The air only got colder as the gang flew South. There was no sound from the back. Even Momo hadn't made a sound. "You know the way boy. I'm going to the saddle." He said patting the buffalo's head. He climbed up off the head and back into the saddle. He was tired, there was no doubt about that, but wasn't sure if he could sleep. Sokka was holding his boomerang, looking it over in the crescent moon as Suki leaned against him. Momo was laying on Katara's leg, which were outstretched. She was looking out to the open air , down towards the ocean below. Aang took a seat next to her, unsure if he was allowed to touch her. She had been very distant since they had received the letter. He gently put his hand on her arm and squeezed it, unsure of what to do. She turned to look at him, her eyes distant. Without a word she leaned into him. He wrapped an arm around her and closed his eyes. Maybe this would be the end of it. After the ending of the fleet of Fire Nation ships was put down things could finally be quiet for them. He longed for it, and he was sure they did too, more then him. They had lived with it longer then he had, and he could not imagine. Aang kissed the top of her hair, unsure if she remained awake or asleep. They would figure this out, they had to.

The sun was rising as they reached the South Pole. It was still small and quaint as they had left it, but it looked like more people had settled there. That was interesting to say the least. At least it was growing Sokka thought to himself. Suki had fallen asleep on the ride here but the sun was waking her up. She shook the drowsiness away and looked over the side. "It's beautiful." Suki said, seeing the snow caped over the ground and the blue dwellings in which they resided. She was right, it was beautiful, if only it was on the happy terms they had wanted it to be. Sokka looked across the saddle and saw Aang and Katara sitting together. They had a single hand embraced between them, but were both awake. His sister looked over the bison at her home. He had to admit that he was excited. He wouldn't have to wonder where his next meal was coming from, or sleeping in caves. He could be with his family now, as long as they survived the coming battle. They would, they had too. He watched Aang walk away and hop floatily onto the bison's head, feeling them descend. The first person he saw outside was Gran Gran. He closed his eyes, a tear coming to it. Finally he was home.

Appa walked away after dumping their supplies next to them. He was tired, that was the obvious reasoning for it. Aang followed his pet, going around the back. They needed their moment, the monk knew that. He would make a place for Appa to sleep happily and then return. Nothing but grave news to share on his part. He found a big patch of empty snow with a large building a good ways away. Aang took a careful stance and started bending the snow. He began making an igloo big enough for two Bison's. It took him around five minutes to complete, but it was done. He had moved the snow off the ground and warmed it up, moving a big palette of vegetables he had brought with him. "Sleep well boy. We will need you sooner then I'd hope." Appa let out a roar and walked into the igloo, collapsing on the ground.

Back at the campsite, something very different was going on. Katara walked to her grandmother, stopping a foot away from her. Last time she had seen her, everything was different. She had just been an innocent, inexperienced water bender. Now she was a war hero, and a master of the art. She embraced her tightly.

"Gran gran…it's so good to see you." Her grandmother hugged her back when another voice was heard followed by a thud. Sokka had just hugged their father. Backing away from her grandmother she looked to her father, whom Sokka was backing away from and immediately ran to him. She hugged him tightly, tears flowing once again.

"Katara…I missed you, so much." He said, his eyes closed tightly. "I'm not leaving again, I promise." He told her.

"I know." She said, thinking of what they would have to say, so soon after they got back. It wasn't a good situation. She pulled away from her father, looking towards the sound of crunching snow. Aang had returned, and was talking to Suki by where Appa had landed. Sokka's voice broke the silence.

"We need to talk to you about something." He looked over to Aang who closed his eyes and nodded, Suki following him. "Let's go inside, out of the cold, I'm sure things will go better over tea." Kanna said.

Aang knew he would have to do this, say it. He didn't want that weight on the children who had just returned home, regardless if they were older. He stepped inside the building last of all. Pakku was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea. He seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was tense. Kanna passed out cups full of hot tea to everyone. Sokka and Katara took seats around their father, Kanna next to Pakku. Suki stood in the corner and Aang approached the table.

"I wish I didn't have to greet you all like this, but you are all in danger." He started.

Hakoda's voice spoke up almost immediately. "What do you mean?"

"There's a fleet of Fire Nation ships heading here right now, and there's nothing stopping them. They will be here by tomorrow morning at the rate they are traveling." He said. There was a heavy silence in the room.

"Well, this will be a challenge with it being a new moon, but if we survived the Siege of the North Pole, we can survive the siege of the south pole too." Pakku said, speaking for the first time.

"Pakku's right, we should gather our forces, we can put up a good stand right here." Hakoda said, taking charge. "You kids rest, You must have flown all night. We will prepare for the morning." He said, standing up. "We won't be separated again, I promise." These words were aimed at his children.

"Here dad, I came up with a strategy." Sokka replied, giving him the scroll. He gave him a proud smile. "I'm sure this will be useful Sokka, thank you." The father replied. As he left, Aang followed, he needed to talk to him about something, and then he would sleep.

It was midday before Aang woke up. It was a bleak day, the calm before the storm. He slipped into the main living area of the house and found Katara talking to Kanna. She seemed to be happy about it. That was good, it had been awhile since they had seen each other, and she was basically the mother figure. Aang left without disturbing them, stepping into the snow. No one was there either. Activity was mostly focused around a large igloo which if Aang wasn't mistaken, was where they were planning there defense for the attack. Leaping into the air, Aang opened his glider, he wanted to see something. He landed shortly after he left, it was still here. He was standing at the face of the iceberg which once held him. It had broken apart, but the mass of it remained. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wiping tears away. He had almost failed the world by running away, and lost all his people. He also would have never met Katara, and it was almost worth it. He knew it was selfish to the world to say that, but he truly loved her, and she was what made life worth living. Looking up to the sky he pondered what they were up against. He almost fell over. There was a Fire nation balloon overhead. Aang quickly used his glider, this couldn't be good. He did a full loop and shot straight up, adjusting his angle to come at it from behind and almost dropped his glider.

"No way…"

Katara sat outside on an ice bench she made, drinking some tea with her Gran Gran. She had missed these talks more then she had admitted to anyone.

"Hello Kanna." A woman greeted. She was older, probably a little older than her father. She had long black hair, and for some reason seemed familiar.

"Well hello Bedisa." Kanna greeted happily. "This is my granddaughter, Katara." She introduced. The woman bowed and Katara bowed in return. "You have a lovely grandmother Katara, she has been such a nice woman since I've come here." Katara bent the ice to make another bench across from them. The woman looked taken aback, but sat down after a moment. She obviously wasn't used to water bending. "Bedisa joined us after her Earth Kingdom colony was attacked by raiders and found Bato on the shore. He escorted her here." She gave a friendly smile and looked away for a moment, it was as if something was dwelling on her mind. "Something was taken from you wasn't it? In the fire nation raid." Katara said. "The Fire Nation is responsible for a lot of things in my life." She said holding back tears. There was a heavy silence before the unmistakable sound of Aang's glider broke the silence. "Zuko's here!" He said running over. "And he's brought us reinforcements!"

Katara, Sokka and Aang watched as the fire balloon landed on the soft snow. Zuko hopped out first. He was not dressed as royalty, but as a warrior, it made him look regal. Iroh was behind him, dressed in what seemed like relaxing clothes as opposed to war garments and seemed to be coaxing someone out. After what seemed like an argument, Toph climbed out of the back.

"Toph!" The group yelled and hurried over. "Ugh, I hate snow." Were the first words to escape from her mouth. She was quickly engulfed in a group hug and Iroh could be heard chuckling. "I hope we aren't too late to beat back the rebellion." He said. Sokka turned to look at Aang. "You said reinforcements, and this is all we got?"

"I didn't say a lot of reinforcements."

Toph jumped in. "I wasn't going to miss this for the world!" She said with a cheer. Katara looked back to her Gran Gran, noticing that the woman had left, leaving her grandmother in a confused daze.

"Come on Toph, I want you to meet my Grandmother." Katara said, taking her hand, and dragging the poor blind girl through the snow.