| abstract
| - At the Fire Lord's beach house, Aang is practicing his firebending while Zuko watches and demands more ferocity from him. At first, Aang makes a feeble attempt at a particular move, but does much better with the next attempt. Everyone else is lazily sitting on the steps of the beach house. Katara prepares watermelon juice for everyone, causing Aang to excitedly abandon his training to get a drink. An angered Zuko criticizes them all for being lazy. Sokka and the others, except for an annoyed Zuko, head to the beach to have a party. Katara uses waterbending to surf on the waves, while Aang and Toph make sand sculptures. After Sokka makes a hideous sand sculpture of Suki, Zuko appears and attacks Aang ferociously, scaring everyone. He chases Aang off the beach and back into the house. Once cornered by Zuko, Aang airbends Zuko out of the house and everyone else asks why Zuko attacked Aang without reason. Angered, Zuko wonders how they can relax and have a party when Sozin's Comet is arriving in three days. The others reveal that they believe that the Fire Nation already won the War after conquering Ba Sing Se, and that Aang can just wait until he has fully mastered the elements to defeat the Fire Lord, after the comet passes. Just as Katara says that it could not possibly get any worse, Zuko grimly replies that it will. He tells them of the day before the eclipse when he attended a war meeting, where he was glad his father had finally accepted him back. The generals in the meeting discuss rebellions inside the Earth Kingdom that must be stopped. Zuko explains that the people of the Earth Kingdom are strong and proud and capable of enduring everything as long as they have hope. Hearing Zuko's words, Ozai believes that they must destroy their hope, and Azula suggests burning down the Earth Kingdom. Ozai accepts this idea and decides to use the power of the comet to permanently crush the Earth Kingdom, just as Sozin used its power to wipe out the Air Nomads one hundred years prior. With this last piece of resistance gone, he could rule the world unopposed. As the group displays their horror at this news, Zuko concludes that Aang will have no choice but to defeat Ozai before the comet comes, otherwise there will not be a world to save. Downhearted by this news, Aang feels overwhelmed and doubts his abilities to successfully face the Fire Lord. His friends, however, declare that they will fight alongside him to have a better shot at defeating Ozai. With Aang comforted, Team Avatar joins together in a group hug, including a reluctant Zuko. Later, Zuko teaches Aang the technique of lightning redirection. Zuko explains that though being able to hold such energy is exhilarating, one wrong move could prove fatal. Aang thinks Katara would still be able to heal him if that happened, but she says she used up all of the spiritual healing water when Azula shot Aang with lightning before. Zuko stresses that against an opponent as vicious as Ozai, Aang has no choice but to take his life. Aang anxiously replies he will do just that. Sokka makes a dummy, naming it the "Melon Lord", to use as practice for the group's strategy to take out the Fire Lord. The rest of the group, except Toph who acts as the Melon Lord's forces, creates a diversion to provide Aang with the opportunity to deliver the finishing blow. During training however, Aang fails to finish off the puppet, saying it did not feel right because of his peaceful nature. Irritated, Sokka slices the puppet's head in two to show Aang how it is done, leaving Aang nervous and worried. That night as they eat dinner, Katara finds a picture of a baby in the attic and shows it to everybody, thinking it is Zuko. Much to everyone's surprise, Zuko corrects Katara, noting that the picture is of his father. When Suki states that Ozai looks "so sweet and innocent", he adds that the "sweet little kid grew up to be a monster, and the worst father in the history of fathers." Aang argues that even though Ozai is a terrible person, he is still a human being and should not be killed. Seeing all life as sacred and trying to think of another way to defeat him, Aang suggests to make large pots filled with glue, so he can use "gluebending" to stick Ozai's arms and legs together to prevent him from bending ever again. To poke fun at the idea, Zuko adds that they could subsequently show Ozai his baby pictures in order to trigger his good side. When Aang excitedly asks if the plan would work, Zuko angrily yells that it would not. Aang starts to restlessly pace around, musing that killing goes against everything he learned from the monks. Sokka jokes that as the Avatar, the universe would probably forgive him for taking a person's life if it was done in the name of keeping balance. Furious, Aang berates everyone for not being able to understand the position he is in and he storms off. Katara starts to follow him, but Zuko suggests he be left alone to figure the problem out himself. Aang meditates on the beach house porch, accompanied by Momo. He and Momo later fall asleep, and with the sudden appearance of a strange small island off shore, Aang is unconsciously drawn toward the island with Momo flying after him. The next morning, the others prepare to leave the beach house, but they cannot find Aang anywhere. They check the beach and find his footprints in the sand, leading into the wide open ocean. They deduce Aang did not run away, as his glider and Appa are still at the house; that he was not captured, as there was no sign of a struggle; and that Aang is not on a Spirit World journey, because his body would still be with them. They decide to split up to search Ember Island. Before they search, Toph states that, "Everyone else has been on a life changing journey with Zuko; now it's my turn", and she goes with Zuko. The search is futile, as no one finds Aang, and they additionally realize that Momo is gone as well. Sokka believes Appa has eaten Momo and comically climbs into Appa's mouth. They all look to Zuko as a leader, as he is an "expert on tracking Aang". Soon they are all flying on Appa toward the Earth Kingdom. Meanwhile, preparing for departure with a grand ceremony at the Royal Plaza, Fire Lord Ozai orders Azula to stay in the Fire Nation to be appointed the new Fire Lord. Initially angered to learn she will not be accompanying her father, Azula eventually concedes that the title of "Fire Lord Azula" "does seem appropriate". Ozai subsequently declares himself the Phoenix King, the ruler of the world, and departs for the airship base. Back in the Earth Kingdom, Zuko leads the group into a tavern where they find June, a bounty hunter, who has a shirshu which can track Aang. Somewhere else, Momo wakes Aang up, and Aang sees with great surprise he is on a mysterious island in the middle of the sea.
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