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“Love at First Sight”

Something jabs him in the leg and a voice asks, “Am I sure he isn’t dead?”

Aang opens his eyes. There is a boy leaning over him, holding a wooden club in one hand and checking Aang’s pulse with the other. Blue eyes, lean muscles, calluses on his fingers. A warrior. But he has a gentle touch. 

Aang swirls air beneath himself and lands on his feet. The boy falls back in shock and scrambles away. There’s no one else around. Perhaps he could use a friend? 

“Hi, I’m Aang! Wanna go penguin sledding with me?”

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“The Princess and Her Knight”

Guarding the Princess isn’t nearly as boring as Katara thought it would be. Yue doesn’t act like the other rich nobles Katara has met on her travels, too good for peasant company. They visit the market together, discuss history, trade, and politics, and admire ice sculptures. Yue makes Katara feel safe and warm, and it dawns on her that she’s made a friend. 

But all is not well. Yue often touches her betrothal necklace and flinches. When Katara asks what’s wrong, Yue only says, “Some things a warrior can’t protect me from.”

Well. That sounds like a challenge.

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“Apostle”

The Avatar is a little blind girl. Her hair is matted, her feet are bare, and she’s dressed in a ridiculous silk robe that engulfs her thin body and is spattered with mud.

Oh Spirits, they’ll crush her, Suki thinks, staring at the approaching Fire Nation soldiers and cringing. 

Then the impossible happens. The ground splits in twain as it did when Avatar Kyoshi bade it centuries ago, and swallows the soldiers whole. The little girl raises her arms and the earth seals itself.

Suki’s heart swells with awe. I will follow wherever you lead.

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“A Teaching Moment”

Jet takes Lee to a park for their third date. 

It’s not much, just a few thin trees encircling a bench, but there’s a pond with turtleducks nearby. Lee’s face lights up and Jet catches sight of a boyish grin as he kneels and offers a flower to the closest one.

Jet watches Lee feed the turtleducks and thinks that he has never seen such a brash exterior hide so tender a heart. Jet hasn’t used his own so openly in years and suddenly he wants to. He wants Lee to teach him.

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“Body Pillow”

There are no beds in the Western Air Temple and Zuko didn’t give them the opportunity to pack before they left the Fire Nation. So Mai and Ty Lee are forced to share Katara’s spare blanket and sleep on the floor. Great. 

“Being a traitor sucks. Why did we join the Avatar, again?” Mai shivers against the hard ground. 

“Don’t be grumpy, Mai. I found you an extra pillow.” Ty Lee stretches out on the floor and pulls Mai atop her. “Comfy yet?”

Mai would rather die than admit it, but she is. She sleeps like a baby.

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“Born Lucky”

The match between his brother and Lady Ursa is a poor one. Ozai is outspoken and impulsive where Ursa is introverted and calm. Their marriage is one of angry silences.

Iroh and Ursa take to meeting in the gardens, a place he has not spent time in since his wife Yun died. “Thank you for listening to my troubles,” Lady Ursa says one day. “You’re the only one who does.” She lays a warm hand on his arm.

Nine months later, Prince Zuko is born.

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“The Pauper and the Prince”

As Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko had companions of high birth brought to the palace to play with since he could crawl. However, in a scandal that has rocked the court, Zuko’s favorite is no Fire noble, but a common monk. 

“Okay, Zuko, one end of Ember Island to the other. Loser has to eat a whole bag of fire flakes! Yip yip, Appa!”

Zuko scrambles onto Kuzon’s saddle and his dragon roars in approval as they take flight. 

Zuko laughs. Common or not, Zuko always laughs with Aang.

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“The Stranger Among Us”

Bato meets the woman at a trading port in Gaoling when she tries to barter with him for passage on his ship for herself and a skinny, trembling boy.

Bato isn’t fooled by their worn cloaks. He knows the look of a Fire Nation noble.

”Please,” she rasps, “my husband is hunting us.” There is something compelling in the dark well of her insistent gaze.

”I know of a place he will never think to look,” Bato finds himself replying.

One hasty marriage ceremony later and two brown cloaks are exchanged for Water Tribe blues. Bato leads his new wife and stepson onto his ship. 

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“Solidarity”

Her days as the Princess’s handmaiden can be counted in burn scars. Not only is Princess Azula spoiled as any noble child, she’s violent and enjoys sating her sadistic urges on the staff. 

Suki is disgusted but not shocked that that Princess’s cruelty extends to her friends.

She slips a bottle of aloe juice to Lady Ty Lee, who is weeping and favoring a reddened arm. 

Lady Ty Lee’s jaw drops in shock at her daring. Suki winks.

Ty Lee winks back.

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“The Dragon Throne”

It is criminal that Azula was not born a Fire Princess of the Dragon Throne but had to inherit the title through marriage to her odious fool of a third cousin. Imagining Feng Li infecting her heirs to their country’s greatness with his stupidity and incompetence is unbearable.

”But we’ll get caught!” Zuko protests when Azula reveals her plan. His other asinine arguments include mentions of his wife and their shared parents. But Azula wears him down eventually. Azula always wins. 

Her twins are born with golden eyes and no trace of Feng Li’s insipid features. 

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"The Last Waterbender"

"He told them he was the last waterbender," Kya reveals in the days after the attack. Her eyes are ringed with shadows, but her spine is straight against the onslaught of panic that erupts from a leaderless tribe.

"Hakoda knew his duty to our people might require him to sacrifice his life to ensure our future," Bato replies. "Katara is our future."

Kya brings their foreheads together. "We must take up Hakoda's duty for him, now."

Bato spends the next week bargaining, cajoling, and issuing threats. By its end Kya is named Chief, holding Katara at her hip.

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"Dancing in the Moonlight"

Princess Katara times her attack to coincide with a full moon. The ocean swells against the beaches of Kyoshi Island, crashing down on huts and villagers alike, sweeping them out to sea.

Zuko makes a snap decision. He shoves Aang at Azula and orders them to leave on Appa. For her part, Azula doesn't hesitate, and drags Aang with her despite his howling protests.

"Hello, fire peasant. Seen the Avatar around?" a cool voice asks.

Zuko knows he'll fail the moment he raises a fist. That doesn't make the ice dagger to his eye hurt any less.

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"Queen of the Mountain"

All over town they hear whispers of a spirit who lives among the badgermoles. They say she preforms miracles.

Aang thinks she's the girl from his vision. So they walk into the forest, ignoring Sokka's grumbling about superstitious villagers.

But she's real. The girl finds them at dusk, nude except for a green headband, a herd of badgermoles at her heels. Katara wordlessly hands the girl a bag of pork buns. In return, she pulls out a lump of coal and earthbends it into a diamond. Katara forgets to breathe.

"Oh, you gotta teach me how to do that!"

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"Persuasion"

The Avatar stares at her expectantly.

"You want me to betray Azula. Betray. Azula." Mai quirks an eyebrow. "Thanks, but I prefer living."

Katara scoffs. "She's not nearly as all powerful as you make her sound," she says, oblivious to the irony of the fact that she chained up in Azula's private prison. "I've beaten her before!"

"Not all of us can rely on magic glowy powers," Mai snaps. "She found me once. She'll do it again."

Katara's face is painfully compassionate. "You don't have to be afraid of her. You can be free."

Mai looks away. "I can't."

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"The Princess and the Pet"

In a completely unexpected turn of events, Zuko does something useful for once in his life.

The Avatar is a bald, skinny child with bulbous grey eyes. Azula kicks at the chains binding his legs until he faces her.

"Hello, Avatar. I'm Crown Princess Azula." She bows. "And your name is?"

He doesn't answer, of course. The gag is thick enough to prevent speech.

Instead, the boy twists and aims a guest of air at her with a kick. Azula feels a thrill when she's forced to dodge. Finally, a challenge!

"We're going to become excellent friends."

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"Retirement"

Jet flops onto the sagging couch with a sigh of relief. Three weeks in Bah Sing Se and he's finally found a job. Bussing tables, but it pays, and that's all that matters.

"Good day?" Smellerbee asks.

Jet's about to answer when Bee climbs onto his lap and tucks her head beneath his chin. Longshot follows her and sits on the floor, leaning back against Jet's legs.

For a moment he tenses, bracing himself for punishment, for daring to let his guard down, before remembering. He's in Bah Sing Se. There's no war here.

Jet feels himself unwind. "The best."

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"Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place"

Zuko's greatest moment of triumph is swiftly followed by despair. After three years of searching, he's found the Avatar, no more than an innocent child, hidden among a tribe of hapless peasants at the South Pole. Surely, Agni has blessed the disgraced Prince at last.

But when Zuko sees the marks on the Avatar and southern bender's temples, he realizes this is no blessing. Their marks match his own. It is a curse.

Soulmarks are a command from the Spirits. Protect, defend, honor. To harm one's marked is to bring one's bloodline eternal shame. No matter his choice, Zuko is damned.

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"Mouthpiece of the Gods"

Yue dreams of an iceberg.

She sees a great storm. She sees a boy flying in the saddle of an enormous white beast. She hears him scream commands for higher! faster! as the storm sucks boy and beast below. She smells the salt spray of the ocean as the boy and his mount plunge beneath the waves. They struggle to reach the surface but the storm is indomitable and they slowly, slowly sink. Yue sees a bright, blinding light, and wakes. 

The dream repeats itself every night for a moon's turn before Yue accepts the message. The spirits have spoken and she will obey.

She takes a canoe and sets out to look for a boy in an iceberg.

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"That'll Teach Him"

Father's petition to the Fire Lord to replace Uncle Iroh as heir has left Grandfather furious.

"Have you no shame?! You impertinent brat, I will see to it that you know the pain of losing your heir!"

Zuko nearly has a heart attack before the Fire Lord elaborates that Ozai's loss is to be metaphorical. Zuko is to be married off to an Earth Kingdom lady and removed from the line of succession.

Azula is naturally gleeful at Zuko's impending shame. Zuko is too relieved at not being executed to care about marrying 'Toph Bei Fong'.

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"You Should See Me in a Crown"

"I would make a far better Fire Lord than my idiot brother," Azula says one day as they're sitting in the gardens. "You think so too, don't you, Ty Lee?"

Ty Lee drops her dolls and looks up. Azula doesn't often solicit others' opinions. "Of course I do!"

"And you, Mai?'

Mai pretends to think it over. "Isn't it treason if I say yes?"

Azula scoffs. "Because Zuko was born first? Because he can use his fingers as spark rocks? I would be a superior ruler. I don't care who I have to prove it to."

Mai considers it. "I've always wanted to plan a coup."

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"Sanctuary"

The Avatar's uncle argues passionately for them to be given sanctuary. They've been chased across the world by the Fire Nation. The North Pole is their last hope.

Father is suspicious of General Iroh, and Yue's heart sinks when she realizes he will deny them. General Iroh looks pained by his rejection, the Avatar simply resigned to it.

"Father!" Yue interjects. The Council goes silent. "The Avatar is the world's spiritual leader. How can we refuse him without insulting Tui and La?"

Father looks pale at the implication. General Iroh smiles gratefully.

The Avatar looks at Yue like she hung the moon.

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"The Blind Bandit'

Haru has heard the rumors of an earthbender vigilante taking out Fire Nation command centers and cutting swaths through their war bands single-handedly. But he never imagined he would see her free his home!

The Blind Bandit hurls boulders the size of buildings like pebbles at Haru's tormentors. They fall one by one until only the villagers remain.

"Where did they take the earthbenders?" the Bandit demands.

"Out to sea," an elder replies. "Where they cannot bend."

"Maybe they can't. Anyone want to join a rescue mission?"

Haru's on his feet before she finishes asking.

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"Under the Radar"

Iroh introduces Jeong-Jeong to Zuko as "an old friend" when his nephew questions Jeong-Jeong' presence on their ship. Zuko narrows his eyes in distrust, but doesn't ask again.

"He's suspicious of me," Jeong-Jeong says that night.

"Of course he is," Iroh replies. "He's suspicious of everyone. Even me!"

"I'm putting you at risk." Jeong-Jeong purses his lips. "It would be best if I go."

"Do not fear, my nephew is less observant than he believes." Iroh puts a hand on his shoulder. "And you are worth the risk, my dear."

Jeong-Jeong smiles, and Iroh finally allows himself to relax.

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"Turncoat"

To say that Sokka is surprised when the prison warden's niece and her friend break into his cell is an understatement.

"You have to deliver a message to the Avatar." The normally cheerful one hands him a scroll, pale and shaking. "There's a boat waiting for you below. We'll cause a distraction."

All Sokka can think to ask is, "Why?"

The extra grim one says, "Because Azula's gone too far. She has to be stopped. Will you do it?"

At Sokka's nod, Formally Cheerful presses a kiss to his cheek "for luck". In a moment they're gone, and the screaming starts soon after.

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"Last Lion of Albion"

For a moment, Aang's heart falls when he sees the gliders soaring above the Northern Air Temple. The people flying them are only riding thermals, not airbending.

A voice startles him from his melancholy. "Is that a real Air Bison?"

Aang, Katara, and Sokka all jump in shock. There's a boy flying next to Appa's head, his glider attached to a rolling chair. And he's airbending currents to keep pace!

"You're an airbender! I've never seen a glider like yours before!"

The boy laughs. "My dad's an inventor. Wanna see some other stuff he's made?"

Aang grins and calls for Appa to land.

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"An Eye for an Eye"

Katara frees the prison ship of earthbenders, but not before the warden drives a blade into Tyro's chest.

"Take him with you," Haru's mother pleads. "If he stays, Haru will die for his vengeance."

So team Avatar's numbers grow from three to four.

They camp by the ocean, a dozen miles and not nearly far enough away. Haru stares at the campfire unseeingly. He still wares his bloody tunic.

"I'm going to find the man who ordered that prison ship built. I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him. I swear it."

Katara nods in understanding. She takes his hand and they watch the flames together.

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"What the Water Gave Me"

When her daughter is born struggling to breathe, Kya does not panic. She orders the best healers and wterbenders to attend to the newborn princess, and when they fail she orders Arnook to take them to the Oasis.

She lays her daughter in the sacred pool. "Tui and La, bless your child," she beseeches.

For a moment, nothing. Then a white light shines from below as the koi fish press their mouths to her daughter's face. Her hair turns white and Yue, at last, begins to cry.

"Thank you," Kya murmurs. She bows and takes her baby home.

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"The Prince and the Master"

The Fire Lord orders her to train his son to fight waterbenders.

On her knees, chains wrapped around her throat like a dog's lead, Hama spits at his feet. The prince's eyes widen, but the Fire Lord only laughs.

"That spirit will serve you well in training Azulon."

Every day Hama is brought to the salle to fight the prince; every day she does her best to kill him. Ice knives, water whips, crushing waves.

"Why won't you die!" she shrieks.

Azulon creates a wave of fire to block Hama with a manic grin; a move he learned from observing her. "Because then I'd miss another day of this!'

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"Zuko Gets Canceled"

"You!" Song is distantly aware that she's causing a scene in the middle of a tea shop, but--"You stole my ostrich-horse!"

Lee rushes over, hands held up defensively.

"Don't you shush me!" Song snaps. "What did you do with Rosehip?!"

"Who?"

"My ostrich-horse!"

Lee winces. "I no longer have Rosehip."

Song is ready to slap him when Lee blurts, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I was a jerk to you and your family. You healed my uncle and I stole your ostrich-horse. You didn't deserve it." He bows. "Allow me to make it up to you."

Song sits. "I'm listening..."