Chapter 4: The Hunt

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The next day, Aang was gearing up for his hunt. After the previous nights… distractions, he knew he needed to focus. Even if those distractions were rather amazing and captivating and… He forced his thoughts to stop. It wouldn't help him to have his attention on their activities from the night before, even if it felt like he had died and gone to heaven in her arms.

Shaking his head at himself, he grabbed his usual gear and suited up, making sure to grab his trenchcoat: black on the outside, but with an outline of orange around it, adding his own personal touch. After all, orange was his favorite color. Not that anyone would ever figure it out from his outfit.

As he pondered these thoughts, Katara came out with a trench coat of her own: hers black but with an outline of blue that matched her eyes. He loved the color of her eyes. It reminded him of the sky he loved to fly in when no one was looking at night. Though he knew he could fly during the day, too, he preferred to do it at night. Especially when he was out on a mission.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile and a quick peck on the lips as she adjusted her coat and put the hood over her head. "How do I look?"

Unable to stop himself from smiling, he leaned in and gave her a kiss. "Beautiful, as always," he murmured to her, making her blush.

"Aang," she muttered shyly as she glanced away with a small smile on her face. Aang just laughed and sat down, inviting her to do the same as he pulled up some information on his computer.

"Okay," he started, clicking on a picture of the house in question that they were going to invade. To his surprise, it was smaller than he had expected. Most hackers he knew of were rich, and showed it by buying the biggest and most expensive houses they could find. But he supposed not all hackers were the same. After all, it would be wise to hide in plain sight rather than flaunt one's illegally obtained wealth. "Here's the plan. The person we're looking for's house is not too far from here. If we can break in and bring this person back to the council, we can prove Zuko's innocence and try to figure out how we can trace this back to… whichever of our enemies is behind this."

Katara thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, that could work," she said thoughtfully. "But how do you think we're going to get in?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted as he grabbed a gun and the blade that had been passed down from his father to him after his parents had died. Seeing it was a painful reminder of his parents' death, but he decided to shake it off. He knew hsi parents wouldn't want him to be sad. They would want him to move on and be happy, and he would do everything in his power to honor them. With that thought in mind, he placed the blade on his sleeve and locked it into place, flexing it to make sure that it still worked.

Katara looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure this isn't like that Assassin's Creed game?" she asked doubtfully, but with an obvious teasing tone in her voice.

He laughed a little and shrugged. "What can I say? My father saw it and thought it would be a great idea. It definitely comes in handy," he replied easily as he took one last look around. "Alright, are you ready?"

"I'm ready whenever you are," she smiled. He smiled back and took her hand as they made their way towards the elevator. Before long, they were out on the streets, ready to go. "So, how are we going to get there?" she wondered, not seeing his car anywhere in sight.

He smiled and, as if by magic, pulled out what appeared to be a bo staff from behind his back, making her eyes widen and her jaw to drop. "How did you do that?" she asked in astonishment.

"A great magician never reveals his secrets," he said evasively, a playful aspect in his voice that she quickly picked up on. She was even more surprised, however, when he spun it in his hand a few times and snapped it open to reveal what appeared to be a glider. "I could drive to where I go, but I don't want to involve any of my personal things in my 'job'. Otherwise it could be taken away or destroyed or something," he explained.

"Oh. That makes sense," she thought aloud. "But how are we going to fly it?"

Aang laughed a little. "I'm an airbender, Katara. I'm no stranger to using this thing."

Katara just shook her head at him, slightly amused that he didn't seem to understand what she was asking. "No, Aang," she laughed a little. "What I meant was how are we going to fly it?"

A large blush found its way onto his face as he realized how he had messed up. "Oh. Right," he smiled sheepishly before he resumed his normal demeanor. "That's easy. Though if we're going to pull this off, we're going to have to be really close," he tried to be nonchalant but failed rather miserably.

Katara laughed a little and kissed his cheek. "I don't have a problem with that." He smiled and pulled her close to him so that they were side by side.

"Grab a side and hold on tight," he instructed. She did as she was told and gasped a little in surprise as he wrapped one arm around her waist and hugged her close to him. Not that she minded, of course. Without another word, he launched into the air and soared into the sky, making her laugh as she was amazed at the view from up high.

Although a part of her was scared to death at the moment, the rest of her was amazed at how beautiful the city looked from this high. It had never occurred to her to be up high. Not that she was ever afforded the chance, but still. Just seeing the city lights made her feel like forever had happened in a second.

This didn't last long before they arrived where they needed to as Aang landed on a rooftop across from the house and set her down gently. "So…" he started a little nervously, fearing her reaction. "What did you think?"

She was silent for a moment, still trying to process everything that had just happened before a wide smile broke across her face. "That was awesome!" she cheered, making him smile as well.

"Great!" he sighed in relief. "I'm glad that you liked it." They smiled at each other for a moment before they returned back to what they knew they had to do. "So, this is the house that we need to get inside," he told her as he offered a pair of binoculars from his pocket. She took it and looked straight across from them, looking around for any kind of entrances. "See anything?"

"Not yet," she admitted as she continued her search. After looking around the house a few times, something finally caught her eye. Although everything else seemed to be shut and locked down tight, there was one thing that she noticed on the other roof. Although it was very well-concealed, she noticed that there was something out of place on the roof. It looked to be a box, but upon closer inspection, she saw what appeared to be a hatch underneath it.

"Did you find something?" Aang asked as he noticed that her search had become fixed on one point.

Prying her eyes away from the goggles, she looked at him and nodded. "Yeah. On the roof there's a box, but underneath it, it looks like there's a hatch we can use to get in."

Aang took the binoculars and looked where she was looking and smiled as he realized she was right. "Wow, nice find, Kat," he congratulated her, making her proud of herself. Taking her by surprise, he went behind her and wrapped her in his arms, making her blush as he crouched down and launched into the air, making her shriek a little before they finally landed softly on the other rooftop.

Once Katara was finally over her shock, she looked at him in annoyance. "I could have used a warning, thank you," she muttered.

"Sorry," he apologized, truly feeling bad. He was so used to flying, he forgot that not everyone could do what he did. "Do you forgive me?"

She pretended to think about it when an idea came to mind. "And what will you do to earn my forgiveness?" she asked playfully over her shoulder.

He smirked and moved closer to her, making her gasp as he trailed kisses down her neck. "How about," he started as he kissed her jawbone, making her feel like she was losing herself already. "When we're done with this, I make it up to you at home? Whatever you want to do."

Katara wanted to try to see if she could get anything more out of him, but with the kisses and his hot breath on her neck, it was taking everything in her not to jump him right there. "Okay," she finally agreed weakly, making him smile before he backed off, leaving Katara wishing he had stayed where he was.

"Good. Now let's get this over with." Walking over to the box, he kicked it off and to their not so surprise was the hatch that Katara had spotted. "Shall we?"

Katara nodded and waited as he opened it and peered inside, but there was nothing there. Or rather, nothing that he could see. The house was dark, but fortunately for him, he had been doing this for a while. He knew just how to find his way through the house. Jumping in first, Katara followed suit and they found themselves in a hallway.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Aang whispered to her as they moved and hid against a wall, just in case their target decided to come in their direction. "We're going to look around until we find whoever it was who was hacking us. Then, we knock them out and bring them in to the council."

With a roll of her eyes, Katara shook her head at him, though not without a glint of amusement in her eyes. "You already told me that, Aang," she whispered back.

He blinked as he realized she was right. "Oh yeah. Well, except for the knocking out part," he sighed. "Come on," he waved her over, but she stood in her spot, prompting him to frown. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she assured him. "I just think that we should split up."

His eyes widened considerably, wondering if she really had just suggested what he thought that she suggested. "You think we should split up?" he asked sadly.

Katara's eyes widened as she realized what he thought that meant. "No, no! I don't mean it like that!" she whispered a little frantically. "I meant that I think that we should split up to look around for whoever it is."

"I don't know, Katara… It's bad enough that you're here at all," he replied unsurely, not wanting to offend her, but also not wanting to risk her getting hurt.

She raised a brow at him. "What, you don't think I can handle myself?" It wasn't a question. It was a challenge.

"No,no,no!" he exclaimed quickly, making Katara's eyes dance with amusement as he struggled with the right words. "I know you can do it, but I just don't want you to get hurt. What if the guy hears you and decides to kill you?"

Katara smiled and took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be fine, Aang. I'm a big girl now. I'll be able to take care of myself if something comes up. Okay?" she asked gently.

He still looked like he wanted to argue, but seeing the determination set on her face, he knew all too well that this was a losing battle for him. "Fine," he finally agreed with a sigh. "Just please… be careful."

"I'll be careful," she promised before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Now,, how about I go this way," she pointed to their right, "and you go that way," she then pointed to their left.

Aang was still not very much liking this idea of splitting up, but he had already provoked her ire twice thus far, and he certainly wasn't going to do it again. "Okay. Call me if you find him." Katara nodded and made sure she still had her water pouch and the pistol Aang had insisted that she kept just in case before going down her designated hallway.

Letting out a little sigh of frustration, he shook his head and started creeping his way towards his end of the hallway, listening for any kind of sign for a person. Whether it was the sound of a person walking or even just breathing, he made sure to keep his ears open as he checked each of the rooms. Unfortunately for him, there was no one in any of the rooms. So was the hacker not home? Maybe they had found out that they had been discovered and fled. Another thought came to mind. One that Aang certainly didn't like. But that would mean…

A scream came from the other end of the hallway, making Aang freeze in fear before he forced himself to get up and run towards the other end. Please let her be okay, please let her be okay, please let her be okay, he begged God as he ran. Before long, he found the room the scream had originated and found what he had expected. Katara being held at gunpoint by a man…

"Let her go!" Aang yelled furiously, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the man.

The man simply turned around, still holding the gun to Katara's head. "Ah, so you're the other person I saw jump into my house." Aang's eyes widened in disbelief. He had known that they had come in. More importantly, he had let them?

"If you knew we were coming, why did you let us in?" Aang questioned him, his pistol unwavering as it was trained on right between the man's eyes. The only thing holding Aang back from shooting him was the fact that Katara was too close for there to be a clean shot that wouldn't hurt her.

"Because… I need your help," the man admitted reluctantly, taking both Aang and Katara by surprise.

"If you need our help, then why are you holding her hostage?"

The man gave him a look. "Come on. Think about it. If you knew that you were being hunted by an organization of elite assassins, wouldn't you want to make sure that you have something to make sure you live long enough to talk?"

Aang didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. "Fine. Let her go and I promise I won't do anything." The man was, for obvious reasons, hesitant, but he could tell that Aang meant what he said. He removed the gun from Katara's head and allowed her to run over to Aang's side, taking out her water.

"I never agreed to that," she told her previous captor and prepared to freeze him, but Aang put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold on. Let's just see what he has to say." Katara looked at him in disbelief, but she could see that he was serious and reluctantly put the water back into her pouch. "Okay, now that that's settled, what did you need our help with?" he asked, curiosity evident in his voice. Aang took a closer look at the man. He had slightly tanner skin than his own, but had the same color hair, though with it being a bit longer than his as it surrounded his head, along with a pair of light brown eyes.

The man took a second to gather his words as best he could and decided to just say it. "I need help figuring out how to free my dad."

Katara didn't want to admit it, but this struck a chord in her heart strings. Yet another person whose family was being messed with. "What happened?" she asked gently, feeling her motherly instincts start to come out.

"He was kidnapped," the man explained, eyes downcast in shame. "One night, my father and I were working on an algorithm to ensure that we wouldn't be traced whenever we took some money, but then some soldiers broke into our house and took him." He took a deep breath as Katara gave him a comforting hug. He looked at her gratefully before continuing. "They said the only way I would get him back was if I helped them find your base, but after they… did what they wanted to, they still won't give him back. They want me to find whatever bases are left, but… I know that they're evil. I won't help them anymore," he refused rather adamantly.

Aang appreciated that this man appeared to have a conscience, but he needed more details if they were going to help him. "I'm sorry about your father, but how could we help you?"

"You track these people and kill them on a regular basis," Teo laughed a little incredulously. "If we can find the person who took my father, then you can have your revenge and me and my father can leave and never come back."

Pondering this for a few moments, he nodded in acceptance. "Okay, that could work. But I have a few questions."

"Ask away," the man simply shrugged as he sat back down on his bed.

"How are we going to track down where your father is? I'm sure you're a great hacker if you managed to find our main base, but this isn't a base. Your father could be anywhere in the city."

The man actually had to think about that for a moment when an idea came to mind. "Well, the night that my dad was kidnapped, there was one man who was clearly the leader of the group. They made the mistake of showing me their faces, and after some research found out that he's whoever is behind all this second in command. If we take him out, we can probably get information where my dad is."

After a few moments of thoughts, Aang had to agree. "Okay, that just might work. Now for my second question, if you're such a good hacker, how did I find out that you had hacked us?"

The man grinned proudly, obviously feeling accomplished by himself. "Oh, I left just enough of a trace of myself to show you that I live here. That way you could come here and we could talk."

"What?" Aang and Katara both gasped in surprise, completely not expecting this in the least. Aang had never once imagined a hacker would ever not cover their tracks, but he supposed he understood why the man had chosen not to. "Okay then. And for my last question…" he looked him in the eye. "What's your name?"

This took the man by surprise, but he finally shook it off and awkwardly extended his hand out to him. "I'm 'Hacks4life'."

"I meant your real name," Aang replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

After another moment of hesitation, the man finally gave in with a sigh. "My name's Teo. Teo Adams."

Aang nodded and shook his hand. "I'm Aang, Aang White. And this," he gestured to Katara. "Is Katara Aqua."

Teo looked at him in surprise. "You do realize now that I know your name, I could turn you into the police for murder and vandalism, right?" he questioned in surprise.

"And I could turn you in for admitting to be a hacker," Aang shrugged. "And I have a witness to prove it. You, however, don't." Teo didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. "But as long as you prove that you're a friend, that won't be a problem for either of us. I don't need more enemies than I already have."

Teo considered this for a moment and nodded. "Alright. I believe you."

"So who and where is this guy you're talking about, anyway?" Aang wondered.

"Oh, it'd probably just be easier if I showed you," Teo shrugged before getting up and gesturing for them to follow. They followed him as he walked into the room across from his and gasped as they looked at his set up. There was nothing but the best technology in the room, along with a few comfy chairs and what appeared to be some dish-looking objects on the walls. He noticed their attention fixed on the objects and explained. "Oh, those help block my signal so I don't have to worry about people finding me unless I want them to."

"Oh. That makes sense," Katara thought aloud before following him to a computer where he quickly brought up a news article of a man that seemed familiar to Aang.

Teo pointed at the man in the picture, shaking none other than Ozai's hand himself. "This here is Mr. Long Feng. He was the one who led the team of kidnappers who took my dad."

"But is it considered kidnapping if it's not a kid?" Aang joked, earning unamused looks from the people around him.

"You're lucky you're cute," Katara sighed, unable to hide a little smile before she resumed looking at the screen.

"Anyway," Teo continued with furrowed brows. "If we can find him and take him out, then we can find where my father is and find a way to take him down."

Aang was liking the plan so far, but an idea came to mind as he looked around the room. His Order could have certainly used a skilled hacker to help. If not for helping to find out information about their enemies, then at least to have a better way to hide their secrets. And if Teo could hack into their servers, then he would prove a valuable ally indeed…

"Okay, we'll find him, but I've got a couple of conditions for you before we do this," Aang tried to barter.

Teo raised a brow and leaned back in his seat. "What kinds of conditions?" he asked wearily.

"I only have two," Aang tried to reassure him. "The first one, I have to bring you back to my Order to explain the situation so my friend isn't being hunted anymore."

"Your friend is being hunted by your order? What did he do?" Teo asked in confusion as he scratched his head.

Aang actually laughed a little, already imagining the look of surprise that would cross over Teo's face. "Oh, he didn't do anything. Because he's the son of our top enemy, my Order assumed that he was the traitor who gave up our location, but as it turns out, you were the one who told them our location."

Teo smiled sheepishly and looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," he mumbled apologetically.

Although Aang still wasn't very happy about losing some of his friends from the attack, he understood why he had done what he had. After all, if it had been his parents in danger, he very well might have done the same.

"What's done is done," he finally said, making sure not to say 'It's okay' or 'I'll never forgive you'. "What matters now is that we fix this and take out who's really responsible for this."

Teo thought of something for a moment. "Wait, you said your friend was the son of the guy behind all of this?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

"Well, why doesn't he just kill him in his sleep or something?" Teo wondered.

Aang thought about this for a moment and shrugged. "For one, if he got caught and didn't complete the job, then he would never be allowed near him again. And, even if he tried, Ozai has many guards at all times. Even if Zuko did manage to kill him on his own, he would probably die trying to escape.

Teo thought about it and realized he was right. "Okay, that makes sense. What's your second condition?"

"I want you to come work for us," Aang explained. "If we had a hacker as good as you and your father, we would never be found again." Teo looked like he was going to object, so Aang quickly added. "We can pay you."

"How much?" he replied rather skeptically. Aang dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, making both Katara and Teo's eyes widen as he took out a large wad of one hundred dollar bills until he was satisfied and handed it over to Teo. "Here. This is a down payment."

Counting the money, Teo's eyes widened as he saw how much was there. "Ten thousand dollars? You carry that much money in your pockets?" he asked in disbelief.

Aang chuckled and shrugged. "Only for situations like this. I've found that money talks more than words usually do."

"That it does," Teo agreed as he put the money in his pocket and considered. "Alright, but me and my father are a package team. We'll both work for you for one million a year."

"Deal," Aang stuck out his hand which Teo quickly shook. "Now come on. We need to go to my Order and tell them the plan." Teo nodded and followed them as they walked out of the house and made their way down a street. Though Katara couldn't help but feel like they were being watched.

"Aang," she whispered a little nervously.

"Yeah?" he asked over his shoulder, detecting the nervousness in her voice.

"Does it feel like… we're being watched?" she asked, looking around and wondering if she had just imagined the shadow that moved across the street.

Aang looked around and saw something. The outline of several men behind them trying to sneak up on them. "Yeah. We're being followed." Turning around quickly, he took out his gun and his blade, aiming it at the group who had been caught red-handed. "Who are you and what do you want?" he inquired them seriously.

"Oh, you don't need to know who we are. All we want is your death," the group's leader laughed before sending his fellow soldiers forward. Katara took out her water and Teo took out his gun, but Aang was already in the fray, stabbing and slicing, only wanting to use the gun if absolutely necessary.

Seeing this, Katara dashed in and helped while Teo stood there. Eh, it looks like they've got this handled, he thought with a yawn as he put his gun back in his pocket.

Aang sliced one guard's throat with his blade and sent another to Katara who stabbed him with her ice sword. One soldier foolishly attempted to sneak up on Aang, but Aang stuck his leg out and tripped him, making him land on the ground with an unceremonious thud. The man was not very fortunate, as Aang swiftly took his life before moving on to the next.

Before long, there was only one soldier left, and Katara decided to take advantage of this. Grabbing him by the throat, she pushed him up against the wall and stared at him menacingly from underneath her hood. "Where is Long Feng?"

"I'll never talk!" the soldier shouted back defiantly. Katara, however, saw through his facade. He was scared, and she was going to use that to her advantage.

"Oh really? Well, if you're not going to talk, I guess we won't have any use for you. Any last words?" she asked sweetly, but with her gun pressed against his skull.

A few moments of panicked breathing went by before the soldier finally crumbled. "Okay, okay! Long Feng's going to be at a party tomorrow night at City Hall! You can find him there!"

Katara smiled and took her gun away, but still kept it pointing at him. "Thank you." She looked at Aang. "So, what do we do with him?"

Aang was wondering that himself, but he couldn't bring himself to kill this man. It was clear that this man just wanted to live, and as long as he agreed to his conditions, that was one wish that he would grant. "We'll let him go, on one condition."

"Anything!" the soldier replied rather quickly.

Aang walked up to him and got in his face, giving him the most serious look he could muster. "You're going to leave this city and not come back. And you're not going to tell anyone about what happened here. Okay?" The soldier nodded quickly. "Good. Now get out of here." The soldier ran away without hesitation.

"How do you know he'll keep his word?" Teo asked him as they resumed walking.

"Because he knows it's his only chance of surviving," Aang told him as he resumed the way to the entrance.

Half an hour later, the trio finally walked into a vast corridor, with a large table in the center surrounded by statues of former agents.

"Ah, Mister White. It is good to see you again," a man at the table greeted him pleasantly.

Aang smiled and waved to him. "Hey, Gyatso." Gyatso smiled back before they both resumed their serious faces, knowing now was not the time for catching up.

"So," Zhao started. "You have found the one who discovered our base?"

"Yes, but it isn't what it seems," Aang replied quickly while gesturing to Teo. "This is Teo Adams. He is an excellent hacker, and before you all decide what to do with him, please allow me to explain the situation."

The council was silent as they looked at each other, but they all shrugged and nodded their agreement. "Very well, you may speak," Zhao gestured for him to continue.

"As I said, it's not what it seems," Aang began, looking to make sure Katara was still near. He always felt better and more confident with her at his side. "Our enemy kidnapped his father and forced him to hack our servers. And they still haven't returned him."

The council's eyes widened in shock at hearing this story, though they supposed this shouldn't be that surprising. This was one of the reasons they had this 'job' in the first place. "So what if his father was kidnapped?" one of the council members snapped. "He still is the cause of the death of some of our brother's and sisters! He should die!"

"Be calm, my friend," Gyatso put a soothing hand on his shoulder, making the man sigh.

"I'm sorry. It's just-" he tried to apologize.

"We know," Gyatso assured him. "But he did what he had to. It isn't his fault. Rather, we should focus on the one who is to blame for this." He turned back to look at Aang. "Do you know who gave the order for this?"

Aang nodded. "Ozai gave the order, but it was carried out by Long Feng. If we take out Long Feng, we might be able to find a way to take out Ozai without Zuko being blamed. And that reminds me, since Zuko's not to blame, I assume that he is no longer on our list?" he asked them hopefully.

Zhao didn't look too happy about this, but Aang knew he wouldn't let a personal grudge stand in the way of what he knew was right. "Very well. He may live." The others nodded their agreement, making Aang sigh in relief. Zhao thought all this over. "Where can we find Long Feng?"

Katara stepped up this time. "We interrogated one of his soldiers and found out that he's going to be at a party at City Hall tomorrow. If we can get in, we can take him out and find Ozai."

"Who is this?" Zhao asked curiously, looking at her closely before finally realizing who she was. "You brought your date on a mission? You do realize that we'll have to kill her, right?" he told Aang grimly.

"No! She wants to join the order!" Aang exclaimed a little desperately, not wanting to fight with his comrades, but not wanting Katara to be killed either.

Zhao raised a brow. "She wants to join us, does she?" He looked at her again, and she squirmed a little under his intense gaze. "And what makes you think you have what it takes?"

Katara was nervous for a second, but she shook it off and stood forward. "I'm a master waterbender and I'm good at being stealthy. Plus, I hate anyone who's willing to tear apart a family for their own agenda."

"You weren't that stealthy when I caught you," Teo snickered.

Katara glared at him, and he shut up instantly. Rolling her eyes, she continued. "I promise, if you allow me into your order, you will not be disappointed." The council members all looked at each other. After a few moments of bated breath from Aang, they finally nodded their assent.

"Very well. Mister White here will be your mentor until you have been trained enough," Zhao replied evenly.

"I don't need a-" she was going to argue further, but the look in Aang's eyes told her not to. "Fine," she sighed.

Zhao nodded. "Good. Anything else you would like to bring up while you're here?"

Aang nodded and gestured to Teo again. "I've hired him and his father when we rescue him to work for us. He's the best hacker I've ever seen and will help us make sure that no base is ever discovered again."

"Yeah, but like I told him, for a million a year," Teo decided to make clear.

Zhao just waved him off. "That's nothing. Alright then. If that's all there is to discuss, then I have a proposal to make." He had everyone's attention. "Tomorrow, we will go after Long Feng. However, I do not want him to get away. He must pay for his part in this and we must find a way to get to Ozai. I propose that we send ten members of our Order to support these three in taking him down to ensure he doesn't escape. All in favor?" Everyone raised their hands. "Splendid. Meeting adjourned." The council members stood up, Gyatso walking over to give Aang a hug.

"It's good to see you again, Aang," Gyatso told him with a smile.

Aang smiled as well and hugged him back. "It's good to see you too, Gyatso."

"I wish I could stay to talk, but I too have important matters to take care of. Good luck on your mission, young man," he gave him another hug before walking away with the other council members.

Aang looked at his friends. "Well, at least everything went about as well as I had hoped. I honestly thought they might kill you."

Katara smirked. "I'd like to see them try." Aang was about to point out that his comrades had spent years mastering the art of the kill, but he decided against it.

"Come on. We should go get some rest," he motioned for them to follow as he walked back out where they came. "Tomorrow, Long Feng will die."