A.N. Hello my lovely readers! I told you I wouldn't abandon the story! My leave was a little bit longer than anticipated, but I hope you're all still around and enjoying the story. I can't believe how popular this story has gotten and I can't thank all of you enough for your help in making the story what it is today! This chapter is the first half of the Avatar Day episode and I would love to have an update schedule, but my work schedule for the summer is still not finalized, but I do want to reiterate that I am NOT abandoning this story. I hope you guys enjoy!

Azara slept contently, tucked neatly inside her sleeping bag, until she heard a scuffle behind her. Furrowing her eyebrows, Azara groaned, waking up and turning to see Sokka arguing with Momo. Huffing, Azara flopped back down to fall back asleep, when the ground started to shake. Picking up her head again, Azara stared at the ground in confusion before the sound of footsteps caused her eyes to widen. Suddenly, a Komodo rhino burst through the brush, causing Azara to scramble to her feet.

"Give up! You're completely surrounded!" Mongke demanded as Azara narrowed her eyes.

"Get to Appa!" she ordered her friends, who were scrambling up themselves, before sending several fire blasts at Mongke.

"Don't tell me one of these guys is some other family member of yours—" Sokka started to whine, before Azara snapped at him.

"—Just get to Appa!" Turning back to the circling Rough Rhinos, Azara focused on Mongke and charged. Hearing the swoosh of an arrow, Azara slid on the ground to duck, the arrow sticking out of the tree behind her. Huffing in annoyance, Azara crouched and rolled under a swing of chains before kicking her foot up and sending the Rough Rhino in question tumbling off his Komodo rhino. The angry Komodo rhino ran off with his chain swinging rider, but two more descended in his place.

"Hey, Mongke! This must be the missing princess," one called out, before glaring back at Azara. The Fire Nation princess stood up; her fists raised in a defensive pose.

"Bring her alive!" Mongke returned as Azara rolled her eyes.

"Good luck with that," she scoffed as one of the Komodo rhinos charged, his guan duo-swinging rider glaring at her stature. Azara glanced up at him and started to run towards him, counting in her head. She timed her jump and using some rocket propulsion to flip over the swing of the guan duo. Gracefully landing in the back of his saddle, Azara swung her leg around, knocking him out of the saddle.

Standing on the back of the Komodo rhino, Azara turned to Mongke again before Sokka yelled out for her. "Azara, come on!" he shouted, waving his hands frantically.

"Stop her!" Sidestepping another arrow, Azara kicked the Komodo rhino into a gallop.

"Take off! I'm coming!" Azara yelled back, sending a blast of fire at the archer. Appa took off from the ground as Azara jumped off the Komodo rhino's back. Using some rocket propulsion again, Azara leapt close to Appa and held out her hand. Sokka easily grabbed her and pulled her into Appa's saddle.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Sokka called as Azara sat up in Appa's saddle, staring down at the Rough Rhinos.

"Yip yip!" Aang shouted, prompting Appa to take off for the hills.

Mongke sends one last fireball at them, prompting Katara and Sokka to duck. Azara leapt to her feet and slashed at the blast, protecting the rest of the group from the flames.

"Wait, my boomerang!" Sokka called, reaching over the saddle.

"There's no time!" Katara replied, grabbing Sokka's arm.

"Oh, I see, so there's time to get your scrolls and time to get your staff, but no time for my boomerang?" Sokka asked, looking back and forth between Aang and Katara.

"That's correct!"

"Oh," Sokka groaned, lowering his head. Azara placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe the next village we stop by will have one," she suggested, though she knew that was a long shot.

They flew for a few minutes before landing next to a small, wooden shop. Aang pulled a hat over his arrow as they disembarked, before moving to console a mopping Sokka. Azara pulled their remaining money out of their packs and handed it to Katara as they walked towards the stand.

Katara ordered some supplies for the group as Azara glanced back worriedly at Sokka. "You don't happen to have a boomerang anywhere, do you?" she asked quietly as the vender shuffled around, putting the produce Katara had ordered into a basket.

"A boomerang? We've never had one, sorry," the vender replied, shrugging, before turning back to filling the order.

"That's okay," Azara sighed as Sokka and Aang walked over. Putting on a smile, Azara placed a comforting hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Well, they don't have one here, but maybe the next village," she stated, trying to sound cheerful.

"Here's your produce, ponytail guy," the vender smiled, placing the basket in front of Sokka.

"I used to be boomerang guy . . ." Sokka sighed, his head bowed.

"You can still be boomerang guy," Azara tried to reason with him, but Sokka was still upset.

"No, I can't. You don't understand, you'll never lose your bending," he whined, causing Azara to sigh. The vender walked around to the front of the shop, closing up for the day.

"Have a nice Avatar Day!" he called before heading towards the village in the distance.

"Avatar Day?"

"You guys are going to the festival, right?" the vender asked, turning around. The group exchanged looks before following the vender to the distant village.

Walking through the busy and bustling streets of Chin Village, the group stared up at all the decorations. "There's a holiday for the Avatar. Who knew?" Aang shrugged cheerfully, smiling as he glanced around at the festivities. They walked to what appeared to be the main street of Chin Village, where a path was cleared in the crowd.

"Look! They made a giant Kyoshi float!" Katara pointed out as a large effigy of Kyoshi was wheeled down the street.

"And there's Avatar Roku!" Azara exclaimed, the effigy of Roku not far behind Kyoshi's.

"Having a huge festival in your honor is great, but frankly, it's just nice to be appreciated," Aang replied, sounding content despite trying to remain humble.

"And it's nice to appreciate their deep-fried festival food," Sokka smiled before stuffing his face with food.

"Aang, look!" Katara yelled, pointing at the approaching effigy of Aang.

"That's the biggest me I've ever seen!" Aang smiled widely as the effigy slid past them.

The three effigies were wheeled into the middle of the town square and lined up next to each other. "Now what?"

Azara turned her head to see a shirtless man run down the middle of the street, holding a lit torch high in the air. "Now a torch, that's a nice prop. It's bright, dangerous, smells manly. But I'm not sure I could carry it off," Sokka contemplated causing Azara to look over at him.

"I thought fire was my thing," Azara teased as the man ran towards the Kyoshi effigy.

"Hey, what's that guy doing?" Katara asked, causing Azara to turn to back to the parade. Her eyes widened as the man jumped through Kyoshi's effigy, setting it aflame to the cheers of the villagers.

"Why do we always have to pick the weirdest villages?" she groaned to herself as the crowd started to chant.

"Down with the Avatar!"

The man quickly lit the effigy of Avatar Roku on fire before climbing up on top of a roof. Taking aim, he launched the torch at Aang's effigy, hitting it in the right eye. As Aang winced, Katara ran out from the crowd, using the water from nearby troughs to put out the fires.

"The party pooper's ruining Avatar Day!" a villager yelled out as the crowd started to boo at Katara. Aang glared at the man before airbending up to the shoulder of his half-charred effigy.

"That party pooper is my friend!" Aang shouted, taking off his hat, and revealing his arrow.

"It's the Avatar himself!"

"It's going to kill us with its awesome Avatar powers!"

"No, I'm not, I . . ." Aang started, raising his hand. However, the action caused several villagers to panic and duck for cover. Aang quickly hid his hand as Sokka and Azara ran out into the square.

"I suggest you leave! You're not welcome here, Avatar!" the mayor spat, as Azara rolled her eyes.

"Aang helps people," she stated with a sense of finality, crossing her arms over her chest. "He would never hurt a group of innocent villagers."

"It's true! I'm on your side!" Aang replied, jumping down into the town square.

"I find that hard to swallow, considering what you did to us in your past life! It was Avatar Kyoshi! She murdered our glorious leader, Chin the Great!"

"Well, if he was anything like you, I don't blame her," Azara muttered quietly to herself as she glared at the mayor.

"You think that I . . . murdered someone?" Aang gasped out, looking ashamed immediately.

"We used to be a great society before you killed our leader. Now look at us!" an old man spat, walking forwards. As Aang jumped back in disgust, Azara took his place.

"This is crazy! You can't blame Aang for things that happened over three hundred years ago!" Azara demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hey, isn't that Princess Azara of the Fire Nation?" one villager questioned, causing Azara to huff and wait for the normal barrage of insults.

"Yeah, it is! Hey! Protect us from the Avatar, Princess Azara!" another villager piped up as Azara and Aang shared incredulous looks.

"Well, this was . . . unexpected," Sokka stated, standing next to Azara.

"Fight him! Fight him!" the crowd started to chant as Azara shook her head.

"I'm not fighting anyone, let alone Aang!" Azara snapped, wondering if this was leftover swamp gas in her system that made this crazy reality appear in front of her.

"Aang would never do something like that. No Avatar would!" Katara added, moving to stand next to Azara. "And it's not fair for all of you to question his honor!"

"Let's tell her what we all think about the Avatar's honor?" one of the villagers piped up, turning around, and showing his rear end and making a raspberry. He was cheered on by his fellow villagers as Azara and Katara shared unimpressed looks.

"Give me a chance to clear my name!" Aang pleaded, turning towards the mayor.

"The only way to prove your innocence is to stand trial," the mayor scoffed as Aang stepped forwards confidently.

"I'll gladly stand trial!"

"You'll have to follow all our rules. That includes paying bail," the mayor continued, a large smirk on his face.

"No problem," Aang stated, but his confidence quickly disappeared as he was quickly thrown into jail soon after. Azara leaned against the wall as Sokka and Katara shook their heads at the turn of events. "How was I supposed to know they wouldn't take Water Tribe money?" Aang pointed out as he stood behind bars.

"So, some people don't like you, big deal! Now, let's bust you out of here!" Sokka stated, standing in front of Aang, the bars separating them from each other.

"I can't," Aang sighed, looking down to the ground.

"Sure, you can! A little swish-swish-swish! Airbending slice!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping around, and waving his arms about, as Katara and Azara shared similar unamused expressions at Sokka's antics. "And we're on our way!"

"I think what Master Swish is trying to say is that you're supposed to be out saving the world. You can't do that locked up in here," Katara added, stepping next to her brother.

"I can't do that with people thinking I'm a murderer either. I need you guys to help prove my innocence."

"How are we going to do that? The crime happened over three hundred years ago," Azara pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's okay. For some reason, I thought Sokka was an expert detective," Aang prodded, causing Sokka to smile.

"Well, I guess I could be classified as such," Sokka replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah! Back home, he was famous for solving the mystery of the missing seal jerky," Katara added, leaning on the bars and enjoying the opportunity to make fun of her brother.

"Everyone wanted to blame the polar leopard, but I figured out it was Old Man Jarko wearing polar leopard boots! See, a real eight-hundred-pound polar leopard would have left much deeper tracks. Okay, I am pretty good," Sokka conceded as Katara withheld a laugh and Azara bit back at the smile edging at her lips.

"So, you'll help me with my case?" Aang asked, sounding excited.

"Fine! But I'm going to need new props," Sokka decided before running out to collect whatever props he was referring to.

Azara and Katara conversed with Aang about the investigation when Sokka reappeared with a large hat and monocle. "I'm ready!" Sokka announced, causing Katara and Azara to spin around and raise an eyebrow. "What?" Sokka questioned as he extended his monocle to stare at Katara and Azara.

"Nothing. Let's go meet up with the mayor," Azara replied, shaking her head lightly and leading the way back to the town square. They quickly found the mayor and explained that they wanted all of the facts of the case.

The mayor led the way towards the sea, a pavilion appearing in the distance. "This is the crime scene," the mayor announced, extending his arm to gesture to the pavilion.

Azara raised an eyebrow as she took in the scene. A large statue of Chin sat in the middle of the pavilion, a shrine towering behind it. They then followed the mayor to the edge of the cliff. "This is the footprint of the killer, Kyoshi." The mayor pointed at a small footprint in the ground.

Sokka bent down to examine the footprint as the mayor continued speaking. "It was sunset, 370 years ago today, that she emerged from the temple, and struck down Chin the Great. After that tragic day, we built this statue to immortalize our great leader," the mayor explained, gesturing to the large statue in the middle of the pavilion. "Feel free to appreciate it."

The mayor walked off, leaving Katara, Azara, and Sokka alone at the pavilion. Azara glanced between the statue and the shrine as Sokka examined the stone more thoroughly. He raced back to the shrine, examining the stone base. "This temple and this statue were cut from the same stone. And we know that the statue was built after Chin died."

"So, if they were built at the same time, that means—" Katara began, before being cut off by Sokka.

"Shh! I want to solve it!" he demanded before straightening up and pointing at the shrine as Katara and Azara shot him a look. "That means Kyoshi never set foot in this temple!"

"While it's a solid hole in the mayor's story, it doesn't exactly prove Aang's innocence either," Azara sighed, stepping forward to examine the shrine again. "We need better evidence. Conclusive evidence. We need to prove that Kyoshi didn't murder Chin."

"You're right, we need to go to Kyoshi Island," Sokka agreed, before pulling out a dragon shaped pipe.

"Where did you get that?" Katara asked, sounding exasperated with her brother.

"Kyoshi Island? Right, that place. Yay," Azara muttered under her breath remembering the last time she had been there. While she didn't blame the villagers, and Zuko's raid probably didn't help at all, she still didn't want to go back to being continuously ostracized for being Fire Nation. Chin Village was probably the only Earth Kingdom village that hated someone else more than her or the Fire Nation.

"We should leave soon, so we can be back for Aang's trial," Katara suggested, causing Sokka and Azara to nod.

They hurried back to Appa before taking off for Kyoshi Island. Azara stared out at the ocean with a blank expression on her face as they flew above the clouds. She could feel her anxiety spike every time she thought about her last time at Kyoshi Island. She only hoped that this time around, the villagers would not be outright hostile towards her.

Hearing a commotion, Azara turned around and chuckled quietly to herself as Sokka and Katara argued over directions. Sokka was gesturing wildly to a map as Katara pointed in another direction. "Well, even if Kyoshi Island had a lot of bad memories, it was where Sokka and I started to be on better terms," Azara thought to herself, a small smile reaching her lips. A few minutes passed before Katara called out that they were approaching Kyoshi Island.

Azara glanced over Appa's saddle as they flew over the village, which quickly gathered the attention of the locals. Appa landed in front of the statue of Kyoshi as the villagers hurried into the town square. Azara raised an eyebrow as the same guy from before jumped forwards and began to freak out at the sight of Appa, his mouth foaming before he collapsed to the ground. After a few moments, the cheers died down.

"Where's Aangy?" Koko demanded, stomping her foot on the ground.

"He couldn't be here, Koko," Katara replied gently, causing the crowd to groan in disappointment and walk off. Azara slid off Appa's back cautiously as Sokka and Katara moved to greet Oyaji, who remained as the crowd dissipated. Azara waited a moment by Appa's side, debating if she should walk over or not when Momo flew down to sit on her shoulder. Azara smiled and rubbed Momo's head in appreciation.

"It'll be alright, Momo," she spoke, though the encouragement was more for herself than Momo. "Everyone deserves a second chance, right?" Taking a deep breath, Azara walked forwards to join Katara and Sokka with Oyaji.

"Oyaji! Aang is in jail. The town of Chin says he murdered their leader in a past life," Katara explained as the older man reached them. Azara kept her eyes downcast as she half-hid behind Sokka.

"They say it was Kyoshi," Sokka added, looking off into the distance dramatically.

"Kyoshi?" Oyaji exclaimed in surprise. "That's crazy talk! I'll take you to her shrine. Maybe something there will help you clear her name." Oyaji was about to walk forwards when he noticed Azara standing behind Sokka. "I see you're still with the Avatar," Oyaji spoke, causing Azara's heart to leap into her throat. She nodded timidly as Momo chittered in her ear.

"Yes, she is," Katara stated, glancing back at Azara before turning to Oyaji again.

"Perhaps we were wrong about you," Oyaji admitted before turning around and leading the way up to Kyoshi's temple. Azara let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding before slumping in relief. Katara placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before following after Oyaji. Azara ruffled Momo's head and chuckled.

"Well, Momo, guess I was right. Everyone deserves a second chance," Azara hummed, as Momo nudged her head and wrapped his tail around her shoulder. She pulled up the rear of the group, behind Sokka, as they walked up the hill. They walked in silence, minus some chattering from Momo, until Sokka started to get a bit more frantic.

Azara raised an eyebrow as he seemed to be looking for something along the path. "Are you okay?" Azara asked, grabbing his shoulder, and steadying him for a moment.

"Yeah, I'm, uh, just looking for someone, I mean, something," Sokka corrected himself before hurrying to catch up with Katara and Oyaji. Azara and Momo shared a look before Momo chittered something in response.

"You can say that again, Momo," Azara sighed, looking over at Sokka with concern.

Catching up with the rest of the group, Azara noted a cabin to their left as Sokka moved up towards Oyaji. "So, uh . . . what's Suki up to? Is she around?" Sokka asked Oyaji, causing Azara to look up in surprise at his question.

"Actually, she and the other warriors left to fight in the war. You kids had a big impact on Suki. She said you inspired her, and she wanted to help change the world," Oyaji explained, his eyes still trained forward as he missed the change in Sokka's face.

"Oh, well . . . that's great," Sokka stuttered out as Azara looked to the ground, her expression hard. When they were on Kyoshi Island the first time, she had only interacted with Sokka, Katara, or Aang. Any Kyoshi resident avoided her like she had pentapox, so she never ended up meeting any of the Kyoshi warriors herself. Sokka had mentioned Suki and the other warriors a few times, but usually in passing. She hadn't realized how profound of an impact Kyoshi Island and Suki had had on Sokka.