Notes: To all the kind comments posted, thank you! Sometimes I just don't know if I'm doing it right, but as long as someone enjoys the story, that's what counts to me. Thank you, everyone!

Aang considered his options as the Dark Avatar watched him. He could retreat, but that implied fear. He couldn't afford to be afraid anymore. His precious people needed his protection.

He could attack, but he knew his powers were still weaker than his opponent's, even though he recovered much of his strength.

He could wait and see what the other did, but Aang hated idleness. He needed to move.

So that left him with one option. With slow, deliberate steps, Aang followed the glow of the tree's roots, bright and alive even in the dark region. Aang wondered at the meaning, but decided it wasn't worth his time to think of this significance. The Dark Avatar began to move.

Where light met darkness, the two met, staring at each other.

"I won't let you win," Aang said, knowing the words seemed clichéd, but also realizing they were the truth. "You and Ozai and whoever else…I'll stop all of you."

The Dark Avatar sneered, his face twisting. "Oh, and how do you plan to do that? Kill us?"

"I won't kill. I've defeated Ozai before…"

"And see where that's got you."

Aang's mouth snapped shut, his heart starting to beat faster.

"Now you feel the guilt? That's right, Avatar. If you had killed Ozai beforehand, this wouldn't've happened. He wouldn't be trying to kill you and your precious Zuko, and Zhao would not be after you. This is your fault."

The words stung, because a part of Aang thought they were true. He took a step backwards.

"I won't kill…"

The darkness seemed to seep slowly around him, crawling like bugs to cover the land. All the light seemed to become absorbed by the Dark Avatar, his skin glowing like a small sun, except for his eyes that remained black.

"It's your fault, and they will all die."

"No!" He yelled. The Avatar lifted his hand, lightening dancing along his fingers.

Several things seemed to happen so quickly that Aang's consciousness did not immediately catch their significance. They were too close together, and he knew he would be hit. It did not matter they were in this world in-between living and dead; if he were hurt here, he would be somehow hurt when he revived.

His mind screamed, 'stop!', and everything did, for just a second. He twisted his body to the side, and then the blast crackled past him, and the Dark Avatar seemed surprised. Aang didn't think, but he knew he had to escape now. His scream of defiance came with a huge gust of air, hitting the Dark Avatar and blowing him backwards. Darkness drifted like leaves away from him.

Aang didn't stop. He turned and fled, guilt chewing his insides. The tree loomed above him, it's branches shielding the precious lives of his friends. The words echoed in his head: "your fault…"

Aang's frustration exploded, and he screamed.

He was aware of several things as consciousness slammed into him. First came the hiss from someone in pain, and as Aang sat up, he saw Zuko holding his fingers. More worrisome were the sudden sounds of people near them, and it wasn't the water tribe, by the way they kept cursing the land.

Appa bellowed, several of the pirates hesitating as the creature showed the size of his mouth. Toph appeared to be concentrating, her head tilted to the side as if listening. And Katara…

Aang blinked several times, his eyes seeing but his mind slower in understanding. Below her feet, the ground froze. She looked entirely white with hints of blue. As one pirate attacked her, she swiftly moved to the side, grabbed the man's arm, and froze him.

"We have to get out of here," Zuko said, tugging Aang to stand before he unsheathed his twin blades.

"Aang!" Katara screamed.

Reflexes kicked in, as the two arrows zoomed towards him. The accuracy made him think that Yu Yan archers had joined with Zhao, but the thought at the moment was fleeting. What he imagined were the arrows stopping.

Aang could only describe the sensation like a hiccup. Just for a few seconds, the arrows seemed to stand in midair, though everything around him continued to move, and then they shot by him, hitting the tree.

Katara's wide eyes stared at him. They had no time to talk, however. They wove their way through swords and arrows, making their way towards Appa, who fought with teeth and feet.

Adrenaline surged through his veins as the pirates tried to prevent them from getting away. Aang stayed on the ground, using air and time to divert arrows and attackers away.

"Go!" Aang commanded Appa.

"Aang!" Zuko called even as Appa obeyed his master, crashing through trees to get to the air.

Aang turned and fled, jumping from branch to branch, only turning when an attack came their way. He followed Appa upwards, until the bison finally broke free. No tornado stopped them this time.

He leapt, and Zuko grabbed his hands, pulling him up.

"You stupid asshole!" Toph snarled as Zuko finally managed to pull him up. "What the hell were you thinking? What if you missed? What if Zuko didn't manage to pull you up?"

The adrenaline finally began to subside, and before Toph could say another word, Aang lost consciousness.

He woke up to the feel of cold air around him, and the light of the moon. When he sat up, he noticed that nobody slept, though apparently it was night.

"Did I…pass out?" he asked rhetorically.

"You did," said Katara, now looking normal.

Aang scratched the back of his head. "Was I dreaming, or did you…?"

"How about we start from the beginning?" said Zuko. "I went to wake you up, and you were burning, angry…I could feel it. When I touched you…"

"Your fingers! Are they okay?"

A small smile tugged at Zuko's lips. "Katara healed them. They're fine."

"But Katara…."

Katara shook her head. "Don't ask me to explain it, because I'm not sure if I really understand it myself. It's about something Hahn mentioned in a letter…it's like…I forced everything to keep working, but to still lower all the temperature of my body."

"You were ice!" said Toph. "I could feel you were different!"

Aang simply sat there, trying to figure out how such things could work, then decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Katara nodded once.

"But why were you angry even before the pirates attacked?" Toph asked Aang.

Aang sighed. "I fell asleep, and…it was like I was Spirit Walking…I passed by Katara…"

Her eyes widened, and Katara said, "I thought I felt something go by! It was you!"

He was stunned to silence for a few seconds. He indeed had thought for a moment she saw him, but dismissed the notion earlier. Aang looked at Zuko.

Zuko's eyes were narrowed, and his lips pressed tightly together. Aang felt a shiver travel along his spin at the suddenly cold look he received.

"A-anyway," he stuttered, the sudden shift in Zuko's mood causing Aang's train of thought to derail, "I passed by, but it wasn't like the Spirit Realm at all. That realm parallels ours, and this didn't. It was a dream, I'm sure, but I saw the Dark Avatar there, and he…"

Here, he paused, unable to continue. The guilt crashed back onto him.

"What did he do?" asked Toph.

But Aang shook his head, unable to form the words. Even in his mind, they sounded stupid, but he could not shake the belief that everything could have been different, that all that happened to him now was completely deserved.

"When we were attacked, it almost seemed like…you stopped time for just a second," said Katara.

Aang sighed. "I think so. I guess that's what the Water Spirit showed me."

"Time and water," said Zuko, remembering the dreams he had.

This time, Aang's stared blankly at Zuko. He thought he had felt him when he talked with Ren, but wasn't sure at the time.

"Okay, all this voodoo talk's giving me a headache," said Toph at last. "Can we just get some rest and talk in the morning?"

Katara nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

Silently, they lay down, each lost in their own thoughts.

Aang eventually gave up attempting to sleep. Apparently losing consciousness after the fight gave him back the energy he needed.

He felt and heard Zuko sit beside him before he fully turned to look at him.

"I love you," Aang said before Zuko could even open his mouth.

Zuko blinked a few times, before he smiled, his whole body relaxing.

"I know, Aang. I'm sorry about earlier…it was stupid…"

"You were jealous, weren't you? When Katara and I talked about my dream…or walk…whatever it was…"

"Yeah," Zuko admitted, his face flushing. "Can we not talk about it right now? I just want to sit with you."

Aang smiled. He knew later they would have to talk, maybe even argue, about this jealousy. He simply did not wish to break the small calm they had at the moment.

Nonetheless, he could not stop the soft words that passed his lips: "We have to stop it now."

He had a destination in mind, and gently guided Appa in the right direction, Zuko silently leaning against him.