When we walk outside, we find June's shirshu facing off against Appa. They stop at the sight of us. June tosses Nyla an uncooked steak and turns to face us.

"Okay, who's got something with the Avatar's scent on it?"

Katara climbs onto Appa's saddle. "I have Aang's staff." She tosses the stick to June, who presents it to Nyla. Nyla spends a good few minutes turning in circles, but eventually collapses to the ground and covers her face.

"Well what does that mean?" Zuko asks.

"It means your friend's gone," June smirks.

I feel my fists clench again. "We already know that! Why else would we be here?"

"No, I mean he's 'gone' gone," June corrects herself. "He doesn't exist."

"What do you mean Aang doesn't exist?" Sokka asks. "Do you mean he's…you know, dead?"

"Nope," June scratches Nyla. "We could find him if he were dead. Wow, it's a real head scratcher. See you." She jumps onto the shirshu's back.

"Helpful," Toph grumbles. "Real helpful."

"Wait!" Zuko runs up to the beast. "I have another idea. There' sonly one other person in this world who can help us face the Fire Lord. I'll be right back with a smell sample."

Zuko rummages around in Appa's saddle, leaving us to our own devices.

"Wait a second," Suki realizes. "Starr, you're a time bender! Why can't you just, you know, turn back the clocks so we can see where Aang went?"

I snort loudly. "You don't think I've already tried that? All I saw was this weird dream I had. There was a floating island, I went on it, then I was attacked so I came back to shore. End of story, no Aang in sight."

"That's weird," Katara mutters. "Do you think you were seeing what Aang was seeing?"

"If I was, Aang wouldn't be gone. I said I came back!"

"Got it," Zuko comes back pinching his nose. The rest of us hurry to do the same.

Sokka groans, or at least tries to with his nose blocked. "You saved your uncle's smelly sandal?"

"I think it's kind of sweet," Toph smiles.

Nyla leaps forward and sniffs the sandal with relish.

"Let's do this," June smirks. We leap onto Appa while she yanks the reins on Nyla, and off we go.