Alberto ran through the woods, the full moon high above him. Twigs and branches cracked underneath him, but he couldn't hear it over his own panicked breathing. What had he done? How could he have let that old hag manipulate him like that? Turn him into…what was it Luca had said? A monster.

How could he ever face Luca and Violet ever again? He couldn't. Again, he'd ruined everything. He should run back to the South Pole and just stay there. He could live in the abandoned shipwreck.

He finally stopped in a clearing to catch his breath. He didn't know where he was.

He heard snapping and rustling as something—or someone—came toward him. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. Alberto tried to take a defensive stance, even though he couldn't remember any of the ones Lucius had taught him.

The creature slowed down as it got closer. The trees shook. Then someone stepped into the clearing. A blond boy with blue eyes, the exact same color as Violet's, and a massive burn scar on his face. Alberto knew immediately that it had to be Dash.

He looked at Alberto, startled. Alberto remembered what Violet had told him, about how Dash kept running away. He was probably going to run again. Alberto had to stop him.

Alberto put out his hand. Dash yelled out in pain as Alberto brought him to the ground.

"You're not getting away this time," Alberto said viciously.

"I'm not trying to!" Dash said, his voice coming out strained as he tried to escape Alberto's grip. "Let me go! How are you doing that?"

"None of your business." Alberto glared down at him. "Do you have any idea how much worry you've caused your sister?"

"I know," Dash said. "I want to make it right. I want to meet her, and help her stop Syndrome."

Alberto narrowed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he trusted Dash. But he knew Violet would want to take any chance to meet her brother.

"Okay," Alberto said. "I'll take you to her. But if you screw her over, I will kill you." As far as he knew, Dash just wanted to find her to help Waternoose and Syndrome capture her or kill her. And he had to make sure that didn't happen.

"I won't."

Dash followed Alberto through the woods. Unfortunately, Alberto still had no idea where they were, so by sunrise, they were still stuck in the woods.

"Do you know where you're going?" Dash asked.

"Yes," Alberto snapped. "I mean, I think so. The village is this way, right?"

Dash shrugged. "I dunno." Geography had never been his thing, and Syndrome had never really let him out of the palace, so these woods were unfamiliar to him as well.

Alberto decided to chat a little as they stumbled their way through the forest. "So why switch sides now? Why should I trust that you're really on our side?"

"Syndrome killed my mom," Dash said. "She was the only reason I stuck around the palace."

"You lived in the palace? Were you royalty or something?"

"Yeah. Firelord Syndrome's wife took me in after they destroyed the Air Temple."

Alberto stopped. "You're the Firelord's son?!" Now he really didn't trust Dash.

"Yeah," Dash said quietly. He looked down at the ground. "Or I guess I was. But he doesn't want me. He never did."

"What do you mean?" Alberto asked.

"He always hated me, and he never treated me like his son. And he gave me this." Dash pointed at his scar. He sighed. "I was always just a useless burden to him."

"Oh." Alberto tried to keep his voice neutral. He was glad he was ahead of Dash, with his back to him. He didn't want Dash to see his face.

"As soon as he killed my mom, he had no reason to keep me alive, and he tried to kill me too," Dash said. "So if you're worried I have any loyalty to him, I don't."

"Okay," Alberto said, nodding. "Good to know."

It was late afternoon when they finally escaped the forest. Dash followed Alberto to the cave, his stomach starting to ache from nerves. What would he say to Violet? Would she even still want to talk to him, after all the times he'd rejected her reconciliation efforts?

They probably passed the cave three times before stopping. Without the airship outside, Alberto wasn't sure if it was the right one. Finally, he heard his friends' voices from inside.

"Okay, this is it." He tried to keep his voice from shaking. He was just as nervous as Dash. What would Violet and Luca do when they saw him again? Maybe he should just let Dash go in alone, and he should just run away again. They'd be better off without him.

But he selfishly wanted to see Luca again, and apologize for everything. Even if Luca probably never wanted to talk to him again. He needed to get it all off his chest, and then he'd leave for good.

They walked into the cave. Everyone stopped and stared at them.

"Dash," Violet gasped.

"Alberto!" Luca cried.

"Um, hey," Alberto said, waving awkwardly. Luca ran toward him, and he winced, expecting Luca to hit him or shove him again. Instead, Luca hugged him tightly. Too tightly. He couldn't breathe. But he didn't care. His whole body went weak with relief.

Dash saw Sulley and ran to him. "Sullivan! What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, kid," Mike said.

"It's good to see you, Dash," Sulley said, hugging Dash. Then Dash turned to Violet. She was staring at him like he was a ghost, like she was afraid he wasn't real.

"I…I want to join you," Dash said. "I want to reconnect, find out who I am. If you'll have me."

He was ready to get down on his knees to show her he was serious. But then she wrapped him up in a tight hug. Hot tears splashed on his head.

"Dash, oh, Dash," was all she could say. He hugged her back. It was strange, knowing this was a member of his old family. Syndrome had told him everyone from his old life had died in the attack.

Luca was still hugging Alberto, afraid to let go. He didn't want Alberto running away again. He looked up at Alberto, his big brown eyes shining with unshed tears. "Can we talk? I want to…fix this."

Alberto nodded. He pointed outside. "Can we talk out there?"

Luca followed him outside. They sat on a rock and looked at each other for a moment. Then Luca spoke.

"I'm sorry, Alberto. For everything I said. I shouldn't have done it…if I could take it back…"

Alberto shook his head. "No, you were right. I should have listened to you. And, I'm sorry." He looked away. "And look…I know I've been all angry and weird lately, and it's not fair because you don't know why." He took a deep breath. It was time to tell Luca the truth about his father, and his fears, and everything that had been on his mind lately. They couldn't rebuild their friendship without a foundation of trust and understanding they'd been missing from the beginning.

Luca listened in silent horror. He felt like a horrible friend for not knowing, even though he couldn't have known without Alberto telling him. "Alberto, I…" Suddenly, it all made sense. Alberto's jealousy, his constant jabs at Giulia and Luca's waterbending, trying to keep Luca by his side no matter the cost. Even his dark turn to bloodbending made sense now. It was all fear, not anger. Just like Iroh had told him. He should have known.

He hugged Alberto, wishing he could just wave his hands and heal all the hurt his friend had silently suffered by himself all these years. "I won't go to the North Pole. I'll stay home with you." Alberto did need him after all.

He felt the tension leaving Alberto's body. Alberto hugged him back. "Thanks, Luca."

Seconds stretched comfortably into minutes as they stood there, locked in a tight embrace. Alberto let go first. He wiped his eyes and gave Luca a small, crooked smile. "Hey, Luca, look at this." He bended the tears on his face, juggling them like Luca had done with their spit so long ago. Luca laughed. It felt so good to be on good terms again, right where they'd started. He didn't need anything else. Even in the boring South Pole, he would be all right as long as he had his best friend by his side.

They rejoined the others in the cave.

"Dash just told us that Syndrome's going to kill Jack-Jack once he doesn't need him anymore," Violet said, alarmed.

"When will that be? In a few years? Next week?" Woody asked.

"We need to stop him!" Violet said.

"How?" Ian asked.

"Is there another eclipse any time soon?" Buzz asked.

"I don't know. We'll never know, because the library burned down," Luca said, his voice breaking in despair.

"Mike'll think of a plan," Sulley said. "Won't you, Mike?"

"I…don't know about that, Sul," Mike said. "I mean, what are we supposed to do here?"

"We'll think of something," Woody said. "Let's give it some time. We've all had a long past couple of days."

Alberto approached Violet awkwardly. "Um, can we talk?"

"Sure," Violet said, a little uneasily. Her heart pounded as she followed him outside. She knew he must want to talk about them, and she didn't know what to say.

The hatred and anger in his eyes had scared her. In those moments, it had been like looking at a stranger. It was a side of him she hadn't seen before, and knowing he had that in him made her wonder how much she really knew him.

Alberto turned and looked at her. His eyes had the old brightness and soft clarity to them, unclouded by anger. This made her feel a little better, but not much. It could slip away at any moment.

"I missed you," Alberto said.

"I missed you too." This was true. The old him that she knew had been on her mind since he'd left.

Alberto leaned forward. Violet panicked. She'd been waiting for this moment, but not now, not like this.

She put her hand out to stop him. He awkwardly ran into her fingers.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "Look, I still really like you, but this bloodbending stuff really freaked me out. I need…time to think about it."

He backed off sheepishly. "Oh. Of course." He tried not to sound too disappointed, since he didn't want to guilt her into anything. And he really did understand her hesitation. It was a miracle she could even look at him again. He'd understand if she could never look at him romantically again.

She relaxed. "Thank you." She looked away. "And look, I get it. You know I went to…some dark places too." She still remembered the power rush when she'd almost killed Waternoose. She felt guilty as she remembered him telling her, "This doesn't change how I see you." Why couldn't she say the same? Was she a hypocrite? She knew she didn't owe him anything, and her feelings were valid, but she still felt bad about it.

Luca walked up meekly. "Um, Alberto? Sorry, am I interrupting?"

"No, no, it's fine," Alberto said.

"Want to go walk around the Fire Nation some more?" Luca asked. Now that they'd officially made up, he wanted to properly spend time with Alberto, without fear and resentment hanging over them.

Alberto nodded. "Yeah. Sure." He gave Violet an awkward glance, then walked away with Luca. She watched him leave, feeling a little envious of how quickly Luca could just get over this. She supposed it helped that he'd known Alberto for years.

She went back into the cave. Dash was sitting on a rock, kicking his legs. Barley and Ian had gone off somewhere, and Buzz and Woody were talking in the corner with Mike and Sulley. Dash was alone, so it might be a good time to talk to him.

She awkwardly sat next to him. She wanted to get to know him, but she didn't know where to start. He looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Do you…remember me?" she asked finally.

Dash's brow furrowed in thought. "I think I remember having a sister. But I don't remember your face." He paused. "Well, I remember flashes of a woman's face. But I don't know if it was you, or Mom, or someone else." He looked up at her.

It was so strange seeing him this age. In her mind, he was still five years old.

"I can't believe you're actually here," Dash said. "Dad—Syndrome always said my whole family was dead." He stood up and placed his hands on his hips, mimicking Syndrome's imposing and critical stance. He put on a sharp, shrill tone of voice. "And you should have been too, if Mirage hadn't saved your pathetic ass!"

He laughed at his own impression, but Violet just felt a terrible sinking in her stomach. How awful, that he had had to endure that kind of verbal abuse. From someone he thought of as a father.

"Dash…I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For not protecting you from him."

She hugged him. He tensed a little, then hugged her back. Suddenly, they were both crying.

"I'm going to make it up to you," Violet said. "Every day. I promise."

He didn't say anything. He just sank deeper into her embrace.

Finally, Dash pulled away. He wiped his eyes. "Hey, Violet…can you teach me airbending?"

"Of course," Violet said.

Dash jumped up excitedly. "Really?"

"Yeah, we can start now if you want."

"Okay!" Dash ran outside. She smiled as she followed him. There was the excited, energetic kid she remembered.

~~~~

Ian and Barley walked through the village. Ian had asked Barley to walk with him. He was worried about Barley's mental health after being in prison for so long. Barley seemed okay, but Ian knew he would probably hide it for Ian's sake anyway. Barley had always made an effort to reach out to him when he was in a bad place, and he wanted to do the same for his brother.

"So…how are you?" Ian asked.

"Fine," Barley said with a shrug. But something was bothering him. Ian could see it in his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

Barley sighed. "Actually…there's something I want to talk about. Ian…the Boiling Rock…it was rough. The forced labor…and the torture chambers…"

Ian looked at him sympathetically. He didn't say anything. He was just listening.

"I've never felt more helpless. Just standing there when they…" Barley trailed off. He shook his head. "I had to just take it. I had no way to defend myself. I don't have built-in weapons like the rest of you." He looked down at his hands. Ian had never gotten the impression that it bothered him being a non-bender, but it must have been difficult during his imprisonment.

Ian tried to think about what he would want to do if he was a non-bender. "Maybe you could get a weapon." He saw a poster nailed to a pole. He tore it down and handed it to Barley. "Here! Sword fighting lessons."

"Great idea, Ian!" Barley said.

They went to the address on the poster. It led them out into the countryside, on the opposite side of the island from their cave. It was next to a picturesque cliffside with a view of a waterfall.

A single cottage sat dangerously close to the cliff. Barley went up and knocked on the door. Ian looked around while they waited for someone to answer. He saw a scarecrow with a melon for a head. That must be for practice.

The door opened. A tall, broad woman stood there. She looked slightly disheveled, her hair tied back in a messy bun.

"Yes, what?" she said as she fiddled with her spectacles. Ian found that a bit rude. Who answered the door like that? Especially when they were the ones who had put out a flyer offering a service?

Ian waited for Barley to ask her about the sword fighting lesson. Instead, he was just staring at the woman, head tilted slightly, almost as if he thought he recognized her from somewhere.

Ian nudged Barley.

Barley held out the poster. "Uh, are you the one who put up this poster for sword fighting lessons?"

"Oh, I forgot I did that," the woman said. "Are you interested?"

"Yes, ma'am," Barley said.

"Don't call me ma'am. The name's Corey."

Barley gasped. "Wait, are you…the Manticore?"

"The what?" Ian asked.

"She was a fearless adventurer! The greatest in Fire Nation history!" Barley said. He took out a card and showed it to Ian. It was from "Tales of the Four Nations." It showed a woman wielding a giant sword and shield, and wearing a suit of armor. She sort of looked like Corey. Except she was a lot leaner and more intimidating.

"I was," Corey said. "But I'm retired now."

"That's so cool!" Barley gushed. "You were the most skilled sword fighter in history! This is amazing!"

Corey ignored his excitement. She put out her hand. "This lesson costs two copper."

Barley still had a few copper coins in his pocket. He gave her the money. She lazily tossed him a light, rusty sword. "Here. Just…play around with that for a bit. I'll check on you in a minute."

"What? That's it?" Barley said. "You're not gonna teach me any techniques or anything?"

"You're a beginner."

"But you could still be involved," Barley said. "I mean, you're the greatest sword fighter ever! You must have something useful to show me."

"Kid, I'm only doing this 'cause I got into tax trouble a few years ago and I need the money," she said. "I don't care that much."

"So why not go on a quest for money? Like you used to?"

"Because it's dangerous. And I'm too old for that now," she said.

"That's only true if you think it is," Barley said.

Corey rubbed her hand over her face wearily. "Look, do you want the lesson or not? This is what I've got for you. Take it or leave it."

Barley bent down and picked up the sword. He held it clumsily, the blade dangling from two fingers. "Is this right?"

"No! What are you doing?" Corey grabbed the sword and put it firmly in his fist. "Like this. Are you trying to kill someone?"

"I don't know what I'm doing," Barley said."I've never held a sword before."

Ian was pretty sure that wasn't true. A real sword, maybe, but he'd seen Barley hold a fake one before.

Barley twirled the sword like a nunchuck. "Hey, this is fun!"

"No, no!" Corey exclaimed. "Stop that!"

Barley stopped.

"Haven't you ever seen someone use a sword before?" Corey said with an exasperated sigh.

"No. Show me."

"Ugh!" She grabbed a sword and thrust it forward. "Stab forward, like this."

Barley copied her.

"Good. Now try this." She swung the sword upward. Barley did the same.

"There. Got it?" She prepared to go back into the house.

"Wait," Barley said. "How do I block attacks?"

Corey rolled her eyes, but she turned around and showed him how to parry.

"Now attack me, so I can try it," Barley said.

She swung her sword at him. He blocked it clumsily. She attacked him again.

"Is this the attack you used on the winged lion-scorpion beast?" Barley asked as he dodged.

"No. This is what I used." Corey swung the sword up in a diagonal slice. Barley blocked it.

"Hey, you're a fast learner, kid," Corey said, sounding pleased.

"Thanks."

They sparred a little. Her attacks became more energetic and varied.

"Have you ever seen this one?" she said, feinting before slashing at him with a long sweeping motion.

"That's so cool!" Barley said. "That would be a great move to use on a venomous snake-bat. You could cut their wings, while avoiding their stingers."

"I've used it on them multiple times." She sounded pleased. "You know your beasts."

"Because of your adventures," Barley said.

Corey continued to show him more moves, telling him stories of her old adventures. Throughout the lesson, she seemed to be regaining her love of sword fighting. She enthusiastically threw out more and more new moves, faster than Barley could keep up with.

She let out a mighty roar and brought the sword down hard on the scarecrow. The melon split, splattering Barley and Corey.

"That was exhilarating!" she cried. "I haven't felt that alive in YEARS!"

Barley grinned at her. "That's what I'm talking about!" He held up the sword. "Can I keep this?"

"Take this one instead," she said, offering him her sword.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks!" Barley grabbed the sword. It was heavier than he'd expected.

Corey waved them off. "Thank you. Come back anytime, boys!"

Ian looked at Barley as they walked away. "You were purposely doing it wrong at first. Why?"

"I thought it might force her to actually teach me," Barley said. "And I was right!"

Ian shook his head in amazement. "So you already knew all those sword fighting techniques?"

"Some of them. 'Tales of the Four Nations' explains basic sword fighting techniques and etiquette." He held up the sword. "But I got this cool sword! For two copper pieces, I'd say that's a good deal."

Ian laughed. "Yeah, I'd say so too."