Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I am in no way associated with the creators of the show.
Book 2: Earth
Chapter 1: Merge
He watched his best friend, his brother, sharpen his machete, his calloused hands striking the weapon with a flint stone, grinding the bone and metal weapon to a sharp point. He worked with practiced ease and expertise – being born in the Water Tribes, it seemed to be natural to him. His face was hard and impassive, his rigid blue eyes set firmly on his tools. However, other than his eyes and his weapons, he didn't look Water Tribe at all.
Like everyone else in their traveling group, he was currently dressed in bland Earth Kingdom clothing. He wore a nondescript forest green vest with white sleeves, tucked into his belt which had an ornate scabbard and a Water Tribe club attached to it. Strapped to his back was a leather case, which currently held a boomerang. He also wore plain brown pants, which were tucked into dark, leather, mud-stained boots. Like most Earth Kingdom men, his brown hair was bunched up into a knot at the top of his head.
It was better to blend in than to hide out, as Aang always said. The group seemed to live by this rule.
Aang was clothed in Master Yu's old school uniform, but with a bowl-shaped kasa hat that covered most of his face, in addition to his cloth headband hiding his arrow. Like all earthbenders, he was barefoot. Sadly, Toph was the only one with the luxury to wear clothes she was familiar with – as long as they were in Earth Kingdom territory.
They weren't guaranteed safety in any country anymore.
The two sat in companionable silence, being the only ones to remain in the camp. Zuko, Katara, and Toph entered a nearby village in order to replenish their supplies. Aang and Sokka stayed behind to protect their camp and keep Appa hidden.
Surprisingly, Sokka was the first to break the silence. He had become quiet in the past few weeks, ever since Suki's very recent death. "Would you like to learn how to wield one of these?" he asked, referring to his machete.
"What's to learn? All you have to do is swing it around," the Avatar answered, focused on his practice of sandbending. Sokka predictably took mild offense to this and frowned.
"Well, what use is sandbending?" he retorted with a grin.
"It has plenty of uses," Aang replied, getting jokingly offended. "It's just as useful as waterbending – I can even use the same style, but it's better if there's no water around."
"In that case, you can just use any of the other three elements you have," Sokka shot back. "Why you'd resort to bending sand, I have no idea."
"It's all in the styles behind each bending art. With waterbending, I can defend and redirect attacks – sandbending uses almost the same principles. That's why you're not a bender."
"Still can't knock any heads with sand," Sokka stated, giving his club a quick swing, but because of his tired fingers, he dropped it on his knee, eliciting a pained howl. And for almost no reason at all, the two burst out laughing. Aang fell to the ground, clutching his gut, and Sokka did the same. It felt so good to laugh, to be free of the everlasting war for just a moment. The two seemed clinically insane, laughing so hard for entirely no reason. These moments were rare – the war was tiring on their minds, wearing them down to tense and feeble shells. It seemed as if they had just cracked.
After what felt like a good, long while, the two were able to breathe properly and just lay spread-eagled on the ground, staring up at the dusky sky. It was getting late, but they weren't concerned about the lack of their three companions yet. Stars were beginning to appear in the sky as it darkened.
"Hey, Aang?" Sokka asked, breaking the silence again. "Do you miss …" He seemed to be thinking of a name, "… everyone?" Their happy moment suddenly vanished as if it never was, and the air was filled with a silent melancholy.
"Of course," Aang said immediately. "I always do. I think about every single one of them." 'Them' was all their friends that had died… And it really was all their friends.
"I see them sometimes," Sokka stated blankly. "In my dreams."
"Me too."
"It's as if I was there for every one of them," Sokka continued, "As I watched them die. I can see their fear, feel my helplessness… The worst part is their coldness. I failed to protect them all. Yue… Suki… Dad…Mom…"
"Jet," Aang added. "Bumi, Haru, Tyro, Teo and his father…"
The list continued on as the two warriors named every single one of their friends that they had lost. Morbidly, they wondered aloud who was next.
"If it's me," Sokka stated, "I'm hacking off as many heads as I can before I go."
"But if it's me, those guys are going to witness destruction like they've never seen before," Aang grinned. "A huge firestorm. Or I might just crush all the soldiers around me in a rock-a-lanche, or a blizzard…"
"Hijack an airship and crash it into the others…"
"Whip up some winds and blow them all off a cliff…"
"Suicide bomb them all to the heavens…"
They both sighed together happily. "Yeah… That's how I'd like to go." Like heroes.
Aang awoke the next morning, immediately undergoing his regular ritual of remembering his dreams. Every night they came – but for some reason, he didn't have to dredge up as much as he could from that night. The memories of the dreams weren't fading… it came to him easily. And the dream never felt so real. He could have sworn he was back there, traveling as a fugitive in the Earth Kingdom, with the rock against his back and the nightly breeze against his face. He even remembered, with stunning clarity, how when Sokka sharpened his weapons, Aang felt as if his teeth were being scratched. It was strange, to say the least.
Back then, they all seemed to have some sort of death wish. Most of the time, with all of their friends dead, they lost track of what they were fighting for. Katara was the only one with the will to live – and it kept her going. But, inevitably, she lost all hope of winning. She was the first to suggest giving up on the people who needed her. Who was left? Nobody blamed her for her thoughts.
Strangely, it was always Toph who got them back on track, as Aang remembered before. She constantly beat them back into shape when they were at their lowest, in the dirt, but that was when she took up the reins and showed the other four what she was really made of. She was like an army sergeant, pushing them to keep going, to never give up… She was their never-ending stability. She wasn't quite as motherly as Katara as she grew older, but she fiercely defended her family from any harm to befall them. But sometimes, it seemed as if she had the greatest death wish of all. Even the toughest of stones erode eventually.
Even the hottest fires flickered out.
Even the sharpest blades dulled.
Even the strongest winds slowed.
Even the fiercest rivers stilled.
Who was left for them to fight for?
Aang never thought he would feel so at ease on a Fire Nation ship. Like the ones back in his world, the theme seemed to be black and red. There were some golden decorations and trinkets in Aang's cabin, but the ship wasn't as grand or terrifying as the ones back home. The Golden City had a few ships of their own, but they were nothing compared to the Water Navy fleet.
Feeling restless, Aang sprang from his red satin bed and into the black metal hallways, feeling the now-familiar rumble of the ship's engines. It had been three weeks since they had left the grand city. Now they were heading south. Jeong Jeong was bringing some of his men to the mainland of the Fire Nation to help in the defense, while simultaneously dropping off the Avatar, his companions, and his prisoner halfway there. They would be departing on Appa this very morning.
The sunlight was warm on his face as he ascended to the deck of the boat, and he went to the ship's banister after giving a quick greeting to Appa and Sabishi. The female lemur currently had her ears wrapped around her, shyly observing the goings-on with her large, protuberant eyes. She clung to Appa more often than humans, including Aang.
On the other side of Appa, Sokka was scrubbing the deck on his hands and knees, overseen by a clearly delighted Azula. Ever since he was captured, Sokka was forced by the crew to do manual labor, constantly watched by Aang, Azula, or Zuko whenever he was out of his 'cell.' Sokka was mostly held in a cabin in the ship's tower, but he was originally supposed to be put in a standard prison cell beneath the ship. Aang fiercely opposed this, using the excuse that he was closer to water down there. Jeong Jeong relented.
Azula seemed to enjoy taunting and humiliating the waterbender a little too much, but Sokka silently took it or outright ignored her. Curiously, he made no attempt to escape yet, but Aang did not doubt the possibility that he was coming up with a brilliant plan, under the likelihood that he had the same mental strength that Aang knew Sokka to have. Sokka was not bound – for now – because there was nowhere he could go on the ship, and when he was outside, he was always watched. Otherwise, he was locked in his cabin.
"Keep cleaning your filth, waterbender," Azula snarled. She did not notice Aang behind her back. "Clean the filth that your people unleashed on this world. You know that you're responsible for the starving people in my country? Or the dust storms in the Earth Kingdom? It's because you and your people always suck the ground dry wherever you go. It's despicable. You kill innocent people even without the war." Aang knew that whenever she thought he wasn't around, she'd throw all her anger and hate at Sokka, always speaking in clear, venomous tones. Ever since mastering firebending, she had become more like the Azula he knew – now, she wasn't just all talk, she had power to back her up. And she utilized it well.
Sokka kept scrubbing, dipping his sponge into a bucket of water.
In a fit of rage, Azula kicked the bucket at the waterbender, dousing him with water. He simply bent it off him, not even glancing at her.
"Look at me, you monster!" She pulled her leg back to kick him again, and even fire gathered around the tips of her toes. As she pulled back, Aang grabbed her ankle and she almost stumbled. She spun around angrily at the Avatar. "What are you doing?"
"Keeping you from injuring him pointlessly," Aang stated evenly. His gaze was hard. Don't cross me. She pulled her leg free from the boy.
"Why are you defending him?" she demanded an answer. He simply shrugged in response.
"I'm the Avatar. It's what I do." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't let it happen again." She glared right back.
"Since when are you a self-righteous jerk?"
"I think you're exaggerating a bit," Aang said, sighing. This wasn't the first time one of these arguments had occurred in the last three weeks. "Come on, I have to tell you something," he said after a moment.
Most of Azula's anger immediately dissipated as she tilted her head slightly in curiosity. "Oh? The Great Avatar Aang is finally going to reveal another part of his mysterious past to me?" He didn't answer, but walked away. Hungry for more information on the boy, Azula followed, confident that the Water Tribe idiot wouldn't try to escape – there were too many men on deck watching him. Once they were sufficiently away from any prying ears (mainly Sokka's) Aang stopped and turned to the taller girl. "So? Why have you been defending him so much? Have you been secretly best friends with him from the start?" she asked sarcastically.
Aang laughed inwardly – she had no idea how close she was. "It's… kind of complicated," he said after a moment. "Remember, a while back, I said that there was something that I couldn't tell you about?" He paused. "It's related to that."
"Hm, and here I was thinking you were going to tell me something juicy," she said, crossing her arms. "Well… I've deduced what your big secret was, anyway."
Aang raised an eyebrow, and similarly crossed his arms, amused. "You did?"
"Yes," she said, absolutely sure of herself. "And I have plenty of evidence."
"Shoot," said Aang.
"First, I saw it in your eyes – you always look at me, or Zuko, or Ty Lee, or Sokka with a knowing glance, as if you know something about all of us that we might not, but it's mostly those three. Also, I've seen remorse and sadness in your eyes, as if you've seen things tragically happen to us. Judging from your terrible nightmares, this seems to be correct, since you seem to be reliving those moments." By this time, Aang's heart was hammering against his chest, his grey eyes wide with fear. How could she know these things? "In addition, I've noticed a pattern – you seem to be quite ahead of your game, as if you knew beforehand that certain things were going to happen, and judging from your intelligence level, you certainly didn't come up with some of your plans on the dot. You just knew from past experience. You look at everything like you've seen it before. You react to certain things quite unexpectedly, ranging from longing for Sokka to immense hatred for Zhao. You can't have met them before, since you've been stuck in that volcano for one hundred years. So…" Aang braced himself, his legs as solid as iron, unable to run away from her next words… "…I've deduced that you're a time traveler."
Aang blinked.
And burst out into laughter.
"That's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" he roared, slapping his knee. "A time traveler? Is that even possible? Oh, Azula…" He wiped a tear from his eye. "You're a riot."
Azula jutted out her lower lip, narrowing her amber eyes at him, distinctly annoyed. "Well, you don't have to be so overdramatic about it!" She huffed, spun around on the ball of her foot, and walked off. She yelled to him over her shoulder. "I'll get it one of these days, I swear to you, Avatar-boy!" As she furthered from him, she spoke in a lower voice, slumping her shoulders in defeat. "…I thought I had him, too…"
Aang stopped laughing at her back once she was gone, and immediately turned serious and broody. She had no idea just how close she was. Was Azula always this observant? Or was he just stupid? Was he leaving that much of an obvious trail? He vowed to cover up his tracks better… he was being too risky.
For some reason, he just didn't want them to know. Not yet.
As soon as the Avatar took Azula away from their captive, Jeong Jeong approached the boy. He was grieving in his own way, the old master noticed. He rarely, if ever, spoke to anyone, despite Aang's efforts to communicate. He did not know why the Avatar was so determined, but his efforts were for naught. Jeong Jeong knew exactly what was bothering the waterbender.
He was defeated, for one. Three other children captured him and forced him onto a Fire Nation ship, making him work and suffer like a slave. He was strangely prideful, for a Water Tribe warrior, and his pride was damaged.
Also, he was practically betrayed by his grandmother, someone who loved him and that he trusted. She let him stay with the Avatar as she ran off. Now that she was a traitor to her people, she was on the run. And she was why Jeong Jeong approached the Water Prince.
"She does love you, you know," the old man muttered. Sokka didn't look up.
"Who, that firebender witch?" he asked sarcastically. "I doubt it." And he continued scrubbing – was Jeong Jeong the only one who noticed that it was the same spot, rubbed over and over and over again?
"Your grandmother, Kanna," the firebender stated flatly. "She believes this is for the better."
"Whatever," Sokka mumbled, barely audible. "It doesn't change the fact that she betrayed me."
"View it as you will," Jeong Jeong murmured his assent with a barely perceptible nod. "You may emerge from this struggle a stronger person."
"How? By being forced to live with fire savages?" Sokka asked gruffly. He had no idea why he was even responding to this man, but his long-stifled sarcasm was coming to the surface in his anger – it was the only way he could hope to mask his true emotions.
"Perhaps," the firebending master said enigmatically. "Do not let your feelings consume you. Do what you think is best." Sokka didn't respond, but Jeong Jeong didn't say anything further because Azula was returning.
When Azula returned to her watch over Sokka, she found Jeong Jeong staring at the boy himself. The two were just quietly regarding each other, but for some reason, Azula felt like she was intruding. Sokka's remaining eye was cold, emotionless. Azula knew he still felt rejected and betrayed because of his grandmother – but she didn't care. Jeong Jeong was harder to read.
"What's going on?" Azula asked her master. Sokka averted his gaze and returned to his backbreaking work. Jeong Jeong didn't answer her – he just sighed and rubbed his temples, suddenly looking even older than he did already. Was the man getting weaker?
"It's not your place to know, woman," Sokka sneered, speaking for the first time. She glared at him.
"Shut up, you sexist bastard," she swore. "My great Nation doesn't have your silly tribal traditions, so you have no right to say that to me, your superior." Sokka looked like he was about to attack her, but she settled into a stance. Jeong Jeong shook his head.
"Be quiet, both of you," he said sternly. "There is no discipline in children these days…" Azula unwillingly obeyed her master, and for some reason, Sokka did, too. What happened between them? She joined her master in quietly watching the Water tribesman beneath her, thinking back to all of their fights against one another (and once, even side-by-side) as he toiled under the sun, a thin sheen of sweat across his face. As she thought about their fights, she remembered the one at the Dragon Altar, where she unleashed a torrent of blue flames for the second half of the fight. When she tried again, her flames turned red. She decided to ask her master.
"Jeong Jeong," she said to him, forgoing the use of his title, "When I fought him at the Dragon Altar, I used blue fire. I've never seen it before."
The older man seemed deeply disturbed by this. "Can you do it again?"
"No," she stated, slightly confused. "My fire reverted back to red afterward."
Jeong Jeong exhaled with relief, and his eyes flicked shut. "Good."
"What does that mean?" the girl questioned.
"You fought him more intensely than you have ever fought before," the old man explained. "So much that you were fighting with the intent to kill." Azula's eyes widened, remembering the thrill of the battle and her power-induced craze. "When that happens, a firebender's flame burns blue," he said after a slight pause.
Azula wasn't the least bit disturbed. "Can I do that all the time?"
Jeong Jeong sighed. "I don't see why you'd want to. That thirst for destruction leads some firebenders down the wrong path. Haven't you noticed that the spirit of destruction, Shao, is blue?" Azula nodded. It did make sense, after all, and the girl thrived on logic. "The true essence of firebending is life and harmony. Do not forget my lessons, unless you want your inner fire to consume your being."
She bowed. "Thank you, Master Jeong Jeong," she said, uncharacteristically polite. She turned and left, quite intent on learning how to bend blue fire, despite her master's words. She did not forget the power surge she felt and the thrill that came with it.
Behind them, Sokka processed the information, carefully storing it away for a different purpose.
A grand silver Water Nation ship cut through the ocean waters beneath it effortlessly, gliding among the tides and redirecting the flow of the seas to propel them faster toward their destination. The ship was currently moving north, into the waters of the Earth Kingdom, having come directly from the Southern Water Tribe city of ice. However, they were not yet going into enemy territory – most of the ocean of the world was under their control. The Water Nation had an unmatched navy, after all.
Two rows of soldiers on deck bowed deeply as their Princess appeared, striding confidently down the path they had made for her. She was wearing simple blue robes and loose-fitting slacks, lined with silver, but she also had jewelry of bone and ice – the latter constantly frozen and ready for use as a weapon in times of need. Her brown hair was long, thick, and free, so unlike what regular women customarily did to their hair. Once the Princess was in the middle of all of the soldiers, she spoke loudly.
"Brave men of the Southern Water Tribe," she spoke, "You have all been called here to aid me in my mission – rescue your Prince from the hands of the Avatar, and capture the traitorous Lady Kanna." She paused for a moment. "Fight strong! Rise to the objective like a fierce wave, crashing down on all who stand in our way." Many of the men looked up at her and her rallying words. They felt the excitement of going to battle, not a simple retrieval mission. The Princess continued to speak of heroic exploits they would make, of their courage and wit, of their skill and abilities. She had a way with words, known to sway men to her desire. They were in awe of her power, which was so strange for them to feel of a woman. Because of Princess Katara, men felt insatiable urges to thaw the ice in her heart (for no one knew why it was there, but it was evident in her eyes) and women constantly admired her will and drive to make life better for them. Her people loved their Princess, and they would die for her whenever they felt it was necessary.
And that was just what Katara wanted.
"Some of you may feel hesitant about fighting alongside a woman," she continued, but many men shook their heads strongly. "Don't be," she said coldly. "We are just as powerful as the rest of you. If there are any objections, raise your voices now, and we will fight to see who is toughest." She paused for a moment, her blue eyes flitting from side to side. "Good," she said finally. "Well, then!" she shouted triumphantly, "Prepare to get your Prince back home!"
And as her voice was drowned out by their loud cheers, Katara spun around on the heel of her foot and returned to the inside of her ship. As she was about to open the silver hatch, her companion appeared at her side.
"You've really got them all wrapped around your little finger, Katara," said Suki, grinning through her white makeup. The Kyoshi Warrior looked over the men with her arms crossed, covering her chestplate. She was garbed in the dark green armor of her people, the last of her kind. Her auburn hair was trimmed neatly, and her slightly mischievous eyes seemed to change from shades of blue, to green, and even grey, depending on how you looked at them.
"Of course. I always do," said Katara, giving her a smirk of equal proportion.
Appa was finally loaded up and ready to go, packed with food, clothes (for Aang seemed obsessed with dressing up like Earth Kingdom citizens) and Sokka. Aang, Azula, and Zuko stood on the deck of the ship, along with Jeong Jeong and several of his men and women, ready to depart. Aang and Azula bowed in farewell and thanks to their Sifu.
"Why can't Ty Lee be here to say goodbye?" Zuko asked, not for the first time.
Azula rolled her eyes. "She can't leave her city again to go to our village," his sister explained to him again, with the air of speaking to a small child. Jeong Jeong and his people were still planning on returning to Zuko and Azula's village to help protect them from war and rebuild, and Ty Lee was forced to stay behind so she could learn how to be a proper ruler of the Golden City. "You're pathetically lovesick."
The old firebending master ignored them and placed both of his hands on Aang's and Azula's shoulders. "You have both been good students," he said. "Learn from each other. Keep on learning until there is nothing left to learn. Even then, don't stop. Keep your heads about you. The journey ahead is about to get even more dangerous." He offered his advice quickly and then turned to Zuko. "I have something for you." Zuko, interested, watched as Jeong Jeong offered him an ornate dual-broadsword scabbard, just like his old one, but much nicer. The man unsheathed conjoined swords with golden hilts, and red rubies in the pommel. "These were a gift to me from Master Piandao himself, but I never had a use for them. I don't know much about swords, but yours are aged and close to being unusable. Take these and savor them, Zuko."
The young warrior gaped, but quickly gathered his wits, accepting the weapons with shaking hands. "Thank you, Master Jeong Jeong." Azula frowned.
"Good luck on your journey," Jeong Jeong said, standing back as the three boarded their bison. Sokka was sitting in the saddle, his hands bound by thick rope, angrily glaring at them all.
"Say hi to Uncle Iroh for us," Zuko said with a grin, and he and Azula waved as the bison flew into the sky. As they soared, he twisted back into his seat on the saddle. "Well, it feels good to get moving again."
"Oh, please," said Azula, "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that extra sword training with the other soldiers."
"Guys, don't start," said Aang, sitting at the reins, as always. He felt a major headache coming on already… Steadily getting worse. It even got to the point where he had to clutch his head in pain, unable to repress a small moan that escaped his teeth. Zuko noticed.
"What's up, Aang?" he asked in concern. Sokka and Azula didn't seem to care.
"Just… a headache…" he mumbled, but they didn't hear him over the roaring wind, which was getting louder and louder, ruffling his hair. The pain pulsed through his head, his eyes blurred to the point where he couldn't distinguish between Appa's horns. Sabishi coiled around his head and chittered in concern, but her tiny sounds echoed like drum beats, and now even Azula was stirring concernedly. But he didn't hear them, closing his eyes and falling back against Appa's fur.
He was unconscious.
"What's going on?" Zuko asked. "What happened to him?"
And then his tattoos started glowing.
"The Avatar State!" Azula exclaimed, almost with a tinge of fear. Even Sokka sat up, looking ready to defend himself despite his bound hands and ankles. This was unnecessary, however, because the Avatar lied motionless, and no unusual winds accompanied him. "No… He's just entering the Spirit World," Azula realized. "But why? He didn't need to talk to the spirits."
But the spirits needed to talk to him.
An old woman oversaw the Princess, her light grey eyes nearly covered in wrinkles and her grey hair falling loosely. Her gaze was not lazy. In fact, it was far from it. Her eyes were piercing and she watched the Princess like an arctic hawk. She was the Princess' teacher, and she was deeply involved with her job. She was garbed in the clothes of a Water Tribe elder.
Katara was currently faced with four of her armed soldiers, though they clearly had no desire to hurt her. They were just her puppets in her training exercise.
Literally.
The waterbender bent her fingers forward, lowering them as she felt something akin to an invisible string connecting her to each of the soldiers. She bent forward, and they did too. Their eyes were wide with fear as she performed the deadly skill. Clearly, they were not expecting this. One blue-clad man went skidding backwards on his heels, swinging his machete at Suki, who was leaning against the balustrade fanning herself with her golden weapons. The man was unable to control his arm as it swung, but the Kyoshi warrior slid one of her fans along his weapon, gently deflecting it to the side and twisting underneath his arm, jabbing him with her other closed fan and sliding her feet against his, knocking the man to the ground.
The next man was literally flying at her, levitating several inches off of the ground, swinging his own weapon awkwardly and stiffly. The third was sent at Suki, skidding on the tips of his toes, moving to impale her with a spear. From the background, Katara danced, lifting her arms and twisting her fingers as she controlled all four figures at once. While Suki was dealing with three of her puppets, she was currently entertaining herself with the last one, twisting his arms and legs grotesquely, trying to see how far they would go before breaking. They were trying to scream, but their mouths were clenched shut.
"That's enough, Katara," said her teacher calmly. All four soldiers immediately dropped to the ground, their breathing erratic.
"Yes, Hama," Katara acquiesced. "How did I do?" she asked, eager to hear praise.
"Perfect," said the old woman with a cold grin. "Bloodbending without the aid of the full moon is an admirable talent." Suki went back to fanning herself, calmly looking over the fallen soldiers with a triumphant smirk. "Now, we must speak about more important matters."
"My brother and my grandmother," Katara said with a nod. "What do you suggest?"
"A small, elite team," said Hama, her eyes flicking between the two.
"You mean… the three of us? Traveling alone?" Suki asked with a hint of distaste. She felt that an old woman would slow them down.
"Bah! Of course not," said Hama, waving a hand dismissively at the Kyoshian. "The two of you… and a friend."
Katara smirked and her eyes twinkled with excitement – another adventure, a quick one on the side. Anything was better than being cooped up at home, and she took every chance she could to leave … which included donning the Blue Spirit mask and following her brother as his search for the Avatar became renewed once the boy was discovered. "I've got just the right person in mind."
"Aang, it's good to see you again," said an old, benign voice, echoing to him through the mist.
"What? Who's there? Where am I?" the Avatar asked the disembodied voice, struggling to see through the heavy mist. Suddenly, a tall form materialized in front of him, and upon seeing the man, Aang knew where he was – the Spirit World. But how?
"I am happy to see that you are doing all right," said Avatar Roku. Aang peered at him curiously.
"You said that it was good to see me again… What do you mean? You've never met me before," said Aang, eager to avoid another situation where Roku didn't know about the world where Aang really came from. Kuruk didn't – what would make Roku any different? Besides, in this world, Kuruk came immediately before him.
"I'm hurt, Aang," Roku said with a small smile. "Did you so easily forget your spiritual advisor?"
Aang's eyes widened with surprise. "But… It can't be you! Avatar Kuruk didn't know about me! I mean, about the world I really came from… How can it be you?"
"It is me," said Roku, spreading his heavily robed arms wide. "I informed you about Sozin's Comet. I was the Avatar who truly preceded you."
"How? What's happening? Did you bring me to the Spirit World?"
"One question at a time. I have a lot of things to tell you," said Roku, his voice slightly more stern. "Do not interrupt me – since you were not near any spiritual places, I had to drag you directly into your dreams. Because of that, this world around us took no form," he explained, gesturing to the fog around them. "Now… Yes, I have come with you, into this world, but only just recently. And it is because of you, Aang."
"What went wrong?" he asked.
"Well, it is not your fault at all, actually," Roku mused. "I came here rather on accident. Let me explain this to you. There are many, many worlds, many different dimensions that all run parallel to each other, occasionally intersecting at places of importance, which makes them spiritually active. All of these worlds revolve and spring forth from one world – the Spirit World."
Aang's head was spinning again. "Wait a minute… What are you talking about? There are even more worlds? So this one isn't just a weird coincidence or a figment of my imagination?" He was under the impression that his past lives created it while sending him here, turning the world into a reality.
"Yes," Roku stated. He closed his eyes, and the fog around them swirled into a myriad of colors, settling still after a moment like water. "Let me show you…" Aang suddenly found himself back into the mortal world, with Roku at his side. They were standing in the middle of a busy village. Aang was about to ask Roku what was going on, but he soon spotted himself, albeit a bald, younger, innocent version, running down the streets with an unscarred Zuko and Azula at his side. The person they were fleeing, however, appeared right in front of them from a side alley, shooting them with a bullet of water – Sokka. "This is the world you've been staying in lately, as it would have been without you interfering." The vision-Aang, grinning, leapt over Sokka and swung his staff, hitting him with a gust of wind from behind.
"But…"
"Wait a moment," Roku interrupted him, and the mist swirled again, and this time Aang was greeted with a vision of the same town. But now, a younger Aang was running with Sokka and Katara at his side, facing down a scarred, banished Prince Zuko. Aang gaped. He remembered this moment… "That's not all," said Roku. This was his own world, and he recognized it well.
The mist swirled again, and now he was greeted with an image of Azula, Katara, and Sokka working side-by-side, the former two with their bending against Aang himself. Air swept from his fingers, striking both Katara and Azula, and it hurt him to see himself causing pain to the people he cared about… Four unrecognizable Air Nomads appeared at his side, sweeping their staves at Sokka.
"No!" Aang shouted. The mist swirled again. He was almost afraid to look, but now he was introduced to a soundless scene of someone who was clearly Earth King Kuei facing down Aang, Zuko, Sokka, Azula, and Katara, all ready to attack the King. He stepped back, and a smaller figure appeared from the shadows – Toph. She attacked them all.
And that was how it went. Aang witnessed several combinations of his friends battling against each other, forming different teams and alliances, sometimes Aang was a villain and sometimes he was a hero. He witnessed the world as it might have been with different Nations invading all the others. Sometimes Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, Haru, Jet, and many other friends and allies were thrown in. He watched them all with a stony gaze.
"These are all different situations that might have come to be, but they are all happening at different times and at different places. You could have been at the core of any one of them," Roku explained calmly.
"What is the point of this?" Aang asked. He didn't want to see this anymore.
"It is necessary for you to understand, because something unprecedented happened…"
Zuko dragged Aang's unmoving body into the saddle, and he moved to the reins in his place. There was nothing to worry about – they would continue on their course to the Earth Kingdom until the Avatar came back from his spiritual journey.
With his one eye, Sokka did nothing else except for carefully observing the Avatar's firebender as she carefully watched his unmoving body, occasionally glancing at Sokka as if to say, 'You touch him, and you die.' Luckily, the Water Prince wasn't perturbed by such a threat.
He could grab the Avatar now, very easily. The older boy was on the bison's head, currently paying more attention to wrestling a map to prevent it from flying away. The stupid little lemur (Which looks pretty appetizing, Sokka thought) was fretting over the motionless Avatar and would be rather pointless to consider in his plans. Not even the firebender would be a threat – if she tried firebending, her flames would be swept away by the roaring winds all around them before they could even harm the waterbender. And the interfering acrobat was no longer even a factor.
With one quick movement, while the girl was watching the Avatar, Sokka made his move – grabbing the Avatar by the neck and pulling him close, in a position to choke him to death with the rope binding his hands. Predictably, the girl rose to attack before he even touched the airbender, but her fist of flames was eaten away by the wind, dissipating into nothing far behind them. Sokka smirked, circling his finger and creating a dagger of ice from the air, holding it in position near the boy's neck.
Azula wisely understood the threat and sat back, glaring venomously at him. "Looks like I got my prize," Sokka taunted.
"That was a cheap move," she said, gritting her teeth with anger. Zuko apparently heard the movements on the saddle and looked at the two of them, and then at Aang in Sokka's arms. He sent an equally venomous glare at the waterbender.
"Like that's not beneath you," Sokka noted. "That stupid firebending scroll incident comes to mind." Most of the battles between the two consisted of trickery, and in different situations, the girl sometimes surprised him and came out on top even without a mastery of her art. Now, she had the addition of power on her side. She was a worthy opponent, and he grinned knowingly while she continued to glare. "Now, you have two choices." He pressed the knife of ice into the boy's neck. "Let the Avatar die, or let me go free the moment we get to the Earth Kingdom." With any luck, he'd get the Avatar too. "It should be an easy choice."
"If it was up to me, it would be," Azula said, reclining in her seat and examining her nails. "I never wanted you here in the first place. Very well. Zuko, keep going to the Earth Kingdom," she commanded her brother. She had a plan, though it was one based on chance and not very effective. It simply involved waiting for Aang to awaken, since she could do nothing. If he woke up before getting to the Earth Kingdom… Well, they would be okay. If not, then Sokka would win.
Zuko nodded, and from the look in his eyes she knew that he had the same thing in mind.
"What happened?" Aang asked Roku with wide eyes.
"It should instead be said, 'What is happening?'" said Roku. "Ever since the other Avatar spirits and I sent you here, something else happened that we didn't plan. It was Enma and Koh who informed us of our mistake." Aang did nothing. This couldn't be good. "By leaving your own world and coming to this one, we have all affected the balance of all the worlds."
"What do you mean? What might happen?"
"They are intersecting more than ever before," Roku said gravely. "Even the Spirit World is feeling repercussions. It is no longer in balance, and things will only get worse. To explain it simply, your own world is trying to pull you back… Crossing the boundaries into this world in the process. I am one of the results. Normally, I would not be able to speak to you now. Instead, a different Avatar Roku would be. It is also why I was able to pull you into the Spirit World so easily."
"That… Doesn't sound good," Aang observed dumbly.
Roku shook his head. "It gets far worse. Right now, your home world is in a state of suspension."
"What?!" Aang bellowed.
"Do not worry. The other spirits managed to save them for now. Things can return to normal… but only once you are back where you belong."
"So take me back!" Aang ordered.
"I can't do that," Roku said sadly. "Not yet. The two worlds haven't completely merged yet, but they will… It is only at that moment that you may return home. But things might get dangerous along the way. You may see some… odd similarities with your home world and things manifesting themselves here. I do not know what the outcome would be, but the worlds will be interfering with each other more and more over time."
"What should I do?" Aang asked.
"Keep doing what you have been doing. Try to save this world from the war before the arrival of Seiryu's Moon. If not, if you fail… The balance may be damaged even further, throwing both worlds into chaos and, eventually, nothingness," Roku said chillingly.
Great. Now there were two worlds on his shoulders.
"I won't let that happen. I can't. I will not fail again!" Aang protested angrily, clenching his fist.
Roku gave a small, gentle smile, slowly fading away into the mist, his voice backed by the thousands of other Avatar spirits. "We believe in you, Aang."
The glow of power in his arrows died out as he entered the mortal world once again, feeling a cold object pressed against his throat, as well as a constricting substance that was affecting his breathing. The tan, strong arms holding him stiffened upon seeing the glow in his arrows fade, but Aang's reflexes were faster, throwing burning waves of heat off of his body, melting the icy knife slightly. A barrier of air exploded outwards from his body, throwing the other body off of him. Quick as an owl-cat, he spun on Appa's saddle and took a stance, but Sokka was nearly thrown off of the bison.
The Water Prince settled himself back into his seat, recognizing his defeat. Everything was silent on the bison. Sabishi even froze.
"That went well," Azula said matter-of-factly. "That was probably the easiest fight with him ever."
"If you haven't noticed, there's not much I can do on the back of a bison hundreds of feet in the air with my hands tied and no useful weapons," Sokka shot back. Aang grinned, and relaxed, suddenly feeling the strain of being in the Spirit World.
"What happened? Why were you in the Spirit World?" Zuko asked hurriedly, ignoring Sokka and Azula. Aang quickly thought up a lie.
"They told me about the Avatar State," the boy said. "I'm… Not supposed to do it too much. Bad stuff happens."
"Right," Azula said, crossing her arms disbelievingly. "This has to do with that thing you can't tell us yet, right?"
Aang grinned sheepishly.
Things quietly settled back to a semblance of normal, but Aang let Zuko drive Appa as he contemplated his journey into the Spirit World. Sokka went to brooding and Azula continued to glare at the waterbender. Sabishi curled in Aang's lap. Aang silently regarded them all, running his fingers along the sheath of his sword, its true owner sitting just a few feet away from him. He thought of all the changes he made, saving Ty Lee's life and capturing Sokka, hoping to change him for the better.
The stakes were higher this time, now that the fates of two worlds, and perhaps the Spirit World, were on his shoulders. He couldn't afford to fail.
It was still a second chance, nonetheless.
Author's Notes: Woo, that took so much longer than expected, since this chapter kept growing and growing and escaping from me. I originally planned it to be much shorter. I don't think I've had a chapter that was so long and centered mostly on dialogue…
Anyway, most of you are wondering about the true nature of Katara, so I'll reveal it here. Not much about who she is is a secret anymore. She is evil in this world, and I've based her character slightly off of Canon Azula, but with many changes. This Katara is much more centered around her family, willing to do whatever she has to to keep them together. She is cold, but she holds family and friends closer than Canon Azula did. In that sense, there may be some good inside of her, but I thought there was good in Azula too, but she was mentally abused by Ozai all her life. Distorted Katara, on the other hand, outright disobeys her father sometimes. Just like in canon, she hates the customs of her people and wants to make women equal to the men. Throughout Book 1, she was forbidden from leaving the South Pole, but she did in secret, following after her brother after he found the Avatar. Once Sokka was captured and Kanna was revealed as a traitor, Katara returned home, only to gain permission to leave the South Pole and follow after them both. Her fighting style and tactics will differ noticeably from Azula. If you noticed, she does not use fear as much to control her men, instead rallying them willfully to her side – she's long since realized they make more powerful allies that way. Speculate more on Katara all you want. By the way, I hope I'm doing Sokka justice now, because I'm expanding more on his character bit by bit, as seen in this chapter.
Also, there was a small reference to "Avatar: The Last Firebender" by clockworkchaos in this chapter. Go read that story, it's awesome! You can find it in my favorites list. It's about another Nation-switch, but Azula, Katara, and Sokka are teaming up to defeat the Air Empire. That may not sound believable to some of you, but it's nicely explained and does become believable and awesome, and everyone is wonderfully in character.
The idea of the worlds merging was one of the driving forces of this story… And I'll admit some trivia – Hama was one of the first character switches I thought of, oddly. She was switched with Lo and Li, but her role will be much larger in Book 3.
Okay, enough of the Author's Notes. This is way too long. Please review!
