It was weeks before Aang woke and in that time, their little team had met up with Katara and Sokka's dad, a few of Jet's old friends, and commandeered a Fire Navy ship. When he awoke, Rezalia was sitting on the railing of the ship talking to Katara and Toph who donned red cloaks over their clothing as Rezalia was the only one of them who owned Fire Nation clothes. Cutting herself off mid sentence, dull purple eyes land of Aang who had fallen on the deck.
He looked lost and confused and scared and Rezalia could hardly blame him. He'd woken up in a Fire Nation ship, surrounded by people who looked like Fire Nation soldiers. "Momo?" he asks, eyes locked on the little flying lemur. Katara and Toph whip around and rush toward their friend while Rezalia hangs back. No sense in confusing the poor boy any more.
"Aang, you're awake!" Katara exclaims.
The airbender rubs at his eyes. "Are you sure? I feel like I'm dreaming." He grunts when Katara pulls him into a tight hug.
"You're not dreaming. You're finally awake," Katara assures him as she pulls away. Sokka hugs Aang nex, forgetting to remove his Fire Nation helmet.
"Aang, good to see you back with the living, buddy."
"Sokka?" Aang asks, overwhelmed.
"Helmet, Sokka," Rezalia calls, swinging her legs back and forth. Aang's head snaps toward her, eyes growing wider.
"Rezalia?" He starts to sway. Toph calls for someone to catch him and they just barely manage. Sokka lays Aang flat on the deck and they all lean over him.
"Uh, maybe you shouldn't..." Rezalia says awkwardly. Hakoda catches her drift and gestures for the other teens to back off Aang a bit so that he could breath.
Finally, Aang groans and sits up. "Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? Why is everyone dressed this way? Why is Rezalia here? And why am I the only one out of it?" He shoots the questions off in rapid succession.
"You need to take it easy, okay? You got hurt pretty bad. I like your hair," Katara says.
Aang's hands fly to his head, feeling the hair there with wide eyes. "I have hair? How long was I out?"
"A few weeks," Rezalia replies walking over to sit beside Katara on the ground. Aang examines her with a confused look in his eye.
Hakoda walks over, concern showing on his face. "Everything ok?"
Katara's face darkens a bit and Rezalia grips her hand subtly. "We're fine, Dad."
"I'm Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father," Hakoda tells Aang, extending his hand to the boy. Before Aang could say a word, Katara whips her head around to give her father an annoyed look.
"He knows who you are. I just called you 'Dad', didn't I?"
Hakoda gives his daughter an awkward smile, not quite sure how to handle the situation properly. "I guess you're right."
"Nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda," Aang cuts in, extending his own arm. Hakoda grasps his arm with a warm grin.
"It's an honor to meet you."
"Great, great. Now you guys have finally met, so would you mind giving us a little privacy?" Katara snaps, glaring at her father. Hakoda nods and walks off to pet Appa.
Aang looks at Katara for a moment before speaking. "Are you mad at your dad or something?"
Katara's expression became one of confusion even as she tightened her grip on Rezalia's hand. "What? Not at all, why would you say that?" Aang shrugs and doubles over instantly, clutching his side and groaning in pain. "Maybe we should go upstairs. You need a healing session."
Katara releases Rezalia's hand and helps Aang walk upstair. Rezalia goes back to her place on the railing, this time facing outward. Hakoda walks up to the girl and leans on the railing next to her. "We haven't spoken much," he notes.
"Sorry," she whispers in return.
"It's not anyone's fault, kiddo. Wanna tell me what's on your mind?" the man asks. Rezalia bites her lip as she stares out at the ocean.
She answers after a moment of silence. "I don't know if I can."
"What do you mean?"
"I.... It.... I just-" Rezalia's voice suddenly catches in her throat and her hands tighten around the railing. "He-" Hakoda quickly rubs his hand up and down Rezalia's back in an attempt to sooth her.
"That's okay, kiddo. I'll be here when you do want to talk, okay?" he says gently. Rezalia nods, teeth worrying her lip to the point of breaking the skin.
A while later, everyone was lounging on deck while they ate. Sokka was filling Aang in on what had happened while he'd been out. "After what happened in Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety. So after we picked up Rezalia's stuff, we flew back to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men.The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone."
Rezalia cuts in, voice soft as she played with her food. "Not completely alone. His bear went with him."
Sokka nods in agreement and continues. "Soon, the bay was overrun with Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then, we've been traveling west. We crossed through The Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."
"So, what now?" Aang asks, looking down at the map Sokka had been using to demonstrate their travels.
Hakoda speaks up this time. "We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan."
"It's Sokka's invasion plan," Katara grumbles.
Hakoda looks at his daughter with a mixture of confusion and defeat. "Yes, Sokka's plan. We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable."
"So we're planning a smaller invasion. Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke," Sokka adds, gesturing to the pair.
"Good to see you again, Aang," Pipsqueak says. Aang nods at him by way of greeting.
Sokka was vibrating as he excitedly went on about his plan. "And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage. We have a secret. Two secrets actually! Rezalia and...you!"
"Me?"
"Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead! Isn't that great?!" Sokka exclaims triumphantly.
Rezalia sighs and sips at her water. "There goes his tact again," she murmurs, mostly to herself. "Right out the proverbial window."
Toph snickers even as Aang's face grows horrified. "The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!"
Sokka rolls up the map. "No, it's great. It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't expect you on The Day of Black Sun."
"No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!" As the words escape the avatar's lips, the sounds of an approaching ship reach their ears. Aang instantly whips out his staff. "I'll handle this. The Avatar is back!"
Even through the pain opening his glider caused, Aang was fully prepared to storm the approaching ship until Katara speaks up. "Aang, wait. Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation."
Aang reluctantly puts his staff away, looking very put out. "Everyone just stay calm. Bato and I will take care of this," Hakoda tells everyone. The Duke and Pipsqueak cover Appa, who was sitting in the cargo pit, in a tarp before joining everyone else on the stairs leading to below deck.
"Commander, why are you off course? All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation."
Hakoda fiddles with his fingers behind his back, a nervous habit he shared with his daughter. "Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo."
"Ah, Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way." Rezalia could tell that the officer didn't believe him.
Turning to Sokka, she taps his hair piece. Confused, he hands it over and watches Rezalia put her hair up with the ornament. "Back up a bit," she whispers to the others before slipping up to the deck. "Officer Karo? Is that you?"
The man looks over at Rezalia in surprise, along with Hakoda and Bato. "...Little Rezalia?" he finally asks in surprise. Rezalia plasters a false smile on her face. "Well, it's been forever girly! Didn't you get yourself banished?"
Rezalia laughs a bit, and Hakoda wasn't a fan of how off it sounded. "I did. But Fire Lord Ozai asked me to come back. Said I learned my lesson and all that."
"I never did agree with your banishment," Karo says. "If you're on your way back, why did this man tell me that this is a cargo delivery?"
"Oh, it's supposed to be a secret but I figured you'd keep your mouth shut. Can your men?" Rezalia asks, eyes flashing a bit as they rested on Karo's lackies.
"Yes ma'am," they hurriedly assure her.
Rezalia allows a false grin to paint her face once more. "Great! I hope you don't mind but I do have to get going now. Ozai gets a little cranky."
"Of course, Ms. Devil," Karo says with a wink before leaving with his men. Rezalia resists the urge to flinch when the words that always followed that name never came and returns to the others, silently returning Sokka's hair piece to him.