Azula isn't exactly eager to move onto the next charak. Aang insists that the worst part is over. But he had said that about her fire and air chakras too. She rubs her hands over her face. Her eyes are puffy and red, cheeks stained with tears that she hadn't bothered to wipe away. Aang does this for her.

"Do you still need a minute?"

She has already had a minute. Nearly twenty of them. "I need to get this over with."

"Okay," Aang nods. "So our next chakra is the is the light chakra. It's located…" he taps her forehead. "And it deals with insights and illusions."

Azula's brows crease.

"Trust me, this one's a lot easier because it's more...uh, outward? What do you think is the biggest illusion that we face?"

"Do I get a hint?"

"Do you need one?" He laughs. "Just take a stab in the dark."

She shrugs. She first thinks of the Fire Nation, perhaps he wants her to prattle on about how it isn't as great as it appears to be. That there are dark things, cruel things…

The very things that have been instilled within her ever since she learned to bend. She exhales, "you want me to talk about how dreadful the Fire Nation is, don't you? You want a whole speech about how we're only glorious on the surface but it's ugly when you look deeper." She pauses. "I'm not Zuzu, the Fire Nation is a glorious nation…"

Aang seems to consider. "I guess that, that could be one illusion."

"But it isn't an illusion. We're not bad people." Her tummy flutters. She isn't sure that she can include herself in that 'we're'. "We're proud people and…"

"I know that." Aang smiles. "The illusion isn't that the Fire Nation is glorious. The illusion is that it is superior."

She considers. She considers and she supposes that he could be correct. The other nations having glory of their own doesn't necessarily reap any away from the Fire Nation. "It is superior to me." She holds her ground. And to her surprise he dosen't try to argue.

"Of course it is, it's your home." He replies. "Your home is always going to be special to you and that's fine. The problem is when you try to spread your home into other people's houses."

"Right, yes that is…"

"Invasive." Aang finishes.

"So what insight am I supposed to have, Avatar? That the rest of the world would be better off without the Fire Nation?"

Aang shakes his head vigorously. "The opposite actually; the biggest illusion in the universe is that the nations and elements are separate. None of the other elements can function without the other three. The strongest bending forms borrow from other elements. Like Toph's metalbending. Redirecting lightning, that borrows from waterbending." His hand is atop hers again, she isn't sure that he even notices. "I think that you'd be very good at lightning redirection. If you could, I think that you would make an excellent waterbender too."

Azula sniffs. "Why would you think that."

"Water is smooth and graceful. If you just relax some of your firebending stances a little, you could practically waterbend. I think that what separates a good bender from an excellent bender is knowing that you can borrow from the other elements."

"Perhaps we can try that once we get off of this ship." She suggests. Perhaps that is what she needs in order to bend well again.

"I'd like that."

.oOo.

Aang relaxes. Azula seems to be settling back into at least a semi-comforted state. She looks quite thoroughly exhausted but at least she isn't visibly tense anymore. At least she isn't crying.

He has come to decide that seeing her cry is one of the worst things. She doesn't do it all to often and perhaps that is exactly what makes it so heartbreaking when she does. When she cries it is because she is breaking, because parts of her world are collapsing. And when she breaks it is nothing but raw emotion. Nothing but fear and pain.

"What's next, Avatar?"

"Earthly attachments." He tries not to make an off color remark about how this one should be easy for her. He can't really think of anyone or anything that she is particularly and stubbornly attached to. "Earthly attachments block pure cosmic energy, the chakra located at the crown of your head."

He sees it in her eyes, that she has to think about something. And he wonders if she truly doesn't have anything at all that she feels strongly attached to.

"For me it was Katara." He notes.

"I don't have anyone, Avatar. We talked about this with the air chakra."

"And we talked about how the old you is still there and so you can love yourself. We talked about Mai, Tylee, and Zuko and how the chance for love is still there."

"Yes."

"Do you feel attached to them?"

She shakes her head. "Not right now, no."

"Do you feel attached to yourself?"

"No. Not yet. Not really."

"There has to be something…"

"There isn't."

"If there isn't an attachment, then your chakras would have balanced out after getting insight. I can tell that there's still an imbalance. You have some attachment to someone or something."

Silence.

"Your crown?"

"I already let that go, Avatar. It was ripped from my hands. It's done."

.oOo.

She rubs her hands over her face because there is something. She doesn't like it at all. But there is something…

And maybe it would be better to let this thing go.

She takes a deep breath. Yes, she thinks that it most definitely would be. If she lets this thing go then her confusion can be alleviated as well. "I thought that love was a good thing, Avatar."

Aang laughs, "that's what I told Guru Pathik. And then I chose love over the Avatar state because I couldn't let go of Katara." He gives his head a little shake and then offers her a sheepish smile. "If you can do this then you'll have beaten me."

"I can let this thing go." She is relieved for an excuse to do it. "You have to put it aside for a moment. Stop thinking about it, I guess. I'm not really sure. I wasn't able to do it."

"I can do that." She replies.

Truly it is better if she does, she tries to tell herself as she pulls her hand out from under Aang's. It is afterall the only way to truly get a sense for who she is and what she wants. And perhaps, after all is said and done, after her chakras level out and her fire flares blue, she can truly decide if the Avatar is worth getting attached to.

She gets to her feet and stretches her arms. "It is late, Avatar, I will see you tomorrow."

.oOo.

Aang nods.

He doesn't think that he needs to tell her that she has succeeded where he failed. He nearly laughs again, the woman has a habit of succeeding where others fail.

I wishes that he could be happy for her.

He wishes that unlocking that chakra hadn't made her distant once more.