Notes: I am amazed and humbled by the reaction the last chapter received. Although I'm still very busy with all the essential-working, I didn't want everyone to wait too long for the next bit.

Thanks all! Your reactions, comments, and screaming at me through the screen all brighten my day. :)

General Fong clenched his fists and Katara suddenly sank up to her waist into the sand. She let out a cry that cleaved straight through Aang's heart.

"No! Please, stop!" he yelled. "I'm trying to get into the Avatar state!"

"You're not trying hard enough." Fong made another sharp gesture. Abruptly Katara sank to her shoulders.

Aang reached for the indefinable power he knew must be laying deep inside him, but it was like trying to grab onto smoke. Every other time he had gone into the Avatar state, it had just happened. Now, he faced an entire fort's worth of uneasy soldiers and a big crazy General.

It was only himself and Katara against all of them, and if he didn't do this—if he didn't master the Avatar state right now...

Katara cried out, terrified. His concentration shattered.

Frantic, Aang rushed forward to help, readying a blast of air to try to sweep Fong off his feet. But he could see that the general was deeply rooted, his stance as solid as the earth.

Suddenly, a blast of orange flame crashed right beside Fong. The concussion from the impact sprayed chips of rock in all directions, and Fong fell.

Katara stopped sinking. No longer under the power of an earthbender, the soil around her lost its sucking sandy quality and became firm again. Aang fell to his knees and started digging her out by hand—water or air wasn't going to help here. Within a few moments, he had gotten her shoulders free and she was able to wiggle out.

Finally, Aang looked up and took in the fighting around him. His jaw dropped.

The old portly firebender who followed Zuko around was now fighting General Fong and at least five of his officers head-to-head. His fire blasts were huge, and he had the initial element of surprise, knocking down several men at a time. But now the earthbenders were regrouping and he was quickly being surrounded.

Hadn't Zuko called the man his Uncle? Where was he? Aang looked around, but Zuko was nowhere to be seen.

"Aang, we need to get out of here," Katara said, coughing dust.

Aang agreed. He had more than enough of Fong and his men. After helping Katara to her feet, he reached under his shirt and brought out his bison whistle. Appa must have already been alerted by the sounds of fighting because he flew over the fort walls almost immediately. As he landed, his big paddle tail slapped down to sweep a few more earthbending soldiers off their feet.

Katara ran for the saddle. Aang turned to the firebender. "Come on!"

He saw Katara's surprised look. She hadn't intended the old man to come too. Well, he had saved her life and Aang wasn't the type to leave a possible new friend behind.

Besides, Aang had been practicing waterbending for weeks now, and he was starting to see the tide of battle turn.

Zuko's Uncle must have seen the same, for he turned and ran faster than Aang expected out of a guy his age. He caught up to Appa's side and swung himself into the saddle.

Within a few seconds, they were all in the air with General Fong yelling from down below and boulders flying at them. But Appa was faster, and in the sky they were free and safe.

Aang turned and bowed with his fists together. "Thank you for your help, sir. I didn't expect Fong to go crazy like that."

The old man nodded warily. "General Fong is not known for his mercy, even among my people."

"Where is your nephew?" Katara asked, and under her words Aang heard 'And where is my brother?'

The firebender's amber eyes darkened. "That is why I have come to you, Avatar." Now he bowed, deep and low. "I believe my nephew is in grave danger. I need your help."

They built a small campsite hopefully too far away for Fong's earthbenders to find them. On the plus side, firebenders were really good at setting up a campfire. Aang and Katara used to have to work for hours to build up a fire hot enough to cook with. Sokka used to have some kind of trick to do it in minutes, but... he wasn't around anymore.

Every time Aang thought about Sokka being trapped in the Spirit World (or as a spirit, he still wasn't quite sure) he felt a big gaping hole open up right underneath his heart.

So he tried not to think about it.

But was hard when the old firebender guy—Iroh, he called himself—began to speak while passing cups of freshly brewed tea.

"My nephew has returned to the Fire Nation," he said simply.

Aang took a cautious sip and realized the tea was really good. Not exactly brewed the way the Air Nomads used to make. Instead, it reminded him of the way Kuzon's mom made tea. Just a hint of spice.

"I thought that was Zuko wanted," Katara said. "He told me, before when..." She faltered, blushing. "When he 'rescued' me from the pirates. He said he needed to restore his honor and return home."

"This has nothing to do with Zuko's honor," Iroh replied heavily. "His sister, Princess Azula, assured us that the Fire Lord had changed his mind regarding his banishment. I had my doubts. My brother... is not the type of man who forgives easily."

"Your brother?" Aang said in surprise. When he heard that Iroh was Zuko's uncle, he assumed it was on the other side of the family. How old was the Fire Lord anyway?

Iroh smiled, and Aang saw a little bitterness there. "It is a tale, perhaps, for another time," he said gently but in the way that grownups had when they really meant that it wasn't Aang's business.

He and Katara exchanged a look.

"So… what happened with Zuko?" Katara asked.

"My nephew is determined to believe the best of the Fire Lord—"

Katara snorted.

"The Fire Lord is his father," Iroh said, again with gentle rebuke. Then he sighed. "We disagreed. I went out to give him space and by the time I returned, the ship was pulling out of port." He looked at Katara. "I assume your brother went along with him. I can only hope he can keep Zuko safe in the Fire Nation."

"Keep him safe?" she repeated. "Zuko is our enemy!"

"Katara," Aang said, "Zuko helped out at the North Pole."

"No, he said we were allies until the moon was safe. But that didn't matter in the end, did it?" she spat. "The Fire Nation attacked her anyway. A Great Spirit! And the Water Tribes sacrificed to bring her back again."

Aang shot a nervous look across the fire, expecting Iroh to take offense. Firebenders usually did whenever their honor was even slightly called into question. Instead, the old man just looked sad.

"What Admiral Zhao did was unconscionable," he said. "I cannot defend it."

That seemed to knock the wind out of Katara's sails for a moment, but then she rallied. "No, you can't. And Sokka…" Her voice wobbled on his name. "Do you know what's wrong with him? Is he... Can he come back to us, or—or move on?"

They didn't talk about Sokka much, and the tears shining in Katara's eyes broke Aang's heart anew.

"I am not certain," Iroh said. "I have some dealings within the Spirit World, but I have never encountered a situation quite like young Sokka's. I can only say that there seems to be a bond of friendship between your brother and my nephew. Sokka can say things to my nephew that I cannot, and what is more, Zuko listens to him and takes his words into consideration. I can only hope that whatever viper's nest Zuko has sailed into, your brother can keep him safe."

"How?" Aang asked. "No one can see him."

Iroh smiled. "A friend can make all the difference."

Katara looked away from them both, blinking rapidly.

For what had to be the hundredth time, Aang wondered if he were the one responsible for what had happened to Sokka. Why hadn't the Hei Bai spirit given Sokka back like he had with the rest of the villagers? Aang was supposed to be the link between the two worlds, but he had no idea how to set this right. Or even what he had done wrong in the first place.

Katara had regained control of her grief. She looked straight at Iroh. "So, what do you want?"

Iroh seemed to steel himself, and then he looked right at Aang. "Avatar Aang, I have come to you to seek passage to the Fire Nation."

Both Aang and Katara leaned back, horrified.

"You want Aang to go to the Fire Nation," Katara said in shock.

Iroh nodded once. "Specifically to Caldera Island. Or, perhaps, to the Boiling Rock. If I know my brother, he will want Zuko both contained and close at hand to keep Azula in check."

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Katara shot back. "That this isn't some convoluted plan to capture the Avatar?"

"If I coveted the throne, I would be on the throne." Iroh set his empty teacup aside. "I love my nephew and I only hope I haven't been too long in launching a rescue. I am not in need of the Avatar, I'm in need of an Air Nomad, or more specifically, a sky bison."

"Appa?" Aang glanced to his old friend who was munching on some nearby bushes. "Why?"

"Because traveling to the Fire Nation is simple, but escaping will take haste. A Pai Sho player protects all his flanks."

Again, Aang felt guilt crashing down on him, the way the weight and expectations of an entire world seemed to crash down on him sometimes. Sokka going all spirity, Sozin's comet, learning all the elements faster than any other Avatar... it was all so much. Now this man had put all his hope in Aang, even though they were technically enemies. It wasn't fair and he wasn't sure what to do.

He looked over at Katara and could tell she felt the same way. But instead of anger, there was hope gathering in her gaze.

"Maybe if we find Zuko, we can find a way to get Sokka back too," she said.

Well, the monks always said that if there was a choice between two decisions, choose the one which was the right thing to do... even if it was more difficult.

Aang bowed. "I will help rescue your nephew."

"This is weird," Katara muttered a couple days later as they made camp. She glanced over her shoulder at Iroh who, as usual, sat brewing tea by the fire.

"I like Uncle," Aang chirped.

With effort, Katara bit back, 'He's not your Uncle' and settled for a sigh. She knew that she was being unfair, that emotionally, she blamed the old man for Sokka's disappearance even though he had had nothing to do with it.

But it was hard not to look at him and think of Prince Zuko. And thinking of him made her think of Sokka...

"Well, it's probably not a Fire Nation plot," she admitted. "And he does make great tea."

At least she was mostly sure this wasn't a convoluted way for the Fire Nation to get their hands on Aang. That's what her brother would think, and without him here… Well, someone had to be suspicious.

But the more she got to know Uncle Iroh, the less likely it seemed. He was nice and he genuinely seemed to care about his loud, spoiled nephew. It was weird, but nice, too. Iroh didn't act like Aang was the enemy or a reluctant all. He was an adult but treated Aang like he was the one in charge, even while suggesting waypoints as they made their way down the Earth Kingdom to a port that would mark the crossing to the Fire Nation.

There, Iroh planned to receive news from his Fire Nation friends and they would set out to rescue his dumb nephew.

Though Katara was a little unclear about how that would go. What if Prince Brat didn't want to come back with them? What if Iroh was wrong and he was happy in the Fire Nation? Would Sokka be able to talk some sense into him?

We might have to knock Zuko out and kidnap him, she thought. That would be a twist.

Either way, there was no way she was going to allow Sokka to stay in the Fire Nation. Even if he was in ghost form.

She missed him so much. She missed his stupid jokes and his annoying lectures about being the leader. They only had each other to depend on in the last couple years while in the South Pole. Katara hadn't expected it to feel like half of her was gone when he... left.

What if Sokka is dead? What do I tell Dad?

Her eyes started to sting and she quickly wiped them on the edge of her sleeve. No, she wouldn't go there. Not now.

Bad enough when she and Aang had run into Bato at an abby right before they arrived at the North Pole. Thinking fast, Katara had told him that Sokka was still back at the village, protecting the women and children. She couldn't bring herself to explain that she had lost her brother in the Spirit World.

Then, later, she had found out it had been so much worse.

Hang on Sokka, she thought. We're coming for you.

The Earth Kingdom sea town was a typical fishing village. Katara had flown over enough of them by now that they more or less looked mundane. A child of the sea, she automatically searched for the ships at anchor in the small harbor. She was surprised at the flags on one of them—since when did the Fire Nation sail using wooden boats? It was a smaller, sleeker thing than the usual metal monstrosities or even her own tribe's deepwater fishing vessels. The draft was low. This was a ship built for speed.

"Uncle," she called, not realizing until Iroh turned her way that she had used the word. "There's a ship running a Fire Nation flag."

The old man crossed the saddle to peer down. A look of surprise creased his features. Then he sat back, tucking his hands within his sleeves.

"That ship belongs to an old friend. He will offer no violence to you. You have my word on it. Although," he paused, "I'm surprised to see him here."

Somehow Katara thought that was an understatement.

They landed and despite Iroh's reassurance, Katara touched her waterskin at her side to make sure it was full.

There was no attack. In fact, as soon as they landed, one man walked down the gangplank. He was nearly as dark as someone from the Water Tribes, but with a straight-backed posture of a warrior and a fine sword at his hip.

As Katara and Aang looked on curiously, Iroh strode up and bowed.

"Piandao," Iroh said, loud enough for them to hear, "My old friend, I'm surprised you came in person. A message would have been more circumspect."

Piandao wore his stony expression like a mask. "I came as fast as I could, Iroh… though I expected to find you on a ship and not with the Avatar."

"I thought it likely Ozai would confine Zuko in the Boiling Rock. The bison would mean a quicker getaway."

Piandao closed his eyes, pained. "I'm afraid that's no longer necessary."

Iroh stilled. "What do you mean?"

"Prince Zuko was put to trial the moment he stepped onto Fire Nation soil. He was held responsible for the Fire Nation's defeat at the North Pole and charged with the highest treason." Piandao looked down at Iroh and said, "I'm sorry."

Iroh staggered and fell to his knees. Aang rushed forward to help, but Katara stayed where she was, frozen as if by ice.

Perhaps it made her a terrible person, but her first thought was: What did this mean for Sokka?