This chapter is shorter than the behemoth ones surrounding it. That's because it's gone back to the format of before and because I couldn't exactly find the drive to write much, considering my mother died one day after I updated last.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

Chapter Thirty-six

Kian wasn't exactly how she expected Anil to look and sound like when she saw him again. When they reached Shintashi, she knew it was him, though. When he had told her that she was late, it took her a while to remember what she was late for.

They were supposed to learn airbending together.

"You look…older." Anil said to her and led her through the streets of Shintashi. Katara and the others were back at the house with Anandi and Ursa. Ipitok was away in another part of the city, probably in a bookstore. "But I guess it's been a long time."

"Yeah," She said to him and grinned. "So do you."

That was true. Anil was just a tad bit taller than her now, and his black hair was cut short. He was thin and gangly, his gait somewhere between relaxed and nervous. She looked at his eyes and saw that they were bright and almost like her own.

The familiar flutters leaped into her chest and Kian smiled softly to herself.

Anil turned to face her fully. "You've really missed a lot," he said to her. "There are new shops and they made the school bigger because there are more people. I have a job, too. I work at a bookstore to help my mom and Ursa out, you know?"

"Oh," Kian said and she wondered if Ipitok would take up a similar job. "I was never that good at reading, not like you or Ipitok." She shrugged. "But I've been throughout the Earth Kingdom and I went to the Fire Nation. We just came back from seeing the Fire Lord."

Her friend's eyes widened. "You mean…you went to go see the Fire Lord?! But I thought she was crazy. How did you get close enough to not be blasted away?"

"She's not that crazy," Kian told him and her mind traveled back to a time when she was in an underground, glowing green cavern. "She knew my past life."

"I'm not surprised about that," Anil replied and shrugged. "I bet a lot of people did, considering he died only fifteen years ago." He looked at her and winced at his blunt words. "Sorry about that."

Kian cleared her throat. "You know, Azula killed my past life, back in Ba Sing Se. Then, Katara brought him back to life. The funny thing is, the Phoenix King killed him again during Sozin's Comet and that time he died permanently." She clenched her fists at the memory of cowering at Azula's feet, plagued at the revelation. "She taught me the basics of bending lightning."

Anil blinked at that. "That sounds…amazing." He looked at her, at her hands as if lightning would erupt from them right then and there. "What if you can combine airbending and lightning-bending at the same time? There's no way the Phoenix King could withstand that!"

"But I can't airbend." She told reminded him.

"Well, me neither. I can a little, but not very much. That's why we're going to learn together. Then you can blast the Phoenix King over a cliff," Anil smiled cheekily, "Imagine his face when he realizes that he's been defeated by airbending!"

"You don't even know what the Phoenix King looks like," Kian argued. She tried to imagine an aged version of the man in Aang's memories. She supposed that he looked like Zuko in a way, but the Phoenix King's very being seemed to emanate evil. Zuko was different. Zuko radiated a different feeling; his presence was softer and calmer.

Anil shrugged and grabbed her wrist. "There's a craft shop down here, they have some pretty cool stuff." He tugged her forward and Kian allowed him to guide her across the street. "There's just so much that you've missed, Kian!"

She smiled softly. "I know."

"Kian just needs to learn airbending now, and to master the Avatar State." Ursa said, looking at Katara. For a moment, Katara had forgotten that the woman was a member of the White Lotus. She was just as involved in the defeat of Ozai as they were. "And then we begin." The Fire Nation woman smiled softly, "She's become such a big girl."

"It's been a long time," Zuko said before Katara could speak, and she could see the adoration of his mother in his eyes. It sent a sharp pang through her chest, seeing him and his mother and she was reminded that she would never have that, except in her dreams.

Kian wouldn't either.

"Have you heard from Uncle and the White Lotus?" Zuko asked and Katara dragged herself from her thoughts, turning her attention to the firebender and his mother. "Any changes? How is Uncle? Did he come through here lately?"

Ursa's eyes widened and then she laughed. Katara thought that Azula would look like her mother when she was older, but her eyes wouldn't be as soft. She wondered if Ursa knew that Azula had switched sides and had agreed to teach Kian lightning bending. "Nothing directly from him," Ursa said, "But connections say that there are camps gathering in the north. The Northern Water Tribe warriors have joined up with us."

Kajika. Katara swallowed hard at the memory of the woman. She had saved her people at the sacrifice of her own life. Then, Katara thought about the firebenders in the Northern Water Tribe that had switched sides and fought with the waterbenders. It seemed that the firebenders had integrated into the other nations as well. Now, there were firebenders fighting other firebenders as well as earthbenders and waterbenders.

"So, we can expect to have an army raised by next summer?" Katara asked as Anandi entered the room, followed by Suki and Sokka. "Once Kian and Anil learn to airbend?"

Zuko's mother laughed once more, "Before then. All thanks to you. Those that you've touched in the past are returning the favor."

"Victory, woo-hoo!" Sokka exclaimed and punched the air. "Kian will be ready before then, won't she, Katara?"

Katara paused for a moment, twirling her thumbs around each other. Zuko turned his gaze onto her and the waterbending woman cleared her throat. "Well…I know she'll be ready by the time she's sixteen. But I don't want to push her. She doesn't have a traditional airbending teacher, she'll have to learn how to airbend differently."

"The Avatar is strong," Ursa replied, "I know that for a fact."

"Kian," Anil said wearily, looking up at the beast before him. "Are you sure it's not going to bite me?"

The young Avatar laughed and grabbed Taji by her neck. "Of course she's not! Taji's a good girl." She rubbed the animal's flank lovingly and looked at Anil. "Go ahead and touch her, Anil, she's not going to hurt you. I promise."

Anil looked at Kian and then back at Taji, his fingers twitching. He pressed his palm against Taji's nose and Kian grinned. Taji pressed her face furthering into his palm and Anil relaxed, a smile spreading across his lips. "She's not as vicious as she looked when you first came in. You guys looked dangerous!"

Kian smirked at the airbender. "Maybe we are."

"Now don't turn into an evil Avatar, Kian. I don't think the world could handle it."

The Water Tribe girl's lips tilted down in the beginnings of a scowl. I'm trying to avoid making mistakes as the Avatar. The world can't afford any more of those. "I'm trying to be the good kind, you know." She looked towards the porch as the door opened. Zuko and Ipitok emerged from the house.

"Remember, be casual," Ipitok said as he sat down on the steps. "Don't come on too strongly!"

Kian narrowed her eyes, sending a harmless burst of flame at her brother. It had become his source of amusement to tease her, listing off rules on how to find a suitable partner. Ipitok laughed as Zuko moved around him, approaching the younger teenagers.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the fire whip slicing the air. The girl ducked and Anil scrambled back onto the porch. Throwing a glare at Zuko, she glanced at the young airbender. She felt a spark of anger surge through her, even though she knew that Zuko would never harm one her friends.

"Kian!" Zuko snapped and she looked back at him. "Concentrate!" He stood above her, shaking his head. Kian studied his face, deciding that he wasn't angry at her absentmindedness, just disappointed. He stepped back when she rolled her shoulders and straightened, smiling softly. "Ready to spar?"

The young Avatar smirked and let flames spark at her fingertips. "Oh, of course," she said and took a half-step back, shifting her weight onto her left leg. She didn't waste any time lunging at the older firebender, throwing a blast of fire at him. It was a wild shot and flew over his head, dissipating in the air near the porch, where Ipitok and Anil watched.

Zuko wasted no time with warm ups, though, and launched a kick that sent a wave of fire spurting from his foot. He took a half-step back, thrusting his right fist forward. From over the flames, Kian could see that he was smiling softly.

Kian brought her hands together in an apex before her, parting the flames as they came. "You know, Zuko, that flame was a little weak! Maybe the next one will be better!"

A barrage of golden flames came at her and Kian ducked, weaving around the fireballs. Part of her wanted to show off for Anil, who had probably never seen firebending up close. The other half wanted to win, wanted to prove that she was a formidable force. That she was a good Avatar.

Kian realized that she hated to lose.

She realized she couldn't lose.

"Promise me one thing, make the Phoenix King know who taught you that."

Kian inhaled deeply and planted her feet in the ground.

There is positive and negative energy shifting around us as we speak.

A firebender can pull apart that energy and guide it. It makes lightning.

Kian paused and closed her eyes, honing in on the boundless energy around her. She moved her arms in a circular motion, pulling apart the energies and bringing her palms together, her fingers extended outward. The electricity crackled along her veins, threatening to spill over and-

It was suddenly torn from her grasp.

Zuko passed the lightning through his fingertips and raised his hands upward, causing it to arc into the sky and explode. He looked at Kian and the Avatar dropped her hands. "Azula didn't teach you how to redirect lightning, did she?"

"Fire Lord Azula only taught me the basics," Kian said and she felt Ipitok's gaze on her.

"You're going to have to know more than the basics," Zuko said quietly, so quiet that Kian barely heard them. The look he gave her was hard and Kian winced a little. "Ozai knows how to bend lightning as well, I've seen it myself. He's fast and powerful. You'll have to be faster, and you'll have to know how to redirect lightning back at him. Until then, you won't be ready."

The Avatar paused, her fingers still twitching from the last remnants of the wild energy. She took a full step backwards and pressed her right fist into the open palm of her other hand. She dipped forward at the waist and looked up at the older firebender. "Of course, sifu, teach me."

Ipitok scrambled to his feet and stood on the porch, his arms crossed. "Now this," he said and nudged Anil, "This is something we better watch!"

Kian wrinkled her nose at her brother and released the breath she had been holding. She turned to fully face Zuko, who had his arms crossed in front of his chest. "I'm ready," she said and raised her arms.

The firebender relaxed and fell into a more natural stance. "Uncle taught me this. One wrong move can kill you." He looked sharply at her. "I have a scar from when I fought Azula during Sozin's Comet, I made a false move." He swallowed, "I was desperate and Azula was insane. If it hadn't been for Katara healing me…"

"I can't rely on that," Kian said and Zuko nodded. She couldn't imagine Azula when she had been crazy, even though she knew it was true. In a way, she admired the Fire Lord. "I can't rely on anyone else except myself when I'm fighting Ozai."

"My uncle said that the lightning travels throughout your fingertips and you guide it through your stomach- not your chest. You pass it through your other arm." Zuko extended both of his arms and slowly moved his arm towards his stomach. "If lightning's coming at you, you'll have to be a lot faster."

Kian nodded and copied his movements, breathing slowly as she did so. She could almost feel the energy channeling through her, stirring the chi in her stomach and passing through her other fingers. She closed her eyes, forming the move again and becoming surer of her actions. Through the stomach, not the heart. She couldn't imagine the excruciating pain that would follow, but then the back of her mind tingled.

The sky was red and there was blue lightning streaking towards her. She was scared, suddenly, but she remembered what she had been taught. She raised both hands in front of her and caught the lightning between her fingertips, feeling it spread along her skin and raise every hair. She gasped as the pain that spread through her limbs and pushed the electricity back out, falling onto the ground.

Aang's memories.

There would be no-one to save her. No second chances.

Ozai liked to think that at some point, the powers of the Universe bent to his will. It was his world, the world he had envisioned and created. There was rebellion, but that was to be expected. It was nothing he couldn't handle, nothing that he couldn't control.

Then, at some point, the Universe began to fight back.

The rebellious parties were gathering in the west. He allowed them to, because it had been a long time since he had a decent fight. In time, when he was ready, he would attack. The Avatar was coming to him, and in time she- for he knew it was a woman- would keel over and bow before him in defeat.

So would Azula, because it was Azula that he thought he could trust. Now, she had joined her mother and her brother in the fight against him. It was a turn of events he hadn't expected, he hadn't expected that Azula wouldn't stand up against him.

But it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Kian wiped the sweat from her brow and raised her arms above her head, clenching her fingers and guiding the water from her canteen around her head. She swept it in a set of wickedly sharp ice blades that lodged themselves in the tree just in front of her.

Earth. She thought and slammed her bare foot into the ground, feeling the reverberations of the earth soar up through her leg and along her spine to her eyes. She twisted her foot and raised her hands, pulling the earth around her up. Exhaling quickly, she launched the rocks at the tree and smirked when they hit their mark.

Then fire. Slowing just long enough to inhale, Kian formed a ball of fire in both of her hands. She lashed out with one and then the other, watching as they dissipated into the air.

"Slow down, Avatar!" Ipitok said, stepping down the porch. He looked up at the sky, wrinkling his nose and looked back at her. "You know," he said, "It's getting kind of late. You've already missed dinner, you know and I know how you like to eat."

Kian put both hands on her hips and gasped for breath, glancing up at the sky. It was turning dark, the last rays of sunlight sinking below the trees. She pushed a few straying pieces of hair out of her eyes and looked back at Ipitok. "Who sent you out here? Katara? Or was it Suki?"

Her brother blinked once, slowly, and shrugged. "No one, I sent myself. It's late, you know, and you're overworking yourself. You've been out here by yourself for hours, Kian. Even Zuko went in before you." His gaze traveled to the mutilated tree just over her shoulder. "That tree needs a break."

"I'm fine," The young Avatar argued and turned back to the tree. "I'll be in a minute."

Ipitok cleared his throat and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around so she was facing him fully. "Look, Kian, I know you want to be the best Avatar ever, but you need to take a break. There'll be time to train tomorrow, I promise."

She dropped her shoulders and allowed Ipitok to guide her to the porch. He looked at her and smiled softly. "I'm still an Equalist, you know. The movement's really changed, though; it's actually about equality and peace now." His blue eyes searched her for a moment and he frowned. "Kian, just tell me what it is that's bothering you."

"I won't be ready," Kian said softly and sat down on the porch, pressing her face into the palms of her hands. "I haven't even learned airbending yet! Next summer I'll be sixteen and I'll have to face the Phoenix King. He killed my past life, Ipitok, and he's probably gotten stronger!"

For a long time, Ipitok was silent. He looked at the grown and then looked up. "Aang had barely a year to learn all four elements and he was only twelve. Kian, you've known you're the Avatar since you were a kid and you have twice the support Aang had. I know you'll be ready. You have great teachers and you're talented, there's nothing to worry about."

"Ipitok, tell me about Mom and Dad." Kian met her brother's gaze.

The non-bender was the first to look away, glancing at the ground again. "I already told you, Kian, multiple times before. Our father was a warrior. Our mother died saving the Northern Water Tribe and then Katara and the others raised us. What else is there to know?"

Everything.

"Do you think I look like Mother?" Kian asked and Ipitok searched her face, his eyes growing distant as if he was trying to bring back a faded image of their mother. "I imagine that she was a lot prettier than me. That she'd make me look like I was the adopted child that came from a pack of polar dogs."

Ipitok snorted in laughter. "I would say that's pretty accurate, but it's not. I don't remember her face very well, but I imagine that you do look like her. You have the same eye shape and lips. I don't know, Kian, I was only three or four when she died. Maybe I've imagined everything about her. Maybe we can go back home and try to find some pictures of our parents."

"I don't really see the Northern Water Tribe as home," Kian said and lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

"Me neither," Ipitok said softly. "I don't think there's anything for me there, except for the histories of our parents. It's just the place we came from, you know?" He shrugged and leaned back against the step, putting his arms behind his head.

Kian looked up at the sky, which was a comforting shade of dark blue. The stars were just beginning to shine, glittering ever so subtly. She thought about what Ipitok had said that their father had been a Northern Water Tribe warrior and their mother had sacrificed her own life to save their tribe from the Fire Nation. "Do you think they'd be proud of me? Of us?"

They sat there in a deep silence for a while. Kian could hear her family moving around inside the house and she knew there would be a bowl of food left for her when she came back in. Her brother exhaled loudly. "I don't know," Ipitok said finally, and then rose and stretched, "That's something for you to decide for yourself."

"Yeah," Kian said softly, following his lead. "I guess so."

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