Aang and his companion strode confidently past the gates that led into the inner city. Airships and automobiles roared around him in seemingly unending streams. Skyrises, bridges, lifts, and plazas were littered across Republic City Centre, a facade that sought to hide the city's decadence in a jungle of concrete and marble.
But Aang could smell the decay under the veneer, and he would show them the cost of weakness.
The Avatar was destined to lay waste to the newly minted Republic City. He knew this in his mind, and in his heart. He had known this ever since re-emerging from the Spirit World.
Almost two months had passed since his reconquest of the Southern Air Islands and the death of his oldest friend.
In his mind's eye, he still remembered the profound sense of holiness he had felt as he walked in isolation through the Patola mountain ranges, into the majestic caves lined with the looted tombs of his ancient Nomad forebears. Everywhere around him, he could feel the long-lost spirits singing to him. He had exulted in it, and in his isolation they had showed him a vision. He had seen destruction and reincarnation, corruption and redemption— and the return of balance to the world. He knew now that the collapse of the Fire Nation was insufficient to restore peace. As a result of Sozin's actions, all the ancient regimes had to be uprooted. The Fire Lordship, the Earth Monarchy, the Water chiefdoms… but first the Republican mask that shielded them had to be ripped away.
"What are you thinking of, Aang?" June's dark eyes glanced at him curiously.
Ever since Gyatso's death, only June dared to still call him by his given name, and even then only when it was just the two of them. He was fond of the silky way it rolled off her tongue and lips, but he would not tolerate it from anyone else.
"I was thinking of home," he said, his hooded cover partially muffling the sound of his voice. She said nothing, merely eyeing him concernedly in response. They had met only weeks ago, during his campaign against the Southern Raiders that occupied Whaletail Island but they had grown close.
Crowds swarmed the market district in which they walked. A young child drew Aang's attention when she laughed with delight and ran into the waiting arms of a dark-haired woman, presumably her mother. The girl must have noticed his wandering gaze. She glanced at him from over her mother's shoulder, her tiny face pinched in a wordless question. He watched her as he walked and eventually she looked away, burying her face in her mother's neck.
It seemed that, other than the girl, no one else noticed his presence. Clearly, the citizens of Republic City felt secure behind its heavy walls, and its thousand-strong garrison. Meanwhile he walked among his prey, unnoticed and unknown, but heavy with purpose.
"This is a dazzling city," June said.
He sneered internally. "Not for very much longer."
His words seemed to surprise her, though he could not imagine why. He had not told her of the reason for their visit, but she had to have known him well enough by now to understand that he was not much of a tourist. "Aang…"
He saw her pause before looking away, taking in the scenery around them, as if memorizing Republic City before Aang and the Air Nation removed it from existence.
"When will the fighting end?"
The premise of the question puzzled him, bringing him to a stop. "What do you mean?"
"You told me that your vision spoke of war and destruction, Aang. But when will it end? It cannot always be so."
He nodded then, finally understanding the flavor of the conversation that was to come.
"I'll remind you that you chose to fight beside me, June. When my people took back Whaletail Island, you chose to join us. You have killed many in the name of the Air Nation."
Her cheeks, normally so pale, darkened in anger. "I did not put aside my work and life just to fight for your people. I fight, and kill, for the vision of security that you promised me and the strength that you've shown to me. You know that. But this plan of yours… thousands could die. Innocents who did not choose to be born into a hundred-year old struggle."
"Beings die in war. That is the price that must be paid to achieve balance."
The former mercenary turned away from him and stared across the street, towards a group of children trailing behind an exasperated adult, likely a teacher guiding her class on a tour of the great city.
Her expression showed that she still did not understand. For a time, June said nothing, and the constant lively chatter so characteristic of Republic City filled the sudden but silent gulf that now stood between them.
Finally she spoke, in a haunting tone that he never thought would ever come from her lips.
"Constant war will be your life? Our life? Nothing more?"
He knew of her agenda at last. June wanted their relationship to change, to evolve as the world had done in the absence of his people. But his dedication to the perfection of his vision precluded any possible attachments.
He had sworn to himself, that never again would he feel the pain that had come after Gyatso's death.
"I am the Avatar, and I must fulfil my destiny. You know this." he said calmly.
"And things between us will always be as they are?"
"A commander and his soldier. An Avatar and his companion…. does this reality displease you?"
"You do not treat me as a mere attendant. Not always."
He allowed a hardness he did not feel to creep past his lips. "Yet a mere attendant is what you are. Do not ever forget it."
She looked away again, refusing to meet his gaze. Seconds passed and despite himself, the young Air Nomad grew ashamed. Perhaps he had gone too far?
Finally, she sighed and checked the timepiece on her wrist. "Come on, it's almost time."
He nodded with relief. He would speak with her about this later, properly and logically this time— without the ruinous emotions that had so affected him today.
But first, he had to finish what they had come for. It was almost dusk, the time at which the city's defence system would collapse.
He trusted the Bloodbender to have accomplished her mission. He was not privy to the woman's real name, and thus in his mind she had become a title: the Bloodbender. He knew only that she preferred to work alone, hated the Fire Nation with a burning passion for reasons known only to herself, and was exceptionally skilled.
The sun was setting now and yet none of the hundreds who flocked the markets along with him looked concerned at all. No alarm had sounded. Military and security personnel were not racing through the streets. The authorities appeared oblivious to the fact that the security apparatus of the World's capital city had been compromised.
He had no doubt however that they would notice it before long. Unfortunately for them, there wouldn't be much for them to save by that point.
He joined June in taking one last look around, at the children and their parents playing, laughing, living, so caught up in the journey of their own lives that they were unaware that everything was about to change. Like the rest of his people, he knew the feeling well.
"Come," he whispered in June's direction, and picked up his pace.
Ahead of them, he saw the tips of the wide dome that crowned the roof of City Hall, the building that stood at the heart of Republic City.
He stalked towards it, fate and destiny shadowing his footsteps.
Statues of the Three Great Founders lined the approach to City Hall's enormous doorway. He walked past them, noting the names of the tyrant and the traitors: Firelord Zuko, Earth King Kuei and High Chief Arnook.
The majority of the city's senators were away, either participating in the sham negotiations hosted by the Air Elders in Gaoling or defending against Air Nomad incursions happening all across the world. And yet still, the structure was not entirely unguarded. Three uniformed Republic soldiers, fire-benders by the look of them, stood watch near the doors. Sending short wisps of air around the building, Aang sensed two more on a high ledge to his right.
The guards at the entrance watched their approach warily. "Halt!" one of them commanded, his arm stretched out in a threatening stance.
"I cannot stop," Aang snarled, barely heard over the roar of the lashing winds that lapped at his feet. "Not ever."
With June gently cradled in his arms, Aang pulled himself up onto the cliff. He studied her face, the smooth line of her jaw, and the deep-set eyes that fate had cursed to never again open on their own.
He had found her in the rubble, the corpses of children surrounding her. In his heart, he knew that she had died protecting them.
He watched below as the sun rose over the silent ruins that were once Republic City.