A/N: I wrote this following the exact script of the episode in Book 2: The Guru. It gives you a little more insight on what Aang was thinking, and is perfect to read after you have watched! (No seriously, go watch this episode on ) Enjoy! :)

(P.S. You may have realized the quote I took out of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Write a review with the line if you catch it!)

"In order to master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras." Guru Pathik said. Aang nodded peacefully.

"All of the chakras." He repeated. He was so close, he could feel it in his bones.

"This is the last chakra. Once you have opened it, you will be able to go in and out of the Avatar State at will."

"I'm ready." Aang thought, closing his eyes and seeping in to meditation.

"The thought chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy."

Aang felt the stars, clouds and air swirling around him.

"It is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate about what attaches you to this world."

Aang's vision morphed to blurred flashbacks. Katara.

Katara bending the cloud with him, Katara wearing his woven necklace, Katara in the Cave of Two Lovers.

Every image of her in all her beauty swirled around him, making him weak yet strong.

With each thought of her, he found himself relaxing. He forgot about his pain throughout his life, his loss, his fear, his pressure. It all drifted away.

Her words of encouragement, her laugh, and the sheer sound of her voice pierced his ears with a warm hum like no other.

"Now. Let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river, forgotten." Guru Pathik's cracked voice echoed, diminishing Katara's beautiful one.

Slowly the beauty of the visions faded and he was snapped back to reality.

"What? Why would I let go of Katara?" He said angrily. She was everything to him. The dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad his losses. She made him a better person.

"I-I love her!" He stuttered, realizing it as it spurred out of his mouth.

"Learn to let her go. Or you can not let the pure cosmic energy flow in from the universe!"

Aang was outraged. "Why would I choose 'cosmic energy' over Katara? How could it be a bad thing that I feel an attachment to her? Three chakras ago that was a good thing!"

Guru Pathik did not blink. "You must learn to let go." Did he not understand the importance of love?

"I'm sorry, but I can't let go of Katara."

"Aang, you must open all the chakras." He repeated. "Surrender yourself."

"I'm ready to master the Avatar State. I'll do whatever it takes." His own words to Sokka echoed in his mind. What if this was too far? How could he give up Katara?

He looked down at the hard rock-formation he sat on, feeling it beneath him. Of course, Guru Pathik was right. He knew that if he held this connection to Katara, he would never be able to reach the Avatar State. What did the other Avatar's do? Forget about love? Cast away all feelings toward "worldly attachments"?

No. Aang knew that Avatar Roku married and lived happily. But how did he do this while "letting go"?

Suddenly, he was determined to do exactly that. If Roku could do it, so could he. And Katara and him could still be together.

"Okay." Aang surrendered. "I'll try."

Suddenly, he was transformed to a rocky area with a starry sky, full of cosmic energy. The stars sped past in glistening light.

"Now think of your attachments."

Aang envisioned Katara in all her beauty, glowing along with the stars.

"And let her go."

She floated away, off into the distance until she was merely another star.

"Let the pure cosmic energy flow."

More of the sky was now in sight, and a gleaming pathway of light was revealed. Slowly, Aang was suspended on this pathway, above the earth.

Above him was a large, cosmic version of Aang, arrows glowing in all their splendor. He looked powerful. Invincible, even.

As Aang approached the massive clone, he too began to glow, as if in the Avatar State.

He reached the clone and floated into a ball suspended in its hands. Slowly, the ball turned around him, giving him the power and strength of the Avatar State.

He closed his eyes, taking in the radiance and energy around him.

"LET ME GO!" A strangled voice screamed.

Aang's eyes shot open to find a floating vision of Katara. She screamed in pain and rage while suspended in chains like a prisoner. Slowly the cosmic energy was sucked out of him as he struggled to remain in his meditation. He leaped from the ball and ran to the vision as his arrow's dimmed and pathway vanished beneath him. Aang plummeted from the sky to the earth, as did the clone. Before he could hit the ground, he awoke from meditation.

"Katara's in danger! I have to go!" Aang sprung to his feet and took off running from the formation.

"No Aang! By choosing attachments you have blocked the chakra. If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"

Aang froze in his tracks. He inhaled. Was he really about to chose a girl over the Avatar State? He exhaled. Katara wasn't just any girl.

She was his everything.

Aang jumped on to Appa and flew away, leaving Guru Pathik and the Avatar State behind.

As he flew to Ba Sing Se, he wondered whether he had made the right decision or not.

Sure, he had followed his heart and desires out of love, but maybe it was a selfish act.

The Avatar State was essential to the Avatar's existence. It would not only help him, but the world. He needed it to destroy the Fire Lord and end the Hundred Year War.

Yet Aang did not feel regret. When someone you love is in danger, turning your back on them only shows weakness, not selflessness.

The world needed Aang. But Aang needed Katara.

And the world was going to deal with it!