"Wait a minute!" Ty Lee squaked, turning her wide eyes toward Calvin. "You know this… um… person?!"

The person in question was a spectacle, indeed. Standing about three feet tall, it had a cylindrical body with a head that tapered off into a long cone. It's face had only a single eye that glared at the assembled humans over a slightly scowling mouth. It had no arms and instead of legs, a mass of tentacles spread out from its base. It's clothing consisted of a cowl over its pointed head and a simple metallic sleave over its body - both of which were ornamented with a five pointed star.

"Yeah, we've had some dealings in the past." said Calvin, still glaring at the creature.

Is it safe?" Mai asked, brandishing her blades. "What is it, anyway?!"

The creature turned its gaze to the nervous knife thrower. "First of all, I do not appreciate being referred to as IT. My designation is Galaxoid. As for my species, we hail from the Yshlomoff formation in the Ziph quadrant -"

"He's an alien." Calvin interrupted. "He's from another planet."

"Your planet?" Ty Lee asked.

Calvin gave a great scoff at that. "Do we look like we're from the same…" Before he could finish that sentence, he took a good look at the three Fire Nation girls - the girls who, despite being human, were from an entirely different planet than him. "... Uuuh, NO. No, he's not from Earth…."

Aulza limped foreward. "Are you the one in command of this vessel?!" she demanded, scowling viciously at Galaxoid.

"My comrade and I are piloting this vessel, yes." Galaxoid answered, scowling back at her.

"And are you also responsible for destroying the comet?!"

"Ah, yes… Unfortunate business, that."

"'Unfortunate'?!" Azula seethed. "The power granted by that comet was going to end this war. It's destruction may well have cost us our victory… And you call it's loss 'UN-FOR-TUN-ATE'?!"

Galaxoid blinked in surprise. "Oh. I hadn't realized that." he said in concern. "Well, I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience -"

"Yeah, don't be." Calvin interjected. "They're the bad guys, here!" he said, jerking his thumb at Azula.

Galaxoid's eye popped open before narrowing into a slit. "You are certain?" he asked.

"Positive." Calvin answered. "They started the whole thing, and they've kept it going all this time!" Hobbes nodded along, letting out a soft growl.

"I see… Well, apology retracted, then."

"You... miserable little cretens!" Azula practically screamed. "I'll kill you! You will all pay the price for this affront!"

"With the condition you are currently in, I find that highly unlikely." Galaxoid replied, completely unfazed. "Now I recommend that you sit - down. I am no expert in human physiology, but you are clearly not well." As Galaxoid spoke, Calvin noticed one of his tentacles reaching out to a case of some sort attached to the wall. With a push of a button, the case flipped open and the tentacle retrieved something from inside.

"How's THIS for not well?!" Azula shrieked, her fists coming alight with crackling blue flames.

The instant the flames erupted, a great blaring buzzer sounded throughout the room with the red light flashing in tandem. The panel in the wall opened once again; and everyone jumped aside as Azula was once again sprayed all over with the white, foamy glop.

"Kindly refrain from doing that!" Galaxoid groused as he made his way over to the soaked princess. "The fire extinguishers in this ship can hold a great quantity of fluid, but they are not unlimited!"

"Meddlesome insect!" Azula snarled, wiping the foam off her face. "After I kill you, I'll take your ship and blow the Earth Kingdome resistance to dust! Yes! We may have lost the comet, but a ship that can destroy a comet is even better!"

As Azula continued ranting, Galaxoid took the object in his tentacle and jabbed it into the princesses leg. Azula continued her tirade on conquest and glory - but her speech had suddenly become slurred. She then teetered for a bit before leaning on the wall for support. Then, little by little, she slid down the wall. Until finally, Azula slumped over on the floor - her eyes closed, her tirade finally silenced.

Galaxoid ambled over to the fallen princess and bent over to inspect her. He then straightened up and said "Well, it appears she is still breathing."

"Hold on!" Ty Lee said, dubiously eyeing the alien. "You mean that thing… what you did… that could have killed her?!"

Everyone looked to the alien, their expressions concerned and anxious.

Galaxoid's eye darted back and forth for a bit before he answered "Well,... this sedative wasn't designed with humans in mind. So I suppose it wasn't outside the realm of possibility."

"You didn't know?!" Mai gasped. "You didn't know if it was safe for her, and you gave it to her anyway?!"

"I felt the odds were favorable." Galaxoid countered ans he started heading back to the case on the wall. "It was either sedate her or allow her to potentially harm someone…. More than likely, herself!" He placed the sedative back in the case before closing it, saying "I stand by my decision."

Turning to Calvin, Mai asked. "Are you sure we can really trust it - er, him? I mean, who knows what else he might be capable of!"

Calvin scratched the back of his head. "I mean, we've never really discussed what he's capable of, but you can trust him!"

"Are you sure?!" Ty Lee anxiously asked.

"... Preeetty sure…"

Galaxoid gave an exacerbated shake of his head as Mai and Ty Lee kept peppering Calvin with questions about potential dangers the alien might pose. In a loud voice, he said "If you would come along, Nebular is awaiting us in the cockpit." Without waiting for a response, Galaxoid turned and ambled out the door.

Calvin squared his shoulders and quickly followed after him, shrugging off whatever further questions the girls had. Hobbes silently padded alongside him.

Not knowing what else to do, the three girls followed along in short order.

The room Galaxoid led them into was small, yet specious enough as to not feel claustrophobic. The left and right walls each had a row of seats lined up against them. Just in front of the right hand seats was what the humans assumed was the entrance portal. And beyond that the front of the ship was occupied by a large panel full of switches, screens buttons and levers.

To the earthlings, it was similar enough to the cockpit of an airplane as to elicit little response. Mai and Ty Lee, on the other hand, were astounded by what they saw - so many buttons and screens and pulsing lights, they couldn't help but wonder what they were all for.

There was little time to wonder, though. As the group approached the cockpit, one of the two seats behind the control panel swiveled around to reveal a second alien. This one looked identical to Galaxoid, save for his clothing which was decorated with crescent moons in lieu of Galaxoid's stars.

This second alien - Nebular - looked at Galaxoid, eye wide with concern. "Galaxoid, what is going on back there?! The fire alarm went off TWICE!"

Galaxoid grunted as he climbed into the second chair. "Let's just say one of our passengers was not in a good mood."

"Oh?" Nebular glanced over the humans, pausing on each of them in turn.

"Naw, the one you're looking for in back in the hold." Calvin said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"Indeed?" Nebular's eye came to rest on Calvin. The alien then dropped out of his chair and ambled over to the blond human. "I trust you know why we've come?"

"For this?" Calvin said, holding the teleporter aloft.

"Yes." Nebular said, holding out a tentacle. "Now, if you would return the translocator…"

Calvin held the device up, turning it in his grip, looking at it ponderously. After a moment, he said "Why did you entrust this to me?"

Nebular's eye nervously darted back and forth. "I… don't suppose you'd be willing to drop the issue…"

"No." Calvin said, pulling the machine close to his chest. "We've been through Hell because of this gizmo! We were unwillingly taken off our home planet and unceremoniously dumped into the middle of a war! We've had to rough it in the wilderness for weeks on end! Any moment of peace we've had never lasted! We've had to stare death in the face over a dozen times! And it ALL could've been avoided if you had just been UP FRONT with me! We DESERVE an explanation!"

Nebular looked from the boy to the tiger to the girl - all of whom were glaring at him, awaiting a explanation. He turned to the console to see that even Galaxoid was staring at him through narrowed eyelids.

The cornered alien gave a sigh, his countenance drooping. "This was supposed to be my legacy." he began. "I was going to revolutionize the travel industry! Just imagine, vast distances traversed in the blink of an eye! Instantaneous travel to anywhere at all!"

"If you don't mind getting slightly fried in the process." Susie quipped.

"A minor detail, it could have been worked out." Nabular said. "... But unfortunately, my financial backers were only interested in it's militant applications."

"Militant applications?" Mai questioned.

"Of course." Nebular said. "Just imagine spies infiltrating enemy compounds, stealing information, assassinating enemy leaders and then vanishing without a trace! Imagine just going about your business when an enemy platoon suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts blasting indiscriminately!"

"Would they really do that?" Ty Lee asked.

"Well, yeah!" Calvin scoffed. "I mean, whadda ya think Azula wanted it for?!"

The ship went quiet as everyone absorbed that.

"But, if you were making it for your own people, wouldn't it have been good?..." Mai asked. "Wouldn't you be helping your people?"

"I could make that justification." Nebular said. "In fact, I did - many times. But no, I am no fool... had the project been completed, it would have been sold to the highest bidder.

"Even if I could guaranty the technology would remain with my own government, it would still inevitably start an arms race! And that is not what I set out to do… I did not want to be remembered as a war monger.

"I knew what had to be done! I destroyed all my research and fled with the only prototype.

"I first came here, to this planet, as it is the closest to our own, hoping to hide it somewhere. But it occurred to me that because it was so close, it would likely be the first outer planet they would come to search for it. Then I remembered there was another planet - a planet far, far away. Conveniently, a planet I had previously made contact with…"

"... Earth." Calvin said.

"Precisely." Nebular replied. "And I believe you know what happened after that."

Susie then spoke up. "What I want to know, is how did it bring us here?"

"As I said, I first brought the translocator to this planet to conceal it here." Nebular answered. "It can only travel to places it has been previously."

"No, I get that." Susie said. "What I mean is, how did it bring us to a whole different planet?!"

Nebular shrugged. (Which was quite an accomplishment, considering he had no shoulders.) "I did build it with the same technology that guides our starships. If it managed to find a suitable wormhole, it would certainly -"

"WORMhole?!" Ty Lee interrupted. "I thought you came from space? What kind of worm could burrow through space?!"

Nebular sighed. "No, no. You see, wormholes are a phenomenon wherein two distant points in space are connected via distortions within said space - allowing those who traverse the length thereof to bypass the vast distance and reach places that would otherwise be inaccessible."

Ty lee cocked her head to the side. "Huh?"

"Think of it this way." Calvin said. "Imagine you have a looong rope. Now imagine you have to travel aaall the way from one end of the rope to the other. That's gonna take a while. But, if you fold the rope over itself, suddenly the two ends are much closer together!"

"Sooo,... it's like a... bridge?" Mai asked.

Calvin snapped his fingers, excitedly. "Exactly! A wormhole is like a bridge!"

Ty Lee blinked, as though still working it out in her mind. "So, do you have to use these… wormholes to get around?"

Galaxoid suddenly scoffed. "Well, here's the thing; space is BIG! Really, really big! You cannot even begin to fathom just how inconceivably BIG it really is! And all the space takes precious resources to traverse - provisions, fuel and time! You could go for lightyears before finding another life-bearing planet - let alone one with sentient life! So yes, we HAVE to use wormholes to get around! Without wormholes, interplanetary travel simply wouldn't be possible!"

"So wait." Mai said. "Does that mean there's one of those… things right outside our world?!"

"No." Nebular answered. "The wormhole we took deposited us in the general vicinity, but we still had to make a quick hyperjump to actually reach the planet."

"Yes, and imagine our surprise when we dropped out of hyperjump to find a giant ROCK hurtling straight toward us!" Galaxoid bitterly groused.

"Which could have been avoided if someone wasn't in such a hurry!" Nebular bit back.

A heated argument then broke out between the two aliens. Galaxoid accused Nebular of dragging him into the whole ordeal, while Nebular protested that he had given Galaxoid every opportunity to bail. Galaxoid then accused Nebular of implying cowardice after which Nebular called Galaxoid a sleeding bik.

None of the humans knew what that meant, but Galaxoid gasped and demanded Nebular take it back.

Before the conversation could deteriorate further, a loud, rumbling growl sounded from Hobbes.

Looking toward the sound, they found the tiger at the control panel. Seeing he had everyone's attention, Hobbes jerked his head toward the viewport. The humans and aliens cloistered together to see what had gotten Hobbes' attention.

There, far off in the distance, a blue light was shining up into the night sky.

"Get a load of that." Calvin marveled.

"What do you think it is?" Mai asked.

"It's… kinda pretty." Ty Lee mused.

"It's AANG." Susie declared, causing everyone to gawk at her.

"You sure?" Calvin asked.

"... It's gotta be, right?" she said. "I mean, who else but the Avatar could possibly do something like that?!"

No one could think of a counterargument to that.

As they thought on it, a second light beamed up to the sky - this one and angry orange.

"Alright, then." Calvin said, the sight of the second light steeling his resolve. "Take us to those lights!"

Nebular complied, turning the ship so it faced the lights.

"And prepare whatever weapons you have!" he added.

"Weapons?" Nebular questioned.

"Well yeah! Don't you have any weapons?!" Calvin asked.

Nebular thought for a second before saying "There is a small particle cannon, but it's mostly meant for clearing debris."

"Besides which, it's completely out of juice after blowing that comet!" Galaxoid added.

Calvin gawked at the aliens, disappointedly. "Seriously? That's IT?!"

"Well, what do you want?" Galaxoid sniped. "This is a transport vessel, not a battle cruiser!"

Calvin groaned, rubbing his palm against his forehead. "Just… head for the light!"

So they set off, keeping a keen eye on the tiny lights far off on the horizon. As they went, the lights began to shine brighter. At first, those aboard the ship simply thought it was due to them getting closer - but no, the conflicting lights were definitely intensifying. In an instant, all the surrounding area was awash in blue and orange.

"Just what is going on over there?" Ty Lee asked, nervously.

Galaxoid hummed. "Let's see if we can't get a clearer picture. Nebular, zoom in on that area!"

In response, Nebular fiddled with a number of switches and dials. Mai and Ty Lee then startled in surprise when the part of the viewport displaying the origin point of the lights suddenly became larger - as if that one portion of the screen had jumped foreward several feet.

In the now enlarged portion of the screen, everyone could now clearly see two figures standing in the lights - no, on closer inspection, these figures weren't in the light, they were emitting the light! And as the ship drew ever closer, the figures details came into focus, bit by bit.

"It IS Aang!" Susie declared once she was able to recognize the Avatar's image.

"And the Fire Lord." Mai said, observing the other figure.

It was true. From the looks of things, Fire Lord Ozai appeared to be on his knees with his arms stretched out behind him. Aang stood in front of the Fire Lord with one hand placed over the older man's chest and the other hand places on his forehead. Both Avatar and Fire Lord had their gazes turned up toward the sky.

The lights shining from the two bodies lit the world in a perfect division - from Aang's harmonious blue to Ozai's malicious orange - split right down the middle. But then, Ozai's light began to spread onto Aang. Slowly at first, but quickly accelerated; suppressing Aang's light with his own.

Those on the ship watched in despair. No one knew exactly what they were seeing, but they knew it wasn't good.

This was the final battle that would decide the outcome of the war, and even the very fate of the entire world...

And the Avatar was losing.

"Come on Aang, you can beat him." Susie whispered. "You've GOT to."

Throughout the cockpit there was utter silence. No one dared speak a word as they watched the scene unfold with a tense urgency. Even Calvin found he couldn't bring himself to make a flippant remark.

On the screen, Ozai's light continued to eat away at Aang's - flooding the area all around with his furious orange light. Soon only Aang's head was all that remained of the blessed blue light - and it too was steadily being eaten away - little by little - bit by bit - until only the tiniest pinprick of blue remained.

"No." Susie managed to breath out.

Then, just as all hope seemed lost, the blue light returned - with a vengeance. In a matter of seconds, the blur light had recovered it's lost ground, and then expanded. It seeped onto Fire Lord Ozai - then completely engulfed him. In a complete reversal, the blue light had devoured the orange and then shot off into the heavens - a beacon of victory to the world.

Everyone on the ship looked agog at what they had just witnessed.

"... It… It's over." Ty Lee breathed. "He actually did it!"

Susie gave an exultant WHOOP! as she began bouncing around the ship, excitedly yelling "He did it! It's over! We WON!"

"YES!" Calvin shouted, pumping both fists in the air. "That's showin' em, kid! Give 'im what-for!" he yelled as Hobbes gave a triumphant roar.

Amidst all the mirth and jubilation, Calvin suddenly felt his head yanked over to the side. Before he could even process that thought, he felt a pair of lips press onto his own. For a single moment, this sensation was the only thing Calvin was aware of. Then, all too quickly, the sensation dissipated as Susie released her hold on him and continues prancing about the ship, chanting her cries of victory.

Calvin only had a moment to realize Susie's lack of presence before dropping to the floor.

Blinking the stars out of his eyes, Calvin attempted to pull himself up - only to find Hobbes' face looking very pointedly at him. "... Wipe that smirk off your face!" he grumbled.

Aang released his hold on the Fire Lord and the two of them stumbled backward - their stamina drained from the ordeal they had gone through.

When Ozai recovered his wits, he thrust his fist out to attack - but he hadn't the strength to follow through.

And more worrisome than that, no fire had sprung from his fist. He could no longer feel the spark of flame within him. "What… what did you do to me?" he asked from where he lay.

"I took away your firebending." Aang answered. "You can't use it to hurt or threaten anyone else ever again."

Aang then looked out on the scene before him, where many fires still burned among the wreckages of the downed airships. He took a deep breath and exhaled. His eyes and tattoos then glowed with brilliant light for a brief moment. Then, his power swelling within him, he used his waterbending to raise the rivers like a great tide - dowsing the fires wherever they burned.

With the fires out, Aang gazed across the landscape. As his faithful lemur came flying back to his side, Aang took a great sigh of relief - the war was finally over.

Before long, the airship his friends had hijacked flew over to the stone column he stood upon. Sokka then came out of the ship with Suki and Toph on either side, stabilizing him. "Aang, that was amazing!" the Water Tribe warrior cried as he hobbled toward his friend. "You should've seen yourself! You were all like -" and here he made various gestures with his hands while making whooshing sound effects with his mouth. "And the Fire Lord was all like -" and here he grabbed his neck and made a series of gagging noises.

Suki then walked over to where the Fire Lord lay fallen. Looking at the motionless body, she asked "So… did you, you know,... finnish the job?"

"... I'm still alive." Ozai growled with all the strength he could muster - causing Suki to recoil in shock.

"Yeah, but you might not be for much longer!" Sokka suddenly said.

Everyone turned to look at him with shocked expressions. "Whoa, you're not seriously gonna kill him?!" Toph asked, aghast.

"I'M not, but I can't speak for whatever THAT is!" Sokka yelled, pointing down toward the horizon.

Following his finger, the others looked to see a strange light coming right at them. As it got closer, they could hear strange whirring noise - unlike anything they had heard before. The whirring grew louder the closer the light came until it became a mechanical roar.

As the light got close, they could make out a shape just behind the light. It was some kind of vehicle - but exactly what kind, they had no idea. It didn't look like anything the Fire Nation had ever built. As the strange vessel drew level to their position, everyone moved back toward the airship - ready to bolt, should whatever this thing was prove hostile.

Then when the strange ship approached, it turned to the side and started hovering as the engine made a WUMM WUMM WUMM sound. Then there was a hiss and a panel on the side of the ship swung down, forming a ramp of sorts.

And in the space behind that ramp stood none other than Calvin.

"HEY GUYS!" the earthling yelled over the engine "NEED A LIFT?!"

Zuko stood alone in the empty throne room, musing on past events. All the struggle and anguish he had dealt with over the past two years… it had all come down to this.

He wished so hard to know how the battle had gone. Everything that had happened in the past few hours had been utter madness.

When the gang couldn't find Aang, Zuko had decided the only other person who stood a chance of defeating the Fire Lord was his uncle. After finally managing to track him down, uncle Iroh had told him that even if he could defeat the Fire Lord, (and wasn't so sure he could) it was not his destiny to do so - rather, it was his destiny to take back Ba Sing Se - and it was Zuko's destiny to become the new Fire Lord.

After that, the gang decided the best course of action would be to split up. Sokka, Toph and Suki would head for the airship armada to infiltrate and sabotage in whatever way they could. Meanwhile, Zuko and Katara went to secure the Fire Nation capital. They had met resistance, of course, but between the two of them, they managed to subdue any who came against them.

What Zuko found odd though, was Azula's absence. True, they had left her in the middle of the wilderness, but Azula was nothing if not resourceful. He had no doubt that if Azula was determined enough to get back home quickly, she would.

That had been odd enough, but then Sozin's Comet just up and exploded!

With their greatest hope for victory suddenly gone, the people began to panic. Some said it was a sign that the Fire Lord had fallen, some called it an omen of cosmic retribution. Zuko didn't know what it meant, but it left an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Katara had spent much of the time following the comet's destruction anxiously pacing. Every few minutes she would stop and gaze off toward the horizon before continuing her nervous vigil - wringing her hands as she went. Zuko had told her that everything would work out - that the others would pull through…. He only wished he felt as certain as he sounded.

All these thoughts and more coursed through his mind as Zuko gazed wistfully at the throne. He was so close to seizing his birthright - but as long as his father remained in power, it would never truly be his. Suppose his friends had failed. If his father came home reveling in his victory only to find him waiting there…

Zuko subconsciously touched a hand to his scar. If he had to face his father in combat again would it be any different from the first time? Would he be able to defeat his father?

Zuko clenched his fist with an irritated growl. It wouldn't come to that! He had to believe that somehow Aang would return - that he and the others would be the ones celebrating their victory.

"My prince!" came a panicked, breathy voice from the doorway.

"What?!" Zuko snapped at the servant girl - who flinched at his harsh tone.

"F-f-forgive me, y-your highness, but there's a disturbance outside the palace!"

"What kind of disturbance?" Zuko asked, carefully minding his tone, so as not to frighten the girl further.

"Strange lights in the sky… and an unearthly noise!" she told him.

'Strange lights'... Zuko's mind was brought back to when Calvin had used that machine to escape from the Boiling Rock. "Lead the way!" he told her.

The servant led Zuko through the halls of the palace at a quick pace. It wasn't long before Katara caught sight of them and jogged over to catch up. "What's going on?!" she asked. "Is it the others? Are they back?!"

Zuko spared her a look, but simply said "We'll see!"

Before they even reached the grand doors, they could hear the roaring - an inorganic, almost mechanical wailing that had every nearby servant quivering with anxiety. When they got outside, they saw the lights up in the sky - and they were descending quickly. Squinting through the lights, they could just barely make out the shape of some kind of machine.

Now, as the prince of the most industrious of the four nations, Zuko had seen a great many machines in his life - but nothing quite like this - sleek and silver… and making a perfectly vertical descent.

All around the court, people gawked and pointed at the otherworldly vehicle. Some quailed in fear, some called to Zuko begging him to protect them, others called directly to the silver ship, pleading for mercy. Across the yard, Appa looked up at the ship, bellowing with all his might; whether out of fear, defiance or challenge, neither Zuko nor Katara could tell.

As the ship neared the ground, three mechanical legs unfolded from out of the underbelly. The ship touched down with a great hissing - like hundreds of steam valves going off all at once.

Then it was deathly silent.

Everyone present held their breath - ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.

With a sudden hiss, a panel on the side of the ship folded downward, forming a ramp. And from out of the hole stepped a figure. "Man, finally! It was getting way too cramped in there!"

"Aang!" Katara yelled, excitedly.

Indeed, it was the young Avatar stepping down the ramp with Momo faithfully clinging to his shoulder. Aang looked tired, yet pleased; and when he saw Katara, the biggest smile lit up his face. "Katara!" he called as the Water Tribe girl ran over and enveloped him in a fierce hug. "It's over, Katara. We won!" Aang murmured into her ear.

"Welcome back, Aang!" Zuko said as he strode over to his two friends and clapped Aang on the shoulder.

Then there was a great shaking through the ground as Appa bounded over to welcome the young monk back as well.

"Whoa, nice to see you too, buddy!" Aang said, resting a hand on the sky bison's shaggy forehead.

"Man, this thing is AMAZING!" Zuko and Katara turned their attention back to the ship to see Sokka coming down the ramp, leaning on Suki as one of his legs was clearly injured.

"I know!" Suki said in response. "I didn't think it was possible for something to fly so fast!"

"And to think that wasn't even it's top speed!" Sokka added, excitement gleaming in his eyes.

Toph then tottered onto the ramp. She lurched as she went, looking very queasy. "Okay Sokka, remember when I said your subs were worse than flying?..." she made a face like she was fighting the urge to puke. "... I take it back."

As Katara started tending to her brothers leg, Zuko kept watch on the ship, anxious to see who else would come out. His heart skipped a beat when the next figure appeared. "Mai." Yes, it was his girlfriend - though she looked more somber than usual. She was quickly joined by Ty Lee and between them… Zuko's breath caught when he saw the figure draped over the two girl's shoulders. Her head was slumped over, her feet dragging behind them, but it looked an awful lot like… could it really be…

"Azula…" Zuko breathed as the girls stepped onto the ground. He looked to Mai and Ty Lee, desperate for an explanation.

"She's just unconscious." Mai assured him.

"What happened?" Zuko demanded.

"She was injected with this stuff that put her to sleep." Ty Lee explained.

Just then, Azula's head popped up, jerkily. She fixed a single, unfocused eye on her brother. "... Zu… Zuu-uuu…" Her eye then rolled up and her head flopped over once again.

Ty Lee shrugged. "I guess she's still a little out of it."

From the top of the ramp there came a sudden thud accompanied by a gasp of pain. "Mind your head." came Calvin's voice.

Zuko looked up to see Calvin and Susie descending the ramp - and between them was the disheveled figure of his father. His arms were behind his back, likely bound.

When they reached the ground, Calvin dropped Ozai to the floor, saying "One depowered despot, signed, sealed and delivered!"

"'Depowered?'" Zuko said, gawking at his father's battered, heavily breathing form. "What do you mean, 'depowered'?"

"I took his firebending away." Aang answered.

Katara looked at him in shock. "You can do that?" she asked.

"Yeah, a giant lion-turtle taught me!"

Ozai, meanwhile, cast his eyes about the courtyard. When he saw the palace servants standing around gawking, he yelled "Are you just going to stand there?!" Some of the servants at least looked ashamed, others scuffed their feet while others turned away entirely. Infuriated, Ozai continued to yell "Are there none loyal to the Fire Nation left in my house?! Will you stand idly by and allow these usurpers to run free?! How can you call yourselves Fire Nation when you -" he was quickly silenced when Hobbes stalked past with a threatening growl.

"You'll find no support here, father." Ozai turned a venomous glare at Zuko as he stood glaring down at him. "I am the Fire Lord, now."

"You?!" Ozai scoffed. "What do you, a disgraceful traitor and a mediocre bender, know about ruling a nation?! Do you honestly think the people will follow you?!"

"I don't expect it to be easy." Zuko replied. "In fact, I expect quite a lot of resistance. But with the help of my friends, I'll show the people the truth! If I can help bring the Fire Nation back into harmony with the other nations, it'll all be worth it. It might not happen in my lifetime, but history will vindicate my rule!"

Ozai gave a malicious bark of a laugh. "Big word coming from you, Zuko. But we both know it's only a matter of time before you fail! Just like you've failed at everything else!"

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "You've been calling me a failure my whole life. But when it mattered most, it was you who failed."

Incensed, Ozai squirmed into a seated position. "I would have succeeded if it weren't for you MEDDLESOME CHILDREN!"

"Oh my gosh, he ACTUALLY said it!" Calvin cried before bursting into a fit of laughter. Susie and Hobbes quickly joined in, filling the courtyard with such a cacophony of chuckles, snickers and cackles.

Everyone present stared in slack-jawed befuddlement as the three earthlings continued to drive themselves senseless with their incessant laughing.

"WHAT is so FUNNY?!" Toph finally demanded.

"Haaah, I'll explain later." Susie managed to breathe out.

"Yes, later would be most advisable." said Galaxoid.

Everyone present who had not previously been on the spaceship turned at the sound of the new voice. Eyes popped open and jaws fell slack when they saw the inhuman figures descending the ramp.

Nebular then spoke. "Indeed, it has been quite an involved evening for you all. I would suggest getting a decent rest and reconvening in the morning."

The two aliens reached the ground and looked to see a plethora of faces staring at them in shock. There was an awkward moment where no one said a word. Zuko, Katara and the palace staff stared at the two aliens and Galxaoid and Nebular stared right back.

Finally, Nebular moved foreward, waving one of his tentacles. "Greetings, planet natives. My designation is Nebular and this is my companion, Galaxoid."

"Are you spirits?!" one of the servants called out.

"... 'Spirts'?" Galaxoid questioned, eye narrowed.

"Oh, you misunderstand." Nebular said. "We hail from the Yshlomoff system, of the Ziff quadrant -"

"Yeah, they're TOTALLY spirits!" Calvin suddenly yelled, causing the aliens to look at him in surprise. "So hurry up and get some accommodations set up for the spirits! C'mon, now, chop-chop! Don't wanna keep the SPIRITS waiting! Put some hustle into it! Don't dawdle or you might get a SPIRITLY CURSE put on you! G'wan, now, STEP LIVELY!"

Calvin's prompting apparently roused the palace staff from their stupor. They all frantically darted off in different directions - each scrambling like mad to accommodate the perceived spirits for fear of retribution.

After the servants had all run off, the aliens went up to Calvin with narrowed eyes and frowning mouths. "We are NOT spirits!" Galaxoid pointedly stated.

"Look, just go with it." Calvin said, jerking a thumb in the direction the servants had left. "It's the only explanation they'll understand."

Susie flopped down on the bed with a content sigh. "Can you believe it's finally over?!" she asked.

"Yeah." Calvin hummed, placing his bag in the corner of the small room the palace staff had allotted them. Hobbes echoed the sentiment with a soft throaty rumble.

"All that strife and malice is over." Susie continued. "Finally, this world has a chance to heal!"

"Mmm-hmmm…" was Calvin's only reply.

Noticing the boy's tone, Susie sat up and stared shrewdly at him. "Something wrong?" she asked.

Calvin scuffed his shoes on the floor, his eyes swinging back and forth across the room. His jaw moved as if he were chewing on his words.

After a long moment, he gave a pointed look at Hobbes. The tiger looked back at him from where he lay on the floor, swishing his tail absently; he cocked his head at an angle. Calvin then gave a little jerk of the head toward the door behind the reclining cat. Hobbes turned to regard the door for a spell. He then stretched and rose to his feet before turning to take his leave.

As he passed, Susie thought she caught a glimpse of… something in the tiger's eye.

Once Hobbes had left and shut the door behind him, Calvin leaned against the far wall - still staring at Susie - still lookin as if he didn't know what to say.

At length, he strode over to the bed and sat down beside the girl. "So Susie…" he said "... Shall we address the elephant-koi in the room?..."

"... Oh." Susie gasped, knowing what he was referring to. "You, you mean what happened... on the ship…" she spared a glance at him to see he had cocked an eyebrow at her.

Taking a deep breath, she said. "It's just… I was hopped up on emotions, really! I mean, that was such a tense moment and it looked like Aang was going to lose! But then he didn't! And I was caught up in the moment! I mean, under any normal circumstance I would never dream of doing something like that!... OH! I, I don't mean the kiss itself! I just meant I wouldn't be so rash about it! I mean it wasn't so bad, was it? Actually, I thought it was kinda nice. But the point is, you don't have to look any deeper into it!... If you don't want… I mean, it was such a reckless, impulsive thing to do - but I was just sooo caught up in the emotions… and the rush of victory… and it's really not like me, at ALL… and… and I'll understand completely if you don't wanna -"

Before she could ramble any further, Susie suddenly felt a hand on her cheek turn her head to the side before a soft pressure pressed onto her lips. She stiffened at first but quickly melted as Calvin's arms enveloped her in a tight embrace. Susie found her own arms snaking around Calvin's back, pulling him closer to her.

After a delightful, blissful moment, their lips parted and they both sighed contentment. "So… I take it you're not mad?..." Susie asked.

Calvin rubbed the bridge of his nose against hers. "Nah." he breathed, huskily. "But this does beg the question, where do we go from here?"

"Well, are you okay with this?" Susie asked, taking his hand in her own and interlacing their fingers.

With a smirk, Calvin squeezed her hand back. "Yeah. How 'bout you?"

"Yes." She purred. "So does that mean we're…"

"I'm willing to see where this takes us, if you are." he said, bringing his head closer to hers.

"So'm I…" she replied, raising her head to meet his.

Just before their lips met again, there was a loud BANG as the door slammed open. Calvin and Susie turned to see what the commotion was and suddenly found themselves clasped in a tight, furry embrace.

"What the - HOBBES!" Calvin roared at the tiger - who merely grinned back. "You were SUPPOSED to wait outside!"

Hobbes gave a toothy grin before tussling Calvin's hair with his paw while making a deep throated noise that sounded like chuckling.

After Hobbes released the two humans, Susie composed herself and said "So I guess this means you approve of this, then?"

Hobbes made a deep rumble, showing her what was unmistakingly a grin.

"Great, so EVERYONE'S on board with this!" Calvin groused. "Now how 'bout a little privacy, huh?!"

Hobbes narrowed his eyes at Calvin. He then started scratching on the wooden floor. When he finished, Calvin and Susie leaned over to see the words

U NEED SHAPARON

Both human's cheeks flushed as the implication dawned on them. "We do NOT!" Calvin insisted.

Susie cleared her throat. "Well, either way, we should probably think about getting some sleep, now. We can sort all… this out tomorrow."

Calvin looked at her with a pout. He held that face for as long as he could, but eventually just said "Fiiine."

And so the three of them started getting ready for bed. Calvin and Susie went about it with a new-found spring in their steps. They didn't know what the morning would bring, but they knew they would face it together.