The Library

They slipped noiselessly through the giant open archway. The spirits mostly paid them little mind. They knew of Aang and had seen him around before. They gave questioning glares to Katara, but would shrug and continue on their way. They hid at the distant sounds of rustling feathers, but Wan Shi Tong must have been busy with so many non-human patrons.

The air was dusty and smelled of old leather and glue. It was eerily quiet as only a library could be, with sounds hushed in whispers, stifled by the masses of the ancient texts. What appeared to be sunlight streamed through high skylights (from what light source, they couldn't tell, there had been no 'sun' providing light outside). Dust motes hung thick and heavy in the beams. The pair started going up and down the endless corridors of book shelves, plucking ancient bindings at random. They could spend an eternity here and never find their way home.

At one point the passed the remains of Professor Zei. It appeared he had survived the Library's decent to the Spirit World, only to succumb to his own lust for knowledge. It seemed he had probably died of thirst or hunger- ignoring his basic survival needs in order to keep reading. It was a strange and ghastly sight, viewing his emaciated body surrounded by his precious tomes. The foxes must have left it all there as a tribute to the human whose quest for knowledge outweighed his need for life.

After several frustrating hours, the couple realized they needed help. They were now starving and desperate. With determination, they stepped from the shadows and into the center of the bridges of the Great Hall. Aang drew in a great breath of air, preparing to call out for Wan Shi Tong. Katara clamped her hand over his mouth.

"What are you doing!" she hissed. "Try thinking first! Yelling in a library?! That's sure to make him angry! Let's just find the front desk and ask politely!"

"Oh Katara," Aang's ears turned pink in embarrassment. He really was a fool sometimes. "What on earth would I do without you?

"You'd still be stuck in that dumb iceberg," she scowled at him, but smiled and took his hand, leading him to the edge of the balcony. Squinting in the dim light they scanned the levels below them, searching for….a desk? Something. They'd know it when they saw it.

"Hey, I think that might be it," Aang said, pointing far below them. There was a long counter with an exceptionally resplendent and oversized black fox standing on its hind legs pouring over scrolls. It stood as tall as a man. Its fur sparkled like the night sky and its tail was full and long ending in a white tip so brilliant that it nearly glowed. There was a small queue of spirits in front of the counter balancing tomes and books in their many awkward limbs.

"Ug," Katara groaned. "So many flights of stairs down. My legs are already killing me."

"No worries!" Aang chirped cheerfully and scooped Katara deftly up into his arms before she could protest. He sprung up onto the banister and jumped.

"Oh no…A-ANG!"Katara shrieked like a little girl startled by a mouse-spider. Katara's stomach dropped. She'd never quite get used to him doing things like this. She knew he would never let her fall, but her adrenaline spiked automatically. They plummeted down many stories toward the ground far below. Aang was laughing gleefully as Katara buried her face in the crook of his neck. She could feel her hair whipping above her as they fell, but could also sense they were slowing in their decent. Aang bent an air cushion beneath them to soften their fall. By the time he gently touched the ornately tiled floor it was like stepping on feather pillows.

He loved the feel of this woman gripping him so tightly when he would do things like that. Could feel her heart pounding against her chest. Relished in sliding his hand under her skirt to cup her round firm rear. The way she clung to him with all her might was exhilarating and arousing. When he carefully set her down her face was flushed and so close to his. He knew she secretly enjoyed it too.

"I really hate you sometimes," she lied into his ear and kissed his throat- a little more seductively than she meant to. A hungry hand gripped her bottom tightly as he whispered back, "I can live with that."

"Eh-hem!" a raspy voice coughed out, "Care to explain yourselves? …. Humans…" The word was dripping with disgust.

The two humans broke away from each other, embarrassed to be caught in their own lustful moment. Aang winced at the sight of all the spirits staring at them, perturbed and dumbfounded. There were papers and books scattered all around from the small windstorm Aang had created. The spirits were already collecting their things and hurrying away. It hadn't been a disaster beyond repair. But it definitely wasn't a good start.

"Oh, Sorry," Aang smiled sweetly and innocently, shrugging and rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. He seemed to do that a lot when his childish impulses got the best of him. "You see I'm the Avatar, and this is Kata-"

"I know exactly who you…two are," the Black Fox snapped, bearing long pearly canines at them. "What I don't know is how you got here and what you are doing here- spirit AND body. Wan Shi Tong banished you back in the Physical World. I am Hei-Hu, his most trusted administrator. And it is my task to be the first line of defense against destroyers of knowledge. Namely YOU." His beady eyes darted back and forth between Aang and Katara's faces accusingly; then scanned the area for his little red fox underlings. They were so untrustworthy sometimes!

Aang gulped noticeably. He took a breath and bowed to the Fox, fist against palm, "My humblest apologies for any disruptions we may have caused." He took a chance, peaking up at the guardian with one eye. "And might I add that *we* never harmed any of the books or tomes here."

"Nooo…" Hei-Hu yipped contemplatively then pointed a sharp-clawed finger at Katara, "But her brother stole a great number of scrolls and maps from this library."

Katara grimaced, wringing her hands together. Sokka had taken quite a collection when they were fleeing from the sinking building. She blinked up at the tall Fox, imploringly with her great big cerulean eyes shining.

"Please sir," she begged, "We mean no harm. We kinda entered the Spirit World on accident and just want to get home. We know that this is the greatest collection of knowledge of all time so we thought that maybe we could find the answers here. But we're just as lost in the library as well! We really just want to get out of the Spirit World."

"Hmmm," The Fox stroked the long hairs on his chin thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes at her. He sniffed at them curiously. His eyes widened with a newfound light and he smirked with his long snout. "I can tell that you are being sincere. And the fact that you two, especially you, little waterbender are completely within our realm intrigues me greatly. The Spirit Portals have been closed for nearly ten thousand years. Mortals can't just walk into our world. Tell me. How exactly did you two find yourselves here?"

Katara and Aang looked at each other mortified. How on earth could they tell anyone, let alone Hei-Hu, how they had gotten here?

"Um…You see, Great Fox," Aang stammered, blushing deeply, "It's a really long story. It… probably wouldn't interest you as much as getting us OUT of here would. Heh..heh…heh."

"Oh really?" the sly Fox gave an enormous sharp toothed grin at them. "The keeper of a library wouldn't be interested in a story? I think the tales are false- I don't believe you've ever actually visited a library before…" He sniffed at the air again and pricked up one ear.

"Xiao Huli!" He barked. A little red fox peeked its pointed face around the corner of a shelf. "Bring the Avatar and his…companion… parchment and ink. If they won't *tell* me how they got here, maybe they can write it. I believe it will be an interesting piece to add to the Avatar section of the library. If it's good enough, I may just let them stay to find the knowledge they so desperately desire." The little red fox nodded and bounded off.

"Oh man!" Katara blushed again, a deep crimson under her dark cheeks. She turned to Aang who also sported a flushed face. "This is sooooo humiliating! Last night was great and all, and I want to remember it forever, but this is just ridiculous!"

"Look on the bright side," Aang forced a laugh. "He hasn't called the Bird on us yet… And this might get us out of here?"

"Ug." Was all Katara could say as she hung her head. They took seats at a nearby table. Several disgruntled Spirits scowled and gathered their papers, scurrying away.

The pair sat across from each other without even making eye contact. Their weathered wooden chairs creaked as they quietly fidgeted. They were both silently mulling over what they could possibly write down.

"We gotta tell the truth!" Aang finally whispered.

"Oh noooo way!" Katara shot back in hushed tones. "It's too embarrassing!"

"So what? It might help us get out of here!"

"I am not having my sex life catalogued for all eternity in the Spirit Library!" Katara's voice was raising to match the flush on her cheeks. Aang grimaced and turned away to see several eaves dropping spirits cock intrusive brows at them.

"Katara!" Aang glanced nervously around. "Keep it down! Who knows? Hei-Hu, said there was an entire Avatar wing...our...exploits may already be in there..."

All the color drained from Katara's dark, flushed face. She dropped her head in exasperation on the table, thudding loudly.

"I'll just die here, thank you very much," she mumbled embarrassed, with her face in the table top. Her hair tumbled around her head like a heavy veil of shame. "That was definitely NOT something I would have considered."

"Heh...heh...heh." Aang half smiled, tentatively patting her head. "It will be fine." She growled like an angry tiger-bear under his touch and he drew his hand back rapidly fearing she might bite next.

Just then, the smaller fox returned with the parchment, inkpot, and brush clutched in his mouth. He deposited it onto the table between them, nudging each of them in turn hopefully.

"Oooh no." Katara shoved the supplies at Aang and turned away, arms crossed over her chest, one leg slung over the other, head held high. "I am NOT writing a thing. This was all your idea. You do it, Mr. Avatar. At least you had formal schooling. You can write much better than me anyways."

"Heh...heh...heh..." was all he could muster. Aang's forehead hit the table this time.

Aang was concentrating hard on what exactly to write. His tongue was sticking out between his lips as he furiously scrawled on the page. Beads of sweat broke out across his brow. Katara kept glancing over and wincing as the sentences poured out of the brush. 'Maybe this wouldn't be *that* bad?' she thought miserably.

"Um, Katara?" Aang asked sheepishly guarded, "there's no chance you're pregnant is there?"

"What?!" Katara snapped, shocked. Oh no, this was going to be bad... "What in all the elements are you writing?!"

"I'm just being thorough!" he replied, "This is for knowledge, right?"

"Crimeny..." she flushed, "why am I letting you do this again?"

"Because you didn't want to," he absentmindedly responded while still writing. He stopped and looked up. He was serious... and now concerned. "Well?"

"Well. To be honest, no. Conception in itself isn't always easy. But I know I'm not ready to be a mother. Or us parents for that matter." Katara wrung her hair and wouldn't make eye contact with Aang. She blushed. She felt like she had been in a constant state of flush since the previous night. "I'm the world's best waterbender. You don't think I could control the waters of my own body?"

"Oh. Yeah," he smirked. His eyes shifted out of focus, remembering. He shook his head, writing again and concentrating on his task at hand. "That makes sense. That's good. And smart. You're right. Eventually would be nice. But not yet."

As crazy as the conversation was, Katara smiled. Eventually would be nice. Yes. It would be. She still worried about what on earth he was writing.

"There. It's done," Aang sighed in relief, holding the parchment up for Katara 's inspection. "It's the best I can do."

The water bender's deep blue eyes ticked back and forth over the words. They kept getting bigger and bigger. Here and there she would shy away or blush yet again at what she had read. He had been surprisingly graphic. What was he thinking?! Apparently a lot of inappropriate things involving her waterbending... and her... everything else.

"Um. Aang." Katara grabbed his hand holding the parchment up and inched it down to scowl darkly over the top edge of the paper at him. "No. This is not it. This is getting burned. Now."

"What?!" He held his hand out imploringly and shrugged. "It's the truth, isn't it?!"

"Eh-hem...a little too much truth..." she replied, blushing.

"Really?" A sly voice hissed in her ear. Katara froze in fear as the midnight paw of the Fox snatched the page from their fingers. His beady eyes quickly darted across the page. "My, my, my! This *is* an intriguing and fascinating story. I'm surprised you let the Avatar write this, Genjin Katara..."

"I didn't think he would add so much... detail," she growled. If Katara could shoot ice daggers from her eyes, Aang would have been a dead man. He sunk into his seat and the folds of his airy yellow and orange robes, trying to hide. She arched a brow at Hei-Hu, "Genjin Katara?"

"Yes. This tale proves to me you are The Genjin as I suspected. No worries though," The Fox chuckled and rolled the parchment up gingerly. "As delicious a piece of gossip this may be to humans, who revel in the follies of their idols, most of this is merely a trivial repeat for the hall of Avatars to us spirits."

The benders just gaped at each other.

"You see, children," the term was not slurred disrespectfully. He swiped the scroll under his nose, relishing this new piece for the collection. He was nearly giddy with anticipation. "This has happened countless times before over the millennia. I was beginning to wonder what was taking so long. Time does flow so differently here. Not every lifetime does the Avatar and the Genjin visit the library. Up until a few years ago, it was still in the mortal realm and any Avatar could walk right in and learn. But I had a feeling you would find your way back here somehow. There is much you can learn while you are here. After some... editing... for professionalism... this *will* be added to the collection. Xiao Huli? Show The Avatar and The Genjin to their hall. And please bring them some food and drink. They look as though they may be ill."

It felt like an eternity had passed in Won Shi Tong's Spirit Library. The last airbender and master water bender holed themselves up in a small study near the Avatar Wing of the library as they poured over book after book. Nothing but a simple table, a few chairs and hurricane candles decorated the room. There wasn't even a window in the subterranean room, not that daylight would have mattered. Time was irrelevant here.

They learned so much about the Avatar cycle and their own past lives. Sporadically one of the little red foxes would stop by, balancing a tray of drinks, fruits, cheeses, and breads on their triangular heads, or delicately carrying a book between their pointed teeth.

Aang was thankful for the food. He would chide Katara and Sokka on their love of meat- but at the South Pole, that was the vast majority of their food supply. He understood, just as Katara understood and accepted his lifestyle. Vegetation was so scarce. Being vegetarian would have been impossible. The few times they had returned had been very difficult on Aang. There simply was no food for him.

Other than that the couple was left completely alone.

Reserved touches and kisses were all that passed between the two new lovers as they absorbed as much information as they could. Bursts of air or sliding stones would pass the scrolls and tomes between one another after each new piece of their convoluted puzzle was discovered. The water bender would spin spheres of cool drink absentmindedly in her palm while reading, or summon water filled fruits from the platters across the room. On more than one occasion they fell asleep hand in hand, foreheads pressed together with faces down in a book, only to be nudged awake by a fox.

Slowly they pieced together their intertwined histories.

The Avatar Cycle had begun nearly ten thousand years ago with the very first Avatar Wan; since then there had actually been less than two hundred Avatars. Most had unusually long lives. It was the sixth Avatar who unlocked the secret of the reincarnated life lines. She was of the Air Nomads. She was the first female Avatar.

The previous Avatars had been so wrapped up in just being the Avatar and in the wars between the humans that they had forgotten their purpose was to bring peace. They had forgotten to be human. They had forgotten to love.

She was named Samsara. It meant 'cyclic existence.' She was peaceful and loving. She easily passed between the physical world and the Spirit World. She fell in love with a man named Genjin when they were very young. His name meant 'true humanity.' Together they traveled the world and taught acceptance and tolerance. They created the separation of nations. They hoped that in the future, all peoples could live together, but for now would settle with a divided peace.

Being an Air Nomad gave Genjin great spiritual insight as well. He often traveled the Spirit World with his beloved. He was her confidante and best friend. He was the only one who could calm her from the Avatar State. There was so much to learn about it still, only six cycles in. There were no formal practices for identifying and training an Avatar yet. He helped establish those. He began the framework for the Element Sages so when he left this world and she returned something might be there to guide her. It was his mission to aid the Avatar's quest for hope and peace.

Over time, as their children grew up and the couple saw more and more seasons, Samsara became forlorn. She would live hundreds of more lifetimes. But she would be doomed to be alone. To leave Genjin behind. He was an earthly tether. But to be the Avatar was to be of the earth. To know the human existence and experience humanity. She meditated and journeyed to the Spirit World often, in search of a solution.

They came across the Spirit of Immortality, Khalid, and begged for help. They didn't wish for immortality in the sense of everlasting life, but for the reincarnation of Genjin's soul too. What cruel twist of fate would it be that the Avatar, the peacekeeper, the great spiritual bridge, the master of all elements, would be doomed to watch her friends and family and loved ones die again and again and again over countless lifetimes into the future. Knowing that she would be reborn, and never rest and see them again. How long would the Avatar Spirit last such torment before it became sour and jaded and completely self destructed?

Khalid heard their pleas and took pity. He taught Samsara what she would have to do in order to preserve another's spirit in the reincarnation cycle. It wouldn't be easy. And it most certainly would be painful. It would require an ultimate sacrifice. They would each have to give up a piece of their own souls for the other to carry. It wasn't the possession of the other's piece of soul that would continue the cycle, but the ability to give themselves away freely to another.

But there was a catch. The cycle wouldn't last forever. Eventually they would learn all they could about humanity. They would become the ultimate masters of their own bending abilities. And then they would retire finally to the Spirit World together. They would transcend humanity. The Avatar Cycle would have to break, and be reforged, but with a new spirit to learn of humanity's needs and perils and joy.

They gladly and graciously accepted the terms. They tore their own souls completely in two and offered the remaining halves to each other. It was beyond what was required, for they only needed to give a piece to one another, but it was their decision to give as much of themselves as they could to one another. Years passed and they vowed to find each other and continue the work of the Avatar together with their dying breaths. When love is real, it finds a way.

Genjin's soul would follow the bending abilities of the Avatar cycle so they could hopefully find each other easily. Lover or not, male or female never mattered (although most of the time they were lovers as well). All that mattered was that they were together. The Spirits came to call the Avatar's soul mate simply as 'The Genjin.' They held the Genjin and the Avatar in equal respect and regard.

It didn't always work out as blissfully as they planned or hoped. Some lives were cut short and one or the other had to remain in the Spirit World in a form of stasis, waiting for the other to finish their life's mission. Sometimes they never found each other at all or took different paths. When Koh stole the Genjin's face during Avatar Korik's lifetime, he grew cold-hearted and bitter. Kiyoshi was a particularly harsh Avatar and punished herself to an unusually long life of emotional solitude to atone for her failures.

Over time The Avatar and The Genjin gave away smaller pieces of their souls to others. Friends, companions, teachers. By then the Avatar's and the Genjin's souls were indistinguishable, so each new companion received a piece of both as well, connecting all their souls. But by far, the Genjin and the Avatar held the largest pieces each other's soul.

Each soul they added to theirs came with the same stipulations- which each accepted willingly and freely. Each lifecycle would bring more knowledge and power, culminating in the strongest benders and friendships in the world. But there would always be other souls they would have to leave behind until their own nirvana. It was a double-edged sword; both a blessing and a curse.

Master benders would be reincarnated in their own elements. There were a few companions who would change nations or abilities- sometimes born as benders, sometimes not. But when they found each other, they had friendships that crossed lifetimes, even if that lifetime didn't know it.

The history stopped at Roku. Aang's disappearance caused a rift in the cycle.