The groups next adventure led them to be in a forest. Katara and Aang are on a raised, grassy plateau. A gentle stream is running out beneath it. Katara is folding one of their sleeping blankets. Aang is lying on the root of a tree. Momo screeches and lands on the plateau as Sokka and Tai approach.

"Great, you're back!" Aang cheers,getting off the root with his airbending, landing beside the Water Tribe siblings as Sokka digs in his bag. "What's for dinner?"

Sokka digs for nuts from his bag. "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 throws the rock-shaped nut toward Momo. "Dig in!" Aang and Katara look at each other then back at Sokka.

Tai sighs. "Look, there isn't exactly many animals in this area. Most of them have probably been hunted out of here."

Katara looks at the nuts. "Seriously ... what else you got?"

Momo coos, and sniffs the rock-shaped nut, before taking it with one of his paws and slapping it against a stone twice. Attempting to break it, he takes it with both paws and slams it down on the big rock. The moment he does so, however, the entire earth quakes, making Momo shriek and his hair stand up on end.

"What was that?" Sokka asks reacting to the loud bang.

Tai stands, speaking in recognition of the sound. "A slamming stone?"

Momo, believing he may have caused the quake, cautiously drops the rock to the ground in test. The quake returns, causing Momo to leap away.

"It's coming from over there!" Tai shout, as he, Aang and Katara run off.

"Shouldn't we run away from huge booms? Not toward them?" Sokka asks giving chase.

The four, joined by Momo, hide behind a fallen tree and spy on a young boy bending boulders into the air and punching them into the side of the ravine.

"An earthbender!" Katara comments.

Aang turns to Katara."Let's go meet him!"

"He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously." Sokka adds.

Suddenly Katara is a few feet in front of them, excitedly addressing the earthbender. "Hello there! I'm Katara! What's your name?"

The young boy gasps in surprise, dropping the boulder he was bending to the ground. He flees quickly, bringing down an avalanche of boulders with his bending to block his exit.

Sokka and Aang approach Katara. "Nice to meet you!" Aang shouts after the boy.

Katara shrugs. "I just wanted to say hi."

"Hey! That guy's gotta be running somewhere. Maybe we're near a village? And I bet that village has a market!"

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara says excitedly.

Katara and Aang chase after Haru. "Hey! I worked hard to get those nuts!" Sokka complains. Momo flies overhead, chasing Katara and Aang. "Yeah, I hate 'em too." Sokka slowly follows Katara and Aang.

Tai stands from behind the three. "We could just not go to a town where we could be attacked, oh never mind." He gives chase as well.

Katara and Sokka stroll through the mining village's streets while Aang speaks with a shopkeeper under a terrace.

"Great hat!" Aang tries on the hat. "I'll trade you some nuts for it."

Katara notices the boy enter a shop. She Speaks to herself in surprise. "Hey..."

The boy enters into the dark, wooden building and approaches a woman. "Hi, Mom."

"Where have you been, Haru? You're late! Get started on your chores." She scolds him.

Enters the shop's front door, startling Haru. "Hey. You're that kid. Why did you run away before?"

"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid."

Tai, Aang, and Sokka enter the shop. "No, she doesn't. We saw you earthbending." Aang says openly.

Haru and his mother gasps in horror at his secret being revealed and both the door and window to the small shop are promptly slammed shut.

Haru's mother stands by the window. "They saw you doing what?!"

"They're crazy, Mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed."

Aang gazes to his conical hat, shifting it about in confusion. Katara awkwardly grasps at her dress, looking with astonishment at herself. Sokka quirks an eyebrow and smooths out his sleeve. Tai frowns.

"You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!" The woman scolds Haru again like his mother.

After a moment there's a Heavy knock on the door. "Open up!"

Sokka peeks through the window's blinds. "Fire Nation! Act natural!"

Haru's mother opens the door, allowing the Fire Nation tax collector to walk inside. He stares awkwardly at the five children in front of him. Haru grasps his chin and stares toward Katara, cross-eyed. Sokka eyeballs an apple. Katara hunches forward with her eyes wide open, having stuffed her mouth with berries. Aang has his hand atop a barrel, beaming an immense toothy smile. His pose is short-lived as the barrel's lid spins, dunking Aang's hand into the barrel of water and causes him to fall down, Tai raises his cloaks hood over his head while 'admiring' a fruit.

The tax collector stares sourly toward the children. "What do you want? I've already paid you this week!" The woman says to the man angrily.

"The tax just doubled." The tax collector says Arrogantly."And we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He creates a ball of fire between his hands, making everyone but Tai slightly back away. "Fire is sometimes so hard to control."

Haru's mother and the tax collector approach the store's counter, where she opens a small chest and passes a meager handful of Earth Kingdom currency to the tax collector. Haru leans against the counter, staring with contempt toward the Fire Nation man.

"You can keep the copper ones." The tax collector away, dropping four copper pieces to the floor before he exits.

"Nice guy." Tai comments after the door slams shut. "How long has the Fire Nation been here?"

"Five years. Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."

Tai lowers his hood. "Damn it. Bleeding us dry we won't be able to do much with no resources."

"They're thugs. They steal from us. And everyone here's too much of a coward to do anything about it." Haru speaks clearly frustrated.

Haru's mother turns to her son somewhat angered. "Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that."

"But, Haru's an earthbender? He can help! And, so can Tai!" Katara notes.

"Something tells me that's a bad idea." Tai says looking out the blinds of the shop at the rest of the viewable village.

"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" The woman casts a meaningful glance toward her son. "He must never use his abilities."

Tai scoffs turning away from the window. "There it is."

"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."

Haru's mother shakes head in dismay. "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?"

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."

Tai places a hand on his chin going in thought about something.

Later that evening, viewing farmland and a barn. Appa walks into the barn. Tai, Sokka, Katara, Haru, and Aang stand inside the barn.

"My mom said you can sleep here tonight. But you should leave in the morning." Haru says.

Tai makes a bed out of the dirt. "That'd be best."

Aang nods. "Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay."

Appa engulfs a mouthful of hay. Appa pauses, turning to stare dubiously toward Aang before continuing to chew hay. The scene switches to Katara and Haru taking a walk into the woods outside under the setting sun.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your father."

"That's okay. It's funny, the way you were talking back in the store? It reminded me of him." Haru smiles.

"Thanks."

"My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one. But they fought back anyway."

Katara looks down. "He sounds like a great man." The two approach the top of a steep cliff, gazing out to the setting sun beyond.

Haru stops. "After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other earthbender, and took them away.We haven't seen them since." He says kneeling down.

"So that's why you hide your earthbending."

"Yeah. Problem is..." Haru earthbends two stones in a circle above his hand. "...the only way I can feel close to my father now..." He crushes the stones to sand with his hands. The sand blows away. "...is when I practice my bending. He taught me everything I know."

Katara sits eside Haru, sets her fingertips on her necklace. "See this necklace? My mother gave it to me."

"It's beautiful."

"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid." Katara hangs her head, turning away. "This necklace is all I have left of her."

"It's not enough, is it?"

"No." Katara again hangs her head and turns away.

The scene switches to Katara and Haru who have continued their walk along the dirt trail. A loud boom sounds and rock and dust blasts from a distant mine entrance. An old man cries out. "Help, help!"

Haru turns eyes wide. "The mine!"

Katara and Haru run quickly to the entrance, which has caved in and left a tremendous pile of rocks pinning the old man to the ground on his stomach. Sand continues to pour down, rocks intermittently falling.

"Help me!"

Haru braces his back against the mine entrance. Katara pulls the old man. "Ugh! It's not working! We have to get help!" Katara shouts.

"There's no time, pull harder!" Haru orders.

Katara slowly gets an idea. "Haru. There's a way you can help him."

"I can't." He says grimly.

"Please, there's no one around to see you. It's the only way!" Katara says, pleasing her new friend.

Haru leaps away from the falling debris, spinning back to face it as he assumes an earthbending form. With a sudden and strong move, he blasts all the rocks down the tunnel, freeing the old man.

"Haru! You did it!" The two take place beside the old man and aid him walking away from the mine.

At the barn, Katara is sitting up in her bedroll with a lamp in her lap. Sokka is lying on a square bale of hay with his blanket over him, Tai sits with a scroll in hand on his bed of earth, and Aang is sprawled out on Appa's head with Momo lying on his back.

"It was so brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man." Katara says proudly.

Aang smiles. "You must have really inspired him."

Katara hums. "I guess so."

"Everyone should get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn." Tai orders the group, he sighs muttering quietly to himself. "I've got a bad feeling now..."

Katara recoils Unhappily. "Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?"

"Absolutely not!" Tai says his voice breaking through slight chuckles. "This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Goodnight."

Katara responds, with a wry smirk. "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts."

Sokka now lays down. "Goodnight!" He says with finality.

Katara and Aang share a few playful chuckles with each other before Tai rolls his eyes blowing out the lamplight to get some rest.

Fire Nation troops march on a mission through the dead of night. The man in the lead raps on a wooden door. Haru answers the door, suddenly gasping in shock as he sees the troops.

The Old man points to Haru accusingly. "That's him! That's the earthbender!"

The Fire Nation leader shoves the old man out of the way and approaches Haru. Haru screams as the man forces Haru into his grip and hauls him away.

In the morning, Katara carries a jar outside of the barn. She sets it down beside a water pump and proceeds to waterbend, drawing water out of the spigot and into the waiting pot. Picking it up, she spots Haru's mother standing with her back to her, gazing toward the distant ocean. Haru's mother slowly turns around, laying a tearful gaze upon Katara. Katara realizes Haru has been taken and drops the pot, as it shatters to pieces at her feet.

Katara enters barn to see Tai and Sokka folding blankets; emotionally. "They took him! They took Haru away!"

Aang recoils, Surprised. "What?"

"The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation - it's all my fault - I forced him into earthbending!"

Sokka steps beside her, taking her hand in his and laying his other hand supportively behind her shoulder. "Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?"

"Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight."

Tai turns his head away in frustration. "Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone."

Katara turns defiantly to the open door, clenches fists. "We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru."

Aang turns to Katara confused. "And ... why would they do that?"

Katara looks around the room determined. "Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending." Aang and Sokka share a horrified look.

Tai however, remains just as confused. "Y-You realize I'm an earthbender, right?

Later, Tai alone uses his earthbending to push a boulder overtop an air vent on a rocky road, he sighs and walks over to stand near Appa.

"I thought you were crazy at first, Katara, but this might work. There are ventilation shafts throughout these mines. All Aang has to do is send an air current from that vent to this one right here. The boulder levitates and ta-da! Fake earthbending." Sokka says.

Tai hums seated on a rock crushing small pebbles in his hands. "So this is what chopped hogmonkey liver feels like."

Katara removes her hands off hips, turns to Aang. "Aang? Did you get all that?"

Aang snaps small puffs of air at a sooty copper fritillary butterfly; dismissively. "Sure, sure. I got it."

"Do you remember your cue?" Sokka asks.

Aang continues snapping puffs of air; still dismissive. 'Yeah, yeah. Just relax. You're taking all the fun out of this."

Tai brings a hand to his face rubbing his temples. "What's fun about this?"

"By this, do you mean intentionally being captured by a group of ruthless firebenders?" Sokka asks.

"Exactly! That's fun stuff!"

A group of fire Nation soldiers with spears approach, Sokka turns slightly panicked. "Here they come! Get in your places!"

Aang stops playing with the butterfly and Momo tries catching it as it flies away, Tai rolls his eyes hiding inside the rock with his bending. As the group of spear-wielding guards approach, Katara and Sokka make a show of walking into one another by their stomachs before emphatically shouting.

Sokka angrily points at Katara, while shouting. "Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" The soldiers watch in confusion. One of them even raises an eyebrow.

Katara retorts angrily, hunched over. "How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant-eared cretin!"

Sokka responds just as angrily hunched over. "What did you call me?"

Katara acts far too dramatically as her hair loopies move with her motion. "A giant-eared cretin! Look at those things! Do herds of animals use them for shade?!" She Imitates an elephant's ears.

Sokka towers over his sister. "You better back off!" He somehow stealthily slips his hand by his mouth and mutters. "Seriously, back off."

Katara, now more determined, heightens above her now-cowering brother. "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 shouts.

"I'll show you who's boss!" Katara angrily points at Sokka. !Earthbending style!" She over-dramatically leaps toward the boulder, clenching her fist upward to which there is no reaction. Angrily. "I said, earthbending style!"

At Katara's shout, Aang gasps quietly as he realizes his mistake by missing his cue. The young airbender ceases playing with the butterfly, leaps up, and blasts a strong jet of air into the ventilation duct, suddenly sending the boulder levitating into the air. This reveals Momo behind the boulder, who has his arms raised, licking himself.

A guard points a finger to the lemur; surprised. "That lemur! He's earthbending!"

Katara and Momo each remain in their positions. Katara eyes the man in surprise. Sokka, angrily, waves his arms toward her. "No, you idiot, it's the girl!"

"Oh." The guard blushes shamefully. "Of course."

Sokka steps beside Katara, laying his hands on her shoulders as the boulder falls to the ground. Katara stands patiently.

"I'll hold her." He says loudly to guards before he whispers to Katara. "You've got twelve hours to find Haru. We'll be right behind you."

The guards escort Katara away, leaving Tai, Aang, Sokka, and Momo to watch as she takes a final glance back. Sokka unhappily tugs at his ears, testing their sizes.

Sokka eyes Momo perched off of Aang's shoulder. Points accusingly. "Momo, you have some big ears!" Momo folds his ears back, hunches down, and coos in protest.

Katara is in the back of a Fire Nation transport with other earthbender prisoners. She wears a brown, tattered prison garb over her blue Water Tribe outfit and stares glumly downward. Sokka and Aang each have conical yellow hats in a crowd, attempting to stealthily observe her travel. Tai meanwhile, stands next to Haru's mother reassuring her and placing several gold pieces in her palm as recompense for the problems caused. Katara looks longingly over shoulder as the cart bobs along a pier, heading toward a waiting barge on the ocean.

Tai, Aang, and Sokka chase the barge, riding Appa through the clouds. The immense, smoking, off-shore Fire Nation prison rig is seen just ahead.

Aang stares nervously at the barge carrying Katara to the prison. Sokka speaks. "She'll be fine, Aang. Katara knows what she's doing."

"I'm sure she will." Tai says calmly.

After the barge arrives, six prisoners, including Katara, line up on the deck of the prison. Spear-wielding guards stand at either side.

A prison warden approaches, speaking smugly. "Earthbenders. It is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard. I am your warden. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests. And I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host. You will succeed here, if you simply abide-!"

The warden pauses, suddenly interrupted by a prisoner in line coughing. With no forewarning, the warden leaps into the air and aims a blast of fire at the prisoner's legs in anger. The prisoner cowers away for safety as the warden stands defiantly toward the man.

"What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him?! Take him below!" The warden swings his arms. Some guards escort the man away."One week in solitary will improve his manners." He mutters full of disdain bere returning to his smug gait. "Simply treat me with the courtesy that I give you-!" He approaches Katara, kneeling to stare into her obstinate expression. She crosses her eyebrows, scowling coarsely at the man. "And we'll get along famously." The prisoners are taken on a tour of the facility. Below, fellow prisoners are seen laboring. "You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth." Katara pauses, glancing over the expansive ocean to the land far away. "So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for bending among you people..." He pauses for a moment, "...forget them. It is impossible. Good day."

A guard escorts the prisoners into the prison courtyard. Katara enters last and the metal gates close behind her. Among many earthbender prisoners, Haru takes notice of Katara. Above the courtyard, a watchman and the warden monitor the scene.

"Katara?" Haru says surprised to see her.

Katara excitedly runs and hugs Haru. "Haru!"

"What are you doing here?" He asks confused.

Katara shifts, speaking somewhat apologetically. "It's my fault you were captured. I came to rescue you."

"So, you got yourself arrested?" Haru asks.

"It was the only way to find you."

"You've got guts, Katara. I'll give you that." He places hand on her shoulder. "Come on. There's someone I want you to meet." The two approach an old, gray-bearded man eating dinner among other prisoners. "Katara. This is my father, Tyro." The older man looks up. "Dad. This is Katara."

Katara slightly bows. "It's an honor to meet you."

Tyro hands Katara a bowl. "Have some dinner, Katara." Katara accepts the bowl, but grimaces. "It's not as bad as it looks." Katara tries a spoonful, but becomes further disgusted. He finds humor in this with a small chuckle. "It's still pretty bad though."

One of the Prisoners walks up and lays a hand on Tyro's shoulder. "Tyro. The prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around."

"I'll talk to the guards. In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather." Tyro says grimly.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?" Katara asks, openly.

"Excuse me?" Tyro replies perplexed.

"You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig? What is it? Mutiny, sabotage?" She asks, expecting some kind of heroic answer.

"The plan? The plan is to survive. Wait out this war. Hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened."

"How can you say that? You sound like you've already given up!" Katara says surprised.

"Katara, I admire your courage. And I envy your youth. But people's lives are at stake here. The warden is a ruthless man, and he won't stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless." Tyro warns.

Katara Obstinately, responds while standing. "We'll see about that." Katara stands up and carries a trash can lid and a ladle, climbing on top of a wooden table. From there, she bangs the ladle against the lid to draw attention. "Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know of you. Every child in my Water Tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories of the brave Earth Kingdom, and the courageous earthbenders who guard its borders. [The watchman walks up to talk the warden, but the warden stops him and listens.] Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless. Yes, they have taken away your ability to bend. But they can't take away your courage. And it is your courage they should truly fear! Because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home! It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are. Hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned! So remember your courage earthbenders, [Shouts clearly.] let us fight for our freedom!"

Katara's speech is met with utter silence and a small cough in the background, leaving her to fall into sorrow as she realizes the muted answer she receives. The warden walks away from the courtyard. Later that night while she is sleeping, Aang sneaks into the prison and taps his hand to her shoulder, waking her. Urging her to be quiet, he leads her to the perimeter where Sokka, Tai, and Appa are waiting to make their escape.

Tai steps off of Appa onto the the metal floor. "Your twelve hours are up; where's Haru? We've gotta get outta here." Tai says, placing a hand on the metal.

"I can't." Katara says.

"We don't have much time. There are guards everywhere. Get on!" Sokka says hurriedly.

"Katara, what's wrong?" Aang asks, concerned.

"I'm not leaving." Aang and Sokka share a questionable look. "I'm not giving up on these people." Katara says.

Sokka, Tai, Aang, and Katara stand on the metal perimeter.

"What do you mean you're not leaving?" Sokka asks.

"We can't abandon these people! There has to be a way to help them."

"Maybe she's right. What do you say, Sokka, Tai?" Aang asks.

Sokka sighs. "I say you're both crazy!" The four duck a searching spotlight. "Last chance! We need to leave, now!"

"No!" Katara responds, sternly.

Sokka shakes his head dismally. "I hate when you get like this. Come on, we better hide."

Aang, Katara, and Sokka flee. Aang whispers to Appa before joining them. "Go hide." Appa soars overhead to fly away and hide.

"Look!" The captain says seeing Appa fly by.

The two guards who witnessed Appa take to the skies approach the warden on a catwalk.

"Tell me exactly what you saw." The Warden demands.

"Well, sir, it looked like a flying bison."

"What?"

"It was a giant flying buffalo, sir. With an empty saddle." Another guard says.

"Which was it? A buffalo or a bison?" The Warden asks.

"Uh, I'm not sure what the difference is, but that's not really the point, is it, sir?"

The Warden furiously shouts. "I'll decide what the point is, fool!" The warden throws the first guard overboard. The man screams in horror before finally being silenced by a splash below. He turns to the second guard as he straightens up. "You! Wake up the captain. Search the entire rig!" The Warden turns to walk away.

"Uh, sir."

"What?" The Warden is clearly annoyed.

"That was ... the captain you just threw overboard, so ..."

"Then wake up someone I haven't thrown overboard and search the rig! There's something going on here and I don't like it."

Momo peeps over a wooden crate where the trio is safely hiding behind numerous boxes. The four kids huddled together seated on the metal ground in the darkness.

"We don't have much time. What are we gonna do?" Sokka asks.

Aang sighs. "I wish I knew how to make a hurricane!" Tai, Sokka, and Katara provide Aang with assuredly un-entertained facial expressions. "The warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!"

Tai scoffs. "He's more likely too take his keys with him."

"I'm just tossing ideas around."

"I tried talking the earthbenders into fighting back but, it didn't work! If there was just a way to help them help themselves."

"For that they'd need some kind of earth, or some rock. Something they can bend."

Katara lays her palm to the surface. "But this entire place is made of metal!"

"No, it's not." Tai points to smokestacks. A sinister grin forms on his face. "Look at the smoke. I bet they're burning coal. In other words, charred earth." Everyone turns to Tai, the eldest of the group, his green eyes glimmer in the night as the clouds covering the moon wash away from him in particular, revealing him into the moonlight while the others remain cast in shadows.

Morning arrives, the scene gaining light. Tai, Sokka, and Katara are alone by an air duct. Sokka is peering down into it, while Katara kneels beside it with her hands on its rim.

"It's almost dawn. We're running out of time! You sure this is gonna work?" Katara asks Tai and Sokka.

"It should. These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village. We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. There's a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo. And the whole system is ventilated. Aang closed off all the vents except one. When he does his airbending the coal only has one place to go, right back here." He says. Tai then stands making his earth bending stance he stands defensively before his younger peers.

"There's the intruders!" A guard says.

The two siblings and earth prince are suddenly surrounded by a number of spear-wielding Fire Nation guards. The prisoners have gathered a safe distance away from this spectacle, observing what is happening.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Sokka pulls out his boomerang, turning back-to-back with his sister.

"Come now, you can't beat me." Tai rolls his sleeves back to show several bracelets of stone, that all move to form fists over top his own, covering his firsts like boxing gloves made of stone.

"Katara, stop! You can't win this fight!" Tyro shouts.

"Listen to him well, child. You're one mistake away from dying where you stand." The Warden says smugly.

A sudden rush of air fills their ears as the facility shakes. The ventilation shaft bursts off its hinges as an immense blast of coal soars into the air, crashing down into a gathered pile. Everyone present is silent, staring in stark surprise at this turn of events. Lastly, Aang leaps out from the barren ventilation shaft, landing atop the coal pile and coughing, covered in soot and dirt. Momo follows him and Katara runs up to the coal, turning to face the earthbenders.

Katara lifts up a piece of coal. "Here's your chance, earthbenders! Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!"

Haru bolts ahead without hesitation, prepared to bend the waiting coal as a weapon. Tyro throws his hand up, bracing his son's chest to halt his advance.

The Warden bursts out into highly amused laughter. "Foolish girl. You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago." Katara's expression dims as she does as instructed, staring at the forlorn prisoners. "Oh, but you still believe in them. How sweet. They're a waste of your energy little girl. You failed."

The warden finishes his speech by turning to take leave of the facility. As he does so, a single piece of coal sails through the air and pelts the back of his head. Outraged, the warden spins back to see who dared to attack him. Haru stands defiantly levitating three pieces of coal above his hand. The warden sends a blast of fire toward Haru, but the fire is blocked, as Tyro raises a wall of coal in his defense.

The Warden and the guards line up and prepare for battle. "Show no mercy!" The guards send a blast of fire as one toward the rebelling prisoners.

"The earthbenders work together to haul a sizable mass of coal to block the fire. "It's time... for the Earth Kingdom, attack!" Tyro shouts.

Slamming the coal to the ground; chunks of rock assault the guards. The battle immediately flares, prisoners ducking blasts of fire and countering with fists of coal. Katara and Aang chase after Sokka as he snaps soldiers spears in two with his boomerang, tossing the broken shafts to Momo overhead. Momo continues to collect other pieces of broken spears that are thrown up to him. Tai uses his bending to swarm soldiers with pieces of coals split into thousands of smaller coals rapidly pummeling them, during this grabs a sword from one of the soldiers and kicks them over the edge of the entire rig into the water, before turning to run and help in a different battle.

Tyro and Haru work in unison to compress gathered coal into one lump, slinging this through the doors to make way for their escape. The guards on top fall down.

"Get to the ships! We'll hold them off!" Tyro orders.

"Do not let them escape!" The Warden shouts.

Aang generates an air funnel and holds it between his hands, turning to Katara and Sokka. "Guys! Throw me some coal!"

Katara and Sokka drop heaps of coal into his funnel, firing the material rapidly at the warden and his fellow benders, knocking them to the ground. Following this, Tyro and two other earthbenders work together to lift coal beneath these adversaries, moving them away from the rig and over the ocean.

"No, please! I can't swim!" The Warden pleads for his life.

Tyro scoffs. "Don't worry. I hear cowards float." The three drop their enemies into the ocean.

On the barge headed to their homes, Haru and Tyro approach Katara on its deck.

"I want to thank you for saving me. For saving us." Haru says to Katara.

Katara turns to face Haru. Denying. "All it took was a little coal."

"It wasn't the coal, Katara. It was you." Haru compliments her, Katara blushes.

Tyronods to the children. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family and everyone here owes you much."

"So, I guess you're going home now."

Tyro nods. "Yes. To take back my village." Raises his voice to the crowd on the lower deck. "To take back all of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" The Crowd cheers at Tyro's bravado.

Haru turns to Katara and Tai. "Come with us."

Katara shakes her head. "I can't. Your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole." She gazes over the rail to see Momo join Aang atop Appa's head, floating in the ocean.

"That's him, isn't it? The Avatar." Aang airbends an encased piece of coal. Momo jumps into his lap. "Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way ..."

"I know." Katara reaches for her necklace wistfully, but realizes it is not around her neck and panics. "My mother's necklace! It's gone!"

Cut to a small village as a young girl wanders the town her coins attached to her waist on a pouch. She keeps a hand on her sword as she enters Haru's village and sees the group celebrating upon their return as Tai hands some coins to Tyro speaking to the man as he hands some more to the earthbenders who were all being held prisoner. The pair briefly make eye contact when she looks away and continues walking. Tai keeps his eyes on her until she disappears amongst the crowd.

Back on the prison rig, Zuko stands alone facing the sunset amid coal lying sparsely on the deck. He seizes Katara's necklace in his fingers, lifting it to stare at it grimly.

Chapter End.