Prince Zuko had learned the whereabouts of the Avatar after watching a signal flare from an abandoned sloop go off. He discovered a village made of snow and ice, which happened to be the village of the Southern Water Tribe. His sloop were now sailing towards the Southern Water Tribe village to capture him.
Now, Zuko stood in front of the draw door and his men, dressed in a suit of red and black armor. His gaze was directly at the black metal door that lets people out of the sloop. He waited for the metal door to open so that he can be let out of the ship.
Iroh had walked towards the entrance to speak with Zuko. "Are you ready for this, Prince Zuko?"
"I am."
"Remember, nephew... You are dealing with the Avatar. A master of all four elements. He or she will not be an easy target to catch-as he or she has been missing from the world for a hundred years."
"I know."
"Do you remember what I taught you, once you confront him or her?" Iroh asked.
"Peace comes first. Violence comes second." Zuko answered as a soldier had placed a helmet on top of Zuko's head.
"Good." Iroh heard the sound of the sloop sailing. "Be careful, Zuko." Iroh said as he left the entrance.
The metal door in the front entrance had opened and landed on snow. Zuko gave it five seconds to step outside and walk down the entrance. As he did, a native boy dressed in black and white makeup run upon a sloop and charge towards him. Zuko quickly kicked the jawbone blade out of Sooka's hands then threw him into the snow.
After leaving the sloop, Zuko and his soldiers approached the natives of the Southern Water Tribe, which was an island of snow. They all looked intimidated by the soldier's height and armor.
"I'm looking for the Avatar." Zuko told the Southern Water Tribe natives.
The Water Tribe Natives, including Katara stared at the Fire Nation soldiers and seemed intimidated. The children hid behind the adults, cowering.
Zuko walked in a line front of the natives interrogating them about the Avatar and his whereabouts. "I know that he came here. I saw someone activate a signal flare from an old navy ship miles away from my ship and it must be him." Zuko glanced at Katara, who glanced back at him.
The Southern Water Tribe natives remained quiet as they stared at Zuko.
"I saw a blue light beaming in the sky not too long ago and knew it was him." Zuko pointed northwest at the sky and reminisced seeing a blue light beam in the sky a while ago.
Katara lightly gasped as she knew what Zuko was talking about. She released Aang from a giant blue iceberg, breaking wind and a massive blue light beamed within the sky.
Zuko pointed towards Kanna, the elder of the Southern Water Tribe. "Could the Avatar be of that woman's age? Master of all four elements?"
Kanna remained silent as she noticed Zuko pointing directly to her.
Zuko took a deep breath. "Look, I know that you know he's real. Just tell me where the Avatar is and I'll be on my way."
The next four seconds, Sokka picked up his jawbone blade and attempted to strike Zuko from behind with it. "Yah!"
Zuko heard the sound of footsteps in snow and Sooka charging towards him with his jawbone blade. Zuko quickly tripped and flipped Sokka over his back. As soon as Sokka landed on his butt, he dodged Zuko's fist of fire and threw his blue boomerang at Zuko, which missed.
"Show him no fear!" A boy charismatically yelled as he tossed Sokka's spear to him.
Sokka grunted as he charged towards Zuko again. Zuko broke the spear forged with sticks and bones in front of Sokka, then used the bone part to knock him down.
"Oof!" Sokka grunted as he fell down.
Zuko stared down at Sokka for a second. "I'm going to ask you, once. Do you-" Zuko suddenly stopped speaking and heard a noise coming from behind him. He quickly looked back a hundred sixty-five degrees and saw a spinning boomerang flying towards him. He quickly ducked his head and dodged the flying boomerang.
After the boomerang landed in the snow, Sokka made one last attempt at by swinging his boomerang at him. He grunted a few times while swinging, until Zuko subdued him by grabbing his wrists, turning body around to face his fellow villagers, put his arms behind his back and put a foot onto one of Sokka's legs to kneel. Sokka was in a pit of pain from Zuko's foot pressing onto the back of his right leg.
Some of the Southern Water Tribe villagers couldn't bare to watch Sokka being subdued. One of the kids had cowered behind their parents. Katara and Kanna had sad looks at seeing what Zuko was doing to Sokka.
Katara suddenly glanced at something fast coming from behind them yards away. In the next three seconds, she spotted Aang riding on top of a sliding Otter penguin.
While riding on an Otter penguin's back, Aang swept Zuko's feet with his staff, making him fall free Sokka and falling onto a big pile of snow.
After the Otter penguin threw Aang off of its back, it waddled away.
"Hey, Sokka. Hey, Katara." Aang greeted both Sokka and Katara.
"Hi, Aang." Katara said.
"Hey." Sokka said, feeling a little annoyed to see Aang.
Two soldiers helped Zuko up from the pile of snow and get him back onto his feet. Zuko then used hand gestures, telling them to surround Aang on all sides. As they did, Aang had splashed snow onto Zuko and his soldiers.
"Looking for me?" Aang asked while facing Zuko.
As Zuko was melting the snow off his skin and armor, he glanced at Aang's clothes and the blue arrow on Aang's head. Within his mind, Zuko started thinking of something strange. He's heard stories that the Air Nomads were destroyed a century ago. And after witnessing Aang for the first time, he's started thinking of a hunch.
"Are you... the Avatar?" Zuko asked.
Katara gasped. "What?"
"No way..." Sokka's eyes widened after learning such information. Until Zuko had mentioned the Avatar, he thought Aang was a weird and annoying Airbender with a large white bison.
Villagers from the Southern Water Tribe began chatting to one another, excluding Katara and Sokka.
"And what if I am?" Aang asked in retaliation and wielded his staff in offense.
In Zuko's mind, he thought it was the perfect opportunity, now that he's met Aang. He thought about bringing Aang back to the Fire Nation with him. He believed that he will no longer be a disgrace to his nation. Afterwards, he thought about how he would reunite with Ty Lee and apologize for what he did to her. In reality, Zuko placed a mild smile on his face.
"Listen. I know we just met, but I need you to hear me out, first. I have a mission..."
"What kind of mission?" Aang asked.
"It's a "really", really important mission. And in order for me to complete it, I need you, the Avatar to come with me." Zuko said, trying to persuade Aang.
Aang paused. "What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to meet my father." Zuko said plainly.
"Huh?" Aang dropped his guard as he was thrown off by Zuko's words.
"Don't listen to him, Aang!" Katara yelled, catching both Aang and Zuko's attention. They both looked towards her. "He's trying to take you as prisoner!"
"Yeah Aang, It's a trap! He wants to take you, because you're the world's only hope!" Sokka yelled.
"That's not true! That's not why I came here!" Zuko told Aang.
"The Fire Nation took our mother! Who knows what they might do to you or us?" Katara said.
"You can't trust him!" Sokka said.
Suddenly, the villagers of the Southern Water Tribe started yelling towards Aang. They said kinds of stuff like the Fire Nation are bad people. Zuko continued begging Aang to come with him, but Katara and Sokka would try to steal Aang's attention.
Aang knew that he was stuck in the crossroads of two sides The Water Tribe and Fire Nation. He closed his eyes and thought of a choice within the next ten seconds. He opened his eyes and stared directly at Zuko.
"If I go with you, will you promise not to hurt any of these villagers?" Aang asked.
"You have my word." Zuko said, raising his hands high.
Aang sighed. "Okay." he raised his hands in defeat.
Katara gasped as she watched two Fire Nation soldiers take Aang. "No, Aang! Don't do this!" she begged.
"It's alright, Katara. It will be okay." Aang said while walking. Suddenly, the one soldiers shoved Aang closer towards the sloop.
Katara's eyes were shocked of seeing Aang get shoved around.
"Careful with the boy." Zuko ordered after hearing a moan from Aang.
"Sorry, sir." A soldier replied as he walked next to Aang while keeping his grip on his shoulder.
"Take care of Appa for me until I get back!" Aang yelled optimistically to Katara and Sokka while a boarding the sloop.
"Set a course towards the Fire Nation! We're going home." Zuko said as he entered the front entrance of the sloop.
"Yessir!" The Fire Nation soldiers replied as they a boarded the sloop along with Aang as their captor.
As the doors were closing, Aang caught a quick glimpse of the villagers. Especially Katara. He could see the orbs of water forming in Katara's eyes yards away from the sloop. Aang's smile quickly turned into a frown as he knew that the chance of escaping was about slim to none. He knows that he is a prisoner of war and is now being taken to the Fire Nation.
Five Minutes Later
After Aang chose to go with Zuko for the worse, the sloop had left the Southern Water Tribe village, leaving the villagers unscathed. Inside the sloop, Aang was being guarded by Fire Nation soldiers from his front and bad side. He remained quiet until he was confronted by Prince Zuko.
"What are you going to do with me?" Aang asked, looking at him.
"Once we reach the Fire Nation, I'm going to hand you over to my father." Zuko told Aang after he turned away from him.
"Turn me over? Am I a prisoner or something? What did I do wrong?" Aang asked.
"Nothing. It's just... something I have to do. In order to return home."
Zuko turned away from Aang and gently palmed his left face.
"Hm?" Aang did not understand what Zuko meant by that.
"Here you go, Prince Zuko." A soldier than handed Zuko Aang's staff.
"Thanks." Zuko accepted Aang's staff from a soldier.
Aang gasped as he saw Zuko wield his staff.
"I'll make sure this doesn't get broken." Zuko said as he showed Aang his staff then walked away with it.
Aang stared at Zuko's backside until he was told to keep marching by the guards.
Within a minute or two, Aang tried to make small talk with the two soldiers who were escorting him to a cell. It didn't work, but he used Airbending to on the soldier in front of him and pushed himself on the guard behind him. Aang had ran top speed around the halls, searching room from room. He accidentally found Iroh sleeping in a room alone. Then he kept searching for his staff, until he found a room where his staff was in.
Aang gasped in relief as he saw his staff lying on a wall. "There it is." He quickly ran inside the room and grabbed it. But as soon as he turned around for the door, it was closed by Zuko who hid behind the door and waited for Aang's arrival.
"You're making a mistake." Zuko said.
"Why are you trying to capture me?" Aang interrogated Zuko while pointing his staff towards him.
"You probably wouldn't understand..." Zuko clenched his fists and thought about his father, Ozai.
"I probably can, if you just tell me, why." Aang said.
"No. I can't do that." Zuko shook his head no.
"Did something happen to you? Are you on a hunt?" Aang asked.
"Stop." Zuko raised his hand towards Aang.
"Why do you wanna capture me? Tell me! Tell me!" Aang yelled, continuing to annoy and interrogate Zuko.
Zuko grunted. "Because taking you back is my only ticket way home!"
Aang paused after hearing that confession. "What?"
"Yeah." Zuko sighed after letting out that brief frustration. "A few years ago, I did something my father did not like. As a result, he banished me from my own nation. He told me that the only way I can return is if I capture you. And I already spent three years searching for you." Zuko confessed to Aang.
Aang felt a bit sorry for hearing of what happened to Zuko. He pointed at Zuko's left face, directly at his red scar. "Did your father also do that to you?"
Zuko looked at Aang, then down at his left hand. "Yeah... he-" Before Zuko could finish his sentence, Aang quickly bended air with his staff and flung a pink matress at him, causing Zuko to make contact with a wall. Then Aang swung his staff upwards causing Zuko and the matress to hit the ceiling.
"Sorry!" Aang quickly apologized for interrupting Zuko before opening the metal door, closing and locking it behind himself. He locked Zuko inside the room.
Zuko grumbled as he realized Aang had caused a diversion by opening up. He quickly got up to his feet and ran towards the metal door. As he tried to turn the handle, Zuko pulled a few times before realizing it was locked. He growled at the handle.
Meanwhile, Aang had ran onto the deck of the sloop with no one around. He quickly turned his head left and right to see nothing by icy cliffs and cold blue water. There were no Fire Nation soldiers around, yet. Aang hoped for a miracle to happen until he heard a loud roar. He gasped in relief as he saw Appa flying towards him miles away and hundreds of feet in the sky. On top of Appa's head was Katara and on Appa's back was Sokka.
"Appa! Katara! Sokka!" Aang waved his hands so they could see him.
"Aang! Behind you!" Katara yelled as she waved her hands, repeatedly. Trying to warn Aang about the Fire Nation soldiers coming towards him on deck.
"Hm?" Aang suddenly heard a number of footsteps running behind him. He looked to see five Fire Nation soldiers standing behind him yards away on the deck.
Zuko then made it outside on the deck and pointed towards Aang. "Stop him!"
"Yessir!" The soldiers replied then ran towards Aang.
Aang gasped then ran towards the front edge of the sloop. As he got closer, Aang popped open the orange wings of his staff and threw it like a spear. He jumped off the sloop and glided towards Appa, who was standing on an icy cliff.
"No!" Zuko yelled as he watched Aang glide himself off his sloop.
Aang had glided toward the icy cliff where Appa, Sokka and Katara resided on. He landed on top of Appa's head next to Katara.
"Aang, you're okay!" Katara said with relief in her voice.
"I am." Aang replied to Katara. He then patted Appa's head. "Thanks for bringing Appa back. But, what are you two doing here?"
"We decided that we were coming with you to the North Pole." Sokka said as he sat up on Appa's back.
"I still want to become a master Waterbender." Katara said.
"That's great! We can all go to the North Pole together!" Aang said with optimism in his voice.
Katara and Sokka then stared at each other for a moment, then looked at Aang.
Aang can see the confused looks on their faces. "What's wrong?"
"Aang... how come you never told us that you were the Avatar?" Katara asked.
Aang lowered his head, feeling a bit of depression. "Because, I never wanted to be the Avatar."
In the next fifteen seconds, Aang ordered Appa to fly away in the sky, while Zuko and other Fire Nations soldiers watched in defeat.
Suddenly, General Iroh had walked onto the deck and stood next to Zuko.
"You have found the Avatar." Iroh said, looking at the blue sky.
"For a moment... I thought I was going home." Zuko said, feeling defeated in battle. He clinched his fists. "Now I have to make sure no one gets him before I do."
