The Gaang got settled into their rooms as night fell. Aang slipped into bed as Katara exited the wash room. She slipped in next to him and laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

"If they already left then the people would have nothing to worry about. There wouldn't be any reason to lie. They must still be here." Aang said, still thinking about the events that happened that day.

"Aang, sweetie, I want to get these guys as much as you do. But you need to rest." Katara replied.

"...Yeah, you're right."

The couple talked about anything else other than their current mission as they slowly fell asleep. Soon, the room was quiet. There were only the sounds of a sleeping couple. Until, they were attacked.

Aang woke up instantly when he heard Katara yell. He shot up and saw two masked men in Fire Nation clothes. One of them had a hold of Katara, the other was reaching to grab him.

He used his Airbending to push the man back and leaped out of bed. He used Airbending on the other man to get him away from Katara. Only two men to try and capture the Avatar and his girlfriend? These men weren't very bright.

Aang quickly grabbed a hold of Katara's hand and ran outside where he saw the rest of his friends battling against the men. They didn't seem to be Firebenders, as they weren't using fire to defend themselves.

Toph enclosed some of the men in rock from the ground. Sokka used his boomerang to knock out some guys and Zuko created a ring of fire around the men he was fighting.

Aang smiled at his friends. He knew they could take care of themselves, he had nothing to worry about.

Then, a big fire came towards them all. Aang quickly put the fire out before it could burn any of them. Unfortunately, that caused the others to loose their focus. Zuko's fire went out and the men in the rock were able to get out.

The men used this opportunity to get them down. Two of them chi-blocked Toph and Zuko while one grabbed Sokka from behind.

Katara bended water from nearby as her and Aang were surrounded by the rest of the men.

The two were able to hold their own for a long time. Aang only used Airbending as that was all he needed. As he was about to take down the last of the men, he heard a voice behind him.

"Stand down."

Aang turned around to see a bigger man holding Katara. He guessed this man was the Firebender that sent the fire at them.

"Katara." Aang said and began to step closer to her.

"Don't step any closer, we wouldn't want to burn her pretty little face now would we."

Aang froze in place. He thought the man's voice sounded familiar, but couldn't place it. Aang looked around and saw all his friends were captured. They were outnumbered and these men were smart. He closed his eyes. If he went into the Avatar state, he could save them.

When his tattoos started glowing, the men started to panic. But then the glow faded.

Aang opened his eyes and looked at the tattoos on his arms sith a confused look.

The big man laughed, "Looks like the Avatar is having performance issues."

Aang glared at him. He would be fast enough to get Katara, but if he did, one of his other friends could get hurt. He had to plan this carefully.

"What do you want?" Aang asked. If he kept him talking long enough, he could make a plan. And he knew how much bad guys liked to boast about their plans.

"You know what we want." The man replied, "Things to go back the way they were. The Fire Nation is far superior than everyone else. Fire Lord Zuko is a traitor."

Aang looked at his friend. Zuko was glaring at the man.

Aang turned back to the man, "So what was your plan? Take over this small village? The people here are innocent."

"No... we have bigger plans. What you don't know, Avatar, is that we're plotting right under your nose."

"It doesn't matter. We'll stop you."

The man laughed, "You can't stop this."

Aang looked at Katara. She was looking back at him, waiting for his signal. He nodded. She gave a smirk and bended water near her. She made the water snap and hit the man in the head, causing him to let go of her. The other men were distracted enough for Zuko, Sokka, and Toph to get free.

As soon as Aang saw his friends were free, he used Earthbending to trap the men in rock. He walked up to the leader and ripped off his mask. He was surprised to see the man from earlier who was bothering Katara.

"The Black Lotus is everywhere, Avatar. You'll never defeat us all. You may have won this battle, but you'll never win the war."

Toph hit the man hard in the head to knock him out, "Don't listen to him Aang, we'll defeat them."

Aang looked down at the mask. Now that he was really looking at it, he could see that it was black with the outline of a face perfectly molded for the man. Painted on the forehead was a golden lotus.

The townspeople began to come out of their houses. They cheered and thanked them while they arrested the men. The chief took the men to their jail as Zuko wrote to Mai to send soldiers out here to collect the men.

"Now that we got them, should we head back?" Katara asked

Aang nodded, "I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyways."

"Okay... I'll go pay for our rooms." Aang simply nodded in response, "Are you okay?" She asked, "You weren't able to access the Avatar state."

"I'm fine, Katara." Aang said giving her a smile.

She nodded and walked off to pay for their rooms. Aang went on to the stables to get Appa.

"How much do I owe you?" He asked the stable owner.

"You don't owe anything. It's free for the Avatar."

"At least let me pay you back someway."

"You did. Those Fire Nation outlaws have been terrorizing us for weeks. You defeating them is payment enough."

Aang nodded and gave him a smile before exiting with Appa. The others met him at the edge of town. Katara was carrying a stack of brown cloaks when she walked up.

"The Inn lady wouldn't let me pay, apparently those men have been terrorizing these people for weeks." Katara said

"Yeah, that's what the stable owner said." Aang replied

Katara nodded and began handing out the cloaks, "She gave us some cloaks since it gets cold at night and we'll be flying."

After everyone got the cloaks on, they mounted Appa and flew off. It was a quiet ride before Zuko spoke up.

"So... how come you weren't able to enter the Avatar state?" He asked

Aang shrugged, "I don't know. The last time I wasn't able to enter was after Azula shocked me with lightning. But it got activated during my fight with Ozai."

"Maybe Avatar Roku would know why." Katara said, "When we get back, you should ask him."

Aang nodded and the group fell silent again. It wasn't an awkward silence, everyone was just tired and needed some rest after their fight.

Suddenly, a bright circular light appeared in the sky in front of them. Aang pulled on Appa's reigns to stop them from flying closer to it.

"What is that?" Sokka asked

"I don't know... I'll check it out." Aang said as he grabbed his glider.

"Be careful." Katara said.

Aang nodded before opening his glider and flying off. He flew around the back of the light and saw nothing behind it. It was flat. As he flew to the front, he felt it pulling him towards it. He struggled gainst the pull, but it eventually got him and he fell into the light.

"Aang!" The three friends exclaimed as they saw him get sucked in. Appa made a sound of surprise and quickly flew after him. The Gaang held on tight as they followed the Avatar through the light.

Aang landed on hard ground. He quickly stood up, his cloak falling off in the process, and looked around. He was in between two buildings in a dark alley. He heard weird noises coming from the streets and saw conctractions that were still in the design process.

As he stepped forward, Appa and his friends fell through the light after him then it disappeared. Aang turned around and saw his friends on the ground.

Aang walked up to Katara and helped her up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She replied then looked around, "Where are we?"