Avatar: Book 6 Order

It would help a lot to read Book 5 first or you may find yourself lost as you read this one.

A raven haired woman lay on her front atop a low dune of pure white sands beneath a starless sky of pitch black. The only true sources of light in this realm came from a faint glow rising from the sands themselves and a distant pinprick of light, like a single star fallen onto the horizon leaving everywhere in this place in perpetual twilight. The woman was covered in a dull grey cloak with the hood pulled back as she lay on the sands peering down at what appeared to be a small, walled town below her in a hollow between high dunes of yet more white sand. The woman was waiting and while she waited she practiced focusing her mind, letting the small and plain buildings below fade from her vision, leaving only the people milling about down there. For in this realm of spirits everything it seemed was formed from illusions. Illusions given substance and reality by the beliefs of those who created and used them, those unwilling or unable to let go of the comforting realities of their mortal lives. Yet for those who knew or came to understand the ways of this place it was possible to see beyond the illusions to what really lay beneath. As the woman had learned already in her time in this realm, nothing here was real except for those who existed in it and the apparently endless desert of white dunes.

She spied movement between the dunes a short distance from the town and the woman hunkered down lower, resting her chin on the cold sand as her light grey eyes locked onto a figure towing what appeared to be a small cart of trade items. Yet focusing again, the woman could see the cart and what it contained for what they were, nothing but illusion, imaginary objects to be traded with those in the town for other imaginary objects created by the minds of by dead people, spirits who couldn't give up the idea of possessing things as they had in mortal life. The woman had passed through many towns and settlements dotted throughout the desert but with her ability to see through the illusions, she found them to be depressing and pointless places, rarely staying in one place for more than a few hours. Most places being full of people desperately trying to pass the time as they had in their previous existence, many barely even aware or simply not believing that they had actually passed from mortal life. Although the woman laying atop the dune did find some uses for those same illusions, clothing being the main thing. Even though she knew what she wore had no true substance, she still clung to some of her own mortal foibles, at least when she did pass through these towns the people there weren't watching her walk around naked. Reaching down to finger the weapon coiled at her hip, she had to admit to herself that some of those illusions could come in more than handy sometimes.

The heavily cloaked figure she was watching was almost below the dune on which the woman lay now and she frowned. Some beings here, she had learned, had greater control of their illusions, making them difficult to penetrate and so it was with the hunched figure below her. The cart and what it held she could easily see through but the figure's own cloak was like an impenetrable shroud, completely hiding the being it covered. But still, travelers were rare in this realm and when the woman had heard of this one she had set out to find and speak to them. The woman tensed, ready to throw herself over the top of the dune and face the figure.

"I really would not do that if I were you." came a light, cultured voice from behind her.

The woman reacted with blinding speed, rolling over and up into a half crouch, she snatched at the weapon on her hip and flicked it out, her whip uncoiling out with equal speed toward another figure standing behind and slightly below her. This figure, wearing a long grey cloak the same as the woman's, reacted just as fast, a hand flicking out to catch the whip's end and their other hand coming up to pull back the hood of her cloak. A woman was revealed with long raven hair and golden eyes who breathed a quick sigh of relief at her near miss and then offered the other woman on the dune above her a bright smile.

"It's ok, June. I'm a friend. Wow, he taught you well, didn't he? So fast and you learned that in only a month?" the woman asked softly as she released the end of June's whip, "We've been searching for you everywhere this last week, young lady. Ever since the Nomad made contact with my husband, we've had people out searching but you've made yourself a hard woman to find."

"He, he did? You're part of Danny's army?" June asked hesitantly, rising to her feet. Relief flooded through her but she faced the other woman with confusion on her face, "Wait, I've only been here for a week? I feel like I've been searching for you guys for years."

"Time here is a bit…strange and it is a big realm. But yes, it's only been a week, perhaps a day more since Daniel made contact. It was a very dangerous thing for him to do, any form of communication between the realms is risky these days but he ordered Jax to spare no resource in finding you." The woman smiled warmly as she walked up to the top of the dune and looked down at the figure June had been watching, "And it is also dangerous to waylay strangers in this realm. That one down there is what we call a dream weaver. They offer the things people most desire but it usually comes at a steep price. If you're not careful, they will consume your very soul."

June looked down at the figure pulling it's cart full of illusions then back to the other woman.

"Oh. Danny told me some stories about the spirit realm so I knew a little of what to expect when I got here. I know it's mostly dreams and illusions but I've been looking for you guys for what feels like forever. I was getting a bit…impatient." June spoke lightly at first but now she dropped her eyes, her face sad, "So, was Daniel alright? He, he has a hard time with his emotions sometimes and, well, I've worried about him a lot after what happened."

"He was…distraught. But that is understandable, his feelings for you were obvious. Of course he still has his family around him and I know they will take care of him. Daniel asked my husband and I to deliver a message to you." The woman said and June stepped close, her grey eyes locked onto the woman's golden ones, "He wants you to know, he will always hold you in his heart and he will love and care for Nyla just as deeply as he does you. I'm afraid he wasn't able to communicate long but he mentioned to my husband, Jax that you had a quest and asked us to help. If you don't mind my asking, who is Nyla and what is your quest?"

"Nyla's my shirshu, I raised her from a baby and it's good to know Danny's looking after her." June said with a sad smile, then looked at the woman with determined eyes, "And my quest is to find the one who possessed me and caused me to end up here. Her name is Reena and she comes from the same world as Daniel."

"Yes, my husband has told me much about the Nomad. He was the only one who ever saw through the Nomad's cold exterior to the man and wolf within and he told Jax many things about his origins." the woman frowned though as she spoke, "But revenge, dear? I'm afraid we cannot help you on a quest for revenge. Our resources are stretched thin as it is and,"

"No, not revenge. Danny loved her, still loves her just as he loves me and while she possessed me, I could see that she still loves him too. I don't want revenge on her, I want to help Reena." June said quietly and the other woman's eyebrows shot up in surprise and disbelief, "You see, Daniel taught me that sometimes we have to look past our own emotions and instincts to see what's really there and the truth of it is, although Reena did some pretty bad things, she's really just very hurt and kind of lost inside. Danny blames himself for that but I could see that she's done most of it to herself. Because I love Daniel just as much and because I know it's what he would do if he could, I'm going to find Reena and give her the help she needs."

The woman's lips spread into a wide, warm smile as she listened and then raised her arms to rest her hands on June's shoulders.

"Such an admirable quest. Yes, of course my husband and the army of the lost souls will help you. I have discovered I have quite a knack for tracking within these realms myself you know. I found you didn't I?" the woman said with a grin, blushing a little at her own boast, "Jax said you must be quite exceptional to capture the heart of his old friend in such a short time and I believe he was right. And do not fret too much for your love. He has our family with him and my son always had a good heart, he will look out for your Daniel."

"Your son? Wait…I thought you looked familiar." June said, peering into the other woman's smiling face as she nodded, "You're Zuko's mother?"

"Yes, June. My name is Ursa. Once Firelady of my nation before my death and my son married his childhood sweetheart. I always hoped it would be Mai." the woman said, bowing briefly to June and then rising with a worried expression, "Daniel was trying to say something about my children before his communication was cut off. He mentioned something about Zuko's marriage. Is, is everything alright with Zuko and sweet, little Mai? They're not having trouble are they?"

Now that June was paying closer attention she noticed the other woman carried herself in a similar regal manner to what she had seen her friend and current Firelady do but at the wistful expression on Ursa's face and the way she spoke about Mai made June chuckle.

"Sweet little Mai?" June asked dryly and then smiled, "No, they're fine. More than fine actually. Mai's about to make you a grandmother and both she and Zuko plan to marry Toph. Do you know of her?"

A huge smile spread across Ursa's face as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, she helped the Avatar defeat my first husband with the other hero's during the war. Oh, this is wonderful. Wonderful. A baby and a marriage. Come on, we must tell my husband. Jax is camped a half day from here." Ursa was almost bouncing as she started quickly away across the top of the dune they were standing on, forcing June to almost jog over the shifting sands to keep up, "I can't believe my little boy is bringing back the old traditions and this Toph must be special indeed to capture both the hearts of my son and darling, little Mai. And a child too. You've made me so happy with this news, June." Ursa slowed a moment later though and turned back to June with a pensive expression, "You, you didn't hear anything about my daughter did you? The last bit of news we had, Zuko was caring for Azula but I was so…ashamed and afraid when I learned what her father had done to her. To both of them."

"Azula? Nah, she's fine too. She's traveling with Danny and the others. Last I saw she," June started but was stopped as Ursa suddenly wrapped her in a tight embrace.

June blushed deeply but returned the other woman's smile as Ursa pulled back, holding June at arms length and smiling with tears in her golden eyes.

"I can't believe it. My family, my children are whole again? Together?" June nodded to her and Ursa turned away, gripping June's hand in her own and towing her quickly along the dune, chatting excitedly, "This is so, so…fantastic. We must hurry to tell Jax of this and what else you've learned. To think, my baby boy and my sweet little girl are going to work together with the others to save the realms. Tell me, June. How is Azula doing? Is she working hard? Is she getting along with everyone?"

"From what I saw before I died, yes, she's doing fine. But, didn't Danny get the chance to tell you about her?" June asked and Ursa turned to look over her shoulder, giving a quick shake of her head before turning back, continuing to draw June along the dune's crest, "Daniel's training Azula to take his place as the Avatar of Body and Nature."

Ursa spun quickly around to June, all decorum forgotten as she sputtered open mouthed at the other woman and turning so fast that she caught one foot behind the other and fell to the side with a cry of surprise, her hand holding onto June's drawing the other woman over with her. They tumbled and rolled, small landslides of white sand following them down the side of the dune until they fetched up at the bottom. June pushed herself up with a groan, raising her face from the cold sand and shaking it from her hair as Ursa simply sat up beside her, staring at June with an astonished expression.

"My daughter's a friggin' what now?"

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In the northern central reaches of the earthen kingdoms, between the eastern edge of the great mountain ranges and the wall of the fabled city of Ba Sing Sa, a little village was bustling with activity. Podeck, a small farming community that sat on one of the main trade routes to the west was still recovering from a violent and devastating attack by hordes of terrifying creatures a week before. Little sign remained now of that desperate fight except for a high stone wall that surrounded the village, a creation of Toph Bei Fong's at the beginning of the battle. The fields had been re-plowed although since deep patches of snow had since fallen as well, coving wide areas of the fields, replanting had been put on hold. The villagers had decided to leave the wall, even repairing the structure which now sported four large, decorative gates at the four compass points and the wall itself had been colorfully painted with exquisite designs with bright lanterns strung about it's curving length. To the north of the village, just beyond it's walls were parked two huge oblong balloons, the airship of Kyoshi Island and the personal transport of King Bumi of the city of Omashu.

While to the west of the village, just beyond the new gate and before the fields, a marble monument had been erected dedicated to the three who had lost their lives in the battle. This had been created by Avatar Aang and Toph Bei Fong a few days after the fight. Through employing careful and subtle Earthbending, the pair with their friends had brought the huge marble slab down from the mountains in the north and then shaped it into a high, latticed arch, with their other friends and the local villagers digging and planting gardens all about the monument. It was already a favorite place for the locals from the village to sit in quiet contemplation but as the sun set in the west this night it was deserted, the only lights beyond the village coming from the two airships parked to the north.

But there were people still out and about beyond the village as night fell in earnest, several miles to the south, deep in the forest beyond the cultivated fields the sounds of a struggle rose from a clearing within the trees. Anyone stumbling into this clearing might not have noticed the ongoing struggle at first but they would have seen signs of a large struggle having just taken place. The thick snow between the trees was churned up and laying on it's side in the blood splattered snow was a Platypus-bear, a massive example for it's species but clearly dead. A hint would have been the blood soaking into it's thick brown fur and pattered all over the snow around it and another clear sign were the handles of eight large stone blades sticking out of the creature's chest and the gaping hole over where it's heart had once been. Off to one side, four green clad figures and one in black lay seemingly asleep on a small pile of animal skins while seated on a large brown and saddled shirshu resting just beneath the trees nearby was a heavily scarred man with green Airbender tattoos, calmly sipping at a steaming cup of tea. The man, wearing nothing on this cold evening but a small silver backpack, a leather loincloth about his waist and a thin strip of leather tied about his eyes did not even react as a pair of figures burst from the trees across the clearing, their hands locked together as one tried to subdue the other. One of them was a woman dressed in green, Kyoshi Warrior kimono and padded leather armor, her long braid of brown hair half undone in a wild tangle and her light grey eyes flashing angrily as she snarled at the woman she grappled with. The other woman, dressed in a plain brown combination of tunic and trousers, her shorter midnight black hair with burnt, orange bangs just as mussed from the violent struggle. She was glaring almost as hard at her opponent although her golden eyes carried more frustration than anger.

"Are you just going to sit there, Daniel?" Azula called out, her head darting to the side as the one she grappled with lunged her head forward and snapped her teeth at the woman, "Get off the shirshu and do something."

"I have already done my part." Daniel said casually, pointing with his teacup to the figures laid out on the ground at the other edge of the clearing, revealing a wide silver band around his wrist with a skull's face upon it, "I only left you with three to take care of and you have yet to subdue Ty Lee. Now stop messing about Azula and use the paralyzing attack as you were taught."

"I'm trying…but she's trying too. I can't let her go." Azula said with a worried tone as she pushed against the other woman's hands, Ty Lee's furious eyes boring into hers as the young woman snapped her teeth at Azula again, "Whatever you did to her, Ty Lee still has all of her skills."

"I have done nothing to her or the others. The ritual of the hunt merely halts higher brain function allowing the more primitive parts of the mind to take over. That is what has allowed them to take a part of the Platypus-bear's spirit into themselves." Daniel said in a bored tone, swirling the last of his tea about in his cup before throwing it back in one go, "But the final stages induces a powerful mating urge. I would suggest you hurry up though. Right now Ty Lee sees you as a rival for the other male's attention but if you take too long she will instead start to see you as…ah, too late."

Daniel grinned and Azula's eyes went wide with shock as Ty Lee lunged at her again, the snarl gone from her soft features as she moaned with urgency, pressing herself into Azula. No longer trying to push her away or subdue her, Ty Lee drew the surprised woman into her grasp, Azula twisting her head quickly aside as Ty Lee's lips sought hers, instead meeting her neck and Azula shuddered as she felt her friend's tongue slide over her skin to her ear.

"TY LEE!" Azula cried in a shocked voice as her golden eyes flew wide in horror.

But as Ty Lee's hands released Azula's, seeking more intimate parts of her friend, Azula took the opportunity to quickly strike at the nerve points along the other woman's sides and neck, Ty Lee going instantly limp in her grasp with a soft sigh. Breathing hard from the ordeal, Azula held her friend to herself for a moment before she snapped her head around to glare at Daniel.

"You knew she was going to do that, didn't you?" Azula accused the man in a viciously angry tone as she dragged Ty Lee over to the others, laying her gently down beside the only male Kyoshi Warrior, Gar.

"Of course. But it needn't have happened at all if you had not hesitated to strike your friend." Daniel growled softly and pointed over to the opposite side of the clearing, "You still have two more and now that you have taken so long, they will not appreciate the interruption."

Azula turned to give some shaking bushes across from her a withering glare, the sounds of female voices raised in the obvious heat of their passions causing her to grimace.

"Forget it." Azula spat at Daniel, "I am not going in those bushes. Let's just wait until they're finished."

"That could well be the morning." Daniel growled and although his face was not directed at her and he wore a blindfold, Azula had the feeling the man was glaring at her, "So we shall consider your own training today a failure then. I will have to think of ways for you and I to make up for that."

Raising a hand, Daniel made a fluid, sweeping gesture and snow rose from the ground before the shirshu upon which he sat, the ice crystals changing to liquid as it flew over the clearing and splashing into the bushes. There came a pair of surprised shrieks and next moment Sanna and Manny rose from behind the bush, clutching their armor and shredded kimonos to themselves as they shivered with cold even as they blushed deeply.

"You let me go through all that with Ty Lee," Azula breathed as she turned back to Daniel and then yelled at him, "When you could have just splashed water on all of them from the beginning?"

"By letting them sleep it off, they will awaken to their newly enhanced senses gradually. A cold shower is a far ruder awakening." Daniel said casually as he slipped down from Nyla's back, moving quickly over toward Sanna and Manny as he pulled two large skins from his pack, "Besides. Watching Ty Lee try to grope you was a lot more entertaining."

Azula spluttered angrily, words failing her as she glared at the man's back but he only ignored her, instead wrapping the two furs about the blushing, shivering Warrior's shoulders and giving the embarrassed woman a warm smile.

"Do not feel ashamed. You two obviously care for each other and so of course you turned to each other when the urges came upon you." Daniel said softly, Sanna sharing an embarrassed grin with Manny as they pulled the furs tightly about themselves, "You have all done well. After a good night's sleep we will begin developing your new senses and in a few days, Master Piandao will begin training you to move in the moment."

"I can already…I mean, I can smell," Sanna began, closing her eyes and drawing a deep breath through her nose with a confused expression, "Who's using rose scented soap?"

"Someone who should know better by now." Daniel growled low, turning his head slightly but behind him, across the clearing Azula sent another pointed glare at him and turned away to check on Ty Lee and the others again.

Daniel began leading them across the clearing toward where the others where were laid out and both women stared wide eyed at the huge Platypus-bear, it's chest riddled with knife handles and torn open.

"Yeah, but we…I remember," Manny began, her voice soft before she cried out in horror, "Oh, lord. I ate a piece of that thing's heart."

Manny bent over, retching onto the snow and Sanna rubbed her friend's back with a concerned expression even as she felt her own gorge rise at the memory of the hunt. Daniel knelt before Manny as pained tears squeezed from her tightly closed eyes and her breath came in panting gasps.

"Listen to me now, both of you. Look carefully at this beast. He fought at your side against the demons and though I healed those I could after that battle, this Platypus-bear has not been able to hunt or feed properly since then." Both women turned to look as Daniel spoke softly, seeing now the patches of burned fur and half healed wounds that obviously came not from their blades but from teeth and claws, "I tell you both, you and your fellow warriors honored him with a quick death today. It was better than he could expect from starvation or the teeth of another predator and his spirit will live on in all of you. That is the purpose of this ritual hunt, not just to enhance your senses but to bring you closer to nature. What you have done here today was neither a good deed nor an evil one but a natural thing. In nature, good and evil have no place, only what is right for all and doing what must be done."

Manny calmed as she listened to Daniel's soft growling tone, staring now at the beast with an odd sense of admiration for it but Sanna had already turned away to look at the unconscious forms laid out on the wide animal skin upon the snow.

"I just hope you can explain that to them in the morning. I remember the girl's looked like they wanted to rape Master Piandao there and then but he and Gar looked like they were going to kill each other." Sanna breathed as she moved over to kneel at the feet of the lightly snoring sword master, his dark graying hair as wild and mussed as all the others.

"As I say, it is the way of nature. Only the dominant may breed and in any pack a pecking order must be established first." Daniel said softly as he helped Manny to rise and led her away toward Nyla, "Why don't you two ride back on Nyla and I will Earthbend a board to carry the others. We are several miles from the village and it has gotten dark but still, my pupil will guide us back. She needs the practice."

Azula turned from where she knelt beside Ty Lee to glare again at Daniel but he only grinned in return, snapping a long piece of leather between his hands. Azula grimaced and turned away but thrust out her hand as Daniel tossed the leather strip to her and she quickly tied it about her eyes. Standing up, Azula scented the air within the clearing and picked up the smell of the other humans, the sharp, cloying stink of drying blood but also a faint hint of distant cooking fires. Moving slowly away, she heard Manny and Sanna climb up on Nyla, the large shirshu turning to follow Azula as a loud crack of earth separating from the ground came from behind her. Walking slowly and carefully, Azula followed the growing scent of evening meals being cooked in the distant village and after a while she could even hear faint sounds of voices and calls over the crunching of snow under hers and the shirshu's feet. By the time they had cleared the forest, Azula felt a small touch of pride in herself, she'd only managed to run into three trees this time.

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The immediate members of the Gaang, Aang, Katara, Zuko, Mai, Toph, Sokka and Suki all sat about the small table in the equally small kitchen of their repaired guesthouse, relaxing with fresh cups of tea after the children and others had gone to bed. They were chatting idly when the kitchen door banged open, making them jump and revealing Azula, dirty, scratched and glaring angrily as she stomped into the room, slamming the door behind herself with a well placed kick.

"So, Avatar trainings going well then, Big Sis?" Toph asked cheerfully.

Ignoring everyone else in the room, Azula stomped her way across the kitchen to the door leading to the bedrooms at the back of the house, her booted foot rising and kicking the door open before she passed quickly though, slamming this door behind her as well. They heard her footsteps stomping down the short hallway before there came another crash followed by another bang as she entered her room.

"Oh, dear." Katara sighed as she rose from her chair beside Aang, "I'll have to check on Gyatso and Ana after that."

"I'll come with." Suki said rising to join her, "The boys are sleeping with Reena in our room but I better make sure they're ok too."

No sooner had both women left the kitchen through the hallway door when the other door opened again, much quieter this time as Daniel stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself with a soft click.

"I take it the hunt with the Warriors was, uh, eventful?" Mai asked casually from where she sat between Zuko and Toph.

"A successful evening. Sanna and Manny helped me get the others to bed in their airship and Nyla is settled for the night with Appa." Daniel said, reaching for the teapot as he sat down at a spare seat. In the lamplight of the kitchen the man's face seemed drawn, dark circles evident under his eyes beneath the blindfold he wore, "I wonder if you and Suki might spend some time with the Warriors in the morning, Sokka. Help the warriors and Master Piandao adapt to their new senses."

Sokka shrugged but nodded with a smile as Daniel poured himself a cup of tea, the door opening again as Katara and Suki reentered the kitchen, Suki carrying a protesting Momo in her arms.

"Look who the boys tried to sneak into our room." Suki said with a grin as she released the lemur, Momo gliding over to the table before Aang and turning to screech at the woman, "Oh, hey Danny. How'd the hunt go?"

"Very…amusingly in places. But everything went as planned. The Warriors are fine. Evryone's fine." Daniel replied, hiding a small grin as he took a sip of tea but as he lowered his hand he frowned slightly, his blindfolded face turning to the silver band on his wrist and he spoke softly, "I only wonder…am I doing alright? I mean, I've dealt with loss, grief before but nothing like this. She came to mean so much in such a short time and…sometimes I feel like curling up under a rock and…weirdly, sometimes I feel like I'm not hurting enough."

"Hey, it's alright to feel that way, Daniel." Katara said softly, rising from her own chair to drape her arms about his shoulders, "There's no right or wrong way to grieve. I miss her too. We all do."

Daniel reached up, squeezing Katara's forearms where it rested against his collarbone and smiled softly.

"I know. When she…that day, June taught me the greatest lesson of my life. She showed me that by holding her, all of you in my heart, I can have control. I still feel that turmoil, the rage and fear twisting inside me but now, thanks to June, I control it instead of the other way around. I just miss her so…" Daniel fell silent, dropping his face and the others saw the moisture collecting beneath his blindfold. He took a slow breath before raising his face again, "I'm sorry, I just…I don't have perfect control…yet and I worry about turning those negative emotions onto all of you. You won't let me do that though, will you?"

Toph made a disparaging noise through her lips and waved a hand before herself dismissively.

"Nah, we'll kick your ass long before that, Chuckles. Don't worry about it so much." Toph drawled cheerfully, "And June was a smart girl. She taught me how to get drunk and stay upright in a barfight. Sure, it's not quite the same as what she taught you but still, it was a valuable life lesson."

Unable to help himself, Daniel grinned at this. The others laughing quietly as well but though Zuko grinned at Toph with a roll of his eyes he turned back to Daniel with a frown.

"I think your doing alright, Daniel but you do look a bit tired." Zuko said to him, "Do you think you could take it a bit easier on my sister, though? Every time she comes back from training with you, Azula looks ready to kill someone. The furniture can't take much more."

There came a few more chuckles from those around the table, Daniel grinning again himself as he nodded.

"I admit I have been pushing her hard but she has much to learn in a very short time. Plus she is a…willful student." Daniel said with a shrug, "In many ways we are too much alike but I was thinking that as well as Sokka and Suki, I would ask Ty Lee to remain behind as well. Perhaps Azula would be more relaxed training alongside a good friend while the rest of you are away."

"Your not still determined for us to split up, are you?" Katara asked, frowning down at Daniel.

"With the time left to us, I'm afraid we must, Katara. The reason I look so tired right now is because every moment I have not been here, I have been scouring the lands between here and the eastern air temple for dangers. So far I am convinced your own journey to the home of the sun warriors will be far more dangerous. You will be passing over more populated areas while the Warriors and your children will travel over mostly deserted terrain." Daniel said, turning his face up to smile softly at Katara, "Do not fear so much for Ana and Gyatso. They will have Kyoshi Warriors, Iroh, Piandao and Bumi to watch after them. Plus with Sokka's communication crystals we will be in constant contact and I can be with them at a moments notice. Do not forget also that with the Spiritbending skills you are learning from Aang means you can check on them whenever you wish."

"But, we're going to talk to the dragons anyway," Katara almost pleaded with him, "Won't they be able to tell these air dragons to let the bison out of the valley they're in?"

Daniel was shaking his head but it was Aang who looked up from where he was idly scratching Momo behind his large ears.

"Actually, they can't, Babe." Aang said, then gave his wife an embarrassed and guilty grin, "Sorry, I should have told you before but the dragon Avatars within me say that the kind of geas the monks would have placed on the dragons of air can only be removed by another Airbender."

Katara narrowed her eyes angrily at her husband but looked back to Daniel when he placed a gentle hand upon her arm.

"Ana is a true Airbender with a pure heart. She won't fail, Katara. In fact she told me of her idea for an original Airbending move this morning and to be honest, I'm more than impressed. And I promise you, the air dragons are not malevolent. They will seek only to prevent her from entering the valley until she passes their tests. My own sister took two goes before she got through and they never harmed her." Katara still looked unconvinced and Daniel's smile widened, "How about this? It will be dawn over at the eastern temple in a few hours and when it is, I'll take Aang and Azula with me and we'll try to enter the valley. The dragons won't take kindly to this but if we return in one piece will that convince you that it will be safe enough for Ana?"

"Err, what exactly do you mean by, In one piece?" Aang asked nervously.

But Katara, still annoyed with her husband, grinned at Daniel and nodded.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind coming too." Sokka piped up, getting surprised looks from the others, "If only to see what my kids are heading into as well."

"Only Ana will enter the valley of the bison, Sokka." Daniel growled quietly but shrugged a moment later, "But alright. If you like."

"Uh, could I come?" Zuko asked and received far more surprised looks from the others, "No offence Daniel but I wouldn't mind seeing how you are training my little sister but it's also for my own curiosity. I wouldn't mind seeing a valley full of flying bison too."

"If we get that far." Daniel growled with a grin and nodded, "Alright then, we should get some rest and later I'll transport the five of us through the chi channels of the earth to the valley. You, Zuko have traveled that way with me before. It won't be so bad for Sokka but perhaps you'd best warn Aang."

Wondering just what he'd signed himself up for, Zuko swallowed hard as Daniel rose from the table with a chuckle, his laughter only increasing as he left the kitchen back through the door leading outside.

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"I thought you said…because I'm an Avatar I could learn this too." Aang panted. He was on his hands and knees, looking down at the wet mess he had just thrown up onto the dark sands as his head reeled and pounded, "How come it…hurts so much?"

Nearby, Azula struggled to support her much larger brother as Zuko sagged against her, both of them swaying as their own skulls pounded. A few yards away, Daniel and Sokka stood on the sands, their faces turned to a high mountain range a few miles away, dawn's light just beginning to make the peaks there glow brightly. Daniel had brought the five of them to a beach on the largest, south eastern most island in the earthen kingdoms, the island mostly dominated by thick jungle growth and high mountains.

"Yes, Aang. Both Avatars are capable of learning to travel through the chi pathways of the world but I also warned you it was difficult and painful for Benders. I never said it doesn't affect me. But you do get used to it." Daniel said softly as he turned to them, Sokka grinning at the mess Zuko had made throwing up on his sister's trousers and getting a pained glare from the young woman in return. Azula jumped however as Daniel snapped at her, "Azula. Do you pay no attention to the lessons you are given? Your brother and Aang are suffering. The chi release, woman and hurry up about it. We should be into the mountains by now."

Turning her glare briefly to Daniel, Azula turned next to her brother, releasing him to step back and striking out at the points on his chest and stomach. Zuko sagged, relief evident on his face as he sat heavily upon the sand, nodding his thanks to his sister and pointing over at Aang. None too gently, Azula pulled Aang upright by the collar of his orange robes, striking the chi release points on him before she simply let go and stepped back, both she and Aang dropping down to sit on the sand. But next moment, Azula felt herself lifted from the ground and faster than she could see, Daniel's hands flashed out at her and though she pushed herself roughly away from his grasp immediately afterward, stumbling back a few steps from him, Azula felt the pounding in her head and the churning in her stomach cease, instant relief flooding through her. Still though, she glared hard at the blindfolded man before her.

"Don't you touch me." Azula spat angrily as she glared, "Why do I even need to be here? Couldn't I have stayed in bed? Just because you seem to thrive on a lack of sleep doesn't mean the rest of us do."

"You are here because you are my student and there is much you can learn from this experience. So pay attention, pupil." Daniel growled softly and moved past her back up to the edge of the beach, reaching out with one arm to point away from them, "The air temple is about seventy miles that way, on the northern most point of the island and the mountain ranges but our destination is there. Do you see where the clouds shroud the mountaintops to the east? That marks the boundary of the bison's valley and the air dragon's domain. We will only be able to fly part of the way, the dragons won't allow us to enter the valley by air but I have an idea for us to make it through the mountains themselves." Without turning, Daniel kicked his heel against the sand and before him the ground split open, two long, flat slabs of stone tearing themselves free and flying around him and Sokka to land before Zuko and Aang, "Since Azula and I have yet to touch on this aspect of her Firebending, she can ride with you Zuko. Sokka, you ride with Aang."

Sokka turned from where he stood beside Daniel and looked back, watching as Aang and Zuko, both feeling much restored, stepped onto their boards, channeling their Bending energies through the stone and lifting the slabs into the air. Azula, who had not tried this before, stepped hesitantly onto the hovering board before her brother and Zuko placed a hand on her shoulder, giving his sister a warm smile of encouragement to which she only frowned and turned away. Sokka hesitated before he moved over to Aang, turning back to Daniel with a confused expression.

"But you only made two boards, man. What are you going to do?" Sokka asked him.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Sokka, his blindfolded face still managing to give the other man a withering look before he simply raised up off the ground, his feet floating a dozen inches above the sand below.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I, uh, forgot." Sokka said, his face coloring as he moved quickly over to step aboard the slab Aang was on, getting a grin from his brother-in-law.

"Alright. Remember now to hold tight as we approach the mountains. The dragons wont want us getting too close." Daniel cautioned as he hovered before them, "They will attempt to push us away but we only need get close enough to the mountainside itself. We'll go under from there."

"So, this isn't going to be too dangerous is it, Daniel?" Aang asked with concern, remembering the man's rather cryptic laughter earlier.

"Dangerous, no. Not much anyway. Call it, a bit of recklessness instead." Daniel said as a wide grin formed on his face, "Don't worry. Even if the dragons chase us away, which they definitely will, they won't try to kill us. This could even be fun."

Azula looked bored while Sokka at least appeared excited but Zuko and Aang exchanged uneasy glances as Daniel turned and rose swiftly toward the mountains. They had seen that grin on the man before and it usually appeared just before something terrifying and often painful happened.

Zuko and Aang brought their stone boards with their passengers alongside Daniel as they flew high over the dense vegetation growing around the mountain's base, even extending high into the foothills. Higher still until the shrouded peaks of the mountains themselves were before them and the air grew bitingly cold. Above the mountains, clouds extended far into the sky in a high grey wall that seemed to stretch for miles in every direction including upwards. Aang noticed first how the thick, grey clouds remained still even as he and the others seemed to be forging their way through stronger and stronger icy winds that began to howl around them, all of them leaning into it on their boards. Sokka, his larger frame catching more of the wind, hunkered down, kneeling on the board before Aang and gripping it's sides as he felt himself being pushed back. Zuko himself was bent low into the winds and Azula was quickly forced to emulate Sokka, dropping down almost to her belly to avoid being blown from the board by the force of the wind whipping her hair about behind her. Aang noticed this and then turned his eyes down to the almost vertical slopes of the mountain below.

"Hey, we're not moving." Aang tried to shout but even Sokka before him couldn't hear over the roar of the wind, his words being carried away almost as soon as they left his mouth.

Between the boards, Daniel just pointed downwards and Aang and Zuko tipped their boards, following the scarred man as he angled for the mountainside. At first, as they dropped below the level of the mountain's peaks and the clouds the force of the wind dropped dramatically but as they hurtled toward the stone of the mountainside, they could see a fresh burst of wind, like a rolling wave flowing down from the clouds above the mountains, picking up dust and small rocks as it surged down the slopes toward them. Daniel pulled ahead at the last moment, driving into the mountainside with a shattering crash that lifted stone and dust into the air and creating a wide tunnel in the stone. Aang and Zuko dived after him, flying into the hole a moment before the winds from above roared over them, both of them bringing their boards to a skidding halt on the floor of the tunnel Daniel had made an instant after he sealed the entrance. The sudden darkness only lasted a moment as Aang and Zuko began Firebending small flames from their upraised hands, illuminating Sokka and Azula still gripping the stone boards on the floor with white faces.

"We'll have to move quickly." Daniel said in the sudden quiet, walking past the others and up to the end of the tunnel he had created, "If they figure out we're in here they may just summon an earth dragon and then we'll really have trouble."

"They can do that?" Aang asked with some trepidation as Daniel thrust out his hands, the stone before him separating with a grinding rumble, extending the tunnel.

Without answering, Daniel moved quickly up to the end of the slightly, upward sloping tunnel, thrusting out again and even over the rumble of Daniel's tunnel making, Aang could hear the building roar of the winds beyond the stone that the man had sealed the entrance with. As Sokka climbed to his feet, Zuko helped Azula up from the board and they raced to catch up as Aang hurried to Daniel's side, the pair of them now working together to Earthbend the tunnel through the mountain. So fast were they Earthbending that the others had to almost jog to keep up and it seemed only minutes before Daniel held up a hand to halt Aang and turned to the others.

"This is it. One more push and we're through. This is the only time when we may be in danger. We will have a few minutes in the valley but once the dragons realize we are there, they will not be pleased." Daniel growled in a warning tone, "Once they're on to us, we'll have to flee, fast. Now, Azula, stay close to me. You might actually learn something."

Azula gave Daniel a withering glare but shrugged as he turned away, facing the stone wall at the end of the tunnel and placing his hands against it. With a loud crack, the stone split between his hands from floor to ceiling, bright morning sunlight showing through the gap briefly before he spread his hands wide, the stone sliding open like doors. They blinked rapidly in the bright light after the darkness of the tunnel, stepping out together onto a wide ledge and finding themselves looking down into a long, wide valley. They were at least three quarters of the way up the mountainside, looking down into a lush, forested landscape surrounded by high cliffs on all sides, the towering grey clouds they had seen from outside extending up from the peaks around them, high into the sky. Aang frowned at the sight though, what he did not see was an abundance of white shapes moving about in the sky.

"Where's the bison?" Sokka asked the question that was burning in Aang's mind.

"Appa's like you, Sokka. Have you ever known him to be up this early in the morning?" Daniel asked from next to him with a small grin then turned his blindfolded face to Azula, "Alright pupil. A simple lesson today. Call to the bison."

"What?" Azula said loudly in disbelief, "How? You've never taught me anything like that."

"Hence today's lesson. Mimicry is a basic skill of a Nature Avatar and you have seen and heard me do it often enough." Daniel explained quietly, "Keep in mind, this is not about words or language. You are not trying to tell or command them what to do but to call to them by putting your intent, your emotion into the sounds that you make. Now, concentrate on the sounds you have heard Appa make before and just…let it out."

Azula continued staring with disbelief at Daniel for a moment before she stepped up to the edge of the ledge they were upon, feeling a little self-conscious at the stares of her brother and the other two men boring into her back. Closing her eyes, Azula tried to remember the times she had heard Appa's distinctive roar, unconvinced she could possibly do the same. Taking a deep breath, Azula opened her mouth and what emerged from her throat was something like a cross between a strangled scream and the sound of someone with a bad cold, clearing their throat. Azula's shoulders slumped in frustration and her hands curled into tight fists at the snorts of laughter rising from Aang and Sokka, even Zuko unable to keep a smirk off his face.

"Enough. Our time is running short." Daniel snapped at the men and they feel silent with a guilty start, then stepping up behind Azula he placed a hand on her shoulder and finished in a softer tone, "Relax, Azula. Do not try and force it, let the sound flow from you just as it is in your memories of Appa. Call to them, communicate through your emotions in the sound. Come to us, come see us, we are here. You can do this, Azula."

Azula jerked her shoulder and Daniel obligingly dropped his hand but she did as he said, letting herself relax and focusing on the memories of the bison's roar as she had heard it before. Concentrating on what she wanted the sounds to be like, Azula again drew a deep breath, opened her mouth and a roar erupted into the valley. Deep and bass, just like Appa's the roar echoed from the distant cliff walls and Azula's golden eyes shot open with surprise at herself. The others were just as amazed but before they could offer their congratulations, Azula, her brother, Aang and Sokka stared open mouthed as white shapes launched into the air from all over the valley. Rising from the forests below, even launching out from the cliffs around, thousands of bison began to fill the air, coming together in flocks, dancing and swirling about each other like playful clouds. Aang felt as though he could not draw a breath and tears flowed freely from his eyes at the sight but all of them jumped a moment later as a huge white shape rose from directly below, a full grown bison as large as Appa rose to hover before them, gazing back at them with big, brown eyes. Immediately following, a small flock of about a dozen smaller shapes rose beside the first, each only knee high to the humans watching in awe. The young bison stared as their mother was for a moment before they swarmed over to the humans, Aang giving a laugh filled with pure joy as four of them landed upon him and bore him to the ground. The rest of the small bison landed on the ledge, running about on their six short legs about the others, Zuko and Sokka quickly joining Aang on the ground to pat and scratch the creatures with wide smiles on their faces. Even Azula couldn't help smiling at the sight of the little bison, a smaller one leaping up to be caught in her arms and she held it gently as she stroked her fingers though it's thick white fur.

"I knew you could do it, Azula." Daniel said with a grin, but she only ignored him as she continued to pat the bison in her arms. Daniel turned and bowed to the adult bison hovering before them, "Greetings mother bison. We are not the ones to end your captivity but I promise, she will be here soon. She is pure of heart and as true an Airbender as any who have come before her. You will not have long to wait."

The bison nodded her huge head to Daniel and her eyes turned back to her children, jumping about and over the humans on the ledge, her large brown eyes seemingly smiling as she watched.

"I though you said they don't understand the words." Azula asked casually, having seen the large bison's reaction.

"That is true enough but through the emotion in my voice, the inflection in the words, even the positioning of my body, she is reassured that we are peaceful and mean no harm to her family." Daniel said with a small smile as he bent to pat one of the little bison as it jumped up on his leg, "And it may have been a hundred years but they were once the familiars of the air nomads. Perhaps she understood enough to be able to look forward to Ana's arrival in a few weeks."

Azula smiled down at the bison held in her arms, her smile widening as the three grown men nearby giggled and laughed like children as they played with the young bison jumping all about. But suddenly the mother bison made a rumbling sound and the young ones leapt up into the air, leaving the ledge to quickly flock about their mother again before all of them dropped from sight.

"Wait." Aang called out with obvious pain and disappointment in his voice as he leapt to his feet and rushed the edge of the ledge to look down.

But he noticed also that all of the bison moving about the valley moments before were hurriedly settling back onto the cliffs or dropping into the trees far below once more. From behind them, in the tunnel they had emerged from, a rushing sound could be heard growing closer by the second.

"Our time is done." Daniel growled with a frown, "Over the mountains and west, as fast as we can go."

Quickly grabbing Azula from beside him, Daniel jumped back to the cliff beside the tunnel, Aang, Zuko and Sokka bunching up together on the other side moments before a burst of wind carrying dust and rocks blasted out of the tunnel. Aang stomped his foot and a large slab beneath him and the other two split from the ledge and he rose quickly into the air with his passengers. At the same moment Azula felt herself rise, Daniel's hand clamped firmly about her arm as he carried her after the others.

As they rose toward the mountain peaks and the cloud shield that rose above them, Azula could see tendrils of cloud reaching out from that shield from all about the valley. Hundreds of serpentine shapes that coiled and twisted in the air as they made their way toward her and the others. In moments, they could see the cloud shapes take on more definition, gaping maws filled with wispy teeth and furious eyes set in vaguely reptilian faces. As they came closer it became apparent their long bodies of white, twisting air currents were at least twelve feet thick and most a hundred feet long with huge translucent wings stretching out to fifty feet either side of their long bodies. Directly below the rising humans, the jet of air that had emerged from the tunnel twisted in the air, it's end reaching up toward them and forming quickly into a massive, dragon's face set in a snarl. Azula felt herself lifted in Daniel's grip as he moved her around against his back, turning his head to call over his shoulder.

"Grab the straps of my pack and hold on tight." Azula was quick to comply with this as Daniel released her, moving up grab the edge of the stone slab Aang had created and yelling out to the men on board, "Get down. I'll get us out of the valley and through the clouds."

The three men did as Daniel said, dropping down to lay almost flat as they felt a massive burst of acceleration, the stone board angling over and entering the cloud bank a moment later. As winds began to buffet them violently within the cloud, Aang employed a little Earthbending to seal his, Zuko's and Sokka's hands within the stone of the board they were on but in only a few heartbeats they shot through the other side of the clouds, bursting out into bright morning sunlight. Daniel angled the board downwards now, racing out over the jungles below the mountains and behind them, tendrils of white, hundreds of air dragons burst from the clouds to give chase. In only another few heartbeats, with the wind of their headlong flight roaring around them they had shot over the beach and were soaring out over the ocean, flying west toward the earth kingdoms. Aang turned his head and saw the serpentine bodies of the dragons dissipating as they reached the ocean's edge and breaking his hands free from the board he carefully rose to his feet. As he released the other two, Zuko rose to his own feet beside Aang and Daniel let go of the board behind them. Aang shifted one foot slightly and the board split along it's center, he and Zuko taking control of their own, now two separate boards. Sokka remained crouched but now found himself riding a board with Zuko and as Daniel drew up alongside they could see Azula had her eyes closed tightly and both her arms wrapped just as tightly around Daniel's chest.

"Don't slow down just yet." Daniel called out over the roar of the wind with a wide grin, "The fun part's just about to begin."

"The fun part?" Aang called back with confusion, twisting his head around to look behind and seeing nothing but blue sky, "We lost them didn't we?"

"We are being pursued by dragons of air and we are flying though what, Aang?" Daniel called back then laughed as he pointed down, "Plus, they have friends."

Aang and Zuko both looked down over the sides of their boards, their eyes going wide as they saw pale, sinuous shapes racing just below the water's surface and keeping pace with them. Both men gave shouts of fear as the ocean's surface erupted before them, an enormous sea serpent rising from the blue waters to snap it's huge maw at them as they pulled their boards desperately to the sides. Daniel only laughed as he brushed past only inches from the massive creature, on his back Azula opened her eyes briefly, gave a moan of fear at the sight and snapped them shut again. All about them now, shapes rose from the water, huge pale heads on long necks lashing out and snapping at them with mouths filled with teeth almost as long as the men were tall. They jinked and turned their boards sharply, sometimes only barely managing to avoid the serpents that rose from the water as they raced across the ocean. Both Aang and Zuko started pulling their boards higher into the air but as the serpents fell away, unable to reach them now, something new rose from the water.

All around, columns of whitish air were forming and twisting spouts of water rose from the oceans surface, reaching high into the clear blue sky. Hundreds of spouts that not only did Zuko and Aang need to dodge and avoid but the columns also twisted and danced over the ocean's surface, pursuing those that flew over it. Sokka was gripping the board tightly before Zuko, feeling the pull of the winds as they skirted around one of the twisting columns, the waterspout merging with one behind them and a larger spout now pursuing them.

"Come on, Azula, open your eyes." Daniel called out as he too flew in and around the huge spouts all around them, "We won't get hurt. This is fun."

Again, Azula opened her eyes briefly, took in the sight of hundreds of waterspouts from some as thin as a person to others wider than some small towns, all zeroing in toward them and she slammed her eyes shut again, burying her face against Daniel's back.

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." Azula moaned into Daniel's back, unable to keep the fear from her voice.

Daniel only laughed loudly again and she felt him accelerate once more as they raced through the forest of waterspouts. Zuko and Aang were feeling true fear now, for every waterspout they avoided another two erupted from the ocean's surface ahead of them and their turns and twists to avoid these were becoming increasingly desperate.

"Here we go." Daniel said softly and Azula raised her head, her eyes opening just in time to see a massive wall of spinning water ahead of them a moment before they were swallowed by the spout.

"It got them." Zuko cried out with concern for his sister, having seen Daniel vanish into the waterspout from the corner of his eye.

Aang glanced back, seeing the many spouts behind them had merged into several massive ones that still pursued them over the water. Turning back he saw the distant shoreline of the earthen kingdoms on the horizon but still dozens of fresh spouts were emerging in their path. Letting go of his fears a little, Aang stretched out with his senses for Daniel and what he felt was not what he expected.

"He's having fun?" Aang breathed, Zuko who hadn't heard looked to Aang with confusion but was even more confused when Aang suddenly smiled and called out, "He really is having fun. This is the fun part!"

To Zuko and Sokka's horror, they suddenly found themselves shooting ahead of Aang as he slowed his board down and raised his hands out to his sides, tipping his smiling face up to the sky. In less than a heartbeat one of the huge spouts rolled over him and their last sight of Aang was a brief glimpse of him as he rose into the spinning column of water. The last two remaining men looked back ahead of themselves to the dozens and dozens of waterspouts rising from the ocean and arrowing straight toward them before they looked to each other.

"We're boned, aren't we?" Sokka called out with a half fearful, half resigned expression.

Zuko's eyes darted all about but the shoreline was still many miles distant, waterspouts surrounded them on all sides and were moving in toward them. Seeing no escape, Zuko's shoulders slumped and he looked down at Sokka with the same resigned expression.

"We're boned." The young Firelord replied.

In moments they were lifted into the air by a spinning column of air and stinging, high speed water. All of them were sent hurtling around and around, every time they opened their mouths to shout in fear they choked on the water that forced it's way inside and each time they caught a brief glimpse of the ocean below, it had grown further and further away as they were carried higher into the air. After they had been caught first, Azula had managed to keep her grip on Daniel for only moments before the force of the winds and water ripped her away from him and like the others she was sent tumbling completely without control. For the briefest moment, as Daniel had gone tumbling away from her, she had heard him laughing again.

"I hate," She began but started coughing violently as water forced it's way into her lungs.

The waterspouts, carrying their passengers, merged into one massive spout. Racing over the waves, it continued the way they had been originally traveling and in only minutes it was nearing the coast of the earthen kingdoms. Still far out from the beach there, the spout, reaching almost a mile into the air, curved. It's wide mouth at the top bending down through the air, reaching over the waves and the beach to slam into the bare earth of the coast before the spout collapsed completely into the water, dissipating as though it had simply never been. Where it had struck the land, four figures where visible laying in a wide, circular pool of fresh mud.

Aang sat up first, coated from head to toe in mud but with a goofy grin on his face and blinking his eyes rapidly as they slid in and out of focus. Beside him Sokka rose next, shaking mud and seaweed from his hair as he turned to a shape in the mud next to him. All they could see of Zuko was his legs and rear end, his upper half buried in the mud and Sokka moved over to help the man extract himself. The three men merely blinked at each other for a moment before they turned as Azula pushed herself up from where she lay, her front dripping with mud and water, her hair jutting out at all angles around her head. Azula had felt herself land on something more yielding than the ground and looked down at a piece of leather sticking out from the mud where her face had lain moments before. With a quizzical expression, she reached down to brush the mud away and stared with confusion for a moment at a pair of thighs sticking out from beneath the leather before her face dissolved into a horrified expression as a muffled voice rose from directly under where she sat.

"You can get off now." Daniel said and Azula threw herself forcibly to the side, rolling to her hands and knees and glaring as the man sat up from the mud with a groan.

"See? I told you that would be fun." Daniel said, turning to grin at the others.

"I hate you." Azula growled with a snarl and got up to walk unsteadily down toward the beach and the now calm ocean.

"You got to love that teacher, student relationship." Daniel said as he shook his blindfolded head violently, sending mud flying everywhere, "It just warms the heart."

"Can we do that again?" Aang asked, Sokka and Zuko looking at him as though he had lost his mind.

"Are you two insane? How the hell can you think that was fun?" Zuko said in disbelief as he rose a little unsteadily to his own feet, "Daniel, you said it wouldn't be dangerous. You said it was just reckless, not suicidal."

"We're still here aren't we? I also said the air dragons weren't malevolent. They could have just dropped us in the water and fed us to the sea dragons but they didn't. They carried us here and dumped us on the ground, a little forcibly perhaps but we did invade the valley they are charged to protect." Daniel turned his blindfolded face to Aang, their grins almost identical as they faced one another, "Ana of course won't go through anything like this. So long as she doesn't try to force her way into the valley as we did and she follows the dragon's rules, in the worst case scenario they will simply deny her entry. And if that happens, she can always safely try again."

"Cool." Aang said with a smile but turned a worried expression on the other two men, "Once Katara hears about the bison and the valley she should be ok with sending Ana but, uh, maybe we shouldn't tell our wives about this bit though."

"Yeah, I think you might run into a little problem there." Sokka said as he rose to his feet and pointed down to the beach, "You'll have to convince her to keep your little secret first."

Daniel and Aang rose to their feet as well, the four men turning to see Azula rise from the waves with her face turned to the sky, a peaceful expression on her face as she rubbed the dirt and water from her hair. For a guilt charged moment, both Aang and Sokka admired the natural beauty of their close friend's younger sister before she ducked beneath the waves again. Zuko however turned back to Daniel with a frown.

"Do you have to keep pushing Azula's buttons though?" Zuko asked softly, turning back to look to his sister as she rose from the water again, "I mean, your teaching methods are ok but you tend to wind her up and get her angry all the time."

"There is a method to my madness, Zuko." Daniel said to him with a soft smile, "Her anger directed at me fuels her desire to learn, if only right now so she can turn those skills against me one day. You might have noticed the same thing with Toph but in time, as both of their skills increase, their desire to learn will be fueled less by the thought of revenge against me and more by what those skills can do for them and those they care about." Daniel turned his face back to the young woman washing herself in the waves, a smile playing over his lips, "You have been the perfect big brother to her, Zuko. Through your unconditional love for her, you've released her from the insanity that your father forced upon her and now, her life and the choices she makes are her own. I believe that one day, Azula will become a far better Avatar than I could ever have been."

Both Zuko and Daniel watched Azula swimming with a sense of pride for a moment but Sokka turned to face them and Aang with a frown.

"All that's just swell and dandy but she's still going to tell our wives what you did, isn't she?" Sokka asked Daniel in an annoyed tone, "Suki and Katara are going to give me, give all of us 'The Look', aren't they? Probably 'The Lecture' too."

"Yeah, probably." Aang said with a resigned sigh.

"Well, in that case, I hate you too, Daniel." Sokka gripped, turning away and folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm sorry to hear you say that, Sokka." Daniel said softly as a grin crept onto his face again, "You'd best go join Azula then."

The heel of one of Daniel's feet rose and fell and Sokka was launched by a sudden pillar of earth erupting beneath him, the warrior yelling and tumbling as he sailed out high over the beach.

Azula rose from the water, running her hands over her face and feeling much better now that she felt the dirt and mud gone from her hair and clothes but as a shadow fell over her she looked up, seeing Sokka hurtling toward her and up the beach, between her brother and Aang, Daniel was grinning in her direction.

"Oh, you complete bast." was all she got out.

Alrighty then. Book 6 has begun and believe me, it's going to be a bumpy ride for all involved.

As usuall, please, please review cus I'm just a cry baby who can't live (or write) without them. Good or bad reviews, I'll take whatever you can dish out. Ok, don't forget now, REVIEW.