Author's note:

artsyelric: i'm glad most of you liked pathik. trombs and i felt like the turtle was kind of... odd and godlike in the show. we thought that in order for aang to reconnect to his past lives, and to prepare himself to have his chakra unblocked, the person he needed to talk to before his final battle was, of course, his mentor. as guru pathik has often shown an affiliation with extinct or mythical creatures, we thought this as good a place as any for him to make his reappearance. also, he can help aang with katara, which sets him up to unblock his chakra and get in the avatar state in his battle against sozin (while in cannon he just magically gets it fixed by crashing into a rock - say what?)

Trombe: Ok readers this is two chapters in the span of a week. Hopefully this can satisfy most of you till the next one. Oh and considering the Fire Nation capital was never named (For reasons I don't know why, way to go bryke) we decided to come out with a name of out own. Loosely translated in mandarin as the city of dawn or morning Li Ming Dhu Shi is now the name of the Fire Nation Capital. Hope you guys agree with our choice here. If not...well its my story so meh.


What I Don't Like About You

Chapter 50: Destiny


"My friends and allies," Iroh addressed the gathered warriors around him. "We have only two days left until Sozin's Comet arrives. At this time the day after tomorrow, a great fireball will light up the sky, and Ozai and his forces will receive the blessings of the sun unlike the world has ever seen before." He paused to let his next sentence sink in with the gathered warriors. "As will those firebenders who stand with us, with the White Lotus! We have known of the Fire Lord's intention to attack the Earth Kingdom on this day for some time now..." Katara noticed people around her nodding strictly along with Iroh. "What many of you do not know is that last night the Avatar's teachers arrived here in our camp."

"Then we'll be starting the march at dawn?" a hopeful earthbender in Ba Sing Se robes asked.

"Yes," Iroh confirmed. "But they also have other news for us, something we did not expect. Zuko, my nephew, please share with everyone what you know."

Zuko glanced sideways at Katara, and rubbed his arm nervously before standing. "Um... Hello." He shrugged halfheartedly, then straightened a bit. "I guess you'll all know by now that I have been traveling with the Avatar for the past month, serving as his firebending teacher. Well, shortly after hearing of my father's intention to burn the Earth Kingdom, Aang... disappeared."

Startled muttering broke out around the onlookers. Jeong Jeong shook his head sadly, and one waterbender even looked near to tears. Zuko lifted a hand, requesting their attention again, but before everyone grew quiet, another voice rose above the crowd. "What do you mean disappeared?" a stocky female earthbender demanded. "Was he kidnapped?"

Zuko's jaw tightened. "No."

"He's dead then?" the teary-eyed waterbender suggested.

Zuko's jaw set firmly. "I don't think so."

"You don't think so?" the first woman gasped, causing more talking to break out again.

Zuko frowned, but Bumi stepped forward, his voice cutting over all of them. "Everyone!" the mad old king interrupted, sounding far less mad than usual. "Perhaps you should hear the circumstances concerning this matter before reaching unfounded conclusions." The grumbling died out, and Bumi glanced towards Zuko.

The prince, however, shook his head. "Actually, I think the circumstances part would be best told to you by Sokka." Sokka stiffened, blinked stupidly, then coughed and stood, obviously both surprised and pleased to be called on. He opened his mouth wide to start speaking, but Zuko placed a hand on his shoulder. "Keep it brief, my friend." Sokka wilted slightly, but nodded.

"Right, so..." He swallowed once, then launched straight into the explanation. "Basically, all of us were hiding out on an island in the Fire Nation, training. Called Ember Island," Sokka reported dutifully, if not quite chronologically. He recalled his place, using his hands to help demonstrate, almost effectively. "One evening, a few nights ago, Aang went to sleep on the balcony. The next day, when we woke up, he was missing, along with his pet lemur, but not Appa - the bison - or his glider. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of us heard any noise either. There was no note, nothing to show how or why he left. The only clue," here Sokka dropped his voice melodramatically, "were the foot prints he left, leading from the balcony... straight into the ocean." A few people frowned curiously. Sokka dropped the fake voice. "There they just fade into the water, and that's it. Nothing else." He shrugged as an ending.

"So, he ran away?" a gruff looking Fire Nation man concluded.

"That is a possibility." Sokka nodded, as Toph's face went scarlet in anger. "However, I don't think it's likely. If Aang did leave - and he has run away before on a very few occasions - he has never left either Appa or his glider, both of which are still in our possession, along with all his changes of clothes, and his Fire Nation disguise. If he did run away, he wouldn't get very far with that giant blue arrow and Air Nomad garb. But there was no sign of him anywhere on the island, and no island near enough to swim to, even for Aang."

"He couldn't have been gone longer a few hours if you discovered his absence first thing in the morning," Bumi pointed out. "How far could he have gotten? Couldn't you catch him on Appa?" He squinted at the beast as if he found it hard to see the giant bison.

"We looked," Sokka insisted. "He's completely gone."

The unhappy mutters started again, but this time tinged with fear. "You said he's run away before?" a young earthbender asked dubiously. "How can that be? He's the Avatar, right?"

"This is just like last time," an old man snarled. "Just when the world needed him most, the Avatar vanished for a hundred years. Who knows how long he'll be gone for this time? The coward."

"Stop it!" Toph shouted, standing suddenly. "Stop it all of you! Aang didn't run away, okay? So stop acting like he did."

"Tell that to my grandchildren, a hundred years from now," the old earthbender muttered quietly, but not too quiet for Toph's great hearing.

"You," she barked, finger rising to his side to point straight at his chest, blind eyes staring the wrong way completely. "You... you just shut up, or I'll pound some sense into you myself!"

"And will that bring the Avatar back, little girl?" the Fire Nation soldier asked.

Toph snarled and stepped towards him angrily, but Zuko reached out and caught her shoulder, holding her back. Effectively stopped her her tracks she shifted immediately to a new approach. Instead of charging the man, she just drew herself up, somehow making her minimal height seem greater than it was, and glared down at his knees from beneath her bangs. The look was impressive, and would have been more so had she been able to accurately meet his eyes. "I chose to believe in Aang," she said simply. "I won't stand by while a bunch of scared little people insult him! He is my student. He will come."

Every was silent for a moment after the noble declaration. Bumi snickered slightly, though it didn't sound mocking, but most eyes stayed on Toph. "And if he doesn't?" the weeping bender whispered into the quiet.

Toph blinked, but found herself unable to respond angrily the frightened question. Zuko squeezed her shoulder and glanced sideways at Katara. She shook her head and looked down at her knees, but he cleared his throat slightly. "A little help here?" he requested under his breath.

Katara sighed, then inhaled deeply, and stood. She touched Toph's arm too and the girl relaxed slightly, stepping back behind Zuko with a forced, but confident smirk on her face. Katara hesitated though. She knew what they wanted. The passionate 'I believe in Aang' speeches she was always able to whip up. But now... She was confused. She didn't know where Aang was either, or why he had disappeared. The guilt she felt over his absence was always alive within her, now more than ever. And she was scared, as scared of any of these people. She had put all her faith in Aang, in the knowledge that he could and would beat the Fire Lord, but without him... Without Aang...

Sokka waved impatiently at her, and the weight of all the eyes in the clearing pressed in on her. To her left Iroh tilted his head curiously, and Katara wet her lips, but the words didn't come. Behind her, Zuko took a step as if to reach out and comfort her, or maybe draw her back, but stopped short, as if unable to continue. Katara felt somewhat broken. She couldn't do her job.

And then, suddenly, Suki was by her side. "I believe in Aang," she said simply. "Not just the Avatar, but in Aang. I think, when we get to the fight, he will be there; he will save us! But whether or not the Avatar is there," she added quietly, turning her head towards Katara, "I believe in myself, and my warriors, and my friends." She smiled. "Right, Katara?"

Her mouth unstuck. Air filled her lungs, and words filled her heart as her future sister's eyes held hers. She knew what she believed in. And she knew what to say. "That's right," she agreed, firmly, confidence and passion filling her voice instantly. "Suki is right. Yes, the Avatar is the person who is to keep balance between our lands, and yes, we need him. But as much as we need the Avatar, so we are needed as well.

"The Avatar is a person, a spirit, that exists among us humans, to help us, to protect us. But what happens to this world is not dictated or controlled by the Avatar. It has never been. What happens to our world, to each of us, is our own responsibilities. We hold the power to change our own destinies." Behind her Zuko stiffened proudly as he recognized his own lessons in her speech. "That is why you are all here, each and every one of you; to make this world into a place you believe in. You are here to fight for your own freedom, for your own beliefs. So don't stand there and complain, or pray for a miracle. Don't wait for the Avatar. Believe in him, yes, but also believe in yourselves. Believe in us.

"Today is the day it all begins - right here, right now. With the courage in each of our hearts. We are a force to be reckoned with. Maybe none of us have the power of all four elements that the Avatar possess, but there are men and women here from every land, every tribe across this earth, and gathered together, we are stronger than any one man - even Ozai! Today we are here not to quiver in fear, but to decide our own futures, and to fight for them.

"When this meeting goes down in history, how will we want to be remembered? As men and women who doubted? Or as people who stood up and seized their own futures? As heroes." Katara turned her full gaze upon the people, her shoulders drawing up proudly as she reached her conclusion, one it had taken her an rough adventure of her own to discover. "I, for one, will fight to my last breath. Not for the Avatar, not for revenge or hatred, but for myself. For Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation fears the Avatar, but in forty-eight hours, I want them to look upon me and fear the waterbender, Katara, too!" Beside her, Suki swelled, her own visage growing both more beautiful, and more frightening as Katara's words swept through both her friends, and the onlookers.

"As I am sure they will," Iroh whispered when Katara stopped. He smiled at her fondly, and it filled her with pride. "I see the Avatar has chosen his teachers well. This girl is right! What is, is. It has already happen and we cannot change it. What we can do is adapt, and work with what we have. What we have is a fighting army, every bit as good as the Fire Nation's. These girls here believe in the Avatar, but I believe in each and every one of you. You were all handpicked by myself and by our friends here. We are a force unlike any others that have crossed this world, and I believe that today we will all find our destinies. So I ask you, my friends, are you still with me?"

There was a half second of silence, broken abruptly by Bumi's snort of laughter, and then a stride forward from Jeong Jeong. "To the end," he declared.

"To the end!" Zuko agreed in a bellow, stepping forwards as well, his hand pulling Toph with him.

Katara was shocked to find his words, though brief, seemed far more moving than her own. Before she even thought, she felt her own feet moving forward, the desire to follow this man firmly planted in her mind. Suki and Sokka stepped next, and barely a half step behind a group of earthbenders rose and stepped forward too, together, like a great moving wall. Within moments every man had stood and done the same. The grumpy old man spat to the side and grinned around a few teeth. "Come on, General Iroh, did you think we would back out now?"

The old general smiled at the wizened man and clasped his hand. "I just said I believed in you, did I not?"

"Bah," the man spat again. "Idealistic old fool."

Iroh laughed and Jeong Jeong stepped forward and waved everyone to take their seats again. "It is time we nailed out our final plans," he announced, gesturing for the White Lotus Leaders and the Avatar party to sit together.

"Good job," Zuko whispered in Katara's ear as she sat down. "I knew you still had it in you."

She smiled and bumped him playfully. "You're really so happy to restore my faith in Aang?"

Zuko frowned, but got over it quickly enough. "I believe in him too," the prince stated simply. "And I'm happy when your happy. Plus," he added, his eyes glinting golden, "I like it when you talk like that. It makes men's blood boil."

Katara shivered and opened her mouth to answer, but Jeong Jeong beat her to it. "First, one more update, and this one a fair bit happier than the absence of our young Avatar." His mouth twisted strangely around the word 'happy' but he pushed forward anyway. "I would like to note that our mission at the Boiling Rock was a success. Thanks to our connections there, and the brave work of the men and women we sent, the prison has been destroyed, and all worthy prisoners released. A very large number were indeed warriors, and more were willing to take up weapons and join us upon their release. The seeds of revolution had already been laid for us. Apparently, a lot of the Fire Nation prisoners even wanted to join our side." Here he glanced sideways at the Avatar's group. "It seems they have made a flag of their own. They now claim to be in revolt, demanding that Prince Zuko be restored as the rightful heir to their throne. You have quite the following amongst the 'criminals', my boy."

Zuko flushed brightly, and nodded down towards his lap. Katara couldn't help it. Her hand reached out behind them and rested in the small of his back, squeezing him tightly for a moment, and he flushed brighter still.

Jeong Jeong frowned as if remembering something he didn't like before continuing. "I am afraid to announce that the flag was actually made by one of the men we sent to help break into the prison and free everyone, an old follower of mine, Chey. However a great many have taken to his way of thinking - including the princess' old teammates."

"Mai and Ty Lee?" Zuko asked, his voice a whisper. "They're safe?"

"According to the messenger hawk I received this morning," Jeong Jeong nodded, "yes. And ready to fight again; this time for us."

There was a small cheer from various benders in their circle, most of whom Katara figured had at one point or another had their bending blocked by Ty Lee's nimble fingers and were glad not to have to face that on the day of Sozin's Comet. Beside her Zuko sighed heavily, and Katara felt a huge amount of stress pour out of his body like steam from a kettle. His back slumped beneath her hand, then his shoulders squared and he smiled sternly. "A good thing," he said firmly, and his uncle caught his eye and nodded.

"A very good thing indeed," the man agreed. "Will the Blue Wolf and his men be able to join us in Ba Sing Se?"

Jeong Jeong shook his head as Katara's breath caught in her throat. "Unfortunately, no. They are at least a three day journey from Ba Sing Se, even if they don't stop to rest, so they will be no good there. However, they are sailing west and waiting for my return hawk with orders."

"Very good," Iroh nodded.

"Wait!" Sokka cut in rudely. "The Blue Wolf?"

"Ah yes," Iroh remembered, rubbing his jaw. "Your father, right?" Both Sokka and Katara nodded enthusiastically. "He led the force that has been breaking into prisons and gathering forces. I believe he has rescued most of those we lost during the raid on the Day of Black Sun."

"Way to go, Dad," Sokka whispered, and Katara nodded, finding her brother's hand silently.

"Hold on," Zuko interrupted again, lifting a hand. "You're going to Ba Sing Se?" His uncle nodded. "But what about the Fire Lord? What about Li Ming Dhu Shi?"

"That is not where we are needed, my nephew," Uncle stated calmly. "Our destiny lies in Ba Sing Se. I can feel it in my bones."

"No," Zuko protested. "We have to go to Li Ming Dhu Shi - we have to stop my father!"

"If you feel so strongly that that is where you should be," Iroh pointed out, "then perhaps, Zuko, that is your destiny."

Zuko's brow drew unhappily. "Uncle, you're the only person other than the Avatar who can possibly defeat the Father Lord."

"You mean, the Fire Lord," Toph corrected with a snicker.

"That's what I just said," Zuko agreed, confused. Sokka chortled, but Katara rubbed Zuko's back again. He was really out of sorts to make a mistake like that. She knew Zuko had been putting all his faith in finding his uncle. The last thing he wanted was to be handed back the responsibility. "We need you to come with us," Zuko insisted, and Katara, who now knew him well enough to pick up on his subtle moods, herd the desperation in his voice.

His uncle must have heard it too, because he shook his head again, his voice heavy. "No, Zuko. It won't turn out well."

"But... isn't that why everyone here is following you?" Zuko asked, waving to the crowd. "You should be the Fire Lord, not my father! The throne... It always should have been yours. You'll defeat him, won't you? You'll take the Fire Nation back..."

"Zuko, I am old-"

"No!" Zuko insisted stubbornly. "You can beat him, and we'll be there to help."

"Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don't know that I could, it would be the wrong way to end the war," Iroh explained with a heavy heart. "History would see it as just more senseless violence - a brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord."

"I know we just said to believe in him, and I do!" Zuko grumbled. "But... what if he doesn't come. Will you fight Father then?" Iroh shook his head. "Then what will we do?"

"If the Avatar does not come to face Ozai in two days, then it is not your father's day to die," Iroh answered simply. "But whether he lives or dies, it will be our day to take back our lands from the Fire Nation, and that, my nephew, is why we are going to Ba Sing Se!" There was a cheer from any man close enough to hear that, and Iroh thrust his fist in the air to acknowledge them. His eyes softened again as they turned back to Zuko. "Someday, be it today, tomorrow, or years from now, the Avatar will fulfill his destiny, and the Fire Nation will have a true leader again. I believe that."

"And then..." Zuko stopped for a steadying breath. "Then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?"

Iroh paused as if considering. Then, "No." Now there were surprised gasps from a few in the crowd. "I am an old man, stuck in my ways. That is not what the Fire Nation needs now. I have had my fill of power, of all of it. It is time for change in the homeland."

"Change?" Zuko echoed.

"Yes, change," Iroh agreed. "Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. A man the Fire Nation is already willing to follow. Only a man who understands what it truly means to change himself can change a nation."

A stunned silence fell over most of the crowd. The older, wiser eyes turned calculatingly towards the two fallen princes, and Katara felt as if everything slowed down for a moment, before Iroh spoke again.

"It has to be you, Prince Zuko."

Zuko inhaled sharply through his teeth. "Me?" He sounded horrified.

Iroh smiled proudly. "You."

"But... who would follow me?" Zuko whispered. "I've made so many mistakes..."

"It seems you already have quite the following among the revolutionist we freed from prisons," Jeong Jeong noted. "It is not Iroh's symbol they wave on their flags."

"And you have to admit, boy, your honor is unquestionable," Bumi chuckled.

"Unquestionable? My honor?" Zuko shook his head as if he wasn't hearing them right. "You are mad."

"Oh, assuredly." The king snorted. "But also right."

"My honor is worthless," Zuko snarled. "It is so far gone that even I know I've no chance of ever regaining it again."

"And that," Bumi grinned, "is why you have earned it."

Zuko frowned. "I haven't. I have done nothing worthy of honor in my life."

"Yes, you have," Iroh answered firmly. "You've struggled and suffered, but you have always followed your own path. You restored your own honor, and only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation."

Zuko gaped at him.

"You have," Katara agreed, then blinked when she realized everyone was looking at her now, and felt her face flush slightly. "I..." She bit her lip. "I don't know much about honor," she said truthfully. "But it was only by being around you, Zuko, that I came to understand what it meant. You are honorable, if any man alive is."

"How can that be?" Zuko seemed less able to fight with Katara than he had with his uncle, and his face transformed to something almost hopeful as he stared at her. "I have messed up so many times..."

Katara nodded. "But because you are honorable, you do your best to fix those mistakes." She smiled lovingly. "That is why I forgave you."

Zuko's throat bobbed as he swallowed. Then he nodded solemnly. Sokka reached over to slap his back, and Toph elbowed him in the ribs until he coughed. "You can do it, Princy. Taking back the Fire Nation... how hard can that be?" she grinned as he wheezed, and Suki even reached over to ruffle his hair.

"So I take it you accept?" Iroh asked sarcastically.

Zuko pushed Toph off him and nodded firmly. "I'll try, Uncle."

"Good," the old man nodded. "That's settled."

"You're really dead set on the Ba Sing Se battle plan?" Sokka asked.

"Yes," Iroh stated firmly, and Sokka frowned.

"But what if the Fire Lord burns all of the rest of the Earth Kingdoms while you rescue that one city?"

"I don't know," Iroh admitted. "I only know what my part in this war it to be. Sozin's Comet is arriving, and our destinies are upon us. Aang will face the Fire Lord. As I said, it is not my fight. When I was a boy, I had a vision that I would one day take Ba Sing Se. Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation so the Earth Kingdom can be free again."

"That's why you gathered the members of the White Lotus," Suki said with realization. "To help you realize your own destiny."

"Exactly," Iroh agreed. "So, we in the White Lotus have our battle plans made all ready. I take it you and your friends won't be coming with us to Ba Sing Se?"

Sokka looked at Katara, and she could see the resolution in is eyes. "No," Katara answered for him. "We're needed in the Fire Nation Capital, to stop Ozai. I believe that is our destiny."

"Ozai isn't in the capital," Pian Dao pointed out. "Once he declared himself Phoenix King and announced his plan to burn the Earth Kingdoms to a crisp on the day of Sozin's Comet, he left for the Smoky Islands, hidden in the mist off the western shore of the Earth Kingdom."

"Why would he go there?" Sokka asked quizzically.

"It is where he plans to launch his war balloons from," the swordsman answered, and Zuko frowned.

"That's not too far from here," the prince noted. "We could make it there to stop him."

"No," Iroh stopped him. "Zuko, you must return to the Fire Nation, so that when the Fire Lord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order. If you have any chance of assuming the throne after this, you must not let your sister be crowned Fire Lord. She plans to take the throne during the comet, something that we cannot afford to let happen."

"So... you want me to go to the capital after all?" Zuko repeated.

"Didn't you say earlier that it was where you felt you must go?" Zuko's frown deepened, but he was forced to agree. "Then that is your destiny. To retake your throne at Li Ming Du Shi, not to face your father."

Zuko's jaw tightened. "I understand. I never wanted to fight him anyway."

"But your path at Li Ming Du Shi will not be easy either," Iroh pointed out. "Your father is not the only family we have against us in this war. Azula will be there, waiting for you."

Zuko smiled with grim confidence. "I can handle Azula."

"Not alone," Iroh denied, and Zuko's face fell slightly. "You'll need help."

The scared face hesitated a moment, as if torn by the lack of confidence on his uncle's part, but then he nodded. "What do you suggest?"

Iroh smiled. "You are learning, my nephew. Even you cannot take on a whole city alone. If you are to face Azula, you will need a back up who believes in you, and who knows the Fire Nation. Jeong Jeong?"

"Yes?" the man asked, stepping up beside his leader.

"Send a message to the Blue Wolf and his men. Tell them that when the comet appears, Zuko will take back his kingdom. Ask them to sail to Li Ming Du Shi, and lay siege to it, once more. I have a feeling that, this time, they will succeed."

Jeong Jeong cracked a thin smile. "With pleasure," he agreed, drawing a quill eagerly from the ink jar beside him.

"I think your father would be more than happy for a second crack at the capital, wouldn't you?" Iroh asked Sokka mildly, and the boy grinned enthusiastically. "Perhaps it will be a chance for both he and I to correct our past errors." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he watched the plans coming together. "Excellent. Zuko, you will rendezvous with them the morning before the comet appears. Azula will be in the Palace courtyard, the natural place for her to be crowned. You must make your way inside before the coronation takes place."

Zuko's jaw set. "With Hakoda backing me, and all the Fire Nation soldiers so dispersed accorss the nation, I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"You must choose some one to accompany you," his uncle reminded him. "Azula is a powerful bender, devoid of emotion; a cool killer. If you want to stop her, you will need someone with you who knows what it is like to face her."

"You're right," Zuko agreed firmly. "Katara. How would like to help me put Azula in her place?"

"It would be my pleasure," Katara grinned wickedly. "I've been wanting a crack at her for a long while."

Uncle raised an eyebrow at his nephew, but shrugged. "Actually, I was going to suggest Mai or Ty Lee, but having a waterbender seems like an even better idea." He nodded his approval. "Jeong Jeong, will you inform her father she will be there too?"

Jeong Jeong nodded and penned it into the letter.

Sokka frowned. "What about us? What's our destiny today?"

"What do you think it is?" Iroh asked him.

"I think..." Sokka stopped. "Even though I want to go join my father, and... and even though we don't know where Aang is, we need to do everything we can to stop the air ships."

"That's right," Suki agreed. "Fighting at Ba Sing Se for freedom and stopping Azula's coronation are all well and good, but we have to focus on the big problem here. Ozai could burn half the Earth Kingdoms in the time the comet is visible. We can't let him do that."

Iroh frowned. "It is not that I doubt your surely proficient skills," he told the two warriors, "but I doubt there is anyone but the Avatar who would be capable of stopping my brother."

"Well... what if Aang doesn't come back?" Toph pointed out.

Iroh paused and glanced at Bumi, who shrugged uncaring. "The kid's got a point," he said simply.

"Besides," Sokka decided, "we don't have to stop Ozai. We just have to take down his ships."

Jeong Jeong cleared his throat. "There are over twenty air ships stored on those islands. If Ozai deploys even half of them, how do you expect to stop him?"

Sokka cracked his neck and stretched his fingers as if warming up for some light exercise. "Well, I helped invent those damned ships. It seems the least I can do is find a way to take them down."

"I'll come with you," Suki agreed. "As will my warriors. We may be from Kyoshi Island, but the Earth Kingdoms were once our homelands. We will help you protect them"

"And me," Toph agreed.

After a moment, Bumi cackled. "What will you do?" he asked, though not too unkindly. "Those ships are made from metal, and they are high above the ground, too high to hit with rocks, even if you could see them. Trust me, I've tried."

Toph smiled hugely. "No worries. I can bend metal."

Many jaws dropped, leaving the revered masters in their group gaping at their youngest member, and Bumi laughed uproariously. "You are full of surprises, Miss Bei Fong," he complimented, and Toph beamed.

"You are sure you want to take on this task?" Iroh asked Sokka firmly when they had recovered from Toph's revelation.

Sokka nodded surely. "It has to be done."

"Ozai will most likely be there, and you will be without backup," Iroh reminded him.

Toph spat outside their circle. "Ozai doesn't scare me. All the better if he's there; that means, when Aang does face the Fire Lord, we'll be right there if he needs us."

Iroh smiled. "Your faith is admirable." Toph leered at him. "Very well. Then I will assign you a group of my men to help you, and to make sure that you arrive safely. You will need transportation. It is far, but if you move fast enough, you can make it, even without your flying bison. Besides the Kyoshi Warriors, I will assign you a team of Northern Water Tribe Warriors. A team of seven, with two benders. They are all I feel we can safely spare..."

Sokka smiled widely. "That'll be perfect."

"You all will have to leave immediately," Iroh announced."You have much more ground to cover than we do, but if you don't delay, you can make it to both the capitol and the Smoky Islands."

"We're ready any time," Katara said firmly, sharing a look with Sokka that made her brother nod determinedly.

"Well then," Iroh concluded, "I think this meeting is over. Is there anything else we need to address? Anyone?" No one spoke. "Then best of luck to everyone! Drink your fill tonight, and be merry, for in the morning we all march... to our destinies!"

The officers of the White Lotus all leaped to their feet in a great cheer to fate, and somewhere, in the chaos, Zuko's hand found Katara's, and she didn't let go.


Quietly he listened. Gently, he focused. Slowly he reached out. He could feel it. He knew it was there.

But nothing.

"Grr… This is a little bit harder than I thought it was going to be," Aang announced with frustration as he sagged in his meditative posture.

"Give it time young one; you could feel it that time, couldn't you? Is it not within your grasp?" Pathik encouraged the lad sitting right across from him.

"Yeah, but this time the voices are fainter than before; it's like there's a wall that's dividing us. I used to be able to contact Roku with no problem at all but right now it's like I can't even get through." Frustrated by his predicament the Avatar slapped his cheeks as if to encourage himself to try harder.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance, Aang," Pathik suggested. "The flow of the spirits inside you is blocked in many different ways. You are tangled up like a knot, and your mind is a constant whirl, even in mediation. But this is a spiritual place, somewhere even I possess insight to the realms normally hidden from mortal eyes. In desperate times such as this it is the least I could do to help guide you through your spiritual journey once more."

"How?"

"Close your eyes, Avatar, Feel the air around you. Hear the parting of the ocean's water as it breaks upon the sand. Notice the shifting of the grass and its connection to the earth. Now… listen. Listen to feint beating of your heart, listen to its fire burn, the cackling of life's flame."

"I… I'm listening… and…"

The world as Aang perceived it paused for a moment as the familiar glow of his tattoos and the feint light of his eyes signified the opening of the spiritual realm.

A ghostly image emerged from him, shot forward, and went to enveloped the older man who sat in front of him.

Slowly it began to take shape and while Guru Pathik lay still Aang could feel the old man's presence, along with another. The phantom silhouette had finished its transformation. Avatar Roku had finally appeared.

"Hello, Aang. While I would like to say it is good to see you once again, I wish deep inside it was not under such circumstances." Roku spoke with the majesty of his own voice and yet Guru Pathik echoed the previous Avatar's words, giving it a ghastly and somber tone. "Although I must admit it is interesting to speak with you here, in your world, rather than in the land of the spirits."

"Avatar Roku… I'm so confused. I have so many questions to ask."

Roku nodded sagely. "I see you are lost in more ways than one right now. Your destiny is such a clouded journey. I wish I could answer all of your answers for you, young one, but this is not how it is suppose to be. Never the less I will try my best to answer some of your questions."

"I am lost," Aang agreed, his eyes reflected the confusion that whirled inside the young airbender. "I need to figure out what to do once I face the Fire Lord."

"I feel that this is just one of the many concerns that plague you my young Avatar."

"No kidding," Aang grumbled before dropping quiet again.

Roku smiled slightly. "But if you must know what I would do in your stead then I must hear what has transpired and how it has come to make you so confused about yourself. I may have been you in the past life Aang but I am no mind reader," Roku gently pointed out, hoping that his little joke would lighten the air surrounding the twelve year old's heart.

He did briefly cause the boy monk to smile before Aang put back on the face of one who carried a heavy burden. "Everyone expects me to just take the Fire Lord's life, but I just don't know if I could do that!" Aang confessed. "I mean I never thought it would to come to this."

The older Avatar listened well before imparting his own wisdom on the matter. "In my life Aang, I tried to be disciplined. And to show restraint, much like you. But it back fired when Fire Lord Sozin took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If had been more decisive and acted sooner I could have stopped Sozin and stopped the war before it started." Avatar Roku's voiced was laced with regret and melancholy, something that surprised the young airbender.

"But Roku, that wasn't your fault," Aang defended him. "You told me your story, remember? Sozin was your friend! He never should have done that! You never expected him to turn out like that!"

"But it did happen, Aang… And the world paid the price for my mistake." The phantom apparition shook his head in shame. But the remorse only lasted a split second; Avatar Roku was back to his own somber self, a face full of vigilance and fierce determination. "Besides, I didn't tell you my story to make you feel sympathy for Ozai. I told you it so that you might better understand the Fire Nation itself, to make you wiser."

"I know!" the boy interrupted angrily. "But... it's all so confusing now. I haven't had enough time - I don't know enough."

"Even time wouldn't help you," Roku said gently. "A hard decision is still a hard decision, at whatever age you make it. In all my years that I have lived upon this world, there is much that I have learned. To take a life without reason is murder. To take a life without justice is violence. I understand how it must pain you so Aang but never the less… While I cannot solve your problem for you, I can offer you this wisdom, young Avatar. Whatever your action, whatever your goal, whatever you need you must do… Do so and know… you must… be… decisive."

And with that last piece of advice Avatar Roku vanished into thin air, leaving a bewildered Guru and an even more frustrated Avatar.

"That felt sort of tingly," Pathik joked absentmindedly. "Well, are you satisfied with Avatar Roku's answer, Aang?

"No... That is, not just yet. I need more time," Aang pleaded with Guru. "I mean I know Roku's right and that this whole thing could have been avoided if he'd acted as he wants me to now, but there has to be another way! There has to!"

"I applaud you for your convictions, but Aang… is that how you really feel?" the Guru asked seriously.

"Yes. I have to do this."

"Then let us ask another."

"Another what?" Aang questioned.

"Another Avatar, of course," Pathik explained.

"But... I only have a spirit connection with Roku," Aang pointed out. "I don't know any of the others."

"Oh, I think you might be surprised, Aang." Pathik smiled. "Here, try it. On this island, with me to help you, I think you might be able to meet another."

"Alright…" Once more Aang fell into the meditative slumber, the lull of the spirit realm pulling him closer to its border. He knew who he needed to talk to next. "Avatar Kyoshi," he whispered. "I need your wisdom… I need your help."

The blue mist surrounded the bald monk and again coated the spiritual master in front of Aang, taking another form, this time a beautiful, stern woman, her face painted, her opaque attire once green as the earth itself, her eyes unflinching and determined.

"Greetings, Aang," Kyoshi started stoically. "This is not the first time you and I have met but this will be the first time you will remember taking to me." Kyoshi's voice was strong and unwavering, something that the younger monk felt was comforting, as if he were talking to an elder sister he never had.

"Avatar Kyoshi I don't know what to do. I-"

"I know your predicament, Aang. You need not explain yourself twice. You told me. Or specifically Roku told me." She smiled, as if recalling a fond memory, before her stony gaze returned. "Let me tell you a tale, young airbender. In my day… Chin the Conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance. I stopped him. And the world entered a great era of peace."

"But you didn't really kill Chin. Technically he fell to his doom because he was too stubborn to get out of the way," Aang interjected, feeling like he needed to point this out.

If his words were suppose to create a reaction from strikingly tall woman in front of him it failed immensely as Avatar Kyoshi didn't so much as flinch. Instead she replied with straightforward honestly, "Personally I don't really see the difference. And we both know there are earth nation villages that don't see it either. But I assure you, I would have done whatever it took to stop Chin."

Something in her voice told Aang that Avatar Kyoshi was telling the truth, and that frightened him a bit.

Sensing his discomfort the spirit dissolved momentarily and reappeared closer in front of him, where a gentle celestial hand caressed his cheek. He found the touch to be both cold and warm, an odd sensation.

"Yours is a gentle soul, Aang. I can see that. There is much of the Air Nomads in you that I admired a long time ago." The older woman spoke with a voice that was soothing, as if she was at peace.

Aang's spirit was lifted momentarily before the comforting touch of the female Avatar left his face and was now where it sat before.

"However you cannot ignore what has happened to this world, young Avatar." She sighed once. "While I am normally against giving too much direction to Avatars, as I feel we must each carve our own destinies, it seems the world is no longer as simple as it used to be and I feel if I must guide you in such a path as this… Well then, so be it. Know this," she advised, her transparent eyes boring into his with green intensity even death could not dim. "If it is unjust to take a life, it is even more of an injustice to let an evil man live. I offer you this wisdom Aang: only justice will bring peace…"

And then Avatar Kyoshi was gone.

"…I never knew that Avatar Kyoshi could be like that…" Aang had hoped that the Earth Kingdom Avatar would have been more understanding. "She was so…"

"Blunt?" Pathik asked. "Oh… she was never one to go in circles whenever there was a straighter path, even if the straighter path was full of holes and rocks. Or so I am told." Guru Pathik nodded while he stroked his beard, as if satisfied with his own analysis.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi…" Aang lamented angrily.

"But you did Aang. And it was wise to do so. Avatar Kyoshi has given you an answer. While it is not the answer you would have liked to hear it is her answer none the less." Pathik sighed, knowing full well that look in the young monk's eyes. "But if it is more answers you seek then I shall continue to help you."

"I need to look deep inside myself. I need to know more."

Pathik nodded as if he expected it, then waited for Aang to contact the next reincarnation. Closing his eyes for the third time Aang began his search, deeper and darker into the recesses of his soul. He knew he was there, the third Avatar, before him. He could feel his presence.

I know you're there...

No! I do not have time… I must find him! I need to find him!

Please… I need your help…

Cannot help… I cannot help anyone… I couldn't even help her... Ummi…

But you can help! Aang insisted. Please… I must know… I need some answers!

The voice was faint. Aang could feel the presence of the spirit torn, as if part of it wanted to stay inside, while its other half wanted to communicate with him. Aang just needed that little push. A name. Once long ago he had remembered from the Air Nomads' teachings the power of names. He needed a name.

Desperately he searched within his own mind, traversing the roads of the endless lives he had lived. It did not take long before he had found what he was looking for.

"Avatar Kuruk! I need you! Come out!"

As if by Aang's will alone this time, the blue mist appeared again, ready to take a new form for the third time.

This time the spirit who inhabited Pathik was a man. A strong man by his muscular physique, his face hard, upon his head rested a great bear helm that magnified this man's ferocious presence. His blue garb of fur and leather signified his origins in the Water Tribe.

"I hear your voice and answered your plea, young Avatar," the bearded waterbender grumbled. Then he seemed to come to terms with the current events. His face set, and his eyes met Aang's. "I am Avatar Kuruk. You may have been the first to interrupt me upon my long and arduous torment of self-repentance. Make your case known or leave me be to continue my search for her…"

If Kiyoshi's voice was stern and strong Kuruk's held a different kind of strength, a desperate kind. Yet along with that strength came weariness and a hint of regret as if lamenting over a deed that had happened long ago. Somehow, although he had never hosted Kuruk as he had Kyoshi, he felt he already had a deeper knowledge of this man, as if they had met before, or perhaps as if Aang had heard his story somewhere…

"My apologies Avatar Kuruk but… who are you looking for?" Curiosity got the better of the young airbender as he found himself asking this question instead of his intended one.

Kuruk's face twisted momentarily into a mask of anger, and pain. "My beloved. My wife. My Ummi. She was taken from me. Taken to punish me for my negligence."

"Oh… Oh, I'm sorry… I'm sure it must be painful for you to have that happen…" Somehow Aang felt a very strong sense of pain within his heart too; his eyes began to water, as if he himself had suffered the heart ache, though whether or not it was because Kuruk was his past life or because he found himself relating to the tale at hand he did not know.

Kuruk's face cleared immediately, and he waved a hand as if dismissing Aang's concern. "Do not worry about pain, Avatar Aang. You have suffered enough just as I have suffered. Let it not cloud your heart any further. Now speak, so that I may return to my hunt of the face-stealer."

So Aang asked his question. He knew Kyoshi had already heard it, from when he asked Roku, but somehow he wasn't surprised that Kuruk hadn't listened earlier. He wasn't angry at having to repeat himself. After hearing Kuruk's story, and having met Koh, maybe even seen this Ummi's face at that time, Aang considered himself lucky Kuruk had even stopped to answer his question. No wonder Kyoshi was so strict, he decided. Kuruk would hardly have been the kind of mentor for her that Roku has been for me…

Feeling he understood all his past lives a little better, Aang began hoping that Kuruk would be the one to give him the answers that he sought. However, when he finished presenting his problems, Kuruk gave him another life lesson instead.

"A story for you if I may, Avatar Aang. When I was young I was always a 'go with the flow' kind of Avatar. People seemed to work out their own problems and there was peace and good times in the world. But then… I lost the woman I loved to Koh, the face-stealer. It was my fault…" The Water Tribe Avatar's face contorted in pain. "So used was I to a world of peace that I had forgotten my own duty to it, to be vigilant. If I had been more attentive and more active I could have saved her…"

Kuruk then turned his full attention to Aang, as if he was confessing a terrible secret. "I wish you could have been spared this fate, Aang. But sadly... I am you, and you are me. You could never escape the Avatar's duty. My wisdom to you is this; do not make the same mistake I did. Do not turn your eyes away just because you do not wish to see. Aang… you must actively shape your own destiny and the destiny of the world…"

With those last haunting words, Avatar Kuruk was no more, returning once more into the realm he came from.

"Such a morbid tale that one wove. I do not envy his sad fate," the Guru commented.

"Yeah, yeah I felt his sadness too, but..." As much as Aang felt he understood Kuruk's pain something somewhere in his heart told him that was not the answer he was looking for. "Look, all these past Avatars, they keep telling me I'm going to have to do it. They don't get it."

"I'm quite certain they understand you, Aang. It is just you do not understand them-"

"You're right, Momo!" The Guru's words fell upon deft ears as Aang sought solace in the company of his lemur familiar.

"Oh dear," the old man sighed.

"Maybe an Air Nomad Avatar will understand where I'm coming from!" Aang surmised as he looked at Momo with satisfaction.

"Aang perhaps you've forgotten already the message Avatar Kuruk had left for you. Do not turn your eyes away just because you do not wish to-"

"I know you can't really talk. Pretending you can just helps me think. Thanks, Momo," Aang continued on as if not even hearing the spiritual master in front of him.

"Aang..."

Finally the boy looked up. "You'll help me out won't you Guru Pathik?" He grinned his most devious, and most endearing, grin, shameless about his manipulation.

The bearded old man shook his head out of slight exhaustion and nodded, agreeing with the request.

And for the fourth and final time (the Guru had hoped) the two ascended once more into the spirit realm, hoping to call out to the fourth Avatar. As they tried with their search a gentle breeze began to gust around them, beckoning the surrounding trees to sway and dance to the music the wind created - a good sign that the Air Nomad Avatar had heard their call.

Slowly but surely the mist appeared, puffy and airy, it carefully took human form once more.

What appeared from the azure smoke was a woman with gentle features. Men would have called her beautiful when gazing upon her youthful face. The markings of an airbender decorated the top of her forehead, her hair partially shaved. Adorned with the medallions of the elder monks, she wore the yellow and orange of the Air Nomads proudly, despite the muted, transparency of the spirit world.

"Hello, I don't think we've met," Aang greeted her with excitement.

A warm, familiar feeling crept its way back into his heart. It had been so long since he had laid eyes upon another Air Nomad. "Greetings, Aang," she smiled back at him. "No, I do not think we've met, not officially anyway. I am Avatar Yangchen, young airbender. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance formerly."

The elder Air Nomad bowed her head with such grace and dignity that Aang rushed to do the same. The previous three Avatars were so different he could not predict what she was like, but he was pretty sure it would at least pay to be polite. "As it is mine," Aang acknowledged formerly.

"What is it you seek, Aang?" Yangchen asked pleasantly. "It is not everyday that an Avatar conjures up a previous life from four cycles ago without some urgent matter to discuss."

"I summoned you, Avatar Yangchen, because... well, because I need help. I am so lost right now, and I don't think that what the other Avatars told me is right. Not for me anyway."

"This does bode troublesome indeed," the tattooed woman fretted. "But weren't you able to seek advice from Roku? I believe he is usually your guide-"

Aang shook his head stubbornly. "I thought, maybe, you would understand, um... better, since we're both... airbenders..."

Yangchen nodded in patient understanding. "Well then, what is it that ails you, young airbender?"

Before he would explain his case to the newest Avatar, Aang took a deep breath, hoping that this would be the last time he needed to relive his current predicament.

"Avatar Yangchen," he began formally. "The monks have always told me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly caught in its own web-"

"Yes... All life is sacred." Aang perked up visibly at how fast Avatar Yangchen agreed with him.

"I know!" Aang was ecstatic, happy to know there was at least one Avatar who agreed with his own point of view. "I'm even a vegetarian!"

Avatar Yangchen smiled loving, chuckling a little in the process. "I know, Aang. I was too..."

"Oh, right... Air Nomad... hehehe..." Aang grinned sheepishly, feeling foolish for a moment. "Anyway I've always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever and I've only have to use violence for necessary defense."

"That is admirable of you," Yangchen complimented.

"And I've certainly never used it to take a life!" Aang found himself heated in his own argument, so passionate was he about his own belief he wanted her to see the strength of his convictions and how he could not- would not! - break them.

However, her compliments stopped there. Aang saw the sad glimmer in Yangchen's eyes and he knew he had lost her support.

"Avatar Aang," Yanchen's voice was melancholic and motherly. "I know yours is a gentle spirit; Kiyoshi and I agree on this. The monks taught you well, and for that I am very proud of both them, and of you. But," -how Aang hated when Avatars ended with but- "this isn't about you. This is about saving the world."

"But the monks taught me that I have to detached myself from the world so that my spirit could be free!" Aang countered.

"Many a great and wise Air Nomads have detached themselves and have attained spiritual enlightenment... but the Avatar could never do it."

"Why?" Aang felt finally like he had gotten to the heart of the matter that was bugging him.

"Because your sole duty is to the world." Yangchen's words hit the young man like a brick, and Aang practically staggered with the revelation. "I know it isn't fair, Aang, to ask you to choose between your beliefs and your duty - but this has always been our duty, yours and mine. To the world. It has always fallen upon the Avatar to watch over the balance of the Four Nations. And so, here is my wisdom for you: selfless duty calls on you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs, and do whatever it takes, to save the world."

The mist had vaporized. The figure of the Air Nomad woman was gone. Only her lingering words remained.

"Well, I must say that was a fascinating experience. Truly a remarkable young woman... Wouldn't you agree Aang?"

But Guru Pathik's words didn't get through to Aang. Lost in his own world, he felt he knew what he finally needed to do. And he knew that doing it would break him. "I... I guess I don't a choice then. I'm going to have to kill the Fire Lord."