Chapter 23

Breathe in. Breath Out.

These were the sole thoughts in Feng's mind as he meditated underneath the emerging sun sitting peacefully on the palace's roof. Meditation had become a daily habit for the boy, something he used to help center himself for the day's events to come, giving him a sought of mental clarity that he would have otherwise been left without if he didn't meditate.

It could only go on for so long though, as there was much to do this day, so with a quiet sigh, Feng gave one final exhale, the wind ruffling his clothes from both the streams coming from his nose and the vast collection of air slowly swirling around him.

Opening his eyes, he took a second to readjust to the light before standing up and moving through a few stretches, primarily in his legs due to his past hour seated on roof tile. He was not alone in this matter, however, as only 5 meters to his right stood Aang, the boy having progressed through his stretches faster than he had.

"Thanks for inviting me Feng, I think I needed that." Aang smiled gratefully, earning a smile in return.

"No need, I could tell that the stress was starting to get to you. I figured getting you to do what I do for dealing with stress made sense, even if you should probably meditate more than you do."

"I know, I know, but I've been busy," Aang defended hastily with a slight downturn of his lips, turning towards the edge of the tilted roof as they walked down it. "With everything on my plate from mastering Earthbending, Firebending, the Avatar state, and just general tactics I haven't been left with much free time as it is."

"Mm," Feng nodded, he could understand that seeing as he kept fairly busy himself. "Just don't be afraid to take a break every now and then, okay? It'll only do you some good."

Waiting for Aang to nod, a satisfied smile appeared on Feng's face as he stepped over the roof's edge, forcing him into freefall for a couple of seconds, his hair and clothes whipping around before jets of air escaped his feet, cushioning his landing enough that he barely made a sound as he touched down, let alone feel any strain from it.

To be honest, he had taken far too much pleasure in free-falling like that recently, but he couldn't help himself. Through a simple flex of his mind and body, he was able to tell Gravity to go away, to leave it more as more of a suggestion than a hard-coded law of the world. It was little wonder Aang enjoyed using his glider so much, and if all goes well he had plans of procuring his own after the whole debacle about the war was over.

Sure, his cloak allowed him to glide but compared to the flight that Aang's glider stick allowed, he was left wanting.

"You know, some people might find it weird to drop down like that every day," Aang chuckled as he came to a landing beside Feng, his footing even softer than his due to his more advanced bending and lighter weight.

"Maybe," Feng allowed as he looked over his shoulder at the boy, a wry smirk gracing his lips, "but who would ever want to be normal? That doesn't sound very fun to me."

"Yeah, I guess so," Aang nodded, his smile dimming slightly but doing nothing else. "Do you think we should go wake up the others now? I know that they wanted to get an early start today, even if they didn't tell me why."

Feng smirked upon hearing this as he knew exactly why, but he wouldn't spoil the surprise.

"Not yet, it's still barely an hour past dawn, and they all like to sleep in when they can, Sokka especially. It can wait another hour, and at least Toph should wake up during that time, and maybe Katara. If not, we can always blast them with some air or something."

"Heh," Aang chuckled, remembering when he had done just that a few days ago to Sokka. It had been drawing closer to mid-morning and the poor boy still hadn't emerged. Much to Feng's disappointment, and Aang's happiness, he had won the coin toss and got to do the deed. Feng didn't even want to know where Sokka had learned some of those words, but it had been fun nonetheless.

So, still in a relaxed mood, the pair of them spent the next hour just roaming the palace halls, nodding whenever they were met with a servant or guard and receiving a greeting back in return. But at the same time, Feng couldn't help but feel like he was missing something important. Something that would have far-reaching consequences. Whatever it was though, he just couldn't put his finger on it, and it was annoying the hell out of him.

…

"It's at times like this, that I wonder why we didn't do this sooner," Sokka said as he took in the scrumptious-looking display of food put out before them, filled with countless dishes of meat, vegetables, fruit, and desserts.

"I don't know…because we were being chased?" Toph snorted, handing Feng her plate as he loaded it up with her favorite foods to eat in the morning, a mixture of meat and vegetables that reminded her of home, a cup of tea, and a small tart to finish it off.

"Not like that's ever stopped us before," Sokka replied as he continued to load up his own plate, filling it with what looked like solely meat stacked high above the surface of the plate, with a small section of vegetables that he had only put there under his sister's stubborn glare. "Like seriously, we stayed in Omashu for a while, we stayed in Gaoling for a few days, and we spent almost a month alone at the Northern Water Tribe, and we were being pursued the entire time."

"Yes, and why exactly did we leave those places?"

"Because the Fire Nation soldiers caught up to us, or because Aang needed to find a teacher," Sokka sighed before perking up, taking a bite of his hearty sandwich which was just two slices of bread, some mayo, and 12 pieces of beef. "But we don't need to worry about that now, we're safe here and Aang doesn't need to find anyone to teach him Firebending, so we can stay here until the invasion."

Toph frowned slightly but chose not to further the argument, instead tucking into the plate Feng had given her even as Feng himself started tucking into the vegetable quiche on his plate, a large portion of it with a few pieces of fruit and a tart as well.

Even while he was eating though, he still had a frown on his face, like he was thinking about something but couldn't quite make sense of it.

"Everything okay, Feng?" Katara asked as she set her cup of tea down, giving him her full attention.

"Yes? I don't know, I just can't help but think I've missed something, or that something bad is going to happen soon, but I can't think of anything that might be the cause. The Earth kingdom soldiers are keeping an eye on the Fire Nation ones, Aang's learning at a good pace, we're all preparing as much as we can, and we have a solid plan to deal a real blow against the Fire Nation."

"But your bad feeling persists anyway?" Katara pressed, earning a nod from Feng even as he took small bites from his plate, not feeling particularly hungry.

"To be honest," Aang spoke up, drawing the table's eyes toward him, "I've been kind of feeling the same thing as you, Feng. Like it's in the back of my mind. Barely noticeable, but there all the same. Do you think it's connected to our Airbending?"

"Maybe," Feng admitted with a frown, "but maybe not. We've been doing everything we can, so it might just be paranoia on my part. If we want to succeed against the Fire Lord, we can't let such worries overwhelm us, not if we want to succeed."

"Then stop worrying about it," Toph decided, polishing up her small desert with great relish. "If it happens, it happens, and I'll be able to sense it before it comes. If it doesn't happen, you'll feel quite silly with yourself if you do worry, so put your mind off it."

"Yeah, after all," Sokka agreed, pointing his free hand at the girl, "We have the ever-watching midget on our side, with her we can't lose…unless the foe is books. Then we might lose."

Everyone groaned even as Toph snorted, brushing her foot against the ground to cause a spike of earth to emerge from the floor and skewer the remaining half of Sokka's sandwich, wrenching it out of his hand as he blinked, looking at his suddenly empty hand in surprise.

"My sandwich…" he said mournfully, much to the amusement of the others, especially Toph. Teach him to insult her height.

…

"Are you sure I'm ready to do this?" Was the first thing Aang asked after he got over his shock at Toph's request. When they had been walking out to the training ground, Aang had been mildly suspicious of the presence of everyone but Katara but had just assumed that it'd be a group training session or something.

Not that they'd be spectators.

"You don't need to be sure Twinkles Toes, you just need to do it! Now come on, let's do this!" Toph exclaimed in excitement, crouching down in wait for her bald pupil.

Aang looked to his other friends for support but found nothing but gleeful expressions...

"2 Gold on Toph," Feng said out of the corner of his mouth, not taking his eyes off of the duo.

"I'll take that bet, I believe in Aang," Sokka replied, shaking Feng's outstretched hand.

…and bets on the outcome of the fight. Great. Well, it would be kind of interesting to see how far he had improved with Earthbending, and he kind of doubted she'd let him get out of this one, so he may as well accept her challenge.

"Okay," Aang sighed in acceptance, crouching down himself with his palms held outwards. "Do we go on three or something-WOAH!" he exclaimed, stepping out of the path of the earthen wave as he stamped downwards, sending his own back at the girl as she cackled madly.

"There are no countdowns in real battle Aang! I'm going to do my best to treat this like a real battle, you should do the same!" Toph smiled greatly, kicking her foot slightly to redirect Aang's attack as she stepped forward, trusting her hands up to create a series of pillars around the area, giving them both ammo to work with.

Well, if she was treating it like a real battle, he should be as well Aang thought, so he stopped hesitating, instead embracing the battle wholeheartedly as he started punching and kicking at the ground around him, causing multiple rocks to float in the air before they arced towards her in unpredictable angles, not just straight lines like most Earthbenders.

The first time he had done this, Toph had been caught off guard, but now it just required more of her focus to counter, which she did so by pulling up the ground in front of her, forming a triangular shield for the rocks to break themselves upon.

Seeing this, Aang grunted as he leaped towards her position, lifting his arms upwards before he landed on the ground below and slammed his fists into the floor, the ground in front of him vibrating viscously as he let off a concentrated Earth Wave, one the easily tore through Toph's shield and continuing on.

Aang put this out of his mind, however, as unlike what he had expected, Toph's enclosure was empty, leaving him staring at empty space for a moment before he turned his gaze outwards to the rest of the battlefield, looking for any sign of the girl.

Unfortunately for him, there was none, which meant only one thing. She was hiding underground, and until she resurfaced, Aang wouldn't be able to touch her. One of the things that she had never gotten around to teaching him in their short time was tunneling, so now all he could do was wait.

And pray that she would have mercy.

It was only because he was looking down that he even noticed the earth starting to shake beneath his feet, causing him to leap away just in time to watch a hole appear beneath him, one that would have left him trapped and ended the fight.

While he was glad to have dodged it, it didn't exactly tell him where Toph was, as she could have created that attack from a fair distance. If she kept doing that, attacking him in surprise, he couldn't see himself winning. That's why he had to flip the board using one of the new moves he'd inherited from his last lives to turn the table on the Master Earthbender.

"Well…you said to treat this like a regular battle," Aang mused, pushing one foot forward as he lifted his hands in the air, holding them out at his side. "So don't blame me when I do!" he exclaimed, leaping forward as he flipped through the air, kicking outwards just before he landed to create a small mound of dirt, one that he crashed down into as he brought his arms together, his forearms raised as the entire battlefield started to groan, Aang himself straining under the struggle of his attack.

It was worth it though, as the instant Aang finished his technique the very earth around him started shaking, lifting up in a circular wave before slamming down afterward, compacting the earth in a wide area, making it harder to control.

As a result of this, the earthen pillars that had been erected in the battle all crumbled to the ground, and one on the very edge crumbled away to reveal Toph's surprised form, the girl blinking owlishly from where she was covered with dust.

"The hell kind of technique was that?!" Toph exclaimed as she stepped out of the rubble, brushing herself off. "I know I didn't teach you that, hell I can barely do that!"

Her exclamation caused Sokka to cheer, his exuberance shining though even as Feng stood there calmly, his belief in Toph unwavering.

"True," Aang admitted, a smirk crossing his lips, "but do you all I took from my memories was Firebending? They were all masters of the four elements, not just the one. Why wouldn't I pick up some of their moves?"

Even if he couldn't image separating a landmass as Kyoshi had.

"That…is a good point," Toph admitted, nodding her head in respect even as her grin widened, the girl taking a new stance. "But that doesn't mean I'm out of the fight yet!"

Not wasting any time, Toph hopped forward, landing on her feet one after the other as she rotated her arms forwards, levering them upwards as if there was a massive force on them as the earth in front of her started to raise, quickly traveling towards Aang despite the fact that it should have been harder for the girl to move it than normal.

Aang didn't let this thought distract him as he punched a half-formed fist forward, a spike of earth appearing in front of him as he split the attack around him, shifting his foot and other hand to create a smaller attack that traveled through the gap toward Toph.

It did less than nothing to the girl as she ducked out of its way, not bothering to defend against it as she went back on the attack, one of the square tiles lifting from the earth as it was sent spinning at Aang, the force of its rotation making the air buzz as he took a move out of Toph's book and ducked underneath it as well. Only, when he stepped back upright, he found himself assaulted by the likes of three separate boulders, all of them rolling towards Aang at a vicious pace, having been sent by Toph straight after the tile.

While Aang went about dodging the first two and blocking the last, Toph went to work constructing her plan. First, she created two walls on either side of Aang, clenched hands pulling them out of the earth with only a hint of struggle and the sound of crumbling stone.

"Hah!" Toph grunted as she slammed her palms together, causing the two earth walls to collapse towards Aang, gravity helping the motion of the tall constructs as he rushed through the motions to create supportive pillars beside him, pillars that groaned as the heavy walls slammed into them, but aside from a few pebbles being knocked loose, they held firm.

However, this little maneuver had left Aang trapped in a small encloser, his movements restricted by his surroundings, which Toph took advantage of as she pulled her hands back and up, causing earthen spikes to appear from the ground around Aang, all eight of them pointing at his neck as the boy gulped, a nervous sweat drop appearing on his face.

"I believe that's game, Twinkle toes," Toph smirked as she twitched her left hand, the spikes moving a centimeter closer, actually poking Aang with their sharpened tips. Well, enough to feel anyway, not enough to draw blood.

"I…I think you may be right, Toph." Aang admitted with a sigh, raising his arms in surrender as the girl cheered. Meanwhile, Sokka cursed as Feng smugly held out his hand, curling his fingers twice in the universal sign for 'pay up'.

"I wouldn't be too worried, it was a good fight," Toph said as she walked closer, a stomp of her foot collapsing the spikes as the pair went about resetting the battlefield. The hardest part was probably uncompressing the stone, as Aang may have gone too far and turned it into sand rather than standard, porous rock.

"There," Toph declared as she and Aang lowered the final wall into the earth, leaving the battlefield in the condition it was before, "all done, and no one is injured. I call that progress."

"Yes, but it really shouldn't be," Aang snorted, remembering all the injuries that Toph had given him during their training. So, so many bruises. Even just thinking about it was enough for his body to ache. "But progress would be me actually winning, or at least drawing with you. At least then I'd know if I'd mastered Earthbending. Well, without the Avatar state, at least. I can't really see any single bender being able to face that."

Toph's ears twitched at Aang's words as she tilted her head, considering them for a moment. She then nodded.

"That sounds like a challenge to me."

"What sound like a challenge?" Sokka asked as he and Feng walked over, the water tribe boy still grumbling slightly. "I kind of missed what you were saying as I paid the loan shark here."

"If you didn't want to pay up, you should have never bet in the first place, Sokka," Feng retorted as he rotated the two shiny gold coins between his knuckles, performing a bit of showmanship as he flipped them in the air, opening his hip pouch just in time to receive the metal being he closed it back up again. "Never bet what you can't afford to lose, everyone knows that."

Seeing the boy grudgingly nod, Feng turned back to Toph. "Anyway, about that challenge?"

"Well, Aang here thinks that there isn't a single bender alive that can take on the Avatar state," she said even as she rotated a finger in her ear, flicking the glob of earwax away. "I don't know about you, but that sounds like a challenge to me."

"Yeah," Feng snorted, "a challenge you would lose. Aang isn't being cocky when he said that, he was being honest. Unless you think you can defeat the combined experience of millennia's worth of the most powerful master benders known to man?"

"Maybe not," Toph acknowledged even as a mad grin appeared, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to take a stab at it anyway, at least if he's restricted to Earth."

You'd still lose, Feng thought even as his gaze shifted towards the slightly pensive Airbender.

"What about you Aang? Are you willing to return her challenge?"

"Well…" Aang trailed off, sounding hesitant as he stared at Toph, looking for any sign of regret. "If you're sure?"

"I am."

"Then...okay," he sighed, walking back out to the battlefield. "Avatar state restricted to Earthbending it is. Just…don't be too disappointed when you lose, okay?"

"We'll see," Toph muttered, punching the air a few times as she prepared herself, looking quite excited in Feng's eyes. "Audience members, please get out of the arena, it's about to get a little…rocky."

An unrepentant grin appeared on her face.

"Hah!" Sokka laughed even as Feng shook his head fondly with a smile. "Good one!" He cheered as he lead the way back to where they were before, the Water Tribe boy looking at Feng with a raised brow.

"I don't suppose you'd want to double down on your bet now would you?"

"Not on your life, not if Aang's in the Avatar state," Feng chuckled, earning a rueful smile from the other boy.

"Didn't think so," he sighed as the pair focused their attention back on the soon-to-be fighting duo.

"As soon as my eyes start glowing, the fights on alright?!" Aang yelled, just loud enough to be heard as Toph's hand formed the 'ok' symbol.

Seeing this, Aang took a final breath to prepare himself before he went through the now familiar motion, finding himself in the void once more with his celestial body. Consciously reaching out, Aang touched the orb even as he let his feelings for Katara fade, once more joining with the energy of the universe.

Only a few seconds after Aang had closed his eyes, they snapped open again, his gaze now pupilless and his arrows shining.

"Begin."

The instant Aang said this, Toph wasted no time in taking the first move. With a determined smile, she started off with what had finished her last match, erecting a series of spiked poles at Aang's body, only none of these spikes were designed to be slowed down at the last second. At the same time as this, Toph stamped her foot, causing the earth in a five-meter radius of her body to condense in an effort to make it harder for Aang to retaliate.

It wouldn't help, as with a neutral expression on his face, Aang lifted a single hand, closing it just before the spike reached his body. This caused the spikes to stop where they were, not moving an inch before he waved his hand, causing them to break off at the tips before he sent them back at Toph, sending them moving faster than she had.

It was all she could do to raise her trusty triangular shield, barely managing to get it up in time before the spikes exploded themselves across it, the force of the impacts causing her to grit her teeth even as her limbs shook under the strain of maintaining the shield.

"Me and my big mouth," Toph grumbled, now realizing the futility of the situation she was in, but continuing regardless. She had talked up such a big game, after all, she couldn't back out now. Instead, with a huff Toph pushed, causing the triangular pieces of earth to pivot on their edge, wedging them in the ground under Aang's calm watch.

Instead of moving though, he was just standing there, watching. Like she could do nothing to him that would threaten him. Like she was less than him in some way, which Toph didn't like. Not…one…bit.

This is why she brought out one of her most dangerous moves, using the foundation of her shield to create it. Countless flicks of her hands and wrists reduce the shield to hundreds of pieces, spikes of all kinds floating in mid-air under Toph's strained concentration.

"I hope you are ready Blue Boy!" Toph yelled, not hesitating at all as she pushed her arms forward, swaying sideways as she flung her arms out, pushing them towards Aang as her spikes began to move. At first slowly, and soon rapidly, a veritable storm of masonry flew towards her opponent, every single sharpened point directed at his soft flesh.

If this was all there was to it though, it wouldn't classify as one of her deadliest attacks. No, what happened next was, as just before the spike collided against the rapidly rising shield of Aang's, Toph's hands flexed open in a claw-like grip, the backs of the spikes condensing in a way that forced the front ends to explode apart, flying at even greater speed, almost reaching the sound barrier as the sound of ricochets filled the air, dust filling the area that her attack hit Aang as she panted for breath, waiting in anticipation to see what the outcome was.

As it turns out, as the dust finally cleared, she had done both quite a lot, and nothing at all. You see, floating in front of Aang where the remains of two earthen shields, both of them quite literally pockmarked all the way through, and the ground around them was covered in deep gouges, sure to ruin anyone's day if they were actually hit by one of the attacks.

But Aang himself? He was completely unharmed. Actually, more than unharmed, he wasn't even tired or concerned, he was just standing with a calm resolution, staring at Toph with no emotion in his eyes.

"That was quite the impressive attack. Allow me to return the favor." Aang said much to Toph's concern, as she was in no state to defend herself, not after she had just expended most of her remaining chi in that final attack. There was a reason she didn't use it in battle after all, aside from the fact of how lethal it was.

But Aang was not privy to her thoughts as he knelt on the ground in front of him, moving at a leisurely pace as he rested his hands upon it. Without warning, the very ground began to rumble, only faintly of course, not enough to even make Toph's footing unsteady.

But it was enough to ruin her Seismic Sense, the vibrations becoming too muddled around a meter away from her to be of any use. For the first time in a long time, Toph was truly blind, and that scared her.

Scared her more than she wanted to admit, even if she put up a front of bravado over it.

"Is that it? Almost anyone can shake the ground a bit!"

Aang smiled as he returned to his feet, moving slowly with his hands still stretched out in front of him, not struggling in the least. Instead, it looked almost easy as he lifted his hands from waist to shoulder height and then spread them out so that he was T-posing.

The earth around him copied him as the entire training area began to warp around Aang, reaching far beyond where even the now-concerned Sokka and Feng were standing, almost reaching the edge of the large training area itself.

And this was a training area for a literal battalion of soldiers, so it was by no means small. Small or not though, Avatar Aang didn't care as he pulled up every part of the training ground aside from where Toph, Sokka, and Feng were standing, the copious amount of stone flying higher and higher as the smaller pieces began to combine, the sound of shifting rock filling the area until eventually, only a single piece remained. A single, large stone hand hovering far above his head, as if ready to slam down like a hand of god upon the poor blind girl.

On one hand, she could now sense the earth around her again, which was good, but she could also feel the vast collection of earth hovering above her, two orders of magnitude more than even the largest amount of earth she had ever controlled.

"…I guess that wasn't it."

"No, Toph, it was not," Aang replied calmly, both of his hands held above his head to support his behemoth construct, actually struggling a little under its weight. "Do you surrender? Or do I have to bring the hand of god down upon you?"

"No, no no no no no!" Toph rapidly shook her head, holding her arms up. "I'm good, you win. Can you please put the earth down? Feeling all of that floating in the air like that is making me nervous."

Aang bowed his head in acknowledgment at the gesture as he turned his focus back to the behemoth above him, the boy closing his hands into fists before splaying them open, breaking the earth above him back into a thousand pieces, of which he controlled every single piece of it to gently land in the gaping hole he had generated in creating the construct.

He paid no mind to the awe of the other members of Team Avatar as with a single stomp of his foot, the entire field leveled into a flat plane again, the second stomp of his foot giving them the same grid marks they had had earlier.

With his job done, Aang closed his eyes as he allowed the energy in his body to flow out once more, his tattoos no longer glowing as he opened grey eyes to peer at the area around him, a wide smile blooming on his lips.

"Was that as impressive as I felt or what?"

"It…it was pretty damn impressive," Toph said with a small shudder as she slumped slightly, her posture turning limp. "No, actually that was downright humiliating. I think I can understand why the Fire Nation is so afraid of you now, if only a little bit. I can't imagine a single person alive who'd even be able to come close to replicating something of that scale, in any element."

"I can see what you mean," Aang nodded, not offended in the least, "but you have to remember that I both have access to more chi in the Avatar state, and the past Avatar's combined experience. Tens of thousands of years of experience in fact, so it's a little harsh to compare yourself to me in that state."

"Yes, what he said," Feng agreed as he walked over to Toph, putting an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him, accepting the physical contact. "You don't exactly see me comparing myself against Aang, do you?"

"You literally do that all the time!" Sokka yelled as he threw his arms up. "Like, every single day, when I ask you about it, you refer to your abilities against his."

"Against his abilities by himself though, not his Avatar state." Feng felt compelled to point out even as Sokka grudgingly nodded.

Aang didn't really react much as they said this, merely sporting a calm smile as he watched the proceedings.

"Yeah, I guess so," Toph sighed before chuckling slightly. "But it's also nice in a way, you know?"

"Yeah, having Aang's backup against the Fire Nation is pretty sweet." Sokka agreed, making Toph shake her head before pausing and nodding.

"Well, that too, but I meant it's nice to know that, as far as I've come in Mastering Earthbending, and that's pretty damn far,"

Feng snorted in amusement at her lack of humility.

"It's nice to know that I can still keep improving, that I still have room to grow, to be better than me of yesteryear. Thanks for the spar Aang, but if you don't mind, I'm going to go get some rest, as quite frankly I'm pooped."

If you took a close enough look at the girl, you'd be able to see she was telling the truth, as sweat had plastered her bangs to her forehead, and even now her breath was raised. Seeing this, Feng decided to escort her to her bedroom, where she proceeded to conk out the second her head hit the pillow. She wasn't lying, Feng snorted as he closed her door, leaving to go find something else to do.

…

"That's what that was?" Katara blinked in surprise even as she continued to flow through her Waterbending kata's, her movements unhindered. She wasn't actually bending any water of course, but the practice helped to keep her limber and the moves fresh in her mind. "A bunch of people started scurrying around at the time, but when I made it to the window there was nothing to see. It's a shame I missed that, it's not every day you'd be able to see something like that."

"Not every day? Try every century," Feng snorted as he copied Katara, moving through his own katas, although he was actually controlling his element, limiting his expression to the smallest amount he could.

This meant that it felt like there was a slow breeze moving through the otherwise enclosed courtyard, but as they both enjoyed it, Feng didn't stop it.

"If I'm being honest though, it kind of makes sense that Toph wanted to face off against Aang in the Avatar state, even if it seems kind of dumb in hindsight. It's always easier to keep moving forward if you have a goal rather than pushing the boundaries, and that was certainly a pretty impressive goal."

"True," Katara nodded as she arched backward, showing off her flexibility. "Doesn't mean I'd ever do the same, even if we could right now. I'm fully aware that in the Avatar state, Aang would obliterate me. Like, not even a contest obliterate me, as I've seen just what he is capable of with water back in the Northern Water Tribe invasion." A small shudder racked her body, although that could have been because she'd just straightened from a full arch.

"And while I'm glad to have him as an ally against the Fire Nation Military, it's still a little scary to see him in the Avatar state."

"Yeah," Feng sighed as he flipped in the air, landing with one foot forward as he rotated his arms, a small whirlwind appearing in front of him before it dissipated. "There is still one thing that bothers me. The Avatars of the past, they all would have had access to the same state as well, right?"

Katara blinked as she paused in her motions, placing a finger and thumb on her chin in consideration as she nodded. "Yeah, they would have. Or at least most of them would have."

"My thoughts too," Feng agreed as he leaned backward thrusting his hands and foot out in opposite directions, small streams of wind leaving them. "But if they all had access to it…how come they were ever defeated? Avatar Roku for example was left stranded on that Volcanic island by Fire Lord Sozin. If he'd entered the Avatar state, even an erupting volcano wouldn't have mattered. So why did it bring about his doom?"

"You've been giving this some thought, haven't you?" Katara asked bemusedly, putting a hand on her green-covered hip.

"It helps pass the time," Feng shrugged, ending his motions as he placed his palms together, standing straight as he let out his breath slowly, a sort of cool-down motion he had adopted for his routine.

"Well…maybe it's because he was old? Caught unaware by some attack or something?"

"No, I don't think so," Feng shook his head as he sat on the floor, pushing his legs out into a perfect split as he alternated reaching between one foot and the other. "King Bumi shows that for benders, age is just a number. Yes, your movement guides it, but the most experienced benders don't need much. Roku may have been old, but he wasn't that old. Nor do I think he couldn't have entered the Avatar state if he had wanted to. No, it seems to me like Roku purposively didn't enter the Avatar state at all, and for the life of me I can't figure out why."

"Maybe he didn't want to hurt his friend?" Katara shrugged as an apologetic expression appeared on her face. "Sorry, I don't think I'll be much help here. Maybe you could ask Aang? I have to go meet with Sokka now anyway."

"Yeah, maybe," Feng admitted slowly even as he waved the girl off, staying silent until she was out of hearing range. "Or maybe there was a reason that he didn't enter the Avatar state. A reason that it's treated like a last resort that we just don't know about yet."

And if such a reason did exist? Feng would make damn sure he found out why before it was too late.

AN: And that's another chapter down, and this is now my longest story. Yay. Anyway, just showing off some of the progress of their training. The next chapter will do the same for Feng, with some more of Azula as well.