Aang looked at the ground below with worry. After defeating Fire Lord Ozai, he waited with his enemy atop one of the pillars of stone until Suki and Sokka arrived with their stolen airship. He was happy to see his friends but got worried when they told him that Toph jumped out of the flying ship to chase after VIteq. Apparently, she had a big fight and they ended up somewhere on the ground. The airbender hoped that they didn't crash into the ground and hurt themselves.
He noticed something on the ground and felt relieved. Turning to Sokka he shouted.
"I see them, they are down there. Can you land this thing?"
The young warrior looked at the many dials in front of him and thought for a second.
"Probably, but we won't be lifting off afterwards. Do you want to risk it?"
"Not really. We need a way to get those two up here."
The two boys fell into silence, thinking about their option.
Suki approached from the side and handed Aang a rope ladder. She turned to talk to Sokka.
"Don't land, but descend enough for us to throw them a ladder."
He turned to look back and saluted her.
"Yes Mam."
Aang couldn't wait to meet his friend and talk to him. For a long time he thought he was dead and was happy to learn that he survived, but to see him face to face would be even better.
He approached one of the exits and dropped the ladder on the floor nearby. Taking one end, he brought it up and tied it to one of the numerous pipes. With his own special secret airbender knot, he ensured that it was secured and wouldn't slip. He gave it a tug and then another, then he held on and hung from it, checking that it wouldn't break. With a nod, he brushed off his hands, chucked the ladder over the edge and jumped, rushing to meet Toph and Viteq.
As he descended, he saw that Viteq had the smaller girl's head in his lap while he stroked her hair. IT looked rather peaceful, but who knows what happened.
When he was near the ground, he stopped himself with airbending and landed near the pair.
"What happened? Is everything ok?"
Viteq turned to him and smile.d
"Yeah, everything is fine. Toph is just being a brat."
The little girl looked like she was asleep and didn't react to Viteq's word.
'How have you been, Aang? I haven't seen you in a while."
The airbender rubbed his his and smiled.
"I am good! I'm happy to finally see that you are fine. We were all worried about you.. I cried when we thought we lost you."
The waterbender didn't reply, just chuckling and looking up to see the airship slowly descending. He patted the ground nearby. Aang sat down nearby and watched Viteq for a long moment.
"I can't believe you are alive. We didn't believe Zuko when he told us at first. And after that."
He watched his older friend for a moment and reached out with his hand. Placing it on his shoulder, he left it there for a few seconds before squeezing his finders. After a few more seconds, he jumped up to hug Viteq, making sure not to disturb Toph.
"I am so glad you are Ok! When we lost you it hurt too much, we were sad to lose you. It's good that you are back.!
The older teen laughed at his antics and patted him on the back.
"It's ok, I am here, I am alright."
Aang held on for a short while and let go, holding Viteq at arms length and looking at him, trying to commit his tired face to memory.
The waterbender smirked and spoke to the airbender.
"What about you, Aang? How have you been?"
"Oh, I trained a lot. After we learned that you were alive, Toph got a little mad and wanted to be ready to meet you and the Princess," Aang blushed slightly and looked aside,not meeting Viteq's gaze, "so we spent a lot of time perfecting earthbending and firebending with Toph and Zuko. For someone so small she is really a slave driver. I am actually surprised that she hasn't beaten you black and blue."
"Ha-ha, well, we had a good fight and wrecked some ships. If I didn't have the power of the comet, I'd probably have my legs broken and wouldn't be able to talk to you."
Aang looked around, seeing a couple of massive metallic wreckages on fire.
"Ill' say."
"Heh, don't worry, we had some fun and broke plenty of these things. I hope Sokka managed to get the rest.:
He turned to look at the airship, which descended enough for the ladder to reach the floor. He turned to Toph and shook her slightly, but she just grumbled and didn't respond. Viteq smirked and picked her up in a princess carry, turned to the rope ladder and started walking towards it. Aang followed closely behind.
"So hey, uh, Viteq. I wanted to tell you something."
"Huh-uh."
The airbender chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"You remember you told me that airbenders need to change and grow. How I need to change what airbenders mean. Well, we trained a lot to prepare, we talked about it. We spoke about how I needed to stop the Fire Lord, to end his life."
The waterbender looked at the boy with curiosity.
"So, we fought, I tried my best, I had to use the Avatar state and I managed to beat him. He was strong, but I was stronger. So, he was there, right in front of me, on his knees.. I was so close to finishing this, to ending him."
The boy choked up a little bit upon remembering what happened. The other man stopped to look at the Avatar, who right now looked like a vulnerable child, not a force of nature.
And swallowed loudly and then managed to speak.
"I couldn't do it. He was defenseless, just sitting there, in front of me. I could have ended it, could have ended his life with a simple motion. But I couldn't do it. Even after you told me I needed to change, after we spent so long preparing. After all that effort, I still wasn't strong enough."
Aang closed his eyes and clenched his fists, waiting for reprimand or a negative reaction.
The older of the two sighed and turned his body so that his one hand ended up near Aang's head. He rubbed the bold head and chuckled.
"Aang, I am not mad or disappointed. If this would have been easy for you, you wouldn't be who you are. I know that it's hard and it changes you. Regardless if you'd done it or not, you wouldn't be a monster, because you care and you regret. As long as you feel that, you are the person we all followed to stop this war. Everything else doesn't matter. We will decide what to do with Ozai, be it imprisonment or execution, later, don't you worry."
He turned away and walked towards the rope. Aang exhaled with relief and followed. When the waterbender arrived near the ladder, he looked up, wondering how to get up with a girl in his arms. He tried to hand her over to Aang, who could fly up and bring her up there quickly, but she shifted and held on to his shirt.
Young man saw it and chuckled.
"It would really be easier if you'd let me climb by myself. I am not good at climbing rope ladders with no hands."
He didn't get a reply as his precious cargo just mumbled and shook her head.
"Fine, be a brat. But I've got to change your position, don't blame me for this."
He brought her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Toph grumbled with a muffled 'Hey.' but otherwise stayed silent. Viteq began to climb upwards, using one hand to keep Toph in place and the other to help himself to climb up. Aang watched him rise for a moment and then flew up on his glider.
Viteq managed to get onto the ship without problems and was met with Sokka who was happy to see him. Suki knew he was alive and didn't worry much, but the young warrior was elated to again meet his older brother figure.
They shared a quick hug and talked about inconsequential stuff until everyone gathered in the control room of the ship. Suki and Sokka steered it away and towards the FIre Nation capital, Aang just watched what they did, Toph and Viteq were sitting on the bench, the girl leaning on him and acting as if she was asleep. Ozai was chained up and quietly seethed in his anger at his own defeat.
Aang was happy that this whole thing was over and that he and his friends could relax and enjoy life.
"Man, I am glad that the war ended. We only have to officially declare that it ended and we can rest."
Viteq chuckled and shook his head.
"You've never been to any official functions if you believe that. You defeated the Fire Lord, but we are about to encounter the enemy of every sane person in the world."
Every member of the group who stood on their feet turned to regard Viteq with curiosity.
"We are about to come face to face with the greatest evil in the world, bureaucracy."
Aang, who intently listened to his friend's words, loudly exhaled in relief.
"Phew, you had me scared there for a second. You are just joking."
Viteq raised his eyebrow.
"I am not kidding, Zuko and all the advisors and ministers are going to be drowning in paperwork, trying to work out reparations and who gets what land."
Sokka looked at the waterbender, puzzled.
"What do you mean who gets what land? Earth Kingdom gets its land back. Fire Nation started the war, they gotta give everything back," he noticed the skeptical look Viteq gave him, "right?"
The young man shook his head with a sigh when he realized that everyone had a similar idea about the future.
He gently got up, making sure not to let Toph fall and hurt herself. He rummaged through the cabinets that were placed in the steering booth and eventually found a close approximation of the world map. He placed it at the center of the room and let everyone have a look.
On it was drawn the entire continent that contained the Earth Kingdom as well as the islands of the Fire Nation, the Poles and other landmarks. The Earth Kingdom had lines drawn over it, which Viteq followed with his finger, explaining each one. There was the line for the Earth Kingdom territory before the war, the territory taken by the Fire Nation during the war and the planned gains after the day of the comet. He let the others view the map for a few minutes and eventually asked.
"Do any of you see something weird with the territories of all the nations?"
Sokka pointed to the Air temples.
"Well, Air Nomads have uninhabited mountains that belong to them and that's it. That's a very sparse territory, Aang. Your people really were nomads."
The airbender shrugged and continued to look at the map.
After another minute Suki piped up.
"It seems to me that the Earth Kingdom has the most territory with all the, well, Earth. Water Tribes live on the poles, there is hardly any ground there to farm. Fire Nation is located on the archipelago with the volcanoes. And compared to the Earth Kingdom, everyone else had much less territory."
Viteq smiled at the Kyoshi warrior.
"Good job, Suki. That's right. Earth Kingdom has the most land out of everyone. And I am not trying to justify the war, but lacking land to live and farm is a good reason to start one."
Sokka scratched his head, confused.
"Isn't it natural? They are the Earth Kingdom. It's their element, they should have the most of it."
"And what, waterbenders can claim all the water in the world as their own? Maybe Airbenders decided that air belongs to them and began taxing people, maybe that's why they were attacked, they taxed too much and got greedy, huh?"
Aang turned to the waterbender with scrunched eyebrows.
"You are not serious, are you?"
He got an eye roll in response.
"Of course not. But claiming that the Earth Kingdom deserves more land because it's their element is also a joke. And think about this, the borders of all the nations remained as they were for close to three hundred years before the war started. IT seems to me that the Earth Kingdom had the most land for three centuries, while everyone else had to get by with what they had."
Aang looked at the map again, quickly scanning it and comparing the land masses to one another. His face scrunched up, displaying his worry. He raised his eyes to look at VIteq.
"I don't think I like what you are trying to suggest."
"What, that we let the FIre Nation keep some territory instead of giving it all back to the Earth Kingdom?"
Sokka was not amused by that idea.
"We can't do that. Fire Nation are the bad guys, we can't let them keep anything after the war, they need to be punished. What's the point of their defeat if they still keep everything gained so far? You want them to get away with a slap on their wrists?"
VIteq shook his head.
"No, that's not for me or you to decide. The leaders of both nations have enough advisors to fight amongst themselves about the specifics. But I want Aang to understand that he can't favor only one side over the other. He can't pick a side and let them have everything."
"Why not?"
The older boy turned to his young friend.
"Firstly, the Earth Kingdom didn't act for a hundred years until you came. They just sat back and waited. Majority of the conquered territory has been occupied for decades now, people living there don't know any other life. If you were to give that territory back, families would be torn apart, parents will be separated from their children. That will breed resentment and you, Aang will be the focus of it, because it will be known that you supported such a decision."
The boy glared down at the map, not liking the implication of what Viteq had said. He himself was almost torn away from monk Gyatso, it was the reason he ran away. It was his friends who became like a family to him that kept him going thus far. If he thought about it, he wouldn't wish such fate on anyone.
Sokka didn't fully understand what the airbender was thinking, but he placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.
"Furthermore, if there is a clear victor in this conflict, it's not the Earth Kingdom. They did nothing for a hundred years, only going on the offensive in the last battle, while the Avatar defeated the Fire Lord. You can give them everything they took back, but it is you, who as the winning side deserves the accolades. It would be more appropriate if you took territory for yourself and the air nomads. Except, there are no air nomads and you are the Avatar, you don't belong to any one nation. You have no one to advocate for."
Aang looked up at the waterbender with anger. He didn't like to be reminded how his people have been exterminated and have been gone for a long time. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths. Sokka spoke up to defend his friend.
"And after that you want to give the Fire Nation the territory they slaughtered Aang's people for? It seems to me that Azula really got to you. Your bias is showing."
The waterbender chuckled and shook his head.
"I am not biased, I am trying to prevent any future conflicts from happening. If we just kick the Fire Nation out, they will be angry once again and they will plot against their new leader and his Avatar friend. Besides, there is a precedent for not giving territory back and in a roundabout way, it might be Aang's fault that the war happened at all."
"What?!"
"Yeah, your past incarnation allowed the Earth Kingdom to expand so much and left no land for other Nations. I don't doubt there were other reasons, but resources are always important. And having been snubbed by two Avatars in the row, it is easy to imagine Fire Nation growing angry and deciding to act against his people."
Aang narrowed his eyes at Viteq.
"How was it my fault? I don't remember any stories about anything like that. Avatar is meant to maintain balance, my past selves did a good job keeping peace."
"And yet it didn't stop you in your current life from having to pay for their deeds. If you haven't forgotten, you stood trial for a certain past Avatar."
Sokka raised his arm and pointed at Viteq.
"You don't mean Kyoshi and Chin the Conqueror!?"
The waterbender smirked and didn't say anything.
The two younger boys leaned forward to once again look at the map. They quickly found Kyoshi Island and Chin Village.
"Kyoshi defended the island and Chin died when he fell off a cliff. She then separated the island from the mainland."
"So he failed to conquer the island. But if that was it, he would be called the would-be-conqueror, or Chin the fallen, but he isn't. So he must have conquered something."
Sokka traced the pre-war border with his finger.
"These borders were unchanged for more than three hundred years, since Kyoshi's time. And if she stopped the conqueror, these were the borders at that time and they stayed the same. The poles or the islands weren't under any attack and it isn't shown on the map. The Earth Kingdom borders were smaller before Chin's conquest."
"That means that my past self allowed him to conquer all this land and then stopped only when her homeland was under attack. She didn't stop him and didn't return the land to previous owners."
Sokka looked up at Aang.
"Aang, I don't think there were any owners to give back to. Those were more savage times and the war would have left few people alive. Still, the Earth Kingdom kept their new borders and didn't share any land."
Viteq added a few words.
"And after Kyoshi, Roku was vehemently opposed to any expansion of the Fire Nation, he even fought with the Firelord at the time to stop him. It was only with his death that the war could be prepared for and started. And trusting another Avatar to be fair and unbiased would be a longshot by then.|
Aang looked crestfallen. His belief that his past selves were fair and unbiased was shattered and he felt that he was haunted for the mistakes of his past. His people were slaughtered for something that his past self did. He clenched his fists in anger.
Viteq spoke up again.
"All of this is of course just my conjecture. We don't know if that was what really happened. We could probably confirm this with Wan Shi Tong, when we visit him next time. Until then, you only need to keep in mind that there are many factors that led us all here to this place. Your past, the past Firelords, the other leaders, everyone contributed to the situation that led to the war. You can't blame just one nation. The fault doesn't lie with any one person or people."
Aang raised his eyes.
"Why couldn't it be simple? It was us against the Fire Nation and it was easy. Now I have to doubt myself and any choices I make."
The waterbender reached out and placed a hand on Avatar's shoulder with a strong grip.
"Aang, I told you before we all make mistakes. You can't give up. Now you see what past actions led to, you can make sure not to make this mistake again. You can't be blamed for something that happened before your birth, only strive to not make the same mistake moving forward. The fact that you question yourself and that you have doubts means that you are a good person and you can change. If you were in denial or completely sure of your own righteousness, disregarding all others, then we could have a problem. Now, everything is fine. Just do your best and we will help."
The young boy rubbed his misty eyes and nodded to Viteq.
He looked down at the map and at the disputed territories.
"Man, I have no idea what to do about these lands now. Giving it back to Earth Kingdom doesn't seem fair, but leaving it to Fire Nation also seems wrong."
Sokka hummed.
"You could make a neutral territory, where these places belong to neither nation, or both."
"You think people will agree to that?"
"What other choice do they have? As VIteq said, we would be separating families and tearing people apart. This would keep them together. Besides, these lands were occupied for decades now. Earth Kingdom didn't care for a hundred years, why should they suddenly have them back now?"
The waterbender added a few words of his own.
"We do need to build the University city for Wan Shi Tong, you'll need to designate the desert as the neutral territory. Since you ended the war and won, your voice will carry great weights in future negotiations. If you don't bow down to their demands, there is a lot you can ask for."
Aang looked down at the map and started thinking about the disputed lands. If he could give it to neither nation, perhaps making it a neutral territory was a smart decision. He would have to ask for more advice, speak to other educated people, but perhaps such an idea was doable.
As they floated towards the FIre Nation Capital, they continued discussing ideas and preparing for whatever comes after the war. The Firelord was defeated but they still needed a lot of hard work and patience to achieve peace.