Title: Honor: The Ties That Bind
Author: XArienX
Rating: T(PG-13) for violence, blood and adult themes.
Summary: Almost twenty years have past since the Avatar and Fire Lord met in battle and since then radical changes have shaken the very foundations of the Avatar world. Aang and his friends find themselves caught in this endless web of love, lust, politics and betrayal, whose end shall conclude the history books of a tumultuous era.
Voices: Introduction Part 2
"I failed Master Roku." Aang whispered, the shame overpowering his features. Before him lied both an endless expanse of white and the former Avatar.
"I couldn't save them. Nothing I did was enough to save anyone!" Aang clenched his fists and bit back tears.
"I failed the world, because I didn't try hard enough, because I wasn't good enough! I failed my friends and everyone I loved!" The young boy cried out, his eyes now leaking the salty lakes they had tried to hold back. He stood there expecting the elder man to speak but strangely his lips remained closed.
An eloquently carved arch appeared behind Roku, its simple wooden gate vanishing to present a shimmering portal. Aang recognized the place behind the frame immediately and knew exactly what was happening. Even though this was the way things had to be, Aang could stop his heart from pounding viciously against his chest.
Roku silently turned and beckoned the boy forward toward the entrance. It was Aang's time to join his fellow kin; he was being shown into the spirit world, his final end only a few yards away.
Aang reluctantly took a step forward. It brought the second most agonizing feeling he had ever experienced, but at the same time something deep within him seemed to disappear and lightened his chest.
He took another step with the same result. In front of him Roku stood patiently waiting at the gate, solemn faced and stiff limbed. Everything about it, the situation, Roku, what he was leaving behind, droned so loudly in his head that he couldn't even think straight.
Another foot in front of the other, and this time he noticed the buzzing lessen for a moment, but in its place rolled a fog. It made him feel as if he wanted to remember something, but couldn't grasp what it was.
Again he moved toward the totem like Roku, imploring the man for help.
"Roku, what's happening? Why can't I remember…" he fell short, forgetting what exactly he was trying to remember. Still, something nagged at the edges of his subconscious like a bee trying find its hive. He was supposed to be somewhere, or be doing something. Just what that was, he couldn't quite remember.
Aang came to a halt, clasping his hands over his ears, desperately hoping to stop the buzzing as it found a new wave of strength.
"Make it stop! Please make it stop!" the boy bawled out to anyone or anything. "I can't take it anymore make it stop!"
Aang fell to the floor, his face strewn with tears. He was going insane, curling into such a tight ball, that he would surely break in two. Only a few feet away lay the Spirit World, its golden glow promising an eternity of peace, but Aang couldn't reach it; he could barely move. He would be trapped forever in this cruel limbo, his soul unable to choose where it was going or if it would ever get there.
As his head throbbed, the buzzing slowly became more distinct, more tuned. It seemed to split into thousands of fractions, each with a different wave length and sound. At first this only magnified Aang's agony until he noticed their pitches, tones and speeds all become more define, acute, and even audible. He listened closely, straining with all his might.
Whispers in a dark chasm slowly amplified…they were…were voices! Thousands and thousands of voices! Some were crying, others screaming, men, women, children, faceless but not without speech.
"No! Don't take my son from me! Please! Don't…"
"Burn the village, and take any survivors as slaves."
"Mama, why do I have to wear this cuff around my neck? It hurts."
"If this is truly our last stand, then we shall be remembered as the ones who died
protecting their freedom!
"I shall go down in history as the greatest ruler the world has ever seen!"
"Aang? Aang, where are you? Aang!"
The Avatar opened his eyes. The last voice was familiar. He heard it again in his mind, standing out from all the rest. If only he could remember who it was! The name, the form of the person, was just out of his reach, just on the tip of his tongue. Who was it? Who needed him so badly? Aang just wanted to be left alone, just wanted to be left in peace!
Suddenly as if hit with cold water, the boy opened his eyes. Scrambling to his feet, the Avatar looked around as if he had never truly been able to see before. Somehow everything had a new depth, a new dimension and when his eyes meet Roku's, a serge of power emitted into his body. His hands began to glow, the Avatar spirit springing to life within him. Whatever was happening, Aang felt as if some invisible force wanted to propel him up and away from where he was meant to be. Glancing once more at his mentor, Aang observed a funny thing. The tightly-pull wrinkles of the man were forming something like a smile right before he was jolted away.