Back with another chapter. I hit a real procrastination episode recently. Had some family stuff going on that just left me completely drained and unwilling to do anything other than sitting around and watching reruns and bad horror movies. In a much better place mentally to get back on task with this. And then on a lighter note, I got addicted to Among Us. So many hours spent on that game, when I could have been productive.

**Active Warning for character death. I'm sorry about what I've done. I had to cut a bunch otherwise I was going to make myself sad.**

oOo

Everything was white. Such a harsh whiteness that the light reflecting off it burned his vision. There was white on the ground and white in the air and white falling onto his shoulders. He held a hand out, his bare skin making a landing for the falling fluff. It touched his skin, but left no feeling of neither cold nor warmth. "… snow?"

"Yes." Avatar Roku was a pillar of deep red within the atmosphere of white. He placed a hand on the child's shoulder, smiling down upon him. "Snow. I was just as marveled as you are the first time I saw it."

"It doesn't feel cold. Why doesn't it feel cold?"

"Because we are not really here. We are in a space between this world and the next. Here to witness, but unable to interact."

"Cool..." Zuko looked around at the snow, catching sight of a mass of blue moving in the distance. He was drawn forward, following behind a young form in a bulky blue parka. He was young, maybe just younger than Zuko himself. His face was round, his skin dark, and his even darker hair was tied in a short tuft at the back of his head. His eyes were huge and as blue as the clearest sea. Zuko walked alongside the boy, watching as he climbed over a mound of snow, ready to hurl the snow in his hand forward.

A ball of the snow collided with the boy's face. That was a soft giggle, drawing Zuko's gaze away. There was a girl, swarmed in her parka and even younger than the boy. She was giggling behind thick gloves. The boy let out a laugh, heaving a heavy pile of snow above his head.

The snow falling was black. When he held out a hand, it settled in his palm and darkened his skin. Ash. "What is this?"

The laughing pair of kids were gone. The girl ran one way, the boy ran the other. Zuko didn't bother waiting for an answer. He ran forward, trying to catch up with the boy who was far more used to this terrain than he was. The black snow fell heavier and faster around them. They come over a crest in the snow, both boys cowering behind a mound of it. A wall of burly parka clad men stood between the village and the new arrivals.

Zuko stood, his knees shaky as the black snow became almost blinding around him. Large gray ships broke apart the soft white scene. Dots of red and black littered against the calm. A battle cry broke the air around them as the armored men jumped to the snow. Fire was clinched in their fists as they ran towards the village.

"We can stop this!" Zuko turned to Roku, begging.

"We cannot. We are not here. And this has always played out. There is nothing we can do to save her."

Zuko dropped back down, turning his back to the scene. He clanged over at the other boy, watching the frightened light dancing through his oh so blue eyes. Zuko moved slowly to catch the scene before him. The two groups were fighting. Blood stood out against the snow. It was dark and stained so easily. There were a few bodies among that red snow. The little girl was there again, screaming words he couldn't her. A man took off after him. The boy followed behind. Zuko kept up, until the three of them dashed into a tent, the smell of burning flesh hitting against him.

"You do not want to see that." Ruko had stopped Zuko, holding the child tight. He tried to look past the older man, see what was happening in the tent. Whatever it was, the howls of tears coming from within were a bad sign. The air smelled of burning flesh and clothe.

The cries of those within the tent was the only sound around. The invading army was gone. The village men slowly moving back towards their families. The black snow began to fade back into white. The smell of burning flesh lingered in the air long after the army left.

"What happened?" Zuko asked, pushing away from Roku. He didn't look at the tent. At the blood stained snow behind him. The two children were carried out of the tent by the man. He held them close, the trio clinging to one another as they cried. And elderly woman soon joined them, fighting her own tears after looking into the tent. "What… The raids. That's what..."

Roku looked sad. "Sozin did not wish for the next Avatar to be allowed to foster their powers. Shortly after his attack on the Air Nomads, he began his advances against the Water Tribes. Taking their benders away from their lands, and destroying the remaining warriors. Fire Lord Azulon perfected these raids. This was the last raid, and is all that remains of the Southern Water Tribe."

"This… this isn't… the scrolls don't write it like this. This is… There's so few people here. I've seen this. I keep dreaming it. The smoke. The ash. The blood. Honoka kept showing me. I just… these people aren't threats. They killed the Water Tribe Avatar long ago. Why keep doing this?"

The village around them was a blur of blue and white. The crying family was slowly picking themselves up from the snow. Roku's expression grew tighter. "To remove the remaining waterbenders."

"Sozin killed all the air benders…" Zuko spoke slowly. "My grandfather's doing the same here. And the Northern Tribe?"

"They have survived better through these raids. But they have hauled behind frozen walls, isolated from the world to protect themselves."

Zuko ran his hand over the back of his eyes. "And the Earth Kingdom? Can you show me?"

"Very well." Roku extended his hand. Zuko took it slowly, giving one last glance at the deep blue eyes in the mess of white. The boy knelt in the snow, holding the younger girl tight. The light blue of his gaze turned frozen, dulled into a deep bottom of the ocean blue.

The Earth Kingdom was a collection of dust. They appeared in a small village. The most noticeable thing was the burns on people. There were countless people milling around, all sporting one form of burn or another. There was a girl, maybe a year or so older than him. She was carrying around a basket full of herbs. Her skirt danced around her legs, showing off a fresh burn scar wrapped around her ankle.

"Where are we?" Zuko asked, taking his eyes off all the burns.

"The village does not have a name," Roku answered. "It's one of many that have sprung up as Fire Nation colonies have claimed more and more land."

Zuko turned back to the village. There was a man, clearly well into his adult years. There was a burn taking over one of the man's arms. Glimpses of that burn showed under the collar of the shirt along the man's neck. He was perched on a rickety porch, watching the village around him as he whittled away at a slab of wood in his hands. His gaze traveled around him quick and careful, an edge of terror in those eyes.

The girl with the herbs was beside the man. She smiled, taking a little carved figure from him and slipping it into her skirt pocket. She walked off, the basket of herbs on her hips. Her dull brown eyes flickered back and forth in the same manner; on edge and watching for any sign of trouble. She moved passed Zuko, and he saw her gaze. There was fear embedded upon those pools of honey brown.

"Can you take me to the army?"

Roku looked unwilling to do so. After a moment, his bowed his head and sighed. "There are things you must see young one, but things I do not wish to show you."

"You said you'd show me what I need to see. Please. I wanna see. I need to."

The air smelled of blood and fire. Those familiar uniforms that had once filled Zuko with such national pride now made him sick. They were made of a deep red metal that looked far too much like shinning blood. There was laughter among the masses littering around roaring fires. Spiced meat and coconut rice was passed around in bowls, bringing such a sweet smell to mix with the residing ash.

Zuko moved through the army base, taking in the faces around him. There were smiles and laughter, but it didn't reach their eyes. There was a hollowness in so many soft hazel and brown gazes. A dull smoldering ember that sat just below the vacant gazes. It was a familiar contrast. He had seen those struggling embers of Lu Ten's gaze. Seen his smiles fall short of the corner of his lips.

There was a happiness in the air that felt so fake.

He moved to a marked medic tent. Inside the smell of blood was stronger. Soldiers lay about in their stretchers. Some were wrapped in tight bandages, careful not to knock their wounds. Others were passed out, chests rising slower and slower. One man lay in the corner, his left arm gone at the elbow. There was a thick bandage wrapped around the side of his head. A women was beside him in a chair, missing both her legs. Her expression was the most vacant, staring past the medic trying to get her to eat. They were putting a sheet over a woman in the corner, her chest caved in on one side.

"So many people hurt." Zuko muttered. His people. Those vacant and hollow gazes traveled though the eyes of all he saw, be they blue or brown or faded hazel.

"This war takes from all," Roku answered, "it is the cruel truth."

"How is this greatness? How are all these lives lost supposed to be for the great good. These people… my people..."

"You are the Avatar for all people. Not just those of your nation."

Zuko bite his lower lip. He traveled a gaze over those in the tent, before resting it onto Roku. "How am I supposed to do that? Be the Avatar for everyone when… My father said that my duty was to my people. To my nation. That I was given this power to fulfill our march for greatness. But people are dying. People will keep dying. Unless I…"

Zuko caught eye of a new figure entering the tent. He was pushing a cart full of food. He was young, maybe just in his late teens. His hair was pulled into a tightly placed knot at the base of his neck. His red armor gleamed and seemed a little ill fitting on his lanky form. There were scars all over his face. His eyes were downcast and dull. He was pretty young. Zuko remembered overhearing his grandfather had lowered the conscription age a month or so ago. "How do I save them?"

"That is not for me to decide. My time has passed from this world. It is your time now. Yours to decide. This war ends one of two ways. And that end rests on you."

That was all anyone said. That it was up to him. His to decide. But it wasn't. Watching his people now, struggling under the smoldering flames of their gazes, remembering that similar darkness in eyes of brown and blue, Zuko felt that it wasn't a choice. These people, they suffered every day and Zuko did nothing. He could do nothing. He didn't have the power they all said resided inside himself. Didn't have the power to stop any of this.

"The Air Nomads…" Zuko spoke slowly, "can I see?"

"See what exactly? There is nothing left to be seen."

"I keep dreaming about them. And I've read about Avatar's Honoka and Daichi. I can feel them sometimes, when it's late at night or when I'm meditating. But the Air Nomad… I don't know him. But I can feel him. I know I can. And I just… I need to see him."

Soft creams and dark brown wood greeted them. Large spirally temples reached out towards the clouds from on top the highest peeks of these mountains. An array of figures roamed through the open courtyard. There was a group of men sitting around a large board, moving tiles in some sort of game. A dozen children raced around them, puffs of air bouncing under their feet. They all sported lively shades of oranges and yellows. Many of them, mostly the older members, had blue tattoo arrows traveling from the tip of their forehead, and disappearing beneath their robes.

There was a boy away from the others. He was sitting beside a large white beast, leaning against the creature's tufts of fur. He was bouncing a ball of air around. A sad smile was on his lips. Zuko walked towards him, getting a good look at the boy. He was young. Far too young for what was about to happen. But Zuko was far too young himself.

"It isn't long after this." Roku was standing just behind him. "Aang, his name was. I failed to stop Sozin when he first began his advances. I let our past cloud my decision on the matter. Countless lives have been lost due to my indecisiveness. This child had my failures burdened upon him. And those burdens cost him his life before he was barely aware of his destiny."

"Aang," Zuko mouthed the name. The young boy continued to toss the ball into the air. He spoke something to the bison beside him. Whatever it was, brought a brighter smile to the kids face. Zuko moved towards them slowly. He sat across from Aang, taking in every feature of the boy. Those startling gray eyes were full of such life and wonder. Eyes of a child unaware of the war creeping upon him.

Aang stopped tossing the ball of air. He let it fizzle out. His gaze traveled immediately to Zuko. The pair sat there, staring at one another. He reminded himself that no one could see him. He couldn't interact and he couldn't be seen. But he felt that connection. He felt those gray eyes boring into him like they were one in the same.

They were the same.

Zuko reached forward, a pale hand hanging in the air. He leaned closer, just as Aang did the same. Their finger's hovered inches apart before Zuko felt the air around him be violently ripped apart. He shouted, finding darkness setting upon him.

He was back in a home of red and black. Zuko was back in the tombs. Scrolls littered around him. The flames on the walls danced to his slowly calming breath.

"Roku!" Zuko was on his feet. He looked around, trying to find the man he had been with. There was no one. He was alone. An emptiness sat inside him. Zuko sat back down, drawing his knees close to his chest. He glanced at the scrolls around him, finding comfort in the familiar names among them. It was late, and he knew he needed to get to bed before his father found him out and down here still.

"… Aang," Zuko whispered the name. Those bottomless gray eyes had looked at him. It was a face to a name he hadn't known. An innocent child to the nameless victim written of in Sozin's dying days. "Aang..."

oOo

Everything moved in a blur. Fire ran up the sides of buildings, engulfing the foliage and burning it to the ground. Stone towers collapsed, sending bodies and ashes crumbling under its weight. Screams danced through the air.

Zuko turned slowly, watching as a bison collided into the cracked stone pavement. It's white fur was burned black, the fire engulfing it overpowering the howl that escaped the dying beasts throat. Another flew above it, only to be taken from the sky when several steel bolts shot into it. Dozen more bison struggled under the weight of the flames and projectiles. Zuko felt himself running towards the field of them, dodging his way through nomads and advancing soldiers.

"Appa!" A voice not his own escaped his lips. He threw a hand out, catching sight of the unfamiliar blue arrows that ran the length of his arms and ended along the back of his hand.

He threw himself down the stairs, avoiding a fireball that nearly took him down. He landed within a group of his schoolmates all cowering together. One of the older boys, Jamyang, had another wrapped tightly within his embrace. His gray eyes were widened with fear as another two of the boys – Tenzin and Lhatso – stood around them, trying to divert the flames being thrown their way. There were too many blast being aimed at the dozen of children cowering within the rubble. One of the flames broke through, hitting Lhatso directly in the chest. The teenage boy flew over the group, striking against a pillar. His robes were burnt around his chest. The boy didn't get back up.

"No!" The voice screamed again. His friends around him moved, holding close to one another as they moved from the area. Tenzin stood above the others, making cover with yet another boy as the youngest members were directed away from the blast.

"Aang!" Yeshi was in front of him. Zuko didn't know how he knew all these boy's names. Didn't know how he knew that this boy, a few years older than him had taught him how to fly with a glider. Had been the first to congratulate him upon receiving his master tattoo. Why he thought his name was Aang. "Look at me. You have to get out of here!"

Zuko looked at the boy. A rasp sprung from his lips. Fire engulfed the boy standing before him. There was nothing left of him but a burn reminder. He lost sight of the rest of the boys as fire ran down upon them. Screams danced through the air.

He looked up, watching an elderly man being backed into a building by a dozen soldiers. His long flowing robes and beard threatened to erupt into flames at the fiery tendrils tried to wrap around him. Zuko rose, leg unsteady under from a burn he didn't know he had gotten. There was another burn on his arm. One along his shoulders. "… Gyatso …" his voice was shattered as he watched the elder rip a sheet of air through the soldiers, dropping several of them off the side of the mountain. A jet of fire caught him off guard, sending the man tumbling through the building door. Soldiers pilled in after him, and the whole building caught fire moments after.

Zuko stood in the middle of the madness. Bodies littered around him. Some he knew. Some he didn't. People he had shared classes and laughs and his whole life with. He ran towards the building, waiting for the man who had raised him to come back out. Pleading for him to come out. He felt something at the base of his spine pulling at him, threatening to unleash from his soul. He couldn't quiet get a hold of whatever it was.

Pushing himself into the building, Zuko froze. Dozen of Fire Nation soldiers lay dead on the floor. Gyatso was against the wall. A sickening burn spread over his face and arm. He was struggling to breath. Zuko dropped beside him, taking the man's hand in his own.

"No..."

"Aang..." the man's voice was shattered as he spoke. He gripped Zuko's hand with no strength. Those gray eyes were burnt white. He looked at him unseeing. "You must get out… flee. You cannot die here. We cannot lose you to this..."

"I can't leave you." Tears were flowing freely. He held Gyatso's hand, providing the strength the man couldn't give.

"Flee my child..." his last breathe rolled out with those final words. Zuko knelt there, screaming himself hoarse. That feeling in the base of his spine took over. This body coursed roughly as his chi lined itself in place. The air around him spiraled in harsh waves. The building around him completely collapsed, rubble falling on all but him and Gyatso. His eyes were shinning blue as was the blue tattoos running over his body.

The world was fire and smoke and air and Zuko didn't know where he was. He hovered in the air, streams of air cutting through firebenders as he moved his arms. The ground shook and collapsed, sending several towers collapsing off the side. His people lay dying around him, their skin burnt from their skin and their souls taken from the world. Soldiers looked up in fear, struggling to flee as he struck them down one by one. There was a fire inside Zuko that was familiar and unknown all at the same time.

A burning pain shot through him, causing Zuko to gasp. Blood was flowing from his shoulder from the sharp projectile that stuck through him. Another shot from behind, slicing through his hip and sending his blood flowing. He turned, a sharp slash of his hand sending a ballista and the men powering it over the side of the cliff. The ones on each side of it shot a bolt each, soaring through the air at the unstable Avatar. He shot both down and sent the remaining attackers into the air below.

A bolt came from behind him, slamming straight through his chest. Zuko ran a blood stained hand over it, grimacing at the way the red covered the blue marking on his skin. Blood dripped from between his lips.

Zuko fell from the sky. His body was limp as he fell towards the ground. He landed on the back of a white beast. Rolling his head to the side, he gripped the ash filled white fur beneath him. "Thanks Appa..."

Bolts continued to rain upon them. One struck the creature, sending it hurling once more towards the ground. It collided into the mountain side, and found safety upon a jagged ledge. Zuko was thrown off, rolling a foot or so away. He slowly dragged himself onto his elbows. Appa lay just out of his reach. The bison was bleeding heavily. Blood and ash covered his once soft white fur. There were bolts of red hot steel protruding from his belly. One was broken off behind his ear.

"I'm sorry buddy..." Zuko muttered, finding his voice melding with the others. The glow around him began to fade, the power coursing through him fading as his energy began to drain. That presents within him faded away, leaving Zuko feeling hallow.

He lay there on the ground, unable to move as the body he had been inhabiting separated from him, and rose slowly. The airbender, Aang, stumbled forward, bright blue completely faded from his body as his connection with the Avatar state slipped from him. Zuko laid there, watching as the airbender relived the last few breathes of his life.

The boy was covered in blood, steel bolted arrows cutting through him. He collapsed against Appa, curling up within the beast's ruined fur. The pair shared a few more breathes before they both fell still. Above them fire ran down faster and harder, burning every soul that once resided here from this earth. Zuko screamed, the voice coming from his lips finally his own.

oOo

"Zuko! Zuko! Wake up!"

He threw himself forward, finding his mother's comforting embrace. He dug his fingers into the soft silk, letting the tears pour from his eyes without hesitation. His body burned and ached and he struggled to breath through the suffocating tears. He didn't know how long he cried, how long he clung to his mother in fear, before his tears began to subside. He pulled back, looking into her soft golden gaze.

"Mom..." he collapsed forward, breathing in his mother's petal perfume in hopes of overpowering the ever present odor of ash.

"It was just a dream my little duckling," his mother whispered into his knotted mess of hair. "It's over now. You are safe."

He wasn't though. He wasn't safe. None of them were. His room was disheveled. The curtains around his bed burnt slightly. The books he kept on his dresser, as well as the little toys he'd collected had been knocked onto the ground. The mirror in the corner was cracked down the center.

He could still feel it, the life slipping from the child's body. It was the same feeling Daichi had provided, leaving his wrists stinging for days to come as he had ran the knife over his veins and broken skin. The same memories of a world of white snow, ruined as the blood dripped from his torso as Honoka died to the blade in her chest. The smoldering ash of a volcano overtaking Ruko's lungs as he watched his life long friend turn his back. The burning stillness of red hot steel bolts being sent through the body of a twelve year old Avatar who never had the chance to embrace his powers.

Zuko clung to his mother, willing the memories of lives he had never lived to leave him. He slipped into a restful sleep, cradled in her arms for the rest of the night.