PRESENT DAY

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation sat on the back of a bison and looked out across an ocean very near the one where he'd started at all those months ago. Before he knew the truth of what he was.

Not long ago, Zuko would've looked back on that time with longing, but not anymore. After all, back then, he had stood alone, and now he was surrounded by friends. Better yet, now he had a purpose.

"Are we going back to the South Pole?" Sokka asked, leaning over the front of Appa's saddle to look down at Aang, who was sitting in his usual seat on top of Appa's head.

They had been flying in a straight path ever since they escaped the Fire Nation, barely stopping even to sleep. Aang was on a mission to get them to this place that he claimed would be safe, but he still refused to tell them exactly what that place was. He just kept saying he'd tell them later, that they needed to wait.

That didn't stop them from trying to tease it out of him, though.

"Not quite," he said, eyes fixed on the ocean below.

"You've gotta tell us where we're going at some point, Aang."

"I will," Aang said, "don't worry."

Sokka groaned and flopped back down in his usual spot next to Princess Yue. She smiled a little and patted his hand. Zuko didn't miss the quick glance that passed between them before Sokka relaxed, and Yue pulled her hand away.

He looked over toward Katara and raised an eyebrow, inclining his head subtly toward Yue and Sokka. She smirked back at him, but shook her head a little.

They continued on for a while longer before Aang suddenly sat up straight. "There!"

As one, they all crowded toward the front of the saddle, looking toward where Aang was pointing.

There, among the waves, was an island covered in a dense, lush forest of trees and other plant life. It was small for an island, and oval in shape—almost a perfect oval, in fact, with none of the strange offshoots or irregularities that islands normally had.

What's more, Zuko had some knowledge of the area they were flying over, and he was pretty sure there was not usually an island here. At least, he hadn't seen it on any maps before.

"That's where we're going?" Katara asked.

"Yep." Aang's expression was strange, like he was trying to sort through many different emotions at once. After a moment of pause, he said, "I guess I should finally say it. Welcome to my home, guys."

Everyone stared at him until his cheeks turned bright red.

"It looks very nice," Yue said after an awkward pause. Not knowing the weight behind that statement, she, of course, looked very confused at everyone else's reactions.

"Your home?" Zuko asked.

Sokka said, "I thought you said you were from the Earth Kingdom."

"I mean. We're near the Earth Kingdom," Aang said, clearly uncomfortable. "Let's just go down. Everything will make more sense once we get there."

They all looked at each other, then nodded, and Aang began to lower Appa down.

As they got closer to the island, Zuko was able to make out more of its surface. It was very dome-like in shape, and covered in vegetation, but Zuko didn't see anything that resembled a village or houses. Nor did he see people walking through the forest anywhere.

He did, however, see several massive trees—six, at least—that dotted the island's surface, seemingly placed at random, though all of them were closer to the top of the island, a few hundred feet away from that central clearing. They jutted out far above the canopy of the rest of the forest.

Aang brought Appa down to land at the very top of the island, where the clearing was. As they got closer, Zuko could see that it had been carved with an intricate geometric design that he didn't know the significance of.

As soon as they touched down, something about the place seemed…different. Zuko felt like he had stepped into another world—and yet it was also vaguely familiar, in that way that Zuko was still getting used to. He had not been here before—but the Avatar had. He could feel it.

Everyone else was picking up on the strangeness of this place, too, because they were looking around uncertainly as they climbed down from Appa's back. Everyone except Aang. He seemed nervous as well, but not because of the surroundings. Something else was bothering him that Zuko couldn't identify.

While the others got down, Aang walked over to Appa's head and began whispering to him and running his fingers through Appa's fur. After a moment of this, he motioned to the rest of the group to follow and started down a path in the direction of one of the massive trees Zuko had seen from above. He didn't tell Appa to stay behind, and Appa seemed unwilling to leave Aang's side. They walked next to each other, Aang's hand still buried in the fur on the side of Appa's head. Evidently, the path was designed to more or less accommodate the width of a sky bison, but it was still tight enough that they were all forced to walk single-file next to Appa, with Aang at the front.

The forest around them was eerily quiet aside from the sounds of their own footsteps. It seemed impossibly dense, with bushes and trees and other plants filling nearly every inch of available space to their left and right, like a wall of vegetation. It was even encroaching on the path a little, tree roots and vines stretching across in places and providing easy ways to trip if you didn't step carefully.

After a few minutes of walking, they came to a place where the plants were more spaced out. And then they pushed their way into a little clearing.

Or, it would be a clearing, if not for the massive tree that stood at its center.

Zuko had seen these trees from the sky, of course, but here, standing at its base looking up, it seemed far larger than it had from the air. It stretched high in the sky, much taller and wider than any other tree around it.

"Wow," Katara breathed from behind him as she stepped into the clearing. "It's beautiful."

Aang didn't seem as impressed as the rest of them were—but then, he had said he'd grown up here. Zuko supposed a sight like this was common for him. He walked right up to the tree trunk, then paused and turned around to look at the rest of them.

"You guys wait here. I'll go introduce us."

"Do you need anyone to come with you?" Katara asked, at the same time that Sokka said, "To who? The tree?"

Aang smiled a little and shook his head. "This isn't just a tree, Sokka. I thought you knew a thing or two about camouflage." He ran his hand along the tree's trunk, apparently feeling for something. After a moment, he stopped, his hand landing on one of many small round knots that decorated the side of the trunk. It looked identical to all the others, but when Aang wrapped his hand around it and turned, it rotated, and when he pulled, a roughly rectangular portion of the tree opened outward—a door that had been so perfectly carved out of the tree trunk that Zuko hadn't noticed the seams.

"Okay," Sokka said. "That's cool."

Aang considered for a second before his eyes landed on Zuko. "Actually, you're right, Katara. Zuko, you should probably come with me."

Zuko stepped back. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I'm pretty clearly Fire Nation."

"You're the Avatar," Aang said, as if that was enough—and Zuko supposed it was.

"Okay," he said, with a little shrug.

Katara seemed less confident in that idea. She glanced between the two of them, concerned.

"Don't worry," Aang said to her. "Like I said, this is my home. We'll be fine."

"You're the only one who has any idea what's going on, Aang," Zuko reminded him. "You can't blame us for being a little nervous."

Aang bit his lip and looked away. "Yeah, I know. Come on."

He patted Appa's head one last time and then stepped into the doorway. Zuko followed.

If Zuko thought arriving on the island had been like stepping into another world, this put that to shame. The inside of the tree had been completely hollowed out and replaced with a village that consisted of platforms and ramps and staircases and ladders and bridges, criss-crossing their way up through the tree trunk as far as Zuko could see. Spiraling up around the edges of cavernous space, apparently carved from the original tree, were several small huts that sat on wooden platforms, connected to each other by this lattice of bridges.

Dappled light shone from little holes and windows carved into the sides that Zuko hadn't been able to see from the outside. And the light was augmented by lanterns that hung around the space, so instead of being dark and dreary like you'd expect the inside of a tree to be, the whole place was almost as bright as the day outside.

And here were the people. No one seemed to be in the entrance, but Zuko saw at least a dozen people of varying ages walking around on the bridges above them. Their skin and hair color matched Aang's, though of course they were too far away to see eye color. Most were dressed in nondescript clothing that could belong to any nation, but he also saw a few people wearing splashes of the traditional Air Nomad red and yellow. As far as he could tell, though, no one seemed to be doing any bending, and he saw no bald heads or tattoos anywhere.

Then again, Aang himself wasn't bald and didn't have prominent tattoos, so he supposed he shouldn't have expected these people to.

Aang waved at Zuko to stay down here, then, forgoing the nearby ladder entirely, hopped up to the nearest platform with his airbending.

The people on the bridges all froze and spun toward the sound.

"Don't worry, everyone, it's just me." Aang grinned.

And as if he'd rung the dinner bell, suddenly the place burst into action. Doors opened and people poked their heads out. Gasps and laughs rang out—Zuko heard Aang's name whispered and shouted by several different voices—as members of the village ran toward Aang.

It seemed that Aang really wasn't alone.

There weren't many, but it was an impressive amount of people considering this was the inside of a tree, albeit a very large one. Zuko didn't know if there were still some inside the houses, or perhaps some that were out in the forest somewhere, but right now, he saw two dozen people or so, about a third of which looked to be children, some of whom were about Aang's age, some much younger.

Aang was quickly mobbed. There was a lot of chatter that overlapped, so Zuko couldn't really make out what anyone was saying.

But then a voice echoed through the chamber, "Is that really you, Aang?"

The whole mob stopped, the chamber fell silent, and everyone looked up through the lattice of bridges. At the very top of the tall chamber, the door to the biggest hut had opened, and on the platform in front of it stood an old woman.

Behind her, two younger adults, a man and a woman, who seemed to be in their mid to late thirties stepped out as well. Based on both Aang's reaction to seeing them and the resemblance they bore to him, Zuko guessed they were his parents.

Clearly, the older woman was the village leader. People waited quietly as she made her way down the criss-crossing bridges and ramps, until she was standing in front of Aang. The younger couple trailed behind a few feet, holding hands tightly.

She had the gray eyes that belied Air Nomad ancestry, and she was dressed in faded red and yellow robes. Though she also bore no tattoos, her robes were tied and wrapped in a more traditional style than anyone else's. Her gray hair hung in two long braids that stretched nearly to her toes, and she was covered in wrinkles, but she still stood tall and regarded Aang with a steely gaze.

Aang peeled his eyes away from his parents and bowed to the older woman. "Elder Jaya," he said, and then suddenly it seemed like he couldn't stop the words from flowing out of him. "I'm so sorry that I left without permission. I'm sure you've been very upset with me, and it's understandable if you don't want to see me, but I need—"

"Aang, calm down." As he spoke, keeping his head bowed and his eyes directed at the ground, she had started smiling, and when she said that, he finally cut himself off and looked up. She had crossed the distance, and now grabbed him in a hug. He looked so surprised that Zuko had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, but he hugged her back after a second.

"We were so worried about you," she said, her voice muffled from being buried in the fabric of his top. She pulled away slightly, holding him at arms length and looking him up and down. "But now you're home, where you belong." She looked at the gathered crowd, peeking out from the houses and standing around, staring, and waved her arms to invite them in. "Please, let's welcome Aang home!"

A cheer rose up, and the group began to crowd around again, smiling and laughing and talking. Now that they were lower down, Zuko could clearly see that yes, they all seemed to be of Air Nomad origin, and their clothes weren't as nondescript as he had originally thought. Most of the outfits incorporated some variation of the Air Nomad yellow and red in one way or another, whether it was an accessory like a sash or a belt over top of otherwise plain clothing or a more traditional ensemble. Their ages ranged from toddlers all the way up to the mid-80s like Elder Jaya, though she did seem to be the oldest, at least based on the deference everyone gave her.

Before they could suffocate him, Aang threw up his hands and said, "Wait! Before we do this—there's, uh…something else I need to tell you. I didn't come home just because. I brought some…people…with me."

The jovial atmosphere instantly died, and the entire group took a step back from Aang in unison.

"You did what?" the younger woman behind Jaya asked. It seemed like she was the elderly woman's daughter. She had the same steely look in her eye that the older woman had a moment ago—the same one that she had adopted again now.

"I did it for a good reason!" Aang said, taking a step back, in the direction of Zuko, and he glanced over and caught Zuko's eye, still partially hidden in the shadows near the entrance. "Zuko, could you come out, please?"

Everyone now turned to look in Zuko's direction—and saw him, of course. He wasn't trying very hard to hide, and they probably would have noticed him before if they hadn't been distracted by Aang's sudden appearance.

Nervously, Zuko stepped into the light and gave an awkward wave, then walked over to stand under the platform where the group stood. "Uh, hi. I'm Zuko." Then he shook himself, remembering his manners, and bowed respectfully. "It's an honor to finally meet Aang's family."

When he straightened again, the woman studied him, and Zuko felt like her eyes were knives cutting him into ribbons. She took in the nondescript but ragged clothing, the messy black hair, the scar that covered half his face—and he saw her eyes widen and then narrow when she finally looked into his eyes and noted their color. Golden. Fire Nation golden. Everything else—the skin tone, the hair color—could possibly have belonged to another nation, but his eyes were a dead giveaway.

"My dear, sweet grandson," she said coldly, looking at Aang. "Could you possibly explain why you have brought someone from the Fire Nation into our midst?"

Another round of gasps, another step back in unison. This time, someone even shrieked.

"Zuko?" Aang prompted.

Zuko nodded. He met the elder's gaze. "I know my appearance is probably…off-putting to many of you, and I apologize for that, but I bring no ill will. I am the Avatar, and Aang has been traveling with me as my airbending master."

To prove it, he gathered the air around him and used it to hop up to the platform the way Aang had done earlier. There were some more gasps. Once he had landed, he bowed again, but glanced over at Aang questioningly.

"We've got some other friends with us, too," Aang said.

"The Avatar," the elder said. "And why come here, specifically?"

"Well…" Zuko and Aang looked at each other for a moment. Then Aang launched into the story, explaining how they had been making their way to the Northern Water Tribe to find Zuko a waterbending master, but then when they got there they got captured by the Fire Nation.

"They kept us locked up on a ship for a really long time," Aang said, "but we came up with a plan, and when we got to the Fire Nation, we escaped. I knew we needed somewhere safe to hide out for a while, so I brought us here. It's the only place where I know no one will be able to find us."

Silence followed after that. It stretched for several excruciating seconds before the elder finally sighed. She glanced back at the man and woman who Zuko thought were probably Aang's parents and shook her head with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and affection. "Aang…what are we going to do with you?"

"Does that mean we can stay?" he asked.

She nodded, though there was clear reluctance in her expression. "For now."

"Yes!" Aang pumped his fist and jumped into the air on one of his airbending-augmented hops. He spun toward Zuko with a grin. "This is great! You guys get to meet all my friends and family, and we'll be safe here for a while."

"Uh, yeah," Zuko said. "I'll go get our friends, and then maybe you can actually explain what exactly this place is, and what's going on? I thought you said…" He shook his head. "I'll be back."

Some of the people were looking confusedly between Zuko and Aang. Zuko left Aang there and made his way back to the rest of the group. As he left, he saw the elder and Aang's potential parents approach Aang and begin asking him questions.

"How'd it go?" Sokka asked when he appeared at the doorway. "Where's Aang?"

"Everything's fine, I think," Zuko said. "I guess this is…Aang's family, or something? They look like Air Nomads. I don't know, he still hasn't really explained anything, but we can all go out and meet them now."

As soon as he said that, Appa took off, heading up toward the highest branches of the tree like he knew exactly what he was doing. After a moment, he disappeared into the tree's leaves.

Katara frowned. She was worrying at her necklace the way she did when she was uneasy. "Aang told us he was the only airbender left. He wouldn't have lied about that, would he?"

"Maybe they're not benders," Sokka suggested with a shrug. "Only way to find out is to go meet them." And with that, he stepped through the doorway, with Yue close behind.

Zuko looked at Katara. "I don't think he was lying. That doesn't seem like him."

"No," she agreed. "It doesn't. You're right."

They headed into the village together.