Hey guys, Im so sorry that it has taken me forever to finish this chapter. Last week i went on vacation, and usually someone brings a laptop, but this year no one did, so i had to suffer not giving you guys another chapter. And the week before that, i worked double shifts everyday, so I was pretty exhausted. But anywho, I thought I would let you know, because I am not done writing this story. Again I apologize for all of you guys who have been waiting patiently, and I plan to put up another chapter this week, no matter what.
Also, to aplogize ahead of time for my spelling and grammar in this chapter. I was trying to hurry up and put this up, so forgive me for the mistakes, and if you find any, just don't tell me. I already know there are some.
Thanks again to my fans out there who have been loyal, and to the newcomers as well. I hope you like this chapter. I don't own Avatar! Back to the story.
Aang's dreams of Katara didn't last very long, when the scene suddenly changed. He walked into a battlefield, full of dead and bleeding men and women. He walked through them all, careful not to touch any of them. He could smell the stench of blood, and dirt mixed together. The trees around him were burning, and then he heard a scream from the top of a hill, and then the screams multiplied. Aang ran as fast as he could to the death cries, and when he got there, he found fresh bodies that had been slaughtered. He bent down at one of them, and saw short red hair on a girl in a Keyoshi warrior's outfit.
"No." he said.
He gently placed his hands on the right shoulder, turned the body over, he saw Suki's face. He saw that even in death, the fear on someone's face never disappeared. Aang let go of her, and fell to the floor as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes followed her up her left limp arm, and up to her hands that were still holding firm to another's. The colors of blue and red were mixed in the deformed man that held her hand, and Aang knew without a doubt who it was. The Avatar crawled over towards him, removing the mud of blood from the face that lay sideways. Sokka's eyes were closed, which he was thankful for, because seeing the fear in someone else only made him want to throw up.
Aang leaned back onto his hands, and when they reach what the thought was the ground, he felt extremely rough hands underneath his. Slowly he turned his head, and saw a girl the same age as him. He removed the dark hair from the young girls face, and when he tried looking for her eyes, he found none to look at. She wore a green warrior's outfit of the Earth Kingdom, and saw that she had no shoes on.
"Toph…" he whispered, as he looked down at the lifeless Blind Bandit that taught him everything he needed on surviving, and being tougher than rock. And now, now she was dead, along with others that he loved. Aang got up, and backed away quickly, but tripped onto his back from the two more deceased individuals.
When he got up to his elbows, he looked up at the dead corpses and saw Zuko, with Mai's head lying on top of his chest. Zuko had icicles that went right through his stomach, and not wanting to melt in the blistering inferno. And Mai had her own, specialized daggers that were everywhere on her back side. Aang wanted to scream, but for some reason his voice just couldn't give out. He got up for the dead corpses, and ran as fast as he could away from the dead…but there was no end to the maze of death. He then heard a horrible scream of bloody terror from the top of the hill, and ran as fast as he could. Not caring anymore of hitting people along the way. He was going to save this last person, no matter what.
It was like running through sand, and it only made it harder when he tripped and had to get back up. Out of breath, he finally reached the top, and saw a man holding Katara by the throat as blood began to drip down her body. He could see that everything in her body was broken, but her neck. Now anger and fear grew in him as Aang ran as fast as he could to the killer. He jumped at the shadow, and he went right through him and Katara. When Aang looked up, his own eyes grew big as he saw the dark figure in the shadows was bald, and that it had the tattoo of the air nomads. But what really scared him was the fact that the tattoos were blood red, instead of blue, and that when he opened his eyes at Aang, the red tattoos lit up its body.
Aang shook his head as if trying to wake up from this nightmare, but instead of being on the ground where he was, he felt a sudden break in a neck from his hands. He opened his eyes, and looked down at his hands. He immediately let go of Katara, but it was too late as he watched the lifeless water bender plummet to the ground. He looked down at the one woman he loved so dearly, and felt the life go out of him too. Aang's knees gave out underneath him, making his knees hit the gory gravel rocks.
The air bender reached out to see the face that looked the other way, but stopped when he saw his hands were bloodstained. His eyes traveled down his clothes were soaked in it so much red, that it was still dripping off of his clothes. His eyes caught a glimpse of what remained of clear water, that was beginning to mix with the red fluid, and knew that was most likely from Katara defending herself against him. The tears started running down his dry bloodied up face, leaving behind a streak of evidence. Aang looked back at the puddle again, only to see that it was clearer than anything he had seen in what felt like years. When he looked down at the reflection, he finally saw it…saw him. Ozai was in the Avatar.
"No!" Aang screamed as loud as he could, waking up to a room he didn't recognize, but then everything came rushing back to him. His entire body was wet with cold and warm sweat dripping down him. Immediately the dream was coming back to memory, causing the monk's breathing to accelerate. He always had nightmares, but couldn't remember how they started; however, this one, he knew couldn't forget even if he wanted to.
Katara rolled out of bed when she heard the scream of terror coming from Aang, and making her fall onto the cold ground. She scrambled to where he was supposed to be lying down at, but wasn't there. The room was quiet for a second, but she heard panting from the corner of where his feet were suppose to be at. She looked into his shadowy face, which the moon caused, she saw shining of circles that had the same fear when Aang told the story of Ozai and him. It was still dark, and judging by the moon, she knew that they had only been a sleep for a few hours. Katara reached her hands out for him, inducing him to flinch at her touch on his skin. She felt heat and sweat on his shoulder, but also something sticky…something that smelled like rust almost.
"Aang," she whispered, trying to calm him, "I can't see anything. I need you to shed some light in here…can you do that for me?"
The darkness around Aang was so unbearable, that it made him throw up. Even with Katara there, there wasn't anything she could do to help him. He couldn't tale, so he just nodded very slowly, hoping not to gag in front of her again. The Avatar opened up his palm, and a small flame lit up the room.
Katara scooted closer to him, with the very small flame in his hand. His hair was all wet and sticking to his face as he continued to look at her. As if seeing her alive for the first time. But what really caught her attention, was that there was red liquid dripping on the side of his face, where his healed scar was. She grabbed his face, with both hands, and turned it sideways; making sure it wasn't the darkness tricking her. But it wasn't a trick. She took his arm that held the small inferno, and moved it down to his lower body.
Aang hadn't been paying attention to what Katara was doing to him, as his mind continued to find the answer to his nightmare. The images of his friends, and the girl he had killed with one hand, continued to cloud his mind. He remembered the sound of bones snapping on Katara's neck, and could still feel the life going out of her when she fell to the ground. All of the sudden, he heard a loud gasp from the girl in front of him.
He quickly stood up, and got into a fighting stance with flames in both hands. Aang was ready to defend her, but she wasn't in any sort of danger. But her face showed bewilderment and worry. Her eyes were not on his face, but his stomach. He finally looked down at what she was looking at, and saw it too…blood.
Every scar that was healed was now bleeding again, and even the burn marks on him were fresh. When he moved his hands to the red stains, he saw that even the cuts on his hands were bleeding out too. Aang didn't know what to think as his mind raced through what was going on, but didn't have a single clue. The pain came rushing back at him, as if he was fighting Ozai again. The water bender stood up in front of him, without taking her eyes off of his wounds.
She started walking towards him, but when he saw movement, the flames went out. The next sound she heard was a door opening, and a breeze that hitting her. Without hesitation, Katara ran after the young man. When she got out of the room, she looked up at the sky and saw that he had already taken off on his glider. Katara watched him for a second, and ran through the crowd of slumbering people. She did her best to avoid stepping on people, but couldn't help it as she ran faster. Katara could still barely see him, as she got onto Appa, without his saddle on.
She grabbed the reigns and yelled, "Appa, Yip yip!" The bison moved his tail up, and hitting the ground to make him fly. There pace quickened as the little dot in front of her, was now starting to form into an air bender.
Aang didn't know what to do at the moment as he continued flying into the crescent moon, but right now he was too scared to even start thinking about what just happened. He needed to fly, and clear his head from this waking nightmare he was in. The cold breeze on his wet skin was helping him a little, but his body temperature was still burning him up. He had been feeling this way before, but it was usually when he was around Katara, and now, now it was different. He looked back down at his messed up body, as the blood was either dripping off into the air, or it was getting on his pants. Then out of nowhere, he heard a roar, the roar of a bison near him.
He looked back, and saw that he was being followed by Katara. Aang could see the confusion and fear in her eyes, but he didn't want to stop flying. This was the only way for him to think, and set things straight. But his cuts started to burn like fire. His vision started becoming blurry as he looked around in the sky, and hearing the voice of an angel calling his name.
He paid no attention and continued soaring through the sky, but that didn't last long when he heard the sound of broken bones in his rib cage. The pain became so excruciating; that it felt like someone had snapped his chest in two with a metal sledge hammer. Aang let go of his glider, and started to fall, screaming in pain. His heart was beating against his ribs, and it caused him even more pain. The agony was so horrific to Aang, that he finally blacked out in the sky, with the screaming of Katara calling his name
ooooooOoooooOooooo
Aang's eyelids opened half way, but didn't stay open very long. He felt soft hands take his face, and whisper, "Drink this. It'll help with the pain." He obeyed the voice, and drank it. He could feel that he was wrapped up in something tight, but he didn't know what. His vision was still blurry, as he looked around for clues to his whereabouts, but blacked out once again.
ooooooOoooooOooooo
The air bender opened his eyes again, as he heard many voices around him, but he still couldn't recognize the people around him. His pain had doubled since the last time he woke, but the question was, how long had he been out? He felt hands grab hold of his body, as if he was fighting them all off. He kept hearing someone screaming in his ear, but couldn't figure out who was doing it.
Someone placed a hand under his neck, and lifting his head up. A different voice told him, "Please drink this." And of course, he did it without hesitation. But somehow the liquid went into his nose, causing him to cough and spit some of it out. It was still enough to knock him unconscious once again.
ooooooOoooooOooooo
Fortunately for Aang, the dream that he had never came back. He was grateful for it, but still scared that it could come back at anytime. The air bender started to open his eyes to a room he did not recognize at all. The air was no longer cool, but a summers hot day, and the sky was still dark. The monk looked around and saw wood everywhere, with nothing really on the walls but a few painted pictures. He could smell the saltiness of the ocean now, as he heard the sound of waves crashing against each other. When he tried to move, the pain was shooting at every point on his body. Aang tried to hold his breath, thinking it would stop the pain, but it only made it worse. He removed the covers, and looked down at himself.
The air bender was covered in wraps of white bandages that looked fresh, but could still see some blood spot on them. "What happened?" he asked himself out loud, as if hoping he would answer his own rhetorical question. Aang gently placed his right hand on the broken ribs, thinking it would cause him less pain, but even the smallest amount of pressure made it hurt. The monk moved his legs to the side of the bed, and gently touched the floor as if it was sheer ice underneath his feet. Little beads of sweat started to form on above his lips as he walked with a small limp.
When he got up, he looked down at the bed and could see that he left an imprint of his body on the bed, surrounded by dry blood and sweat. He continued looking for something to hold himself up, and at long last he found his staff, and leaned on it while his left shoulder scraped against the wall. The monk had at long last reached the door, and placed his left hand on it. His ribs began to fuss at him again, but not as badly as before. All of the sudden he began to heat up again, and started getting cold shivers. It was as if he was fighting a fever, but it was stronger than just any sickness.
He found the strength slide the door opened, and found Suki standing right in front of him. Her eyes were watery as she looked at him, and hugged him tightly. This time he couldn't hold back his pain, and grunted loudly at her embrace. She let go of him, and he fell to all fours, gasping for some air.
"I'm so sorry Aang!" said Suki regretfully, "But we have been so worried about you for the past couple of days!"
"Wha-what are you talking about? How did I end up here? Where am I?" he asked
Suki gave him a confused look, "You're at the house on Ember Island…don't you remember?"
Aang tried to remember quickly, but his head felt like needles were poking at him constantly, causing him pain again. The only thing he remembered was the dream, blood, and falling through the sky. The Keyoshi warrior bent down, and wrapped her arms under his and picked him up. She let him steady himself with his staff, and then placed his left arm around her head.
"I'm, I'm not sure?" he said. And out of nowhere Sokka popped in front of Suki, and ran into him, with a platypus bear hug.
"Ah!" screamed Aang, but he wouldn't let go of him.
"Aang! Your finally awake man!" he said with enthusiasm, and not meaning to crush him, but he couldn't help it.
"Sokka-I-can't-breath!" he said with no air in his body, and his ribs felt like they were breaking all over again. The pony tail guy dropped him unintentionally, forgetting that he had very little strength left in the air bender.
Aang fell to the floor instantly, and tried to hold his scream in, and grunted for a few long seconds. Sweat was dripping down his nose, as he continued to breathe even more slowly than usual. Once he was able to breathe normally, Sokka and Suki bent down, and put his arms around their necks. Sokka held his staff with his right hand, while the other held Aang's arm around Sokka's neck. They carefully walked him down stairs, trying not to hurt him in any more.
"Sorry about what happened back there." said Sokka, "I was just happy to see you alive and well…in a manner of speaking."
The air bender gave him a smile to the side, and looked back at Suki, "What happened to me? Why do I feel like I just fought Toph, and I was the blind one this time?"
"Aang, you've been in and out of consciousness for the past five days. Your fever was absolutely blistering hot, and you were constantly moving in your bed. Last night was probably the first time you actually seemed to rest." said Suki.
The monk looked back at Sokka, who only nodded at him. But then he caught what looked like a black eye on his right side. "What happened to your eye Sokka?"
Sokka looked back at him and said, "You were so out of control, that you ended punching me in the face. It was a definite sneak attack on your part, you little monk!" Aang heard Suki laughing quietly to herself, and he figured that whatever happened, he had somehow deserved it?
They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, and when he looked up, he saw everyone, including Tao, but not Katara there. They carried him over to a long chair, and placed him gently on it. The pain was so awful when they placed him down, but he was able to hold it all in this time. He still felt exhausted, but the Aang needed to know what had been happening through those days of darkness.
Toph came over to his side, and punched as hard as she could on his good arm, "Don't you ever scare me like that again you Air Head! You almost gave me a heart attack you little jerk!" Even though she punched him in the good arm, it might as well have been broken after that.
"Enough!" he screamed, "From now on, no more touching me today! I can't handle anymore inflicting pain right now!" Aang took a breath, as he calmed himself, "Now can someone please tell me what has been going on since I blacked out?"
He looked around at all of the faces around him, as if they were scared of him now. No one spoke about what had happened, but he needed to know how bad it was, or if he had hurt anyone else.
Zuko spoke up, "When Katara brought you back from…wherever you two went, we found you in the saddle shaking do death. Your wounds were so deep, that we weren't able to stop the bleeding until Iroh came and helped us out. He said you were in so much pain, that it was causing you to fight against us." The Fire Lord intertwined his fingers with Mai, who remained quiet.
Suki continued for him, "Katara drove Appa to get here as fast as she could; she was just as exhausted as you were, but she was able to do it. She tried to heal your wounds, but she said for some reason it wasn't working. It was like her touch had no effect on you at all…which has never happened. When she brought you in, you couldn't stop moving, so Iroh was able to make this special tea that could calm your mind and body, but we had to give you triple the dose, because it didn't last long."
"Your heartbeat was like a beat of death." said Toph, "It was like at any second you were going to die. It would slow down to such a low heart beat, that I couldn't tell if you were alive, but then you would start thrashing in your bed, and ended up punching Sokka in the eye that first night!"
"Hey!" Sokka screamed, "He surprised me, and I wasn't prepared for what was about to come!"
Toph laughed, "Oh right, says the best warrior in his tribe!"
"Easy you two!" yelled Tao, as he wheeled around in front of Aang, "This isn't helping Aang any, so shut up!"
The air bender shook his head, "Tao, what are you doing here?"
Tao smiled, "Good to see you too Aang. Katara asked me to come when she found out she needed someone else to help her out, so I agreed and ever since then I've been here." Aang nodded, wishing he could remember.
The room was silenced, but Tao continued with the story, "Iroh said, that…your body was going through a massive change. He said that in all of his years, and knowledge of history, he didn't know what was happening for once. Katara stayed at your bedside all of those days without sleep, and you wouldn't take the tea from anyone but her. It was like through all of that madness you were in; she was able to reach out to you?"
Aang remembered a certain beautiful voice, but he never knew it was hers. Every time he heard a voice, it was slow motion, and couldn't understand it.
"So," asked Mai, "what was it that you were dreaming for the past five days, Aang?"
The air bender looked up at the questioned faces around him, "Nothing." he said.
Everyone looked at Toph, but she shook her head, "He's not lying guys."
"What?" screamed Sokka, causing Aang to flinch to the yelling, "There is no way I got a black eye for nothing! He had to have dreamt of something that caused him to do this!" he said pointing at his bad eye.
"Wait!" shouted Aang, "Did-did I…I didn't…?"
"No," said Suki with a smile, "Katara is just resting right now. Five, or six days of sleep does a number to a person. And from what I've heard, you of all people understand that concept."
He nodded at what she meant. Four days before they decided to invade the Fire Nation on Black Sun, he wasn't able to sleep at all. His dreams kept getting worse, until they were able to make a bed of sheep fur on a rock, and he slept well for the first time. What he would give to have those kind of dreams again, unlike the one he had so many days ago.
Iroh walked into the room, and saw that everyone was surrounding the young boy. Aang was literally in the middle of the circle, and questions were being constantly thrown at him.
"Leave the boy alone." said Iroh eating an apple, "The last thing he needs right now is stress on his body…which he probably already has it."
Aang thanked Iroh with a head nod, and everyone around him finally gave him some breathing room. "Master Iroh," he asked, "is there by any chance I can speak to you in private?"
All eyes were back on Aang when he said these words, but he truly needed help. The young boy needed Iroh to tell him what the hell was going on inside of him, and why he was bleeding out of his scars. He had so many questions that needed to be answered, and if Iroh couldn't answer, then he would ask the Avatar's before him.
Iroh walked to the young man, and put his arm around his neck and walked him outside slowly. Aang told him to take him on Appa, so that the others wouldn't try and get Toph to follow them and listen. She was indeed good at what she did, and normally he didn't mind, but for once, he needed her to stay out of this…all of them. When they were finally in the air with Appa, he looked up at Iroh, who sat patiently. Waiting to hear what he had to say only to him.
"Master," he began, "is it possible for Avatar's to see the future?"
Iroh nodded, "There have been occasions where Avatar's could see the course of events, but they never found it to be the precise way they predicted it."
Hearing that made Aang happy, but this was so different. "So you are telling me its impossible then?"
"Oh no! Even though the dreams weren't precise, some of it still happened. It just wasn't how they saw it."
Now the fear was building back up. Even if his dream was remotelytrue, then that meant that a lot of people, and possibly his friends were all going to die. "Is there any way to prevent such a…premonition from happening?"
Iroh looked at the sick, and wounded air bender, and seeing that whatever he dreamed about scared him more than anything. "To be honest Aang, there is no stopping the future, or the events that occur. If you were somehow able to prevent it, it would only come back in a different way."
Now Aang was starting to panic at this accusation, "So I can't do anything?"
Iroh breathed out, "You can't change the future, because, as I already said, it would come to you in a different manner. But that doesn't mean you can't be prepared for it either. Aang, why don't you tell me of this…dream?"
Aang nodded, "The sky is dark, no stars or moon. I'm running through piles of dead bodies in front of myself. I stumble onto bodies that I recognized…Sokka, Suki, Toph, Zuko, and even Mai." The monk gulped at the fresh memory of the dead souls he saw, but he felt acid building up inside of him, making him to throw up. He was in so much pain, and it only made it worse that his body hadn't eaten the entire week almost. Iroh handed him a jug of water, which he drank reluctantly, and poured it over his hot body. The cool air was able to calm his nerves, and even neutralize his stomach.
"And then," the air bender continued, "I start running away from them, but it seems to never end as I continued running through the dead. I hear a scream that would scare the spirits themselves, and I started running to the noise."
Aang started to tear up at his this point, "I saw a dark figure holding Katara by the neck. He had the same tattoos as me, but instead of them blue, they were a venomous red, and his eyes glowed the same color. I ran and jumped…but I went through them both. When I looked back up, I was no longer on the ground, but instead I was in that man holding Katara.
The monk clenched his hands, as he tried to hold back the tears, "Then I felt…" but he couldn't control the water fall that poured down his face, as he remembered the feel of her neck breaking. It was like snapping thin twig in half. He started panting, and losing himself in his memories. The burn marks started to burn all over again, and the pain became so unbearable that he threw up again. Iroh tended to the young boy, trying to comfort him.
Once he was able to calm himself miraculously, he wiped the tears away and continued, "I felt something snap in my hand…I looked into Katara's eyes, and they reflected back to me as her body fell lifeless before me. When I saw what I did, I reached out, and then stopped. My body was covered entirely of blood, which it was still dripping off of my shirt and pants." Aang closed his eyes, and tried to listen to the breeze in the air, but it wasn't enough of a distraction for him.
Iroh sat quietly in fear of what this young man had dreamt that night, but he didn't know what to think of his dream. It seemed like the inevitable to think of Aang as a cold blooded killer, who killed everyone, he cared and loved. It was in his nature to help everyone, and not destroy them. He was someone who was willing to give his own life up for the good of humanity.
"But what scared me the most" he said, making Iroh look up at him, "was that when I looked down into a reflection of water, I was looking at…your brother. He was in my body, and I could see everything, but couldn't stop him." Aang whipped his sweaty forehead, and waited for Iroh to respond to this dream. His hair was finally drying up, as they continued to soar.
They flew for a couple of hours in silence, but there was no response. Finally Iroh did speak, "I think it be best if you spoke to your own past lives. This is something that is beyond my knowledge young Avatar. I cannot tell you what can be true, and what can't be." He gave him an apologetic look and said, "I'm so sorry."
This made Aang angry, "What do you mean you can't help me you old fool! How is it that you can take back an entire nation, and given me advice on many things, and you can't help me now?" Aang didn't know where this was all coming from, he had always paid his respects to Iroh, but it was like he was a different person somehow.
Iroh raised his hands in defense, "Aang, I need you to calm down."
"No!" he yelled, and started to feel fire burning inside of him, "The last thing you can do is tell me what I should do!" and out of no where, he kicked fire at Iroh, and sending him through the sky. As soon as the general's body disappeared, Aang shook his head, feeling pain inside of him. But he ignored it, and jumped on Appa's head, and reared him to the falling Master.
When he saw him, he gently eased him onto the saddle, and went over to him, but stopped himself. He knew that if he went closer to him, it was very possible that he could kill him.
Iroh stood up and dusted himself, "I haven't been that surprised by anyone, since Azula hit me with her fire that day." he laughed.
Aang didn't understand how Iroh couldn't be mad at him, but he just seemed so calm…just like he always was.
"How is it that you aren't mad at me?" he asked with much shame in his voice.
The Master looked up at him, "I can see that whatever happened, in this dream of yours, might have something to do with it. I knew that it wasn't you, but I must suggest that you talk to the Avatar's before you. I may give out advice, but I think I'll stick with my tea making Air Bender."
Aang nodded his head, and then he fell to his knees, not caring about the pain, as he looked at the floor. "Please forgive me Master Iroh…I don't know what came over me."
Iroh walked to him, and put his left hand on his still wet hair, "I know you are, and there is nothing to forgive. Besides, I always wondered what free falling felt like. Katara made it seem like so much fun, but I am too old for this sort of stuff."
Aang looked up and smiled at Iroh, who was also smiling back, knowing that something had indeed happened between him and Katara. Iroh helped him up, and then helped Aang to sit down. Iroh sat near him, as if nothing had happened a few minutes ago. But it didn't mean he wasn't thinking about what just happened. Aang truly didn't know what was going on. It was like he finally snapped, and all he felt was anger for some reason. He knew it was a long shot at Iroh knowing anything, and yet he reacted like this?
It didn't take them long to finally land in the sand, near the house. When Iroh got up and tried to help the monk, Aang shook his head at him, "No. I'm going to fly a little bit longer if you don't mind. Tell the others that I'll be back when I can." Iroh nodded, and jumped off the great beast's back, and saw them disappear into the moon.
Aang had already asked if Appa was okay with staying in the sky a bit longer, and the bison roared at him, communicating that he could. He sat in the middle of the saddle in Indian style, and even though the pain was unbearable, he knew he needed to do this now. He closed his eyes, and listened to the wind that blew against his hot and sweaty body. Aang didn't know how long he sat there, but he had at long last entered into the spirit world.
All of the sudden, he felt no pain in his body, no bandages, no cuts or burns. He felt like his free spirit self once again, but it was soon interrupted by a group of many men and women in front of him. He clamed himself, and bowed to his past lives. Avatar Roku stepped out of the group, and bowed back at him.
"Roku," he asked, "I believe something terrible is coming soon. I had this dream in which I believe I could have seen the future. But my real question is, is possible for it to be true?"
"We Avatar's" he began, "have lived through and seen many things. The past and the future. We don't know what we are capable of until it happens, Aang."
"Has another Avatar ever had a dream like what I have had?"
Roku shook his head, "No. None of us have ever seen anything so precise like you have."
"What do you mean precise?"
"Yes, we have all had glimpses of future events, but we were always missing something. Like faces would be blurred, sometimes we could only hear things, or it was just an instant flash at what we saw. But yours is different, you saw everything around you, and you could actually feel. That is something none of us have experienced before."
Aang wasn't sure how to react to this, "In my dream, I see Ozai, but I see him in me…what does this mean? Am I going to be like Ozai as when I get older? Or that he is going to kill everyone I know? Please, tell me what you think Roku!"
Roku's eyes showed no emotion, "Aang…when you bent his energy, you did something that none of us have ever done before. And we believe that it's possible that Ozai's spirit is in fact, in you."
Aang backed away from Roku, as he looked at the group of Avatar's behind him, "No! that's impossible! I defeated him, and the energy inside of me was unbendable! The lion turtles said I could win if I did this!"
Roku shook his head, "I'm so sorry that you have to be the one to carry this with you Aang, but if this vision is true, Ozai will take over your body. And he will everyone around you…saving the ones closest to your heart for last.
Aang clenched his fist, "I won't allow that to happen! I'll do whatever I can to protect them all!"
"We know you will Aang, and it is possible that we have a solution to this riddle. There may still be a chance to help prevent this disaster from coming true."
"I said I would do whatever it takes, and I meant it."
This time it was Kyoshi's turn to speak as Roku stepped back, "You must leave Aang. You must find the Guru who once helped you into the Avatar state, and perhaps he will know what to do. And if this works, it's possible you can change the course of the future."
"Do we know where he is at, by any chance?"
"He is where you left him, and I am sure that he is expecting you once again."
Aang nodded at them, thinking that there was perhaps indeed hope at the end of the tunnel after all.
"But we only ask of one other thing for you to do."
"What is it you ask of me?"
"You must do this alone."
Aang was speechless at this ridiculous request, "You know I can't win without them…I can't without Katara there to help through this! I've learned that I can't do it without them, because I always end up losing!" He knew they would always be there for him, and they all proved that time and time again. Aang had finally learned that you can never do things on your own, when you have friends like his.
Roku stepped next to Kyoshi, "Aang it is extremely possible, that during this training, you could hurt someone. Ozai is already inside of you and we can all see that he is starting to take hold of you."
"I won't do it!" yelled Aang in anger, "I will not abandon them again! You're asking me to give up the ones who have always been there for me, and who have always been by my side in the face of death! I won't leave Katara again Roku!" Aang felt tears coming down his face as he whispered, "I just got her back…"
Roku walked over to the young air bender and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I know that what we are asking of you will be hard, but we cannot allow this to happen."
Aang looked up at the tall man, "Its not hard, but impossible Roku…and I refuse to do this!" he said as he swatted his hand away from him and stepping back a few more steps.
"Aang, if you don't do this, your friends could be seriously hurt, or even killed. You got angry at Iroh, because he couldn't answer your questions. What makes you think you won't react the same way to the ones closest to you?" He knew Roku had a point, but he didn't want to be alone in this fight.
"I'm sorry…but I won't." The images of the spirit world turned white all around him, and the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to the rising sun.
Pain shot back at his body, as if it was paying him back for not feeling anything in the spirit world. He fell back on his back, as his mind wondered through what he just learned. He knew what Roku said was true, but he learned a long time ago that he could not do things on his own. It was something he was never good at, and his friends would somehow always find him somehow, someway. But was this different? Did he reallyhave to leave everything in order to succeed this time?
Aang shook his head at the stupid request, and crawled up to Appa's head and feeling his entire body grovel at his movements. "Come on boy, let's go back." he said, as he pulled the reigns of the animal guide back towards the house on the beach. He knew it was late, and he knew he had to be quiet when he went in. When Appa landed, he air bended himself off and then landing on the ground like a rock. The monk forgot that the smallest amount of bending could hurt him, but he was too stubborn not to try anyways. He got up and petted his bison's head, thanking him for everything he did. Aang sighed slowly, so as not to hurt the broken bones in his body, "What am I going to do boy? Why does my life have to be so complicated?" The beast roared at him in response.
"I know I'm the Avatar boy, but I don't know if I can do it on my own…I mean yeah I'll have you, but they are my family too. I've always needed them Appa. I just wish there was another option." Again the bison growled at him.
Aang nodded, as he understood what he was telling him, "I know the Avatar has to make sacrifices…but I don't want to lose her boy... I love her." In that instant he realized that he had never once told Katara how he felt towards her, and he never told that he wanted to marry the beautiful water bender. He already had the perfect color for the cloth, and now all he needed was the right type of element. Something that was different compared to everything else, but what?
The bison bumped Aang lightly on the shoulder, making Aang look at him. And without talking, they looked into each others eyes, and started communicating to each other. The monk finally nodded at him.
"I know what to do…I just don't know if I can go through with it."
Aang walked back to the house, feeling the cold breeze on his back, and knowing that a storm was coming, perhaps a big one. When he entered into the house, he could see that everyone had tried to stay up and wait for him, but Iroh put them to sleep with his Sungi horn that was by his side. Iroh's head was leaning on the back of the chair, and snoring loudly. As quietly as he could, he walked up the stairs and into his room, and shut the door gently behind him.
He saw that someone had put his glider back where it was, and smiled at the person who did it. Aang went over to his bed, and laid down. The monk hated that he was hurting so badly, but all he could do is hope that they would heal once again. Aang kept looking up at the wooden ceiling, and remembering his conversation with Iroh and the Avatar's. He knew they were right about him, and the fact that they believed that Ozai was already in him, made Aang scared of himself.
He went back to his bed, and felt a lump underneath the covers. He removed them to see the face of a young water bender next to him. He examined her, to make sure that Suki wasn't lying about him hurting her, but she seemed to be okay. Aang sighed in relief and gently stroked the back of his fingers against her cheek, causing her to get goose bumps.
The air bender smiled at the reaction of his touch, and was happy to know that she was there with him. Finally, he laid his back on the now fresh sheet, and scooted close to Katara. When he did this, she too scooted closer to him, and placed her head on his chest and went back to sleep. Even though she was on his crushed ribs, he didn't care about them at this point. He knew he was going to feel it tomorrow, but figured it was worth it to have her in his own bed. Sokka would freak out if he saw this, and would probably kill him for it. This made him laugh a little, knowing that she had waited till everyone was asleep, to be with him. He placed his right hand on her bare curves that the swimsuit didn't cover, and made small circles around the velvety skin with his thumb. He could feel the gentle beat of her heart against his side, and the sound of it started to put him to sleep. Aang moved his lips towards her soft chocolate hair, and kissed the top of her head.
"I love you Katara." he whispered against her, and fell asleep, exhausted from this day.
Okay, you guys know what to do. I know it wasn't great, but REVIEW me and tell me what you think anyways! Love and Peace to you all out there.
