Team Avatar arrived in a local Earth Kingdom desert village with hopes to track down Aiwei. Naga stops to sniff the ground while Aang flies on Appa above them.

Asami pulls in the jeep behind Korra

"Aiwei has definitely been through here." Korra says before patting Naga's head, "Nice tracking, girl."

"Let's ask around. Maybe someone's seen him." Mako suggests.

Korra nods and waves to Aang. Appa lands and Aang jumps off the bison with Momo on his shoulders. They head into town and finds a tavern. Mako pushes the curtain aside at the entrance and the group enters, everyone in the tavern glances at the group.

Bolin spots a poster with his face on it, "Ohh look, they have a mover poster of me." Mako looks at the poster with mild surprise, "Must be big Nuktuk fans, yeah." He starts to walk forward, "I should go out and say hello-"

Mako grabs Bolin by his sleeve, "No. Those are wanted posters, and there's one for each of us."

"Great. I missed having wanted posters of me everywhere." Aang said sarcastically, making Sokka chuckle.

Mako began reading one of the posters, "Wanted by Her Majesty, the Earth Queen, for crimes against the Kingdom." Mako raises an eyebrow while Korra fumes behind him. He glances back at Korra, rolling his eyes, "I'm guessing this is because we took her airbenders."

"They weren't hers to keep!" Korra said with a frustrated tone, "I swear, if I see her pinchy little queen face again, I am going to-"

Asami interrupts with alarm, "Uhh, guys..." A man at the bar pulls out his sword while another shows off his spear, "We should get out of here."

The group walks out and Korra does a gesture to all the men in the tavern before she departs.

----

Back at the Beifong Estate, Suyin talks to two guards on the bridge when Lin walks up and confronts her sister.

"Where's everyone? I've been waiting to leave for half an hour."

"And good morning to you, Lin. Now don't get mad, Korra and Aang are fine. I'm just waiting to hear if they tracked down Aiwei yet."

Lin furrows her brows, "What! You let them go?! I thought we were on the same page about this, and then you go and stab me in the back?"

"Oh, don't be so overdramatic. You can't control the Avatar's every move."

Lin walks off angrily, "I can try."

----

Naga runs with Korra on her back, the rest of the group follows on the windy road while Aang flies over them on Appa. Team Avatar makes their way down a path on the road. The jeep follows closely to Naga as she runs up a small slope.

Naga stops to sniff the ground for any scent near a bunch of rocks.

"Naga found something." Korra gets off her mount and Naga sits.

Appa lands and Aang jumps off as Korra earthbends a giant boulder to the side to find Aiwei's jeep hidden behind a small clearing. Naga bumps her head on and nudges Korra and awaits a reward.

"Oh... Sorry, I forgot to bring treats," Naga whines and bends down as Korra affectionately rubs the polar bear dog's face, "but, good girl."

Naga responds by whining once more and turn to walk away. Her tail whips and slaps Korra in the face, causing her to groan and making Aang laugh. Their friends walk up to the vehicle as Korra hunches her shoulder's from Naga's cold shoulder attitude.

Asami walks toward the jeep, "This must be Aiwei's jeep. He can't be far."

Mako looks at the Misty Palms Oasis and walking to the edge of the slope, "Bolin, Sokka and I will investigate the Misty Palms Oasis, and see if he's hold up there."

"Yes!" Bolin folds his arms, "I love it when you talk like a cop."

"I'm coming too." Korra said.

"No. The rest of you wait here in case he comes back. Besides, we don't want to call too much attention to ourselves."

"All right."

"Ooh, Mako, Mako, Mako! We should wear disguises and pretend we're going undercover!" Bolin said excitedly, "That way no one will recognize us. Haha, police work is so exciting!"

"Brilliant idea!" Sokka said with a grin and rubbed his hands together, "I have the perfect name and backstory."

Bolin grabs their bag of supplies and unzips it. He pulls out a bright yellow raincoat and drapes it over his head and body before putting on green googles. Mako reluctantly dressed in an identical outfit. The others watch them with confusion, questioning the effectiveness of their disguises.

"All right, now we need our undercover identities!" Sokka said as he wraps himself with a brown cloak after rubbing dirt on his face. He puts on a fake sad expression as he dramatically begins telling a story, "My name is Yondu and I used to be a rich man until everything was stolen from me by my evil twin brother. Now I'm homeless and traveling the lands in search for jobs in hopes to one day get my revenge."

Now it's Bolin's turn to regale a sad story, "I'm an ex-United Forces operative named Ting-Ting. War was the only woman I ever loved, until Ivy came along and showed me what real love is. Tragically, she was taken from me by my archenemy Dr. Razor and-"

"Enough!" Mako interrupts before he starts walking, "Let's just find Aiwei."

"But I haven't even told your backstory."

Mako heads to the city, "I'm a cop. I don't have a backstory."

"What's the rest of your backstory?" Sokka asked Bolin.

Bolin begins telling the rest of his tale as the duo catches up Mako.

"I think Mako is going to regret bringing them pretty soon." Zuko said with an amused smile.

"At least we'll finally get some silence." Toph said.

Mako, Bolin and Sokka walk into Misty Palms Oasis. Spirits lurk and perch on the rooftops and telephone lines of the town, looking down at the three newcomers. Sokka and the brothers make their way down the street.

In the center of the city is an ice spring with three spirits lounging on it. The trio pause and stop near the ice. They watch a guy sweeping and pushing three kiwi bird-like spirits outside the door with a broom.

"Shoo! Human customers only."

The spirits scurry off. Sokka and the brothers walk up to the tavern owner sweeping his stoop.

"Let's see if this guy knows anything." Mako says before he heads to the tavern, "Excuse me, sir? We're looking for a man about sixty, balding, wearing glasses in a long green robe."

"And he's got this weird piercing that goes from his nose," Bolin points to his nose, "to his ear." He points to his ear, "Freaks me out."

"Yeah, sure. Sounds like a guy who came in last night. I told him I had the best drinks in the Earth Kingdom and he called me a liar."

Mako smiles hopefully, "That's him! Any idea where he is now?"

"Nah, afraid not. But he was right. My drinks are terrible." The tavern owner walks inside dejectedly into his bar while Sokka and the brothers look on in shock.

Aang stands next to Appa, looking in the direction they came with a worried look on his face. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Korra walking up to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah... I'm just thinking." He paused, "What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm not the one that almost got captured."

Aang smiled lightly, "It's already happened to me a few times, wouldn't recommend."

"At least you're able to joke about it." Korra replied with smile.

Aang's smile faded as he looked in the distance, the worried look coming back to his face.

"You're worried about Katara... aren't you?" Korra said.

"I always am." Aang replied, "I don't think the nightmares will ever go away. Neither will the fear of her being taken away from me. Sometimes I feel like..."

"Like something will happen when you're not there." Aang looks at Korra and she smiles, "I worry too. Bolin is in the city looking for a fugitive and I'm not there. Anything could happen."

Their conversation was interrupted when Asami shouted, "I think I found a clue!"

They walk up to her as she takes a paper out of the glove box of the jeep. She hands it to Korra.

"Xai Bau's Grove, sundown. This must be where and when Aiwei's going to meet Zaheer!"

Asami looks at Earth Kingdom map, "All right. Xai Bau's Grove, where are you?" Suddenly a blue-colored spirit stands on the map, screeching, "Go away! I'm trying to find something."

Back in the city, Bolin and Sokka waits near the door of an establishment. A purplish spirit rises from a nearby urn.

"Well, aren't you a cute little spir-" The spirit bites Bolin's finger, "Ow! Hey!"

"Wow, I didn't know spirits could be that rude." Sokka said as a couple recognizes them.

Mako exits from the door, "No luck here."

"I think there might be a couple bounty hunters over there who recognize us!" Bolin whispers.

"We've been made. Let's lose 'em!"

The boys flee down a street, the couple close on their heels. They finally duck down an alley, hiding behind some boxes and barely escaping the notice of the female pursuer. The couple moves on as the trio peek out of hiding.

"Okay, I think we're clear." Mako says, "We should head back to Korra before someone else recognizes us."

Aiwei strolls nonchalantly past the other end of the alley. Bolin spots him and yanks Mako back out of view.

"We could, or... we could follow Aiwei instead." Bolin points in his direction, "Look!"

Aiwei strolls down an alley, eating food from a box. Mako and Bolin appear from behind, and spy on him.

"All right." Mako puts on his glasses and starts walking, "Stay cool and follow my lead."

Bolin starts to follow, "Ting-Ting always finds his man."

Mako, Bolin and Sokka follow Aiwei down a street and past a pink building. They watch as Aiwei enters a room and closes the door.

"Keep an eye on him." Mako orders, "I'll go get the others."

The rest of Team Avatar continued observing the map as Mako pulls off his disguise and walks to them.

"We found Aiwei hiding in an inn."

"That's great!" Korra replies.

"We found something too." Asami hands Mako the letter, "It looks like he's gonna meet Zaheer at sundown at a place called Xai Bau's Grove. But I can't find it anywhere on the map."

"Let's go bust down Aiwei's door and finally get some answers." Korra said.

"Finally. I can pound someone." Toph said.

"No. Once Aiwei knows we're onto him, we lose our advantage." Mako says, "I say we stake out his room and when he leaves for this meeting, we follow him."

"And he'll lead us straight to Zaheer." Korra finishes.

The team goes into the city and gets a room at the Misty Palms Inn. They did it with the help of Bolin's fame as Nuktuk when they discovered the couple chasing them were just fans. The innkeeper gave them a room after finding out Bolin was a mover star. Now, they were squished in their new room.

"I'd just like to say, for the record, this room is definitely not perfect." Bolin says. Naga's tail hits him in the face, "Naga!"

Mako and Korra look out the window, and see Aiwei peeking out of his across for them.

"There he is." Korra says.

"I thought stakeouts were supposed to be exciting." Bolin says, "This isn't. At all!" He looks in the highest bedside table drawer, "Ooh, I wonder if there's any snacks in here." There are no snacks, so Bolin keeps look in the other drawers and finds a Pai Sho board, "Hey, look! A Pai Sho board! Mako, you want to play?"

"Kind of busy here, bro." Mako replies.

"I'll play." Aang says excitedly.

"Oh, well, uh, no offense but I learned street Pai Sho from Shady Shin, and I'm pretty good. So, wouldn't really be a fair game."

"Well, no offense, but I've been playing Pai Sho way before you were born." Aang replies with a small smirk.

Bolin blinks then grins, "Well, looks we've got ourselves a Pai-Shodown." They set up their boards before Bolin gives him a joking smile, "Age before beauty."

"Oh, old man jokes. You just keep getting cooler the more we hang out."

Bolin had to contain his excitement of Avatar Aang calling him cool as Aang made his first move. They exchange a couple more moves, but Aang stops and thinks on one of his turns.

"Uh, I don't mean to rush you, but let's speed things up a bit."

"Why? This game is all about slow, methodical strategy."

"No, it's not. This is a fast-paced, edge of your seat, game of chance! Don't think. Just go."

"I don't know what Shady Shin taught you, but it wasn't the real Pai Sho."

"Oh really? I think Mr. Rulebook might disagree with you." Bolin begins reading from the rulebook, "The origins of Pai Sho date back over ten thousand years. It is a game of both strategy and chance. Wait, how can it be both?"

"Let me see that." Aang takes the book and starts reading from it, "There have been countless variations of Pai Sho through the centuries and each culture has its own rules and variations of the game."

"That's no help at all." Bolin says.

Aang tosses the book to the side, "Okay, pay attention my student because I'm about to teach you how they played Pai Sho a hundred and seventy years ago."

"Sweet." Bolin said with a wide smile.

Zuko sighs in boredom, "I should've stayed with Appa and Momo."

"So what do we do if we find Zaheer?" Asami asked.

"We make him talk." Korra replies.

"He was locked away for thirteen years, Korra, and never broke." Mako said, "I don't think a little bending is going to intimidate this guy."

"Bet I could make him talk." Toph said as she put her fist in her hand.

"Or, we could we spy on them." Mako says, "If Aiwei and Zaheer don't know they're being watched, they'll talk freely. Then we'll find out who they are and what they want."

"Sounds just like Pai Sho!" Sokka said, reading from the book Aang tossed aside, "In order to defeat your opponent, you first have to know your opponent."

Aang makes a winning move on the Pai Sho board, "I win."

"What?" Bolin looks at the board, trying to see where he went wrong.

"You lost when you agreed to play with Aang. He beats everyone." Zuko said, "That's why we refuse to play with him."

"Can I play?" Asami asked.

"Go right ahead." Bolin said as he stood up.

Asami and Aang play several games. Aang won everytime but Asami was a real challenge according to him. Bolin watched each game intensely, wishing he had snacks to eat while he watched. As the sun sets, Asami gets close to finally winning.

"I think you might win this one." Aang said with a smile.

Right at that moment, Pabu leaps off of Naga and onto the board, scattering the pieces.

"No, Pabu?" Bolin says, "Why?" The doll's head falls off and rolls near him.

Asami laughs, "It's okay. We'll just set up the game again." She looks at Aang, "Then I'll get back to destroying you."

Aang smirks, "You're on."

"It's almost sundown." Korra says as they begin setting up the game again, "Why hasn't Aiwei left yet?"

"Maybe he sneaked out when you weren't looking." Toph suggested.

"No, I just saw him peeking out of his window fifteen minutes ago." Mako replies, "It's in my logbook."

"I'm going over there." Korra leaves the room.

"Korra, wait! You're going to blow our element of surprise."

Nevertheless, Team Avatar follows her, Asami and Aang leaving their Pai Sho game behind. Korra busts down Aiwei's door with airbending.

"It's over, Aiwei! Where's...?" Korra looks and sees Aiwei meditating on his bed, "What?"

"That's a weird way to nap." Bolin said.

"He's not sleeping. He's meditating." Aang said.

"Wait! Asami, those spirits were trying to tell us something earlier." Korra said, "Xai Bau's Grove isn't on the map because it's not in the physical world! It's in the Spirit World! I'm going in after him." She sits down beside Aiwei.

"We'll watch him in case he wakes up." Mako says.

"Be careful!" Bolin adds.

Korra meditates and successfully passes into the Spirit World. She looks from behind a tree and sees Aiwei standing on a nearby hill in front of another tree. Zaheer materializes across from him.

"What happened back in Zaofu?" Zaheer asks. "You told me we wouldn't have any problems getting the Avatar. Because of you, we've all been compromised."

"No, any evidence was destroyed when my library burned." Aiwei replies.

"Where is your physical body now?"

"At the Misty Palms Inn. But there is no need to worry. I was not followed."

"You left a loose end."

"I assure you, no one knows anything about us."

"No, you are the loose end." Zaheer grabs hold of Aiwei.

"Zaheer!" Korra shouts.

Zaheer teleports himself and Aiwei toward a cliff at the rim of the Fog of Lost Souls and throws Aiwei off it, before he teleports back to the tree.

"It seems Aiwei was mistaken. He was followed."

"That's right. We knew he'd lead us straight to you. Now, what did you do with him?"

"He'll be spending eternity in the Fog of Lost Souls, which just leaves the two of us."

"You're going to give me some answers."

Zaheer sits back down, "There's no need for aggression. Neither of us has our bending, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll answer whatever questions you have. You deserve that much." He pauses, as Korra looks surprised, "What would you like to know?"

"First off, who are you people, and why do you keep trying to take me and Aang?"

"We are part of a secret society, dedicated to restoring freedom to the world. We are the Red Lotus."

"Red Lotus? Are you related to the White Lotus?"

"We are what the White Lotus was meant to be. But after the Hundred Year War, the White Lotus lost its true purpose. Its members came out of hiding and openly served the Avatar. They became nothing but glorified bodyguards who served corrupt nations. So a great man named Xai Bau broke from the White Lotus and began his own society."

"That's a great story, but it doesn't explain why you tried to take me when I was a kid."

"That was Unalaq's idea."

"What? My uncle was part of the Red Lotus?"

At the Red Lotus hideout, as Zaheer's physical body begins to speak to his companions, "Avatar Aang. Misty Palms Inn. Find him."

"You two go. I'll stay here and make sure Zaheer's body is safe." P'Li said.

Ming-Hua and Ghazan leave.

"I met your uncle when I was a teenager, after we had both joined the Red Lotus." Zaheer told Korra, "We learned about Raava and Vaatu, and how Avatar Wan foolishly severed them, disrupting the balance of the world forever."

"Avatar Wan wasn't foolish!" Korra defended, "He was trying to restore balance."

"He closed the portals, severing humans from spirits. Even you realize the error in his ways."

"So all along, you and my uncle planned to use me to open the portals and release Vaatu? That's why you tried to take me when I was a kid?"

"Yes, and with members of the Red Lotus as your elemental masters, we could've taught you so much."

"It sounds like you were just trying to brainwash me so I'd do whatever you wanted."

"No, Korra. All I wanted was to show the Avatar a better path for the world."

Mako glances out of the window and sees Ming-Hua and Ghazan, "Uh, I don't know how, but Water Arm Lady and Lava Guy found us."

Bolin gasps and Asami stands up, "How?"

"I just said I don't know how!"