Previously, on Avatar...

"No... I'm not gonna end it like this", Aang stated firmly, facing opposite of his opponent.

Phoenix King Ozai pushed himself up."Even with all the power in the world, your still weak." he lunged to attack.

*FLASH*

The pillar of blue light brightened the sky, then dimmed.

"What...what did you do to me?" Ozai asked, confused.

The Avatar regained his posture."I took away your firebending. You can't use it to hurt anyone else anymore."

*FLASH*

The three nations raised their flags, and cheerd for the new firelord.

Zuko raise one hand."Please. The real hero...is the Avatar." he gestured to the young air nomad behind him.

The crowd cheered louder at the site of the Avatar.

*FLASH*

"I promised my uncle I'd restore the honor of the Fire Nation...and I will," Zuko began," One hundred years of war have left the world scared and divided, but I believe, with enough hard work, we can restore the Fire Nation's honor, and Finally acheive peace once more."

Zuko kneeled down. The fire sage raised the royal headpiece for all to see."All hail Fire Lord Zuko!" he announced, placing the piece into Zuko's topknot.

*FLASH*

Thay were all back in Ba Sing Se at the Jasmine Dragon, with Iroh playing the sungi horn and Zuko serving tea to the rest of them.

*FLASH*

Aang and Katara stood on the balcony, enjoying the view. They hugged, looked deeply into eachother's eyes, then kissed.

*FLASH*

Book Four:

Metal

Chapter One:

The Meteor

The stars and heavens hung all around them. The earth's horizon lay beneath them.

The two Avatars in astral-form sat cross-legged facing eachother on seemingly nothing. Avatar Aang was briefly recaping to his predicessor, Avatar Roku, a summary of recent events, with Roku depending upon his years of experience pertaining to quick and decisive actions to mentally keep up with his successor's endless jabber, responding with a subtle mhm or and? between the boy's pauses to let him know he was still awake."...and then Zuko left to go to the bathroom...and then me and Sokka snuck into the royal supply room...and took some of the special powder...and then we snuck back into the throne room...then we lined the powder around the throne...then I used firebending to light up the powder just before Zuko could walk in through the back...you should've seen the look on his face when the whole room glowed pink! I mean, he just stood there, right behind these huge pink flames!...then we both bowed down and chanted 'All hail Fire Lady ZuZu!' ", the two Avatars laughed joyfully.

"How splendid!" the old Avatar applauded,"Such an eventful Autumn it's been for you! It brings so much joy to my heart to see my past friendship with the firelord reborn."

"Yeah...heh...can't wait for it to end...er-Autumn, I mean", the new Avatar mumbled a little more to himself.

Roku looked puzzled,"What do you mean?"

Aang stayed quiet.

Roku read his saddened expression." Ah, I see", he began,"Autumn is the season of Air" he said aloud.

The young Avatar blinked his tears away."It's just...I'm the only person who truly knows what I'm going through: I'm the only one left on Earth who can bend air, who's seen and experienced first hand their peaceful, nomadic culture; I'm the only one who knows how to resew a torn air staff, how to train a flying lemur to fetch your marbles when you lose them, how tell the difference between a stratus cloud and a cirrus cloud, how to make musrooms go good with kiwi. And combined with being the Avatar? I mean, how am I supposed to sleep at night knowing when I'm gone, there will be no other trace of evidence that airbenders even existed?" the young Air Nomad could hold back his tears no longer.

"I understand", the old Fire Nation noble tried to comfort him,"but by now you must realize there are plenty of individuals like you who have a mutual perspective of your condition. You're speaking to one of them right now", he said with a smile.

"But, you're Fire Nation", Aang reminded him.

"Yes, but I am also Earth Kingdom. And Water Tribe as well. You forget that I, like you, have embraced the cultures and customs of all of the four nations, each becoming just as much a part of who I am as the other three. So when I witnessed from the afterlife the destruction of the Air Nomads, I was very sad, as were the Avatars before me. I, however, was futher saddened, for it was the second genocide that I myself had witnessed."

"'Second genocide'?" Aang repeated.

"The moment Firelord Sozin refused to help me up during the volcano eruption, and flew away on his dragon, I realized that I too was the last of my kind. The Fire Nation that I was born in had withered away, and in it's place, a new nation arose. A nation that corrupted the true meaning of honor and firebending, and sought for nothing less than to be the most powerful and feared of the three remaining factions."

The new Avatar suddenly felt less self-centered."Wow...I never thought of it like that", he said, with a deeper sense of respect for his predicessor.

"But, that is in the past now", Roku lamented, brightening up,"For just as the people of the Fire Nation are doing everything to restore their country's honor, you may one day find yourself surrounded by eager, young airbenders, seeking to learn their ancestor's traditions from the only one who can teach them."

The succeeding Avatar was successfully cheered up."Huh...I guess I'm not so alone after all..."

"You aren't. Although, I was never particularly good with mushroom and kiwi pie..."

They laughed some more. They stopped, however, as they noticed the space around them seem to vibrate.

"What's happening?", Aang asked, hoping for an answer from the previous Avatar.

"I'm not sure", he answered,"Space itself is being pushed aside, as if to make room..."

"Room? For what?"

The two Avatars were engulfed in a flash of white, a large round silhouette taking shape opposite of the earth. The white vanished, revealing a massive stone object with an enormous point sticking out the front of it.

"What is it?" Aang asked, still thinking Roku might know.

"I have no idea. It appears to be a vessel of some sort."

"Well, we are in astral form. Maybe we could just faze inside and see what it is?" the young airbender suggested.

Roku shook his head."That would not be wise. It is completly new to the universe. We have no choice but to assume the worst. Aang, you must return to your body so that you may resume your duties. Prepare for anything, for whatever this entity is, it may very well be here to upsurp the balance of the world, or even balance itself."

Avatar Roku disappeared, leaving Aang alone in space.

Aang held out his hand."Wait, Roku! Don't go! I don't know what to prepare for. How would I even get to it before something happens? Roku!"

An ominous blue light caught Aang's attention. He turned towards the stone object to see a blue, glowing orb barreling straight for him.

"Aaaaaaaagghh!"

"Aang! Aang, wake up!" Katara tried, rocking back and forth the sleeping Avatar.

With a scream, the awakened Aang forced a blast of air upwards, blowing a hole through the roof.

Realizing that he was no longer in the Spirit World, Aang looked up at Katara, Toph, and Sokka and their new "hairdoos", a side effect of his impulsive move.

"Sheesh", Toph remarked,"Don't take it out on the ceiling just because you had a bad dream."

Aang sat up."It wasn't a bad dream", he said,"it was a vision. I was talking to Roku, and there was this big flash, and then this giant, round, pointy thing came out of nowhere. Then Roku was gone, and then a meteor..."

"Woah, calm down. Wait, how can something be round and pointy? That dosen't make any sense", Sokka wondered out loud.

Aang caught his bearings."Um...nevermind, it was probably just a bad dream", his said shrugging.

"Nice to know that problem was solved fast", Sokka said, giving his little airbending buddy a pat on the shoulder,"Now hurry up and get dressed, we're gonna be late!"

"Just a second. I'll be ready...", the young nomad affirmed, putting his pants on

To forward international harmony, the Avatar, Fire Lord, and their friends have motioned a World Peace Tour, visiting several towns and villages across the world to promote peace and love among the three nations. Also participating in the tour were Sokka, Katara, Bato, and Cheif Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe; Cheif Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe; Suki of Kyoshi Island; Lao, Poppy, and Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling; and Mai and Tylee of the Fire Nation (for unknown reasons, Mai and Tylee have decided to participate without their parents or siblings).

Right now, the group were at Makapu Village, the last destination on the list. For the occasion, a large festival has been arranged to commemorate the young men and women (and lemurs) who fought to end The War.

In another room, Fire Lord Zuko was teetering back and forth on whether he should or shouldn't attend the festival while wearing his royal headpiece."...but if I wear it, people might be wigged out when they see me...but they really shouldn't because The War's over...but I don't wanna make people think it's not over...but how will everyone know the I'm Fire Lord?...but I don't wanna oppresively display my royal heritage...but I should be able to wear it if I want...but I should learn to compromise so I don't seem so obtuse about it...but there are also two sides to compromise in which-" right in the middle of the young monarch's dilemma, Mai silently plucked the headpiece out of his hand and tossed it out the window.

Zuko appeared surprised at his girlfriend's lack of respect for royal heirlooms, but shrugged."Casual Zuko it is."

Outside the inn, Suki, in her formal Kyoshi Warrior armor, was leaning her back against the wall, her arms crossed, right when her boyfriend popped out the entrance to her left.

"So, is Aang alright?" she asked.

"He's fine, just napping", Sokka confirmed,"Ooh, I just can't wait for Aang's speech! It's gonna be so awsome! I wish the Moon would go faster!" he eagerly cried, attempting to will the Moon to increase it's usual rate of travel with his eyes.

Suki figured the young Water Tribe warrior would be elated this particular evening, but she may have underestimated the amount of energy with which he would use to display it.

When the Moon was to reach the center of the night sky, the villagers attending the festival were to be directed to a special stage, where the Avatar was schedueled to give a long speech about peace, a speech pain-stakenly pre-written by Sokka himself.

"This entire village is going to hear what I wrote! What I wrote!" he excitedly repeated to himself.

"Yeah, and afterwards, I hear there's going to be a special suprise", Suki announced, in an attempt to change the subject.

"What kinda' suprise?" Sokka asked, before silently chanting "What I wrote" to himself one more time.

"Well, it turns out that Makapu Village is home to a famous fortune teller named Aunt Wu", Sokka's ears perked up at the familar name,"I heard from one of the stage builders that she's going to give a surprise prediction after Aang's peace speech!" Sokka's jaw hung low at her news.

"No, NO! Why does she have to be there!?" he whaled, almost teary-eyed.

Suki caught this."Wait, you mean you've actually met Aunt Wu before?"

"Yes, I have!" Sokka ranted,"We stopped here once for supplies just in time for her to 'predict' to the whole village that the volcano wouldn't erupt, and it did! If it wasn't for Aang, the village would of been destroyed!" he explained.

"Technicaly, she said the volcano wouldn't destroy the village, which it didn't", Suki replied, raising a finger.

"Who told you that!?" Sokka demanded.

She shrugged."Some old guy with a blue hat."

Sokka's eyelids lowered. At least he was hearing it from his girlfriend and not the man himself.

"Do you have something against fortune tellers?" Suki inquired.

"Who me? of course not", Sokka responded calmly,"Except for the fact that THEY DON'T EXIST! You can't see into the future, it's impossible!"

"I don't know, Sokka. These people don't seem to have any doubts about her. Maybe she really is spiritual?" Suki proposed.

"Please", Sokka critisized,"Aang didn't feel anything strange about her, and he's supposed to the bridge to the Spirit World."

"Well, maybe she's just so smart she that actually remembers future events", the Kyoshi Warrior tried again.

"You can't just remember things that haven't happened yet. Memories don't work that way", the Water Tribe Warrior persisted.

Katara poked her head out of the entrance."Sokka, you aren't still trying to convince people that Aunt Wu is fake, are you?" she inquired.

Sokka raised a hand to his little sister."Not now, Katara. My point is that time isn't something you bend like water or earth, it's a...you know...a concept."

Suki finally gave up."Alright, Sokka, whatever you say..."

"Good", Sokka relented,"Now, I hope Aang's ready, Katara, because we're running out of time as it is. It's going to be an hour and a half to midnight soon and I don't want him to be late for his speech."

"Now hang on..." Katara smirked," Did you just say we were 'running out of time'? I thought time was just a concept", the young waterbender retorted, causing her brother to deadpan.

"She has a point, Sokka. You can't really run out of a concept", Aang added, peeping out of the doorway as well.

"I'll take that as a yes", Sokka grumbled.

The tour members were riding to the festival in their own carriages, each carriage towed by their nations home riding animal. The children rode in Zuko's carriage (pulled by komodo rhinos with dulled horns), save for Toph, who was forced to reside with her parents (in a carriage pulled by ostrich horses).

"Are you sure you memorized the speech?" Sokka asked the young Avatar.

"Yes", Aang confirmed.

"Double-memorized it?"

"Yes."

"What about while eating breakfest?"

"Yes."

"In the bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Eyes squinted?"

"Yes."

"Upsidedown?"

"Will you relax, Sokka!?" Katara chimed in,"Even if Aang might not be able to completely recite every single word of your speech on the spot, he can still just put the paper on the podium when he does say it. Besides, can't you see he's thinking about something different?"

"What could he possibly be thinking about on one of the most important nights of his life!?"

"About my vision", Aang anwsered him.

"Vision?" Sokka repeated,"I thought you said you were just having a nightmare!"

Aang looked away."I kind of just said that to make you guys feel better."

"WELL I DEFINITELY DON"T FEEL BETTER NOW!"

"So that's why you look so upset", Zuko calculated. The young Air Nomad did appear very disturbed, constantly looking down, not speaking. It made sense to the scarred monarch that he had a revelation of some kind."So what was the vision about? Did it have anything to do with my father? Or my sister? Or anything else about the Fire Nation?"

"Ya' know, Zuko, not everything has to revolve around you..." Sokka rebuked, earning stares from the rest of the group.

"Not at all, actually", Aang began,"I was telling Roku about the past couple of months, when this giant stone thing materialized before our eyes. It was really scary because not even Roku knew what it was. Then he told me to return to my body in case it was something bad, and then he vanished. And then, I saw a meteor come straight at me, or at least it looked like a meteor. That was when I woke up..."

"...and blew a hole through the roof", Sokka finished insensitively.

"Would you stop talking!? Katara snapped. "What do you think it all means?" Katara asked.

"I don't really know. That stone thing could've been the meteor. What if it's coming for us right now? How would I stop something like that?" Aang asked himself.

"All this stuff about spirits and visions. Honestly, I actually feel like going to help Ty Lee with her braides than listen to more of this", Mai sighed.

"Oh, don't worry: you get used to it", Sokka assured her.

The tour members stepped out of the carriages and set their eyes toward the festival, which, frankly, was quite impressive for a temporary fair assembled overnight. The fair retained many festivities and attractions from across the nations. Their were all kinds of food stands serving treats of near endless variety. It contained many games for the youth, such as Dunk the Fire Lord, Hama's Haunted Inn, and a variation of Airball. The location even boasted a small circus, with Tylee's Amazing-Flaming-Net-Animal-Stampede-Tight-Rope-Hand-Walk as the main event.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" marveled Katara as the gang made their way through the festival, noting the attractions,"I wonder where we should start first?"

"Well, you guys could go play those games'n stuff while me and Aang reherse the speech a few more times", Said Sokka, carrying the scroll containing Aang's World Peace speech in his left hand.

"Um...what was that, Sokka!? I can't hear you over the music!" Aang yelled, holding his hand up to his ear.

"What? I can hear you just fine. There's no music-"

"I think it's coming from over there!" Aang fibbed, pointing a random direction,"I'll go check!" he cried, riding off on an air scooter.

"Aang, wait!...speech!...World Peace!...Moon!" the warrior stuttered.

"Will you calm down, Sokka?" Suki asked,"The Moon isn't even half way there to the sky's center. There's more than enough time for some festival fun, and then the speech. Okay?" Suki explained, comforting Sokka.

The young warrior observed a game or two."I guess the speech can wait..."

"That's the sprit, Sokka!" Zuko beamed, lay his hand on Sokka's shoulder,"Now who's up for a round of Dunk the Fire Lord?"

"Yeah! Let's dunk Zuko! I mean-er-Ozai..." Sokka corrected himself, smiling sheepishly at the current fire lord.

The monarch shrugged."I understand. It's kind of my fault."

The Gaang did all kinds of fun things: Aang and the gang engaged in a mock game of Airball with some younger kids, with Sokka on the other team to insure the kids a fair game. Zuko spin kick the ball right into Sokka's stomach, sending him flying into the goal. The rest of the gang cheered."You stink!" one of the little kids spewed, throwing the ball at Sokka's face, knocking him down again. they thre darts at targets (Sokka losing), rode a earthbending-powered merry-go-round (Sokka getting visibly nauseated), they went through the haunted house (Sokka tackling a man dressed as an evil spirit in order to save Suki), Cheering at the circus (Sokka having to replace one of the clowns, not knowing he was meant to be a rodeo clown to distract an angry baboon mammoth), and even a round of Dunk the Fire Lord, where a man dressed as Phoenix King Ozai sat on a platform, which gave way beneath him as soon as someone hit the target with a ball, him falling into a tank of water. (Sokka laughed at the poor man, banging the glass in hysteria, only to cause the glass to crack. His friends looked tense, and quickly ran away, before the glass tank burst, the water carrying Sokka and the fake Ozai with him

After that brief montage of festival fun, the Moon had finally reached it's center in the night sky, and signs were being placed around the area.

"Please follow the directing signs to the designated location where the Avatar will give his Lecture on World Peace!" some people announced using metal funnels to amplify there voices, pointing to the signs.

Before long, a crowd gathered before a large stage draped in white, with the respective insignia of the three nations on each side-signifying world unity-and chairs on each side on the stage.

The spotlight shined on a man in a white robe walking out between the enormous white curtains and to the podium in the center front holding a metal funnel.

"Greetings, fellow villagers, and welcome to The First Annual World Unity Festival! Generously funded of course by the Bei Fong family", the man said, holding the funnel up to his mouth,"Some of you aren't fully convinced that The War is truly over, that this simple fair is merely a premenition to a horrific catastrophe comparable to the destruction of the Air Nomads. You demand proof that you can sleep well tonight without your entire house set ablaze! Well here, ladies and gentlemen, is that proof!" he motioned behind him.

The crowd lit up with thunderous applause as the Fire Lord (who left to retreave his headpiece at the last minute) and Water Tribe cheifs, their friends and family, and the Avatar entered the stage and took their seats.

"Ooh, Toph! Lift your feet off of the floor. The wood might splinter your bare feet", nitpicked Lao to his daughter, Poppy nodding in agreement.

"Yes, Father", Toph grumbled, pulling her feet up under her seat which, of course, was on the opposite side of the stage where her friends sat.

"Why are we doing this again?" murmured Bato to Hakoda.

"Just keep smiling, future generations will remember what we did to preserve peace in this world", the Southern Water Cheif explained beneath his false grin.

"As you can see", the man continued," some of the world's most important faces are here tonight, former enemies literaly sitting beside eachother to confirm that your houses will, in fact, not be set on on fire...at least not intentionaly. But of course you already knew that, for otherwise you would not have come here to listen to the words of your savior himself. So, without any futher distraction, and with monumentous humility, I hand over this funnel to Avata-" before the announcer could finish, the young Avatar zipped to his left and began wispering in the man's ear.

"What?...Who?...Are you sure?" the announcer mumbled stupidly into the funnel,"Avatar Aang has just told me that talking about himself and all the amazing things he did throughout his travels would not show much humility of him, so he has decided...er, not to give his speech."

"WHAT!?" Sokka shreiked, almost feeling like ripping his ponytail off.

"Aww..." moaned the crowd in unison as they turned to leave.

"Instead", the annoucer began, causing the crowd to stop in mid-turn and look back at him curiously,"the Avatar has decided that the superior alternative would be a testimony from one his closest friends. So, fellow villagers, I re-present to you, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe."

"Sokka?" Katara repeated,"You picked Sokka to tell people about his experiences in The War? You do know Sokka's Sokka, right?" she inquired, motioning to her clearly offended brother.

"Of course I know" Aang said, returning to his seat,"Sokka was the one who wrote my speech in the first place. He should know it by heart!"

"But I can't say it!" Sokka explained,"It was meant specificly for you and only you to recite it publicly! It was supposed to be from your exact perspective of The War! If I say it, it'll just sound really weird and won't make any sense!"

"It couldn't make any less sense than the speech itself", Bato joked, being one of the Avatar's practice audience.

"For your information, Bato, my son happens to be a very gifted and tactical individual", Hakoda said sternly, before taking a moment to glance at the "tactition's" dopy grin,"...I'm sure he'll be able to...improvise...or something..."

Several claps and whoot's sounded throughout the crowd as the young swordsmen walked to the podium. The announcer handed Sokka the funnel and walked back through the curtians.

Whatever voice Sokka had descended into his gut as he realized all eyes were on him, including his father and girlfriend.

He made an unusually audible ahem into the funnel, signifying that he was about to speak.

The audience silently awaited his voice. Aang was now wondering if his decision still retained any wisdom.

"War!" Sokka finally blurted out,"It's a...very...bad thing..." the crowd remained silent. Sokka ran that back through his mind."Of course you guys already...knew that since...well, ya know, I mean, why else would we all be here for, right? Goin' from town to town...spreadin' peace...and harmony and..." Hakoda rubbed the bridge between his eyes,"Well, what I mean is...as a person who's...experienced the art of war first hand...I've managed to...um...pick up certain...characteristics of a warzone..."

"What kind of characteristics, Sokka!?" Suki yelled, attemting help the Water Tribe warrior better formulate his sentences.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Suki..." Sokka growled through gritted teeth,"During my-er-our travels-that makes me and my friends- I have observed that the general battle tends to be very...loud, and...disorganized and...usually lasts a really long time which, I guess, except for the Day of Black Sun...we got our butts kicked in under an hour..." he trailed off, gaining a few glares from veterans in the crowd,"...If you were to lose your hat in the middle of a battle you'd...probably never find it again...but, nobody has to worry about that kinda' stuff anymore..."

"Why not?" inquired a random person in the audience.

Sokka was caught off guard."...Oh, well, because...because...The War's over!"

The audience boomed, giving the Water Tribe warrior the motivation he needed to find his voice again."Yep, The War's definately over with. And, you don't have to worry about the new Fire Lord, either. He's a pretty swell guy. Course', he wasn't so swell a year ago, with all the capturing and the pillaging and the burning stuff to the ground..." he recalled, causing the crowd's cheers to dim and a chill to crawl up Zuko's back."He was kind of an angry jerk, too. He went where he wanted, took what he wanted, ya know, as Fire Nation as you can get.." he stopped, remembering who he was talking to and what for."...Although, there was all that stuff about Zuko being banished and fleeing away to Ba Sing Se with his uncle. They even created there own tea shop together", the audience and Zuko tensed down slightly,"Well I guess that's not totally true..." everyone tensed bach up,"He did turn on us at the last minute and teamed back up with Azula to conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Fire Nation. It was funny, too, because the entire world thought Zuko actually killed the Avatar. Can you believe it? Well, of you can believe it because...you believed it!"

Bato had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing while Hakoda had to cover his face to keep from crying. Katara threw Aang a now-look-what-you-did type glare, the young Avatar countered with a how-was-I-supposed-to-know-this-was-gonna-happen type shrug.

"Er...anyway, after a few more months of bein' his old self, he switched sides at the last minute and we've been buddies ever since. I can assure you, Fire Lord Zuko isn't the kind of guy who would wanna restart The War; I'm not even sure how he would be able to do that since Sozin's Comet won't be back for another hundred years. Of course, it could be plausible, given the scenario that Zuko out-lives us all by twenty or thirty years just long enough to use the comet's power to begin another campaign to conquer the-"

Before anonther syllable could be uttered from the bableing Water Tribe warrior's lips, Fire Lord Zuko hastily snatched the funnel from Sokka's hand and covered his mouth."WHAT my friend here is trying to tell you kind village people, is that I would never be conceited enough as to do what Fire Lord Sozin did. One hundred years ago, all the Fire Nation desired was to be better; and one decade ago, all the Fire Nation desired was to be better than everybody else. I know of the horrific attrocities the Sozin Regime has brought upon you. We've layed waist to your homes, and took away your only means of escape, all for what we thought was glory. Even Fire Lord Ozai, my own father, scarred and exiled me for merely speaking out in his presence, but things are different now. I know that fire is a desrtuctive element, and if we are to regain our honor, we must learn to produce, and give back. And I say now", he paused," that if I do live to be a hundred and sixteen, and make the same mistake my forefathers made, the next Avatar in the cycle can do whatever he or she wants with me!"

The audience exploded with cheers for the new Fire Lord. Zuko handed the funnel back to Sokka, now feeling shorter, and returned to his seat.

"Pretty smooth, Zuko," Mai complimented,"you sounded just like your uncle."

The Fire Lord absorbed her opinion."I did, didn't I?" he smiled. Of course, he was merely quoting a backup speech pre-written by Iroh himself incase the Avatar's speech backfired.

"Ugh...yeah...that's exactly what I was trying to tell you with all the...yeah" Sokka handed the funnel back to the announcer, and gloomly walked back to his seat between his father and sister.

"Well, I don't know about you, fellow villagers", the announcer began,"but I thought that was an unforgetable declamation from the Fire Lord...and, the other guy...Now, I am well aware that the Moon has left its epicenter in the sky, but I'm sure are willing to spare one more moment of your time for a special surprise prediction from Makapu Villages own: Aunt Wu", he announced.

Another set of applause rang as the old fortune teller (and apparently Sokka's arch nemesis) revealed herself from the curtains and calmly made her way to the podium.

"Aunt Wu! I almost forgot this part! Oh, I hope it's nothing bad..." Katara pondered somewhat fanaticly.

"It's never anything bad", Mai stated bluntly,"That's the trick."

"Thank you", Sokka grumbled, satisfied that at least someone shares his general skeptical view.

Aunt Wu laid her cloud chart onto the podium, and observed the night clouds carefully."Be weary of heavy rainfall during the following week; all those burnt crops should heal very soon."

Some old farmers in the crowd cheered at this news.

Aunt Wu looked up at the clouds again, and back at her chart. She smiled."Ah, a sudden heatwave shall occur in the West; perfect for some beach-time recreation at Ember Island."

"Well, I know where I'm going..." Katara sang.

Sokka drooped even lower into his seat.

"And finally..." Aunt Wu paused, looking into the clouds a third and final time.

The crowd was in complete suspense.

"Please don't be anything about space...please don't be anything about space..." Aang chanted nervously to himself.

"You know she's just gonna say the volcano won't erupt..." Mai explained pestimisticly.

Aunt Wu threw her wrinkled hands in the air."Mount Makapu will not erupt for another three years!"

The crowd boomed at her announcement.

"Wow, Mai, can you see the future too?" Tylee inquired, amazed by her friend's "new-found powers".

Mai responded with a characteristic sigh.

Upon a quick glance toward the sky, an odd sight caught Suki's notice."Um, Aunt Wu, do the clouds say anything about meteors?" She called, gaining both the fortune teller's and Avatar's attention.

Aunt Wu turned to her."A meteor?" The fortune teller questioned, looking back up at the sky to search for a bunny-shaped cloud, which of course meant certain doom. She saw no such cloud. What she did see, however, was an ominous blue light shining from behind a large cumulus.

Aang's heart skipped a beat."...no...not here..."

The cloud burst open as a meteor fell out the heavens and into view.

The surrounding people started to panic, prompting Katara to rush to the podium and grab the funnel from Aunt Wu's hand."Relax, everybody, there's no reason to freak out. If something really bad was going to happen, Aunt Wu certainly would have predicted it and called for an evacuation", Katara explained to them, gesturing to Aunt Wu, which only succeded in making the fortune teller even more nervous since she had not forseen anything like this before hand."The meteor will probably land safely somewhere behind Mount Makapu."

Unfortunately, the meteor was not going to land behind Mount Makapu; in fact, a quick obervation at it's trajectory would reveal that the falling object was heading straight for Mount Makapu.

The meteor (now officially a meteorite) slammed into the mouth of the dormant volcano, followed by a resonating boom and then silence...

After an incredibly long seven seconds, Poppy sigh with great relief."Whew...Well, that could've far worse, now couldn't it?" she mused.

In steep contrast, Toph's eyes widened."Wait for it..." Toph's declaration bewildered her parents, until a rumbling of the ground could be heard and felt throughout the surronding area.

And then, to everyone's horror, the quiescent Mount Makapu was no longer quiescent.

The volcano erupted, spewing tons of magma and flaming boulders in every direction. Villagers fled eveywhere, hoping they would not be crushed under a heated rock.

A flaming rock was hurdleing right for the petrafied crowd. Aang sped across the stage and air-lept high up, kicking a blast of air, simultaniously cooling it off and neutralizing its momentum.

The young Avatar and boulder touch down onto the empty space that was once filled with a cheering crowd. He took out his bison whistle and blew. Appa bellowed onto the scene just in time to smack an incoming boulder out of harm's way with his tail. The bison landed on the right of his master.

"Zuko! Katara! Toph! Hurry Up!" Aang called for his friends, who hastily complied, climbing up Appa.

"Yip-yip!" He commanded as he whipped the reins, causing the bison to dash for the sky and toward the raging volcano.

"...Um, okay, what are we supposed to do, watch the monkey?" Mai inquired.

Unsuprisingly, said bat lemur's chirp could be heard as Momo perch onto Sokka's shoulder.

Sokka greeted the lemur by scratching his ear, though not facing him."As I said: you get used to it."

Appa landed at the base of the volcano. Aang and Toph jumped off and pushed their hands opposite of eachother, forming a deep trench between them and the volcano, detouring the lava. Aang air-jumped far over the trench as Toph prepared a rock wall to increase the volume of the trench. Aang swung his fist upwards in mid-air, causing a stalagmite to pierce through the lava, creating a spot for him to land. The young Avatar jerked his fist to the left, forming an earth wall down the left of the volcano to further detour the lava from the village.

Before the airbender could sigh with relief, Mount Makapu exploded a second time, launching another hail of flaming boulders all over the defenseless village. Katara and Zuko took to the sky on Appa. Zuko blasted away every boulder within his range with his firebending; Katara matched the Fire Lord, gathering water particals from the air and flinging them at all the boulders on her side of the constantly swaying Appa.

Zuko turned to look at his firebending pupil for just a moment."Aang, look out!"

The Avatar could have sworn he heard his firebending teacher call for him; then again, he could have also sworn he heard a sudden woosh above him. Aang jumped away right before a boulder smashed into the stalagmite he was standing on. He quickly created a slab of rock out of the volcano that he could safely land on, which he did, a little harder than he had hoped.

"AANG!" Katara cried out to him. She pulled the reigns in the Avatar's direction, commanding Appa to fly to the airbender.

Zuko took hold of the reigns as the waterbender jumped off Appa and on to the artificial ledge where the young Avatar lay motionless.

"Aang, com'on, get up!" Katara cried, rocking the unconscious boy violently,"Please, you can't go like this, your too precious to me! Please!" she screamed, but he simply would not move.

'How could this happen?' Katara thought. He was the Avatar, he practicly had the planet itself under his will, but this is how he dies? Falling on his face while trying to subdue a volcano?

The Water Tribe girl's mind flashed back to last winter, the first time she ever saw those quiet, grey eyes, and all the hilarious adventures they shared together. Her mind skipped over to spring, deep in the caverns of Old Ba Sing Se, the first time Aang had ever lost a fight; the only reason he lived to remember that loss was because of that little trickle of water from the spirit oasis at Northern Water Tribe. She no longer possessed

that, though. And even after all those months of endless training and preparation, they suffered another humiliating defeat at the hands of the same psychopath that killed him. But despite all that, it happened: he beat the Fire Lord, he saved the entire world; and then, the kiss, the single cherry on top that would guaruntee that all their hardships were over. But now, she was sitting here, holding the motionless body in her hands. Was this what she was fighting for? Had that kiss been utterly meaningless?

"Ya know, Katara..."

The girl's eyes shot open and turned to the source of the whisper.

"it seems like your alwaya having to force me awake. Maybe I should consider getting an alarm hawk?"

"Oh, Aang..." she said, embracing the the Air Nomad.

"Um, Katara, this is kind of inappropriate..." Aang tried to remind her.

"What? We're just hugging," Katara retorted, tightening her hold.

"That's not what I meant!" he shouted, pointing behind her.

Aang pushed the waterbender off of him, sprung to his feat, and sent a powerful gail that instantly cooled the glob of lava behind them, thus putting an end to another redundant piece of mushy filler.

Katara came to her senses."Oh!...of course...we were stopping the volcano...heh heh..." she mumbled to herself, stroking the back of her hair.

Aang looked down at the village. Parts of it were on fire, more so the festival (by this point, the entire stage was destroyed). He turned to his left to see Zuko, still on the floating bison, attempting to redirect the heat of the lava. It was then that the young Avatar had an idea. Unfortunately, it required far more power than the boy could muster. To act on his idea, he would need the power of his predicessors, power that most poeple presumed was his true power, but he liked to think the opposite. Since the day of the comet, Aang had sought to rely on his own ability, believing that accessing this power was an escape from his responsibilities. he glanced up at the volcano's mouth, still releasing a constant fountain of lava. The Air Nomad's lips quivered; this defied all he believed about his duties, but he knew if he posponed it anylonger, he would end up reenacting Roku's death.

"Zuko!" Aang called.

The Fire Lord heard the call. He stopped his technique and guided Appa to the ledge.

"Take Katara to a safe place," the Avatar commanded him,"I'm going to stop the volcano!"

The young monarch found that an incredible declaration, even from the Avatar."Just like that? Do you even have that much power?"

"I don't...not on my own," Aang explained.

The water and fire benders understood. Katara climbed back onto Appa; the bison flew away torwards the village.

Aang shared one more moment of eye contact with Katara before turning his attention back to the raging volcano's mouth. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed his fists together.

Suddenly, his solid blue arrow tattoos illuminated a colorless white; his glowing pupiless eyes shot open: he was in the Avatar State.

The ledge lowered in angle and scaled the mountain at a great pace.

Zuko and Katara turned their heads and watched as the lava seemed to split open like the tearing of fabric.

The slab stopped at the edge of the firey culdrin.

In his enlightened state, the Avatar knew he could take advantage of a certain technique where he could extract the heat from the glowing magma, turning it back into stone He prepared himself to assert control over all the magma in the volcano. But something... something elevating upwards, up through the magma.

Suddenly, a thunderbolt could be heard; storm clouds, began to gather over the volcano, and only the volcano. Down snuck a bolt of lighting, striking the center of the boiling magma, currents of electricity sparkling around the spot. The patch of lava rose like a mound, raising into a large dripping sphere, surrounded by electricity. The lava gradually slid off to reveal the source of the lightning: a blue, metallic figure, with large horns all over its head, large spear-like fingers, enveloped in a barrier that protected it from the magma, and glowing blood-red eyes - eyes that creeked directly at the Avatar.

The metal creature surveyed its surroundings. "Oh me oh my, did I do this?" It asked, speaking without a mouth. "I really made a mess of things didn't I? And who are you supposed to be, little boy?" it asked, cocking its huge metallic head to the side.

"I AM THE AVATAR, THE MASTER OF ALL FOUR ELEMENTS, THE BRIDGE TO THE SPIRIT WORLD, AND THE PROTECTOR OF BALANCE AND HARMONY! HOW DARE YOUINVADE MY HOME AND ENDANGER THE LIVES OF MY PEOPLE?" Aang thundered. the body of a hundred voices speaking through him.

"Well, that' a bit of a mouth full. Not sure if this comes off as an apology - especially sinceI'm not sorry - bur I was only trying to soften my landing with some molten rock. By the way,the volcano ? It was getting ready to go off very soon anyway, don't go blaming me for speeding up an act of nature " The creature explained and replied coldly.

"YOU ARE NEITHER SPIRIT NOR ANIMAL, AND SO YOU ARE A THREAT TO ALL LIFE!" The Avatar announced.

"In that case, it is you who is a threat to MY life. Prepare to die...Avatar..." As he spoke, a yellow light appeared within the hole of its chest-plate, which grew in intensity, until it shot out of his chest like a missile, prompting the Avatar to bring up two boulders from behind him to block it, which were blown to bits in his place.

The Avatar replied by raising a glob oflava and punched it at the creature, who repelled it with its barrier. The metal creature then bent over an blasted forth with a rocket on its back; forcing the Avatar to air dash upwards before the creature crashed right through the volcano's rim. The Avatar summoned his air sphere, allowing him to levitate; he turned around to meet the Metal creature in the air.

"What's Aang doing?" Katara wondered, barely able to see him from the ground.

"It looks like...he's fighting somebody... " Sokka realind.

" 'Fighting somebody'? In the Avarar State?" Toph questioned."'Who could he be fighting!?"

"I think it's someone like that... " Sokka speculated, staring at the conflict happening high in the sky.

Avatar Aang punched massive fireballs at his target, who soared around him like a bullet. The creature got tired ofthatand blasted the last latest fireball with its light ball. It zoomed for Aang faster than he could react, smashing into his air sphere and knocking Aang a ways back as the creature passed by, but the air barrier managed to hold. Of course the creature whipped around and blasted back, ramming Aang again, and again, and again, weakening the sphere each time. The Avatar preempted the next strike by punching his fists together, causing the sphere to expand like an explosion o wind, blasting the creature away. But the creature stabilized itself with its rocket back, and shot a series of light balls at the expanding air sphere, doing little to affect it.

"Okay, that thing is definitely not human! " Sokka announced.

"Then what is it!?" Toph demanded, sick of not being able to see airborne fights.

"I think it's the meteor; it may have been more than just a falling space rock," Zuko speculated.

"So what do we do?" Katara wondered.

"Well, if whatever-it-is is giving Twinkle-toes trouble, I kinda doubt us normal benders'll even his chances, Sugarqueen... " Toph replied.

"How can you recite monikers at a time like this!?" Sokka exclaimed.

"It helps me cope at times like these..." Toph said honestly.

"I'm going up there!" Katara announced.

"Hey, you're free to use Appa..." taunted Sokka. In the next moment, Katara was already on Appa."Yip-Yip! " she snapped the reigns;, causing Appa to fly forth, taking her brother completely by surprise.

"HEY! NOT LITERALLY! I WAS DARING YOU IRONICALLY!" blind-sided Sokka called out to her in vain.

"Is she out of her mind!?" Zuko exclaimed.

The creature stopped firing. "Well, this is clearly useless..." it settled, realizing it could not penetrate the air barrier "But this should do the trick..." the creature's yellow chest cavity shifted into a silvery grey, losing all of its texture and gaining a soft of liquid consistency; the silver portion expanded out of his midsection, morphing into a long, wide, cylinder shape. It's liquid core instantly turned solid, and shifted into a large blue canon. The inside of the barrel glowed with an intense pink light. "And thank you very much, E-123... " The canon unleashed with a thunderous blast a huge purple energy beam that plowed through the air barrier, nearly grazing Aang, so powerful that the mere shock forced him out of the Avatar State.

Without the air, he plummeted down with a scream, until he was seized by the leg with a set of metal claws. From his upside-down position, the vulnerable Aang looked up at the burning red eyes glaring down at him. Aang desperately blasted the eyes with fire... but it did nothing.

"Would you believe I fighting someone else earlier in the same position as you? Upside-down...and completely helpless..."

Aang sweated raindrops. He couldn't go into the Avatar State if this thing killed him at that exact moment...

The creature lifted him to eye-level, and raised his free hand up to the boy's eye; the tip of the claw was electrified. "And by the way: those forces you were controlling? Those are classified as states of matter, not 'elements'... "

But just then, right out of the creatures view, a blade of ice soared straight for it, slicing right through the elbow of the arm holding Aang up.

Aang fell once more.

The creature looked down from his left to see Katara, coming in on the head off Appa. The creature had to dodge out of the way before he was rammed by the angry flying bison. Katara forced Appa to loop over and fly down for the falling Aang.

"Is that a flying buffalo?" it noted It then looked at the metallic nub that its arm used to be attached to. With this in mind, it blasted down for the bison.

The three figures bluffed downward, sailing closer to the earth. As Katara neared Aang, holding her hand out to grab his, the metal creature appeared right in front of her.

'"You owe me an arm; I think I'll take yours..."

The site of this drove Aang mad, mad enough to ignite the Avatar State. Before the creature could make contact with Katara, he was blown away by Aang's air sphere. Avatar Aang pushed the creature all the way up in the sky; then he blasted it even further. He caught it with a huge fire tentacle, swinging it around, then sling-shotting it straight back into the mouth of Mt. Makapu.

Avatar Aang landed at the rim of the volcano , and spread his hands abroad the lake of molten rock. The rumbling around the area increased just noticeably, but then it stopped. A second eerie silence took place...

Just then, the Avatar aggressively pushed his palms skyward, causing an enormous ploom of pure heat to skyrocket before him, transferring every particle of warmth into a pillar of hot air, paralleling the diameter of the volcano's mouth. In seconds, every drop of lava, right down to the magma chamber itself, quickly cooled into solid stone, returning Mount Makapu to a dormant (if anything, extinct) state.

Aang airscooter-ed back down to the village, surveying the damage; everyone seemed to be alright. The surrounding village people, coming out of their cover, applauded at the Avatar's latest deed.

"Nice job, Twinkletoes," Toph chimed in,"not alot o' people can take the earth on and win; that was a bit overkill, though," she commented, given the feat he had just completed was about as impressive as revoming a person's bendng.

"What was that thing!?" Zuko asked.

Aang blinked." ...It wasn't a spirit, I'll tell you that..." he said."l think...it might have been some kind of... living machine..."

"A 'living machine'?" quoted Toph."That sounds like a contradiction to me...well, at least it's a

dead now; 'bout time you finally killed a monster! " she punched him in the shoulder.

The thought finally hit Aang. In his fit of rage, he took a life to protect Katara. His whole body slumped in the realization. "What have I done...?"

"You saved the world is what you did..." Zuko patted his student on the back." And if it

were a machine, then it wasn't alive, so I wouldn't fret too hard about it. "

That made Aang feel better...

"I can't believe this happened..." Sokka lamented.

"Yeah, and right in the middle of such an important and joyous event," Suki added, but the Water Tribe warrior seemed to be ignoring her.

"...It's just seems so bizarre after all time and effort that YOU WERE WRONG!" he spontaniously cried happily, spinning around and shoving his finger in Aunt Wu's face.

"Excuse me?" the fortunteller inquired.

"You heard what I said: you just got through telling everybody specificly that Mount Makapu wouldn't go off for the next three years! You had no idea that was gonna happen just like the rest of us! Ergo, your not real! I was right, and you were wrong, so HA!"

"You better hope I'm not a real fortunteller," Aunt Wu defended herself, resting her old hands on her old hips,"otherwise, that little fluke could have been a sign that the universe has been altered. Besides, I was right about everything else, wasn't I?"

Unfortunatly for the young Avatar, Aang had caught this while examining some of the burnt buildings." 'Altered'? In a good way, you mean?" he nervously inquired, with a faint pleading tone.

"Oh, it's probably nothing," replied the fortuneteller sarcasticly,"it could be just a change of weather, or a powerful, destructive force has manifested itself and is intent on consuming the universe and everything in it."

"Whoah, all that just because you were wrong about something?" Katara asked, in a student-to-teacher like fashion.

Sokka's worried expression faded."Then I guess it's a good thing you're not real! Hence your wrongness!"

"Hey...she was wrong!" cried a random bystander,"She said Mount Makapu woundn't erupt yet!"

"Hey yeah, your right!" aggreed another one.

A crowd began to develop around the fortune teller, though this one was not as cheery as the previous crowd.

"Everybody, calm down," tried Katara, standing in front of Aunt Wu protectively,"We all know of the countless things that occured that Aunt Wu did predict. There is only one reasonable explanation why our beloved fortune teller was suddenly...er...inaccurate on such an important matter: there is something wrong with the universe."

The Water Tribe girl was clearly oblivious to the sounding absurdity of her statement. Her father coundn't help but put a palm to his forehead.

"Oh suure," mocked a bald man,"Whe're talkin' about the same woman that told me my hair would grow back by winter. Well, it's almost winter, and I'm still bald!"

"Well, maybe you should wait until winter," suggested Katara.

"I'm not waitin' that long! I want it back now!"

The crowd rooted for the bald man.

A young man with peculiar red shoes stood forward."She also told a year ago that I would fall in love in these shoes, And I've been wearing them ever since!"

"Realy?" inquired a young woman with a peculiar blue hat,"Aunt Wu made the same prediction about my hat!"

It was love at first sight.

"Wanna have dinner?" asked the man.

"Sure," cooed the woman.

They both walked off holding hands, Though the people seemed not to notice either blunder.

Angry screams began to accumulate as the surronding villagers voiced out other "faults" in Aunt Wu predictions.

"Now...now come on, everyone,"Aunt Wu tried," most of these prediction haven't even happened yet, so...um...Look! Another meteor!" she shouted, pointing to a random spot in the night sky. The fortune teller dashed for home as everyone looked to the direction she pointed, showing remarkable physical apptitude for her ripened age.

"Hey, there's no meteor! She was wrong again!" pointed out a man.

"Let's go home!" said a woman.

The people started to leave

Katara raised her hands."Wait! That wasn't a prediction! Aunt Wu was just diverting your attention so...you...wouldn't...run after her...I hope your happy," she hissed, glaring at her brother, who had his arms crossed and smirking.

"Good, cause I am," retorted Sokka.

Chief Arnook walked up."I suppose it's time we end this tour before things get any worse. The people of the Northern Water Tribe are probably anxious for my return. It would be best if I left tonight so as to not keep them waiting," he explained to the southern chief.

"I agree," Hakoda said,"Though one of us should return to the Fire Nation. There are still a lot of council meetings that need a Water Chief present."

"Agreed," Arnook turned around and looked at the Moon, still a quarter full. The chief sighed, and walked away, wondering if he'd ever see her again.

"Welp', I guess we should leave too," said Toph, folding her hands behind her head,"We're kind of jinxing ths town, anyway. I'll be in the airship if you need me..."

"Now hold on a second, Toph..." Lao stopped his daughter, laying a hand on her shoulder,"We're going back to Goaling. It's time to go home," he declared sternly.

The blind bender sighed again."Of course. How could I forget?" she recited glumly.

Poppy noticed this."...er...And besides, the next Earth Rumbler tournament is coming soon. You need to defend your title."

Toph gasped with exitement."You remembered!"

Before long, the group broke off, all airships were in the air and heading for home.

All the passengers in Fire Lord Zuko's ship were fast asleep except, of course, Aang,who was sitting alongside the right edge of the ship, gazing at the stars-he was holding his glider, for safety.

He was the only one on the ship who had any understand of what just happened; and frankly, he felt more alone than ever. Where did that machine come from'? Did it even intend to attack him? It mentioned something about fighting someone else before fighting him. Whatever it was, the Avatar almost died this night because of it, and that was reason enough to believe its destruction was necessary. But what about the giant stone object? Is that where it came from? Maybe, if it were really a machine, then its maker could be in there? Aang certainly did not want to meet whomever created that.

Aunt Wu was right, the universe had been altered, if for just a moment; and the worst part of it was that stone object was still up there, waiting for him, and he had no means of reaching it before another disaster struck. Whatever that thing was, or what it was here for, the Avatar would have to wait for its maker to come to him.