Sokka and the rest of the villagers are not happy that Aang and Katara alerted the Fire Navy.
Aang and Katara Return to the Village
Aang and Katara return to the Water Tribe village, but they are not welcomed with open arms. The poeple in the village saw the flare. Sokka accuses Aang of signaling the fire navy. While this is true, Aang did not do it on purpose. Katara jumps to Aang’s defense. Katara’s Grandmother scolds Katara for going inside the old fire navy ship (see The Boy in the Iceberg), and Aang tells her Grandmother that it was his fault. Sokka then banishes Aang from the village. When Katara asks her Grandmother for support in letting Aang stay in the village, Grandma says that she agrees with Sokka. Katara is upset by this, and says that she is leaving with Aang. Sokka pulls the guilt trip against Katara, and asks her if she’ll really leave her entire tribe and family, for someone she just met the day before. She reluctantly stays behind as Aang leaves.
The Fire Navy approaches
Aang and Appa fly to an iceberg off in the distance. Out of the corner of his eye, Aang sees a Fire Navy ship heading straight for the Water Tribe Village. It’s Zuko, and he looks like he is ready for battle. Aang heads for the village. Sokka is standing guard, and the gorund starts shaking. Zuko’s ship nearly runs over Sokka, as it grinds to a halt. The ship is wedged into the icy bank around the village. The gate lowers, and Zuko walks out. Sokka confronts him, but he is no match for Zuko. Zuko quickly dispatches Sokka into a snowbank.
Zuko threatens the villagers, demanding that they tell him where the Avatar was hiding. Just as it appears Zuko would hurt one of the villagers, Aang rides in on a penguin and saves the day. Aang then does a couple of Airbender moves, and Zuko realizes that Aang is the Avatar. Zuko is surprised that Aang is just a “child”. Aang and Zuko engage in a quick battle, but Aang puts an end to the battle. As Aang was fighting, he looked at the villagers and saw that they were in fear. He asked Zuko to leave them alone, in exchange for letting Zuko take him. Aang boarded Zuko’s ship, and they sailed away. Katara and Sokka didn’t hesitate for a minute in going after him. They hitched a ride on Appa, and headed for the Fire Navy ship.
Aang uses a Waterbending move to defeat Zuko and escape his ship.
Zuko takes Aang’s staff, and tells his henchmen to take Aang to his cell. Aang is unimpressed with the fighting abilities of Zuko’s guards. He easily escapes them. In the meantime, Appa is floating along a river with Katara and Sokka. Sokka figures out the magic phrase, ‘Yip Yip’, to get Appa to fly. Appa and company head towards Zuko’s ship.
Back on the ship, while running from Zuko’s guards, Aang sees his staff in a room. He enters the room, and the door closes behind him. He finds him self face to face with Zuko. A battle ensues, and Aang is able to rough Zuko up enough to get away from him. As Aang is looking for a way off of the ship, Appa arrives. Zuko continues attacking Aang, and is able to knock him off of the ship. Aang sinks for a bit and things aren’t looking good, until he goes into avatar mode. He summons a huge amount of water, and blasts Zuko and his guards to the endge of the ship. Aang is exhausted and passes out. Katara, Sokka, and Aang hop on Appa and get out of there. Aang summons enough strength to ward off Zuko’s fireball with a burst of air, and the trio are on their way.
As they are flying, Katara and Aang start talking about Aang being the Avatar. They agree to find a Waterbender for Aang and Katara to learn from.