Azara stood on the shore, watching as the waves drew closer to her feet, when Aang called out, holding up a whale tooth knife. Sokka grabbed the knife from Aang's hand and studied it for a moment. "This is a Water Tribe weapon! See if you can find anything else," Sokka ordered, before running into the woods with Aang.

Walking down the beach, Azara called out to Katara. "Hey, we found something!" she yelled down to the waterbender, who jogged over.

"What? What did you find?" Katara asked as Azara led her into the woods.

"Aang found a Water Tribe weapon," Azara explained as they spotted Sokka holding a burnt arrow tip. He dropped the arrow tip, moving to inspect the burn marks on a tree.

"There was a battle! A group of Water Tribe warriors ambushed a bunch of firebenders. The firebenders fought back, but the Water Tribe warriors pushed them down this hill," Sokka analyzed, leading them through the woods and to another beach.

"So, then what happened?" Aang questioned, moving to stand by a sad looking Sokka.

"I don't know. The trail ends here," Sokka sighed, staring down at the sand as Azara looked around the beach. Her eyes landed on a ship on the side.

"Hey, look over there!" she pointed out, gesturing at the vessel.

"That's one of our boats!" Sokka shouted, running over to it, and stroking the side.

"Is it Dad's boat?" Katara asked, standing beside her brother.

"No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here," Sokka smiled, the two siblings embracing. Azara smiled at the interaction, knowing how much Sokka and Katara missed their father.

"Why don't we make camp here tonight, in case whoever the boat belongs to comes back?" Azara suggested as Katara and Sokka turned back to her.

"That's a good idea!" Katara nodded, still ecstatic from finding the Water Tribe ship. They made camp for the night, huddling around a warm fire as the sound of waves allowed Azara to drift off into a dreamless slumber.

"Who's there?" Sokka yelled at the sound of rustling, standing up with his boomerang in hand. The statement woke up Azara, Katara, and Aang, who stood up, prepared for a fight.

"Sokka?" a man asked, stepping into the light. He was dressed in Water Tribe garments with one of his shoulders wrapped in bandages.

"Bato?" Sokka called, dropping his boomerang, and rushing to greet the man, Katara close behind him. Azara stood with Aang as the Water Tribe members reunited. She wasn't sure who Bato was. He clearly was not their father, but he definitely meant a great deal to Sokka and Katara. 

"Hi, I'm Aang, and this is Azara," Aang introduced, walking over, and motioning to Azara as he spoke. The two bowed in greeting.

"Where's Dad?" Sokka asked, cutting into the introductions. 

"Is he here?"

"No, he and the other warriors should be in the Eastern Earth Kingdom by now," Bato revealed, clearly disappointing Sokka and Katara. As a gust of wind breezed through, Bato motioned for them to follow him back to the abbey where he had been recovering from the battle. 

"Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been travelling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat," Bato explained, his hands resting on Sokka and Katara's shoulders.

"Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey," Superior smiled, bowing to Aang.

"Thank you, it's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything—" Aang spoke, before being cut off by Sokka.

"—What smells so good, Bato?" Sokka asked, causing Aang to shoot him an annoyed look.

"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes," Bato replied, sniffing the air.

"Perfume? Maybe we can dumb some on Appa because he stinks so much. Am I right?" Sokka joked as silence followed. Azara heard someone cough in the background, shaking her head and sighing at Sokka's quip.

"You have your father's wit," Bato spoke after a moment, breaking the awkward silence. He then led them to his room, which was decorated similar to what Azara imagined the Southern Water Tribe looked like.

"Bato, it looks like home!" Katara gushed, leading the way into the room.

"Everything's here, even the pelts!" Sokka added, rubbing one on the ground.

"Yeah, nothing's cozier than dead animal skins," Aang mentioned sarcastically as Azara stared around the room. The Fire Nation certainly had its own assortment of animal skins and products, but this was a new level.

"No way, stewed sea prunes!" Katara exclaimed, opening a pot to reveal a rather unsatisfactory looking meal to Azara.

"Help yourself!" Bato smiled, pulling out a ladle and several bowls.

"Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things!" Sokka chuckled, handing Aang a bowl as he spoke. He turned to Azara, but she shook her head, holding up her hand.

"I'm full, but thank you," she replied politely, staring at the soup with hidden distaste. One of her biggest regrets with leaving the Fire Nation, besides the weather, was certainly the food. What she wouldn't do for a bag of fire flakes. Azara hung back as Sokka and Katara reminisced about life in the Water Tribe, knowing the two siblings were eager to catch up with their old friend.

"Bato, is it true that you and dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Sokka asked, looking up from his bowl of stewed sea prunes.

"It was your father's idea, he just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging," Bato chuckled, as Aang brightened at the mention of animals.

"Hey, I ride animals too! There was this one time when I rode a giant eel and I—" Aang began to explain, but Sokka cut him off.

"—So, who was it that came up with the Great Blubber Fiasco?"

"You knew about that?" Bato questioned, chuckling at the mention of the scheme.

"Everyone does!" Katara laughed.

"What's that story?" Aang inquired, leaning forwards.

"It's a long one, Aang. Some other time," Sokka waved him off, causing Aang to slump his shoulders. Azara watched him worriedly as he stood up and walked away from the group.

"Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny in hindsight," Bato nodded, another chuckle escaping him. He looked up, noticing Aang with one of the pelts on his head. "Hey, Aang! Please put that down, it's ceremonial and very fragile." Aang replaced the pelt on the wall, moving over to the wall and sliding down.

Azara walked over, sitting beside him as he stared at Momo with a bored expression on his face. Azara placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aang sighed, leaning back on the wall alongside Azara. The two struck up their own conversation, talking quietly as Sokka laughed loudly at a story Bato told.

"There's something I should tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father," Bato explained, piquing Azara's interest as she turned to listen in on their conversation.

"Really? When?" Katara asked, the excitement clear in her voice.

"Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait until the message arrives, you can come with me, and see your father again," Bato offered, causing Azara's eyes to widen.

"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad. That would be so incredible! Katara!" Sokka smiled, turning to his sister.

"I do really miss him, it would be great to see Dad," Katara sighed wistfully as Aang shuffled to his feet. Azara looked at him with concern again, but he waved her off.

"I think I'm just going to go for a walk," Aang huffed, walking out of the room. Katara, Sokka, and Bato were so enraptured in their conversation that they didn't even notice him leave. Azara sighed and turned to study the pelts across from her.

"It would be great, but we can't. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first," Sokka replied, causing Azara to relax. She had been worried for a moment that Sokka and Katara would be leaving without her and Aang to find their father. Not that she could blame them, but it would be hard to watch them go after all they had been through together.

"Even if we do have time to wait for the message, who knows how far we would have to travel. We don't have time for a long detour," Katara continued as Azara looked back to the doorway, debating if she should follow after Aang and assure him that Katara and Sokka were not going to abandon him.

"I'm sure your father would understand and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar," Bato nodded, a small smile on his face. He glanced at Azara out of the corner of his eye, who was staring up at the bear pelt across from her. "You know, your Fire Nation friend has certainly made a name for herself out here," Bato continued, causing Sokka and Katara to turn back and look at Azara. 

She was zoned out, caught up in her own thoughts, when Sokka called out to her. Shaking her head as she refocused on the present, Azara smiled sheepishly. "Uh . . . what did you say?"

"The firebenders we attacked, two of them ended up surrendering and laying down their weapons. They said that your departure from the Fire Nation to help the Avatar inspired them to step away from the war. Last I heard they were on their way to Ba Sing Se to get away from all this," Bato explained, sipping at the sea prunes. Azara sat up at the comment, surprise written on her features.

"Really? They said that?" she asked as Katara and Sokka smiled at her.

"You can be really inspiring, Azara," Sokka agreed, his encouragement causing her to blush.

"It's nice to know I'm not the only one from the Fire Nation who's not afraid to stand against the Fire Lord," Azara spoke, a small smile gracing her face as she stared at her lap. Further conversation was cut off by Aang reentering the room, an odd smile on his face.

"Sure, could go for some delicious sea prunes!" Aang smiled, quickly engulfing mouthfuls of sea prunes before spitting them back up. He smiled again, causing Azara to raise an eyebrow.

"On that note, I think I'm going to go to bed," Azara announced, standing up.

"You can sleep in the dormitories with the sisters. They should have extra beds for you and Katara," Bato nodded as Katara got up as well.

"I think I saw them on the way in. Let's go look," Katara stated, leading the way out of the room, leaving Sokka, Bato, and Aang in the room.

"Uh, I think I'll go check on Appa," Aang suggested, getting up and slipping out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Sokka moved to help clean up and set up the room for sleep.

"So . . . Azara seems nice," Bato mentioned, placing the cover back on the pot.

"Uh, yeah, she is. Took some time for me to warm up to her after . . . everything. But she's really fun once you get to know her," Sokka replied, setting up his sleeping bag on the floor.

"I'm sure," Bato nodded, pulling out his own sleeping bag. "She seems to enjoy your presence as well." He had seen the blush on her cheeks after Sokka's comment earlier.

"Uh . . . yeah I think so," Sokka agreed, looking at Bato with a confused expression on his face. "Why do you mention it?"

"No reason," Bato smiled, a knowing look in his eye. "Let's go to bed, we should get up early tomorrow morning."