The next morning Josh found Alex on the upper deck of the ship. She was leaning against the railing, just—staring at the water, unmoving.
"Hey," he said softly.
She gave a start and turned to look at him. "Josh—"she said slowly, as if making sure with herself that she remembered his face.
He walked toward her, and in one fluent motion wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his head on her shoulder. "I can't believe we're all together." He whispered.
She bit her lip, "Not all of us." She looked up at the sky, "I wonder where Kyle is, right now."
A door banged and both turned to see Zuko standing there. He seemed both surprised and angered to see them out here before he had had a chance to release his rage with some firebending.
Alex only stared at him, but Josh made a step toward him. She reached for his arm but caught only air.
"Josh!" she cried after him.
But before he could reach the prince, he stopped upon seeing a strange shadow drift across the deck. Blinking, he looked up to see a large animal flying overhead.
Alex gasped, not only in surprise but in terror.
Zuko grinned wickedly, "The Avatar," he whispered.
Alex looked once more and to her utter confusion saw none other than Kyle peek his head over the side. He frowned upon seeing the ship, and hands reached to pull him back out of view.
To her horror Appa started to descend. She could hear Kyle shouting something about people in need—
'No.' she thought.
"KYLE! KYLE GO BACK! LEAVE!" she screamed as loud as she could.
She saw Kyle look over the edge, this time in wonder. He stared down at the girl, the same girl in his dream.
But now he knew who she was.
"ALEX!" he cried.
She turned and saw the entire crew was up deck, listening as Zuko gave them orders to capture the Avatar.
Luke appeared at her side, "Alex, the Avatar is here, what should we do?"
It was time, and she knew it. Now would come the time when she gave up everything she loved in her country to save Aang and the others from Zuko's grasp.
"Nothing," she said. She did not look at him as she turned to face Zuko and his crew. She knew by the look on his face that he knew she had a friend up there, but never would he expect her next few words.
"Leave them alone," she said dryly.
He blinked, "Alex, move aside," he said angrily.
She moved into fighting stance, "If you want to get the Avatar, you'll have to go through me."
"And us, don't forget us."
She turned her head to see that Appa had landed, and that Kyle was running toward her. He stopped beside her and he too took stance, Katara and Sokka followed.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, "you can't fight them."
"Let's just say I've learned a few tricks while you've been gallivanting around the world," he grinned at her.
She smiled back, "Prepare for the worst."
His dream came back to him and he started, "Alex, there's something I have to tell you!"
"It'll have to wait!" she replied as she rushed forward at the idle group of soldiers.
Having their own captain rush at them in a furious rage caught them off guard, and she nicked them easily with her flames.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko racing toward Aang. But as she turned to sprint after him, she was cut off by—Luke.
She hesitated, "Let me pass Luke, the fate of the world rests on us getting Aang out of here."
He looked at her with lifeless eyes, "All this time, all this time you were a traitor."
"I'm not the traitor Luke, anyone who tries to capture Aang is a traitor!" she yelled at him.
"What a hypocrite, I never expected that from you, especially not when you're supposed to be dead."
Alex froze and turned toward the starboard side of the ship. She took a quick gasp as she saw who was speaking to her.
"No," she said softly.
