I figured that he would have avoided returning to the Tribe, but you raise a good point that it would involve pretty much running right into the Fire (if I may indulge in an appropriate elemental metaphor). It's too bad that the time frame doesn't offer many canon characters for Aang to befriend, as it would have been fun to think about who and how he might have tried to form a support group. (Hm, maybe the Jeong-Jeong you introduced could be co-opted...)