I had writer's block yesterday, so happy belated 14th of July, Bastille Day, to all my French readers!

Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Who knows? I suspect they'll continue improving their designs for flying machines. Maybe we'll also see more recognisable submarines that don't need water bending to work; or maybe aircraft carriers like in Rise of the Earth Empire.

Zigzagdoublezee: If the Fire Nation gets its way, the Comet could prove as apocalyptic for large swathes of the planet as that meteor.

As Always, Please Review!

Rinzen stared at her for a long moment, his face unreadable.

Then he got up and walked away.

Yue scrambled to her feet, confused and a little hurt.

"Are you alright?"

"It's fine," Rinzen said.

Yue looked at him, confused.

"It doesn't seem fine," she pointed out. "What's wrong?"

For a second, Rinzen didn't answer.

"Is it about Aang?" Yue probed.

He nodded.

"What's wrong with Aang?" She asked, surprised. "Everything I heard was about how great he was."

"Look, I'd rather not talk about it," Rinzen shook his head.

"You can tell me," Yue told him gently. "I'm the Avatar, just like him. Surely if anyone can help you put this right, I can. And there's nobody else around to hear."

"There's nothing to put right." Rinzen said. Then he sighed.

"Look, I just didn't want you to know, that's all."

"Why?"

Yue's feelings of hurt and confusion intensified. Rinzen had been keeping secrets from her? She supposed she hadn't known him that long in the scheme of things, but even so they had been through a lot together.

"Do you know how much pressure comes with being the grandson of the Avatar? It's not easy."

"I am the Avatar, so I imagine I have some idea," Yue pointed out. Rinzen just carried on.

"Any opportunity I get," he complained, "there's always that whisper, that rumour, hanging over it. The idea that I only got it because of who my grandfather was. Especially because I don't have my tattoos yet."

He gestured to his forehead.

"He got his tattoos when he was 11 years old, and so people expected me to do the same. But I'm 15 now. And I still have none."

"You're still young. Getting your tattoos now would still be impressive," Yue reasoned, her sense of betrayal lessening as Rinzen laid out his reasons. "I've seen Nomads much older than you visiting the North, with no tattoos."

"Not impressive enough. Not when compared to him. And I haven't actually got them yet."

"Surely the tattoos aren't meant to be about impressing anyone," Yue tried. "They're about mastery of your bending."

"They are," Rinzen agreed. "But that does mean that people could get the wrong idea about why I was chosen for the job of coming with you."

"Like what?"

Rinzen sighed, gloomily.

"If I wasn't chosen for talent," he explained, "then they must have chosen me because of my ancestry."

"Why would they do that?" Yue asked. "Who your grandfather was isn't going to help me much, even if he was Aang."

"I know that, and you know that," Rinzen agreed. "But that won't stop people talking about it. I was just worried that if you knew, you would think it as well."

"I wouldn't have thought that!" Yue reassured him.

"A lot of people do," Rinzen said glumly. "I didn't want to be on your Team Avatar as 'Avatar Aang's grandson.' That's what I've always been, defined by my relationship to a man who died just before I was born. I wanted to be here because I am Rinzen."

"That is why you're here," Yue told him. "Aang hasn't flown us across the world to be here, you did. Aang didn't fight Pirates, or the Fire Nation. Well, he might have done, but so did you! That's what's important!"

She smiled at him.

"You've proven yourself worthy of being here over and over again," she said. "If I am to save the world, I want to do it with Rinzen by my side; not Aang. Your ancestry is just a nice bonus. Nothing more."

Rinzen grinned back.

"Thank you," he said gratefully.

The room was suddenly flooded with light as the door burst open once again. Air Nomads rushed in, led by Akar and a couple of the other elders.

"Did it work?" He asked, clearly excited. "We saw the glowing."

"It worked," Yue confirmed. "I spoke to Aang."

"What did he say?"

Yue looked at Rinzen, and then back.

"He mentioned the Great Comet," she said. "How it gives Firebenders great, and potentially terrible, power."

A collective hush fell over the crowd as they took in the implications of that statement.

"What are they going to do with such power?" One of the other elders asked.

"Aang didn't give many specifics," Yue replied. "Only that he thinks they'll use it to finish the war. He did say Ba Sing Se, but apart from that..."

"We should tell people," a third elder stroked his chin, thoughtfully.

"We can try," Akar said, "but without knowing where they will strike, how can we make sure the warning reaches the right ears?"

"By making sure it reaches every ear possible," said Yue. "If everyone is on their guard when that comet does come, then the Fire Nation may be able to do less damage with it."

"You can take the message south with you," Akar agreed.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Rinzen put in. "We'll tell them, but the Fire Nation is not waiting for the Comet to attack the South Pole. They're coming now. Alerting the Earth Kingdom is a lot more important."

"Leave it with us," Akar nodded.

"Thank you," Yue said politely. "Where are my friends?"

"The last I saw of them, they were headed towards one of the courtyards," Akar said. "I don't know what they planned to do there."

"And where's Jeong Jeong?" Rinzen asked.

"Ah," one of the other elders shook his head. "He's gone."

"Gone?" Yue was dumbfounded.

"One of us is flying him back north as we speak."

"That was fast," Rinzen observed.

"We needed him out of here as soon as possible," Akar said. "Otherwise, it's possible a Fire Nation dragon rider could have come looking for him."

"I'm not sure there are any dragons this far south," Yue replied. "I didn't see any on Kyoshi Island."

"Even so, one could come," the elder replied. "They are the only way they can reach here."

"Not the only way," Yue remembered. "When we were escaping the Fire Nation fleet on Kyoshi Island, Jeong Jeong flew."

"Flew?" Akar seemed taken aback. "What do you mean, flew?"

"He used his fire to propel himself," Yue said. "High into the air. If he could do it, then other Firebenders might be able to as well."

There was more muttering. The elders consulted.

"He didn't mention that," Akar frowned. "But thank you for telling us. It seems the temples may not provide the safety we thought they did."

"They already took over the western temple," one of the others piped up.

"They did," an elder said. "We'll have to post lookouts, and be ready to leave at a moment's notice then."

"Where would you go?" Yue asked worriedly.

"Where can we go? There are still two Air Temples left standing, but if they fall too we will have to fly to Ba Sing Se, or hide in the mountains. We are Nomads, we'll be able to find a place. But that doesn't mean it will be easy."

"Do you think the Fire Nation will target the temples on the day of the Comet?" Rinzen asked, the thought having just occurred to him.

"It's certainly possible," Akar nodded. "And like I say we'll take precautions. But surely they'll want to target places which are actually fighting them. We're pacifists. Surely we're not the best use of that time."

Yue hoped he was right.

"We should go," she said. "The South Pole has waited long enough, and the best thing to do now is make sure the Fire Nation is defeated before the day of the Great Comet. So we should get moving."

Rinzen nodded in agreement.