Hey, it's another ASN Drabble Contest Entry. This one was a winner! The theme was "Astronomy" with the only criteria being Creativity. This was actually inspired by a certain piece of music- if you want to hear it, just search Youtube for "John Williams Fortress of Solitude" and enjoy.


Gazing Above

From the heavens, Yue the Moon Spirit looked down on the Earth.

She saw victory. The ones she had loved in life triumphed over the Fire Nation and Sozin s Comet, restoring balance. She watched as they reunited after their separate battles. She watched as the Honorable Prince was crowned to the applause of members of all nations. She watched as those nations rebuilt under the guidance of her friends and family. She watched as love flared between them.

Yue watched all this alone.

Among the changes that were overtaking the globe was a renovation of the Fire Lord's throne room. Dark wood was taken away, and windows were opened in the walls. Gold plating, pressed with intricate designs by the Sun Warriors, gilded every surface of the room, shining like the sun itself. Once completed, Yue's loved ones gathered once again, and witnessed as the new Fire Lord took his place and relit the Fires of the Throne.

Yue alone picked up on the detail; it would be invisible to any relying on mere reflected light for vision. When the Fires rose, a miniscule trace of smoke appeared. Firebending does not consume any physical fuels, and so produces no smoke with its pure use, but here a vapor resulted.

The smoke rose, riding the breeze out of the throne room and into the open air. It danced on the winds, ever ascending. As it passed the limits of Air, into the dark void, Yue could finally discern a constant shape, birdlike, and realized that its previous chaotic movement was in actuality a graceful flapping.

With that realization, the smoke became a glowing heron in her eyes.

Yue cupped her hands, and breathed a pool of moonlight into them. The pale white light rippled as the heron settled on its surface and looked up at her.

Gentle Yue, you truly give life to the Moon.

The Moon Spirit who was once a princess shimmered in surprise. There was no voice, no sound in this airless realm, but nevertheless the heron had communicated with her. She felt for the thread of meaning, and followed it to the bird floating in her hands. Smiling, she sent her glow back along that path.

You are a gracious guest, little bird. Your visit brings me happiness.

I bring much more, if you will.

What gifts could be given to the moon? I have no needs, anymore.

Dear Yue, everyone has needs, even Spirits. Once, I had need of purpose, and was given the gift of giving. I brought knowledge of much importance to humanity, and will do so again many times. Now, I have come to bring you a gift, as you were once human, and I have some familiarity with the fragile human heart.

I am grateful.

I know, child. Come with me, as we shed the trappings of our Earthly ties, and explore your realm.

Yue closed her ethereal eyes, and brought her cupped hands to her heart. The liquid moonlight within disjoined into unfocused glow. It swirled briefly around the heron, until the birdlike shape dissolved. The light continued to disperse, and Yue's image faded where the individual motes made contact. Eventually, all that was left were two invisible energies in a sea of dancing stars.

And now, child, I will teach the ways of the heavens. See the stars around us, which humans know only by their position and light. All is in motion, everywhere across Existence. Your own Earth travels even as you and it revolve around each other and spin in your dance. So do the stars, both close and at distances beyond any human comprehension, move around each other and even you. Come; let us see a star for what it is.

Yue spiraled around the energy that was once the heron and light filled the void. Yue took the light unto herself, and became a part of it, and so it became invisible to her. Where the center of the light once was, a different energy was hidden. It had no shape for eyes to see, but Yue could sense youth, playfulness, and a love of Story, such as filled a room when a charismatic voice regaled an audience around a fire. The energy shimmered under her attention, and were she still human, Yue would have giggled along with it.

These are the children under your care, gentle Moon, all spread far across Existence. They have much to teach you, but you will have time in which to learn. They pull on humans, just as they will pull on you, and so stories rise to make shapes out of them, give them names and reasons. You may share the stories with the stars, but they do not require it, and as time passes you will have less knowledge of stories and their purpose. Yet the stars' toys still become stories in their own right, and you must have familiarity with these.

The perception of the star faded. Yue had grown accustomed to the cold of the void since her ascension. Now, the energy that was born as Yue felt an abundance of heat and light chase away that coolness not unlike ice.

Sozin's Comet.

Yes. This comet is but one of many expressions of the elements in your void. Although you have a tie and influence over Waterbending, and Sun a similar relationship to Firebending, neither of you are the lone elementals your greatness implies you to be. This comet has no conscious, but lives nevertheless, an instance of Fire so pure that mortal Benders only suspect its existence.

Yue felt further energies influence her being- the lack of heat she still called cold, the gravity of great masses, and even chaotic reactionary releases of gasses struggling to fill the void.

All the elements reside here in the heavens. Just as Sozin's Comet exists for Fire, so do balls of Ice and Earth exist for their elements, and even clusters of gasses that would be called Air were they to make their way to your old home. They number as many as the stars, and some will even come to visit the lands you watch over before the Chaos of The End. The stars may someday reflect the legends born of these events, but perhaps it will all be more transitory than that. Let us refresh in the feel of these elements, child, before we move on once again. As we do, I think it time to discuss the nature of time and scale that the universe should really be measured in...

Time passed, in a way, for Yue in the void. Truly, though, she began to feel that it was a void in name only, for there seemed no end to the Spirits and Incorporeals that it contained. Some of them made Yue forget what it was to be human, and a certain chill, different from the physical cold of space, began to tinge her energy. At one point, she and the heron moved even beyond light, and its feel startled Yue when they abruptly encountered it again.

And so we have come to the physical end. We Spirits call this the Orange Band, for we can only ever perceive a small spot of it at the center of our conscious at any one time, and shifting our attention gives the impression that we are following a line of light around the cosmos. We cannot pass beyond the Band, but neither is it hardened to us. It is speculated by the oldest amongst us that there are beings beyond it, which look upon us as you look upon mortals. Now, let us ease into the Orange Band, and we will let it carry us on first part of journey home, as I have arranged for Sun to draw us to him...

Yue had never met Sun before, but the heron was old friends with Agni, and he was very polite to the new Moon. Perhaps due to her secret nature, Yue had never felt any great affinity or sympathy for Sun, but in this state, she at least perceived the magnificence he possessed as the root of all life.

Just as you possess, in your own way, gentle Moon.

At last we have returned to your station, and there is but one last thing I wish to show you before I leave. Look down, as once instinct guided you, and shine your light on that to which you feel the most drawn. I have shown you many things, gifted you with understanding required by your new existence, but I would not have you pay a price for it all.

Yue once again took physical form, and turned her gaze on the Earth. Light emanated from her translucent body, and Yue felt the richness of the sun in that light. Feeding on the gold, she exhaled the pale silver down onto the mortal realm.

A young Water Tribe man looked up at the light.

END