After spending many hours flying in the sky after parting from the Western Air Temple, Team Avatar had landed and settled on the deserted areas of Ember Island. It was Zuko's idea.
"Wow. Camping. It really seems like old times again, doesn't it?" Aang had asked.
"Well, I never camped like this before." Ty Lee said.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it." Toph told Ty Lee, whom was on her left.
"Well, if you want I can chase you around, again." Zuko said, jokingly. He made everyone had laughed at Zuko's joke. Except for Katara who still seemed in an annoying mood.
"Haha." Katara said with an annoyed frown.
"I still can't believe you thought of bringing us Ember Island, Zuko. It feels like old times, like when we were by the shore." Ty Lee looked to Zuko and smiled.
"I didn't really have any other option." Zuko said, while looking back at Ty Lee.
"Wait, you two were on Ember Island, before?" Aang had asked gainng both Zuko and Ty Lee's attention.
"We have." Ty Lee had nodded. "Zuko's family has a deserted home on one of the mountains. And also, we were here just a few weeks before the Solar Eclipse. But, it wasn't just me and Zuko, though. Mai and Azula were there as well. We came on the island to have a little vacation." Ty Lee said.
"A-Azula? Vacationing?"Aang had gasped.
"Mm-hmm." Ty Lee had nodded.
"What, did she terrorize some people on the beach while... "vacationing?" Sokka asked, trying not to smirk.
"Well, I wouldn't say terrorize... I mean, she did kick a sand castle and made some kids cry and run away." Ty Lee had added as she remembered that time.
Sokka's smirk turned into a frown.
"That's rough." Aang said.
"If that's not evil, then I don't know what is." Toph said as her head was lowered. Seemingly staring at the ground.
"Oh. So... what else did you guys do on the beach?" Sokka had asked Ty Lee.
Ty Lee looked to Zuko for a second. "Well... how can I put this..." Ty Lee placed her left hand under her chin and thought. "We hung out on the beach, we played a volleyball game a girl with an injured leg, some popular boys invited us to a nice party. We later we arrived to the party that day. A number of boys tried asking me out all at once. I didn't know who to pick, so I knocked them all out. Then, Zuko started a fight. Mai dumped Zuko. Me, Mai, Zuko and Azula hung out at a bonfire by the shore-we got to know each other more by telling upset stories about ourselves, Mai and Zuko got back together and before the night was over, we all went back to a popular boy's house to "literally" crash his party." Ty Lee had gave her new friends a happy smile showing her white teeth.
Aang, Sokka and Suki had shocked looks on their faces after hearing Zuko and Ty Lee's time on the beach. Their jaws nearly dropped. Katara didn't react at all-as she was still in an annoyed mood.
"Cool." Toph smiled.
Sokka shook his head. "Well, that was an... interesting vacation." Sokka said, while averting his eyes left and right.
"It was. One of the best vacations that I ever had." Ty Lee smiled, once more. "What do you think, Zuko?" Ty Lee asked Zuko.
"Yeah. I had a lot to get off my chest, then." Zuko said, then remembered his own words. "I'M ANGRY AT MYSELF!"
Sokka had sighed. "To Zuko." He said while holding a cup of tea. "WHo knew after all this time he tried to snuff out out.. today, he'd be our hero?"
"Here, here!" Everyone said and raised their cups of tea over the campfire. Except for Katara and Zuko.
Ty Lee smiled to Zuko.
"I'm touched. But in all honesty, I don't deserve this." Zuko said in a humbled manner.
"For once, you're right." Katara said in a rude tone, then had begun walking off from the group.
Everyone was left sitting and watching Katara leave.
"What's with her?" Sokka asked, confusingly as he stared at Katara's backside from a distance.
Zuko had stood. "I think I might know what the problem is." He had then left the group and followed Katara's trail.
"What's with him?" Sokka asked.
"So, Ty Lee." Toph had called.
Ty Lee looked to Toph, whom was sitting on her right.
"You got anymore fun stories to tell us?" Toph asked with a smile on her face.
"Hm, let me think..." Ty Lee had stopped and tried to think of another story to tell. A firefly had buzzed over her head as she had thought of something to tell. "Oh! One time, when I was in the circus, there was-"
Meanwhile...
Zuko had followed Katara to a cliff surrounded by rocks. Katara was sitting on a rock watching the shore push itself on the edge off the cliff below. She heard footsteps from behind and assumed it was Zuko.
"What do you want?" Katara asked.
Zuko had let out a sigh and closed his eyes, momentarily. "I think I might know why you hate me. I'm sorry."
"Just what exactly are you sorry for?" Katara had asked while staring at the sea below her.
"I'm sorry for everything. For attacking your home in the South Pole. For using your mother's necklace a leverage and following you all the way to the North Pole. And most of all... I'm sorry for betraying your trust in Ba Sing Se." Zuko had apologized to Katara.
Katara's eyes had narrowed.
"If there's anything I can do to make it up to you-"
"You said anything, right?" Katara had quickly turned toward Zuko.
"Yes." Zuko replied.
"Since you said "anything" I think I might know something." Katara then turned around and faced Zuko. Then, began walking toward Zuko. "Let's see, you can either re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth Kingdom... or I know. You can bring back my mother!" Katara yelled, then shoved him out the way and walked elsewhere.
Zuko had let out a sigh, then he had walked toward the edge of the cliff and stared at the flowing ocean below. He stared at the water for... he doesn't even know how long. Suddenly...
"Zuko?"
Zuko heard his name called from a person. He turned around to see Ty Lee standing at least two yards away from him and giving him a worried look. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I saw Katara come return to the camp-seemingly angry. But, I didn't see you come back, so... I came looking for you and see how you were..."
Zuko had walked to Ty Lee. "It's okay. I'm fine." He told her.
Ty Lee had raised her hands and cupped Zuko's cheeks. "Are you sure? Because when I came over, I saw you staring at the ocean without moving for at least a minute. It was if... you were like a statue. You didn't fidget or twitch..."
Zuko had then grabbed Ty Lee's hands, gently. He then lowered her arms to his waist. "Yes. I'm okay. I was just reminiscing about some things. Trust me."
Ty Lee had blinked for a second as she stared at Zuko. "Oh... okay." Zuko nodded. "So, what now?"
Zuko had let go Ty Lee's arms. "I'm gonna go talk to Sokka about something." He then begun walking toward Sokka's tent.
Ty Lee had looked at Zuko's backside and watched him walk off, momentarily."Sokka?" She had then begun walking after him.
The Next Morning...
The sky was blue, the clouds in the sky where white and both Aang and Ty Lee were currently feeding Appa batches of straw for a sky bison's diet. Aang was teaching Ty Lee how to take care of Appa and feed him the right food. Ty Lee and Appa had not been on good terms, since she, Mai and Azula had begun chasing them across the Earth Kingdom.
"So... like this, right?" Ty Lee had held a big patch of straw out close to Appa's mouth so that the sky bison could eat it.
Appa had stuck its head out a bit and grabbed the big patch of straw from Ty Lee's hands with his teeth and pulled it in his mouth with his tongue.
"Yeah. Like that." Aang had smiled.
After Appa had swallowed the straw that Ty Lee presented, he stuck his tongue out and licked Ty Lee's left body.
"Uuhk!" Ty Lee had gained a shocking reaction when she had felt Appa's tongue slide upwards. Its saliva nearly covered Ty Lee's left side from her hair to her left pant leg.
Aang chuckled. "That means he likes you."
Ty Lee had frozen for a second, then giggled.
Suddenly...
Katara, filled with anger and determination had approached Aang, while he fed Appa straw. "Aang. I need to borrow Appa." Katara said with no hesitation in her own voice. Zuko had followed behind Katara. He carried a bag over his shoulder.
"What? Is it your turn to go on a field trip with Zuko?" Aang asked, sarcastically. As he asked, Ty Lee had tried to wipe Appa's saliva from her left face. and hair.
"Yes. It is." Katara replied without flinching. Fire had burned within Katara's water blue eyes.
Ty Lee, whom was ringing Appa's saliva from her hair had stopped for a second a she looked to Katara. She also saw Zuko behind her.
Aang had turned and stared at Katara's face, as he realized how serious she was. "Oh... What for?"
"We're going to find and put an end to the man who mercilessly killed mine and Sokka's mother." Katara told Aang.
Aang and Ty Lee had shockingly gasped when they heard Katara. Sokka, whom was sitting behind a big rock and making a flower crown for Suki had gasped and stood when he heard Katara's plans.
"Sokka told me the story on how to find him. I know who did it. And I know how to find him." Zuko said.
Ty Lee's eyes had widened. 'So, that's why he had to talk to Sokka...'
"And what do you think killing that man will accomplish?" Aang had asked, slowly.
Katara had scoffed in front of Aang and shook her head no. "I knew you wouldn't understand." She had begun walking elsewhere.
"K-Katara!" Aang called.
Katara had stopped for a moment when Aang had called her name.
Aang could see the pain behind Katara's water blue eyes. He then took a deep breathe. "Listen... I know how you feel and what you're going through... but, if you can't do this. How do you think I felt when the Sandbenders took Appa?" Aang pointed at Appa.
"Appa is still here." Katara said with a frown on her face.
"She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice." Zuko said.
"I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge." Aang replied to Zuko.
"Fine!" Maybe, it is. Maybe, that's what I want. Maybe, that's what he deserves." Katara said in a harsh tone.
Ty Lee had placed her hands over her mouth as she had listened their conversation. She knew that wasn't her place to speak.
"This isn't you, Katara. You're acting just like Jet." Aang said.
"It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent!" Katara said, coldly. She got a small flashback of Jet and the Freedom Fighters attempt to destroy a Fire Nation village. "This man is guilty. He's a monster."
Sokka suddenly approached Katara. "Listen, Katara. I miss her as much as you do. But Aang has a point. Seeking the person who killed mom won't bring her back." Sokka tried to reason with his sister Katar.
Katara shot her head towards Sokka. "Then, you never loved her the way I did!" She shouted at Sokka, leaving him speechless.
Ty Lee's eyes widened in shock.
Sokka had gasped in shock. "Katara..." He felt hurt by what Katara just said.
Aang had lowered his head and sighed. "The Air Nomad monks used to say that getting revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned, yourself." Aang had told Katara one of the Air Nomad's teachings.
"That's cute, but this isn't some Air Temple preschool. This is reality." Zuko told Aang.
"Now that I know he's out there... now that I know we can find him... I feel like I have no choice." Katara said.
"Katara. You do have a choice. Forgiveness." Aang said.
"That's the same as doing nothing." Zuko yelled at Aang.
"No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing and hate. But it's hard to forgive." Aang told Zuko.
"It's not just hard... it's impossible." Katara had said, then just walked away from Aang and Sokka.
Zuko had then begun to walk away, elsewhere. Almost following in Katara's general direction.
Ty Lee had saw this action and ran to Zuko. "Zuko!" She called Zuko, which earned his attention. "Can I talk to you about something?""
"Yeah. What is it?" Zuko asked.
"It's private." Ty Lee said, while looking at her bottom left corner and twiddled her fingers a bit.
Zuko sighed. "Fine. What do you want to-Nngh!" Zuko was cut off when Ty Lee had grabbed Zuko by his right hand and begun dragging him elsewhere.
Sokka and Aang watched Ty Lee do this, like an annoyed woman dragging their guy friend around.
Five Minutes Later...
Ty Lee had dragged Zuko by the arm and had taken him far away from their camp. They hid behind a boulder where no one could locate them.
"Ty Lee, why are we this far away from our friends-just to talk about something private?"
"You can't let her do it." Ty Lee had pleaded.
Zuko flinched. "What?"
"You can't let Katara go down this path." Ty Lee said.
"Ty Lee. Katara has a right to-" Zuko had been shushed by Ty Lee.
Ty Lee had quickly placed her right index finger over Zuko's mouth. "Listen. I know what you're going to say. And yes." Ty Lee had nodded. "Katara has a right to be angry at the man who killed her mother. But... getting revenge-especially in killing someone is something that she cannot come back from. If Katara goes downs this path and pulls through with this, she's going to regret it later on. Her hands will be stained with that man's blood-never being able to rid of it." Ty Lee shook her head no in a worried look.
Zuko had slowly removed Ty Lee's hand from his mouth. "How do you know this?" Zuko asked.
"Because. I heard of revenge stories when I was in the circus. And most of them didn't end well. In fact, some of them creeped me out." Ty Lee said while shaking her head no.
Zuko had remained silent.
"I know that you're trying to get within Katara's good graces-but, her aura is red and rageful. Like a tigerdillo." Ty Lee had described Katara's aura. "Please. Try to talk her out of it. And if that does not work, then please watch after her. Make sure that she doesn't cross that line. Please." Ty Lee asked Zuko.
Zuko had sighed. "Okay. I'll make sure to do that, goody-goody circus freak." Zuko said.
Ty Lee had smiled after bring complimented by Zuko. She had then hugged the Fire Nation prince.
Zuko was thrown off by Ty Lee's embrace as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Be careful." Ty Lee muttered.
"I will." Zuko said, then slowly wrapped his arms around Ty Lee's back. One arm was around her left shoulder blade. Ad the other arm around Ty Lee's right waist. Hugging her back.
Later That Night...
During a dark and cloudy night, Ty Lee had slept within one of the tents in their camp. She had slept on her left side under a blanket. Snoozing. Her heard had rested on a pillow.
Suddenly, the tent entrance had opened up a bit. And something... or someone had entered the tent. It was Zuko. He was dressed in all black for espionage. He stuck his head inside the tent only to see Ty Lee sleeping soundly. Zuko had smiled as he watched her sleep. He then pulled his head out of the tent and met with Katara.
"Are you ready for this?" Zuko asked.
Katara nodded to him with fire in her water blue eyes.