Azara hummed to herself as she started to set up for a fire. Shoving some smaller and thinner leaves and sticks into the center of the pile, Azara glanced up as Sokka arrived with a bag of dinner, looking dejected. "Great you're back!" Aang shouted, jumping up.

"So, what did you find?" Azara asked, standing up and dusting herself off.

"We've got a few options. First, round nuts. And some kind of oval shaped nuts. And some rock-shaped nuts that might just be rocks," Sokka listed, pulling handfuls of nuts from his bag.

"Seriously, what else you got?" Katara questioned, looking unimpressed at her brother's scavenging abilities. As Azara picked up some of the nuts Sokka had discarded, a loud bang echoed in the distance.

"What was that?" Azara asked, dropping the nuts, and readying for an ambush.

"It's coming from over there!" Aang pointed out, following the sound of another bang into the woods. Katara jumped up and followed after him, leaving Sokka and Azara at the campsite.

"Shouldn't we run away from huge booms? Not towards them?" Sokka sighed as Azara shrugged her shoulders before hurrying after Aang and Katara. Spotting them behind a log, Azara kneeled next to them and stared at the earthbender standing in the clearing.

"An earthbender!"

"Let's go meet him!" Aang suggested but Sokka shook his head.

"He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously," Sokka spoke to Aang as Katara blatantly ignored her brother's warning.

"Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name?" Katara called, startling the earthbender. He looked at them fearfully before dropping the rock and running away. Jumping up, he pulled down an avalanche of rocks behind him, blocking the path.

"He has to be running somewhere. Maybe we're near a village?" Aang thought aloud as Katara turned and smiled at him.

"And I bet that village has a market," Katara added, an excited look on her face.

"And a market means no stupid nuts for dinner!" Azara exclaimed, before the three of them ran in the same direction as the earthbender.

"Hey! I worked hard for those nuts!" Sokka huffed as Azara turned around to face him.

"I bet there's a meat vender in the market," she teased as Sokka's eyes lit up.

"You had me at meat," he smiled, following behind Azara as they hurried to catch up with Katara and Aang. They found themselves at a small mining Earth Kingdom village. As they walked through the streets of the village, Katara spotted the boy from the woods entering a shop. Following behind Katara, Azara stepped into the quaint shop, looking around at the supplies lining the shelves.

"Hey. You're that kid. Why did you run away before?" Katara asked, walking further into the shop.

"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid," Haru shrugged off the comment.

"No, she doesn't. We saw you earthbending," Azara replied, causing his mother's eyes to widen in shock before she hurried to shut the door and blinds of the shop.

"They saw you doing what?" Haru's mother snapped once the door was secure.

"They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed," Haru deflected, causing each member of the group to fiddle with their clothes.

"You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!" his mother continued when suddenly a sharp knock came from the door. Azara inched towards the blinds, opening them just enough to see who was outside.

"Fire Nation!" she whispered urgently.

"Act natural!" Sokka instructed as Haru's mother moved to answer the door. Hurriedly grabbing a scroll, Azara opened it and turned around, pretending to be engrossed in the information. She knew that there was a risk that people would still recognize her, even with her Earth Kingdom clothes, and she did not want to risk being captured and sent back to her father.

"What do you want? I've already paid you this week!" Haru's mother asked, her eyes narrowed at the Fire Nation soldiers.

"The tax just doubled. And we wouldn't want an accident, now would we? Fire is sometimes so hard to control," the tax collector drawled, lighting a small ball of fire in his hands. Azara's hands clenched at the threat, but she didn't dare turn around. Haru's mother pulled out a small box and picked out several coins, turning to the tax collector.

"You can keep the copper ones," the tax collector scoffed, dropping the coins to the floor before leaving and slamming the door shut.

"Nice guy," Sokka commented sarcastically.

"How long has the Fire Nation been here?" Azara asked carefully, her hands at her sides.

"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships," Haru's mother explained, setting down the money chest behind the front desk of the shop. Azara looked out at the streets as she felt that familiar sense of guilt creep up on her.

"They're thugs. They steal from us. And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it," Haru muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that," his mother scolded.

"But, Haru's an earthbender? He can help!" Katara pointed out, but Haru's mother shook her head at the comment.

"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village! He must never use his abilities."

"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are," Katara spoke freely, but Haru's mother only looked saddened at her words.

"You don't understand."

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" Katara asked, stepping forwards.

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father," Haru's mother revealed, sounding pained as Haru looked away. With the statement hanging in the air, the shop was silent for a few moments, before Azara stepped forwards.

"We're sorry for troubling you. We'll get out of your hair," Azara spoke, but Haru turned to look at her with a softer expression.

"You guys are welcome to stay for a night," Haru offered as his mother shot him a look. A silent conversation passed between them before the woman sighed and repeated Haru's offer. They quietly followed Haru and his mother back to their home, a small house with a barn on the outskirts of town.

"My mom said you can sleep here tonight. But you should leave in the morning," Haru stated as they approached a barn. Appa hurried inside, already munching on the hay.

"Thanks. I'll make sure that Appa doesn't eat all your hay," Aang nodded as Appa stopped chewing on the hay for a moment before resuming. Azara smiled up at the flying bison before walking further into the barn. Aang and Sokka followed after her as Katara left to take a walk with Haru. Aang busied himself with airbending tricks and Sokka with his boomerang.

Azara sighed to herself and sat quietly at the entrance of the barn, closing her eyes, and trying to meditate. She could feel herself relaxing as she focused on the calming feeling of the setting sun. Breathing in an out, Azara cleared her mind and focused on the sun. Not on the overwhelming sense of guilt that had flared up following their interaction with Haru. Not on the reoccurring nightmares of her father finding her. Just on the sun.

"Hey, Azara," Aang called, prompting her out of her stupor. Blinking, Azara opened her eyes and stared up at the sheepish airbender. "Sorry to disrupt you, but Sokka can't find the flint and—"

"—It's alright," Azara chuckled, standing up and walking over to the pile of kindling Sokka was assembling in the center of the room.

"I could have figured it out if you had just given me ten more minutes," Sokka sighed as Azara quickly lit the fire.

"Try ten seconds," Azara replied, blowing on the flame to allow it to catch, a teasing smile on her face. Sokka continued to tend to the fire as it built up, allowing Azara to sit back and stare into the flames. As the sun set, Katara finally returned from her excursion with Haru. "Where have you been?" Azara asked, glancing up from the flames.

"We were taking a walk through a gorge when there was a mine collapse. There was an old man trapped in the old mine and Haru used his earthbending to save him. He was so brave," Katara explained, causing Azara to smirk.

"Sounds dreamy," she winked as Sokka gagged behind her. Azara put out the flame as the group settled in for the night. Curling into her sleeping bag, Azara was able to sleep without nightmares for the first time since they had left Omashu. Awaking to the morning sun, Azara yawned, stretched, and started to collect their belongings, knowing that Haru's mother was expecting them to be gone soon.

As she handed a sleeping bag up to Aang, Azara whirled around as Katara ran into the barn, looking distraught. "They took him, they took Haru away!" she shouted as Aang threw the sleeping bag behind him and jumped down.

"What?" Aang asked as the group ran over.

"The old man turned him into the Fire Nation. It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending," Katara rambled as Azara placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?" Sokka questioned as he moved to comfort his sister.

"Midnight," she revealed, causing Sokka to shake his head.

"Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone."

"We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me straight to Haru," Katara stated, a determined look on her face.

"And why would they do that?" Aang inquired, appearing confused at Katara's suggestion.

"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending."

"I hate to break it to you, Katara, but you're a waterbender, not an earthbender," Azara pointed out softly, but Katara shook her head. Explaining how they would use the vents to make it appear like she was earthbending, the group hurried to get prepared for the ruse. Sokka and Katara pushed the rock over the vent as Azara went to track down the Fire Nation soldiers.

Spotting another patrol, Azara turned and ran towards the staging area. "They're coming! In positions," she announced before hiding alongside Aang behind one of the rocks. Azara watched as the group of soldiers walked around the bend to see Katara and Sokka arguing.

"Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" Sokka demanded as he and Katara bumped into each other.

"How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant-eared cretin!"

"What did you call me?" Sokka asked, acting angry as he hunched over.

"A giant-eared cretin! Look at those things! Do herds of animals use them for shade?" Katara clarified, placing her hands on her ears to demonstrate the size of his ears. Azara hid a laugh behind her hand as she peaked out from behind the rock.

"You better back off!" Sokka warned, before moving closer to Katara. "Seriously, back off."

"I will not back off! I bet elephants get together and make fun of how large your ears are!"

"That's it! You're going down!" Sokka yelled, stepping back as Katara moved to initiate the ruse.

"I'll show you who's boss! Earthbending style!" Katara shouted, making a fist, and motioning for the rock to lift. When it didn't, Azara turned to look down at Aang, who was busy playing with a butterfly.

"Aang, now!" Azara hissed, causing the airbender to sheepishly jump forwards and send a current of air through the vents. Azara peaked around the rock again to see the Fire Nation soldiers staring at the rock in the air, which Momo was hiding behind.

"The lemur! He's earthbending!" one of the guards gasped, as Azara groaned hit her head against the rock in frustration.

"Someone remind me how the Fire Nation is winning the war again," she muttered to herself as Sokka gestured to Katara.

"No, you idiot, it's the girl!" Sokka exclaimed, causing the guard to blush in embarrassment. Azara watched as the soldiers took Katara away before stepping out from behind the rock and walking over to Sokka, Aang close behind her.

"And so, the search begins," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Momo, you have some big ears," Sokka accused, looking down at Momo. Azara rolled her eyes and smacked him lightly in the arm.

"Leave Momo alone. We have bigger problems than your ears, Sokka," Azara stated before turning around and heading to where Appa was hidden.

"They're not that big!" Sokka retorted, before sighing and following after her. Aang directed Appa to fly just above the clouds to follow Katara from a safe distance. Azara looked ahead as the soldiers loaded her into a truck and then a boat. They flew over open water for a few minutes before a trail of smoke was noticeable in the distance.

"There, that must be their prison," Azara pointed out, gesturing at the large Fire Nation naval station with a prominent smokestack.

"She'll be fine, Aang. Katara knows what she's doing," Sokka comforted the distraught looking airbender as Aang nodded and directed Appa back to the mainland.