Along the eastern coastal waters of the earth kingdom, Zuko's ship chugs along the sea, Iroh has been making periodic stops along the port towns searching for information of his nephew's whereabouts. His crew noticed that he didn't bring any money that would be used for bribes but instead brought his pai sho pieces with him wherever he went. The elder firebender stands at the bow of the ship gazing at the cloudless sky above. The wind had all but calmed and the water rippled only with the passing of the ship. A storm was on the horizon, and a massive one at that. He didn't need his old bones to tell him what he had already concluded, but the dull ache in his fingers and elbows reinforced the thought all the same.

"Lieutenant Jee. Let's find the closest port city and make port, there's a typhoon coming." The elder firebender addresses, the younger lieutenant arches an eyebrow at this statement.

"A typhoon? Sir there's not a cloud in the sky." Jee questions but Iroh reaffirms his earlier statement nonetheless.

"Corporal Wan complained of a sudden headache earlier meaning there's been a drop in pressure, as well as the total stillness of the wind and tides. Even my arthritis is telling me there's a storm coming, it'll be here before we know it." Iroh reaffirms before patting the lieutenant on the shoulder and walking inside the bridge.

"Very well. Batten down the hatches! Turn to starboard, let's head to port!" Jee shouts the command towards the deckhands and helmsman.

About twenty miles west of where Iroh's ship is heading, the Gaang find themselves shopping in a fishing town. With less than a silverpiece though they barely have enough money for fruits and nuts let alone salt for the meat Zuko and Sokka had hunted that morning. Katara barters with a produce shop owner over a guava, Sokka and Zuko walk the docks looking for someone who needs an extra deck hand or two. As Katara comes back towards the two with the large fruit under her arm the Gaang come upon an argument with an old married couple.

"I'm telling you, there's a storm coming. I feel it in my bones. It's not safe to go out there!" The old woman insists tugging on the salty mariner's ar.

"I told you it's a perfect day! There's no lousy storm coming."

"Says you. My bones have never been wrong about a storm before and I'm not going with you."

"Fine, I'll just find a new deckhand then and pay him double!" The old man shouts before Sokka decides to raise his hand to see if he and Zuko can score a job.

"We're looking for work!" Sokka shouts.

"You're hired!" The old man responds, pointing at Sokka. As he gets closer to the pair though he notices Aang's airbender appearance. "Hey, arrow tattoos, bald head? Are you the avatar son?"

"Nope, I'm just an airbender. Lee here is the avatar." Aang responds with his usual chipper smile on his face.

"I don't know how you could be so happy after your whole culture vanished from the world. How did you even manage to escape the airbender genocide anyways? You run away when things got heated leaving the rest of your culture to turn to ash?"

"Hey, lay off him! He's just a kid." Katara tries to defend Aang but the young airbender grabs his glyder staff and flies off. "Why'd you have to go and say that!" She shouts before taking off after Aang on foot.

"Great. Now we have to go and find them after this, are we going fishing or what?" Zuko questions turning the old man's attention back towards him.

"What are you the avatar of then? Can't be earth since he died not too long ago and if you were fire you'd be used as a weapon of war. You another airbender like him?"

"No. I'm the avatar of fire." Zuko answers sternly. "And I'm not exactly friends with the firenation anymore since they burned my face."

"Well since you're the avatar maybe the fish will like you as much as the spirits supposedly do. Come on, I'll show you the ropes." The old fisherman leads the way towards his ship.

Katara walked in the direction that Aang had flown off in, she saw that he landed in a mountain far from the town but only just. She barely saw the flick of the orange on his glider when he closed it before he vanished. It will be a long walk from the port town to the mountains and then a tenuous climb to reach where the airbender had fled to. Much to her dismay and the correct prediction of the old woman, it began to rain and rain heavily as she got to the winding path up the mountain. Though with her waterbending she didn't have to worry about needing an umbrella. Getting to the cave mouth, she sees Aang seated alone by a small fire he had made using the sparking sticks that Sokka had. The water tribe woman doesn't say much as she walks inside and takes a seat across from the young airbender. The two sat in silence for a while, gazing into the fire before Aang's voice broke the silence.

"I guess you want to know what happened back then?" He asks looking up from the fire towards her.

"If you're ready to tell me, I just came up here to make sure you were alright." Katara responds standing up and walking over to his side before sitting next to him.

"My sister and I were really close, since it was so rare for twins to be born into the air nomads the elders didn't have us separated like the normal nuns and monks. The nuns after they were born went to the eastern or western temples while the monks went to the north and south." Aang begins.

One Hundred Years Ago.

"Aang! Fa! You two came up with a new game?" One of the younger airbenders asks having been gathered around the courtyard area by the twins.

"Yep! We invented a game we can play with the air scooters!" The sister of Aang, Fa Yen announces in a similar cheery manner as her brother's demeanor. "First you create an air scooter." She instructs, prompting the twins to create a pair of scooters before hopping on top of them.

"Then once you have the ball of air jump on it like a top and balance. Then we bump into each other and try to knock the other person off! We call it Bumper Scoots!" Aang declares before steering the air scooter into his sister causing the two of them to end up on the floor.

"Here let me try!" A taller boy named Nima attempts to replicate the maneuver but fails to balance himself. He slips off his footing and ends up spinning about on his scooter before falling on the ground.

"The trick is you have to balance on it. Otherwise you'll go flying." Aang reminds them as he and his sister stand up once more.

"Aang. Fa Yen. Please, come with us, we wish to speak to the two of you." Monk Gyatso requests in a gentle and calm tone. The twin airbending masters look to one another before doing as instructed and walking towards the elders. The twins are lead into the main meditation chamber where the elders take their seats before the twins. The temple elder seated in the center with an umbrella to shade himself from the sun over his chair.

"We have brought the two of you here because we have discovered something of importance. We believe that one of you may be the Avatar though we don't know which one." The temple elder begins.

"How do you know it's us?" The twins speak almost in unison with each other.

"We have known for some time. Tell me do you recognize these?" One of the elders questions as he airbends a rolled cloth open revealing a set of four toys before the twins.

"These were some of our favorite toys when we were little." Fa Yen announces as she grabs a small turtle doll and Aang grabs a wind up glider and pulls the string causing the little glider to go spinning about the room.

"They are your favorite because of their familiarity. These toys are avatar relics and were chosen by the two of you amongst thousands of others. Unfortunately we had to inform the two of you now instead of when you got to 16 years of age. We have had premonitions of the clouds of war on the horizon and we are uncertain if they will involve us."

Back to the present.

"That was the day before we left the temple. One of the elders wanted to have us separated from each other and from Monk Gyatso. That night we left a note for him in our room and left on Appa. We would have used both mine and her own Sky Bison named ZhenZhen but he was sick and didn't want to fly with us that night. We flew into a storm not long after and the last thing I remember was seeing her eyes turn blue as we sank into the water." Aang details bringing his legs closer to himself. Katara rubs a hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner as they sit in silence for a few more minutes.

Iroh and his crew were caught in the outer bands of the storm, while the rain came down outside the crew shelters below deck to wait it out and let the navigation team charter them back to the mainland. The old prince himself walked down to the bowls of the ship, finding a few of his men seated around a fire in the center of the room. "Mind if I join you?" The old general asks before being immediately accepted into the group. "A troubling piece of news has come in on messenger hawk today. Avatar Zuko is now to be captured and returned to the firenation as soon as possible." Iroh says in a solemn tone causing a deathly silence to fall over the others around him. "My brother wishes to turn him into a weapon to end the war. I know all of you still have your reservations about the secrecy that I have asked you to uphold however now I cannot ask you what I want to as it will be treason."

"We understand general but why are you going so far to protect him?" Jee questions prompting the older man to sigh deeply.

"Prince Zuko is trying to do anything and everything he can to please Ozai in order to regain his honor. What he doesn't know is that he never lost it, my brother revoked it when he spoke out of turn in a war meeting." Iroh explains. "General Mung suggested using a battalion of recruits as bait and Zuko spoke out against the idea. Ozai stated that Zuko must duel an against the one he disrespected and my nephew believed that he merely disrespected the old general. But speaking out of turn in the firelord's war room means he disrespected not the general but the firelord himself. Zuko refused to fight his father but Ozai cared not for his son's compassion and showed him no mercy, burning his face and banishing him. I refused to watch the fight."

"I thought it was just a training accident." Jee mutters.

"Ozai had instructed Zuko to search for the avatar knowing that it was likely Zuko's sister Azula who was the avatar due to her prodigal skill. He instructed the fire sages to lie to Zuko in order to send him on this fool's errand for the rest of his life. Now that the truth has been revealed that Zuko is the avatar Ozai suddenly changes his mind? No I think not, my brother is as stubborn as a Komodo Rhino and as ruthless as an angry dragon. That is why I have been so protective of Zuko... ever since I lost my son... I see him as my own." Iroh trails off. "You have your orders directly from the top and I won't force you to do anything against what the Firelord wants."

"We know you won't but that doesn't mean we won't make it look like we're trying to capture him. If you wish to leave and join him on his journey then let me know and I'll arrange for the crew to be assigned to other ships." Lieutenant Jee responds with a bow to the old general. "Let's change subjects, how about a game of Pai Sho?"

"You must be eager to lose then." Iroh chuckles before the men follow him towards the bridge to continue their game.

Out to sea.

The start of their fishing expedition was rather pleasant, it was calm and the three were checking crab pots and pulling up lines. They had managed to catch quite a bit before the storm clouds began to roll in. Before the rain started the cloud cover was actually nice, bringing the heat of the day down to a more moderate temperature. The fish began biting more often as well but when the wind began to pick up so did the waves. Now the three of them are in a fight for their lives against the forces of mother nature. Zuko is doing all he can to control the wild winds blowing around the ship while Sokka and the aged fisherman try to keep the sails in order. Massive fifty foot swells nearly capsize their boat as Zuko struggles to keep it under control.

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!!" Sokka screams as the wind rips the rope connected to the sail out of his hand.

"I'm not but I still don't wanna!" The elderly fisherman shouts as well but Zuko continues to try to fight the storm.

"We're not gonna die! Just shut up and help me!" He growls before lightning strikes the mast of the ship. The wood explodes outwards violently causing it to fall towards the two. Thinking quickly Zuko throws a fireball at the mast destroying it before it could crush Sokka and the fisherman.

With no mast and sails, the small fishing vessel is now at the mercy of the storm. Zuko is so focused on his bending trying to keep the winds from capsizing them he doesn't notice a large rogue wave coming towards them. It is so huge that it is comparable to the firenation royal palace as it looms over the small boat. As the avatar gazes upon the giant wave, he freezes in terror of what is going to happen if that wave crashes on him. He tries to move his body but he can't, the fear has frozen him in place with the wave getting closer and closer. The tip begins to curl over preparing to drag the tiny vessel to davy jones locker. Sokka and the fisherman cling to each other for comfort in what seems like the end but they are suddenly illuminated by an ethereal light. Sokka turns over to see Zuko's eyes glowing the same blue white of the avatar state.

With a flick of his wrists the hurricane force winds suddenly stop before beginning to spin around the ship in a giant ball of air. Zuko floats upwards in the air currents before raising his arms and pushing them backwards. The water underneath the tiny fishing boat is raised into it's own wave under the control of the avatar state. The massive wave even larger than the one that had threatened their lives just moments before is now carrying them back towards the island under the control of the avatar. Aang and Katara arrive on Appa to see the sight of the giant wave being guided by Zuko's hands. The airbender and waterbender follow above the ship as Zuko sails it back to shore. The large wave progressively gets smaller and smaller as they approach the small fishing town. The ship washes up on the shore just outside of the port, spilling Sokka, Zuko and the fisherman onto the bank. Katara and Aang land nearby and rush over to make sure they're alright.

"That was amazing! He... he controlled the storm!" The fisherman shouts excitedly. "I-I heard the stories but I didn't think they were true. That boy saved our lives!"

"Wangu!" The elderly wife of the fisherman calls out rushing up to them. "You stubborn old fool. You could have been killed! What would I do if you were gone?"

"Find someone else to nag?" Wangu jeers causing his wife to smack him with her hand on the shoulder. "I'm kidding, but I can't thank you all enough for the save."

"You're still gonna pay us right?" Sokka asks with an outstretched hand only for the fisherman to drop a large fish into it.

"Give the boy some coins. It's the least you could do for almost getting them killed." Mangi protests.

"I will I will, how about you all come to our shop for a nice warm meal."

"Ugh. I don't think all this water is healthy for firebenders." Zuko groans before barfing up a mouthful of water causing the others to laugh as they make their way towards Wangu's home.