To anyone who has read this so far, I have changed Cassie's name to Rei.

~~~

A knock suddenly sounded at the door. Airon dematerialized and Rei placed down the book. Aang jumped up and ran to the door. It was Joo Dee.

"Hello, Aang, and Katara, and Sokka, and Toph, and Rei." Joo Dee greeted.

"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka asked and he stepped closer. Joo Dee got thrown in jail? That I would love to see, Rei snickered.

"What? Jail? Of course not. The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage." Joo Dee spoke with her forever emotional voice and face.

"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party." Toph made clear.

"Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing." Everyone frowned at that.

"But then they replaced you with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee." Katara said suspiciously.

"I'm Joo Dee." She stated, shocked.

"Why are you here?" Aang demanded.

"Dropping fliers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city. Not without proper clearance." Joo Dee spoke.

"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka explained.

"You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters." Joo Dee frowned.

"We don't care about the rules and we're not asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" Aang yelled angrily, pushing Joo Dee out of the door and slamming the door shut. Airon materialized.

"That might come back to bite us in the blubber." Sokka laughed sheepishly.

"I don't care! From now on, we do whatever it takes to find Appa!" Aang clenched his fist.

"Yeah, let's break some rules!" Toph said, breaking down a wall with her earthbending. Rei and Airon laughed loudly while the others stared at her with indifferent expressions. Katara shook her head at Toph before looking over at Rei and Airon, realizing both of them had open books in front of them.

"What are those?" She asked.

"Oh? Books we took from Wan Shi Tong's library. We're researching Airon's heritage." Airon peered over at her curiously. The truth, but also a lie. That's smart.

"What is deer man anyway? Some sort of ghost mutation?" Sokka sked, throwing his arms up dramatically. Rei shook her head and closed the book, making sure the others didn't see the cover. She placed it in her backpack as well as the one Airon was reading. She stood up.

"We're going out." She announced, swinging her backpack onto her back.

"Huh? Again?" Sokka asked, referring to the previous night when she came back near midnight. She nodded.

"We're meeting up with someone and they're busy until late. We're hoping to find some info on Appa." It wasn't entirely a lie. She did want to ask Iroh if he knew anything. They all hesitantly nodded. She and Airon then headed out. As she and the dematerialized Airon reached the tea house, Rei was suddenly tackled into a hug.

"I-Iroh?!" she gasped.

"Oh Rei, something wonderful has happened! I'm getting my own tea house in the Upper Ring!" Rei's eyes went wide.

"Really? That's wonderful!" She chuckled at him. He stepped away.

"Yes, I'm going to need a name. I was thinking 'The Tea Weevil', but that sounds stupid." He shook his head.

"And how's the Prince taking this information?" Iroh sighed.

"My nephew isn't quite all for it." He sighed.

"So when do you move?" Airon asked before realizing that Iroh probably didn't hear him in his dematerialized form. Rei chuckled.

"Can we maybe go inside?" Iroh nodded and they both entered the abandoned tea house. They went to the back where Airon materialized.

"So when do you move?" AIron repeated, causing Rei to laugh.

"Tomorrow, so I have to be packing now."

"We'll help," Rei offered before looking over to Airon and his big antlers. "Okay, I'll help." Iroh laughed and she helped him to pack.

"I wonder what I'm going to name the place. Any ideas?" Iroh asked.

"Hot and Spicy Tea House." Airon offered, giving them both a small glare. They both chuckled at him.

"We did warn you." Rei spoke. Airon shook his head.

"Well, what's your favourite tea?" Airon asked.

"Mine? That would have to be Jasmine tea." Iroh answered.

"Then you can put that in the name somewhere, like 'The Burning Jasmine' or 'Jasmine Kingdom." Airon explained.

"Jasmine Heart?" Rei offered.

"Oh! I know! The 'Jasmine Dragon.'" Iroh said. Rei nodded.

"Yes. Jasmine Dragon. I like it. Catchy."

"It's ironic." Airon spoke.

"Uncle?" They heard from the front of the shop. Rei sighed.

"I'm not looking forward to this." She ran her hand through her short hair. Iroh chuckled.

"You can sneak out of the back if you want." He offered. She thought about it before nodding. Airon dematerialized and Rei went past a corner.

"So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it." She heard Iroh say. She heard a swish of a paper.

"The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison." Rei halted. That must be one of the flyers! Airon's head appeared through a wall.

"We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us." Iroh tried to reason.

"Good things that are happening for you! Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?" Zuko yelled and Rei sighed silently. He's very different from what he was as a child; I understand now what Iroh meant. Rei made it towards the backdoor and exited.

"That conversation was rather short; you didn't get to ask what you wanted to. But do you think Zuko will cause trouble for us?"

"Possibly. Who knows what he'll do with that information," Rei sighed. "Let's just go home." Airon nodded and they made it back.  

"Wow, that was quick." Sokka commented as they entered.

"Yeah, we got interrupted. We'll go back at a later time." Rei answered.

The next day Rei and Airon went with the rest to help put up more posters, although Airon stayed invisible and didn't exactly do much.

"We'll split up to cover more area. Toph, I guess you should just come with me." Sokka spoke.

"Why? Because you think I can't put up posters on my own?!" Toph angrily takes the paintbrush of glue from Sokka and throws glue on the wall. She puts up a poster, but it is backward. "It's upside-down, isn't it? I'll just go with Sokka." Toph sighed, causing Rei to laugh. She liked Toph. She wasn't a 'girly girl'.

"I'll go with Katara." Rei said and they all went their separate ways. They were putting up posters in an open scare when a voice called out.

"Katara?" Rei turned around to see a boy approaching.

"Who's this guy?" Airon asked, tilting his head. Katara turned and gasped.

"I think I can help you," The boy said, walking closer with a confident look. Katara suddenly bended water at him from the river; the boy seemed shocked and held up his hands. "Katara, I've changed!" The wave hit him and it sent him back quite a distance. Rei's eyes went wide. O...kay? Katara bended up the water from the ground.

"Tell it to some other girl, Jet!" She bended him into the wall before freezing the water and sending them towards him.

"I'm guessing their not on the friendliest of terms." AIron spoke, allowing Rei to snicker. The boy, Jet, blocked the ice with his swords.

"I don't want to fight you, I'm here to help!" He yelled, desperately, before throwing his swords down and reaching for something behind his back. Katara quickly fires more ice crystals, which pinned him to the wall. Rei turned at the sound of steps. The rest of the team was approaching.

"Katara, what is it?" Sokka asked in a panic.

"Jet's back. We can't trust anything he says." Katara spoke, looking to Jet who remained quiet.

"But we don't even know why he's here!" Sokka countered.

"I don't care why he's here, whatever the reason is, it can't be good!"Katara yelled.

"I'm guessing it's Katara who hates this guy's guts." Airon said, Rei nodding in agreement.

"I'm here to help you find Appa!" He opened his hand to reveal one of the flyers. Aang studied the flyer before turning to Katara.

"Katara, we have to give him a chance."

"I swear, I've changed! I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control, but I don't even have the gang now! I've put all that behind me!" Jet swore.

"You're lying!" Katara accused. Toph walked towards the wall where she placed her hand down.

"He's not lying."

"How can you tell?" Sokka asked, curious. 

"I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there's a physical reaction. He's telling the truth." Toph answered. Rei smirked. That's a good trait to have.

"Katara, we don't really have any leads. If Jet says he can take us to Appa, we have to check it out."

"All right. But we're not letting you out of our sight." Katara agreed reluctantly, but gave off a warning. She pointed at him for emphasis before releasing him. Jet regained his footing and nodded.

"Follow me." He turned and walked, everyone following him reluctantly towards a warehouse. They entered the mostly empty warehouse except for a few sacks and a pile of canvas and rope.

"This is the place I heard about." Jet spoke.

"There's nothing here." Aang frowned. Katara prepared to waterbend in defence.

"If this is a trap-." Katara began.

"I told you, I work nearby! Two guys were talking about some giant furry creature they had, I figured it must be Appa!" Jet countered. Rei was suddenly nudged in the side. She turned to see Airon looking. She bended down and picked up the white fur from in front of his hooves.

"He was here!" She announced, showing it to Aang.

"We missed him." Aang said sadly. Suddenly, an old white haired man with a push-broom crossed behind Aang.

"They took that big thing yesterday. Shipped him out to some island. About time, I've been cleaning up fur, and various, uhhh ... leavings all day." The old man said, bringing hope to Aang.

"What island? Where's Appa?" He asked quickly.

"Foreman said some rich royal type on Whale Tail Island bought him up. Guess for a zoo or such. Though, could be the meat that'd be good." The man shrugged.

"We've got to get to Whaletail Island!" he paused " Where's Whaletail Island?" He asked Sokka who was examining a map.

"Far, very far," he placed the map down and pointed on it. "Here it is. It's near the South Pole, almost all the way back home."

"Aang, it will take us weeks just to get to the tip of the Earth Kingdom. And then we'll need to find a boat to get to the island." Katara made aware.

"I don't care. We have a chance to find Appa! We have to try!"

"Must be nice to visit an island. I haven't had a vacation for years." The old man sighed.

"Don't you have some more hair to clean up?" Katara hissed. Well that was pretty mean.

"Shuffle on, I get you. No more need for Old Sweepy ..." He left to the back of the warehouse.

"You're right Aang, right now our first concern has to be finding Appa. We can come back when we have him." Katara said confidently. Rei frowned. I don't think that will work.

"All right, let's get moving." Sokka said, packing the map away and standing up.

"I'll come with you." Jet announced.

"We don't need your help!" Katara yelled.

"Why won't you trust me?" Jet asked with a frown before following Sokka and Aang out.

"Gee, I wonder." Katara answered sarcastically.

"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" Toph asked as soon as Jet was gone. Rei peered over curiously.

"What ... no!" Rei chuckled.

"I can tell you're lying." Toph teased with a smile before Katara ran away. Airon laughed along with the two girls.

"Must've been an awful dating experience then." Rei said, remembering back to when Katara nearly killed him. Toph agreed before the three of them walked out. Rei suddenly halted and looked up at the sky. Iroh should be settled in by now. Toph stopped.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"I'm going to go see that friend of mine." Rei answered.

"But we know where Appa is." Rei halted. No... There's something wrong here.

"Maybe so but we still don't know what Lake Laogai is. I'll catch you later." Rei turned and walked away, the dematerialized Airon following her. As they walked around in the Upper Ring, in search of the 'Jasmine Dragon', they witnessed something interesting. In a dark street, a blue figure ran past a Dai Li agent.

"Out of my way, skinny!" the Blue Spirit yelled.

"That's a familiar voice, wouldn't you think?" Rei smirked and nodded. The agent prepared to use his rock glove, but paused when the disguised man turned into an alley. The agent ran after him into the alleyway. Rei sneaked towards the alley and looked into it. She saw the agent and the Blue Spirit. The agent fired his rock gloves at his chest and head, knocking off the stuffed figure's head and knocking it down. Rei frowned.

"Huh?" The agent asked, confused. Suddenly, the Blue Spirit, as known as 'Zuko', appeared behind him with a blade towards his neck.

"If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do what I say," The agent hesitantly nodded. "Take me to the bison." Zuko demanded. The agent spoke quietly before the two started to walk.

"Airon." Rei whispered. He nodded. They both started to follow. Airon stayed directly behind Zuko and the agents, invisible. Rei followed silently while hiding. They followed them all the way to what Rei recognized as Lake Laogai. Are you serious!? She wanted to yell in frustration. The agent earthbended and a passageway appeared in the water.

"He's down there." The agent spoke. Suddenly, a slicing sound was heard before the agent fell to the ground, dead. Zuko halted and turned to look at the tree Rei was hiding behind.

"You've been following me; why?" Rei sighed and swivelled around the tree and walked into the small clearing. She stretched her arm out to the side before bending onto one knee, her hand over her heart.

"My Prince." She heard Zuko sneer and smiled smugly to herself. She stood up. "It's rather obvious why." Zuko frowned.

"Stop talking like that, and don't call me a prince. That title has been taken from me." Rei stared at him blankly.

"Are you intending to use Appa as blackmail, or bait?" Rei wondered to herself, tilting her head. Since Zuko had the blue mask on, she couldn't see his expression.  "Your uncle would be ashamed."

"But my father would be proud." Zuko countered. Rei sighed.

"Why are you doing this? Even if I disapprove of your fighting style and your obsession over 'honour', why play dirty? You'll have many opportunities in the future," Zuko hesitated before walking over to the passageway. He opened the hatch and jumped in. Rei sighed. "Airon, stay here. I'm going after Appa." Rei said and ran towards the hatch, she jumped down. She stood still for a while and closed her eyes. She focused on the surrounding souls before locating Zuko's. She ran in that direction. She easily caught up to Zuko.

"Why are you following me?! Nothing you say can stop me, and you're not a bender so you'll not be able to stop me physically as well." Rei sighed before Zuko came to a stop. He turned to a door and looked through the bars.

"Appa?" Zuko turned to her for a second before opening the door. He stepped through and closed it behind him. She sighed and opened the door, stepping through as well. Inside, Appa was chained up to the wall. He looked up at them before grunting loudly.

"Expecting someone else?" Zuko retorted. Rei rolled her eyes and made it over towards Appa. Appa flinched and moved back up against the wall. She held her hand out and stood still. Appa narrowed his eyes at her before they went wide, almost with recognition. She stepped forward and placed her hand hesitantly on his head. He didn't move, so he started to rub his head before sitting in front of him, hugging him. All the while, Zuko stood still. He was determined that Rei could do nothing against him, since she was a weak non-bender, therefore he didn't really care what she did. Zuko stepped towards them, Appa suddenly on all six and growled loudly at him. He wanted to strike at Zuko but his chained legs held him back.

"You're mine now." Zuko spoke. Appa screeched loudly. Rei tried to calm him and whispered silently into his ear.

"Don't you worry, there's no way I'm letting Zuko take you. Aang's waiting for you, after all."Appa seemed to calm a bit. The door suddenly opened and Zuko went into a fighting stance. Suprisingly, Iroh entered.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked, surprised.

"So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask..." Iroh spoke, almost sarcastically. Zuko sighed and took of his mask.  

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep him locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?" Iroh asked with narrowed eyes. If the situation wasn't as serious, Rei would've laughed.

"First I have to get it out of here." Zuko answered.

"And then what!? You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!" Iroh yelled and Rei's eyes went wide. He's never been like this before. I'm glad I'm being left out of this conversation; I wouldn't want to go against either of them...

"I would have figured something out!" Zuko countered.

"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death!" Appa seemed distressed by all the yelling.

"I know my own destiny, Uncle!"

"Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?" Iroh asked, calmer but held a deathly tone.

"Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this!"

"I'm begging you, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you, and what do you want?" Iroh sounded so desperate. Rei casted her eyes away and focused on Appa, who couldn't read the situation so well anymore. Zuko suddenly screamed loudly, catching everyone off guard. He threw down his swords and his mask. Rei's eyes went wide.

"I don't know anymore!" Zuko loudly yelled before slumping to the ground. Everything remained silent, except for Zuko's breathing which gradually calmed. He suddenly stood up with a determined face. He walked over to Appa and lifted his hand. A flame appeared. Everyone seemed distressed by this.

"Zuko! Is this really what you want?!" Iroh yelled at him. Zuko stopped right in front of Appa. He hesitated before bending down, using his flames to burn off the chains. Relief washed over both Rei and Iroh, smiles settling. Iroh joined in and together they burned off the chains. Meanwhile, Rei looked for a way to get him out of here. Searching, she noticed that the ceiling had a sort of hook to it, as if it can swing open. Once they finished with the chains, Rei made the hook known to them. Zuko ran up the wall and jumped towards the hook, managing to unhook it before falling down. She turned to Appa, who looked at her curiously.

"Go." Appa took no hesitation in flying upwards and using his large back to push the ceiling open. As he flew out into the open, the ceiling fell back down with an incredibly loud sound, a slight tremor settling in the underground base.

"Let's go home." Iroh announced. Neither Zuko nor Rei had any argument. They both followed Iroh out. As soon as they got outside, Airon joined their side, materialized. Zuko didn't seem to care that a sudden white stag appeared, since his mind was elsewhere. 

"You did the right thing, nephew," Iroh spoke. Zuko looked down at his Blue Spirit mask. Iroh placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Leave it behind." Zuko walked to the edge and tossed the mask into the water, allowing it to descend to the bottom. Rei smiled happily at the scene. Maybe there's still hope for him, she thought, looking to Zuko.

"And what are you going to do now, Rei?" Iroh asked, turning towards her. Zuko turned as well. Rei sighed.

"I only travelled with the Avatar because Airon was captured, and stayed to repay them by helping get Appa back. I have no real reason to stay." She shrugged. Iroh nodded.

"Will you return to the Fire Nation?" Zuko questioned. Rei froze before shaking her head.

"No, not with this war. However..." she looked up, a confident look plastered on her face "I wish to see my brothers again. So maybe I will." Both Zuko and Iroh stared at her, emotionless.

"You're lucky. You have siblings who don't want you dead." Zuko commented.

"And you have an amazing guardian like Iroh," Rei threw back, looking to Iroh who had a faint blush on his face. Airon couldn't help but shake his head at the scene, a happy grin on his face. Rei turned around and started to walk, Airon joined her. Just before she entered the forest, she turned to them. "Goodbye Iroh, Zuko." She said before turning and walking away, Airon following at her side. Neither of them spoke until they were half way into the forest.

"Do you believe Zuko will ever change?" Airon asked. Rei nodded her head.

"Maybe not now, but someday. I believe the Zuko from his childhood still exists, somewhere." Airon nodded.

"And was that what you said true? That you wanted to go back to meet you brothers? If so, I'm all for it. I kinda wanna meet the guy I'm named after you know." Rei laughed loudly at that and nodded.

"Yes... but first we need to find the Lion Turtle. We've set that off long enough already," Airon nodded, agreeing. "Let's go back to the house. I need to pack." Airon lowered his head and Rei climbed on. They quickly flew towards the house and went inside. Rei went into the girls' room and stuffed her few outfits into her bag before exiting. She went into the kitchen and managed to stuff five apples into her bag, which looked like it was pregnant, before exiting the kitchen with four in her arms. She threw one towards Airon and ate one herself, keeping the other two at hand.

"Is that everything?" She asked, looking around. Airon nodded.

"Looks like it." Airon nodded his head. Rei sighed and shook her head slightly.

"Let's just leave; otherwise Sokka might attack me or something." She rolled her eyes. Airon nodded and they both exited the house. Rei climbed onto Airon and they prepared to leave, but Rei quickly stopped him.

"What's wrong?"

"Before we leave, I want to see Jasmine Dragon," Airon smiled and nodded. He flew upwards and over the Upper Ring. They spotted Iroh and Zuko entering a shop. They flew down, just in front of it. In large bold letters it read, 'Jasime Dragon'. It looked so classy. "It looks so nice, much better than the other one. If we ever come back here, this is our first destination." Airon nodded before flying upwards. They flew out of Ba Sing Se in no time and began flying across the open lands, passing the destroyed drill on the way out.

"You ever think we'll see them again?" Airon asked as Rei hugged his neck, relaxed, staring down at the green, open lands.

"Who? Zuko and Iroh or Aang and the gang?" Rei smiled to herself at the rhyming.  Airon chuckled slightly.

"We'll see the two again if we ever come back, but I'm talking about the Avatar." Rei hesitated in answering.

"I think we will. At the moment, they're the only other aerial traveller; excluding birds, of course." Airon chuckled.

"Agreed. I think that one way or another, we'll meet them again."