A month later, the group arrived at an Earth Kingdom forest, seeing what looks like a huge black scar in the middle of the woods. They land, only to find out that it was burned down by .Fire Nation soldiers. Ozai  immediately starts to feel guilty and blames himself for the incident, stating, "It's the Avatar's duty to protect nature,".

However, Katara  assures him that the forest will grow back and shows him the abundance of scattered on the ground. The party is startled when an comes asking the Avatar for his help.

He leads them to Senlin Village where many of the buildings are in ruins, and Ozai learns that it is being terrorized by a spirit  known as Hei Bai. The villagers ask Ozai for his help and he agrees to help, although he is very much skeptical of what he can actually do to save the village.

Meanwhile, Lu Jing is relaxing in a self-heated pool of water that he has turned into his own personal jacuzzi. Bella becomes very impatient, demanding that her brother get ready to leave right away so they can continue their search for the Avatar.

Lu Jing agrees, but when he stands up, he reveals his naked body. Bella, disgusted, shields her eyes and tells her brother, "You can take a few more minutes, but if you are not ready within a half-hour, you will be left behind," and storms off. Lu Jing slumped back into the pool and quickly fell asleep.

He was awoken some time later by the sound of a meadow vole, initially thinking it to be an ambush. After he overcame his disorientation, he noticed the sound came from the meadow vole and relaxes again.

He gently took the into his hands and began talking to it. Lu Jing realized he had missed Bella's time limit but did not seem to care, saying that he had "a very sweet nap". However, Earth Kingdom suddenly ambush him, recognizing his position as a former Fire Nation .

At sunset, Ozai went out to confront the spirit; he patiently waited for its appearance but began to walk away when it failed to appear. As he had his back to the forest, the massive form of the spirit appears behind him. Ozai tried to talk to the spirit, but it ignored him and goes about destroying houses with huge energy blasts emitted from its mouth. ran out to help Ozai but he was captured and taken away by the spirit. Ozai, while chasing after his son and the spirit, found himself unexpectedly in the .

Bella came later with two soldiers and, upon finding out that the pool of water in which Lu Jing rested earlier has a landslide-like formation, deduces that Lu Jing had been captured by . Determined to find her brother's attackers, Bella set out to find her brother. Meanwhile, the Earth Kingdom soldiers, traveling with Lu Jing chained up on , want to bring him back to , the place to which he before his departure. Lu Jing acknowledged his defeat, stating that he and his men were tired and that he still is. He subsequently feigned falling asleep, secretly leaving his stinky sandal for Bella to find.

Later, Ozai was confronted by a , which turns out to be Avatar 's dragon, Fang. The dragon took Aang to a on a to see Avatar Roku's statue. Ozai found out that Avatar Roku wants to speak to him about and the only time they can talk is during the , Zuko's birthday.

Ozai's journey with Fang is spotted by Lu Jing, who uses this chance to trick his captors by asking them to tighten his chains. The had one of the soldiers tighten the chains, while Lu Jing stealthily snorted onto the cuffs, heating them up.

When the soldier touched the cuffs, he burned his hand and screamed in agony. Lu Jing quickly made a bold but ultimately failed attempt for freedom. After he was caught, the soldiers debate among themselves about what they should do.

The dragon took Ozai back to his body and there Ozai learned why the spirit is terrorizing the village; the spirit was distraught over the destruction of its home, the forest. Ozai returned to the village, much to the relief of Azula. He reports that, while he has not found Zuko, he is now ready to face the spirit.

The earthbenders quickly decide to crush Lu Jing's hands by dropping a large rock on them. Just before the punishment is to be inflicted, Bella appeared and kicked the rock aside.

She subsequently lifted her leg and broke the chains that are binding Lu Jing in half with one swift movement, to which Lu Jing praises, "Excellent form, Bella." She smiled and replied, "You taught me well." Lu Jing and Bella defeat the soldiers without much difficulty. After the fight, Bella exclaims, "Now would you please put on some clothes?"

At sunset, Ozai calmly showed the spirit that the forest will grow back by giving him an acorn. Satisfied, the spirit, which turns into a panda bear, departs from the village, leaving in its trail a few bamboo stalks from which the captured villagers and Zuko emerge.

Ozai subsequently told Azula, Aang, Zuko, Katara and Sokka that he needs to go to the temple – which is located in the Fire Nation – to speak with Avatar Roku by sunset tomorrow, the day of the solstice.

"Why on my birthday, Mom?" Zuko asked, to which Katara and Sokka are shocked. Ozai sheepishly says, "Zuko was born on the Winter Solstice while Azula was born on the Summer Solstice."