Aang shook his head in confusion.
"I don't understand. Why are you showing me this?"
"Because you need to know, Aang. You need to believe that you were chosen as the Avatar for a reason. That your life is meant to be the way it is, difficult and confusing as it sometimes can be."
Aang nodded, still somewhat confused but willing, for the time being, to see what Roku wanted to show him. Before either Roku or Aang could say anything more, a peal of lighthearted laughter caught the young Avatar's attention.
Across the main square of the temple he saw Gyatso once more and, strangely enough, he saw himself as well. He was playing with his friends and Gyatso was standing to one side, watching with a smile on his wizened face. The only thing that was different as he watched was that this alternate self did not have the blue arrow tattoos that marked a master airbender. He could see one thing quite plainly, however. This Aang was happy, carefree, and clearly had never seen war or death. Aang would have given anything, in that moment, to go back to that simpler time.
"Is this it?" Aang asked bitterly, turning to Roku. "Is this what I've come here to see? A life in which I'm happy and Gyatso is still alive?"
"Keep watching, young Avatar."
As Aang watched, a strange sound could be heard in the distance. Slowly, he recognized it as footsteps; the unmistakably precise footsteps of marching soldiers. Gradually the elder monks came to recognize the sound too and gathered all the children into the innermost section of the temple. By the time the fire nation soldiers reached the air temple, only the master airbenders were there to meet them. One of the soldiers stepped forward, clearly the leader of the battalion behind him.
"So," he said, his voice sending a chill down Aang's spine, "where is the Avatar?"
Suddenly the scene disappeared and Aang turned to Roku, just as confused as ever.
"What happened next?" he asked, curiosity overcoming his fear.
"I did not want you to witness it, Aang. The Avatar after me, Aang, was always meant to be an airbender, I trust you know this."
Aang nodded.
"It's the next nation in the Avatar cycle."
"Precisely. So the Avatar in this realm is not you, but another airbender. An infant, in fact."
"The Avatar is a baby?"
"At this moment in history, yes. So when the fire nation invaded the temple, they found the infant."
Aang shuddered, his stomach dropping with the thought of what the fire nation would have done.
"Did they…."
"No, Aang, they did not kill the child. That would have defeated their purpose. The Avatar would have been reborn yet again as a waterbender and the entire exercise would have been futile. They took the child to the fire nation and made sure he never learned of his true purpose. Not until it was much too late."
Aang was silent for several long moments.
"And the rest of the airbenders?"
"They were killed, just like in the life you're leading."
Aang shook his head. His voice was shaking when he spoke.
"But why? Why does the fire nation invade the temple in the first place?"
"It is simply fire lord Sozen's bid for power. It comes at this moment in history no matter what else changes."
"But what about the Avatar in this realm? He's still alive, right?"
"But he is brought up and trained in the fire nation, Aang, as a firebender. He does not learn that he is the Avatar. He is loyal to the fire nation and helps them gain power over the other nations."
"But…" Aang was desperate now, "the Avatar doesn't live forever. He's mortal. Eventually an Avatar would have been born into the water tribe."
"Ordinarily, yes. Except that this Avatar does not die an ordinary death. One day, when he was in one of the final battles of the war he triggered the Avatar State. It was completely unconscious on his part, much as it was with you. Unfortunately, one of the earthbender soldiers he was fighting at the time took advantage of his loss of awareness. Because he did not know he was dealing with the Avatar he did what a soldier in a time of war does. The Avatar died that day, Aang, while in the Avatar State."
Aang's breath caught in his chest. Roku had told him what would happen if the Avatar were to be killed in the Avatar State.
"So then…"
"Yes, Aang. The line of Avatars is broken then. The world falls under the rule of the fire nation and without the Avatar to keep balance there is chaos."
Author's note: Sorry this took so long to get up... I think there'll be one or two more installments...
