They had been flying for just over four hours when they spotted smoke on the horizon.
"What's that over there?" Mai pointed.
"I suppose it's a forest fire," Katara responded.
"Do you think it was caused naturally, or was the Fire Nation behind it?"
"I don't particularly care at this moment, I'm going to put it out either way." Katara spoke with determination.
"Then I suppose we all are."
Aang adjusted Appa's course and they flew towards the smoke, revealed to come from a patch of forest next to a lake- and a village. Aang saw the tiny forms of villagers running about with water buckets, trying desperately to put out the flames. As they approached it, the smell of burning reached their nostrils, and Appa began to shy away. Aang patted the Sky-Bison's head. "It's alright, boy."
He addressed the group. "Appa doesn't want to go any closer, so we should dismount and approach on foot."
Sokka mumbled something about walking under his breath, but everyone else agreed. Appa touched down a few hundred metres away from the source of the blaze. Even from this distance, they could feel the heat on their faces. The flames raged ahead of them. Aang immediately began thinking of ways to stop it. "Toph, isolate the fire, stop it from spreading."
Toph nodded, ran forwards and stomped the ground. From her foot, cracks ran through the ground towards the fire, until they had completely encircled it. With a further movement of her hands, the circle of flaming land sank into the earth.
"And what should we do?" Sokka asked. "Should we get some buckets to help them? Evacuate the village maybe?"
"... er, look after Appa?"
"Great." A noticeably disheartened Sokka, Suki and Mai went to stand near the sky-bison.
Katara stepped forward, and looked at Aang. The Avatar nodded, and turned to face her. In unison, they made a sweeping motion with their arms, and a vast ball of water rose out of the lake. They manoeuvred it until it was over the flames, and then let it fall. Instantly, the fire was doused under several tonnes of water, which also soaked the village and most of its inhabitants. As the last smoke vanished into the afternoon sky, Toph moved the land, which was now not on fire, back into its original position. Apart from the fact the lake was now noticeably shallower, the village looked like it presumably had before the fire started.
"We did it!" Katara and Aang hugged each other in celebration. Neither saw the other blush.
"Yay for us," Sokka said.
With no fire to put out, the villagers instead approached them.
"Kind strangers!" A woman hailed them. "I am Baozhai, and I am the leader of Itsuki village. And I know who you are."
"Really?" Aang said politely, even though he knew it must be obvious.
"Yes. An Air nomad travelling with two water tribespeople and two people from the Earth Kingdom must be the Avatar!" she grinned. The grin faded as she looked at Zuko and Mai. "Though the stories never said anything about Fire Nationals. No offence."
"Don't worry," Zuko said. "We get that a lot."
"Your coming is fortunate indeed, Avatar. We have an urgent matter that requires your assistance."
"The fires?" Aang asked.
"Not necessarily," Baozhai replied. "It's what causes the fires that concerns me. Or rather, who."
"Spirits?"
"No. Bandits."
"Bandits did that?" Suki asked.
The woman nodded gravely. "Banditry has been a recurring problem around here, but it's really gone up since the Fall of Ba Sing Se to the Fire Nation. Without much of a central authority to stop them, they've been plundering and murdering and generally behaving badly with nobody to stop them. The Earth Kingdom can't stop them and the Fire Nation doesn't seem to care enough to try."
"And what do you need from us?"
"Stay here. Guard the village from the Bandits."
Aang scratched his head. "I would love to, but I do have a bit of an important mission to stop the Fire Nation myself, you see."
The woman's face fell. "Oh. I see."
"Wait!" Katara said. "We can still help."
"How?"
"We can't stay to guard the village for any extended period of time, but if we defeat the Bandits before we leave, then that should do the job, shouldn't it?"
"And how do we make them stay away after we're gone?" Zuko demanded.
"I don't know." Katara admitted. "But I'm sure we'll think of something!"
"I like your optimism, if nothing else," the Chief remarked.
"Alright, we'll do it," Aang decided.
"Great! With the Avatar on our side, no bandit will threaten us again!"
Later that evening, Sokka sat on a balcony, listening to a faraway musician playing a tune on some kind of wind instrument.
He heard a noise beside him, and Toph came to sit beside him. "Are you alright?" She asked.
"Oh, I'm fine," he responded.
"Are you sure?" Toph sounded like she didn't believe him. "You've been moping about ever since we put the fire out."
"Fine. I'm feeling like I'm not a whole lot of use to the team. You're all powerful and skilled benders. Suki and Mai are amazing fighters too, and then there's me, the one whose only contribution to the team has been to teach Aang a skill he doesn't even need."
"That's not true," Toph said, in a surprisingly soft voice. "Was it not you who nailed the firebending prodigy Princess Azula with a boomerang to the back of the head not two days ago?"
"I suppose.."
"Besides, you're the strategy guy, the one who comes up with the plans. You do contribute to this team, even if you can't throw mountains at people."
Sokka smiled. "Thanks Toph. Who knew you could be so supportive?"
Toph punched his arm. "Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold."
"Your secret is safe with me."
Just then, a bell began to toll, and the music abruptly halted.
Shouts of "bandits!" began to rise from the town, and indeed Sokka could see trails of dust coming towards them. "Come on, I think we"re probably needed."
Together, Sokka and Toph ran for the town square.
As Katara filed into the square with Aang, she already saw a small crowd beginning to form, with Baozhai at the forefront. She went to stand in front of them, and as more members of Team Avatar appeared they joined her. Eventually, they stood in a line in front of the civilians, between them and whoever might soon arrive.
In the event, only three men rode in, on Komodo Rhinos. Two of them wore masks, but the leader did not; he had a thin face framed by long dark hair, and an intense look in his eyes. By his hip hung a weapon; a long sword with a leaf shaped blade.
"Why hasn't this village burnt down? When we torch a place, we like it to stay burnt."
Aang cleared his throat. "Yes, hello mister bandit leader, that was our doing."
"Why are you being so polite to that bandit?" Katara hissed to him.
"Ah! I see the village has newcomers! In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Fan, and you had better get used to the arrangement around here."
"And what arrangement would that be?"
"If the local villages pay us, then we protect them. If they don't, we burn the place, as we tried to do here."
"Well, at least they are honest about it," said Mai.
"And this is quite the diverse group. Let's see. Two from the Earth Kingdom, two from the water tribes, two from the Fire Nation and... are those Air Nomad clothes?"
Aang nodded.
"Which would make you the Avatar. I've heard the stories of the Last Airbender. What is your business here?"
"It's you."
"I'm flattered."
"I'm here to stop you."
The bandit laughed. "Stop me? And how are you going to do that?"
He didn't give Aang time to answer.
"You may be the Avatar, but you are only seven people. I command far more than that. Cross me, and I can destroy you, and probably raze this village for good measure."
Katara had an idea. They couldn't stay for any extended period of time, it was true, but if they defeated the bandits in open battle they wouldn't have to. Or at least, that was the idea.
"Then why don't you?" She asked.
"Because I do have some respect for the Avatar as an institution."
"But not enough to stop preying on innocent people."
"No."
"Then you are a coward."
"I prefer not stupid."
"Try to make it as flattering as you like, it doesn't change that you're a coward." Katara spat at him, deliberately choosing her words to wound as much as possible. "When people speak of you, they will speak of Captain Fan, the coward with... the...big nose?"
Katara saw Sokka facepalm at her pitiful attempt at an insulting nickname. She didn't blame him.
Fan only laughed. "Try to insult me all you like, I needed a good laugh today. But now you will hear me. The presence of the Avatar does not change anything, but the fact the village was not burnt down has earnt you an extension to your deadline. The required amount in two days time- or Avatar or no Avatar, we do to this village what the Firelord did to Ba Sing Se. Understood?"
Fan did not wait for an answer. He signalled his men, and wheeled his Komodo Rhino around. "See you soon, Avatar Aang," he called over his shoulder.
And then the bandits were gone.