"I can't wait to show you it, Luna. The Southern Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the whole world. After you of course." Aang told her with a big smile as they prepared Appa for the flight ahead.
"Thanks, Aang," she said blushing at the fact that he just called her one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.
"But Aang you have to remember what I told you about what the Fire Nation did 100 years ago. The place you know might not be the same." Luna said solemnly.
"I know. But despite what we find there it will always be my home. I grew up there. It's where I met Appa and we became lifelong friends. Isn't that right buddy?" Aang said trying to see the bright side as he hugged Appa.
Appa groaned in response and licked Aang affectionately causing him to let out a whine as he tried getting Appa's spit off himself while Luna giggled at him and Appa.
"Sokka come on, wake up I wanna show you guys the Southern Air Temple," Aang said walking up to the sleeping Sokka who was still in his sleeping blanket near their dying-out fire.
"Mmh Sleep now, Air Temple later." Sokka denied groaning and turning over in his sleeping bag.
Aang frowned before a big grin broke out on his face and he grabbed a stick when he got an idea.
"Ahh, Sokka wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" Aang shouted with fake scaredness in his voice.
And just like that Sokka's eyes opened and he started screaming and jumping around.
"Ahh ahh! Get it off! Get it off!" Sokka shouted before he fell to the ground causing Luna and Aang to laugh.
"Great! You're awake, let's go." Aang said with a smile as he gazed at Luna who was still giggling at the fact that Sokka fell on the ground.
~With Zuko~
Zuko was in his bedroom, sitting in silence thinking about the girl he had seen earlier. He didn't want to forget the moment he met her so he started writing a letter to her.
Of course, he wasn't ever going to send it. This letter was more like a journal to make sure he doesn't forget.
~Letter Begins~
Dear Saphire,
I don't know your actual name so I've just been calling you Saphire because your eyes are so blue and beautiful just like Saphire gemstones.
I have no idea who you are but when my eyes locked with yours it was like nothing I have ever felt before. I felt everyone and everything around me disappear and all I could see was you.
I was about to give the order to shoot down the Air Bender and his Bison but once I saw you could get hurt I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth and just watched as you flew away into the distance.
But that's okay because I know that I will be seeing you again and I will make sure that no harm comes to you from any of my men or myself.
I am sorry that I invaded your village but it was amazing seeing the way you stood your ground ready to take on all of my soldiers if they tried coming into your village.
You looked so fierce and beautiful like a warrior princess who protects her people and everyone she cares about. However, I wasn't able to capture your full beauty until I locked eyes with you.
I pray to the Spirits that you are kept safe while traveling with the Avatar. Especially with how many Fire Nation Soldiers would kill anyone in their way just so they can deliver the Avatar to my Father.
Much like myself, but even though my honor rests on capturing the Avatar and bringing him back to my father I will not do that at the expense of you getting hurt.
Sincerely, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation
~End of Letter~
"Ugh, I sound so annoying," Zuko muttered to himself when he reread the letter.
"Prince Zuko we have arrived at the docks," Iroh said knocking on his nephew's door and cracking it open just a little to peek his head inside.
"Thank you, Uncle. I'll be right out." Zuko told his uncle as he folded the letter neatly before placing it in an envelope and putting it in his desk drawer.
"Mmm, maybe she will be good for him. She's already making him more polite." Iroh mumbled to himself as he closed Zuko's door and started walking above deck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What is the full diagnosis of the ship?" Zuko asked his soldiers once he finally came above deck.
"We need to have some repairs made because of that iceberg that we scraped on the side of the ship." his helmsman said.
"Why was my ship close enough to an iceberg that it scraped it?" Zuko questioned with an unimpressed look on his face.
"...That would be might fault Prince Zuko. My arm got hurt fighting the water tribe girl and I couldn't steer the ship away in time." one of his soldiers said after a tense silence.
Zuko gave his arm a once over and he could tell that it was indeed hurt especially by the way he was cradling it.
"Make the repairs quick, I don't want to be on these docks for long. And Soldier Lin Yee make sure you get seen by a healer then take the rest of the day off." Zuko ordered then he and his uncle walked off the ship onto the docks.
His ship crew looked at each other surprised that Zuko even suggested Lin Yee get medical help and they were practically flabbergasted at the fact that he gave him the rest of the day off.
Usually, when this happened he would just tell them to hurry up but for some reason, he seems nicer.
"I don't want to risk losing her- uh I mean his trail," Zuko said stuttering over his words when he accidentally said her referring to the blue-eyed beauty that caught his eye.
"You mean the Avatar or-" Iroh started saying before getting cut off by his nephew.
"Shh don't mention his name on these docks. Once word gets out that he's alive, every Fire bender will be hunting him down. And I don't want anyone getting in the way." Zuko whispered.
"Getting in the way of what Prince Zuko?" a new voice asked.
"Captain Zhao." Zuko greeted with an unimpressed look.
"It's Commander now. And General Iroh. Great Hero of our Nation." Zhao greeted back bowing to Iroh with a condescending smile.
"Retired General." Iroh reminded as he bowed back.
"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcomed guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao asked.
"Our ship is being repaired," Iroh explained gesturing to their ship behind them where you could see some damage done to the hull.
"That's quite a bit of damage," Zhao said with a suspicious tone.
"Yes... you wouldn't believe what happened." Zuko started off but then quickly realized that he didn't have a lie on the spot.
"Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened," Zuko said catching his uncle off guard.
Iroh's eyes went wide when he realized he now had to come up with a lie because they couldn't say they caught the Avatar then the Avatar's friend came and saved them which in turn injured their helmsman who then skidded the side of their ship against an iceberg.
"Yes, I will do that. Uh, our helmsman-" Iroh said then he started hesitation.
"Our helmsman slipped on some ice and fell down a flight of stairs injuring his arm and when he tried steering the ship he wasn't able to get us to turn in time to avoid scrapping against an iceberg." Zuko finished off.
"Really? Well, I do hope that your helmsman is alright. Join me for a drink?" Zhao said with a nonbelieving smirk as he leaned in closer to try and intimidate him.
"Sorry, but we have to go." Zuko denied then he started walking away.
"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." Iroh reprimanded putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"We would be honored to join you. Do you have any Ginseng tea? It's my favorite." Iroh said accepting the Commander's request making Zuko let out a frustrated noise and let some fire out of his hands to let out some frustration.
~With the Gaang~
"The Potola Mountain Range! We're almost there!" Aang said excitedly.
Sokka was in the saddle eating some food while Aang and Luna were sitting on Appa's head.
Luna was sitting beside Aang with her head resting on his shoulder as she played with some water that she had with her. Turning it into different shapes of ice and then back to the water. It was a good stress reliever for her.
"There it is, the Southern Air Temple," Aang said with a proud smile as they finally got high enough to see the beautiful agriculture where the Nomads lived,
"Woah," Luna whispered. It was more beautiful than anything she could've imagined and it was breathtaking.
"We're home, buddy. We're home." Aang whispered to Appa petting his fur.
~With Zuko~
"And by year-end, the Earth Kingdom Capital will be under our rule. The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war." Zhao said standing in front of a map of the world.
"If my father thinks the rest of the world, will follow him willingly, then he is a fool," Zuko said bluntly.
"Two years at sea have done little to temper your tongue," Zhao said giving a little jab on how the young Prince got the scar he had on his face.
"So, how's your search for the Avatar going?" Zhao asked knowing something wasn't right with the way they told their story earlier.
However, Zhao's question surprised Iroh who was inspecting some weapons on the wall, and when he heard what Zhao said he accidentally let go of all of them causing them to go tumbling to the ground.
"Uh... my fault entirely." Iroh apologized with a smile.
"We haven't found him yet." Zuko lied.
"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a hundred years ago along with the rest of the Air benders." Zhao said with an annoying tone but then he saw Zuko avoiding meeting his eyes.
"Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive." Zhao implied with a smile.
"No, Nothing." Zuko denied.
"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found." Zhao commanded knowing that Zuko was lying to him.
"I haven't found anything. It's like you said – the Avatar probably died a long time ago." Zuko still denied but this time he turned his head and looked Zhao straight in the eyes.
"Come on, uncle. We're going." Zuko said standing up and heading toward the door, only to be blocked by the two soldiers standing in front of the door.
"Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed. They denied that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody but it was quite obvious that they were lying." a soldier told Commander Zhao.
"Now remind me, how did your helmsman get injured again?" Zhao said to Zuko.
~The Southern Air Temple~
"That's where my friends and I would play Airball, and over there is where the Bison would sleep," Aang said pointing to all the different spots before he sighed sadly.
"What's wrong?" Sokka asked him.
"This place used to be full of monks, lemurs, and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds. I can't believe how much things have changed." Aang said sadly looking around the empty land.
"So uh... this Airball thing. How do you play?" Sokka asked trying to cheer him up.
"Wrong move Sokka. Wrong move." Luna whispered to herself knowing exactly how this would end.
*Scene Change to the Airball Arena*
Sokka and Aang both stood at opposite ends of the field and Aang was using his airbending to spin a ball around above his hand and without a word Aang threw the ball up into the air and when it came back down he used his airbending and kicked it across the field.
The ball hit a bunch of the columns making it change directions and Sokka tried following the ball with his eyes but it was moving too fast for him to keep up and when he finally caught sight of the ball it was too late.
The ball hit him square in the stomach with the force of it sending him back through the post behind him with a small "oof" leaving him.
"Hahaha Aang 1 Sokka 0." Aang cheered.
"Cheering him up is putting me in a world of hurt," Sokka grumbled as he picked himself up from the snowy ground.
"Luna come look at this," Sokka said when he noticed something.
"Fire Nation," Luna said squatting down to see the old Fire Navy helmet
"We should tell him," Sokka suggested not knowing that his sister already did.
"He knows already," Luna explained.
"WHAT! How?!" Sokka whisper shouted.
"I told him. I didn't want him to be blindsided by the fact that the Fire Nation came after his people. I had to explain it to him so that he could process the information before coming back to see his homeland." Luna told him her reasoning.
"Makes sense." Sokka agreed.