After breakfast was done and Zuko had gone, something more should have happened. More storytelling. Sad farewells. Something lively and fun. Instead, Sokka and Katara sat mostly silent and ashamed. Bato came over to their side of the fire and embraced them both. "I won't tell your father," he promised.

Sokka nearly melted in relief. "Thank you so much!"

Katara pressed closer against Bato's side. "Bato, what should we do?" She'd tried everything. She'd tried watchful but nonconfrontational, which made Zuko angry. She'd tried describing exactly what she wanted him to stop doing, which enraged him. She'd tried ignoring him last night when he disrespected their entire culture, and while it did work (he had apologized), it had also left her with a horrible feeling in her gut that had completely spoiled dinner. Direct confrontations left her with the same horrible feeling, plus guilt, plus shame, and didn't work at all. He would see through any attempts to force herself to be nice to him, and forgiving him was a work in progress that she doubted she would ever complete. What else was there to do?

Her attempts to seek answers from an adult failed. Bato said, "I don't know."

"You gave advice earlier," she protested. There had to be something he could say. Anything. She had thought she was being excessively paranoid. Then she had thought she was being excessively permissive. Now, she didn't know what she was, or who she was. Was she being cruel to someone who was afraid? Was she being naive for letting a dangerous firebender who wanted to capture Aang travel with them at all? What was she doing? Who was she being? Her head swam with confusion, and she had no idea what to think at all. Bato was like family to them. Surely he had to know who she was.

Bato shrugged and shook his head. "I can't help. He's your traveling companion. I'm afraid you have to figure out what that means for yourselves." She noticed that Bato no longer referred to Zuko as their friend. He was right; he didn't know them all well enough to help. She was on her own.

"I'm so confused," Sokka said. It was like he had read her mind. "You said he sounded sensible when he talked to you. He's never like that when he talks to us. Does he have split personalities or something? A nice one and a jerk?"

"I'm confused too," Bato admitted. "That's why I can't help."

Katara wondered how this fit into General Iroh's landscape idea. Maybe Bato had seen what the metaphorical volcano looked like when it was completely dormant, not even rumbling or smoking. If that was the case, they had never seen Zuko like that. That meant he was like a volcano that was always rumbling and smoking, which meant… Katara felt like facepalming. She should have realized this before. She should have had this idea as soon as Zuko started making campfires explode. How had she forgotten?

Bato turned away. He hadn't yet opened the message that had been delivered to him personally. As he did so, Katara scooted closer to Sokka. "Sokka, I have an idea," she whispered. "He clearly hates traveling with us, and we hate traveling with him, and he said he would make it on his own no matter what. Why not just leave him somewhere?"

"Why did we pick him up in the first place?" Sokka asked.

Katara tried to remember how she had felt that night. It was less than a week ago, but already felt like lifetimes ago. "Aang and I thought there was something wrong that he needed help with. Maybe there is, but I'm starting to question if we're the ones that should be helping him with it. He doesn't want our help. We could just leave him with his uncle, who he doesn't snap at, and get on with our lives. He'd probably be relieved."

"That's what I've been thinking this whole time," Sokka said. "So now we just need to get Aang, talk some sense into him, and get Zuko, who'll agree that he hates us and doesn't want to be here. And then we can go our separate ways and live happily ever after."

"Katara. Sokka." Bato rushed back to them and held out the scroll. "You need to see this."

Sokka took the scroll. "It's a map to the rendezvous point! Look." Katara pressed herself against his shoulder to see. "It's not far away. It would be if we had to walk, but if we take Appa, we can get there in no time at all."

"We can see Dad and get Aang to the North Pole," Katara said, her voice growing hopeful. "We don't have to choose."

"It's perfect!" Sokka exclaimed. "Oh, Bato, thank you!" He embraced the older warrior just like the little boy he had been.

Bato smiled and embraced him back. "Your…'friend' who has to face an angry water spirit might not be so happy," he reminded them.

"Who cares?" Sokka asked. "He's never happy about anything. Our dad, so our vote." Katara nodded. Why should a firebender get to decide they couldn't see their father? He didn't have that power now, and she wasn't going to give it back to him. The Fire Nation already had so much control over her life, even now when she could fly away on Appa. It would be good to take back some power for once. Zuko was a prince; he had more than enough to spare.

Bato frowned. "That sounds like the sort of dismissal he was just protesting about. He would be more comfortable if he got a vote."

Sokka looked stung. "But we already know what he would say," he said. "He'll just complain about taking time on another detour." But Sokka no longer sounded sure of himself. Zuko had surprised them all by doing just the opposite of that yesterday.

"We can give him a vote," Katara suggested. "He's outvoted, so if he tries to say we shouldn't see Dad it won't matter. It's fine, Sokka."

Bato stared at her, visibly puzzled. "I don't think 'you get a vote but we won't count it' is an improvement."

Katara and Sokka looked at each other. What Bato said would have made sense, if Zuko hadn't been a firebender. If they hadn't already lost their mother, their house, and who knew what else to his nation, which he was prince of. Katara folded her hands in her lap and turned to Bato. "Bato… There's a reason why he shouldn't have veto power over our decisions."

Bato did not protest, but he continued to look doubtful. "It's time to leave. I'll begin packing."

.

"Is there a problem?" asked the nun selling the perfume.

"What?!" Aang folded his arms behind his back and tried to whistle. "Nope. No problems here. Why would we have problems?"

Iroh knew better. He too had said what he thought others wanted to hear, once. Then he'd had a diplomatic talk where the other party had taken a completely unanticipated position, leaving Iroh with no idea what they wanted. That talk had ended in fireballs as a result. Most people did not know what would please themselves to hear. How could anyone hope to predict what would make other people happy? Iroh preferred now to avoid the risk and say what was true instead. It was less work on his end, and much less likely to end in fireballs. "My nephew doesn't get along well with the Avatar's friends," he told the nun. "They must have argued again."

"Oh, dear." The nun held up another bottle. "This is our most soothing scent. A few drops will calm hot heads in no time."

"I'll take it!"

Iroh continued to chat with the nun, knowing the Avatar was watching and taking notes. He seemed to have decided that Iroh was an expert on peace. Iroh was the closest thing the children had to such an expert, so he let the boy believe that. If the Avatar learned from his example, that would not be a bad thing.

Secretly Iroh struggled. He was not calm or peaceful inside. His nephew was in pain and dangerously close to getting stranded in the Earth Kingdom for lack of diplomatic skill. Iroh wanted to help. He was sure he could. But it was not his place. Painful as it was, he had to allow Zuko to solve his own problems and learn lessons on his own. So Iroh stayed and chatted, and tried to keep his desire to rush after his nephew and offer soothing words at bay.

Finally, Katara and Sokka came out of Bato's room. They rushed up to Aang and held out a scroll. "Good news," Sokka said as Aang unrolled the scroll. "You don't have to worry. The meeting point isn't far away. We can go see Dad and take you north!"

Aang gasped. Katara added, "That means you can meet Dad, too. You'll love him. He's the most levelheaded person I've ever known. He can teach you all about making peace."

"Yes!" Aang leaped up at least a dozen feet into the air. He landed with a whoosh. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as we ask the angry jerk what he thinks," Sokka said. "And then finish packing, because we're going to see Dad anyway. Maybe Dad can teach him how to be less angry."

"The soothing perfume might help too," Aang said. "It can cool hot heads in no time!"

"Where is he?" Katara asked.

"He went to the beach," Iroh said. "He was very upset after your argument." Sokka and Katara went quiet after hearing this. They looked guilty. Katara mumbled some reassuring things they could say to Zuko if he protested against their decision. Sokka agreed and considered not referring to Zuko as 'Angry Jerk.' Iroh tried not to let his relief show on his face. He was aware that, for now, he was essentially the keystone holding this little alliance together. The stress of that position was considerable. He was going to express gratitude to Bato as soon as the other man came out of his residence.

Appa was fed and saddled, furs and weapons and pelts were rolled up and stuffed into a surprisingly small and wearable pack, and Iroh expressed his gratitude. The Avatar was just saying goodbye to the Mother Superior when Zuko returned. He glared at the loaded bison from outside the gate, not saying a word until Appa was led out of the abbey. He glared extra hard at the sight of Bato coming with them. "Why is he coming?"

Aang put on his extra casual tone of voice, which was extremely unconvincing. "Oh, nothing much. I mean, it is, but he's not coming coming. Not with us, unless you want him to. He got the map to the meeting place where we can meet Katara and Sokka's dad, and if we take Appa it would be a really short trip." He blinked up at Zuko.

Momo looked down at Zuko, chattered, and flew off his shoulder. The lemur did not fly onto Aang's shoulder; instead, he flew to one of Appa's horns and hid behind it, peeking out shyly. The expression on Zuko's face made it clear that was a good decision. "In other words, we're going to this meeting point regardless of what I say because everyone who matters has already decided so."

"Uh…" Aang reached over and took the perfume from Iroh. "Have you tried some perfume? It's very soothing." Zuko looked fine until Aang said the s-word, at which point he slapped the bottle out of his hands faster than the eye could see. The bottle cracked and perfume began to leak out of it. Zuko deliberately covered his nose and climbed into the saddle before he could possibly smell any of it. Iroh inhaled deeply. It was a very soothing perfume.

"So yay or nay?" Sokka asked.

"Who cares?"

Iroh took another deep inhale before climbing into the saddle along with Bato. That was why he was sincere, always.

.

The rendezvous point turned out to be a sheltered cove. Of course. Of freakin' course. They're traveling by boat, so OF COURSE the meeting point is right on the water. It was north of the abbey, but that was little consolation. Zuko felt waves, even though the surface of the sea was calm here. The waves were large, slow ones, rolling across the bottom of the seafloor. Plenty of power here for the water spirit to draw from.

At least the meeting point wasn't directly on the surface of the water. It was reachable by land, on the cliff overlooking the cove. The base of the cliff had been eroded out while the top of it remained firm, so there was water far below the point of the cliff where they landed. Zuko took a deep breath and reminded himself that the water spirit had never in his entire life used brute force to smash through anything, and certainly not rock. It never turned the ocean to ice, either. There's a first time for everything. If the ocean could carve out rock with enough time spent sloshing around, the water spirit could do at least as well with a few hours of concentrated effort, or minutes if it used ice.

Zuko got off Appa very quickly and ran downhill to a point of the cliff that was solid earth all the way down. I need to stop thinking about things like that. I'm giving it ideas.

Sokka and Katara ran too, but there was nobody in sight. "Dad?" Sokka called out. "It's me, Sokka."

After a few minutes and another few calls by the nonbender boy, there was the sound of movement in the thick forest they stood on the edge of. The point of the cliff was bare rock, giving way to weeds and grasses where Zuko and the others stood now, then small bushes, and then almost immediately to thick forest. If they moved forward a dozen feet, they would be under the shelter of the lowest branch of one of the enormous trees. That was the very branch a group of men dressed in faded blue with weapons strapped to their backs emerged under. They were led by a tall, broad-shouldered man who looked very much like a grown version of Sokka. "Sokka?"

"Dad!" Sokka ran forward and hugged his father. Katara did the same.

Bato nodded. "They found me just before I received the message."

"What are you two doing in the Earth Kingdom?" The chief embraced his children, but frowned. "You two are supposed to be looking after the rest of the tribe back home."

"We are, in a way." Katara stepped back to look her father in the eyes, her own eyes glistening. "We found the Avatar frozen in ice, and now we're traveling with him to the North Pole. He and I are going to learn waterbending there."

"Hi!" The Avatar waved. "I'm the Avatar. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." He bowed.

The chief's face brightened. All doubt disappeared from it. "The Avatar! That explains it. I am so proud of you." He embraced them again.

This scene was of the sort best described as heartwarming, but Zuko felt chilled. Katara and Sokka's father held them securely to his chest. Before, his eyes had been filled with pride and delight, even though he thought they had abandoned their tribe. Now, his eyes were closed, as if this embrace was the most important thing in the world and he couldn't stand to be distracted from it even the slightest bit. The smile on his face trembled, as if holding back some great emotion that was brimming and threatening to spill over. His eyelids squeezed as well, so that must have been the case.

The heat of the fire spirit strengthened and flowed slowly up Zuko's chest, over his heart, up his neck, into his cheeks. Yet the rest of him remained chilled, and he couldn't seem to move. He couldn't care, didn't even try to move. What was this? Why did their father close his eyes like that? Why did he seem to be on the edge of crying? That wasn't right. What kind of father broke down crying in front of their children? That was no way to earn respect.

I don't know if Dad ever cries. Why would he? He just...doesn't. It was unthinkable. The great Firelord Ozai never let himself be ruled that way. His anger was a tool, as was his affection. What was this? How could any grown man, any leader, be so overwhelmed by his emotions?

Iroh's laugh broke the spell. Zuko suddenly realized how hard he was breathing, as if he had been running flat out for the last ten minutes. He tried to slow it down, wondering why Iroh was laughing. Iroh said, "We are guests of the Avatar, traveling north. It was very gracious of him and his friends to accept us." It sounded like the answer to a question. Had someone asked something?

Katara and Sokka stepped back from their father, and the moment was over. Zuko shook his head. Focus! He crossed his arms and hoped he didn't look as shaken as he felt.

The chief nodded at him, the Avatar, and Iroh. "I am Kota, chief of the Southern Water Tribe. You are all welcome."

"Not for long," Zuko said. He was startled to hear how thin his voice was, how flat, like a deflated balloon. Something about the loving embrace he had just witnessed drained all the force from his voice. "There's traveling to do."

Kota looked up at the sun. It was early afternoon. "That's several more hours than I thought I would have to spend with my children." He turned and called out, "Take Bato to our camp and check his injuries. I need to decide how to spend the rest of the day."

Zuko's arms had fallen down at some point, and he knew he was staring. He couldn't do anything about it. Kota's words were shocking and hypnotic at once. What is going on? I don't feel quite right. Should I do something? It was a relief when Iroh put a hand on his shoulder and steered him away from the family reunion. But it also hurt.

"Are you all right, Zuko?"

Zuko shook his head. "How could he? Hold them like that, and… Isn't it…"

When he didn't finish, Iroh softly urged him on. "What?"

"Isn't it...wrong?" Zuko stopped walking. Even he was dumbfounded by his answer. Was he claiming it was wrong for a father to love his children and to express that love? Parents were supposed to love their kids. Yet, "wrong" was the only word appearing in his mind to describe how he felt. He knew parents were supposed to be loving, but watching a parent be loving was a different story. He didn't feel right about it. He sat down on a nearby log to take deep breaths.

Iroh sat down next to him. "No. That's how I was with my own son."

Zuko shook his head. "You're different, Uncle. You can be like that. Dad would never be." Do I want him to? No. He wouldn't be himself if he was like that. I don't want a complete stranger for a father. The father I have is fine. He's my dad. I am his loyal son.

But he couldn't stop thinking about the way Kota spoke of his kids and shivering.

.

Sokka was feeling pressure. He, Katara, and Aang stood on the shore of the cove with Dad. Katara showed their father her new waterbending skills, and he was impressed at how much she had learned. Then Aang worked together with her to create a large wave that pulled several of the boats towards the beach from their moorings, and Kota was impressed by their cooperation and ability to work together.

Then it was Sokka's turn, and he had nothing. What could he possibly show his father? He was sure he was a better warrior, but there weren't any firebenders nearby to demonstrate on. And he had done a most un-warriorlike thing by almost starting a brawl, and he had lost his boomerang stupidly throwing it at ice. He wasn't proud of himself. How could Dad be?

"I... " He rubbed his head. "I don't have anything to show you, Dad."

"Yes you do." Kota gestured at Sokka's entire body. "I can see the warrior in you by the way you stand. You're not just taller and stronger from growing up. I can see the confidence and wisdom in you. I'm proud of you, son."

Really? He was? Sokka decided that, if Dad was proud of him, maybe he could be proud of himself too. He grinned. "Thanks, Dad." He remembered how young he had been the last time he'd seen his father. He'd struggled to carry his own pack of supplies! "But I am big and strong too. I can lift stuff now, and work the ropes, and -"

And in a flash, he knew what he could do to demonstrate his growth to his father.

.

You have got to be kidding me!

Zuko had almost convinced himself that he was fine when Kota came up the cliff. He invited them down to the cove, where the Avatar and his friends boarded the chief's boat. Zuko grabbed his uncle's sleeve immediately, partly to keep Iroh from following and partly to keep himself from screaming Are you suicidal?! They made their separate way to the beach beyond the cove, where the waters were not calm. The waves pounded the beach quite forcefully. Beyond the beach, rocks stuck up out of the water. Kota had said he was taking his children ice-dodging, and now the boat was angling directly toward the rocks. That confirmed it; the Avatar and his friends were either completely divorced from reality or suicidal.

"Do you think Appa will listen to you?" he asked Iroh. He stood on the beach, and Iroh sat nearby on a large rock, both of them well away from the water. "Because they're all going to die. All of them. I'm sure of it."

"I have confidence in the Avatar's abilities to keep himself and his friends safe," Iroh answered.

"No, not this time." Zuko shook his head.

"You don't have confidence in him? After all you've seen?"

"It's exactly because of all I've seen that I don't have confidence." Well, he can fly, so maybe he could escape if the water spirit doesn't use ice. But the boat is not going to survive.

"Do you have any terms, Nephew?"

Zuko rubbed his chin and thought. "If you're right, I will offer myself up to be tied like a captive animal tonight. If I'm right, you'll help me with Appa."

Iroh laughed. "Throw in helping me with chores for the next week, and you've got a deal!"

They watched the boat approach the rocks.

Zuko held his breath as the boat entered the rocks and began to maneuver around them. They're handling it well so far. The ocean inside him sloshed back and forth in its regular rhythm. If it stayed that way, the Water Tribe members might have enough sailing skill to make it through.

Of course it did not stay that way. The water out where the boat was hesitated, staying still instead of rocking back up onto the beach like the rest of the water was. Afterwards, it moved toward the beach too fast, as if compensating. There was a faint yelp above the crash of the waves.

Zuko felt the exact moment when the water spirit gave up pretending to be a normal ocean. Oh no. The water spirit swerved, carrying the boat away from some nearer rocks but towards farther ones. Then it rolled the other way, carrying the boat back just as sharply. The front of the boat passed just inches away from a rock. The water spirit swung aside, and the boat rotated noticeably. Iroh shot to his feet.

Zuko's teeth chattered. The water spirit dove, then rose, throwing blinding spray into the air. It wavered back and forth. The sound of cracking wood echoed over the water as the rear end of the boat smacked into a rock passing on its right. The boat was then swept to its left, hurtling straight toward a bank of rocks.

"Oh dear!" Iroh was pale.

The water spirit dove and stayed down, allowing the sailors to maneuver with all their might. It looked like a lost cause, but with a blast of airbending to help, they just barely avoided crashing. But now, the boat was spinning wildly. Its bow swung around so far that the observers on the beach could see the carving at the front. There was no way the boat could possibly maneuver around the large rock at the end of the obstacle course. It was set to smash into the rock broadside, breaking the boat into hundreds of tiny little smashed pieces.

Zuko shivered as cold rose up his spine, mimicking the feeling of a feather tickling his spinal cord directly. Out of the ocean punched a huge wave of water, rising above and briefly separating from the rest of the ocean as the water spirit leaped into the air. Zuko's airway closed. For a single moment, a single split moment that seemed to etch itself into his very eyeballs, Zuko was sure the water spirit was going to reveal itself.

There was a crash.

Zuko blinked rapidly, but it still took a few seconds for the information his eyes were sending to get through to his brain. The boat had crashed down on water, not on rock. It was leaning, spray was everywhere, and it was still spinning out of control, but it was intact and past the rocks. The huge and mysterious wave that had carried it over the last rock dove down and raced far out to sea. The water spirit settled...mostly.

By the time the boat was brought under control enough to beach itself on the sand, Zuko had almost stopped hyperventilating and shivering. His vision was clearing and he was able to unwrap his arms from his ribcage somewhat. He didn't know how much of that was fear and how much was cold. Both parts were helped by racing his uncle across the pebbly sand to the boat.

The Avatar leaped off the boat, landing badly and toppling to his face. He moaned. Sokka followed him off, falling on his face too and not even complaining. Katara and her father threw a rope ladder over the side and used that, staggering up onto the beach. Momo's grip on some ropes went slack and he fell in a faint to the boat railing.

"Are you all right?" Iroh checked over the Avatar as he lifted the boy off the sand, helping him to sit upright. Zuko did the same for Sokka, pulling the nonbender up by both arms.

The Avatar spit out sand. "What was that?"

Sokka moaned now. "Us failing the ice dodging."

"No way," Zuko declared. "That wasn't your fault."

"I agree." Kota stood straight, seeming to have recovered. "That wasn't natural. The ocean doesn't behave like that." He turned to look out at the rocks. "But I don't see a sea monster."

"The water spirit!" Katara gasped. "It followed us!"

Zuko blinked at her. "...Why do you say that as if it's news?"

"What?" Kota turned back quickly. "A water spirit?"

.

The sun was beginning to turn orange by the time they finished telling Kota a lightly edited version of the story of how they'd come to travel together. Most of that time was spent with descriptions of the water spirit and its effects, as elaborate and needlessly detailed as they could be made. The chief hung onto every word with growing alarm.

When even the Avatar's descriptive prowess was exhausted, the chief looked past them, down a considerable way to the edge of the water. "And this same spirit followed you all the way here to attack just now. Why would it do that? I've never heard of such a thing."

Zuko sat up and stretched. He'd been very bored since five minutes after the discussion started, on the verge of falling asleep against the rock Iroh had sat on. He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "I have a better question. Why did it hold off this long? We've been flying through sky water -" he shot a glare at Katara "- and spending hours next to the ocean. Why didn't it attack before?"

Katara's mouth dropped open and everybody turned to look at Zuko. Nobody answered his question. Sokka began to shake his head. "Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. You knew the water spirit was following us?!"

Zuko's jaw dropped. "You didn't?"

Sokka looked at him like he'd sprouted a second head. "Why would anyone think a big, wavy, icy ocean spirit was following us through the air? That would be completely insane."

Zuko looked at the nonbender as if he had lost his head. "Why would anyone not think it was following us? Of course it was. That was obvious."

"Obvious how? It's invisible!" Sokka gestured at the water, where absolutely nothing but water could be seen. "Does anyone else see a spirit out there?"

Zuko looked where Sokka had gestured. The water spirit was all there was to be seen: water, from horizon to horizon, as far as the eye could see. But he heard a chorus of answers to Sokka's question:

"Nope."

"Nothing."

"The ocean looks normal now."

"No."

Sokka folded his arms and nodded. "Hear that? It's invisible. Unless you have spirit vision." He cracked an eye open and peered at Zuko.

"No, I don't have spirit vision," Zuko said. But I can feel it inside. The shock had worn off and his mind was working again. He could feel the water spirit, and nobody else could. He'd always known that. So why should they have known the water spirit was traveling with them? They couldn't feel the way its influence spread from water source to water source, seizing control of the water in their canteens, in the clouds, in their bodies. It didn't poke or prod them with cold. How could they have known?

More importantly, how was he going to explain how he had known?

"How did you know it was following us?" Katara asked. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

A lifetime of pretending he wasn't violating every unwritten law his father had passed came in handy sometimes. Zuko knew immediately what he had to do. Pretend to be extremely overconfident. "What else would it do? It's evil, it's violent, it's terrible. Of course it would follow us. It's clearly out to do evil things."

"It didn't do anything until just now," the Avatar pointed out.

"Obviously part of its scheming."

"Why would it want to kill us?"

"Who cares? It just does."

The looks he was receiving had changed from suspicious to doubtful. "I don't think that's right," Sokka said. Success! He had successfully made himself look incompetent, and therefore harmless, and therefore worthy of dismissal. Of course it stung Zuko's pride to make himself seem like an idiot, but it was a necessary survival strategy. Now they just had to move on to some topic that wasn't him.

"Wait!" The Avatar shot to his feet and looked out at the ocean. "It didn't kill us. It saved us by lifting us over the rocks."

"After almost killing us before that," Sokka said.

"If it wanted to kill us, it would have let us smash into the rocks," the Avatar reasoned. "So it's not trying to kill us!"

Kota stood up. "What was it trying to do?"

The Avatar thumped his staff into the rocky sand and heroically declared, "There's only one way to find out."

.

A/N: I have no clue where the rendezvous point was in canon. The map only shows a huge round body of water, with no markings to make it obvious where the abbey is and where the rendezvous point is, and I can't read Chinese. But what I do know is that Bato was expected to follow them there when he had just finished healing half his body and was still in bandages, alone, with only what he could carry. It couldn't have been that far away, especially not with the ability to fly over obstacles in the land.

The same is true of all the locations mentioned in the story so far. In canon, Zuko and Iroh traveled from the mountaintop herbalist to Aunt Wu to the abbey on a creature that's pretty fast but can't fly, starting at maybe around midnight and meeting Katara and Sokka in the afternoon the next day. Less than 24 hours to cover 3 episodes. Those locations could not have been far apart. That's why it's been a day or less of travel to go from one episode location to another in this fic. After this episode, it starts to look like a lot more time is passing between episodes, and I have no way to tell how much. Timing will start to get variable after this episode is done with.