When that flare had shot into the sky and all the villagers began to panic, Itika knew something had happened, she quickly ran to Appa and rode him towards the entrance of the village. She planned to ride off to find Aang and Katara, but her rushing thoughts were halted by a single voice.

"I was right! You guys were spies!" Sokka accused Itika who grew annoyed at that and turned to face him from the saddle.

"We don't have time for this, Sokka, I need to find Aang and your sister, they might be in trouble!" She snapped at the young warrior who seemed cowed by Itika's fierce gaze.

She was about to get Appa moving again when she looked into the distance and saw the approaching forms of Aang and Katara. She leapt off Appa and flew off running at the pair with blinding speed, before they could blink, Itika was in front of them checking them over to see if they were okay, ignoring how the wind had almost knocked the pair back.

"Are you two okay? What happened!? Was that flare you? Are you hurt!?" She asked quickly, she would have gone on for longer, but Aang placed a hand on her shoulders and she stopped.

"We're okay, Itika, but I accidentally triggered a booby trap." Aang said sheepishly, if this was not so serious, Itika would have laughed at the word, but instead she sighed and patted Aang on the back. She held a somber expression as she walked the pair back to the entrance where everyone had gathered. The children ran with joy towards Aang when they got closer, but that was the inky joy evident as Sokka made his way to the front of the crowd and pointed a finger at the airbenders.

"I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare, you're leading them right to us, aren't you!" He declared, much to the displeasure of both Katara and Itika.

"Aang didn't do anything, it was an accident." Katara explained to her brother, Aang chiming in and told what happened, but it did not help as Gran Gran approached.

"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship, now we could all be in danger." Gran Gran said sternly, admonishing Katara, but Aang could not let this slide.

"Don't blame Katara, I took her there, it's my fault." Aang said, his voice full of guilt, Itika tried to comfort him, but Sokka jumped back in much to her annoyance.

"Aha! The traitor confessed, warriors, away from the enemy! The foreigners are banished from the village!" Sokka declared, much to the shock of Katara and Itika, the latter using all her training to not summon a hurricane.

She chose to turn her attention to Aang as Katara began arguing with her brother, he looked saddened by how things were going and she did not blame, but she would not let him be upset. She tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention and held out her pinky finger, when he turned and saw the finger, a smile formed on his face as he remembered what it meant, he linked it with his own pinky.

Their attention shifted when they heard Sokka question how fun would work against the Fire Nation, Aang said to try and they did not like that and then Gran Gran agreed with Sokka, Itikia was not happy, she understood her point of view, it was for the best.

"Fine, then I'm banished too! Come one Aang, I'm coming with you guys!" Katara said angrily, dragging Aang who was happy at the idea while Itika did a double take at what Katara said.

"Katara, wait, you should think about this." Itika called to the young girl who looked surprised as did Sokka who was about to speak.

"I'm grateful you'd come with us Katara, but you shouldn't let me and Aang come between you and your family." Itika said softly, offering a kind smile to the young girl who seemed unsure of what to say.

"Itika's right Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." Aang said, much to Katara's dismay, as she was forced to say goodbye to the pair, Itika waved goodbye to her and the village, for a moment she shared contact with Gran Gran, And both shared a brief nod.

With that, the pair got on Appa and were about to leave when a sudden cry surprised them. A young girl of the water tribe came running towards them and stopped beside Katara.

"Aang, don't go, I'll miss you." She begged, looking at them with the saddest eyes Itika had ever seen, she felt her heart clench at the sight.

"I'll miss you too, come on boy." He answered back with sadness before riding Appa away, thus they made their way away from the village. Itika had thought to look back but she focused more on her best friend who clearly was sad, after a bit of riding, she sat behind Aang.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out, Aang, I know you were having fun." Itika said softly, pausing before she continued.

"Look, no matter what happens, Aang, I'll always be there for you, okay?"

Aang turned to face Itika, and once again she had her pinky out, he gave her a smile and linked again before turning to guide Appa as they rode towards an unknown future.

Eventually, they stopped near some ice formations where they all rested in the holes, Itika was thinking to herself about how they would proceed, while she was worried, she knew Aang believed that there should be airbenders back home, until she saw it herself, she did not want to bring down any lower. Appa let out a groan that broke her from her thoughts, but it was what Aang said next that shifted her thoughts entirely.

"Yeah Appa, I liked her too."

Itika immediately cooed and started to embarrass Aang as she went on about how cute Aang and Katara were, she hopped up to Aang's perch to say more but a sight immediately made her blood run cold.

"Aang, look." She said in a serious tone, Aang was confused and looked to see a small Fire Nation ship heading right for the village, the two looked at each other and nodded before jumping down to the ground.

"Appa, you stay here, Itika-"

"Is coming with you, alright, let's go." Said the older air bender who ran ahead of Aang who tried to protest, but instead chose to follow his friend.

--‐--

The entire ship vibrated as they crashed onto the icy shore, then continued forth through the ice until their nose had demolished a small part of the village, the soldiers waited for the gang plank to open up, this was the moment.

"Maybe we should keep going, I don't think we crashed enough." The voice of Naosong who stood beside Zuko once again, said Prince was ignoring his bodyguard's rambles as he prepared to hunt down the Avatar, after so many years. The nose opened up and smashed into the ice, scaring many of the nearby villagers, evident from the screams, Naosong could see them all huddled together in fear before zeroing in on a young man, a couple years younger than him and wearing war paint. As they made their way out, the kid charged at Zuko with a furious yell, he got within a step before Naosong did his job and sent him flying Into snow beside them, letting them continue to the villagers. The Prince scanned the frightened faces of the Water Tribe, ignoring their fear as he started his interrogation as he demanded the whereabouts of the Avatar.

Naosong stood by, maintaining an air of authority while in reality he was dying to have a drink, but Zuko always got on his case about how it made him look bad to have his bodyguard drinking while he was doing business. Honestly, Naosong did not see the problem as he let his mind wander, suddenly, he heard shuffling in the snow and turned to find the young warrior charging at them again with this weapon raised. Once again, Naosong grabbed him by the arm, and threw him back with the villagers, however, one kid came out holding a spear and threw it at the warrior.

"Show no fear!!" He cried out, which impressed Naosong a bit. The little kid had spirit, and he was beginning to see it in the warrior who charged with his spear in hand, a subtle signal from the Prince halted the bulky bodyguard. Naosong chuckled as he

watched Zuko make light work of the wannabe warrior, before almost dying when Zuko got knocked on the back of his helmet by a metal boomerang, however he stopped when Zuko revealed his flame daggers as he knew it was getting serious.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of something moving across the snow and looked to see something coming from the distance at quick speed, he blinked and checked again to see a bald child on a penguin speeding towards them.

"Uh, Prince Zuko." Naosong called, but Zuko refused to acknowledge him.

"Hey, Zuko!" He called again, louder, but all he got was a growl back.

"I don't need anymore of your rambles, Naosong, so be silent." The Prince growled at his bodyguard who crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at the Prince's attitude.

"Okay, I'm just gonna let this play out." He said aloud before taking a step to the side, letting the sledding boy crash into Zuko who flipped in the air and slid in front of his men, his helmet landing on his behind.

"Should have listened to my ramblings." He said to Zuko who groaned at the surprise attack, but he focused on the child and was surprised.

First, he learned that the boy and the warrior were called Aang and Sokka, but more so, he saw the tattoos on Aang, the clothing he wore, there was no way, but Naosong could not deny the resemblance.

"Bleeding Hog Monkeys! He's related to the spirit!" Naosong declared in shock, all the soldiers present immediately groaned at this as it was evident he had bugged them all with his story. Zuko did not care as he signaled for his men to surround the newcomer, Naosong stood by Zuko as the men were blasted by torrents of air that kicked up snow, even though he and Zuko were covered but not injured.

"Looking for me?" Stated Aang who stood before them, he showed no fear as he stared at the soldiers and a surprised Zuko.

"You're the airbender?" Zuko asked in disbelief before asking the more apparent one.

"You're the Avatar!?"

"That was going to be my second guess!"

Ignoring the comment, Zuko got into a fighting stance as he began to circle with Aang following him, preparing to deal with any attack he was sent.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating, you're just a child!" Zuko snapped.

"Well, you're just a teenager." Replied Aang, causing another coughing fit from the bodyguard.

With that, Zuko launched his attack as he unleashed flames at the Avatar who dispelled them by twirling his staff, they circled once more as they kept fighting, Zuko released a powerful fire blast that Aang struggled to disperse as it edge around the small area of wind he made. The villagers behind him screamed as the flames almost reached them, with a swift swipe of his staff Aang halted the attack.

"If I go with you, will you promise to leave these people alone?" Aang asked, earning a respectful nod from Naosong before a confirming nod from Zuko who again signaled the soldiers to seize the boy. Naosong followed in the rear with the Avatar when he heard more voices, he turned to see a water tribe girl calling out to Aang, Naosong recalled her name was Katra, or something.

His attention was suddenly drawn to the vast wilderness outside the village as he was overcome by a strange feeling within himself, he stared at one spot in particular, he could sense something as he felt the wind grow especially sharp there.

"Naosong!!"

And like that the feeling was gone as Zuko roared from the top of the gangplank at him.

"Get in here and plot a course for the Fire Nation, I'm going home!" He ordered his bodyguard/navigator who hurried into the ship, going to do as ordered, still wondering what he was feeling as they left.

While just beyond the mound of ice, Itika was hiding, doing her best to control herself. She was ready to leap in and help Aang deal with these guys, but that went against their plan, she needed to wait until the ship had left before she started following, she was gonna save her friend.

--

It was not long after the ship left that the Water Tribe worked to repair the damage that was left behind, but not for Katara who stood on the ice staring out, worried for her new friend. Katara pleaded with Sokka to see their friends' plight and to help Aang who saved them, only to realize Sokka was way ahead of her and had prepared a canoe to ride after the ship. Even their Gran Gran arrived to give them some supplies on their journey. It was a really touching moment, but Katara realized they would not be able to catch up with their canoe.

"There's no way we're gonna catch a warship with a canoe." She said.

"Then how about the next best thing!" Came a familiar voice came from above, the three looked up to see Itika flying overhead, she quickly flew down and met the three surprised Water Tribe members.

"Itikia!" Katara said in surprise before she grew hostile as she raised an accusatory finger at the older airbender.

"Where were you, Aang was taken and you weren't there!!" She snapped at Itika, who was unfazed by the anger as Katara ranted at her.

"I hate to interrupt your rant, but if we don't move, we'll lose the ship." Itika said calmly as she pointed in a direction off to sea before them, surprising everyone present.

"Waif, how do you know where the ship is?" Sokka asked, Itika giving him a chuckle.

"You don't think I'd send Aang into danger without a plan?" Itika asked the pair before she then walked off.

"Now, I believe our ride will be here, right about...now."

On cue, the large horned form of Appa appeared over the snow hill and lumbered his way to the three kids who were more than happy to see as Itika air jumped onto his saddle and signaled for the others to join. After getting Sokka and Katara on board once more, Itika grinned as she stroked the air bison for good luck.

"All right big guy, let's go save Aang, Appa, yip yip!" She cried out with a smile and Appa responded in kind, with a mighty groan, Appa leapt into the air and started to fly into the sky.

"He's flying! You guys, he's actually flying!" Sokka shouted in awe and amazement much to the visible smug joy of Katara and Itika, Sokka tried to play it off to no success, the trio flew as fast as they could, but Katara still had questions.

"Itika, did you know Aang was the Avatar?"

Itika paused for a moment before she replied.

"Yes, I did." She answered simply, not giving Katara much information, before she stood suddenly and turned to face the confused kids.

"I'm going to go ahead and lend Aang a hand, Appa will follow me, so just hold onto his reins."

Itika had already taken off before either could get a word in as she flew off on her glider, she mentally kicked herself for the abruptness of her actions, but she knew she could not answer because it was not her place to speak.

After a bit of flying, Itika could see the smoke pouring from the metal warship and sure enough there it was, cutting through the icy water, Itika flew high to avoid being spotted. Once she was over the deck she dropped down, before using her air bending to cushion her fall, she eyed the area as she snuck around, looking like there were no guards at the moment, taking advantage she silently ran towards a hatch and listened for any sound.

The door opened inward and a large figure stood in the doorway, Itika, blinked before looking up and seeing a Fire Nation soldier who stared back in equal confusion. Slowly, the soldier closed the door again, before quickly opening it up, staring at Itika with disbelief, a look Itika quickly recognised, both pointed at each other.

"Spirit lady!"

"Naked bandana guy!"

Naosong snapped out of his stupor and leapt out the doorway, Itika flipped back, to create some distance from the enemy who was laughing like a lunatic.

"You have no idea how happy I am to know you're real!" He shouted, confusing Itika quite a bit.

"You're welcome?" She replied with a shrug before she launched a blast of air at Naosong, who quickly got into his stance and fired a blast of fire that dispelled the attack. In return, Naosong fired a wave of flames that she dove over before launching another torrent of air, Naosong crossed his arms and guarded as the air pushed him back, he seemed unfazed by the attack and he smiled at the airbender.

"Not bad, but for a spirit, I thought you'd have more tricks up your sleeves than these baby attacks." Naosong commented with a smirk which irked Itika a bit before she returned with her own smirk.

"As a matter of fact, I do." She replied.

Suddenly, Itika stance shifted as she looked alot more loose, her arms swayed from side to side and her footing seemed to follow an unheard rhythm, to Naosong it looked like his opponent was dancing. He was about to make a quip when Itika shot forward, Naosong barely dodged the punch she threw and he did not dodge the double kick she swiftly attacked with. The surprise blow had managed to throw Naosong off balance, Itika capitalized on this and twirled into a low kick that knocked him into the air before blowing him a kiss that bowled him over and sent him across the deck.

"So, was that better?" Itika asked him with a smug grin.

Naosong recovered and returned to his fighting stance as he gained a more focused look, he chose not to say a word as he simply launched into a new barrage of fire blasts and kicks, but none managed to hit Itika as she danced around each attack. They continued this way until Naosong stood straight and gave Itika a cheeky grin as he started stretching.

"That's some style you got there, I have to admit." He said as he finished his stretching before removing his helmet and tossing it to the side, freeing his ponytail.

"But let's see how it handles this." He said before producing his gourd bottle, uncorking and emptying it into his mouth, Itika blinked as she watched Naosong chug his bottle, once it was empty, he tossed it next to his helmet and let out a surly laugh.

"Haha, times to dance!" He declared, his body swaying uncontrollably as he walked over to Itika who was beyond confused at what was happening. Her opponent appeared dead drunk, just how strong was that stuff and why would he do it if it made him this way. Itika shrugged and prepared to take him down as gently as possible, twirling again. She aimed an air kick at his solar plexus, but he suddenly fell to the side and the attack missed completely. He turned and got up, only to accidentally head butt Itika in her back, Naosong apologized as he returned to his feet, before getting into a sloppy stance.

"Sooorry, heh, okay let's fight for real!" He shouted with a slur.

Itika recovered from the blow and returned to her dancer stance. She knew this was gonna be a problem, from the way Naosong stood and moved, she could not read his movements and it meant he would not follow her flow. Once again, they started to fight, Itika tried to use her dancer style, but Naosong kept throwing off the flow of the fight and she could only minimize damage. Itika decided to quit playing and utilized her bending in her style properly, she launched blasts of air, creating a torrent of air that must have alerted the ship. Yet, to Itika's shock, Naosong performed his own bending as he fought, bursts of flame would shoot from his hands and mouth at random, piercing her air attacks.

"Look, I'm just trying to save my friend, so sorry for this." Itika called and she launched a powerful air ball at the drunk who had gotten his bottle back and taken a drink, suddenly he spat out his drink which hit the air ball, causing both attacks to explode.

"Oh spirits! That's just gross!!" Itika snapped at Noasong who shrugged at her disgust.

"Eh, do what you gotta do." He replied nonchalantly.

"Now, beautiful spirit or not, imma take you in, for my bestie!" He declared drunkenly, Itika ignored the blush at the compliment before preparing to fight once more.

"Behold the technique of Naosong the Drunk- Urk!!"

Naosong was cut off by two figures that fell on top of him, both Itika quickly recognised Aang and the teenager who took him, Aang shook off the sudden drop and was happy to see his friend.

"Itika, you made it!" He said cheerfully, before the older Airbender embraced him in a tight hug.

"That was close Aang, oh and thanks for the help." She said as they quickly started to run from the ship, Itika dragged Aang, but a fierce fireball forced them to separate. Both turned to find the Fire Nation Prince glaring at them, his eyes turning sharp upon seeing Itika.

"Two airbenders? Ugh why does this have to be more complicated." Zuko snarled as he prepared to fight, ignoring the groans from his bodyguard beside him.

"Sorry about that, we're gonna go now." Aang said.

Suddenly, a roar filled the air, the two Airbenders looked up to see the form of Appa with the two Water Tribe kids aboard who called out to them, Zuko saw his chance to strike and was about to until a second roar filled the air. Everyone looked as Naosong was suddenly on his feet, roaring in clear anger, with reckless abandon, he fired powerful blasts of fire that forced everyone to dodge as the drunk was beyond angry. Zuko had to leap out of the way as a torrent of flame shot towards him, this was bad, he knew how angry Naosong got, when mixed with his drinking, he became the definition of an explosive temper. Itika struggled to dodge the attacks as they were strong and hard to block, forcing her to rely on her style to dodge, Aang was no different as they did their best to endure the chaos.

Zuko's mind raced as he tried to come up with a plan to salvage the situation, waiting till Naosong unleashed another wave of attacks, Zuko fired a blast at the Avatar. Time slowed down for Itika and Katara as they watched Aang fall over the side of the boat into the deathly cold water below, Itika ran to the side to search for her friend while Zuko turned to face Naosong who was still raging.

"Naosong, I'm really sorry for landing on you!" He stated, rolling his eyes at what he was doing, but it worked as the raging drunk stopped his onslaught and looked at his employer with uncertainty.

"Can we get some sweets?" He said in a sudden childish demeanor, Zuko questioning his life choices simply nodded back and Naosong wrapped him in a big bear hug, as he started laughing and making it clear all was forgiven.

Neither noticed the Avatar appearing out of the water in a large tentacle, in one swift move, he swiped at the Firebenders and knocked them off their ship in one go. Itika was astonished as she watched Aang performing waterbending, but seeing the way his eyes and tattoos glowed, it was clear that he must have been in the Avatar state. After he powered down and returned to deck, Itika was right there to help him up as he was clearly drained, she checked and was glad to see Katara and Sokka had landed and helped them as Sokka went to get Aang's staff and Katara helped her get Aang on Appa.

However, the soldiers who had made the smart choice to not be near Naosong earlier, but were still caught by the water, now advanced in them, Itika was about to deal with them when Katara attempted to waterbend, and froze Sokka to the deck. Fortunately, her second attempt was better as she froze the guards and climbed back on the flying bison with Sokka catching up, just as they took off Zuko was helped up by Naosong and his uncle.

"Shoot them down!" He ordered and the two men complied as in synchronization, fire a massive fireball that rocketed at the youngsters, but Itika and Aang both swung their staffs in unison and created a blast of air that knocked the fireball off course and caused the nearby ice cliff to collapse on the ship. After, Zuko swore to not underestimate the Avatar again after his uncle pointed out he was just a boy and ordered his men to melt the ice, before realizing they were still frozen. Naosong quickly took the time to hold out his hand to Iroh who sighed and gave him a small bag of coins, Zuko saw this and simply grumbled.

--

The skies soon turned golden as they began to set for the four flyers, Katara was still marveling at how Aang did his waterbending, which he admitted he had no clue, though Itika chimed in.

"It's called the Avatar state." She said simply to the trio.

"It is? Wait, how do you know, Itika?" Aang asked his older friend who gave him a gentle smile.

"I asked Monk Gyatso, he did not answer at first but I wore him down." Itika said with a chuckle prompting a smile from Aang, but Katara had a question that she needed to ask.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

The atmosphere turned quiet when she asked this, Itika sighed as she turned to her younger friend who looked troubled by the question as well.

"Because I never wanted to be." He said solemnly, letting silence fall again.

"Aang, everyone has been waiting for the Avatar to return and put an end to this war."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Aang asked, once again Itika chimed in.

"With your friends help and by mastering the four elements, first water, then earth and then fire." The elder Airbender explained.

"Like those old stuffy monks said, but I think we have an interesting opportunity here." Itika said with a smile as she nudged Katara, who quickly caught on and smiled as she spoke.

"If we go to the North Pole, you can learn waterbending!" Katara said.

"We can learn it together." Aang added with a lot more enthusiasm in his voice.

Itika was glad that Aang was happy again, she feared that this journey would be a hard one for him and it still might be, but seeing how happy he was to travel with his new friends, to visit all the places he liked to have fun. It was with sigh that Itika looked out into the horizon, she knew Aang would have to grow up if he was going to achieve his destiny, but that would come in time, for now, let the 112 year old boy have fun.

Itika listened as Aang continued to list off all the places he wanted to go as they flew off into the sunset.