It was after midday when a Ba Sing Se ship flying the royal flag arrived at Ember Island. There was already a small ship showing the fans of the Kyoshi Warriors, and another Fire Nation frigate in port.

Aang and Katara were waiting in the parlour of the Royal holiday home. A big fire was crackling in the fireplace. Sitting on a large divan alongside was Mai, her dour eyes staring vacantly into the flames. On a chair opposite, Ty Lee, in Kyoshi Warrior fatigues and without the distinctive makeup, was wringing her hands and looking helplessly sad.

"I never even came to visit," Ty Lee had been saying. "Six months and I never made time to visit!"

Mai's voice was toned to its usual sardonic, but she somehow managed to make it sound gentle when she said, "It's not like you could jump a boat and stop by for a weekend, Ty."

"I wrote her a letter on her birthday," Ty Lee persisted, "I don't even know if she read it."

"Look," said Aang kindly, "just because we were busy or far apart doesn't mean we didn't care. Katara has been working hard to help Azula and others. Anyway, I'm not even sure that she's…lost. This isn't a funeral, it's a puzzle!"

"Fine," Mai said, with an edge of impatience, "Then can we solve it already?"

"I think we may," said a cracked voice.

Everyone stood as Zuko returned, and with him his uncle, General Iroh, nowadays landlord of the Jade Dragon tea shop.

"Zuko started explaining," Iroh said, disregarding the niceties and sitting down on the last vacant chair. Zuko returned to Mai's side at the divan.

Zuko completed his part of the narrative, and then Aang finished explaining their encounter with the Lion Turtle. Iroh listened to all of it with his eyes unfocused, staring into the middle distance.

"The Lion Turtles are creatures that predate even the Avatar," Iroh said, "They see beyond the four elements, as Aang can attest," he nodded to the Avatar.

"It said to you that it sent Azula to one like itself?"

"It described itself as an echo of worlds beyond this one," Aang replied, the words coming uncertainly.

"And what have your past selves to say on the matter?"

Aang shook his head, "Not a lot. Avatar Roku says he'd heard of the idea of other worlds besides this one and the spirit world, but doesn't know much about it."

"Before I left Ba Sing Se, I consulted the University for anything they might have on the subject. I'm afraid the only entries they had were under 'folklore and mythology.'

Iroh drew some scrolls out of his sleeves and laid them out across his knees.

"This is a story of the adventure of a man of the Air Nomads, Sonam. He encountered a giant Lion Turtle on whose back a forest had grown and rivers ran. And when he walked across it, it turned into a vast land with cities and people made of stone, people half the size of ordinary men, and dragons unlike those he knew. He ultimately returned."

"It does remind me a little of stories I heard about Lion Turtles," said Aang, frowning, "that the entire world can be represented in them? And that they exist at all levels of reality, from the worldly to the cosmic. But they were always said to be vague and mysterious and nobody knew much about them for certain."

"Indeed," Iroh nodded, "They are symbols of the world in the Earth Kingdom especially. I believe that you would have encountered the statues of them outside the Palace."

"We were in kind of a hurry to get in," said Aang bashfully, "I can't say I noticed."

"This is all fascinating," Katara said, throwing a worried glance toward the clearly impatient Zuko, "but what does it have to do with Azula?"

Iroh's expression acquired a dispassionate quality that Zuko recognized as his 'teaching face.' "As there are beings in the Spirit World that are counterparts of real-world beings, so Lion Turtles might indeed have some counterpart in the universe to which they are connected."

"So," Aang said, frowning, "You think that this legend of Sonam might mean that there's some kind of really giant Lion Turtle out there, with a whole world on its back?"

"Based on what we've seen, that would seem to be the case."

"An entire world," Katara observed grimly, "Where nobody knows who Azula is or what she's capable of."

"And what could happen to her?" Zuko added. "We need to go after her."

Aang sprang up. "Then let's get the boat and I'll get the Lion Turtle to take us!"

"No," Zuko interrupted, "Aang, you have too much to do as the Avatar here. This is my family, my problem. I'll go. Uncle, I need you to hold my place until I return."

Iroh sighed, "Very well, Lord Zuko. But take great care, you do not know what you might be getting into."

"He'll have backup," Ty Lee was on her feet.

"And I'm not letting you out of my sight," Mai smiled slightly.

"Sokka and Toph will be here in a few hours," Katara said, "You'll have them on your side too."

Zuko looked at Mai and Ty Lee, Azula's old crew. "Let's get ready, then."