AUTHOR'S NOTES—halt rambleziet.

This episode will go down much differently than the one in the show. There will be a lot more storytelling/dialogue, particularly so people can come to understand how the Air Warriors rose to power and everything else. We might even catch a note about who this story's Big Bad is.

And DOMG SHIPPING! Well, not really. Anyone wondering who will wind up [paired] with who is in the same boat that I am. I ain't sure either. I can assure you all that there will be several different shipping moments of all kinds throughout the series though.

Also, there will be some light shed upon the relationship the Water Tribes have with the world—and a little bit about Zuko's backstory and where he came from.

So this is kind of a filler, but it has vital information about how the alternate universe makes sense.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 5-2: NATIONAL DIPLOMACIES

Skies around Omashu, afternoon

"So one thing's certain," Toph commented as they flew, "either the Northern Water Tribe has been smoking something really strong lately, or there's something about their relationship with the rest of the world that this warrior has no idea about."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, earthbender" Zuko joked, and Aang chuckled. Toph scowled.

"Who was the one that's been living in the Southern Water Tribe most of his life?" Toph countered, "Who is the one that was frozen in the iceberg for 100 years? Oh, that's right. And then there's me."

"Sorry Toph," Aang apologized, "it was only a joke—right, Zuko?"

"course," Zuko shrugged, "I just think your cute little ego could stand to be knocked down a peg, Toph; that's all."

"It is kind of shameless the way you two flirt," Aang laughed, and suddenly both Zuko's and Toph's face turned red. Even Zuko's blue scar took on a bit of different color, and the redness of Toph's face was visible behind her Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

"That…" Zuko stammered, scratching his head "was one of the last things I expected to hear from you, Aang. Either way, Toph actually had a point. Something is up in the Northern Water Tribe. Either there is some kind of rebellion going on behind Chief Zhao's back, or he's in on it."

Toph nodded. "the Water Tribes are technically the most powerful nation in the world now," she remarked, "they have a defense against the Air Warriors that the Air Warriors used against their enemies—they have the high ground, and the frigid climate plays rough against flying airbenders. Still, the fact that the Air Warriors are using Fire Nation technology has definitely given them an upper hand."

"The Water Tribes are by far the most mysterious of the Four Nations," Zuko warned, "I've lived and fought most of my life there, and I still don't even know half of their secrets. The Water Tribes are adevious people, with waterbenders always finding the path of least resistance. "

"Wait," Aang paused, "you told me once that you were a Northerner, and that it was a long story."

Zuko nodded. "you've got a good memory, avatar," he smirked, "but aye, I was and am a northerner by birth. My father was Sage Ozai, and my mother was Sister Ursa. She's with the Air Warriors."

"Whoa, hold up there, Ike." Toph put her hands up, "you're telling me that you're related to Ursa and Azula?"

Zuko nodded. "I haven't seen Ursa or Ozai for years." He explained, "Even Azula is different. She's angry all the time, and I don't know what it's about. I obviously can't ask her about it, since she's trying to kill me and all, but I get this feeling that she's not doing the things she is doing solely because she wants to."

"Oh, like that's a good motive for destroying all the firebenders," Toph rolled her eyes.

"I never said it was," Zuko objected, "all I was saying was that I think her own interests are being overshadowed by those of someone else. Surely you don't think all of the people fighting for the Air Warrior Confederation are bad, do you?"

"No," Toph replied, "just like all the firebenders that attacked the airbenders however many years ago were not all evil."

"exactly," Zuko agreed, " My family wasn't always as crazy as it is now, Toph."

"My family wasn't always dead like they are now," Toph shook her head, "but I think I did run into your mother once, Zuko."

"What happened to your family?" Aang asked, "for that matter, where are you from? You seem to have a certain fondness for the Fire Nation I've noticed."

"I'm from the west," Toph replied, "I've been slinking around the southwestern reaches of the world for a while now. I've been to most of the world—and that's how I know so much. As for the Fire Nation, I spent many years there. It's a beautiful place—and that's probably the one thing that I like about the Air Warriors. They've found cleaner ways to put the Fire Nation's technologies to use—they've kept it beautiful. That doesn't mean I forgive them for what they're doing, but at least they're not trying to violate everything that was left there."

Toph paused for a moment before sending a ball of spit out into the wind behind them.

"One of these days you two should go there if you haven't been there." She sighed, "I used to have a lot of friends there. It's a beautiful place that's warm all year round. Now with this war going on though, I doubt there's much of that anywhere. I wonder what things are like in the Earth Kingdom?"

"It would seem that they would have an edge against the Air Warriors," Zuko frowned, "but earthbenders are ground-bound. The world has learned from experience that it's much easier to drop things onto people than it is to toss things up at them."

"That's not the only thing the Air Warriors have to their advantage," Toph warned, "the way they were able to take over the Fire Nation was simple but effective. They learned how to compress and combust air like a bomb. There's a similar, more explosive move that some firebenders used to know. These "combustion airbenders" basically conducted bombing raids on their targets."

Both Zuko and Aang stared at Toph with flabbergasted expressions.

"They do what now?" Aang asked,

"They don't do it very often," Toph warned, "in their words, they usually only launch their bombing raids when they plan on making the nation fall. The Fire Nation hasn't been destroyed for very long."

"Well, it's still technically not destroyed," Zuko reminded her, "just the firebenders are all gone."

"Yeah," Toph shook her head, "and that includes the Fire Lord and Lady, the Fire Sages, and much of the Fire Nation military. So basically, just their culture lives on."

"In the words of my uncle, that's what keeps a nation going," Zuko advised, "it's not their military or their government, but their culture. Now, don't expect me to go into some sappy romantic spiel, 'coz I'm not going to. What I'm saying is, is that it is fully possible for the Fire Nation to come back."

"Yeah, I get it." Toph nodded, "still, I happened to be there when the last bastion of firebenders were exterminated. Lovely time to be taking a vacation, don't you think?"

"That's rough, buddy." Zuko frowned, putting his arm around Toph for the sole purpose of comforting her. While he was not sure what exactly she had seen or went through, he knew that it had to be traumatizing to have been at the scene of the downfall.

"Hey," said Aang, hoping to cheer things up, "that's why we're taking a better vacation, right?"

"If by that, you mean a vacataion where the inhabitants are not trying to kill us, then yes," said Toph, "we are."

"Well, we're coming right up to Omashu," Aang indicated, pointing to a large Earth Kingdom city." there might be a few Air Warriors here though, so let's be careful."

They landed a ways away from the main gate, and surveyed the city. There were definitely Air Warriors here, but if anything, they seemed to mostly be just minding their own business.