The warriors did not sleep, but they rested their minds during the evening. They needed to be prepared and had to wait. Go too soon and the soldiers would be able to plan and retaliate. It was possible that they already had plans for dealing with revolts. Go too late and the sun would be up, powering the benders. So, it was necessary to wait just long enough. When the moon hovered high above the snow, the Water Tribe moved in. The warriors left their homes with their newly made weapons and went towards the other area of the tribe with the new inhabitants. They knew which settlements had soldiers and which had nobles. For the time being, the nobles would be left out of this. First, the main threats needed to be handled. Warriors moved stealthily, climbing up the walls and onto the roofs. It was easy to break in because few people thought that the new homes needed to be secure. With Zhao and a handful of the soldiers gone, the numbers were on the side of the warriors. Still, the firebenders could not be underestimated. Therefore, the men worked quickly.

Bato entered a home that stood where his once did. It looked nothing like what had been in its place. Something caught the warrior's eye. There was a quilt on which his parents had sewn their names. They were singed off and the entire quilt was used as a blanket over a soldier sleeping soundly. Snores only increased Bato's anger. He crept up to the edge of the bed and drew a spear. Bato used the spearhead to stab into the soldier's throat. Gurgling on blood, the firebender's hands sparked with flames, reaching for his attacker. The length of the spear was too long for him to grab Bato and kept him pinned down. He fired a blast which got the man in the shoulder. With a grunt of pain, Bato dug the spear in further, going through the throat.

All around the tribe, warriors were doing this. Some of the soldiers stayed asleep until they no longer had the option to awaken, but others were light sleepers. Hearing someone enter the home, a soldier pretended to be asleep. Just as a tribesman came closer, the firebender shot a blast at him, setting him on fire. He kept blasting until the other man was burned alive. Done, he rushed out of the home.

"It's a revolt!" the bender yelled.

The alert got the attention of soldiers in the other homes. It also got the attention of the warriors who knew their actions had been discovered. Those who were already inside began acting faster, slashing throats without giving the soldiers time to register what had been said. Others were not so fortunate and were inside with firebenders who were as aware of their plan as they were. An all out attack from both sides began raging. Even nobles stirred from their slumber, several finding furious servants over top of them with the same weapons they had been allowed to use to hunt for their new masters.

As the fighting continued, the royal family was learning of the night's events. The firelord heard cries of battle and quickly dressed. Azula had heard the same and awoke, going to find her father. She found him topside, staring out at the tribe. From where he was, he could see tribesmen leaving settlements with bloodied spears. He also saw soldiers blasting fire into the air, causing so much smoke that it choked the warriors before burning them. The last thing he saw bothered him the most. He saw more tribesmen than soldiers. Azula saw this as well and a pit formed in her stomach.

"The peasants are winning," she thought, shocked. The princess turned to her father. "Dad–"

Azula stopped, seeing the man's pale face. He looked enraged, horrified, and disappointed all at once. Ozai considered his next actions. He could join the others or retreat. There was not much of an in between. The firelord hated the thought of leaving. If he left, he would be like his brother. If he fought, he risked being horribly outnumbered, but why would that matter? He was a great ruler and an even greater firebender. Should he need to paint his hands with the blood of slain savages, he would do just that. Only one thing in his mind concerned him if he chose to follow through with this plan. Battling would leave Azula alone. She was a skilled firebender, but he did not want her fighting nearly an entire army of warriors. The girl lacked experience in real combat situations. Her first fight would not be against people who were fighting for their lives. Ozai tore his gaze from the battle to look at his daughter, but she was gone. Azula had already made up her mind.

The princess refused to leave. She did not want to be there, but she would leave only when their work was done and not a moment sooner. Without a doubt, Azula would not leave because of fear. She used fire from her feet to blast over to the tribe. Maybe she could not kill everyone, but she was certain that she could kill at least one family.

As the firebender began her hunt, Sokka was with the other kids and the women. They had begun traveling deep into the mountains. It was part of Hakoda's plan that he kept secret until the last moment, knowing his son would argue otherwise. This way, the soldiers could not easily find them. If the warriors were successful, they would reunite in the morning. If they were not, by morning, the survivors of the tribe would know to begin making shelters and to stay hidden. Sokka led the way, often looking back to make sure that they had everyone and no one was trailing behind. All the way, he kept his machete in his hand, grip becoming tighter and tighter.

"I don't know if Dad's okay," he thought, frowning deeply. "He might need my help, but I won't know until it's too late or he's back."

Sokka's frown faded slightly as he felt a hand holding his. With an understanding expression, Katara looked up at him.

"Dad'll be back," she assured him.

The boy just nodded his head and they kept walking. He glanced back at Aang. There was a definite benefit to having him with them. Though Appa could not carry everyone, he could carry the eldest and youngest individuals. This removed a lot of stress from the future chief, but so much still existed. Part of him wanted to ask Aang to go into the Avatar state again and battle the people, but the smaller boy had seemed so out of control. Sokka was almost unsure if he just would have been more of a danger to his father and the others if he joined them.

"We're almost there!" Sokka called back to the others.

Cold and more than relatively scared, the people nodded and continued to follow him until he stopped. Sokka glanced between them and where they had come from.

"I got them here," he thought. "They're safe, so if I go back to help…No, I have to stay to make sure they're all right. If it goes wrong, I'll be the last line of defense."

Squaring his shoulders, Sokka started setting up shelters for the night. Assuming the worst–no matter how much he did not want to–it was possible that they would need places to stay. To start, he would prepare it for those who had ridden on Appa. Katara and Aang quickly began helping him and the younger women joined. They worked, as did the Fire Nation prince. Unlike the others from the Fire Nation, Zuko had not gone to sleep that night. He stayed awake in his room, awaiting the sounds of battle. Going unnoticed, he had crept out of the ship and entered the tribe. The boy stayed hidden from the sight of both the warriors who might have attacked and the soldiers who would have revealed what he did. Consequently, he stayed low in the snow, slyly using the soldiers' power against them. He had his sword with him, letting it make his flames more precise. When he added to their fire, he made it blast backwards at them. It acted like explosions, causing the firebenders to lose balance and stumble back. This gave the warriors an advantage that they did not take lightly. Nevertheless, some of the warriors did not need any outside help.

Though surrounded by three soldiers, Hakoda remained unscathed. He dodged a fireball, then lunged forward, plunging his spear through the opening of a soldier's helmet. When the other attackers tried to close in, he spun around. A blast broke his spear, but he caught the one piece and pointed the sharp edge outwards. He slid to the ground, using both sides of the spear to take out another firebender's legs from under him. Hakoda quickly removed the helmet and lifted him in time to block a blast of fire. Once this soldier was burned, the chief pushed him into the other bender. The weight knocked down the man who could not get up properly before his head was taken into the chief's hands and his neck was snapped.

Briefly, Hakoda stopped, feeling a set of eyes on him. The chief glanced to the side, eventually spotting the young prince. When Zuko saw that his presence had been noticed, he gave a nod of his head to the father as he kept moving to find other soldiers. The boy only stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his sister. Quickly, Zuko ducked down. If she spotted him, Ozai would find out. He could get away…partially…with speaking to Sokka, but if anyone found out he was directly opposing their soldiers, it would be over. He had expected her to show up, but he still felt unprepared. The prince was nearly seen, but he managed to move behind a settlement in time. To his surprise, Azula went past Bato and the others. She was running now. The way that she ran, Zuko could tell she had a specific goal in mind.

"She's not fighting any of the warriors. She's going to kill the chief," he realized, eyes widening.

The prince sneaked around the tribe, weaving around homes and avoiding people. He saw Hakoda in the middle in a fight with another soldier. Zuko saw that everyone was too busy to spot him. He needed to get to the chief faster than the time it would take for the fight to end. Firing a small blast, the prince melted the snow under the soldier's foot, making him fall forward as he stepped. Hakoda finished the fight with a stab to the center of the man's forehead and Zuko hurried over to him.

"My sister's going to try to kill you and if she's out here, my father won't be too far behind. There wouldn't be a way to avoid both of their lightning attacks."

Hakoda tensed as he was told this. His concerns only grew when he saw a bright flash light up the night sky. Lightning had been used. Leaping off the ship, Ozai fired a blast into the sky. It temporarily blinded the warriors who were unaccustomed to lightning and gave the remaining soldiers the upper hand. Zuko's face turned pale when he saw what had happened. He took Hakoda's arm and started pulling.

"They'll find you if you're out here fighting."

The chief's eyes still had not adjusted well enough to the lightning to be able to do much aside from follow the young bender's lead. He was being taken away from the main battle. Zuko was not entirely sure where to bring him, but he suddenly got an idea. What he needed to do was reduce visibility for the firebenders as well. Using his sword to extend the flames to the snow, Zuko turned it to steam. He continued doing this until there was a blanket of steam covering the entire area. When Azula saw this, she scowled. It must have been that waterbender. Maybe she had underestimated her. Maybe she needed to die sooner than the firebender had expected. Ozai did not agree with Azula's way of thinking. He found the princess due to her fire and got her to stop running.

"We're leaving," he said, scowling.

"We can still kill them," the girl assured him, glaring off into the snow.

"No, this place isn't worth the effort. The Northern Tribe should already be ours by now. We'll return with more soldiers and finish what we've started here."

With fire on his fists, the firelord began walking back to the ship. Azula hesitated a moment, looking back with discontent. Begrudgingly, she followed after her father. Zuko stayed close enough to hear and sighed a breath of relief when they left. He did not have much time, but he had something he wanted to do. The boy hurried over to where he had left Hakoda.

"Do you know where Sokka is?"

"He's in those mountains with the rest of the tribe."

Zuko saw where he pointed and took off. It was still a little chaotic as he went through the tribe. Fewer people were fighting, though the battle had not quite ended. The bender ducked in time to not be hit by a fireball which had been shot blindly by a soldier. As he ran, he almost bumped into Sokka.

"I saw the lightning," the younger boy explained anxiously. "I wasn't sure if there'd be more or not, so I wanted to help. My dad–"

"Your dad's okay," Zuko told him, easing his concerns. "I think the battle is about to be over. There's still a little fighting, but my father is headed back. We're about to leave."

Sokka paused. "I guess we are too then." His expression turned disappointed. "I was hoping I'd get to help fight with you."

"I didn't do much of it myself. Maybe there'll be more of it for us both next time."

"Yeah, next time. Whenever that is," Sokka sighed.

Zuko also looked unhappy, but he gave a small smile as he held out the sword. Sokka stared at it in shock for a moment.

"I want you to have it," the firebender said. "It'll let you fight with a greater distance from your enemies than the machete will."

The nonbender's face lit up. "You're really giving me this?" He started to have a mischievous smile on his face. "I thought you said before that you weren't giving this to me as a gift."

Zuko chuckled. "I guess things have changed. You'll need it out there more than I do. Plus, it'll make it harder to forget the time we spent hanging out."

"I won't forget," Sokka said sincerely. He then added, "But I will happily take this sword. You just can't forget me either. Promise not to?"

"I promise."

The boys tensed when they saw another flash of lighting get shot into the sky.

"He's signaling for the remaining soldiers and nobles to retreat," Zuko explained. "I have to go. Bye, Sokka."

Before he could leave, Sokka caught his arm and shook his hand the way he had seen warriors do in his tribe.

"No byes. Just see you later."

The prince nodded with a small grin. "See you later."

Zuko began heading back to the ship, boarding without being seen by anyone. After a few minutes, Sokka led the rest of the tribe back to the main area.

"Dad!" he and Katara called out. "Where are you?"

"Over here!"

The steam had mostly dissipated, but the destruction in the village made it difficult to find people. When the family was reunited, they embraced, thankful that they were not down another member. Hakoda did not want to let go of the kids. He squeezed them a little tighter, feeling like they would vanish if he released his hold. Regardless of what he did, he knew they would have to leave.

"You both make me so proud," the father said, swallowing hard.

Some tears fell from Katara's eyes as Hakoda kissed her forehead. She was scared to leave home, but she also wanted to help Aang and the world. The girl just wished there was a way to do that without needing to leave everything and almost everyone she knew. After several moments, the hug ended and she went to find Aang. Sokka stayed where he was, sadly looking at his father. The chief patted his shoulder.

"Keep making new friends, son. You do a good job of finding ones who'll look out for you," Hakoda said, gesturing to the sword at his side.

Sokka grinned at him and gave him one last hug before heading off with Katara. The two of them got on Appa's back and Aang was in the front. Once there, the eldest boy sighed.

"We'll get to the tribe by next year, but at least we'll get there."

Aang shook his head. "Appa doesn't fly slowly. We should be there before too long."

"Appa doesn't fly at all."

Aang flicked the reins and had a determined look on his face. "Appa, yip yip!"

Sokka rolled his eyes as the bison began moving. He could not understand why the boy refused to admit that the animal could not fly.

"It's okay if he can't fly. It's just better to acknowledge…"

The boy stopped talking as his jaw dropped. Wind hit his face and blew his hood off his head. Katara's face brightened and she hugged Aang.

"He's really flying!" Sokka said, astonished.

"Told you!" Aang exclaimed, beaming happily.

"But he's actually flying!"

Aang and Katara laughed at his shocked expression. Sokka looked over the edge of the saddle, watching as their home got smaller and smaller.

"Northern Water Tribe," he thought, "here we come."