After a rather calm start to the morning, Azara suggested to Sokka that they should go check on Zuko and Aang's firebending training. She still hadn't made any progress in reestablishing her abilities, but that didn't mean she couldn't offer Aang any advice. Or at least, perhaps someone to hide behind when Zuko inevitably lost his temper.

They made their way down to the side courtyard that Zuko and Aang had picked purely because it was the one farthest away from the rest of the temple. Spotting no firebending, and Aang sitting on a broken pillar looking bored out of his mind, Azara raised an eyebrow.

"There's not a lot of firebending for firebending practice," she murmured to her boyfriend, who shrugged before biting into his apple.

"Just breathe, and . . ." Zuko exhaled, thrusting his arm out, but only a little cloud of smoke was produced.

Aang sat up from his place on the pillar, looking somewhat interested. "That one kind of felt hot."

"Don't patronize me! You know what it's supposed to look like!" Zuko snapped at Aang, who winced at his tone.

"Sorry, Sifu Hotman."

"And stop calling me that!" Zuko yelled, angrily throwing his arms down.

"Hey, jerks! Mind if we watch you two jerks do your jerkbending?" Sokka taunted, drawing Aang and Zuko's attention.

"Get out of here!" Zuko shouted, pointing away.

"Don't yell at him, Zuko!" Azara yelled back, her eyes narrowing at her brother.

"Okay, take it easy. I was just kidding around," Sokka assured Zuko with a smirk on his face. "Jerkbending," he laughed, adjusting his shirt. "Still got it."

"Does that mean I'm a jerkbender too?" Azara teased, sending him a look as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"No, no," Sokka quickly exclaimed, rushing over to Azara's side, who laughed at his panic.

"I was just joking, Sokka." The Water Tribe boy relaxed when he saw that his girlfriend wasn't actually mad at him. "Why don't you go help Katara and Toph? I'll handle these two," Azara suggested, gesturing to Aang and Zuko with a tilt of her head.

"Ok. Bye jerkbenders!" Sokka called after he pressed a quick kiss to Azara's cheek and promptly walked off. Once he was gone, Azara walked over to Aang as Zuko slumped his shoulders, looking rather defeated.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you firebending?"

"I don't know," Zuko sighed, straightening up. "Why can't I firebend?"

"So, what you're telling me is that a few days ago the problem was that Aang didn't have a firebending teacher. And now today the problem is that we have two firebenders but neither of them can bend for some reason?" Azara sighed, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Well, that's just our luck."

The sun had started to set when Zuko finally decided to call it a day. Sitting in between Sokka and Toph, Azara helped Katara to pass out bowls of dinner when Zuko walked over, a grumpy expression on his face.

"Listen, everybody, I've got some bad news. I've lost my stuff."

"Don't look at me, I didn't touch your stuff," Toph replied, folding her arms over her chest.

"I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone."

At Zuko's words, Katara laughed loudly, drawing everyone's attention. Zuko was sending Katara a glare worthy of sparking a fire, yet he still didn't seem to be able to firebend. Katara managed to control her laughter long enough to shoot Zuko an amused smirk.

"I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would've been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago." Katara shrugged at the irony, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Well, it's not lost. It's just . . . weaker for some reason."

"Maybe you're not as good as you think you are," Katara added, shooting Zuko a look.

"Ouch," Toph commented, smirking at the comment.

"I bet it's because I changed sides," Zuko deduced, rubbing his chin in thought.

"That's ridiculous," Katara scoffed as Azara and Aang shared a look.

"I don't know. Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to," Aang suggested to Zuko.

"So, all we need to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough." Sokka smirked and got to his feet. Using his sword's hilt, Sokka poked Zuko several times in the head and waist as Azara shook her head playfully at her boyfriend.

"Okay, cut it out!" Zuko finally snapped, causing Sokka to tense up and his sword to slip out of his hands, hitting him in the head. "Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."

"Well, the other way isn't really working for me either right now," Azara sighed as Sokka sat beside her again, still rubbing his head.

"You're going to need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source," Toph spoke up, as Azara contemplated the assertation.

"How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?" Sokka joked, smirking once more.

"No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is."

"So, is it jumping into a volcano?" Sokka asked Azara, who shook her head.

"For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles," Toph recounted. "One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me. So, we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world."

"That's amazing, Toph!" Aang praised, looking excited at the story. "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison." Aang leaned back to smile at Appa. "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy." Appa roared back in affirmation.

"Technically, the original source of firebending is the sun. But we can't exactly call up the sun and ask for tips," Azara stated, glancing over at Zuko.

"What about the original firebenders then?"

"They're extinct," Zuko replied bluntly, causing everyone's eyes to widen, save for Azara.

"Yeah, you can thank dear old Grandpa Sozin for that one too. The original firebenders were the dragons, but during Sozin's reign the Fire Nation started to hunt dragons for sport. If you were able to kill a dragon, your own firebending was said to become dragon-like. Powerful, unbeatable, legendary." Setting down her bowl, Azara stared into the fire. "They wiped them all out."

"What do you mean? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid," Aang argued, glancing between Azara and Zuko.

"Well, they aren't around anymore, okay?" Zuko huffed as Azara shot him a look.

"What did I say about snapping at people, Zuko?" she reminded her brother.

"Maybe there's another way," Zuko continued, ignoring Azara. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."

"Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid," Aang spoke, walking over to where Zuko stood.

"They died out thousands of years ago. Not to mention that their ruins are said to be haunted," Azara pointed out, shooting a look at her older brother.

"Those are just stories people tell their kids to scare them. Besides, their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins."

"It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present," Aang recited, raising a finger in the air wisely.

"So, what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" Sokka asked, looking at Zuko and Aang like they were crazy.

"More or less. Either we find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher," Zuko replied, turning to Aang, who looked away for a moment, clearly concerned.

"What about you, Azara? Any progress?" Aang asked, turning to face Azara, who sighed, lowering her head in shame.

"No. It's like my brain isn't properly connected to my body anymore," she spoke before getting to her feet. "Alright, I guess we can check it out. But I want it on the record that I thought that it was a bad idea in case something goes wrong."

The next morning, Azara packed a small bag for the trip when Sokka knocked on her doorframe. "Still no firebending?" he asked. Azara shook her head sadly in response as he walked over. "Then take this with you," Sokka offered, holding out one of his knives. "In case something goes wrong, you can still defend yourself."

"Thanks, Sokka." Azara smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips before slipping the knife around her belt. "But hopefully it won't come to that."

"Be careful, okay? We just got you back and—"

"—Hey, I'll be okay. Aang and Zuko won't let anything bad happen to me," Azara replied before holding Sokka's face with her hands and bringing it down to her own. After a few seconds, Sokka pulled back, grabbing Azara's hand with his own.

"Are you trying to distract me with kisses?" he accused, his tone playful.

"Is it working?"

"A little," Sokka conceded, causing Azara to laugh.

"Good," she teased, pulling him back into another kiss.

"Alright, you ready to go Azara—oh!" Aang exclaimed, realizing the situation he found his friends in. Again. "Sorry!"

"We really should get a sign or something. Or maybe a lock," Sokka sighed, leaning his forehead against her own. Azara giggled and pressed a reassuring kiss to his nose.

"Don't stress out. We'll be fine. We'll be back before you know it." Azara walked over to Aang as she released Sokka's hand, an excited look in her eye. "You ready for the field trip, Aang?"

"I can't wait to finally take a family vacation! Just me and my two great-grandkids," Aang joked as they walked through the temple.

"Please tell Zuko that. I'm sure he'd love to be referred to as your great-grandkid," Azara joked as they exited the inside of the temple, heading over to Appa.

"You two ready?" Zuko called as they approached, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Let's get the show of the road, you young whippersnappers!" Aang spoke in his Bonzu voice, swinging his arm out comedically, before jumping up onto Appa's head.

"This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?" Zuko sighed, sharing a look with Azara.

"Come on, Zuzu, you'll be fine," Azara teased, climbing up Appa's side.

A few hours passed and Azara had taken to laying down at the front of Appa's saddle, soaking in the sunlight. Maybe that would unlock her firebending, she decided. "We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster," Zuko complained, causing Azara to shoot him a look.

"Don't be mean to Appa!"

Appa growled in response as Azara rolled over, patting his side. "I know, big guy. He's a grumpy one. You get used to it."

"Appa's right, Zuko. In our group, typically we start our missions with a more up-beat attitude," Aang added, smiling cheerily.

"I can't believe this," Zuko muttered under his breath, laying down.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."

Another hour passed when they started to see islands in the distance. Zuko and Azara looked over the map together, trying to figure out their next move. "We should probably follow these islands to the Sun Warrior ruins," Azara pointed out, trailing her finger over the map.

"What? Why waste all that time? Just go this way!"

"It'll take the same amount of time, we'll just be surer that we're going in the right direction," Azara shot back at her brother. The two siblings glared at each other, neither willing to back down.

"No, it wastes unnecessary time that we don't have."

"I'm sorry that five minutes is excessively long in your book, Zuko, but some people don't mind taking the extra time to make sure they don't make a mistake!"

"I don't know why you're even inserting your opinion! You never wanted to look at the maps when we were sailing around!"

"Because I didn't give a shit as to where we were going, Zuko!"

"Why do you always have to be so—"

"—Enough!" Aang yelled, turning around, and shooting them both a look. "Don't make me turn this sky bison around!"

"Sorry, Granddad," Azara returned sheepishly, causing Zuko to grumble out a set of choice words.

They finally reached the Sun Warrior ruins, Appa landing outside of the settlement. Zuko led the way into the ruins, Aang close behind him, and Azara pulling up the rear of the group. She glanced around the ruins, her hand hovering over the knife Sokka had given her as a weird feeling—Of dread? Fear? Concern? She couldn't decide—settled over her.

"Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these," Zuko murmured as they walked along the path into the settlement.

"Well, maybe when this is all over, Zuko, you can go into architecture," Azara responded dryly, looking around. As she took another step forward however, a shooting pain hit her head, causing her to stop, and hold her head in her hands.

Azara . . . you have . . . come . . . the voice spoke, louder than it had ever been before. It was almost literally rattling her brain around in her head with how loud it was.

A hand on Azara's shoulder caused her to scream in surprise, batting Zuko's hand away from her. "What's wrong!?" Zuko demanded as Azara's headache started to face.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Azara sighed, shaking her head. "This place just gives me a weird feeling. I don't like it."

"Okay. We've learned something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too before the weird feelings get worse. The past can be a great teacher," Aang cut in, looking at Azara with concern before taking a step forward. And right into a tripwire.

"Aang!" Azara yelped as Aang blasted a puff of air from his mouth, somersaulting to the other side of the pit of spikes, and avoiding certain impalement. "Are you okay!?"

"I think the past is trying to kill me," Aang replied, looking scared.

"I can't believe it. This booby trap must be centuries old, and it still works," Zuko observed, bending down to inspect the spikes and tripwire.

"I'd expect it to look a little older, honestly," Azara muttered as Zuko stood up.

"There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here. Maybe Azara's weird feelings were right," Aang spoke, sharing a concerned look with Azara.

Zuko, ignoring both Azara and Aang, took a few steps back before running and jumping. He managed to run along the wall, before landing easily on the other side of the spikes. "Where's that up-beat attitude you were talking about?" Zuko joked as Azara sighed, shaking her head. "Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting."

"Or maybe you should just stop snooping through other people's stuff," Azara called from the other end of the spikes.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a twist, Zuzu. Some of us just take a moment to observe things so that we don't have to be a complete drama queen to accomplish our goal." Azara tested the ground around the spikes before she slowly walked along the opening between the spikes, keeping her feet one in front of the other. "See?" she replied as she stepped up to the other side.

"Come on," Zuko scoffed, leading the way up the stairs to the temple.

"Look, this seems promising." They finally reached the top of the stairs and came across a mosaic of a person being surrounded by two dragons. Except the dragons were breathing fire directly at him, seemingly burning the man alive. "Though I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending."

"They look pretty angry to me," Zuko observed, staring at the mosaic.

"I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors," Aang mentioned, glancing between Zuko and Azara.

"Well, they had a funny way of showing it."

"Looks no different from our family, honestly," Azara joked dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. Aang glanced between her and Zuko for a moment before deciding to turn to Zuko.

"There's more to the stories about the dragons then Azara said earlier, isn't there?" Aang asked as they walked along.

"She covered most of it," Zuko sighed before leading the way towards a temple. "But she forgot to mention how if you killed a dragon, not only would your firebending talents become legendary, but you'd also earn an honorary title. Dragon."

"Hence 'Dragon of the West'," Azara added, causing Aang's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Your uncle . . . killed a dragon?"

"The last one, apparently. Before we were born. A long time ago," Azara sighed as Zuko paused, clearly thinking about Uncle.

"But I thought your uncle was . . . I don't know, good?"

"He had a complicated past. Family tradition, I guess," Zuko replied as Azara walked to stand beside Aang.

"There is light in darkness and darkness in light," Azara recited, causing Aang to turn to her. "Especially when your family just happens to be the Fire Nation royal family."

"Let's just move on," Zuko sighed, already walking ahead.

Aang walked along the path first. Azara was about to follow him when her headache suddenly returned full force.

Azara . . . you must . . . find . . . the voice rasped as she held her head.

But as soon as it came, the voice was gone. Along with her headache. Shaking her head, Azara looked up at the path, and hurried to catch up with Aang and Zuko.

The trio eventually reached a temple of some kind at the top of some stairs. A vertical column with a sunstone embedded in its center as placed in front of the temple, a beam of red light shooting from the sunstone down to the tiles below. The temple in front of the column was large and grand, guarded by two ornate doors.

Aang ran forward, trying to open the gates, but he was unsuccessful. "It's locked up!"

"Probably because they don't want people just walking through there," Azara replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Wait. It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples," Zuko pointed out, glancing between the sunstone and the temple.

"Great, now if only the solstice wasn't months away," Azara sighed, leaning on the column.

"Monkeyfeathers! The solstice again? We can't wait here that long," Aang complained, walking over to Zuko and Azara.

"No, we can't," Zuko agreed, unsheathing one of his swords. "But we might be able to speed time up." Zuko walked over to the point on the ground where the sunstone beam hit. Placing his sword under it, he angled the blade to redirect the beam of light towards the sunstone at the top of the temple doors. "Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone."

"Nothing's happening," Aang commented as the light hit the other sunstone.

"Come on," Zuko sighed, staring up at the sunstone. After another moment, the ground started to shake as the doors opened, revealing the inside of the temple to the trio. Azara walked over as Zuko stood up, sheathing his sword in its scabbard once more.

"You know, Zuko, I don't care what everyone else says about you. You're pretty smart," Aang told Zuko, nudging him with his elbow. Zuko smiled for a moment, before realizing what Aang had just suggested. Azara tried to prevent a snort from escaping her, but she was unsuccessful.

As Zuko and Aang walked into the room to investigate, Azara was about to follow them inside when she got another sudden headache, causing her to pause and hold her head.

Azara . . . you must . . . come . . . to . . . us . . .

"Azara?" Aang called, looking back at her as she winced, rubbing her temples.

"I'm fine," she spoke, though neither Zuko nor Aang looked convinced. "I'm just going to look around out here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Don't go too far. And be careful," Zuko reminded her as Azara nodded before walking off. Slipping away from the temple, Azara looked around the ruins for any clarification for what the voice was saying when another headache hit her.

Azara . . . follow . . . the . . . sun . . .

"To where?" Azara huffed, glancing up at the celestial body.

Follow . . . the sun . . .

Azara scoffed to herself, glancing around, when she paused. Taking a step back, she stared up at one of the mosaics. In the corner of the piece, she spotted an odd-looking marker. It was of the sun, but not in the traditional sense. Because it had dragons instead of sunbeams coming out of it.

Follow . . . the . . . sun . . .

Deciding to go with her gut, Azara walked over to the mosaic, staring up at it for a moment, before looking around the ruins again. She stared down the path before freezing as she spotted the same symbol on the side of a statue, embedded into the stone base.

Follow . . . the . . . sun . . .

Picking up the pace, Azara let her legs carry her as she mindlessly followed the markers. Sun after sun, path after path, corner after corner, until she reached the edge of the ruins. The path continued forward into a dark cave carved into the side of a lopsided-looking mountain. The archway into the cave was completely decorated with the markers she had been following all along.

Azara . . .

This time, the voice was seemingly coming from the depths of the dark cave in front of her instead of her own mind. Startled for a moment, Azara glanced behind her to see if Zuko or Aang had emerged and followed after her. When she didn't spot either of them, she turned back around, clearly thinking over her options.

"This is a bad idea," Azara sighed to herself, before walking into the dark cave.

*|*|*|*|*

Meanwhile, back at the temple where Azara had left them, Aang and Zuko found themselves trapped against a grate by an unknown dark sticky substance after Zuko had picked up the glowing egg from the temple.

"It stopped," Aang observed, looking over at Zuko as the pressure on their backs stopped.

"At least we have air. Maybe if we stay calm, we can figure a way out of this. Try calling for Azara. She can help us," Zuko suggested as Aang took a deep breath.

"AZARA! COME HELP US!" Zuko swore his ears were ringing and he had no way of covering them from Aang's sonic blast.

*|*|*|*|*

But Azara was already too far into the cave to do anything to help them. The cave seemed to mute any outside noise, save for the sound of her own footsteps or breathing. Feeling along the wall with her hand, Azara walked slowly through the darkness, wishing more than ever that she had her firebending back. At least she'd be able to see then.

Feeling the wall curve outward, Azara swore she saw a spec of light in the distance. Keeping her hand on the wall, Azara kept walking towards the source, which only seemed to get brighter. Thinking that she had found the way out of the cave, Azara let go of the wall once it was bright enough to see and hurried forward.

Turning another corner, Azara spotted another archway. She couldn't see beyond the archway, the light shining from the opening being too bright to make out any other sights. Azara quickened her pace, eager to get out of the stupid cave she had walked down.

However, once she walked through the archway and her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light, Azara frowned at the sight in front of her. She wasn't back outside with the sun, but instead in some large chamber of some kind. Looking up, Azara covered her eyes as she noted the large sunstone hanging from the ceiling, which filled the room with a soft glow of light. The pool of water underneath the sunstone only seemed to increase the brightness in the room as it reflected the light.

"Freaky," she commented, taking a few steps forward, before the room started to shake.

The wall behind her suddenly slammed shut, trapping her in the chamber. Azara began to panic, running back to the wall. "Hey! Let me out!" she demanded, banging her fists against the wall, to no avail. Sighing, she turned back to the large sunstone. Leaning against the wall and sliding down to the floor, Azara rubbed her face tiredly.

"Great thinking, Azara. Just follow the inanimate voice in the back of your head telling you to do dangerous things. That was a great idea," Azara huffed, resting her head on her hand. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she repeated to herself.

Taking a few moments that maybe she was a bit of a dumbass, Azara got up and walked further into the chamber. Standing on the edge of the pool of water, Azara stared up at the sunstone once more. She lowered her head, staring down into the pool of water. Her eyes widened in surprise as she spotted something shiny at the bottom of the pool.

"How many bad decisions can one make in one day?" she asked herself rhetorically as she took a few steps back.

Pulling off her shoes and thicker outer layer, Azara waded back into the water. Standing at waist-deep water, Azara marveled at how warm the water actually was. She searched for the shiny reflection once more before diving forward into the pool of water.

The light from the sunstone provided ample lighting to Azara as she swam down to the bottom off the pool. It was not nearly as deep as it looked, though Azara's lungs still burned as she spent too long down there. Kicking to the surface, Azara caught her breath, before diving back down again.

Examining the shiny object closer, Azara swung her hands around, trying to clear away the dirt and debris that had settled over it. She repeated the process over and over again. Take a deep breath, dive down, move some dirt around, look for a second, kick back to the surface, and then do the whole process over again.

Diving down once more, Azara paused mid-stroke as she recognized the symbol from before. In the center of the pool floor was a large mosaic sun with dragons flying out from its rays. Just like she had seen over and over again on her way through the ruins.

Azara swam back to the surface, staring up at the sunstone curiously. "What is this place?" she wondered before heading for the other end of the pool. Pulling herself out of the water, Azara turned to face the room from a new angle, trying to find a new way out.

Her eyes landed on a mosaic on the side of the wall, which glowed a soft golden color. Taking a step forward, Azara froze when she noticed the carving disappeared from view. She took a step back. The change in angle suddenly caused the carving to glow once more, reflecting the light from the sunstone in the middle of the ceiling.

"We can never pick the normal places, can we?" Azara sighed, tilting her head to the side to try and study the mosaic.

Narrowing her eyes, she analyzed the contours, before gasping in realization. "Is that . . . a dragon?" she realized, thinking back to the symbol she had been assaulted with since she arrived at the Sun Warrior ruins. Walking back down to the pool, Azara swam around, trying to see if the change in angle would reveal anything else to her.

She swam around the pool. With every stroke, every turn of her head, she could spot different mosaics being illuminated by the light of the sunstone. Swimming directly under the large sunstone, Azara spun around, realizing that all of the mosaics were dragons. Dragons that were flying up, heading towards the center of the ceiling, where the sunstone rested above her head.

"Freaky," she commented to herself as she treaded water.

*|*|*|*|*

The sun had set and Aang and Zuko were no closer to getting out from the grate than they were hours ago. "You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang sighed, a disappointed look on his face as Zuko shot him a look.

"At least I made something happen! If it were up to you, we'd never have made it past the courtyard," Zuko shot back as Aang pouted in response.

"We should have just listened to Azara."

"Who should have been here by now," Zuko replied, sharing a concerned look with Aang. "I'm getting worried about her."

"Sokka's going to kill me if we don't find her," Aang mumbled, staring up at the stars.

"I'm going to kill you if we don't find her!" Zuko snapped as Aang shot him an annoyed look.

"Well, what do you think we should do while we're stuck here? We can't look for her if we're stuck to this grate!"

". . . Think about our place in the universe?" Zuko suggested, causing Aang to sigh again.

*|*|*|*|*

Back in the mysterious chamber, Azara sat at the edge of the pool of water. The room had gone rather dark since the sun had set, though the general warmth of the chamber still clung to the air. Staring up at the now dark sunstone, Azara frowned.

"Why did you bring me here? What's so significant about this place?" Laying down, Azara sighed, resting her hands over her head. "Why did you bring me here . . . voice in my head?" she wondered aloud, staring up at the ceiling.

The toll of the day, as well as the lingering exhaustion from her time with the Dai Li, finally caught up with her. Azara gently drifted off to sleep, curling up into herself. She was completely unaware of Aang and Zuko's current predicament and the Sun Warriors were completely unaware of her existence, since Zuko signaled to Aang to not bring her up in front of them.

While Aang and Zuko were busy carrying their flames to the masters, the sunstone started to glow brighter as the rising sun's rays hit it. Azara cracked open an eye as the chamber started to fill with light once more. Realizing that the sunstone was now glowing, Azara got to her feet, staring up at the sunstone, which only seemed to glow brighter. For a moment, Azara did nothing. Then her eyes widened, her golden irises glowing unnaturally bright on their own.

Azara . . . come . . .

Azara took a few slow steps forward, her gaze never breaking from the sunstone. Reaching the edge of the pool, Azara didn't pause, didn't stop. She merely kept walking forward. Instead of breaking through the surface of the water with her foot, she continued forward confidently, walking on the surface of the water towards the center to the room.

Stepping underneath the sunstone, Azara stared up, her gaze never straying from the glowing rock. The sunstone grew brighter before a larger beam of light descended down towards Azara, enveloping her in sudden warmth. And then, everything went dark.

*|*|*|*|*

Meanwhile, with the firebending masters, Aang and Zuko stood back-to-back on the bridge. The dragons face them, snarling and sniffing at the petty humans. Zuko looked scared, but Aang looked positively terrified, pressing against Zuko's back with his own.

Suddenly, the two dragons sat down, their legs gripping the stairs to the bridge, before they released flames from their mouths. Aang and Zuko yelled out, covering their faces with their arms, as they were surrounded by a vortex of flames. Realizing that they were not being burned alive, the two boys lowered their arms slowly.

Looking up at the flames, Aang's eyes widened as he spotted all the different colors from the vortex of fire. "Wow," he murmured, mesmerized by the color show.

"I understand," Zuko spoke softly, his expression shifting to a more relaxed look.

As the vortex of fire faded away, the dragons released the bridge and circled each other. Doing one large, graceful loop in the air, Ran and Shaw flew back into their respective caves. Without a word, Aang and Zuko turned towards the Sun Warriors and started to descend the stairs.

"Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined," Zuko told the Sun Warrior chief, who had walked over to greet them.

"Like firebending harmony," Aang added, a small smile on his face.

"Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending," the Sun Warriors chief agreed, nodding his head.

"I can't believe there are still living dragons. My Uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it," Zuko mentioned as Aang turned to him, shrugging lightly.

"So, your uncle lied."

"Actually, it wasn't a total lie. Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well," the Sun Warrior chief revealed, causing Zuko's eyes to widen for a moment.

"He must have lied to protect them . . . so no one else would hunt them," Zuko realized, looking down at the thought of Uncle again.

"All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is . . . it's energy, and life."

"Yeah. It's like the sun, but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?" Zuko asked the Sun Warrior chief, who shrugged in response.

"Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors . . . so yeah."

"That's why my firebending was so weak before. Because for so many years, hunting you was my drive . . . it was my purpose. So, when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world," Zuko vowed to Aang before winding up and delivering two precise fire blasts.

Aang nodded back before releasing one of his own. He smiled widely at the success as he turned back to Zuko, who looked similarly pleased. The Sun Warrior chief walked back over, flanked by two of his warriors, and suddenly looking serious.

"Now that you have learned the secrets, and you know about our tribe's existence, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever." Aang and Zuko looked shocked, sharing nervous glances, before the Sun Warrior chief smiled. "Just kidding." Aang and Zuko let out a relieved sigh before the Sun Warrior chief grew serious again. "But seriously, don't tell anyone!"

As Zuko and Aang bowed to the Sun Warrior chief, a Sun Warrior ran over, looking rather frantic. "Chief, the Sacred Chambers are closed and locked! Someone broke in!"

The Sun Warrior chief's eyes widened in surprise before he turned back to Zuko and Aang. "I thought you said that you two were alone," he growled out, causing Aang and Zuko to sweat.

"About that . . ." Aang trailed off, a sheepish smile on his face as he raised an apologetic finger in the air.

"It's probably my sister," Zuko admitted, taking a step forward. "We got separated in the ruins because she didn't want to go into the temple."

"The temple where you got stuck to the grate for a couple of hours for trying to steal from us?" the Chief asked, his tone rough.

"Yeah . . . that one," Zuko agreed awkwardly, looking away for a moment.

"So, what can we do to open the chambers?" Aang asked, taking a step to stand beside Zuko.

"Nothing," the Sun Warrior chief replied simply. Zuko's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger. He took a step forward, his hand clenched into a fist.

"What do you mean nothing!? My sister could be—"

"—Your sister is on her own now. She has been chosen," the Sun Warrior chief announced dramatically, gasps ringing out around the yard.

"Chosen!? For what!?"

A.N. So, I decided to leave it on a cliff hanger, since I think it's kind of poetic for the next chapter to be what it is (being the official 100th chapter and all). And this chapter got kind of long. I did incorporate some inspiration from the Atlantis movie (Kida was my absolute fave as a kid lol) and also lowkey Brother Bear vibes into the solo Azara scenes, just in case you guys were wondering.

Hope you enjoyed it! Big things are happening in the next chapter, so stay tuned! As always, thanks for reading, voting, and commenting!