In the beauty of a star filled evening sky, Prince Zuko's ship glides through the ocean. Zuko is seen sitting in the lotus position in front of an altar. Four white candles are burning in front of him. The light from the candles increases and decreases with Zuko's rhythmic breathing. His eyes are closed in meditation, face calm and concentrated. The door to his quarters swings open, and General Iroh walks in. Zuko responds to the interruption in a dangerously silky voice, "The only reason you should be interrupting me is if you have news about the Avatar." Iroh steps farther into the room, cautiously, carrying a map. "Well, there IS news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it. Don't get too upset." Zuko responds calmly, while still sitting in a meditation position, "Uncle, you taught me that keeping a level head is a sign of a great leader. Now, whatever you have to say, I'm sure I can take it." Iroh was a bit taken aback by his nephew's demeanor, but responded anyway, prepared for anything. "Okay, then… We have no idea where he is."

Zuko gets enraged. The four candles flare to the ceiling with Zuko's wrath. He stands quickly and turns around to face his uncle, his anger evident on his face. Iroh turns away from the flames and raises his right arm to protect his face. As the flames subside, he pulls a fan out of his robes, and fanning himself, says, "You really should open a window in here."

Zuko, not paying his uncle any attention, both demanded and snatched the map. Zuko opens the rolled scroll and begins to study it. Iroh continues to fan himself. "There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down." Zuko sighs. "How am I going to find him, Uncle?" He looks down at the map marked with circled Xs and dotted lines connecting the reported Avatar sightings. The lines zigzag all over the landmass drawings. "He's clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

Sokka is reading the map, sitting atop Appa with an exasperated expression on his face. "You have no idea where you're going. Do you?" Aang turns his head back from steering Appa for a moment to answer. "Well. I know it's near water…" He says as they soar over what looks like an endless stretch of water. Sokka says flatly, "Whelp. I guess we've GOT to be getting close, then."

Katara's mending a garment. Aang has his head turned back, watching her. Momo, who is also watching Katara, is sitting on Aang's left shoulder. "Momo, marbles please. Momo scrambles into Aang's shirt making noises. He returns with a marble and hands it to Aang, who smiles eagerly and cups the marbles between his two hands. "Hey, Katara! Check out this airbending trick!" Katara, without stopping or looking up, absentmindedly said, "That's great, Aang." Aang stopped and was crushed that she didn't notice. "You didn't even look." He huffed. Katara stops her sewing and looks at him, "That's great!" Aang just slumps his shoulders in disappointment. "But I'm not doing it now."

Sokka is lolling at the back of Appa's saddle with his arms crossed casually behind his head. He removes one from behind his head to wave it dismissively. "Stop bugging her, Airhead. You need to give girls space when they do their sewing." Katara stops her needle in midair and turns her head towards Sokka. Her face is a mixture of annoyance and anger. "What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Sokka put the hand he was waving dismissively back behind his head. "Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys. Even better at cooking. But guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's the natural order of things." "No it's n…" Aang started but was soon interrupted. Katara growled in Sokka's direction as it took a second for his words to sink in. Then, with exaggerated happiness, she threw Sokka's pants back to him. "All done! And look what a GREAT JOB I did!" Sokka barely misses catching his pants, and they smack him in the face. "Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these, there's a big hold in the butt. Katara PLEASE!" She just sits stiffly, wanting to give her brother the cold shoulder and silent treatment, but there's something she needs to say before going silent. "Maybe, if you weren't such an asshole, you wouldn't have such a hole in your ass." Aang sees that there isn't much he can do to stop the argument since he got cut off, so insteads tries to lighten the mood. "Don't worry, Sokka. Where we're going, you don't need any pants!"

Appa, Aang, Katara, and Sokka and Momo are on a beach. Snow-capped mountains are visible in the background. Sokka takes in the surroundings, "It's nice and all. But we just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out? At this rate, we won't get to the North Pole until Spring." Aang shaded his face, and looked out onto the water, "But Appa's tired already? Aren't ya boy" Nothing. "I said, 'Aren't ya boy'?" he said a little louder, with a small jab of his elbow. Appa yawns on cue, but is obviously not actually tired. Aang sticks his thumb in the big bison's direction. "See?" Sokka sighs. "Oh, yeah! That was reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaalllll convincing. Still… hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster."

Aang gasps excitedly and points out towards the water, "Look! That's why we're here!" he says as he starts stripping down to his underwear, "Elephant koi. And I'm gonna ride it! Katara, you've gotta watch me!" Aang dives in the water and immediately leaps out screaming, "COLD!" and falls right back into the 'freezing' water. Katara and Sokka are looking at each other wryly. Sokka makes the universal "he's crazy" signal by twirling his finger next to his head. Aang dives under the water and catches hold of an elephant koi. The giant fish leaps out of the water with Aang riding on its back, his hands grasping the dorsal fin. The koi dives back into the water, carrying Aang with it. Katara watched Aang with an excited and interested look on her face, clearly enjoying his current antics. Sokka, Katara, and Momo stand on shore and watch Aang. Laughing, he waves to Katara. A couple of smaller elephant koi fish leap in and out of the water, trailing after the elephant koi Aang is on, looking majestic and beautiful.

All the koi fish dive underwater. Katara and Sokka are on the shore. Momo is jumping up and down, watching Aang intently. "He looks pretty good out there." Sokka fervidly explained to Katara, "The fish is doing all the work." Katara watches a moment longer, thinking about what her brother said. She hears a small crunch, snap, and it snaps her out of her own thoughts. She turns and sees Appa. "No, Appa! Don't eat that!" and she scurries off to stop Appa, while Sokka continues to watch Aang. He grins broadly at Katara, who runs towards the trees, disappointed that she's no longer watching him.

Three elephant koi are visible swimming on the surface of the water. Two of the koi, including the one Aang is riding, veer off to the right. A shadow under the water is visible approaching the remaining elephant koi. Sokka yells out, "There's something in the water!" The last koi fish tries to leap out of the water, but is pulled under. Something is approaching him from behind. On the shore, Momo is distressed, jumping up and down. Katara, hearing the commotion, runs up beside Sokka back on the beach. Almost out of breath, Katara asks Sokka, "What's wrong?" Sokka wasted no time and no breath telling his sister, "Aang's in trouble." he yells louder towards Aang's direction, "AANG!" Katara starts screaming too, now that she's aware of the dangers. "Get out of there!"

Aang is still in the water and on the fish. He is watching Katara, Sokka and Momo on the shore, waving their arms and yelling to him. Aang waves back at Sokka and Katara, misinterpreting their frantic gestures. The koi fish he is riding bucks and sends Aang headlong into the bay. He comes up a second after going under and spurts water out of his mouth,breathing heavily and gasping for air, as an enormous serrated fin rises ominously from the water behind him. Aang turns around slowly to see what's following close behind him. His eyes widen and he screams in panic. Aang leaps to the surface of the water and begins to run towards shore. The enormous fin turns and begins to chase him. He reaches the shore, running head first and full force into Sokka. Aang knocks Sokka off his feet and they both crash back towards the tree line. The fin turns and slowly heads back out to sea. Katara runs back to where Aang and Sokka are. Aang is putting his clothes back on while Sokka sits lumped up against the tree they skidded into. "What was that thing?" Sokka gets up, wiping his hands together, "Well, let's not stick around and find out. Time to hit the road."

Four green clad warriors fall on Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Momo from the trees. The first warrior grabs Sokka under his arms from behind. The second warrior pulls Katara's hood over her head. The third warrior grabs Aang by his shirt. The fourth warrior traps Momo in a small sack. Momo, Aang, Katara, and Sokka, are all bound and blindfolded, being thrown to the ground at the feet of their captors. Four sets of green-robed legs are visible in a circle around them. Everyone says "Oof" as they hit the ground. "Or we could stay a while." Sokka added.

The village leader, Oyagi. He has long gray hair, with a high poofy ponytail on top of his head. Aang, Sokka, and Katara, are still blindfolded and bound to a large pole in a fenced clearing. Momo, still in a sack, is at Aang's feet. Oyagi clears his throat. "You three have some explaining to do." from under their blindfolds, all they could do is hear a girl's voice telling them, "And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi." Sokka, unable to see, but able to feel, feels rage, screaming "Show yourselves COWARDS!"

Sokka, Aang and Katara's blindfolds are removed to reveal five young girls dressed in green. Their faces are painted white with red around their eyes, and they carry fans in their waistbands. Sokka stared at the girls for a second, then the bonds restraining him, then the girls again, as he tried to piece together what happened. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" Suki, slightly offended, steps toward Sokka, shaking her fist at him. "There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?" Sokka starts laughing in disbelief, "HAHAHA, You've gotta be joking! There's no way in a frozen over spirit-world that a bunch of girls took us down." Suki grabs Sokka by the collar and shakes him vigorously, and threateningly. "A bunch of girls, HUH?" she growled so low she practically purred it out, "The unagi's gonna eat well tonight." she said, in a more normal tone, her eyes squinting so hard that if it wasn't for the red outlining her eyes, you would lose her eyes in all the white face paint. Katara quickly tries to quell the girl's anger. "No! Don't hurt him! My brother's just an idiot sometimes… half the time… ok. Most of the time." This at least gets a half assed giggle from the girl. Aang takes the change of attitude as his time to perk up and chip in. "I'm sorry we came here. It's my fault. I wanted to ride the elephant koi.

Oyagi, flanked by four of the female warriors, pointed at Aang accusingly. "How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far. And we intend to keep it that way!" Aang's face is a mixture of surprise and interest. "This Island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" With that, Oyagi released a laugh that made his belly shake like jello. "HA! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries." The pole Aang, Sokka, and Katara are tied to turns out to be the base for Avatar Kyoshi's statue. She is dressed in the same green garments as the female warriors who captured Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Her face is painted white and there are two open fans in her hands. He looks down toward the ground and then back at Oyagi. "I know her because I'm the Avatar." Everyone untied is in shock and disbelief. Suki is the first to snap out of her shock, and continues to shake her fist, this time in Aang's direction. "That's impossible! The last Avatar was an Airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago." Aang grins widely. "That's me!" Oyagi looks at his face sternly for a second, rubs his chin, and then demands, "Throw the imposter to the unagi!" The female warriors assume a fighting stance. Each warrior has two open fans in her hands. The four warriors move menacingly toward the helpless trio. Katara is the first to regain her voice after the declaration. "Aang. Do some airbending. Anything. Fly. Sneeze for crying out loud!" Aang breaks his bonds and shoots himself into the air. He backflips over the top of Kyoshi's statue and floats gracefully to the ground amidst the 'oohs' and 'aahs' of the gathered crowd, which now included other members of the village. Suki and her warriors gaze in shock and amazement at Aang. Oyagi drops to his knees, almost in tears, "It's true. You ARE the Avatar!"

Aang has a serious look on his face, while behind him and to his left Sokka and Katara are still tied to the statue base. Aang, realizing that he now has an audience, pulls the marble out from under his shirt. "Now… Check THIS out!" Grinning like a fool, he does the same trick he had tried to impress Katara with earlier. the villagers cheering and jumping for joy. The villager toward the front right screams like a girl and gets so excited that he begins to foam at the mouth and passes out from excitement.

A small girl is running eagerly across a pier to a fisherman who is lifting his catch out of the water in a conical basket. "Did you hear the news? The Avatar's on Kyoshi!" the fisherman drops his basket of fish in surprise, and quickly picks it back up again. The fisherman then goes to the shops and talks to his usual fish merchant, and tells him the news. The merchant then sells fish to a customer that appears to be Fire Nation. The customer who purchased the fish from the merchant turns out to be Zuko's cook. He is serving the cooked fish to Zuko and Iroh. He kneels down to place the juicy dish on the table and shares the even juicer news. Zuko slams his fists on the table and pushes himself up, now standing with rage. "The Avatar's on Kyoshi Island?" He starts to walk out of the room, addressing Iroh as he does. "Uncle, ready the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time." Iroh, sitting at the dinner table with the steaming hot plate of fish in front of him, turns towards him and, pointing at the fish, begins to speak, "Are you going to finish that?" Zuko walks angrily back to the dinner table and grabs the fish off of the table. "I was going to save it for later!" He storms out of the room with the fish. Iroh crosses his arms in annoyance and pouts at not getting to eat the fish. The chef soon came back with some roast duck for Iroh, when he saw Zuko had left with the fish. The two shared a joyous glance and Iroh asked the chef to sit and eat with him. They had a wonderful talk over the meal. One in which the chef regaled Iroh with tales of his past, and Iroh, in his wisdom, stated, "Follow your passion, and life will reward you. Is this where your passions led you, kind chef?" The chef, for the first time since he sat down, remained silent. GULP* How much can he tell the Retired General? "Well" He started, thumbing his chopsticks nervously, "umm… No." he takes a deep breath and looks at the greying, plump man, who looks at him with a kindness in his eyes that he's only seen from his own mother. "Well." He starts a little stronger, confidence welling up inside of him. "I've always wanted to be a performer. An actor. I practice in the kitchens sometimes when preparing soups." Iroh looks at him straight face for a second, most fire nation would not want a career so 'soft' or something so befitting of a waterbender with their gentle movements and soft steps. To each his own. "No wonder the stews have been so divine lately. We've had a SEASONED actor preparing them." Iroh said with a soft chuckle. "I think if you are unhappy then yo-" "OH NO!" the chef interrupted. "Prince Zuko would kill me if I said I was unhappy on this ship. I'd never say I was unhappy. It's my destiny to serve the prince." He finished in a hurry, scared that if he didn't get it all out there would be repercussions. "You let me take care of my nephew. Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday." the chef looked up at Iroh, tears welling in his eyes. "You mean, I can…" "Yes." Iroh tells him. And the chef leaves Zuko's dining quarters, happier than he's left the room in his entire time on the ship, and for the last time.

Two villagers attend Avatar Kyoshi's statue. One is painting a fresh coat of color on her face and the other is scrubbing the dirt from the back. It is morning and there are only a few villagers on the main street. Everything is peaceful and quiet in the sunlight. Appa is lying on his side munching on fresh hay. Two villagers are caring for him. One villager scrubs his fur and another is buffing Appa's horns. Appa grunts happily and is clearly enjoying all the attention. Momo, Aang, and Katara are seated in front of a long wooden table. The table is covered with eighteen different plates of food. A villager enters and places another plate on the table and exits. Aang throws his arms up in the air happily, "All right! Dessert for breakfast!" He said, taking a beautiful pastry and stuffing his mouth, talking with his mouth full, "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar!" They are seated in front of a large window, which is propped open to show the mountain in the background. Also in view are the two villagers actively refurbishing the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. Aang can't see the same beauty out the window that Katara does, because he can't take his eyes off the sweet treats. "Mmmm… Katara, you've gotta try these." "Well," Katara starts, "Maybe just a bite…" She takes the candy from Aang as Momo seizes the opportunity and snatches another from his other hand. Aang looks disgruntled and addresses Sokka. "Sokka, what's your problem? EAT!" Sokka looks even MORE disgruntled, hunched and glowering in the corner of the room. "Not hungry." He muttered. Aang peaks around Katara's head, shocked, and rightfully so, "But you're ALWAYS hungry!" At the breakfast table, just mere feet in front of him, Katara talks about Sokka right in front of his face. "He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." Sokka practically shrieked his defense, "They snuck up on me!" Katara snickers and adds, "And kicked your butt." Sokka got up from his post of brooding, angrily, shouting, "Sneak attacks don't count!" he starts pacing around the room, gesticulating wildly to the air. "Tie me up with ropes? I'll show THEM a thing or two! I'm not scared of any girls." He has paced around to the breakfast table and is ferociously grabbing sweets off it. He begins to lower his voice and talk to himself. "Who do they think they are, anyways?" Sokka grunts and shoves a sweet into his mouth as he walks out of the room. "Mmm… This is tasty."

Aang and Katara both stare out the door that Sokka just exited, silently, for a minute. Aang is just generally clueless on how he could be SO mad. "What's he so angry about? It's great here. They're giving us the royal treatment." Katara, offhandedly said, while still eating her sweet, "Hey, don't get too comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for too long." "I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town?" Aang turns around to look out the window at the two villagers working on Avatar Kyoshi's statue. "They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor!" Katara turns to look out the window too, "Well, It's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar for a change. Just don't let it go to your head. You're bald, there'd be no way to hide it." And she brings her hand to her face to stifle a laugh as Aang innocently shrugged, rubbing the same bald head she commented on a second ago, "Come on. I'm just a simple monk." Aang stands up and goes to the window. He looks down in surprise and confusion. The courtyard is full of little girls from the village, screaming and cheering at him. Aang's face breaks out in a large smile and he blushes. Katara, standing slightly behind him, crosses her arms, sticks her tongue out and makes a long, exasperated raspberry.

A bright red bridge over a small stream. The quiet of the scene is interrupted as Aang runs back and forth over the bridge while being hotly pursued by the pack of young village girls. The group ends up splitting and coming at him from both sides of the bridge as he stands in the middle of it. Aang jumps high in the air and, as the groups merge together beneath him, waiting for him to come back down, he has his arms wrapped around a spinning ball of air. It dissipates and he falls into the arms of the crowd below.

Next, Aang is standing next to Koko, one of the young girls from the village. An artist puts up his paintbrush next to them as a reference for painting the scene. He lifts his paper to begin his ink painting, covering the spot where Aang and Koko are standing. He drops his parchment for another look and now there are two girls standing with Aang. When he drops his painting now, there are four girls standing around Aang. He has a look of utter disbelief and irritation. The group all crowd in close to Aang and laugh while he has something of a horrified expression on his face. After surveying the scene for a few seconds, the artist gets up from his stool and walks away. The girls collapse on top of Aang into a laughing pile.

Then, Aang did push ups in front of six of the girls. Momo is sitting on his back. The girls are staring down at him in rapt admiration. Aang begins to do one handed push ups. Then, he puts both hands behind his back and uses his breath to push himself up off the ground. Katara walks past them carrying a basket, rolling her eyes.

There's a small house nestled in evergreen trees. Sokka approaches the house muttering to himself about "girls." He walks up to the door and looks inside. The fan warriors are drilling. He grins, puts up his hands, and enters the dojo. In a bit of an arrogant manner, Sokka starts talking, "Sorry ladies! Didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." He stretches his arms and waist. "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout?" He bends over and grabs his knees with his hands. Suki grandly puts her hands on her hips, one fan in each hand, glistening in the sunlight trickling in from the doorway and windows, looking every bit a glorious warrior as Kyoshi herself. "Well, you're in the right place." Sokka continues to stretch in front of the female warriors. Suki lowers her shoulders, and sincerely says, "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar." "It's all right," Sokka flippantly states, "I mean, normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception." Suki, barely able to contain herself, very sarcastically says, "I should hope so. A big strong man like you? We wouldn't stand a chance." Suki tweaked the nerve she wanted to. Because Sokka stopped stretching and started flexing his muscles, "True. But don't feel bad. After all, I AM the best warrior in my village." Suki leaned in and smiled like a praying mantis about to devour his head, but Sokka's head was too big to notice the danger it was in. "Wow! Best warrior, huh? In your whole village? Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration." Turning to her warriors, she adds "Come on, girls! Wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?" The group of warriors giggle and nod affirmatively at Suki's suggestion. Sokka turns and walks towards Suki, "Well, if that's what you want, I'd be happy to. All right, you stand over there. He grasps her shoulders to push her back a little, but Suki doesn't move. He doesn't seem to notice or care. "This may be a little tough, but try to block me." Sokka throws a punch. Suki blocks it with a deft thrust of her fan to his shoulder. Her stance is disinterested and confident against Sokka's arrogance. "Of course, I was going easy on you. Let's see if you can handle THIS!" Sokka lunges at Suki. She catches him under his leg and tosses backward toward the door. He lands on his butt. "THAT DOES IT!" Sokka gets up and lunges again at Suki. She grabs him by the arm, spins him around in circles, ties his arm to his foot with his own belt, and throws him to the floor, laughing, she asks "Anything else you wanna teach us?" Sokka's face flushes in humiliation as all the warriors laugh at him.

The statue of Avatar Kyoshi is in the foreground. Aang and the cluster of girls are at its base as they stare up at it. "There she is, girls. Me in a past life." Aang said, beaming his shit eating grin up at the gaggle of girls. "You were pretty." Koko says, and all the girls erupt into swoons and giggles. Aang takes the lull in conversation to ask them, "Excuse me for a second, ladies." Katara is in the marketplace filling a basket with vegetables. Aang approaches her and taps her on the shoulder. Turning around, she exclaims, "Oh, good! Can you help me carry this back to the room? It's a little heavy." Aang backed up from Katara, "Actually, I can't right now." Katara gets irritated, "What do you mean you can't?" Aang starts rubbing the back of his bald head and beams as is becoming his signature trademark, "I promised the girls that I'd give them a ride on Appa. Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun!" Katara just sighed, ignored him, and continued to pick up vegetables. "Watching you show off for a bunch of girls doesn't sound like fun." She said wrinkling her nose, slightly dismayed. "Well. Neither does carrying your basket." Aang said, only working Katara up more. "It's not my basket. These supplies are for our trip. I told you, we have to leave Kyoshi soon." Aang stomped his foot in annoyance, more whining than telling Katara, "I don't wanna leave Kyoshi yet!" Katara sees the gaggle of girls start to get impatient. "I can't put my finger on it," Aang says, "But there's something i really like about this place." Katara facepalms, growls at Aang, and walks away, carrying her basket back to the room, and leaving every feeling she may have felt other than annoyance at the market, muttering to herself, "Simple monk?"... "you promised it wouldn't go to your head."... That ridiculous airhead!"

Katara gets back to their room and sees Sokka putting on his battle gear with his weapons. "Now what in the world are you planning?" she asked, putting down her basket. "I am going to challenge that stupid girl to a fight! No one humiliates me and gets away with it!" He said, muttering more to himself, since he was muttering that even as Katara came in. After he was ready, he left the room and saw Suki and the other Warriors walking into the town. Sokka went right up to Suki. "What do you want now?" Suki asked, annoyed as hell. Now, at Suki's comment, other villagers including Aang, came as they were nearby, watching what was going on. "I challenge you to a fight right here and now!" Sokka said angrily. Katara had come out to find out what her idiot brother was doing and just sighed as he challenged Suki. "Really right here right now in front of the WHOLE village." Suki asked just to make sure before she agreed since she has no problem humiliating a sexist idiot. "Unless you are too much of a Coward to fight me now!" Sokka snapped. "You don't have to do this Sokka, it won't do you any good." Aang said thinking he could try to stop this before it escalated. "Get out of this Aang you cannot stop this." Sokka snapped at him. "Alright, I accept your challenge." Suki said sickly sweetly. She already knew she would win.

Sokka reached his arm back towards his weapons harness to grab his boomerang, and before he could reach the hilt of one, Suki took one of her fans and smacked his side. Sokka grunted as he got his weapons out of the holster. "Cheap shot." He spat out. "Now, there's no escape from me and my boomy booms!" Sokka started flailing wildly with his Boomerangs to try a scare tactic. Suki remained unphased. Sokka threw one boomerang and approached Suki with the other, he swung at her at every opening he got, and she dodged with the skill and grace of a dancer. Suki saw her opportunity. When Sokka was taking a step towards her, she slid her foot into his, blocking him on the instep, and stopping his momentum. She took one hand and held his, and if one wasn't paying attention, they'd think it WAS a dance, and twirled him in a circle, putting his hand behind his back. Suki started to address the crowd, but right then, Sokka's boomerang came whizzing back. So she took a step back and the boomerang hit Sokka square in the back of the head, knocking him out. She addressed the crowd, "While it is best to believe in one's self, such as Sokka here, a little help from others can be a great blessing. No matter what, I have the strength and well wishes of my fellow warriors, and with that, we shall never fall." The crowd cheers. The entire village is ecstatic and has not just faith but a renewed faith in the Kyoshi warriors.

Sokka wakes up in the middle of the town square, the crowd gone. All that remains as Sokka awakens is Aang and his sister. Katara is waterbending water on his forehead, and Aang is airbending a cool breeze to blow. They both look at Sokka with a mixture of pity and love. It disgusts Sokka. He gets up and starts walking around, in his feelings, not knowing where to go or what to do. As he wanders around aimlessly, he comes across the little house he knows the Kyoshi warriors to be practicing in. He walks around and is kicking a stone outside of the fan warrior's dojo. He walks cautiously to the door. Suki and her warriors are training again, but stop when they see Sokka walk in. "Hmph. Hoping for another 'dance lesson'?" Suki mocks. "If not, then what do you want?" Sokka kneels in humility, bowing slightly as he does "Let me explain. I was wrong earlier. I would be honored, greatly honored, if you would teach this humbled butthead. I'm sorry." Suki squinted her eyes, looking him up and down, "We don't normally teach outsiders, let alone boys." Sokka bowed further on the ground, his nose on the carpet, "Please make an exception for me. I won't let you down." Suki looks at the girls for a second, "Alright!" She says, "But you have to follow all of our traditions." Sokka quickly and eagerly shot up, almost shouting, "OF COURSE!" and Suki added, "And I do mean ALL of them!"

Sokka is garbed in the full green dress and white face paint of the fan warriors. "Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little… girly." Suki, standing in her matching attire, looks over at Sokka, a little ruffled at first, but her face and tone soften as she explains, "It's a warrior's uniform. You should be proud. The silk threads symbolizes the brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart." Sokka stands up proudly, "Bravery and honor." He mutters happily to himself. Aang walks by the door to the dojo. He turns and ducks his head in smiling mischievously. "Hey Sokka! Nice dress!" Sokka and Suki standing in front of the doorway. Sokka's momentary pride is visibly crushed by Aang's barb. Suki is smiling at him and enjoying his discomfort.

Katara is practicing her waterbending in their room. A plume of water rises and falls from a small bowl in front of her. Aang enters the room and stands cockily in the doorway. "Katara, remember how the unagi almost got me yesterday? Well. I'm gonna go ride it now. It's gonna be REAL dangerous." Katara, without looking up from her bowl, simply says, "Good for you." Aang is surprised at this sudden turn, for she'd normally care for his wellbeing. "So you're not going to try to stop me?" Katara, still not looking up, replies with, "Not at all. You're going to do what you want anyways. Why would I waste my breath? Have fun." Aang crosses his arms peevishly. "Fine then. I WILL!" Aang storms angrily out of the room. He pauses at the door and turns his head back to look at Katara. She is still intent on her waterbending and does not look up at him. His face falls and he walks out the door. Just as he walks out, Katara lets the water fall back into the bowl, crosses her arms, and looks at the door through which Aang has just exited.

Back at the dojo. Suki and Sokka are circling each other with fans unfurled. Suki giggles softly, "You're not going to master it in one day. Even I'm not that good." Sokka loses his footing and balance for a second. "I think I'm starting to get it." Sokka continues to practice the moves, and at the end of the set he accidentally throws his fan out the door and into a tree. Suki looks out the door at the lost fan as snow falls from the branches above to bury it. Suki turns towards Sokka, "It's not about strength. Our technique is about using your opponents' force against them. Loosen up. Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." Suki assumes the battle stance. "Wait for an opening and then…" Suki lunges at Sokka and he parries the thrust, knocking her off her feet. She shows her surprise and embarrassment as she looks up from her spot on the floor. Flustered, she gets to her feet. "I fell on purpose to make you feel better!" Sokka, letting his small victory get the best of him, laughing and pointing his finger at her, "I got you! Admit I got you!" Suki, laughing as she grabs Sokka's outstretched hand and bends it back painfully, "Okay, it was a lucky shot. Let's see if you can do it again." Suki lets Sokka's hand go and they assume battle positions. They begin to circle each other.

Aang is in the middle of the bay looking towards shore at his fan club. On closer inspection, all of the girls sitting on shore appear to be very bored. He yells out, "I'm sure it'll be here any second!" He looks at the calm still waters. "How about this?" Aang suspends and spins the marble between his two hands. "Not that again. We were promised the unagi. Where's the unagi? It's getting late." The girls begin to get up and leave, leaving Aang alone in the water, as he shouts and waves to the girls, "Where are you going? Don't leave!" Koko turns back to say, "Sorry, Aang! Maybe next time." As the last of the girls leaves, Katara walks onto the beach. Aang sees Katara and gets excited, at least he's not alone anymore. Katara shouts out to him, "You had me worried. I wanted to make sure you were safe. I made a promise at the South Pole and I intend to keep it." "But back at the market, you acted like you didn't care." Aang pointed out. Katara sighed, "I'm sorry." "No." Aang said, hanging his head low, but not low enough that it was in the water like his body, "I am. I let all that attention go to my head. I was being a jerk." Katara smiles at his admission. "Well, get out of the water before you catch a cold, you big jerk!" Aang grins widely as he begins to swim towards shore. As Aang swims towards land, the unagi comes up behind him and catches him in its wake. As the unagi rises from the water, Aang is kneeling on a portion of its tail.

The unagi raises its head and spews a powerful jet of water directly at Aang. He leaps up and grabs hold of one of the unagi's whiskers. The unagi shakes its head back and forth in an attempt to dislodge Aang. Aang swings back and forth in front of the sharp fangs. Saliva drips from the unagi's teeth and it wets its lips with its tongue. The unagi continues to shake its head and Aang is thrown into the water. He is unconscious as he comes to the surface. Both the unagi and Katara rush towards him. Katara reaches Aang first and takes him into her arms just as the unagi raises itself from the water. She pushes the water forcefully in front of her and propels both herself and Aang away from the unagi. The unagi dives into the water and the force of its dive sends Aang and Katara flying into a small cavern. Angrily, the unagi shoots water from its mouth and eventually sinks back into the bay. Katara peers over the side of the opening and sees Prince Zuko's ship approaching the Island. Zuko's ship lands. The prow is let down and Zuko rides out of the hull on the back of a war rhinoceros. He is accompanied by many men also on rhino mounts. Katara overhears Zuko tell his men, "I want the Avatar alive." as she hides Aang in the cave as Zuko and his army march towards Kyoshi. Aang is still unconscious. Katara moves her hands up Aang's chest and draws the water out of his lungs. Aang coughs and sputters. Smiling weakly up at Katara, he says, "Don't ride the unagi… Not fun."

Suki and Sokka are sparring. He parries a thrust and they both smile. Oyagi runs to the door of the dojo, breathless. "Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!" Sokka tries to interject, "Hey, I'm not a…" but Oyagi is already gone, "Oh, whatever!" and he runs off with the girls, trailing after Oyagi.

Zuko enters the town. The streets are deserted. "Come out, Avatar! You can't hide from me forever!" Turning to his men, he mutters, "Find him." Zuko's army begins to search the town for Aang. A green form rushes silently past. The fan warriors attack Zuko's army. Suki heads directly for Zuko. As she is about to land on him, he turns his rhinoceros and she is swatted out of the air by its tail. As she hits the ground, Zuko aims a fire blast at her. Sokka steps in between Suki and the fire ball, deflecting it, saying, "I guess training's over." Zuko, taken by surprise, falls off his rhinoceros. Suki, Sokka, and another warrior cautiously approach the prone Zuko. Zuko spins around on his hands shooting fire bolts out of his feet at the approaching warriors. He knocks them all to the ground and pulls himself to his feet. Zuko leaps to the middle of the street, screaming, "NICE TRY AVATAR! But these little girls can't save you!" Aang leaps to the middle of the street, "they don't need to. They're protecting their town, which you're destroying, their people, which you're scaring, and their honor, which you disrespect." These words angered Zuko deeply. Zuko lets loose three consecutive fireballs from his hands. Aang dodges them and, using his staff as a helicopter, flies toward Zuko. Zuko shoots another blast of fire, which knocks Aang's staff out of his hands. Aang leaps away and picks up two discarded fans. Zuko runs full force at Aang. Aang uses the fans to throw an enormous gust of air at Zuko. The air knocks Zuko through the wall of a building. Aang drops the fans and picks up his staff. He throws it into the air and flies over the now burning town. He looks behind him to see the statue of Avatar Kyoshi engulfed in flames. He lands next to Katara, who is helping a small child inside. Aang looked down in shame, upset. "Look what I brought to this place." Katara noticed the look and Aang's face and tried to reassure him, "It's not your fault." Aang is close to tears, "YES IT IS! These people got their town destroyed. Why? Trying to protect me. So it IS!" Katara saw that there was no reasoning with him, he was an emotional wreck. "Then let's get out of here. Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it feels wrong to run, but I think it's the only way." she said, logic taking over. Aang calmed down enough to understand the logic of her proposal, and hanging his head low, said, "I'll call Appa."

A fan warrior is battling a firebender. She throws her fan directly at his face mask and knocks him unconscious. Sokka and Suki are crouching behind a house. Suki turns to Sokka, "There's no time to say goodbye." Sokka looks up at Suki, "What about "I'm sorry? I treated you like a girl when I should have treated you like a warrior." Suki simply states, "I am a warrior," she leans over to give Sokka a kiss on the cheek, "But I'm a girl too. Now get out of here! We'll hold them off." Sokka runs up Appa's tail. Katara, Aang, and Momo are waiting for him. Aang shouts out, "Yip yip!" and Appa grunts and flies out of the town. Zuko sees them leaving, and turning to his men, signals to, "Get back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!"

Appa starts flying away from the burning town. Katara and Sokka are sitting in the saddle on Appa's back. Aang is sitting behind Appa's head with the reins in his hands. His head is hanging down, clearly upset. Katara leans forward to speak to him, "I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang."

Without a word, Aang suddenly dives off of Appa's head into the bay, a determined expression on his face. Katara and Sokka watch in horror as Aang disappears under the water. Several seconds go by before the unagi bursts out of the water, Aang riding on it. He has hold of both whiskers and forces the unagi's head towards the burning town of Kyoshi. Aang pulls back on the whiskers and the unagi spews water over the town. The stream continues long enough to put out the fires Zuko and his army had begun.

Aang, on the back of the unagi, sees that Kyoshi is out of danger and lets go of the unagi's whiskers. The unagi rears its head and Aang jumps into the air just as Appa swoops down. Appa catches Aang in his front paws and flies off. As Aang is climbing into Appa's saddle, Katara, Sokka, and Momo are sitting, waiting for him.

The unagi before going back into the water sprayed Zuko and his soldiers right before they were back at the ship. When they were finally back on the ship, Zuko was about to head to the kitchen to order food to be made. He was then stopped by Iroh who was coming to talk to him. "Nephew, are you heading to the galley?" Iroh asked cautiously. "Yes Uncle, I want to get food made to be ready for when I come back from getting dry and changed." Zuko said, annoyed. "Well, I would not go down there if I were you. The crew member cooking has burned the last two batches of meat that he has tried to cook." Iroh responded. "What do you mean?" Zuko said, getting even more annoyed. "Well, the chef, he left to pursue a career in acting." Iroh said as he moved a few paces back from his now angry nephew. "WHAT!" Zuko said as he went to punch the air with a blaze of fire that Iroh was right to step far back from. "AAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! Uncle, you're fat! You like food. You should know how to cook. I order you to the kitchen. Until we get a new cook, you will be the only one preparing the entire ship's meals. Since this also has one of your stupid proverbs attached to it, I bet." Zuko starts pacing and muttering to himself. " Of all the things to do to me… Making my staff leave with your stupid proverbs… this has to be the lowest of your schemes!" He throws Iroh a 'Kiss the Chef' apron and tells him that he would like to dine upon roast duck after drying and changing. "Get to it."

Iroh sniffled, looking displeased with his new post, until Zuko was gone. The look of being on the brink of tears was replaced with a giant grin, taking up over half of the old man's face.

What took Iroh's smile from him was having to see to everyone on the ship being served first. He not only had to watch them get their servings first, he had to serve them up. As his tummy growled, Iroh muttered to himself more than anyone in particular, "You must never give into despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts." GROWL* "I'm better than that." He was serving the last half dozen soldiers or so. GROWL* This time, the crew heard, and were preparing to fight the unknown beast that made such a horrendous sound. "Understanding others, and the other elements, the other nations, will help you become whole. Some of this roast duck in my belly will help make ME WHOLE!"