Twilight had painted the sky a deep, dense, violet as Aang, Sokka, and Katara lay comfortably upon Appa's saddle, making their way over the hills and valleys of the earth kingdom. They were laughing and talking idly, vaguely wondering where they were going to camp for the night. Suddenly, Katara's sharp eyes spotted a strange light amidst the gathering darkness around them. It seemed to be flickering, rising and then falling slowly.
"Look!" Katara said to the other two, pointing into the distance.
"What could that be?" Aang said curiously.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's nothing good", said Sokka grimly.
The three continued through the falling night, but it was some time before the small group came close enough to the strange anomaly to realize what it was. It was an earth kingdom village that had gone up in flames; completely destroyed by the fire nation.
As they slowly brought Appa to the ground, they could plainly see that the village had been burning for hours, as there were only a few stray flames left. Finally, Appa landed and Sokka lost no time jumping to the ground, quickly followed by Katara. The two walked along the main road of the small town, Katara putting out any flames they passed with her waterbending. After several long minutes, they came back along the same road. Aang was standing a few feet from Appa, gazing at the destruction around him. His eyes fell on the charred homes and the ruined streets, but mostly they remained on the victims. All around him were bodies of the old, the young, men and women. It was death on a scale beyond anything Aang had ever seen before.
"Oh, man", Sokka said softly, taking in the grisly sight.
"This is awful", Katara agreed, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Aang, however, had not spoken. In fact, his gaze was still fixed on the ruins around them and he was shaking slightly, his hands clenched into fists at his side.
"Aang?" Katara asked quietly, concern evident in her voice.
"He just needs a second, Katara. This has to be a huge shock." Sokka sighed heavily.
"We should probably get out of here", he said, his voice slightly hoarse as he started toward Appa. Katara began to follow her brother when Aang's voice stopped them both in their tracts.
"I should have been here", Aang said, in a voice that was hard and quite unlike his own.
"What?" Katara said in confusion, turning to look at Aang. Slowly, Aang turned toward Sokka and Katara, his face twisted in anguish, his eyes filled with tears.
"I'm the Avatar, I should have stopped this".
"Aang, no", Katara began, "there's no way you could have known..."
Before she could continue, however, a strong wind began to blow which kicked up the dust and debris around them. It was another instant before Sokka and Katara realized what was happening. Aang's eyes, which had been filled with tears only moments before, were now glowing pure white. The blowing wind then gradually faded, leaving Aang standing before Sokka and Katara, but he was no longer really there. The Avatar state had taken hold of him.