"Katara, can't you do something?"
"I've done all I can Zuko. I don't think this is a physical thing I can heal."
"Well, maybe I was right all along and she's left us when we needed her the most."
"No! She came back already! I saw it!"
"Well what's your explanation then?"
"You guys are forgetting something."
"What, oh great Avatar, what are we forgetting?"
"The Time bender, like the Avatars, has a deep connection with the Spirit world. Spirit world journey, maybe?"
"Or maybe, she's just gone back to her own time!"
"Sokka, that's ridiculous."
"Yeah, if she had gone back, why would she still be breathing here?"
I can still hear them. They're arguing, but I can still hear my friends. I keep my eyes closed and take a deep breath. Then I look.
Everyone is surrounding me: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Zuko.
"See?" Toph smirks. "She's all right."
"Starr, are you okay?" Zuko swoops down and embraces me in a hug.
I rub my head. "A little achy, but I think I'll live." I look around again. We're on a pillar of rock just outside of Ba Sing Se (I can see it smoking in the distance) and there's a Fire Nation air ship floating right next to us. Everything is dark and I can see the stars. Where's the comet? Why isn't the atmosphere on fire anymore? "Is the comet over?"
"Yeah, you passed out right as it ended," Zuko says.
"And the Fire Lord?" I look at Aang. He looks a little worse for wear—he completely lost his Air bender robes, and his Fire bender's pants were in tatters. Everyone else look similarly.
"He's not going to hurt anyone else anymore." Aang smiles. He gestures for us to follow him. Zuko helps me up and takes most of my weight.
"You should have seen yourself," Sokka tells Aang. "You were amazing! You were all like phew, woo! And the Fire Lord was all like ugh, ack, glug!"
We come upon the Fire Lord, slumped against a rock, completely defeated.
"Did you…you know, finish the job?" I ask.
"I'm still alive," Ozai growls.
"I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance," Aang says. "I took his bending away."
Toph whistles. "Wow, who taught you that?"
"A giant lion turtle."
"You have the craziest adventures when you disappear," Katara laughs.
Sokka hobbles over to Ozai, favoring one leg. I see that the other one is bandaged. "Well, look at you, buster," he taunts. "Now that your Fire bending is gone, I guess we should call you the Loser Lord."
"I am the Phoenix King," Ozai says, trying to hold onto his title. It doesn't last, though. He falls to the ground in a heap and promptly begins drooling.
"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to offend you," Toph says. "Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped!"
"Yeah," Suki catches on to the spirit. "Or how about King of the…Guys who don't win?"
"Leave the nicknames to us, honey," Toph says.