Chapter Fifteen: Bato of the Water Tribe

[This transcription is an exact replication of the one found on AvatarSpirit.net. This page is a tool for further exploration after the initial reading.]

Act I

(The episode opens with a brief daytime shot of a shoreline. The surf breaks against jagged rocks that jut out of the ocean close to shore. Presumably nearby, a water tribe blade has been stuck in the ground in a forested area. Aang's hand enters the frame, then cut to a wider shot of Aang picking up the blade, Sokka coming up behind him.)

Aang: Hey look! A sword made out of a whale's tooth.
Sokka (grabbing it): Lemme see that.

(Sokka walks forward, examining the blade. Fade to a flashback of daytime at the South Pole. In the distance, many Water Tribe boats are being loaded with supplies. View pans left to reveal the back of a younger Sokka, a view soon replaced by a frontal shot of the boy. He holds his boomerang, a pained look of anticipated loss on his face. Flashback fades, his older face superimposed briefly on his younger face.)

Sokka: This is a water tribe weapon. (To Aang, behind him over he left shoulder.) See if you can find anything else.
Katara (entering wider shot): Did someone lose something?
Aang: (looking in a bush): No, we found something.

(Cut to Sokka brushing away some leaves from a broken arrow on the ground. He picks it up and inspects it.)

Sokka: It's burned.

(He throws it away and walks over to a tree with burn marks.)

Sokka: There was a battle. Water tribe warriors ambushed a group of firebenders.

(He looks down at the ground and begins to walk downhill as he interprets the signs left in the earth.)

Sokka: The firebenders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill...

(He runs down the hill, the others in tow. They soon come to the beach seen in the first clip.)

Aang: So then what happened?
Sokka: I don't know. The trail ends here.
Katara (pointing o.c. to the right): Wait! Look!

(Cut to a shot of a beached water tribe boat.)

Sokka (from o.c.): It's one of our boats!

(They all run to it. Cut to a wide shot of them staring up at the boat.)

Katara: Is this... Dad's boat?
Sokka (rubbing the ship's prow and smiling): No, but it's from his fleet. Dad was here.

(Cut to a close up of Iroh's face. He is drinking tea. He drinks and then cut to a shot of he and Zuko sitting at a table in a cabin on Zuko's ship. Iroh pours Zuko some tea after he takes his sip.)

Iroh: Ahh! See, Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well being.

(As Zuko raises the cup to drink, a shock causes it to splash the tea all over he face. He wipes it away and gets up from table, making angry noises. Cut to the foredeck, where a young, dark haired woman has appeared on deck riding a massive and hideous monster. Members of Zuko's crew scatter as the monster climbs the railing and onto the deck.)

June: Get back! We're after a stowaway.
Zuko: There are no stowaways on my ship.

(The monster, a shirshu, proceeds to rip out a chunk of deck plating and hurls it aft. It sticks its head into the gaping hole, then cut to the shirshu's p.o.v. It can see smells. The stowaway's odor shows up as a smoky green trail on the screen which it follows. Nearby a barrel falls over and a man crawls out, whimpering. The man crawls out onto the foredeck where the shirshu quickly whips the back of his neck with its tongue. He falls instantly onto the deck, conscious but paralyzed, with Iroh and Zuko looking on in the background.)

Zuko: He's paralyzed.
June (picking the man up): Only temporarily. The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money.
Zuko: But how did you find him on my ship?
June (petting her monster as she gets back in the saddle): My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away.
Iroh (admiring her): Well, I'm impressed.

(She cracks her whip and the shirshu bolts off the ship and down the dock. Cut back to Iroh.)

Iroh (stroking his chin): Very impressed.

(Cut to a shot of the full moon. The screen pans down to reveal the kids and Appa around a campfire in front of the water tribe boat they found on the beach. Katara and Aang are asleep, Sokka is not. He tends the fire in silence, lost in thought. A flashback begins. It is again daytime on the South Pole. The younger Sokka, his face painted for war, struggles to carry a sleeping bag and gear toward the boats. Cut to an older man, Hagoda, Katara and Sokka's father, helping to load a boat. He sees his son and walks to him.)

Hakoda: Sokka...
Sokka: I'm coming with you.
Hakoda: You're not old enough to go to war, Sokka, you know that.
Sokka (his eyes pleading): I'm strong! I'm brave! I can fight! Please, Dad!
Hakoda (putting a hand on his shoulder): Being a man is knowing where you're needed the most, and for you right now that's here protecting your sister.
Sokka (eyes watering): I don't understand.
Hakoda: Someday you will. (Sokka drops his sleeping bag and hugs his father.) I'm going to miss you so much.

(Sokka cries, his father's hand on his head. The flashback fades to the present. In the present, Sokka stares at the fire for another moment before hearing a sound and standing up.)

Sokka: Who's there?

(Cut to a bandaged water tribe man approaching the camp.)

Bato: Sokka?
Sokka: Bato?
Aang (waking up in the background): Who the what now?
Katara: Bato!
Bato: Sokka! Katara! (Hugging them both.) It is so good to see you two! Oh, you've grown so much.
Aang (bowing): Hi, I'm Aang.
Sokka: Where's Dad?
Katara: Is he here?
Bato: No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now.

(The wind picks up and they all shiver.)

Bato: Brr! This is no place for a reunion. Let's get inside.

(He puts his arms around Katara and Sokka's shoulder and motions Aang to follow. Cut to Appa beginning to walk away from the campfire after them, then cut to another shot of the moon. The camera pans down to show a monastery complex as Bato begins to narrate from o.c. Then the kids, Appa and Bato appear walking in through the main gate.)

Bato: After I was wounded, your father carried me to this abbey. The sisters have cared for me ever since. (To one of the nearby women.) Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They've been traveling with the Avatar. I found them by my boat.
Superior (bowing): Young Avatar, it gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey.
Aang (bowing): Thank you! It's truly an honor to be here. If there's anything –
Sokka (cutting Aang off): What smells so good, Bato? (He sniffs the air.)
Bato: The sisters craft ointments and perfumes.
Sokka: Perfume? Maybe we could dump some on Appa? Because he stinks so much! Am I right?

(Cut to Bato and Katara, who are not amused.)

Bato: You have your father's wit.

(Cut to a wooden door opening to reveal Bato and the two kids.)

Katara: Bato! It looks like home!
Sokka: Everything's here, even the pelts!

(The pair examine the comforts of the room. Cut to Aang holding Momo, looking a little disconcerted.)

Aang: Yeh, nothing's more comforting than dead animal skins.

(Momo hops down and examine the head of a bear skin rug. The mouth of the bear closes suddenly, scaring Momo into climbing back up to Aang's shoulder. Cut to a pot over the fire in the center of the room. Katara's hand opens the pot and then the camera zooms back to show her looking at Sokka to her left, with Baton sitting down on the opposite side of the fire.)

Katara: No way! Stewed sea prunes?
Bato: Help yourself.
Sokka: Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things.

(Katara puts some in bowl, then cut to Aang with a bowl in his hands. He sniffs it and makes a sound of disgust. Cut to a wider shot of the room. Aang sits back from the group having put the untouched bowl of stew beside him. As the conversation continues, Momo tastes the stew, spits it back out and runs away.)

Katara: Bato, is it true you and Dad lassoed an arctic hippo?
Bato: It was your father's idea. He just dragged me along. Well, the hippo did the dragging.
Aang: Hey, I ride animals too! One time there was this giant eel –
Sokka (cutting Aang off): So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?
Bato (laughing): You knew about that?
Katara: Everyone does.
Aang: What's that story?
Sokka: It's a long one, Aang, some other time.

(Aang looks sad in the background. The others don't notice.)

Katara: You and Dad had so many hilarious adventures.
Bato: Not all of which were hilarious at the time, but everything's funny with hindsight. (Then to o.c.) Aang, put that down (cut to Aang wearing some kind of animal skin headdress), it's ceremonial and very fragile.

(Aang puts it back on the wall and walks off dejected while the others continue from o.c. He sits down, back to the wall, near the door. Momo joins him.)

Sokka: Was it you or Dad that put an octopus on your head and convinced Gran-Gran you were a water spirit?
Bato: Your dad wore the octopus, but (in a sinister tone) I did the spooky voice.

(Cut to a scene that same night of the exterior of a squat, three story building with many windows. As the camera pans in, it is clear that the building is packed with people. Cut to a view of the front door where Junee's shirshu can be seen to its right. A few other patrons of the establishment can be seen. Suddenly someone gets thrown through the wall above the door, landing in the foreground and crying out painfully upon impact. Cut to a close of the tattoo of a curled red snake on June's right shoulder, then pan the camera zooms backward to reveal June arm-wrestling a beefy man. They are in a tavern that is filled to capacity with revelers. The beefy man is sweating in his attempt to best the beautiful bounty hunter. She does not even appear to be trying. Suddenly, Zuko appears, forcing his way through the crowd.)

Zuko: Out of my way! Step aside, filth!

(Iroh appears in Zuko's wake with a smile, addressing the people his nephew has just thrust aside.)

Iroh: He means no offense! I'm sure you bathe regularly.

(Zuko and Iroh at the table where June is arm-wrestling. During the conversation the beefy man continues to grunt and struggle against June's grip.)

Zuko: I need to talk to you.
June: Well, if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy.

(Iroh laughs heartily for a moment before June ends the contest with one swift movement. The crowd erupts and a lot of money changes hands, much of it ending up in a big pile in front of June.)

Zuko: Your beast trashed my ship. You have to pay me back.
June (raking in the pile of coins): Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money. (To the crowd) Drinks on me!
All : YEHHH!!!!
Zuko (grabbing her hand as she raises her cup to her lips): Money isn't what I had in mind.

(Cut to a close up of one of the lamps outside the front door of the tavern. Moths fly around it. Cut to a view of Zuko holding Katara's necklace.)

Zuko (from o.c.): I need you to find someone.
June: What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?
Zuko: It's not the girl I'm after, it's the bald monk she's traveling with.
June: Whatever you say.
Zuko: If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for.
June: Heh! Forget it.

(She turns and begins to climb into her saddle.)

Iroh: Plus we'll pay your weight in gold.

(She smiles, gets down and walks over to Iroh.)

June: Make it your weight and we got a deal.
Iroh (laughing): You got it!
June (grabbing the necklace from Zuko's hand): Get on.

(June walks over to the shirshu and lets it smell the necklace. Cut to p.o.v. of shirshu. The necklace reeks with a purple stench. It scans the area and finds Katara's trail. Cut back to a view of the shirshu's slobbering mouth full of teeth, then camera cuts to June jumping into the saddle in front of Zuko and Iroh. They take off. Cut to a long, exterior shot of the abbey still that same night. Bato begins to speak o.c., then cut back to his room as the conversation continues. Aang is still slumped against the wall away from the others. His eyes are closed.)

Bato: There's something I should tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father.
Katara: Really?
Sokka: When?
Bato: Any day now. Your father said he'd send a message when they found the rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives you can come with me and see your father again.

(Aang has straightened up at this and looks over at his friends, clearly worried that he might lose them.)

Sokka: It's been over two years since we've seen Dad! That would be so incredible. Katara?
Katara: I do really miss him. It would be great to see Dad.

(The Avatar looks downcast at this, loneliness and worry on his face. He walks out of the room and shuts the door behind him and walks down the road away from the abbey. Cut back to the others.)

Bato: It's been far too long, hasn't it? I'm not sure when word will arrive, but when it does...
Sokka (less exuberantly): It would be great, but we can't. We have to take Aang to the North Pole first.
Katara: Even if we had time to wait for the message, who knows how far we'd have to travel. We don't have time for a long detour.
Bato: I'm sure your father would understand and be proud that his children are helping the Avatar.

(Cut to a moonlit shot of the beach, where Aang sits huddled on the prow of Bato's boat.)

Aang: I can't believe they would leave me.

(He looks up at the sound of a messenger approaching on some kind of bipedal lizard.)

Messenger: I'm looking for Bato of the Water Tribe.
Aang: Uh, I know Bato.
Messenger (giving Aang a scroll): Make sure he gets this.

(Messenger rides off. Aang, with Momo peering over his shoulder, opens the scroll to reveal a map.)

Aang: It's the map to Sokka and Katara's Dad!

(He crumples it in anger, stuffs it into his left sleeve, and crouches back down. Cut to wider shot of him on the boat then fade to commercial break.)

Act II

(The show returns with a long shot of the abbey's exterior. Cut to a shot of the door to Bato's room opening. Camera zooms back to reveal Aang entering in the background, Sokka, Katara and Bato in the foreground, still sitting around the fire.)

Aang: Hey everyone! Sorry I was gone so long.
Katara: Hey Aang, I didn't notice you left.
Aang (with exaggerated happiness): Yup, but now I'm back. Sure...could go for some delicious sea prunes!

(He sits down, grabs a bowl and begins to munch. After a few seconds he spits them back out. Cut to Katara and Bato looking at him strangely, with Sokka's head entering the screen from the right, a similar expression on his face. Cut to a daytime view of the deserted town on the hillside seen in “The Blue Spirit.” At the base of the hill in the old, decrepit town square, the Herbalist is crouched near the ground harvesting some plants. Near her is her cat, Miyuki, who tenses and hisses at the sound of the shirshu approaching. The Herbalist rises and the shot cuts wide to show the old woman looking at the three atop the shirshu.)

Herbalist (unafraid): Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?
Zuko: We're looking for someone.
Herbalist: I hope it's not Miyuki. (Looking down at her cat) Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?

(The cat meows and backs away.)

June: The Avatar's been through here. Let's keep moving.

(She cracks her whip and the shirshu takes off. Cut to a shot of the abbey's exterior, and then to a shot of Appa lying down munching on hay. Near a huge pile of hay, Aang airbends another load of hay in front of Appa, who takes a huge bite. The map falls out of Aang's sleeve. Cut to close up of the crumpled map as a hand picks it up.)

Sister (from o.c.): Ha! I caught you! You should be ashamed of yourself...(Aang looks guilty and afraid)...littering in the courtyard.
Aang (taking the map back): I'm sorry! I'll take care of this.

(He bows nervously and the sister walks off. He stuffs the map back under his hood. Cut to a panning shot of the woods that ends back on the beach. Bato and the kids are approaching his boat.)

Bato: This ship is sentimental to me. It was built by my father.

(Aang looks down and sees the tracks of the messenger's beast. He airbends the entire trail away, then turns back to the others, whistling guiltily.)

Sokka: Is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?
Bato: Yeh, it's got the scar to prove it. Huh. How about you, Sokka? You must have some good stories from your first time ice-dodging?
Katara: He never got to go. Dad left before he was old enough.
Bato: Oh, I forgot, you were too young.
Aang: What's ice-dodging?
Bato: It's a rite of passage for young water tribe members. When you turn fourteen your Dad takes you... you know what (putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder, who looks downcast), you're about to find out.

(Sokka smiles. Cut to a shot of Aunt Wu's village from “The Fortuneteller.” The mighty lava floes, hardened to stone by Aang's airbending, surround the village, ominous, but harmless. Cut to a view of the main square from one of the alleys. People run into it screaming, fleeing the shirshu and its riders who soon enter the frame. Cut to Aunt Wu, looking serene, if not entirely pleased. Cut to a wider shot of Aunt Wu standing to the left of the closed circular door to her building. The shirshu and its riders enter the frame.)

Zuko: Why are we stopping?
June: Because the girl must of spent a lot of time here.
Zuko (grabbing the necklace from June's hand): We have no time for this!

(He gets down and shows the shirshu the necklace again. He narrowly avoids getting zapped by its tongue.)

Zuko: Hey, watch it!

(Iroh laughs.)

June: Oh look, he likes you.

(Cut to Aunt Wu looking up at Iroh.)

Aunt Wu: Care to hear your fortune, handsome?
Iroh (smiling): At my age there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery.

(June whips the shirshu, who takes off once again as Aunt Wu watches. Cut to Bato's boat cutting through the waves near the shore. Treacherous rocks are visible in both the foreground and background.)

Bato: Ice-dodging is a ceremonial test of wisdom, bravery and trust. In our village it was done by weaving a boat through a field of icebergs.
Sokka: How are we supposed to ice-dodge without ice?
Bato: You will be dodging...those.

(Bato points ahead. Cut to a pan left shot that reveals the path ahead of the boat to be a veritable thicket of stalagmite like rocks. Cut back to Bato leaving the tiller as Sokka and Katara move aft.)

Bato: Sokka, you steer and call the shots. Lead wisely. Katara, you secure the mainsail. The winds can be brutal, so be brave. Aang, you control the jib, without your steady hand we all go down. Your position is about trust.
Aang (Looking nervous and guilty): I know that! Why wouldn't I know that? I'm the Avatar! I know about trust.

(Aang pouts and folds his hands across his chest. Bato walks over to the bow and sits down.)

Bato: For this to be done right I cannot help. You pass or fail on your own.

(Cut to the kids, Sokka at the tiller, the other two holding on to their respective sails, all looking frightened as the ships speeds towards the rocks. Cut back to Sokka, whose expression hardens.)

Sokka: Aang, ease up on the jib. Katara, steady! Aang, less sail! (Sokka, sweating, pulls the tiller to his right) Katara, give him room!

(Cut to Aang hauling rope, then cut to the ship weaving in and out of the rocks.)

Sokka: Aang! Helm to lee! Helm to lee!
Aang: What does that even mean!?

(All three struggle against their loads, cut to the ship narrowly missing a huge pile of rock.)

Sokka: Great job!

(Cut to overhead shot of the ship entering a cul de sac, ringed by jagged rocks, at high speed. Cut back to Katara, Bato getting up in the background.)

Katara: There's no way through!
Sokka: We can make it!
Bato: Sokka, you've already proven yourself, maybe we should –
Sokka: Aang, I'm gonna need air in that sail! (Aang nods.) Katara, I want you to bend as much water as you can between us and those rocks! (Cut to zooming close up of Sokka's determined face.) Now!

(Aang and Katara jump to it. Aang starts pushing wave after wave of air into the sail, while Katara raises the ship up on an accelerating wave of water. The wave carries the speeding ship safely over the ring of jagged rocks. Sokka falls back on the tiller with a sigh of relief, cut to the others smiling. Fade to a long shot of the boat back on the beach, then cut to Bato's bandages hand scooping some black face paint out of a bowl.)

Bato: The spirits of water bear witness to these marks. For Sokka, the mark of the wise, the same mark your father earned.

(He marks Sokka's head with dot and a half circle mark above it.)

Bato: For Katara, the mark of the brave. Your courage inspires us.

(He marks her head with a crescent shaped mark.)

Bato: And for Aang, the mark of the trusted. You are now an honorary member of the water tribe.

(He marks Aang's forehead with a half circle mark.)

Aang: I can't.
Katara: Of course you can!
Aang (rubbing off the mark): No, you can't trust me.

(He backs away, his head hung low. Cut to a wider shot of the whole group.)

Katara: Aang, what are you talking about.
Aang (holding out the crumpled scroll): A messenger gave this to me for Bato. (Katara looks at the scroll and draws in a breath of surprise.) You have to understand, I was afraid you'd –
Sokka (looking at the map, and then Aang in hurt and surprise): This is the map to our father! You had it the whole time!? How could you? (Aang shrivels up.) Well, you can go to the North Pole on your own! I'm going to find Dad.

(Cut to wide shot with Sokka stalking away angrily.)

Bato: Now Sokka, I think you should –
Sokka: Katara, are you with me?
Katara (looking at Aang, then lowering her eyes): I'm with you, Sokka.

(She turns away, then cut to the three water tribe members leaving Aang alone on the beach. Fade to commercial break.)

Act III

(The show returns to another daytime long shot of the abbey. Cut to the three water tribe members putting backpacks on in the abbey's main courtyard, Aang sitting on Appa in the background looking dejected. Katara walks sadly over to Aang.)

Katara: Good luck.
Aang: Okay. You too.

(She walks out of the gate of the abbey, Bato and Sokka following. The Superior approaches Aang, who still sits on Appa.)

Aang: Guess I should be moving on.
Superior: That would be best.

(He shakes Appa's reigns, who walks them out of the gate. Cut to Aang sitting the driver's seat looking to his left at the retreating figures of his friends in the distance. Momo clings to one of Appa's horns.)

Aang: I'm an idiot, Momo.

(Fade to another overhead shot of the abbey, then cut to a group of sisters making perfume. The approach of the shirshu from o.c. can be heard. Cut to a shot of the gate, which bursts open, revealing the shirshu and its riders. Cut to the shirshu's p.o.v., where Katara's smell can be seen all over the courtyard.)

June: We're getting close.

(June whips the shirshu again and it bounds out of the gate and up the road the Katara, Sokka and Bato used. Cut to the three walking through the walks along that same road. In the distance, a wolf can be heard. They stop to listen.)

Katara: That wolf sounds so sad.
Sokka: It's probably wounded.
Bato: No, it's been separated from the pack. I understand that pain. It's how I felt when the water tribe warriors had to leave me behind. They were my family and being apart from them was more painful than my wounds.

(Close up of Sokka's face. He is sad. A flashback begins of him on the South Pole once again, this time watching his father's fleet depart into the mist. The flashback ends, revealing Sokka looking down at the ground, Katara and Bato behind him.)

Katara: Sokka?
Sokka (after a pause): We need to go back. I want to see Dad, but helping Aang is where we're needed the most.
Katara (smiling): You're right.
Bato (putting a hand on each of their shoulders): Your father will understand. And I know he's proud of you.
Sokka: Thanks, Bato.
Bato: I know where to go from here. (He gives Sokka the map). Take this in case you want to find us. I'll leave a message at the rendezvous point.

(Pan up to the sky, then cut to Appa, Aang and Momo on the beach near Bato's boat.)

Aang: Looks like we're going alone, guys.

(The Superior rushes up to him.)

Superior: Avatar! You must leave!
Aang: Okay, I get it. Everybody wants me gone.
Superior: A group of people came to the abbey looking for you.
Aang (in alarm): Who?
Superior: A fierce looking woman with a horrible monster and a young man with a scar.
Aang: Zuko!
Superior: The beast was using the scent of a necklace to follow you.
Aang: A necklace? (Eyes suddenly going wide) Huh! Katara!

(Cut to an overhead shot of the abbey in the distance. The screen pans down, following the road to were Sokka and Katara walk directly below. Cut to a frontal shot of the pair, where Sokka motions for his sister to stop as a galloping sound from o.c. is heard. The shirshu jumps into the frame behind them and they run, the monster and its riders in pursuit. Switch to the monster's p.o.v., where it can see Katara's scent all over the place. It focuses on her and it sees her completely colored the purple of her own scent. Cut back to a view of the shirshu and its riders.)

June: So this is your girlfriend. (Zuko hops down and approaches her.) No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you.
Zuko: Where is he? Where's the Avatar?
Sokka (defiantly): We split up! He's long gone.
Zuko: How stupid do you think I am?
Sokka: Pretty stupid. (Grabbing Katara by the arm) Run!

(They run, but the shirshu paralyzes them both with its tongue before they get very far.)

Zuko: What are we supposed to do now?
June: It's seeking a different scent – perhaps something that the Avatar held.

(The shirshu moves forward and starts sniffing the paralyzed pair. The map scroll falls out of Sokka's backpack and rolls onto the ground. Cut to the shirshu's p.o.v., where the scroll is covered in a blue scent. The trail leads back into the woods. Cut to the courtyard of the abbey and its hastily repaired gate. This is blown open again as the monster and its riders bust through again, sending sisters running away screaming in all directions. The shirshu begins walking around, sniffing.)

Zuko: What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!

(Cut to the monster's p.o.v. as it follows the blue scent around. Finally it looks up into the air to see the scent spiraling around. Suddenly Aang enters the frame on his glider. He flies up to the monster, which jumps up to snap at him. He misses, but does manage to dump his riders onto the floor of the courtyard. The shirshu also falls flat on his back.)

Katara: Aang!

(June gets up and whips the ground. The shirshu gets up and roars, June jumping onto its back. They charge after Aang. Cut to a camera angle from just behind Aang as the pair bear down on him. Right before impact, Appa enters the frame from the right and plows right into the shirshu, pushing him and his rider out the left side of the frame. They plow into the wall of building, knocking a whole through it. Cut to a close of Appa, a fiery grin on his face. He breathes heavily out his nostrils.

Cut to Aang, whose smile turns to alarm as he turns away from Appa to face Zuko, whose hands are alight with fire as he advances on the Avatar. He fires a huge gout of flame at Aang, who blocks it by twirling his staff to break it up. They trade several rounds of blows, all of which miss or are blocked. Finally the two fire volleys simultaneously and both are blown backwards onto the roofs behind them.

Cut to a zooming shot of June next to the shirshu, both unconscious. Iroh rushes up to the bounty hunter and pats the side of her face. She wakes up, rises to her feet. She cracks her whips and says something unintelligible. Then shirshu rises to its feet, she jumps in the saddle and they head back into battle. They charge Appa who is on the other side of the courtyard. Appa soars into the air as they reach him, but the shirshu lashes Appa's tail with his tongue. Appa lands on the other side of the courtyard. He struggles to stay standing, but fails. He collapses in a cloud of dust. Cut to a close of Appa's face, where his visible eye opens, then cut to a wider shot of him getting to his feet. The monsters charge each other after June whips the shirsu again, and they have a head on collision, throwing June over Appa's head, whom she whips as she passes. She lands on the ground and rolls away just as Appa's foot plants itself deep into the ground where she had just been.

Cut to Aang who gets up groggily from where he'd fallen on the roof. His eyes go wide as the camera cuts to Zuko charging him down the spine of the roof. He throws a blast of the fire at the Avatar who flips over Zuko's head to land behind him. They exchange blows with Aang eventually knocking Zuko off the roof. He is instantly replaced, however, when June and the shirshu jump onto the roof and pursue him. In the background, Appa turns down in the courtyard and uses his tail to create a gale that blows tiles off the roof as the shirshu passes.

Shift to Katara and Sokka leaning up against the wall of the abbey. Sokka is wiggling his arm a bit.)

Sokka: I'm starting to get some feeling back! (A bunch of tiles fall on them) Ow!

(A few more melee shots of Aang being pursued is replaced by Iroh testing out perfumes nearby. He finds one he likes, looks from side to side to make sure no one is looking and then tucks the bottle into his robe, a mischievous smile on his face.

Cut back to Aang and Zuko dueling once again, this time a covered well is between them. They trade volleys. Aang suddenly sees Katara's necklace in Zuko's hand.)

Aang: You've got something I want!

(They trade volleys again with Zuko soon destroying the well's covering. They dance around on the lip of the well, neither one able to gain decisive advantage over the other. Aang keeps trying to grab the necklace, but fails. Then Zuko lunges after Aang and misses. As he passes, Aang uses puts his foot through the loop of the necklace, catching it. He then disappears down the well, with Zuko firing a huge gout of flame after him in frustration. Zuko is launched into the air as Aang reappears atop a huge jet of water and lands in the foreground. Rain from the huge jet of water begins to fall around him, quickly followed by Zuko hitting the ground.

Zuko gets up and the duel begins anew, but this time Appa advances threateningly on Zuko. Before Appa can strike him, however, the shirshu lashes him three times in a row with his tongue. Appa tries to stay up, but can't. He keels over, paralyzed.

Cut to Sokka and Katara. The Superior puts some kind of perfume under their noses and they are then able to move better.)

Sokka: That thing sees with its nose. Let's give him something to look at.
Superior: The perfume?

(Sokka nods. Cut to pairs of sisters and Sokka moving huge white pots of perfume out into the courtyard. Cut to Aang dodging Zuko's fire blasts and the shirshu's tongue on the opposite wall. Cut back to the sisters who then they dump the perfume onto the ground. Katara waterbends the perfume into a huge sheet, moves it over the shirshu, and drops it. The monster shakes off the liquid, but a cut to its p.o.v. reveals that it s now terribly confused. Switch to a shot of Zuko getting tongue lashed by the monster, followed by June.)

Iroh: June! Noooo!

(Iroh catches the falling bounty hunter. Cut back to the rampaging shirshu. It breaks open a few more jars, paws the tiles of the roof of one of the buildings, then jumps over the wall and disappears. Cut to Aang picking up his staff, Katara and Sokka approaching him from behind. Switch to Zuko and Iroh laying flat on the ground. Iroh has June draped across his chest, his arm around her.)

Zuko: Uncle? I didn't see you get hit with the tongue.
Iroh: Shh!

(June's eyes open, clearly displeased. Cut to Appa flying through the sky at sunset.)

Aang: So, where do we go?
Katara: We're getting you to the North Pole.
Sokka: Yeh, we've lost too much time as it is.
Aang: Don't you want to see your father?
Sokka: Of course we do, Aang. But, you're our family too, and right now, you need us more.
Katara: And we need you.
Aang: I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you –
Katara: I'll be okay.
Aang: Still, just a little trinket. Maybe something like...this!

(Aang jumps up, proudly offering Katara her necklace, a huge smile on his face.)

Katara (grabbing the necklace and putting it on happily): Aang, how did you get that?
Aang (smiling): Zuko asked to be sure I got it to you.
Katara (in mock appreciation): Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?
Aang: Sure!

(Katara kisses Aang's cheek. He blushes and twiddles his thumbs. Cut to Appa flying off to the horizon, then fade to white.)

[End Credits]