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Author Notes: There will be a small break after this. Have to focus more on my finals so I won't be updating until later this month.

(Funny how this is my least reviewed fanfic, but I like it the most out of all of them. I get to put Robin Hood/Batman/Priory fusion in here for crying out loud. Yar for the insanity!!)

Disclaimer: All Avatar: The Last Airbender characters belong to Bryan and Mike, Nickelodeon, and (sighs) Viacom. All Rights Are Reserved.

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Episode 5 - A Renewed North

"Did you do what I asked you to do?" the voice's owner had one hand holding tightly on the shoulder of a particular Fire Nation palace guard who was pinned against a wall in an unknown hallway.

"Y-yes! As you instructed, I waited until the sun reached its peak before I went looking for the Princess. She swallowed everything in!" the guard answered in a rapid tone.

"I hope she did. Now, remember that you didn't hear any of this from me," the person's voice went almost into a whisper. The guard repeatedly nodded his head. He felt the hand loosening its tight hold on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I'm limited in time at this moment. Just wanted to say thank you for your help," the person said as he displayed a kind smile which left the guard in shock.

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The clouds were beginning to clutter together, which was a sure sign that the Aang gang were getting closer to their destination. Katara and Sokka were able to change into warmer clothing in preparation for their arrival at the Northern Air Temple. As soon as Sokka was done putting on his old blue coat with a hood, he patted it down happily.

"No more icky Fire Nation soldier stuff! Hellooo good ol' Water Tribe stuff!"

Aang and Toph didn't have any winter clothing on them so there was very little they could do. Toph felt the air's temperature change and began to hug the red tapestry cloak closer to her body to keep herself warm. Aang still had no shirt on and his ripped yellow pants had holes in them. He was fortunate that Katara was able to sew him a new shoe, back in Chameleon Bay, to compliment the one that he lost back in the catacombs under Ba Sing Se.

When the Aang gang approached the Northern Air Temple, their faces, with the exception of Toph, were completely blank at what they saw. There were no one flying around in their gliders today. Instead, there were a lot of new unusual contraptions that were attached to the temple walls by thick pieces of rope. They had small mechanical bodies but two arms that seemed to be used to haul stuff up and down.

As for the Earth Kingdom settlers, they were scattered running around the snow covered temple grounds hauling stones and other materials. Both young and old seem to be helping out with the work. No one seemed to pay attention to the incoming sky bison that was winding down pretty close to them.

"It looks like they've been busy since we've been away," Katara slowly commented as she watched in awe.

"I hear lots of hammering like they're building something?" Toph tried her best to figure out the situation. It was her first time visit to an air nomad temple but she was able to hear some interesting facts about them from Aang.

"I think they're restoring the temple," Aang said wide-eyed as he looked right and left. Something inside of him was stirring. "I'm going to check this out. See you guys down there!" the airbender stood up and grabbed his glider that was sitting safely inside another bag on Appa's saddle. He opened it up and propelled his body off of the saddle.

"Hey wait! Aang!" Sokka shouted but his voice was to no avail. The young airbender was soon gliding around one of the temple's towers. Some of the machines that were attached to the temple walls paused in their movements once their operators noticed Aang. The rest of the Aang gang soon made it to the temple grounds making sure no one was in their way.

Then, all at once, everything seemed like slow motion. As soon as each member of the Aang gang left Appa, a chorus of voices rose from the settlers.

"Someone get the Mechanist! Quick!!"

"Was this part of the ---!?"

"Of course not!"

"Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged glances with each other.

"Did we miss something? Are we not suppose to be here?" Sokka asked looking at all the settlers going crazy because of their arrival. Toph shrugged.

"I guess. Their pulses are going funky under my feet so I think it's funny."

"Oh, you think it's funny, huh?" Katara gave Toph a quick glance. Without wasting any more time, she walked towards a tall man who seemed to be supervising a particular work being done on a ladder that was supporting two people on it. They were patching up a hole in the temple's exterior. Since there was a lot of noises going around them, Katara had to practically shout to get the tall man's attention. "Excuse me!?"

No answer.

Katara tried again, "EXCUSE MEE!!"

"Ah!?" the tall man swiveled around quickly only to see the waterbender smiling politely at him. His voice volume matched that of Katara's as he too had to shout. "OH, YOU'RE THAT YOUNG LADY WITH THE AVATAR!! PARDON ME!!" He turned his attention back towards the two people on the ladder, "IKKUN!! PON!! WE'RE MOVING!!" The two boys clinging to the ladder looked down to see what the fuss was about. Their eyes fell on Katara and immediately, they used the edges of their boots and hands to slide down the ladder. Without turning to give Katara another glance; the tall man, Ikkun, and Pon carefully brought the ladder down and carried it to another area of the temple.

Katara was both stunned and disappointed. If no one was going to greet them in a welcoming manner, they could've at least offered an explanation. She returned to where Sokka and Toph were standing. "They're ignoring us."

"Sugar queen, of course they are. If this is all a big surprise for Aang, you'll see that they want us to 'not know' what they're up to. I don't have to see how this is all plain and simple to me," Toph bluntly said. Katara felt stunned again as she realized Toph was correct. She hastily placed a hand to her mouth.
"Oops."

"Oh, I knew that! Of course. It's so obvious! I can't believe Katara didn't get that!" Sokka exclaimed while flinging his right arm towards the ground. Katara sent Sokka a small glare.

"Weren't you the first person to wonder what was going on here?" This made Sokka's prideful smile change quickly into a bashful expression.

"…Er…..Well, you got a point…," the older brother began to guiltily bounce his two pointer fingers together.

"Forgive me, children! I've been so busy that I didn't expect to see you guys so soon!" a new voice called out to the three of them. They all looked up to see the Mechanist heading their way. He didn't seem to look any different from when they last saw him. Even his burnt cut up eyebrow showed no sign of growth. Once he was standing in front them, he held up an arm aiming it back at the main temple building. "Let's go inside where I can explain everything to you better without all this construction madness!"

Katara and Sokka were only able to take a few steps forward to start following the Mechanist before Katara realized something was wrong. She instantly looked behind her to see that Toph was still standing by Appa looking at the ground. Katara sprinted back to Toph.

"What's wrong!?"

"Although I can sense you guys leaving, all these construction noises are hampering with my bending. I can feel their vibrations mixing in with your footsteps, but I guess, it's this strange cold substance underneath my feet that's confusing me the most."

"Oh, you mean snow?"

"Snow? This is snow!?" Toph's diluted colored eyes expanded as she wiggled her toes deeper into the slushy ice. She has never felt snow before, and for the first time, is wondering whether to like it or fear it. Unlike Appa's fur, that gave her a nice soft feeling based on first impressions, snow was on a whole new level for her. Chilly and mushy. It also adds a level from the ground so she feels vibrations on a fainter scale.

"Come on. I'll hold your hand," Katara offered her hand up to Toph's shoulder. The young earthbender felt the hand but with a reluctant feeling. She wasn't sure about having to rely on a friend for help. "Toph, we don't have the entire day to stand here! Do you want to be left here in the cold!?" The two of them stood there for what felt like forever. Soon, Toph couldn't stand it anymore.

"Alright already! Fine!" Toph grumbled out loud as she hated to agree that the waterbender was right about their situation. She took Katara's hand rather harshly and let herself be led towards where the Mechanist and Sokka were waiting.

Once everyone made it inside the main temple building with the door closed, Katara loosened her grip so she and Toph can let go. Yet, Toph didn't let go of Katara's hand which made her have to look down to see what the younger girl was up to. Toph stared in silence for a moment before cracking a smile as she looked up at Katara's surprised expression.

"I guess that makes us even, huh?"

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Aang glided several rounds around every tower that he could find. He recalled the place to not be heavily damaged after the Fire Nation attacked it so why did the whole place need a new make-over? Soon, his eyes spotted a huge hole that stuck out like a sore thumb on one side of the temple. He bended his glider towards and through the hole landing gracefully on the floor. Momo hopped off of Aang's back and began to scamper around the vast room. It was awfully dark even though, the hole did help to shed some light into the room.

The airbender's vision soon adjusted itself to the dark room and he dropped his folded up glider in reaction to what he was seeing. It dawned on him that this was the very room that held all the Fire Nation weaponry that the Mechanist was forced to build. The light source for the room was apparently covered by something.

"Everything's gone?" Aang asked to himself. He proceeded forward to find the room's exit. With a blind guess, Aang thrust a tunnel of air towards where he believed the doors were. He guessed right as two huge double doors opened slowly with a now visible circular seal being split down its middle. Aang heaved a sigh as he headed towards the door with Momo scampering behind him.

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He was now walking through the hallway that bear the swirled pattern designs painted on its floor. So far, everything looked the same here. Light was pouring from each small window and Aang couldn't help but to smile at the sight. Going further up, he ended up going through the windowless hallway before entering into the open air rotunda part of the temple. This place was also different from what he last remembered which was planned for a bathhouse. The hole that was created by the Mechanist's own special wrecking ball was no longer there. In its place was an exact replica of the rest of the rotunda.

Aang marveled at that spot particularly. He did not expect it to look so precise right down to the diagonal banners. Momo quickly ran up to Aang's shoulder to perch on it. It seemed, someone was coming their way.

"Aang!?" called out a familiar voice as a sound of a special wheelchair came creaking its way into the rotunda. The Mechanist's only son wheeled himself right until he was a foot away from Aang. He took off the goggles that was on his face before continuing. "Wow, it's been awhile. It's great to see you again. You too, Momo. I can't believe you now have hair? I almost didn't recognize you with it!"

"Teo!" Aang greeted back with a smile. "Uh, yeah. It happened while I was knocked out. At first, it felt weird but I'm use to it now."

"Hahahaha! Seriously though, we were all worried about you. We heard rumors that you were captured by the Fire Nation and that, you were dead!"

"But I'm not! I was only unconscious for a few weeks."

"Well, I can see that so I'm glad for that. Unfortunately still, the rest of the world thinks you're dead. Having you under the Fire Lord's watchful eye as a trophy was going to be the official proof."

"…….," Aang looked down to the floor as if he was thinking of something before rising his head, "He's probably found out by now. Maybe, he sent new people after me." He was trying hard not to remember. To think more about it would be the return of the emotional pain.

"Hey, you do know that everyone is waiting for you, right?" Teo asked as he noticed Aang's hardened expression. "We can explain everything to you when we meet up with them." Teo wheeled his chair a full 180 degrees to face the direction of where he came from. When he felt that Aang wasn't following him, he stopped wheeling and looked back. Aang was rooted to his spot staring into space.

"I know you guys are restoring this temple instead of changing it this time. I didn't expect you guys to do it but…." Aang looked right at Teo with slight earnest, "thank you." Teo smiled lightly and bowed his head at the younger boy.

"My father felt that he owe you and your friends everything in respect to helping us break our relationship with the Fire Nation. So, he dismantled many of the things he was building for them and re-built them into machines that can help restore and preserve this place. This was all meant to be made in honor of you, but when we heard of the rumors, my father didn't falter one bit on declaring that the project continues on whether you were alive or not. Besides, we don't need any luxuries to have a good life here."

"Then, by now, you must know why we're here."

Teo's expression turned serious with a nod, "follow me."

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It was another bright sunny day at the Fire Nation capital. People went about their business as usual. Still, the rumors of the masked man was beginning to swell. While the higher class found him as a threat, the lower class were beginning to regard him as a hero.

The nation's princess and her friends were hanging out in a random palace room that had a few lavish looking sofas. Azula had her legs stretched out and her head was resting on her folded arms that were on a sofa's arm. She was looking at the floor with a mindless face. Mai was sitting in the sofa across from her but was in a sitting up position with one hand supporting her chin. Ty Lee had her legs sprawled over the back of Mai's sofa. She was sitting upside down with her braid almost touching the floor.

"Mai, where's Zuko?" Azula asked without moving her head. She barely saw her brother, strangely ever since he returned from his visit to Mai's.

"I don't know. He told me that he was busy with something and we plan to meet some other day," Mai answered without moving her head too. Azula's eyes flinched a little upon hearing the news.

"Busy? Since when was he ever busy with anything? Most of the time, he's usually with you."

"Well, he did get me flowers. I didn't really have a use for them though."

"Flowers? From where? We don't have any flower shops here in the inner city."

"He told me that they were from a flower stand that sometimes visit the inner city."

"…………And what did you guys do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yes. He left as soon as he gave me the flowers and apologized. Now, can we go do something? I'm about to explode here."

"Not yet. I'm still thinking on an alternative to our little dilemma," Azula began to back-track in her mind. Every event has so far been perfect. That was, until Zuko fell onto the floor. She narrowed her eyes as the only solution came to her mind. "…Uncle."

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Zuko was once again in the prison tower. This time, his access seemed more lenient from the watch guard but he had to add on a warning about his uncle's strength. He shook off the warning instantly. Once inside, he slowly made his way towards the prison hallway door ignoring the gawking glances of the other guards. Upon closing it, Zuko silently ambled towards Iroh's cell.

Iroh was sitting cross legged with his back facing the bars again. Zuko sat himself in front of Iroh's cell and stared right at the back of Iroh's head. "Uncle. Something weird has been going on. Yesterday, in the outer city, this guy showed me some strange things and I believe, he is a thief! He somehow snuck into the palace and stole my swords! He kept saying it was me who marauded as some hooligan running into the affairs of the guards. That is impossible since I've been in the palace for the entire time!" he exhaled a huge amount of air after saying what he needed to say. He tilted his head downward in exasperation. Nothing was making any sense to him anymore.

Then, like magic, his uncle spoke. "Why are you here?"

Zuko stared at his uncle with disbelief. Suddenly, he found himself not even being able to speak one syllable. His uncle began to talk more once he noticed that his nephew did not have an answer.

"I thought you called me a 'crazy old man'. Now, what am I?"

"I…." Zuko replied once he found his voice, "was hoping you could tell me! You are the only person in the entire palace who I feel comfortable talking to. I can't even explain what I'm feeling to Mai!"

"And what are you feeling exactly?"

"I told you already! I'm confused!!"

"Do you know why?"

"I don't!"

"Could you be a little more descriptive?"

"I just told you! I can't!"

"Then, I can't help you."

Zuko roared again before standing up and giving one of the cell bars a whack emitting some fire onto it. "Forget it! What's the use of coming back here when you refuse to answer any of my questions!!" He would've stormed out of the hallway if it wasn't for what Iroh had to say next that caught him off guard.

"Although, I can't explain to you now, I believe 'he' can help you into what you're looking for."

"He? Whom are you referring to, Uncle?"

Iroh finally turned his body so his eyes were peering right into Zuko's. "Someone very close. Your heart is afraid to face 'him' though."

"What?" Zuko looked at his uncle strangely as if he's gone insane. The two of them began to have a brief staring contest when all of a sudden, the hallway door banged open.

"Uncle! Zuzu! What a surprise. I'm sorry that we have to crash your little party," Azula sneered as she stepped into the hallway. "Guards, take him," as soon as she gave the order, three guards came rushing in past her and towards Iroh's cell.

"Azula, what's going on?" Zuko glanced at his sister with suspicion. He didn't like the way things were appearing at this moment. The guards opened Iroh's cell door and began to drag the prisoner out of there. Zuko had to resist himself from doing anything so he had no choice but to watch in repulsion at the way that they were treating him. Iroh's two arms were held tightly as his bare feet were dragging against the floor. He was facing backwards so Zuko was able to get a better look at his face.

Strangely though, when Iroh was passing by his nephew, his hand quickly lifted itself and dropped as soon as it came up. A small clatter sound could be heard around Zuko's area, but the shuffling of everyone's feet and Azula's talking made the sound impossible for everyone else to hear it.

"Don't worry, Zuko. They're just taking Uncle to another prison. A more secured place which you won't even know where it is exactly."

"For what reason?" Zuko glared at his sister.

"For your protection, silly! Wouldn't want good ol' Uncle to harm you any further."

"Stop it, Azula! He hasn't done anything to me!"

"Oh yeah? Then how come you and Mai aren't talking much to each other recently?"

"Uh, well…. I was busy with something so…our relationship has nothing to do with Uncle!"

"That's definitely not new to me. Enough with the excuses!" Azula grinned. "I know you're up to something. I also suspect you have something to do with a peculiar Blue Spirit?" Zuko's whole body stiffened. Why would she bring up his Blue Spirit guise now?

"Blue Spirit? You mean that guy on the wanted posters back in the Earth Kingdom?"

"Of course, Zuzu. Who else am I talking about? A stone wall? The Avatar? ……Look, I'm cutting you a deal here. As long as you don't seek Uncle again, I'll make sure your little secret will be safe with me. Don't even try to argue your way out of this one," giving one last side sneer at her brother, she turned to go out through the hallway doorway. Zuko was left to ponder angrily alone as he stared at Iroh's empty prison cell. Then all of a sudden, he remembered the object that Iroh dropped.

He bent himself down on his knees while creating a small ball of flame to give him light. The hallway never felt so dark before. Letting the small flame of light guide his search, his eyes were able to locate the object that Iroh intentionally dropped. He picked the object up to his eyes to get a better look at it. It was, to his surprise, a red and dark yellow crown with a long red pin running through it.

"Why did he have this? Why is he giving it to me?"

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Aang and Teo were traveling out of a long dim hallway and into a wide room filled with lots of light. Air symbols were a continuous pattern throughout parts of the room.

"Aang!" Katara yelled out in relief and ran to give him a hug. Momo had to jump quickly out of the way before Katara's arms came flying right onto Aang's shoulders. The monk stared in stupor at everyone who were gathered in the main part of the temple. His expression did not really change even after Katara hugged him. Teo chuckled at the sight as he wheeled himself past Katara and Aang.

"Dad, I found him."

"Good. Did you explain to him what we're up to?" the Mechanist looked at his son with a hopeful expression.

"Yep. Everything."

"Is that so? Well, guess there isn't much left to say then."

"Wait!" Aang cried out as he made his way towards the Mechanist. "What about the new invasion plan?"

"Relax, Aang. We straightened it all out while you were not here. We'll explain it later to you when we're back on Appa," Sokka gave the younger boy a full hearty grin. Aang didn't buy the grin though.

"I missed it!?"

"Easy there, twinkletoes. It's not as exciting as you think it is," Toph said in a dull reassuring manner.

"But… but I'm the Avatar!" Aang cynically said as he looked to the floor.

"And you're still a kid so relax. Missing this semi-important meeting isn't going affect anything," Sokka placed a hand onto Aang's shoulder. "It's a good thing you didn't miss this next part."

"Huh?" Aang looked up at Sokka with huge eyes.

"The Mechanist asked if we could help him on the restoration project of the temple in exchange for clothing and food." Aang's surprised expression immediately changed into a placid smile. He turned his attention towards the Mechanist.

"You got yourself a deal."

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To Be Continued….

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A.N: See you in a few weeks!

(:D) I am a gummy bear! I am a gummy bear! I am a yummy tummy funny lucky gummy bear! The darn song's stuck in my head! Nooooooo… It was probably worse when I couldn't stop listening to "That's How You Know" from Enchanted! Although, I like August Rush a bit more, both movies were good.