Woohoo! First paintball match of the year today! Only two more hours of waiting anxiously! I'm so excited. The only bad thing is that it's prolly going to be a muddy sonuva on the mountain where we play. I's so excited! And today is also my cousin's wedding. But, ew, he is so white trash. I can't stand anybody in his family except his little brother Terrence, and that's only when it's the two of us. Get him around more than just me and he starts acting just as putzy as his other siblings. On a lighter family note, my cousin Robert just got home from his two-year religious mission in Nagoya Japan! I haven't gotten the chance to see him yet, but we're having a welcome home party on Sunday, so, YAY!

Anyways, thanks to all who reviewed for that last chapter. I can't remember whether or not I replied to all three of you, if I haven't, then please forgive me. I'll get ya next time. Remember that I would really appreciate getting reviews from people! And if you're reading my other stories, please review for those as well. I know I've gotten tons more hits on Eeidi, but not one review. I know the story is finished, but I would still like to reach 500. Thank you very much for reading.

Aang sat across from Maki and watched her in awe as she raised a small lump of earth and made it swirl and dance. Aang felt so strange around her. His soul remembered her, remembered loving her and it wanted to be near her. More than once on their way to this secluded place Aang had reached out for her hand as he must have done a thousand times as Lu. He managed to catch himself each time and stretch or pick a flower to disguise his movement. He found himself watching her all the time and as he looked at her, memories would come back of his life with her. His heart ached for her and he couldn't stop it. It confused and scared him, but he kept it bottled up while every part of him wanted to scream and profess his undying love to her.

And so he sat across from her, watching her command the earth and trying very hard not to touch her because then he might lose himself entirely.

But then, it wasn't only her. Being in this time the portion of his spirit that he had kept was trying to change. It knew this time and knew what it was supposed to be at this time. More and more vivid memories of Lu's life were coming to Aang, but none of them happened after this point in time. He was even seeing memories of watching a twelve year old boy with airbending tattoos over the dinner table and feeling mild interest and suspicion. On talking to Lu that morning over breakfast he nearly opened his mouth and said the exact same thing as Lu at the exact same time….because he had said it before and was supposed to say it. Aang sighed and looked down at the ground. He hoped they could get out of there soon because his brain felt like it was about to explode.

"Alright, I'm ready to begin now." Maki said (as Aang's heart fluttered). The small bit of dirt she had been playing with now formed a tightly packed ball and was floating in the air. It was beautiful. She had pressed and shaped it until the minerals had been brought out, forming a crystal shell that glistened in opalesque colors.

"What do I do?" Aang asked, staring at the ball.

"Just stare into the colors." Maki said sweetly. Aang felt a small twinge of suspicion inside, but he pushed it away, he loved Maki and trusted her completely. So he stared at the orb as it began to spin, sunlight catching it and glinting beautiful colors, and he continued staring at it, even until his mind had gone blank and his eyes had hazed over.

"Now, tell me who you are." Maki's voice echoed inside Aang's head. Everything around him was black except that spinning stone before his face.

"Aang." He answered simply, he was about to go on because that was not his only name. He would have rattled off thousands of names, but Maki's echoing voice cut him off.

"Where are you from Aang?"

"The Southern Air Temple."

"Why are you here?"

"I was sent to learn earthbending from you."

"Why come to me?"

"Because you are the only one who could teach me fast enough."

"Who sent you?"

"I did"

"Why do you need to learn earthbending so quickly?"

"To save the world." Maki paused after this response.

"Do you know Aika?" That name hit Aang right in the chest, nearly knocking him out of his trance.

"Yes."

"How do you know Aika?"

"He is…my best friend."

"Did Aika send you?"

"No."

"Who sent you?"

"I did."

"And who are you?"

"Aang…"

"Are you here to hurt Lu in any way?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"To learn from you."

"Who are you?"

"Lu."

Maki stopped. The spinning ball stopped. And Aang nearly came out of it. Maki flipped her head and the ball began spinning once more.

"Why did you say you are Lu?"

"Because I am. I am Aang. I am Lu. I am Roku. I am Taoli. I am Kyoshi. I am…"

"What are you?" Maki asked, her voice shaking.

"I am the Avatar."

"That's enough." Maki said after a moment and the ball stopped. Aang's eyes cleared and he looked at her expectantly.

"Is something supposed to happen?" he asked cheerfully. He frowned at Maki's pale face. She was watching him, her eyes wide and abashed.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Huh?" Aang asked.

"How can you be here? Lu is already here, what are you doing here?"

"I…don't understand."

"You said you are the avatar! But Lu is the avatar! There can be only one!" Maki said. Her voice was on the brink of hysteria.

"I never said I was the avatar." Aang said, his eyes flickering away for an instant.

"Yes you did." Aang was about to argue that he hadn't when he stopped himself. A new memory came back of one of Maki's tricks. She was a master of…

"You hypnotized me?" Aang asked weakly. Maki nodded. He was about to ask why, but another memory bubbled forward. It was of last night. He was looking at Maki through different eyes and the two of them were outside so as not to disturb their guests.

"I don't know if we can trust them. The girl is a waterbender." Maki was whispering.

"I don't know. I feel…that everything is alright." Aang said, but it was not his voice. Maki shook her head in confusion. He reached out and placed his large, calloused hands on her narrow shoulders. "If it makes you feel better, then question him tomorrow." Maki nodded and they both crept back to the cottage.

"Oh." Aang said and looked down at his hands. "Don't tell Lu. I don't think he's supposed to know who I really am."

"Why are you here?" Maki asked weakly. Aang sighed and looked into her deep, hazel eyes. He couldn't contain it any longer, and so he told her everything.

Zula sat lightly on her heels and watched them. The avatar and the woman had been talking for nearly an hour. Zula was extremely tempted to just rush forward, clobber the boy upside the head and be done with it. But she shoved her irritation aside and took several calming breaths. She couldn't let her emotions control her. That was one thing she had learned from her brother's mistakes. She was hungry, she was exhausted, she was miserable and she was lost. But she would keep herself under control. The avatar and the woman were both silent now. She was looking at her knees and he was watching her pensively. Finally, she nodded and stood up, the boy following suit and she began showing him earthbending stances. Zula watched them critically, deciding on what to do. She couldn't just kill the boy because that would defeat the purpose. She finally decided that the best tactic would be removing the obstacle. Zula had spent last night restless and had used the time to arm herself. She pulled out her newly fashioned bow and one shaft. There had been no way to make arrow heads in those few hours in the dark, so she had just sharpened the shafts to a fine point and dipped them in tar she had found in a shed. Zula notched her arrow and drew back, pointing it at Maki's heart. When she was ready to fire, she touched the tarred end of the arrow with a finger and a flame came to life. Zula took a steadying breath and…something knocked her to the ground. The arrow zinged off harmlessly into the moist undergrowth and was extinguished. Zula jumped to her feet and glared at Iroh who was watching her intently, hands folded in his massive sleeves.

"Shall we go somewhere else to speak, Princess Zula?" Iroh whispered kindly. Zula paused and glanced over at the avatar and his teacher. They were still completely unaware of the two firebenders. Zula looked back at Iroh and nodded slowly. The two of them walked away some distance, neither willing to leave their back exposed to the other.

"It's heavy!" Aang said with some surprise as he finally lifted his first stone. It was actually a pebble, but he thought 'stone' sounded more impressive. Maki nodded.

"The other elements are formless and easy to bend to your will. Earth is very different..."

"It is stubborn." Aang finished for her. She froze for a fraction of a second and nodded.

"Yes. You must learn that to truly master the earth you can't think of dominating it. If someone forces you to do something, you rebel don't you? So does the earth. You must create a bond, a relationship with it. Otherwise that pebble will be the only thing you master." Maki said. It's a stone. Aang wanted to say, but held back and nodded.

"As the…avatar…it should be very easy to form a bond with the earth spirit. After you accomplish that you can do anything." Aang nodded again and she began teaching him how to touch the earth spirit.

"So father was right, you really are a traitor." Zula said with a sneer once they were out of hearing distance.

"I am not a traitor, princess." Iroh said.

"Then why did you stop me? Ensuring the doom of our nation seems pretty treacherous to me." Zula leaned casually against a boulder and gave her uncle a piercing look.

"I am trying to save our nation from its self destruction, princess. I admit, I was once as my brother and wanted very much to put the rest of the world in 'its place'. But now I understand that it is not our right to do so." Iroh said gently.

"Not our right? Then why were we granted the greatest of elements by Agni? We are a chosen people! Chosen to rule over everyone else!" Zula said, cocking an eyebrow.

"If we are so great, then why, after a hundred years of war, is the world still free? Yes, we control a powerful element. But they are all powerful elements. It is useless to try and smother the others out because it is impossible. And even if we do succeed the world will be left in ruins and chaos. I was hoping I could teach Zuko to understand this." Iroh said sadly and sat down across from her.

"Ah yes, so tell me, if you're so against the war, why help my brother in his weak attempts to capture the worlds only hope?" Zula asked, placing her hand thoughtfully beneath her chin.

"I never helped him when the avatar was concerned, in fact I did my best to dampen his passion for the pursuit. I trained him and taught him all I knew. He will be a great firelord one day, I wanted to teach him not to make the same mistakes as our forefathers." Zula glared slightly at this, but then smiled.

"And let me guess. He doesn't know this. He thought you've been loyal to his cause from the beginning. I'll have to remember to tell him later how you were trying to smother his only hope, little as it was. I commend you, uncle." Zula gave a little applause, then blasted a gust of fire at Iroh.

"Did you hear that?" Aang asked suddenly from his meditative position.

"Hmm?" Maki asked, opening an eye. The sound came again of a small explosion somewhere in the trees.

"There! Did you hear it that time?" Maki opened her other eye and gazed out at the trees.

"It's probably Lu. He often goes into the forest to practice." Maki said and closed her eyes once more.

"No, Lu took Sokka and Katara fishing." Aang said. Maki slowly opened her eyes again.

"Stay here." She stood up and jogged into the jungle. Aang waited for three seconds then followed after her.

"I thought I told you to stay." Maki hissed at him.

"I'm a twelve year old kid. It's impossible to control my curiosity so just deal with it." Aang said and crept past her. Maki frowned but followed him towards the sound of more small explosions. Then they stumbled across two firebenders. The foliage around them was crushed and blackened. In fact it matched their clothing which was now in smoldering tatters. Both panted heavily and circled each other, shooting another blast when they saw an opening but the opposite would always dodge it or block it.

"I know him!" Aang whispered, pointing to the old man. Aang glanced around warily for the prince, but he couldn't see him anywhere. Could he really follow me here? He wondered with some amazement. Iroh dodged a flame, rushed forward and shot a gust of pure heat right into the girl's face. She let out a screech of pain and backed into the woods, desperately rubbing at her red face. Iroh stayed his ground and watched her apprehensively until her vision had cleared.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, UNCLE!" She screamed and rushed forward. Iroh crouched and waited. She took a running start and leapt into the air, her feet aimed at Iroh's head. Three blasts shot out of her feet as she flew towards him. Iroh didn't bother to block these and they washed over him. He gritted his teeth and bore them out, his hands raised above his head. Time slowed as Zula fell, her feet only inches from Iroh's skull ready to deal a brutal blow. Then Iroh grabbed her ankles and yanked downward. She landed on her back with a whoof as the air was knocked out of her. She scrambled to her feet and backed away, trying to regain her breath but her lungs were tight from the shock. She heard a small sound to her right and glanced over. There was the avatar and the earth woman! Zula smiled at her uncle and shot another blast, this time aimed at someone else. Maki shrieked and covered her face and Aang tried to jump in front of her, but another had already done it. Iroh landed with a thud, an angry burn covering his stomach and chest. Zula was gone. Aang stared at Iroh for a second before his brain made the connection that the old man was hurt. He rushed to the old man's side and gently cradled his head.

"Are you all right?" He asked urgently. Iroh didn't answer. He winced and his breathing came in short strangled gasps. Nearly his whole body was scalded to some degree. Aang glanced around in the trees, but the girl was truly gone.

"Maki! Help me!" He called over his shoulder. Maki seemed to recover from her shock and crawled out beside them.

"He's hurt, badly." She said helplessly.

"We have to get him to Katara!" Aang said and began wrapping an arm beneath Iroh's armpit. The old man jerked and released a painful scream.

"No! Don't touch him!" Maki said, grabbing Aang's hands away. She stood up and lifted her hands above her head. The earth beneath Iroh cracked and lifted free, bearing his weight two feet above the ground. "Come on!" She said and began walking back towards her cottage.

Lu, Sokka and Katara arrived at the cottage at nearly the same time Aang and Maki did. Katara immediately rushed to Iroh's side and began healing his burns while Maki related what had happened.

"Who is he?" Lu asked, leaning down and peering into Iroh's face.

"His name is Iroh. He and his nephew Zuko have…traveled with us." Aang said. Sokka glanced over at him but said nothing.

"And do you know who the girl was that he was fighting?" Lu asked.

"No." In fact, with how strange the encounter had been, Aang hadn't even wondered who that girl was. "But I think we should take him inside."

Katara had healed the old man enough that he could bear being lifted by hand. Lu and Sokka each got beneath an arm and carried him into the cottage where they set him gently in Lu and Maki's bed. A bucket of fresh water was fetched and Katara finished administering to his wounds, leaving them both exhausted. The sudden relief of the pain made Iroh's eyes heavy and he fell asleep before they could ask him any questions.

"Should we wake him up?" Sokka asked, reaching for a stick by the hearth.

"No, let him sleep. I think he's earned it." Lu said softly.

Zula gasped and filled her hands with more of the cool, stream water. She buried her raw face into it and allowed the coolness to draw heat from the burns. When all the water had slipped between her fingers, she sat and stared into a small pool of still water. She was relieved to see she wouldn't have a scar to match her brother's. A twig snapped behind Zula and she leaped to her feet. There was a man standing behind her. He was tall and muscular, with dark skin and darker hair. He had a patch ofchocolate fuzz on his chin, but other than that he was immaculately clean-shaven. If this wasn't enough to betray his ethnicity, his clear blue eyes were.

"Hello there." He said kindly. Zula remained where she was crouched and glared at him. He walked over and stood beside her, Zula's muscles tensed all the more. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. Zula began raising her hand to shove him away when she realized that her body wouldn't move. She tried everything, but even wiggling her toes was impossible. The only thing she could move were her eyes.

"My my, such a lovely face. It's a shame that it should be marred with something like this." His voice was deep and calming, like the rushing of ocean waves. He motioned with his hand and a bubble of water came up from the stream. It glowed faintly over his palm then covered Zula's face. Zula would have gasped had she control of her facilities. The water tingled on her skin, then the burning was gone. Her body was returned to her so suddenly that she collapsed to the ground and remained there, shaking. The man knelt beside her and wiped her sopping face with one of his flowing sleeves.

"Now that we're friends, perhaps you could help me with something." He whispered. His cool breath in her ear caused her to shudder. Everything about this man eeked immense power. For the first time in her life, Zula felt intimidated. She looked into his eyes and nodded.

Wow, so much plot! So little words! Please remember that reviews would bring me joy! And so will paintballing! Woohoo! Bill is goin' down! I'll have to regail ya'll with war stories later!