He begs her to come with him. He lays out all the pros and cons, and why they're there, and he's not exaggerating. He tells her that these are his people, and that they're dying. He tells her that maybe her people are right in some ways, but that there are people in the Fire Nation who are the best he's ever known. He tells her that he needs her to finish this. He looks her in the eye, and tells her that he needs her.

Just a different world where Aang has a few Fire Nation friends and a boat and a kind of complicated relationship with his friends :) Erm... I can explain more but you don't need more to understand the story, so... ask questions if you have them?

And she looks sympathetic, but she tells him no. No, she doesn't tell him no - she tells him he's dumb to think he needs this, and that after enough time, he'll come running back to her. You'll realize, I think, that this isn't as big of a deal as you thought it was. You'll come back to the team, and we'll be able to move on together. I think you probably need to spend this time alone to realize this.

And then, she leaves, and he's never felt so alone in his life. Not when she and her brother both had to leave and the teachers took full advantage of him being alone. Not when Kuzon took him and he didn't know if he'd ever see either of them again. Not when he realized that there were actually slaves in the palace, but that they didn't care enough to get them in an easy setting.

He feels so, so alone. He wants to find her again - to beg her again - but can't imagine himself doing that. It hurts to even imagine himself standing by her again. This makes it so much harder, because he knows - he knows - that he cannot do this alone. If everything goes right, he's talking about a quick robbery of the most powerful man on earth. Of course, if it doesn't (which it won't), he's talking about something that could cause a whole world war.

He wasn't lying when he said he needed her, because he does. He really, truly, does. But she's gone. She chose to leave him, and she chose to say that his needs, his ideas, weren't important to her. They weren't - she wasn't lying - so he supposes he shouldn't be too mad about it, and he's not. He's just… he just feels alone. Very alone.

So he decides to look for other people, only he's not sure if other people are even out there. He knows someone must be willing to spend a while fighting for the avatar, but he doesn't know who they are. He can't build an army on his own, and he doesn't have anyone to ask for help, because she's gone. He really needs her, and she's gone.

Eventually, other people find him. It's Kuzon, and Li, and Other Li, and all the other people who he's grown to know and love (minus her), and it's enough. They know exactly what to say to help him feel okay again, and they know what to say to motivate him. They tell him that they're there for him, and that they're going to accomplish this.

It is enough. They've filled the need that he honestly truly had, and it is enough for him. But there's still a hole there, and he feels stupid, but it's still there. He trusted her, and she told him he would run back to her when he realized he was dumb. He gave everything to her, and she told him that she didn't need him, that it was the other way around. He knows he's being silly, but it hurts. But, he does actually need to be able to function, so he pretends it doesn't. He'll be fine.