Epilogue

Aang was in a fog-filled swamp. Roku appeared before him.

"Roku! I'm glad you're here. I want to talk to you about something." Aang said.

"What is it, Aang?" Roku asked, curious. After all, the current Avatar rarely came looking for him, at least not intentionally.

"I wanted to ask you about airbending. A friend of mine…he told me to ask you about airbending."

"Ah…and who is this friend?"

"He was…he's an airbender. His name was Avin."

"Well, your friend seems to know a bit more than he should. You see, Aang, though I do not know much about it myself, I do believe that the Air Council planned to limit your airbending prowess."

"What? I don't understand," Aang said.

"I'm sure your friend Avin would be able to provide you with more details on this, since most of it happened after my time. However, I can tell you this: To truly appreciate and understand airbending, you must be able to not only see it from the eyes of a student, but from the eyes of a teacher. Do this, and it will help you get stronger, one step closer to being able to defeat the Fire Lord."

"What? How am I supposed to do that?" Aang asked.

"If you try, I am sure you will find a way," Roku said, fading away.

"Hey, wait!" Aang shouted.

The young Avatar woke up, and looked around. It was still nighttime.

"Aghh…that was as vague as ever…" Aang said, as he fell back to sleep.

Somewhere along the coast of the Fire Nation

"Hey, Tiza, any luck?" Rizu asked.

"Nope." Tiza pulled on her fishing net impatiently. "I hate the slow season."

"I hate fishing, period!" Rizu said, pulling out a small cooking knife, "I can't wait until I'm old enough to become a Fire Nation soldier!" He brandished the knife, as though he were about to go into battle.

"Yeah, yeah, Admiral," the boy's sister said, "Sit down and tend to your net, huh?"

"Okay, okay…" Rizu sat down, and felt something pull at his net. "Hey, I think I got something! It feels huge!"

"Be careful, Rizu! It might be a lion-shark!" Tiza said worriedly, running over to her brother's side.

"Hey," Rizu said looking at the figure, "It's a person!"

"Oh, no! Quick, let's help him!" Tiza said, helping Rizu pull the boy onto the boat.

"What weird tattoos. Are those arrows?"

"They're not tattoos, Ri. Look, touch the skin. They're burns." Tiza said, scratching on Avin's left arm and watching a bit of skin fall away.

"Whoah...still, they're the coolest burns I've ever seen." Rizu exclaimed, "They look just like black arrows, like those guys we learned about in school...what were they called..."

"Airbenders," Tiza whispered in awe, as she pressed against his chest, checking his pulse, "Rizu, I think he's an airbender."

"Flamey-o!" Rizu exclaimed.

"What?" Tiza asked incredulously, looking over at her brother.

"I...I was trying it out..." Rizu said, "I heard a kid at school say it..."

"Well, don't," Tiza said, "Besides, this is serious! He's got a weak pulse, but he's still alive. Thank Agni," she said, as she took out some herbs from her bag. She crushed them into a powder, and rubbed the powder onto Avin's chest. "I can fix him, I think."

"See, we should so go into the army together, Tiza!" Rizu said, as he grabbed the rudder and steered them towards shore, "You're so good with medicine and stuff. With my warrior skills and you watching my back, we'd be unstoppable!"

"Listen, Rizu," Tiza said, determination etched in her voice, "No one can know about this airbender, okay? Even if I can make him better."

"How come, Ti?" Rizu asked.

"The Fire Nation doesn't like airbenders."

"What do you mean?" Rizu asked, confused.

"Look, I'll explain it later," Tiza said, exasperated, "Just promise me, no one can know about this airbender."

"Okay, okay," Rizu said.

A few days later

Hey...what's going on?

I'm hungry.

Airbender.

I thought we were done for...we were, weren't we?

I feel calm.

Avatar.

What's that light? I don't like it. It hurts.

Lighten up! I'm sure it's nothing.

Aang.

"Check it out, Tiza, he's waking up," a voice said.

What? Who's Tiza? And...who are you?

I think they've saved us.

Us? There's no one here.

Hey, where are you all going? Come back!

"Tsk, yeah..." a girl's voice rang out this time, "But it doesn't look like he's fully conscious yet. Give him some more of that powder, and we'll see if he can talk later."

"Got it," the boy said.

Avin felt something being rubbed on his chest, then on his forehead.

Hey...guys? What's wrong? Don't you like me anymore?

Avin was so confused. Where were all the voices?

I'm...alone...

But, it's weird. I don't feel sad. In fact, I feel happy.

"Nothing, huh?" the girl asked.

"Well, he's moving around more, and his injuries look a lot better, I think," the boy said.

"He's going to be okay. Hey, can you talk yet?" the girl said, touching Avin's head. "His fever's down. That's good."

"I...where am I?" the airbender asked. His eyesight was blurred. He was able to discern that he was in a small room, however.

"Don't worry, you're among friends. You were in really bad shape, but we helped you get better. Now, I need you to answer my questions. What is your name?" The girl asked, taking on a businesslike tone.

The airbender sat up, and struggled to recall. "My name is...my name..." he looked up. "I...I don't remember. I don't remember anything!"

The girl scribbled some notes on a piece of paper, and said, "Don't worry, it's okay. Listen, I'm going to need you to go to sleep again, okay? When you wake up we'll talk some more."

"Alright." The boy said, as he lied down. The girl rubbed some powder on his face, and the airbender suddenly felt drowsy.

As he fell asleep, he heard the girl speak again: "Well, he has been heavily sedated, to ease the pain. I wonder if his amnesia is a side effect of the powder we used, or...?"

"In any case, he needs a name." The boy said.

"Yeah, I read about airbenders and found some good names, in case something like this happened." The girl said.

The last thing the airbender heard before he fell asleep was the girl.

"We'll name him Kalden."