Chapter 12

Aang and Katara were flying over the ruins of Ba Sing Se, fast approaching The Spire of the Phoenix, the tower that had been constructed by Ozai to be the seat of his new empire. They were over the inner ring, which unlike the rest of the city, had sustained minimal damage during Sozin's Comet.

"What is that?" Katara exclaimed. She held tightly onto Aang with one arm so she could free the other, and used it to point down at the base of the tower. There was an enormous airship on the ground. It was Ozai's personal airship, adorned with a large metal sculpture of a phoenix's head at the front. It had been modified and extended since its maiden voyage during Sozin's Comet. To match the phoenix head sculpture, it now also had two large, ornate wings coming out the sides, with an entire other airship under each wing acting as a nacelle. The whole structure was massive; more than three times wider than a normal airship, and almost an additional half longer. It was named Azulon's Hammer.

"It's huge. Good thing it's not at the battle," Aang said as he maneuvered the glider towards their destination. At the top of the tower, there was a grand balcony overseeing the city. "This is it, Katara, are you ready?"

"I'm ready!"

They swooped up from below the balcony and landed on it. The entrance to the throne room was very wide and tall. The guard standing in front of it immediately called for help and ran to confront the intruders.

. . .

"Did you hear that?" Sokka asked.

"Hear what?" Hakoda replied.

"It sounded like… a distant boom."

"I think this prison food is getting to you."

"Shh, shh. Everyone, quiet!"

Everyone in Sokka's prison cell, and in the adjacent cells, fell quiet and listened carefully. A while passed and nobody could hear anything.

Finally, Sokka broke the silence. "Huh, maybe I am hearing th—" He was interrupted as the world around them subtly vibrated from some far off explosion.

"Okay, I felt that one," Hakoda said.

Sokka walked over to the wall of metal bars separating his cell from the one where Toph was suspended inside of. "Toph, wake up! I think something's happening!"

"I am awake," she said. "And of course something's happening. There's a fight going on. And it's getting closer."

"Maybe Aang and Katara came to rescue us?"

"No, it's not them. This is like an entire army. It's a big battle," Toph responded. She was concentrating very hard since she was unable to make physical contact with any of the metal of her prison cell. Sensing the vibrations in the metal through the air required a lot of focus.

"We should do something! You said we should wait and listen. Well, I'm pretty sure this is what we're waiting and listening for."

Toph smirked. "I agree!"

She puckered her mouth and scrunched her face and metalbended a large slab of metal from the wall. It flew across her cell and chopped the rope that kept her suspended in the air. She dropped to the ground, still in her rope-cacoon, but metalbended a sharp edge out of the metal floor and used it to cut the rope, freeing her hands.

"Hey, you! Freeze!" A guard yelled out and ran towards her cell. Toph grabbed one of the metal bars of the front of her cell and easily ripped it away, providing her a large enough opening to get out. She dodged the Fire Nation guard's fire blasts and wrapped the metal bar around him, binding his arms behind his back. The rest of the prisoners cheered as they watched.

Toph then freed Sokka and the others, and they were able to easily deal with any guards that tried to stop them. "Alright, everyone!" Sokka yelled out. "There's a battle going on right now, let's go join them and take out the Fire Nation once and for all!"

. . .

The Phoenix King raised an eyebrow as a guard came tumbling into his throne room from the master balcony. He lay motionless, unconscious on the glassy, black floor of his inner sanctum. He then saw two surprisingly short figures walk inside.

"The Avatar is here!" One of the royal guards shouted.

"I'll fire a signal flare!" Another guard shouted and ran to one of the side balconies. The throne room at the top of the tower was in the shape of a large circle. At the front was the master balcony that Aang and Katara had just entered from. On the opposite side was the throne with two perpetually burning phoenix wings. The other two adjacent sides had entrances to smaller balconies. And in the center was a wide, empty pit. The pit contained a spiraling staircase that would one day have a mechanical elevator operating down the middle. The ceiling of the throne room was adorned with decoratively-cut glowing crystals from the catacombs below the palace.

Aang and Katara approached Ozai, who remained sitting in his chair, calmly watching them as the royal guards ran into formation. One group of guards to the intruders' left, one to the right, and one directly in front. Off to the side, a signal flare was launched. Both Aang and Katara stood in combat stances. Katara had water tentacles extending from her arms while Aang held his staff with both hands.

"What a waste of a flare," Ozai said with a smirk. "These two will be long dead before anyone has a chance to reply."

"Say the word, Phoenix King, and we'll deal with these two," the captain of the royal guard said.

Aang suddenly relaxed his stance and held his staff to the side. He then bowed, pressing his thumb to the palm of his hand; the customary Fire Nation greeting. Katara looked at him confused, not relaxing her own stance. "What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper.

"Phoenix King Ozai," Aang announced, "I came here to attack you, but we don't have to fight. Right now, both you and I have friends that are fighting in that battle outside. You have the power to end it. Please, let the prisoners go. Leave this city and let the Earth Kingdom rebuild. We can end the war and have peace. We can shape the future in a way that benefits everyone."

Ozai stared at Aang for a long time with a small, cocky smile. He finally stood up from his throne and said, "Our destinies are not ours to change. I am the Phoenix King. My destiny has already been determined. And so has yours!" With a speed that Aang had never seen—not from Azula or Iroh—Ozai spun his arms and fired a bolt of lightning at him.

Aang caught the lightning with one arm and redirected it out the other. For a brief moment, he contemplated firing it back at Ozai, but he still believed that maybe this could be resolved without further violence. He launched the bolt at one of the columns of the throne room. The black obsidian pillar shattered and rubble rained down on them.

"That's a neat trick," Ozai said, amused. "I recall Zuko trying it. He failed, of course, just like everything else he tried. Guards, take care of these nuisances. They're not worth my time." He sat back down.

The battle began as the royal guards sprang into action and began fighting Aang and Katara. The two of them quickly noted that these guards were not like the typical Fire Nation soldier they were used to fighting. They were fast, powerful, and highly skilled; each one felt like fighting a weaker version of Azula. The guards moved so effortlessly it almost looked like a choreographed dance, dodging Katara's water tentacles and Aang's gusts of air, and retaliating with perfectly timed blasts of fire.

As they fought the royal guards, Aang attempted to perform earthbending a few times but found that the obsidian floor was too refined to easily work with. It was somewhat unresponsive and slow, at least compared to regular earth, and the Royal Guards were too fast. Aang relied on air and fire. Another challenge was the lack of water; they only had the water Katara had brought and she was making the most of it. She consolidated her water tentacles into one powerful arm with a frozen block of ice at its tip, using it as a blunt weapon. She was able to hit a few of the guards with it, sending them flying and briefly incapacitating them.

During the fight, Aang and Katara got separated. Aang was now at one of the sides while Katara had ended up back at the large entrance to the main balcony. Several of the royal guards managed to form a circle around Aang and synchronized a simultaneous blast of fire. This was a technique called an Agni Mrtyu; an ancient form of execution where a target was surrounded by firebenders and encased in fire. When done properly, nothing would be left of the victim but a small pile of ash. Aang used all his might to redirect the fire upwards and away from himself, forming a massive pillar of fire. He was now engaged in a tug-of-war with the royal guards, as they kept the continuous stream of fire going, and they were slowly gaining ground on him.

"Aang!" Katara shouted in terror as she watched the death pillar of fire closing in on him. She stretched her remaining water into a thin water whip to try and grab some of the guards around Aang, but the remaining guards she had been fighting saw what she was doing, and blasted her whip with fire, evaporating it away. Amidst the roaring sound of the Agni Mrtyu, the sound of Ozai laughing could be heard.

"The girl is useless now," Ozai said. "Concentrate on the Avatar!" Ozai ordered from his throne. The remaining guards abandoned Katara and ran to join the circle. Aang yelled loudly as he kept the fire at bay, giving everything he had to keep it from reaching him.

Katara watched in terror, feeling utterly helpless. Frantically trying to think of a way to save Aang. Her eyes darted around, desperate to find some way to help him. If only there was some water in this damned tower.

There was water in this tower.

The Agni Mrtyu suddenly and abruptly stopped.

Aang was confused as to what just happened. Why did they all stop? All the guards trembled and their limbs began to spasm erratically. Aang saw confusion and dread in their eyes as grotesque crunching sounds came from their bodies as their tendons and ligaments were manipulated against their will. They dropped to the ground, grunting in pain. He looked across to the balcony entrance and saw Katara with her hands outstretched. Her brow was furled with intense anger. She had found water; the blood of the Phoenix King and his guards.

"Katara, how are you doing this?" Aang called out in surprise. He took a few deep breaths, exhausted. "It's not a full moon!" He plopped on the ground, recovering from the intense exertion he just went through fighting off the fires of the Agni Mrtyu.

"Remember this morning when I unblocked my last chakra?" She replied. "I don't need a full moon. Not anymore."

"What… are you… doing to… me!" Ozai muttered out as he tried with all his strength to keep his body under control, but it was like an insurmountable weight was on top of him. His body dropped to the ground and he felt the cold rock press against his face. Incredible pain surged through his body, as if every muscle was cramping at the same time.

Katara swung her hands in an inward motion and all the guards and Ozai slid over right in front of her. She waved her left arm to the side, sending half of the guards colliding hard into the wall. She repeated the same motion with her right arm, in the opposite direction, doing the same with the rest of the guards. All the guards were knocked out and now unconscious from the impact. Only Ozai remained.

"You said I was useless?" Katara said to Ozai. She slid him closer to her and looked him right in the eyes. "Turns out there was more water in your tower than you realized."

Ozai screamed in pain as Katara began to crush his body against the ground.

"Let… go of… me!" Ozai screamed out. "You damned… Watertribe… savage!"

"You're going to pay for the people you killed!" Katara shouted. She moved her hands up, lifting Ozai off the ground only to slam him back down.

Panic began to take hold of Ozai as for the first time in his life, he felt completely powerless. He didn't know what to do. He felt the urge to cry out for mercy, but his ego was too great for that. For now, at least.

As Aang watched, he felt incredibly proud of how powerful Katara was. His mind briefly thought back to her in the South Pole, barely able to move a small amount of water. And now, in only a year, she had become one of the most powerful benders in the world. She brought the Ozai to his knees; something he—the Avatar—had not even been able to do yet. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized he ended up not needing the Avatar State at all. He had something better: he had Katara.

"Keep him on the ground. I'll go over there and encase him in rock. Then we can turn him over to the White Lotus. I just… need to catch my breath first." Aang laughed sheepishly between his breaths.

"Don't you worry. This bozo's not going anywhere."

A shadow suddenly darkened the entire throne room. Something abruptly blocked the light from the main balcony. The massive airship, Azulon's Hammer, rose up in front of the balcony. And at the front of it was Azula, surrounded by electrical arcs as she spun her arms around, winding up a lightning attack.

"Katara, watch out!" Aang yelled out. Azula fired her lightning strike toward Katara.

Aang had a split second to react. His first instinct was to push Katara out of the way with airbending, but she was too close to the balcony and he feared he'd send her flying over the edge. Instead, he slammed down on the ground, using his earthbending to raise a slab of rock right behind Katara, just before the lightning hit her. It struck the rock and there was a violent explosion. Katara's body was flung forward and she went tumbling on the ground. The clothes covering her back were ripped to shreds and she was bloodied and badly hurt. She lay motionless on the ground.

"Katara!"

Aang ran to her body but immediately Azula blasted intense blue fireballs at him as she jumped from the airship into the throne room. Aang dodged and avoided the fire, trying to ignore her, but Azula was relentless. She rapid-fired fireballs all around him, keeping him pinned and from reaching Katara. For a moment Aang thought he had a clearing and ran forward, but an enormous wall of orange fire erupted in front of him. It was Ozai, now back on his feet.

"Take care of that waterbending witch. Leave the Avatar to me."

As Ozai attacked Aang and prevented him from approaching Katara, Azula walked over to her motionless body.

"Ouch, that looks pretty bad," Azula said in a mock sympathetic tone as she saw the bloody lacerations on Katara's back.

Katara managed to lift herself up slightly and lean on her side. She looked up at Azula with weak eyes. Azula smiled seeing that Katara was still alive.

"So, I have to admit it, that thing you were doing to my father? That was impressive. Were you using waterbending on his blood? That is just so… evil. I love it."

Katara didn't respond.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am jealous of you. I wish I could do that."

Katara managed to raise her hand in Azula's direction and attempted to use bloodbending on her, but she was far too weak.

Azula laughed at her. "Careful, sweety, you look pretty tired. Don't want to overexert yourself. Here, let me help you lie down" Azula pressed her boot against Katara and rolled her over onto her back. She was not gentle. Katara yelled out in pain as her injured back pressed against the ground.

Azula smirked as she looked down, enjoying watching her prey squirm in pain. "You're too weak to do that neat blood waterbending, and there's no water anywhere." Azula frowned at Katara, continuing to mock her. She then pointed her fingers down at her. A blue ball of fire began to appear at the tip of her finger. "I do believe this is the end for you."

In a final act of defiance, Katara spat up at Azula. She froze the spit into a pointy shard of ice and it flew right into Azula's left eye. Azula screamed in pain and stammered backward, clutching at her eye with her hand. She immediately felt the warmth of her blood as it oozed out from her eye.

Ozai turned to look at Azula after hearing her scream; not from concern, but annoyance. That was the opening Aang needed. He blasted Ozai with a powerful gust of air and sent him tumbling backward. Aang ran to Katara. Azula was still stammering from her injury and Aang knocked her away, too. She grunted in pain as she hit the ground and more of her blood splattered on it.

Aang reached Katara and immediately used his earthbending to erect a thick dome of rock all around them. It took a few seconds, but he had the time while the other two recovered. Once they were safely enclosed, he knelt next to Katara and held her in his arms.

"Katara, are you okay? Say something!"

"I'm… not doing so great, Aang." She coughed and a little bit of blood came out.

Aang tilted her slightly and looked at her back and grimaced at seeing how severe her injury looked.

"You're going to be okay," Aang said, more to convince himself than her. His eyes became watery and tears began to run down his cheeks. He grabbed the vial of spirit water she had around her neck and yanked it off. "I can heal you with this."

"No, Aang..." she said weakly. "Save it for yourself… Those two are still out there. You need to… beat them. You might need it."

Aang ignored her and gently turned her over. He opened the vial and used it to apply healing to her wound, just as Katara had taught him. Their dark rocky shelter lit up with a bright white light as the spirit water worked its magic on her back.

He held her close and smiled at her. "You're going to be okay. This stuff brought me back. It'll work on you too."

She smiled back, weakly, and placed her hand on his face. "I feel better already. Probably going to have a scar on my back, though."

"That's okay. You'll still be beautiful."

The moment was interrupted as they heard the rock around them rumble as fire crashed into it from outside. It held up, but it wouldn't keep Ozai and Azula out forever.

"Aang… I don't think I can fight anymore. It's up to you to beat them."

"I… don't know if I can."

The rocky dome around them rumbled yet again as it got hit by more fire blasts. A reminder that they were running out of time. Aang lowered her gently on the ground.

She kissed him. "No matter what happens. I'm glad we shared this time together. But I know you'll win. You're the Avatar. I still believe… you can save the world."

"Thank you, Katara. I love you."

"I love you too, Aang."

. . .

Iroh stood at the frontlines of the battle, side by side with his White Lotus brothers. They were clashing with the legions of Fire Nation soldiers before them. Iroh had been in many battles, but this one had an intensity he had never seen before. Overhead were the airships, peppering the White Lotus with bombs. The Earth Kingdom soldiers were focused on providing defenses against the aerial bombardments. Some were lifting slabs of rocks to shield the soldiers, while others launched rocks into the air to try and detonate the explosives before they hit the ground. Blasts of fire burst all around them. Canons let out thunderous booms as they fired up at the airships. Occasional airships would come crashing down, unleashing massive balls of fire as their explosive payloads detonated from the impact. Boulders smashed into tanks, creating a carnage of wrecked metal.

Neither side was making progress now, and Iroh was experienced enough to know it had become a battle of attrition. Eventually, one side would wear itself out, and then that side would lose. And he knew that it would not be the Fire Nation. They simply had too many resources at their disposal.

"Grandmaster Iroh!" A White Lotus commander yelled out. "We've run out of shells for the canons!"

The canons they had brought with them, which had been taken and repurposed from the airships that had crashed around Xin Se, had been their only way to attack the enemy airships in this battle. They were too high up for the earthbenders to be able to reach with their projectiles, and though Appa had joined the fight, no one was able to maneuver him well enough to reach the airships amidst all the firebenders guarding them.

A shadow loomed over the frontline as the largest of all airships, Azulon's Hammer, hovered into position. After it had dropped Azula off at Ozai's tower, it had been ordered to assist the battle.

"Holy Shu, look at the size of that airship!" The commander exclaimed. "Grandmaster, do we retreat? We have no way to counter that!"

"No, Commander," Iroh replied. His voice was somber. "Bumi, come here."

Bumi stomped the ground, lifting a rock under one of the Fire Nation tanks, sending it crashing into another tank. He laughed and came to Iroh. "Yes, Iroh?"

"If I don't survive, you're the new Grandmaster of the White Lotus."

"Come again?"

Iroh didn't respond. He took his robe off and inhaled deeply. He began to spin his arms around, winding up a lightning strike. Electrical arcs violently began to circle all around him, but he kept winding it up. He began to yell in pain as he kept separating more and more energy, preparing the most powerful lightning bolt he had ever created.

"Iroh, stop this! That's too much!" Bumi yelled out.

"No! It… needs to… reach!"

Iroh thrust his arm upward and a massive bolt of lightning erupted out. The light was so bright it surpassed the sun's illumination over the entire battle. Both sides stopped to look at the raw energy launched into the sky.

One of the nacelles of Azulon's Hammer exploded violently and the entire airship toppled on its side and began to descend, leaving a trail of fire and smoke. Thankfully, it was going to crash away from the battlefield.

Iroh collapsed on the ground, panting and shaking. Bumi attempted to grab him, but an entire platoon of Fire Nation tanks came barreling towards them. Heavily armored Fire Nation shock troopers marched side by side with them. There were a lot of them; too many.

Bumi held his ground and prepared himself to fight them off in defense of his friend when suddenly, the tank on the furthest end seemingly felt apart all by itself. Then the next one, and the next. Before he could process what was going on, a crowd of people emerged and engaged the platoon. It was the prisoners. Toph was the one wrecking the metal tanks with her metalbending while the prisoners attacked and Fire Nation soldiers. Bumi even saw a boomerang fly across the battlefield and hit a soldier on the head.

"Iroh, that was incredible!" Sokka yelled out as he ran fourth. "I've never even seen a thunderstorm produce lightning that big! Iroh, are you okay?"

Sokka ran to Iroh while Toph and the others engaged the Fire Nation soldiers. Iroh was on the ground and Sokka tried helping him up.

"I'm okay… I just need a moment to catch my breath." He leaned forward, holding his knees, breathing heavily.

"We came to free you guys, but looks like you did that all on your own," Bumi said to Sokka.

"You guys provided a necessary distraction. But yes, my escape plan worked without a hitch." Sokka said, proudly.

"Escape plan?" Toph said as she approached now that the tanks had all been destroyed "Your 'escape plan' was basically just 'Toph, metalbend everything and break us out.'"

"Yes, and my plan worked, didn't it?"

Bumi snickered, and even Iroh was able to summon the strength for a weak smile.

"Where's Katara and Aang?" Sokka asked.

Iroh pointed to the black tower in the distance. "They've gone to fight Ozai."

Sokka squinted his eyes and looked closer at the tower. "Whoa, did you guys see that? What's going on over there?"

"What?" Toph said, frustrated that she couldn't see and had to wait for an answer.

"Something big's happening at the tower."

. . .

Aang emerged from the protective shell he had erected around Katara. In front of him stood Ozai and Azula. Azula in particular looked livid with her one remaining eye. She had wrapped some fabric around her head. It was both a bloodied bandage and a makeshift eyepatch. Aang stared at them and they stared back.

"What are we waiting for, let's kill him and finish off that Watertribe trash!" Azula yelled out.

"Silence!" Ozai shouted back. "Compose yourself! If you hadn't shown weakness and let your guard down, you wouldn't have lost your left eye! Did you learn nothing from Zuko's failures?" Ozai had always had a particularly short temper for Azula losing her composure. "Now look at you. Disfigured, just like he was. And you only have yourself to blame!"

Anger and sadness ran through Azula's head as she heard her father yell and blame her for her injury. Amongst her conflicting emotions, only one emotion came to the surface. It was the emotion that's always produced when anger and sadness are combined: fear. She didn't say anything in her defense out of fear of further angering him.

"You and Zuko were unfortunately raised with too much exposure to weakness from your mother. When my Avatar child is born, I won't allow that mistake to happen again."

"What are you talking about?" Aang asked.

Ozai gave Aang an evil grin. "That's right, you don't know what I have planned, do you?" Ozai chuckled. "After I kill you, I'll find the next Avatar, and kill him, too. And then I'll find the one after that, and I'll keep him imprisoned. I'll keep him alive until just before my next child is born, and then he will be executed, ensuring my own child will be born as the next Fire Nation Avatar, and he'll be mine to groom to my will. Destiny has a wonderful sense of humor, doesn't it? Here you are, so determined to defeat me. Yet in a future life, you will call me father."

Aang felt a gross knot in his stomach. He looked at Azula and noticed she didn't share Ozai's enthusiasm.

"Your father is insane," Aang told her. "You can help me stop him. Together, we can beat him and as the new Firelord, you could end the war and bring peace to the world. Zuko had good in him, I know he did. And I know you do, too."

Despite her rage, Azula was genuinely tempted by Aang's offer. Not because she cared about bringing peace to the world or ending the war. But because it meant she would no longer have to live in fear of her father. But more importantly, deep down in her heart, she knew that wherever her mother is, she would be proud of her for helping the Avatar. Maybe, just maybe, her mother could even love her like she loved Zuko. More than she feared Ozai, she wanted her mother's love.

Ozai noticed several seconds had passed and Azula had not responded to the Avatar's words. His eye shifted and stared into Azula's one working eye. It sent a chill of fear down her spine.

"Zuko might have been weak enough to want to join you," Azula finally said. "But I'm not!" She fired a single large blast of fire at Aang, which he managed to dodge.

"Yes, that's the spirit!" Ozai said. He placed his hand on Azula's shoulder. "It has always been my destiny to kill the Avatar. But let us share my destiny. We'll kill him, together."

Aang looked on at Ozai and Azula. Phoenix King and Firelord. This was truly it; the fight he had prepared his whole life for. The fight that would decide his fate, the fate of Katara, and the fate of the entire world. Aang calmly picked up his staff, which had landed on the floor at some point during the fight with the royal guards. He ran his fingers along the ornate carvings on the wood. They were a reminder of his lost people. He was fighting for them, too, and he was going to show these two the strength of the Air Nomads.

"This isn't going to be a fair fight," Aang said, gripping his staff firmly.

"Life isn't always fair," Azula said. "You should know that by now."

"That's not what I meant," Aang said and smirked at them. "It won't be fair… for you."

Aang swung his staff, sending a massive wave of wind sweeping across the throne room. This stammered the two, and as they regained balance he thrusted the end of his staff towards Azula, sending her flying back as a concentrated tunnel of air slammed into her. Ozai lept towards Aang, swinging out a large blast of fire at him, but Aang blocked it with a cone of air.

Azula now attacked, shooting a precise jet of blue fire at him, but he lifted a slab of rock from the floor and used it as a shield. Then, with his earthbending, he shattered the rock into hundreds of heated pieces and sent them flying at the two. They managed to avoid most of them, but they did suffer many painful hits from the sharp and hot fragments.

"Strike now, together!" Ozai yelled out, and both he and Azula stood side by side and each punched forwards, unleashing a continuous blast of fire from their fists. Their orange and blue streams swirled together toward Aang. He dropped his staff and held out both his hands, blasting his own wave of fire and air. He mixed the two elements together and produced an intense beam of blue fire, just like Iroh had taught him, and he was able to match their combined fire output.

Once again, Aang found himself in a tug-o-war. He could feel he was beginning to lose ground to them and knew that continuing would be a waste of energy. He ended his attack as he simultaneously lept high into the air, assisted by his airbending. The monstrous wave of blue and orange fire flowed under him. He noticed that the ceiling of the throne room had a lot of those glowing green crystals from the Ba Sing Se catacombs. They were cut into precise, decorative shapes, but they were still crystal, and they were much easier to bend than the refined obsidian rock that made up the rest of the tower. He grabbed onto the crystal decorations and formed a suit of crystal armor around him. He came crashing down between Azula and Ozai. They fired at him as he descended, but he was too well protected. He landed between them and the fight now turned into a close-quarters physical brawl. Aang slammed his crystalline fist into Ozai's gut, knocking the breath out of him. Azula tried to jump away to make some distance, but Aang grabbed her leg and slammed her on the ground. He then wrapped the crystal from his left arm around her leg and fused it to the ground, pinning her down. As she struggled to free herself, Aang ran at Ozai and rammed him into one of the pillars of the throne room. He proceeded to overpower him and pummeled him against the pillars. For the second time this day, internally, Ozai began to feel the panic of fear. Just like when he was powerless against Katara's bloodbending, he was now powerless against Aang's earthbending.

Aang abruptly stopped the assault and jumped back. He felt something in the air. It was something he had begun to recognize: the feel of the energy somewhere nearby beginning to separate into positive and negative charges. It was the sensation that was the precursor to a lightning strike. He turned around just in time to see Azula, who had managed to free herself, shoot lightning at him. He caught it with his exposed arm, but the rest of him was still encased in crystal, and the energy did not flow through him like it normally would have. He managed to redirect it through his body and keep it out of his heart, but there was too much interference from the crystal around him. The suit shattered and electrical arcs flared in all directions. Aang yelled in pain and stumbled back, disoriented, hurt, and exhausted. His head felt light and for a moment he feared he would lose consciousness. Ozai saw his opportunity, and fueled with the rage of having been pummeled so severely, he blasted a massive jet of fire at Aang. Aang was just barely able to lift his arms up to form a protective cone of air to keep the fire from hitting him, but the kinetic force of the impact launched him backward to the edge of the pit in the center of the throne room.

"Aang, watch out!" Katara yelled out. She had managed to crawl out through an opening in the protective rock shell, just in time to witness the tide of the battle shift against Aang. She tried to bloodbend again, but she could barely even keep herself up. She was still too hurt to help.

Aang struggled to keep his balance and prevent himself from falling, but Ozai blasted at him again, and Aang fell.

"Fill the pit with fire! Quickly!" Ozai yelled as he ran to the edge and blasted fire down into it. Azula also ran fourth and joined him.

"No!" Katara screamed in horror.

As Aang felt himself falling, his eyes could barely stay open. A flare of light appeared above him as Ozai and Azula fired into the pit, and he could see the fire moving down toward him faster than he was falling. He realized he was too weak to hold it off again. Fire was approaching from above and solid ground was approaching from below. He was trapped. Aang felt a sense of panic as he realized this was truly a hopeless situation. If his chakra weren't blocked, this was precisely when his Avatar State would activate. But it wasn't activating. Why would it? He had failed once again. And now as punishment, this wall of fire would be the last thing he'd ever see.

Aang's perception of time stretched and it became as if the entire world around him had paused. The flames above him looked like they were frozen in time, while he himself was suspended in the air. This would be the last moment of his life, and it would feel like an eternity.

Deep in the mind of every living creature, there exists a part of the brain that waits for their entire life to activate. It has only one purpose: to bring them comfort as they die. To let them know that even though they are dying, everything is going to be okay. The pain and struggle will end soon, and they'll be free from the pain they are enduring. Every creature has been comforted by this part of their mind as they died, whether it was a baby flying bison dying from starvation, or a fox antelope trapped in the jaws of a saber-tooth moose lion. All of them had their final waking moments be peaceful ones thanks to this ancient part of the mind. Some small mercy granted to all us mortal beings.

And now, it was speaking to Aang. Comforting him as his own transition approached.

"It's going to be okay," It whispered warmly in Aang's mind. "Let it go."

"What? No. I can find a way out of this."

"You can't."

"There has to be a way."

"There isn't, but it's okay. You're going to be okay. Everything will be okay."

"It won't be okay. Katara needs me. They'll kill her."

"They might, or they might not. Either way, it's going to be okay. You don't have to worry about her anymore."

"I can't let her die."

"All living beings die eventually. The world is ancient, and all lives are little more than the blink of an eye. In a thousand years, will it matter if she lived fifteen years, or a hundred?"

"I don't care. I have to save her. I have to save my friends."

"They will perish too, one day. Will the length of their life matter in a thousand years? In a million years? The sun will rise tomorrow no matter what happens now. It will always rise. You don't have to worry about Katara or any of your friends. One day, they will die. And it'll be okay. They'll be comforted, too. They'll be told that it's okay. They'll be at peace in their final moments. Now you must be at peace, too."

"But… there's so much to do…"

"Don't worry about the state of the world. It will all be corrected one day. It's all going to be okay. Be at peace, Aang. Your fight is over. The hardships of the world are over now. You'll be able to rest. You'll be safe, and warm. Just… let go. Your people are waiting for you, on the other side. Let go."

Aang felt himself having a hard time resisting. He just felt so tired. His eyes were heavy, like an impossible weight was on them. He could no longer see the approaching fire above him. He couldn't see anything except darkness around him. Maybe I should close my eyes. Wait, are they already closed? I can't tell. Maybe I'll try closing them, just for a little bit. Maybe…

A different voice called out from the darkness.

"Oh come on! You're not going to give up that easily, are you?" The voice sounded familiar. "You certainly never gave up that easily when I was trying to catch you!"

Aang recognized the voice. Amidst the darkness around him, he saw spirit energy appear and coalesce into a familiar shape.

"...Zuko? Is that you?" Aang whispered. It was Zuko. He looked different; not only was he smiling, but his scar was gone, too.

"It took me a while, but I finally found you. Look, Aang, you can't give up. You can beat my family. You have incredible power inside of you. Why aren't you using it? The first time we met, you completely wrecked my ship with it."

"I can't, Zuko. Not anymore. I made too many mistakes and the cosmic energy of my Avatar State is blocked because I have too much guilt… too much regret."

"Aang, regret is my specialty. Trust me on this, just let it go."

"How?"

"Let me ask you something. Do you forgive me for hunting you down?"

Aang hadn't thought about it before, but the answer came out with complete and utter ease. "Yes, of course."

"If you can forgive me for my mistakes, why can't you forgive yourself for your mistakes?"

The question instantly cleared Aang's mind. He had no answer for it.

"Forgive… myself? I don't understand."

"Yes, forgive yourself. Even though you're the Avatar, you're still a person, just like the rest of us. If you can forgive others—if you can forgive me— why can't you forgive yourself?"

"I… don't know."

"Say it, then. Just say you forgive yourself."

"I... forgive myself."

Nothing happened.

"Say it again, and mean it this time! Forgive yourself, just like you forgave me!"

"I forgive myself!"

Aang's eyes widened. A switch was flipped in his mind. A million tingles saturated every square inch of his skin. In the black void around them, a colossal figure appeared. It was the cosmic projection of Aang's Avatar Spirit. Its eyes opened and began to glow. And so did Aang's. His chakra was now unblocked, and the infinite energy of creation flowed freely through him as if a massive dam had been opened, unleashing the full wrath of a river that had been contained too long.

Zuko's spirit smiled. He began to fade away as he returned to the spirit world. His voice called out to Aang one last time. "You once asked me, if things had been different, if I thought we could have been friends. The answer is yes. I think we could have been best friends."

. . .

An enormous pillar of fire exploded from the pit in the throne room, no doubt the culmination of Ozai and Azula's fire compressing in the limited space. Katara screamed out in horror and fell to her hands and knees on the ground, crying. Aang was assuredly dead.

Ozai and Azula stepped back from the pit. "We did it, father! The Avatar is no more!"

"At last, the only threat to my empire is now gone. The first step of my plan is complete. Soon, I will—"

Something caught Ozai's attention in the pit. Amidst all the smoke, he could see something inside. He leaned in for a closer look.

Ozai felt something unfamiliar to him. A chill of fear down his spine. Below, he could see a pair of glowing eyes piercing through the smoke and looking right at him. An ancient part of his mind now activated. Not the one that will one day comfort him during his transition to death, but the part of his brain that deals with self-preservation; the one that wants to keep him alive. This primal part of his brain recognized that the eyes of a predator were locked on him. Fight, or flight? Neither. Freeze. Ozai froze in terror.

An unnaturally strong blast of wind erupted from the central pit, knocking both Ozai and Azula back. As Katara watched what was unfolding, her tears continued. But what she now saw turned them into tears of joy. Aang slowly emerged from the pit, His eyes and tattoos glowing brighter than they ever had before. A sphere of wind encased him as he levitated upwards. Ozai could do nothing but stare in disbelief and terror.

Azula had seen this before, and she thought she had the solution. With Aang's back to her, she started winding up a lightning strike, prepared to hit him with a sneak attack again. Just before the lightning fired, Aang turned his head to look at her, sending a chill of fear down her own spine. The lightning fired, but Aang effortlessly caught it with the tip of a finger. Instead of redirecting the lightning away, he formed it into a ring of electricity around his wind sphere.

Aang roared loudly, extending his arms and limbs outward. The entire throne room around them shattered. The ceiling and walls exploded outward, leaving only the floor intact. Bright sunlight bathed them all now and some of the royal guards regained consciousness but were all paralyzed in fear at the sight of the fully realized Avatar hovering overhead.

"D-don't just sit there, you idiots, attack the Avatar!" Ozai yelled out in a panic, but the guards did nothing. He looked over at Azula and briefly locked eyes with her. Azula looked at her father, possibly for the last time, and made a calculated decision.

"Goodbye, father." She ran away. She jumped out of the tower and used her firebending to slow her fall. Aang didn't bother chasing her. His eyes were fixed on Ozai.

"Coward!" Ozai yelled at the top of his lungs. "You are a disgrace!" He then looked at Aang and said, "I don't care if you are the Avatar, I am The Phoenix King, and I will defeat—"

Aang blasted Ozai with the force of a hurricane, sending him tumbling across the floor and he slammed into the remains of a pillar, hard. He collapsed on the ground and was barely able to keep himself up. Aang then descended and landed on the floor. His wind sphere vanished, but his eyes and tattoos continued glowing. He looked at the guards and said a single word: "Leave."

His voice was low and echoed with the voices of all the past avatars. The guards scampered away and ran down the stairwell in the central pit. It was scorched from fire, but it was still intact.

"Get… back here! You c-cowards!" Ozai grumbled, still unable to stand back up. He coughed and hacked up a few droplets of blood.

Aang ignored him and looked at Katara. His eyes and tattoos stopped glowing and he walked over to her.

"Are you okay, Katara?" His voice was back to normal.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said. She sounded weak, but the tone of her voice was full of joy. They hugged, and Aang was careful not to touch her injured back. "You did it, Aang! I knew you would. Not only did you unlock the Avatar State again, but you were in total control of it! I'm so proud of you. How'd you do it?"

Aang smiled at her. "It's a… interesting story. I'll tell you later."

"What should we do with him? I say we finish him off, once and for all."

"No. He's our prisoner, now." Aang walked over to Ozai, "I'm going to turn you over to the Earth Kingdom. You're going to face justice for all the lives you took."

Ozai stared at Aang with his teeth clenched, barely able to hold himself up. He was injured and tired, but furious. As he looked at Aang, he knew he was beaten. Maybe it was time to give up, submit before the Avatar, and admit his defeat.

No. That's preposterous.

"I. Am. The. Phoenix King!" Ozai screamed and lunged at Aang, forming fire daggers in his hand.

In an instant, Aang's eyes flashed with light and he was back in the Avatar State. He effortlessly grabbed Ozai's arms, stopping him in his tracks. Ozai struggled to free himself, but was powerless against the unnatural strength granted to Aang by the cosmic energy flowing through him. He then hit Ozai with another blast of wind, again sending him tumbling across the ruins of his throne room. Before Ozai even stopped rolling on the ground, Aang had already grabbed him again, slammed him into the ground, and surrounded him in a thick shell of rock. Ozai was left completely immobilized and trapped, with only the top half of his face exposed. He struggled, but it was beyond futile.

Aang and Katara walked together to the edge of the remains of the tower. They saw a familiar shape approaching. It was Appa.