In Balance there is Hope

By: Ryu Niiyama

Disclaimer: Hey, I don't own em.

In the darkness Vaatu remembered, remembered the true point of harmonic convergence; it was not an epic battle of wills but a time of union and celebration. Their union, after so long apart, the Two That Were One would become one again. Vaatu remembered the first Union, the sense of pride and purpose joining with Raava gave…and the hunger. Vaatu couldn't imagine an existence without this…without them…without Raavaatu. Yet from numerous unions they shared over millennia the Two That Were One came something so unique, so wondrous, a potential of them both…balance, a child.

Chaos bred passion and Vaatu would never be without Them. Vaatu coveted the union of light and dark; what humans called…Love. With mate and child the world of both spirit and physical would become a paradise, yet man, this strange hybrid of spirit and earth reviled spirits…ignorant of their own spiritual nature. Raavaatu had been content to leave them be, bestowing their radiance upon the united world and their child.

Until man in his greed with a darkness that did not come from Chaos, sought to shape the world in his image and usurp Raavaatu. What man could not take…he destroyed. Thus Raavaatu lost Kibou, their beloved child. Raavaatu, in their grief and pain lost the harmony that made them one, their very natures driving them apart. Thus the First Cycle ended.

Vaatu, learned not of darkness but of the void that day. An empty, gnawing hunger that would never be satisfied…greed, human greed. In this Chaos leaned of Evil. From this knowledge came Vengeance. Vaatu would strike down every human that had taken that which had been created in Love. Vaatu would keep them from taking Raava away as well.

Raava, wanted to protect the humans…wanted those that had slain the very proof of their union to live. Vaatu refused and would not submit and so Raava bound them, not the tie that was the very spark of creation and passion but a perversion of everything that they were. So Vaatu rebelled, and they began the Second Cycle, a contest to destroy rather than court and renew. Vaatu had forgotten how many millennia they had struggled against one another, losing themselves in the battle until it was all they knew.

Then the human came and separated them, ending the Second Cycle. Vaatu had lost everything so the world in its flawed cruelty must be remade…and now alone Vaatu must submerge it in the radiance of darkness. Yet rejection had poisoned Chaos, loss had maimed entropy so Vaatu would make a world of endless suffering to reflect Chaos that had become Desolation. The human joined with Raava, a union meant for Raavaatu alone and waged war against Vaatu making the very birth place of Raavaatu a prison. Thus began the Avatar Cycle.

Raava had forgotten everything. Yet in the darkness of the Tree Vaatu remembered…and waited…and prepared. Greed came once again with clawing grasping fingers and Vaatu whispered sweet words so that those fingers would unbind the lock. Then the Avatar returned and Vaatu roared at the falsehood and stripped away the chains that bound Raava. So the Avatar cycle ended with the Last, a form of earthen skin and eyes of the heavens. Vaatu took on the form of the void…of man and challenged the Last to prove that the Cycles had meaning.

So the Last fought Vaatu in a mockery of the Second Cycle and restored Raava. As the Last Avatar enfolded Vaatu with her power, the bands pulsed with Light…pure once again. With this Raava had been cleansed and a worthy Avatar had been found. Though Raava did not know it, the Third Cycle had begun.

It had been easy to be nurtured by the cycle…for from Chaos came creativity and passion. There had only been one Avatar that would shine with such attributes…so Vaatu joined with this Avatar and was made whole. Brilliance flared, determination flourished and Vaatu grew strong. In time Vaatu went to Raava and they joined again: beautiful, chaotic, serene and consuming, the Third Cycle gave rise to Raavaatu again.

Vaatu's delicate hand carefully stroked the unruly shock of hair, delighting in its softness and the way that Raava leaned into the touch, still asleep. Full lips curved upward with somewhat smug pride as Vaatu thought of the result of their last joining in the spirit world. It would take time for Raava, who had always been self-blind, to sense the aura that shined so brightly that Vaatu could only sigh with contented pride. This time Vaatu would not lose…either of them. Vaatu would act suitably surprised when Raava noticed the child growing within but for now, tonight was for a proud sire and a competent mate. In a world where innovation and privilege held just as much weight as elemental mastery, Vaatu had the strength now to finally shape the world.

This time they would shape it together.

Vaatu leaned forward and gently kissed Raava's sweet lips, thrilling at the pleasure such a simple act provided. Raava shifted slightly and snuggled into the embrace and a shiver of delight skittered up Vaatu's spine.

"Love… you …'Sami…"

In the darkness of their bedroom burning crimson eyes and the brand of Vaatu glowed briefly as its avatar looked fondly upon her beloved.

"I love you too Korra."

The idea of this is that Vaatu eventually merges with Asami in an weakened state and just as Wan changed Raava so Asami changed Vaatu. Chaos does not mean evil, but just like all the other spirits the emotional states of those around them alters them. I wanted to give Raava and Vaatu depth beyond light and dark eternally in conflict, as they cannot be without the other. Yet to distill them into Raava = Good and Vaatu = Evil would make them less, as they would merely be helpless against their natures.

Like Korra, Asami is only augmented…made into a fully realized version of herself by her becoming the "Dark Avatar" and thus is still a Non Bender. As for the hint of the child…since the Avatar is as much spirit as human and that spirits procreate differently, making love in the place that the avatar is strongest could have interesting effects…even for two females.

I headcanon that this takes places in their 30s as they have lead the world to a new era but I kept it vague enough that you can make this happen anywhere after the end of Book 4.

Read and Review,

Your Neighborhood Friendly Dragon,

R. Niiyama