The trio sat facing each other at the center of the pavilion. Jaya took Toph's left hand lightly in her own and instructed Anja to do the same with her right.

"Okay, Anja and I will guide you. Breathe deeply, clear your mind and focus only on my voice." Jaya adjusted her posture and closed her eyes. "Breathe, in and out. Feel your energy and clear your mind. Follow my voice." Anja and Jaya crossed through the barrier and guided Toph with them. The brilliant glow of the spirit world broke through and the three women opened their eyes to each other and to a vast array of coloured scenery and crystal skies. A soft breeze echoed around them and the spirits danced freely.

"Wow," Toph breathed heavily before bringing her gaze to Anja. "I apologise for the harshness of my words earlier, I am trying to teach you to wait and listen to the earth, to teach you patience but I lost mine. You are stubborn but strong and you trust your heart and rely on instinct. These are the nature of the Beifong spirit, my cousin, and should be nurtured not cursed." Toph bowed her head slightly before turning her gaze on Jaya. "Now, Lotus Master, Boma's method?"

Jaya breathed deeply before standing and pacing in front of the two.

"Anja, unlike Korra and Aang you do not respond to trial by fire, neither did Yangchen. Boma's lesson refers the three aspects of a person's spirit. The person of whom you are, the person you think you are and the person you wish to be. These three must be in close alignment for your spirit to find balance.

"You, I believe, are still in doubt of being the Avatar. You think that since you have barely managed to earthbend that you are a failure. In truth you are not. You are indeed the Avatar but you have not failed. You have nearly mastered the most important skill of Earthbending, seismic sense not only allows you to see when your eyes fail, it allows you intuition and the ability to know your surroundings beyond those in the immediate vicinity. This in time will prove detrimental to your success in earth. As for who you wish to be, I would assume that Aang, Korra and Jinora are whom you look to. You want to be strong, you want to help bring balance, you want to be able to master the role of the Avatar but above all, you want to make the most of this new path. Am I wrong?" Jaya stopped, her back to Anja.

"No. Well not entirely at least. I spent thirteen years believing I was an average nonbending citizen of the United Republic. Going from that to a bender was a shock sure, but the Avatar? I am not in doubt of the fact, I spent years dreaming of Aang and Yangchen, dancing with them and then that morning, I was visited by a spirit who called me the Avatar, then the White Lotus show up and that night I have a dream with Avatar Korra. There were too many coincidences to for there to be an error. I doubted being able to overcome the block. I doubted that I would be good at being the Avatar. I still do." Anja studied her slowly, the woman behind the title. She was stiff, always at attention, always en guarde.

"It is not doubt my niece. It is fear is it not? You don't doubt being an incompetent Avatar, you fear it, and greatly." Jaya turned and faced the girl. "Isn't that a situation? You are afraid to fail as the Avatar, but to be the Avatar you need not to be afraid." Toph stood lightly and easily, walking to Jaya before facing Anja, assuming the soldierly position beside her aunt.

"Our spirits are influenced not only by our birth, but by our experiences. For whatever reason you have grown into the spirit of Air. This is what stopped you coming into your earthbending like most young children do; but now, it is blocked by your fear. You have proven yourself an earthbender but fear prevents you progressing." Anja glanced between the two women. Any person could tell they were kin. The same glossy black hair, the same eyes, even the military disposition the two shared, just years separated them from being twins. She watched them carefully as she stood, emulating their grace and posture.

"How do I get passed the fear then?" Jaya's face wavered before she took a step forward.

"By facing it. By fighting it."

"How am I supposed to fight being afraid of my destiny?" Anja's voice was quiet, so quiet she was surprised the two before her heard.

"By conquering the fears that make it up. You are afraid to start earthbending because it brings you closer to becoming a fully realised Avatar." Toph placed a hand on Jaya's shoulder, sharing in an expression before taking point.

"Anja, I was not wrong when I said you have the heart of a prodigy. Anja Beifong, you are headstrong, you have keen instincts, you are stubborn and you have a good heart. You have a good sense of right and wrong, and being the Avat-," She turned to Jaya slowly, a question in her eyes. Jaya stood patiently, having a silent conversation with Toph for an agonizing period of time. Jaya sighed and nodded before Toph returned her gaze to her pupil. "Anja, being the Avatar is in your blood." If she weren't already standing she would have been, and would have been so quickly. She took several heavy steps towards Toph so little space parted the two, the woman's breath tickling her forehead, Toph only stood a few inches above the young girl.

"In my blood? What on earth- No puns Toph- does that mean? What is in my blood?" At this Jaya stepped forward, placing a hand on Toph to order her back. She was calm, always so calm and collected. She rarely showed emotion in that metal city, she wasn't even showing much here anymore. The spirit world had become a haven but even now Jaya was assuming the role of Master and closing off personal emotion, human emotion. The expression on her face only fueled the anger that had grown inside Anja lately. She was always angry these days, at Jaya for being so cold, at Toph for expecting too much of her, at Moku and Raja for not caring about Mae or caring to ask how she was. But above it all, Anja was angry with herself. She was the Avatar and was crippled by fear at the idea, a fear that she couldn't simply ignore; she was on the road to becoming a failure.

"Li, your father." Jaya's cool tone brought her back to reality, of sorts. "You get the name and blood of Beifong from your mother, but from your father you have so much more. Your father's parents were an unlikely couple but they were a match made by the spirits. Your grandmother was an Air Acolyte. She was a daughter of Avatar Korra, Kaito, a nonbender. She chose the path of the Nomads to assist in rebuilding the nation. It was during her time on Air Temple Island that she met Sora. He was a descendent of Ersa's third child, Kiyi, and a soldier of the United Republic. It is commonly known that the blood of Avatar Roku was in Ersa, and thus in Kiyi. You are of an extremely unlikely lineage. You have the blood of two past Avatars and are of the Beifong line, Anja. I can't help but feel the spirits have blessed you, that you were born to be the Avatar."

The sky began to darken again and the spirits faded from the area.
"Anja, calm yourself!" Jaya came to her niece, her hands resting on the soft skin of her cheeks. "Remember what I told you the first time we came here, in the spirit world our emotions become our reality. Please calm down!" Actual concern rolled over Jaya's features and Anja almost had to laugh at the display. Maybe her aunt was human after all. She took a deep breath before turning to her mentors.

"I apologise Jaya, I will control my emotions better in future. If you don't mind, I think I need to spend some time to gather myself. Master Toph, Master Jaya." Anja took a brief glance at the two before lowering into a bow and turning away. She bowed to them and walked away from their place, a small hill shaded by a tree with glass-like leaves, and journeyed through the spirit world. She didn't know where she was going or what she wanted to find but the freedom and release of pressure caused her shoulders to stand higher, for her to stand a slight bit taller.

Anja walked for a few moments until she found a lush green field at the edge of what resembled a forest that filled her an overwhelming sense of familiarity. She sat slowly and placed herself into the lotus position. She knew this place and had been here before, she had shared in something here, met someone who was an old friend.

"Hello Anja." She would know that voice anywhere. It was a voice she had known as Korra, a voice she had known very well as Aang and an older voice of one she had met as Roku. She stayed in her position, but looked up opening her eyes.

"General Iroh. It is truly an honour sir." She stood to face the man in green and gold robes before lowing herself into a bow.

"Now, now, Anja no need for formalities between old friends. You seem troubled young Avatar." A warming grin formed on his face and his eyes that spoke of an eternal friendship creased gently, she sighed at the genuineness of the man and the floodgates of her head released.

"I have learned too much about my true identity in too short of time. Not only am I a bender, I am the Avatar, a Beifong, a descendent of your former sister-in-law and of Avatar Korra. Neither of my parents are who they say they were, neither is my Aunt. I have been lied to and had who truly I am kept from me my whole life and now I am being ushered and forced into a destiny I am not prepared for and my choices seem to no longer matter. It's almost as if the moment I became the Avatar, I stopped being myself."

"Your conflict seems not too different from one Aang had during the 100 Years War. When he left the Southern Air Temple it was very much for the reasons you are stating. He felt like he was losing everything that made him who he was. He lost his friends because he was the Avatar, he lost his sense of identity and to top it off the Monks wanted to remove him from the one person who still thought of him as Aang, not as 'The Avatar.'" Iroh's tone was as gentle as ever, like honey coated his throat and his words.

"But as for your family I can understand. As a parent you want to put your best self forward in the hope that your children keep that beautiful innocence as long as possible and become better than you were. But you also do what is best for them, While raising Zuko I never told him I was a Grand Lotus, I never told him who I was truly because he needed to come to his path on his own. I helped and supported him and I did my best to protect him after Ozai cast him away. But he never knew who I was at heart. Not until I believed he could handle it and make the right choices. I did my best and I'm sure your parents did as well Anja. A person's best is all you can ask."

"If only Iroh, as the Avatar your best is only enough if you do what the people favour. Korra gave her best at Zaofu to protect it from being consumed by the Earth Empire but when she came home her best made her incompetent. I can only ask a person's best but of me people can ask for the moon and expect it to be done." A tinkling laugh broke through their conversation when another came to join them.

"Avatar Anja, I doubt it highly that you could bring me to the people." Yue floated effortlessly in the crystal skies, glowing white and pink with beautiful light, she looked down at Anja with friendly recognition. Anja turned sharply sensing a faint feeling of recognition at the voice. She had known it once, a very long time ago. Her eyes locked on with brilliant blue ones set in a pale face.
"Princess Yue, it is an honour your highness." Anja stared, star struck by the woman before her. Yue laughed again before descending the skies and coming level with Anja, only centimeters in front of her.

"Just Yue please, I stopped being a princess over 150 years ago. You have felt the pressures of the Avatar at such a young age Anja, and pressure can either crush a person or it can turn them to diamond. I offer you this wisdom, my old friend; though you will fail, and do so over and over and over, it is crucial that you try every time. Failure is an event, never a person." Anja nodded lightly and Yue soared up into the endless blue and faded away softly.

"She is very right Anja, although some of her words are not her own but my nephew's. As hard as it is right now, I can honestly say it will not get better." Anja turned back to the former general.

"Thanks Iroh, that was encouraging." She spoke ironically and fought the urge to roll her eyes like a child.

"It will not get easier Anja, but you will get better. You will learn to be the Avatar and you will grow. Actually being and carrying out the duties of the Avatar will not get better but you will get better at being the Avatar." Iroh have a gentle bow before he returned to his forest of plants that were not trees. Anja resumed her position and thought on what the two had said. Her greatest fear was being inadequate as the Avatar, of being a failure, but Iroh and Yue had given her hope. She might fail along the way but those things did not make her the failure. She would learn with time and make a few mistakes but mistakes at heart, are lessons. They are something that has gone wrong, something, which by trying can be righted again.