Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender

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Azula watched curiously as Aang meditated with Samir; his back was tense, but not stiff, his posture was steady and relaxed, looking natural while his firsts were held in front of him, elbows bent, knuckles resting against their twin, and his breathing was soft. He was sitting in the Lotus Position on the edge of the Air Temple, and if it were anyone else, she wouldn't be surprised if they fell off, but Aang had, from what she had gathered, done this ever since his first memory. It was in his blood, the Air Nomad-bred way.

This was the last day of the second week when Aang had begun to teach Samir the ways of his people, and while the girl seemed to be quite adept at following his instructions and memorizing his teachings, she still needed a lot of help. Aang was incredibly patient, though, always smiling down at Samir and endlessly encouraging her, and it was then when she realized that Aang wanted to give Samir airbending regardless of how… slow she learned. The way frustration would boil in the girl until she calmed herself actually reminded Azula quite a bit of Zuko from their younger years. Whereas Zuko was a slow and almost-illiterate learner, plus a late-bloomer, Azula herself was a prodigy, always had been.

But now, she didn't necessarily feel like a prodigy, though, and she hadn't for some time. On Ember Island, Azula had shared with Aang how she had bent her first flame at only three years of age, expecting him to be awed like everyone else – even her father – had always seemed. He hadn't been awed, not even a little; instead, he had looked unsurprised and unruffled, almost unconcerned of her prodigious past. Azula had been disgruntled, almost indignant, and so she had asked him when he had first bent when he was a child.

Aang had only laughed, insisting that she wouldn't believe him, but she had continuously pressed him, eager to hear of his answer. He had eventually worn down and told her: "I don't remember when I first began bending – I was too young."

"That's not an answer, Aang," she had pointed out, almost pleading for with him to tell her.

"I was less than a year old when I first accessed my airbending gift and talents; I've always been able to bend since my memories start. Gyatso and all of the Elders always regaled me with the tale of how, when I was only months old and playing with my toys, the ancient relics of the Avatar, I was blasting tiny, yet strong gusts of wind at the toys to move them around; the bending arts, no matter the element, including earthbending after I grasped the mindset, has always been as easy as breathing for me."

Ever since he had revealed that, Azula felt sort of felt passed-over. For as long as she could remember, she had been the best, invincible in her ability to understand and perfectly replicate the bending forms. At the same time, though, she now also felt relieved that even more pressure, pressure that her father had always placed on her to be the best, was taken from her shoulders. Based on what she had seen from Aang, and how effortless he could fly around without a glider, simply being one with the Air, and bend all of the elements in a majestic show that left her breathless because of her awe, she knew it was a title that he deserved. She didn't know if he was a natural prodigy, far beyond any who she had ever heard of, or if it was because he was the Avatar, but she believed it to be a combination of both.

"Am I doing it right?" Samir suddenly asked, "Can I be an Airbender, now?"

Azula watched as Aang hesitated, "Not just yet, you must do one more thing before I can… determine if you… qualify." She winced slightly at his choice of words, wondering if he realized how… callous he had sounded; it reminded her somewhat of her father. "Can you do that for me, Samir? Only one more thing, okay?"

"Okay, I can do it," the girl nodded her head in determination, features scrunched up.

"Good, now I want you to feel the air around you," he instructed. "Become a part of it, and be the air itself, let its energy flow through you and embrace the change that you feel in your soul. But most importantly, what do you need to be?"

"Oh, Airbenders need to feel free!"

Aang grinned down at her, "Yes, exactly, so I need you to be free, okay? I won't help you this time, you need to learn to do it on your own, and I'll gauge your progress."

Samir seemed to relax, her face losing all of the determination, and instead, a peace replaced it. "Like this, Aang?"

Azula hadn't seen Aang look so relieved since he had seen Appa after he had awoken from his coma after the slaughter of Ba Sing Se. "Yes, you did it! You're going to be an Airbender!" In a blurred motion, he pulled the girl into a fierce hug, burying her into his chest. "Thank you, thank you, Samir. You've made me feel very happy."

"So, you'll give me airbending, now?" Samir seemed to move her head up to look at him.

Aang stared down at her with great pride and he laughed joyously, and tears welled in his eyes if Azula wasn't mistaken. "Yes, I will give you airbending, you've earned it – and you deserve it, too! Kneel down on the ground, okay? I will place my thumbs on your forehead and chest, and you'll feel strange and you'll also fall asleep? Are you ready?"

"Yes," the girl nodded her head and did as she was instructed and Azula leaned forward, aching to see this power, the same one that had taken her father's bending, the most powerful Firebender of any of the previous Fire Lords.

Aang inhaled deeply and as he had said, placed his thumbs on her forehead and chest. He closed his eyes and his face became harder than stone, becoming terrifyingly blank, so similar to the Avatar State when the lifetimes-powered version of him had stared into her soul in Ba Sing Se. Azula didn't like that expression for it reminded her far too much of her father in her older years.

The air came alive, swirling around the room in a show of power, and Azula didn't dare reach out to touch it, afraid that she would somehow kill Samir. A vortex of energy approached Aang, spinning so fast that all she could see was a magnificent blur. And then it was gone, Aang exhaling slowly as he released Samir, reaching down to catch her before she collapsed.

Azula stepped closer, gazing down at Samir's unconscious face, afraid that she wasn't even breathing. "What happened? Is she all right?" She asked, beginning to feel concerned when Samir remained frozen.

"She fell asleep, remember? Her body will be… undergoing a metamorphosis, a rebirth, you could say. She is now an Airbender, but her body must adjust to the onslaught of energy in her chi; while she already had energy there, it was insignificant compared to the energy that I just used to flood her chi, changing it until it resembled an Airbender's."

"And how long will she remain in… rebirth?" She frowned and leaned down, narrowing her eyes as she saw a… ripple cross Samir's face. "What's this? What's going on?" More ripples appeared and before her stunned eyes, the girl's features began to change, becoming something new. A lot of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom coloring vanished, replaced by features that looked identical to Aang's.

Azula whirled up at Aang, thankful that he looked as baffled as she felt. His eyebrows narrowed and rose, trying to make sense of everything. "I didn't know that that would happen,"

"What did happen? She looks like you, it's uncanny. She could actually pass for your daughter now; it's not just the eyes, it's everything."

Aang swallowed, looking to be panic-stricken. "I don't understand. Energybending shouldn't… cause changes in one's physical appearance. It's only in the chi! Ozai didn't look any different."

"You took away my father's bending, though, while giving Samir bending. I suspect that there's a crucial difference. You said that her body must adjust, right? But what if it also changes physically to compensate until Samir looks more like an Airbender, more like you because it was you who used energybending to give her airbending?"

"That makes sense and seems to be the explanation," Aang said in a daze, looking overwhelmed. "My chi is what turned her into an Airbender, and her own chi would try to… try to copy as much about me in terms of airbending as possible."

"I think that she's waking, Aang," she said pointedly. "The changes must be fully-rooted,"

Gray eyes suddenly met gray eyes.

Samir blinked several times and flexed her fingers. "I feel different," she admitted shyly, looking down at her hands. "Am I an Airbender, now?"

Aang frowned, "That's good, you're supposed to feel different, and yes, you're an Airbender. Congratulations, Samir".

Just as she was about to speak, Samir's eyes face contorted in discomfort. Then, ACHOO!

Samir sneezed and a gust of wind exploded against the stone, a gentle breeze sweeping outward that swayed through Azula's hair.

"She's definitely an Airbender," she concurred, recognizing that this was a historic moment; for the first time in over a century, a true Airbender, one who wasn't the Avatar, would walk the world.

Azula smiled slightly as she knew that her destiny was to help the cycle along, to help Aang until the Air Nomads filled each Air Temple. Looking at the two Airbenders, the joy on their similar-looking faces, reflected in their gray eyes, she knew that she would never wish for a different destiny.

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The Temples of the Air Nomads were all about freedom, becoming one with the wind, and isolating oneself from the world below. There was peace at each Temple, a rarity in the Four Nations, and maybe that was why he loved the Temples; maybe it was because he was born to the Air Nomads in this life. He honestly didn't know, and he honestly didn't care; he was content to feel the peace that he hadn't felt since before he was told that he was the Avatar over a century ago.

"I won't have any bad dreams?" Samir pulled him out of his recollection, her own gray eyes peering up at him vulnerably, the features that now looked so similar to his own no longer frightening him. She was trying to go to bed, hoping to have a good night's sleep for the first time in months.

Aang nodded, his features softening into something tender when he observed the features that were his own without the fear. "Yes, Azula and I will be here to ward off any darkness, okay?" Aang smiled gently down at Samir's fatigued face, "I promise that you will have a good night's sleep, my newest Airbender." A fierce pride and love filled his heart as it was the truth.

He was no longer alone in the world; the Airbenders were returning.

Samir smiled tiredly, her eyes falling shut. "Thank you, Aang," she nestled into the bed and Aang stepped over to the windowsill, observing life below.

The valley was bathed in a majestic golden color from Agni's setting form, and the Eastern Air Temple overlooked everything. The trees below were little specks in the distance and the sky protectively dwelled over the ravine.

He had been born in this Temple, and although he held no memories of his birth, he could still remember the first time when he had actually traveled to the Eastern Air Temple with all the other kids of the Southern Temple to be placed under Mother Superior Lio's care. She had taught each of them how to bond with a Sky Bison, citing that by feeding them an apple, you drew the Sky Bison's attention, and when picking your animal companion, a tug in your soul would decide which baby would bond with you in an ancient ceremony.

Aang had, indeed, felt a fierce connection with one of the baby Sky Bison from the moment when their eyes had met. He could still remember it; as if he had been in a trance, he had plucked an apple from Lio's basket and approached the Bison's form. It had been strange because the baby had been away from the others, waiting for him, staring at Aang with the same glazed eyes. Aang had held out the apple and immediately, the Bison had slurped it out of his tiny hand, tongue wetting his skin. "Appa," he had then breathed out, and then for some reason, they had both begun to weep, clutching each other like long, lost friends.

Now, looking back at those events with a mature mind, after much consideration, Aang firmly believed that each Avatar has an animal companion in their lifetime. Roku had Fang, he himself had Appa, he felt pretty sure that Kyoshi was bonded to a Badgermole if his gut feeling was correct, and he intrinsically knew that Kuruk had a Polar Dog as an animal companion for his reign of over half a millennium as Avatar.

What if an animal was reincarnated with the Avatar through the Four Nations, becoming their greatest friend to live with them throughout all of their lifetimes? It made sense. When Aang had first seen Appa's eyes, he knew those eyes. It hadn't been the color, or the emotions swimming in their depths. Maybe, it had been the sparkle, but he didn't care. While he still had no clue about what it was, he knew that it had been something about them that he had remembered from lifetimes ago; they had been familiar.

When Appa had been stolen by the Sandbenders in the Si Wong Desert, Aang had never experienced such overwhelming rage, not even when he found out that he was the Last Airbender. Back then, when he had been staring at Gyatso's skeleton, that was just his own grief and anger – and maybe the grief of every Air Nomad Avatar. Yet, when he had found Appa missing during those tumultuous days in the Si Wong Desert, he had felt blistering fury below the surface that wasn't his own, yet it had been at the same time. All of his past lives had been angry, he himself was angry, and if he was being honest with himself, he had truly wanted to go on a rampage; he had yearned to kill everyone in sight, hunt down the Sandbenders and make them suffer as they had forced him to suffer when they stole Appa. His soul had been cracked and the only remedy for it was for Appa to return to his rightful place by his side.

When Appa was returned, from Zuko's doing he had later learned, he had wept for hours, and it hadn't been just him weeping in relief; it was Roku, Kyoshi, Kuruk, Yangchen, Jinzhai, and all those who came before him. His soul had begun to mend, to heal thank to the presence of his best friend. While he had stuffed down his grief after the couple, Than and Ying had given birth to their child, Hope, he had still been devastated and had had trouble looking at his own hands, hands that were tattooed with arrows just like Appa's arrow on his fur. For weeks, he had been broken, the rift growing with each passing day, and just when it had all seemed eternally hopeless, Appa had escaped from Lake Laogai, from the duplicitous Long Feng, and Aang healed; the events had traumatized him, though, for he was now, even after mastering his chakras, always wary of others with Appa – only Azula was someone who he trusted to watch his best friend.

And when Appa had been struck down in Ba Sing Se, Aang had gone on a divine, blood-soaked rampage. He had slaughtered the Earth King, the Council of Five, and most of the Dai Li as if they were helpless children. Honestly, there was a chasm in his heart that had enjoyed it. Maybe it had been truly Kyoshi who enjoyed it, but it didn't actually matter. You see, in essence, he was Kyoshi, so he did, in fact, enjoy it.

When he had finished his slaughter, he had raced to Appa's side in the blink of an eye, drawing upon his power to bring his best friend back from death itself. He had even used bloodbending as a tool to help repair the busted vessels and capillaries, and Aang had listened to all his past lives' advice, the best way for him to bring Appa back. He had followed their instructions perfectly and he had felt the inner parts of Appa's body repair themselves, mending what was broken and making it anew. Every injury that his friend had ever experienced, he had fixed it and when he had succeeded, and his friend opened his eyes, he had wept once again in relief, all of his past lives joining him; later on, after he had awoken from his coma, he realized that by healing his best friend from death itself, he had made Appa stronger than any other Sky Bison to exist, repairing everything until it was perfect, a perfection that had never before existed.

"Is she asleep?" Azula's voice drifted into his ears, interrupting his thoughts, and he welcomed it.

Aang turned away from the windowsill, taking in Samir's slumbering form. "Yeah, she's asleep,"

Azula effortlessly slipped into the room unheard, aligning herself next to him, no space between their bodies, "So, how will this work, the catching of Dark in the act of tormenting Samir?"

"I will feel any presence that enters this room, spirit or human. If Dark does enter her dreams, I will repel him back into the Spirit World and follow him, hunting him down, vanquishing back into the Tree of Time once more. I refuse to let him gain more power. You can join me if you wish."

Azula smirked, "You didn't truly think that I was going to let you go alone, did you? Plus, it will help me see how mastering my chakras has changed me." She shrugged and powerful blue flames ghosted across her fingers, "My firebending is just as it was on Sozin's Comet, but I'm curious about going to the Spirit World. The legends say that it is most fearsome, particularly the thorny areas of the Gardens of the Dead."

Aang nodded his head, slightly surprised that she even knew about the Gardens of the Dead, but he figured that most spiritually-attuned people were; she had been able to converse with his past lives, something that only a spiritually-attuned person could do.

"It definitely can be," he agreed, remembering his own experience the first time in the Spirit World during the Siege of the Northern Water Tribe all of those years ago. "If you do come with me, you must follow my instructions, okay? If you don't, your spirit has a real possibility of never returning to your body."

Azula raised an eyebrow, "How so? Why?"

"Time flows differently in the Spirit World; it's not like the Mortal Realm, not one bit. Your spirit can easily become lost in the Land of Spirits; a millennium could pass in the Mortal Realm, but it might only feel like several minutes in the Spirit World. So, by the time when your spirit connects back with your body, there might not be anything here in the Temple left except for a husk of bones for you to reconnect with. Do you understand?"

She hummed, not looking scared at all, and he was thankful. "So, I guess that you'll have to be stuck with me, Avatar," Azula smirked, and she leaned even closer, her breath softly colliding against his face. "I can be quite- "

Aang swiftly put his hand over her mouth when he felt the energy of a powerful spirit buzz against his senses. "He's here," he whispered into her ear, ignoring the feelings rushing through his body at having her so close.

Azula stared at him calmly, eyes widened just a bit, and she only nodded. He then slipped his hand away and she licked her lips, "How do you want to do this, then?" Her voice was a near-silent whisper, golden eyes burning with expectations.

He didn't answer, instead motioning for her to follow him as he stepped closer to Samir's slumbering form. Her sleeping face slowly began to show signs of distress, and fearing that the dream had reappeared, he placed his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes, intent on banishing Vaatu back into the Spirit World.

It was a powerful one that had the energy of darkness, but strangely enough, it held the energy of light that resembled Raava's almost. Aang's eyebrows furrowed as he dug deeper, realizing that it wasn't Vaatu; the feel of this spirt was familiar, but who was it? Where had he experienced this neutral aura of energy before, one that was light and dark all at once, a paradox beyond any other?

"Avatar…" a voice hissed and Aang's eyes snapped open in alarm, in dread and realization.

Koh.

He had been blinded by the knowledge of Vaatu that he had forgotten about the Face Stealer, had been unable to recognize him immediately! It was all obvious, now, the true endgame of Vaatu's designs; he had convinced Koh to help him escape from the Tree of Time! Only a spirit of immense power could help Vaatu escape from the Tree of Time, and there were few spirits in existence who possessed power that could even give the Face Stealer a cause to pause; even the threat of Kuruk's wrath hadn't deterred him from stealing Ummi's face!

He felt Azula touch his arm and he looked down at her rapidly, "It's Koh!" He hissed out, watching as her golden eyes widened minutely before a determined glint shone like Agni himself in her orbs.

"Come find me, Avatar, you must! It is the only way for much to be discussed! My patience has run out and the girl has been my flood! Careful, or my tide of frustration will sink your neighborho'd!" Aang grit his teeth and swiftly sat down in the Lotus Position by Samir's bed. Azula followed and in tandem, they struck their fists together and closed their eyes.

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Luscious-looking trees were everywhere, white shadows wisping around the ground, covering his legs, and it was dark, but it didn't bother him, even when he couldn't see below his waist. Where was he, though? Vaatu had declared him to be in his vicinity, but as far as his eyes could see, his savior was nowhere.

The plan was to find the Earth Spirit, not end up in this unusual forest filled with aggravating white shadows that seemed to be alive; how was the Earth Spirit here? Shouldn't she be in the Spirit World, but he knew that he wasn't in the Spirit World for Vaatu would have revealed himself. What forest in the Earth Kingdom had his ally dumped him in?

Realizing that no answers would come by waiting, he breathed out a magnificent fire that bloomed from his lips, splitting the darkness in front of him for a brief moment. He then cracked his neck and journeyed forward, hoping to find or feel some type of sign that the Earth Spirit was here. What would she look like? Did she resemble how Agni had looked? Was she literally created of the earth, of dirt and soil and hard-as-metal rock?

He silently stepped beneath a vine descending from a tree branch and observed his surroundings, angered by the fact that he was still alone. That wasn't the plan! Vaatu was supposed to be by his side, aiding him in his search for the Earth Spirit. Yet, could he truly be surprised, though? Their mindsets were remarkably similar, and it sounded like something that he himself would do, abandoning your lone ally to prove… strength, perhaps?

Then again, his companion often did things that he himself had no clue of, vanishing for hours or even days at a time. At first, he hadn't minded because it had thankfully given him time to rest – sleep is a weapon! – and contemplate his future, the new reality that he would herald, but he did wonder what his ally was doing.

After years of waiting, in the most unexpected way, his plan of becoming a god to rule over the world was finally coming together in a way he had never even imagined.

It was going to be glorious.

He suddenly came upon a cave and narrowed his eyes, feeling that something was off about it; it was no normal cave. A strange energy washed over him as he stalked closer, fire coating his fists, ready to attack any threat that revealed itself. The cave wasn't natural, it had been built, maybe by an Earthbender, but something was different, though, for he had seen the signature of a Master Earthbender when he had hunted down the Order of the White Lotus' members; this cave was saturated with an energy that was beyond any Earthbender's.

Had he found the dwelling of the Earth Spirit, and if so, why was she in the Mortal Realm instead of the Spirit World?

He heard a noise and without hesitation, he punched his fist forward, jets of fire swarming forward, begging to destroy any who dared to oppose him, to try and attack him.

Nothing happened after several moments and the glow of his flames illuminated how long and marvelous-looking the cave was; realizing that he had no better option, he growled, teeth gnawing into teeth, whipping around, eyes scanning everything in sight for a sign. "SHOW YOURSELF! I am in no mood for the games of prey and predators!" His eyes spotted something amiss, the strange cracks in the wall in perfect harmony, and they looked like fingers scraping something. "Last warning!" He called out, and when no response was received, he inhaled deeply, all of his muscles tensing, bulging as he unleashed his fire in ways that ignited a sizzling in his blood, his fire-filled blood.

The flames roared and swarmed everywhere, sparking and burning every stone and vine and moss that was visible. A red atmosphere descended around him, fire blazing and razing down the stone until nothing remained of the cave.

He stalked out of what once was a cave suspected of holding the Earth Spirit, white shadows hiding his legs from view once more. He paused and considered his options: he could turn back, or he could continue forward.

He was no coward, so he journeyed onward.

Time had quickly lost all meaning as he trekked through the astronomically-sized forest and when he felt the urge to howl like a beast, like the Dragons of legend, he finally found something. It was just like Vaatu had said: an enormous tree stood before him, seemingly as tall as the clouds themselves and it was wide enough to be the size of Ba Sing Se itself. He stared at the tree in wonder and contemplation, wondering how he was supposed to find the Earth Spirit with this tree.

"I see that you've finally found it, Ozai, it took you long enough." Vaatu's voice echoed behind him, sounding amused.

The former Phoenix King turned around. "No thanks to you," he snarled out, spittle flying past his lips. "It took me hours to find this fucking tree! Where have you been?"

Vaatu floated closer, dark energy following him intimately like a shadow. "I've been busy, my friend, preparing for the Avatar." Ozai glanced up at the tree as Vaatu continued, "This tree was created by Devi herself, her baby that she nourished like no other. It's in the heart of this forest; every other tree is connected to it through the roots beneath the soil. We must destroy it to force her to come out, and then I will take us all to the Spirit World.

"You can take me into the Spirit World?" Ozai breathed past his shock, "I've heard that no human can bend there, though!"

"That won't be a problem, Ozai, I know several tricks that bypass the limitations imposed on the Realms. And soon, you will be anything but a mere mortal; you will be a god. Now, why don't we desecrate this tree that will lead us one step closer to our goal? I know that would make both of us feel better."

Ozai grinned maliciously, fire spurting from his clenched fists. "Let's," he agreed and blasted his flames at the tree in a wave of calamity. Bark and wood exploded off and sizzled through to the center of the tree, but after several moments, the tree seemed to repair itself almost instantly. "What kind of tree is this? Did the Earth Spirit bless it?"

"Indeed, Devi did bless this tree to exist forever, pouring a lot of her power into it, but you and I will succeed. It has vast spiritual energy, but if we continuously damage it, it will, in time, be destroyed. To catch my fellow spirit, Ozai, you must release the barriers of restraint- "

"Never had any," he corrected. "I understand, though: I must turn my inner flame into a monstrous inferno. It doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the spectacle of watching fire work to its greatest potential." He continued his blasts, and Vaatu joined him, dark blasts of powerful energy exploding out of the mighty spirit's chest, and Ozai's mind drifted.

After his defeat during Sozin's Comet by that fucking boy, he had been thrown into the most secure prison that his worthless son could think of; it hadn't been the Boiling Rock as he had expected, but one specifically built beneath the Caldera's Palace, probably so that the traitor could keep a close eye on him. It's what Ozai himself would have done in his treacherous son's place.

For years, he had rotted in that blasted cell, and even though he had concocted countless plans to escape, to regain his inner fire that the Avatar had stolen from him so that he could retake his rightful place as the Phoenix King, ruler of the new world who would rise from ashes of the weak, none of his plans had come to fruition. He had yearned for death, it would have been better; the Avatar had been excessively cruel. The boy had been too much of a coward to kill him, but that boy had been more than willing to condemn Ozai to an eternity in the dark without his fire.

His enmity had burned brighter – and it still did - than Agni himself, but no one would help him gain his rightful vengeance; he had had to admit that his son was certainly clever, showing traces of his mother. All the guards who had secured his cell changed shifts at every dawn and dusk, none of them were the same – at least, he didn't think that they were; their faces were always hidden behind the skull masks of the Imperial Firebenders. In all honesty, the traitor could have used peasants to bring him his food.

The greatest memory that he had from his time in prison was when the traitor had come to him in a fierce rage over what he had discovered from Ursa.

Ursa.

Oh, how he truly loved her! When his father had introduced her to him, Ozai had been instantly enthralled with her beauty. Then, as he had gained insight into who she was, he realized that she was perfect, a way for him to secure a subtle victory over his prodigious older brother. First of all, Ursa herself was a prodigious Firebender, and that guaranteed that his children through her would be prodigies, especially when he had learned that his wife-to-be was the granddaughter of Avatar Roku - an Avatar! Such overwhelming fire would flow the veins of his children and Ozai had been proud when she came to him, declaring that she was pregnant.

Then they had been married with his father's blessing and Ozai had glimpsed all of the other traits that he loved about her: Ursa was smart, cunning beyond any other, and she had a strong backbone that his stupid son would later inherit. She was perfection in mortal form and for a while, he had been happy, charming his wife into his bed multiple times a day and he had even sired a daughter from her body, a prodigy beyond any who he had seen save his father – a girl with his blood who rivaled her grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon himself! It had been glorious to know that his two children through Ursa would grow into powerful Firebenders, ones who would fully secure the world in the Fire Nation's grasp.

While Azula had always lived up to her potential as a child, and then some, Zuko had been nothing less than a failure. For a long time, his stupid son hadn't even been able to bend, and in those cursed times, he would have killed his son for making him look pathetic, look like a cuckold if it hadn't been for Ursa, his father, his brother, and the Fire Sages' assurances that his son was a Firebender.

When his son had finally used firebending, Ozai had felt grandiose relief, only for it to morph into fury when it had been so pitiful. His son, the firstborn of his name, of his very blood, had been a disgrace! His fucking brother had won again; Lu Ten, while nowhere near the prodigious might of his father, had been strong and it seemed that he would clearly grow into a Firebender of the highest order. Iroh had always heralded his son around, declaring that the boy would ascend the Dragon's Throne after his death, and Ozai had wished to herald Zuko around, to showcase a strength that wasn't there.

How his son had disappointed him!

Ozai had always known that he himself was the Spare Prince, the disposable son who had murdered Fire Lady Ilah, a crime that his father had always hated him for, never able to be Fire Lord, but how he had always wished to be! With Iroh alive, and with a son to his name, though, Ozai's dreams of ruling the Children of Fire had been nothing more than an illogical fantasy.

Then the winds of fate had willed Lu Ten's death and Ozai hadn't been as happy since his marriage to Ursa. When his brother hadn't returned to the Caldera, he had pounced in opportunity, demanding an audience with his father under the excuse to showcase Azula's talents.

It hadn't gone as he had anticipated, though. He hadn't understood why his father couldn't see reason, couldn't see that Agni himself had wished for Ozai to rule. So, knowing that it was his destiny to be Fire Lord, he had crafted a plan, and with the knowledge that his daughter was listening in on the encounter between him and her grandfather, he used Fire Lord Azulon's words as a weapon designed to place Ozai on the Dragon's Throne.

It had pained him to manipulate his wife by his father's 'order' over the traitor's death, but it had to be done; he had needed to rule as Agni dictated – it was his birthright, not Iroh's! Lu Ten's death had proven that Agni believed his brother to be incapable of sitting on the Dragon's Throne, something that Ozai had always secretly known.

His brother had always been soft-hearted, even during his scourges of the Earth Kingdom and his hunt for the elusive, thought-to-be-dead Avatar. His father, though, hadn't seen it, nobody had except Ozai himself – and it had always felt infuriating! It didn't help that Iroh was the perfect Prince, the son who Fire Lord Azulon hailed as General, the Dragon of the West. More than anyone else, Ozai knew how powerful of a Firebender Iroh was; he still held the burn scars to prove it, and for his entire childhood, he had fiercely struggled under the shadow of his mighty brother – and the fact that he had killed his mother entering this world, too. He had never been good enough; his father and brother had both always resented him because of Fire Lady Ilah's death, and while the Court never knew that he had killed her, they certainly knew that he wasn't cared for, that he was the Spare Prince, the Weak Prince.

Honestly, Ozai did have to admit that they were all correct, their titles true; his firebending had been so egregiously pitiful – just as Zuko's later was. Maybe that was why he hated his son, the knowledge that they were so similar? He had trained to be better, though, trained and trained until his bones splintered, his muscles rupturing from the grueling regime that he had forced himself to complete each and every day; results never appeared in spite of his hard training, in spite of his yearning to be the best, to somehow make his father proud of him, to show that he was more than just the murderer of his own mother.

It wasn't until when he had met Ursa that his firebending became the roaring inferno that it became known to be as by the time of his ascension to Fire Lord. Under her help and gentle tutelage, he had flourished, mastering firebending to a level that hadn't been seen. Apparently, he had been a late-bloomer, and if rumors were to be believed, legend says that Sozin himself was a late-bloomer; Ozai had taken pride – and still did - in the fact that he was similar to his esteemed grandfather, the one who was hailed as a god across the Three Nations during the Great War.

For years, Ozai had waited for Zuko to show the spark, but his pathetic son had never done so. When he finally did bend his first flame, which was when he was seven-years-old, the destructive aura of energy didn't encompass Ozai's son, and it was truly then, during that moment, when Ozai had realized that his son was a disgrace to bear the legacy of Sozin. He had given his son every chance to prove him wrong, but Zuko never did. So, knowing that if Zuko had been somehow murdered and that he wouldn't feel sorrow if that were the case, Ozai fabricated the story about the encounter in the Throne Room. Ursa had come to him stricken, begging him not to do it, to say that Azula's words weren't true. It had pained him to see her so distraught, but he had only told her that there was one way to keep Azulon's order from coming to fruition, to keep her beloved son alive.

After a moment, Ursa had nodded and, together, they had concocted the plan to murder the Fire Lord.

His wife had succeeded just as he had known that she would - she was magnificent, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a war-torn world. She had killed his father, the Fire Lord, the most powerful Firebender in the world, Sozin's son, and then she had vanished like smoke after a mighty fire.

That had been unexpected, not part of the plan! Their agreed-upon plan had been for her to kill his father and then return to their chambers! Instead, she had left him to impose herself in self-exile. He had been shocked! He hadn't wanted her gone, not one bit. He had never cared that she murdered his father, only that she was by his side, but what had she done? She had abandoned him, leaving him to rot in the vestiges of her presence. Although he had never known why she had decided to change the plan, he suspected that it had to do something with Zuko and Azula. If so, it was ironic: the mother of his children had been reduced to ruin by a parent's folly.

He had sent his best spies scouring the Fire Nation and parts of the Earth Kingdom for years, but they had never returned with anything, and slowly, he had begun to resent Ursa. Who was she to decide that she could leave him? She was to be by his side when he ruled over the world! He still loved her just as he always had, but ever since, hatred had taken a deep seat right next to that love.

Ozai had constantly contemplated the thought of killing Zuko like he had 'said' that he would but could never go through with it; it wasn't because of moral reasons, not at all. He held no qualms with killing his spawn. No. Ursa would never return to his side if she discovered him to have murdered one of her two precious and beloved children.

So, when the traitor had stormed into that accursed cell, declaring to him that he had found his mother, Ozai had been flooded with bafflement, with shock and rage. How could his pathetic excuse for a loyal son find Ursa when Ozai himself had almost spent a decade searching for her?

On that day, that good day, his son had actually impressed him for only the third time in his life. Zuko had made him feel proud for the first time since he had stood up to him during the Eclipse, somehow re-directing his lightning blast back at him, and when Ozai had, for whatever stupid reason, thought that Zuko had slain the Avatar.

The rage that had burned in the golden eyes that were identical to his own, the powerful fire that had been unleashed through clenched fists, and the heated hand that had wrapped around his throat with the threat and promise to kill him had shown Ozai that Zuko truly was his son.

Indeed, the boy had become very powerful, his fire had melted his entire cage. Only the greatest Firebenders in the Royal Family were capable of such a feat in such a short amount of time: Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, and now, Zuko. They were true rulers of the Fire Nation, the ones to dawn the mantle of Fire Lord, the ones above all of the others.

He had then dared his son to end his misery, to just finally complete the cycle, but his life's blood had continued to pump through his body.

When Zuko hadn't killed him, Ozai shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. He had been filled with anger and disappointment just as he always had been in regard to worthless son. By killing him, Zuko would have proven that he was willing to murder his father in order to secure the Dragon's Throne, something that was rightfully his, just as Ozai had done with his father. Zuko was his son. A dark power clung to his blood just as it did Ozai, Azula, Iroh before Lu Ten's death, Azulon, and Sozin. He had seen that dark power in the boy's eyes when he was being held by the throat, and Ozai had craved for his son to do it, to prove to him that he was willing to murder him just as he himself had sentenced Azulon's murder. If Zuko had killed him on that day, Ozai would have died prouder of his son then he had ever felt before.

Zuko hadn't killed him, though, instead choosing to leave him in that fucking cell for more years of darkness without his inner flame that the Avatar had stolen from him.

Things had seemed hopeless, but then Vaatu freed him from his torment. A voice had been whispering in his dreams and a connection had solidified between them. Ozai had understood what his destiny would be as the Phoenix King: Light would soon fall, and Darkness would rise to vanquish it, led by Ozai himself. The Avatar would feel death intimately, and by his own hands, that fucking boy would cease to exist forever, no more Avatar Cycle.

Darkness had then swept him out of his cell and deposited him on a strange island. There, he had met Vaatu. The mighty spirit had shared the plan that had been eons in-the-making. Ozai had learned much from his ally: how it was Vaatu who had actually started the Great War by controlling the Fire Spirit, Agni from his prison in the Tree of Time, and how Agni had then controlled Sozin into starting the war after Avatar Roku's marriage so that the chaos of war would strengthen Vaatu, giving him enough power to escape from his prison.

Under his influence, Agni had tasked Sozin into leaving Avatar Roku to die on a volcano and slaughter the Air Nomads to destroy the Avatar, leaving no threat to Vaatu. Somehow, the Avatar had eluded Vaatu's gaze and Sozin's grasp for a century, but the Great War had accomplished what it was meant to: the carnage had filled the Spirit of Chaos and Darkness with immense power, but it hadn't been enough. He had needed more if he was to break free from Tree of Time, and more did come. All of the raids in the Earth Kingdom after the Great War had gifted him the power necessary, and along with Agni's help, he broke free from his prison.

Vaatu had then revealed to him the true origins of the Avatar and how the spirit planned to become an Avatar, too, just as his counterpart, Raava did. After understanding what had been offered, Ozai had immediately knelt before Vaatu, offering himself as the spirit's vessel; he himself had a fierce score to settle with the Avatar and even when the boy was only his worthless son's age when Ozai had seared his mark into Zuko's face, he had been shown how much more power the Avatar held, more so than any other. He recognized that if he wanted to destroy that fucking boy who had stolen his fire, he needed Vaatu as much as Vaatu needed him.

It was a perfect partnership.

The mighty spirit had accepted and then rushed into Ozai's body, filling him with power far greater than Sozin's Comet. It had been a different type of energy, one that was different from his inner fire; it had been divine, cosmic power that surpassed anything.

With Vaatu still inside him, power bursting through him, Ozai had noticed that a man made of pure fire had appeared on the strange island, staring at him intently. The man had had two heads, one warped and monstrous, grim and resolute, black flames a beacon to his eyes, and the other head had been filled with orange and yellow and red flames, a kindness and almost purity on his face; the second head was much smaller than the other head, though, like a small pebble next to a mountain-sized boulder, but each head's eyes were glowing purple, a similar color to Vaatu's energy.

Ozai had fallen to his knees before the Fire Spirit. "Mighty Agni, Father of the Flame," he had said with absolute respect. Suddenly, one of Agni's hands had gripped his face, and then his inner fire had roared back to life, the Dragons fighting in his spirit once more. Realizing that his firebending had been restored, he had gasped in awe, tears falling down his face at the feel of it. "You have my eternal gratitude, Provider of Power."

Agni's larger head, the one depicting carnage and atrocity, had chuckled darkly. "You will play a role greater than you know, my son. You will burn and blacken this world until you rule it, and it is my pleasure to gift one of my strong children as Vaatu's vessel. Become the god who you were always meant to be," the Fire Spirit had said and then vanished in a streak of lightning.

Vaatu had then relinquished his hold and told him the rest of his plan: search for the other Elemental Spirits and coerce them into gifting Vaatu and thus, Ozai their elements, sway prominent figures in the Material World to his side, slaughter the Order of the White Lotus, destroy the Avatar - Raava herself – and then become the new Avatar with Ozai as his vessel, bonding them together forever in the same way that Raava was with Wan and, subsequently, every Avatar who had come after him. Vaatu would create his own Avatar Cycle, the inherent opposite of Raava, and they would battle in every lifetime and the Dark Avatar would kill the Light Avatar every single time.

Ozai had had only one question for Vaatu after hearing of the plan: "When do we start?" If Vaatu had had a face, he had known that the mighty spirit would have been smirking maliciously, matching the smile that had been coating Ozai's own face.

The first thing that he had done was to rest his body – and his mind, too. In that loathsome cell, his son had ordered the guards to constantly wake him up in the middle of the night, probably hoping that he would slip and reveal something about Ursa. Ozai's father had given him one memorable lesson in his life: 'Rest is as much a weapon as any bending or sword. Sleep is a weapon, remember that.' He had taken that lesson to heart and had always made sure he had a restful night's rest during his reign as Fire Lord. For several weeks after regaining his firebending, he had rested his body and mind, waiting patiently for the time when he would finally destroy the Avatar with Vaatu's help.

Once he had finally been fully rested, Vaatu had tasked Ozai with acquiring prominent figures from the humans to join them. After much consideration, he had then traveled to Ba Sing Se, seeking to sway the King Kuei to his side, believing that the buffoon would, based on his daughter's findings, easily be manipulated by his words. During his journey, he had realized that it was a good thing that nobody of importance in the Earth Kingdom had ever actually seen his face before unlike his brother's. The peasants had, no doubt, but the Nobles had not, and Ozai had been counting on that.

He had easily passed through any security measures, showing them forged paperwork, and by the time when he had arrived in Ba Sing Se's Palace, Ozai had been more than ready to begin his plan. It had been so easy, too easy to sneak into the palace, laughable in all honesty. He had found King Kuei, the Dai Li, and the Council of Five in session, and then he had silently slipped into the room:

Ozai looked at the King of Ba Sing Se with a critical eye, observing the man as he waited in the shadows for the opportune moment to strike. Apparently, based on what he was seeing, the buffoon had become more of a Dragon, patient and emotionless until his prey was trapped, and then he would unleash the famed fiery rage. It seemed that King Kuei had learned the games of the High Class; Azula's report had detailed the opposite, and Ozai found himself feeling impressed with this King Kuei. Maybe, the man would become actually useful, instead of just being a tool to gain the Earth Kingdom's army, specifically the Dai Li.

He was not blind to the intense enmity that the Earth Kingdom held for the Fire Nation, for him specifically, but if he could promise them vengeance, they would be begging to join him, and then he and Vaatu would have an army of Earth and Fire to challenge the Avatar.

Ozai then acutely observed the Dai Li as they stood stock-still, the very pinnacle of what any Child of Earth could become. Azula had swayed them to her side during Ba Sing's Fall, so for him to do so would be effortless. The hardest, though, to convince would be the Council of Five; they were hardened Generals who had seen their fellow soldiers' blood spilled by Fire, who had lost loved ones, and whom all hated the sight of red. Ultimately, he wasn't too concerned about the Council of Five, of the Earth Generals because he had a plan for them.

After observing for another moment, timing his approach, he then stepped into the light, clapping his hands together mockingly. "Nicely done, King Kuei," he called out as all eyes glared at him, hostility poised through their bodies. "I was wondering, pray tell, how you actually plan to change the Avatar's mind? He hasn't done anything to quench your thirst for revenge against those of Fire, so I doubt that he would change his mind now after years of preaching peace."

"Who are you?" General How demanded, trapping Ozai's feet inside the Earth. "How dare you desecrate King Kuei's presence?"

Ozai smirked, "I'm a vengeance-seeker, like all of you. You see, Fire has wronged me, shamed me when I was going to be magnificent." Shaking his head in loathing, he lied through his teeth. "I was a non-bender who had been borne to one of the Noble Houses, a disgrace to my family's name. No matter what I did to prove my worth, I was scorned by my own nation, my parents, ridiculed and eventually banished from my home. I am a man who desires revenge more than anything,"

Kuei had raised an eyebrow in response to Ozai's story, "Why do you come here, then? Do you seek to reap destruction on your own nation?"

Nodding eagerly, easily falling into the role of a foolish man seeking retribution, Ozai contained his glee. "Yes, I want the Fire Nation to be destroyed by the very element that they worship, but I need your help to do it, King Kuei." He noticed that the Generals were listening closely and that they had all lowered their guard, not believing that he could possibly be a threat.

Ozai almost laughed at how simple and easy it was to manipulate them all.

"What do you propose?" General How then released Ozai's trapped feet. "The Avatar has denied us our rightful vengeance!"

Ozai's eyes gleamed with promise, "Someone as ancient as the Avatar can give you the opportunity, though. Vaatu, the Mighty Spirit of Chaos and Darkness, the creator of this world, has awakened from his forced slumber! He was betrayed!" He cried out dramatically, eyes wide with truth, "He was unjustly trapped by the Avatar eons ago, and he needs your help to destroy the lying and treacherous Avatar! I know that the Avatar hasn't given you the vengeance that you crave, but Vaatu will, and then with your help, he will destroy Fire and the Avatar who has wronged us all!"

Kuei smiled cruelly, eyes interested. "This is such a fascinating story, but I don't believe that I caught your name…" he trailed off.

"Piandao," he supplied, lying easily through his teeth. He had always hated the swordsman for the rumors that had circulated through the Court about Zuko, ones that declared that Piandao had made Prince Ozai a cuckold by sleeping with Princess Ursa before their marriage. For a while, Ozai had contemplated those rumors to find the truth, but he knew that Zuko was of his blood, everything proved it: he looked like him, he was now a powerful Firebender, and Agni hadn't destroyed him when he first sat down on the Dragon's Throne after Sozin's Comet.

When Ozai had killed Piandao, along with any and all of the White Lotus members who he could find with the aid of that boy who Vaatu had rescued, after he himself had been freed from his prison by Vaatu, the spectacle of witnessing the light leave the non-bender's eyes had sent delicious chills down his spine. Now there was beauty in the fact that Piandao would now be known as a traitor to his people through history; nobody would remember Piandao as a swordsman who couldn't bend, but rather as the herald of Vaatu.

It was his ultimate revenge on the man who he had hated with a fierce burn.

Kuei nodded in acceptance, "Piandao, I am inclined to believe you, but how do we," he gestured to himself, the Dai Li, and the Council of Five. "How do any of us know that you speak the truth? You could be lying, trying to manipulate us."

General How then butted in before with a shout before Ozai could respond, face contorted into a mass of suspicion. "Matter of fact, King Kuei, why should any of us trust someone borne of Fire? He may not be a Firebender, but he very well could be a spy sent by Fire Lord Zuko to cripple us all!"

Ozai's eyes narrowed in malevolence and he gnashed his teeth together, attempting to grind them until they turned to dust. "I loathe that traitor more than anyone else alive!" He screamed, spittle polluting the space before him, "I want to dance over his headless corpse and desecrate his name, searing a scar over his other eye to match the other one!"

"You can't possibly mean that…" General How suddenly looked unsure after Ozai's words, his confessional performance. "To rebel against the Fire Lord is treason, everyone knows that."

"Fire Lord Zuko," Ozai snarled in disgust. "That fucking traitor isn't worthy to be declared 'Fire Lord.'" He dismissed How's remark and turned to Kuei, "I implore you, my lord, join Vaatu and he will make all of your dreams a reality." He said passionately, infusing his voice with charm, truth, and ambition.

The King was tempted, it was easy to see, but Kuei just only needed a little push to fall into Ozai's trap. The once Phoenix King knew exactly what 'push' Kuei needed. "King Kuei," he began respectfully. "If you don't believe me, believe him," he pointed to the door. For several seconds nothing happened and General How stood up, no doubt to order the Dai Li to kill Ozai for mockery but then darkness descended through the door, suffocating everyone except one; instead, he felt invigorated by the feel of his companion, "Allow me to introduce to you to the mighty VAATU!" He roared out, glee filling him.

The shadows gathered together into a ball of unholy darkness and then the globe shrunk and Vaatu appeared before them all, looming over like death itself. "Thank you, Piandao," the ancient spirit floated past Ozai and stared down at the Children of Earth. "So, you are the Earth King. Did you doubt my associate's claim?"

Kuei's face was ashen, chalk white. "No… my lord! I was simply… I was hesitant to believe him! He is of Fire!"

Vaatu hummed, "That is true…" the spirit then floated over towards the Dai Li. "Hmm… strong Earthbenders. You will all be useful in my eons-long crusade for vengeance against the Avatar." Vaatu glanced at the Council of Five and dismissed their presence, floating back to align himself next to Ozai. "Will you join us, Children of Earth? If not, you are then our enemies and it would be such a waste to kill all of you…" Vaatu trailed off, the threat issued and received.

Kuei, after a long and tense moment, stepped down from his throne, both the Council of Five and all of the Dai Li following; in unison, they all kneeled before Vaatu's floating form. "I am a child of the Earth; my word is my bond. My body, heart, soul, mind, and destiny are surrendered to your will, Vaatu, Spirit of Chaos and Darkness." They all spoke at once, the echoes of their oath filling the room with an impressive baritone.

The plans had come together beautifully after gaining the Earth Kingdom's support, and a new mission had been undertaken: acquire the Fire Sages and any of the other Elemental Spirit followers. Vaatu had then sent Ozai to the Temple of Avatar Jinzhai, home to five of the many Sages of the Fire Nation. Ozai had planned to sack each Temple all at once, but it was improbable; he hadn't been able to appear at all of the Fire Avatar Temples simultaneously. So, instead, he had traveled to each Avatar Temple, swaying some of the Sages to join him, their once Fire Lord; he would then take his loyalists with him after slaughtering those who chose to rebel, leaving their bodies to rot, to send a message to his worthless son: the reign of Fire Lord Zuko would soon reach its twilight – the Phoenix would soon rise, and with his ascension to godhood, the world will become alight with fire.

"Ozai," Vaatu's voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Prepare yourself, my friend, I can sense her; she is coming."

Looking up at the withering tree, Ozai smiled at the sight of something that had once been magnificent but was now dying - just like the Fire Nation under his worthless fucking son's rule.

Vaatu suddenly rushed into Ozai's body and he felt what true power really was once more. Did the Avatar always feel that invigorated? Did the boy realize how much more power he possessed, a power that was far more than anyone else's in either of the Realms?

He doubted it.

"Our plans are coming together gloriously, my friend. Soon, you will be forged into my vessel, a vessel of supreme power." Vaatu's voice echoed in his mind and they disappeared in shadows, vanishing like smoke.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Toph Beifong was not happy, and no matter how she tried to change her feelings, the emotions of unhappiness remained. Samir was still just a child, now an airbending child and the girl kept pestering her to join her in the water, demanding that Toph play with her. For hours now, Aang and Lightning Psycho had been in the Spirit World, doing what she only had the vaguest idea of; all she knew was that it was something about the spirit who was plaguing Samir's dreams with darkness and rhymes. Toph didn't like to deal with the spirit mumbo jumbo as Sokka had so delicately put it.

"Toph, come on, please!" Samir's screechy voice grated in her ears once again, and it reminded her of Aang when she had first met him during the Great War, when she had first refused to teach him earthbending; now, her friend had become jaded at the edges, wary of others, and she couldn't really blame him for his mindset with the way his life had turned out.

"Why, kid? I don't want to go into the water. What can't you just accept that? I put my feet in earlier, wasn't that enough?" She hissed out, feeling the vibrations of her anger course through her.

"But, it's fun, Toph!" Samir stepped out of the pond and Toph's eyes widened in shock, in horror – and she wasn't too certain why she felt horror, but she did nonetheless.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?" She exclaimed in shock, "Don't try to deny it, Samir, I can't feel the vibrations of your clothes!"

"I didn't want to get them wet," the girl said innocently, standing before Toph as nude as the day when she had been born to the whore in Ba Sing Se. "What's the problem? Why are you mad? I don't understand."

Toph growled, "What's wrong with you? What would happen if Pathik walked out here? Put your clothes on!"

"Why?"

"Because it's improper!"

The girl huffed, "Fine, but I still don't understand. My masters never cared if I didn't wear clothes when I bathed."

"That's different!" Toph felt Samir slip the clothes on as more sluggish vibrations from her body registered with her feet.

Samir suddenly stepped closer and seemed to stare up at her, the vibrations a lot closer. "Are you afraid, Toph?"

She was eerily reminded of Aang when she had first met him, and at the thought of how far her friend had fallen from the boy who she had known, anger filled her. "No! I'm the greatest fucking Earthbender in the entire world! I'm not afraid of anything," she denied vehemently, ignoring the voices in the back of her mind that declared that she wasn't the greatest Earthbender in the world and that she was actually afraid.

"Is that true, Toph?" Pathik stepped out of the shadows, "Or is it a lie that you whisper to yourself for the sake of protection? Also, as I've told you, refrain from explicit words in front of a child."

That hit too close to her feelings and she whirled around to glare at him, not knowing what her face looked like. "What's it to you, old man?" She barked out, fists clenching, cracks appearing around her feet in the stone. "What I do is my business, not yours!" She felt Samir suddenly bolt out of the courtyard, probably to check on Aang and his insane girlfriend.

She felt the calm vibrations as Pathik raised an eyebrow. "Forgive me, Toph. I had meant no disrespect, but it is my business when those lies that you tell yourself could affect the future of our entire world." He said gravely, his vibrations indicating that he was looking down at her – and assessing her, too.

"What are you talking about?" She tried to stay calm, to keep more cracks from appearing, but her temper was close to exploding, and she dimly wondered if this was how Zuko had always felt.

"Dark has risen from his imprisonment and he is acquiring power by the moment. This is a serious threat, Toph, more than you could even imagine."

She snorted, "I could take this fucking spirit, I don't care how grave a threat you think that he is."

"There are forces far more powerful than a Master Earthbender, Toph; it would benefit you if you remembered that." Pathik held up a hand to stop Toph from rebuking that statement, "Aang is more powerful than you, than anyone, and you know that, don't you? He is the Avatar, child, a being beyond comprehension; his reach is cosmic and within him, is the knowledge and power that has been lost in eons past. Think about the Avatar State, Toph, think on the truth. You know, deep inside, that if you were to battle him, even without him entering the Avatar State, you would never be successful."

Toph was unable to suppress her blatant, fearful flinch in spite of her best efforts. Whenever Aang transformed into that… that monstrous thing, it was the most terrifying nightmare imaginable. The first time when she experienced such fear was when she and the Gaang had been trapped in the Si Wong Desert, when they were confronted by the Sandbenders, the ones who she had discovered stole Appa.

She had and never would forget that ancient voice that boomed like thunder itself, the howling winds as a being with incomprehensible power unleashed thousands of years of rage, loss, and grief – and it had been just as terrifying when Aang had entered the Avatar State to criticize and silence Katara and Sokka when they had been in the Fire Nation. In the Si Wong Desert, she hadn't understood what was happening, why the air around her had become unbearably heavy, weighing her down with the weight of the heavens, why the murky and muddled vibrations through the sand had exploded with energy, why she had then been able to see clearer than any other time in the Si Wong Desert thanks to the divine vibrations scorching through the sand like sizzling fire, and why Katara and Sokka – and the thieving Sandbenders, too – had been filled with terror.

It hadn't been until Sokka finally grabbed a hold of her when she felt the fear of death, and it had only been then, in what she had thought to be her final living moment as the gales of screeching wind bore down on her, when she understood the might of the Avatar, her terrible folly in believing Aang to be weaker than her. Ever since when she had met him, she had mistaken him for her own weak flesh, but no matter the lifetime, Aang would never end; he would always exist. She had been a fool beyond fools; her feeble earthbending skills and strength were nothing when compared to all of the power of an Avatar. She had presumed limits to Aang's power, but she had then realized that there were none. The Avatar's life, no matter what name he or she took, spanned eons; legions had undoubtedly risen to test them, but all of the legions' strivings had been insignificant – and the legions' decimating deaths had most likely been the same.

Then, it had happened again in Ba Sing Se, and it was so much worse than the Si Wong Desert. In that accursed desert, no one had died, but in Ba Sing Se, many did; Aang had unleashed a vicious rampage, mercilessly slaughtering King Kuei and anyone who had stood in his way. She had physically felt the terror vibrating through everyone's body, their hearts almost bursting at the sight of the Avatar State. Then their hearts had stopped as she felt the air being kept from their lungs, depriving them of the much-needed oxygen. The Avatar State was beyond anything she had experienced, it was like a monster who rose from the Spirit World intent on plaguing her dreams for years, to scare her more than anything else in this world.

Pathik placed his hand on her shoulder, thankfully disrupting the memories of death. "It is okay to be scared, Toph. To be unafraid of anything shows that an individual has no common sense; only fools are unafraid of anything. Surely you know of the fears that have plagued Aang, right? To face Fire Lord Ozai before Sozin's Comet bathes the sky again, whether to kill him or spare him? If he was, indeed, the Last Airbender? Even the Avatar himself feels fear in spite of holding all of the power in the world."

Toph swallowed, trying to remain confident but she knew that she wouldn't be successful. "Yeah," she whispered, remembering the end of the Great War, on Ember Island, and how Aang had been stir-crazy, stress more prominent in his body's vibrations than his actual heartbeat. Her friend had only been twelve-years-old, her own age, yet he had had the fate of the entire world – of both Realms – bearing down on his shoulders with the weight of every nation.

"Have you ever heard of the term 'chakras', my dear?"

She looked up at the Guru, feeling one of her eyebrows automatically rise. "Yes, that's what you did with Aang and… Azula the past week, helping them find inner peace or some shit like that."

"One of the many chakras is the Sound Chakra. It deals with truth and is blocked by lies - specifically, the ones that we tell ourselves. I can help you gain clarity, but only if you let me, Toph"

Feeling the urge to finally release all of the built-up fear and lies in her mind, she nodded her head, speaking before she could think it through. "Very well, show me what you got, Guru Pathik."

The Guru smiled, "I am going to discuss what I believe is plaguing you and try to reveal some truths to you. Would that be okay?"

"Bring it," she smirked, trying to conceal her nervousness.

Pathik became serious and gazed down at her with what she suspected-to-be ancient eyes, "You grew up in the Beifong household, one of the richest Noble Clans of the Earth Kingdom. May I venture a guess?" Toph nodded slowly and the Guru's words were gentle. "During your childhood, before you had joined Aang at the twilight of the Great War, you had always had everything gifted to you on a silver platter and were treated like a delicate flower because of your disability, yes?"

Toph frowned, feeling trapped – just as she had in her childhood! "What does any of that have to do with me lying to myself, huh?"

She didn't feel Pathik didn't bat an eye. "You'll see, trust me," he said simply. "When you ran away from your family, hitching a ride with Aang and his friends to join the small band of heroes who would end the Great War, a whole new life had been presented to you, right? You were free from the oppression of your oppressive parents. Many things changed for you, but your attitude never did, did it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Your hubris had blinded you to doing what you should have; humility is something that you had never learned, and I do suspect that you have never truly shown thankfulness to anyone."

"I did, too! What the fuck do you know?" Toph cried out incredulously. "I thanked… um- …you know," she trailed off when she couldn't think of anyone who she had ever thanked during her life; while she had thanked people, mainly the Gaang, for watching her back when she was defenseless, that was superfluous, just like her parents!

Had she ever thanked Aang for choosing her to be his earthbending teacher when he could have chosen anyone? Had she thanked Katara for tolerating her rudeness and even mothering her when she had said that she hadn't needed it, but secretly did?

She swallowed as the truth blinded her: she has had a good life, but she had never shown her thankfulness to those who had helped forge her life into a good one.

"Now you understand," the Guru sat down in the Lotus Position and Toph unconsciously followed, mind still reeling and racing with thoughts. "Pride is a good thing, Toph, but so is humility. You see, if one has too much pride, they can never see things as they truly are. Having a perfect balance between the two emotions is the best and, in my opinion, the only way for anyone to have a clear mind. Now, what do you think this has to do with you?"

"I have an abundance of pride and not enough of humility," she guessed softly.

Pathik nodded, "Partially, yes. When you had first joined Aang, you hadn't done your part in creating a camp for everyone to feel safe and secure."

"How do you know that?"

"Aang shared it with me," she nodded in understanding as he continued. "You have spoken about pulling your weight in my presence, yet that is a lie that you tell yourself, isn't it?"

Toph looked down with sightless eyes at her hands resting in her lap, insight flooding her, comprehension finally clicking into place. "Yes, I had wanted to show everyone that I was able to take care of myself, but by doing that, I instead pushed everyone away, thus creating the lie, forging a wall between me and others."

Pathik smiled, "Yes, excellently done, Toph, you are very astute for one your age."

She smiled slightly, "When you've seen and heard what I have, you tend to pick up a few things, you know?"

"What do you think that you picked up?"

Toph frowned, "I learned how to work together with others and do my part, and I learned of the horrors of war, what it felt like to kill someone, to feel their hearts stop, to feel their… their warm blood staining my fingers."

Pathik smiled sadly, "You have all been through so much, too much, haven't you? Yet, your entire group suffers from the same symptom," he shook his head in sorrow. "When you had first joined Aang's group, you didn't do your part, and what is that called? Placing your own desires above anyone else's?"

"Pride?"

"No, selfishness, my dear," the Guru's vibrations indicated that he now stared upward at the sky, "To rely on one's self is not bad; in fact, it is quite essential in survival, but there can be consequences to your actions, though." He looked back down at Toph, "Do you understand? You became a burden to Aang's group when you had first joined because you refused to aid in the work that was designed for multiple people. Because of this, your group parted ways, and it should be apparent that you had all had a slim chance of ever reuniting. The world, the future had been put at stake because Aang needed a teacher and you hadn't been able to put aside your differences and help, refusing to work together. Thankfully, though, all of you did reunite…" Pathik chuckled in amusement, "If I'm not mistaken, it was because of Azula, wasn't it?"

Toph didn't answer, too busy thinking about what he had said. Had she been a burden to the Gaang at first? Yes, she had done nothing but whine about their situation and how the Gaang were all losers who had no idea what they were doing.

"Am I still a burden to my friends?" She refused to acknowledge the blush that colored her cheeks, but she needed to know.

"No, Toph, you're not."

Her eyes shut in relief, but she wanted more. "How?"

"You have matured, Toph, you have grown wiser than many of those who are thrice your own age." Pathik leaned forward and his heavy yet gentle hand grabbed her own. "I am not having this discussion, my dear, to point out any flaws that you might have; I am doing it so that you can understand that the world revolves around trust, okay? If you keep lying to yourself – and others, as well – then how much of a help would you be to your friends?" Pathik smiled and stood up, "You are a good person, Toph Beifong. Everyone stumbles and falls, you are not the only one. Contemplate the advice that I've given you, and you might just find that you'll feel better and more peaceful." Pathik exited the courtyard, humming an Air Nomad tune that Toph had heard Aang hum in the past.

She focused her feet on the ground, feeling the steady vibrations of the earth, of everything in her current area of the Air Temple. Staring upward with determination, Toph swore that she would be better, be a true adult. Before, she had been letting her oppressive parents win, but she refused to continue to let her childhood affect her actions and choices any longer. She was Toph, one of the greatest Earthbenders in the world, and she would triumph over the memories of her past; a new path had been opened to her and she gratefully began to walk it.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Every time when he journeyed into the Spirit World, it had always felt the same, the aching and missing part of him because his body had always been left in the Mortal Realm, but this time was different. Now, he had actually been able to bring his body with him into the Immortal Realm, feel the actual ground beneath his feet! Aang held out his hand and immediately, a beautiful fire formed in his palm, flickering in its liveliness. He then tapped his foot, and the earth responded, shaking from his command. He stretched out his power and the water flowed out of the numerous streams, swirling around his body in an immortal dance just as the Ocean and the Moon themselves did. Feeling peace, he became one with the air and levitated several feet above the ground, gentle breezes ruffling through his hair.

"I'm jealous, Avatar," Azula huffed as she stood next to him, gazing up at his floating form in amusement. "If only I had my fire," she lamented and then looked around at the new world that had been presented to her. "It's strange, I feel just as if I'm in my body, yet I also do feel different at the same time. Most peculiar," she looked unimpressed at Aang. "In spite of that, it doesn't look to be so fearsome; I had always imagined the Spirit World to be more… intense."

Aang looked at their surroundings, understanding what she meant: they were currently on top of a beautiful mountain with luscious trees staring up at them from the ground below, and light cast down on them from the sky, highlighting the ubiquitous beauty. "That's because it looks how I want it to be,"

Disbelief was etched on her face, "What? You can do that?"

"In the Spirit World, your emotions become reality. Because I'm the Avatar, my power greatly exceeds anyone else's. While I cannot simply change reality in the Mortal Realm, here, in the Immortal Realm, my will alone shapes everything if I let it. It's my inheritance as the Avatar."

Azula stared at him critically for several seconds, "Can I do this, then? Shape the reality of the Spirit World?"

"It's possible, but I suspect that it would be nowhere near my level of control," he then released his will of the world and the change was instantaneous and jarring: it swiftly descended to resemble a morose, shadowy realm, darkness ubiquitous where there had once been beauty. The trees were withered, the ground decayed, the sky itself was almost black with mortality, as if the blood of Death itself had stained it so, the once-clear water streams boiled in a disgusting brown color, and the air itself, which he could especially feel because he was an Airbender, became musty and thick, hard to breathe.

She gazed wide-eyed at the new surroundings, the real reality. "So, this is what the Spirit World really is. Indeed, it's most fearsome," she breathed out, immediately bringing a hand to her chest. "By Agni, it's hard to breathe."

Aang stared around sadly at the true environment. "Yes, Dark's awakening – or rather, his escape from the Tree of Time – has made it even worse," he looked at his companion. "You wanted to know if you could shape reality in the Spirit World, here's your chance to try it. Concentrate on what you want, and more specifically and importantly, what your emotions want."

"Very well," her beautiful golden eyes fluttered shut, and she breathed deeply, pulling her hands behind her back, concentration and focus engraved in every corner of her lovely features; he found himself unable to help but stare at her unabashedly. His mastered chakras had shown him the truth, and he hadn't been able to look away, even if he had wanted to: he loved Azula. Unfortunately, he had no idea what to do about it. He had many questions that needed answers, but if he was being honest, he was too scared to ask her those important and almost sacred questions.

When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed, and he frowned, having expected sunlight to pierce through the jaded darkness. "What happened? Did you lose concentration?"

"Oh, please, Aang, I don't lose concentration," she gazed up at him mischievously, golden eyes twinkling, a beacon to his eyes in the unholy darkness around them. "I was hungry, that's all."

"What? What are you talking about?" He asked incredulously, briefly having the thought that, maybe, he should have left her at the Eastern Air Temple to watch Samir.

She smirked and pulled her hands from behind her back, showing a roasted Komodo Chicken basket. She took a bite and smiled at him, "Would you like some?" She asked, eyes twinkling, knowing that he would refuse.

Aang laughed, the sound splitting through the air. "That was clever, well done, Azula," he closed his eyes and sought Koh's presence. There! He opened his eyes and stared north, "Let's go, he's close. It's time to confront the Liberator of Dark."

Shadows began to obscure their feet and Aang formed an air-scooter, hopping on top with Azula in his arms. The air circulated rapidly, swathing everywhere until all of the shadows dispersed, and then the path was finally clear once more. He rode forward and observed silently as they passed desolate surroundings and when he recognized them from his trip all of those years ago, he knew that they were close to Koh's lair. The closer they became, the more that a prickling feeling in his soul became apparent; Kuruk yearned to force an appearance out of Aang's body to avenge Ummi's death, but he easily pushed his former self down with minimum effort.

Azula suddenly tapped his shoulder and he looked up, recognizing the area immediately. An enormous, twisted tree sat above a deadly-looking cave, and the land surrounding the covert was barren, dark, and scarcely inhabited except for the Gargantuan Wolf Spirit that Aang remembered seeing the first time when he had journeyed here years ago under Roku's guidance.

They had arrived at Koh's dwelling.

"We're here," Azula said, looking at the large wolf in amazement.

Aang nodded his head slowly, "Yes, we are. Before we encounter him, tell me about all of the stories that you have heard of the Face Stealer?"

She eased herself out of his arms and pursed her lips, scrunching her eyebrows slightly. "They were tales that my mother told me as a child before bed; I heard that he is very powerful and that one must never show emotion in front of him or he will steal your face."

"Yes, so whatever you do, don't show emotion," he hissed out, feeling anxious all of a sudden. "I don't know what would happen if he tried to take your face." He did have a good idea, though: in his rage, he would slaughter Koh, and Kuruk would then appear to desecrate the carcass.

"I can do that, Aang, you should know that."

He didn't respond, instead stepping towards the covert, entering the shadowed darkness, preparing himself for a confrontation with the Saboteur of Peace. To ease his worry, he gripped Azula's hand and guided them into the lair. Inky shadows enveloped them, and he immediately summoned a small ball of fire, illuminating the cave, ignoring Azula's brief look of envy at his fire.

Harsh claw marks stained the stone and Aang took the time to realize how large Koh's lair actually was; when he had last been here, he had been too concerned with the Ocean and Moon Spirits to notice what he did now: a foyer of sorts greeted them and there, at the bottom of the seeming infinite well of stairs, was the shape of the Face Stealer.

The unholy echo of countless talons scraping against stone reverberated through his ears, and Azula's hand gripped his tightly.

"Well, well, if it isn't my old friend, the Avatar," a voice hissed and the chitinous shape turned around, facing them with the hauntingly familiar face of Ummi. A rage foreign to Aang, but all-too-familiar, rose within him, begging to be released, to avenge her! It took more effort than before to force Kuruk back down, but he succeeded. "How nice of you to finally visit me in my dwelling. It's about time, you know? I went to a lot of trouble to grab your attention, and yet, for all of my scheming, I hadn't foreseen you bringing a new friend to add to my… collection. She will be a delicious sacrifice to appease my frustration, I suppose. After all, it has been quite a while since we… talked, Avatar."

"Hello, Koh," he greeted, adjusting himself to a bending stance, preparing the physical confrontation that he had known would await them. "You say that you went to much trouble to grab my attention, but it displeases me that you would torment a young child who I have become fond of. I will ask you this one time, or the consequences will be dire for you, Koh: why did you free Vaatu from the Tree of Time?"

Ummi's face blinked, shock spreading over her lovely features before fury replaced them in a sweeping wave. "You fool!" Koh roared, the sound shaking the cavern but Aang remained unimpressed and waited for the treachery. "If I had wanted to free Vaatu, I would have done it several millennia ago! It wasn't my power that aided him in his escape, you foolish, young Avatar!"

Aang's eyes narrowed and he took a step forward to confront the lie, to force Koh to tell him the truth, but Azula placed her hand on his arm. "Why have you been tormenting Samir?" She asked calmly, no emotion displayed on her face and he hated the expression, causing his aggravation to grow even more.

Koh's face shifted, turning seamlessly into a fanged baboon. "Ahh, the mortal, she who dares converse with ancient powers she can't even imagine. Your face will be an appealing snack to cool my temper- "

"No, it won't be," he hissed, gray eyes almost becoming a blinding light. "She is under my protection and I swear on every fragment of energy in both of the Realms that I will destroy you if you harm her in any way."

The Face Stealer paused for a moment, seeming shocked, before whirling on Aang, the fanged baboon-face screeching and laughing. "Such promise, Avatar, isn't it the cycle? Kuruk once declared the same, yet I still took his precious Ummi from him. I could easily do the same to this mortal whom you so cherish."

Aang's face darkened, the shadows in the lair darting away from him, Kuruk's deep-seated rage almost his own. "You were only able to steal Ummi's face through trickery, sneaking into the Mortal Realm on the day of his wedding – when he was distracted. If he had been in his right mind and at the scene where you took Ummi's face on that day, you and I both know that he would have called lightning down from the heavens to smite you."

"And yet I still exist, Avatar, don't I?" Koh purred, his long body sweeping through the lair. "Kuruk didn't kill me, and he never has."

"He almost did on that day when you crossed back into the Spirit World, but he had arrived too late. He almost slew you, but you barely escaped – with his wife's face, too. Kuruk searched for over the next century, spending most of that time in the Spirit World, but because of how ancient you are, he could never find your lair," he replied, feeling the truth in the statement. "Otherwise, regardless of any consequences, he would have killed you – just as I will if you harm her."

"Very well, Avatar, I like the game that you now play." Koh laughed, the fanged baboon's fangs gleaming. "You're willing to do what you must, that's good, it will help."

"Help with what?"

"With Vaatu,"

"Then why have you been tormenting Samir? You didn't answer the question. She has nothing to do with Vaatu." Azula finally spoke, looking completely at ease with one of the most fearsome spirits in existence, one of the strongest in the Realm.

"She has nothing to do with Vaatu, but she was my way of grabbing the Avatar's attention."

"But why have you been tormenting- "

"I have not been tormenting that child!" Koh spat out, body blurring forward to gaze directly at Azula, staring into her golden eyes with unholy intent, and Aang tensed, waiting to smite him – and Kuruk waited, too. Koh only stared at her, though. "I have merely been warning her of what could come because the Avatar has been ignoring me!"

"What are you talking about, Koh?" Aang demanded in shock, "You've been plaguing Samir's mind for months!"

"Only so that I could speak with you, Avatar!" Koh's face abruptly became an old man's weary visage, long mustache billowing in an unseen wind, wrinkled countenance contorting in a flush of anger. "You have been blocking me! I have tried to contact you for several years, but nothing ever happened because your mind is impenetrable, even to one as strong as me. I've given you so many clues, Avatar: I gifted all of the Air Temples with new libraries and persuaded Wan Shi Tong to replicate all of the knowledge that he had of the Air Nomad culture and then I placed them into all of the Temples. Because of me" the spirit inhaled deeply, sounding more like a viper. "Only through me, does your culture still live. I left the scroll detailing the ability of true flight in the Southern Air Temple for you to find, another artifact of Wan Shi Tong's that he had procured from the air-walker, Laghima." The shadows swarmed, as if alive in response to Koh's mood, "When I realized that you would never grant me access, I took measures into my own hands. The girl was a means to an end, a ploy meant to lure you into the Spirit World so that I could finally converse with you! I knew that an innocent mortal, a child nonetheless, being tormented by who you wrongly assumed to be Vaatu would be the best way to do it."

"I had no idea that you were trying to contact me!" Aang cried out as more and more puzzle pieces fell into place as his mind was bombarded with all of the 'luck' that had seemed to find him after the Great War: all of the Air Temple's libraries being completely intact and looking completely original, the scroll of true flight not being left there by the Elders, but by Koh! He then remembered Samir's dreams. "Wait, why the rhymes? You don't speak in rhyme."

"I thought that you'd like that," the spirit seemed to chuckle. "I procured the idea from the Seer of Eternity, specifically his unique, or cursed, existence to only speak in rhymes."

Azula stepped closer, "Why do you want to speak with Aang, then?" Her face was finally free of the blankness, probably the realization that Koh wouldn't attempt to steal her face, and he felt incredibly relieved at the sight of her true face.

The centipede-like body coiled, "To warn him, of course. You all suffer from a false perception, one of many, I fear."

"What false perceptions? You said in the dream to Samir: 'Lies seem true, but they cannot be. Know the truth, I must disclose to he. …Expose the truth and they will never again from memories fade, but if they are not known, the Realms will be wandered in eternal shade.' What don't we know?"

"Things…" the spirit turned around, talons scraping against stone. "They are not as they seem. Events have been hidden from you and falsehoods have risen in their place like towering mountains, obscuring the view of much-needed truth."

"How are things not as they seem?" Aang asked, "What do you mean?"

"The mortals' Great War was a facade," Koh said simply, the words floating in the lair. "The humans – and you both, too - believe that the catalyst of the Great War was when Sozin had wiped out the Air Nomads."

Aang nodded his head slowly. "Yes, that's true, or at least… we think that it is," he saw Azula nod her head, too, but from the tone of Koh's voice, the version of history that they both knew might not actually be the true and real history.

"Fire Lord Sozin had never been behind the mortals' Great War, Avatar." Koh's chitinous body slithered along the walls of the cave, voice and talons scraping reverberating everywhere. "Vaatu was the mastermind of the Great War and everything that has happened since – and many things before."

Silence.

"How is that possible?" Aang recovered from his astonishment and looked up in disbelief at Koh's form. "He was trapped in the Tree of Time!"

"Indeed, that is true, Avatar," Koh's talons rustled throughout the cave, "He had been trapped, yes, but an accomplice is always necessary to complete a great scheme – just as Wan Shi Tong was necessary for my scheme to contact you, Avatar."

"Who? Who dared help the embodiment of Chaos and Darkness? Tell me!"

Koh stopped, centipede-like body frozen in time, everything suddenly silent. "Vaatu was trapped in the Tree of Time, but his reach was still far. During the time when your former life, Avatar Roku was completing his training of mastering the elements, Vaatu somehow lured the Fire Spirit, Agni to his prison. My knowledge runs dry in how Agni then allied himself with Vaatu, but I believe that Vaatu had corrupted him, poisoning him with darkness." Koh paused and Aang's eyes closed as he digested everything. "Under Vaatu's guidance, Agni manipulated Fire Lord Sozin, poisoning him with darkened fire, controlling him into seeking a world of only Fire, of only Agni's own children."

Aang's voice was a whisper as he finished, the truth blinding. "All of the chaos, death, and misery of a Great War in the Mortal Realm would strengthen Vaatu, granting him enough power to break out of his prison. Agni must have then convinced Sozin to leave Roku to die on that volcano, and then convinced him to herald the… slaughter of the Air Nomads in the hopes that I – and thus, Raava – would be permanently destroyed forever, thus securing the path for Vaatu to reign." He didn't even try to keep the shock, disbelief, anguish, and dismay he felt from showing on his face - Koh wasn't going to steal it for the spirit didn't even have the power to take the Avatar's face. The entire Great War, the slaughter of his people, and everything that had happened was that of Vaatu. He could feel relief in his soul from Roku that Sozin wasn't the villain of the story, but it was wholly overshadowed by the realizations of Vaatu's scheming.

"Why are you telling us this?" Azula asked, apparently able to overcome the shock of the revelation Koh had shared faster than he himself.

The Face Stealer turned, facing them with the old man's weary countenance – and Aang wasn't too certain that the weariness solely belonged to the man; maybe some of it was actually Koh's. "Because I am in support of the idea of the Avatar, of balance."

"What?" He looked up, and suddenly, his form began to shake with effort; Kuruk furiously raged in his soul, seeking to escape and wreak havoc on Koh. All of the realizations about Vaatu had weakened his hold over his former life and because of his negligence, Kuruk had taken advantage, seizing his opportunity.

"You killed Ummi! You stole her from me!" It wasn't his own voice that had erupted from his lips for Avatar Kuruk appeared in a blinding tornado, taking his place, and Aang was sucked into his own soul.

XxXxXxXxXxX

A tall, strong Water Tribe man had appeared from the brilliant tornado where Aang had been, eyes alight with loathing, and Azula looked at the man in shock, taking a step back as a tiny seed of fear bloomed in her mind; without Aang, nobody could protect her from the Face Stealer. And what about this former Avatar? Would he direct his attention to Azula, or solely on Koh?

She watched apprehensively as the man stalked forward rapidly, gliding across the lair with rage, confidence, arrogance, and power. The old man's visage of the Face Stealer looked uncertain, traces of fear glowing in the old eyes, and Azula knew that this was Avatar Kuruk, the one who Aang had spoken to her about when they had questioned Avatar Kirku on Ember Island.

"I've finally found your lair after all of these centuries of waiting. At last, the time has arrived for me to unleash my vengeance on you. Give me back my wife, Face Stealer, and confront the Void of Eternity after I slay you." Avatar Kuruk whispered with such power that she knew that she stood no chance of ever fighting against this man – just as anyone could never hope to challenge a true Avatar.

Koh suddenly laughed, surprising Azula as the spirit's face shifted seamlessly back into who-she-now-knew-to-be Ummi's lovely countenance. "Well, well, well. It's been a long time, Kuruk. You must admit, lazy Balance-Keeper, that you did deserve it, you had it coming." The Face Stealer turned away just as Avatar Kuruk shot bright fire at the Face Stealer.

"I did not! You took her from me, the only person who mattered!" The former Avatar roared, his voice shaking the entire lair in a way that surpassed Koh's, tossing more fire at the elusive, slippery, chitinous-shaped creature.

"Really?" Koh's voice hissed, sounding like a viper ready to pounce, "You were arrogant, Kuruk, wholly undeserving of your power, of your position. You did not do your duty. You were too weak; your failure is deserved because you forsook your title. You were too selfish to do your job, siring mortal bastards everywhere!"

Avatar Kuruk roared, eyes alight with a manic glow, water appearing out of nowhere and dazzling through the air, slashing through pillars of rock, desperate to catch the Face Stealer.

Azula gripped the rocky platform when some of the waters lashed out near her, almost cleaving through her. "Hey, cut it out!"

Aang's former life turned to her, the streams of liquid circling around him in harmony, the deadly properties of water under his command, becoming piercing ice. "What did you say? Who are you?" He snarled, drawing himself up, looking as arrogant as any Firebender who had ever been born.

Fear spasmed through her mind as she stared into the eyes of a man who she had heard legends of, a man who had lived over half a millennium and whom commanded fearsome power but drawing on her own well of calm and strength, Azula refused to be intimidated. "I'm Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, someone who is very dear to Avatar Aang. To answer your first question: you heard me. Usually, I would be a major fan of watching you and the Face Stealer battle to the death, but time is of the essence. Aang and I have questions that Koh must answer," her golden eyes widened slowly as Avatar Kuruk's hand opened slightly and a massive fireball was summoned into his hand. Swallowing back her fear, she took a step back, prepared to flee. "Get out of here, Avatar Kuruk, your presence is not needed!" The massive fireball blazed towards her and she narrowly dodged out of the way, rolling to the side as another jet of fire flashed in the corner of her vision, and she wished that she had her firebending. Azula jumped to her feet and tried to avoid the gust of wind that Avatar Kuruk had thrown at her, but she smashed into the wall of the lair heavily, the air leaving her lungs in a painful rush; she dimly wondered how the gust of air had even hit her because she was an actual spirit right now, but she knew that it must have been because Avatar Kuruk was an Avatar. In fact, everything felt incredibly real even though she wasn't in her actual body.

Avatar Kuruk loomed over her, eyes cold, and another fireball formed in his hand. "Your death is only of the natural order; you challenged me, and for that challenge, your spirit will be destroyed."

"Careful, Kuruk," Koh suddenly purred, and she was eternally grateful to the Face Stealer as his talons scraped against the stone once more, his chitinous body appearing behind Avatar Kuruk. "Your current incarnation will not take kindly to you attempting to harm her. In fact, I would wager that he will soon reappear, and your spirit will be forever condemned to never appear to any Avatar again. His power is far beyond yours – and any other Avatar, too!"

The Water Tribe man froze, face contorting in panic, blue eyes bulging from his sockets. "Stop! No, please! Surely, you understand! I must avenge- " he was cut off when he suddenly screamed in pain, eyes that were once filled with terrifying power bulging from their sockets in fear and anger. A tornado then formed around him, blazing with power, illuminating the cave.

After a moment, Aang appeared, looking livid, the sight an incredible relief to Azula. "He will not be making another appearance," he growled, eyes assessing her with concern as he pulled her to her feet, his hands feeling real within her own even though she was still a spirit. "Are you okay?"

She waved him off as she slowly gathered her wits. "I'm fine, but he definitely seemed more powerful than the legends say."

Aang turned back to Koh after several seconds of staring at her. "Why are you in support of the Avatar, Koh? You took Kuruk's wife, Ummi from him. Why?"

"I took Ummi to teach Kuruk a lesson," the Face Stealer changed his mask back to the fanged baboon as he looked at them. "He was lax in his duties, more than the mortals have record of. He believed people should solve their own problems, but he had never made certain that the mortals actually were solving their own problems. He failed in his duty as Avatar, the greatest failure to exist, such a terrible Balance-Keeper; he didn't take his position seriously as he should have. Instead, he was too busy bedding hundreds of humans, polluting his seed throughout the world; he had many bastard children. When he had met Ummi, he became even worse. So, on the day of their wedding, I entered the Mortal Realm and took her, adding her face to my collection." His face shifted into Ummi's once more and Azula admitted that the woman's face was lovely.

Aang nodded without batting an eye. "Okay, so you did it hoping that Kuruk would learn to take his duty seriously, but he never did because he was consumed with vengeance towards you. He wasted the remainder of life, which was definitely over a century, hunting you down, trying to find your lair." She noticed that his eyebrows furrowed, "How did he never find it, though? Roku knew the way because he guided me when I needed knowledge about the Ocean and Moon Spirits."

Azula hadn't known that but was unable to say anything because Koh spoke. "I suspect that Roku knew of my lair because, whilst you had remained frozen in the Iceberg, Roku had wandered the Spirit World for the entire century until your awakening and – every spirit of every Avatar had been stuck in the Spirit World during your century's sleep – he had eventually stumbled upon my lair by accident. Thankfully, he had never shared its location with Kuruk. Otherwise, I would be destroyed just as Tui was by that mortal."

"Why are you an ally of the Avatar, then?"

"I am balance," the spirit said vaguely. "I was always in support of Wan's ascension to Avatar."

"Why?" Azula stepped forward, "You haven't answered the question."

Koh chuckled, the sound piercing through the relative darkness of the lair. "I must admit that I like you, Azula. You have shown remarkable strength thus far, especially in the face of Kuruk's wrath; it's very rare to find in mortals. They are often too petty, arrogant, and delusional about their own worth."

"I'm a prodigy," she said simply, proudly, pleased in spite of herself that a spirit as powerful as the Face Stealer recognized her great traits.

The Face Stealer's talons stopped scraping against the stone as he shifted back into the old man. "You have spunk, child, a good thing for one who is dear to the Avatar. You both know of the Lion Turtle's being created by Raava and Vaatu, yes?" Azula and Aang both nodded, and she noticed that Aang looked bemused. "The Lion Turtles were created with simple energy, and then Raava and Vaatu shaped the Elemental Spirits after, whereas I was born from the union of Light and Darkness, of Raava and Vaatu."

Azula saw Aang's eyes suddenly light up as he entered the Avatar State. "You're my child," his voice, instead of being the booming thunder of lifetimes past, was feminine, and his body took on an ethereal glow.

"It's good to see you again, mother." Koh slithered forward, the old man's visage unreadable save for something that looked like pleasure. "It's been far too long since we've spoken – eons, I believe."

"It has, my son," Raava said through Aang, and it was beyond disconcerting to Azula.

"You must visit me again soon…" Koh bumped his head gently against Aang's chest – or maybe it was Raava's chest.

Aang smiled and the ethereal light swiftly faded. "So, you are literally neutral," he breathed out, recovering remarkably quickly from his body being inhabited.

"Yes, Light plus Dark equals Gray, neutrality." Koh slithered around the cave once more, talons rattling against the rock.

"What is Vaatu's plan?" Azula asked, wondering if the Face Stealer actually knew.

"My father seeks to do as my mother did: become an Avatar of supreme power." Koh appeared behind them, "He broke free from his prison in the Tree of Time and took Fire Lord Ozai out of his own. Your father, Azula, will become Vaatu's personal vessel to be the Avatar; first, though, he seeks to gain control of all of the elements and create his own cycle."

Aang furrowed his brow, "How would he gain the other elements, though? Plus, I took Ozai's inner flame away, cleansing it from his chi with energybending."

"You did take his firebending away, Avatar, but there are always ways to regain what was lost. I told you of Agni's alliance with Vaatu, so what do you- "

"Agni gave my father his firebending back," she breathed out, finishing for Koh, her mind reeling from the discovery.

"Yes, child, only my siblings, the Lion Turtles and the Elemental Spirits, or the Avatar can gift people elements." Koh paused, his talons scraping unevenly behind them. "Actually, any Energybender can as well, but it is very difficult for a human to ever acquire the ability – plus, they could only gift the element that they themselves bend; only an earthbending Energybender could gift earthbending and so on. My father is currently searching for the other great Spiritual Elements because he cannot find the Lion Turtles." The shadows moved forward like waves in the ocean. "He will coerce them to gift him great power over their elements."

Aang groaned aloud, and she had the urge to comfort him. "Things just got so much more complicated. Why didn't you tell me years ago?"

"You were not ready; you needed to focus on Fire Lord Ozai. If I had told you, you would have inevitably opened the Spirit Portals, become corrupted by Vaatu, and then taken over by my father, poisoned by his darkness because you had not reconnected with Raava."

She watched him accept the reasoning and he slowly ran a hand through his hair, looking overwhelmed. "How do we stop him, then? And what about Agni? How do we un-poison him?"

Koh leaned forward, the mustache of the old man somehow curling into Azula's own hair in spite of her spirit-body. "You must first understand the differences between my mother and father."

"One's Light and the other is Dark. What else is there?" Aang asked aggressively, clearly angry over the situation.

"Vaatu is Raava's opposite in every way, Avatar. My mother is calm, where my father is furious. They are life and death, yin and yang, female and male, good and evil, day and night, love and hate, Light and Dark."

"So, by knowing that, I will be able to defeat Vaatu?" Aang hesitantly asked.

Koh chuckled, "Vaatu lived ten-thousand lifetimes before the first of the humans crawled out of the mud after I gifted them with faces. It was he who broke through the divide that separated the Plane of Spirits from the Material World. He is ancient, powerful, cunning, and worst of all, evil. He is willing to do things that others, myself included, would not. You may believe my act of, in your words, tormenting that child despicable, but Vaatu would have done things in far more vile ways if he had been in my position."

Azula cut in, "Why did Vaatu choose my father? He could have chosen any other?"

Koh laughed, the sound reverberating off the walls. "Ozai was the perfect candidate! Nobody hates the Avatar as much as my father, but Ozai's loathing of the Avatar was impressive enough to catch Vaatu's eye."

"Why did you say 'candidate', Koh?" Aang asked warily.

"You have mastered your true power by unlocking your chakras; Ozai will need to do that, as well, if he is to be Vaatu's vessel. Since my father is the opposite of Raava, Ozai's ascension will be different."

Azula frowned, "How so? Wouldn't he just be mastering his chakras and finding clarity?"

Koh seemed displeased by her questions. "No, he will be doing the opposite. When he masters his chakras, it will be centered around a different philosophy."

"What do you mean? What would be different?" Aang questioned while Azula tried to think of philosophies that would master chakras, but only the one that Pathik had used was possible, at least as far as she knew.

"If he is to master his Earth Chakra, Ozai must not fear to be alone because it is his destiny as the Dark Avatar to be alone."

Aang took over, eyes alight with understanding, "So, if he is to master his Water Chakra, Ozai would need to take pleasure in the pain and suffering that he inflicts on others without feeling any guilt."

She growled, memories flashing through her mind, the way her father's eyes would be alighted with malice. "He's already mastered that one, methinks," she had already triumphed over the abuse, but it was still extremely uncomfortable to remember.

Aang grabbed a hold of her hand, letting her know that he understood. "To master his Fire Chakra, Ozai must learn to feel unashamed for becoming the embodiment of Darkness and Chaos, and then embrace it as his destiny." Based on what she was hearing, she estimated that her father had probably already mastered these chakras already. "Then, to master his Air Chakra, he must release any grief that he would feel when inflicting pain and suffering on others; he would also need to learn to love to bring pain to others."

Azula snorted because her father was already sadistic, but she continued on, finally understanding what Koh and Aang had. "For his Sound Chakra, he must convince everyone who he encounters is that nothing is connected and that only the Avatar and the spirits have an afterlife in the Gardens of the Dead; while he already tells lies, he must make those who know the truth insignificant compared to the number of people who believe his lies. If he is to master his Light Chakra – or Dark Chakra, for my father – he must understand that separation needs to remain the biggest illusion for everyone, otherwise, his mastery will never happen. For his Thought Chakra, Ozai must disconnect himself from what binds him most to the world and remove them, probably by killing them himself. Only then, could my father connect completely to Vaatu's vast pool of power just as Aang did with Raava."

"Impressive," Koh purred. "You are quite clever for a mortal, Azula, maybe there is hope for your kind after all."

She smirked, "With me around, the mortals will always have hope to survive."

"Thank you, Koh," Aang suddenly bowed, ignoring her quip. "You have provided an abundance of knowledge that I had, indeed, needed. You have been a true friend on this day."

"Yes, but don't ignore me next time, Avatar. If that happens, I would be forced to manipulate that child again, or another defenseless mortal, and I know that you wouldn't want that, now would you? Now, get out of my lair, our time together has been fully spent; the stench of a mortal is overwhelming," the Face Stealer growled out, talons scraping against stone, creating sparks.

Aang nodded his head respectfully. "Understood," he gripped Azula's hand and guided them out of the cave, and she didn't say anything until they exited the Face Stealer's dwelling.

"That's a lot to process," she breathed out when she saw the huge Wolf Spirit once again. "I never would have imagined that Vaatu was behind the Great War." Growing up, all that she had heard was how glorious the conquests of Sozin were, how he had been spreading the honor of the Fire Nation across the world; she had long since come to terms that her great-grandfather was an evil monster, but now, she realized that Sozin had been a victim as much as everyone else was.

He squeezed her hand, and she glimpsed his head shake, dark hair falling on his face for a moment. "I know, right? It's… inconceivable, beyond most people's comprehension. He thought everything out, didn't he? He had been planning this for centuries, maybe even thousands of years. Everything that has happened, he had designed it to happen."

Azula nodded in agreement because it truly was unbelievable; the more she learned, the more she realized how much of a devious being Vaatu was, effortlessly manipulating the entire Mortal Realm into a Great War that decimated the Four Nations for a century while no one had an idea that it was he who had sparked it; they only believed Sozin to be the Saboteur of Peace.

Levitating several feet in the air, Aang froze. Noticing, his expression, Azula opened her mouth when she felt the ground shake innocuously. "What's happening? What is it?"

"Vaatu," he breathed out, staring farther than she could with unseeing eyes. "He came to the Spirit World."

"Why? What is he doing here?"

Aang blinked before looking at her with urgency. "He's fighting the Earth Spirit," he said stunned. "Come on! We must stop him! This might be our best chance!"

Azula nodded before swiftly hopping onto Aang's back. "Let's do it. Just fly us there; it will be faster," she was impressed that he hadn't dropped her. He easily held her up and Azula was once more reminded of the muscles that were hidden beneath his garbs. Slowly, feeling impish, she leaned closer, and her breasts pressed softly against his back in what she hoped was an enticing manner. "Let's go, Aang," she whispered.

She felt and heard him swallow, "All rig- all right… be ready, okay?" Azula felt pleased to see that her body had an effect on the usual calm Airbender. Then Aang took off, streaking through the sky of the Spirit World.

XxXxXxXxXxX

As he journeyed faster towards where Vaatu was, the shaking of the ground became more pronounced; trees had been ripped out by the roots, and the terrain beneath him had become inhospitable. Worst of all, Aang could see bright flashes of fire ahead, and the realization was profound. Vaatu had brought Agni with him to battle Devi. Was Ozai with them? If so, how could he protect Azula when she didn't even have her bending?

"How am I supposed to help you fight?" Azula suddenly called out, raising her voice so that he could hear her. "I don't have my bending!"

Thinking for a moment, he then answered while keeping his eyes ahead. "You will be able to use lightning."

"What? How?"

Aang sighed, but it was unheard. "When a Firebender bends lightning, they are able to do so from the union of combining one's inner flame with their own spiritual energy. When one bend's lightning it becomes less of fire and more raw spiritual energy. In the Spirit World, you will be able to use lightning, but without any fire; it will be spiritual in nature and can deal a lot of damage if dealt properly."

"So, is it like energybending, then?"

He smiled, "Yes, exactly. You'll be fine, but just to warn you, I suspect that your father has journeyed into the Spirit World – how, I cannot say – with Vaatu. He shouldn't be able to bend in the Spirit World, but from those flashes of fire up ahead, if they're not Agni's, I don't know…" he flew faster, cutting through the air like a vengeful arrow until he landed.

Azula hopped off his back, landing on the desecrated ground. "How do you want to play this, then?"

"I don't know," he squinted, trying to decipher how far ahead Vaatu was. "He's not expecting us, so we have surprise on our side." Now that he was thinking about it, he and Azula could probably just ambush Vaatu, Agni, and Ozai, if the man was in the Spirit World; if he and Azula joined forces with the Earth Spirit, it wouldn't be too implausible to put Ozai, if he was in the Spirit World, and Vaatu back into both of their respective prisons. Then, without Vaatu, Aang could hopefully heal Agni, un-poisoning the Fire Spirit from the malevolent darkness.

She smirked at him, golden eyes gleaming, promising a worthy ally. "We'll ambush them together, then," she concluded and then darted forward, sneaking soundlessly across the ruined terrain, gliding like an Airbender.

Aang followed behind her, anxious to face Vaatu after thousands of years, and a calm descended over him when he felt Raava in his soul, her presence a fierce reassurance. He could see the remnants of a battlefield, fires raging across the soil, turning it a death-colored black; parts of the ground seemed to be incinerated as if a powerful laser or beam had blazed through it, carving unidentifiable symbols into the ground.

"Look!" Azula hissed out, suddenly freezing in place. "That must be the Earth Spirit!" Azula pointed ahead and Aang knew that she was right when his eyes glimpsed the scene: a beaten-looking woman literally composed of stone, dirt, and who had hair made of grass cascading down her back was desperately trying to escape from a two-headed man composed of pure fire - Agni! – and a man whom he recognized as Ozai.

"Devi," he whispered in horror, watching as Vaatu lashed out with tentacles of darkness, slashing at the earth-made body, causing rocks and stones to explode into pieces. Devi tried to defend herself from Vaatu, but Ozai and Agni's combined fire slammed into her side, blackening her side horribly, charring and splintering most of her body.

Vaatu's voice was thunderous, "You have brought this on yourself, Devi," his claws of darkness ravaged her broken chest and entered her, causing shadows to creep and seep through her entire body, and the Earth Spirit screamed in pain and stumbled, but not before a massive beam of energy slammed into her chest, releasing another roar of agony as she fell, her body broken and almost destroyed, darkness ravaging her almost-corpse.

Aang had seen enough. "Come on," he whispered, creating a massive gust of wind as he jumped upward, glaring down at the sight. "VAATU!" He roared, "Leave her alone; she's not who you want!" He flew for several hundred feet before landing protectively in front of the fallen, darkness-touched Earth Spirit.

"Well, if it isn't the Avatar" Vaatu hissed out, looming tall, and ancient lines of energy coiled through the spirit's form as he floated closer to Aang. "It took you long enough; I was beginning to think that you would never show up. You look the same as our first meeting."

Aang didn't understand what Vaatu meant, "What are you talking about?"

"Wan Shi Tong is revered for his knowledge; it is comparable to power itself, so I will follow after my kin. That knowledge is mine alone."

Before he could respond, Azula arrived and he watched warily as Ozai turned to his daughter in shock, "Azula?" He whispered.

"Hello, father," she said coolly, siding next to Aang. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

The shock slowly left the former Phoenix King's face, replaced by overwhelming and twisted fury. "You betray me? For him?" He snarled out, magnificent fire erupting from his lips.

Agni's two heads were riveted on them, "That is most disappointing. You had always shown such promise, Azula, daughter of my Fire."

She ignored Agni's words, staring at Ozai instead. "Yes, father, and you will be back under Zuzu's thumb soon enough. Haven't you missed your home?" Azula smirked calmly, looking completely at ease in the face of her abusive father and Aang felt proud of her.

"You are a fucking WHORE!" Ozai screamed, lightning sparking between his fingers before one of Vaatu's tentacles of darkness snuffed it out.

"Wait, Ozai, just a moment," the dark spirit growled out, his booming voice curious. "How are you alive, Avatar? You never answered me."

Aang frowned, wondering if this was a trap designed to let his guard down, especially when Agni shifted his stance slightly. "What?" He glanced at Ozai in disgust, the man's golden eyes sparkling with malignancy, glaring at him hatefully. "I didn't like what you called Azula," he said to the vile Firebender. "Whatever permission you had as a father has been revoked; she is no longer yours."

"So, she's yours, is she?" Ozai spat out, the back of his throat glowing an ominous orange and deep red color. "That figures, she was always eager to please, willing to do whatever was necessary. Now she pleases you, doesn't she, Avatar?" Aang's eyes narrowed into slits at the suggestion, but Ozai continued. "She is nothing but a whore, a leg-spreader who was never anything but a failure!"

"A disappointment whose existence must be fixed," the Fire Spirit intoned, his two heads staring at Azula in what Aang discerned as displeasure.

Azula's fists clenched by her side and she stood to her full height, drawing herself up. "In your eyes, maybe I am, but in my own, I am none of those things; I am no failure, father. I am stronger than you'll ever be. My destiny is my own, and you never had the right to control me. It's too bad, you know?" A devious smirk crossed her lips and Ozai snarled at the sight, while Aang tensed, waiting for an attack. "History will remember me in a redeeming light, but you will forever be remembered as a monster, a collector of ashes, bones, and blood."

Ozai's eyes glowed, "To think that I was once proud of you. I see my mistakes now, and it was in allowing you to live! Your own brother, for all of his weakness, is more like me than you are- "

She laughed, "Do you think that upsets me? I want nothing to do with you! Yes, I am nothing like you, and it's a relief!"

The former Phoenix King gnashed his teeth together. "And it will be a relief to me to watch the life leave your- "

"How did you survive the Air Nomads' Genocide, Avatar?" Vaatu interrupted with a surprising amount of patience. "I waited for years, decades even, to feel Raava destroyed, but I never did. How did you survive?"

Aang kept his eyes on Agni and Ozai, watching as their dark gazes were still narrowed at Azula in disgusted contempt. "I was stuck in an iceberg for a century, hidden in La's oceans."

Vaatu growled out, "Lucky child! For years, I had thought that you had somehow died by mortal means and, thus, been reincarnated into the Water Tribes."

"That's why I had tasked Azulon to kill the last Southern Waterbender," the Fire Spirit said, one head staring at Aang, the other staring at Azula. "Vaatu and I had both figured, who else could it have been beside the Avatar?"

Aang's eyes widened in realization. "That makes sense, then," he had always wondered why the Fire Nation had been interested in one single Waterbender. Katara could have never become a threat; she was the last of the Southern Waterbenders, and she had no Masters to teach her whatsoever. Her existence was less than nothing compared to the might of the Fire Nation and Fire Lord Azulon shouldn't have cared. But if Vaatu and Agni had suspected that Aang himself had died, thinking that the Avatar had been reincarnated once more, then the Fire Nation hearing whispers of a Waterbender born in the South, and their reaction toward such news made perfect sense; the odds had been that it was the Avatar finally reappearing.

"Now, I will finish what Sozin failed to do over a century ago! I have broken free from my prison, and the scores of mortals dead have nourished me; I have returned, and I bring death with me!" Vaatu arched back, glowing purple, and a huge blast of spiritual energy erupted from his chest, slamming into the spot where Azula and Aang were.

At the last second, Aang summoned a gust of wind, pushing Azula – and he was incredibly thankful that even though she was in spirit form, she could still be tangible to the elements and spiritual energy – out of the range of the blast, holding his hands above his head, repelling Vaatu's attack. Ozai then immediately attempted to shoot lightning into his daughter, but Aang, using his other hand, summoned a vortex of skin-cutting air, shoving it at Ozai, who then went flying back, safely away from Azula.

Devi suddenly screeched in rage and Aang felt trepidation at the insane look on the Earth Spirit's face as she climbed out of the crater, looking completely healed. "You, Agni! Your people have slaughtered my own!"

Azula, without hesitation, flexed her fingers and then in a blast of light, white lightning was unleashed from her fingertips in powerful, sparkling streams directly into the Fire Spirit, but Agni batted it aside with a smack of his flaming hand. "Foolish child, I will now take your pride." Aang understanding what he meant, so with one hand still repelling Vaatu's energy beam, he blasted the Dark Spirit with stones of earth, whipped water at him, shot blasts of monstrous fire, and then slammed the force of air with his other hand into Vaatu's now-flailing form. The energy beam vanished and Aang then leaped past Devi's stalking form towards the Fire Spirit just before he snatched Azula, who quickly rolled behind Aang, blasting him with sudden gusts of frigid air; he refused to allow the Fire Spirit to take away Azula's firebending.

Agni screamed in pain as his flames sporadically shifted and wavered, and Aang understood: without air, fire could not exist, but if there was too much air, the fire became uncontrollable. Agni was literally composed of fire, and Aang's blast of air had threatened to overwhelm him.

"Agni!" The Earth Spirit then slammed stones into the Fire Spirit's pained form, hurling him several hundred feet, and before Aang could stop her, trying to keep Vaatu's darkness from overtaking her, she leaped after Agni, screeching with grief and mourning and darkness.

Aang turned around to deal with Vaatu, expecting the spirit to immediately attack him, but dread swept through him. He had miscalculated, spending too much time focusing on Agni and Devi. He had forgotten about the most dangerous spirit in the area, and the sight that assaulted his eyes reminded him of his error.

Vaatu held Azula in front of him as a hostage, shadows curled around her throat. "Careful, Avatar, if you take another step, I will kill your little girlfriend- "

"His little whore!" Ozai growled out the correction, appearing behind Aang to kick the back of his legs brutally, forcing him to kneel before Vaatu.

Aang clenched his jaw, worried not for himself, but for Azula. "If you hurt her, I will kill you." The Avatar State was right there, waiting to be used, to revel in its power and cosmic and divine brilliance, but he didn't want to unleash it in his anger; the slaughter at Ba Sing Se was still a stark reminder of what happened when he was in a furious rage.

Vaatu chuckled, "I will not hurt her as long as you do not interfere." The Dark Spirit loomed over Azula like death itself.

He swallowed, "I understand." Azula stared at him, eyes telling him to attack, but he couldn't. He could not risk losing her, he couldn't!

"When I'm through with you, boy, you'll wish that my grandfather had killed you over a century ago," Ozai vowed, growling in his ear while holding a fire dagger against his throat, sizzling against his skin, and Aang narrowly avoided crying out in pain.

"The Void of Eternity will welcome you in its cold embrace; not even your Flame is warm enough to exist there!" Devi's insane and darkness-touched voice echoed as she carried Agni's broken form in her arms, looking vengeful as anyone who Aang had ever seen. Agni was then brutally slammed into the ground by Devi before Vaatu, "Kill him, father. I don't have the power to kill my sibling, but you do, Spirit of Chaos and Darkness!"

Aang's eyes widened in dread as Vaatu seemed to purr. "Devi, come closer, it had pained me to attack you earlier, but it was needed; it was the only way for you to gain the strength to defeat Agni and have your rightful vengeance."

"Stop!" He cried out but thrashed against the ground as Ozai dug the fire dagger into his neck further, his skin melting and burning, and he barely kept his scream of pain from escaping his lips.

"I will destroy him for you, Devi," Vaatu began, "but I will only do so in exchange for power over the Earth."

Azula's golden eyes widened in understanding and horror. "Aang, don't let him- " she cried out before one of Vaatu's tendrils covered her mouth.

He lurched forward and summoned a gust of wind that slammed into Ozai, sending him flying back as he jumped to his feet. "Let her go!" When Azula started choking, he stopped in his tracks, panic-stricken.

"Careful, Avatar, if you truly care for this waste of mortal flesh, you will not interfere." Vaatu hissed out dangerously, the area around them becoming colder.

"You will help me destroy Fire if I gift you with power of the Earth?" Devi looked skeptical for a moment, no doubt remembering the battle when she had been egregiously beaten, almost destroyed before Aang and Azula rescued her; quickly, though, the skepticism fled her features, replaced by the darkness of Vaatu, the rage carved into her earth-flesh.

The former Phoenix King smashed his flaming fist into Aang's ribs, and he choked on a soundless scream as he fell back to his knees, several of his ribs breaking harshly. "Yes," Ozai roared. "Fire has wronged me, Earth Spirit! I want them to be destroyed – and I attacked you so that you would realize it!" Ozai spoke with such honesty that even Aang almost believed him from his kneeling and pained position.

Almost.

Azula frantically shook her head, trying to escape from Vaatu's clutches for she knew better than anyone how much her father was lying through his teeth, but it was hopeless; Vaatu was far stronger than she could ever be, and he easily kept her subdued, unable to speak, to break the hold of Vaatu's darkness from poisoning Devi into his servant.

The Earth Spirit's dirt-colored eyes were wide with derangement as she stepped closer, and her palm was placed on Vaatu's floating form, ignoring Azula beneath her. "I give Vaatu, Spirit of Chaos and Darkness, and my father, power over my element, the Earth." The moment the words left her mouth, brilliant green energy flowed into the Dark Spirit, spiraling over his form.

Vaatu then let go of Azula as he hummed in ecstasy, and seeing his chance, Aang ignored his injuries as best as he could by smashing his elbow into Ozai's side, reaching back to wrap his hand around the man's neck, and then he yanked him over his shoulder, slamming Ozai into the ground. Without wasting any more precious time, Aang leaped towards Azula and looked at her in concern.

She was staring at Devi in horror. "He's corrupted her," she breathed out, and Aang looked over after assessing her spirit-body; the Earth Spirit's eyes were now glowing purple, just as Agni's were, and when the Fire Spirit stood to his feet, Devi didn't react at all, standing next to him like a loyal comrade.

Vaatu rushed forward, merging with Ozai's form. "Thank you for your cooperation, Avatar!" The voice was a combined tenor of Vaatu's and Ozai's, sneering at him in hatred.

Aang looked at the situation; it was not good. Vaatu had merged with Ozai temporarily and could now bend both Earth and Fire, the Spirits of Fire and Earth had been corrupted by their father and were now aligned with Vaatu, furthering his superiority, Azula could only bend spiritual lightning, and Vaatu had already established that he would use her to get to him.

"You must leave!" He hissed to Azula, "Return to your body, and warn the others!"

Azula glared at him, "Don't be ridiculous, Aang, I can- "

Before she could finish, Ozai, Devi, and Agni all abruptly swarmed forward, and in a blurred motion, Aang placed his thumbs on Azula's forehead and chest, forcing her spirit back to her physical body in the Mortal Realm. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her after she vanished, and he felt relief that she was safe – it was all that mattered!

He whirled back around and grunted as bullets of hardened stone slammed into his chest with enough force to bring him to his knees. He then rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding Agni's torrential blast of flesh and bone-melting fire. Then he rose into the air, lightning crackling across his fingertips, and he was so thankful that Azula had taught him lightning bending when they had been at Ember Island together. Glaring down at Devi as she screeched like a wounded beast, a pillar of earth shooting her into the air, he slammed his hands together and watched unblinkingly as his unleashed attack burst into Devi's chest.

The Earth Spirit screamed in agony, falling to the ground; he hadn't killed her in spite of the blistering hole through her body. Stones and dirt had exploded off of her earth-composed body, and she laid there, healing slowly.

The merged form of Vaatu and Ozai – and Agni, too – all flew up to meet him, jets of flames propelling them upward, malignant snarls on their three heads. Thinking fast, remembering what had happened earlier with Agni in regard to his airbending, and knowing that Ozai and Vaatu had no knowledge of earthbending, Aang slashed his arm in a diagonal arc and brought his other arm down vertically, and then he roared through his lips, a vortex of terrible wind exploding down on them.

The two bodies were slammed harshly into the earth-shaken and crater-filled ground, crashing into a pile of limbs.

"You know, deep inside, that you cannot succeed, Vaatu, Ozai, Devi, and Agni." Aang said almost sadly, "It's pointless to resist. Give up!"

Ozai and Vaatu's briefly merged body glared up at him. "We'll meet again soon, Avatar. What you haven't repaid with your cooperation on this day, we will eventually exact from your own flesh!" He hissed out, his body wavering from the strain of Vaatu's joining in his body, and then shadows engulfed around him, Agni, and Devi.

Aang's eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen, "No!" He cried out but it was too late; the three of them vanished, and he was alone, barren wasteland encompassing him. The echo of failure drowned through him and in his anger, his eyes glowed blinding white, power pulsing from his very form, "ARGHH!" The Avatar State flooded him and all of his injuries instantly healed as he roared, as the anger of a thousand lifetimes was unleashed: the ground shook, mountains in the distance crumbled, fire far greater than what Sozin's Comet could produce spewed from his mouth, massive, vacuum-creating tornadoes swarmed the area, and the boiling waters rose into the air, typhoons forming in their wake.

He eventually calmed down and stared at the morose surroundings; it looked like death itself had molested the land, destroying everything in its path until nothing remained except chaos and misery and entropy. He closed his eyes and focused his energy, aching to return to the Eastern Air Temple, and when his lids opened, a pair of livid golden eyes met his own.

Aang swallowed, feeling his failure resonate through him once more, especially at the furious expression on Azula's face. "I managed to defeat them, but they got away," he said softly, unenthusiastically, expecting a brutal tongue-lashing to erupt from her lips.

Azula glared at him, her beautiful face twisting into a mass of anger. "I'm relieved that you're okay," she stood up from the Lotus Position and whirled around in a blur of color, exiting the room by stomping as her rage wafted off of her tense form like an odor itself.

His face fell into his hands, and he cradled his suddenly heavy head, groaning aloud; his failure to stop Vaatu, Ozai, Agni, and Devi wasn't the only thing that he had messed up big time.

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Well, that's all for this one, everyone. I hope that you all enjoyed it; leave a review and tell me what you thought. I'd really appreciate it! Okay, this one was really fun to write, and a lot of stuff happened, so here it goes:

**Aang finally gives Samir airbending and it comes with some shocking events! How I always pictured energybending, specifically the sudden entanglement of the two users' chi(s), was as an adoption-like process. An Energybender is literally entering the chi of another person, a non-bender who has never experienced the chi of a bender, no matter the element; the non-bender's chi would be overwhelmed by the Energybender and eventually, because the Energybender is literally giving the ability to bend whatever element that they themselves bend to them, the non-bender's chi would replicate the Energybender's energy, thus giving them the ability to bend. I added the change in Samir's facial and body structure because she is now an Airbender, and the race of Air Nomads had a specific body structure just as each nation's inhabitants do. So, because Aang was born to the Air Nomads and gave Samir airbending, her chi replicated Aang's airbending, and all of the energy that came with it and the body type of a pure-bred Airbender; a chi is kind of like the soul of someone, and while it isn't genetic, genetics do play a role in determining if someone bends or not, they have to.

A chi, at least in my understanding, in Avatar, provides the energy through the body, and for some genetically-blessed humans, gives them the ability to bend. Non-benders have chi(s), too, but it would do other things since it doesn't bless them with the ability to bend and live longer; it would heal the body like the immune system, providing the energy needed to combat diseases and such. The chi is the focal point of the human body, bender and non-benders alike, and Samir's chi would be engulfed by the energy of Aang's airbending during its replication process. (It would be similar to how RNA and DNA replicate and translate in the human body.) Because the chi is engulfed, it would change her because the chi is what provides life in the world of Avatar just as much, if not more than blood itself does – along with brain waves, of course. So, that is my long explanation as to why Samir changed physically to look very similar to Aang.

**Toph faces some intense realizations! If any of you felt that I was bashing Toph, that was not my intention, I swear. She might be my favorite Avatar character after a 4-way tie between Aang, Zuko, Azula, and Iroh. Toph is a very complex character and, for me, she is really hard to write. My goal of her discussion with Pathik was for the same reason as Katara's chat with Iroh in an earlier chapter: maturity. Toph was raised by Nobility, and since joining the Gaang, she has been behaving as if she is still a child. She is not, she's 20-years-old. The Gaang will be facing a far more sinister villain in Vaatu than they ever did in ATLA. This will be war. They are adults now and are expected to be the face of the resistance against evil. How can Toph do that if she is behaving immaturely? Also, yes, Toph could never beat Aang; I am stunned every time when I read/hear people declare that Toph would beat Aang in a true battle – even defeat him in the Avatar State! That is such asinine bullshit, it really is. I love Toph as much as anyone, but she couldn't hang with a true Avatar, no one could. There's a reason why Sozin left Roku to die on that volcano: "Without you, all of my plans are suddenly possible." Roku's mere presence stilled Sozin's plans for decades because he understood the strength of an Avatar, and he was the Fire Lord! Toph is strong, but she isn't Avatar-like; she isn't even, in my opinion, Fire Lord Sozin-like in terms of raw power.

As for her refusing to cooperate when she first joined the Gaang – and sometimes after – it has surprised me that no one has seemed to grasp that the fate of the entire world was in the balance because of her selfish act. (I am well aware that she was only a child, and I cut her a lot of slack for it, but it still needs to be known.) Aang needed an earthbending teacher and the only person besides King Bumi, who felt that it wasn't his destiny to train Aang, who fit the criteria was Toph herself. She did run away from her home which took a lot of courage and I commend her for that, but all of that is pretty much tossed away when she decides that she's better off without the Gaang after a few days. They all went their separate ways and from a pure statistical standpoint, the probability that they could ever join back up in a war-torn world while Toph was on foot and the Gaang was on Appa was slim at best. (Because it's a TV show, they did, but the facts remain.) If she hadn't ever reunited with the Gaang, it is a real possibility that Aang might have never learned earthbending; if he did, it wouldn't have been nearly as strong as it was in the show. How many opponents and getaways did Aang secure because he used earthbending, the style of earthbending that he learned from Toph? A lot, and it goes to show how this butterfly effect would have had lasting consequences, potentially keeping the Fire Nation in perpetual power all because Toph was selfish and yearned for a freedom that she didn't really know anything of.

It is really hard to write for a blind person because she feels everything instead of seeing it, and that's when I realized that Toph must have been petrified in the Si Wong Desert, a place where she couldn't see well anyway, when Aang entered the Avatar State under emotional duress because the Sandbenders stole Appa from him. For all that we know, she hadn't ever heard of the Avatar State before; she had no idea what it actually was, what it entailed. During one of her lowest moments, when she was truly blind for the first time since learning earthbending from the Badgermoles, her friend, probably best friend suddenly becomes a divine god who could kill her with a twitch of his finger as his body is bursting with the all-mighty power and strength of every Avatar to ever exist; a voice eons-old that demonically echoes in her ears where Aang's once bubbly voice did. She would have been scared shitless, fearful for her life when she realizes who was talking: the goofy and fun-loving boy who she called 'Twinkletoes'. When I watched the episode, she looked completely frozen to the spot, jaw dropped, eyes wide until Sokka pulls her away: "Just get out of here! RUN!" Toph has claimed that she never forgets someone's voice, and it would be impossible for her to forget the terrifying voice of the Avatar State, of everything that she had experienced during those moments.

**Koh is who is behind Samir's nightmares! Did any of you suspect him? Did you like the twist of him being the offspring of Raava and Vaatu, literally born from their union? I know that, in the comics, Koh is the son of the Mother of Faces, but if I'm being honest, I hated the comics. If any of you like them, that's great, but they just weren't appealing to me. I chose Koh to be the offspring of Raava and Vaatu – instead of being shaped out of energy by Raava and Vaatu the way the Elemental Spirits and Lion Turtles were – because he is very ancient and most importantly, neutral. He remembers when Tui and La, the Ocean and Moon Spirits sacrificed their immortality to, in this story, save the Waterbenders. And from what we know of his feud with Avatar Kuruk and his encounter with Aang in the show, he is neutral; he doesn't take sides. He didn't just take Ummi's face for the 'fun' of it; Kuruk himself said that people solved their own problems and that he didn't need to do anything. If we understand Koh's actions and Kuruk's words, it is then implied that Kuruk didn't actually LOOK to see if people solve their own problems, he never made sure that he wasn't needed. That is critical, and with Koh being so powerful and ancient, I think that he would rectify Kuruk's mistakes by stealing the face of whom the Avatar loved. Kuruk, of course, reacts out of grief and fury, and hunts Koh in the Spirit World for pretty much the remainder of his life, which would be over a century.

As for Kuruk never knowing where Koh's lair was, it's Canon. After Aang was shot in the back by Azula's lightning strike in Ba Sing Se, and during his coma, he was in the Spirit World trying to reconnect with his past lives, to fix the separation that the lightning strike had caused with his past lives. When Aang reconnects with Kuruk, Kuruk reveals that he is still looking for Koh's lair. You can find the short video on YouTube: Escape From The Spirit World. (It doesn't have sound, FYI, but it does have subtitles.) So, because of all of these things, I always thought that Koh would be filled with the energy of both Light and Dark, which equals Gray, and that's what I did for this story.

Okay, we discover the true reason behind the Great War: Vaatu. I know that some people may find the idea distasteful, but it makes so much sense, especially if Agni was corrupted by Vaatu. Sozin was a bad guy, yes, but there was once a time when he hadn't been, Roku had shown as much. All that the corrupted Agni had done, then, was give Sozin a little push in the 'wrong' direction and Sozin instigated the Great War, inadvertently increasing Vaatu's diminished strength and power. Vaatu is ancient beyond measure, and he would know his limitations and the ways in which he could supplant those limitations with his rightful power. It isn't too drastic to infer that he might've fueled the Great War, so that's what happened in this story. There's a reason why, too: Aang is a fully-realized Avatar, the most powerful being in the Realms. Nobody can oppose him, so I couldn't just use mere humans to rise up. I needed Vaatu, the equal of Raava, and who could gain a vessel of his own in Ozai to become his own Avatar. Only an Avatar could truly challenge another Avatar. (It's kind of like Star Wars: a regular, sentient being couldn't hope to contend with a Force-user such as a Jedi or Sith. Only they themselves could challenge each other, just as Raava's vessel in Aang and all of the past Avatars, and Vaatu's vessel in Ozai are the only ones who can challenge one another.)

**Vaatu successfully coerces Devi, the Earth Spirit to gift him power over the Earth. I know that the scene is kind of out from left field, but we must all take into context exactly what Vaatu is. He is practically a primordial deity, the cosmic entity of Darkness and Chaos. By just being in his presence, anyone, whether a human or spirit, could become tainted from his darkness. And if Vaatu wants to poison anyone to control them, then he could do it. Only Aang – and maybe Koh – are truly safe; since Aang mastered his chakras, he cannot be affected by Vaatu's power because he is fully reconnected with Raava. Koh is his father's son, so already has some of the darkness, but it has yet to be seen if the Face Stealer is susceptible to Vaatu's unholy power.

So, because Agni is with Vaatu while attacking a lonely Devi, she is nearly destroyed, and the sight of the Fire Spirit, whose children had been slaughtering her own for a century, sends her into a fierce rage, and those murderous emotions are greatly fueled just by Vaatu's presence alone. Remember, Vaatu is Darkness itself and his presence would incur hatred and rage to cloud one's judgment and decision-making. Devi hates Agni more than anyone because of the Fire Nation's conquests through the Earth Kingdom during the Great War, unleashing travesties on her children. When she sees Agni after Vaatu sinks his shadows inside her, ravaging her broken body as it healed, all sense of logic and reason flees from her mind. The only thing that she wanted was for Agni to be destroyed. (Because she is now poisoned by Vaatu, she won't attack because Vaatu wouldn't allow it.) Add in the fact that Vaatu would technically be classified as her father because he and Raava shaped the Elemental Spirits, then Devi, it seems, was always going to be poisoned by Vaatu the moment when Aang and Azula flew to the scene.

Well, I think that that's everything so leave a review and tell me what you think.

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