Massimo gave orders to his generals. Then he went to the top of the ice wall to address Syndrome. Luca peered over the wall, and his heart began to race when he saw the fleet of warships behind Syndrome's ship. Clearly, Syndrome had expected some resistance.

Luca started to cry. He couldn't help it. He wanted his mother.

Alberto put his arm around Luca. "Don't worry, Luca. We've got this!"

"Yeah, my dad's army will take care of him. And you can help! You're a great waterbender!" Giulia said, putting her hand on Luca's arm. Alberto frowned and pulled Luca away. Giulia clearly noticed and started to say something, but then Syndrome appeared.

He was riding on a throne, being carried by two soldiers propelling themselves to the top of the wall with jets of fire from their hands. Luca hid behind Alberto.

"Firelord Syndrome," Massimo said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I hear you have a waterbending school," Syndrome said. "I'm looking for a waterbending teacher. Any suggestions?"

"No," Massimo said. Luca stared at him, shocked and amazed by how fearlessly he spoke. "Now give us the Avatar, or we'll be forced to take him."

"Go ahead and try," Syndrome said. He turned and gave a signal to the ships below.

The warships began shooting flaming rocks toward the wall. Ian put out his hand and swiped, quickly earthbending them away. The rocks crashed down onto the ice below.

More rocks flew toward them. Ian did his best to move them away, but there were too many of them. And he was finding it difficult when standing on ice; he didn't feel properly grounded enough to earthbend.

CRASH! The wall shook violently. Rocks had collided into it, creating steaming craters.

Violet ran down the icy steps to the bottom of the wall, followed by Barley. She had to get on Syndrome's ship. A flaming rock smashed down in front of them as they darted toward the ship. They ran around it and kept going, slipping a little on the ice.

Fire Nation soldiers were marching out of the warships now, swarming toward the ice wall. Violet and Barley slipped past them and jumped onto Syndrome's ship.

Luca and Alberto stayed by Massimo's side on the ice wall. Luca attacked the Fire Nation soldiers with water tentacles, mimicking the waterbending generals next to him. It wasn't very powerful or refined, but it was something. Alberto and Giulia watched him and wished they could do more to help.

Alberto in particular felt a burning desire to do something. He turned to Massimo. "Give me a knife or a spear or something! I'll go down there and kick their asses all the way back to the Fire Nation!"

"Stand down, Alberto," Massimo said. "You don't need to do anything. None of you children should be involved." He glanced at Luca, who didn't seem to take the hint and kept going.

The soldiers began scaling the ice wall. Lucius drenched several of them in water and froze it. More kept coming, like bugs. Luca still couldn't freeze water, but he managed to sweep some of them off the wall with his water tentacles.

Syndrome himself watched Lucius's movements. He seemed like a suitable teacher for Jack-Jack. Like Edna, he would be resistant at first, but some time in the dungeon or the Boiling Rock would probably change his mind.

Luca wrapped up one of the soldiers in a water tentacle. The soldier fought his way out. He strode over and grabbed Luca's hands, burning them. Luca screamed.

"Luca!" Alberto cried.

"That'll stop your bending," the soldier sneered.

Alberto lunged at the soldier and shoved him. The soldier just laughed. Then Alberto shoved him again. He slipped on the ice and fell backwards, smashing his head on the ice wall. He convulsed then lay still. Alberto kicked him for good measure.

Luca ran away. Giulia followed him. She found him down by the river, washing his hands in the water. As she watched, the burns slowly faded. He pulled his hands out. They were completely healed.

Giulia gasped. "Luca, do you know what this means?"

Luca shook his head.

"You can heal!" Giulia said. "It's an ability some waterbenders have, but I don't know many others."

Luca looked down at his hands in speechless wonder.

"Come on, let's get back," Giulia said. "You're a powerful bender, Luca Paguro. You can help us win this!"

On the ship, Violet and Barley ran down the hallways. Violet was ready to send a tornado at anyone who tried to stop them. Luckily, most of the soldiers were out fighting, and the only people they encountered were frightened servants who let them pass by without any trouble.

They stopped by a row of metal doors. Jack-Jack could be behind any of them. They didn't have time to be strategic, so Violet just ran to the first door and tried to open it. It didn't budge.

"Come on!" She banged on the door in frustration, wishing she could metalbend.

"Let me try." Barley took a few steps back and charged at the door, ramming it with his shoulder. The lock broke, and the door swung inwards. Violet looked around. This room appeared to belong to a Fire Nation general. There was a Fire Nation flag hanging over the bed. There was no sign of Jack-Jack, so they left and tried the next door.

Violet felt a bubble of anxiety forming in her chest as they continued searching. Syndrome could be back any second. She didn't even want to imagine what he would do to them if he caught them in here.

They got to the very last door. This one had to be it. Unless he was on a different ship.

Someone looked up as the door banged open. A little redheaded boy.

"Jack-Jack!" Violet cried. He smiled at the mention of his name. She ran to him and picked him up. He was heavier than she had expected. She stared down at him, overwhelmed by the fact that he really had aged five years.

At least he seemed to be well-taken care of, from what she could tell at first glance. Still, she felt awful that he had lost his entire family. He'd had his entire life stolen from him, even if he didn't know it.

"I'm so sorry, for everything," she murmured. "Let's get you out of here."

"Hey!" a voice behind them yelled. "What are you doing here?!"

Violet screamed and nearly dropped Jack-Jack. She turned. A boy was standing in the doorway, glaring at them. The first thing she noticed about him was the large red scar over his left eye. It looked extremely painful. And fairly recent.

The second thing she noticed was his bright blond hair. The only person she'd ever met with hair like that was Dash. It seemed like the universe was insistent on sending her reminders of him.

Jack-Jack reached for the boy. "Look! Look!"

"Put him down," the boy commanded, reaching toward Violet. She noticed his hands were scarred, too.

"Not a chance." She put out her hand defensively. "Look, kid, I don't want to hurt you, but—"

He ran toward her, so fast he was just a blur. A second later, he was standing in the doorway again, holding Jack-Jack.

"Hey!" Violet protested. "You—" She stopped as she realized what she'd just witnessed. "Hey, you're an airbender!"

"Yeah, so?" he snapped.

Barley charged at him, fists bared. Violet just stood there, still processing the fact that there was another airbender.

The boy ran away from Barley, then zipped by him again, landing a punch on Barley's stomach. It wasn't very hard, but it surprised him. The boy ran by and punched him again.

Violet jumped forward and released a strong gust of wind from her hands, blowing the boy backward. Jack-Jack started wriggling around and whining in the boy's arms.

"Jack-Jack, stop!" the boy said. Jack-Jack only became more insistent. The boy set Jack-Jack down and started punching Barley and Violet again. Again, his punches weren't super strong, but it was disorienting when they were coming from every side, every second.

Violet built a shield. "Enough!" They didn't have time for this. She sent out a tornado, sweeping him to the opposite side of the room.

She looked around for Jack-Jack, but he was gone.

"Jack-Jack?" the boy and Violet said at the same time. He ran down the hallway. Violet and Barley ran after him.

Jack-Jack was skipping down the hallway. The boy scooped him up and ran for the stairs at the end of the hall.

They chased him up to the deck. The freezing wind slapped Barley in the face, reminding him that they were at the North Pole. They looked around for the boy, but he was gone. Had he jumped overboard?

Then they saw something moving across the water. The boy was running on the surface of the water.

"Whoa," Barley said. He'd never seen anything like it.

Violet groaned, again wishing that she was faster.

Something clanked behind them. Armor. Fire Nation soldiers were running toward them. They needed to get out of here. There was no point staying now that Jack-Jack was gone.

The soldiers shot fire at them. Violet barely managed to blow the flames away. She could feel the heat on her face. Her heart leapt into her throat, and she found it hard to breathe as she remembered the attack on the Air Temple.

Barley grabbed her arm and pulled her off the ship, back to land. They ran up the steps back to the top of the wall. Syndrome was up there somewhere. If they couldn't take Jack-Jack from him, they would keep him from leaving.

The battle was still raging on. Luca was tiring now, his movements slow and sluggish. Ian was in a similar state. The adults around them were holding strong for now, but they couldn't go forever.

Violet looked around for Syndrome. He was still in his throne, being flown high above the fight. Fireballs rained down on the people below. One was coming right toward her. She put her hand out to blast it away.

"Look out!" someone yelled. She grunted as someone slammed into her, shoving her backwards. It was Alberto. They slammed into the side of the ice wall, his face an inch away from hers. She didn't have much time to decide how she felt about this, because suddenly, they were falling over the edge.

"Alberto!" Luca screamed.

Violet forced herself to look down. They were headed straight for the ground. A sheet of frozen ice that would surely kill them upon impact.

She put out her hand and let out a powerful burst of air, pushing them several feet to the right. They barely missed the ground and splashed into the ocean. The frigid water enveloped them. Violet lost all sense of direction and wasn't sure which way to swim.

Alberto grabbed her hand and pulled her up. They surfaced, gasping and spluttering. They treaded water as their bodies tried to overcome the icy shock to their systems.

"What was that for?!" Violet yelled when she'd recovered a little.

He looked taken aback. "They were dropping a fireball on your head."

"I know! I had it under control!"

"Sorry, jeez. I was just trying to save your life," Alberto huffed.

"I know! But you didn't have to! You almost killed us!" Violet shouted. "And now we're wet and FREEZING!" She'd never been this cold in her life. She could control the temperature of the air around her, but water was a completely different story.

Alberto sullenly got out of the water without replying. He shook himself off and walked away, back up the steps. Violet followed, fighting the urge to yell at him some more. She supposed she shouldn't be too hard on him. He hadn't meant to nearly kill them. She was still irritated, though.

When they got to the top, Violet realized Syndrome and his soldiers were heading back to their ships. They were retreating. She could also see the boy running back across the water to Syndrome's ship.

"We did it!" Alberto cheered.

"They're only leaving because they got what they needed," Massimo said, pointing.

Giulia gasped when she saw Ercole standing on Syndrome's ship. He grinned and waved. He clearly wasn't being coerced or forced into helping Syndrome.

"Ercole, how could you?" Massimo said. "Your father is one of my loyal councilmen. And this is your home. We're your people."

Ercole shrugged. "But Syndrome promised me a reward!"

Violet imagined Syndrome's idea of rewarding someone was just not imprisoning, torturing, or killing them. She couldn't imagine the Firelord delivering something like money.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow him," Syndrome said. "In exchange, you can have those guys." He waved his hand at the frozen soldiers. "Make them prisoners of war. Or slaves. Whatever you like."

The ships sailed away. The waterbenders could have tried to control the waves to bring the ships back, but they were far too tired. And at this point, they were happy to let Syndrome and his army go away.

Violet watched them leave. She should have felt upset, or relieved, or something, but she mostly felt numb. And a little overwhelmed.

Giulia stamped her foot. "That jerk! What a traitor! I always knew he was a no-good dirty rat!"

"Giulietta," Massimo said, and she quieted down. He turned to Violet, a pained expression on his face. "I'm so sorry we couldn't help you get the Avatar."

"No, it's fine," Violet said, shaking herself out of her daze. "Thank you for trying. I appreciate it."

"He'll be going to the Earth Kingdom next for an earthbending teacher," Barley said. "We need to stop him." He turned to Ian, who was slumped against the wall in exhaustion. "Ian, are you okay?"

"I'm good," Ian panted. "Just give me a second." When he was ready, Barley helped him up, and together, they went to get the airship. Luckily, it had been stored safely inside the wall, so it hadn't been harmed during the battle.

Giulia approached Luca and Alberto. "Luca, that was incredible! You have a real talent."

"Thanks," Luca said, blushing.

"I think you could become the best student at our school," Giulia said. "We'd be honored if you'd stay."

"Really?" Luca said.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Alberto interrupted. He jerked his thumb in Violet's direction. "We're with her, so we really should get going. Come on, Luca."

Luca smiled apologetically at Giulia. "I'll think about it."

"I hope you do," she said with a warm smile. "Oh, and here." She handed him a sealskin pouch full of water. "So you'll always have something to bend."

"Thank you, Giulia." He quickly hugged her, then went after Alberto, who was waiting impatiently in the airship.

As they flew away, Violet couldn't stop thinking about the boy on the ship. Syndrome must have spared one so Jack-Jack would have an airbending teacher. Why a kid, though? He would have only been about five when the attack happened. Just like Dash.

Violet noticed that he hadn't used any actual airbending techniques during the fight. Just speed. Like Dash used to…

She gasped. "Dash!"

The others looked at her questioningly, but she didn't even notice. Her shocking discovery was taking up every part of her attention.

Was Dash alive? It couldn't be. It couldn't be. She couldn't let herself get her hopes up. She would just be disappointed. But just like she had with Jack-Jack, she somehow just knew. She could feel it in her gut, in her chest, in her entire body.

She felt sick as she remembered the burns on his face and hands. She had no doubt that Syndrome had done that to him. How could he do that to a child?

She paced as she wondered what to do. Dash was probably loyal to the Fire Nation, having been raised there for half of his life. Was there still a chance that she could get him to switch sides, or was it too late? She couldn't bear the thought of knowing he was alive but never getting to talk to him or have a real relationship with him.

Eventually, she became aware of the others staring at her. She took a breath and said, "Barley, that kid we fought on the ship…that was my brother Dash. He survived!"

Barley gaped at her. Ian's eyes widened in surprise. Alberto and Luca looked completely confused, and she remembered they didn't know what had happened to the airbenders.

She looked away. "When the Fire Nation kidnapped Jack-Jack, they burned down the Air Temple. All my friends and family are dead."

Alberto and Luca went pale.

"But I just saw my brother Dash on the Fire Nation ship, so they must have taken him too, with Jack-Jack. And I want to get him back too, but I don't know if I can," Violet said. She could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes. It felt so cruel that she'd finally found him, only for him to be on the other side of the war.

"We'll work on saving him after we defeat Syndrome," Barley said. "Don't worry. You, Dash, and Jack-Jack will all be a happy family again. I promise."

She smiled through her tears. "Okay."

She remembered Moonwind's words: You'll rediscover something you have lost and take great joy in rebuilding. Could that be Dash? Did this mean there was hope?

In this moment, she chose to believe so. Because if there wasn't hope, what was the point of going on?

~~~~

Lorenzo rowed with all his might. Daniela stood at the front of their tiny boat, looking out.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Daniela?" Lorenzo shouted over the wind and the waves. They'd never left the South Pole before. And he really wasn't confident in their shoddy handmade boat. A big enough wave could break it in two, and then they'd be stranded.

Daniela kept her eyes locked on the open sea, as if Luca was suddenly going to swim up from under the water. "Well, what else can we do? We have to find him, Lorenzo." She sighed. "Where would he have gone?"

"No idea," Lorenzo said. "Somewhere he thinks we wouldn't look?"

"You don't think he'd go to the Fire Nation, do you?" Daniela asked fearfully.

"I don't know."

Tears welled up in Daniela's eyes. "Oh, Lorenzo. I just never in a million years thought he'd do this."

"We'll find him," Lorenzo said, putting his arm around her.

After a moment, they continued their search, calling their son's name into the dark.