The group shared incredulous looks before turning back to the tower. "The library is buried?! My life's ambition is now full of sand." Zei held his head in his hands, collapsing to his knees, before picking his head up and smiling widely. "Well, time to start excavating." He pulled out a small shovel from his pack, causing Azara to share a look with Katara.

"Actually, that won't be necessary," Toph stated, placing her hand on the tower. "The inside is completely intact. And it's huge!"

"That fox thingy went in through a window. I say we climb up there and give it a look," Sokka decided, staring up at the tower.

"I say you guys go ahead without me," Toph replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You got something against libraries?" Katara asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"I've held books before. And I've got to tell you, they don't exactly do it for me," Toph shrugged, causing Katara to wince.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Katara spoke sheepishly as they prepared to head into the library.

"Let me know if they have something you can listen to," Toph smiled, turning around.

Sokka tied the end of a spool of rope to his boomerang before throwing it up the side of the tower. After it wrapped around a column, Sokka tugged on the rope to ensure that it would hold, before leading the way up the tower. Azara followed up after him, Katara, Aang, and Zei trailing behind them.

Sokka reached the window and pulled himself up to sit in the windowsill before turning around. Holding out a hand for Azara, Sokka pulled her up next to him, his hands hovering over her waist for a moment, before they turned to help Katara and Zei up, Aang hopping up with his airbending. With everyone on the windowsill, Sokka pulled the rope up and threw it inside the library.

Professor Zei led the way down the rope, followed by Aang, and then Azara, Sokka, and Katara. As they descended down into the library, Azara's eyes widened at the sheer size of the building. "Toph wasn't kidding," she mumbled as Zei grew more excited by the passing minute.

"Oh, it's breathtaking!" Zei gasped out, nearly dropping from the rope. "The spirit spared no expense in designing this place. Look at those beautiful buttresses!" Azara rolled her eyes as Aang and Sokka snickered at Zei's statement. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. We just like architecture," Aang replied, an innocent smile on his face.

"As do I." They reached the bottom of the rope and stared out at the expansive library, unsure of which direction to proceed in. "My word! The exquisite mosaic handiwork of this tile-rendered avian symbol," Professor Zei stated, leading the group over to a mosaic of an owl, Wan Shi Tong. The rest of the group looked at him curiously as Zei smiled sheepishly. "Eh, nice owl."

The sound of rustling caused the group to scatter. Sokka, Azara, and Katara hid behind one pillar as Aang pulled Zei behind another. The sound of a loud thud caused Azara to hold in a breath. "I know you're back there," a raspy voice called out, causing Azara to share concerned looks with Katara and Sokka.

"Hello, I'm Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University," Zei introduced, walking out from behind the pillar and towards Wan Shi Tong.

"You should leave the way you came. Unless you want to become a stuffed head of anthropology," Wan Shi Tong threatened, causing Professor Zei to gulp and hold his neck. Deciding to intervene, Sokka led the way out from behind the pillars and towards the large owl spirit.

"Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?" Sokka asked as they approached the spirit, who looked perturbed to say the least.

"Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, 'He Who Knows a Thousand Things.' And you are obviously humans, which, by the way, are no longer permitted in my study," the spirit snapped, scrutinizing each of them with his large pitch-black eyes.

"What do you have against humans?" Aang asked, looking concerned at the troubles of a spirit.

"Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans." Wan Shi Tong then turned to Azara, who started to sweat under his gaze. "Why, one just like her came down here a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy." Azara looked down, assuming that whoever Wan Shi Tong was referring to must have been another firebender. "So, who are you trying to destroy?" he asked Sokka, leaning down to stare evenly with the Water Tribe boy.

"What? No-no-no-no destroying. We're not into that," Sokka replied shakily, sweat beading on his forehead as well.

"Then why have you come here?" Wan Shi Tong demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Um . . . knowledge for knowledge's sake?" Sokka shrugged sheepishly as Azara sighed.

"If you're going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being, you should at least put some effort into it," Wan Shi Tong spoke in a deadpan, clearly unimpressed.

"I'm not lying, I'm here with the Avatar," Sokka smiled before pulling Aang to his side. "He's the bridge between our worlds. He'll vouch for me." Sokka nudged Aang in the side, causing the airbender to grunt in pain.

"Ow! Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." Aang bowed to him, everyone else following suit.

The owl spirit narrowed its eyes at Aang. "Hmm, very well. I'll let you peruse my vast collection on one condition," the owl announced, causing the group to share concerned looks. "To prove your worth as scholars, you have to contribute some worthwhile knowledge."

Professor Zei was the first to react, pulling a book out of his pack and kneeling in front of Wan Shi Tong. "Please accept this tome as a donation to your library."

"First edition, very nice," Wan Shi Tong praised, before swiping the book with his large wing.

Katara walked forward next with the waterbending scroll she had stolen from the pirates a few months before. "I have an authentic waterbending scroll."

"Ooh, these illustrations are quite stylish." Wan Shi Tong swept the scroll away with his large wing.

Aang rubbed his chin, trying to think of something to add to the collection, before exclaiming and grabbing his old wanted posted out of his shirt. "Hah!" he smiled, as the owl spirit regarded him with an unimpressed gaze.

"I suppose that counts." Wan Shi Tong swept his wing over the poster before turning to Sokka.

"Oh, great spirit, check this out!" Sokka called, pulling out a piece of string and tying it into a butterfly knot. "Ta-da!" Azara winced as Wan Shi Tong didn't move from his position, clearly unamused with Sokka's antics. "It's a special knot. That counts as knowledge!" Sokka claimed indignantly causing the owl to grunt.

"You're not very bright, are you?" Wan Shi Tong asked before swiping the knot and turning to examine Azara. She held aloft a manuscript she had in her possession since she left Zuko's ship at the South Pole. It was an old Fire Nation text with technical instructions for advanced firebenders.

"Please accept this Fire Nation manuscript, great spirit," Azara offered, holding the manuscript aloft. However, Wan Shi Tong studied her with a calculating gaze. Azara willed the sweat beading on her forehead to not drip as the owl spirit tilted his head to the side as he continued to examine her.

"Is something wrong, great spirit?" Aang questioned as the owl spirit pulled back from Azara.

"You were blessed by the Moon Spirit," Wan Shi Tong spoke, causing Azara's eyes to widen in surprise as the spirit leaned in close again. "But yet, you're Fire Nation."

"Yes, great spirit," Azara replied nervously, frankly worried he would gobble her up right there on the bridge. Sokka moved to step forward, but Katara grabbed his arm and shook her head.

"The last firebender I let in here ended up destroying much of my collection," Wan Shi Tong nearly growled out, causing the hairs on Azara's arms to raise.

"I apologize for the actions of my nation and the harm it has caused you and your collection," Azara stuttered out, bowing lightly, and hoping that the spirit would be appeased with her.

"I should throw you out of here," Wan Shi Tong began, causing Azara to share a concerned look with her friends. "But, if the Moon Spirit has blessed you, perhaps you are different than others of your nation," Wan Shi Tong continued, swinging a wing out to collect the firebending manuscript. "Enjoy the library," he announced to the group, before jumping off the bridge and flying down to the lower levels.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked, hurrying over to Azara's side as the color returned to her face.

"I'm fine, but we should hurry it up in here. I don't want to overstay our welcome," Azara nodded, before following after Aang and Katara into the library.

They entered a large room filled with books from the floor to the ceiling. Azara studied the bookshelf in front of her, glancing over the titles of the books in front of her until one caught her eye. Pulling the red book off the shelf, Azara dusted the text off, before cracking open the book. "These are spirits," Azara noted to herself, flipping through the text.

She glanced over the names of the spirits, not recognizing many of the names, before her eyes were drawn to an illustration. The image was of a dragon curled around a bright figure, whose arms were spread to the sides, beams of light drifting from their hands to the ground. Glancing up at the title of the image, Azara grew more confused.

"There's a sun spirit?" she questioned herself, eyes widening in surprise, flipping the page for more information, but found none. She flipped erratically around the next few pages, but the image was the only mention of a sun spirit she found. "Where's the rest of it? That's it!" Azara groaned, sighing in frustration. "Come on," she whined, leaning on the shelf and sighing in frustration.

She put the book back on the shelf as she noticed Aang and Katara walk into an attached room, Professor Zei close behind them. Hurrying over, Azara spotted Sokka with an old and partially burnt piece of parchment. "Azara, do you know what the darkest day in Fire Nation history is?" Sokka asked, hurrying over to her, and holding out the parchment.

"No idea," she shook her head, before noticing the podium behind Sokka, which was now empty. "Put that back! We don't want to piss Wan Shi Tong off more," she whispered harshly, but Sokka waved her off.

"We need to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising," Sokka stated, before leading the way out of the room. He raced along the stacks of books, reading the titles of sections before hurrying onto the next. "The information on the Fire Nation should be right up here."

The group paused in front of a room full of ashes, causing Azara to sigh. "Firebenders," Aang muttered, shaking his head.

"They destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation," Katara spoke, walking into the room with a dejected expression.

"I'm guessing this is what Wan Shi Tong almost skinned me alive for," Azara shrugged, walking into the room for any sign of salvageable materials.

"That's so unfair! Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago," Sokka groaned, dropping to his knees. "I need to know what happened on the darkest day." The sound of whimpering caused the group to pause and turn back to the entrance of the room to see a Knowledge Seeker standing on its hind legs. "Hello, little weird fox guy."

The Knowledge Seeker got back onto four legs, before turning and pointing outside the room. "Seems it's trying to assist you," Zei noted, causing Sokka to get to his feet.

"Um, sure, I guess I'll follow you." The group hurried after the Knowledge Seeker through the library and to a large round door. The fox disappeared through a small door in the larger door before the larger door opened, revealing the Knowledge Seeker waiting behind it. The group cautiously entered the room as the Knowledge Seeker ran forward and pushed a lever next to a wheel, causing the ceiling to change from day to night.

"This room is a true marvel, a mechanical wonder. It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving," Zei explained, walking further into the room. The ceiling transitioned again to the day setting as Azara moved to stand next to Sokka.

"Uh, this is beautiful, but how is it helpful?" Sokka sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Maybe these dials represent dates and times," Katara suggested, pointing at the wheel in the middle of the room. "Sokka, try entering that date from the parchment you took."

Sokka hurriedly shushed his sister as he walked over. "Shh, Katara, not in front of the fox, he's with the owl." The Knowledge Seeker whimpered and looked down, causing Azara to rub its head.

"It's alright, we like you," she whispered, causing the fox to wag its tail. Sokka glanced at the parchment before rearranging the dials to reflect the date. Once he was finished, he pushed the lever, causing the moon and sun to move about the planetarium.

"Wow, I got to hand it to you, Sokka. You picked the best mini-vacation for sure," Aang smiled as the ceiling changed from the night setting back to the day setting before the sun icon slid behind the moon, causing the sky to grow dark.

"Hey, wait. What happened to the sun?" Sokka exclaimed, as Azara studied the situation.

"Great, you must have broken it," Aang muttered, but Azara shook her head and walked forwards.

"No, it's not broken. Look, the sun is behind the moon," Azara pointed out as Sokka nodded next to her.

"It's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Now I get it," Sokka exclaimed, grabbing Aang's shoulders suddenly. "Something awful happened on that day. I don't know what, but I do know why. Firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!" Sokka shouted, before he pushed Aang back.

Azara hugged herself at the thought of losing her bending, even if it was for a few minutes. Firebending, as much as she tried to fight it, was part of her. Without it, she felt worse than naked. But she knew that the information would be incredibly useful to ending the war and everyone's suffering. Sighing, she straightened up.

"That makes sense. I mean, think what the lunar eclipse at the North Pole did to the waterbenders. This is huge," Katara agreed, as the Knowledge Seeker behind them whimpered.

Sokka turned around as the Knowledge Seeker got onto its hind legs and begged. "Fine, you earned it," Sokka smiled, tossing the fox some food from his pack before turning back to the group. "We've got to get this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. We'll wait for the next eclipse, then we'll invade the Fire Nation when they're totally helpless. The Fire Lord is going down!" Sokka announced, raising his arms victoriously until a large shadow appeared over him.

"Mortals are so predictable, and such terrible liars," Wan Shi Tong snarled, causing the group to gasp in fear. "You betrayed my trust. From the beginning, you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes."

"You don't understand. If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information," Sokka stated, staring up at the owl spirit with a determined look in his eye.

"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified? Countless others before you have come here seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies," Wan Shi Tong snapped, his gaze floating over to Azara.

"We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love," Aang explained, stepping forward.

"And now I'm going to protect what I love," Wan Shi Tong vowed before flapping his wings, causing the entire library to shake.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again!" Wan Shi Tong announced as sand started to dribble into the room.

"He's sinking the building!" Katara yelled out in warning as Azara stumbled.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" Azara shouted as Wan Shi Tong stepped forwards again.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much," Wan Shi Tong growled out, before pecking at them. Azara dove to the side to dodge his beak as Aang grabbed her arm and pulled her up. They sprinted out of the planetarium, an angry Wan Shi Tong on their heels.

"Great Knowledge Spirit, I beg you, do not destroy your vast collection of priceless tomes," Professor Zei pleaded, narrowly missing an attack from Wan Shi Tong due to Aang's airbending. Aang yelled out, releasing a large air blast at Wan Shi Tong, causing the spirit to fall off the side of the bridge.

"We've got to get back to the surface!" Aang warned, turning back to the group.

"Sokka, let's go, now!" Azara called, grabbing his arm, and tugging him along.

"But we still don't know when the next eclipse is going to happen," Sokka replied, pulling back on her grasp.

"Don't be stupid! We'll find out later!" Katara butted in, standing next to Azara.

"She's right. That information is useless if we can't get it to the Earth King at all," Azara agreed, but Sokka shook his head.

"No, we won't. If we leave this place, we'll never get the information. Aang, come with me to the planetarium, I need cover. Katara and Azara, take Momo and get out of here!" Sokka ordered as Azara shook her head.

"We're not leaving you guys behind!" Azara shouted, staring deeply into Sokka's eyes. Before Sokka could reply, Wan Shi Tong reappeared over the bridge and charged at them.

"Go!" Sokka demanded, letting go of Azara pushing her away from Wan Shi Tong's swing.

"Don't be late!" Azara called back, before she and Katara hurried back in the direction of the entrance. They dodged a few pecks from the spirit before Katara pulled Azara and Momo behind a book stack. Azara held her hand over Momo's mouth, praying that the spirit would miss them. It was silent for a moment as Wan Shi Tong walked around the library.

"At least I'll have one specimen to add to my collection," he cackled before charging forwards. Azara released Momo and spun around, releasing a fire blast at Wan Shi Tong, causing the spirit to cry out in shock and pain.

"Run! Run! Run!" Azara yelled, pushing Katara faster. They reached the bridge that they had entered the library in when the bridge shook from Wan Shi Tong's weight. The two spun around, arms raised in defensive positions.

"Your waterbending or firebending won't do you much good here," Wan Shi Tong warned as he raised his head and unfurled his wings. "I've studied Northern water style, Southern water style, even Foggy Swamp style. As well as every manuscript on firebending from before the Fire Nation was even founded."

Azara narrowed her eyes, prepared to unleash a fire volley, when she spotted Aang and Sokka above them. Aang flew above with his glider as Sokka jumped down, holding a book in his hands. Sokka yelled out before he slammed the book into Wan Shi Tong's head, causing the spirit to fall to the ground, out cold.

"That's called Sokka style, learn it!" Sokka taunted, swinging his arm to the side.

"Come on, we can celebrate later," Azara insisted, despite the amused and relieved smile on her face, pulling him over to the rope. Katara climbed up the rope first, Azara following close behind after her. Sokka started climbing up after Azara before he noticed Professor Zei's absence.

"Wait, Professor, let's go!" Sokka called out at Professor Zei, who sat with piles of books surrounding him.

"I'm not leaving! I can't, I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I could spend an eternity in here," Zei stated blissfully, causing Azara to shake her head.

"We don't have time, let's go!" she warned her friends before Wan Shi Tong woke up. They screamed out as the spirit grabbed and shook the rope, causing the group to fall off it momentarily. Aang quickly swung down and grabbed them with his glider. Sokka and Katara held onto the back of Aang's glider, Azara squeezed into their sides, as Aang raced out of the library through one of the windows.

Aang dropped them safely to the ground as Toph fell back, the remnants of the library sinking below the surface. Azara accepted Sokka's hand up before rejoicing with Sokka and Katara at their successful escape. "We got it. There's a solar eclipse coming! The Fire Nation's in trouble now!" Sokka cheered, pulling Katara and Azara into a hug.

Silence fell over them for a moment until Aang stepped forwards. "Where's Appa?" he asked Toph, who stayed sitting in the sand.

Toph held her head in her hands and shook her head, causing Aang to gasp, tears dripping down his cheeks. 

A.N. Here's the second half of The Library episode! Next chapter (The Desert episode) should be up by the end of the week. Thanks as always for reading, voting, and commenting!