A/N: Gyatso is put in front of a choice. Will he help Kuvira or will he refuse? But he is an old Air nomad, a pacifist, and someone who can easily find his own way around problems thanks to decades of experience. Let's see what solution HE will find to this matter.

Raise the curtain!

X

Chapter 3

"Miss Kuvira, I think your young age limits your perspectives. There are never only two paths. Sometimes, one must take some distance and watch the big picture from afar to understand that there can be other ways to accomplish their goals."

"Please, don't serve me a lesson of wisdom. I do not have enough time to decipher an oracle. I must prevent the most powerful military in this era from destroying one culture and a half and eliminating as many opponents to their domination. If I do not succeed, the longest war of all time will take thousands of lives and send hundreds of thousands into working camps with chains around their wrists. I cannot let my people suffer the same fate as in my timeline."

"You demand a lot from a ten year-old child, miss. I suggest you try to think about the role the Avatar is supposed to play, how he is supposed to do it and think of how you could circumvent the Avatar being too young. For example, you could gather masters of the four elements and make a four people Avatar until Aang is old enough to take his role. You could gather enough evidence of the Fire Nation preparing a mass murder as well as a war to get the support of the Northern Water tribe, the Southern Water tribe and the Earth Kingdoms. You could gather a powerful coalition made of the two nations who could fight for their freedom and take out most of the threat before the comet passes by, weakening the Fire Nation so that they can never execute their plans.

"Trying to do everything as a leader will only make you become an authoritarian ruler like you pretend to have been in your past. A secret organization will never be enough to take down an army and Sozin probably has enough support to be replaced in case he were to die prematurely. Now if you gather the support of the three peoples who could suffer from this war, you could have a much bigger chance at preventing the tragedies to come. What do you think of this? Is my piece of wisdom a loss of your time?"

"…I will think about it. Would you happen to know where I could start? I do not know much about the great figures of this era, only Bumi, yourself and Aang. And Sozin and his son Azulon, of course, but these two certainly will not sabotage themselves."

"Hmm…you could pay a visit to the earthbending masters until you find what you are looking for, but I think you are looking for a waterbender, a firebender and an airbender rather than a bender of your own element, are you not?"

"Indeed. I should travel to the colonies and look for a firebender first, or would you happen to know a rebel firebending master? If I go to the Water tribes, they will take me more seriously if I have the support of someone coming from the Fire Nation who can confirm my intel."

"Then I think you should look for Paisho players. I will teach you how to recognize an ally of the Avatar through Paisho, I think it can help you identify potential allies."

"The White Lotus? Does it already exist?"

"Of course, the White Lotus is a secret organization willing to protect the Avatar and help them restore the balance whenever it is broken. It is nearly as old as the Avatar itself."

"Then teach me, Master Gyatso."

"Gyatso is enough, no need to call me Master, haha…"

X

"Hey, Aang, do you think what they said is true? Is there a war? Are you the Avatar?"

"…How would I know? No one ever told me, but I guess it's because I'm too young to take the role of the Avatar… I'm only ten, Avatar Roku has been told he was the Avatar when he was sixteen as the tradition asked… But I never wanted to be the Avatar… I want to have fun, to live happy, not to try to solve the problems between countries or between humans and spirits…"

"But wouldn't it be cool to master all four elements? And Kuvira can even teach metalbending!"

"I don't know, Bumi…it sounds cool, but the responsibilities are too high for me to take that role… Do you realize that if she said the truth, I will be fighting soldiers, generals, admirals, a Firelord at his peak and all that when I am only twelve after a century inside an iceberg?"

"You haven't fled yet, so maybe you won't have to be trapped into the iceberg for a century! You could grow, be taught the four elements and when you're ready, you could join the people who try to avoid a global war that would last a hundred years! You could be a hero, Aang!"

"Listen, Bumi… I don't want to be a hero… All I want is to live a peaceful life, ride sea animals, have fun! I don't want to fight evil people…"

"And what about protecting your people from being killed? Do you prefer to stay innocent and let the Air nomads be slaughtered to the last of them, or will you do what you can to help them avoid being burnt to death by soldiers who obey the orders of a mad man?"

"I don't ant my people to be killed, but fighting goes against my whole culture! Now I would like to be alone!"

Aang stormed out of the hotel and took off with his airbending staff. Bumi's gaze followed him sadly. He went to the living room looking down and told the two adults:

"Sorry, we were ears dropping and Aang flew off with his staff…"

"Fuck! Why am I reduced to babysitting a ten year-old fool so that he doesn't get himself killed?" exclaimed an angry Kuvira. "Why did the Avatar have to be a child? None of this would have happened if the Avatar was a responsible adult when the previous one died…"

"I think Appa could help us find Aang before he ends up frozen for a century near the South Pole," suggested Gyatso.

"Then we must go right now! If he flies over a colony and gets captured prematurely, we won't have an Avatar to protect anymore."

Gyatso's eyes widened and he stood up immediately.

"Follow me."

X

One week later, Aang.

"Flameo Kuzon!"

"Oh! Flameo Aang! When did you arrive here?"

"I just arrived, I came from Omashu."

"What's up?"

"…Bad news… I overheard a conversation between Gyatso and an earthbender…"

"What was it about? You look quite down…"

"She told him that the Fire Nation was preparing for war…that they want to kill all the Air nomads and get rid of the waterbenders of the South Pole, that the colonies in the Earth Kingdoms are just outposts to start conquering the Earth Kingdoms and that Firelord Sozin wants to conquer the world…"

"Hmm…according to our teachers, Firelord Sozin wants to share the Fire Nation's technological progress and culture with the rest of the world. He wants to share the greatness of the Fire Nation, our navy, our great military and our way of life, because the Fire Nation is great and all."

"What? But…that sounds just like…like he wants to annex the whole world!"

"Why do you say that? Firelord Sozin is a very benevolent man, he wants the world to benefit from our cultural and technological greatness with the world! How is that a bad thing?"

"For once, we Air nomads don't want to have material attachment. We don't need things like a navy or a military. Our culture is pacifist, we avoid conflicts and try to find peaceful ways out of any trouble. What Firelord Sozin promotes is the exact opposite! He wants to 'share' materialism, militarism and technologies that could destroy regions, countries! A war ship is not a tourist boat, it's a ship with weapons, a ship made to kill! Is that what sharing means to Sozin?"

"Listen, it seems our points of view are different. The Fire Nation has benefited from volcanic mountains rich with minerals, which combined with firebending has allowed our country to build more advanced transportation and enter an industrial revolution. We have made a lot of progress, and the rest of the world is still stuck at the iron age if not the stone age. Firelord Sozin only wants the best for the world! He wants to share our advancements so that we can exchange faster, travel faster, have more efficient commercial routes and develop even faster! What is bad in that?"

"It seems like he simply discards the Spirit World, the spirits, the culture of each nation, the will of each people in favor of his technological advancement and does not care about the people, only about material matters! That's clearly not a good thing! For us Air nomads, he is simply willing to stomp our whole way of life!"

"I understand why the teachers tell us that the Air nomads are lazy, inferior people now. You reject progress, you reject the advancement of the human species in favor of living with nothing and appreciating eating vegetables and living isolated in your sky temples where you can be alone with spirits. You've been living in isolation from the rest of the world for the most part and you don't seem to realize that we who live on the ground need ships to cross the sea, to trade products with other countries and to gain wealth to ensure a good future for the next generations…"

"Oh…so that's how the Fire Nation thinks about my people…now I understand her words and it's starting to make sense… For the Fire Nation, we're just like sky cavemen or hermits who don't care about the rest of the world and like to stay in our ignorance of the innovation of your people… But all we do is avoid attachment towards physical things. We appreciate the simplicity of being alive, of eating fruits and berries, flying with our sky bisons, playing with lemurbats, and that's enough to satisfy us!"

"They were right then. You're just hermits who don't try to understand humans and appreciate to have nothing. You prefer living like poor people than working and building a home for your family, helping your country to evolve and becoming a part of the world. You're just self-centered isolationists who enjoy little pleasures that you don't share with others and you don't want to hear about progress because it's too demanding from vegetable eaters to understand that the world trades spices, goods and culture from one nation to another."

"You know what? I could make you ride Appa with me! You want to see how it feels to fly? To be free? To forget about your everyday problems? Flying is the best experience of freedom, and maybe you could understand us?"

For a short moment, Kuzon's eyes were lit with envy, but then he remembered his education.

"Sorry Aang, but flying won't make me forget my problems. I have a family, I have duties towards my country and I have to make my own family later, to find a job to feed them and to keep my honor. I can't just dismiss all that for a few minutes in the sky."

"I see…then it seems like there is nothing that can be done to avoid what is to come… As long as Sozin and his culture keep leading the Fire Nation, nothing can change for the better. I guess this war is unavoidable in the end… I hoped to be able to avoid conflict, but if even you, a ten year-old child, think like that already, our disagreement will only grow bigger with time. Take care of yourself, of your family and please, please don't join the army…"

"Sorry Aang, I'm the eldest boy. I would be enrolled, no matter if I want to or not. I hope I don't ever face you in a conflict…"

"Farewell, Kuzon…"

The Fire Nation boy turned his back to his young friend and joined a group of children who glared at Aang's Air nomad clothing. Feeling that he wasn't welcome here, the boy turned his staff into a glider and took off.

X

One day later, Senlin village, closest settlement to the Fire Nation's Crescent Island.

Aang landed when he saw Appa near the village's inn.

"Hey Appa! How are you? Sorry for leaving you behind, I needed sometime alone to talk to Kuzon in the Fire Nation…"

"And what came out of it?" asked an old voice from behind the boy.

"Gyatso!" Aang jumped into the High Monk's arms and hugged him. "I'm sorry that I left without a word…"

"Nothing bad happened to you, right?"

"No, but Kuzon told me that the teachers are basically telling children that Sozin just wants to share his nation's greatness and technological progress when in reality he's just reinforcing their military power to prepare for an invasion. Kuzon broke our friendship because he thinks I'm a hermit who doesn't care about the problems of the people who live on the ground, out of the sky high air temples. He thinks we're just sky cavemen who reject progress and that we don't care about it because we can fly with our bisons to go anywhere we want and that we just fly to avoid our problems while the Fire Nation and the other countries have to face theirs and find new means to trade goods, to spread their culture and to live their everyday lives."

"He is not completely wrong, but he is not absolutely right either," replied Gyatso. "The Air nomads embrace detachment because it brings us freedom. The less we want to possess, the less we need to do to get it. We are not lazy, we just do not want every single thing we see to be ours. Rather than possessing things, we enjoy seeing them in their natural place. What the Fire Nation does is displace everything, change objects into currency and try to get as rich as possible to avoid becoming homeless or to build themselves a powerful house. Instead of detachment, of freedom, they embrace their own slavery. They become slaves to money, slaves to work, slaves to family and honor, slaves to their country and leader. They are the exact opposite from us and that's why they don't like us."

"But it's not just that they don't like us, Gyatso! They want to destroy our culture! They want to impose their own way of life to the world because they think it is the best one and that it will bring progress to the world! And Kuzon will be enrolled in the army, with or without his own consent, just because he is the eldest son! That means that the Fire Nation will eventually send a lot of its' people into its ranks to annihilate any people or culture that thinks differently than them! They will even force their own people to take arms just so they can spread their way of life worldwide! They want to conquer the world and rule it!"

"That's why I could not miss the opportunity to meet you and Bumi when we crossed paths last week," commented Kuvira, who Aang had not seen. "This is serious. The Air nomads represent everything the Fire Nation despises, and the Avatar is an Air nomad. Sozin will do everything to eradicate your people and the threat of an Avatar messing with his plans of world domination. And in case you do not know already, he has set a goal to hunt the dragons for firebenders to prove their worth. He is an offender of nature, balance and does not care the least for the spirits. He is…slightly worse than I used to be…"

"I don't want to be the Avatar, but now I understand that I can't let the Fire Nation destroy everything I hold dear! Please Gyatso, we must help Kuvira as much as we can! I don't want to see the world ruined because of our passiveness!"

"If even you start with it…I guess since you are already a master airbender, you do not need our teaching anymore…in that case the first step is to go to the South Pole to learn waterbending and prevent them from what is coming so that they can prepare for it. Then you can go to the North Pole to complete your waterbending training and after this you can go to the colonies to hope to find a firebender willing to stop this madness and help you learn firebending. Kuvira will be your earthbending master all along, because you will need time to learn earthbending. After all, earthbending is the exact opposite of airbending. When you have mastered every element, you will be able to counterattack and end the Fire Nation's rampage."

"And what will you do, Gyatso? If the comet is coming in two years, it means I will never be able to complete my training in all four elements and defeat the Fire Nation before you guys get killed…"

"Who told you you would be the only one to fight? Gyatso and I will try to find allies on the way and warn the different nations about the danger of Sozin's actions. This time, the world will be ready to face Sozin."

"I hope you're right…" said Aang while looking down.

Kuvira lifted his chin and looked him with a decided gaze.

"We...will...win. There is no choice. If we lose, it will be even worse. I will not allow that scenario to happen, did you hear me?"

Aang gulped.

"Yes Miss Kuvira!"

"Well, now get ready to leave this place. Gyatso, please start your Paisho recruitment in the Earth Kingdoms. I will do the same in the Poles and if we fly over the Fire Nation, I will look for Paisho players myself. Let's gather as much support as possible from everywhere."

"I agree. Good luck Aang and Kuvira!"

"What about Bumi?" asked Aang.

"He will continue training his earthbending and when we see him again, I will teach him metalbending," answered the metalbender. "He was already the best earthbender of his era in my timeline, it will only make him even more powerful. I bet he will surpass me in a few years."

"Let's go, my young friends! Climb on Appa and head South! I will take care of things here before going back to the Air temples and prepare for the comet," Gyatso waved to them and turned back to the inn.

Kuvira and Aang climbed on the flying bison and took off.

"Yahoo! Flying is amazing!" shouted Kuvira after they saw the settlement become a point underneath them.

"It's sad that Kuzon refused to try it…"

"Hey, you will meet a lot of people. Kuzon might have been a dickhead, but I am certain you will meet great people from the Fire Nation. Don't let yourself feel down over one child turning his back on you! There are millions of people in the world and a lot of them will probably like you!"

"I hope you're right…"

Kuvira did something she hadn't done since she was a child. She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sure of it."

Aang smiled again. It was like having a big sister – a very pretty and strong big sister who could protect him from bad people.

X

A/N: Yay! Character development! Aang realizes that sometimes, friendships are fragile but there's always someone to support you, you just have to rely on the right people! Sorry for Kuzon being a dick, but he's a Fire Nation child taught in a school in which they raise little fascists, supremacists of the Fire Nation. He's still young and can be influenced by people with bad intentions. Not everyone is supposed to be a saint.

Big sister Kuvira, another character development that will bring change inside her. And wait, there will be even more! She's not done with unexpected roles! She will gain a lot of emotional trouble but also support along the way! Let's see how this story evolves! A lot of unexpected events will happen! Not everything happy, I'm warning you, but there will certainly be a lot of changes from canon!

Hint: I didn't put "Avatar" in the title of my story. Imagine what you want, but it is a deliberate choice.