I see them…

… in dreams of smoke and ash and fire. I hear their screams as flames consume them, their whispers as they turn to dust beneath my fingers. They call out to me (where are you? where are you?), but I have no good response.

I see them…

… in the air I breathe. If I close my eyes, I can almost hear their whispers carried to me by the wind, their laughter ringing out in the sunlit world as they played without a care in the world. When I feel the wind brush my face, I can almost pretend that it's him, telling me everything will be alright, and I can almost believe it.

I see them…

… in the broken murals that decorate the halls of the once-great temple. There is anger, yes, but there is more sadness when I see how they have been dismissed, forgotten, desecrated. What have they done, I can't help but wonder, to deserve this?

I see them…

… in the shards of my shattered innocence, the remains patched together in a fragile, trembling mirror, so easily to be broken again. I search desperately for a boy with a carefree smile and his father, but all I see is a shadow and a ghost staring back at me.

I see them…

… with their eyes of accusation and tongues of barbed words in the citizens who shout at me (Coward. Weak. Flawed. Where were you, when we needed you most?). I can't help but shrink and turn away, lest I see them and their anger, their hatred, their unforgiveness.

I see them…

… in the water that flows around me. I cannot help but think back to how they were as fluid as this element, how they would always redirect and flow with change, how they were always open to whatever happened. I think to myself, they would've liked her.

I see them…

… in the frightened eyes of men who plead, beg, for mercy. I'm just a kid—I shouldn't bear this power—and still I use this power to hurt others.

(I wondered, did they beg for mercy when they came and destroyed them all?)

(if so, how am I any different?)

I see them…

… in the soldiers who came back and the ones who didn't. I wasn't there when they needed me, and even now, I am doing nothing to save them. Perhaps he is crazy, but I have to do something.

I see them…

… in the cracks of the earth under my feet. I wonder how they would feel, knowing the last of them is learning a philosophy that is opposite to the one they taught.

(does this make me less of who I am?)

I see them…

… in him. He is the last of them all—my only friend left. Even when the world had taken them away, he still remained by my side, and I was not alone.

But then he is gone, and I am all alone.

I see them…

… when I rage at the world. They had stolen him from me, and I wanted to make them pay. They would've been so disappointed in me, I think to myself.

I see them…

… in myself. I see them sitting atop clouds and eyes closed, serene, peaceful. I reach for them as they disappear into smoke, but they slip through my fingers. As long as I live, I vow, I will not let the world forget them.

I will not let them go.

I see them…

… in her, wreathed in green smoke. My love for them, he said, has not left this world: it has been reborn in her. They will live on, in me and her and him and them, and I know that I will be okay.

I see them…

… in flashes of lightning that leave me seeing only white and feeling a burning sensation in my back. I see them from afar, playing about and laughing carelessly as though nothing had happened at all. I reach for them, but I am yanked back into a war-torn world, waking up in her arms.

I see them…

… in a candlelit cave, surrounded by prying eyes. I can't help but think back to the carefreeness of the past, when dancing was allowed, when fun had been the norm instead of the exception, when we were allowed to be free, and thought (hoped) that they might approve of this.

I see them…

… in nightmares of death and destruction and the final hour. They whisper to me (you failed, you failed), and when I look around at my second family, I vow not to fail again, lest I lose them too.

I see them…

… in the empty temple halls that echo with only our steps. I brush my fingers against the ash-covered walls and call to them:

Do you remember me?

Do you forgive me?

Do you love me?

But no one responds.

I see them…

… in the fire within me. I used to hear only their screams as they burned when I saw the element, but now I see life. Renewal. New beginnings.

Both for them and for me.

I see them…

… as he mocks my people, my culture ("That's cute, but this isn't air temple preschool."). I see them when she turns away ("It's not only hard. It's impossible."). She is in so much pain and rage, but I know she will never forgive herself if she stained her hands with blood, and so I try.

I see them…

… in their flippant dismissal of my dilemma ("Sure you can. You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you."). They don't see that I am the only one left to uphold their legacy; if I can't uphold it, who else will?

I see them…

… in her as she tells me I must give them up to protect the world. I can't help but get the feeling that they would've agreed with her, and even as I tell myself there's no other choice, I prayed that it wouldn't come to that.

I see them…

… as he roars with triumphant laughter ("You're weak, just like the rest of your people! They did not deserve to exist in this world ... in my world! Prepare to join them. Prepare to die!"). As I strain against the roaring inferno, I think of them and realize that I'm about to fail them a second time.

I see them…

… in the blue that clashes with the red. Their faces appear one by one—faces of everyone I've loved, faces of everyone I've lost. They whisper to me (don't let go, don't give up), and I reply, Never.

I see them…

… in the glorious sunrise that signals a new day, a new dawn, a new era. I have not given them up for the sake of the world. I have kept their legacy intact, remembered, pure. I wonder if they would be proud of me.

I wonder if they have forgiven me.

I see them…

… in the reds and greens and blues that surround me. I see them in his love for pranks, her endless compassion, her steadfast determination, his passion to do whatever is right. Even when they are gone, they still remain by my side.

And I know everything will be alright.

I mourned them in life,

I greeted them in death.

I remembered them in my past,

I foresaw them in my future.

I see them in them,

And I know I'm not alone.