The two Avatars were moved to a ship heading back to Ba Sing Se along with their non-bender friends. Korra tried to plead with the Earth Kingdom soldiers to let her and Aang go so they could stop the Red Lotus, but they didn't listen.

Aang had regained consciousness not long after and Korra explained everything to him. Though all he worried about was if their friends were okay, despite the news he was in danger.

Meanwhile, their firebender and earthbender friends were sitting in the back of a truck with Ghazan and Ming-Hua. Zaheer was driving while P'Li was in the passenger seat. Toph was injected with something so she couldn't metalbend them.

"If you think holding us hostage will give you some leverage against the Avatar, you're gonna be very disappointed." Mako said

"Can't we just enjoy our time together in silence?" Ming-Hua asked.

"Why did you need Aang alive back in Zaofu?" Zuko asked, "You had him paralyzed. Why didn't you just take him out when you had the chance?"

"Look, all you need to know is that the world is about to change, for the better." Ghazan replied.

"So you guys were like locked up for fifteen years, huh? It must've been like crazy boring." Bolin said.

"Actually, it was only thirteen years. But it felt like thirty."

"I mean, what did you do with all that time? Did you sing songs, work on crafts?"

"Not a lot of craft supplies in a volcanic prison cell." Ming-Hua replied.

"And I must've renamed the constellations about a thousand times. When it rained, that was a big event." Ghazan added.

Ming-Hua sighs, "I would've killed for some rain. Mostly I just made up stories about the guards: who was having trouble with his girlfriend; which one secretly wished he'd become a pastry chef."

"Ooh okay, that sounds like fun. Let me try that on you guys." Bolin looks at Ghazan, "You were raised by an older sister, your mustache grew in when you were ten and I'm sensing- just sensing- an unspoken attraction between you two."

Ming-Hua and Ghazan glance at each other awkwardly. Ming-Hua gives Ghazan a sulking look and turns away, surprising the lavabender.

Ghazan smiles at Bolin, "Two out of three. Not bad."

"Bolin, would you stop making friends with the bad guys?" Mako said.

"Sorry!"

"You know, Aang is gonna come for us. Then it'll be over for you guys. No more bending." Toph said, "He'll beat your asses just like he did with Ozai."

"Ghazan, gag them. We're almost there." Zaheer ordered.

----

Korra struggles against her restraints, but to no avail, "We have to find a way to get out of this prison before we get to the Earth Queen."

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Asami says, "These airships the Cabbage Corp sold to the Earth Kingdom are way cheaper than the ones Future Industries built."

Asami stands against the wall and struggles, pulling off the railing. She jumps to bring her hands in front before throwing the railing to catch it upright.

"Now that's just shoddy workmanship." She walks up to Korra, "There's no way I can get these locks off. I need the keys."

"I think I can help with that." Sokka said as he brings his hands back to his front, holding a cut rope and a knife, "When your best friend is the Avatar, you gotta be prepared for anything."

Sokka reached into his boot to pull out a lock pick before standing up and walking to Aang.

"Sokka, you're the best." Aang said as he began picking the locks.

"I try. But we still need to get out of here."

Asami looks at the floor before prying a panel open with the railing, "Give me five minutes, then start yelling for help." She says before crawling down the pane.

----

"When is the Avatar scheduled for delivery?" Hou-Ting asked Gun.

"The airship already left Fort Bosco and should be arriving in a few hours." Gun replied.

"Excellent. Bring it to me as soon as it lands."

"Yes, Your Majesty. But first there are some... people here who captured both of the Avatar's friends. They would like to present them to you personally."

"You know I don't meet with bounty hunters."

"And of course I told them that. But they say they have some information that might interest you; about the location of your stolen airbenders."

"Really?" Hou-Ting smiles, "Fine, send them in."

Soon, the Red Lotus enter the throne room, throwing the bound and gagged Mako, Bolin, Zuko and Toph on the floor.

"Ah, yes, I remember these four. We'll find an acceptable home for you in prison, with the rest of the dissidents." Hou-Ting says and turns to the Red Lotus, "Now, I'm told you have some information for me. I hope this isn't just some ruse to increase your bounty."

"We don't want any bounty, Your Majesty. You can consider these two a 'thank you' gift for simply taking the time to talk to us." Zaheer asks.

"How very magnanimous. So, where are my airbenders?"

"I'd be happy to tell you, once you hand Avatar Aang over to me."

"Who told you that we have the Avatars?!" Hou-Ting asked furiously

"How I know is not important. But if I found out, others will too. And that could put you in a difficult position."

"Is that so?"

"Your Majesty, imprisoning the Avatars will cause the other nations to turn against you and demand their freedom. Before long, we'd be in the midst of a sticky international incident. If you let me take Avatar Aang today, no one need ever know he was here, you can get your airbenders back without interference, and we'll let you keep Avatar Korra. We both win."

"And what do you plan to do with Avatar Aang should I see fit to grant your request."

"All I can say is: I have business with him. But he won't be bothering you again. I can assure you of that."

Mako, Bolin and Zuko glance at each other with worried looks. Toph just stares ahead with her own worried expression.

Hou-Ting ponders over the deal while tapping her long finger nails on the arm of the throne. She sits up straight with a smile after some consideration, "I find these terms agreeable. Gun, escort them to the antechamber until the Avatar's arrival." Gun escorts the Red Lotus out of the throne room, "Send these four to the dungeon."

Two Dai Li agents open the floor beneath the four, leaving them to drop into the unknown.

----

Once Sokka gets the two Avatars free, the three friends quickly hide by the door so they can start Asami's plan.

"Guards! Get in here!" Korra shouts.

The guard known as Arik opens the hatch to look in the room. He sees no one in the room and his eyes widen, "Where-"

Arik is knocked out by Asami. She opens the door, triumphantly spinning the keys around her finger.

"Nice work. Now let's take control of the ship." Korra says.

The four run to the cockpit, but not before Aang made a detour to get his glider. Korra opens the door with metalbending and the co-pilot runs up, but is knocked against the steering wheel by an air blast.

The airship starts to lose control as the captain talks into the radio, "Mayday! Mayday! The Avatars have escaped. We're going down in quadrant four of the Si Wong Desert."

The co-pilot regains consciousness and charges at Aang this time, but is knocked against the captain by an air blast.

Asami runs up to the steering wheel, "I think you two might have been a little over-aggressive with the airbending. The controls are busted." She picks up the radio phone which has broken into two, "Also, you broke the radio."

"Sorry, I'm used to Fire Nation ships. They're much stronger." Aang replied.

"Yeah, this airship's a hunk of junk." Korra added.

The airship heads down to a sand dune, "Hang on to something!" Sokka said.

The ship crashes. The four friends climb out of the airship from the roof.

"Well. They say any landing you could walk away from is a good landing." Asami says.

Sokka stares at the vastness of the desert, "Given our location, I'm not so sure about that. I already survived one desert, now I have to do another one."

Korra looks at Asami, "You're the engineer. What do you think? Can we get flying again?"

"It doesn't look good. Even if you metalbend the propellers back into shape, we have to dig this whole thing out of the sand." Asami replies

The crew climbs out of the airship.

"Is everyone all right?" Aang asks.

"Like you care." Arik snaps.

"What the heck happened?" Another guard asked.

"They knocked me out!"

"I'm sorry. But I couldn't let you take us to the Earth Queen as a captive." Korra replies, "There are dangerous forces at work that you don't know anything about."

"More dangerous than being stranded in the desert?" The guard asked.

The Captain climbs out of the airship, "Don't worry, Kong. I've radioed Ba Sing Se before we went down. We just need to sit tight. Somebody will be here to rescue us."

"We're not waiting around for that. We need to get out of here now. Our friends are in danger." Aang said.

"If we all work together, we might be able to get the ship up and running." Asami said.

"Not likely. I just tunneled out the engine room. It's like a sandbox in there." Kong replies.

"This ship isn't going anywhere. And neither are you." The captain says, "You're prisoners and it's our duty to transport you to the Earth Queen."

Korra smiles coyly, "You realize that I'm the Avatar, right?" She frowns and points a finger at the airmen, "You don't want to fight me."

"I'm afraid you aren't giving us much of a choice. We have our orders."

Asami notices a moving sand dune, "Wait, did that sand dune just move?"

"It was probably just a mirage. The desert will play tricks on you."

Asami sees the sand dune moves again, "That's no mirage. Look."

"I heard that since all the spirits came back, this desert has been haunted by them." Kong says.

"Oh right, so I guess that's my fault too." Korra said sarcastically, "Do you want to help us get this ship up and running, or do you want to wait around and meet that thing?" She points to the moving sand dune.

"We want to fix the ship. Right, Cap?"

The other crew members nod in unison.

"Let's get to work." The captain says.

"Everybody stand back."

Korra and Aang bends a large air spout at the sand dune.

----

A guard patrols past prison cells, knocking on the bars with a baton. As he walks past Mako, Bolin, Zuko and Toph's cell, he hits Bolin who was leaning against the bars, causing him to grunt in annoyance.

"We have to find a way out of here before Zaheer captures Aang." Zuko says.

A prisoner in the cell next to them pulls out a mirror to reflect his face to the cell, "Take me with you. I haven't seen my wife and five kids for four years."

"Four years?" Bolin asks

"The first few months were great, I-I could finally get some sleep, but... now I really miss them."

"Toph, think you can free us?" Zuko asks.

Toph shakes her head, "Whatever those jerks injected me with is still in affect. I can't bend right now."

Mako turns to his brother, "Listen. Bolin, this is up to you. I know you can metalbend."

"You can metalbend?" The prisoner asks.

"No." Bolin replies.

"Yes you can." Mako says, "I believe in you."

"I believe in you too, Bolin."

"I appreciate that, Mako, and fellow... prisoner man. But I've been trying and trying and trying and I've never been able to do it. Not even a little."

"You've always had the ability deep down. You just haven't had the motivation. But this is your time! Get us out of here to save Aang and... your girlfriend." He smiles encouragingly at Bolin, "You can do it!"

"I discovered metalbending when I was imprisoned." Toph said, "Maybe this is how you can learn too."

"You're right." Bolin says and readies himself, "Okay, here I go. Metalbending." He attempts to metalbend the bars, but to no avail. He sinks onto the floor, tearing up, "I can't metalbend."

Toph walks over and kneels next to him as he puts a hand on his shoulder, "Don't beat yourself up over it. So you can't metalbend, big deal. You're great just the way you are."

She punches his arm before standing back up.

Zuko gave her a confused look, "Did you just-"

"You tell Twinkletoes about this there won't be an heir to the throne." Toph threatens

Zuko smiles amusedly.

----

Lin drives a jeep down the dirt path, still looking for Korra and Aang. When she notices some tire tracks, she reverses and drives up to the abandoned jeep.

As she inspects it, Naga leaps from behind, growling aggressively, startling her. Naga soon recognizes Lin and smiles, running around her and licking her.

"First, you scare the life out of me, now you want to lick me." Lin says.

Naga licks Lin once more. Pabu emerges from the jeep and crawls on Lin's body. Lin manages to grab Pabu by the neck and put him on top of Naga.

Appa floats down from his hiding place in the clouds once he notices Lin by the jeep. Momo jumps onto Naga, next to Pabu.

Lin passes treats to the four animals, "Here, chew on this and leave me alone." She walks off and picks up a radio phone on the jeep, "Tonraq, you read me?"

"Yes, we copy." Tonraq replies.

"I've found Korra's jeep, but the kids aren't here. Meet me at the Misty Palms Oasis."