The 6 Returns

It was nearly sunset and Gran Gran and some other villagers looked down on the ice road out of their village to see Aang and Katara in the distance walking toward them. As they approach, the children run forward to greet them. "Yay! Aang's back!"

The children gather around Aang as Sokka comes forward angrily. Sokka pointed at Aang. "I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

Katara said, "Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident."

Aang said, "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well..." Putting his hand to his head as if trying to puzzle out the thought. "...we "boobied" right into it."

Cara walked up to him and pinched his ear like before. "I turn my back for a few minutes and already we're in trouble."

Aang went to his knee. "Uncle, uncle." She let go of him.

Gran Gran shook her head. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!"

Aang said, "Don't blame Katara! I brought her there." He looked downcast. "It's my fault."

Sokka grew angry. "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy!" The children walk away from Aang and Cara and towards Sokka and Gran Gran. "The foreigners are banned from our village! The turtles will stay!"

Katara was mad. "Sokka, you're making a mistake."

Sokka argued back. "No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like him!"

Katara said, "They are not our enemy! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun."

Sokka asked, "Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!"

Aang smiled earnestly. "You should try it sometime."

Cara bopped him on the head. "Not helping."

Sokka yelled, "Get out of our village. Now!"

Katara pleaded, "Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this."

Gran Gran replied, "Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbenders leaves."

Katara yelled, "Then I'm banished too!"

Donnie said, "Katara, you're not making any sense."

Katara yelled, "I'm making plenty!" She turns, taking Aang by the shoulder, who was holding Cara's hand, and begins to walk off. "C'mon, let's go!"

Appa was ready for flight. The 3 started to walk towards the bison. Sokka asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

Katara replied, "To find a waterbender! Aang and Cara are taking me to the North Pole! You coming Leo?!"

Aang was momentarily confused, then brightening. "I am? Great!"

Cara said, "Try and keep up Aang."

Sokka called out to her. "Katara!" She stops. "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"

She pauses, doubt and indecision on her face. Cara comes up next to her. "Katara, me and Aang don't want to come between you and your family."

Aang said, "Cara's right Katara. It's not right."

They walked towards Appa. Katara asked, "So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?"

Aang said, "Thanks for penguin sledding with me."

Cara said, "And thanks for waking me up turtles."

Raph asked, "Where will you go?"

Aang puts a hand on Appa. "Guess we'll go back home and look for the airbenders." Then he realized something. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that."

Cara said, "Hope my violin is still in tacked."

They airbends themselves onto Appa's head where Aang takes the reigns and Cara was sitting on the saddle. Aang turns to address the village. "It was nice meeting everyone."

Sokka said, "Let's see your bison fly now, air kids."

Aang try to encourage. "Come on, Appa, you can do it! Yip! Yip!"

Appa rumbles and gets onto his feet. Sokka said, "Yeah, I thought so."

Just then a little girl with pig tails rushes forward with a cry to stand by Katara. "Don't go! We'll miss you!"

Cara said sadly, "We'll miss you too."

Aang turns to look at Katara, then turns away, shaking the reigns once more. "Come on, boy."

Appa begins to walk off in the distance. The little girls run off crying back to the village while Gran Gran comes up behind Katara. Gran Gran said, "Katara, you'll feel better after you —"

Katara cut her off angrily. "You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender and for the turtles to learn bending at all." She too stalks off angrily, leaving Gran Gran alone.

Sokka started to direct the little boys through the village gate. "All right! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!"

A little boy stops, raising his head and dancing about suggestively. "But, I gotta–"

Sokka cut him off forcefully and pointed to the fortifications. "And no potty breaks!" Then he turned to the turtles. "You guys need to hide. If you're captured by the firenation, who knows what they'll do to you."

Mikey asked, "Any idea what?"

Sokka said, "Trust me, you don't want to know. But for real hide!"

In the frozen wasteland outside the village Appa, Cara and Aang resting in the curves of some ice formations. The formation has two doughnut shaped holes. Appa lies on his back in the lower one, Aang in the smaller higher one and Cara was on Appa's head. Appa rumbles. "Yeah, I liked her too." said Aang.

Cara asked, "Aren't you a bit young to be thinking of girls Aang?"

He replied, "What about you? You haven't found a match yet either."

Cara said, "Not into romance yet. Though that's probably a weird response for a teenager like me."

Aang looks out to see and gets up with a start. Then he saw the firenation ship. He looks over from the ship to where the village lies over the horizon. "The village!" He slides down off his perch. "Appa, wait here!"

Cara got off of Appa. "I'm going with you." Appa rumbles in reply and shifts his position slightly.

Back at the village, Sokka was putting on his war garb. Fingerless gloves, arm wraps, boots and face paint are all applied silently.

Zuko's ship steaming ahead, and inside the ship Zuko was being helped into his armor by some attendants. He girds himself with a breastplate, shoulder guard and helmet.

Back at the village, Sokka leaving his tent with his weapons then cut to a silent overhead pan shot of the village. Alone, Sokka stands atop the ice wall of the village, scanning the mist for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, a deep rumbling noise is heard and the ground begins to shake. Parts of the wall on which Sokka stands begins to crumble. The villagers look around in alarm. Sokka's guard tower collapses in a heap of snow and ice. Sokka was disappointed at the tower's collapse. "Oh man!" Pandemonium breaks out in the village as people being to run every which way. Katara is in their midst, but stops, seeing something in the mist. The turtles were hidden behind the snow dunes far from the village and looked to see the village. Suddenly a massive shadow emerges from the mist, dwarfing Sokka. It is the bow of Prince Zuko's ship. Sokka noticed how big the ship was and how small he was. "Ohhh, man!"

Prince Zuko's vessel has cut through the ice all the way to the city wall itself. As the ships continue to ice break towards the wall, Katara puts Gran Gran into one of the tents in the rear and then gets a little child out of harm's way as the ice floor of the village begins to crack all over the place under the stress. As she puts the child in a tent, she turns to look back to Sokka. Sokka poised both tragically and comically to the ship's hull with his weapon. Katara yelled for him. "Sokka, get out of the way!"

As the ship reaches the wall, it collapses into a heap of ice and snow, which tumbles back into the village, carrying Sokka with it. The ship came to a halt. Steam wafts up from where the bow has split the ice. The villagers, Katara in front, have emerged from their shelters and stare in trepidation and amazement at the ship. Katara draws a deep breath in anticipation. Sokka looked up at the ship, who also draws breath. With the noise of metal on metal the bowsprit of the ship opens and folds out and down onto the village's floor. The bowsprit has become a huge gangplank, similar to the Roman corvus, for disembarking Fire Nation troops. Sokka's falls backwards to avoid being crushed by the bowsprit. As the steam clears from the top of the bowsprit, Zuko and a host of Fire Nation soldiers are revealed. Zuko walked down the gangplank stairs followed by guards.

Sokka, gets up and charges Zuko with an adolescent war cry. As he runs up the steps to the Prince, Zuko casually and expertly kicks his weapon out of his hand and then kicks him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ice to the planks right. His head gets stuck in the snow and he struggles comically to free himself. The villagers draw back in fright and the ease with which their only warrior has been dispatched by the invaders. Fire Nation soldiers have now reached them. Zuko walks forward to address the village. He looks over the crowd, and then walks over to Katara and Gran Gran. "Where are you hiding them?" he asked. He looks around the crowd, as there is no immediate response. He grabs Gran Gran and shows her to the villagers. "They'd be about this age? Master of all elements? Guardian of elements?" Again no one responds. After a brief pause, he throws Gran Gran roughly back to Katara. With a cry of frustration, he launches gout of flame over the villager's heads. The villagers cower in fear. "I know you're hiding them!"

Behind Zuko, Sokka gets up, his face paint largely gone. He retrieves his weapon and charges Zuko with another cry. He dodges Sokka's charges and flips him over his head. Zuko fires a blast of flame at Sokka, but Sokka rolls out of the way, throwing his boomerang at Zuko as he does. Caught by surprise, Zuko barely avoids the boomerang. He turns to look back in anger at Sokka over the near miss. Cut back to Sokka, the villagers behind him. A little boy in the crowd throws him a spear. "Show no fear!"

Sokka catches the spear and charges Zuko, who, as Sokka reaches him, breaks off pieces of the spear shaft with his wrist guards. After the head of the spear has been shorn off, Zuko grabs the spear, boinks Sokka on the forehead with it several times, then breaks it in half and drops the pieces on the ground. Sokka, after getting bonked on the head, has also sunk to the ground, rubbing his head. It slams Zuko in the back of the head, knocking his helmet off kilter. Furious, Zuko begins to spit fire out of his hands as he hovers menacingly over Sokka.

Aang and Cara skyrocketing towards the village on a penguin, while the other was flying, staff in Aang's hand. They fly right under Zuko, sweeping his legs out from under him. Zuko lands butt up. The helmet lands on his behind in a most suggestive manner. The children cheer as Aang and Cara reaches the villagers. As the 2 and the penguin bank, they dump a lot of snow on the cheering kids. They stop cheering for a moment, but then take up the cheer again anyway. The penguin slides to a halt and it pushes Aang off as Cara lands next to him. The penguin gets up, looks at Aang, and then turns and waddles away. "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka." said Aang.

"Looks like we almost missed the party." said Cara.

Sokka dryly said, "Hi...Aang and Cara. Thanks for comin'."

The 2 airbenders looks over at the Firebenders. Zuko gets to his feet and assuming a firebending stance, Aang at the ready with his staff, Cara was ready to fight hand to hand, surrounded by Zuko and his men. They begin to close in, but Aang and Cara blows the men on either side of them backwards with blasts of air. Cara blasts Zuko as well, but he holds his ground, shielding his face from the wind. "Looking for us?" asked Aang

Zuko was incredulous. "You're the airbenders? You're the Avatar and Guardian?"

Katara was shocked. "Aang? Cara?"

Sokka was shock as well. "No way."

Zuko said, "Then that means the warriors are not far."

The turtles looked over the dunes and Mikey tried to help but was being held back by Donnie. Raph wanted to fight but his anger nearly started this firebending and Leo had to cool him off. Leo said, "We can't risk it Raph."

Raph said, "Damn."

Zuko, Cara and Aang maneuvered for position against each other in the middle of a village that has become an arena. Zuko said, "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just kids!"

Aang said, "Well, you're just a teenager. Not much older than Cara."

Cara said, "Again Aang, not helping!"

Zuko fires blast after blast. Aang cries out. He is hard pressed, fear showing on his face. Aang and Cara dissipate each blast as it strikes by twirling his staff and air in front of them like a helicopter blade. The dissipation doesn't block the fire from reaching the villagers, though, and they cry out. Aang and Cara look behind to them and realize they can't protect them all. Aang asked, "If we go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

After a brief pauses Zuko straightens up and nods stiffly. Cara asked, "And you promise never to come here again?"

Zuko nodded again. A soldier's hands entering the frame to take his staff and lead them to the ship.

Katara rushes forward. "No! Don't do this!"

Aang said, "Don't worry, Katara, we'll be okay." They push them forward roughly.

Cara said, "Take care of Appa for us until we get back."

Zuko said, "Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home."

They board the ship and the bowsprit rises back up. Aang and Cara looks back hopefully at their new friend as the ship closes. Katara's eyes water as the prison closes around the 2 airbenders. Aang smile drops as he sees her pain. The shadow of the closing bowsprit closed over them.

It was morning. The jagged path through the ice that Zuko's ship opened is plainly visible as is the shattered village wall. Life goes on, however, the fire at the center of the village smokes and villager are visible about their work. Some of the villagers tending the fire, digging out the watchtower and re-raising tents. They look sad. Katara was at the water's edge looking out at the sun rising over the sea. Sokka walks by carrying some things. Katara said, "We have to go after that ship, Sokka. Aang and Cara saved our tribe; now we have to save them."

Sokka said, "Katara, I—"

Katara asked, "Why can't you realize that they're on our side? If we don't help them, no one will. I know you don't like Aang and Cara and you only adore the turtles, but we owe them and I—"

Sokka yelled, "Katara! Are you gonna talk all day or are you comin' with me?" Sokka motions to his left and it shows a canoe ready to go.

Katara made a happy gasp. "Sokka!" She gives him a bear hug.

Sokka said, "Get in. We're going to save your boyfriend and the loudmouth."

Katara argued. "He's not my—"

Sokka interrupted her. "Whatever."

Katara said, "And you're lucky Cara didn't hear you when you said 'loudmouth'."

Gran Gran walked to them. "What do you two think you're doing?" They turn and try to look innocent. Gran Gran, who looks momentarily severe, but then smiles and offers them a blue bundle. "You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you. It's been so long since I've had hope. But you brought it back to life, my little waterbender." She hugs Katara. "And you, my brave warrior, be nice to your sister." She hugs Sokka.

Sokka said, "Yeah... okay, Gran."

Gran Gran said, "Aang is the Avatar and Cara is the Guardian. They're the world's only chance. You both found them for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with theirs."

Katara turned to the canoe. "There's no way we're gonna catch a war ship with a canoe."

Then they had Appa mounting the crest of hill being led by the turtles. Appa emits a low rumble as he approaches. Leo asked, "How about a bison?"

Donnie said, "Lot faster than a canoe swimming or flying."

Katara smiled. "Appa!" She runs towards them.

Sokka asked, "You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't ya?"

Mikey put his arm around his shoulders. "Come on. You need to take risk once in a while. You can't be so serious all the time."

Sokka rolled his eyes. Raph did the same. "It's either this or we make you swim to the ship."

Sokka looked at both of them. "I'm not going to win, am I?"

Both said, "Nope."

Back on Zuko's ship, the prow cutting through the ice packed water. On the foredeck Aang and Cara hands were bound behind them and was faces Zuko, Iroh and a bunch of guards. Zuko has Aang's staff. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Take the 2 to the prison hold. And" Shoved the staff in Iroh's direction. "take this to my quarters."

Iroh takes the staff as Zuko walks away. Iroh immediately turns to the guard on his left. "Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?"

The guard takes the staff as Aang and Cara are escorted down some stairs into the ship. The 2 were being escorted down the hallways. Cara stepped on Aang's back foot signaling him. Aang said, "So... I guess you never fought 2 airbenders before. I bet we can take you both with are hands tied behind our back."

A guard yelled, "Silence!"

They stop in front of a door. As one of the guards moves to open the door with a key, Aang and Cara draws a great breath and blows the guard with the key into the door, knocking him out. The breath also propels him backwards and into the guard behind him. They were blown all the way back down the hallways. They crash into the stairs they came down on. The guard is knocked out since Aang used him to cushion his own impact. Aang and Cara then airbends themselves back up onto the deck and airbends the door at the end of the deck open. They entered the ship and runs down the hall. One of the guards Aang and Cara just escaped from emerges and shouts up to a guard on the bridge deck in the foreground. "They have escaped!"

Meanwhile, Appa swimming through the water, with Katara at the reigns and Sokka with the turtles on his back in the saddle. Sokka grew drearily. "Go. Fly. Soar."

Katara said, "Please, Appa, we need your help. Aang and Cara needs your help."

Sokka muttered, "Up. Ascend. Elevate."

Leo went next to Katara. "Sokka doesn't believe you can fly, but we do, Appa. Come on. Don't you wanna save Aang and Cara?" Appa rumbles in response, but doesn't speed up or fly.

Sokka asked, "What was it that kid said?"

Leo asked, "Yee-ha?"

Mikey asked, "Hup hup?"

Donnie asked, "Wahoo?"

Then Raph. "Uh... yip yip?"

The last one gets a response. Appa rumbles again and begins to flop his massive beaver tail. He begins to hop along the surface of the water as he picks up speed. Finally, with a mighty heave, he takes off into the sky. Katara was ecstatic. "You did it, Raph!"

Sokka yelled, "He's flying! He's flying! Katara, he's—!" Katara gives him a smug look. Then, nonchalantly, "I mean, big deal, he's flying."

Meanwhile, Aang and Cara were running down one of the ship's hallway, looking behind them for pursuers. Their hands are still bound behind them. They turn and starts to run forward – right into three Fire Nation soldiers blocking their way, weapons drawn. Aang asked, "You haven't seen my staff around, have you?"

Cara said, "You're gonna get the wrong answer."

They run forward and up and around the guards by running along the walls and ceiling in corkscrew circles. The 2 get by them with ease and look at his retreating form with surprise. "Thanks anyway!" said Aang.

They run into another hallway, this time blocked by 2 guards. They blast fireballs at them, but airbenders avoids it by launching themselves over the guards' head. The frame rate slows as Aang and Cara passes, showing how Aang and Cara were able to cut their wrist bonds by catching them on the horn of the guards' helmet. The bonds break and the guards are thrown off balance and onto the ground. Aang and Cara run off. Aang then opens random doors to find his staff. The last door he opens reveals a snoring Iroh. Cara covered Aang's mouth and they closed the door softly. "Sorry..."

They then run by another open door, stops and turns back to it. "My staff!" said Aang. The 2 went inside but then heard the door close behind them.

It was Prince Zuko. "Looks like I underestimated you."

Cara got Aang behind her and she started to fight Zuko. Zuko begins blasting fire at Cara, who barely dodges. Aang was terrified as Cara pants to catch her breath. After dodging, a few more shots, Cara rolls underneath Zuko to get behind him. By staying behind, him, Zuko is unable to blast her with fire. Zuko dissipates each fireball with a small air ball he forms with his hands. Cara creates an air scooter and the 2 rides around the walls and ceiling of the room, all the time getting licked by the gouts of flame Zuko unleashes at him. Cara terminates the airball and grabs a tapestry off the wall. She wraps Zuko up in it as he passes. While Zuko struggles against the tapestry, Aang is able to grab his staff. Zuko breaks his bonds and they once again square off against each other. After a few seconds of maneuvering, Cara airbends a mattress up off the floor and slams it into Zuko. The mattress propels Zuko into the opposite wall. She is smashed into it and he falls to the ground, onto the mattress. Cara then airbends the mattress up to the Zuko, smashing Zuko into that. Both falls back down to the ground. "Bet this is the first time you get handled by a girl in bed." said Cara. Zuko looks up in anger to find Aang and Cara gone.

At the bridge, the wheel mechanism that opens a deck hatch on the floor begins to spin. The hatch opens and Aang airbends himself on to the bridge from below. Aang and Cara rushes forward out on to the bridge's observation deck. Aang opens his glider, throws it into the air and jumps after it while Cara flies out. He catches it, a happy expression on his face. Unfortunately, behind them, Zuko has jumped after them in pursuit. With a fierce cry of desperation, he grabs Aang and Cara's feet. All 3 square off yet again. Aang and Cara's look of trepidation is tempered as he turns over his left shoulder to see Appa up in the sky gaining on Zuko's ship. "What is that?" asked Zuko.

It was Appa being flown and driven by Katara, Sokka, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph. Aang and Cara yelled out, "Appa!"

The 2 turn just in time to use their airbending to block a fire blast from Zuko. Aang uses his staff as a helicopter to escape the blasts and comes back down on the edge of the deck, almost falling overboard. Cara was soon next to him. They regain their balance and blow three more fireballs before Aang's staff is knocked away from him. They dodge a few more blasts before he is finally knocked overboard. Aang and Cara fall into the water below. Katara was hysterical. "Aang! No!"

Same as the turtles as they watched. They cried, "Cara!"

Aang and Cara fall deeper into the water. "Aang/Cara! Aang/Cara! AANG/CARA!"

At the final scream, Aang and Cara's eyes and tattoo's glow white, an expression of determination forming on their face. They turn around in the water and begins to rise towards the surface. Around them, a mighty whirlpool of water begins to form. Aang, at the center of a now monstrous, inverted tornado of water is propelled toward the surface at amazing speed. He breaks the surface in front of the ship, towering high over the bridge atop his swirling maelstrom of water and Cara's water was more of a braid of water. Zuko, looks up at the swirling columns of water and the Avatar and the Guardian at its pinnacle with dismay and fear. Aang and Cara lands on the deck, their eyes still aglow, and bends the water from the column around him in circle. He releases it and it expands outward in a shockwave that blasts Zuko and some of his men overboard. Cara did a different tactic. She took a deep breath and let out one of her signatures: The Lion's Roar. You see for the Guardian, state or not, the Guardian can only do signatures of the elements that the Avatar mastered. Though Aang did waterbend, his state did it for him so it doesn't count and the water signature hasn't been discovered yet. As she screamed, the wind and sound destroyed the windows, tore up the sales and banners and nearly killed off some of the men's eardrums while the force of the wind pushed them back over board and for some their clothes were ripped to ribbons. Luckily, Cara's friends were lucky enough to cover their ears just in time.

Sokka, Katara, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Raph witnessed the scene from Appa's back above. Katara asked, "Did you see what he just did?"

Mikey asked, "More like hear that?"

Sokka said, "Now that was some waterbending and airbending!"

The dock, Aang and Cara were on their knees, wobbling after the huge energy expenditure. As they fell forward, the white energy fading from their eyes and tattoos. Appa lands and Katara and Sokka jump off to retrieve him while the turtles went to Cara. Katara was worried. "Aang! Are you okay?"

Katara kneeling and holding Aang, and Sokka was beside her. Aang was drained. "Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Thanks for coming."

Sokka said, "Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory."

Aang turned to the turtles. "How's Cara?"

Donnie helped her up. "She just woke up."

Aang said, "I dropped my staff."

Sokka said, "Got it!" Sokka runs over to pick up the staff. As he picks it up, Sokka is shocked to see that Zuko holds the other end of it. Zuko was washed overboard, but held onto the part of Aang's staff that was hanging out over the deck. Sokka butts Zuko in the head with the staff three times to the same "doink doink doink". Zuko lets go and begins to fall to the water below, but grabs the anchor chain in time. He hangs by one hand. "Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!"

Appa gets up, shaking off some water. Then some of the guards who had been washed way down the deck by Aang's waterbending and Cara's airbending signature. They get up, preparing for combat. Katara and Leo picks up a stream of water from the deck and the guards pull back slightly in fear. They try to whip the guards with the water, but instead freeze the water on the deck, including the water around Sokka and Raph's feet in the background. Sokka and Raph yelled, "Katara/Leonardo!"

Sokka starts to chip away at the ice holding his feet with his boomerang and Raph with his Sais while the soldiers move forward once again. The 2 tried again pick up another stream of water and throws it at the soldiers without looking. It worked since their now frozen. Leo said, "Note to self, practice a lot more often."

Katara said, "Agreed. Hurry up, Sokka! Raph!"

Sokka says to himself, "I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and magic."

Raph said, "Then you wouldn't last in our world since that happens 24/7."

"SHUT UP!" They were finally freeing themselves and runs up Appa's tail. Sokka yelled, "Yip yip! Yip yip!"

Once the 2 were onboard, Appa rumbles and takes off. Iroh just emerged onto the deck after his nap, looking up to the sky. Iroh rubbed his eyes. "Huh?"

Appa rapidly flying away from the ship, then Iroh helped Zuko back up onto the ship. Zuko yelled, "Shoot them down!"

As Appa gains altitude, Zuko and Iroh in unison launch a massive bolt of fire at Appa. Katara and Sokka look behind them in horror at the approaching fireball. Mikey said, "My turn." He jumps to the back of the saddle and, using Aang staff like a baseball bat, airbends a gale that sends the fireball at a right angle away from Appa and into the ice cliff nearby. The fireball explodes, releasing a huge amount of ice from the cliff wall, which falls into the narrow channel that Zuko's ship is navigating. Zuko gasps in horror as the bow of the ship and indeed the entire channel is blocked up under an avalanche of ice. The gang was laughing as they fly away.

Iroh and Zuko were on the foredeck of the heavily damaged ship. Iroh said, "Good news for the Fire Lord. The nation's greatest threat is just 2 little kids and 4 mutant turtles."

Zuko said, "Those kids and turtles, Uncle, just did this." Meaning the ship buried in ice thanks to Mikey. "I won't underestimate them again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" But some soldiers are using controlled firebending to thaw out their compatriots frozen by Katara and Leo. "As soon as you're done with that."

Meanwhile, Appa was flying and the gang was on the saddle relaxing. Katara asked, "How did you 2 do that? With the water and air/sound? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

Aang sitting cross-legged on the bridge of the saddle, a slightly sad expression on his face. "I don't know. I just sort of... did it."

Donnie asked, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar and Guardian?"

Aang said, "Because... I never wanted to be and sissy wanted it more than I did." Cara put a hand on his shoulder.

Katara said, "But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar and the Guardian to return and finally put an end to this war."

Raph said, "And we were brought here for a reason to help you 2 end this war."

Cara asked, "And how are we going to do that?"

Katara said, "According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?"

Mikey asked, "And from what Master Splinter told us, when the Avatar master the elements the Guardian awaken the element signatures right?"

Aang said, "That's what the monks told me."

Cara said, "So have I've been told."

Leo said, "Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending and Cara and unlock that signature."

Aang was now smiling. "The 3 of us can learn it together!"

Donnie said, "And Sokka, Raph, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."

Sokka was somewhat dreamily. "I'd like that. I'd really like that."

Raph smiled and said, "No complaints here."

Katara said, "Then we're in this together."

Aang produced a scroll. "All right, but before we learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to," He airbends himself over to them and opens the scroll to reveal a map. "here, here, and here." He points to two spots in the Earth Kingdom, and one spot on the southern Air Nomad islands in quick succession.

Mikey asked, "What's there?"

Aang said, "Here" Pointing to the eastern Earth Kingdom. "we'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here," Pointing to a spot on the southern Air Nomad island. "we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!"

Cara groans. "It's summer vacation all over again."

Aang said, "Come on it wasn't so bad the first time."

Cara said, "You didn't have sunburn for 3 weeks straight and lotion that smelled like crap."