Author's notes: Hey this is the first story I've written with avatar so far and I think its pretty good. (You might not though) Please read all the way through the story. I know its long but bare with me. (It gets better as you go on. I think...) Kataang is the main couple. I might do Sokka and Toph later but I'm not sure...
Aang awoke his head throbbing and his body aching. He scanned his surroundings with his slightly blurred vision. He blinked a few times as everything came into focus. A horrible sight met his eyes and all at once he wished he'd never woken up.
...
"Zuko" A figure called quickly coming out from behind a nearby wall. He was an old man often called "The Dragon of The West" How he gained his name was an amazing tale having nearly defeated one of the few Dragons left on this planet. In this attempt he had gained their respect and was told a secret that he keeps with him to this day never revealing the location of the only two remaining Dragons.
"Uncle" Zuko replied with a worried expression set upon his scarred face. A Scar that was bestowed upon him in utter humiliation during and Ag-ni-ky by his very own father. "There are so many of them, I wonder if this battle is one we can even come close to winning." Iroh placed a reassuring hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Have faith Nephew, do not be so quick to count us out of this one." He said smiling. "Now get out there we haft to protect the Avatar while he is in this state."
Zuko drew his swords as five fire Nation soldiers came running towards him. They quickly stopped and got into their fire bending stances forming a sort of triangle formation, as Zuko charged toward them.
The bender in the front leaned forward onto his left knee forcing his breath through him and punching forward with his right fist, a fireball shot out from his fist, which Zuko leapt over and plunged his sword through the benders chest. He removed the sword with blinding speed and quickly cut off the head of the bender to his right.
The bender to his left went through his stance and shot a fireball out, Zuko barely caught a glimpse of it and quickly ducked so he wouldn't end up a charred mess. The other bender on the opposite side wasn't quite as lucky he screamed out in pain as the fireball hit him in the face and he fell to the ground. Zuko quickly ended him with his fire, while extending his sword out to end the bender who tried to end him. The last bender stood shaking, Zuko walked toward him, he tried to flee for his life but was quickly silenced as Zuko went through his stance and shot out a fireball.
Zuko was proud of the fact he had finally learned to pull his fire from another source. He finally had peace of mind and was able to think clearly instead of being constantly blinded by his rage and anger.
Still one thing eluded him, he was unable to shoot blue fire or lightning unlike his sister...
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his Uncle taking on at least fifteen Fire Nation Soldiers without much difficulty. He was marveled by the ability his uncle had to fight despite his age. Zuko charged toward the soldiers to break his uncle out of the circle of soldiers that surrounded him. That is until he saw someone else emerge onto the battlefield. 'Elite's'
...
I could feel a bender charging toward me his feet pounding against the ground he must of thought I would be utterly defenseless since I'm blind. I was about to prove him wrong.
I stamped my foot into the ground causing earth to rise up at an alarming pace and launch the unsespecting victim into the air. I quickly punched my fist toward the ground causing the earth to become loose. I kept my fist tightly clenched and pulled a large boulder out of the ground then, quickly hurled it at him. It must of hit because the next thing I heard was a yell before the boulder hit the ground with a scrunch and he was silenced. The next thing I knew I was surrounded they obviously saw what happened to their friend because all six of their hearts were beating very fast. I could sense they were afraid... I took advantage of this and spread my legs apart as well as my arms causing earth to shoot outward launching them all in different directions. I quickly moved my arms downward causing them to be crushed by the earth that had sent them flying.
'Where is Twinkletoes? We need him if we ever intend to put an end to this War.'
...
Aang tried to sit up but was quickly pushed back down by a hand. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see since his vision was still blurred. Before him sat a water tribe girl he met at the very beginning of his journey and was his very best friend but in his mind he sometimes wondered if she could ever be more.
She was sitting on the ground slouched over next to him both hands placed on one of the many burns and scratches amongst his body. Her hands glowed a bright blue as she attempted to heal his wounds but without much luck. The look in her eyes was heartbreaking, tears were slowly gliding down her face while in her mind she faced the fact that she could not completely heal him. She was not in much better shape various burn marks and cuts covered her body just as they did Aang. Katara smiled at Aang as new tears fell from her cheeks.
"You're awake." She said excitedly before wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace. "I thought I'd lost you." Aang smiled and thought about how he might have never made it through so many things if it wasn't for her. He returned the embrace wraping his arms around her back and pulling her closer. Katara was so glad he was alive, burned and scarred he was but still alive. She looked into his gray stormy eyes and saw he was still determined to fight and show that the Avatar was alive and would never back down.
"Katara." He said barely above a whisper, a frown appearing on his face. "What happened?" She sighed. "Tai-Lee hit you with a few blows before you were out cold." He sighed. He hated how she could take out just about anybody with just a few blows but he had to admit it was impressive. "She must of snuck up behind me because everything just went dark really fast." He said frowning. "How did I survive?" "I managed to get to you before the fire benders did." Aang examined his surroundings to see a few benders lying motionless and a few more frozen in place.
"Thank you." He said smiling. Katara pulled him closer and whispered in his ear "Just, don't ever scare me like that again Aang, I thought I lost you" "Don't worry I never will."He said in a caring tone. They released their embrace and Katara helped Aang to his feet. He quickly grabbed his side placing his hand over a large and deep burn. "Ow." he mumbled under his breath. "Are you ok?" "I'll be fine." He replied smiling reassuringly.
Ten Benders came into view. Aang smiled at Katara and she smiled back as they ran toward the enemy. Katara Bended some water from her pouch and water whipped one of the benders in the face causing him to fall onto the ground in pain and then, used the water to freeze another. Aang quickly created a hole beneath the injured bender letting the earth swallow him up. He quickly changed to a firebender stance from his earthbending one and let out a fireball which was deflected by one of the benders.
Aang's burn was causing him so much pain and it was interfearing with his stances but he stood his ground. The eight benders shot a slew of fireballs toward them. 'If only I had my staff' Aang breathed in deeply seeming to pull all the air around him inward. He realeased the stored air in a focused current sending the fireballs back and ending two of the benders. Katara saw her chance and bended some more water out moving it forward in a current. She flung her arms outward causing the water to freeze and spray in different directions ending another two benders but the remaining four melted the ice with their fire before it reached them. Aang quickly charged forward air forming in his hands. When he felt he was close enough he released the air in a large gust that sent the benders flying backward. He switched to an earth bending stance and caused a large mass of earth to erupt from the ground that one of the benders slammed into, he fell to the ground motionless. The other three hit the ground and tried to get to their feet but were pinned were they were by Katara's bending and then frozen.
Aang looked around at the field they were in and saw the Castle ahead. He felt bad that such a wonderful place of nature was being used for such horrible things. He looked down at the war torn ground it was burnt and scarred by the fire. Katara stared at him and wondered what was wrong. What could be wrong? He just awoke and we defeated a platoon of Fire benders so what.. Then it hit her as she examined her surroundings. Aang cared very much for nature and to see something like this happen to the ground and the trees must of hurt him.
She placed a caring hand on Aang's shoulder. "Don't worry, after you defeat the Fire Lord all of this will regrow and this War will finely be over." Aang sighed. "But what if I don't come back, without the Avatar State what if I'm not strong enough to defeat him." Katara stared into his eyes. "Aang don't doubt yourself, besides you've said this before and you came back, I know you will again." A slight blush crept over the Airbender's cheeks as he remebered the day he said he might never come back atop the submarine, before they submerged.
Aang grinned. "Thanks Katara and I promise you this time I will come back." "Now come on we haft to find the others." Aang said before racing off with Katara not far behind. "You better come back to me Aang." She mumbled under her breath. "What?" Aang said as he turned with a mysterious grin on his face."Nothing." Katara replied a blush finding its way to her cheeks.
...
Toph turned thinking another bender was approaching, hearing his footsteps, but they weren't pounding or hitting the ground as hard as the others and there was someone next to him not quite as heavy as the Fire Benders. "Aang!" Toph called out smiling happily. He was ok and according to his heart beat he had just been in battl, so he was not too bad off and it could have been worse. He could be dead... She shook off the thought. "Toph!" Aang called out "Are you alright and where is Sokka." Neither of them had seen Sokka since shortly after the battle's beginning. "I'm fine." Toph replied "As, for Sokka... I haven't seen him." Aang sighed. "Well at least you're okay" He said glancing at Katara. He looked into her eyes and saw fear for her brother. He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry we will find him." She smiled and nodded in agreement.
Toph jumped into her earthbending stance, seeing as she must of heard someone, Aang got into his Airbending stance and Katara Bended some water from her pouch. Toph slowly left her stance leaving a bewildered look on Aang's face, until he saw who it was. "Zuko." Aang called out. "Aang." Zuko replied. "I have something for you." He tossed Aang's staff to him. Aang caught it and smiled. "Thank you." "Where is Iroh?" Toph questioned. Zuko sighed. "He was taken away by a platoon of Elite's, we tried to fight them off but there were too many." He thought back to how he fought alongside his uncle and was curious as to why they didn't just kill him but pushed the thought out of his mind. There were more important things to think about like, how to get to the castle alive for one.
"Nevermind it, we need to get to the Fire Lord and at this rate we will lose all our men before we reach him." Aang, Katara and Toph nodded in agreement. "So, what now?" Katara questioned. "What else is there to do, we just haft to keep charging forward towards the castle." Aang replied. "I can see it not too far off in the distance."
Without another word Aang took off in the direction of the castle with a bit of difficulty his body was calling out for him to stop but he had to press on. Everyone else was a little better off but not by much. Everyone ached and grew weary from the battle as the wear and tear of constant running and fighting began to set in. Nonetheless, they followed behind the Avatar and hopefully were on their way to victory!
...
My breathing had steadily grown harder on top of that, I was so tired I felt like I could just lay down and die. My shoulder was bleeding furiously from the blow I took from that soldiers sword. I still can't believe I let my guard down for just that moment... I brought myself out of my thoughts as I ended yet another bender with my sword piercing through his chest. There are so many of them I wonder how long I can keep this up. I dodged a fireball that was hurled at me by one of the benders and swiftly lunged forward silencing him. I wimpered in pain and grasped my shoulder. If this wound keeps interfering with my swings and speed I won't be able to keep this up for much longer.
I pulled myself out of my state of self pity and examined my surroundings. Perfect..
I was completely surrounded there was at least eight benders and four soldiers surrounding me, plus more on the way. I dropped out of my stance and lowered my sword to the ground. I knew when I was beaten.
All at once the the benders went through their stances and shot out a strong current of fire coming in from all directions and the soldiers charged me swords raised shouting in victory. I closed my eyes and awaited the impact of the fire and for my world to go black but it never did...
I opened my eyes and never thought I would still be among the living. Aang had surrounded me with a strong current of air and I could see he was struggling to keep it up, that is until, all the benders and soldiers were swept away by a large wave of water. Aand dropped his arms and the air bubble disappeared. The benders and soldiers started to get to their feet only to be frozen in place. I turned around to see my sister tears falling from her cheeks I never thought I would be this happy to see anyone.
...
The young warrior quickly ran to his sister embracing her in a brotherly hug. "Katara." He said. "Sokka." She replied. "I thought I'd lost you." "Hate to interrupt the family reunion." Toph yelled to the two. "But we have business to take care of." She pointed toward the oncoming three benders accompanied by two elites. Elites were brutal fighters being masters of their bending and powerful with the sword they were hard to take down.
Toph Stomped her feet into the ground causing a large wall of earth to appear impeding their progress. It was quickly blown through by fire and before the team knew it they were in fighting range. Aang jumped into his Airbending stance and using his staff sent out a strong wave of air, which the two elites jumped over and landed firmly on the ground. The benders however, were not so lucky. They were sent flying backwards but they never hit the ground. Toph opened up a hole in the ground and let the earth swallow them before sealing it shut.
Zuko was in a heated battle with one of the Elites they both were in very close range almost face to face ducking and dodging each others fire and swords. The other elite planted both feet firmly on the ground bending his knees and pressing his hands forward palms flat emitting a wall of fire. Aang quickly lept into the air and swung his staff sending out a wave of air that created a hole in the fire just big enough for him to fit through. Aang landed behind the Elite and quickly stamped his foot into the ground causing earth to move upward in a stelagmite shape from the ground. The Elite took advantage of this and used it as a platform propelling himself into the air and shooting a few fireballs at Aang.
Aang quickly kicked off from the ground being careful to avoid the fireball and used his bending to send another one flying toward the Elite. The Elite quickly countered by putting his hands together and extending his arms forward splitting the fire in half saving himself. He landed on the ground and quickly ducked to avoid a kick from Aang. He sent out a fireball which Aang quickly jumped over and pushed his fist forward causing the earth to loosen and pulled out a boulder. He quickly spun around and flung it at the Elite who lept over it and unleashed a current of fire from his fist. Aang twirled his staff around and around stopping the fire. The Elite landed firmly on the ground and unleashed a flurry of fireballs. Aang quickly used his bending and disappeared benath the earth to reappear behind the Elite and let out a fireball leaving a deep burn and causing him to fall to the ground in pain. Aang quickly ended his life with another fireball before falling to the ground clutching his side in pain.
Zuko kicked his foot outward emitting a fireball that the Elite dodged and swung his sword around Zuko ducked under it and unleashed a wave of fire from his fist. The Elite quickly front flipped over it and kicked backward sending a fireball at Zuko's back. He ducked under it and swept his foot across the ground sending out a wave of fire across the ground. The Elite lunged at Zuko leaping over the wave of fire and swung his sword. Zuko slid to the side dodging the sword and clipped the Elite's side with a fireball. The elite stumbled and nearly fell over but quickly turned around and let out an explosion of fire enclosing his entire body and expanding outward at a rapid rate. Zuko fought back the explosion with a strong current of fire emitting from his hands but was losing.
His life seemed to flash before his eyes remembering his life, his scar, how his sister was always better than him but then he realized he was better than her. His mind was no longer clouded by rage and anger, he was fighting for what was right and finally had peace of mind. Unlike his sister who had been called a monster by her mother since birth and had grown up hating her mother and never knowing her true destiny. Something we had in common hating one of our parents and loving the other but now I had peace of mind and know what destiny truly is. Zuko felt a new confidence well inside him and knew it was his destiny to help the Avatar defeat his father and nothing was going to get in the way of his destiny. He took a deep breath and focused all of his energy into his fire. He pushed his two chi's apart and as they collided back together he moved his fingers forward and focused all his breath and his energy into it. The last thing he saw was a bright blue light before the lightning ripped through the Elite's fire and ended him swiftly.
"Wonderful job Nephew." A voice came from behind a nearby tree. The figure revealed itself. "Uncle." Zuko called as they ran to each other. He embraced his uncle in a hug. They left their embrace before Zuko asked. "What happened? I thought they took you away." "They tried but I managed to escape." Iroh replied as he smiled.
Katara dashed over to Aang and helped him to his feet letting him lean on her for support. She bended some water from her pouch and placed it on his wound. Her hand turned a light blue as she did her best to heal his wound. "How's that?" She questioned a worried look on her face. "A little better." He replied. "Thank you."He smiled reasurringly. She wasn't convinced he was still in searing pain and she placed her other hand on his side to try and help. Aang took his hand and placed it on Katara's before staring deep into her eyes. "I'm fine, there is nothing more you can do." She sighed but nodded in agreement as she released her hands from his side.
...
The team once again ran off in direction of the castle which was becoming closer and closer, they would reach it in a matter of minutes. Just as victory had set into their hearts nine war machines came into view. They readied themselves for a fight. Katara bended some water from her pouch and sent it outward in a sharp wave that cut off one of the treads disabling the machine. Toph used her bending to erupt earth in a sharpened point from beneath one of the machines. It peirced straight through the machine disabling it. Sokka ran straight toward the machine letting out a war cry. The bender inside unleashed a fireball that he quickly dodged and sliced his sword through the tread shearing it off the machine. Iroh charged at one of the machines being careful to dodge a fireball but was hit by a surprise attack from the back by another bender. He fell to the ground shaking in agony. Zuko quickly ran up to the machine and ended the benders life, with his newfound ability to emit blue fire, that had injured his uncle. Zuko ran to his uncle, then flipped him over onto his back and propped his head up with his hand. Aang rushed to his side and encased them in a bubble of air, saving them from an oncoming fireball. Katara cut off two more of the machines treads with her bending and Toph utterly crushed one of the machines with earth. Katara bended a large amount of water out of the nearby trees killing them and sent a large wave at the remaining machines and then froze it, leaving them stuck in place.
Katara rushed to Iroh and placed her hands on his wound. "I don't think I can heal this its so deep."She said sadly. "Don't worry about it." Iroh groaned. "I'll be fine." "You guys go on without me." Zuko demanded. "I need to stay here and take care of my uncle." "But.. Zuko." Aang questioned. "Please just go I'll be along in a moment." Zuko pleaded. "Ok..." Aang replied. "Come on every one. Lets put an end to this war!"
...
The castle had finally come into view and the gates were before them. The gates were huge let alone the castle itself. "Listen every one." Aang said. "We have come a long way and have been through so much but were finally ready to put an end to all the death and all the pain. The Fire Lord himself is inside this castle. If we defeat him this war will be over but if we don't... everything will be over for the world. I'm not about to let that happen!" Aang lept into the air and swung his staff forward creating an enormous gust of air that blew the doors open. His heart instantly sank at the sight that awaited him.
There must have been hundreds upon hundreds of them benders, soldiers, elites and leading them... Azula she was sitting in a throne raised above the rest of the battlefield while the fire nation was pouring out of the hallways behind her surrounding her. Aang looked at his companions to see the same shock and feeling of hopelessness plastered on their faces. His heart seemed to simply fall deeper and deeper. He didn't have the Avatar state, he was short Zuko and Iroh, plus he had no extra men to help support him in this fight. "This is so hilarious." Azula said the look of victory upon her face. "All of your men have been eliminated and you think that all four of you can hope to stop me and this army."
As if on cue. "Aang were here to help." Came Zuko's voice. Aang turned to feel the warmth return to his heart there was Zuko with at least one hundred and seventy Earthbenders and Dai-Lee-Agents along with at least two hundred water benders. "I gathered the remaining men from the area and Iroh is safe aboard the ship" Aang nodded and returned his gaze to Azula. She looked swelled by anger and ordered her side to attack. Aang ordered his side to charge and the two armies collided in a massive all out War.
...
Within fifteen minutes of battle the two sides numbers had greatly diminished the fire nation was down to around two hundred and Aang's side was dwindling to somewhere around seventy five. Katara was putting on a mask saying she was fine but she was dying inside. Her body was screaming in agony telling her to stop the exhausting work of keeping up the Octopus Form and let darkness take her. Toph was utterly and completely confused, so many heartbeats, so many pounding feet. Every time she took one out with her bending another or even two more would come to take its place. She was exhausted and in agony. 'Will they ever stop coming.' Sokka was dodging fireball after fireball before taking out a soldier who tried to sneak up behind him. He smiled at his cunningness but that his pride was quickly diminished by a fireball clipping his shoulder and reopening the wound. He charged forward, sword ready, twirling out of the way of a fireball before coming around and with one swift cut ending the benders life. Zukko felt his anger begin to consume him again and it was impossible to tell weather his bending was coming from fire or his so called destiny... Nonetheless his new ability to emit blue fire had saved his life on more than one occasion already. He was constantly ducking and dodging, countering with his own fire or lashing out with his blades but the small errors he made in his form which ended in a small clip of his side or a fireball to just miss his face were catching up with him.
Aang the worlds only hope was consumed in hopelessness. He fought feircly and with a fire in his eyes but in his heart he was giving up. Bending the four different elements, constantly switching from form to form and having to change his thought pattern again and again was wearing him thin. His wounds were unforgiving and his side was in searing pain. With every jump or dodge that just barely saved him it was getting harder and harder to ignore his pain, soon enough it would catch up with him and there would no longer be a small spark of hope...
...
All at once everything seemed to go so utterly and completely wrong... it was around twenty minutes later Aang's army was no more and all that stood between him and victory was twenty benders fifteen soldiers and seven elites. Zuko had been hit with a fireblast in the chest some five to ten minutes ago and was rushed off to join his Uncle among the wounded. Toph was hurt badly and in a world of confusion but refused to show it. Her feet had been burned horribly and imparing her vision but still managed to unleash her bending on everything around her. If she was to survive she needed to get out of here very soon. Sokka was pale his shoulder had slowed its bleeding. He was slowly dieing of blood loss but it was not his shoulder that was killing him, a soldier had clipped his wrist and managed to hit a major vein. He was unable to fight and had fallen to the ground knees buckled. Katara rushed to her brother surrounding him with the octopus form and was unleashing an all out attack on the benders. "Aang get Sokka out of here." She yelled to the young Airbender. He quickly rushed to Sokka and picked him up in his arms. He locked his eyes on Katara's, a worried expression showing through the mask he was trying to keep up. "Aang go.. I'll be fine." She reassured him. "I'll be back soon.." He yelled to her as he ran out of the Castle doors.
Apparently a lot more than thirty minutes had passed. It was dark outside the Castle and the moon was rising in the sky, not just any moon, a full moon. They had hope now and they could still win this but they had to end it before sunrise or all would be lost. Then it hit him as he was placing Sokka on the softest patch of grass he could find and reassuring him he would be back and to just hang in there. This whole battle he had seen neither Azula or the Fire Lord. He mentaly kicked himself. 'No! Maybe they are waiting in the back room...' He tried to reassure himself the battle could be won but he feared they had fled and this whole thing was just to delay them and give time for the comet to strike. 'It hits in a week.' He mentaly kicked himself over and over, if they couldn't defeat the Fire Lord in this battle there was no way they could track him down again before the comit's coming.
He heard a sound, an ear peircing, heart breaking sound... It was screaming, her screaming. The person who broke him out of the iceburg, someone who was always there for him no matter the circumstances, someone he fell in love with as he traveled with her and never told her how he truly felt. The only thing he left behind was a trail of dust as he used his bending to speed toward the castle and through the doors at an alarming pace, eyes blinded by rage. There she was lying on the ground... in agony. She had taken a fireball in the back and it was incredibly painful. With blinding speed Aang saved his love's life unleashing rage rage in the form of a blast of fire burning straight through the bender, utterly and completely destroying him. There she was laying on the ground almost motionless. She was still breathing but the fatiuge of battle along with her newfound wound was overbearing. Aang took a split second to observe the state she was in and found himself unable to avert his eyes. It brought tears to his eyes. She looked so frail, so young. They should not be here, war was not to be decided by teenagers and yet here they were. The worlds only hope for peace on the frontline, fighting for the freedom and peace of the entire world.
Aang encased himself and Katara in a bubble of air that pushed away all the soldiers and deflected the fire from the benders. All the hope and determination faded from the young bender's eyes as he fell to his knees in utter disbeleif and anguish. "I'll protect you as best I can." he heard Toph's voice call out as she rushed to his side. The spark of hope that kept Aang going, the adrenalin and fire in his heart were completely stripped away.
"A-ang." He heard her voice call out she sounded so frail and weak. His heart raced with worry. Would she be okay? This is all my fault. Why did she haft to get wrapped up in this? Were just a few of the thoughts that swirled through his mind. Mentaly and emotionally killing him inside. "I shouldn't of let you come." He cried. "I should never of gotten you wrapped up in all of this. If I hadn't decided to let you come none of this..." "Aang." She interrupted. "Don't worry about me I'll be fine." He looked into her eyes and could tell she was lying to him, despretly trying to keep him from worrying about her. He had to fulfill his destiny and defeat the Fire Lord but with the constant thought in the back of his mind telling him it was all his fault, she's dead and nothing you can do will ever bring her back. That dream was far from reality.
"Katara I'm so sorry this happened to you." Tears fell freely from his eyes. He no longer had the will to try and hold them back. "I never wanted you to get hurt. I never wanted any of you to get hurt and now look at what I've done... Zuko is injured badly, Sokka is laying in the grass bleeding to death, Toph is so confused and in a world of terror, and you... You are dying not from just that fireball but from everything up to this point... If I just told you to stay back and rest for a moment or told you to stand aside..." "I would never have listened." She interrupted. "Aang I have been with you since the very beginning of your journey and I came here today knowing I might lose everything. Believe me there is nothing you could have said that would make me back down!" She was in a world of pain and agony her body was telling her to stop fighting it, just go to sleep for a little while and everything will be better but she could not she would not. The sound of his voice was fading to her ears and her vision was failing her it would not be long now...
"Aang listen." She demanded . "I can't be there when you defeat the Fire Lord, I can't stand by your side as you fight him." "No! I won't let you leave me." he cried. She felt so horrible. Her heart was broken. There he was in tears before her knowing she was going to die but was unable to accept the fact. It was killing her inside to know that she could not be there beside him to celebrate his victory, she could not be there to help him defeat the Fire Lord and she could not be there to help him through his pain.. She could barely hear anything and her vision was almost gone but she managed to utter a few last words.
"Go, Aang and defeat the Fire Lord. Remember I will always be with you." "Katara I.." He stopped mid sentence to realize she could no longer hear him. He would never get another hug from her, he could never hear her sweet voice again, and he would never be able to tell her what he always kept hiding deep down inside. There at that very moment for once there was something no one else could see that only Toph could but Aang never heard what Toph said... Toph disappeared into the earth...
His anger was unbearable... He could not see or hear anything, in his mind there was no point carrying on, the last thing that kept him tied to this world was gone. His seventh chakra was unlocked and his Avatar State was unleashed for all the world to see. He was in pure anguish, he did not feel like he was in control, his anger was controlling him blinding him and he lashed out at everything and anything around him. If you could see the looks on the battalions' faces or simply glance in their direction you could see fear... Absolute and complete fear. They fled or at least they tried to... The small air bubble that protected Aang in his time of pain was unleashed outward in a huge gust of wind. The benders were hit by it and it practically crushed them against the wall just from the force of impact.
He stared at the remaining battalions sending chills down their spines. They froze where they stood in fear. He pulled his hands backward and looked as if all his hate and his anger was about to be unleashed. He bent forward onto his right knee and pushed his arms forward palms flat and circling his arms around him creating a small dome of fire. He pulled his arms inward and then flung them outward as hard as he could screaming in hatred. A raging inferno of fire emitted from him engulfing the whole castle room in flames. All of the remaining army burned to death as their screams echoed through the room before their screams died down and their cold lifeless bodies fell against the hard stone floor. An eerie dead silence pulsated throughout the castle. It was horrible to witness something so beautiful and full of life, fire, could be used to end so many lives in such a painful way.
He used his Airbending and it looked as if he was floating just above the ground. He floated to the back room but all that awaited him was a hallway decorated with fire nation banners along the walls and a throne at the end of the hallway. He had been tricked and victory belonged to the Fire Nation. So much anger... So much hate... it looked utterly unbearable. His entire world was collapsing in around him. The walls that protected his small emotional world were blown away. He screamed as loud as he could into the air hoping to unleash some of his hate but instead it fueled his rage. He felt there was no reason to continue on. His very best friend was dead, the rest of them were sevierly injured and it was all his fault.
He noticed a sword not far from him lying next to the body of a fallen bender.
He could end all of his pain right here right now. The world had no hope left. Why should he suffer bacause of it, even if he showed up with the avatar state on the day of the comet the outcome would be the same. 'No one can win a war on their own.' He picked up the blade with his right hand and stared at his reflection in the metal. 'Look at me. I'm so pathetic and torn.' He pressed the blade against his throught. 'I deserve this for failing this world for failing everyone.' He readied himself to slide the blade across his neck and end his misery but just as he convinced himself, the blade was nocked away by the earth in front of him. A formation of earth had arisen from the ground in a rough rectangle shape and knocked the blade from his hand.
"What do you think your doing!" A voice screamed at him. "Killing yourself to end your own pain and suffering. What about every one else? Are you just going to end your life so you don't haft to worry about it!" Aang sighed deeply. He stared at Toph. "There's no point to living." "You think so don't you just because you lost her. This gives you no right to end your life at destroy all hope for the world." She screamed keeping something from Aang. She was angry and confused at the moment causing one very crucial fact to slip her mind. "Hope?" He snickered. "What hope? There is no hope. This whole fiasco was just a trap to stall for time and I fell for it headfirst!" "So what, you think that just because they got away it gives you the right to end yourself!" She gasped. "I Think it does! The comet is coming in a week and there is no way I can find them before the comit's coming. Even if I did there is no way I could win. The Fire Nation's army will be back at full strength within a matter of days and I no longer have anyone left that will be in fighting condition within a week!" He screamed at her. He was baffeled by her ignorance but it was more his ignorance that was blinding him from the truth. He felt his rage welling inside him once again. "Fine! If you want to go ahead and kill yourself that is fine by me but don't expect me to stand around here and watch." She screamed before dissapearing into the earth once again.
"I WILL!" He screamed into the dead silence of the castle, listening as his words echoed back and unleashed their brutality upon his mind. He fell to his knees and screamed as loud as he could once again trying to unleash his anger. This time it made him feel a bit better and that small spark of hope that used to inhabit his heart returned. It was so small that it was almost invisible but his heart was telling him everything was ok. He fell onto his hands and the glow faded from his eyes and tattoos. His eyes returned to their former grey color but they no longer had determination placed in them, instead all you could see was hopelessness and a deep sadness, they looked almost lifeless. He bagan sobbing uncontrollably letting his sadness consume him. He sat on the ground and buried his face into his knees.
A soft and delicate hand landed on Aang's shoulder. "Toph listen... I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I was just mad." The hand gave a small reassuring squeeze. "After losing Katara my whole world seemed to crumble on top of me. I thought everyone turned against me. So, I tried to take away all the hurt and pain with just one quick slice. I had no reason to live now that she was gone. She was the only thing holding me to this earth and I-I loved her but never got the chance to say how I felt. Thank you so much for keeping me from ending myself. I realized that I still have people to protect and there are still people who care about me. I can't leave yet no matter how good it sounds. I haft to stay here and end the Fire Nations tyrraney... I just wish she was still here with me." "Aang..." A voice called but it wasn't Toph's. It sounded scratchy and weak but still caring and reassuring. He let his knees fall to the floor and opened his eyes. The sight that awaited him was overwhelming. He felt like he wanted to jump into the sky with such joy and for just a moment his small spark of hope burned brighter than ever. He was at a loss for words. His entire body seemed to be frozen with happiness. There she was in front of him on her knees. Tears falling from her face but instead of a frown or any look of sadness she was smiling staring deep into his eyes. "Katara I-I can't bele-" He was cut off by something he never thought he would feel never in his lifetime. Her lips pressed against his. He was stunned beyond all reason but kissed back. He threw his arms around her waist and pulled her closer deepening the kiss.
They kissed for what felt like forever but was probably no more than a few seconds. He pulled away and stared deep into her eyes. "A-ang..." She stuttered. "When I found you in the iceberg I thought of you as just a goofy kid but as we ventured together I realized there was something more to you than I thought, something indescribeable. I felt it in the cave of Two Lovers when we almost kissed but decided not to mention it. It wasn't until we were atop the submarine when I realized what my feeling was." Aang smiled and blushed deeply. "It was love but not just as a best friend or some sort of brotherly love it was so much more than that. I never mentioned it to you because I always feared you might not feel the same but I see now that was foolish." Their lovely moment was interrupted by Toph.
"Glad to see you decided not to kill yourself Twinkletoes." She giggled. "Oh, and judging by your heartbeat I think I know what happened." He blushed even deeper and scratched the back of his head. "Katara never died she just passed out I was trying to tell you that but was in kind of a bad mood." She paused. "Nevermind all that now we need to get Katara back to the submarines and get her some medical attention. On top of that I think all of us could use a nice long rest." "Ya." He replied. "Some rest might do me some good." He averted his gaze from Toph and stared into Katara's eyes. Everything was getting better and tomorrow held a brighter future.
Hey! so was it good? yes, no, maybe so. Anyway R&R No Flames please!