Sorry about the long wait, Had to wait a bit before the laptop was hooked up. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, all characters belong to their owners. The original settings do not belong to me.
Enjoy.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 2

For Good or for Worse

Eastern Air Temple

Up above in the sky, overhead, an object is seen sailing towards the Eastern Air Temple. As the object slowly descends, it starts to resemble a bird, and then a person on a glider. Aang landed with the grace that Air Nomads were famous for. Were. A word that Aang no longer wants to apply to the airbenders. Aang was so enthusiastic about gaining any knowledge about the airbenders, that he went over 150 miles per hour for the last half of the trip. He had left his bison with Katara, and Sokka just in case of emergency.

As he walked into the temple, he made a beeline straight for the sanctuary.

"Ah. Greetings, Aang", came a familiar voice.

"Hello. Guru Pathik.", as Aang bowed. Pathik acknowledged the bow with a nod of his head. He was sitting cross-legged in the center of the sanctuary near the statue of Avatar Roku.

"I trust that you recall why I have summoned you here, young avatar."

"Yeah, you said you may have guidance for me to restoring the air nomad civilization."

"Yes."

"Right, so, uhh, is there some awesome avatar powers that I can use to bring them back?"

Pathik did a polite sigh. Hmm, the naivete of youth.

"Aang, you must remember, that though you are the avatar, and that restoring the air nomads will return balance to the world, that the process will, most importantly, take patience."

"I understand. I remember that when I found out I was the last airbender, that there were going to be no more after me. I understand that restoring the Air Nomads may take a long time."

"You have grown much wiser since I have last seen you."

Aang smiled.

"So what exactly would be the first step?", asked Aang.

"The bending of energy."

Aang did a double-take.

"Wait What?"

"Yes, bending energy. I had heard of your feat that you did when you fought the Fire Lord. Did you know that not only can the bending of energy be used to take away bending, but that it can also give away bending?"

"Wow, I didn't know that. I remember the conversation I had with this Lion Turtle I met a couple months back. He never really added on about the bending of energy, besides the fact that you could manipulate the energy within."

"Yes, that is exactly it. Because you are the avatar, you have the spirit of the whole planet within you. Just as you have many responsibilities as the avatar, you also have many advantages of being avatar you have most likely not heard of."

"Wow! Really?"

"Yes, now allow me to explain. The planet has its own chi energy, just as every human has his or her own chi energy. It is constantly regenerating. The planet itself does the same. That is why the Earth has existed for so long. Now, the chi energy of the Earth is special in that it has the same chi of the avatar."

"You mean as how I am attuned to all four elements?", inquired Aang.

"Yes, the Earth is also attuned to all four elements, because, in a basic sense, It is the four elements as one object. This is why the bending of energy does not rob you of chi, because you get the majority of your chi from a vast source, also known as the Earth."

"Wow.", Aang was in too much shock to betray any surprise.

"Now, in order for you to tap into the Earth's chi, you must learn to tap into the cosmic energy without use of the avatar state."

"Ok, i'm ready."

Fire Nation Palace (Fire Lord's Bedchamber)

Zuko lay at his bed, deep in thought. There's actually a chance of bringing the family back together. Though he knew the incident with his father may not have convinced Ozai to change at all, he could still hope. The look on his father's face seemed like it was before everything...changed. He knew that the key to bringing his family back together was his mother. He also wanted Azula to heal. He knew that even though he still holds some resentment towards Azula, it was mostly...entirely not her fault. He was looking forward to finding mother. She's still alive out there somewhere. I can feel it. Zuko had already made preperations to visit the closest village in the Southeast area of the Earth Kingdom. Gaoling.

Zuko shifted his position to look at the one laying next to him. Mai seemed so serene when she was asleep. Mai had been stubborn on going with him when he told her of his plan to search for his mother. Not that he had a problem with it of course. His plan was to keep a somewhat low profile wile looking for her. He would go into Gaoling with the same uniform he wore when he first joined team avatar. Mai was going to wear her usual uniform. He would bring his royal credentials in case of hassles.

Zuko smiled despite himself. The next day and those after that would be full of adventure. He just knew it.

Earth Kingdom Seas (Southeast Territory)

Zuko needed a form of decent transportation, so he chose a small, lightweight, and fast airship. Gaoling was still about another few dozen miles away. He decided to practice his firebending. Because of the relative peace of the last month, he was able to train regularly without interruption. He could say he was on par with Azula before her mental breakdown. Almost. Through intensive training and the past help of Jeong Jeong's irritating but effective mentoring, he was able to master a rare technique. Remote firebending.

Zuko first began with breathing. In and Out. In through the nose, out through the mouth.Then he started. First, he went into a front stance, ehile throwing his right arm up in a high block. At that moment, flames flew upward into the air. He then did a snap kick, causing a thin wall of fire to burst from the tip of his foot. High block, kick, punch. Step back. High block, knife hand, side Kick.On his last Kick, a wave of flame was propelled from his foot to the open air. He then entered a horse stance, while exhaling, then pulled both fists back while inhaling. This casued two thick lines of flame to sprout a distance away from him as if out of nowhere and pull backwards towards him. He exited his horse stance. His training was complete for now.

"I'm going to try something.", he said to himself.

Zuko once again entered the horse stance. He then brought his left foot forward into a front stance. He began to circle his arms in the lightning bending technique. He focused only on the separating the positive and negative energies. Lightning started to trail from his fingertips. Now to guide it, not control it. He waited for the right moment, and then let go. Lightning then traveled visibly around his hand. Next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back. It didn't work. But it seems I'm progressing. But why, I don't have inner turmoil. I'm completely at peace, unless wanting to find my mother counts as not being at peace. Zuko sighed deeply and walked back into the interior of the ship. He needed to get rest. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

The next chapter will have Sokka and Katara's Story in it. I will also get to Suki in this story soon. I am also welcome to suggestions for future chapters. I will consider them. There is no guarantee I will use a specific suggestion though. Thanks for the reviews, Kimjuni2 and Aege. I will have another chapter up on July 10th.