"Damn it!" Tai shouts as he punches the mountain the group just exited.

Aang stares at the Omashu, its walls covered in the flag of the Fire Nation. "I can't believe it. I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed... untouchable."

"It was. Something's changed. They have to have gotten some kind of new technology in order to capture the city." Tai says sitting against a large boulder from his destruction. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great stronghold left."

"This is horrible." Katara looks to Aang. "But we have to move on."

"No." Tai stands. "We need to find Bumi."

"I agree." Aang nods with Tai.

"Tai, Aang, stop." Sokka calls out. "We don't even know if Bumi's still..."

"Still what?" Tai turns back. "Still alive? I doubt the old man would be killed that easily." Tai starts walking leaving the others behind him, as Shizuka gulps and follows after him, leaving the others to continue speaking behind them. He pauses before looking back to the others, rolling his eyes. "If you're worried about how to get in, just follow me, I know of a secret way to get in and out of the city. Fair warning though, it is rather... messy." Tai starts walking away again, this time with the others following him to below Omashu's gate where Aang is attempting to open the entrance to a secret tunnel.

"A secret passage, why didn't we use this last time?!" Sokka asks.

Tai pops open it as the lid flings off sewage spews out getting on Sokka and a portion of Katara.

"Firstly, cause I would've noticed you, secondly, that's why. It's been my way in and out before. I did warn you it was messy."

Tai jumps in using his earthbending to cover himself with stone as well as Shizuka. Aang uses his air to keep himself clean, Katara uses water bending causing all the water to hit Sokka, once through Tai uses bending to loosen the pothole. He peeks above briefly spotting nobody and climbs out helping Shizuka. The pair do their best to clean themselves while also removing extra earth on them, Tai takes a brief moment to stop dusting himself off to wipe some dust off Shizuka's shoulder. Aang jumps out clean as does Katara.

"Well, at least it wasn't that bad." Katara comments.

The group look back to see Sokka covered in sludge when Katara blasts him with water followed by Aang with air. As Sokka has purple suckers on his face and tries to pull them off.

"Sokka, stop that! It's a purple pentapus." Tai whisper shouts at Sokka as he rubs the head of one. The creature shows its glee and releases Sokka's face when Shizuka does the same allowing Sokka to get the last one. "See, harmless." The kids all take a moment to relax, Tai glances back and quickly closes his hand as a voice calls out to them.

"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?" A guard says walking up. Tai leans back, but before he can respond Katara steps in front of him.

"Sorry. We were just on our way home." The kids turn and walk away, Sokka bringing up the rear. The guard notices the red welts on the back of Sokka's neck.

"Wait, what's the matter with him?"

Katara's eyes widen, as do the others, but she turns on a dime and speaks again. "Uh, he has pentapox, sir." The guard approaches. "Umm, it's highly contagious."

"Oh, it's so awful. I'm dying." Sokka says, greatly exaggerating the situation.

"And deadly." Katara adds.

"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox! Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" A second guard comments.

"We'd better go wash our hands, and burn our clothes." The guards run away in fear.

Tai hums and opens his palm revealing the tiny creature cuddled against his palm. "Thank you, sewer friends." He pets it causing it to curl up in delight.

On board Azula's ship. She is consulting her assistants, Li and Lo, Hana remains beside her bowing to Azula.

"When tracking your brother and uncle, traveling with the royal procession may no longer be an option." Li speaks first, her and Lo alternating their sentences. "May no longer be wise." The two sisters speak in unison as they finish giving consul to the Princess. "If you hope to keep the element of surprise."

"You're right. The Royal Procession is dead weight. If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble. I need a small, elite team. Hana, it's time to visit some old friends."

"Yes, your highness."

Twilight has come to Omashu, where Aang, Katara, Shizuka, and Sokka with Momo on his shoulder are sneaking around led by Tai. They hide behind some metal bars used for construction as a patrol passes.

Katara glances to Tai, his eyes glued on the patrol beneath them. "Let's find Bumi and get out of here."

"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asks.

Tai brings a hand to his chin, "Somewhere he can't earthbend. Somewhere made of metal."

The squad goes on. Below them a young woman with black hair and an emotionless expression named Mai walks with two Fire Nation guards her. "There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place." Mai sighs walking next to an older woman carrying a baby. They are being escorted by Fire Nation guards.

"Mai, your father was appointed governor. We're like royalty here. Be happy and enjoy it."

Tai, watching them, glances up, he notices some rocks, ready to be pushed down one of Omashu's mail delivery chutes which ends near where Mai's party is walking. He can clearly see the light of the torches from up above.

"The targets are approaching." The resistance member says quietly.

General Yung stands behind the soldier. "Take them out."

Mai scoffs; a dull tone. "I thought my life was boring in the Fire Nation, but this place is unbearably bleak. Nothing ever happens."

Tai's gaze affixes to the resistance fighter at the beginning of the chute, who pushes the rocks down the chute with earthbending. Aang and his friends walk by and they see the rocks crumbling down at high speed. Aang looks in distress at Mai's party. He raises his staff and pulverizes the rock with a blast of air as it passes. Mai's party is alerted by the sound and looks up to see what caused it. Mai squints her eyes to make out who is standing above her spotting Tai emerging from the debris of the destroyed stone, his Royal cape draped over his shoulders.

Michi points at Tai. "The resistance!"

"Crud." Tai mutters, looking at Mai, who is seen for the first time with a faint smile on her face.

She spreads her arms at Aang, causing tiny arrows to fly toward him. Tai quickly jumps up, avoiding the arrows which bury themselves in the stack of construction material he lands on. The squad run away as two of the Fire Nation guards are climbing up ladders to get to them.

Katara quickly turns around and uses the water from her pouch to form a water whip and send the two guards flying off into the deep. As they are falling, Mai reaches the top. While she is running toward Katara, she stretches out her right hand, shooting off some more arrows. Katara raises a shield of ice to protect herself as the arrows embed themselves in it. Mai keeps charging Katara, who runs away. Mai jumps over the icy wall in hot pursuit of Katara. Aang awaits Katara and lets her pass as he awaits the arrival of Mai. With a spinning sweep of wind, he causes some of the construction scaffolding to collapse. Mai sees the scaffolding collapse and directs a throwing star right at Aang. He twirls his staff in front of him and catches the flying star with it. Mai stands on one side of the collapsed scaffolding and has a clear shot on the group. As she throws more arrows at them, the ground beneath the team opens up, making them disappear and rapidly closes again. Mai looks at the place where her targets disappeared, letting out a deep sigh. She turns around and walks away.

Tai groans as he looks up at the rectangle where the kids fell through. Green sewage waste drips from the ceiling.  His gaze moves down, revealing a group of people who are looking at the four kids and Tai. Aang and Sokka are rubbing their heads, while Katara just sits there a bit disorientated. Tai lays on the floor sighing. Shizuka kneels next to him looking up next to the group with concern. Tai finally turns his head to Yung, flanked by two other men.

"Hello there." Tai grins wearily with a chuckle.

The picture switches to an upside down shot of some grass. When the view pans up, we see mountains, circus tents and some people working in the background. Azula, also upside down, walks in, Hana behind her.

"Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?"

The camera moves to show a close-up of a girl, Ty Lee, standing on her index fingers. She smiles when she sees Azula and Hana. "Azula! Hana!" Ty Lee flips from her stance and spins around in a graceful twirl to bow down before Azula. She runs forward to embrace Azula. "It is so good to see you!"

"Please, don't let me interrupt your ... [Raises an eyebrow in wonder.] whatever it is you were doing."

Ty Lee, still smiling, does a back flip and ends up lying on her chest with one leg stretched out over her head and the other straight up to the sky.

Azula glances around. "Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here?" She looks back at Ty Lee. "Certainly our parents didn't send us to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls to end up in..." She looks to her side. "...places like this." Azula and Hana look as three men are trying to move a platypus bear. The Bear groans and moves up to reveal that it has laid an egg. Azula looks at this in disgust and turns her attention back to Ty Lee, grinning once more. "I have a proposition for you." Ty Lee is still lying on the ground, watching the same Platypus bear as Azula, but she looks happy to see what has happened. When Azula addresses her, she diverts her attention away from the bear and looks at Azula in a wondering gaze. "I'm hunting a traitor." Azula says, looking casually at her nails. "You remember my old fuddy-duddy uncle, don't you?"

Ty Lee rests on her chest and elbows, but now with her both feet resting on her head. "Oh yeah. He was so funny."

"I would be honored if you would join me on my mission."

"Oh ... I ... uh ... would love to." Ty Lee stands up in a fluid elegant movement. "But the truth is, I'm really happy here." Ty Lee smiles sincerely. "I mean, my aura has never been pinker!"

Azula raises up her hand in a "stop" motion to Ty Lee. "I'll take your word for it. Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me."

Ty Lee bows in respect. "Thank you, Azula." Ty Lee continues stretching.

Azula smirks while walking away. "Of course, before I leave, I'm going to catch your show."

Ty Lee's accidentally breaks her stance, as she gasps in panic. She continues her stretch once more and the expression of panic changes to one of worry. "Uh ... yeah ... sure ... uh ... of course ..."

Back to Omashu, where a lot of people have gathered in some sort of underground cave. At the other side of the room, Tai leads Aang, Sokka, Shizuka, and Katara as they enter the large space through a tunnel; they are talking to three other men.

"General Yung, is Old Man Bumi with you guys?"" Tai asks.

Yung angrily balls his fist as he answers Tai's question. "Of course not! The day of the invasion, about two weeks after you left my Prince, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city ... to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered. The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. And he said he'd do nothing."

"What's the plan then? We don't have the resources to recapture the city." Tai says walking to a table covered in battle plans.

"It doesn't matter now." Yung declares. Aang who sadly lowers his eyes as the resistance leader continues. "Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for." As Yung ends his speech, a smile plays on his face. Aang sadly leans on his staff. He raises his eyes as while he addresses Yung.

"Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."

"Aang, this is our home. You're asking us to abandon everything most of us have ever known."

Young nods along with Tai's remarks. "My Prince is right. You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!" He makes some powerful hand gestures to make his point more clear.

"I don't know, Yung, living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me."

Another soldier takes a step forward and points toward himself. He addresses Yung with a decisive tone. "Yeah, I'm with the kid!"

Yung looks at all the people who have taken refuge under ground and now are living in the sewer tunnels while they whisper among themselves. He looks back at Aang. "Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?"

Tai takes a moment, before he glances to Sokka, both of them grin, and with a nod, Sokka speaks. "Suckers!" Katara raises one eyebrow and just stares at Sokka. The rest of the group follows her example. Momo chirps questionably. Sokka blinks, shifting his eyes right and left, smiling broadly. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."

Later, Tai grabs a bucket of water filled with pentapii. A hand reaches in and takes one out. The civilian, whose face is already covered with the marks of removed pentapii, places it on his exposed left arm. Its jellylike body moves up and down a bit. After a few seconds, someone else removes the pentapus by gently rubbing its head. We see several shots of people placing and removing pentapii from their face, shoulders and arms.

Tai walks over to the people to address them. While he speaks, the camera pans out, showing a close-up of all the inhabitants of Omashu covered with the suction spots of the pentapii.

"The marks make you look sick, but you gotta act sick too. Ya gotta sell it! Like old man Tronson." An old man hobbles into view, leaning heavily on his cane. He clutches his back while moaning in pain. Sokka grabs the guy who is standing next to him and points at the old man. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about."

The man turns around, smiling. He taps his wooden leg with his cane. "Years of practice."

Sokka stands next to Tai now. "Okay everyone! Into sick formation."

Tai steps away from Sokka and walks over to Shizuka & Katara. "Lead them, make sure Sokka doesn't go too far."

"What are you gonna do?" Shizuka asks.

"I'm gonna go with Aang. I'll look for Bumi, if I'm lucky I can find others who aren't with us right now and get them out."

"I'll go with you." Shizuka steps forward.

"No, you wanted to escape the fire nation. And now, Omashu isn't safe."

Shizuka, Sokka, and the other civilians start walking toward the gates of Omashu. Just as Katara wants to join them, she notices that Aang is walking off in the other direction.

"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us?"

Aang turns around. "No. I'm not leaving until I find Bumi." Momo jumps on Aang's shoulders, tugging Aang's lips. He grabs Momo by his neck and places him back on the ground. "Sorry Momo, I'll feed you later."

Aang uses airbending to propel him unto the air. He whizzes away, jumping from one rooftop to the other. Tai follows after him, using his earthbending to launch himself onto the roofs following after Aang.

Switch to some Fire Nation soldiers with spears who are guarding the gates of Omashu. A moaning crowd of 'sick' people walks toward them from every direction. They move like zombies, swaying back and forth. One of them even falls down. The guards back away as the sick crowd reaches them. Sokka theatrically grabs his face and moans painfully, before stretching out his hands toward the frightened guards.

"Plague! Plague!" The guards on the ground start to retreat into the citadel behind them, away from the sick, while another guard rings the gong to alert everyone of the problem at hand.

Switch to the governor of Omashu and his family, including Mai, who is eating a bowl of fire flakes, watching on one of his balconies, looking out over the city.

"What is going on down there?" The guard asks.

"I saw some kids yesterday who were sick with pentapox. It must have spread!"

Ukano looks down. "Pentapox!" He pulls his beard. "Hmm, I'm pretty sure I've heard of that."

Michi leans on her husband's arm. "Oh, this is terrible."

"What should we do?" A guard asks.
"Drive them out of the city..." Ukano points toward the gates. "... but don't touch them! We have to rid the city of this disease!"

The guard bows in respect before leaving to spread the governor's orders. Mai calmly offers her dad the bowl of fire flakes. "Fire flakes, Dad?"

Michi gasps. "How awful!" The governor's family is shown from behind. As his wife hugs her husband, the little baby beside her, Mai's brother Tom-Tom toddles away from the group.

Switch to Aang and Tai running through the streets of the city. They nimbly climb a house and balances on the railing, before landing on a flat rooftop. Tai spots a giant, white creature below, sadly pushing forth a turnstile. Aang jumps down to discover that the creature is Flopsie, King Bumi's pet goat gorilla. Tai slides down the building, running towards Flopsie.

"Flopsie!" As Tai calls his name, Flopsie turns around and happily tries to reach his friend. His chains hold him back, so he sadly ceases his attempts. Aang jumps over him and uses the water from his drinking bowl to freeze the lock on his chains. With one swing of his staff, Aang destroys the lock, freeing Flopsie. The happy animal hugs and licks Aang's face.

"Come on, Flopsie." Tai and Aang climb on top of Flopsie. "You gotta help us find Bumi."

"Yip Yip!" Flopsie does not move a muscle. "Oh ... I guess that doesn't work with you."

Tai chuckles. "No, that wouldn't work for Flopsie. Let's go!" Flopsie races off at great speed.

Meanwhile Momo is soaring through the city. He lands on a balcony and peeks through a window. We see a cluttered room with dressing panels at the back. A teddy bear is thrown repeatedly in the air by someone behind the panels. Momo spots a full scale of berries and starts to drool. He quickly enters the chamber through the window and starts to stuff his face. He rapidly spits out the seeds. Some of them land behind the panels. Cut to Tom-Tom who is playing with the stuffed animal behind the panels. He notices the seeds and crawls away, following their path. The trail of seeds leads right back to Momo, who is still sitting on the table, his tail dangling over the edge. Tom-Tom sits up in wonder as he examines the tail before pulling it. Cut to a surprised Momo who is pulled down to the ground in mid bite. He pulls a giggling Tom-Tom along as he tries to get away from his grasp. Momo pulls free and jumps out of the window on to the railing. As he looks back, he sees that the baby stumbles toward him with his arms spread out wide. Momo backs away, leaping off the railing and flying away.

The baby is too late to grab Momo, so he tumbles off the railing. While he is sliding down the roof, he cannot stop giggling. He lands in a box of berries sliding down one of Omashu's chutes. Momo lands on the same box and starts to stuff his face again. His eyes open wide as Tom-Tom emerges behind him. The baby grabs Momo's tail and bites it. The lemur jumps in the air and frantically flaps his wings in an attempt to get away once more. As the slope becomes steeper, Momo is able to lift himself as well as Tom-Tom who is still clinging on to his tail. The lemur cannot bear the weight and they start to descend. Tom-Tom is being dragged over the ground as they crash-land. Tom-Tom rolls over the ground and lands on top of Momo, pinning him to the ground, and causing him to screech and shake around desperately. The moaning crowd passes them by, diverting Tom-Tom attention away from Momo. Momo escapes into the crowd. The baby pushes himself to his feet and staggers after the crowd, out of the gates.

Fire Nation circus at night.

Upon entering, performers in two Chinese dragon's costumes are dancing. As they move out of the frame, the circus master, Shuzumu, stands before the circus' main ring, addressing the crowd.

"We're deeply honored to have the Fire Lord's daughter at our humble circus." Azula sits in high box seat with one guard and Hana at her side. "Uh ... tell us if there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable."

Azula hums. "I will."

All eyes turn to the circus ring. Hana's eyes move up, revealing a net spanned under an acrobat who is balancing on a rope, high up in the air on one hand. The acrobat is Ty Lee, who is wearing very colorful clothing.

Azula and Shuzumu both look up, fascinated by Ty Lee's performance.

"Incredible. Do you think she'll fall?" Azula comments.

"Of course not."

"Then wouldn't it make it more interesting if you removed the net?" Azula looks directly at Shuzumu. He gulps, a concerned look growing upon his face.

"Uh ... the thing is ... the performers..."

"You're right, you're right. That's been done." After a short pause, she continues with a tone of dark pleasure. "I know. Set the net on fire."

"Of course, Princess." With a worried look upon his face, Shuzumu leaves the box to set the net of fire. Ty Lee looks down in concern at the consuming flames beneath her. She continues with her act. He makes his way to the box seat, Shuzumu is balling his fist and clenching his teeth, hoping that Ty Lee will not fall off.

"Brilliant, just brilliant!" Azula looks down at Shuzumu and asks happily. "Ooh, what kind of dangerous animals do you have?"

Shuzumu looks up, hopeful that he can change the subject to the animals and save Ty Lee from her burning peril. "Well, our circus boasts the most exotic assortment..."

"Release them all!"

Shuzumu looks utterly shocked by Azula's command. He glances up to Ty Lee's worried face, as she is still balancing on one hand above the flames. Cut to an outside-view of the circus. As the camera pans up, several animal noises fill the night.

The mountains surrounding Omashu.

People are sitting around several campfires. Tai, Aang, and Flopsie are walking into the camp. Katara, Shizuka, and Sokka move to greet a sad looking Aang.

"We looked everywhere. No Bumi." Aang says. Katara hugs him. Flopsie moans sadly, so Sokka turns around and hugs Flopsie's face.

Tai looks to the side, his brows are furrowed almost deep in thought.

"Tai?" Shizuka says quietly standing in front of him.

He sighs, and relaxes into a hug from Shizuka. "I'm sure we'll find him tomorrow."

Yung walks over clearing his throat, he interrupts their hugs. "We've got a problem. We just did a head count."

Tai looks over Shizuka's head to Yung. "Did someone get left behind?"

"No, we have an extra." Yung points to something to the left.

Everyone gazes in that direction and sees Momo staggering forward with the Tom-Tom clamped around his neck. Team Avatar and Yung just stare for a second at the poor animal and the baby.

"Oh." Tai says, he pauses for a moment before grinning. "Interesting."

The governor's house in Omashu.

The governor's wife is sobbing on the balcony. Her daughter Mai slowly reaches into her robe and pulls out a handkerchief and gives it to her mother with a bored expression on her face. The governor rests his hands on the railing of the balcony as he stares out over his city. His sobbing wife, apathetic daughter and two guards stand behind him.

"So, the resistance has kidnapped my son. Everything so clever, so tricky. Just like their King Bumi. Clearly, this... Prince Tai has learned a lot from his predecessor." He balls his right hand into a fist crunching the paper in his hand. One of the guards behind him steps forward.

"What do you want to do, sir?"

The view fades to a bouquet of black flowers that are being placed on a desk. As the camera moves back, Azula and Ty Lee are revealed in Ty Lee's dressing room. Azula is standing behind Ty Lee, who is sitting at the desk and looking through a mirror.

"What an exquisite performance. I can't wait to see how you'll top yourself tomorrow."

Cut closer to Ty Lee. Azula and Ty Lee's face are visible in Ty Lee's mirror. Ty Lee smiles at Azula's reflection in the mirror. "I'm sorry Azula, but unfortunately there won't be a show tomorrow."

"Really?"

Ty Lee hangs up her tiara. "The universe has given me strong hints that it's time for a career change." She gets up and turns around to face Azula. "I want to join you and Hana on your mission." She turns to a satisfied looking Azula.

The campsite in the valley.

The gang, the baby, Flopsie and three resistance fighters are sitting at one of the many campfires. The baby is still trying to catch Momo. The lemur leaps out of the way and the baby tumbles down, right next to Sokka's club. He picks it up and starts to suck on it. The camera moves back as Sokka snatches the club out of the baby's hands.

"No! Bad Fire Nation baby!" Sokka scolds.

The child starts to cry. Katara looks from the baby to Sokka and whacks him across the face before placing her hands on her hips in a motherly fashion.

Sokka scoffs; annoyed. "Oh ... all right." Sokka gives his club back to the baby who immediately stops crying and starts to play with it.

Katara hugs him from behind, speaking in a baby voice. "Oooh, you're so cute." She kisses him on the cheek, while an annoyed Sokka looks the other side, resting his head on his hand. "Mmmmm ..."

Yung sits on the other side of the fire next to Tai & Shizuka. "Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army." His eyes turn to Katara who is happily playing with the baby under the annoyed gaze of her brother. "You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."

Katara picks the baby up and shows him to Yung. "Does that look like the face of a killer to you?"

"Prince Zuko probably had a face like that at some point." Tai comments. Yung's face remains totally indifferent at the sight of the cute baby.

An animal shrieks and lands on a nearby rock. Yung is the first to notice it. "A messenger hawk!"

Close-up of the canister on the hawk's back. It has the Fire Nation insignia on it. Tai unrolls the scroll and reads the message. "Looks like our ploy paid off. It's from the Governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. Exactly as planned". Aang is standing at the other side of the campfire, as Tai keeps reading the message. "So ... accepted out offer to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."

The mountains surrounding Omashu. Daytime.

Aang holds the baby in his arms while he stares at Omashu. He walks down the hill he was standing on toward Tai, Shizuka, Katara, and Sokka, who are waiting next to Appa.

"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap." Sokka comments.

"I don't think so. I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi." Aang smiles at the sleeping baby he holds against his chest. "It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Shizuka mutters.

"Do you wanna stay back here?" Tai asks.

"No, I'll stay with you all."

Inside the city of Omashu.

A royal palanquin is being carried up the stairs toward the house of the governor. The silhouette of Azula can be seen through the veils. At the base of next stairs, the lonely figure of Mai awaits the arrival of the palanquin. Azula gets out and she, Hana, and Ty Lee walk over to Mai. They halt before her. Mai puts her hands together and bows slightly toward Azula.

"Please tell me you're here to kill me." Mai says with a grin. She looks up at Azula and a slight smile appears on her otherwise emotionless features. Both girls start to laugh.

Azula places her hands on Mai's shoulders. "It's great to see you, Mai."

Ty Lee rushes forward to give Mai a big hug. Mai uncomfortably pats her back a little with her left hand "I thought you ran off and joined the circus. You said it was your calling."

Ty Lee releases Mai. "Well, Azula called a little louder."

"I have a mission and I need you three." Azula places a hand on both her friends' shoulders, Hana stands behind her with a soft smile.

"Count me in. Anything to get me out of this place." Mai looks annoyed at the palace.

Cut to a large red flag with the black Fire Nation mark on it. The camera pans down and shows that Azula is sitting on the throne of Omashu, flanked by two Fire Nation guards. The governor and his wife are in front of her, as well as Mai, Hana, and Ty Lee.

"I apologize." The governor says, squatting down on a pillow. "You've come to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon we're making a trade with the resistance to get Tom-Tom back."

"Yes, I'm so sorry to hear about your son, but really..." Azula crosses her legs and clasps her hands. "...what did you expect by just letting all the citizens leave?" She stands up, addressing the governor in a harsher tone. "My father has trusted you with this city and you're making a mess of things!" She emphasizes her words with a hand gesture.

The governor and his wife prostrate themselves before her. "Forgive me, Princess."

Azula walks between the four bowing people in front of her, looking down upon the governor. "You stay here." Hana, Mai and Ty Lee get up behind her. "Mai will handle the hostage trade so you don't have a chance to mess it up. And there is no more "Omashu". I'm renaming it in honor of my father, the city of New Ozai."

A large statue of Ozai, still in its scaffolds.

Tai, Shizuka, Aang, Katara and Sokka stand on a large wooden scaffold. They look serious as a party of four girls approaches, with Mai leading the way. Shizuka's eyes widen as she covers her face with a piece of Tai's robe that she's currently wearing.

"What's wrong?" He asks, glancing back to her.

"The girl in the back..."

"You know her?" Tai looks at Hana standing in the back of the girls.

"She's... my sister."

Tai pauses for a moment, before he grabs a small gemstone from his pocket and places it in his mouth, he crunches down on it, it being the Candy from the last time they were in Omashu. "Good to know. Any other information we should know?"

"The one in front is Mai, non-bender, the small one is Ty Lee, also a non-bender."

"And the last one?"

"Princess Azula. Prince Zuko's younger sister."

"Royalty, huh?" Tai hums. Shizuka nods placing herself even further behind Tai. "Okay, stay behind the others."

A crane is shown, lowering a metal cage. As it turns it reveals that it is used to contain King Bumi. Only his head is left uncovered. King Bumi chuckles. "Hi, everybody!"

Aang smiles as he sees his friend. The cage touches the ground behind Azula and the rest.

"You brought my brother?" Mai asks.

Tai nods. "He's here." He gestures to Aang holding the baby. "We're ready to trade?"

Azula glances over to Mai. "I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?" Bumi follows the conversation, shifting his eyes from one speaker to the other.

Mai turns to Azula. "Of course not, Princess Azula."

"We're trading a two year old for a king." Azula looks up at Bumi. "A powerful, earthbending king?"

King Bumi nods. "Mmm hmmm!"

"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"

Tai looks directly into Mai's gray eyes as she ponders over the idea. She looks at her brother who yawns and happily rests his head against Sokka's shoulder.

"You're right." Azula smiles slyly while Mai walks forward. "The deal's off." Mai holds up her hand, gesturing the guards to pull Bumi back up. As the chains reel in from above, the King is suspended in the air once again.

King Bumi is clearly amused by all this. "Whhhoa! See you all later! Have fun Tai!" Bumi chuckles and snorts as he is lifted from the scenery. Tai and Aang watch him go.

"Bumi!" Aang sprints forward with his glider at the ready, increasing his speed with airbending. Azula tries to stop him by blocking his path with a mighty stream of blue flames. The flames get blocked by a wall of earth rising in front of her, Tai stares at her. Aang dodges by leaping high up into the air. Azula is completely shocked by this incredible jump. Aang briefly touches the scaffolding around the statue and pushes himself off, opening his glider in mid air. While opening his glider, he loses his hat, leaving his arrow tattoo exposed. He holds on to the hat with his teeth.

Azula stares surprised. "The Avatar!"

Aang circles up toward Bumi's coffin. Azula smiles smugly. "My lucky day." She runs over to a pulley and blast through the rope that serves as a break. The winch begins to spin rapidly. Azula grabs hold to the rope and is pulled up rapidly toward the top of the construction scaffolding.

Tai attempts to give chase, drawing his swords, however he ducks and rolls under a blast of fire, he quickly sheathes his swords and turns to Hana. "I guess the princess will have to wait. I'll deal with you first"

"You won't stand a chance against her highness." Hana glares at Tai.

"Doubtful, it'll be royalty against royalty." Tai grins.

"You're nothing compared to her." Hana runs for Tai as he dodges her attacks, and deflects her hands, he kicks her in the back of the knee before wrapping around her arm, and delivering several kicks across her upper body before finishing as he kicks her across the face launching her away.

Aang lands on the top of Bumi's metal cage.

King Bumi looks at Aang in front of him. "Aang, is that you? Where did you come from?"

"Hang on! We're gonna get you out of here." He takes a deep breath of starts to blow a cold wind on the chain that is lifting Bumi up. The chain slowly starts to freeze.

On the ground, Mai and Ty Lee charge Sokka, Shizuka, and Katara. Mai readies her stiletto's while Katara takes on a defensive position.

"We've got to get the baby out of here!" Katara shouts.

Sokka blows on the bison whistle before looking at his sister with a big smile. "Way ahead of ya!" Tom-Tom reaches for the whistle and starts to play with it. Shizuka grabs the baby and is the first to start sprinting, a moment after Sokka and Katara are also running to the edge of the big platform. Before they can reach it, Ty Lee's fist emerges from one of the holes in the floor and punches Shizuka's foot, causing her to fall over and slide toward the edge. She protectively clutches the baby in her arms, preparing for the worst, but they stop just in time.

Katara sees Ty Lee jumping out of the hole in the floor and setting course for Shizuka. She bends water from her pouch to attack her, but notices something behind her. Mai who throws four knives at Katara. Katara reacts by quickly by using her water whip to raise up several wooden planks. A close-up of Katara shows that the wooden board is just in time to prevent the knives from piercing her face. The knives embed themselves in the wood. Katara uses her water whip again to shoot the wooden boards to Mai. She turns around in one fluent motion toward Ty Lee who has almost reached Shizuka and the baby by now. The water whip grabs Ty Lee by the ankle, pulling her to the ground. This gives Sokka the time he needs to grab the baby and head for a nearby ladder. He slides down and starts his descend of the scaffolding. Shizuka takes a breath, before she notices Tai jump down grabbing a rope chasing after Hana, she hops over to chase after him.

Switch to Bumi and Aang, who are still being raised in the air. Aang is still trying to freeze the chain with his breath.

"Aang, stop your blowing for a minute."

Aang finally succeeds in freezing the chain, when an explosion occurs on top of the scaffolding. Azula is propelled in the air and shoots a plume of blue fire toward Aang with a powerful kick. Aang startles by her sudden appearance and swift attack. He deflects the flame with a strong air current of his own.

"Now hold on just a..." The swing of Aang's staff breaks the frozen chain and they freefall down. "...duahhh!!!" Aang turns over Bumi's coffin, so he would crash to the ground head first. As they are about to crash upon one of Omashu's chutes, Aang creates an air ball under them to break their fall. They rapidly slide down the chute they landed in.

Tai lets go of the rope and avoids an attack from Hana who flies right past him. He deflects and dodges several punches and kicks aimed at him, which each failed attack Hana burns more of the scaffolding around them. The two keep going until they hear a scream, the cloak Tai gave Shizuka has caught fire as she throws it off, Hana's eyes widen seeing her. This gives Tai just enough time to roundhouse kick her in the face.

"Shizuka!" He shouts running to her aid. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah... grab Hana, let's get out of here."

Tai nods, he turns and grabs Hana, the two descend lower into the scaffolding, as Tai carries Hana. Once away from the worst of the flames, he places her down. "Where's Aang & Bumi?"

"I don't know. Azula chased after them."

Cut to Azula who was following the spectacle from atop the scaffolding. She frowns and sprints to a nearby chute, pursuing the Avatar and the King down the chute in a box of her own.

Laughing, Aang standing on Bumi's coffin. "It's just like old times, isn't it, Bumi?"

King Bumi stares up at the avatar; serious. "Aang, I need to talk to you!"

"It's good to see you too!" While Aang is still smiling, he notices the fast approach of something in a chute on his left. He turns to see what it is, just as Azula shoots several fire missiles toward them. He spins his staff above his head to deflect them. Both chutes come together and Azula is now behind them. Aang directs a gust at her, but she parts it with her hands clasped together in front of her. She retaliates with several fire blasts. Aang ducks underneath them and starts to peddle with his staff, increasing their speed. They enter a portion of the chute that has wooden arches over it at short intervals. Aang cuts these through with an air blade, making them collapse upon the track. Azula is caught in the dust cloud, knocked up by the falling debris. When her box emerges again, it seems to be empty. Aang does not see Azula anymore and sighs in relief, but his sigh quickly turns into a scream as Azula emerges again from the box, sending another beam of fire toward him. Aang drops flat on his belly to avoid it.

Cut back to the large wooden platform where Mai and Katara are still fighting. Mai dodges Katara's water whips and answers her attacks by shooting stiletto's out of the launcher attached to her leg. Katara easily defends herself by freezing the water to create an ice wall. Mai uses this time to charge Katara head on. The waterbender defends herself by capturing Mai's right arm in a stream of water and freezing it. Mai tries to break the ice, but fails. Ty Lee climbs on the platform behind Katara. She bounces toward Katara and hits her with several quick jabs on her arms. Katara is surprised by this attack and loses control over her water stream that splashes on the ground. She tries to raise the water again, but it only moves a little.

Mai taunts. "How are you gonna fight without your bending?" Mai pulls out a sai from her robe and takes aim at a shocked Katara. Just as she is about to throw the weapon, Sokka's boomerang knocks it out of her hand. Ty Lee and Mai spin around to see Sokka flying in on Appa.

Sokka catches the boomerang. "I seem to manage!"

Sokka and Appa land between Katara and her attackers. As Appa lands, he slams his tail hard on the ground, sending Mai and Ty Lee flying off the scaffolding. Tai and Shizuka arrive just as the girls land, and shrug climbing atop Appa as well. The four are flying down the chutes of Omashu atop Appa's head. Katara looks and points to her left.

"There's Aang!"

Sokka gazes in the direction Katara pointed. "We can catch him!" With a growl, Appa changes course toward Aang.

Cut to Azula who is still on the offensive, directing multiple beams of fire at Aang. He spins his staff around in defense while they are still rocketing down the chute. Appa pulls up next to him.

"Hang on, Bumi! Our ride's here!"

Appa swerves to avoid another blue fire blast. As he pulls closer again, Aang lifts up the coffin by hitting the side of the chute. Katara and Sokka try to grab hold of the coffin as it passes overhead, but they cannot reach it. Bumi screams as he and Aang fall down. Aang moves the coffin to a more horizontal position in midair. Their fall is broken by another chute as they land crosswise on it, breaking right through. They land on another chute and start to slide down once again with Azula on their trail.

Switch to Azula who creates a whirling disk of flames and sends it down the chute. It rapidly gains on Aang and Bumi. Bumi peeks at the upcoming fire disk and clenches his teeth in effort. A pillar of earth rises in the middle of the chute, protecting them from the disk. Azula gasps for air as she notices that her path is blocked. She jumps up in the nick of time and slides down the chute on foot, while her box slams to pieces against the rock. She eventually halts in the middle of the chute, looking displeased at Aang and Bumi who continue their descent.

Cut to Aang and Bumi who are nearing the end of the chute.

Aang looks down shocked. "You could earthbend? All along?"

King Bumi smiles. "Well, they didn't cover my face." Bumi strains himself again in effort and raises another earth pillar to stop their descent down the chute. The coffin hits it and ends up standing straight atop the rock, while Aang lands in front of it, looking up at his friend.

Aang stares at Bumi, slightly annoyed and angry. "I don't understand. Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?"

King Bumi speaks, calmly. "Listen to me, Aang. There are options in fighting, called jing. It's a choice of how you direct your energy."

Annoyed; Aang, counts along on his fingers as he sums up the different jings. "I know! There's positive jing when you're attacking, and negative jing when you're retreating."

King Bumi happily smiles. "... and neutral jing when you do nothing!"

Aang looks shocked at his three raised fingers. "There are three jings?"

"Well, technically there are eighty-five, but let's just focus on the third. Neutral jing is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike. Even Tai struggles to use it properly, though he's a master at positive jing."

Aang takes a moment, starting to understand. "That's why you surrendered, isn't it?"

"Yes, and it's why I can't leave now."

Aang sadly turns around. "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending."

King Bumi nods. "Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking, it's why I wanted Tai to go with you, so he could hone his leadership and his usage of neutral jing."

Momo lands on Aang's shoulders. "Hey, Momo!"

King Bumi smiles. "Momo's mastered a few jings himself!" Momo screeches loudly at Bumi. "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right." King Bumi lets his coffin tumble backward and begins his ascend of the chute. He laughs and snorts like a mad man while he uses his earthbending to drive him back to the top of the chute, leaving Aang and Momo behind.

Cut to the royal palanquin being carried out the city, flanked by Mai, Hana, and Ty Lee.

"So, we're tracking down your brother and Uncle, huh?" Mai asks.

Ty Lee turns to Mai. "It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it, Mai?"

Mai looks away as a smile plays upon her face.

"It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore."  Azula speaks in a serious tone. "We have a two more targets now."

Scene fades to Aang that night, peeking down over the gutter of the governor's house. The governor holds his wife while they are looking over the city with a sad expression on their face. Aang silently lands behind them and drops off Tom-Tom. Aang takes off again while the child toddles toward his parents. As they hear the cooing of the child, they turn around, gasping with surprise and excitement.

"Tom-Tom!"

The governor and his wife joyfully take the baby up into their arms under the watchful eye of Aang who is sitting on the roof. He smiles at the happy scene of the reunited family before he takes off.

"So... about your sister." Tai says as he looks at Shizuka.

"Yeah... Hana Itami. My younger sister." Shizuka stares at the saddle beneath her sorrowfully.

"You don't have to tonight. Just, whenever you're ready." Tai places a hand on her shoulder, she lightly nods and leans against him, closing her eyes to try and sleep.

Chapter End.