The sound of waves finally left Team Avatar's ears, but there was still no sense of comfort. As the water calmed, the friends continued to struggle with staying afloat. Being the shortest, Toph's head quickly went under. Sokka put an arm around the earthbender to keep her from going far. Instinctively, Katara and Aang started bending the water beneath everyone so that a thick sheet of ice acted as a raft. Toph was still clinging onto Sokka's arm, then jabbed him in the side.

"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his rib.

"Just making sure it really was you this time and not Suki again."

The wind blew a cold breeze onto the friends, making them shiver. It seemed so much colder than when they were near Rhijaj and Xei. Aang's eyes widened in realization.

"This isn't the Spirit World," he said.

Katara had a similar reaction as it dawned on her. "You're right. We could still bend."

"So," Suki began, looking around them, "where did the portal lead us?"

Silence fell over the group of friends as they were consumed by the feeling of the unknown. They looked out towards where they had come from, seeing what was once a threatening cyclone of water be seemingly nothing more than a harmless spiral once again. Their raft continued floating without direction as the people back on the other side of the portal regarded the new visitor with a combination of fear and surprise. When Azula was closer to the islands, she saw the ships. She thought that she had hit her head after what must have been an unexpected crash. That was the only explanation for seeing miniature versions of everything.

"Did you come in through a portal?" Buraid asked, far too ready to have answers.

Hearing the people talk tested Azula's theory. Maybe she was experiencing auditory hallucinations as well as visual ones.

"A portal?" Azula asked, more to herself than anyone else. She started to speak louder. "What is this place?"

"These are the islands of Xei and Rhijaj," Ebrah said, trying to assess the situation as quickly as possible.

The queen could not tell if the newcomer was a friend like those before her, a foe, or just a neutral party to their conflict. Azula turned to look at the small islands. Everything seemed so strange. She had read about the Spirit World, so maybe that was where she had landed. It would have explained the oddness of her surroundings. Curiously, Azula blasted a stream of fire near the ships. It did not singe them, but it was close enough that those who were on the vessels moved back from the burning heat. So, it was not the Spirit World. The princess frowned at this, feeling more perplexed.

"Why did you say I entered through a portal?" she asked.

On the ships, the people were beginning to become more wary of the large firebender. They were not sure how much information to disclose, but saying nothing also seemed like it could be risky.

"You aren't the only one who's been here recently," Megat stated, helping up someone who had fallen to avoid the flames.

Azula's eyes widened slightly. Other people had gone to that strange land. Things just kept getting more and more intriguing to her.

"Clearly, they aren't here anymore," she commented. "I would have seen them. How did they leave?"

"They left through another portal," the president informed her.

Azula became quiet as she contemplated this. The people her size were gone. She could try to follow them or…The escaped prisoner would have to think more about her options.

"Why are so many of you on ships?" she inquired.

"We were considering alternatives to warring," Durnaz answered.

The small princess did not want to reveal anything more to the stranger. She intuitively felt that the less Azula knew, the better it would be for them. If the fire blast had been a clue, this person was dangerous, and looking at the giant did little to lessen Durnaz's concerns. A small smile appeared on Azula's face. A war. That sounded like an interesting way to spend her time after the days in that cell, all of which blended together into an amalgam of mind-numbing boredom and blood-boiling rage. Perhaps what the firebender needed was a distraction. That if she truly was even awake in the first place.

"Why would you want an alternative?" Azula asked, scoffing slightly. Her expression became more taunting. "Are you afraid of losing?"

"We've just been battling without any results we're proud of," Tipah told her.

Azula looked at her nails, bored. "It sounds like you don't know how to rage war properly. I've never had an issue with getting the outcome I wanted."

The firebender turned her gaze to where she had come from, but it was not promising. She no longer had her war balloon. Azula also did not know how to reopen the portal if that really was how she had arrived at this place. So, the giant focused on the islands. They were of a passable size.

"Since you don't want to be enemies anymore, you can stay on the same island," she said.

Before the people could ask what she meant, Azula began going towards Rhijaj. She would need shelter for the night and had no intention of staying in the water the entire time. Buraid felt himself getting angry as he saw where the giant was headed, but Durnaz shot him a look. It would be unwise to antagonize a giant.

"She's forcing us off our island," he said in a harsh whisper.

"And if we tell her to leave, we don't know what will happen," Durnaz responded, equally quiet. "We got lucky with the friends. We don't need someone that size wanting to kill us."

Begrudgingly, the prince agreed. "What do we do then?"

Ebrah had a pensive expression on her face. "We might not all need to leave," she commented. "After she gets settled, we can see how much land is taken. Almost everyone is already here, so we can start moving people back gradually. If there isn't enough land…"

A question hung in the air that no one wanted to acknowledge. The same had occurred to those from Xei.

"Some of them could stay with us," Tipah suggested.

Sabit looked doubtful. "They might not even want to. You've had time on the common ground, but it's common ground. You could go back home and be separated again at the end of the day. That's different from being expected to live on one island."

"We still should offer. Neither island would be big enough to accommodate the giant and all of our people or theirs. She just as easily could have chosen Xei, then we would've been the ones needing help."

The assistant thought over this, knowing he had a point. "Well, it's really neither of our decisions," she said, looking at Megat.

Tipah turned to the man and saw an unreadable expression on his face. Megat was considering this as well. If they shared some of the island, it would be significantly easier for the warriors to have revenge against him for poisoning their princess. Yet, it was also possible that he could help lessen their anger towards Xei if they owed his people a debt.

"They really didn't abduct anyone, did they?" he asked quietly, not really looking for anyone to answer.

"It doesn't seem like they did," Tipah said.

Megat looked at the ships, then called out to the queen. "Those of your people who are forced to relocate for the time being can remain on Xei."

Ebrah blinked in surprise. "I appreciate that. We'll try to keep the number of people as low as possible, so it's not an inconvenience for anyone."

With a nod of his head, the president began leading the Xei ships back to the island. Those from Rhijaj returned to their home as well so that they could begin adjusting their living arrangements. They continued this process while Team Avatar kept floating atop waves. Katara had made a propeller in the water behind them so that they moved forward at a quick pace. Zuko used his firebending to keep a steady flame high in the air, warming his friends without melting the raft. He could only do this with one hand, as Toph discovered that clinging to the firebender's arm was the best way to stay warm. Meanwhile, Aang was gliding through the cloudy sky, trying to find land ahead of them. It seemed like it was getting colder, and the wind blowing against him did not help. Still, he kept going until he spotted solid ground, after which he returned to his friends.

"I found some land up to the right of us," he stated. "Maybe we'll find everyone there."

"Hopefully," Suki said, "because we still don't know how long that portal will stay open."

Sokka was about to agree, but his eyes locked onto a snowflake. It must have been a trick of the light, because it seemed enormous. Sokka moved back a little on the ice, but the snowflake kept coming in his direction.

"Why is it chasing me?" he asked, hurrying to the other side as he realized it was indeed as large as it appeared.

A breeze changed the direction the snowflake blew, making it land directly on the Water Tribe boy. Particles of snow covered him, and Suki could not help but chuckle at his frown. Aang used airbending to blow them off, making Sokka shiver more.

"Th-thanks, Aang," Sokka said, teeth chattering. He tilted his head upwards. "What is with these snowflakes? Was that you, Katara?"

His sister shook her head. "No, I didn't do that. I'm still trying to get us to land."

"Then, it was probably you," Sokka said, squinting suspiciously at Aang. "Decided to glide down here with a human-sized snowflake."

"They aren't messing with you, Sokka," Zuko told him. "We don't have time for pranks."

"Well, that doesn't leave many options. No one else besides them could do it, and individual snowflakes don't cover people's bodies. So, either someone here is feeling mischievous or–"

Sokka stopped talking and his eyes went wide as he heard a large splash behind them. A grayish-green creature with fins on its head, belly, and sides jumped out of the water. It landed close enough to the ice that Katara and Aang had to quickly fold up the edges of the raft to keep the group from being flung off. The monster leapt up again, but Zuko blasted fire into its side. Unfortunately, it was not the only one of its kind. More began threatening to tip over the ice sheet, so Aang moved to the back of the raft. He got into a low stance and prepared to use a large blast of wind.

"Everyone, hold on," he advised.

Grabbing onto the newly risen sections of the ice, the friends clung to them and each other as Aang used airbending to quickly move them away from the attacking creatures and towards land. This made them reach the shore much faster and they disembarked, thoroughly confused.

"I've never seen creatures like those before," Suki commented, frowning. "This place already seems like it's going to be weird."

The friends started moving inwards, but Toph stopped them.

"Wait," she said, eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Aang asked. "You can't sense the people?"

"It's not that. I can sense something that's really big. A lot of them. It's almost like…no, maybe standing on the ice made my senses a little unreliable."

"That's understandable if it did," Katara told her. "Maybe when we can warm up some, they'll go back to normal and we'll find everyone."

Toph nodded, but she still had a bad feeling as they continued to walk. There was snow everywhere, and they could hardly see above the piles of the fluffy powder. Toph was not faring much better. Although Aang and Katara tried to clear the way for her to walk without freezing her feet, fresh snow covered the ground faster than old snow was removed. The earthbender had to work twice as hard to use her seismic sense properly. Abruptly, she stopped before they got much farther.

"No, I really am sensing something weird," she said adamantly. "It's coming from towards the water and getting closer."

Her friends squinted to see what she could mean. The snow seemed to be coming down so much harder on the land. Each flake was nearly as large as the one which had targeted Sokka. Katara began controlling some of the water to slow down its falling speed. As she did, it allowed sufficient space between the flakes for the team to see. Their eyes widened as a dark object hovered above their heads. It landed on the snow ahead of them. Toph could feel her friends' heartbeats racing, and hers began doing the same.

"I felt that wrong, right?" she asked. "Because I know that wasn't just what I thought it was."

Sokka's jaw had dropped, but he closed it long enough to answer. "Depends on whether or not you thought that was a giant!"

A person who stood taller than buildings was walking with a net. More thuds alerted the group to the fact that this individual was not alone. Hidden by the snow, giants were in the middle of hauling in their results from ice fishing. Team Avatar started hurrying away from them to avoid getting crushed.

"How did this happen?" Katara asked nervously. "Now, everyone else is a giant?"

The walking people kicked up snow with their steps, nearly burying the group. Toph let out a grunt.

"We're done running," she stated. "I found a spot without so many giants. We're going there."

The earthbender stomped down, raising the ground so that it shot them towards a safer location. Aang used airbending to slow their fall. Before he could even decide what to do next, he felt the ground shaking. Carefully, the Avatar turned and saw a giant running towards them.

"Woah," she said, grinning happily. "New, flying dolls!"

An enormous hand reached out for the group, but they scattered, making it so that they could not be grabbed all together. This did not deter the giant, who kept trying to capture them. The friends were slightly limited on where they could run due to the snow reaching up past their heads.

"We're not dolls!" Zuko called out.

The giant went still. Her eyes were wide, and shock was evident on her face.

"You can talk?"

"Yes!" Sokka said, frustrated. "Because, like he said, we're not dolls!"

Curiously, the giant sat down, doing so heavily enough to bounce the group into the air. She scratched her chin and frowned.

"What are you? Are you enchanted bugs? You don't look like any bugs I've seen."

"We're not bugs," Aang told her. "We're people. We're just…a lot smaller than you."

This did not seem to make much sense to the giant, and it did not really make much more sense to the friends either. Suddenly, she looked excited.

"You must be a new type of toy then! Ma said she found a bunch of them at the market last time."

"Masha!" a new voice called, tense. "Where did you go?"

"Over here!" the giant called, turning to look behind herself. She grinned down at the team again. "I wonder how they made you able to talk."

Before Sokka could repeat what he had said, he saw a large shadow fall over them. He yelped as the girl scooped him up and then caught Zuko. She eagerly held the duo out in front of her.

"I love the new toys!" she exclaimed gratefully.

The boys tried to get free, but the grip was tight. Below them, the rest of Team Avatar began trying to find ways to bring down the giant. Their faces paled when someone even larger appeared through the snowy haze, approaching fast.

"You know better than to run off like…toys? I didn't get new toys for you," she said, hands tightly gripping a metal cart she had pushed through the snow.

Sadly, the girl's mouth curved downwards. "Aw, then I guess they really aren't dolls."

"That's what we've been saying!" Zuko told her, irritated. "Can you put us down now?"

Hearing this, the mother's eyes widened. "Y-you talked. Masha, put those down right now."

The girl let go, unceremoniously dropping the pair into the snow. Protectively, the woman moved Masha behind her and studied the small people with concern. They were half-covered in snow, so she could not get a good look. Quickly, she glanced around. Certain that there were no watchful eyes nearby, she started bending the cart's lid, sliding it underneath Team Avatar before returning it to its original place, now with them on top. Sokka groaned at being off the ground again. Toph frowned, knowing what they were standing on.

"You're a metalbender?" she asked.

The woman was still trying to make sense of what she was looking at, but she nodded her head. "Yes, but don't say it so loudly." She paused before speaking again. "But I guess no one would probably hear you anyway. What are you? Are you some sort of sprites?"

"We're from another dimension," Aang explained. "We came in through a portal today, but we can't stay. We don't know when it'll close."

After a moment, the metalbender's head felt like it was spinning. "Portals and dimensions," she said quietly. "The king and queen are going to want to hear about this."

"A king and queen?" Suki asked.

"Yes, they like to know about everything that happens in Krozhny."

"Krozhny," Aang said softly. "So, that's the name of this kingdom?"

"It is, and if His and Her Majesty say you can leave, then I'll bring you back here to your portal."

"But we really don't have time," the group insisted.

Toph started bending a hole in the metal so that they could return to the ground. The woman saw this and repaired the damage. Upset, Toph crossed her arms and frowned.

"I miss when we were the giants," she grumbled.

"Same here," Sokka agreed. "I have a feeling no one's going to think of us as 'great beings' while we're here."

The friends were taken to a small home, then they were brought inside. A man was cutting one of the creatures that had attacked them in the ocean. Compared to him, it hardly was the length of his hand.

"Daddy, we found tiny people!" Masha informed the man, running over.

"Tiny people," he said, chuckling. "Children and their imagina…tion." His eyes widened when he saw his wife and the cart with the group standing on top. "Th-there are actual tiny people."

"There are," the woman said. "I don't know how yet, but there are, so we need to bring them to the king and queen."

"We can't do that, Levka."

"Yes, we can and should."

"It's not right."

"We don't even know them. They might be fine."

Levka could see that the man still looked doubtful. She put a hand on his shoulder and had a stern look on her face.

"We need to do this, Alexei. If it goes well, then they can continue on whatever journey they were going on before Masha found them."

"If not?"

Levka removed her hand. "Then, they don't."

Alexei started to frown as well and Masha unhappily watched her parents. Noticing how she was becoming tense, they delayed their discussion.

"We'll be back, Masha," Alexei stated.

Levka pointed to the cart. "Do not play with them."

After receiving a pitiful nod in response, the parents left to go to a different part of the home without their daughter there to hear them. With the larger metalbender gone, Toph rolled the cart over to the table. Sokka went by the creature that had been cut and peered down at it.

"Weird to think how these almost killed us earlier."

Toph sensed Masha walking over and turned the cart's lid into a metal ball around the team so that their words would be unheard by the giant.

"We can't wait for them to stop talking," the earthbender said.

"I don't know if there's another option," Sokka admitted. "If a creature so small to them nearly drowned us, who knows what the rest of this land could do?"

Katara's expression became sadder. "And if we've been in danger since being here, how would the people from Xei and Rhijaj survive? They probably never would have made it past the ocean. That's not to mention if they ever got to land."

A sad silence hit the group.

"Even returning without good news could give them closure, as long as we have some news," Zuko said. "I wish we had something better to tell them, but they'll know the fate of their lost ones."

"Now, the problem is getting back," Toph stated. "We'll get stepped on or swatted out of the sky before we reach the shore."

Aang's expression turned thoughtful. "Zan Fa must still be behind this. We wouldn't be sent here if there was nothing we could do besides stay forever. Maybe we should see the king and queen after all."

"How are they going to help?" Zuko asked. "They'll probably be as surprised as everyone else."

"I don't know," the Avatar admitted, "but we're running out of options." Dread hit him as he thought more about the portal. "We're also running out of time."