Teo kept his eyes on his maps and compass. The girl, Ty Lee, wouldn't stop staring at him. He tried not to move as she reached over and poked at his knee. "Your chi is flowing weird."

"Ty Lee, don't bother him while he's flying the balloon," Azula remarked as she looked down at smaller islands of the Fire Nation.

"But he's so adorable! Where did you find him?"

"I'm right here," Teo said, though he was sure that he would just be ignored.

"He is the Mechanist's son. That's why he is able to fly this balloon for us. It's so much faster than boat," Azula replied. Teo was used to her ignoring him when others were around. After all, he wasn't even a peasant. He was her slave, but it was better than hiding in the back of the workshop.

"Ooooooh! You must be really smart. I can see it all over your aura. And so shy too," Ty Lee smiled, scooting closer to him.

"I... need to concentrate on navigating."

"Yes, Ty Lee, why don't you let him focus on it?" Azula snapped.

It didn't take long for them to get to port and rendezvous with Azula's royal barge. It would be the barge that would take them the rest of the way to the Earth Kingdom. And while Teo would love nothing but to try a longer voyage with the balloon, he didn't think he could stand being that close to Ty Lee for so long.

But since Azula had ordered him not to walk until he had recovered, he had to endure Ty Lee's staring as he reassembled his chair and sat down in it. He did his best to continue with his business and help load their equipment onto the barge. At sundown, they left port, and Teo didn't know what to do with himself once Azula retired to her room for the night.

Teo ended up staying on deck, watching sky. He was still too nervous about leaving the only home he knew.

"Hi," the cheery voice of Ty Lee startled him out of his thoughts.

"Oh. Hi. Sorry, I um... didn't hear you," Teo mumbled, looking down.

"I'm really good at massage," she said, also looking down at Teo's legs.

"Oh. No. Thank you. I was just walking too much." He put his hands on his thighs and pressed down, trying to control his unruly limbs.

"It's no trouble! And it'll probably help you sleep too. Come on, let's go to your cabin. It'll be real fast and then you'll feel better!" the strange girl chattered on as she walked along beside him.

Once they reached his small cabin, he pulled himself on the bed and Ty Lee helped arrange him into a comfortable position. He was a little nervous as the pink girl gently picked up one of his legs, but soon the stressed muscles relaxed and he sighed in relief. "See? I told you that you'd feel better."

"You did. Thank you. No one's ever offered to um... do what you're doing," he admitted. "Usually... usually they don't want to look at me, let alone touch me."

"That's silly. You're not so different, just a little broken," the girl continued to work his legs, her facial expression changing here and there. "Your legs have been broken a lot, haven't they?"

"Yeah," he nodded, looking up at the ceiling, "they were crushed when I was a baby. And they didn't heal right. They had to be rebroken when I started growing because they weren't straight."

"Uh huh. Nerve damage too, right? It's in the flow of your chi. But don't worry, it's nothing bad. I can tell you've found other, more creative ways to get around," she smiled.

"You're really good at that," he smiled a little as Ty Lee pulled the blanket over him, tucking him in.

The cabin door opened and Azula stood at the door, frowning at seeing Ty Lee there. "Ty Lee... you should get some rest. We have a tight schedule."

"Sure. Good night Azula," Ty Lee slipped out of the room past the Princess.

"What were you two doing?" Azula asked.

"She was just helping, Princess Azula," Teo said, glancing up at Azula, unsure why she looked so upset.

"You're my companion. Don't get that confused," Azula sat down on the edge of his bed and he was reminded of when they were children.

"I know. No one could ever replace you, Princess," he said, putting his hand on top of hers.

The city of Omashu was strange. While the air currents and winds on top of the mountain were amazing, Teo wasn't sure he enjoyed his current task. He sat atop the metal casket that held the king of the city. Azula didn't trust the mad earthbending king and it gave Teo a good height advantage if he needed to toss some of his grenades at the rebels.

"The view is quite stunning from up here, isn't it lad?"

"It's nice," Teo replied, knowing already that if he didn't talk to the old man, he would just keep up a one-sided conversation. And it gave them both something to do.

"So where in the Fire Nation are you from?"

"The capital," he wondered if it would have been better to hoist the king face up, but it was too late to change that now.

"Are you the son of a noble then?"

"What? No. Why do you ask that?" Teo's curiosity got the better of him.

"Only a rich family could afford the flying machines. You are the one that flew around the city when you got here on that flying bucket, right?"

"That was me. And it's a balloon. Powered by hot air. My Father invented it," he shook his head. He really shouldn't be telling him any more.

"Did he now? That's incredible! And the glider? It looks almost airbender. You wouldn't happen to be one, would you?"

"No!"

"That's interesting. Not a bender at all then?"

"No. I'm not. I don't need any special abilities to do what I do," he wasn't so sure why he was angry now.

"I have seven daughters and one son and absolutely none of them are benders," the king said suddenly.

"Why are you telling me this?" The wind had picked up and Teo could now see the group that Azula, Ty Lee and Mai had met.

"Oh look. There they are! We'd better stop yakking and get our serious faces on!" the old man laughed and it shook the casket.

"Hold still!" Teo snapped, readying his glider, in case the old man knocked him down.

"Apologies. I promise, I'm not going anywhere," the old king said. He sounded so sincere as they were lowered down to where the others were. After watching the confrontation between the trio of rebels and Azula, they were brought back up. Teo guessed that the rebels didn't accept the terms of the deal.

Teo grabbed one of the grenades he carried on a belt around his chest, ready for trouble.

"BUMI!" suddenly Teo wasn't alone up there as a blast of air knocked him off his perch. He twisted in the air, struggling to control his fall as he unfurled his glider. He turned back to whatever had knocked him down and was surprised to see another glider in the air.

He could hear Azula screaming, though he had to do a couple of fast turns to keep from getting in Azula's way. Teo dropped a grenade on his target, but the bald kid spun his staff and knocked it away before it exploded. A strong gust of air blew him back and again he struggled to regain control.

An airbender! Of course he would be offended by the glider. But a dead people couldn't hold the sky hostage forever.

Teo managed to land on top of one of the nearby shops, watching as the airbender and the mad king have words. He was surprised to see the old man earthbending his way back to Azula. He thought about trying to go after the rebels, but knew Azula would want to speak with him first.

Katara was the first one to speak, "Aren't you happy that another airbender survived?"

"He's not an airbender. He was just gliding. He has no spirit. And he works for the Fire Nation, so he's just... just corrupting the memory of my people!" Aang was upset. Not only because his old friend had chosen to stay prisoner, but because of that boy on the glider. He was good. Very good for someone that was unable to control the air currents. Aang had almost felt bad when he'd spun the red glider out of the air. He was relieved when he saw the boy land on a nearby building.

"But what does that mean? That the Fire Nation controls the air now?" Sokka asked.

"It means that we lost our advantage," the last airbender said sadly.