by his uncle. "No, Prince Zuko. Do not taint your victory." Iroh turns to face Zhao, a look of condescension on his face. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat. Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you. Thanks again for the tea. It was delicious." Iroh moves to leave and Zuko follows close behind. With subdued anger, Zhao watches them exit the gate of the arena. Outside, Zuko quietly asks his uncle, "Did you really mean that, Uncle?" Iroh slyly answers, as to not increase Zuko's ego, "Of course. I told you ginseng tea is my favorite." They walk back to the ships in the harbor.

Aang, still suspended in mid-air inside his ball of raw energy. The contained storm continues to rage as Katara and Sokka cling desperately to some debris and rocks.

"Aang, I know you're upset…" Katara started calmly, "And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and I, we're your family now."

Aang begins to descend when she is finished. His feet gently alight on the ground, the wind dies away, his eyes and arrows are still glowing. Katara and Sokka come up on either side of him. Sokka tells Aang, "Katara and I won't let anything happen to you. Promise." And both siblings take one of each of Aang's hands into their own. The glow instantly fades from his eyes and arrow markings. Grief-stricken and exhausted, he collapses into Katara's arms and she holds him around his shoulders as they kneel on the ground. Aang tiredly apologizes, "I'm sorry. You were right. And if the Fire Nation found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really AM the last Airbender. Katara holds him tighter and Sokka puts a hand on Aang's shoulder as he passes out from sheer exhaustion. Sokka wastes absolutely no time to tell his sister, "Told you so! WE should've told him. Look at how much devastation befell this place because you wanted to 'protect him.' He's the Avatar! You can't 'protect him' forever! You can't lie to him forever. Is that even healthy?" he asks her. "It IS if it's for the right reasons." She replies.

Back at the Temple Sanctuary, where Aang stands once again in front of the statue of Avatar Roku, Katara comes up behind him. "Everything packed, supplies, jewelry, some raw materials for Sokka, food, everything. You ready to go?" Aang was still staring at the statue, "How is Roku supposed to help me if I can't even talk to him?" Katara just smiled and said, "You'll find a way."

They both turn around to see a familiar furry creature in the doorway of the temple. The lemur has returned. He runs to Sokka and deposits a bunch of fruits and nuts at his feet. Sokka begins to eat hungrily as the lemur-bat dashes away. Aang and Katara, watch with smiles on their faces. "Looks like you made a new friend!" Aang said. As soon as he did, the lemur-bat scurried up his chest to perch on his head. "Hey little guy!"

Aang introduces the lemur-bat to Appa. You, me, and Appa. We're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together. Katara, Sokka…" the former's mouth was still stuffed with fruit, with more fruits in his hands, "Say hello to the newest member of our family." Katara smiles as Aang walks up to them with the lemur on his arm. "What are you going to name him?" The lemur-bat jumps off and steals the peach that Sokka was about to take a bite of so fast that Sokka almost bit his finger. "I'll name him Momo!" Aang said happily.

They watch the temple recede in the distance as Appa flies them away. Aang looks back with sadness as the clouds finally obscure his childhood home from view.