"Aang! AANG!"

The courtyard she stood in bore witness to just a fraction of the atrocities that the Avatar spirit was capable of, to the raw power and ability to destroy held deep within the man that she loved. Katara had watched as Aang fell to the ground, had watched as Avatar Sansetsu grabbed his face, before stepping back and turning on his heel. And now, even as she hurried across the courtyard towards him she saw the horrifying realisation of what he had done spread across Aang's face, she saw him first look at Sansetsu as if he meant to attack the man, and she prepared herself to stop him. She skid to his side, just as Aang climbed to his feet, his expression now that of agony as he looked across at her and she realised, with a stabbing pain to the heart, that he was not going to attack, but run.

"Aang, Aang no wait-"

He didn't even let her hands make contact with his arm before he fled, leaping onto the nearest archway and using that to propel himself forward.

"Aang wait!"

She ran after him, trying to keep him in sight as he jumped from building to building, but try as she might there was no way she could keep up with an airbender that didn't want to be caught, no matter how injured that airbender might be. As he vanished from sight she stopped, panting heavily and pressing her palm against a wall to steady herself.

"Dammit, Aang," She said, with a dry sob. Bitterly she looked up to the skyline of the buildings to her left, before remembering with complete and utter clarity the night she had found him a bathtub, numb and shaking, convinced of the blood that was on his hands. For the first time, she understood. Truly understood what it was she had been missing ... it wasn't just Aang's fear of failing that driven him away from her, from his friends ... No, it was the fear that he would be the cause of it all, fear of what Tonrar had truly done to him, the damage he had taken, and the fundamental truth that, Aang or no, he was still capable of killing and destroying everything around him. And now, with Sansetsu's help, Aang had seen that truth come to fruition; had realised that it was no longer that he was just capable, but that it was probable. Her heart broke for him, and though no tears reached her eyes, she felt as though her throat was closing, the obnoxiously white stone of the tall buildings and walls closing in around her. Aang. Her poor Aang ... Her breath quickened as she began to panic, her back sliding down the walls as her hands shook, her whimpers turning into howls as she finally let her own walls crash down, letting the pain and fear she had been hiding for so long overcome her.

"Aang," she gasped, shaking her head. "AANG!" She screamed, pounding her fists on the stone floor, before she slumped back against the wall, panting as the tears finally came.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, half hoping that Aang would come back, and half hoping that he was already far away. How could she help him when he felt this much pain? How could she help him when she knew how terrified he was to be around her, putting her at risk? How could she help him when Sansetsu had shown him to be some sort of monster? Sansetsu. At that thought, her body stiffened, her mind sharpening. Sansetsu ... the Avatar send to help Aang had only driven him away, frightened. Once more her breathing began to quicken, although this time her blood boiled and her hands curled into fists. Ignoring the way her hair stuck to her tear-soaked skin she stood, eyes blazing, storming her way back to the courtyard.

"Sansetsu?" Her voice low and threatening, the water in the fountain turning to ice, Katara stepped back onto the cool stone, still covered in specks of fine red dust, much of the greenery around it destroyed and damaged.

"Ah, is this the point where you come and tell me what a horrible person I am?" came Sansetsu's voice, leaning languidly against his favoured arch. She wasted no time with rounding on him, stalking forwards until they were almost face to face, her lips curled into a snarl.

"What is wrong with you?" she spat. "Why did you do that to him?"

Sansetsu frowned, his stormy eyes, much darker than Aang's, locking with her. "I believe I gave him some cold, hard facts."

"You're supposed to help him!" Katara cried. "You're supposed to guide him! You think he doesn't already know what he's capable of in the Avatar State? You think he hasn't seen it night after night after night? He told you no, he told you he wasn't going to go into the Avatar State, why did you force him?"

"There's a difference between knowing what you are capable of, and really truly knowing what you are capable of," Sansetsu replied, his voice low and level. "That is a lesson that, one day, every Avatar must learn, and one that Aang was long overdue."

"You're wrong," Katara could only shake her, taking a step back. "You don't get it do you? This will destroy him. Aang isn't like you, he's not like any of the other Avatar's. He doesn't want that power, and he damn well doesn't want to use it." At this, the old Avatar's eyes flashed.

"Do not assume that every other Avatar wanted this, either," he all but spat. Katara laughed.

"You're no different from Tonrar. No different from so many of the others that wanted to use Aang's power for their own gain, have you forgotten what it's like to be the Avatar?"

Sansetsu's expression darkened, and his breath seemed to catch in his throat. She saw a flicker of something beneath his expression, but before she could say any more, he looked up at the sky.

"It looks like today is going to be a short one. You should get inside, little girl."

Katara all but snarled, wanting nothing more than to hit his stupid face with one of her water whips. "I swear to Yue, if he can't come back from this, Avatar or no I am going to make you pay for it." But Sansetsu had already disappeared from view, his form vanishing into the low hazy air, leaving her glaring at the marble archway, still misted in red.

"Coward," she hissed. Bitterly she looked up at the sky, seeing it starting to pulse darkly, before casting another desperate search of the skyline, hoping to see Aang. Sansetsu had said that it was only those without spirit who couldn't be out after dark, but regardless she wondered if at this point he had enough of it. Sighing she turned and made her way back to the little house that she and Aang had chosen, shutting the door firmly behind her and collapsing onto the bed.

***

"Aang!" He heard her scream, agonised and distraught, and if possible his heart shattered into even smaller pieces. The moment he had seen her, seen the look on her face, he had had to get away. To just run, run and run and run until he could not feel any more, until he could stop imagining the horror show that had taken place back in the courtyard. Yet, at the sound of her cries he had skidded to a halt, panting and looking back over his shoulder. She needed him, and spirits knew he needed her too, but he was not ready. Not just yet.

He dropped to his knees where he had stopped, on top of a green tiled roof of what appeared to be a large town house. Beautiful flowers still grew in the front garden of the long abandoned building, ivy and morning glory creeping up the walls and spilling out onto the pavement, so calm in contrast to the ragged breaths he was taking as he sat there. He'd known, part of him perhaps always known, why his dreams started with him exhausted, with him hurting to bad, with that red mist swirling around him and blood coating his arms. It was ridiculous to assume that he hadn't considered what this part of his dream meant, but bitterly he had pushed it aside, more so since Tonrar had fled to the spirit world and left his own to die. Now, though, he was forced to accept that his role in it's death was not done, that he could actually still become a part of the destruction of not one but both worlds.

His hands shook as he remembered the incredible amount of power that had spread through his body, feeling every single atom of every single being around him. He could feel the trees screaming as, with clawed hands, he had wrenched them apart. He could sense the range of his destruction stretching out across and beyond the courtyard until he had felt Katara. He had felt everyone about her ... the beating of her heart, the air in her lungs, the blood pumping through her veins, her panic. He had been able to feel her very soul, alone inside of her without a spirit for protection, and his own willed to pull her apart piece by tiny piece. He shut his eyes tight, curling into a ball and gritting his teeth as the ghost of those feelings left him aching. How could he be capable of such destruction? Forget being the Avatar, how could he ever contain that much power? If this is what the Avatar spirit was like when you lost control why had he been chosen? He was weak. He was powerless against her, and even how he felt her there, hunkered down and waiting for her next chance to strike.

He opened his eyes, looking numbly out at the city before him. Sansetsu, in all of his harshness, had been right. He was too weak to be the Avatar, and he had no idea what he could do about it ... his instincts told him to run, to leave Katara far behind so he could not hurt her. But then what? If he faced Tonrar then surely it would all be over, and the spirit would take control again. But if he hid here, in the spirit world, if he never went back to the mortal world, then it would surely be destroyed.

"I can't do it," he whimpered. "I can't do this, I can't, I can't ..."

The realisation hit him like a brick. He couldn't do this. Why hadn't the Avatar spirit chosen someone else? Why was she full of so much anger?

Broken he lay there, his eyes not really seeing what lay in front of him, his body indifferent the pain of the roof tiles digging into his skin, and it wasn't until the sky began to darken that he stirred, looking up with sore, red eyes. His thoughts turned, like a knife to the gut, to Katara. She couldn't be out here when it got dark, what if she didn't realise as she carried on looking for him? What if she got lost? He climbed to his feet, wobbling unsteadily on his bruised and battered leg, and gingerly made his way across the roofs back to the courtyard, his eyes peeled for her. But the time he landed poorly on a roof overlooking the courtyard the darkness had grown deeper, and he couldn't hide the panic that came with knowing that Katara could still be out there. He was on the verge of yelling out her name when he finally saw her, casting one last look out towards the city just as he duck down low enough so that his silhouette wouldn't show up against the dull glowing sky, watching as she shut herself away in the building that they had held out in last night. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least, for now, she was safe.

He rolled onto his back, looking up at the purple sky. He couldn't run ... there was no way he could leave her here, it wasn't safe. But how was he supposed to spend another moment in her presence when he had done what he had, now that he knew the line between control and utter abandon to the Avatar spirit was so fine? The sky lost the last of it's colour, the purple giving way to inky black, and he breathed out heavily. Instead of darkness, however, he became aware of a glow that seemed to emanate directly from the city itself and, frowning and distracted for a moment, he rolled back onto his front.

Despite all the horrors that he had already seen and felt that day, there was still no chance the he could have been prepared for what he saw as he looked back towards the courtyard. If he had had the energy he may have cried out, but he simply gaped, a sick feeling in his stomach as he watched hundreds of people, eyes dead, bodies limp, and skin glowing as they wandered aimlessly around the courtyard.

"What is this?" Aang managed, hoarsely.

"I kinda hoped you wouldn't see this so soon."

Aang jumped, looking sharply to his left to see Sansetsu, staring in-curiously out at the courtyard, standing on the roof. His immediate desire was to jump at his predecessor, to demand an explanation as for why he had forced him into the Avatar State against his will, causing him to almost hurt Katara, but his curiosity about the blank people below him won out his anger.

"Who are these people?" Aang asked, his voice low. With a heavy sigh Sansetsu sat down, crossing his legs and continuing his sad vigil.

"If you think about it," he replied, "you probably already known who they are. Well, rather you know why they are here."

"I don't understand ..."

"There are a number of reasons why I had you come to this city, of all places," Sansetsu continued. "Believe it or not the spirit infested forest and the desert weren't a test, or me messing with you, it was simply the path you needed to take to get here. That it would be safe, for the most part, for that woman of yours made it a logical first choice, but there was more to it than that." Sansetsu glanced over at him, and Aang stared intently back. "The city was, once, home to a growing population of humans. People who had crossed over from the mortal world and decided that they would call his place their own and build a city from the rich white stone that formed in this region."

"People lived here?" Aang asked, incredulously. "People lived in the spirit world?"

"Yeh, for a time," Sansetsu replied. "I suppose they lived pretty well given the size of this damn place." He cast a derisive look behind them, at the larger tower in the center of the walled city. "But good things aren't mean to last ... the spirits grew less and less tolerant of their human neighbours until not even the benders of this city could keep them out, and a great battle took place." For a moment, Sansetsu's face turned grim. "Though it was never really a battle. It was a slaughter. The spirit that led the attack was ruthless and determined, and they cut through the city, killing every man, woman, and child that lived here."

Breathless Aang looked back at those blank, glowing faces.

"But killing them wasn't enough for this spirit ... the unfortunate thing about dying in the spirit world is that your soul remains here. And there is one such spirit that is very good at dealing with human souls ..."

"Tonrar," Aang breathed. Sansetsu nodded.

"He trapped the souls of hundreds in the city, and in turn the place became a sort of honeypot. Any human that should enter the spirit world would inevitably find their way here. After all, it's a home, right? What soul can ignore the call of a safe place in an alien world? For thousands of years Tonrar has continued to trap the foolish man who thinks the spirit world is a place for him, who defies the boundaries set by Avatar and spirit millennia ago. What you see here is only a fraction of the souls caught in Tonrar's web. The city is dotted with similar courtyards such as this, and each time the sky goes dark you can see them."

"Can't we set them free?" Aang demanded at once. "Surely as the Avatar I can do something!" Sansetsu uttered a dark laugh.

"Be my guest," he said, with a shrug. "But you should know that I have spent over a thousand years trying."

For the first time Aang saw Sansetsu in a different light, the sadness in the man's eyes abundantly clear.

"Why?" Aang asked. "Why is this so important to you?" Surprised Sansetsu glanced back down at him, before quickly regaining his composure and raising his chin.

"That, chump, is a tale for another time," he said shortly.

Frowning Aang looked away, his eyes drawn yet again to the glowing faces.

"You know, your girlfriend really wasn't happy with how I handled things earlier," Sansetsu piped up, that familiar drawl coming back into place. "She was furious in fact."

"I can't really say I was chuffed to bits about it either," Aang replied darkly. "I'd be amazed if she was anything but ..."

"You know, she actually threatened me?" Sansetsu chuckled, and Aang swiftly felt any warmth he had had towards the man swiftly cooling.

"That sounds about right," Aang responded dryly, eyes narrowed. Sansetsu remained silent for a while, his legs swinging over the edge of the roof, wide jaw tipped up as if in contemplation.

"You do know why I pushed you into the Avatar State, right?"

"Truthfully no," Aang replied coldly. "Although if you wanted to prove that I'm too weak to push it back, or that the next time I go into the Avatar State I could destroy everything, or that I should have left Katara back in the mortal world, or that I have no chance of beating Tonrar then job well done!" He threw his hands into the air before crossing them angrily across his chest, glaring darkly at the glow below them. Sansetsu scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Wow, that girl really wasn't joking," he said coolly, his upper lip curled as he looked down at Aang. "So, what, you get a good look at the reality of the situation and you just run away like a child? I mean, fuck me with a glider, do you have any backbone at all?" His turn to be disgusted, Aang threw him a cautious look. "Whether you chose to face Tonrar or not, in the state you're in right now the world is going to end. Either Tonrar forces you into the Avatar State and you do his job for him, or you leave Tonrar to skulk and hide away whilst your world slowly pulls itself apart." He leaned in close, his face close to Aang's. "Do you need for me to explain how your friends will die? How they will either freeze to death or the creeping darkness will catch up to them and work it's way inside of them and-"

"Ok, stop," Aang snapped, covering his ears. "I don't need to hear that! I know how it's going to end, ok?"

"Then why are you being such a coward?" Sansetsu demanded. "If you know then why do you keep whinging and crying and complaining about how hard it is before doing what needs to be done?"

"Because I'm scared!" Aang yelled, rounding on Sansetsu, his heart thumping in his chest as his desperation made itself clear across his face. "I'm scared of failing, I'm scared of losing Katara ..." he swallowed, a shadow passed across his face. "I'm scared of Tonrar, to face him again."

The large airbender regarded him in a stony silence, his face cold and his jaw set. "Well, that's just something you're going to have to accept, and then get over," he said bluntly. "Your fear is your biggest enemy, and Tonrar's greatest strength. It is the reason you have no control, and until you learn to overcome it, to turn that fear into a driving force behind beating Tonrar, you are never going to." Suddenly Sansetsu's hand reached out, grabbing Aang's chin and forcing the young man to look at him. "Remember that feeling in your veins as you tore the world apart," he growled. "And remember it well. Because if you don't then you will be the end of us all." Shaking Aang looked back at him, suddenly too weak to fight against his grasp.

"I don't want to remember it," he whispered, voice shaking. "I don't want to feel that ever again."

"Then fucking fight." Sansetsu's eyes blazed, before roughly he pushed Aang away from him, disappearing into the night air before Aang could pull himself up from the tiles.

His heart still racing, and in spite of himself, his gaze was drawing to those poor lost, wandering souls. Perhaps they hoped for an end to their torment, yet never quite reached it. Perhaps that was why they walked ceaselessly night after night. Aang sighed, angry tears stinging his eyes. Sansetsu was right. For these souls ... for Katara, for his friends, for the rest of the world, he had to fight. No matter how much of himself he lost along the way he had to fight. Still shaking he climbed to his feet, his thoughts now completely on Katara, on holding her, on calling upon her strength to help him through this. With little grace, his right hip still causing him grief, Aang dropped down onto the courtyard, watching in sad wonder as the souls moved aside for him, avoided touching him, all the while never looking in his direction. Sadly he waded his way through, trying not to look into any of those lifeless eyes until he reached the door of the house he and Katara had shared. He took a deep breath, willing for his hands to stop shaking, and then opened to door quickly, sliding into the room so that there was no way Katara could chance a glance outside.

"Aang?"

Her voice was tired, broken and sad, and he immediately felt the tears well up. "Katara ..." At the sounds of his desperate plea she jumped up from the furs, her body illuminated lightly by the small fire in the furnace, and before he was even aware of his movement he had stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her hear as he began to sob freely. She gripped him back, her hands knotting into his hair and pulling him as close as she could.

"It's ok," she whispered gently. Aang pulled his face away from her neck, taking her face in his hands, his gaze on her hers showing a determination she had no seen in a long time.

"I will fix this," he promised, his voice hoarse but strong. He leaned in for a kiss, pressing his lips against hers, the fire between them burning as her tongue ran across his pleadingly, their bodies as close together as it was possible for them to be. "I swear I will fix this."

"I know," she said back to him, her voice firm. "I know, and I am going to help you."

Gratefully he fell back into her embrace, and slowly the pair made their way to the bed, Aang wrapping his arms protectively around her as they fell into an exhausted sleep.

If I don't kill her ... you will.

Aang woke with a gasp, his body sitting up and his head dropping down to his palms as he groaned, fighting back the fog of his nightmares. As time based, he started to realise there was an unfamiliar sensation across his limbs, as if his muscles still hummed and buzzed with the power that had coursed through him the day before, and shaking he raised his hand to his forehead. If he had hoped that his subconscious would let up now that his conscious mind knew of the warning his dream state had been giving him he would be sorely disappointed. The nightmare continued, somehow more fervent and aggressive than before. Taking a long uneven breath he lay back down, his head turning to face the beautiful waterbender that lay beside him. In true Katara fashion she lay on her back, one arm stretched up above her whilst the the other rest on her stomach, her face tilted to the sound, mouth wide, and snoring lightly. Despite the shakiness in his body, his affection and love for her swelled in his chest, and he was able to smile. Even after showing her exactly what kind of damage he was capable of here she lay, sleeping with pure abandon, not the least bit intimidated by the man who lay at her side. And if she, after all that had been revealed to her, could still trust him then perhaps he could still have trust in himself.

He leaned forward, intent on kissing her forehead and waking her, but he paused, taking in her carefree and easy expression. It couldn't hurt to let her have a lie in. Quietly he climbed to his feet, pulling on the sleeveless blue tunic and reaching for his trousers. He looked down at his leg before pulling them on, and was disappointed to find that the red vein of infection had spread down past his knees and, pulling back his top, up past his naval. Yet, in spite of how bad the wound looked, he didn't feel nearly as much pain as he had done and, figuring perhaps this was a good sign and not wanting to disturb Katara, he covered the signs with his clothing. He could get a healing session later. He cast one final glance back at her sleeping form before slipping out the door.

Seeing all the destruction he had caused in the fresh new light of day hit him like a punch to the gut, and he reeled at the red mist that still stained the white marble walls and broken stumps that remained of the trees he'd destroyed. The wandering, trapped souls visible under the purple sky were no longer there to see, but s shiver ran down his spine as he found himself wondering whether they were still there, still lost, just invisible until night name. Taking a deep breath, he walked forward, his bare feet making contact with the first stone of the circular courtyard, looking around for any sign of the past Avatar. As his eyes scoped the scene, they fell upon a small, brightly coloured mass of feathers, and his heart sunk. Being raised a vegetarian, he had never even eaten an animal, let alone killed one, and the guilt and sorrow he felt came with a wave of sickness that left him feeling light headed. He walked forward, sad eyes looking down at the poor body of the the bird that had been caught in the Avatar's destruction. Quietly he scanned a soil bed upon which the flowers still grew, life that had been fortunate to survive his reach, and carefully he scooped up and carried what remained of the bird over. Dropping to his knees, placing the body beside him, he began to dig a small hole with his hands.

"What are you doing?"

He started, looking back over his shoulder to see Sansetsu, lounging on the edge of the fountain and frowning at him.

"I'm burying it," Aang responded, before turning back to his work.

"No, I mean, why aren't you bending the soil?"

Aang chose not to answer, instead picking up the bird and placing it in it's grave, gently filling in the hole on top of it. He closed his eyes, uttering quietly to himself with his palm pressed against the small mound, before standing and looking back at the old Avatar.

"Some things you have to do with your hands, I guess," he said quietly, before brushing the soil from his palms. The past Avatar eyes him curiously for a moment, before shrugging.

"I thought about what you said," Aang continued, looking back at the Avatar. "Last night, about avoiding the reality of it all, about needing to fight ..." Sansetsu raised his brow in interest, and Aang took a deep breath. "I've decided I'm going to fight him. Tonrar. And get control of the Avatar State back."

"Good," Sansetsu said with a nod. Emboldened, Aang continued.

"But I have one condition, Sansetsu."

"You do, do you?"

"If you're going to have me go back into the Avatar State, then Katara can't be anywhere near me when it happens. She needs to stay safe. You got that?"

A small smirk came to Sansetsu's face, but he nodded. "Done. Anything else?"

"No."

The past Avatar clapped his hands together, standing from his position against the fountain. "I think that's the smartest thing I've heard you say yet."

Aang couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes, but he was not expecting Sansetsu to have changed overnight.

"So, how do we start?" he asked, stepping forward to meet Sansetsu in the center of the courtyard. The past Avatar looked up him and down, his harrying gaze lingering on Aang's bare arms before turning his focus back to his face.

"Do you remember your airbender training?" Aang nodded. "At the very beginning we are taught the importance of having a strong, solid core, both in a mental and physical sense. Mentally, let's be honest, you're all over the damn place. And physically? You look like a light breeze could knock your feet out from beneath you." Aang frowned. "Until you work on regaining your strong core, your bending will be sloppy, unreliable, and weak, and whilst you haven't proper control over your bending there is no way you will be ready to attempt going into the Avatar State again."

"So, you want me to start from scratch?" Aang asked, incredulously.

"Yes," Sansetsu replied shortly. "When was the last time you practiced your bending?" Aang hesitated.

"Well, I haven't practiced for practice sake for a long time," he answered honestly, rubbing the back of head head. "But, I mean, I've used it ..."

"Congratulations," Sansetsu deadpanned, his wide jaw clenching irritably. "Then, yes, I want you to start from scratch." Aang held back a sigh. "As I'm sure you remember from your airbender training, a good mental core is far more valuable a base than a strong physical one, though neither should be ignored. But no matter how powerful your body is, if you don't have the mental discipline or aptitude then that power is wasted or, as we've seen, dangerous."

"Yeh, I remember."

"Then your first task is a simple one," Sansetsu replied. "I want you to meditate, each time the sun comes back after sky turns dark."

"Ok ..."

"Sun and darkness is unpredictable here. There was once a time where, consistently, there'd be twelve hours of sun followed by twelve hours of darkness, but since the worlds began to shift and distort, time here isn't really the same as it was. Sometimes you'll get twenty-four hours of sun, other times you'll get twenty-four minutes. But regardless of how little or how long a time you have to wait, I want you to meditate each and every time the sun comes up."

"For how long?" Aang asked.

"For as long as it takes you," the large airbender replied, his voice once again tipped with irritation. "Until you can consistently go into a meditative state at will I'm not helping you any further."

"Right, and what if that takes too long?"

"Then the world ends, chump." Sansetsu looked up at the sky, the sun still burning bright overheard. "So you best get cracking. Oh, and one more thing?"

Aang looked back at him.

"Shave that thing, will you?" he said, gesturing to Aang's mop of hair. "You're an airbender, aren't you?"

Aang's hand rose to his head distractedly, before Sansetsu once more disappeared from view.