"So…what happens now?"

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I would really like to know where you guys came from, why you don't recognize any of my maps, and how those animals can talk!" Sokka finished, growing more and more agitated as he continued, and finally finished at a high pitch. Odette smiled as Katara giggled, and Derek watched as Aang snickered a little. He sighed as he looked over to Odette. She looked at him, and smiled, nodding.

"Maybe we should sit down. This may take a while to explain." Derek said, as he rubbed the back of his neck. Aang looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun had started to set.

"Well, let's set up camp first then. You can tell us your story over dinner." He said with a smile. Jean-Bob perked up at the mention of food.

"I won't say no to that." Speed and Puffin rolled their eyes at the amphibian. Katara smiled.

"Alright then. Odette and I can go and collect firewood, and you boys can put up the tents." She said happily. Suddenly, Jean-Bob jumped up.

"What?!" he shouted, startling Momo who had been napping comfortably on Speed's shell. "You expect a Princess to dirty her hands and help set up a commoner's camp? Preposterous!" There was silence following his outburst. Odette glanced at the children with eyes wide. She had hoped to avoid telling the children that she was royalty. Aang looked to Derek.

"You guys….are royalty?" Derek took in the boy's expression, and sighed.

"Let's….set the camp up first." He said gently. While the children were still shocked, they did not protest. Everyone set to complete their tasks, and soon they had a nice fire going, with all of the tents set up. Katara pulled a pot from the packs on Appa's back and took it to the little stream next to their camp. Odette watched in fascination as Katara drew the water up out of the river with smooth hand movements. She seemed to lead the water down into the pot with her hands, then lifted the pot and placed it over the fire. She shook her head as she realized she was staring and knelt next to the girl.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked gently. Katara looked up at her, surprised.

"You don't have to help me…your highness." She added hesitantly. Odette shook her head.

"Jean-Bob can be a little uptight, but Derek and I certainly aren't. So, what do you want me to do?" Katara stared at her for a moment, then smiled.

"Well then…if you can cut up the vegetables that would be great." Odette reached for the knife but Jean-Bob suddenly jumped in front of it.

"Princess, you should not be expected to do these menial tasks. These are meant for peasants." He said haughtily, waving his hand dismissively towards the children. The children looked visibly annoyed, and Odette was about to scold the frog, Sokka stood up in what was meant to be a very dignified manner from his position by the tents.

"Actually Jan-Bob…" He started, slightly mispronouncing the frog's name, which ticked him off.

"It's JEAN-Bob." He interrupted. Sokka brushed off the interruption.

"Yeah, whatever. My father is the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, so technically, that makes my sister and me royalty." He said with a smug smile. Katara rose her head and nodded.

"Yup. And here we are, doing menial tasks meant for peasants." She stated smugly, looking at the frog. Odette smiled at how skillfully the children had handled Jean-Bob's insult and looked to the frog.

"See, Jean-Bob, if the children of a Chief can set up a 'commoner's camp' without complaint, I can certainly do the same." She finished with a smile, reaching for the knife and starting on the vegetables. Derek looked up from where he had placed the last ten peg, and watched his wife.

"As long as you don't exert yourself, Odette. I don't want you to get hurt." He added. Odette looked at her husband with a gentle smile and nodded her ascent, then went back to chopping the vegetables. Aang sat down with a breeze and watched the women work.

"So…who's gonna start?" He asked, looking around expectantly. Odette glanced at Derek as he sat down along with Sokka, and he sighed.

"Well, I guess, out story starts sometime after Odette was born."

Draco groaned as he lifted his head off the ground. He tried to open his left eye, but was reminded of the injury he had received from that blasted Prince. He reached up to the cut, pulling away to reveal the blood that stained his fingers. Working some magic into his fingertips, he placed it against his eye. The healing magic spread through his fingers weakly, the magic not quite as strong as the Forbidden Arts, but it did the trick. He would have a scar, but at least he would keep his eye.

Taking stock of his surrounding, his fears for the interrupted spell was confirmed.

"That damn Prince!" He growled. "He's ruined everything!" he hit the ground with his fist, causing it to crack beneath his hand. After a moment, he breathed in through his nose and stood, dusting off his clothing.

"Well, no use crying over spilled milk." He said, as he gazed at the surrounding trees. "Might as well make the best of this situation." He said to himself, picking a direction and walking towards it. When he heard the distinct sounds of towns' life, he cast a spell so he could move unseen amongst the people. He took note of the strange attire, and the shape of the buildings. He was clearly no longer anywhere near Swan Lake. He doubted he was even in the same world.

As he was passing the docks, he spotted what looked like war barracks. Draco noted the stark difference between the structure and that of the town. Its walls were made of metal, and the insignia on the wall was red and gold, in the shaped of a three toothed flame. Curious, Draco crept closer. He spotted what appeared to be soldiers dressed in red and black armor, with white masks. Draco raised a brow.

'Interesting…' he thought as he passed through the gates unseen.

"What do you mean, you were attacked?" Draco paused and turned towards the shout, and spotted what appeared to be a commander addressing his soldiers. And by the looks of things, he was not impressed.

'Now this should be interesting.' He thought as he walked closer to listen to the conversation. Now that he was closer, he could see the characteristics of the man in charge. His hair was tied in a top bun with red ribbon, and he had interesting sideburns. His armor also showed his status in the army. Draco rather liked the look of the man, he had a certain air about him.

"We were patrolling the town when we spotted a group of people leaving the doctor's house. They were three children and two adults. Two of the children looked like they were from the Water Tribes, and I think the girl was a Waterbender, and the younger boy had strange tattoos, like the ones the ancient Airbenders had." The soldier paused when his comrade spoke up.

"He didn't have just the tattoos, he was an Airbender. But I thought they were all destroyed." He finished, confused. Draco turned his head as the commander growled.

"There is still one left." He growled. Draco frowned. He didn't understand the term Bender, but he figured it had something to do with the tattoos that had been mentioned, perhaps they held some sort of power. The commander looked up again. "What about the others?" The soldiers glanced at each other.

"The…others, sir?" one of them asked. The man growled and pinched his nose, closing his eyes.

"You said there were two adults with the children. What about them?" he practically groused. Draco rolled his eyes. He understood the man's plight completely. It was so difficult to find good help nowadays.

"Oh yes. They were strange. They wore strange clothing, I didn't recognized the colors, nor the style of any of the nations." The one answered. The other nodded his ascent.

"Yes, and the woman had golden hair." At this, both Draco and the commander raised their heads.

'Golden hair. He must mean that princess. And if there was a man with her….that means the spell brought them here with me.' Draco thought to himself.

"Did you say golden hair?" The commander asked. Draco turned his head to look at the man. A strange glint had appeared in his eye. One that made Draco's lip quirk.

'So, you are interested in her?' He thought gleefully. 'I could use this to my…'

"Commander Zhao!" Draco turned to see another soldier running up to them with a scroll in his hand. "There is a message for you, from Colonel Shinu." He says, as he hands the scroll to the man… Zhao. "He says you are to return to the Fire Nation, to oversee the blockade during the Solstice." Zhao reads the scroll with a frown, then rolls it up giving it back to the soldier.

"Send the Colonel a message. Let him know that he can expect me in a week." He finished. The soldier bowed, with his hands held in a strange position, and ran off to complete the order. Zhao turned back to the two soldiers. "As for you, keep an eye out for that group of people, especially the tattooed boy and the golden haired woman. Send me a message as soon as you locate them."

"Yes sir!" the men bowed and ran off. Zhao also turned and left, shouting at men to prepare a ship. Draco followed his movements, when something caught his eye.

He spotted a boy hiding in the bushes not far from their location. He was dressed in a camouflage, which clearly indicated he did not want to be seen. What drew Draco's attention, was the scar that was visible on his face. It covered his left eye, and travel back towards his ear, as if a flaming projectile had hit him in the face. The boy snuck away, but Draco stayed where he was.

'I'll let this play out. If I play my cards right, at least one of these men, will lead me to those damned Royals.'

"…and, that is the whole story." Derek finished. By now, the sun had long set, and everyone had eaten their fill. Odette glanced at the children, who all sat with jaw dropped expressions staring at the two. Sokka shook his head.

"Wait, let me get this straight." He sat his bowl down and started counting on his fingers as he spoke. "Your dad banished a guy that tried to overthrow the kingdom with some Dark Arts…"

"Forbidden Arts, Laddie." Puffin interrupted. Sokka waved him off.

"Yeah, Forbidden, whatever. Your parents then had you meet every summer so you could fall in love and marry, it worked but then Derek messed up by saying something stupid. Then that wizard guy…"

"Evil Sorcerer." Speed said.

"Aright Sorcerer, he comes back, kidnaps Odette and turns her into a bird…" Katara rolled her eyes.

"They said it was a swan Sokka." She said.

"CAN YOU STOP INTERRUPTING ME!?" he shouted, then calmed down, and continued. "The spell could only be broken by declaring your love to the world, which you did, but the Sorcerer guy tricked you by making his ugly assistant look like Odette, which ended up killing her, Derek then fought the sorcerer, defeated him, and Odette came back to life. Then after you two got married, another guy showed up wanting the Forbidden arts, kidnapping your mother, and when you went off to rescue her, the old guys apprentice turned Odette into a swan again in order to save you, you guys caught the guy in a volcano, got your mother back, the guy died in the explosion, and the spell was broken again." Sokka paused and sucked in a deep breath.

"THEN another sorceress showed up, trying to get the Forbidden arts too, she caught a bird that could imitate voices and found out you guys kept the first sorcerer's notes. Then she snuck into the castle, pretending to be an "accordion slave", and seduced your advisor, and stole the notes. But you had taken the last bit of the notes, so she then kidnapped Odette and sent you a ransom note. You fell for it and went after her, she got turned into a swan again, and when the sorceress got her powers she sent them to destroy Odette, you fought and she got destroyed, but then Puffin came back and said Odette was dead. You burned the notes and she magically came back to life again. NOW there is another guy trying to destroy you, only this time when he tried to cast a spell, your friends interrupted him, which you assume ended up with the spell bringing you all here, AND YOUR WIFE IS PREGNANT!" Sokka finally finished, took a deep breath, and collapsed backwards. Puffin flew over to the boy, landing on his chest and looked him over.

"Ya know, when you put it like that, we have been through quite a lot." He nodded towards Odette. Aang looked up at them.

"How do you stay so positive? It sounds like every person you meet wants to kill you." Odette nodded.

"Well, I guess we always trust that things will work out, as long as we have each other." Odette reached for Derek's hand, and he smiled and kissed her hand. Katara smiled at the two of them.

"So, what about your story?" Speed asked. Odette nodded.

"Yes, and how were you and those people able to control nature?" Katara sighed.

"Well, we don't control nature, we control elements. There are four elements, and each one has its own nation. Air, Water, Earth and Fire. There are the Water Tribes in the North and South poles, where Sokka and I live, The Earth Kingdom, where we are now, the Fire Nation and the Air Temples. A hundred years ago, the Fire Nation destroyed the Air Nomads, and start the 100 year war." At this point she looked at Aang. Aang looked down at the ground, a sad look in his eyes.

"I….wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I was traveling when Appa and I fell in the ocean, and we ended up being frozen in an iceberg. I…missed most of what the Fire Nation has done." Derek felt sorry for the boy.

"You're the last of your people." He said. Aang nodded. But then Katara spoke again.

"But Aang isn't just an Airbender. He's the Avatar." She added.

"The Avatar? What's that?" She asked.

"The Avatar is the bridge between the Human and Spirit worlds. They can control all four of the elements. And every time an Avatar dies, the next Avatar is reincarnated in the sequence. Since Aang's past life was a Fire Bender, he became the next Avatar." She explained. Sokka finally sat back having caught his breath.

"This also means that Aang is the only person who can defeat the Fire Lord, but Aang needs to master all four of the Elements if he wants to have a chance." Aang nodded.

"I've already mastered Airbending, which means that the next element I need to master is water." He said, pointing to his arrows.

"That's why we are traveling to the Northern Water Tribes. To find a master to teach Aang and me waterbending." Puffin scratched his head.

"But, you just said you are from the Water Tribe. Aren't there masters there?" Katara shook her head.

"No. I'm the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am not a master." She said sadly. Odette looked to her husband. And they both had the same idea.

"What if we travel with you?" She asked. The children looked up at her.

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked. "I mean…it could get kinda dangerous." He said glancing down at her still flat stomach. Derek glanced at her too, but then he looked at the children.

"Perhaps, but if it's going to be dangerous for Odette, where does that leave you?" He asked, in a voice that made Odette smile, he was definitely going to be a good father. Sokka frowned.

"We can take care of ourselves. We've gotten this far." He said. Odette smiled.

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean we can't help you on your travels." Katara looked up at them, then glanced at the two boys next to her.

"I….wouldn't mind having another girl in the group." She said softly. Odette smiled at her. Puffin looked at Sokka.

"And Derek is pretty good with a sword, and a bow and arrow. I'm sure he could teach you a thing or two, while we travel." Sokka looked up at Derek, who smiled and winked. Sokka looked around, seeing he was clearly outnumbered and sighed.

"Fine, you can come with us." He said. Aang jumped up with a smile.

"Great! We start tomorrow morning!"