Azara stared out at the open ocean, a bored expression on her face. After leaving the Southern Air Temple, they had crisscrossed around the southern isles of the Earth Kingdom in search of the island where the elephant koi lived. Katara was repairing Sokka's pants, which Azara was not even sure how he had ripped in the first place. Azara flopped onto her back and stared up at the sun. Despite the fact they were still fairly south, Azara closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth the sun provided her.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka sighed as he stared at the map.

"Well, I know it's near water," Aang replied as Sokka looked out at the water.

"I guess we're getting close then," Sokka huffed sarcastically as they continued to fly over open ocean with no sight of land.

"Hey Katara, check out this airbending trick!" Aang exclaimed, causing Azara to crack an eyelid open. Aang was airbending two marbles in a circle between his hands, a wide and proud smile on his face.

"That's great, Aang," Katara murmured, not looking up from her sewing. Azara glanced back at Aang, catching his crestfallen expression.

"You didn't even look," Aang pointed out, ending his trick, and lowering his arms. Katara looked up from her sewing and shot Aang a small smile.

"That's great!" Katara repeated, but Aang continued to look disappointed.

"But I'm not doing it now," Aang remarked quietly.

"Stop bugging her, airhead. You need to give girls space when they do their sewing," Sokka interjected, resting his head on his crossed arms.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Azara asked, sitting up, a challenging expression on her face.

"Simple. Girls are better at fixing pants than guys and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that," Sokka explained, causing Katara and Azara to shoot him deadly glares. "It's the natural order of things."

"Fighting you say?" Azara scoffed, turning to face Sokka fully. "Then a big strong warrior, such as yourself, wouldn't be scared of a little duel between us? Loser gets thrown off the side," Azara snapped in a deadly tone, Sokka noticeably stiffening as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head.

"All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!" Katara replied sarcastically, tossing Sokka's still ripped pants back at him.

"Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these, Katara, please!" Sokka pleaded, his hand fitting through the hole.

"Relax, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants," Aang interrupted, turning towards the land mass that they were approaching. The crescent shaped island seemed quaint as Aang landed Appa near the shore. Hopping off Appa, Azara looked around at the foliage and snow decorating the landscape.

"We just stopped yesterday. At this rate we'll never reach the North Pole," Azara sighed as Katara stood next to her.

"Azara's right, Aang. We should keep moving before we set up camp," Katara spoke, moving to stand by Aang on the shore.

"But Appa's tired, aren't you boy?" Aang smiled up at his flying bison, as Appa let out a light grunt. "I said, aren't you boy?" Aang repeated, as Appa opened his mouth to let out a louder grunt.

"Yeah, that was really convincing," Sokka muttered sarcastically. "Still, hard to argue with a ten-ton magical monster." Aang ran to the shore as large fish breeched and swam through the bay, his companion's eyes widening in surprise.

"Look! That's why we're here. Elephant koi, and I'm going to ride it. Katara, you've got to watch me!" Aang explained excitedly, pulling off his clothes, and standing in his underwear. Aang ran towards the cold ocean, jumping out moments later and screaming about the cold temperature, before diving back into the water.

Sokka and Azara shared equally unamused expressions as Sokka made a circular motion with one of his fingers. Aang disappeared under the water, reappearing a few moments later on the back of one of the elephant koi fish, gripping the fin to stay on. Katara gasped before cheering for Aang.

"He actually did it," Azara stated in surprise, sounding impressed as Katara jumped up and down on the shoreline.

"He looks pretty good out there," Katara commented, causing Azara to look at Katara out of the corner of her eye with a questioning look.

"Are you kidding? The fish is doing all the work," Sokka huffed as Katara turned around, spotting Appa eating something.

"No, Appa. Don't eat that!" Katara scolded, running away from the shore to grab the bison. Azara looked behind her for a moment, before Sokka's call forced her to turn around again.

Sokka pointed at the dark mass following behind Aang. "There's something in the water!" he yelled, as one of the elephant koi fish was dragged back underwater by the unknown creature. Katara ran back over at her brother's shouting, looking concerned.

"What's going on?" she asked as Azara started to wave her hands erratically.

"Aang's in trouble. Aang, get out of the water!" Azara screamed, Sokka and Katara following her lead and screaming at the airbender, waving their arms in warning.

Aang waved back, thinking that they were just cheering him on, when he was suddenly thrown forwards into the water as the elephant koi fish that he was riding was pulled under. A large fin appeared directly behind him, prompting Aang to quickly get up and sprint back to shore. Azara and Katara watched as he ran straight into Sokka, throwing the both of them back to the tree line.

As Katara rushed over to help Aang up, Azara looked up at the trees at the sound of a branch breaking, her hands in a defensive position. "We're being watched," Azara spoke, causing Sokka to scoff.

"There's no one else here—" he started to speak before several figures jumped down from the trees. Azara jumped into action, knocking the fan out of one of their hands and kicking them back. Dodging a swing of rope, Azara cartwheeled away and glanced over at Sokka, Katara, and Aang, who were bound and blindfolded by the warriors.

"Who the hell are you people?" Azara growled out as she dodged another attack. The warriors did not respond, simply surrounding Azara as she stood her ground. Azara looked down as a smoke bomb was thrown at her feet, dark and putrid smelling smoke wafting up towards her. Trying to block her mouth, Azara's vision swam before she tumbled to the side.

Azara awoke to darkness. Trying to orient herself, Azara struggled as she found herself tied to a pole. "You four have some explaining to do," a male voice snapped as Azara pulled at her restraints.

"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the unagi," a woman added, her tone serious and threatening.

"Show yourself, cowards!" Sokka yelled from her right. Suddenly, the blindfold was removed and Azara squinted as her eyes adjusted to the sudden intrusion of light. "Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka asked, glaring at the female warriors in front of them.

"It wasn't men, Sokka. It was those girls," Azara replied, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Who are you and what were you doing here?" a warrior demanded, walking forwards.

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down," Sokka interrupted, causing Azara and Katara to roll their eyes as the warrior stood in front of Sokka.

"A bunch of girls, huh? The unagi will eat well tonight," the warrior threatened, fisting the front of Sokka's coat.

"No, don't hurt him. My brother's just an idiot sometimes," Katara interjected, causing Azara to crack a small smile.

"Sometimes?" she joked, prompting a glare from Sokka in response.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi," Aang piped up, sounding distraught as he looked down at the ground.

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way," an old man remarked, likely the town leader, pointing a finger at Azara especially.

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!" Aang stated, sounding excited.

"How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries!" the town leader snapped, sounding like he was reaching the end of his patience.

"I know her because I'm the Avatar," Aang revealed, causing gasps and murmurs to emanate from the assembled crowd.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!" the warrior from earlier protested.

"That's me!" Aang responded, a wide smile on his face.

"Throw the imposters to the unagi," the old man commanded, pointing towards the group. The female warriors once again brandished their fans and started to advance. Azara was about to firebend herself out of the rope when Aang leapt in the air and cut his rope on the Kyoshi statue. As he gracefully descended, the warriors pulled back and the town leader humbly bowed.

"It's true, you are the Avatar," he gasped in shock as Aang stood in front of the crowd, a serious expression on his face.

"Now . . . check this out!" Aang pulled out his marbles, doing the same trick from earlier. Except, this time, the villagers cheered loudly at the demonstration. One man in particular jumped forwards, cheering loudly until he foamed at the mouth and passed out. Azara raised an eyebrow at that, looking around to see if anyone else saw that.

The warriors walked forwards to untie Katara and Sokka, but left Azara tied to the pole. Burning through the rope, Azara rubbed her sore wrists as the crowd gasped in fear and the warriors brandished their fans once more.

"Hey, I thought we had all calmed down," Aang spoke, walking towards the warriors.

"She's Fire Nation," one of them spat, causing Azara to sigh.

"It doesn't matter, she's on our side," Katara vouched, moving to stand in front of Azara.

"Please, a firebender helping the Avatar? I wasn't born yesterday," one of the girls snarled as Azara looked to the ground. She knew any response she had would only serve to further irk the warriors and she did not feel like fighting.

"Look, I know it seems hard to believe but she really is on our side," Sokka defending, causing Azara to look up at him with surprise. Murmurs echoed from the crowd before the town leader cleared his throat.

"Fine. But one misstep and you're dinner for the unagi. No firebending while on Kyoshi," he ordered as Azara nodded quietly. Azara followed behind Katara and Sokka as the town leader lead them to their temporary accommodation. Wrapping her arms around herself, Azara sighed as she felt the glares on her back as she walked through the streets.

"I need to find some new clothes," Azara muttered to herself, staring down at her red clothes that clearly represented the Fire Nation. Despite the fact Kyoshi Island had managed to stay out of the war, the hatred for the Fire Nation had seemed to arrive without a problem. Azara sat quietly in the corner as the townspeople brought various trays of goods, leaving them in front of Aang and Katara.

Glancing out the window, Azara stared up at the rolling hills found on the island, an idea striking her. "I'm going for a walk," she mumbled, standing up and walking out of the room without another word. Katara watched her leave with concern, nudging Aang and Sokka.

"Do you think Azara is ok?" she asked aloud, causing Aang and Sokka to look up from the pastries.

"I'm sure she's fine," Sokka brushed off, as Momo grabbed a pastry from his hands.

"No, she seems . . . distant. Withdrawn," Katara shook her head as she stared at the doorframe Azara had just disappeared through. "Did you know she lost her mom too?" Katara revealed as Aang and Sokka shared a surprised look.

"No, she never mentioned it," Aang spoke, placing the plate on the table as a solemn tone filled the room. "What happened to her?"

"She doesn't know. She woke up one morning and her mother was just . . . gone," Katara explained as Sokka glanced at the floor.