Eventually, intermission happens. Aang, possessed by the ocean spirit, tramples Fire Navy ships at the North Pole, but trips along the way. The audience cheers and the curtains fall.

Toph and I cheer along with the rest of the audience, but the rest of our group groans. I smile a little, perhaps since I'm not yet humiliated in the play. We all stand, stretching to get the kinks out of our backs from having sat for so long.

We exit the theatre onto the side balcony, where we take a moment to get fresh air. Sokka leaves to look at what snacks they have at the refreshments table, enforcing the idea that he only cares about food.

When Sokka comes back, Zuko says, "So far, this intermission is the best part of the play." He's leaning against the railing near the top, looking ever the grumpy person.

Sokka is holding a bag of flaming fire flakes. I lean over the railing and take a handful of the spicy flakes and munch on them. Sokka sits down and says, "Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time!"

"Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics," Suki says sarcastically.

"I know!"

The fire flakes are spicy, but not as spicy as I've had before. Just a hint of heat, really. But still tasty.

"At least the Sokka actor kind of looks like you," Aang says, frustrated at his portrayal. "That woman playing the Avatar doesn't resemble me at all!"

"It's the bald cap, I think, that ruins the resemblance," I say through the mouthful of fire flakes. Zuko and Suki both smirk at my comment, but Aang still looks frustrated.

"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys," Toph adds, and I giggle a little at her comment. Aang stands, frustrated, and groans at the audacity of the playwright to make a parody of his strife.

"Relax, Aang. They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time." Everyone stares at her, though I don't think I've heard a hope speech yet. "What?"

"Yeah, that's not you at all," Aang says, just as sarcastic as Suki was earlier. He sits back down.

"Listen, friends, it's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth," Toph says.

"Actually, it's just an over exaggeration of the truth," I say, standing with everyone as a gong sounds back inside the theatre. A signal that the intermission is almost over. "A hyperbole. To draw in audiences who are just here for the touristy stuff. It's what Ember Island is known for!"

Oh, boy, was it an over exaggeration of the truth.

Act two brings us to the Earth Kingdom. Toph is introduced, granted a large man plays her, deep voice and all.. She seems to enjoy it, though the personality traits of the actor line up pretty well with Toph.

The yelling that Toph does to show off her earthbending "seeing" is hilarious, if not shocking. The yell is so shrill, but Toph loves it. This girl loves parody plays. The only thing that would make this whole experience better is if it were a musical.

Every time Iroh and Zuko are on screen, I keep waiting. I keep waiting. For me. We go through Zuko leaving, and Azula being cornered by everyone, and Azula drilling through the wall of Ba Sing Se.

Then, briefly, I am introduced during a rundown of Iroh and Zuko's adventures in Ba Sing Se. I sit up straight, excited. I want to see what this Fire Nation playwright has discovered about me. The entire time I was on Zuko's boat and the journey across the Earth Kingdom were all cut out.

There! I lean forward, hands on the bench in front of me, where Zuko is sitting. I can feel his warmth, but the close contact to him is overridden by the feeling of finally, after nearly two acts, of seeing what the world sees me as.

It isn't the truth, and it is boring.

I am a server with Zuko and Iroh, handing out tea, holding hands with Zuko. I don't have any lines! My clothes are plain, very Earth Kingdom, and my hair is long and braided back.

I sit back down and cross my arms. Suki looks over at me, but nobody says anything.

Then, Jet dies? And Zuko is captured by Azula. And is taken to the crystal catacombs where him and Katara have a heartfelt conversation in which Katara admits Aang is like a brother to her, and they dance across the stage. Katara and Zuko sit even further away from each other, and Aang leaves in agitation.

Then the part I've been dreading the most happens, though I don't know how they even got the information from inside the crystal catacombs. Zuko's betrayal.

The Fire Nation flag hangs over Azula, while the Earth Kingdom hangs over Iroh and I. Iroh is drinking tea, and I hold a paint brush for some reason. Zuko is in the middle, with a bright spotlight over him, fretting over the two kingdoms.

"Well, my brother, what's it going to be?" Azula asks. "Your nation, or a life of treachery?"

Iroh says, "Choose treachery, it's more fun!" He winks and gives the audience a thumbs up.

I say, "Choose treachery! There's love over here!" Ugh, it was better when I didn't have any lines.

Zuko starts to walk toward us, and I sit forward again, clenching the bench ahead of me. Everyone is leaning forward. The only people that were there that are here are Zuko and I, but I know what happens, I was there, but still.

Azula screams, "No way!"

Then, Zuko pushes Iroh and I down, spilling the tea and paintbrush. He walks over to Azula and says, "I hate you, Uncle! You smell, and I hate you for all time! And, you, Zia! I never loved you!" I stand up, just like Aang did when Actor Katara said she only loved him like a brother. This. This.

The Earth Kingdom flag falls on Iroh and I, and Azula and Zuko exit the stage.

I leave the theatre, knowing what happens next. Zuko's treachery, Aang's death. All of it.

I hear Katara say, "You didn't really say that, did you?"

Zuko's reply is quiet, but his voice is filled with remorse. I don't hear what he tells her, but I know what happened. I know what he said and did.

I know it's a parody, I know it isn't real, but it doesn't stop the fact that it happened. And that I still can't forget what he did. The look on Iroh's face, the feeling of all my love for him turning to ice and shattering on the floor of the crystal catacombs.

Aang is on the balcony again, staring out into the ocean. I lean on the railing next to him, watching the moon on the water, the waves against the sand. I close my eyes to try to block out all the images that the play brought out of my mind, the images that were pushed down down down, the ones I painted over while I was at the Boiling Rock. The things I didn't want to remember.

But every time I close my eyes, Azula's lightning is flashing and striking Aang, Katara is catching him, and his eyes are lifeless. He is lifeless. And Zuko. Zuko is standing there. Letting it all happen. Letting Azula kill Aang. Letting her capture Iroh and I. Letting her send us to prison. Letting us rot in cells.

It takes everything out of me to open my eyes, to see Aang not dead. To remind myself I am not in prison. That I am here, and Aang is alive, and Iroh is out there too. Somewhere.

"Jet died, huh?" I ask, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah. He was brainwashed in Ba Sing Se," Aang says, deflated and not wanting to talk about our own issues with the play.

"He tried to get Iroh, Zuko and I turned in for being Fire Nation spies. It sucks that he died, though."

"Ba Sing Se is not a good place."

"It never was. Air Nomads never could live there and avoided it any chance they could."

"I now know why."

"Me too. Me too." Because Ba Sing Se is a place of secrets and pain, a place full of walls and parlor tricks. They keep your eyes occupied while they slowly kill you.

We stare at the ocean for a long time, until Katara walks out to the balcony, saying, "Are you all right?" I touch Aang on the shoulder and leave, knowing this conversation is not for me.

I return back to the entrance to the theatre, but I hear Toph and Zuko talking about the play. Toph is still really excited about her character. I lean against the door frame, just out of sight but close enough to hear Zuko say, "It takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shoves them back in my face. My uncle, he's always been on my side, even when things were bad. And Zia, she's been there through thick and thin, even when she was held captive on my boat. They were there for me, they taught me so much, and how do I repay them? With a knife in their backs. It's my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself."

Toph says, "You have redeemed yourself to your uncle. You don't realize it, but you already have."

"How do you know?"

"Because I once had a long conversation with the guy, and all he would talk about was you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was kind of annoying."

"Oh, sorry."

"But it was also very sweet. All your uncle wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light. Now you're here with us. He'd be proud. And Zia, too. She may not have forgotten what you did, but she's warming up to you again." I hear the thump of Toph hitting Zuko and lean out a little to see the two sitting side by side.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"That's how I show affection."

A little boy wearing a bald cap goes up to Zuko and says, "Your Zuko costume's pretty good, but your scar's on the wrong side."

He runs off, but it doesn't stop Zuko from yelling, "The scar's not on the wrong side!" He slumps back, covering his face with his hood. I lean further away from the hall and suppress a chuckle, and I catch Toph looking in my general direction and smiling. She can't see it, but I smile back at her.

I don't reveal myself to Zuko, and I take the roundabout way back to our seats. The gong sounds, and slowly the majority of the group returns. Aang and Katara aren't back yet. The play resumes, and Katara comes in a little ways into the third act.

A lot of stuff happens that helps to fill in the gaps. Aang gets healed, and they're in the Fire Nation, and Katara is a painted lady. I see where Sokka gets his sword from, and there's a man who can shoot fire from his forehead.

Just before the invasion starts, Aang returns and sits next to me, not back down in the front row with Katara, Toph, and Zuko. He looks sad, like he is beating himself up inside his mind. He doesn't speak.

I wonder what him and Katara talked about out there. He sits with his knees up to his chest, and he stares at the back of Katara's head.

Then, something that probably doesn't help Aang's mood happens. Katara reveals that she loves him like a brother and flies away. Aang sinks deeper into his knees.

The invasion happens, but it is very cut down. Zuko joins up with the group. Sokka stands up and says, "I guess that's it. The play's caught up to the present now."

Suko pulls him back down, because the lights are still dimmed and the curtains are opening again. "Wait, the play's not over!"

"But it is over, unless . . .this is the future."

Ozai shows up in the throne room, a lantern above him depicting the comet. He says, "With the energy harnessed from that comet, no one will be able to stop the Fire Nation!"

It is the future. The future of a week from now.

"Father, Zuko, and the Avatar are at the Palace. They're trying to stop you!" Azula says, bowing down. I wring my hands together, nervous.

"You take care of Zuko. I shall face the Avatar myself!" Ozai's movements are dramatic, and he disappears behind a smokescreen.

Aang and Zuko show up, and Zuko says, "Aang! You find the Fire Lord. I'll hold her off!" Aang jumps away.

"You are no longer my brother. You are an enemy!"

"No! I am the rightful heir to the throne!"

"We'll see!"

They fight, throwing ribbons of orange and blue back at one another. Azula strikes Zuko and he falls from the stage, yelling, "Honor!" Azula bows at the audience. Every single one of us is staring wide-eyed at the stage. Zuko is dead. The audience cheers.

The scene changes and Aang is up against Ozai. Ozai is sitting on a chair with the lantern comet above him. He asks, "So, you have mastered all four elements?"

Aang points his staff at him, saying, "Yeah, and now you're going down!"

"No! It is you who are going down!" He stands. "You see, you are too late! The comet is already here, and I'm unstoppable."

Aang and Ozai fight, with flashy moves and Aang spinning his staff around. However, he is no match for comet enhanced Ozai and is struck down with flames, yelling, "Nooooooo!"

"It is over, Father. We've done it!" Azula says, joining Ozai on the stage.

"Yes! We have done it! The dreams of my father, and my father's father, have now been realized! The world . . . is . . . mine!" As he speaks, flames climb up the backdrop and a Fire Nation flag falls behind him. Everyone is cheering and clapping except for our group, who just stare open-mouthed at the future.