Xiaodan sprawled out on her belly on Appa's head as the sky bison slogged his way through the thick sludge-infested river they were traveling, smiling faintly as she watched Momo and Aang play in the nasty looking water.

"Momo!" Aang called out then dove into the water when Momo flew towards him, resurfacing a few feet away, "Oh, Momo!"

Momo flew towards Aang and landed on his shoulder, latching his arms around Aang's head.

Aang laughed loudly and rubbed Momo's head, "You found me, buddy!"

Xiaodan climbed back into the saddle and took a seat beside Toph just as Aang leapt back into the saddle, landing in the spot across from her while Momo perched near the front. The white-haired girl wrinkled her nose at the putrescent slime that covered her brother.

"Hey guys, I think this river's polluted." Aang commented idly as he looked the sludge sliding slowly off his body before he Airbended the mud off himself.

"Argh!" Xiaodan squawked in disgust as the nasty sludge splattered all over herself, Toph, and Katara, the other girls yelping along with her.

"Pah!" Toph spat after tasting the mud in her mouth, "Plegh!"

Aang winced sheepishly and Airbended again, blowing the mud off the three girls and back into the river, messing up their clothes and hair.

"Well that explains why I can't catch a fish around here," Sokka commented, having avoided getting splattered by the polluted river sludge, and he turned to look at the other four, "Because normally my fishing skills are off the hook!" He held up his fishing hook with a cheesy grin, "Get it? Like a fishing hook?"

Toph smirked and retorted sardonically, "Too bad your skills aren't on the hook."

Xiaodan snickered and patted Toph on the shoulder, "Nice, little sister, very nice."

Sokka gave the four a disgruntled look, causing them to laugh harder at him.

"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food." Katara stated as she turned towards the others just as a long scroll unrolled in front of her, Toph, and Xiaodan, "Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's masterschedule."

"Hmmm..." Sokka hummed to himself as he looked over the schedule he made, "It's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today."

Xiaodan stuck her tongue out slightly and pulled her foot out from under the roll of parchment, "Lovely..."

"Hey, maybe we can get food there!" Aang exclaimed excitedly as he pointed to a village that appeared just around the riverbend.

Xiaodan nimble moved around Sokka's schedule to Aang's side, peering curiously at the village in the distance then she flipped herself onto Appa's head and took up the reins, guiding him towards one of the cliffs on either side of the river, out of sight of the village.

The five teens quickly hopped out of the saddle, Xiaodan heading towards a large rock that was covered in a moss-like grass.

"Hey, Aang, come help me with this." The white-haired girl called out as she lifted a corner of the moss-like grass, "If we can peel off a large enough section, we can use it to cover Appa."

"Good idea, Xia." Aang commented with a grin as he rushed to help his sister.

Together, Xiaodan and Aang used Airbending to remove a large mat of the moss-like grass then they both took a corner and moved back over to Appa. Each of them grabbed a corner and leapt over Appa, covering him with the moss-like grass.

"Now you look just like a little hill with horns! Bye, buddy!" Aang said as he and Xiaodan raced after their friends.

Appa rumbled lowly and Momo briefly peeked out from under the small mat of moss-like grass he was hiding under next to Appa.

Xiaodan, Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph walked towards the edge of the cliff that over looked the river.

Toph frowned slightly and tilted her head, "I don't feel anything. Where is the village?"

"It's in the middle of the river!" Sokka exclaimed in surprise as he pointed at the village.

"Sure is!"

The five teens started in surprise and peered down, staring at the older man in a red and orange hat standing on a ferry at the bottom of the cliff.

"My name's Dock." The man greeted them with a slight grin, "Mind if I ask who you are?"

"We're um..." Katara faltered slightly then continued, "From the Earth Kingdom colonies."

"Wow...Colonials." Dock muttered then he gestured towards the ferry he was standing on, "Hop on, I'll give you a ride into town."

The five shared a look before heading down the path towards the ferry, where they then climbed onto the punt boat. Dock used the punt pole to push the boat away from the shore and further into the filthy river, using the long pole to propel them towards the village.

"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asked curiously from her spot beside Aang near the back of the punt boat and in front of Dock, her gaze settling on the village.

"Because we're a fishing town." Dock replied matter-of-factly as he swung the pole over the five teens' heads to the right side, causing them to duck, then he pointed towards a Fire Nation factory protruding from the cliff side some distance away, "At least that's ho it was before the factory moved in."

"Army makes their metal there." Dock explained with sadness, "Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive."

Xiaodan looked at the factory with distaste, anger flaring up inside her as she stared at the waste that was being discharged from it. Aang and Katara shared a sad look, then turned back to stare at the approaching village.

Xiaodan hopped off the punt boat nimbly once it reached the village then she helped Dock secure the little boat to one of the posts while Aang and Katara climbed onto the dock and Sokka pulling Toph up after him.

"Thanks for the ride." Aang said politely and he waved at Dock over his shoulder as he and his friends wandered further into the village.

"Look at this place." Katara whispered as she looked around at the poor villagers, "It's so sad."

"It's horrible..." Xiaodan murmured in agreement, her orange eyes wide with distress as she took in the state of the villagers, all sickly and starving.

Katara looked down, "We have to do something to help."

"No, we can't waste our time here." Sokka protested and he waved his hand dismissively at the shocked and outraged expressions on Xiaodan's and Katara's faces, "We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are own their own."

Katara glared at her brother's retreating back then chased after him, grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.

"These people are starving! But you'd turn your back on them?" She snapped at her brother, placing her hands on her hips, "How can you be so cold and heartless?"

Xiaodan slipped around the two siblings to stand between Aang and Toph, wrapping her arms around their shoulders. Toph shifted slightly and grabbed the older girl's hand hanging over her shoulder, squeezing it slightly while Aang wrapped an arm around Xiaodan's waist. Xiaodan smiled, a sad but thankful smile, and the three stared at Sokka and Katara quietly.

"I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic." Sokka defended himself, waving his arms around slightly, "We can't go around helping ever rinky-dink town we wander into." He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his sister smugly while Xiaodan and Aang guided Toph closer to him and his sister, "We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord."

Toph slapped her hand over Sokka's mouth and snarked, "Hey, loud mouths! Maybe we should be a little quieter when talking about 'taking out the Fire Lord'."

"Yeah," Xiaodan agreed drily, "I don't think they heard you in the capital city..."

Sokka made a face at the white-haired girl and pulled Toph's hand off his mouth then he turned towards his sister.

"C'mon, Katara, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first."

Katara looked over at Xiaodan with a pleading expression, but the white-haired girl shrugged and held her hands up helpless.

"I'm not going to say, Sokka's right, and I would love to help these people, but I don't know if there's anything we can actually do for them."

Katara frowned and looked away, her tone reluctant, "I guess so."

"Let's just get what we need and go." Aang suggested gently and he smiled at Katara, who smiled back.

Together the group wandered through the village towards the center where there was an outdoor market stall, Dock standing behind the counter wearing a different hat.

"Hey, Dock." Sokka greeted the man as he and the others approached the counter, "You work here too?"

"I'm not Dock." Dock said with a grin as he turned to face the five teens, "I'm Xu! Dock's my brother."

"Er...what?" Xiaodan questioned, quirking a brow and giving the man a strange look, while the others stared at the older man in confusion.

"But we just saw you. You're even wearing the same clothes." Aang stated and he tugged on his own clothes, then he pointed to the man's pointy hat, which was yellow and red, "The only difference is your hat."

"Dock works on the docks." The Xu explained and he pointed to the docks behind the five teens, "That's why they call him, 'Dock', and I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu'!"

Aang scratched his head in confusion, "I don't get it."

"Me neither." Xu said with a shrug then he ducked down behind the counter, pulling out a crate filled with gray, rancid-smelling seafood and putting it on the counter, "What can I getcha?"

Xiaodan recoiled, wrinkling her nose and sticking her tongue out in disgust. Katara, Aang, and Sokka stared at the contents of the crate with similar expressions.

"Hey, I'll give you a special deal." Xu said excitedly, "If you buy three fish, I'll give you a clam for free."

Sokka reached out and pushed down on one of the clams, grimacing in disgust as mucus gushed out of it. Behind him, Xiaodan gagged and covered her mouth and nose with hand while Aang and Katara recoiled, both muttering in disgust.

"We'll just take the fish." Sokka said as he picked up three fish carefully, handing them to Xu-Dock and he began to wrap them in paper, "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?"

Xu-Dock held out the wrapped fish to Katara, who took them carefully, then he ducked down behind the counter again. He popped back up a moment later, wearing his square, orange and red hat again.

"Hey, colonials! My brother says you need a lift." Dock said brightly as he hopped over the counter and began walking towards the dock.

Xiaodan glanced over at Sokka and twirled her finger near her temple, causing the Water Tribe boy to snicker quietly and shake his head before he followed Dock to the docks. Xiaodan slipped an arm around Toph's shoulder and guided the younger girl after Sokka and Dock, Katara and Aang trailing behind them.

A young boy suddenly ran up to Katara and touched her elbow, causing her to pause.

"Can you spare some food?" The little boy asked quietly.

Katara crouched down and unwrapped the fish, handing the little boy one of the fish.

"I wish I could help more." She murmured sadly as she watched the little boy run towards a sickly looking woman, showing her the fish with a proud smile, then she turned and followed her friends and brother towards Dock's punt boat.

Xiaodan watched quietly as Toph and Aang used Waterbending and Earthbending to separate the pollutants from the water they had collected in a large barrel. Aang passed the clean water to Katara, who Waterbended it into the large crock that was resting over the cooking fire to boil it.

"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule." Sokka griped as he paced past Katara, dripping the bowl he cared into the boiling water, "It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track."

"Finagle away, oh schedule master." Toph quipped sarcastically as she and Aang sat down in front of Sokka.

Xiaodan leapt of Appa's head and handed Katara two of the four bowls she was holding then she dipped the bowls she was holding in the crock.

"Well, for starters, it looks like we'll need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day." Sokka stated after he had laid his schedule out flat on the ground.

"Forty-three minutes?" Katara asked skeptically as she passed Aang a bowl of noodles before taking a seat beside him.

"That's really precise..." Xiaodan muttered, rolling her eyes slightly before handing the second bowl she was carrying to Toph and taking a seat beside the blind girl.

"Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for invasion and the eclipse," Sokka explained drily as he pointed to various spots on his schedule then he looked at the four sitting across from him with a stern expression, "Which, by the way, only lasts eight minutes. And we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early!"

Toph scoffed and fell onto her back, "Well, I'm not waking up early."

"Here, here!" Xiaodan quipped, raising her bowl in agreement.

"Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks." Sokka snarked as he crossed his arms and looked away from his friends and sister.

"What?" Aang demanded indignantly.

"No way!" Katara protested in annoyance

"Not gonna happen, Sokka!" Xiaodan snapped, giving the Water Tribe boy the stink eye.

"Forget it!" Toph growled as she sat back up, her brows furrowed in irritation.

A sly look suddenly appeared on Sokka's face and he turned to look at the other four teens, "I got it, how's this from now on, we'll take our food breaks and potty breaks at the same time!"

Katara, Toph, and Xiaodan stared at Sokka with disgusted expressions, while Aang spat out a mouthful of noodles in disgust and shock.

"Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient." Sokka defended his idea as he rolled up his schedule, "Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning."

Katara's disgusted expression became distraught and she stared into her bowl of noodles in dismay.

The next morning Appa laid on his side, groaning and rumbling in discomfort while Katara checked him out.

"What's the matter, Katara?" Aang asked worriedly as he leapt off the rock he'd been lounging on, landing beside the Water Tribe girl in front of Appa's face, Toph and Xiaodan joining him and Katara a few moments later.

"I think Appa's sick." Katara replied, her brow furrowing with worry.

"What?" Sokka squawked in panic as leapt out of Appa's saddle and rushed towards the other four, "Appa's sick? That's awful!"

Xiaodan gave him a strange look before returning her attention to the sky bison, rubbing his fuzzy cheek gently.

"Wow, Sokka, I didn't realize you cared so much." Toph commented in surprise as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Of course I care. I might as well just throw our schedule away now!" Sokka cried out in distress and he pulled out his schedule.

Xiaodan stood and fold her arms over her chest, glaring at Sokka along with Katara, Aang, and Toph. Sokka faltered and quickly put his schedule away then rushed to Appa's side.

"And I'm concerned because my big, furry friend doesn't feel well." The Water Tribe boy said in a sweet voice as he rubbed his cheek against Appa's.

"He must have gotten sick from being in the polluted water." Toph stated idly and Xiaodan frowned slightly with worry.

"He doesn't look sick." Aang commented and he looked at the sky bison concernedly, "You okay, buddy?"

Appa groaned in reply and Aang reached inside his mouth, pulling out Appa's purple tongue.

"Well that's not normal." Xiaodan murmured, her brows high on her forehead as she stared at the sky bison's purple tongue.

"His tongue is purple! That can't be good!" Aang exclaimed in mild panic and he turned to face Katara with pleading eyes, "Katara, can you heal him?"

Katara stepped forward and ran her hands over Appa's face and tongue then she shook her head, "It looks like he needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."

Momo leapt off Appa's back and landed on the sky bison's tongue, then he began to lick Appa's purple tongue.

"No, Momo!" Xiaodan chided the lemur sternly as she plucked him off Appa's tongue, holding him up by the scruff of his neck, "That's gross, Momo."

Xiaodan looked around the suddenly bustling and lively village in surprise, blinking when she saw a villager pole-vault from one house to another.

"Is it just me, or does this place seem different?" Toph asked curiously as she walked beside Xiaodan, her hand resting on the older girl's arm.

"Yeah, are the people...happier?" Aang wondered and the five watched as a little boy ran past them, bouncing a ball on his knees.

Xiaodan caught Katara smiling to herself and she eyes the slightly younger girl curiously for a moment before following Sokka and Aang towards Xu-Dock's market stand.

"Hey, Xu, what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asked as he leaned against the counter.

Xu sipped from a ladle before turning towards the teens, "Ah, something amazing happened last night. Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person...the Painted Lady."

"The Painted who now?" Katara questioned in confusion as she looked at the older man.

"The Painted Lady." Xu said again and he placed a miniature statuette of a robed woman in a large brimmed hat with red lines painted on her face and shoulders, a yellow crescent moon on her forehead.

"She's part of our town's lore." Xu explained as he gently rubbed the statuette with a cloth, "They say she's a river spirit who watched over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend. Until now."

"See, we don't need to help these people, they already have someone to help them." Sokka told his sister with a grin then he turned back to Xu, "All we need is medicine for our sick friend."

"Medicine? Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory." Xu replied apologetically, "That's why there's so many sick people in our village."

"Looks like we need to stay another night so Appa can rest." Katara commented with feigned nonchalance.

"I guess you're right." Sokka sighed then looked at Xu, "You got any more food to sell?"

Xu disappeared under the counter and reappeared a moment later, holding a fish in each hand, "Would you like the one-headed fish, or the two-headed fish."

"Ee..."Xiaodan muttered and made a face when Xu turned the fish in his left hand sideways, revealing its second head.

Sokka pondered the two fish for a moment, "Two-headed!"

Xiaodan sighed and covered her face with her hand, while Katara, Aang, and Toph lowered their heads and shook their heads at Sokka.

"What?" Sokka questioned obliviously as he held the fish out to the other four, "You get more for your money that way."

"Ugh!" Xiaodan backed away with Toph then the two ran back towards the dock, Aang and Katara chasing after them.

Sokka stared after them for a moment then ran after them, still holding up the polluted and mutated fish.

Later that night, as the village slept, a figure resembling the Painted Lady glided over the water on a carpet of fog. She entered the village silently on bare feet, her brown robes rustling faintly as she moved towards a large hut where several of the sick villagers slept on the floor.

Stepping into the hut, the Painted Lady knelt beside the villager closest to the door and a blue glow flashed from her hands. She moved to each of the villagers in turn, healing them with the blue glow until she came to a thin, sickly woman at the back who was sleeping beside a young boy with a scar on his shoulder. The spirit leaned over the woman, her hands flashing blue then she straightened.

The young boy blinked his eyes open just as the Painted Lady turned to leave the hut and he silently followed her out of the hut.

"Thank you, Painted Lady." The little boy said gratefully.

The fire stops and, without turning around, nods her head in acknowledgement then she leapt of the edge of the dock, disappearing into the fog. The little boy rushed forward and stared into the murky, untouched water after the fog had cleared.

The next morning, Sokka stepped up to outdoor market stall counter, where Dock was polishing the little statuette with a cloth.

"Hey, Dock. Is Xu around?" Sokka asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Let me check." Dock replied and he tossed the rag over his shoulder then he ran around the shop, ducking beneath the counter at the back of the market stall.

The five teens watched as he reappeared wearing Xu's pointy, yellow and orange hat then he ran back behind the counter in front of the teens.

"Hey, there!" Xu greeted the group with a grin, "Back again, are ya?"

Toph shoved Sokka out of the way, "We need more food." She said flatly and she slammed some money on the counter then turned and leaned her back against it, "Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he's better."

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Xu commented as he took the money and placed a platter of polluted clams, on the counter, "Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend."

Xiaodan stared down at the clams like they were rabid platypus-bears, her nose scrunched up in distaste. Sokka peered at the clams with an annoyed expression.

"And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack, and we'll all have a sing-along." He commented sarcastically as he picked up the platter of polluted clams.

"Yeah, may be!" Xu said after he had stopped sipping out of his ladle, Sokka's sarcasm going right over his head, "You know, last night she visited us again. Healed most of our sick folks."

Aang looked around the bustling village, "Is that why this place seems so festive?"

The five watched as several villagers raised a large statue of the Painted Lady in the town square, the other villagers cheering and applauding when it was up.

"Yep, it's all because of the Painted Lady."

"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady?" Katara wondered in awe, her hands clasped beneath her chin then she looked sheepishly around, "I mean...spirit?"

Xiaodan eyed her curiously, a niggling suspicion forming at the back of her mind, but she shrugged it away, "It is pretty amazing."

"Yeah, well, I hope she returns every night." Sokka said dismissively, "Otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was."

Katara whirled around to look at her brother in annoyance, "Why would you say that? Look how much better off these people are!"

"Yeah, now, but without her they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves." Sokka retorted with a shrug and he leaned casually against the stall counter, "If she really wanted to help, she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory."

He straightened and began waving his arms and gesturing mockingly to indicate explosive spirit magic, "Oooooh...Bwoom!"

At the end of the counter, Aang crossed his arms and scoffed, giving Sokka a snide look.

"Spirit magic doesn't work that way, Sokka." The young Avatar stated matter-of-factly, "It's more like...Woooooo..." He began waving his body and raised his arms in the air, making similar gestures as Sokka had to indicate spirit magic, "Phooosh!"

Sokka grinned and walked over to Aang, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and combined their imitations.

"Woooooooo!"

Xiaodan giggled and quickly covered her mouth when Katara scowled at her before storming away from the group to stand at the edge of the dock. The Water Tribe girl glared at the factory, her blue eyes narrowing determination.

Later that night, Katara opened her eyes and quickly sat up, looking around the campsite to check that her brother and friends were asleep then she slipped silently out of her sleeping back. Carefully, she stuffed her sleeping back with dried grass to disguise her absence then she grabbed the makeshift Painted Lady costume, donning the ragged gown and she slipped silently out of the campsite.

Katara crouched beside a puddle of muddy water and Waterbended it into ice against a rock to make a mirror, then she began to apply the markings on her face and shoulders with red paint. Once she was done with the paint, she slipped on the wide, conical hat that had a sheer white veil that covered her face. Straightening, Katara dressed as the Painted Lady glided quietly away from the camp towards the village.

As she passed by Appa, Momo's ears twitched and the lemur sat up. Momo chittered in curiosity when he caught sight of the strange figure leaving the camp and he leapt off Appa's back and onto Aang's stomach.

Aang grunted in surprise and jerked awake when Momo landed on his stomach. He sat up and rubbed his eyes while Momo jumped off him and onto the ground, still staring at the figure.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Aang muttered then he looked in the same direction the lemur was, blinking in surprise when he saw the robed figure gliding away, "It's her!"

Resting on Appa's head, Xiaodan sat up tiredly and peered down at Aang in confusion, "Aang?"

"It's alright, go back to sleep, Xia." Aang said hurriedly as he tied on his headband and rushed after who he believed to be the Painted Lady, "I'm just going to talk to the Painted Lady."

Xiaodan stared at his retreating back blankly for a few minutes then shook her head and laid back down, "Too tired for this craziness..."

"Hello, Painted Lady Spirit!" Aang shouted as he obliviously ran after Katara in her Painted Lady disguise.

Katara froze and glanced back over her shoulder briefly before rushing towards the water. Aang frowned and quickly used Airbending to run after the figure faster.

Katara quickly climbed up a hill and ran towards the water, Aang easily keeping up with her.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you, but my friend's sick and we're on kind of a tight schedule" Aang called out as he jumped up the hill and followed the figure back down the hill as she crossed the water, "Wait! But I'm a great bridge between your world and mine!" Aang quickly froze some of the river water to form stepping stones to cross the river after the figure, "I know Hei Bai! We're close personal friends!"

Katara surfed across the water faster and quickly stepped onto the docks once she reached the village. She faltered when she noticed Aang's reflection in the water and she looked up, seeing him run across a roof.

"Heeey!" Aang called out, only to yelp in pain when he ran into a pole.

Katara flinched in sympathy but continued through the village until she reached the river on the other side the she surfed towards the cliffs the factory positioned on. She stopped on the shore of the river and looked back at the river. She barely held in a gasp when upside down Aang's face suddenly in front of her.

"My name's Aang." He introduced himself as he jumped down in front of her then he lifted his head back slightly to reveal his arrow tattoo, "I'm the Avatar."

Katara silently cleared her throat and replied in a thin, breathy voice, "Well, hello Avatar. I wish I could talk, but I am very busy."

"Yeah, me too. I hate that." Aang said with a slight sigh then he squinted and looked at Katara's face through the veil, still not recognizing her, "You know, you're a really pretty spirit. I don't meet to many spirits, but the ones I do meet...not very attractive." He squinted further and tilted his head in attempt to look under the hat.

Katara gave a nervous, high-pitched giggle, "Thank you, but-"

"You seem familiar too..." Aang cut her off, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"A lot of people say that."

"No, you really seem familiar." Aang stated again, his suspicion growing.

"Look, I really should get going." Katara said in her disguised voice then she covered her face and ran around Aang.

Aang pursed his lips and sent a blast of air at who he believed to be the Painted Lady, sending her hat up into the air and revealing Katara, who yanked the hat back on her head.

"Katara?"

Katara winced guiltily and turned to face Aang, "Hi, Aang."

"You're the Painted Lady?" Aang asked in shock then he pointed at her, "But how?"

"I wasn't her at first, I was just trying to help the village." Katara explained as she took the hat off her head, "But since everyone thought that's who I was anyway, I guess I just kinda became her."

She dropped her hat on the ground and hung her head.

"So you've been sneaking out at night?" Aang demanded then a thought occurred to him, "Wait, is Appa even sick?"

Katara looked away sheepishly, "He might be sick of the purple berries I've been feeding him, but other than that he's fine!"

"I can't believe you lied to everyone, so you could help these people."

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have..." Katara trailed off guiltily.

"No, I think it's great!" Aang exclaimed happily, "You're like a secret hero!"

"Well, if you wanna help, there's one more thing I have to do."

Aang looked at Katara curiously and she smiled back at him.

"You wanna destroy this factory?" Aang asked in surprise as he and Katara stopped running along river's edge and he stared at the polluted water coming from the factory's drain pipes.

"Yes. Sokka was just kidding, but he was right." Katara replied determinedly, "Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently."

"And it's also a good way of possibly getting into a world of trouble."

Katara and Aang jumped and whirled around, staring at Xiaodan in surprise as she jumped off the cliff ledge she was perched on.

"Oh yes," The white-haired girl drawled when she saw the two younger teens' stricken expressions, "You areso busted."

"Xia, I can explain-" Katara began but the older girl cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"We'll about this talk later, missy." Xiaodan stated firmly, then she smiled slyly at the two, "Right now, we have a factory to get rid of."

Aang and Katara shared relieved smiles.

Xiaodan, Katara, and Aang raced into the factory together on silent feet then they separated and moved to different sides of the factory. Katara used Waterbending to slice the metal hooks that hung barrels of magma while Aang and Xiaodan, wearing protective gloves, overturned bigger hanging barrels, both of them grinning widely at their handiwork.

Xiaodan jumped onto the railings that surrounded the platform and leapt across the lava covered floor, propelling herself to the other railing with Airbending while simultaneously using Airbending to cool and harden the lava beneath her.

Aang, using Earthbending, broke apart the pipe system in the factory, Xiaodan coming to help him by Airbending the broken pipes into various pieces of equipment. Standing near several windows, Katara raised her arms high above her head and Waterbending a huge wave from the river through the windows and flooded the factory, cooling and hardening any lava Xiaodan missed.

Satisfied with their work, the three teens quickly escaped the factory as explosions rocked the constructions and the factory waste stopped draining into the river from the pipes.

Xiaodan, Katara, and Aang walked casually back to the campsite early the next morning after Katara had taken off her Painted Lady costume and they had cleaned themselves up. Aang laughed and made exploding noises, gesturing with his hands and causing Xiaodan to giggle quietly.

"Shhh..." Katara hissed at them quietly as they walked around the large boulder on the outskirts of their camp, "We don't want to wake Sokka!"

Xiaodan bit her lip and clasped her hands behind her back when she saw a very awake Sokka and Toph standing in the middle of the camp.

"Kinda too late for that..." The white-haired girl muttered and Katara turned around.

"Hi, Sokka!" Katara squeaked in surprise and she quickly tried to look innocent, "We were just out on a morning walk."

"Oh, really? A morning walk?" Sokka demanded in an angry and disappointed tone and he dumped the dried grass out of Katara's sleeping bag, "I know you're the Painted Lady, I know you've been sneaking out at night, and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him," He paused to stick out his purple tongue, "Purplizing tongue berries!"

Beside him, Toph stuck out her own purple tongue and held up a bag of purple berries, which Momo began to eat after he jumped onto the blind girl's shoulder.

"Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy." Sokka snapped at his sister, "We're leaving right now!"

Katara bit her lip and walked past Sokka sadly, the Water Tribe boy watching her go, then he whirled around to face Xiaodan and Aang.

"And how long did you two know about this?"

"Hey, I just found out his morning!" Aang replied defensively then he sprinted away with Airbending.

Sokka glared at Xiaodan, who crossed her arms and stared back at him defiantly.

"Don't give me that look." The white-haired girl stated drily, "I didn't know for sure until this morning either."

Sokka threw his hands in the air and stalked away, grumbling to himself.

Xiaodan paused in her packing and straightened, her brow furrowing when she heard a loud buzzing sound.

"What's the sound?" She wondered aloud then she stood and walked towards the edge of the cliff, her eyes widening when she saw several jet skis speeding towards the village.

A few moments later, Katara, Sokka, and Aang joined her and the four stared in dismay at the jet skis.

"What's going on?" Toph asked curiously as she approached the four.

"Fire Nation soldiers are heading towards the village!" Aang exclaimed in horror.

Sokka jerked his head around to stare at his sister with narrowed eyes, "What did you do?!"

"I kind of destroyed their factory."

"You what?!"

"It was your idea!" Katara snapped defensively.

"I was joking! I also said to use spirit magic and made funny noises!" Sokka shouted and he slapped his forehead, "Did you even think this through? The army is gonna blame the villagers! They're headed there right now to get revenge!"

Beside Aang, Xiaodan winced and closed her eyes, guilt causing her stomach to tie itself in knots.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Katara demanded angrily.

"Leave!" Sokka shouted like it was obvious, "Do nothing!"

Katara looked away then turned to glare at her brother, "No, I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!" She stood up and raised her chin determinedly, "I'm going down to that village, and I am gonna do whatever I can."

Katara stomped away and Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before standing and racing after her.

"Wait!" Sokka called out and he put his hand on Katara's shoulder, stopping her, "I'm coming, too."

"I thought you didn't want to help." Katara said in vague confusion.

"You need me." Sokka replied simply, "And I will never turn my back on you."

"Sokka, you really do have a heart." Katara teased then she hugged her brother tightly.

Aang sniffled and wiped tears from his eyes, "He really does have a heart, doesn't he?"

The young Airbender turned towards Toph and Xiaodan for confirmation, but Toph merely elbowed him roughly, knocking him to the ground with a quietthump! Beside Toph, Xiaodan snorted and shook her head, covering her eyes with a hand.

At the village docks, General Mung, the factory overseer stood with several soldiers.

"I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace." The general stated in a booming voice as he faced the crowd of poor villagers, "But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine...and then you destroy our factory."

"We didn't do any of that." Dock said as he popped out of the crowd then disappeared and reappeared somewhere else wearing Xu's hat, "Yeah, the Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one that healed our sick, not your medicine."

"Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it." General Mung said mockingly as he held up a statuette of the Painted Lady, "And I suppoed she drew the army embelm on your containers, too." He threw the statuette at the container roughly, smashing it.

The crowd gasped in shock and backed away slightly.

"This is a town of thieves and liars!" The general roared then sent a fire blast at a nearby house before turning back to the villagers, his voice mocking, "Where's your Painted Lady now? We're going to cure the world of this wretched village."

General Mung gestured with his hand and the soldiers began to demolish the village while the villagers watched helplessly. Two soldiers on a jet ski zoomed past the dock just and one soldier threw a hook and chain at one of the support pillars, yanking it out and collapsing one of the houses as the jet ski drove away.

The two more soldiers standing on the dock lit a large flammable ball perched on a buoy in the river, but suddenly a gust of wind blew the fire out. General Mung looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes while the two soldiers looked at each other in confusion then they relit the ball, only for another gust of wind to blow it out.

"Lit it again!" General Mung barked furiously.

The two soldiers lit the ball again, but the fire was blown out again a moment later. Suddenly, eerie flute music began to float over the river.

"Look at that!" One of the soldiers exclaimed in shock and he pointed towards a heavy fog that was rapidly pouring towards the village, "Where's it coming from?"

"I don't know." Another soldier muttered in reply as he stared at the fog warily, "Something strange is going on."

An ominous growling noise suddenly echoed over the river as the fog became denser.

"It's the Painted Lady." The little boy with the scar on his shoulder whispered then he grinned slyly and his tone became ominous, "She's coming..."

Mung whirled around and snarled, "There is no Painted Lady!"

A repetitive thudding noise as if created by giant footsteps joined the eerie flute music and the ominous growling.

Far back in a large indentation in the cliff out sight of the village Toph created the loud thudding noise, by elevating and dropping a large boulder with Earthbending while Appa stood behind and growled fiercely. Sitting on the ledge just outside the indentation, Sokka played the flute, producing eerie, musical noises.

"What is that sound?" A female soldier wondered aloud back on the village docks and she looked around warily.

"Maybe it is her." A male soldier whispered warily.

Suddenly the thick fog parted, revealing a woman in a tattered brown gown and a veil, wide-brimmed hat.

Dressed in full Painted Lady regalia, Katara waited a moment on the water then she rushed towards the soldiers on the docks with a burst of Waterbending, the move so sudden the soldiers instinctively flinched. Katara stepped onto the dock and approached the general and his soldiers slowly.

"Do something!" General Mung ordered furiously and he pushed two of his soldiers forward.

The two soldiers unsheathed their swords and timidly drew closer to Katara. Suddenly, she looked up at the soldiers and a powerful blast of air surged up from beneath their feet, throwing off their helms. The two soldiers spun around and ran away as quickly as they could, their helms falling to the wooden dock on either side of General Mung.

Hiding beneath the dock, Aang and Xiaodan grinned at each other then peered through the spaces between the wooden planks, watching Katara and soldiers carefully.

"Stand your ground!" General Mung ordered the remaining soldiers.

Katara's eyes narrowed slightly and she walked closer to the general. She held one arm parallel to the dock then swung the other one, Waterbending two jet skis into a nearby cliff with a powerful burst of water. She straightened and slowly raised one of her hands towards the remaining soldiers, who flinched and jumped onto the remaining jet skis, speeding off a moment later and leaving General Mung alone on the dock.

General Mung snarled and took a Firebending stance, "I'll take care of you myself."

The general Firebending a an arc of fire at Katara, who remained still. Aang still concealed beneath the dock with Xiaodan, sucked in deep breath and blew it upwards, sending Katara flying into the sky on a column of air, the arc of fire passing harmlessly beneath her. Xiaodan punched one fist forward, rending the dock in two with a powerful blast of air that sent General Mung flying into the river.

As the general floundered, Katara in her Painted Lady disguise rose from the polluted water before him and raised her arms threateningly.

"Leave this village," She ordered harshly, "And nevercome back!"

General Mung blanched and desperately swam away from, climbing onto the back of a stray jet ski as it passed by then it sped off.

Across the river, Sokka rowed a boat towards the village while Toph sat quietly in front of him. The villagers cheered and applauded as who they believed to be the Painted Lady returned to the dock. Sokka and Toph reached the dock just as Xiaodan and Aang climbed out from under it.

"I knew you'd come." The little boy with the scar on his shoulder said happily as he stood beside his mother.

"Thank you!" Dock exclaimed from the front of the crowd.

"Painted Lady, you're the best!" One of the villagers shouted happily.

"Me and my brothers really owe you a lot!" Dock stated with a grin as he approached the disguised Katara, then he frowned when he saw the faded Painted Lady marks on her face, "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial girl!"

Katara's eyes widened and she touched her face, looking at her fingers when she realized her make-up was smudged and faded in some places.

"Yeah," The little boy exclaimed indignantly, "You're the lady that gave me a fish."

"You've been tricking us!" Dock snapped angrily, "You're a Waterbender!"

"She's a Waterbender!" One of the villagers gasped in outrage.

"How dare you act like our Painted Lady!" Another villager shouted and the crowd surged towards Katara angrily.

"Maybe she's a Waterbender, but she was just trying to help you." Sokka stated hurriedly as he rushed forward and stood protectively in front of his sister, "Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her!"

"Sokka, it's okay." Katara said soothingly then she stepped forward while Sokka moved back and she addressed the villagers, "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."

"She's right." Dock mused thoughtfully, "But what should we do."

Toph slipped into the crowd of villagers and called out in a deep voice, "Maybe we can clean the river!"

"Yeah, we can clean the river!" Dock exclaimed and the villagers cheered in agreement then Dock looked Katara again, "Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a Waterbender."

"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you?" Sokka asked as he approached Katara and Dock.

"No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty." Dock said with a grin then he shrugged slightly, "My brother X, on the other hand, ohh, he's a blabbermouth."

Sokka palmed his face and shook his head, Xiaodan stepping up beside him and patting his shoulder consoling.

"So, Dock, are you gonna help us clean?" Katara asked curiously.

"No, ma'am. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." Dock replied then he brazenly ripped off his square orange and red hat, revealing a bundled up straw hat that popped open a moment later, "Alright, I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done!"

"Aha, I knew it! I knew you were the same guy!" Aang exclaimed as he stepped between Katara and Sokka so he was closer to Bushi, "You're the shop owner andthe boat guy."

"Oh, you much be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu." Bushi commented with a sage nod.

"No, I just saw you!" Aang snapped in annoyance, "You switched your hats and called yourself a different name!"

"Oh, you know who does that? My brother, Dock." Bushi said then he leaned towards Aang and whispered conspiratorially, "He crazy."

Aang fumed silently in annoyance as Bushi/Dock/Xu walked off, chuckling to himself. Xiaodan giggled quietly and put her hand on Aang's shoulder.

"Just let it go, Aang, let it go."

The five teens helped the villagers clean the river, Katara bending large amounts of water into a large vat after Aang and Toph used Earthbending to separate the pollutants, which they then put in a large boat. Sokka and Xiaodan used nonbending means along with the villagers to help clean the river and as the day continued to pass, the river water became cleaning and cleaning until there wasn't any more pollutants.

Later that night, Katara wandered away from the campsite towards the shore where she kneeled and dipped her hands into the clean water. Suddenly clouds of fog appeared and Katara stared in alarm until the ethereal figure of the real Painted Lady emerged from the fog.

The spirit smiled faintly at Katara, "Thank you."

Katara stared in shock as the spirit faded along with the fog then she smiled and stood, heading back to the camp.