Avatar: an end and a rebirth
Elizya was an old man. The light of the crackling fire dancing in his amber eyes, he thought on his life and what he had accomplished…
He had lived to be 116, and that was something. He had lived to see his great-grandchildren born, and that was something. He had lived to see himself turn from a tall, naïve young man with dark brown hair, into a middle-aged, worldly man with brown hair rapidly graying, into a stooped, scholarly old man whose silvery-white beard was long enough to tuck into his belt. Even now, he felt death's icy embrace slowly enveloping him… but this would not be the end.
No, even though he was old, he remembered still-he remembered the tales of the Airbender, long ago, who brought his Nation to its knees. He knew, deep in his heart, that this Airbender, Aang, the Avatar, was not "the last Airbender" as even in his lifetime he had been called. After being frozen in an iceberg for a century, at the physical age of twelve, Aang defeated the most powerful Firebender the world had seen since Sozin's time.
Aang's successor was a Waterbender named Mayim, and the next Avatar was an Earthbender named Erato. Now, the 116-year-old Elizya was going to hope…hope with all his might that when his time came, a new Avatar would be born…as an Airbender.
He thought he remembered, from text memorized in years past, that Avatar Aang had found love, and had a family, but to Elizya's disappointment he could not remember if any of the children were Airbenders, or even looked like the Air Nomads, lightly built and wiry, not short and stocky, like the Water Tribes, or tall and muscular, like the Earth Kingdom, or tall and thin, like the Fire Nation. Hybrids between the nations were rare, and weren't always anything like their 'pure-blood' for lack of a better word parents.
But if there were no more Airbenders, there could be no more Avatars, and the cycle would be broken. Elizya felt his heart darken, as he remembered what atrocities his nation committed when Avatar Aang disappeared. What would happen if the Avatar Cycle was broken permanently? The world would be left to right itself when it got out of balance. Elizya heard a gurgling chuckle escape his lips, despite himself. The world-left to right itself? They were doomed, if that was true.
But he did not believe that. He couldn't. Not with the world on the line. He had defused two wars in his time as the Avatar, and he would not give up now, to let his spirit die and leave the world without a guardian. To give up now…would be good for this old, worn-out husk of a body that concealed his Avatar self…but could spell death for the world.
As Elizya drifted into sleep before the blazing fire, he realized he would not awaken again…not in his body, anyway, or under the name "Elizya."
A few days later, Aang's great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson was born…and he was an Airbender…the blood of the Air Nomads ran true in him. His grey eyes, dark hair, and pale complexion showed that he was special-he was nearly the spitting image of that little, goofy kid who fought fire with fun, and brought the most advanced nation on the planet to its knees. The Avatar cycle was not broken, and as Elizya, now a part of the Avatar spirit, saw with satisfaction that the world wasn't buzzard-wasp food…not yet, anyway.
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